“And you call me weird. Jules misses me, and I think she needs some best friend time. She still thinks her and Cole are temporary and that they aren’t madly in love with each other.”
I bit my lip. It sounded like Easton was texting while he was talking to me on the phone. Ever the dedicated businessman.
Please, please don’t break my heart before sushi.
I almost spit out that I was madly in love with him, too, and I wanted our arrangement to be a farce just like Cole and Jules.
“They’ll figure it out. Jules is one of the most stubborn women I’ve ever met. Of course she’s not as stubborn as you. You beat her by a long shot.”
“I take offense to that, sir.”
He growled. I had in fact unlocked a kink in Easton when I called him sir.
“Don’t worry about them. Jules is in denial, but it will all work out the way it’s supposed to.”
“I hope so.” And I meant it for Jules and for me. “Don’t say anything, I just parked and Jules is walking over to my car.”
“See you soon, Trouble.” Easton hung up before I could tell him goodbye.
I frowned at my phone, but Jules knocked on my window with a guilty expression on her face. Grabbing my purse, I got out of the car.
“Don’t be mad,” she said, looking at the ground and not my face.
“Okay, please don’t tell me you decided on Mexican food. I was really looking forward to sushi.”
Jules looked up, a small smile on her face. “Cole called. I thought he was going to be working late, but some of his meetings got canceled.”
“Easton called while I was in the car, too, and he said something like that.”
“I invited him to dinner. Please don’t be mad. I’m the worst friend in the world.”
Holy shit, this woman is gone for him.
“It’s fine. But you’re buying.”
“Fuck that. If I’m allowing him to crash my sushi date with you, his ass will be buying.”
We linked arms, walking into the restaurant grinning the whole way. Cole showed up five minutes later, but he wasn’t alone. Easton slid into the booth next to me, kissing my cheek.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I said, kissing his cheek back. My stomach was wrangling the butterflies that had been set loose, and from the tingling it wasn’t doing a very good job.
“I told you I would see you soon.” He grabbed his menu, his leg plastered to mine.
I figured out he wasn’t working when I heard him texting on the phone, he was plotting with Cole. I wasn’t sure if I was happy Easton crashed our dinner or not.
A realization hit me as we ordered our food. I was going to have to break it off with Easton soon. He didn’t do relationships, and I was becoming more aware that I couldn’t convince my heart or brain that this wasn’t permanent.
“What’s wrong?” Easton asked, tuned into my moods, making me even more heartbroken.
“Nothing, just tired.”
“I’ll give you a massage later. Would you like to go to my house tonight?”
My body jolted. Easton had been showing up at my house since we started our arrangement. This was the first time he had asked if I wanted to go to his house. My brain knew I should say no and that this would bring my feelings closer to the surface, but my heart refused to listen to any sense my brain was throwing at it.
Maybe his house would be a pigsty or his décor would be so off-putting that it would alter my feelings for him and breaking this off would be easier.
So, I am officially delusional, cool.