I reached for the candy bar and put it back inside my purse. “Noah gave it to me.” There’s no way I could ever eat it. I would let it get moldy and stale, or whatever it was candy bars did when they went bad. (Having never let a candy bar go bad, I had no idea what happened to them.) I was going to put it in a box somewhere and pull it out to look at it when I wanted to reminisce.

Shelby’s eyes danced. “So he gave you something and you’re keeping it. For sentimental reasons. Nothing about that says, ‘I want to be just friends.’”

“I keep stuff you’ve given me,” I scoffed.

“Name one thing.”

My mind went blank. I had nothing. “I’m not playing this game with you.”

“Good plan. Because you’d lose.” She poured coffee into one of the mugs before handing it to me. “You should have jumped all over that man. You’re in the world’s worst dry spell.”

“It’s only a dry spell if you’re thirsty,” I said, opting to drink without adding in massive amounts of sugar because I needed the caffeine kick. I grimaced after my first sip. I always forgot how much better coffee tasted after it had been sweetened.

She had both of her hands wrapped around her own mug. “How can you think you’re not thirsty? You’re like a dehydrated man who’s been crawling through the Sahara on his hands and knees for two days with no help in sight.”

“Why am I not a woman in this scenario?”

After she took a sip, she said, “Because only a man would do something stupid enough to get himself stranded in the Sahara.” She set her mug on the counter. “You’ve got to give me something. Because I can tell that he likes you, whether or not you agree with me. There had to be a moment. I’m an old engaged woman. Tell me about the butterflies so that they may live on in my memory.”

At that I laughed and said, “Fine. There was this moment last night where he looked at me like . . .”

“Like?” she prompted, urging me to go on.

“Like how Malec looked at Aliana after their first fight.”

She reached across the countertop to grab my forearm while squealing in delight. “Are you kidding me? I would have died if he ever looked at me that way!”

“Hi, recently resurrected person here.”

“Then what did you do?”

“I got out of the car.”

“You didn’t kiss him?” she asked in utter disbelief.

“We’re just friends. I can’t.”

“You most certainly can! Often, and with a crap ton of passion.”

I went to my old standby. “I’m not dating anyone. You know that. I’m focusing on my business. And kissing leads to dating.”