Sweet Tricks: A Love Bites Novella

by Maggie Dallen

  Jack was a moron. An idiot. He didn’t deserve her forgiveness. That was what he told himself as he camped out in front of his parents’ apartment building, waiting for Tabitha and the rest of the catering crew to leave. The party had broken up ages ago—his parents were social butterflies but they were no night owls.

  For the millionth time that night, he mentally kicked himself for going to the party in the first place. For lack of anything better to do—and to appease his mother’s guilt trip at his infrequent stops home these days—he’d agreed to put in an appearance. But what were the odds that his parents party was the same one that she was catering? There were hundreds of Halloween parties going on that weekend. Thousands, most likely.

  The sound of people exiting had him jumping to his feet, only to curse under his breath as strangers strode past him laughing and chatting.

  All he’d had to do was make it through one more day of lies and then he’d been fully prepared to tell her the truth. He’d been planning on telling her everything tomorrow night. On their date. Shit, if he’d just stayed home tonight he could have broken it to her gently, explained why he’d lied. Now….well now he just looked like an asshole.

  Because you are.

  The front door opened again and this time a handful of people wearing catering uniforms filed out. And there she was. A bright light in the darkness.

  Except that her face looked strained, her mouth pressed tight.

  Crap, he’d done that.

  She spotted him then and came to a stop mid-step. The rest of her friends kept walking and he watched her look from them to him and back again. She started after her co-workers.

  “Tabby, wait.”

  She shook her head, walking faster as she followed them down the street. “They’re giving me a ride home.”

  That was it. Her voice was cold and distant—so incredibly not like her. The warmth and kindness he’d been drawn to were locked up tight behind her anger and her pain.

  He caught up to her and reached a hand out, lightly grasping her arm. She jerked away quickly but came to a stop.

  “Let me give you a ride home,” he said quietly.

  She shook her head and started to turn.

  “I need to go back there too, you know.”

  Her head snapped back so quickly, her low ponytail whipped his face. “You are not living with me anymore.”

  He nodded and shoved aside the disappointment that made his chest ache. “Yeah, I figured. But I do need to grab my stuff. And we need to talk.”

  She looked off into the distance and he leapt on her hesitation.

  “You can’t tell me you don’t have questions.”

  She turned back then, her soft lips hardened into a thin line, her eyes cold and distant. “Fine. Give me a ride home. But once we get there, you’re packing your bags. Got it?”

  He nodded. “Got it.” He had the short drive from the Upper East Side to Brooklyn to dig himself out of this hole and maybe, just maybe earn another shot with the woman of his dreams.

  She was distant and quiet as they merged into traffic. But then, what did he expect? Clearing his throat, he started with the obvious. “I’m sorry.”

  He felt her stare. “For what?”

  Taking a deep breath, he plunged into the apology he’d been crafting since his mother unintentionally outed him. “I’m sorry for lying to you and for not being totally honest about who I am and my, uh….situation. I shouldn’t have lied that first day.” He shook his head in annoyance at his former self.

  “Why did you?” she asked. “Why did you lie that day at the bar and tell me the owner wasn’t coming in?”

  He glanced over but her expression was unreadable. “Because I liked you.” The words seemed to echo in the car.

  When she spoke her words were clipped and cold as ice. “You liked me?” Her voice rose in disbelief. “Let me get this straight, you outright lied to me because you liked me.”

  He shifted uncomfortably behind the wheel. “I swear I can explain.”

  He heard her cross her arms as she leaned back to get a better look at him. “Oh, I’d love to hear this.”

  A surge of nerves made his mouth turn to cotton and he swallowed thickly. “Well, um, my ex was kind of a bitch.”

  There was a brief pause before she said, “Excuse me?”

  “I know it doesn’t excuse anything but, just like you have your issues trusting guys because of Will and guys like him, well….I’ve had a string of bad girlfriends—all of whom used me to some extent. Every time I went into it thinking we had something real and every time it turned out they were with me for my connections, or the money, or the perks of dating one of the Thirty Under Thirty.”

  He glanced over and saw her nose scrunched up in confusion. “The magazine article? The thirty most eligible bachelors under the age of thirty?”

  She shook her head and he let out a humorless laugh. He should have known she didn’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. But how could he have known that on day one?

  “Anyways, when you came into the bar, I felt it—an instant attraction. I wanted to get to know you. I wanted to ask you out. I wanted….” Ah hell, it was obvious what he’d wanted.

  “So you lied.”

  Her words cut like a knife…mainly because they were the truth. “Yeah, I lied.”

  After a brief silence, she asked, “What else did you lie about? I mean, did you even need another waitress at your club? Did you really need a place to crash?”

  “Yes,” he said quickly. “We really were short-staffed at the club.”

  “And needing a place to crash?” He hated the doubt that laced her voice. It was warranted, sure, but he hated it.

  “That was….sort of true.” Even he could hear how lame that sounded so he hurried to explain. “I had been meaning to have my apartment painted and, you know, this month seemed as good a time as any.”

  She made a sound of disgust as if too revolted for actual words. And could he blame her?

  “I swear I was going to tell you everything,” he said, risking another glance in her direction. She’d turned to look out the window so all he could see was the back of her head, which gave nothing away.

  “When?”

  “Tomorrow night,” he said without pause, because that was the God’s honest truth and he needed her to know that.

  She turned back to face him, her brows drawn together and her lips turned down in a frown. “Is that why you….why you stopped things last night?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. It didn’t feel right. I mean, it felt amazing but I didn’t want to start anything serious without you knowing everything.”

  “How noble.” Her words dripped with sarcasm and it was so unlike her he felt it like a blow to the gut.

  They reached her block way too soon. He followed her out of the car and to her front door, wishing there were some words he could think of to make it better but drawing a blank. To make things right he’d need to go back to the day they’d met and start all over again.

  Once inside he followed her into the kitchen where she dropped her keys and took off her coat. He shoved his hands into his pocket, leaning against the doorway, just waiting for her to say something….anything.

  “You should pack your things.” The cold anger was gone from her voice but she didn’t turn around to face him and the quiet tone and her slumped shoulders was worse than any insults or angry words she could throw his way.

  He wanted to say more but he couldn’t think of any words that would make this better. Maybe the best thing he could do was leave. He’d told her himself that she deserved better…. better than Will and the other assholes who took advantage of her. And better than him, the guy who’d lied to her.

  The silence of the apartment seemed to mock him as he made his way to his makeshift bedroom and gathered up his belongings. By the time he came out with his arms filled with the first load, he saw that Tabitha had gone into her room and the door was closed.

  Chapte
r Five

  The next night, Elise and Katerina came over to keep her company and take her mind off of the fact that she was supposed to be on a date with a guy she’d thought was different.

  “How am I always so wrong?” she moaned, her head falling back against the couch cushions as Elise and Katerina gave her a pitying look.

  “Seriously,” she said, picking her head up and reaching for the wine bottle. “What is wrong with me that I keep falling for the bad boy?”

  Katerina’s eyes narrowed in a look she knew well—she was analyzing, processing information like a computer. “I wouldn’t classify Jack as a bad boy.”

  “You mean Jonathan.” She’d gotten good at making the name Jonathan sound like a curse word. “And how is he not a bad boy? He’s a liar and a…a…a liar.”

  Elise raised a brow and she shrugged. “What? I can’t think of any other names to call him. Well that’s not true. I could call him a jerkface and an ass and a…a….” Dammit, why was she so bad at name-calling?

  “A liar?” Elise supplied, her lips twitching with amusement. Tabitha glared and Elise feigned a serious expression.

  “You’re right, he is a jerkface,” she said solemnly. So solemnly that even Tabitha had to laugh.

  “Can we all just agree that he’s a liar?”

  “Yes, obviously,” Katerina said. She was still in analytical scientist mode and ignored the teasing going on around her. “But that’s my point exactly. He may be ‘a jerkface,’ as you put it, but he doesn’t fall into the ‘bad boy’ categories that we’ve previously established.”

  Tabitha and Elise exchanged an amused look. Katerina had never really understood the “boy talk” thing but her take on relationships was always unique. Tabitha leaned forward, intrigued despite herself. “What do you mean?”

  Katerina toyed with her glasses, another tell that her brain was currently working on overdrive, despite the ample amounts of wine she’d consumed. “I mean, up until now, we’ve classified the bad boys as guys who have used you, taken advantage of you, treated you poorly….”

  Tabitha winced. Christ, she had bad taste.

  “And Jack just lied,” Elise finished for her.

  “Just?” Tabitha looked at her friends in disbelief.

  “Not ‘just,’” Katerina added quickly. “But the lies he told, including the lies of omission, weren’t intended to cause you harm in any way. At least, by the sounds of it.”

  “Yeah,” Elise said. “Sounds like he was the one afraid of getting hurt. Kind of like how you swore off bad boys to avoid getting hurt.”

  “Me swearing off bad boys is not the same thing,” she said. “Also, whose side are you guys on, anyways?”

  “Yours,” they said quickly and in unison.

  “We’re always on your side, you know that,” Elise said, patting her knee as she reached over to grab the wine bottle from her hand.

  “But it’s our duty as your best friends to play devil’s advocate and give you some perspective on the situation,” Katerina added.

  “Exactly,” Elise mumbled through a mouth full of brownie. “We’re devil’s advocates.”

  “And Jack is the devil, I presume.”

  Katerina gave a little snort of laughter at her lame joke. Katerina could always be counted to laugh at the dumb jokes, the dumber the better.

  Elise just rolled her eyes. “He’s not the devil. He sounds pretty sweet, actually.”

  Tabitha’s eyes grew so big it hurt. “Excuse me?”

  “Not the lying part,” Elise said quickly. “Obviously not the lying part. But the other stuff…you know, moving in to help you pay back rent and get to know you better, taking you shopping to get to know you better, calling off what could have been some super hot sex until he got to know you better….”

  “The money part was no big deal for him,” she said, refusing to think too much about Elise’s words. She didn’t want to forgive him or think nice thoughts about the guy. It had been hard enough to send him away when she was angry. “He gave me money because he felt sorry for me—”

  “Or because he cares about you,” Katerina pointed out, ever the objective commentator.

  “And he moved in to get close to me,” she continued.

  “Because he wanted to get to know you,” Elise finished. “I think it’s sweet.”

  “Or because he wanted to sleep with me,” she shot back.

  Elise raised one brow. “Sweetie, no offense, but if he just wanted to get in your pants, he probably could have. You said yourself that you were into the makeout session and he was the one to end it.”

  Tabitha wanted to argue but couldn’t. Not without lying, at least. Shit. She had bad taste and she was a slut. Wonderful.

  “We’re just saying that in the overall grand scheme of things, Jack doesn’t exactly qualify as a bad boy,” Katerina said. “Not technically.”

  “Why are you guys defending him?” She pushed off the couch to grab more snacks from the kitchen and maybe, just maybe, avoid hearing their answer. Because she already knew what it would be. They liked him. They may have only met him once but they’d taken a liking to him. Just like she had.

  The silence from the other room had her coming back to the living room quickly, a bag of pita chips in hand. Sure enough, her friends were exchanging a knowing look.

  “What?” she demanded.

  Elise sighed. “I know you haven’t known the guy for long but, it seems like you really like him.”

  “And he obviously cares about you,” Katerina said.

  Tabitha felt her cheeks flush but she refused to think too much about their comment. Her friends knew her better than anyone. If they thought she liked him….

  “We just don’t want to see you dismiss this guy based on a false premise,” Katerina said in her most academic tone.

  “False premise?”

  “That he’s a bad boy just like all the other guys you’ve dated,” Elise explained. “He’s not. And we don’t want to see you lose out on something real because you don’t trust yourself.”

  The air rushed out of her lungs. Whether they’d meant to or not, her two best friends had struck a nerve. Because that’s what it all came down to. Yes, he’d hurt her but the reason it hurt so badly was because she’d thought she could trust him. Finally, she’d met someone who seemed to be one of the good ones. To find out that she might have been wrong, that her instincts were flawed, that her heart was mistaken…..

  Elise’s voice cut into her thoughts. “So I guess what we’re trying to say is….what does your heart say? Is he a good guy or not?”

  That was the question that plagued Tabitha all week. How was she supposed to know? Everything he’d done when he was with her said trustworthy, kind, sweet. When the flowers started to arrive, she wavered even more. Giant hothouse flowers that must have been outrageously expensive started showing up at her front door.

  “How sweet,” Elise sang as yet another bouquet showed up on Friday while she and her friends were getting ready for the Halloween party that night.

  Tabitha glanced at the orchids and made a noncommittal sound of acknowledgement. They were beautiful, of course they were, they cost a fortune. With every bouquet came a battle in her heart. Was it sweet? Of course. But it was also a reminder that this kid came from money and he’d let her believe….well, he’d let her believe the worst, really. That he was another unreliable musician who needed a place to crash.

  When she’d tried to explain this annoyance to Katerina earlier that day, she’d been met with crinkled up nose—Katerina’s “does not compute” expression. “So wait, you’re angry because he’s not a bad boy?”

  Elise had laughed and promptly run away at the sight of Tabitha’s scowl.

  “I’m angry that he lied,” she said. Really, over the course of the week her friends had gone from playing devil’s advocate to being Jack’s advocate.

  Sure enough, with the arrival of this latest bouquet, Team Jack went into action. “Maybe you sh
ould hear him out,” Elise said, as she read the card. Tabitha snatched the card from her hand.

  “I’m sorry.” That was all it said. Every card was just one line. “I miss you.” “Please let me make it up to you.” “Can we call a do-over?”

  “Just think of how many second chances you gave Will.” Katerina walked out of the kitchen and gave Tabitha a knowing look—one that was hard to take seriously considering she was dressed as Cat Woman.

  Elise was reading through the stack of cards she’d abandoned on the coffee table. Looking up, she held one in the air. “I like his idea of a do-over.” Again, so hard to take her seriously when she was sporting a Supergirl costume.

  Tabitha ignored them both. She was still struggling into her Batgirl outfit and didn’t have the time or energy to argue with her friends. A do-over. It sounded so appealing, but what would really change? She couldn’t trust him not to lie again.

  The conversation got put on hold as the first party guest arrived, followed quickly by the next and then the next. Tabitha had to hustle to get all the goodies out and was glad for the distraction. For the first time all week her mind wasn’t completely obsessed with thoughts of Jack and his betrayal. Who could worry about a severe case of heartache when there were cupcakes to ice and a bowl of pretzels to refill?

  The night was almost over—the party a success—when it happened. He showed up.

  “What’s he doing here?” Elise came up beside her and even through a mouthful of candy, her voice dripped with disgust.

  Tabitha spun toward the door and for one crazy moment, her heart did a little flip in her chest. Jake was here?

  But no. The ‘he’ in question was Will. Standing just inside the doorway, he was scanning the crowd, clearly looking for her. Tabitha’s heart fell flat. The burst of excitement gone. She weaved through the crowd to reach Will but, while part of her was curious about why he’d returned, a much bigger part was confused by the sudden elation she’d experienced when she’d thought the ‘he’ in question was Jack.