“I’m gonna open them.” I slowly counted to ten in my head and took a deep breath.
“Dante?” I gasped as his face came into focus.
“In the flesh, honey.” A smirk played on his lips, and his dark blue eyes sparkled. “Disappointed?”
Disappointed? No. I was rather speechless, though. He hadn’t even entered into the possibilities of who might be standing at my door. Dante was the last person I would have thought would volunteer to be my decoy boyfriend. “Um, more like shocked.”
He slightly tilted his head. “This really isn’t the reaction I was hoping for.”
“Did you expect balloons and streamers?”
“No, but I did at least expect little excitement.”
The Silver Fox Ninja was standing in my hallway expecting a marching band and parade for his arrival. “Let me get over my shock, and then I’ll try to do a couple of cartwheels for you.”
He snickered and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“Do you know why you’re here?” Dante didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would help me out with my mother problem.
“Your mom is a stick in the mud when it comes to your life, and you need a decoy who can convince her that you’re living the life she wants you to.”
He must have actually paid attention outside of the café last week. “I’m surprised you said yes.”
“I didn’t say yes.”
“Err, then why are you here?” Lord, if Karlton was paying him, I was going to die of embarrassment.
“I was there when you guys asked about Roman, remember? Well, I decided that I was a better fit for the job.” He held his hands out in front of him. “Here I am.”
Yes, here he was.
“You more than likely think that I’m a loser.” I thought I was a loser.
“No.”
I hitched my thumb over my shoulder. “Um, did you want something to drink?”
“Does that mean we’re going to go out?”
He seemed hopeful, and I couldn’t really say no. He was actually perfect for meeting my mother. He was older than I was, just like the guys she tried to set me up with. He was also much more handsome, and let’s be honest here, he was hot as hell. “It means you made the initial cut.” I moved back down the hallway to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge.
“So that means there is a final cut I still need to make it through, huh?” He leaned against the counter next to me.
He was a good six inches taller than I was and I had to tilt my head back to look at him. “Yes, but your odds are good. My mother will love you.”
He grimaced and grabbed the beer from me. “I’m not sure being your mother’s type is a good thing, especially when that type is not your type.”
He was right about my mother and me not having the same type, but from where I was standing, Dante could be anyone's type. “It’s a good thing at the moment.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to accept that. I’m just glad that you finally opened your eyes.” He reached around me, opened the fridge, and put the beer back.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re going out. I don’t drink and drive.”
“It’s just one beer.” My plan had been giving him one beer, we hang out for a little bit so I could get my wits about me, and then we head out.
“If I drink, then I don’t drive. Even one beer.” His voice was stern, and I knew he wasn’t kidding.
“Uh, okay.” It felt like there was more behind his words, but his tone told me he didn’t want to talk about it.
He ran his gaze over me. “You ready to go?”
I looked at my faded blue jeans, sandal-clad feet, and black t-shirt. “Um, yeah. Am I dressed okay?” I really should have asked Karlton what we were doing tonight, but I doubt he would have told me.
“You look good, honey.” His gaze lingered on my hips. “Although I have to say, I am rather fond of all of the yoga pants I see you in.”
I gulped.
I had heard that guys were fond of women in yoga pants, but I never thought anyone was looking at me in them. I wore them because they were easy to move in during class, and they were comfortable as hell. The fact that Dante was checking me out made my face heat and I shuffled my feet. “Err, I figured this was an occasion to pull out the jeans.”
“I approve.”
I stepped around Dante, grabbed my purse, and hitched it over my shoulder. “Maybe we should get some ground rules down before we go out.” I wasn’t sure what Dante was thinking. At all.
“I don’t do rules.”
I turned back to him. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t do rules. Especially when it comes to dating.”
“We aren’t dating.”
“Me taking you out to dinner and getting to know you is dating in my book.”
“That may be true, but the reason we’re going out to dinner is because you’re a decoy, not a date.”
“Same thing, honey.”
I had the urge to stomp my foot. “No, it’s not the same. Dating is when you like the person. What you and I are doing is something that needs to be done.”
“Give it time.”
“Give what time?”
“You’ll see.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Let’s go. I have a lane reserved for eight.”
“Lane?”
“Bowling, honey.”
“I thought we were just going out to eat?” Although bowling didn’t sound like a bad idea. I wouldn’t have to sit across from him for an hour trying to eat like a lady and not drop food on my shirt.
“You’d rather just go out to eat?”
I thought about it for a second and shook my head. “Nope. I’m good with bowling.” The thought of nachos loaded with everything and a greasy cheeseburger made my stomach growl and cemented the fact that I was okay with bowling.
“I figured it would be better than sitting across from each other trying to find shit to talk about.”
I tilted my head and squinted. “Are you reading my mind?”
Dante shook his head. “No, but I’m assuming that’s one more thing that will help you see I’m not just a decoy.”
“You are a decoy.” I wasn’t looking for anything more than that.
“All right. If you say so.” He waved his hand at me. “You need anything else, or are we good to go.”
“I’m good.”
He nodded and held his hand out toward the door. “Let’s hit the road, honey. Time's a wastin'.” I watched him walk to the front door like he lived here, and he looked over his shoulder at me. “You coming?”
Lord help me, I was.
**********
Chapter 10
Dante
“Yes! Eat it!” Kennedy swiveled her hips, and her arms shot up in the air in victory. “I do believe that is strike seven.”
I ran my fingers through my hair and shook my head. “I have to say, I didn’t think you would be wiping the floor with me tonight.” We were in our third game of the night, and Kennedy was, once again, beating the hell out of me.
She made the short walk from the alley to our table and plopped down in her chair. “Never underestimate.”
“Duly noted, honey.”
She finished off her beer and pulled the giant plate of nachos toward her. “If I would have known that the nachos were the size of a trash can lid, I wouldn’t have ordered a burger too.” She mounded up a chip with cheese, meat, and various toppings and shoved it into her mouth.
While I had ordered a patty melt and fries, Kennedy had decided on nachos to start then a burger and fries. I should have warned her that the nachos here were huge, but I kept silent wanting to see her reaction when she realized how much food she ordered. I grabbed a chip loaded down with cheese and popped it in my mouth. “I can help you out.”
“You better,” she laughed. The last chip she raised to her mouth had broken right before it hit her lips and was
now all over her fingers and face.
I was glad that she was finally loosening up a bit.
The drive to the bowling alley had been a bit awkward, me asking questions and Kennedy giving one word answers, but once I had paid for our lane and shoes, and she bowled her third strike, she was jumping up and down on the lane without a care in the world.
After her second beer, she was talking to me like I wasn’t a bad guy, and I was learning more and more about her.
“I knew you said you were hungry, but I’m pretty sure this plate of nachos could feed a family of four.”
A giggle erupted from her lips, and she shook her head. “How I was supposed to know? Normally nachos are in that little tray, not a huge platter.”
She was right. Under any other circumstance, that was what she would have gotten, but at Rusty’s Lanes, nachos were a platter for four. “I have to say, it’s nice to see you actually eat and not try to order the healthiest thing on the menu.”
She scoffed and loaded up another chip. “Not all people who do yoga are health nuts and hippies.” She gave me an accusing look and shoved the chip into her mouth. “I could say I’m surprised you didn’t order a protein shake and grunt when I answered the door.”
“It took close to ten minutes for you to open the door, and I don’t grunt. At least, not in greeting.” Why the hell would she think I would grunt?
“See, my assumption would have been wrong. You look like a gym rat who only cares about his body and when you’re going to get your next workout in.”
I had assumed she was a bit of a hippie and was worried about what she was going to eat. “You have to admit, honey, that my assumption was bad, but it’s not like yours where you made me sound like a caveman.”
She rolled her eyes. “Assumptions make people look like assholes.”
I grabbed another chip. “Sounds like you’re talking from experience, honey.”
She shrugged. “Being the child of Vivian Kramer leaves one open to be judged endlessly. I’m sure when you walked into my apartment, you expected to be slapped in the face with opulence and money.”
“No, because from what Karlton told me, you aren’t about that lifestyle.” I could understand where she was coming from, but to completely buck everything her parents offered her was a little odd to me. In the world I grew up in, people didn’t walk away from money.
“Well, you’re the first person who hasn’t thought that about me.”
“So, tell me how you broke free from your mother’s thumb and decided to open a yoga studio.”
She licked her fingers and pushed the platter of nachos toward me. “Only if we finish this game, and then you tell me how you got into karate.”
I held out my hand to her. “Deal. Now shake on it.”
She placed her soft, small hand in mine. “First, we finish the game. That’ll be way more exciting than the story of my life,” she swallowed.
I found that doubtful. “You just want to completely annihilate me in this game.”
She stood up, grabbed the ball I had been using, and held it out to me. “You are completely right. Now throw this down there, miss all of the pins so I can get my eighth strike.”
I wiped my hands on my shorts and stood. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a bit of a competitive streak?” I grabbed the ball from her, and she smirked.
“I like to win.”
“So do I, honey, but only when it really matters.”
“I’m assuming that you think that bowling doesn’t matter.”
“There you go assuming again,” I chuckled. I leaned into her, my lips next to her ear. “But I’m okay with it because it just means you’re thinking about me.”
She stepped back from me and wagged her finger. “Nope, not happening.”
“What’s not happening?”
“Whatever the hell it is you think you’re doing. You are a decoy, and you will not have my girly bits tingling.” She slapped her hand over her mouth, and her eyes widened.
“So, I just made your girly bits tingle?”
She shook her head. “Nava. Net at ell.”
“Was that French or Spanish you just spoke?” I chuckled.
She lowered her hand and glowered at me. “You have not tingled my girly bits.”
“Guess I’ll just have to try harder. I didn’t really think you were that easy, anyway.” I threw a wink over my shoulder at her and sauntered up to the alley.
I heard her stomp her foot, and she murmured a string of curse words under her breath.
She may keep saying that I was just her decoy, but I was determined to change her way of thinking. Even if I had to play along with her silly plan. She would be surprised to know, I had my own plan to go from decoy to Mr. Right.
I stood at the line of the alley, took three steps, and tossed my ball down the slick wood lane.
“Ha, gutter ball,” she snickered from behind me.
I just hoped my plan was better than my bowling skills.
**********
Chapter 11
Kennedy
“I’m not saying it.”
“Just say it.”
Dante shook his head and picked up his bowling shoes from the floor. “I’m not calling you Queen Kennedy, Bowler Extraordinaire.”
I thrust my shoes at him and huffed. “That is kind of a mouthful. You can shorten it to Queen Kennedy, B.E.”
Dante chuckled. “B.E.? You’re crazy, honey.” He walked away from me and set our shoes on the return counter.
“Oh, come on,” I pouted, walking over to him. “The only nickname I’ve ever had is Ken. I need something better than that.”
“I call you honey.”
I scoffed. “You probably call everyone that.”
“I can guarantee you that I do not call Kellan, Tate, or Roman that.”
I laughed at the thought of Dante calling Roman honey. “I think I would probably pay to watch you call any of them honey.”
“If I did, you can guarantee they’d all punch me in the face.”
“I’m sure you could defend yourself.” Molly had mentioned each of the guys had their own specialties, and Dante was the fighter.
He looked down at me and smirked. “Does that mean you don’t want anything to happen to my pretty face?”
I scowled and shook my head. “You are completely shameless, you know that, right?”
“There you go, thinking about me again,” he rumbled low. He leaned down while he grabbed my right hand with his left. “But you’re not going to admit that, are you, honey?”
I had the upper hand, and just like that, he touched me, and my world rocked.
Confession time.
While I was throwing sass and bragging that I had beat Dante at three games of bowling, inside, I was actually enjoying my time with him. I couldn’t admit that, though. I had started this date telling him he was just a decoy, but by the time I had bowled my last frame, I wasn’t thinking of him like that anymore. I didn’t want this. A relationship was not something I was looking for.
Running my business and avoiding my mother were my two priorities. There was no room for Dante in there besides being my decoy for one night.
At least, that was what I kept telling myself. After spending a few hours with Dante, I was starting to see that it was going to be hard to stick to those two priorities. “I admit nothing.” I pulled my hand from his and took a step back. “Except for I think you have a big head.”
He smirked. “You ready to have that talk about your mother yet?”
Crap. I forgot I agreed to talk about her. “I’m feeling kind of tired,” I stammered behind a fake yawn.
Dante crossed his arms over his chest. “I call bullshit, but this just means we’re going to have to go out again before going over to your mom’s.”
I shook my head. That wasn’t going to happen. “I see no reason for that.”
“Because we still need to get to know each other better.” He stared down at me. “When is this
dinner?”
I did the math in my head and figured I had less than three weeks ‘til I couldn’t ignore my mother’s summons anymore. “Around the second week of the month.”
“So that’s like two and a half weeks, right? So, you expect us not to see each other for that long and then when we get to your mom’s to just act like we are so happy together? That shit ain’t going to work, honey.”
“Have you been talking to Karlton?” I huffed. “He said the same thing to get me out tonight.”
“He’s a smart man.”
“Jesus,” I grumbled. “Give me your phone.” He handed me his phone without a word, and I pulled up his contacts. I quickly punched in my number and handed the phone back to him.
Dante looked at his phone, hit a few buttons, and then my phone in my pocket was ringing. I pulled it out and laughed. “You called me?”
Dante ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket. “Now you have mine, and I also know that you didn’t give me the number to a pizza place instead of your number.”
Damn. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
He may have my number now, but that didn’t mean I had to answer when he called or texted me. “Next time, we’ll delve into the world of Vivian and how you became a karate hottie.”
Dante’s eyebrows raised and a grin spreads across his lips. “Karate hottie?”
Oh, for Pete's sake. First, I tell him about my lady bits tingling and now I called him a karate hottie to his face. “It’s what Karlton calls you guys. It’s catchy.” I assumed my face was ten shades of red by the heat flooding my skin.
Dante laughed and hitched his thumb over his shoulder. “Come on, honey. We can stop for ice cream on the way, and then I’ll return you back to your apartment so you can talk yourself into thinking of ways to get rid of me.”
“Do you say everything that comes into your head?” Who talked like that? So straightforward and not caring.
“I just speak the truth.” He grabbed my hand again, pulled me next to him, and held my hand the whole way out the door and over to his truck.
“I think I’ve had enough truth tonight.”
Dante reached for my door. “Yeah, I’d say you have, honey.” He opened my door, helped me in, and slammed it shut.
Black Belt in Love (Powerhouse MA Book 3) Page 6