by Jami Wagner
Without hesitating, I glance back to Allie, who already has her door propped open. “Tomorrow night?”
“I’m sorry, Parker; I don’t think it would be very professional of us to go to dinner.”
With that, she steps inside her apartment and closes the door. How this woman left me speechless, I’ll never know. What I do know is my brother is going to kick my ass when he finds out I wasn’t able to hold up my end of the deal with our sister. Looks like both him and I will be attending that dark dating event.
Allie
I close the door to my apartment and lock it. I give Bell a scoop of food for dinner and mindlessly fill her water bowl. He asked me out…on a date. A real date. Again. Did I imagine that? Is it possible he really is into me? I set the bowl down, and the sound of Bell slurping and spilling water as she takes a drink fills the silence. Dropping my purse on the counter, I wander into the living room and straight over to the window. I pull back the curtain just in time to watch Parker’s tail lights disappear. It was real.
“Whoa, girl! That was one fine man!” Kelly’s voice carries as she storms into my apartment, letting the door slam shut. “I always knew you would give in and give him a chance,” she dramatically fans her face. “I know you’ve banned coworkers all thanks to a bad experience at your last job, but not every guy will turn out that way. I promise. Besides, you can’t help who you like.”
Kelly wanders into my living room, where I’m now sitting on the couch still wearing my jacket, hat, and gloves. I’m too thrown off by Parker’s behavior to fully register her comment. I can’t deny I’ve always been attracted to Parker. I want to look at him all day and every time I do, I can’t help but smile. This isn’t good. Not good at all.
Kelly might be right. Dating a coworker isn’t a bad thing, and I do think he’s pretty good looking. I mean, I don’t think another man could wear slacks as sexy as Parker does. And he’s not just sexy and smart. He’s down to earth and he like kids. Most guys our age are terrified of the idea of being around small children. I can’t wait to see how he acts with them next week.
“Hello, earth to Allie,” Kelly waves her hand in front of my face, and I blink myself out of my self-induced trance to look at her.
“What?” I ask, playing dumb and praying she didn’t just read my mind.
“What? Really?” her hands go to her hips and she cocks her head. “You really didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”
“About what?”
“That guy,” she points her thumb to the door and glances out the window then back to me. “What’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?” She pins me with a confused look that quickly turns to curiosity. She folds her arms in front of her and plops onto the couch. “What happened at work today and why did Parker bring you home?”
“We’re working next week’s events together, and he asked me out again. I turned him down.”
She stands and starts to pace the room.
Is she freaking out more than I am?
“What am I going to do with you?” Her arms fly up, and I catch a hint of a smile on her face as she keeps pacing. She stops and gives me a full grin. “I think we need to start at square one,” she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She’s getting into that funky mood that she pulls off playfully, but is actually completely serious. I’d better fill her in before she can go on. Although, her fun and relaxing attitude is just what I need. “When a boy and girl meet…” she begins.
I cut her off and try to hold back a laugh. “I just need more time to think about it.”
She was totally about to give me the birds-and-bees talk. Maybe I should have said yes to the date. Have I really lost my mind?
Kelly watches me with a look I’ve never seen before. When her head starts to bob, a sneaky smile spreads across her face. “Like I said…what aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing, that’s everything,”
“And how did you end up getting a ride home from him?”
“He had a car, I didn’t.”
“Yes, but you’d rather walk. If you wanted to ride in a car, you’d have taken your own.”
“It was cold out when we left and he offered me a ride, that’s all.”
“And you want me to believe you just…accepted his offer like it was no big deal.”
“No, I tried to protest, but I guess he didn’t feel comfortable with me walking alone in the dark.” I’m not about to tell her I fell for a how-my-mother-raised-me line.
Kelly continues to shoot question after question at me. They aren’t too bad, she’s fast about them, and they all have easy answers. The fact I can answer them quickly without giving too much away is actually fun. I got this Kelly. Bring it on. You can’t stump me.
“Because he likes you…”
“Yes—wait, no!”
Crap.
“Ahhh! I knew it!”
“New topic!” I say, feeling defeated by this day and ready to move on to something else. Thinking about men is an exhausting brain game. It’s the exact reason why I love to read romance, the men already know what they want and who they are. There’s nothing to think about except which book I love more.
“Hmmm,” is her only response. Soon I find myself in a staring competition with her. Her eyes are boring into me as if the harder she stares, the sooner I’m going to spill. When it’s clear neither of us is going to crack, we erupt into laughter.
“Ugh, you are such a pain in my ass!” she says between laughs. “But I know exactly how to make everything better!”
“And that would be?”
“Shopping! You, me, tomorrow around lunch. I have a feeling we’re going to need some new and good-looking outfits in the near future.” With that, she hops off the couch and heads for the door. She grabs a dog treat from above the refrigerator, feeds it to Bell after she gives her a shake with her paw, and then she leaves.
Chapter Four
Allie
“So, are you working together all of next week, or just certain events?” Kelly asks from behind the dressing room door.
My eyes roll because I can hear the smile in her voice. She isn’t going to let this go.
I learned early on in our friendship that having a best friend who lives in the apartment across from you is the best and worst idea ever. I should have known after I gave her the brief overview of Parker last night that that wouldn’t be the end of it.
The idea of him was stuck in my brain all night and in an effort to get rid of those thoughts, I’d done some intense reading before bed. I wish it had help, but instead, all it did was cause me to consider telling Parker I’d changed my mind. But then I thought about my ex and how after our relationship ended, I’d had to find another job. I love my job now and I don’t want a different one.
“A little of both, but don’t get any ideas. I can’t take the chance of dating another coworker.” I slide the side zipper up on the white dress and face the full-length mirror.
Crap.
Even my light pink panties are visible. I turn in a slow circle and absorb the outfit my dearest, yet totally insane, best friend picked out for me just moments ago. It’s skin tight, which I hate. It’s a halter top dress that has a low back and a hemline that barely makes it past my ass. I make the full circle and stop when I’m facing the mirror head on. Is this white or clear? I can’t really tell.
I flip my hair behind my shoulders and then cringe at how revealing the front of this dress is. If my boobs were any bigger, they’d fall out. I shake my head until my hair falls around my face again and start for the zipper. There’s no way I’m letting anyone catch me in this dress.
“Get out here, Allie, I want to see that dress!” Kelly shouts in a whisper as she knocks on my dressing room door. Holding back my groan, I step out to find her wearing what I think is a black dress, but looks more like a short skirt pulled up past her chest.
“You look hot,” she beams at me and her white teeth glow against the spray tan she got earlier
today. I stayed home maintaining a pale skin tone. A tan in the middle of winter never made much sense to me, but Kelly loves it.
I cock on eyebrow out of habit. “Seriously, Kelly, I look like a stripper,” I point at my revealing chest then to my ass before back at her. “We look like strippers.”
“Hey now, we look like hot strippers,” she laughs. “New Years Eve is in four days. If we’re going to get you out of this I-don’t-need-a-man-but-I-really-want-my-coworker-and-won’t-admit-it phase, than dressing sexy is the first step. You can’t even enjoy working with a completely good-looking and smoking-hot man. What am I going to do with you? Tsk-tsk.”
Instinctively I roll my eyes at her again and smile. “That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think? I mean, you know exactly why I can’t date him and my physical appearance has nothing to do with it. I don’t need a sexy dress to find a man.”
“It sure won’t hurt. I think you should buy it for the last night of Date in the Dark,” she suggests, ignoring my comment. She turns in front of the mirror, flushing her short auburn hair up then combing it back down as best she can. “Should I wear my teased or straightened?”
“Teased, and no, I’m not buying this dress or attending that silly event.”
Kelly’s arms flop to her side and then rest on her lean hips. “Oh, come on, Allie, live a little. It’s going to be fun. The best part is that they can’t see you. You could be anyone you want, wear whatever you want, and they’d never know.”
“Yeah, until the lights come on at midnight on the last night.”
“True, but—” she smirks at me, “—you’ll be wearing that, so he won’t care in the slightest.”
“No,” I say, but find it hard to hold back a small laugh. Kelly isn’t going to let up about this either. When she wants something, she’ll do anything to get it. I release a long sigh. “Did you ever think about where we live and what your chances of actually finding the one are? Slim. Like, zero chances slim,” I curl my fingers into a zero. “I’m not going, and neither are you. I don’t think it’s safe.”
I step into the dressing room and change back into my black leggings and cream oversized sweater. When she doesn’t reply with a quick witted comment like usual, I start to think I’ve hurt her feelings. But just as I slip my first brown boot on, her voice is calm and determined from the other side of my door.
“You’re going to this event with me, and do you know why?” she asks, and for a moment I think she’s actually in my dressing room. She’s up to something. Something bad. “Because if you don’t go with me, I’ll come to the library’s end-of-the-year events and make sure Parker knows exactly how you feel about him. Childish you say? No, more like motivation to help make sure my best friend doesn’t miss out on a chance to be happy. So, if you really really think not dating Parker is the right choice. You’ll date someone else, at the dark dating thing.”
I close my eyes and breathe. Damn…she’s good. If it’ll get her to drop the whole subject of Parker, three nights with a stranger isn’t the end of the world. “Fine. I’ll go.”
Parker
“I dreamed last night, right?” Miles asks. This is the hundredth time he’s asked me this and each time my answer hasn’t changed.
“Nope. It really happened,” I repeat. Either he’s trying to make me feel bad for causing him to attend this date night thing or he wants to keep reminding me that Allie turned me down. I’m hoping for the former, but knowing my brother, it’s the latter.
“I can’t believe you. I seriously can’t believe you. I’m too old for this shit,” he grumbles waving his hands around. A few of the flyers he was holding fall loose and blow away in the wind.
“Hey, stop littering and losing all her flyers!” I say, grabbing one stack from him.
He rolls his eyes. “All you had to do was stop by the bar, any random bar, and ask any random girl out. But no, you think you actually stand a chance with this one,” Miles shakes his head. “You’ve lost your mind, Parker, and I can’t help you. Now we’re stuck in this mess.”
“I told you. There’s something about her. Something more than a ‘hot piece of ass,’ as you call it these days.” I stare him down. “Which by the way, you need to stop calling her that. Her name is Allie.”
“If I didn’t know you, I’d think you’re the oldest and more mature of the two of us.”
“More mature, yes, I am.”
“Whatever, dude. It’s still stupid. Even if she does eventually say yes to you, it’ll be too late to get out of this dark dating thing and you’ll be semi-dating whoever they pair you up with for this New Year’s event. Then, you’ll be dating two women at once, and I’m guessing Allie isn’t the kind of woman to just go with it.”
Shit. He’s right.
Miles clears the snow off in a small circle of a car nearby and places a flyer under the windshield wiper. Rubbing his hands together, he blows on them, and then looks back at me. “By the surprised look on your face, I’d say you didn’t consider that part. Now, you’re screwed. You should have just asked a random girl out. At least she wouldn’t have you tied down for three nights in a row. That would have been much easier to cancel.”
“We can lie to Sara and tell her I found a date.” See? Piece of cake. Easy fix.
“Too late—she called me last night, and I already told her. Plus, what makes you think Allie is going to ever actually consider going out with you?”
Shit. I just can’t win on this one. “Why did you tell her?”
“Oh, probably because you were avoiding her calls,” he says moving on to the next car.
I take a deep breath and let my frustration out on the giant stapler in my hand. I hit it with the palm of my hand against the tree, the same way I have fifty times today. I promised Allie I’d put up as much advertising as I could over the weekend. I didn’t even question why they hadn’t been doing this sooner. She seemed a bit thrown off yesterday, and I wasn’t about to make things worse. I step back and look at the paper flyer. How many of these are going to make it through the snow and wind?
It took everything I had not to offer my help with more. By the looks of it, Allie’s been taking on a lot more than she should. But from the vibe I got from her, she’d never admit that aloud. I know she’s giving me the easy tasks because she doesn’t think I can handle more, but I’ll make sure she changes her mind by the end of the day Monday.
“So, tell me about your day with her yesterday anyway. You’re working on a Saturday. Apparently it was all fairy dust and sunshine crap if she already has you saving yourself for only her. Ohh, man…just saying those words make me want throw up. ”
“Dude, come on, don’t talk about her like that. We had a good day together. We didn’t talk about much other than work, but there was a connection.”
Miles pretends to gag this time. “Dude, no, you did not just say connection. What happened to you? Just pull your charm and get a piece of that—”
“You know,” I say, slapping him on the back. “One day you’re going to meet a girl and she’s going to knock you off your feet. Everything inside of you will want to be better and you won’t know what to do with yourself. The moment you mention anything about fate, beauty, or connections, I’m going to remind you of this moment. I won’t talk to you the way you’re talking to me right now, because it’s degrading, but I’ll remind you of it. Oh, and you’re going to owe me a year’s worth of beer for being right.”
Miles matches my eyes with a serious look. Good, he should take me seriously. He nods slowly then shoves me back as a smile creeps over his face. He folds over laughing and more flyers fly out of his hand. “And when you’re wrong, I’ll remind you of this moment,” he can barely finish his impression of me through the laughter.
“Alright, let’s move on to something else.” I step toward him. “Here, take these flyers since you keep losing yours and put them somewhere, anywhere. I don’t care,” I slap a stack against his chest, and he grabs them with a groan befor
e they can blow away. I keep walking, looking for the type of store that will have a bulletin board. I’m not stopping until I’ve given away every single flyer.
Chapter Five
Allie
As usual, Monday morning came around faster than I’d hoped. I did my usual morning routine of gym, breakfast, shower, and last, but never forgotten, here I am, standing in line at the coffee shop. I spent most of the day yesterday thinking about Parker. I have no idea what got into me. I always knew I was attracted to him, but after working with him one on one, and then letting him drive me home, my brain instantly thinks in needs to be focused on him and I have no control over it. I need to worry more about me and my job, not how good he looks in a pair of slacks.
“Good morning,” Parker greets me with a wide smile. “I thought I might see you here.” He joins me at the back of the line, but keeps his gaze on me.
“Lucky you,” I try to hold back the smile fighting at my lips as he lets out a chuckle.
“I couldn’t agree more,” he grins down at me.
A flutter goes right to my stomach and I look away before he can catch my smile. “Have you always came to this coffee shop?”
“No, not usually. But in all honesty, I was hoping I would run into you, maybe buy your drink this morning?”
I’ve turned him down twice now, and he still wants to buy me a cup of coffee. What am I missing? I gaze up at him and lick my lips to keep from smiling. “Okay, that would be nice. Thank you.”
How could I say no? I mean, look at him today, heather gray slacks and a dark blue button-down under his black jacket. Today he’s sans tie and has the top button undone. I wonder how easily I could undo the rest of them. There’s no doubt in my mind he looks just as good underneath his close as they do on him. Holy crap. What has gotten into me? I sound like I’ve never seen an attractive man before.