Nick nodded. “So, she dropped him?”
“Well, no. She didn’t know he’d cheated until after he’d broken it off with her.”
Nick raised his brows. “Huh.”
“So then . . .” I paused, wondering what his raised brows meant. “What?”
“Nothing.” He sighed. “It’s just that a girl knows when her boyfriend’s strayed. Woman’s intuition and all of that. Maybe your friend didn’t want to admit it to you, but she knew.”
As if. I shook my head. “No, she would’ve told me. Believe me.”
“She knew.”
“No, she didn’t,” I gritted out.
“She. Knew.”
He said it so confidently that my mind raced for clues that Paul hadn’t been faithful. Sure, he’d worked late a lot, but successful men had to put in the hours. But it had been a clue. A clue I’d completely ignored. Had I been that desperate to be in a relationship?
My chest went hollow. Yes, I had been. The truth was, I hadn’t known Paul that well. Hadn’t taken the time to get to know him. I’d been too busy trying to make sure he wouldn’t leave me.
Like my mom had.
Had my fear of him leaving made my woman’s intuition malfunction? The idea was overwhelming. How could I ever trust myself when it came to relationships again? Was I going to abide by The Boyfriend Bylaws forever? I started to hyperventilate and decided a change of subject was needed pronto. “Didn’t you say you wanted to see me about something?”
He reached beneath his desk and pulled a white plastic bag with “Totally Fit” written in snazzy red letters outlined in black. “This is your new uniform.” He handed it to me. “It’s from my cousin Peter’s new clothing line and he asked if his photographer could snap some photos of the employees later this week for ads and stuff. If you don’t mind.”
“That’s fine.” The only thing I minded was ignoring the clues about Paul being faithful.
“By the way . . .” Nick leaned onto his elbows and looked me in the eye, “I wanted to give you a heads up. We’re changing the aerobics schedule and will only need you three days a week from now on.”
I clamped my teeth together. “You’re cutting my schedule in half?”
He nodded. “It just isn’t profitable for the business. I hope you understand.”
Oh, I understood plenty. When it came to men, I had zero intuition. The guy I was about to start dating had just nixed half my income.
I uncrossed my legs and rose from my chair, my legs wobbling as I stood. How would I make rent? “When does the new schedule come out?”
“On Monday, but it won’t take effect for a week.”
“Okay.” I squeezed the plastic bag and turned to the door, anxious to hurry home and throw myself under the covers.
“Wait a sec,” he said, holding a hand in the air.
I blinked, wondering how this morning could possibly get any worse.
“I tried to reach you last night, but didn’t hear back from you. Are you still up for heading to that club you know tonight?”
It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I’d set the whole thing in play. The least I could do was take the guy dancing. “Sure.”
“Great.” He bent toward desk, slid a pad to the center and scribbled down a phone number. “How about you give me a call and let me know the address of the club so I can meet you?”
“All right.” I accepted the paper and our fingers touching in the exchange, but all I felt was irritation. Matt wouldn’t have met me there. Just like Matt wouldn’t have cheated on me the way Paul had. Matt would have picked me up like the gentleman he was.
He would have been faithful.
He would have made life yumzy.
****
My phone chirped as I walked out of Nick’s office and I leaned against the wall to take Kaitlin’s fifth call of the day. “Hello?”
“Hi, sis! I just wanted to let you know that Dreamy Delights was able to move the cake tasting to seven-thirty. They’re staying open late just for me. I kind of had to talk them into it.”
I put a hand to my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Okay, but just the cake tasting, Kaitlin. No dinner. I’m supposed to go dancing with—”
“Did you say dancing after?” Kaitlin squealed. “Is this, like, a surprise bachelorette party? Should I invite friends?”
Bachelorette party? Oh, no way. “What? Wait—”
“Oh, Mel! You’re the best maid of honor ever. I mean it. The best ever!”
“Kaitlin—”
“Gotta run and buy a new outfit. Something that’ll match a veil. Don’t get one that’s too long. And please, no tacky penises pinned to it. I’m so excited. Thanks.”
“Wait!” I yelled, but the perky voice had disconnected. I hit redial twice to get Kaitlin back but got sent directly to voicemail each time. No doubt Kaitlin was on the line with her sorority sisters already, telling them about the perfect bachelorette party I now had to throw. “Argh!”
Suddenly, a handsome face stepped in front of me. “Tough morning?”
“Yumzy.” My face heated. “I mean, Matt. What are you doing back here?”
“It’s my last day, and I have to fill out some paperwork in Nick’s office.” He touched my arm. “What were you yelling about?”
“Sorry.” My heart pounded and I told myself it was panic over Kaitlin’s bachelorette party, not because had put his hand on me. “It’s my stepsister. Being her maid of honor is going to put me into cardiac arrest.”
He nodded sympathetically. “Sounds stressful.”
“You have no idea.” I laughed, then realized we were having a normal conversation. His hand was also still holding my forearm. “She’s getting married in a month, and apparently I’m throwing her a bachelorette party tonight even though I’m supposed to be going to The Oasis with Nick.”
Matt frowned, and his hand dropped. “You’re going dancing with Nick?”
“Yes.” I bit my lip, confused at what I wanted, and even more confused about what Matt wanted. “And, it seems we’ll be accompanied by a hoard of sorority girls. Wanna come?”
Chapter Nine
After consuming way too many calories on overpriced wedding cake, I arrived at The Oasis. Nick met me at the entrance and we spent a total of two minutes together before he strode off with the club owner, Elliott Wittle. That left me with the Bachelorette party from hyperville. Despite my joking invitation to Matt, I knew he wouldn’t come, but I couldn’t help wishing he would.
“I think the bride needs a shot of alcohol.” Ashley, one of Kaitlin’s sorority sisters, shoved her face into mine, her pupils big and black underneath the strobe lights. “Maybe another round for all of us?”
Her breath smelled like tequila and my nostrils flared.
“I’m okay with my rum and cola still.” Kaitlin waved her glass in front of her friend, who then disappeared up to the bar. “I think Ash is a little wasted.”
I turned to my stepsister, who looked regal in an ankle-length white veil. Could I really let her marry Paul DeWitt, the cheater? I’d had so little time to process the whole thing, let along sit down to have that uncomfortable chat. “You sure you don’t want another one? It is your bachelorette party.”
“No, thanks.” She smiled and sipped through a red straw. “I’m perfect.”
As always, Kaitlin looked perfect. She positively glowed in a camel-colored silk chiffon dress, and despite the small fortune I’d spent buying Kaitlin drinks, she didn’t look even slightly buzzed. The perfection drove me crazy. Unfortunately, her friends weren’t as perfect since one of them had splashed their red drink on my favorite pink top, leaving a noticeable stain above my left boob.
“Be right back.” Deciding that I needed a drink, even if Kaitlin didn’t, I snapped my purse shut and headed for the bar.
“Wait!” Ginger came up beside me. “We have to get the bride needs a blowjob.”
“Yes, a blowjob!” A brunette named Heidi grabbed my arm, ju
mped up and down, then squealed. “With lots of whipped cream.”
I leaned toward Ginger’s ear. “This reminds me of college, only I’m twenty-seven, and sober. What’s wrong with me?”
“Someone has to be the responsible, sober one.” Ginger laughed. “Don’t worry. We’ll get our turn one day.”
Would I? I closed my eyes, and a vision of Matt popped into my head. He wore a wedding ring and smiled at me in that same way he greeted me work, like I’d made his day just by being there. Only instead of the gym, we were at home in bed and he’d shine that smile, warming my heart, as he rolled over every morning to ask me what the word of the day would be.
“Mel?” Kaitlin waved a hand in front of my face. “I’ll go with you to get the drinks.”
Snapping out of it, I nodded. “Let’s go.”
Kaitlin held my hips as we squeezed through the crowd and made our way to the bar. I stiffened at the contact. Why was Kaitlin acting like we were best friends? Since the day she’d invaded my home, she’d shown me up time and time again. Now she was marrying my ex. Ten years living in Kaitlin’s shadow didn’t exactly give me the warm fuzzies toward her.
Still, when I turned and looked into her bright-eyed face, I knew I’d have to tell her about Paul and me. The question was when? When was a good time to tell your stepsister that you’d dated her fiancé not so long ago?
Ignoring my dilemma, I concentrated on the task at hand by squeezing onto the last empty barstool, and waving crisp green bills at the bartender. “I need blowjobs!”
Despite myself, I laughed at the absurdity of the situation.
“Actually, could you just get me a water?” Kaitlin adjusted the headband on her veil. “I haven’t had this many drinks since college, and I need to pace myself.”
I gaped at my stepsister, amazed that we were actually on the same page for once in our lives. As I was staring, her headband popped off, flew back through the air, and landed in front of some guy’s feet—the end of her veil beneath his coffee brown loafers.
“Sorry about that.” The deep male voice sounded so familiar that I leaned back on the stool, and peered behind Kaitlin.
Warm brown eyes looked back at me, and my breath caught. Matt.
I shook my head viciously, sure that the one drink I’d had earlier was making me hallucinate. It couldn’t be him. Why would he possibly come? I leaned back further in my seat, lost my balance, and fell backward off the stool. I landed on my side with an “oof,” then rolled over, and stared up at Matt and Kaitlin, who both hovered over me.
“You okay, Mel?” Kaitlin’s tone was filled with concern.
“If you can call thoroughly embarrassed okay.” I handed her the cash I still clutched. “Would you get the drinks I ordered from the bar?”
She took the money, and stood. “I’ll be right back.”
Sprawled out on a barroom floor, I stared up at Matt. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping you up.” Matt reached for my hand, then pulled me to my feet. “I’m came with Steve and Erica. They wanted to take me out since today was my last day.”
Nostalgia washed over me with the gang all in the same place. “So you just happened to come to The Oasis?”
He shrugged. “You invited me, remember? Plus, it’s a public place. You don’t own it.”
“True.” Laughing, I took a step closer to Matt, who looked amazingly hot in slacks and a collared shirt. Major improvement from the sweats he wore to work at Totally Fit—well, when he used to work there. My heart sank, and I lifted my eyes from his chest to his face and squinted at him. “I can’t believe you don’t work at Totally Fit anymore.”
Matt drained his beer bottle, then reached for my hand. “Let’s dance.”
After avoiding my touch as if I had an easily transmitted skin condition, the feel of his hand around mine brought tears to my eyes. “I c-can’t. I’m here on a date.”
He squeezed my hand, let go, then made a big point of looking around the club in a three-hundred and sixty degree turn. “Funny. I don’t see Nick anywhere. One dance.”
It was a fast song, so what harm could there be? Feeling nervous in every cell of my body, I followed him to the dance floor, where we pushed our way through gyrating bodies, right to the center. He turned around and faced me.
I lost my breath.
Then he smiled, and started dancing.
With a range of emotions shooting through me, I decided to concentrate on what I knew best—dancing. Moving to the beat, I felt my body take over even though my mind kept slipping back to the fact that this guy moving in front of me, dancing in the sexiest way, was Matt. I swung my shoulders in time with the beat while simultaneously unable to stop staring at him.
Somehow the first song slipped into the next, then the next, and soon I was lost in the world of dancing—a place where I’d always been able to escape the reality of my life. The music flowed through me, creating a safe place from pain. Somehow, right now, Matt had slipped into that world.
The music died down, then switched into a slow beat. Matt took a step toward me.
I bit my lip, but didn’t pull away when his arms slipped around me slowly, one and then the other. His chin rested on the side of my head and I closed my eyes as we swayed with the song.
Feeling a hum by my ear, I tilted my head up slightly, and realized he was singing. Chills ran through me with each word about loss, regret, and love slipping away.
The song ended way too soon. We stayed where we were with his hands around me, and my hands on his chest. Fear swept over me, and my stomach knotted. “I should get back to Kaitlin.”
Matt opened his mouth to say something, but I scurried toward the group of tipsy girls surrounding my stepsister with her long, white veil draping perfectly over her red hair.
Kaitlin’s eyes flipped to mine. “Who was that?”
She looked up at me with wide eyes, curious and…trusting. Something inside me flipped and I couldn’t stand not knowing a second longer. I pulled her aside from the girls to a few empty chairs by the windows. “I have to tell you something, and there’s no easy way to say it.”
Kaitlin lowered her chin, and blinked. “Okay.”
I sucked in a breath. “Paul DeWitt is my ex.”
She stared at me, as if waiting for the punch line. “Huh?”
“We went out a couple months ago for a few weeks, until he broke it off with me.” I hated the shocked look on her face, but she had to know before she married him.
Tears formed in her eyes. “Did you say I’m engaged to your ex?”
“This all happened so fast, and I didn’t know how to tell you.” My heart pounded like a drum against my ribcage. “I’m so sorry, Kaitlin.”
Her eyes narrowed. “He cheated on me. With you.”
I nodded, knowing I had to be the world’s words maid-of-honor. “I didn’t know you were seeing him. And there’s no way he knew I was your sister, because he looked shocked when I saw him the other night.”
Her eyes grew wide, and a tear spilled down her cheek. “You just called me your sister.”
That was the part she was focusing on? “Yeah . . .”
She held her cheeks, fat tears streaming down between her fingers. “Since we were fifteen-years-old, you’ve always called me your stepsister. Never your sister.”
Suddenly, my own vision blurred. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Kaitlin.”
“I know.” She reached for my hands, and held them. “I’m so dumping that cheating finkhead.”
“But not me?” The world around me swayed as I exposed my heart, and waited to see if Kaitlin would stomp on it.
“No way, Mel.” She shook her head, fervently. “We’re family.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around my sister, and held her to me.
****
Ginger decided to take Kaitlin home, since she’d planned to spend the night at her place anyway. They’d piled the three sorority sisters in Ginger’s backseat,
then sped off with vows to never trust another man again.
I’d thrown the worst Bachelorette party ever. Worse than that, I’d hurt Kaitlin. But she was my sister, and she’d forgiven me since that’s what family did when one of us screwed up.
As I watched Ginger’s car speed way through the club’s window, Nick picked that exact moment to show up.
“Elliott Wittle and I scheduled a lunch for next week.” He said, apparently unaware that I couldn’t have cared less. “He’s interested in expanding to Arizona, and I have an ideal location in mind.”
“Great,” I said, flatly. I’d gone from the worst bachelorette party to the worst date. Could the guy ever talk about anything else besides work?
“Isn’t that . . . Steve?” He pointed to the dance floor where Steve, Erica, and Matt were dancing and laughing.
My entire body tensed when Erica, who’d been leaning toward Matt, glanced up at me. I’d make up with her, I knew, but her lie still stung—especially since it had changed things between Matt and me. So, I looked away.
Nick squeezed my shoulder, and nudged me forward. “Let’s go dance.”
“No, thanks.” I leaned back, breaking his grasp. “You go ahead. I’m going to head home.”
“See you Monday, then,” he said, then made his way to the dance floor.
And I didn’t even care.
It made me ache to watch the gang having fun without me, but we wouldn’t all be together anymore, and I needed to accept that.
Holding my evening bag, I hurried out the door, and the cool evening air washed over me. It was only two blocks to my car so it didn’t matter that I hadn’t brought a jacket. I unlocked Betty and was about to slip inside when I saw Matt striding up the sidewalk toward me.
“What happened to your date?” he said.
My pulse raced, as I wondered why he’d followed me out here. “It wasn’t much of a date, but it’s over.”
“Does this mean you’re single again?”
My heart started pounding and I leaned back against Betty, hugging myself from the cold. “I wasn’t not single. He was just a guy I went with once. Not The One, or even anyone special.”
He stood next to me, then leaned back against Betty. “Erica told me what she’d said to you.”
A Twist of Date (Better Date than Never) Page 7