The Professional Alibi

Chapter 17: True North

I'm home long enough to slip out of my boho-chic outfit and into a pair of cut-off shorts and a white tank top before Wade knocks on my door.

I spent the entire drive home guessing and second-guessing what he was doing at the coffee shop, and what he thought about the whole encounter between me and Cosmo. Was I receptive enough? Too receptive? Did I fit the part? Gah! I hate overanalyzing things.

I'm pulling my long brown hair into a ponytail when I open the front door to let him in.

Wade fills the doorway, looking especially broody and hot. His gray eyes travel from my head to my bare toes and back to my head again, stopping at my face. If it were any other guy, I'd be irritated. I should be irritated. But something inside me ignites when he looks at me that way, sending my pulse into a frenzy. Damned if I don't enjoy his attention, even if nothing will ever come of it.

"May I come in?" he asks, lifting a brown paper bag in one hand, and a backpack in the other. "I brought dinner and gifts."

I step to the side, allowing him to enter while I finish wrapping the hair band around my hair. "It's a bit early for dinner, isn't it?"

"That depends on if you plan on kicking me out immediately or will let me stay a while." One side of his mouth lifts, and my gut relaxes. Okay. He's not mad at me about Cosmo. I can handle whatever else he throws at me.

Wade takes his bag to the kitchen and starts to unpack it, putting a few ingredients into the fridge, and leaving the bag on the counter. He glances up at me when I follow him and sit at the kitchen table.

"You don't mind if I invited someone to come over, do you?" he says.

"Not unless they're coming to kill me."

He smirks and shakes his head. "He'd have to get through me first. I invited Tex. He's the next one you're going to meet, and his story is that you're already his girlfriend who moved to town to attend college near him. I thought it would be nice for you two to meet before we throw you to the wolves."

My phone buzzes, and I glance down at the screen.

Cosmo: Hey

Me: Hi

"When are me and Tex supposed to go public?" I ask Wade. He has his back to me, rifling through the cupboards and mumbling something I can't discern. It gives me a chance to check him out again. He's wearing a pair of army-green cargo pants and a white T-shirt. Both snug. Probably because normal guys don't have muscles like his. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Nope. Not me.

Cosmo: Are you doing anything tomorrow?

Me: What do you have planned?

Cosmo: There's a club I'd like to take you to. Music. Dancing. A little romancing. *wink *wink

I grin at the screen, but school my features when Wade turns around and says, "Tomorrow night."

My brows shoot up, and my stomach drops. I'd kinda liked the idea of spending more time with Cosmo. I wanted to get a better feel for who he is. But, alas, duty calls. I must hang out with another presumably hot guy instead.

Me: Sorry! I've already got plans. Can we do it another night?

Wade notices me texting and stretches his neck to see the screen. "Who are you talking to?"

I pull the phone closer to my chest. "No peeking."

He straightens and chuckles, then grabs the backpack he brought and sits across from me, dropping the bag onto the table and unzipping it. "Sorry. Force of habit."