Not You Again (The NOT Series Book 1)

by Terri Osburn

  “Six o’clock on the Clipper for a dinner cruise.” I checked the time on my phone. “Crap. I have less than an hour.”

  Scrambling into the bathroom, I dragged my makeup bag out from under the sink. I couldn’t remember the last time I wore more than a little mascara and some lip gloss.

  “What’s his name, anyway?” Megan asked as she took a seat on the side of the tub.

  I stopped fishing around for my favorite lipstick and stood up straight, catching my blank stare in the mirror. “I have no idea.”

  “You forgot his name?”

  “No, she never told me.” Dashing back into the bedroom, I grabbed my phone and dialed Lindsey’s number. After five rings I got her voicemail. Ending the call, I immediately tried again, and again she didn’t answer.

  “Let me try,” Megan said, making the call on her own cell. Seconds later she pulled the phone away from her ear. “She isn’t answering for me either.”

  I fired off an all caps text.

  WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU? I NEED TO KNOW THIS GUY’S NAME!

  Staring at the screen, I willed her to answer when Megan’s phone started to ring. “It’s Donna,” she said as I looked up expectantly. Answering, she said, “Hey, lady, what’s up?”

  I went back to staring at my phone. How was I supposed to meet a total stranger in less than an hour without knowing his name or what he looked like. I couldn’t ask every man who went near the boat if he was my date. I’d look like a crazy woman.

  “Wait, is Lindsey with you?” Megan said. A second passed before she added, “Becca needs the info on her date.”

  “Let me talk to her,” I said, reaching for the phone.

  Megan shook her head. “They’re at dinner and Lindsey’s in the bathroom. She left her phone on the table.” Going back to the call, she said, “Becca meets this guy in less than an hour and she doesn’t even know his name. Tell Lindsey to call her when she comes back.” Waving a hand in my direction, she whispered, “We’ll get the details. Just hold on.”

  Knowing I’d have to order a car soon, I said, “Put her on speaker so I can talk to her while doing my makeup.”

  We returned to our positions in the bathroom and I frantically applied foundation as Donna conveyed the message to Lindsey.

  “I sent it all in an email,” I heard Lindsey say.

  “When?” I said as Megan held her phone beside my head.

  “A few hours ago. His name is Jacob Kim. You shouldn’t have any trouble spotting him. He looks like those guys in the dramas you love. Tall, thick dark hair, broad shoulders, and he even has dimples. All the other details are in the email.”

  I dropped the blending sponge into the sink as my heart slammed against my chest. “What did she say?” I whispered.

  “What’s wrong?” Megan asked, concern creasing her brow. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “What was that?” Lindsey said. “I can’t hear you.”

  This couldn’t really be possible. I had no idea what Jacob’s last name was, but Kim certainly fit. And Lindsey had echoed my exact same thought about him strolling out of a drama. Maybe this was just a coincidence. I mean, what were the odds that this Jacob would be my Jacob.

  My Jacob? Where did that come from?

  “Are you guys still there?” Lindsey said.

  “Hold on,” Megan replied. Sensing my panic, she said, “We’ll call you back in a minute.”

  After ending the call, she took me by the shoulders and sat me down on the toilet seat. “Why do you look like you’re about to pass out? Becca, do you know this guy already?”

  Did I? I wanted so badly to say no but every bone in body said that would be a lie.

  “There’s been this guy…” I started.

  “What guy? Did someone hurt you?”

  “No! Nothing like that.” I dropped my eyes to the tiny black and white tiles beneath my feet. “The same stranger has popped up on each of the dates. The first night he was the driver who picked us up and eventually brought me home after I hit my head. The next night he was the bouncer who kicked my date out of the bar. Then last night, he just happened to be watching the game at Rigby’s and caught me when I fainted.”

  “You fainted?”

  I really had been holding out on them. “I did, but I’m fine. Megan, that stranger’s name is Jacob. I don’t know what his last name is, but he’s Asian and fits Lindsey’s description exactly. What if he’s the date?”

  “Then it isn’t a blind date after all. What’s the problem? Is he a jerk or something?”

  No, I was the jerk. And he knew it. “I told him I was only going on these dates to get you guys to leave me alone. He knows I wasn’t taking them seriously.”

  Megan cringed. “So he’ll think you aren’t taking this one seriously either.”

  “Exactly.” Lifting my gaze to meet hers, I confessed the most crucial part. “It gets worse.”

  She dropped onto the side of the tub. “How much worse?”

  Shoulders dropping, I admitted the truth. “I like him. I really like him.”

  Popping up like the cheerleader she once was, Megan jerked me to my feet. “Then we have to get you ready. Move, woman. You’ve got a man to meet.”

  She wasn’t getting this. “You’re missing the point, Meg. The minute he sees me, he’s going to turn around and leave. He was pissed when I told him what I was doing. There’s no way he’s going to stick around long enough for me to convince him that this time is different.”

  “Then you have to make him listen. Hon, you haven’t even hinted at liking anyone since Brian. This guy must be special, and if the universe is throwing you together like this, then it’s meant to be.” She shook with excitement. “This is your guy. You have to do this.”

  “How?” I said. I couldn’t exactly tackle him. How was I going to force him to hear me out?

  Megan rubbed her forehead while pacing the small area, and then suddenly yelled, “Ah ha!”

  I’d never seen such a diabolical look on her face. “What?”

  “The boat.”

  “The Clipper?”

  “Yes. Make him meet you on the boat, but don’t let him find you until you’ve already set sail. Then he can’t leave. Not without jumping overboard and there’s no way he’s going to do that.”

  The way things were going there was always the chance I would be the one to go overboard. I’d just have to stay away from the railings and hope my luck had changed.

  “I like this idea, but how? If he expects to meet me on the dock and I don’t show, he’ll think he’s been stood up and leave.”

  Determined, Megan again paced like a detective on the verge of solving a case. “Let’s see what the email says.”

  Oh, right. The email. I pulled up the app on my phone and found the message from two hours ago.

  “Here it is,” I said. “Lindsey told him to meet me on the top deck. Board time is five forty-five and the boat pulls out at six.” The next sentence made my heart drop. “She included his cell number and says she gave him mine.”

  “Perfect. You message him to keep him on the boat until it pulls out, then surprise him.”

  “Maybe,” I muttered, uncertain how this was going to work. He may not be able to get out of taking the cruise, but that didn’t mean he had to spend it with me.

  “Wait,” Megan said, “Lindsey must have told him your name. Doesn’t that mean he already knows it’s you?”

  I hadn’t thought of that. We never exchanged last names, so maybe I was safe. Then I remembered the night we met.

  “Oh, no.”

  “What?”

  “He thinks my name is Meredith.”

  With a head tilt, she said, “Your name is Meredith, but how would he know that? You never use it.”

  I sighed. “It’s the name I have in the app where I order cars. Since it’s the name on my credit card, it’s easier to use it for stuff like that.”

  “Okay. Why is this an oh no thing then? Lindsey surely
told him your name is Becca so he’s still in the dark. He has no reason not to show up.”

  “True, but he’ll think I gave him a fake name. That means not only do I lure men out on dates while wanting nothing to do with them, but I also lie about who I am.” Dropping my head into my hands, I moaned in defeat. “He’s never going to want anything to do with me.”

  Megan sat down on the tub again and forced me to sit up. “You can do this. Once you’re on the boat, you explain everything. The name. The date stuff. Tell him all of it, especially the part about you really liking him. If he’s as great as Lindsey says, then he’ll understand. And if he’s still a jerk, then he wasn’t the guy for you, but you’ll have taken a step in the right direction. You’ll have put yourself out there again. That’s important, Becca. That’s a big deal.”

  I wanted to believe it could be that simple, but he had no reason to give me even a minute to explain. He knew too much, and what he didn’t know didn’t make me look any better. Still, she had a point. I’d shut down two years ago, and I never thought that would change. Before this week, I was totally prepared to never try again. Until a kind man with beautiful brown eyes and heart-stopping dimples walked into my life and woke something inside of me.

  Something I’d thought was long gone.

  “I’ll give it a try,” I said, rising to my feet. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

  “Good Lord, woman,” Megan snapped with a stern expression. “After the week you’ve had, don’t even go there. Hurry up and get the dress on so we can get you dolled up and out of here. The last thing we need is for you to miss that boat.”

  Jumping into action, I rushed into my room to change, sending up a silent prayer to whatever higher power had been tossing this man into my life. There had to be a reason, and even if all that came out of this night was a chance to redeem myself in his eyes, that would be enough.

  Chapter Twelve

  I literally lived five minutes from where the Clipper docked, which was the only reason I made the boat on time. Megan had called Lindsey back to get a few more details about Jacob while I applied makeup at warp speed. I was ninety-nine percent sure that the man I was about to meet was the same man I’d been running into all week, but that one percent was enough to make me ask a few more questions.

  Of course, we had to do so in such a way that would not reveal why we were asking. I still didn’t want Lindsey to know that I might already be acquainted with her pick. For one, she’d likely be pissed, and maybe a little hurt, that I hadn’t mentioned him before. And for two, there was still a slim chance that this was all a giant coincidence and Jacob Kim had never laid eyes on me before.

  If that was the case, I had no idea what my reaction would be. I’d already decided to go into the date with good intentions, and if this man really was a total stranger, then my encounters with the other Jacob were just a fluke and our paths were unlikely to ever cross again.

  The first task was for Megan to find out if he had other jobs. After dancing around the topic, she determined that Lindsey believed teaching was his only occupation. That would obviously mean this wasn’t my Jacob, but I floated back to the night he drove me home from the North Shore. He’d said he had one more job, but dodged the question about what that job was. I couldn’t fathom why but maybe his moonlighting wasn’t something he shared with his fellow teachers.

  Other questions had been about his height, his features, his voice, and his history. The last wouldn’t help me determine the viability of him being my rescuer, but we had to throw in something to keep Lindsey from growing suspicious. The only thing she knew was that he’d been in the area for the last eight years and he was divorced. The last made me more curious than anything. I wouldn’t dare to bring up the subject, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t dying to know who would leave such a kind, generous, mild-mannered guy.

  Or maybe he left her. Oh, what if she cheated on him? That would probably make him super sensitive to lying. Another strike against me having any chance to explain. Primping until the last second, I walked out of the building the same moment the car pulled up to get me.

  “You’re all gussied up,” said my driver, a friendly older man named Hank. “Got a lucky fella waiting for ya?” Before I could answer, he added, “Or a pretty girl. I’m all for that love is love stuff.”

  “I do have a date, yes.” I tried to smile but it was difficult with my heart racing like it was. “It’s a blind date,” I added, unsure why I would tell a stranger such a thing.

  “I didn’t think you kids did that anymore. I met my Debra on a blind date. Turned out we’d worked together at a grocery store a few years before, so it wasn’t as blind as either of us expected.”

  He had my attention. “Then you liked each other already?”

  He shook with laughter as if I’d cracked a great joke. “Heavens, no. She hated me. Said I was always chasing different girls.” Sharing a wink in the mirror, he said, “She was right, but I won her over.”

  Trying to scoot forward in my seat, I nearly choked myself with the seat belt. “How did you do it?” I asked, not above taking advice anywhere I could get it.

  “Ah, I like to think I charmed her, but the truth is I just wore her down. I knew she was the girl for me. Knew it five minutes into the date.” He met my eye again. “That’s how it happens sometimes. Don’t let anyone tell you different. We been married thirty-four years come this October, and there ain’t a day I’m not grateful to my cousin Judy for setting us up.”

  Wearing Jacob down wasn’t the best plan, but it was better than anything I’d come up with in the last hour. I could always follow him around the boat until he either agreed to listen or hid in the men’s room. He didn’t seem like the hiding type, but then I’d never considered myself the crazy type, yet this plan was sounding crazier by the second.

  Hank pulled the car to a stop in front of the long walkway that led down to the dock. “Here you go, darling. I hope you have as much luck as I did.”

  “Me too,” I said, but my hopes were not high.

  Before I’d left the house, Megan and I had devised a time frame, during which I’d send two texts to Jacob. The first saying I was running late but would be there before the cruise set sail. The second saying I was on the boat and trying to find him. These would go out five minutes apart.

  I’d attempted to alter my appearance as much as possible so if I just kept my back to him, he might not recognize me. He’d not seen me in a frilly dress, nor with my hair pulled up. Accomplishing the latter had required a record number of bobby pins, but Megan had done an impressive job, even managing to get the perfect wispy locks to dangle around my face.

  Lindsey’s email had included the info needed to get on board, and after scanning the crowd, I made my way onto the boat without seeing Jacob. The upper deck was far too open to provide a hiding place so I picked a spot inside on the first level where I could see both the boarding ramp and the stairs that led to the higher decks. The plan was to wait until I saw him board before sending the first text, and as time ticked by and he didn’t appear, I feared all of this spy behavior was for nothing.

  If the Jacob I was meeting was someone completely different, he could have walked by already and I had no idea. At five fifty-five I fired off the first message, since if I really was meeting a stranger, he needed to know I wasn’t standing him up. Palms sweaty, I hit send and went back to watching out the window. The more people boarded, the more the boat moved, forcing me to brace a hand against the wall to keep my balance.

  “Dear, do you know where the restroom is?”

  I turned to find an elderly woman staring expectantly over her wire-rimmed glasses. “Straight down this side and at the far end,” I answered. At this point in my career, I’d planned weddings on every boat in the fleet and was well-acquainted with the layout of each. “Keep going and you can’t miss it.”

  “Thank you,” she said and shuffled off in the direction I’d pointed. At the same time, my phone
dinged and I checked to find a response text from my date.

  I’m on the top deck.

  Crap. Either I missed him, or this Jacob truly was a stranger. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to relax. The odds were now in favor that I was meeting someone new and I had to reset my expectations. I reminded myself that he was still the man that Lindsey described. She was confident that we would hit it off and I had every reason to trust her judgment.

  This also meant that I wasn’t starting at a disadvantage. This Jacob had no reason to dislike me on sight. He didn’t know that I’d been disingenuous on the previous dates, that I inelegantly ran into a tree, or that I fainted in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

  After another deep breath, I felt the floor move beneath my feet and realized the boat was pulling away from the dock. Relieved, I stepped outside and made my way up the stairs to the upper deck. The wind whipped the stray locks across my face as I reached the top, and as I brushed them out of my eyes, I spotted a man standing alone at the far end. His back was to me as he stared out over the river, but when he turned to glance up at the passing skyscrapers, my heart stopped.

  He wasn’t a stranger after all.

  “Jacob,” I muttered. The word came out as a whisper and was lost on the wind.

  I tried to move, to walk closer, but my feet refused to obey. As if sensing he was no longer alone, Jacob turned with a smile on his perfectly curved lips. Until he saw me and the smile disappeared.

  “What are you doing here?” he said, his brows nearly meeting.

  That’s right. Why would he think I was his date? He thought he was meeting a Becca not a Meredith. It hurt that he looked so annoyed to see me, but I couldn’t blame him.

  Swallowing the lump in my throat, I pulled my shawl tight and stepped forward. “I’m Becca,” I said.

  His jaw visibly tightened as he shook his head. “Your name is Meredith.”

  I nodded. “It is. Meredith Rebecca Witherspoon. My friends call me Becca.” Clearly annoyed, his eyes cut back to the city skyline and I could practically see his brain turning. Deciding whether to stay. Or cursing the gods for putting me in his path one more time. “I use my real name in the app because it ties to my credit card. I never meant to deceive you.”