HOW TO BE THE PERFECT GIRLFRIEND

by Heather MacAllister

  "But I didn't!"

  He should have called her. Simon tried to hold her, but Sara stepped away from him and his arms dropped to his sides.

  "Sara, last night was one of the highlights of my life." He looked for and saw a brief softening in her expression, but she turned away.

  "Last night, you were supposed to be in Glasgow."

  That again. "I told you, this weekend had been planned—"

  "Simon!" Sara made a frustrated sound. "What would Joanna have done if you were still in Glasgow? Do you honestly think she hadn't made alternative childcare arrangements? Do you think she was just going to leave Kayla by herself? And why did Kayla and Amber have to come right then and there? I heard you tell Joanna you were tired. You could have picked the girls up from school the next day. Didn't you anyway?"

  "But I'd talked to Kayla already. She knew I was back."

  "So?"

  "Kayla needs stability," he said slowly. "I didn't want her to think I was rejecting her or abandoning her."

  "By making her wait one day?" She scoffed. "I'll tell you who felt rejected and abandoned—me! We were in bed together—sleeping. After being in bed together not sleeping. You told me you loved me!"

  "I do!"

  Sara shook her head. "I'll tell you what went on. Joanna wanted to keep us apart. She suspected we were together. It's nothing personal against me. She'll try to break up any relationship of yours because it will keep you from spending all your time raising her daughter."

  Simon had been sympathetic and understanding up until that point, but Sara clearly couldn't see his position. "I think you've gone too far."

  "Actually, I haven't gone far enough. You and Joanna act like a divorced couple with joint custody. She's playing on your guilt for forgetting about Kayla when she was a baby. And I've got to hand it to her, she's good because from what you told me, she should be the one who feels guilty."

  "But I should have acknowledged Kayla."

  "You were human and you were hurt. Don't let her play you."

  "So every time Joanna or Kayla calls, I'm supposed to say, 'Sorry. I'll have to get Sara's permission to talk to you'?"

  "No, but you have to put us, that's me and you and our relationship, first. That is, if you want one."

  He stared at her, but she wouldn't back down. She seemed so sure of herself and she was being so unreasonable. "So, I do have to choose between you, except that I'm always supposed to choose you."

  She looked at him for a long moment. "Yeah."

  There it was. Last night's incident would be replayed over and over again until Kayla was old enough to take care of herself. "Sara, I can't be what you want me to be right now."

  "I know." She picked up her purse. "That's why I can't be with you."

  "Simon looks like hell." Hayden was late to lunch. "And you don't look much better."

  "Thanks a lot."

  Missy dug in her bag. "Here, Sara, borrow some of my concealer stick. I'm trying several different shades for my wedding."

  "Hush," Hayden said to Missy. "Don't say the word 'wedding' around her."

  "It's okay." Sara smiled brightly. "I'm fine. I had my ride in the Rolls and there are a lot of women who never get that much. I'm over it. Over him."

  Missy and Hayden looked pointedly at Sara's lunch, which consisted of two pieces of coconut cream pie.

  "I didn't have breakfast," Sara explained.

  Hayden studied her. "You're still in love with Simon."

  "Yes." She filled her mouth with meringue from one piece, which she was eating in layers. The other piece, she was eating the three layers at once. A person could use the variety.

  "Yet you won't fight for him," Missy said.

  "No." Sara ate a three-layered forkful. "Can't win."

  "I think you could take Joanna on," Hayden said.

  Sara dropped her fork and drilled Hayden with a look. "I was in his bed after two sessions of mind-blowing sex and he'd said the 'L' word. And she calls, wakes him up, and he goes running. She didn't even have to drive her daughter over to him. Oh, no. He gets rid of me and goes and gets her." She picked up her fork. "That is a no-win situation. Then I have to explain why it's a no-win situation to him and of course he doesn't believe me and gets ticked off besides. So, he's out of the picture. Hook me up with new candidates, please." She dug into the coconut cream layer.

  "Simon Northrup never struck me as a stupid man," Hayden mused. "Latent case of testosterone poisoning, I guess." She sighed. "Whatcha got for her, Missy?"

  "More Barre Belles' connections. They both check out. One's thirty-one, and the other is twenty-eight and divorced, no children. Presentable looks, both solvent."

  "Sounds fine," Sara said. "Either one."

  "I'll make some calls," Missy offered.

  "I have a tentative meeting with a lawyer who's bringing a friend with him tonight," Hayden told her.

  Sara had made her way down to the crust. "Fabulous. Let's go. I'm ready."

  It was an odd thing, but now that Sara wasn't emotionally needy, she was attracting men as she never had before. The lawyer was breathtakingly handsome—or would have seemed so if she hadn't already seen Simon. He asked for her number and actually called her. So did Hayden's date, but Sara pretended she never got that message. Then she went out with both Barre Belles' connections—incredibly nice guys. And they both called her. Go figure.

  She fed their stats to Missy, who inputted them into Sara's spreadsheet.

  Hayden found out that her lawyer date had called Sara and insisted that she was finished with him, so, because she'd been on a nice-guy roll, Sara went out with him, too.

  And her nice guy streak ended.

  It was a work night and after drinks and dinner, Sara was ready to go home. Make no mistake, he was charming and generous and good-looking, but he was no Simon.

  Simon had poisoned her for all other men. "Where are we going?" she asked when her date missed the exit off the freeway to her apartment.

  "My place," he said.

  She looked at him, looked at his mouth, tried to imagine kissing that mouth … and couldn't do it. "Look, I've had a nice time, but I've got to go to work tomorrow."

  "It's not that late. I'm not ready for the evening to end." He smiled, reached over and put his hand on her thigh, his fingers searching beneath the hem of her skirt.

  Not this. She had no patience or desire for this. She removed his hand. "I want to go home."

  "My place is nicer."

  He hadn't even seen her place. "I meant home alone."

  "Fine." He whipped the car to the side of the road so quickly, her head jerked painfully to the side.

  Reaching across her, he opened the door. "You want to go home, so go."

  "Oh, come on. You're not some frustrated teenager and I didn't order the lobster."

  "It's worse. You wasted my time."

  She would have snapped at him to bill her at his going rate, but he probably would have. "You aren't going to take me home?"

  "Be happy to take you home later."

  Sara looked around. It was after dark, but this was a nice residential area. "I'll take my chances now."

  "Just remember that it was your choice."

  He was probably legally covering himself. "Jerk." She got out, not bothering to shut the door.

  He leaned over, slammed it and within moments, roared off.

  She honestly thought she'd see red taillights as he came to his senses and backed up to get her. They disappeared around the bend and she stared into the darkness for several minutes before realizing that she'd actually been dumped by the side of the road.

  Sara pulled her cell phone out of her purse. What did women do before cell phones? She called Hayden. No answer. She called Missy. No answer. She tried Hayden's cell, but it went over to her voice mail.

  Great. What was the use of having a cell phone if nobody answered? She looked around. She was on a winding two-lane street with houses set way back from the sidewalks. The tr
ees made it dark, but it would probably be safe to approach one of the homes and ask someone to call a cab.

  Or she could call Simon. Honestly, as many times as he'd come to her rescue, she almost expected him to come driving up. But he was busy with Kayla, no doubt.

  She called him anyway.

  "Sara! Hi." His voice warmed. "I'm glad you called."

  "You might not be." She heard music in the background. Kayla-type music. "I—is Kayla over there?"

  He hesitated before answering. "Yes. Joanna's got finals and Kayla is staying over here so she can study."

  Sara rolled her eyes. "Okay. So you're busy—"

  "What's up?"

  Sara drew a breath. "I couldn't reach Hayden or Missy. My date abandoned me in the wilds of Memorial. I need a white knight."

  "What do you mean 'abandoned you'?" He sounded outraged.

  Good. She was outraged, too. "I mean he wanted to go back to his place, I didn't, and so he let me out of the car."

  "By the side of the road?"

  "Yes."

  "Where are you?"

  "I'm not exactly sure. We got off the freeway and didn't drive too far. I'll walk to a cross street and let you know."

  "Stay put. I'll find you."

  She was surprised and, yes, glad to have an excuse to see Simon again. This dating thing wasn't working and it wasn't just because of her experience tonight. She'd met several really nice men whose only problem was that they weren't Simon.

  Despite his instructions, Sara walked until she got to a cross street and called him. Less than five minutes later, he pulled up beside her.

  "Just how fast did you drive?" she asked as she got in.

  "Fast," came a voice from the back seat. Kayla. "Now hurry up and take her home. I'm missing my show!"

  Simon glanced back at her in the rearview mirror. "So, you're missing your show. Get over it."

  "You used to be a lot nicer." Kayla slumped down in the seat.

  "You didn't," Simon said and Sara stared at him. What had happened to those two?

  "Are you still going to make me finish my homework even though I didn't get to watch my show?"

  "You bet. That's what your mom told me to do."

  "Man!"

  Something had changed in their relationship. They sounded like squabbling … siblings. They sounded like brother and sister. Sara felt hope beating its poor bruised wings against her rib cage.

  "Hey." She turned in the seat so she could see Kayla.

  "What happened to sisterly solidarity? I was abandoned by a creep."

  "You shouldn't go out with creeps. You should go out with my brother."

  "Hear that?" Simon asked. "She doesn't think I'm a creep."

  "You're only a creep when it comes to homework and talking on the phone."

  Sara looked at Simon. "Really? Talking on the phone?"

  "A little punk called her."

  "Cory isn't a punk! Simon took away my cell phone."

  "I told you, no phone until your homework gets done."

  "Cory had a question about the homework! That's why he called me on your phone. And then Simon listened in!"

  "They weren't talking about homework."

  "That's an invasion of privacy! Don't you think that's horrible, Sara?"

  Sara smiled at Simon. They were at a stoplight, so he looked over at her. Their eyes met and understanding passed between them.

  "I think it's wonderful," Sara said.

  Later that night, Simon stopped by her apartment after dropping Kayla back home. "I know it's late," he began.

  "Fortunately, not too late." Sara smiled and led him over to the couch with the soft cushions and the chenille throw. She'd lit candles, put a jazzy-bluesy CD on the stereo, and brewed two cups of herbal tea, which she'd placed on a woven mat atop the coffee table.

  She was wearing a long, silk wrap robe, under which she was wearing exactly nothing. If the conversation went well, she'd let him know.

  "Thanks for letting me come over."

  "Thanks for rescuing me once again."

  He sat on the sofa an arm's length away, but his gaze was as intense as ever. It roamed over her. "Are you wearing anything under that?"

  She smiled. "I'll tell you after we talk."

  "If you're not wearing anything under that, we won't have to talk."

  "If we don't talk, you'll never find out."

  "Choose your topic."

  She drew her feet toward her. "You and Kayla. You acted different tonight."

  "I had a very long, painfully blunt conversation with Joanna. You probably won't be surprised to find out that you were right about nearly everything."

  "What wasn't I right about?"

  "Okay, you were right about everything."

  "That's more like it." Sara rewarded him by reaching for her tea, knowing that the neckline of her robe would gape a little bit.

  "I had no idea that Joanna thought it was possible…" He trailed off with a shake of his head.

  Sara had absolutely no trouble filling in the rest of the sentence. Joanna had some nerve trying to get Simon back.

  "We're in family counseling," he said.

  "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "Didn't know if it would work. We started out with daily sessions the first week. Now we're at three times a week." He smiled the sweetest smile at her. "I'm learning how to be a big brother."

  "I'm glad."

  He inched closer to her. "You really aren't wearing anything under that robe, are you?"

  Sara merely sipped her tea. "I wasn't fair to you before."

  "I know."

  "I can't believe how screwed up things were."

  He glanced at her. "How about a little hint?"

  Sara pulled the hem of the robe up to her knees.

  "Sara—can we start again?"

  "Start what again?"

  "You aren't making this easy for me."

  "I need to hear a certain amount of groveling to repair the damage to my self-esteem." As she spoke, the robe slipped off her shoulder.

  Simon swallowed, his eyes on her shoulder. "I was an idiot?"

  The robe slipped off her other shoulder. "I was a well-meaning, but deluded fool?"

  "That's pretty good," she said.

  "They why didn't more of your robe slip off?"

  Sara looked into the distance. "I'm just lacking a definitive something…"

  His cell phone rang. Sara raised her eyebrow.

  He let it ring again. "Am I allowed to answer the phone?"

  She shrugged a bare shoulder.

  "I should have turned it off." He checked the number on the display, then gave Sara an apologetic look. "The next time I'll turn it off, I swear. Hello? Kayla? I'm…"

  Sara saw the struggle on his face, then his resolve. "I'll have to fix your computer some other time. I'm busy."

  He listened some more. "I suggest you call the punk for math help. I'm busy now." He frowned. "I can't talk with your mother right now. I'm busy and I'm hanging up the phone. She can call a repairman. That's what they do. Repair things."

  "Simon!" Sara heard Kayla's voice over the phone.

  He closed his eyes. Then they opened as understanding crossed his face. He raised his eyebrow. "Kayla says to tell you good-night." He punched off the phone. "That was a test, wasn't it?"

  Sara smiled. Kayla had played her part frighteningly well. "Can you blame me?"

  "I guess not." He leaned toward her and ran a finger along the line of her bare shoulders. "So, did I pass?"

  Sara lay back on the sofa and let the robe slither open. "You passed. Want to try for bonus points?"

  Many bonus points later, in the darkness of Sara's room, on her bed with the six hundred thread count sheets, Simon nuzzled her ear and asked sleepily, "Will you marry me?"

  Sara drew in a long breath. "Ask me again when we aren't in bed."

  Immediately, Simon sat up, swung his legs over the side and pulled Sara out of bed.

  "What are you do
ing?" she protested.

  "Pulling you out of bed to ask you to marry me. I think you might say yes."

  Her heart started hammering. "Simon—"

  "That's not yes. I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that it's too soon, but Sara, we're perfect for each other. Even our faults are compatible."

  It would never get better than this and she knew it. "Yes."

  He stared at her. "Yes, our faults are compatible, or yes, you'll marry me?"

  "I have no faults. Yes, I'll marry you."

  He laughed and swung her against him so hard the air left her lungs. But it might have anyway. There wasn't enough room for both air and that much happiness.

  Simon set her down. "One more thing—will you wear a fur coat if I buy you one?"

  She'd wear fur anything. "Make it a fake."

  "As long as you know my love is real."

  "Then I'll wear it." Sara grinned. "Only for you."

  Simon angled his head for a kiss. "Perfect."

  * * * * *