hitched up. “I usually run over at Central Park. Have you ever done that trail?”
I laughed. “You’d have to carry me for most of that.”
He smiled. “Nah, you could do it. We could walk for parts of it. Think of it as a team building exercise.”
Was I willing to run just to spend time with him? I chose not to read into that fact.
He nodded toward the subway entrance a few yards away. “C’mon, let’s head over there before breakfast.”
My face fell. “What about the property?”
“I’ll have my agent set up a time to view it,” he promised, walking backward toward the subway entrance.
When I didn’t immediately follow him, he paused.
“That’s it? I feel bad for waking you up,” I said, moving to join him. “Your response wasn’t as awesome as I’d hoped it would be.”
“I like it,” he said with a reassuring nod.
“That doesn’t sound very convincing.”
He laughed and came to stand in front of me. “Jo, I love it. Thanks for waking me up at the ass-crack of dawn to see it. I don’t know what I would do without an employee as dedicated as you are.”
The bastard was patronizing me.
“I hate you,” I said, hitting his shoulder playfully.
“No.” He smiled, pretending to massage where I’d just hit him. “You can’t hate your only friend in New York.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Pfft. I have way more friends than you.”
He arched a brow; he clearly didn’t believe me.
“Like Dean,” I said with a triumphant smile. I’d only met him last night but that didn’t mean we weren’t friends.
He rolled his eyes. “Right.”
“He’s pretty cute.”
I’d said it as a joke—partly—but Julian obviously didn’t take it as one. His laughter died and his gaze sliced over to me.
“Dean has a new girlfriend every week. He’s not the settling down type.”
I held up my free hand. “Whoa. It’s not like I want to date him.”
He didn’t seem convinced, so I pushed further. “Besides, I don’t date. Ever.”
There. Julian had the truth and he could do with it what he wanted.
I brushed past him and headed toward the subway entrance, ignoring my flaming cheeks. He jogged to catch up with me and I could feel him studying me, clearly struggling with what he wanted to say. We walked down the stairs in silence. I swiped my subway card, pushed through the metal barrier, and headed toward the blue line track, all the while keenly aware of Julian’s presence beside me.
“Why not?” he finally asked as we took our seats beside each other on the subway.
I tilted my head. “Why not what?”
“Why don’t you date?”
His voice was gentle, and where I’d assumed there would be hints of judgment, there was only curiosity.
“Do I need an excuse?” I laughed.
He chuckled. “You make it sound like it’s worse than pulling teeth.”
For me, it was.
“The last time I went on a good date, I was in the seventh grade and Hunter Buchanan invited me over to play Mario Kart with him for three hours.”
Julian started to crack up. “You’re kidding me.”
I shrugged. “I wish.”
“Are you a virgin?” he asked. Just like that. Point blank.
I gaped so wide my jaw practically came unhinged. Jesus. Good thing the subway car was fairly empty.
“No!” I said, glaring over at him. “I’m not a freaking virgin. How lame do you think I am?”
He held up his hands in defense.
“What? You made it seem like that was the case. I thought I was going to have to do you a favor.”
My cheeks were on fire. I knew I was blushing so hard that the astronauts on the space station would be able to detect it.
“By deflowering me?! Oh my god, Julian, you’re verging on asshole territory right now.”
“No! No,” he said, reaching for my arm so that I couldn’t move away from him. “That’s not what I meant.”
He tried to catch my eye, but I held my gaze steady at the top of the subway car. There was an ad about an apartment finder service stretched across the edge of the ceiling; I focused on it like my life depended on it. I knew he was kidding, but the whole conversation was beyond embarrassing. My self-confidence was lying in a pool on the ground, and my ego was mixed in there with it. I didn’t need Julian to make it any worse.
“Jo—”
I shook my head. This conversation needed to end. Now.
“You know what? None of this even matters anyway because I have a date.” I forced myself to look at him as