“Yeah,” I said, my voice thick with regret. “I guess I should.”
“Thanks for tonight. It was…fun.” Her lips tipped into a lopsided grin and a blush stained her cheeks. “I’ll see you around Chris.”
“Not if I see you first.”
She laughed. “With those cheesy lines, I’ll smell you coming.” With that last line, Tara strolled out into the night, leaving me with a goofy grin on my face and an uncomfortable erection I needed to rid myself of before going to pick up Lila.
Baseball stats didn’t work so I slid behind the steering wheel and worked on the next death scene in my book. As always, it worked like a charm.
Tara
I can’t believe I almost had sex with Chris.
I mean, of course, I almost had sex with him. He was tall and handsome with sculpted muscles and more charm than any one man should be allowed to possess. Not to mention the fact that he kissed like he was being paid to do it. So yeah, I could believe it, I just couldn’t believe I let myself come so close to that step.
On our second not-date, at that.
“So are you gonna just stare at that coffee all day or do you plan to drink it?” Mara’s sarcasm was the only thing that could possibly pull me from the endless loop my thoughts had taken, of me and Chris, of that night. Of the way he felt, the way he tasted. And most of all, the way he made me feel. “Well?”
“Sorry, I guess I’m a little distracted.” I’d been distracted from the moment that ringing phone interrupted us.
“By what, I wonder. Or who?” Mara wiggled her dark eyebrows, a sly smile on her face. “A certain mystery writer, perhaps?”
I shook my head instinctively. “No. Seriously Mara, it’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing,” she said and held her own plain black coffee in both hands, smiling knowingly. “Sounds like a whole lot of something to me.”
I leaned forward, looking around to make sure we didn’t have any overeager listeners around, and told her about Eva and Sophie and their big compatibility conspiracy. Every little detail.
“It sounds crazy, right?”
She shrugged like it was no big deal and took a casual sip of her coffee. “I’m mean, not totally crazy. Sophie is some kinda computer whiz, so if she’s surprised by the percentage, I believe her.”
I shook my hand and gave her a dismissive wave. “Stop taking it so literally, Mara. This is, without a doubt, crazy.”
“Why are you getting so worked up about it if it’s really nothing, and you and Chris are just friends?”
“Because,” I sighed. “I like Chris, but we’ve already agreed that it’s best if we keep our relationship platonic. He’s not looking for anything serious because of his kid, and I’m not looking for another man who’s just looking to play around. But this stupid percentage is now giving everything a weight it doesn’t deserve.”
“I see your dilemma.”
“You do?”
“Of course.” Mara nodded and grinned. “My advice would be to keep your distance. Give him a bad date rating or whatever, and move on. Even those two can’t keep bothering you under those circumstances. Right?”
I groaned at the thought of giving up Chris. Our friendship was fun and light and carefree. It was easy. “You think it’ll be that easy?” Because I didn’t see either of my tenacious friends giving up so easily.
“Me? Hell no. I think they’ll be relentless, but I also think that a little distance might get rid of that I just got laid look you’ve been wearing since you walked in here earlier.” Mara’s smirk was so damn smug I wanted to toss my coffee at her. But that would be inappropriate for a future detective. Right?
“What are you talking about? I’m not wearing any such look. And I didn’t. Get laid, that is.”
“Sure you didn’t.” She barked out a loud, amused laugh and shook her head. “I don’t need the details Tara. I have eyes.” I gasped, about to say something really sarcastic and clever when her smile faded. “Uh-oh. Brace yourself. Here comes trouble.”
Before I could turn around to see exactly what brand of trouble Mara was talking about, I heard the designer brand shoes.
“Tara! We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Eva’s voice carried across The Bread Box and I slunk down in my seat, hoping to avoid becoming the center of attention.
“Eva. Sophie.” I grumbled the words as soon as they arrived at our table, perky with big satisfied smiles. “Good morning.”
“Yeah, yeah, good morning. How are ya and all that.” Sophie dropped down in the seat closest to me and grinned. “A little birdie told me that you and Chris spent some time together this weekend?”
How was that even possible? “Then maybe you should ask your birdie about whatever information you’re looking for.”
“Funny,” Sophie said with an eye roll that told me she missed her calling as a world class interrogator. “Seriously, how did your secret date go?”