Three Girls And A Leading Man (14 page)

I cursed under my breath, really
wishing that I hadn’t told her I wouldn’t eat with them.

Chapter Eighteen

At 6:45 on Friday night, I stood in
the middle of my room in nothing but my bra and underwear. I had been staring
at my closet for the past five minutes with no clue what to wear. The fifteen
minutes before that had been spent trying on various options, all to no avail.

“Damn,” I said loudly.

I pulled out my phone and called
Ginny. “What’s up?” she asked.

“I have no idea what to wear,” I
told her. “And Jen is already at the theater setting up. Help me!”

“Okay, relax,” Ginny said. “Just
take a deep breath.”

“Nate is going to be here any
minute!” I cried. She clearly didn’t understand my plight. “And I have nothing
to wear!”

“Nate, eh?” she asked, a smugness
in her voice that made me want to slap her.

“Shut up, Ginny,” I growled. “Just
help me, okay?”

This was not typical behavior for
me. I usually had no problem picking my clothes because I generally only bought
things that I liked. And it wasn’t like I was super worried about impressing
the donors or the people at work—I mean, I saw most of them every day. So
what was wrong with me now?

Nate
,
a voice in my head said.
You’re nervous
about seeing him again
.

“Okay,” Ginny was saying, and I
forced myself to concentrate on what she was saying. “What about that black
sweater dress you have?”

“Hmm,” I replied, rifling through
my clothes to find the garment. “Okay, it’s here.”

“I think if you paired that with
grey tights and those black leather boots Jen has…you know, the slouchy,
flat-heeled ones?”

I had a mental image of the boots
she was talking about. They were perfect, and would look great with this dress.

“You’re a lifesaver,” I sighed.

“Wear your red blazer over it for
some color,” she instructed. “And your silver bangles. You’ll look great.”

“Ginny McKensie,” I told her, “you
are amazing and my very best friend.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said. “I
bet you’ll say the same thing to Jen when she asks you why you’re in her
boots.”

“True,” I said, grinning. Just then
I heard a knock at the door. “Shit! He’s here, gotta go!”

“See you soon,” she said, and I
hung up.

I pulled the sweater dress on as
quickly as I could, careful not to mess up my hair. I had done it in the same
soft, braided style that Ginny had recommended in Vegas. At least I wouldn’t
have to worry about the frizz factor tonight.

I heard Nate knock again.

“Tina!” I bellowed. “Can you get
the door?”

There was silence from her bedroom.
Awesome. Barefooted, I ran to living room, pulling open the door. Sure enough,
Nate was standing there, looking gorgeous in dress pants and a long black wool
overcoat.

“Hang on!” I said, before he could
even say hello, turning away from the door. “Come on in!” I called over my
shoulder as I ran back to my room. I hurriedly pulled on my grey tights,
praying I wouldn’t run them. Outside the room, I heard Nate coming into the
house.

“Sorry,” I called out. “Running a
little late.”

“Take your time,” he replied. “I’ll
just have a little snoop around.”

I heard him laugh and I knew he was
getting me back for my nosing in his apartment. I better get him out of here
quick.

Finishing with my tights, I dashed
into Jen’s room. Unlike mine, which now looked like a bomb had exploded, Jen’s
room was neat as a pin. Typical. I pulled open her closet door and saw that all
of her shoes were neatly arranged. There were her boots, right in the back.

“Thanks,” I muttered, grabbing them.
I sat on her bed and pulled them on.

Ginny was a genius. These boots
were totally gorgeous, a soft, slouchy black leather. They came up practically
to my knees, but the flat heel kept them from looking too sexy. They were the
perfect complement to my dress.

Once I had them on and zipped, I
ran back into my room to find the jewelry.

“Annie,” Nate said. I looked up to
find him standing in my doorway. “Relax. We have plenty of time.”

The sight of him there, looking so
incredibly handsome, only made me feel more flustered.

I caught his eye glancing around my
room, at the clothes strewn haphazardly across the bed and dresser. “Uh, sorry
about the mess,” I muttered.

Nate smiled at me. “Just finish
getting ready, okay? Stop worrying.”

It
would be easier if you weren’t standing there staring me
, I thought to
myself. Nevertheless I dug through my jewelry box until I found the bangles
Ginny had recommended. Once I was ready, I grabbed my bottle of rose perfume
from the dresser and gave myself a good spritzing. When I was done, I looked up
at Nate.

He was still staring at me, but he
now had a slight smile on his face. “What?” I asked.

“It smells like you,” he replied.
“That scent. It smells like you in Vegas.”

I blushed a little. This was my
favorite perfume, and I had in fact used it in Vegas. It gave me a funny
feeling to know that he had remembered it.

“Well,” I said, a little awkwardly.
“Are you ready?”

“Of course,” he said. He held out
his hand to me. “Shall we?”

***

Jen and Kiki had done an amazing
job on the benefit. The stage and lobby area of the Springwells had totally
been transformed. They had scattered high-top tables around the room and hung
paper lanterns from the light rigging. The walls and tables were dotted with
framed photos of kids participating in events or acting on stage. It looked
great.

They had allocated most of the
budget to hors d'oeuvres and drinks, even setting up a little bar area serving
soft drinks and wine. It was the nicest event we had ever had at our little
theater, and I could tell that Marilyn was really pleased. The bitter look
stuck on Grayson’s face throughout the night was a bonus.

An hour in and I was actually
enjoying myself, a first for me at a work event. But then again, I didn’t
usually have my best friends with me at work events. And I definitely didn’t
usually have Nate.

I was pleased with how well he got
along with my friends. The girls seemed totally taken with him, and it gave me
a little feeling of pride to know he had their approval. He also seemed to hit
it off with Josh, which was a little surprising to me. I would have thought he
had more in common with Matt.

I told him so as we were waiting at
the bar for our drinks. “Matt’s cool,” he said, shrugging.

“It just seems like you’re getting
along better with Josh,” I pressed him.

“Josh is cool too,” he replied,
shrugging again. I rolled my eyes. Guys never thought about these things in the
same way that girls did.

“He told me you guys didn’t always
see eye to eye,” Nate said, taking his wine from the waiter and raising a
questioning eyebrow at me.

“That’s an understatement,” I said,
taking my own glass.

“Why?” Nate asked.

“It’s kind of a long story,” I told
him.

“I’ve got time. And I love some
good gossip.”

I smiled at him. “Josh and Ginny
dated for years,” I said in a low voice. He leaned down to hear me better and I
shivered a little at his new proximity. “They lived together during college and
ended up breaking up right before they graduated.”

“Ooh,” Nate said. “Scandal.”

“You haven’t heard the half of it!”
I told him. “So Ginny, Jen, and I moved in together in Ferndale. We thought she
was trying to get over him, but little did we know they hooked up.”

“Uh-oh,” Nate said. “I think I see
where this is going.”

I nodded. “Danny. That’s how Ginny
got pregnant. But after their hook-up they didn’t leave things in a very
positive way. So Ginny didn’t want to tell him about the baby. By the time she
got up the courage, he had changed his number and moved.”

“Wow,” Nate said. “That’s kind of
cold.”

“Right?” I asked, relieved that he
thought so. “Anyhow, things got even crazier. Ginny finally got in touch with
Josh’s parents and they convinced her that he didn’t want anything to do with
the baby. They said he knew about it but he didn’t want to see her. They even
offered her money to stay away.”

“This is better than a soap opera!”
Nate said, and I laughed.

“Well, the truth finally all came
out and Josh found out about the baby. Ginny forgave him and they ended up
getting married…but I guess I still held a grudge for a while.”

“But if he didn’t know about the
baby…”

“He still slept with her and then
disappeared for almost a year,” I pointed out. “I don’t like guys who pull shit
like that with my friends.”

“They mean a lot to you,” he said.
It was a statement, not a question.

I nodded. “They’re my family.”

“Sounds like a lot for a guy to
compete with,” he said, looking over at Josh and Matt, who were both chatting
with Mr. Barker.

“Silly Nate,” I told him, taking
his hand. “There is no competition. There isn’t a guy that has a chance.”

“We can only hope for second place,
huh?” he asked, smiling.

“Third,” I said. He looked
confused. “Danny. He’s the top guy in our lives.”

Nate laughed and put his arm around
me. “Third isn’t so bad,” he murmured. “Come on, let’s go see your friends.”

***

The night was a smashing success.
Marilyn complimented me in front of Grayson and thanked me for my hard work.
Kiki’s father had spent twenty minutes talking with her about opportunities for
patronage. He wanted to fund an entire camp. Marilyn was thrilled.

“That was fun,” Nate said as we
headed toward his car.

“Thank you for coming,” I told him.
I shivered slightly in the cold and he put his arm around me.

“It’s really turning to fall now,”
he said, looking up at the clear sky.

“I miss Vegas,” I sighed.

“Me too,” he said, looking down at
me. I wondered if he meant the weather or the time that we had spent together
there.

We reached the car and he stopped
to open the door for me. Ever the gentleman.

“So what’s next?” he asked once we
were both inside.

“What do you feel like?” I asked
him. “I’m a little hungry...”

“Food it is,” he agreed, putting
the car into drive. “Want to go somewhere?”

At that precise moment, I yawned.
He smiled over at me. “Or not. We could always get pizza and head back to my place.”

“That sounds perfect,” I said.

“Why don’t you call and we can pick
it up on the way?” he said, pulling his phone from his coat pocket and handing
it to me.

“You have a pizza place on your
speed dial?” I asked incredulously.

He shrugged. “Sure. I’m a single
guy, what do you expect?”

“Says Mr. Foodie,” I muttered. I
dialed the number and placed an order for a large with everything as Nate
drove.

Twenty minutes later he was opening
the door to his apartment while I held the piping hot pizza in my hands. “Hurry,”
I moaned. “I’m starving.”

He laughed as he pushed open the
door. “Calm down.”

“I told you when we first met, I’m
a girl with an appetite.”

“So you did,” he said, taking the
pizza from me and setting it on the counter. He pulled down two plates and I
got to work dishing out the food. “Beer or soda?” he asked, opening the fridge.

“Hang on,” I told him, stopping
what I was doing to hold up my hand. “You’re in Michigan now, Mister. We don’t
say soda.”

He rolled his eyes. “Excuse me.
Would you like a beer or a pop?”

I grinned. “Beer, please.”

We spread out on the floor of the
living room and Nate put some music on his iPod speakers. I listened closely
for a minute until I could make out the artist. The Smiths. I was quite
impressed with his taste. I would have pegged him as a frat-rock type of guy.

While we ate, he told me all about
the project he was working on. I normally found cars to be about the most
boring subject on the face of the earth, but Nate was good at telling stories.
The way he got so excited about his work was adorable—his eyes got
brighter and he blinked a lot. I wondered if I looked that happy when I was
talking about theater.

Once we were done with the food, we
moved over to the couch. I had an urge to snuggle up to Nate, but I wasn’t sure
how he would feel about that. He had held my hand a few times at the benefit
but he had made no move to kiss me. I wondered if he was still a little mad at
me.

“I was surprised to hear from you,”
he said, and I felt my stomach drop a little. I should have known that he would
want to talk about what happened.

“I should have called earlier,” I
told him. “I was just so busy—”

He held up his hand to stop me.
“Listen, Annie. You made it perfectly clear that you weren’t looking for
anything serious,” he said. “I think I probably pressured you a little bit when
we first got back, pushing you to see me every day. That was a mistake.”

It was strange. Him referring to
our time together as a mistake bothered me. A lot.

“I do like you,” he said softly,
reaching out to take my hand. “And I want to spend time with you. I promise
that we’ll chill out though, okay?”

I nodded, not really sure how I
felt about this. Wasn’t he basically telling me exactly what I had wanted to
hear?

“But, Annie,” he said, holding my
gaze seriously. “I’m not interested in games, either. I don’t need to be strung
along. We can keep things casual but if it’s going to be all hot and cold with
you, then I’m sorry, I’m not interested.”

“I understand,” I said, squeezing
his hand. “I’m…I’m sorry if it felt that way to you. I just…I think I got
scared.” I sighed and ran my free hand through my hair. “God, listen to me. I’m
really not good at this kind of thing.” I had a sudden urge to tell him that I
avoided these types of conversations like the plague. That I’d never really had
a real boyfriend before. Is that what he was going to become?