9. Lottie
nine
Lottie
His chin mole seems to pulse as I reluctantly lower my hand in front of me. “I’m Lottie, by the way. Nice to meet you.”
He reaches forward, taking my hand. I hold my breath, unable to help wondering if the mole disease is a real thing.
Ty was teasing, right? Nothing about that makes sense.
Not to mention, he’s the one who convinced me to come here.
Why would he try to talk me out of recruiting a guy he basically preselected?
“I’m Bodan.” He takes my hand, holding it for a couple of seconds before releasing it. There’s no tingling or burning sensation coming in my palm. I don’t think he’s contagious. I hope.
Tossing a glance over my shoulder, I want to properly introduce Ty into the conversation.
To my surprise, I don’t see him. Looking to the left and then to the right, my brows knit together.
He’s clearly left. Distracted from the conversation, I hike a thumb over my shoulder.
“Did you happen to see where my friend went?”
“Yeah, he scowled in my direction and stormed off that way.” He emits a soft laugh.
Scratching the back of my head, I stare in that direction, hoping to see where he went. It’s like he dissolved. With no sight of him, I turn my gaze back to Bodan. “I guess he had to leave.”
“I guess so.” He smiles at me in a way that makes me feel comfortable. I hate the position my mom put me in, but it is what it is. I came here to get a fake date. There’s no point in delaying the ask, especially if he’s going to turn me down. Here goes nothing…
Please don’t turn me down.
“So, um, like I said, I’m in need of a sort of date thing to make my mom get off my case, and it should not be a lot of hours. I just need to make sure you don’t play hockey.”
“Hockey?” he echoes, as a chuckle bursts from his lips. “Heavens, no. Hockey is a cult that is under the control of the shadow government. Trust me, I work in the archives. I’ve seen proof.”
“Ah.” My eyes move side to side because I don’t know how else to reply to that. It’s a bit extreme. “My mom works in government, and she’s not a fan of hockey but she’s never said anything like that.”
“She won’t reveal all the secrets.” His brows stitch together. “I don’t trust any activity that requires that many secret hand signals. They’re clearly up to something.”
“Secrets?” I’m mentally slapping myself, realizing we’re not only having two different conversations, but he’s starting to show some red flags.
Instead of replying to my echo, he looks at his phone and then back at me.
“Hey, Lottie, I hate to cut this short, but I have to get back inside for my shift. But to circle back to your question, I’d love to date you.
” He hands his phone to me and taps open the contacts.
“Can you enter your contact information, and I’ll be in touch? ”
“ Fake date.” I go hard on the F, enunciating it with everything I’ve got. “Not a real date. It’s just a public thing.”
“Right.” He nods, and I swallow. This was a bad idea but, apparently, I like bad ideas, because I go right on typing my number and give his phone back to him.
“So, yeah, you should be able to get ahold of me with that.” I step back and find myself glancing over my shoulder for a sign of where Ty went. It’s so odd he left me here .
“Great. Talk soon, Lottie.” Bodan throws his hand up in a silent wave and twirls around to walk away.
I stare after him.
This is good.
I got what I came for on the first try.
I got a handsome man to pose as my boyfriend. He works at this museum, and my mom will have to be pleased about that. My gaze drops to the side as I can’t help feeling a sinking in my gut.
Why do I feel an impending sense of doom crashing over me?