I stood, my appetite long gone. “I better go get Matt. I’m sure he’s got a million embarrassing questions to ask me that I don’t want to answer.”
“Good luck.” Lexie snagged my hand before I turned from the table. “You still coming out with me and Roxi tonight? Karaoke, remember?”
“Yeah, I’ll catch up with you guys later.” I took my plate to the kitchen where Mom and Catherine stood at the counter, assembling the strawberry shortcake. I set my plate down on the counter. “Hey, Mom. Matt and I need to get going.”
Startled, she glanced at the clock on the wall. “So soon?”
“We have plans, I’m sorry,” I said and felt bad about bailing when she was so excited about the “special guest”.
“Oh, okay. But we haven’t had dessert yet,” she said, frowning down at the cake platter.
“I know, but I ate too much.” It was a poor excuse, especially since my plate was still full.
Mom pulled out a kitchen drawer and took out a Tupperware container. “Here, take your food home. You’ll want it for lunch tomorrow. I’ll put some leftovers together for Matt, too.” She clucked and shook her head. “That poor boy. It would be so hard to lose a mother so young.”
“I can’t imagine,” I breathed. Mom took out three Tupperware containers and I knew she planned to heal Matt starting with his stomach. It was her answer for everything; any time something was wrong, Mom cooked.
When she disappeared into the dining room, I turned to Catherine.
“Truce?” I asked.
Catherine set another strawberry in the whipped frosting on the cake then gave me a small smile. I hated how tired her eyes were, and how I might be the cause of it. “Truce. Sorry about all that. I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately. I’m just…keyed up all the time.”
“Yeah, well, I shouldn’t beat up on a pregnant lady,” I joked and gave her a hug. “I’ll see you later, Cat.”
Mom walked in with the stuffed Tupperware containers. “I’ll get a bag. If Matt comes next Saturday for supper, I’ll make hamburger steak and gravy.”
It was my favorite—Mom knew what she was doing. I smiled and hugged her. “I’ll tell him.”
When I went to get Matt, it was clear he didn’t need saving. The men were all engrossed in the ball game, groaning over a two-run homer. I stepped behind the couch and rested my hand on Matt’s shoulder. He turned his head to look up at me and smiled.
“Hey, you,” he said. The fact that he wasn’t treating me like a parasite was a good sign. He had every right to judge me, and I’d even let him do it out loud, if he wanted—I deserved it.
“Remember that thing we have? Downtown?” I asked him, and Dad looked up at the sound of my voice.
Matt didn’t miss a step. He stood and said, “Oh, yes. I didn’t forget.”
I could tell Dad was surprised I wasn’t staying for the game. Even though I didn’t like baseball, I usually stayed for the game. “Leaving so soon?” Dad asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll come by tomorrow, maybe.”
Dad and Tony both stood and shook Matt’s hand.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, sir,” Matt said to Dad. “You too, Tony. I really enjoyed this.”
“You come back any time, Matt,” Dad boomed, giving Matt his seal of approval. Just another reason to feel like crud.
“We’ll have to get together soon,” Tony said, sounding like he meant it; no more cop-voice for Matt. He must have passed some sort of brother-in-law interrogation test while I’d been busy arguing with my sisters.
“I’d like that,” Matt said as he followed me to the door.
“I’ll get your number from Gen so we can plan a day to go fishing,” Dad said and I picked up the pace.
“We better hurry,” I told Matt, taking him by the arm and steering him away from the impending fishing plans. I already had a big enough hole to dig me out of.
Dad followed us to the door and I turned to hug him, standing on my tiptoes.
“Love you, Dad,” I said. He squeezed me tight in a bear hug, lifting me a couple of inches off the ground before setting me down.
“Love you too, Gennie. You make sure to get me Matt’s number, okay?”
I nodded, but he kept his eyes on me until I answered. “Yes. Yeah, I’ll do that. I’ll call you tomorrow. See you later, Dad.”
I took Matt’s hand and pulled him out of the front door. He closed it behind us and I didn’t let go of us hand until we were on the sidewalk in front of the house, standing beside a black Audi. It must have been his.
And then I remembered I didn’t have a car, I’d come with Lexie.
Chapter Ten
The evening breeze ruffled my hair; the warmth tonight caressed my skin instead of sticking to it as it had the past few days. I watched him through strands of blonde and pink in the twilight. He didn’t bolt, though. Instead, he brushed my hair from my eyes. His smile made me nervous—I didn’t trust myself with him. If it weren’t for us standing in front of my parents’ house, I probably would have thrown myself at him like I had the last time I’d seen him.
The blue nail polish I’d put on that afternoon was green under the street lamp. Could he tell how nervous I was? I couldn’t for the life of me think of anything to say in this awkward moment. So I went with something safe—I held out the sack of left overs.
“Mom insisted you take this home.”
He took it from me. “That was kind of her.”
“Mom likes to feed people,” I said.
He took his car keys from his pocket and pressed the unlock button. The car beeped and he opened the door to the backseat, setting the bag on the floor behind the passenger seat.
“So,” he said, and I couldn’t avoid his gaze any longer. I shoved my hands in my back pockets. “Do you make up boyfriends often?”
“No!” I gawked up at him, horrified. Then he cracked a smile and I crossed my arms over my chest. “It’s not funny.”
“Yes,” he teased and leaned against his car, “it really is.” He tilted his head. “Don’t look now, but we’re being watched.”
It was hard not to look over my shoulder, but I didn’t. I pictured my family with their noses pressed against the living room window. “Shoot me now. Seriously,” I said.
“It was less awkward than I thought it would be,” he said.
“You’re just being nice.” Actually, what he’d done for me, showing up here so as not to blow my cover, was more than nice. It was heroic. Knight in shining armor stuff. I didn’t know any guy who would have stuck his neck out like this for me, a complete stranger.
He laughed. “Okay, I guess it was a little awkward, but your family is great.” His attention was on the window behind me again so I knew someone was still there watching us. “Were you going to call me?”
“Yes, of course,” I said and blushed because it was a lie and lying had already gotten me into the most embarrassing situation of my life thus far. His lips twitched.
“No, you weren’t,” he mused.
I wanted to crawl home and cower under my bed for at least a day. “Well, I had thought I would call you until I blurted out to my entire family you were my boyfriend. And then I knew I should throw your card away and never speak to you again for the rest of my life so you wouldn’t know what I did and so my family wouldn’t know I’d made you up.”
I was talking too fast, but he took it in stride and said, “It really was the most interesting conversation I’ve had in…ever.”
I pictured my mom’s enthusiasm and groaned. “I really don’t want to know.”
“Good. I’m going to tell you anyway,” he said, his eyes still laughing at me. I really had no dignity left—it had vanished the moment I’d turned and put my face in his crotch. “Your mom called. She mentioned how excited she was you had a boyfriend and how your whole family thought you’d take your slimeball ex-boyfriend back. ‘Slimeball’ was her term, not mine. Not only did she force me into a conversation about your hair—” he tugged on a lock of my hair, “—but she mentioned how worried she’s been about your unhealthy obsession with aliens and how you won’t get along with any of the nice young men your sister has set you up with.”
“Oh, my God,” I breathed, “you’re kidding. Right?”
He shook his head. Numb, I stared at him as I imagined the conversation.
“So naturally when she found out about me, she was over the moon with relief that your alien obsession isn’t ruining your judgment in men.”
“
Ooohhh
,” I moaned and hung my head, fighting back tears. When had my life gotten so humiliating? It was like I blinked or something and,
bam
, daily embarrassment was my punishment. For what, I didn’t know. I really wanted to know.
“Hey, it’s not so bad.” He closed the distance between us and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. The scent of him drifted up to my nose and instinctively I molded myself to him and inhaled. Standing there in his embrace, I realized how much I’d been hoping to see him again. I’d just discounted it ever happening after what I’d done. He rested his chin on the top of my head. He said, “I got to see you again, so I’d say tonight turned out pretty good.”
I smiled, my cheek against his chest. “Are you sure you aren’t mad?” I tilted my head just a little to peer up at him. It should have been awkward in his arms, especially under the circumstances, but it wasn’t. It was nice.
“Of course not. I wanted to come, to see what kind of trouble you’d gotten yourself into.”
“A lot of trouble.” I leaned my cheek against his chest again and told myself I was doing it for the benefit of those spying on us inside my parents’ house, not for me.
“We’re still being watched. Your sisters,” he said. “Should I kiss you?”
Yes, yes, yes!!!
I swallowed and looked up at him. “Um, maybe you should. Because they think you’re my boyfriend.”
And because I wanted him to. His lips were all I’d been thinking about for the last two days. Of course I wanted him to.
“Well, I’d hate to disappoint anyone,” he whispered and leaned down to kiss me.
His lips were soft, fitting against mine perfectly. I kissed him back, but this kiss wasn’t about ripping his clothes off. It was sweet and sensual and too short. I wanted more, but not with my sisters spying. When he broke away, I was so disappointed, I had to force myself not to pout.
“I think this night deserves a drink,” Matt said. “If you don’t have any other plans?”
As if I’d say “no” after that kiss!
I stepped out of his arms. “A drink sounds great.”
Chapter Eleven
Matt opened the door to Decadence and I stepped inside. He followed me in, looking around at the brick interior, the knotted hard wood floors and the old black and white photographs peppered between colorful abstract art. The ceilings were high, but the room was small, the little bar with its tall stools tucked into the corner. Soft Reggae played throughout the two-room bar and I waved at Ted, the bartender, when he looked up from a jar of olives.
“Whoa, what happened to your goatee?” I asked, and Ted reached up to touch his now-bare chin.
“Little sister is getting married next week. She threatened my life if I didn’t shave it off.”
“I sympathize. I’ll probably be all blonde when you see me next. Lexie threatened to shoot me if I went to her engagement party with pink in my hair.” I set my purse on an empty bar stool.
“That’s too bad. I like the pink.” Ted twisted the cap off the olive jar and his dreadlocks dangled around his face. “Extra-dirty martinis?” He looked up again the dreads settled around his shoulders.
I glanced over at Matt. “Are you a martini guy?”
“I’ll just take a beer,” Matt said and pointed to a dark lager.
“Sure thing, man,” Ted said and pulled a frosty mug from a freezer behind the counter.
“Ted, this is my friend Matt. Matt, this is Ted.” They shook hands and I nodded toward the adjoining room where I always sat. There was no door separating the rooms, just a wide open space where French doors had once been years ago. “We’re going to grab the sofa and I’ll come back for the drinks.”
“I’ll be back for the drinks,” Matt told Ted, as he settled his hand against the dip in my lower back, leading me away from the bar. “My dad would skin me alive if he thought I made my date pay for my drink and carry it too.”
I shivered at his touch and the words he’d whispered against my ear.
“Such a gentleman,” I breathed, unable to hold my grin in check. I looked back over my shoulder at Ted who reached to pull a bottle of liquor off the shelf, and said to him, “You heard the man, he’ll be back for the drinks.”
Who was I to turn down a free drink? Besides, I was too thrilled by him calling this crazy night a date instead of a disaster.
“So, what do you think of this place?” As we reached the sofa, I took my phone from my purse. It hadn’t rang yet, which surprised me. Lexie would be curious, and worried, that I’d left with Matt. I’d messaged her on the way to the bar to tell her I’d call her later, but I knew it wouldn’t be good enough to placate her for long. I set my purse on the coffee table and sat with my phone in my lap, sinking down into the plush cushions as Matt settled in beside me. There wasn’t much space between us—a calculated effort on my part; I’d sat in the middle so he’d have to sit close.