The Dating Intervention: Book 1 in the Intervention Series

by Hilary Dartt

  Although the sex had fallen quite short of great (she’d managed to almost enjoy everything except that Mitchell smacked her ass, hard, as he was finishing up), Delaney felt a strange lack of satisfaction. She wanted Mitchell out of her house so she could contemplate it, alone.

  She handed him his glasses and pulled on her robe, hoping he’d get the hint and take off. But instead, he stretched luxuriously before propping his head on a hand. His pasty skin contrasted starkly with the patchy dark hair on his chest.

  “That was nice,” he said.

  Surprisingly, Mitchell’s sob story at Eddie’s had not gotten Delaney’s juices flowing. In fact, for once, she had wanted to call it a night after dinner. But he’d looked so pitiful when he asked if he could walk her home. She thought it was stupid now, but at the time she’d considered that bringing him home might erase that horrible feeling that had started growing at the base of her neck. Without Summer and Josie hovering via text, she had agreed to the escort as he finished his pizza Margherita.

  She felt uncomfortable, like she wanted to unzip her skin and crawl away, leaving it empty and crumpled up on the bed next to Mitchell. She was uncomfortable with her decision, with Mitchell, with herself. She wondered why. For one (here she imagined Summer ticking the list off on her fingers), she couldn’t completely ignore Mitchell’s comment about not wanting a family. Two, she’d noticed during the conversation that he gave up so easily. Intimidation, on its own, had kept him from pursuing what he’d once considered a lifelong dream. Dreams change, she knew. But he hadn’t even made it to – much less through – an interview. Third, the spark she’d noticed on their initial date wasn’t there. She couldn’t really say why. Fourth, he was a downer tonight, and she had a feeling this was the real Mitchell, the Mitchell without the first-date sheen. The worst part of it was that she suspected everything she was noticing about Mitchell was the same stuff she disliked about herself.

  “Well, I’ve got to get to bed. Job-hunting tomorrow,” she said.

  “See? You nine-to-fivers miss out on all the fun.”

  But it worked. He got up, dressed and headed for the door.

  “When will I see you again?”

  He leaned in for a kiss and she leapt off the bed before it could even land on her cheek.

  “Let me settle into this nine-to-five thing, and I’ll let you know,” she said.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Preparing for this particular Happy Hour was going to require some relaxation, Delaney decided Thursday evening. She filled her tub with hot water and scented bath salts and soaked for a half-hour while visualizing the confident Delaney she knew she’d need to be to face Summer and Josie.

  Happy Hour itself had been a constant in Delaney’s life for the past several years. It was more important than any other aspect of her schedule. So why did she feel so nervous? Wouldn’t they just settle in, like they always did? If not, she had some ammo of her own, she thought as she selected sparkly blue earrings to match her bright blue top.

  “Hey Dee,” Benjamin greeted her as she walked into Rowdy’s a half-hour later.

  She didn’t have to wait for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting to see their usual table was empty. Feigning self-assurance, she sat down, hoping the girls wouldn’t stand her up for the first time ever.

  “How’s it hangin’, Benjamin?”

  “Oh, you know. The same. There’s a guy I want you to check out. He’s coming in later.”

  “For me or for you?”

  “For me.” Benjamin adjusted his hat.

  “You look sheepish,” Delaney said. “I’m so intrigued.”

  “Me, too. I’ll be right back with your drink.”

  The clock above the bar said it was two minutes after four. Josie came stalking in at the same time as Benjamin returned to the table with a tray.

  “Hey, Benji,” she said, then shifted her attention to Delaney. “Dee.”

  “Ouch,” Delaney said, in an attempt to keep the mood light. “Still mad, huh?”

  Josie remained standing, and put a hand on her hip. Delaney knew she was in trouble.

  “‘Mad’ doesn’t really cover it. As if Summer and I don’t have enough of our own shit going on, now we have to babysit you, too.” ‘

  “It was your idea to do The Dating Intervention in the first place! Remember the marquee? The lights? Your idea.”

  “I didn’t think it involved you turning into a freshman in high school.”

  “Geez.”

  “’Geez,’ yourself.” Josie, still standing, gestured with her free hand as she spoke: “Just because that stupid Matt guy, or whoever he was, duped you, you always feel like you have to have a bunch of guys on the side. Second string or whatever, right? And because Matt was a perfectly normal guy, except for the backup system he employed, you feel like you must simultaneously take his advice and swear off other normal guys. So you date only losers.”

  “That was after college. Not freshman in high school,” Delaney said. Desperate to put the spotlight on someone else, she said to Josie, “Let me guess. Bad day? Again?”

  “What do you think? I chose to teach elementary school so I wouldn’t have to deal with bitchy teenagers. But I’m dealing with them everywhere I turn. In her quest to snag the principal position right out from under me, the conniving Blair Upton has announced she’s starting a sewing club at school. And a racquet club. Seriously? A sewing club? For elementary students?”

  “What’s this about a sewing club?” Summer asked, approaching the table.

  Delaney, grateful for the distraction, watched as Summer tossed her purse on the spare chair and sat down. Finally, Josie sat down, too.

  “Just another project to piss Josie off, courtesy of Blair Upton. Seems to be going around,” Delaney told her.

  “She didn’t,” Summer said.

  “Not yet, but she’s going to,” Josie said.

  Delaney and Summer looked at each other.

  “You know what?” Delaney said. “Screw her. She’s an uppity bitch, anyway. We’ll come up with something better.”

  “Oh, yeah? Like what? Our efforts at a dating club won’t work, obviously.”

  Oh, so that’s how she’s going to bring this back around to me. I knew it was coming. Relax and inhale that special body cream you put on after the bath. Plumeria.

  It was relaxing, really. But not relaxing enough. Delaney still felt jittery.

  “Okay,” Summer said. “Let’s get this out of the way. Dee, we are really pissed off at you. You’re totally interfering with our attempts to help you find real love.”

  Before she had a chance to answer, Josie added, “We’re doing this for you. Contrary to your opinion, you don’t actually know what’s best for you. We do. We know you better than you know yourself. We see the pattern you follow and we want to help you stop it. You said you wanted to stop it, too. Didn’t she? Didn’t she, Summer?”

  “Well, it was implied, honestly. I guess we never asked her about it.”

  “I do! I do want it! I want to find real love. If I could bottle what I have with you two and somehow transpose it to my relationship with a guy, I’d be thrilled. But I can’t.”

  “You don’t have to,” Josie said. “You have to stop mucking up our perfectly decent efforts. I feel like you’re doing it on purpose, just to mess with us.”

  “Oh, Josie, I’m sure she isn’t doing it just to mess with us. She just doesn’t have the confidence to let something sail smoothly along.”

  “Well, why not?” Josie threw a hand in the air, then slapped her palm on the table for emphasis with each point: “She’s gorgeous. She’s nice. She’s funny. She’s smart. And she’s a real-life veterinarian. Not to mention her wicked uncanny sense for getting a great read on a person.”

  “She doesn’t think she’s worthy of love from a decent, happy, successful guy,” Summer said. “Even though everything you just said is true.”

  “But why not?” Finally Josie turned to glare at De
laney. “I’ve had it with you!” she shrieked. “And I need another drink.”

  “Well, that went well, considering,” Delaney said as Josie harrumphed off to the bar, too impatient to wait for Benjamin to return.

  “It’s not that we don’t want to do this for you,” Summer said. “We do. But we don’t want you to mess up our hard work. It’s like we’re planting you this beautiful garden. We’re working the soil, we’re watering the tiny seeds and the plants are starting to grow. They’re wonderful, some of them. Others are a little wilted, maybe, but some of them are even getting flowers. And we’re so happy. And then here comes Delaney, stomping on the plants. Not just the wilted ones, but also the beautiful ones, which have so much potential. You’re stomping on our plants, Dee.” Tears filled Summer’s eyes then and Delaney’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Summer shrugged. “Sorry, it’s the hormones.”

  By now, Josie had returned, still flushed.

  “Oh, great,” she said to Delaney. “Now you made her cry.”

  “It’s not hard to do these days,” Summer said, dabbing at her eyes with the end of her skirt.

  “I’m sorry for stomping on your plants,” Delaney said quietly, near tears herself. “I’ll do better. I can follow instructions. I’m really sorry. I’ll let them grow.”

  After a moment of heavy silence, she asked, “Can we change the subject now?”

  “Please,” Josie moaned. “Let’s.”

  “How’s the exercise coming, Josie?” Summer asked.

  “That’s not the subject I was hoping for,” Josie said. “It’s not coming very well.”

  Although Delaney was tempted to ask if it had something to do with her gym wardrobe, or lack thereof, she decided to tread carefully.

  “What’s stopping you from going?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, Delaney. What’s stopping you from actually liking a normal guy?”

  “Josie,” Summer said in her soothing mommy voice. “We’re moving past it. Remember?”

  Josie put her head down on her arms.

  “Right. Sorry. I just haven’t felt like going.” Her voice came out muffled. “It’s pointless. I don’t even like working out.”

  “Start small,” Delaney suggested. “Go to a class after work.”

  “Do you have your tablet?” Summer said. “Let’s look at the schedule right now. Let’s find a class we can all go to together.”

  Finding a class to agree on was much like finding a man to agree on. Delaney thought spin class would be too hard, Summer didn’t think she was coordinated enough to do Zumba and Josie refused to do anything that required a step. They finally settled on a yoga class Saturday morning, although Josie said she was sure someone would smell like body odor and patchouli.

  Now it was Josie’s turn to change the subject. “Did you hand out any CDs?” she asked Summer.

  “I can tell you’re thinking I didn’t,” Summer said. “But you’re wrong. I handed out seven of them. Even left one here. Wouldn’t it be a kick if we performed at Rowdy’s?”

  “Wow,” Delaney said. “I can’t wait to see you onstage!”

  “At the rate I’m growing with this pregnancy, though, you won’t be able to see my face past the belly,” Summer said. “But I’m doing it, even if I have to perform while I’m in labor. I’m doing it!”

  “That’s the spirit,” said Benjamin, who’d returned with another round of drinks. “He’s here, Dee. Back corner, red t-shirt.”

  The girls all swiveled around to look.

  “You guys are so obvious!” Benjamin hissed.

  “Ooh,” they all said in unison. “Very yummy.”

  “I know,” Benjamin said. “I know. This is the third night he’s been in here. Second night alone. I’ll be back.”

  They watched him walk over to the table.

  “Ahh, young love,” Josie said. “Speaking of young love, I just pulled up your FindLove profile and Sebastian-slash-Jake wants to know if you can go out tomorrow night.”

  “Of course I can. Right? Can’t I?”

  “He’s pursuing you now,” Josie said. “I think it’s time to make him wait, just a little. Can we do next Wednesday? Push it back? We want him to think your social schedule is very busy.”

  “I’m confused. You say you want me to stick with a normal guy. Then a normal guy comes along and you want me to play hard to get.”

  “It’s all part of the game, my sister,” Summer said. “Josie’s right. You can’t be available every time he asks. You have to show interest, but also come across as having your own life. So he doesn’t think he’s taking on too much importance.”

  “So I’m just going to say, ‘Sorry, I’m busy tomorrow, but I’d love to see you. How about Wednesday before my cooking class, instead? Short and sweet.”

  The word, “Fine,” died on Delaney’s lips as she remembered her renewed effort to follow instructions. Instead she said, “Thanks, Josie.”

  “Oh. He must be online right now. He just wrote back, ‘Wednesday’s good. Shall I pick you up at your place?’”

  “Sure,” Delaney said.

  “No,” Summer and Josie said in unison. Summer added, “We don’t want him knowing where your house is, yet.”

  Delaney didn’t mention that he’d walked her home that night she’d run into him outside Eddie’s. She didn’t mention the steamy kiss, either.

  “I’ll just tell him to meet at Eddie’s,” Josie said.

  “No!” When both girls jumped with surprise, Delaney explained, “It’s just that I met Mitchell there… during my phase of disobedience. It’d be awkward to meet Jake there, too.”

  It was a lie—Mitchell, who was supposed to be a lawyer, worked there and she didn’t want to run into him—but the girls would never know.

  “All right,” Josie said.

  “Hey, look at Benjamin! That’s so cute!”

  At the corner table, Benjamin had slid onto the barstool across from the good-looking guy in the red t-shirt. They leaned toward each other, talking intensely.

  “I wonder what they’re saying,” Summer said.

  Then, the moment ended as both men howled with amusement, tipping their heads back. Benjamin got off the stool and walked to the front of the bar, tapping the girls’ table as he went.

  “You know,” Summer said, “I have an idea. I think we need a break from talking about The Dating Intervention, Josie’s working out and my band stuff. What do you guys say we go to the spa this weekend? Pedicures, massages, whatever?”

  “Oh, I could kill for a good pedicure,” Josie said.

  “Saturday?” Summer said. “After yoga?”

  “It’s a date,” Delaney and Josie said.

  “I’ll make appointments at Hot Rocks,” Delaney said. “This will be perfect, in case you guys find me a date with another guy who has a foot fetish.”

  “So, back to Sebastian-slash-Jake,” Josie said. “How about the fountain on the square? And you guys can go from there?”

  “Sure. Perfect.”

  Even as her mouth formed the words, though, Delaney’s mind began to form another plan. Even as she yearned for her friends’ approval, she craved autonomy. She craved Jake Rhoades, and she didn’t want to wait until Wednesday to see him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The Internet, as far as Delaney was concerned, was one of the best spy tools around. With a little work, you could find the dirt on just about anyone you wanted to. Jake Rhoades was no exception.

  A quick search brought up tons of results. Most of them had to do with his furniture or his standings as a professional fisherman. A couple of the results showed that he was on the social networking site FriendZoo. She logged into her own account and searched for him there.

  She was surprised when the profile picture loaded: it was definitely Jake Rhoades and he was flashing the same cocky smirk she’d thought about so often since she’d first seen it. The quick flutter in her stomach and the memory of his lips on hers made her shiver.

 
; Then she saw the other pictures, loading under the heading, “Photos of Jake.” Even though Delaney’s rational mind knew these weren’t images Jake had uploaded, jealousy hit her like someone karate chopped her in the chest (and she had seen firsthand during one of Summer’s boys’ fights, what that could do to a person).

  In one picture, a beautiful blond girl smiled at the camera, her tan, toned arm around Jake’s waist. In another, Jake kissed that same girl on the cheek. These pictures could be years old, or they could be as recent as this morning for all Delaney knew.

  Her first instinct was to call Summer or Josie. But she squelched that even as her hand reached for her phone. She didn’t want them to know she was cyber-stalking Jake. Her second instinct was to send him an instant message, demanding to know when these photos were taken, and with whom. Not that him seeing other people right now was a deal-breaker, but it was an issue to consider, especially when she’d started thinking about them, naked. All. The. Time.

  Fortunately, her third instinct kicked in. To get off of FriendZoo before she made a fool of herself.

  First, though, she decided to send him a quick message: Hey, Jake. I don’t know what I was thinking earlier. I’ll feel pretty rushed if we meet before cooking class Wednesday, but I can meet tomorrow after all. How about 6 pm at the fountain on the square?

  Before she could chicken out, she clicked Send. After all, she reasoned, an extra date would give her the chance to beat around the bush about that girl. Then, knowing every minute she remained signed in was another chance for her to do (or type) something stupid, she signed off and went to bed.

  Just before she fell asleep, somewhere in the recesses of her fuzzy mind, it occurred to her to think about whether Jake would think she was cyber-stalking him. She hadn’t sent him a friend request, but she’d obviously found his profile. Was that creepy?

  By morning, she’d forgotten about those small questions of creepiness. He’d returned her message with a short and sweet, “Great! See you then,” and all she could do as she floated through the rest of the day was think about six p.m.