The Dating Intervention: Book 1 in the Intervention Series (24 page)

“Ooh,” they all said in unison. “Very yummy.”
 

“I know,” Benjamin said. “I know. This is the third night he’s been in here. Second night alone. I’ll be back.”
 

They watched him walk over to the table.
 

“Ahh, young love,” Josie said. “Speaking of young love, I just pulled up your FindLove profile and Sebastian-slash-Jake wants to know if you can go out tomorrow night.”
 

“Of course I can. Right? Can’t I?”

“He’s pursuing you now,” Josie said. “I think it’s time to make him wait, just a little. Can we do next Wednesday? Push it back? We want him to think your social schedule is very busy.”
 

“I’m confused. You say you want me to stick with a normal guy. Then a normal guy comes along and you want me to play hard to get.”
 

“It’s all part of the game, my sister,” Summer said. “Josie’s right. You can’t be available every time he asks. You have to show interest, but also come across as having your own life. So he doesn’t think he’s taking on too much importance.”
 

“So I’m just going to say, ‘Sorry, I’m busy tomorrow, but I’d love to see you. How about Wednesday before my cooking class, instead? Short and sweet.”
 

The word, “Fine,” died on Delaney’s lips as she remembered her renewed effort to follow instructions. Instead she said, “Thanks, Josie.”
 

“Oh. He must be online right now. He just wrote back, ‘Wednesday’s good. Shall I pick you up at your place?’”
 

“Sure,” Delaney said.
 

“No,” Summer and Josie said in unison. Summer added, “We don’t want him knowing where your house is, yet.”
 

Delaney didn’t mention that he’d walked her home that night she’d run into him outside Eddie’s. She didn’t mention the steamy kiss, either.
 

“I’ll just tell him to meet at Eddie’s,” Josie said.
 

“No!” When both girls jumped with surprise, Delaney explained, “It’s just that I met Mitchell there… during my phase of disobedience. It’d be awkward to meet Jake there, too.”
 

It was a lie—Mitchell, who was supposed to be a lawyer, worked there and she didn’t want to run into him—but the girls would never know.

“All right,” Josie said.

“Hey, look at Benjamin! That’s so cute!”
 

At the corner table, Benjamin had slid onto the barstool across from the good-looking guy in the red t-shirt. They leaned toward each other, talking intensely.
 

“I wonder what they’re saying,” Summer said.

Then, the moment ended as both men howled with amusement, tipping their heads back. Benjamin got off the stool and walked to the front of the bar, tapping the girls’ table as he went.
 

“You know,” Summer said, “I have an idea. I think we need a break from talking about The Dating Intervention, Josie’s working out and my band stuff. What do you guys say we go to the spa this weekend? Pedicures, massages, whatever?”
 

“Oh, I could kill for a good pedicure,” Josie said.
 

“Saturday?” Summer said. “After yoga?”

“It’s a date,” Delaney and Josie said.
 

“I’ll make appointments at Hot Rocks,” Delaney said. “This will be perfect, in case you guys find me a date with another guy who has a foot fetish.”
 

“So, back to Sebastian-slash-Jake,” Josie said. “How about the fountain on the square? And you guys can go from there?”
 

“Sure. Perfect.”
 

Even as her mouth formed the words, though, Delaney’s mind began to form another plan. Even as she yearned for her friends’ approval, she craved autonomy. She craved Jake Rhoades, and she didn’t want to wait until Wednesday to see him.

The Internet, as far as Delaney was concerned, was one of the best spy tools around. With a little work, you could find the dirt on just about anyone you wanted to. Jake Rhoades was no exception.
 

A quick search brought up tons of results. Most of them had to do with his furniture or his standings as a professional fisherman. A couple of the results showed that he was on the social networking site FriendZoo. She logged into her own account and searched for him there.
 

She was surprised when the profile picture loaded: it was definitely Jake Rhoades and he was flashing the same cocky smirk she’d thought about so often since she’d first seen it. The quick flutter in her stomach and the memory of his lips on hers made her shiver.

Then she saw the other pictures, loading under the heading, “Photos of Jake.” Even though Delaney’s rational mind knew these weren’t images Jake had uploaded, jealousy hit her like someone karate chopped her in the chest (and she had seen firsthand during one of Summer’s boys’ fights, what that could do to a person).
 

In one picture, a beautiful blond girl smiled at the camera, her tan, toned arm around Jake’s waist. In another, Jake kissed that same girl on the cheek. These pictures could be years old, or they could be as recent as this morning for all Delaney knew.
 

Her first instinct was to call Summer or Josie. But she squelched that even as her hand reached for her phone. She didn’t want them to know she was cyber-stalking Jake. Her second instinct was to send him an instant message, demanding to know when these photos were taken, and with whom. Not that him seeing other people right now was a deal-breaker, but it was an issue to consider, especially when she’d started thinking about them, naked. All. The. Time.
 

Fortunately, her third instinct kicked in. To get off of FriendZoo before she made a fool of herself.
 

First, though, she decided to send him a quick message:
Hey, Jake. I don’t know what I was thinking earlier. I’ll feel pretty rushed if we meet before cooking class Wednesday, but I can meet tomorrow after all. How about 6 pm at the fountain on the square?

Before she could chicken out, she clicked Send. After all, she reasoned, an extra date would give her the chance to beat around the bush about that girl. Then, knowing every minute she remained signed in was another chance for her to do (or type) something stupid, she signed off and went to bed.
 

Just before she fell asleep, somewhere in the recesses of her fuzzy mind, it occurred to her to think about whether Jake would think she was cyber-stalking him. She hadn’t sent him a friend request, but she’d obviously found his profile. Was that creepy?
 

By morning, she’d forgotten about those small questions of creepiness. He’d returned her message with a short and sweet, “Great! See you then,” and all she could do as she floated through the rest of the day was think about six p.m.
 

***

Early spring twilight cast soft shadows on the downtown square. The fountain bubbled merrily and a couple of kids tossed shiny pennies into the water, watching them sink to the bottom before closing their eyes to wish.

Delaney strolled casually toward the fountain, her face alight with excitement. Summer and Josie crouched behind a nearby shrub, watching their traitorous friend.

“She makes me so mad!” Josie growled. “I can’t believe she’s doing this!”

“Shh. She’ll hear you,” Summer said. “We’re only, like, four feet away from the fountain.”
 

“I can’t believe you caught her in the act,” Josie whispered.

“I know. She has to know I pass by here every day on my way home from the kids’ baseball practice.”
 

“Your instincts were right on. She
does
look too good for a visit to Rowdy’s or coffee with her mom. Good thing you called me. Where are the kids, anyway?”
 

“I ran them home, dumped them in the kitchen with Derek and a frozen pizza and left,” Summer said.
 

“Oh! That has to be him,” Josie said. “Dreamy for sure. Here he comes.”
 

“Wow. He really
is
sexy,” Summer said. “Look at that bod. Wow.”
 

“I can see why she didn’t want to wait.”
 

Jake spotted Delaney and his face lit up, too. He began walking a bit faster.
 

“I’ve never seen that look on Delaney’s face,” Josie said, wonder creeping into her voice. “She looks like she’s been taken over by some love alien zombie thing.”
 

“I know, really.”
 

When they reached each other, Delaney lifted her arms for a hug, but Jake took her face in his hands and kissed her, hard and long, on the mouth.
 

“I’m getting all hot and bothered,” Summer said.
 

When they finally broke apart, Jake said, “Hi,” and Delaney breathed, “Hi, yourself.”
 

“Shall we?” Jake asked. He held out his arm, Delaney linked hers through it and they sauntered away.
 

“Well, they are really sweet together,” Josie said. “I hate to admit it.”
 

Summer nodded and Josie said, “Should we follow them?”
 

“I don’t know,” Summer said. “Don’t you think we should give her some privacy, Josie?”
 

After a long look from Josie, Summer said, “Nah. You’re right. She agreed to this. She can live with the consequences.”
 

Fortunately, Delaney was so wrapped up in Jake that it was easy for the girls to follow her, unseen. Delaney and Jake walked along Main Street for a few minutes, then stopped to look in the window of an art gallery. Summer and Josie ducked into the doorway of The Sweet Tooth, the old-fashioned candy shop where Summer indulged the kids on weekends with a piece of taffy or licorice.

A few seconds later, Jake and Delaney began walking again. Summer and Josie sneaked onto the sidewalk to follow.
 

“I think they’re going to Umbrella,” Josie said.
 

“For dinner?”
 

Sure enough, Jake opened the coffee shop’s door for Delaney. He glanced behind them when she went in. Josie jumped behind a bush and Summer yanked her back out by the sleeve.

“He doesn’t know us!” she said in a loud whisper. “He’s never met us! It wouldn’t have mattered if he saw us. He would have thought we were just two girls walking down the street. Now he’s going to think we’re creepy stalkers!”
 

“Shit. You’re right.”
 

But Jake didn’t seem to have noticed. He went in behind Delaney. Summer and Josie leaned against the wall.
 

“Well, we can’t go in there,” Summer said. “There’s no way to get in the door without her seeing us.”
 

“True. What should we do?”

They stood in silence for a few moments, Josie tapping a foot and Summer tapping her index finger on her chin.
 

“Oh. I know,” Summer said. “I can’t believe I’m thinking of this. It’s totally up your alley. Info-gathering. But I want to see what she does.”
 

“Well, don’t hold out on me.”
 

“So we go on your tablet, log into FindLove.com and ask Mitchell out.”

“Okay,” Josie said. “I like where this is going. And then we text her, right? And we tell her she has a date with Mitchell. Her reaction will tell us how much she likes Jake and how much she likes Mitchell.”
 

“Exactly,” Summer said. “So, do we set the date to begin, like, right now? So she has to leave Jake? Or do we make it for tomorrow night, because we’re nice and we see the sparks between her and Jake?”
 

“Second option. Tomorrow.”
 

Josie sat down on the curb and pulled out her tablet. After a few minutes, she said, “Done.”
 

Summer joined her on the curb to wait for Mitchell’s response, but they both jumped to their feet and spun around when they heard the door to Umbrella open – and lurched into the entrance of the flower shop next door when they realized Jake and Delaney were coming back out to sit on the patio.
 

“Shit. Don’t move, Summer.”
 

Summer stifled a giggle and said in a voice meant to be goofy, “Okay, Josie.”
 

Josie elbowed her.
 

“Isn’t this weather just beautiful?” they heard Delaney say. “It really feels like spring.”
 

“It does,” Jake agreed. “But you know we’ll get one more good snow before spring really hits.”
 

Josie shrugged at Summer. Summer shrugged at Josie.
 

Jake asked Delaney about her job hunt and she listed out all the disappointments she’d been having.
 

“I can tell she’s trying to keep it light,” Summer said, “but she’s really hurting.”

Josie nodded. “Now I’m feeling a pang of guilt for not asking how her job hunt is going. We didn’t bring her wine or anything.”
 

“We were mad. Remember? You were the maddest.”
 

“True,” Josie said. “But she’s taking this huge step and we’re not even there for her.”
 

“Get over it. Guilt doesn’t help. We’ll be there for her now.”
 

They listened as Delaney talked about her cooking class. She sounded animated. She used her hands.
 

Suddenly, she became serious.

“Jake,” she said, “I have a confession.”
 

“Ooh. Sounds very intriguing,” he said. “Let me guess. You don’t really like pepperoni pizza or wine.”
 

“Oh, no. It’s nothing like that,” Delaney said.
 

“Then I can guarantee it’s not going to break my heart.”
 

“I was online the other night,” Delaney began.
 

Josie elbowed Summer, who put her hands up and shrugged her shoulders in an
I have no idea
gesture.

“Oh, wait a minute,” Jake said, his eyes laughing but his expression serious. “These stories never end well.”