The newspaper was still in my hand, and I held it up. “Because he scares the shit out of me.” Truth.

“Oh.” Her frown deepened. “Others will be in the room. You won’t be alone with him. I promise. You don’t even have to talk to him. I just have to ask him general background questions and get that on camera. He’ll be with the senior reporter for the harder questions. Susan’s supposed to be the meet-and-greet one. You can take a breather and watch from the green room for that.”

I shook my head. “No, Erica. I don’t want to be there. I don’t want to be around him.” Not the truth.

“Please, Jo.” Her eyes were pleading with me. “Okay, yes, I think it would be amazing if you were there. Susan hates you. She’ll be on edge if you’re even in the room, but for real, I could use a friend, too. This interview is going to be huge, and the more allies I have around, the better. I’m scared Susan’s going to take all the credit. That can’t happen.”

She needed me. She needed her friend. I had to go, but damn, I didn’t want to.

“I don’t know…”

“Great!” She tugged me to her and hugged me. “Thank you so much, Jo. You’re the bestest roommate in the world. Now, enough about me and the Destroy Susan plan. Let’s get to the other part that is rubbing her crotch red—Jake. Or”—she playfully nudged my arm—“the friendship that we all know is going to develop into more between you and him. That’s driving her nuts already. She asks if he’s been over to our place every morning.”

“There’s not, for real.”

“Okay. For real, should I be concerned? You’re not acting all besotted like last time, so I haven’t been all up in arms, but if I need to be, you say the word. Jake Monroe will go down.”

I shook my head. “We’re friends. I couldn’t…” I hesitated at what I should say here. I ended with, “It’s been too soon after how it ended with him. It was only seven months ago. I…we’re just friends.”

“Okay.” She held my gaze, making sure.

I nodded.

She dropped it. “Say the word, and I’m all about the Hate Jake parade. I’ll do my own float if I have to.”

I grinned, saying lightly, “Thank you.”

She nodded as we began walking again.

I couldn’t do the interview. There was no way I could even risk the exposure, but I had a few days to think of an excuse. I needed a good one. Erica wouldn’t be swayed by anything except if I were on my deathbed. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

After putting the food away, she was off to work, and I needed to change before heading to the restaurant. After showering and changing, I reached for my purse. When I lifted it, the cell phone was tucked underneath, wedged beside a book. I had forgotten it was there. I’d pulled it out of the drawer the night before to check that Snark hadn’t tried to contact me, and he hadn’t. In my mind, I figured his talk with Kian’s parents had worked.

But I saw a message on it now. There was only one word in it.

Tonight.

Two hours later, the nerves started to settle in. By the time my shift was over, my insides were doing complete somersaults. Henry took over for me, and I was leaving when I saw Jake outside the door.

“Hey.” He opened the door for me.

I ducked under his arm, stepping out to the sidewalk. “You’re waiting for me?”

He let go of the door and fell in step beside me, grinning down at me. His eyes crinkled at the corners in an adorable manner. “I was hoping to walk you home again?”

“Oh.” I blinked up at him. “Sure. Thank you.”

We started down the sidewalk, walking the few blocks to my apartment. As we swung around a group of laughing people coming out of a bar, Jake touched the back of my elbow. He tightened his hold and steadied me as a woman’s shoulder bumped into me.

She whirled to us, her hand covering her mouth, and giggled. “Excuse me.”

I started to tell her it was fine, but a guy she was with suddenly stepped wrong, and he came hurtling at us. My eyes got big. He was huge, and he was falling fast, but Jake yanked me back and stepped in front of me. He caught the guy and shoved him backward. Before the guy could fall the other way, Jake stepped with him, still holding him, and righted him, so he wouldn’t hit anyone else.

The woman next to me made an appreciative sound while the guy seemed dumbfounded.

Jake patted his shoulder twice and murmured, “Steady on your feet, mate.”

“Thank you.” The guy looked at me. “I’m so sorry. I almost nailed you.”

One of the other guys in their group barked out a laugh. “That’s what she said.”

The guy who Jake had helped steady turned around, his eyes darkening in anger. He shot back, “Bad timing, Bart. I could’ve really pounded the girl.”

The woman next to me started snickering, and her hand covered her mouth once again.

The whole group, all probably in their older thirties, were laughing, or their shoulders were shaking from repressed laughter. The smell of booze was ripe on them, and I caught the bar stamps on their hands. They were on a pub crawl.

“Come on.” The first joker stepped forward, holding his hand out to Jake. “Thank you, sir. We’ll keep an eye on him for the rest of the night. He won’t be slamming into your girlfriend any longer. We promise.” The corner of his mouth dipped down and then the other corner. He was biting hard on his lip.

Jake narrowed his eyes.

I registered the joke, but it was old by now. The disrespectful undertone had my heart rate rising.

These people were all dressed in business suits or business skirts for the women, and I recognized their type. They’d come for happy hour from their middle-class white-collar jobs. I actually recognized one of the couples since they often stopped by the restaurant to get a reservation, but they never heeded the advice to call the day ahead to reserve a table. We were always booked out a day in advance, but this couple never listened. They would get miffed when they were denied.

As both of them were watching me, I knew they had recognized me as well. I stiffened and tried to keep myself from glaring at them, but I didn’t think I was succeeding. The woman’s eyes sharpened, and she started to glare back at me. The guy didn’t seem to like me much more. Slowly, one by one, their group of friends noticed the exchange, and they grew silent.