The Perfect Lie (Hope Falls Universe)(20)
“Well, is it a good thing or a bad? Because if I need to have security show him out—”
“No, it’s not bad. Where is he? How did he get here?”
“I might have told him that you had a meeting ending around now…”
“You!” She thought back to how he had been strangely absent all morning. “You never could keep a secret from me, you little scoundrel. I can’t believe you did this.” She ran out of the conference room and didn’t even care about all the strange looks she got as she slammed her finger into the down arrow at the elevator.
There were so many questions she wanted to ask AJ, but she was realizing the answers as she went along. After she’d left Hope Falls, she’d been in a total slump. Willa was out of town and AJ had been asking her to go out repeatedly and she’d turned him down every night. When he did see her, she’d tried to put on a happy face but he did know her better than anyone else. He must’ve realized how unhappy she was. AJ could be so selfish sometimes and so observant at others…
The second she walked into the lobby, she spotted Josh. He leaned against the security desk and rubbed the back of his neck. His back was to her but she would recognize those muscular shoulders anywhere.
She managed to slow her pace as she approached. “You’re early,” she said, causing him to turn around.
His brown eyes lit up when he saw her but the rest of his expression stayed really reserved. “You’re here,” he said.
She raised a brow. “Were you expecting someone else?”
“Your brother.”
“Well, this is a twist I wasn’t expecting.”
The corner of his mouth hooked up. “He was going to help me surprise you.”
“Here’s a tip. AJ sucks at keeping secrets from me.”
“Noted.”
There was a few seconds of silence and Steph remembered where they were. She motioned with her head for him to follow her. They left the office building until they were in the relative privacy of the street. There were more people out here, but less prying ears.
Josh put his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight. “You probably think I’m crazy.”
“No,” she said quickly. “Well, maybe a little. I can’t believe you’re here.” Her mind was still having a hard time reconciling Josh, who seemed so at one with the nature of Hope Falls, standing in the concrete and steel jungle of Chicago. She was still half convinced she was imagining it all… Before she realized what she was doing, she reached up to brush her fingers along his jaw, proving that he wasn’t just an apparition conjured by her subconscious.
“So I was thinking about asking you on another date,” he said.
She had to bite her cheek to keep from smiling too wide. “Oh really? Where were you thinking?”
“Well, we have a lot of options. There’s a great aquarium I heard about nearby, or, if you’re feeling really adventurous, there’s a fantastic ice cream place called Two Scoops.”
She tried to think about the ice cream places she knew but the list was sadly small. “Where is it?”
“On Main Street, between the bowling alley and the book store.”
Her hand trailed down his arm until she reached his hand and their fingers intertwined.
“You’re happy I’m here, right?” he asked.
“Very happy,” she assured him.
“So, about that date?”
“I have a better idea.” She leaned into him, not able to get enough contact.
“What?”
“How about I show you my apartment?”
He smiled wickedly down at her. “I think you just described my dream date.”
She met his eyes and said with absolute conviction, “The first of many.”
~~~The End~~~
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