Truth or Date(11)

He gave me a suspicious side-glance. “How do I know that?”

“Guess you’ll just have to trust me.” My fingers brushed his cheek and his icy blue eyes simmered. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

When I turned to go, he held my arm, his eyes darkening. “You look gorgeous, by the way. As always.”

Warmth flooded through me. “Thanks.”

His eyes trailed over me one last time. “Since you’re already here, let’s meet out front at eight instead of your place.”

Before I had a chance to respond, he backed away and disappeared into the men’s room. I grabbed the wall as I swayed a little. Even though we were role playing, the exchange frazzled my nerves as if we were a couple who’d had our first fight and then made up. Intense would be a good word for the whirlwind that just happened between us.

Not wanting Chris to find me standing here when he came out, I inhaled deeply then headed back to my date.



CHAPTER SEVEN



Saying goodnight to Ethan had been all kinds of awkward since he wanted to walk me to my car, but I wasn’t going to the car because my next date was already here, on the back deck and, oh yeah, Ethan didn’t like him. Finally, I made up an excuse about needing to use the restroom (again), gave him a brief hug (man, those muscles were firm), and assured him that he didn’t need to wait for me. It had to be one of the oddest departures in history.

After touching up my lipstick and fluffing my hair in the ladies room, I slipped out onto the back deck where the band’s music pulsed through me in a vibrating hum. Man, the radio was right. They were good.

Chris and John sat at a table near the railing and were just paying their bill.

I adjusted the purse handle on my shoulder. “Hi, guys.”

“Hi.” Chris finished signing his bill then gestured between John and me. “You remember Gina from last night.”

John gaped in a way that said he barely recognized me from last night. Definitely had to thank Rach for her fashion advice.

The three of us headed out of the restaurant together then strolled down the sidewalk passing old-fashioned buildings housing various restaurants, a candy shop, toy store, comedy club, and more. I loved the charm of Old Sac. It made me all warm and gooey inside. We made small talk along the way . . . well, mostly John did the talking. Chris was actually acting kind of aloof . . . a first for him.

“This is where we’re meeting everyone.” John stopped in front of a brick building with wooden doors painted green and white around the small window panes. “O’Malley’s.”

Recognizing the Irish pub, my smile spread wide and I turned to Chris. “Isn’t this the place we all came after the company picnic last year? That was such a blast.”

Despite my excitement over the fun memory, he merely nodded without meeting my eyes and held open the door for John and me to go through first. I bit my lip and frowned, wondering what was up with Chris’s odd behavior.

“There they are.” John led the way, waving to a guy and two girls who swiveled toward us in their high back bar stools. “Hey, Bill, Wanda, Tina.”

My shoulders tensed as Chris and I approached the table and Ms. H.R.’s long legs—one crossed over the other— came into view. Could her skirt be any shorter? Yeah, we were out of the office, but still.

Bill waved immediately. “Pull up a chair.”

We ordered some beers, then joined them at the table. Not surprisingly, Ms. H.R. invited Chris to sit next to her. Whatever. He was barely talking to me anyway. Not sure what I did, but John sat on the other side of me and seemed friendly enough.

It turned out John and I both went to school at Sac State and we exchanged stories about a couple of mutual professors we’d had in general studies. He majored in Sociology, having no idea what he wanted to do, and somehow ended up in software sales. I laughed at his tales of changing multiple careers after grad since I’d been interested in accounting practically since birth.

A couple hours later, Wanda started yawning and suggested we call it a night. Outside the entrance we parted ways with the others, leaving Chris and me alone.

****

We ambled down the sidewalk, passing the first block without talking until I decided to break the silence. “I liked getting to know everyone.” Well, with the exception of Ms. H.R. who clearly had the hots for my pretend boyfriend and wore skirts that should be rated R. “You’re gonna be working with some great people so that should put you at ease that the change will go smoothly. Did you have a good time?”

He shrugged. “Good enough.”

I didn’t want to press into his private business, even as his pretend girlfriend, but I’d never seen him so quiet before. “Something’s clearly bothering you. Did you get a hate text at dinner or something?”

The corner of his mouth tipped up. “A what?”

“Bad news. I don’t know.” Seeing him smile a bit felt refreshing and as we passed a bar I’d never been to I suddenly had an idea. “Want to get another drink?”

“You mean now?”

“Come on.” Being brave, I laced my arm through his. “My treat, honey.”

Both corners of his mouth turned up now. “In that case . . . ”

We exchanged a smile as Chris held the door open for me, then we got drinks at the bar and took them to a round green vinyl booth in the back corner. Not too many people in here—an older couple facing each other on bar stools, a young guy by the front window drinking alone and texting on his phone, and a few guys at a table with their eyes glued to some sports replay on TV—but not completely dead for a Thursday.

I glanced around and spotted an actual jukebox on the back wall—no joke—and I made Chris get some change from the bar while I eyed the songs. No songs were going right now so we controlled the playlist. Sweet.

The jukebox, it turns out, had a wide selection of music—current and old. I pressed my lips together. “Hmm. . . What’re we feeling?”

“Something upbeat. I’ll pick.” Wearing a smirk, he bumped his hip against mine, moving me aside so he could make the selection. I gasped. Oh, no way. I shoved my shoulder into his arm (since he was a bit taller than me), inching myself in front of the glass to view the options and the battle over the buttons began. The back and forth nudging didn’t last long, but I found myself breathless from the feel of Chris rubbing against me. We’d never done that in the office.

I won—though I’m guessing he let me, because he’s like six feet and in shape and I’m five-six and, well, not. I quickly chose an album by The Fray. Seconds later, the slow and steady piano notes of Never Say Never rang out and I slid back into our rounded booth ahead of him, a victorious smile plastered across my face. “Thanks for letting me decide, honey. You rock my world.”

“Letting? You have a strangely broad definition of that word.” Scooching in beside me, Chris brought the brown bottle to his lips, taking a swig of beer as we listened to the heartfelt lyrics. “This song is depressing. How can you stand it?”

Under the table, I bounced my knee into his in protest. “It’s romantic.”

He listened to a few more lines, set his bottle on the table, then scoffed. “See? Depressing. They’re fighting.”

“So?” I enjoyed the angst and agony in the singer’s voice. All the tension building up meant an increased ah-factor when they got back together in the end. “The song finishes on a happy note with them working things out. It’s a great choice. Thanks for agreeing with me.”

“I see you have a broad definition for the word agreeing as well.” Spinning the bottle between his palms, he shook his head. “Relationships shouldn’t be that difficult.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “How would you know?”

Ooops, had I said that aloud?

A perplexed look crossed his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I shrugged, not wanting to answer. We’d just gotten our light banter back and I didn’t want to lose it. After all, his last day at work was tomorrow and I didn’t want us to part on a bad note. But, then again, he had asked (and I’d had several beers at the pub prior to this) so it suddenly seemed like a good idea to say what I thought. “It’s just. . . You date around. A lot.”

Instead of being bothered or insulted, his eyes danced. “You’ve been paying attention to who I date? That’s cute, sweetie.”

My cheeks heated and I tried to play it off by taking a sip of my Midori Sour but it only made him laugh harder. I shook my head. “I wasn’t paying specific attention or anything. It’s pretty obvious to everyone in the office that you hop from date to date. I mean, you never bring the same girl to a company event twice.”

He raised his brows, finished off his beer, then patted the table as he pushed to his feet. “You want another?”

“Sure.” If I kept putting my foot in my mouth, maybe it would dull the embarrassment. So he dated a lot. Why was I making a big deal about it? I rolled my eyes at my unintended jealousy, downed the rest of my bright green drink, then bit the cherry off its stem. The sweet maraschino flavor burst in my mouth as I chewed on the squooshy artificially-preserved fruit.