Wanted Distraction(2)

“Oh my God,” she said as she clapped her hands together in apparent delight. “That is so cute. I can totally see that!”

“Yeah, thanks.” I hated that everything about me in high school had been associated with words like “cute” and “delicate” and “adorable”. As though I’d been a stuffed teddy bear to tote around. “I was everyone’s favorite little sister and people were always trying to protect me or help me. Whenever I ended up with a top locker, my classmates would constantly swoop in to hang my sweater on the hook I couldn’t reach, or put stuff on the highest shelf for me. Or offer to trade lockers with me, which was worse, because it screamed helpless.”

I’d barely crested five feet my senior year and had been ecstatic when I’d gained an extra inch just before college. And I’d been even more pleased when I’d ventured into high heels.

“I was a pixie to them,” I told my friend. “I even had the short, perky haircut, though the color was kind of a mousy brown.”

Taylor whistled under her breath. “You for sure need to show the quarterback what a knockout you’ve become.”

“I don’t know about being a knockout, but I do want him to see me all grown up.” Yes, I’d had a huge crush on Carter Davis, which had stayed with me all this time. Now that he was returning to the Valley of the Sun, I really wanted to reconnect with him.

Nodding, Taylor said, “I get it.” She put a little more thought into the situation, then added, “You have it bad for this man, don’t you? You’re pretty stressed out over this.”

“He’s the only guy I’ve ever fallen for,” I admitted. “I know he’d take my call, but the problem is, I don’t want reminders of Tinkerbell and images of a dainty fairy to spring to mind when he hears the name Cherish Westerly. I don’t want him to have any preconceived notions about me before I see him.”

“Meaning you want me to keep the reservation for the interview in my name?”

“I swear I’ll set the record straight as soon as he arrives.”

She hedged, making me panic. “I don’t know, Cherish. I wouldn’t want him to think we’d duped him.”

“He’s not the sort to hold a grudge, trust me. And I’ll tell him I hijacked your interview so I could do the story on him. You’ll be completely in the clear, I promise.”

She stared at me a moment, and I worried she wouldn’t go along with my plan. My anxiety mounted until she finally said, “I bet you already have your dress picked out.”

I smiled as the tension in my shoulders eased. “The red one I wore to the fashion show we both covered last year.”

She whistled again. “That’s not a dress, my friend. That’s Marilyn Monroe brought back to life.”

“Tink needs to officially leave the building,” I said with conviction.

“That dress is certainly the way to erase visions of pixies from one’s mind.”

Her confidence in my ability to pull this off excited me. “Believe me, if you knew Carter Davis the way I do, you’d be going to extremes too.”

“He’s damn sexy, I’ll give you that much. But what’s so special about a jock with a Lamborghini?”

I sighed dreamily, unable to stop myself. “He’s so much more than that. He’s incredibly bright and very kind. He rescued me at our prom when my date ditched me to make out with another girl in the corner of the ballroom. He was quite the knight in shining armor.”

Taylor sat back in her chair, a concerned look on her face. “You never get gaga over a guy. What if your knight turns out to be a jerk? I mean, it’s been ten years since you graduated. He went off to Notre Dame, according to the article on him, and he’s been in the pros for the last six years. What if he’s become some big-shot playboy who’s going to crush you as if you were an inconsequential bug? Or worse. What if he makes an unwanted move on you?”

I stared at her a moment. These were things I hadn’t considered, primarily because they didn’t fit Carter’s nature or his reputation. Yet what really took me aback was Taylor’s pessimism.

I blinked once. Twice. Finally finding my voice, I said, “I had no idea you had such a dark, cynical side.”

She shrugged. “I’m a realist.”

“You’re also doing exactly what everyone has done most of my life—treating me as though you need to protect me because you don’t think I can take care of myself.”

“He’s a big man, Cherish,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Six-one, a hundred and eighty pounds says his bio on the Internet. He’s solid muscle and you’re…delicate.”