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“I want you to go to the hospital.”
“Absolutely not,” I laughed. “I was pushed over. Not actually hit by the car.”
“She did stare up at me for a long time without speaking,” Brett cut in.
I flushed bright red, knowing the real reason was because my brain had gone on the fritz, but I couldn’t tell them that.
My head was grabbed between two huge hands and maneuvered until I was staring right into Dash’s amazing eyes. I nearly sighed, but stopped myself just in time. I grabbed his wrists and gently pulled his hands down.
“I was just in shock. I was nearly hit by a car and it threw me for a loop.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, then turned toward Brett. “And where is this car? I hope someone got a plate.”
“The police are on it,” Brett answered.
“Good.” Dash held out his hand to shake Brett’s, who immediately returned the gesture. “Thank you for saving her.”
“Hey, I was just in the right place at the right time.” Brett’s eyes flicked between the two of us, then he cleared his throat. “I, uh…don’t want to step on any toes, but is there something going on between you two?”
Dash and I both looked at each other, my face flushing red as he chuckled slightly.
“Uh…no,” I answered quickly, which earned me a quick, questioning glance from him. What was that supposed to mean? He’d just brought home two women and fucked them with me downstairs.
“No,definitelynot,” he finally answered.
Definitely not. Well, that certainly put me in my place. I wasdefinitelynot the woman for him, and hedefinitelywouldn’t touch me witha ten-foot pole. Unless, of course, he wanted someone to share his bed with at night—and not in a sexual way. No, wedefinitelyweren’t in a relationship of any kind.
A strained smile tugged at my lips as Brett caught on to the tension between us. Thankfully, Dash made some stupid excuse and walked away. It would be awkward to pick up a date in front of him. I wasn’t as carefree in my abilities to blatantly mosey around with other people right in front of him.
Brett shot me a quizzical look. “Are you sure there’s nothing going on between you two?”
“Definitely not,” I grinned, biting back the anger in the words. “We’re just friends. In fact, I just met him a while ago. He was the one who found me when my house was destroyed in the tornado that swept through.”
He winced at the reminder. “Yeah, that was a bad one. I’m glad you got out safely.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Well, mostly with my dignity intact. I was only wearing a shower curtain.”
“Ah, well…it could have been worse. You might have been completely naked.”
“I guess,” I laughed.
“So, do you want to get dinner with me?”
“Yeah,” I smiled, refusing to look at Dash who was talking with one of the cops. “That would be great.”
“How about tomorrow night? Say, six?”
“Perfect.”
My smile was strained despite the happy feelings rushing through me. Conflict was never a good thing in my mind. As happy as I was that Brett asked me out, my heart only wanted one man. But he didn’t want me, so my only choice was to move on. With any luck, Brett would help me do just that.
33
DASH
“She’s goingout on a fucking date!” I snapped, slamming my fist into the bag. “A date! Can you believe that?”
Brock jerked back as I slammed my fist even harder into the bag. “Yeah, I can believe that. What did you expect when you didn’t ask her out?”