Chapter Thirteen

 

Elle

 

 

 

“That’s what you’re going to wear?” Maggie stands in the doorway of my room with a shocked look on her face. If I didn’t know any better, I’d be offended.

“These are my usual clothes. What’s wrong with them?” I ask.

“Nothing. I just thought you’d wear something with a bit more sass to it for a date.”

I put my hands on my hips and level her with a stare. “A date? I’m not going on a date. You said you had planned a fun night out with friends.”

She grins at me in that way she does when she’s got news to tell. Uh-oh. The look in her eyes tells me something doesn’t add up. “I got the three of us a date. Surprise!”

My heart drops into my stomach. A surprise date? And she fixed Colton up with someone as well? I might be sick just thinking about it. I know that about four in ten Americans go on a blind date at least once in their life, but that doesn’t mean I want to be one of them.

“Oh, Maggie, I don’t know. Dating is the last thing on my mind right now.”

She frowns. “Just the other day you went out with that Zeke guy. What’s changed?”

I shrug, trying to look and sound innocent. “Nothing.”

“Are you still hung up on Paul?”

I crinkle my nose. “Ew, no. I don’t ever want to see that bad baguette of a guy ever again.”

“Then why don’t you want to date?”

I shrug and turn my back to her, so she doesn’t see my face.

“You’re hiding something from me.” She grabs me by the arm. “Are you already interested in someone?”

I can’t help but smile, no matter how hard I try to suppress it. “No,” I lie.

“Oh my God, you have a crush on someone!” she yells.

I cringe. I don’t want Colton to hear her. “Shh, don’t go shouting it off the rooftops.”

She sits down next to me on the bed. “Who is it? Do I know him? Is it someone from work?”

“It’s no one.”

“Why won’t you tell me who it is?”

I try to avoid her gaze. “Because it’s nothing, okay?”

“Why? Come on, spill the tea. I need to know who it is.”

“Stop asking me who it is!”

She stares me down. “Elle, please, we’re best friends. You can tell me. Please, please, please.”

“Oh my God, Maggie, stop.”

“I won’t.”

“Fine! It’s your brother, okay,” I blurt out. “I’m smitten with him.”

It’s quiet all of a sudden. Maggie’s shoulders drop and she frowns, looking even more shocked than when she was assessing my attire for tonight. She places her hand on her chest, as if she’s checking whether or not she’s having a heart attack. Oh man, what have I done? I wasn’t supposed to say anything.

“My brother?” She spits out the words as if I said I’m falling for her long-lost love.

I raise my hands up in the air. “Funny, right? And a big joke. Gotcha!”

She lets out a deep breath, then starts laughing. “Elle! Don’t ever do that to me again. Jeez. For a moment I was afraid you meant it.”

“Of course not,” I lie.

She puts her hand on my arm, still laughing. “How weird and awkward would you being in love with my brother be? Gosh, what a joke.”

“Yeah, a real hoot,” I say.

Dread spreads through my veins, mixed with a pinch of disappointment. I already suspected Maggie wouldn’t be too thrilled about the idea of me and her brother dating, but this? I never expected her to react all angry and shocked. What if Colton and I want to start seeing each other for real, without sneaking around? She’ll never accept it. We’re doomed.

“So, if it isn’t my brother… thank goodness,” she adds, “then who is it?”

I rack my brain for a name. Any name would do at this point—it doesn’t even have to be a real person—but I draw a blank.

“Some guy. I don’t even know his name,” I say, which is technically true.

“Where did you meet him?”

“Uhm, he… uhm… he ordered a hot dog at the park. So yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever even see him again.”

She pushes her bottom lip out. “Aw, that’s too bad. I’m sure someone will come along.”

“I know.”

Maggie puts her hand on my knee. “All I want is for you to be happy. I know I shouldn’t meddle, but if it means bringing some joy back into your life after what that jerk Paul did to you, then… why not?”

“I guess.”

“So you’ll join us tonight?”

I shrug. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

Half an hour later, the three of us are walking along the beach to the diner where we’re meeting the others. Maggie refused to tell us who our blind dates were, even after Colton tried to bribe her with a generous offer of cleaning the house for a month.

“You’ll see when we get there,” was all the information she parted with before we left.

While Maggie keeps talking about an incident at her job, Colton and I steal glances at each other. I hope she doesn’t notice we can’t keep our eyes off each other.

Phew, I wish we could be alone right now. We need to talk. I need clarity about what this all means. I need to know when the two of us can go on a date. I need to kiss him again.

Silence falls between us as Maggie wraps up her story, but not for long. She isn’t the kind of person who feels good when no one speaks a word.

“Have you talked to Tanner recently?” Maggie asks Colton. “I swear that brother of ours will never stop surprising us.”

“Yeah, he called me a few days ago to tell me the news.”

“The news?” I ask.

“Tanner just got a new job in a new town,” Maggie says.

“Is he the teacher? Or the doctor?”

“Doctor. He’s moving to Boston to fill a position as trauma surgeon, but who knows where he’ll end up next. He’s dreaming of getting a job as head of trauma. We hardly see him as it is, but now we’ll be lucky if we get to see him at Christmastime.”

“I’m sure he’ll try to visit as much as he can,” Colton says.

Maggie sighs. “I hope so. I know he’s busy saving lives and I realize that tends to take up lots of time, but I miss him. Thank goodness you’re still here.”

Colton puts an arm around his sister. “If you miss Tanner this much, we could fly out there sometime and surprise him.”

“You’re right, we should definitely do that.” Maggie comes to a stop and points to a diner across the road. “We’ll have to plan our trip some other time, though, because we’re here.” She glances at her phone. “We’re a bit early. Should we wait outside?”

“Let’s just get inside and order a drink.” Colton gestures for us to go first, then follows us up the path leading away from the beach.

As Maggie speaks to someone about our reservation, Colton leans into me and whispers, his deep voice sending warm shivers down my spine. “How do you feel about this blind date thing?”

“Surprised,” I say. “Not looking forward to it.”

He nods. “Same.”

Before he can add anything to our brief exchange, a waiter leads us to our table and hands us leather menus. We put in our drinks order—white wine for Maggie and me, a beer for Colton.

I scan the list of main courses, but nothing registers. I’m way too nervous. Maggie still thinks this evening is a great idea, while I’m here dying in my seat. As far as she’s concerned, both Colton and I are still single and definitely not interested in each other. Our blind dates don’t have a clue either. I hate having to lie to another guy about possibly liking him. And I certainly don’t feel like seeing Colton with a date. But what am I supposed to do? I have to get through this evening without raising suspicion. And who knows? It might even be fun. Just because I have no intention of dating anyone—except for Colton—doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy myself.

When the three of them arrive, I jump up from my chair and knock it over.

“Sorry,” I say. “I’m just excited.”

Colton raises an eyebrow at me, his eyes darkening. I hope he doesn’t think I’m about to run off with another guy, because I’m not. I want nothing more than to disappear with him and kiss him all over, until we’re so exhausted, we fall asleep.

Maggie introduces us to her friends. God knows where she meets all these people. It’s like she’s met every single soul in this town and then some.

“Colton, this is Kitty, we met at the gym,” Maggie says with a smile as she pushes her brother toward the slim brunette. “Kitty, this is Colton. He loves a good workout.”

“I can tell,” she says, eyeing his biceps as if his arms are made of donut dough and she’s in the mood for a bite. I expect her to start drooling any moment and I can’t even blame her. Colton looks like a tasty dish.

They share an awkward handshake.

“Nice to meet you,” Colton says. “You met my sister at the gym? I didn’t even know she worked out.”

“Yeah, Maggie and I reached for the last sports drink.”

He laughs. “Sounds like the start of a cheesy movie.”

Maggie rolls her eyes at him before introducing me to a tall guy. “Ryan here’s a really swell guy. He fixed my tire last week. You two will have so much to talk about.”

I frown. I don’t know anything about tires or cars, but I guess she means well. I give him a polite nod and we all sit down.

Maggie has set herself up with someone called Kevin, a colleague’s friend. It doesn’t take too long before the two of them are deep in conversation with each other, and Colton and I are left to fend for ourselves.

“So, Elle, right? What do you do for a living?” Ryan asks.

I open my mouth to answer, but he beats me to it. “Wait, let me guess. Model? Shampoo influencer? It’s got something to do with beautiful looks, right?”

I catch Colton’s eye. He can hardly stop himself from laughing.

“Shampoo influencer?” I ask. “Is that even a thing?”

“Of course,” Colton says, breaking a piece off a loaf of bread the waiter put on the table after taking our order. “Don’t you know Claire Oil?”

Kitty frowns. “Claire Oil? Never heard of her to be honest, and I follow all the major influencers online.”

I cough to suppress a laugh. “Oh, Claire Oil, yeah, I know her. She’s big in France.”

“That’s right,” Colton says. “Elle just got back from a couple of years in France.”

Kitty opens her phone and starts typing. “I can’t find her on social media. Maybe I’m spelling her name wrong?”

“Well, it’s French, so could be,” I lie. “But to answer your question, no, I’m not a model of any sort. I work at the local amusement park, with Colton.”

Ryan looks impressed. “I’m sure you’re the princess, am I right?”

I bite my lip. “Sort of. I’m the princess of hot dogs.”

“Hot dogs?”

“Yeah, I serve hot dogs.”

Kitty throws me a sympathetic look, even though I don’t need any sympathy from her. “Doesn’t that… bother you? Smelling like hot dogs every day?” She says the words as if I told her I spend my days serving dog poop with a cherry on top.

“Elle doesn’t smell like hot dogs,” Colton says.

“How do you know?” Kitty asks. “Is that a thing you do at the park? Smell your colleagues?” She crinkles her nose as if she can actually smell hot dog meat on me right now.

I shake my head to convince myself this is not a nightmare. “Can we stop talking about how I smell? Every job has its good and bad sides.” I turn to Ryan. “I’m sure you smell like motor oil.”

He grins and pats himself on the chest. Literally. “Yeah, I do. And let me tell you, the ladies love it.”

“I smell like office,” Kitty cuts in. “Because that’s where I work. At a real office. With real colleagues and a break room and big windows. I’m responsible for the packages that arrive, and I get to provide food for everyone.”

“Oh, so you’re a chef who handles deliveries?” Ryan asks.

She shrugs. “Something like that. I refill the vending machines. On every floor, mind you.”

“That’s… nice,” I say.

“I hope to get a promotion soon. I haven’t gotten one yet, but I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve to convince the CEO,” she says with a wink.

Ew. I don’t even want to know what that wink means.

“You know what,” she says with a frown as she turns to Ryan, “now that I’m thinking about the way you described my job, I feel amazing. No one has ever made me realize that I am a chef. A snack chef. You changed that for me. It’s like you turned my world upside down.”

Ryan shrugs and smiles as if he’s extremely proud of himself. “Thanks, but it’s just a knack I have. Nothing special about it.”

As the conversation drifts away from jobs to reality TV shows, I try to catch Maggie’s eye so I can telepathically ask her why she thought Kitty and Ryan would be even remotely compatible with Colton and me, but she’s too busy showing her date that she can balance a spoon on her nose without using her hands to notice me.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I say, scooting my chair back. “I’ve got to use the bathroom.”

“Me too,” Colton says, getting up as well.

My eyes grow wide. What is he doing? Is he going to follow me to the bathroom? Because that’s way too obvious. What if the others get suspicious?

But they don’t. Ryan and Kitty don’t even pay any attention to us. They’re completely immersed in a discussion about who should win this season of The Bachelor.

“Meet me out back after you’re done,” Colton whispers. His deep voice makes my heart jump. What has he got planned?