Dating for Keeps (Pine Falls)

by Coleen Kwan

  “Lily. I have to see Lily.” He continued striding toward the door.

  Amber hurried after him. “But did she even tell you where she’s staying?”

  He halted. “Crap. No.”

  “What about the reunion? Know any details?”

  Rubbing his brow, he gave her the college and year. Amber did a quick internet search on her cell phone. “Aha. It’s being held at the Regent Hotel. Pretty swanky.”

  “Thanks.” He was already halfway through the door.

  “Better pack a suit,” she called after him. “Good luck.”

  He lifted a hand in salute, not breaking his stride. He’d need more than good luck. He’d need a miracle.

  …

  The cell phone in Lily’s compact evening purse beeped while she was blotting her lipstick, causing her to start. She set the tissue aside and fumbled with the clasp, her fingers clumsy as she pulled out the phone and inspected the screen. When she saw the name of her caller, her shoulders dipped.

  It wasn’t Caleb. Why was she still hoping he’d call? She had already endured a whole week of jumping whenever her phone rang only to slump down when she saw it wasn’t him. When would her foolish heart learn that he wasn’t going to reach out?

  She let Maddie’s call go to voicemail, just like she had with others from her friends. She needed time to gather herself before she went downstairs to the ballroom and came face-to-face with all those people from college. Turning, she inspected herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the hotel bathroom door.

  She was wearing her crocheted dress, the one that had won second prize at the county fair. When she’d made the dress, she’d had no intention of ever wearing it in public. It was a madcap, fantastical creation dreamed up from the wilds of her imagination, purely for her own creative satisfaction. But since then, something had made her change her mind. The dress was kooky, some would say bizarre, but it was her, and if she’d learned one thing in the past few weeks it was that she was proud of who she was.

  Also, Caleb liked her dress. He’d called it stunning.

  The treacherous thought snuck through her defenses. She gritted her teeth. All week she’d had to fend off these furtive attacks.

  Stop thinking about Caleb. He isn’t in love with me. He told me to my face. Why can’t I accept that and move on?

  One day she’d have to accept it. And she was moving on. Why else had she come to San Francisco? Caleb had done her a favor by rejecting her. It had taken every scrap of courage to tell him how she really felt. Nothing would ever hurt as much as that moment when she’d seen the shutters coming down behind his eyes. Nothing.

  She straightened a crochet flower on her shoulder, then picked up her purse.

  Right. Time to go downstairs and show everyone, especially Shari, that she had made it to the reunion, that she was not the awkward, retiring person she once was. She was different now, that was for sure. Aching and wounded, but stronger. She could act like she was having fun. And who knew? Maybe tonight the stars would miraculously align and she’d find the cure to her mangled heart.

  …

  Trust his luck. The cab driver was either incompetent or ripping him off. They’d stopped at the wrong place.

  “Not the St. Regis Hotel,” Caleb barked at the driver. “I said the Regent Hotel.”

  “Sorry, buddy. Honest mistake.” The driver waved lazily as he executed a U-turn, turning up the radio that was tuned in to a baseball game.

  Caleb drummed his fingers on his knee as they crawled through downtown traffic. Seven thirty, and it seemed everyone in San Francisco had decided to go out for the night.

  Fifteen minutes later, they’d only covered five city blocks. Up ahead, he caught a glimpse of a glowing neon sign announcing the Regent Hotel.

  “I’ll walk from here,” he said, thrusting a few bills at the driver. “Keep the change.” He jumped out of the cab and began motoring down the sidewalk toward the hotel.

  He hadn’t gone a dozen strides before he started chafing under his arms. “Stupid suit,” he muttered, twisting and wriggling in a vain attempt to get more comfortable. In his rush to get to San Francisco, he’d snatched the wrong suit from his closet. Instead of the smart, charcoal gray one he’d bought just a few months ago, he’d grabbed the old one destined for charity, only discovering his mistake when he’d landed in San Francisco and gone to change. The outdated suit, bought when he was a skinny youngster, was two sizes too small for him. He looked like a fricking clown in it, but there was no time to buy something else, and besides, he now realized, he’d forgotten the duffel bag containing his jeans and T-shirt in the cab.

  Finally reaching the Regent Hotel, he pushed his way into the busy foyer. A notice board announced the reunion was being held in the Crystal Ballroom, one floor above. Too impatient to wait for the elevator, he bounded up the sweeping staircase. As he leaped up the last two stairs, a faint ripping sound came from his crotch.

  No way.

  Lifting his leg, he found a small gap in the inner seam halfway up his thigh.

  A black-haired woman in a very tight red dress paused next to him and gave him a saucy smile. “I wouldn’t worry about that,” she purred. “It just improves the view.”

  He was about to say something when he glanced over her shoulder and spotted Lily. She was strolling into the ballroom, her back to him. His eyes went wide as he took in her dress, a wild kaleidoscope of colors and sprouting flowers and bells and swirly shapes. It was the funky crocheted dress that had won her a prize at the county fair, and she looked amazing. Belatedly, he realized she was with someone, a dude in a dark suit. From this distance it looked like Ryan. So it was true; Lily had brought Ryan to the reunion.

  As Lily and her companion disappeared into the ballroom, his stomach went into freefall. Looked like his worst fears had been confirmed. But he wasn’t going to let it stop him. He rolled his shoulders and started to march toward the ballroom.

  The woman in the red dress teetered along beside him. “Oh, are you going to the reunion, too? How lovely.” She offered her hand to him. “I’m Shari Slater, one of the organizers. And you are?”

  “Caleb Willmett.” He shook hands with her briefly as he walked.

  “You’re someone’s date, obviously. And I’m engaged. Too bad, hmm?” She nudged him playfully. “Now, who’s the lucky girl who brought you along?”

  Shari Slater. He’d heard that name before. Then he remembered. Shari Slater, the frenemy who’d goaded Lily into lying about bringing a boyfriend to the reunion. The lie had become the truth, because Lily had just walked into the ballroom with Ryan. But who’s to say a girl couldn’t have two boyfriends? He’d come to San Francisco because he wasn’t going to give her up without a fight.

  He turned to the woman who’d caused Lily so much angst. “I’m with Lily. Lily Baker. I’m her boyfriend.”

  Shari’s false eyelashes started to flicker like a broken fluorescent light. “You’re Lily’s boyfriend?” she practically screeched.

  “Yep.” He lengthened his stride as they entered the ballroom. The place was packed. Waiters circulated with trays of drinks and canapés. Laughter and chatter filled the air along with the occasional outburst of shrieks as past friends reconnected.

  “But—but—” Shari was still at his side. “Are you sure?”

  He didn’t have time to be polite. He had to find Lily. He pushed through the crowd, scanning faces for the one person he needed to see.

  “She’s over there.” Shari pointed to her left, a smirk on her face. “No one could miss that monstrosity of a dress.”

  Caleb barely heard her. His gaze zeroed in on the woman with the soft brown curls wearing the wild and wonderful dress. Lily. For a split second sheer panic seized him, but then he shook it off and strode forward.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Justin’s oily gaze slithered over Lily’s body. “So, no boyfriend after all, huh? You made it up?”

  Lily flicked her hair over her shoul
der. Owning up to her misrepresentation was difficult, but she didn’t regret it. “We all make mistakes.” Dating Justin had been one of the biggest.

  “I should’ve guessed. Still, silver lining and all that. Since we’re both unattached maybe we could, y’know…” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  Ugh. They were standing in the middle of the ballroom, surrounded by people, but somehow she’d got herself trapped with her ex-boyfriend. He seemed weirdly eager to talk to her, especially when she’d confirmed the gossip he’d heard from others. He was relishing it, she realized, and assumed she’d be grateful for his attention. Well, he was wrong. She didn’t need any man’s attention. She was glad she’d come on her own. Better than pretending to be something she wasn’t.

  Lifting her chin, she gave her ex-boyfriend a chilly look. “No, I don’t think so, Justin.”

  “Aw, c’mon. It’s fate, don’t you see? The two of us meeting again.”

  Before Lily could respond, her friend Maddie came hustling to her side, holding a canapé.

  “Hey, you guys, have you tried the prawn dumplings? They’re amazing!”

  As soon as Lily had arrived at the hotel a few hours ago, she’d gone straight to Maddie and told her the truth: the hot boyfriend was fictitious, concocted in a drunken urge to get back at Shari and her clique, and the lie had just snowballed from there. Maddie had been shocked but completely understanding. She’d have done it, too, she declared. Not true, but Lily was grateful for her friend’s unequivocal support.

  Now dear Maddie appeared to think Lily needed rescuing. She tried to squeeze in between Lily and Justin, but Justin refused to budge.

  “No, thanks,” Justin said. Shifting closer to Lily, he put his paw on her elbow. “Excuse us, Lily and I are going to try out the photo booth.”

  Gak, no way. But before she could turn him down, a large, dark-haired figure loomed out of the crowd and shouldered Justin out of the way.

  She looked up, and her breath fell away when she found herself staring at Caleb.

  “Hey!” Justin sputtered as he stumbled back from the impact.

  Caleb spared him a glance, then did a double take. “Sorry.” His gaze shot back to Lily. “I thought he was Ryan.”

  What…? The lack of oxygen must be affecting her brain because she couldn’t put two coherent thoughts together.

  Then Shari Slater appeared next to Caleb with her canary-swallowing cat smirk. “Hey, Lily. Seems you’ve been toying with us because this smoking hottie claims he’s your boyfriend. Is he telling the truth, or is he just another one of your wishful fabrications?”

  Blood pounded in Lily’s ears. “What are you doing here?” she spluttered at Caleb.

  “I can explain.” He stretched out a hand toward her, but as he did his suit emitted a tearing sound. “Great.” He lifted his arm to inspect the damage, and the sound of stitches giving way grew louder. The entire right armpit of his too-tight suit had ripped.

  Justin guffawed, and Shari Slater tittered. “Maybe it’s a stripper suit. Care to give us a demonstration, Caleb?”

  The exchange had attracted attention, and now there was quite a crowd watching on. Maddie was staring at Caleb, her mouth open.

  Caleb’s face had turned red, but his gaze never left Lily’s. “You didn’t come with Ryan?” It might have been her imagination, but he sounded faint with relief.

  The horde pressed closer, and it seemed everyone was waiting for her answer. It had taken a lot for her to face these people and tell them the truth. She’d endured a bit of teasing, some sympathy, and several snide comments from Shari and her gang. But she’d held her head high. No more subterfuge, no more hiding.

  But now Caleb had come roaring in and turned everything on its head.

  “We need to talk.” She jerked her head in the direction of the exit and began walking. Caleb fell into step beside her. She could feel everyone watching them as they left the ballroom.

  As soon as they’d found a quiet spot in the lobby, she whirled around and glared at him.

  “How—how dare you? How dare you come barging in like a cocky party crasher and spout all that nonsense?” She clenched her fists as her blood pressure rocketed.

  Caleb’s eyes widened. “Lily—”

  She jabbed him in the torso. “You are not my boyfriend. I do not need rescuing. Not by you or anyone else. No, I did not bring Ryan with me, not that it’s any of your business. I can come to my reunion all by myself. I can come and have a good time and—and sleep with any man I choose. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, I—”

  “I suppose you thought you’d be doing me a big favor, coming all the way to San Francisco to pretend you’re my boyfriend? I suppose you thought I’d be so grateful, after I told you how I felt about you. Well, you don’t have to be nice. I don’t want you to be nice. Okay?” She glared at him, her entire body heaving, aching.

  The flush had drained from Caleb’s face, leaving him looking strained.

  “Lily—” he croaked. He paused to clear his throat. “Lily, let’s get one thing straight. This isn’t me being nice. This is me being desperate.” He halted again, and his face scrunched up as if he were in pain. “This is me admitting that you scared the crap out of me when you—when you told me you loved me, that I’ve spent the past week running from the truth. And this is me asking you for a second chance.”

  His throat worked as he swallowed. He was waiting for her to say something, she realized, but all her words were jammed inside her chest.

  “Okay,” he breathed. “I’m not asking, I’m begging.” He started to kneel, but a familiar splitting sound came from his pants. “Perfect,” he muttered. He knelt anyway and stretched out a hand to her.

  Sweat beaded his forehead, and his hand shook.

  Oh my God, he really is desperate.

  The thought set her trembling. She reached out to him. As soon as their hands clasped, warmth began to pour from her heart. He inhaled audibly, and she knew he was experiencing the same reaction.

  “I’ve never been in love before, and I’m scared out of my wits,” he said haltingly. “I’m scared of hurting you, and I’m scared of losing you. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. All I know is that nothing is the same without you. It’s like everything is dim and gray. You’re…you’re the color in my life, the sunshine, the rain, the—the highs and the lows. There’s no one else I’d rather be with. I need you, Lily. I want to build my life around you, want to make you happy.” He gulped deeply. “I know I screwed up, but—but just give me a second chance, and I won’t let you down.”

  He brushed his lips across the back of her hand, then turned it over and pressed a kiss into her palm.

  “Well?” He gazed up at her. A tremor passed over his face. Dropping her hand, he struggled to his feet. “You’re still mad—”

  Before he could continue, she flung her arms around his neck, causing him to stagger back before he regained his balance.

  “Oh, Caleb. You—you magnificent, awful, wonderful, terrible—” Unable to contain herself, she reached up and pressed her lips against his. The fire between them was instantaneous. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he bent her over, his mouth devouring hers with fierce desperation.

  When they finally broke apart, her body was buzzing, and his blue eyes were crackling.

  “So, what am I?” he murmured between deep breaths. “Magnificent and wonderful, or awful and terrible?”

  “You’re all of that!” She half laughed, half sobbed as she cupped his stubbled cheeks.

  His broad hands roamed compulsively over her, pressing into the small of her back, sweeping over her waist and hips, his touch possessive, electric.

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to face the truth,” he murmured, his eyes tender. “I was a jerk to you because I was afraid. I’m still nervous, to be honest. This is all new to me. Like I said, I’ve never been in love before.”

  “Me neither. Not like this.” She spread her hands across his
chest, not quite believing what was happening. “But…are you sure? When I told you I’d fallen in love with you and you turned me down, you seemed so adamant about it. What made you change your mind?”

  He let out a sigh. “I’m so sorry about that. The truth is, before that I was already kicking myself for setting you up with Ryan. I wanted to be the one you spent all your time with, the one you talked about to your friends. In fact, I’d screwed up my courage and was about to go and tell you when Tracey ambushed me.”

  “Tracey?”

  “My mom. She’s back in Pine Falls for a visit. She’s been trying to crawl into my and Hannah’s good graces. I’d refused to talk with her, but she turned up at my place just as I was leaving to go to you. Seeing her churned up all these bitter memories inside me. I felt the pain of her desertion all over again, and I thought what if I did that to you? It was horrifying. I don’t know anything about relationships. So I thought it’s better not to start anything with you. That’s why I was such a jerk to you that day. Cruel to be kind, I guess.”

  “Oh, Caleb.” She tightened her grip on his hand. He liked to act all tough and independent, but deep down he was so tender and mindful. “I’m so sorry about your mom. But you do realize that you are not your mom. You’re not destined to make the same mistakes.”

  “I know.” He gave her a self-deprecating smile. “My dad tried to talk some sense into me. He told me not to hold onto that bitterness. I didn’t want to see it at the time, but he was right. And then I saw Amber, and she knocked some more sense into me, and I realized how stupid I’ve been.” He took both her hands in his, his eyes brilliant blue. “Lily, I’m going to make a helluva lot of mistakes, and sometimes you’re going to wonder why you chose me, but please don’t give up on me. I’m far from perfect, but I love you so much that it hurts.”

  She felt the echo of his pain in herself, but it was a sweet pain that she never wanted to end. “I think you’re perfect just as you are.”

  To her astonishment, his cheeks turned pink. Then he pulled her back into his arms and began to kiss her again, his caresses slow and hungry, stoking the fire within her. Soon, his kisses promised her. Soon they’d be alone and he would show her how much he loved her.