Set Me Free (A Fugitive #2)

I risked catching his eye to let him know I was serious and his gaze lit with a fiery spark. "Who said geeks don't rule?" He sounded smug and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop from smiling.

"Not me, that's for sure." I flung my arm over the back of my chair, shifting my body even further away from him and trying to look annoyed.

Our food arrived and we ate in silence. I wasn't actually that hungry, but forced it down. I made sure to keep throwing flirty looks at the table of guys, hating myself every time I did it.

Why the hell was I doing this again?

I had to remind myself constantly as I picked at my food. Zach kept the unhinged couple thing going pretty well, but it wasn't until he started rubbing his foot over my ankle that I knew I had to make a move. His sweet touch was going to undo me.

I caught Billy's gaze on me, his eyes were doing their own traveling this time. I met his blue-eyed stare, grateful that he hadn't taken after his father in that particular area. It gave me the confidence to think I could do this. As our eyes danced an intense tango, he rose from his seat and flicked his head towards the cashier.

Without a word to Zach, I rose from my spot with a disgruntled huff and followed my blond target.





Chapter 19





ZACH





Zach knew her huff was for show, but it still stung. He swallowed down his eggs and was just about to gulp down the rest of his coffee when she spun back to him with a pointed finger. Her whisper was harsh and guttral, enough to fool people into thinking she was livid with him.

"Don't hate me for this. Remember what I said earlier and act as though you couldn't care less that I was trying to make you jealous by flirting with another guy. Got it?"

"Whatever." Zach hated the scornful look he threw her, but the pleasure that sparked in her eyes before she spun away bolstered Zach's confidence.

Even so, seeing Lucy in this light unnerved Zach big time. He had no idea how good she was. Well, he did kind of know, but he headn't really seen it in action. The way she talked him through this scenario, putting on a show, had been pretty impressive. But now, watching her swan across the diner and stand next to Billy, her body language telling the whole place that she was into him big time, was really hard work.

He wished she didn't look so damn hot in those jeans shorts, although he had to admit they were the perfect attire for this gig. He found it fascinating that when she'd flounced down the stairs in them yesterday afternoon, she'd looked like a sweet, summer girl. A damn hot sweet, summer girl, but still, there had been an air of innocence to what she was wearing, so much so that Elliot and Alex hadn't even looked twice at her. But now that she was putting on this show, the shorts held an entirely different meaning and Zach wanted to burn them.

He tried to look bored and non-plussed by it all, but couldn't help throwing a few dark glares at the blond kid. The friends at his table were falling over themselves as they watched their buddy chat to the leggy brunette.

My leggy brunette, Zach seethed as he took them in.

They looked to be about freshmen, maybe sophomore at a push. If Billy got in with this older girl, he'd be a legend among them.

Lucy tipped her head with a blush as Billy's hand grazed her arm. He looked over her shoulder and I turned away before he could catch my eye. He looked a little nervous at flirting with a girl who was obviously taken, but if he'd been a peacock his tail would've been in full bloom.

Zach ground his teeth together. He spent the painful minutes shaking the sugar packets and rearranging them into color order. He flicked one more glance over his shoulder, just in time to see her grab his bicep and look all impressed as she gave it a squeeze. Zach inwardly groaned, but couldn't take his eyes off the scene. She patted him once on the chest then turned with a flirty grin.

Her hips swayed as she made it back to the table. She acted like a superior bitch with her nose in the air until the guys had left the diner. Each of them waved at her and she tinkled her fingers back at them one by one.

As soon as they were out of sight, she let out a breath and reached for a piece of paper in her back pocket.

"He gave me his number."

"No shit." Zach couldn't help his dry tone. The last ten minutes had been torture.

She tipped her head, her blue eyes softening. "I'm sorry, I know that was hard, but..." She winced. "It's gonna get worse."

Zach's lips parted, letting out a disgusted sigh.

"I know, but it's a really great chance to get in."

"To the Tenner's place."

She nodded, pushing a piece of paper over the table. An address was scribbled below the phone number. "His Dad's out of town and he's having a party at his place tonight. We just got invited."

"We? Or you?"

"We, of course." She reached across the table and squeezed his arm.

"How did you swing that?"

Her shrug was nonchalant. "I basically indicated that I was seriously thinking of ditching my boring-ass boyfriend, if I could just find the right guy."

"And that would happen to be a blond kid with pimples?"

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