Page 115 of The Publicity Stunt

“So you’ll come?”

“In more ways than one, I hope.”

Almost instantly, he taps my forehead again. “My girlfriend has the dirtiest mind.”

I throw my left arm over his torso. “Takes one to know one.”

ChapterTwenty-Six

Present Day

APRIL

Parker sets our bags down next to his couch. “Please go easy on me. I’m jet-lagged and emotionally unprepared for whatever you have to say about my apartment.”

“But I love it!” I hang my coat on the coatrack next to his door and peruse the place: a beige couch, an overstuffed chair with a throw blanket folded over the arm, a half-read comic book upside down on the coffee table. It’s like being inside Hayden Parker’s brain.

A tiny squeal-like sound comes from underneath the couch. I promptly bend down to find its source, but Parker beats me to it.

Extending an arm underneath the couch, he stands back up with Dog the cat curled up in his arms. “April, Dog. Dog, April.”

“Can I hold him? Does he need to sniff my hand first? I don’t know how this works.”

Ignoring all my very valid questions, Parker dumps his child in my arms. “You’ll be fine. He likes everyone I like.”

“Smooth.” I scratch the top of his white furry head and Dog closes his eyes, making a light purring sound. “Oh, my God!” I gasp. “He does like me!”

Smiling, Parker takes out his phone. “I’m sorry, this is—I need a new lock screen.”

I hold Dog up next to my face—Lion Kingstyle—and try to imitate the wide-eyed look on his face.

“Perfect.” He taps on the camera button multiple times, taking at least twenty burst shots.

“This is so weird,” I say, as he changes my lock screen from the pouty Starbucks cup selfie to an equally comical one. “Cats normally hate me.”

Dog purrs away, nestled in my arms, and Parker steps toward me, bending down to kiss the top of his head. “I told you. He likes who I like. And I love you.”

“Huh.” I bite back a smile and put him down atop one of the couch cushions. “That’s weird, because I love you too,” I say and walk out to the fire escape. “You know, when I first moved to the city, I always wanted an apartment with one of these balconies. I really love your place.”

He steps out with me. “It’s just an apartment, April.”

“No, it’s an amazing apartment. It has so much of you in it.”

He wraps his arms around my waist, hugging me from behind. “And now it has all of me in it.”

As I lean back into him, I point to the bed of roses situated on the rusted metal floor in front of us. “You have a rose garden?”

“I do.” He rests his chin on my shoulder.

“You have a cat and plants?” I turn around, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Fucking show-off.”

He laughs and kisses the tip of my nose. “I love you.”

“I know.”

He plants another kiss between my eyes. “Rude.” He moves his mouth down to my jaw, turning my laugh into a soft sigh.

“I’m always rude to you,” I say.