Just then the DJ calls out for a girl named Dani to take the stage, and one of the girls from the group I’d been watching throws her arms up. She’s pretty and holds the attention of almost every guy in the room as she sashays up the steps, although I must say, Rider is still looking at me.
“How about her?” I ask and gesture with a nod to the stage. “She has a ponytail,” I say and work quickly to dispel the image of me in bed with Rider, him tugging on mine.
Oh boy!
He casts her a fast glance. “She’s cute,” he says, noncommittal. “What about him?”
I turn to follow his gaze. “He’s nice looking.”
“Before we do this, I want your number.” He takes his phone from his pocket and hands it to me. “Put your contacts in here.”
“Why?”
“If I’m going to set you up with someone, I need to know you’re safe.” I stare at his phone. “Put your number in,” he commands in a soft voice.
“You’re kind of bossy.”
I put my name and number into his phone, and he takes it and calls me. I reach into my purse and pull my phone out. I raise one brow.
“I had to make sure you didn’t give me a fake number, and now you have mine. All you have to do is text me a code word, and I’ll come get you.”
“You take safety seriously.”
“I do.”
I liked that. A lot.
“Okay so what code word should we use?” I ask.
I wait for him to elaborate and he shrugs. “You choose.”
“You’ve done this before, though, right?”
“No. I’ve never set a woman up before, and believe me, Jules. I take that responsibility very seriously. If anything ever happened to you…”
My heart does an odd little twist in my chest. Could the guy be any sweeter?
“Okay, code word,” I say and think about it. “Wait, you need one too. I’ve never set a guy up and I wouldn’t want to send you home with some crazy organ harvester.”
He laughs. “How about…” He glances around the room. “Karaoke?”
“Okay we can both use that,” I agree.
“Now what about non-verbal code words?”
“You think we need that?”
“Yeah, say you’re over there in the corner making out with a guy and you want out. Give me a gesture and I’ll break it up.”
I twirl my ponytail around my hand. “That’s a good one,” he says.
“This?” I ask and tug my ponytail.
He nods. “I like it.”
“What about you?” I ask. “The other night when you needed my help with Candy, you patted your leg for me to sit.”
“If we’re being honest, I could have handled Candy. I just wanted you to sit on my lap.” He gives me a cocky smile and I whack him.