Date Night (Wish Come True Book 1) (8 page)

“No thanks. Why risk it when there
are plenty of other fish in the sea?”

“Good plan,” I said facetiously,
shaking my head back and forth. “If my recent experience has taught me
anything, the majority of those fish are deadbeats. Take my advice; don’t limit
the pool.”

***

J.T.

I cursed under my breath as I jogged
up to the restaurant entrance. Why did everything have to be so difficult? I
had just wanted to stop by the bank and deposit Grannie’s check on my break.
And if I’d been paying attention to the road instead of daydreaming about
Jordan and a possible future with her, then I might have seen the broken bottle
in the parking spot. The last thing I needed right now was a flat tire. At
least the bank was only a mile away. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure how to change
a tire, and had been afraid it would have taken me a long time. I would go back
after my shift. As it was late already, I had probably missed the beginning of
Jordan’s date.

If the last thirty minutes had taught
me anything, it was that my thoughts were completely and utterly distracted by
Jordan. The way she smelled. How her hair fell across her shoulders and down
her back to frame her beautiful face. The feel of her silky hot tongue against
mine and the way her hand had clasped my cock, like she knew what she was
doing. I buried that thought deep in the recesses of my brain, not wanting to
imagine Jordan in the throes of passion with some other guy. Certainly she had
only read a lot of juicy romance novels.

Thankfully it was summer break and I
didn’t have to worry about resuming my studying until the fall. That bought me
a little time to figure this mess out. But one thing seemed certain; either I
needed to jump on board with both feet and fully embrace a relationship with
Jordan or I needed to jump ship completely. And I needed to decide before the
next semester began so my head would be in the game.

As I stepped into the restaurant, my
eyes searched the tables until they rested on the familiar sleek dark brown
ponytail, slim neck and shoulders. Warm contentment spread through me like a
stream of hot water filling a bath. I immediately felt the involuntary upward
curving of my lips and sighed. I had it bad. And it scared the shit out of me.
I waited at the back counter for Chloe to finish taking Jordan and her date’s
order.

“Hey,” she said, walking up to the
kiosk and glancing at the sweat stains soaking my shirt. “What happened to you?
I hope you don’t mind, but I didn’t know if you were going to make it back, so
I told Maggie I’d take your table.”

“Thanks.” I shoved my hands in my
pockets and glanced over to check out Jordan’s date from afar. It was hard to
make anything out from this angle. “I got a stinking flat tire. Can you believe
it?”

“That sucks,” Chloe said and smiled
at me. “But no worries here. It doesn’t look like Jordan will need you to save
her from this date. This guy has his act together. He’s a little older—maybe
thirty or so—and he’s a real looker to boot. She’s been smiling and laughing
for the last fifteen minutes straight.”

I eyed Chloe skeptically as she went
about loading a tray with plates. Was she being straight with me or was this
her way of getting back at me for rejecting her at the graduation party? But
she seemed normal enough. Guess I was going to have to check it out on my own.
Only it wouldn’t be so easy this time since I wasn’t waiting on Jordan’s table.
After the way I’d pushed her away and agreed she should keep dating, I couldn’t
just show up and introduce myself. That didn’t seem right or fair.

Luckily the hostess had seated them
in my section so I was able to catch bits and pieces of their conversation as I
went about my job waiting on the surrounding tables. I slipped in a wink at
Jordan when I brushed past their table with both arms loaded with plates and
chuckled when a smile tugged at the corner of her lips in acknowledgment. But
judging by the occasional laughter and free flowing conversation I witnessed,
Chloe’s assessment wasn’t far off the mark.

As the minutes ticked by and the date
moved beyond the critical sixty minute mark, the repeated peals of laughter,
which usually brought a smile to my face, began to grate on my nerves. What was
this guy saying that could possibly be so funny? I knew Jordan’s laugh like the
back of my hand and this was no-holds-barred, genuine laughter. I cashed out my
final table and headed over to the bar to take a breather with Mike.

“Looks like Jordan’s having a good
date,” Mike said as I walked up. “Did you get to meet the guy?”

I stared at their table. “Nope, I got
a flat tire at the bank and had to hoof it back here and was too late. Chloe’s
taking care of them tonight. She said he seems like a nice enough guy though.
It’s hard to tell at a distance.”

“Oh snap,” Mike whistled deeply as
Jordan’s date stood to head towards the restroom. “I know him.”

I cocked my brow at Mike in what I
hoped seemed like a brotherly gesture. “And?”

“The dude is married,” he said,
shaking his head in disgust. “He lives about three houses down from my sister.
What an asshole. You need to warn Jordan while he’s in the restroom. I feel the
need to piss coming on right now. Go talk to her. I’ll keep him at bay.”

I slipped into the bench seat next to
Jordan and whispered the news. Her sweet scent overwhelmed my senses and it
took all of my self-control not to nibble on her delectable little ear. I had
missed her so much in the last couple of days.

“Shut up!” She frowned and scrunched
up her eyebrows. “I don’t believe it.”

“Why would Mike lie about something
like that?” I asked with a raised brow.

“But he isn’t wearing a ring.”

“Guess he isn’t a complete moron,” I
said in disgust. “I’ve got to go. He’s heading back now. Mike just met him in
the restroom. Let’s see how he reacts after having been caught red-handed by
someone he knows.”

“Check please.”

The words were out of her date’s
mouth the second Chloe arrived at their table with dessert. He threw cash down
on the table and was out of the door in minutes.

I sat across from Jordan and pulled
the untouched plate of cheesecake toward me, taking a big bite. “Grannie should
have done a better job researching that dating service. Sorry your date was
such a creep.”

A wide grin spread over her face. “Yeah,
I bet. Is that why you have a shit-eating-grin plastered on your face? Because
you feel sorry for me?”

“Uh…huh,” I mumbled with my mouth
still full. The sparkle in my eyes probably convinced her otherwise. But why
did I feel like I had dodged a bullet to my heart? She had looked
way
too
comfortable in that guy’s company.

“What happened to you tonight, anyway?
Why was Chloe waiting on us?”

“I went to the bank to cash a check
Grannie gave me and got a flat tire,” I said, staring down at my plate. I
didn’t know if I was more embarrassed about cashing a check from Grannie or
admitting to a flat tire that I didn’t know how to change.

“She told me about that,” Jordan
confessed in a soft voice. “I’m so happy for you JT. It should at least take
some of the burden off of you for the next year until you begin your career.”

“It was very generous of Grannie.” I
shifted in my seat before finally meeting her gaze head on. “I told her she
should give the money to you.”

Jordan flashed a smile at me. “I
heard that too. You’re so damned stubborn. Lucky for Grannie she is even more
so! I’m glad you accepted it. It gave her so much joy to do this for you.”

I nodded my head and rubbed the back
of my neck to ease the tension caused by thinking about my mounting student
loan debt. “Yeah, I know. It’ll definitely put a dent in my debt. My last year
of school comes with a fifty thousand dollar price tag. Even the grant money I
qualify for won’t cover a quarter of the cost.”

“She’d have given you more if she
thought you’d have accepted it,” Jordan said. “But I think she knew how hard it
was going to be to convince you to accept her gift as it was.”

I could feel a red hot flush staining
my cheeks and wished I could be more gracious about accepting Grannie’s
generosity, but it simply didn’t sit well in my stomach. Right, wrong or
indifferent, I was used to being responsible for myself and for my brother. I
had to be or we weren’t going to make it in this world. The way Grannie had
embraced me and my brother only made the choice of whether or not to date
Jordan that much more difficult. Her family was undeniably my family. Could I
risk losing them?
Would
I lose them if things didn’t work out?

“I know,” I said with my eyes trained
on my clasped hands resting on the table. “It’s just so ingrained in me, you
know. It’s hard for me not to earn my own way through life. My dad used to
always say:
‘If you didn’t earn it, then you don’t deserve it.’
Sorry
I’m such a pain in the ass sometimes.”  A slow smile lifted the corner of my
mouth. “Speaking of which, maybe you can give me a lift back to the bank so I
can change the flat tire?”

“Sure,” Jordan scooted out of the
bench seat. “Let’s go.”

She pulled into the bank parking lot
a few minutes later and I quickly cautioned her to park a few spaces away to
avoid any surrounding glass. We hopped out of the car and went to assess the
damage.

“I can’t see anything,” I said. “Can
you?”

“No. Don’t you have a flashlight?”

I cleared my throat, “Uh…no.”

“JT!” She placed one hand on her hip
and wagged a finger in my face. “That is survival basics 101. Grannie would
cuss you out right now if she knew you didn’t keep one in your car. And don’t
think I won’t tell her!”

“Come on Jordan,” I said, leaning in
to rest my forehead against hers. “I’ve had a rough night. Be nice, babe.”

“Ok.” She conceded immediately with a
small peck on my lips before heading back to her car to find her flashlight.

“We’re going to have to brush this
glass away so you don’t get another flat tire when you put on the spare,” she
said.

“Good idea.” I began kicking the
larger pieces of glass away with the toe of my shoes.

“Have you ever changed a tire?”

“Nope.” I scratched behind my ear
with a frown marring my face. “Can’t even say I know where the spare tire is
located.”

Jordan giggled and pulled out her phone.
“That’s what Google is for. I’ll look it up while you go find the tools. Start
searching in your trunk.”

I leaned into my trunk and muttered
under my breath. How embarrassing. My father had diligently prepared me for so
many things in life but changing a flat tire wasn’t one of them. .He’d probably
turn in his grave if he knew I didn’t keep a survival kit, including a
flashlight, in my car at all times. Mark that one on my list of things to do in
the near future.

Jordan read off the instructions
while I carried out the task, working up a thorough sweat. We laughed and
talked as I muddled my way through it. I filled her in on Derek’s recent visit
to the WSU campus and dorms where he’d be living next year.

“It’s going to be strange not having
Derek around all the time,” I said as I tightened the lug nuts on the tire. “I
guess he’s growing up.”

“Funny how that works,” Jordan said.
“We all have to grow up sometime. Who knows where I’ll end up? I have a few
interviews in the Metro-Detroit area but if they don’t pan out I’m going to
have to broaden my search.”

I gazed at her over my shoulder from
my crouched position. “Well, then I hope you find something around here. It’d
be a real bummer if two of my favorite people in the world left me high and
dry.”

The thought of her leaving town to
pursue her career bothered me more than I let on. If she left town, then how
would we ever pursue a relationship? We should be the ones to decide whether or
not to date. Not some stupid job. She had to find something in the area. When I
finally lifted the flat tire back into my trunk, I breathed out a heavy sigh
and wiped a drop of sweat from my brow.

“Whew.” I said, smiling down at her. “Thanks
for the help, Jordan. Man, I need to get home and jump in the shower. I stink.
I didn’t realize changing a tire was so hard.”

Jordan leaned in closer and took a
whiff. “Probably a good idea,” she said and coyly gazed up at me. “Need any
help with that? I’m real good with a bar of soap in my hands.”

I barely managed to contain the gasp
that threatened to escape but could do nothing to prevent the thick bulge
rising quickly in my pants at the image of her soapy hands washing my body from
head to toe. Trying to prevent it was impossible; but the cover of darkness hid
the evidence of her effect on me. The little vixen knew what she was doing. Did
I even stand a chance of fighting her off?

“That’s a mighty tempting offer,” I
said, smiling back at her. “But Derek is at home right now.”

“Hmmm,” she murmured, gazing into my
eyes. “Saved by the little brother.”

“Or cursed,” I returned, cupping her
face. I leaned down and brushed my lips softly against hers. The feather light
touch was all it took to send blood coursing through my veins. Lord, how I
wanted her. I pulled back and rubbed my thumb gently over her cheek.