“Should we have an excuse ready?” Jiya asked, speed walking to keep up with his long-legged pace. “Circus animals broke free of their trailer on the parkway? No, wait. If it’s a man, we’ll just tell him it’s a woman thing. And make sure you say woman thing in a whisper.”
Andrew looked back at her questioningly. “Why?”
“He’ll be so terrified of getting details, he’ll probably just give me a plane.”
“Are we talking about your period? Or something else.”
“Oh my God.” Jiya’s mouth fell open. “You said period like it was just a regular word and not some ancient incantation that might bring on a plague of locusts. Congratulations.”
Laughter crinkled the corners of his eyes. “You’re not going to need excuses, sweetheart. You’ve got me.”
Feathers brushed the insides of her belly. “Do I?”
You are stupid, Jiya. Definitely too stupid to fly a plane.
They were almost to the registration office when Andrew slid her an unreadable look. “It’s come to my attention recently that you might…” He tugged at the brim of his hat. “Our friendship might be keeping you from giving this dating thing a serious try.”
“Why would it do that?” Jiya croaked.
“Male friendships don’t really mix with boyfriends.”
“Says who?”
“Says me. If we were dating…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
“What?”
His gaze licked her like flames. “If we were dating, you’d be having breakfast or taking walks with other men over my dead fucking body.”
The bright summer sun bouncing off the concrete, along with her internal temperature, was going to fry her like an omelet. Did he realize the effect his words had on her? “Wow, a chauvinist who doesn’t even flinch at period talk. You’re like an undiscovered species.”
Andrew sighed. “Look, it’s just that we haven’t really talked about what happened on the beach—”
“Oh. I see where this is going.” With a hard swallow, Jiya dropped his hand and tightened her ponytail with an aggressive tug. “You don’t want me to get the wrong idea. Just because we hooked up one time doesn’t mean I should stop shopping my options, right?”
By the time she finished speaking, they’d reached the squat, stucco building and Andrew rested his hand on the steel handle. “Don’t say it like that, Jiya. Like it was something cheap.”
She didn’t want to argue with him. She didn’t want the wall between them. Limiting her closeness to this man hurt. Terribly. So she forced herself to step back from the emotional quagmire and look at the situation objectively. Andrew didn’t want a serious relationship. She did want that eventually. Maybe even sooner than later. They’d hooked up in one seriously ill-advised move. And now she was punishing him. Heck, as long as she was being honest with herself, maybe she’d been subconsciously punishing him for letting her go on that initial date with another man.
Wow. That, more than anything, was a reality check.
She’d told Andrew she wanted to stay friends, but that wasn’t going to happen if she didn’t put on her big girl panties and act like a grownup. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them to sever their ties because they were adults who wanted different things.
Jiya laid her hand on top of his and squeezed. “Thank you for driving me. Really. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
She could feel Andrew staring after her as she entered the office. “Hello. I’m Jiya Dalal.” She took the voucher out of her purse and set it on the counter. “I have an appointment for a lesson today at two o’clock. I’m afraid I’m a little late.”
“Yeah, sorry.” The man at the desk set down the Coke he’d been drinking and reclined back in his chair. “Unfortunately it means you’ll forfeit the lesson. We have a packed schedule for the rest of the afternoon.”
Jiya had just turned to give a quick scan of the empty waiting room when she felt Andrew at her back. “Are you the instructor?”
“No.”
“Good. Call them. Their appointment is here.”
“The policy…”
Andrew flicked the underside of his hat’s brim, bringing his eyes out of the shadows. “Forget the policy,” he said coldly, dropping a fist on the counter with a thud. “She’s getting the lesson.”
Much like the Coke drinker, Jiya froze at the rare appearance of Andrew’s anger. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen it, though. No, hadn’t it only been a few weeks ago he’d decked Marcus’s brother for hitting Jamie? “What’s wrong, Jiya?” Andrew had said. “You didn’t know I had any violence in me? Well now you do.”
At the time, she’d definitely been surprised by the use of his strength to injure someone, but she’d known Andrew forever. Surely he was exaggerating. Violence? Please. This was the man who helped her hang wet laundry in the backyard. The man who broke up fights in the Castle Gate. He was not violent.