Double Dare (9 page)

Emma’s gaze flicked to her friends at the table. There should have been a stenographer to run back every word of the conversation from the intent stares. “Yes.”

“Come on,” he urged in an even tone. “You can do it.”

“Maybe if I picked the name myself I could.” She turned her back to her friends.

“A nickname is a long held tradition,” he said.

“It is,” she agreed.

“Are you going around breaking traditions now?”

She sighed, looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. “Mallow, over.”

There wasn’t a bark of laughter, but she knew Tobias found it hilarious at the length of the silence. “Over,” he said and hung up the phone.

She hung up on her end and went back to finish her coffee. There was a profound quiet at the table.

“You guys have an inside joke already?” Sasha asked.

“This stupid thing. He thinks I’m a softie so he calls me Mallow.” The words tumbled out. “I’ve got an hour after work to get ready for a date tonight.”

“Marriage, occasional date or sex?” Sasha said.

Had her answer changed? Definitely not. He wasn’t the man she always wanted to end up with. He wasn’t even the man she wanted now. Tobias wasn’t as dour as she first thought. Still he wasn’t the fun guy. She didn’t think he could be, not with his past, and it would be wrong to want him to be anyone other than himself.

“We need to vote for a fourth option.” Emma looked to her friends.

Sasha and Abigail traded a look. “Ok,” they both said.

“Occasional dating that has attraction, but will probably go nowhere. It’ll be fun and safe,” Emma said.

“Terms,” Sasha countered.

“The occasional date by definition is a guy who has fallen into the bottomless pit of friend.” Emma took a sip of coffee. “The difference is someone who you could see yourself enjoying a dinner, movie or whatever, but that’s part of the foreplay with no fruition.”

“Sounds mysteriously like marriage,” Abigail pointed out.

Emma said, “Marriage is the guy you can see yourself with forever.”

“There’s the implication of more?” Sasha stole a sip from Abigail’s cup. “That is good coffee. He put in creamer and sugar?”

Emma shook her head no. “Well?”

“Ok.” Sasha nodded.

Abigail said, “Agreed.”

Tension crawled up Emma’s spine. “Now that we know what it is, how do I dress for it?”

“Short, but it has to move. Like the green dress I had on the other day just at the knee,” Sasha said.

Emma bit her lip. “Cleavage?”

“Without saying,” Abigail said.

“Then so are heels,” Emma said.

“Not too high,” Sasha suggested. “He looks like a walker.”

Someone knocked at the window and broke the impromptu meeting. “That’s my alarm.”

Her friends filed out. Emma pushed down the nerves. There wasn’t a reason for them. This wasn’t a possible marriage date. This was a possible start of a beautiful friendship date. If things changed, and she was sure they wouldn’t, the man had already seen her naked. Half the worry was gone. Still, her stomach fluttered with nerves.

Chapter Seven

For the first time in an hour and a half Emma was able to take a much needed breath of fresh air as she stepped back into her store.

“What’s wrong?” Josh asked from behind the counter. The door banged shut behind her. The bakery was still in one piece and the booths were filled with customers.

“Nothing for you to worry about, but thanks for asking.”

She blanked her face, because if the young man had picked up on her irritation, Roger had once again outdone himself. She shuddered and skirted around the counter to the sink to wash her hands. Little bits of Roger DNA had to be covering them.

He lowered his voice. “It’s not my brother, is it?” He hesitated. “He can be trying.”

She patted his shoulder. “Not your brother. I saw an attorney…a friend.”

Probably not after this lunch. He spent the first thirty minutes ignoring her and reading over the document, which hadn’t been the problem. She enjoyed the quiet and ate her chicken salad with a glass of Chardonnay. After deeming the agreement fair and basic, Roger forgot the friend part of their arrangement. She shuddered again.

“See now I know something is wrong. You’ve got that line.” He pointed to the area between her brows.

She rubbed the telling facial tick. “Have you ever had to come to a conclusion that a person is reprehensible and then you spend the next hour or so wondering why you liked them in the first place?”

He pursed his lips. “Roger. Your lunch date.”

“It wasn’t a date. He’s an attorney. He’s a great attorney,” Emma emphasized the last part.

“Reprehensible man though.”

“Yes.” She laughed. “I feel so horrible saying it, but I want to scrub everywhere he touched me.”

He frowned. “So why’d you go?”

She leaned against the sink. That was the question of the hour. She’d met Roger during one of Sasha’s gallery showings for her students. He had an obvious passion for the law, civil, and specifically business contracts. It’s why she agreed to go out with him, and the way he helped Emma into her coat also convinced her to give him a try. The general way he catered to her needs had charmed her. Their first date he took her to the Renaissance fair the college held every year. Roger seemed to be a fun guy.

It took less than three dates to figure out he wasn’t a gentleman because he respected women or held old-fashioned beliefs about chivalry. He believed women couldn’t survive without a man making every decision for them.

“If Eve had just waited for Adam’s approval we’d still be in Eden.” Her counter-argument, “Adam might have made the same decision,” was disregarded because of course a man would have made the smarter choice.

She respected the hell out of his ability to look at a contract and break it down to parts any layman could understand. He just did that in every aspect when it came to a woman too.

“Hope springs eternal and so does stupidity. Plus, I wanted him to look over a contract for me and I knew he’d charge me cheap if not at all. I needed something quick. Learned my lesson. I’d rather wait and pay through the nose.” She stopped, replaying their conversation. “Why did you think it was your brother’s fault?”

He blinked at her as though the answer was obvious. “He digs you.”

“Oh.” Uncomfortable talking to him about this, she whispered, “Should you be telling me this?”

“He hasn’t asked you out for a date yet?”

“I don’t think we should be talking about this.” She moved from the sink to the counter.

Josh gave her a familiar look with the same shade of midnight in his gaze as his brother but there wasn’t any heat, just consideration.

“Probably not. My brother’s clueless. If he hasn’t asked you out that doesn’t mean anything. He’s asked about you and with my brother that’s like writing a poem and giving you two-dozen roses. Give him time. Sounds like this Roger guy doesn’t deserve you anyway.”

“Thanks about the Roger thing. He only deserves a bash to the head.” She pursed her lips and shifted. “We’re going out on a date. Tonight. Me and your brother.”

He smiled. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Huh.” He shrugged. “What else do you need me to do?”

Yeah, Tobias and Joshua were related. She let the conversation go and looked around the store. “Things are winding down. As customers leave, clean up the booths.” She checked the time. “Then I’ll teach you how to make a Lemon Ice Box pie. It’s foolproof.”

They finished his shift after he’d eaten the whole pie. She stopped him from eating the second one.

“I can’t believe how you swallowed that thing.” She walked him to the door and stilled as she saw Tobias turn his sign to Closed.

“It was good,” Josh said.

He didn’t make a comment on his brother’s actions and she…Would. Not. Ask. “Tomorrow then.”

He followed her gaze, but didn’t point anything out. “Tomorrow.”

Instead of watching Tobias walk down the street, she went back to the counter.

*****

Both Abigail and Sasha showed up fifteen minutes before closing. They made clean up easy and fast.

“He left his store early and didn’t come back,” Emma said. “What could that mean?”

“He’s putting together a den of sin,” Abigail offered.

The nerves at the thought put a shake in her usually steady hands. “Don’t say that.”

Abigail’s brows rose. “I thought you were all gung-ho about no sex?”

Sasha had spotted the pie on the counter. “She baked vanilla wafers into a Lemon Ice Box pie.” She added, “Are you taking this with you?”

Emma moved the dessert from Sasha’s line of sight. “Yes. Why are you here?”

The phone rang, and she considered taking the pie with her to the phone, but decided against it. She answered with her usual greeting.

“Emmaline,” Tobias said. “I also forgot to give you directions to my house.”

“Is this going to be a habit? You forgetting things?”

“Maybe. Do you have a pen and paper handy?”

“One minute.” She put the phone down, and when she turned Abigail had a pen and paper ready. “Got it,” she said into the phone.

If Tobias threw a stone from where he lived, he’d hit the ivy-covered college. Based on his address he had a wonderful view considering all the downsides to living next to a university. She ended the call.

“Step away from the pie.” Emma aimed a finger at Sasha to make her point. “You need to go to a Sweets Anonymous meeting.”

“I do,” Sasha agreed and sighed. “Hurry up. We’re here to get you ready for your date.”

“Don’t look surprised about us being here,” Abigail said. “This is the first date you’ve been excited about since…hell, I can’t remember.”

“I have been excited. Before this date.” She closed out the drawer and headed back to the safe to lock up the money up for the night.

Once outside she looked up and down the street. Quiet and very little traffic, like the night she ran down it naked. “Are you guys staying the night at my house?” They’d done it often enough on date night Emma just wanted confirmation.

“We’ve got a bet going on what time you’ll come home,” Sasha said. “I say ten because you like to savor these kinds of things.”

“It’s been, what, three days and you’ve already agreed to a date?” Abigail chimed in. “This is ground-breaking territory here.”

Emma spoke when they all were in her car. “It is a little ground breaking, but not the way you mean. I’ve never found a man I knew at the beginning wasn’t right for me but still interested and challenged me.”

“Then why are you going on a date with him?” Sasha asked.

“Because I can finally relax. I mean we’ve all been on the date where so much is riding on what he’s going to say or do next. None of that is there with him. It damn sure doesn’t hurt I find him attractive.”

“Well,” Abigail started, “that’s why Miguel and I get along so well. I finally gave up looking for the perfect guy. He doesn’t exist.”

“I’m not giving up. I’m wading back in with Tobias. He’s so…”

“Sexy?” Abigail said.

“Considerate? Sasha offered.

“Serious,” Emma said.

“Passionate,” both Abigail and Sasha said.

Emma couldn’t disagree with the observation as she parked in her driveway. Sedans and the occasional van filled the block. They all filed out of the car and then into her home.

“What torture do you have planned for me?” Emma wanted to know as she kicked off her shoes, adding them to the growing pile next to the closet in the foyer and then headed to her room up the stairs.

“Up do. Smoky eyes,” Sasha continued, following. “Red dress and heels.”

Emma flicked on the light in her bedroom. Earth-tone shades were illuminated in the dim light. Her lush comforter lay rumpled on the bed exposing deep tan sheets. Sasha splayed on the bed and Abigail headed to the walk-in closet. Emma went into the bathroom to take a hot shower. She dried and pampered her skin before cracking open the door, hand out for the dress.

“Thirty minutes,” Sasha yelled. “I’m not a miracle worker.”

She smiled and closed the door again. How many times had they gathered together to get each other ready for a first date? Another tradition one could say. After pulling the dress over her head, Emma wiped at the fogged mirror. Her hair fell to mid-shoulder and her honey-colored eyes were a little bright. The shower had given her a second wind and the nerves had finally subsided.

There wasn’t anything to feel shaky about with Tobias. She was curious to know all the nooks and crannies of his personality. He probably had many he rarely let out. Still, if she dug a little deeper, she’d end up right back to a solid man who didn’t see the reason for flights of fancy. He found her loyalty too odd and flighty traditions amusing.

Who would she be without them? What would be at her core? Emma didn’t know and it was a good thing she didn’t have to find out.

She opened the door, and Sasha unfurled from the bed, moving to the vanity mirror. Her second-trade tools lay open on the ivory surface of the vanity. Red heels sat by the chair. Emma sat down and strapped on the shoes.

“You know the drill,” Sasha said.

Lifting her chin, Emma closed her eyes. “This feels weird. Usually we go over every detail of what can happen from what we know of the man.”

“You’ve deprived us of dissecting every detail.” Abigail sighed. “Miguel wants us to move in together.”

Emma kept her eyes closed, but her brows rose. Sasha tutted and Emma forced herself to relax. “Bad or good thing?”

“Don’t know. I can’t say I’m madly in love with him, but it’s been six months. When do you know it’s right? Do you just jump into it and hope for the best?”

“Six months doesn’t seem like a long time in the scheme of things,” Emma mused.

“I know I’m not the poster child,” Sasha said, “but I know what’s serious when I see it and…I avoid it.”

“What was with the argument we’re the ones stunting your growth?” Abigail asked, her voice farther away now.

“Still applies,” Sash said. “If I fall in love what would happen to our friendship? Sounds crazy when I say it out loud but really when you’re in love the people around you fade out. It’s not intentional.”