Chapter
Six
Wednesday,
February 26th
A
strip mall. Of all the high-end, over-the-top places to eat in Vegas, Saralynn
Reese chose a strip mall. The same Saralynn who came to work in so many labels
the designers should pay her an advertising fee. Madden sat in his Escalade and
slid a hand over his jaw. It had to be a joke. She wouldn’t show. Indecision
held him in place a few more seconds. His stomach growled. Date or no date, he
needed dinner. He hauled himself out and beeped the car locked, feeling self
conscious in a lot full of late model sedans.
The
inside of Lotus of Siam looked a lot
different. Rows of polished wood tables gleamed under low, warm lighting, and
the dark green carpet was a little faded but clean. It had a homey feel. And
seated in the back, legs crossed and foot bobbing, sat Saralynn, twirling the
straw in her water. The top half of her light brown hair was scooped up away
from her face and secured with red chopsticks while the back half hung in loose
curls over her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless, see-through white shirt with a
red tank underneath and skintight white pants that ended just past her knees.
But those shoes—shiny red, strappy sandals with spike heels—caught his
attention. Feet held no special fascination for him before, but those shoes had
him subtly adjusting himself on the way over.
“This
place is not what I was expecting.” He sat across from her at the small table
for two against a mirrored wall.
She
wiggled her toes painted the same red as the shoes and shook her head at him.
“If you always judge things by how they look, you might miss out on something
great. It took me a while to learn that one. But now I’m taking chances on new
experiences.”
That
observation struck deep. Most people judged him on the surface. To be fair,
very few got to see underneath. The same seemed to be true for her. He weighed
the pros and cons of asking if he fit into the new experiences category, but no
sense pushing his luck. It was a huge surprise she’d said yes to begin with,
and what the hell inspired the invitation anyway? Jacey had just finished
telling him what a bad idea it would be to get too close to Saralynn, and
practically the next thing he did was ask her on a date. As far as he’d come
from his impulse-prone former self, apparently he still had a ways to go.
Every line in his
arsenal seemed like it would fall flat with the vixen in front of him. When in
doubt, compliment. “I’m all for new experiences. And I have to say, you look
incredible tonight.”
She smiled then
appeared to catch herself and gave him a wary stare. “Just so we’re clear, this
is a thank-you dinner. Not a date.”
If that were true,
what did she wear on a real date? The possibilities weren’t exactly the cold
shower he needed. A server appeared and asked for their order.
“I’ll have the
drunken noodle sea bass.”
Madden blinked and
glanced at the menu. He’d never had Thai before and with only time to skim, half
the offerings were a mystery. “Uh, that sounds good. I’ll have the same.” The
server’s cheerful nod almost looked like a small bow before he left, and then
they were alone again. “Okay. On this not-a-date, would it be all right to ask
you about yourself?”
*
Saralynn
leaned back in her chair and studied the man across from her. Bright blue crew
neck t-shirt with an over-sized purple plaid pattern on the shoulders under a
streamlined navy blazer. Not his most casual look, but bolder than his office
clothes. If she weren’t mistaken, this was date Madden. As formal as he got
outside of a wedding or funeral. Somehow, it still said polished. Maybe because that t-shirt was probably just under two
hundred dollars.
He’d
thought this was a date. Hard to deny that when she’d spent two hours getting
ready after work. Her plan had been an old band tee, beat-up jeans and sneakers
with a full ponytail. But God help her, she couldn’t leave the apartment like
that when she imagined how good he’d look. The only compromise was putting half
her hair up. Then the devil on her shoulder suggested the sexy chopsticks, and
her last best intention came crumbling down.
Now
here they were, dressed up on their not-a-date, and he wanted to toe the line.
Well, as long as they didn’t cross it. This was a dangerous game. “I guess a
few questions would be okay.”
The
line of his shoulders relaxed a little, and he sipped the water she’d ordered
for him. “I better make them good then. Tell me about what it was like growing
up with Reese.”
She
smiled reflexively then frowned at him in suspicion. That was the second time
he drew one from her so fast. He was good. “By the time I was five, he was ten,
and hockey took up most of his time. I only remember about four good years with
him before he went with Carter to a school in Minnesota. But he was my
protector even when I didn’t want him to be. I was closer to him than my
sisters. Still am. I was kind of a tomboy until my teens when I…blossomed.”
“Into
one hell of a rose.”
“Thanks,
but…I think I’m more remembered for my thorns.”
His
light blue eyes widened in a silent Do
tell.
She
picked at the straw wrapper on the table. “That stuff’s not important.”
“You
think I’m going to judge you?”
The
corner of her mouth twitched, and she flattened her hands in her lap. “Okay,
fine. Things came easily to me in high school. I was cheer captain and queen of
every dance. I had a big group of followers but not a single friend. Not a real
one. Guys were interested but assholes. So by the time I got to college, I
stopped caring if they cared. I casually dated my way through the next four
years and none of them even stand out in my mind. It wasn’t until I started
working for the team that I saw how different things could be. How different I
could be. And I never want to go back.”
Whoa.
None of that was supposed to spill out, but once the leak sprouted, she
couldn’t stop. She pressed her lips together and studied the silverware.
“I
can’t say I know exactly how you feel. My experience was a little different.
But I think the keynotes are the same.”
That
shouldn’t be a surprise given the last few days, but somehow it was. Most
people couldn’t relate to her “charmed” life. Most people didn’t know the curse
of it. Hell, neither did she—not really—until recently. For the first time, she
met a date’s gaze and actually wanted to hear what he had to say.
His
eyes widened slightly, clearly surprised by the opening, and she bit the inside
of her lip to hold back another smile. Madden took another a sip of his water. “Oh,
okay. Well, I wasn’t enough of a joiner to be prom king, but I had my share of
dates in high school. I got serious with a girl in college, but it
turned out she wasn’t that serious about me. And I guess you now know
everything there is to know about the Linden thing.”
Saralynn
did her best not to flinch. The Linden thing. She’d done some google stalking.
Being fully informed was part of her job, and she couldn’t manage his media
situation without knowing all the facts.
“Yeah, what’s up with that? What did you see in her? Not that I’m qualified to throw rocks, but she sounded
kind of evil from what I read.”
He
looked down, tilted his head to one side and chewed on his lower lip. She beat
down the crazy urge to hurdle the table and kiss it better. She’d hit a sore
spot, but to his credit, he didn’t withdraw. When he met her eyes again, that
trademark twinkle was tempered by regret, embarrassment, and just a little
pain.
“That’s
a good question. I’ve asked myself that a lot. Definitely not one of my
proudest achievements. I don’t know. At first, I guess I was swayed by
appearance and attitude. She didn’t back down, and she went after what she
wanted. And she really seemed to be into me. I thought we were starting
something, but then she used me to get dirt on my sister. She apologized, but
it didn’t mean anything. I thought about her from time to time, but I was
finally letting go. And then I saw the wedding announcement.”
The
server returned with their order. After assuring him they didn’t need anything
else, he left them alone again. Saralynn dug in to her dish, eating the greens
off the top first. Some kind of reassurance seemed appropriate after his story,
but that had never been one of her strong points. Best to let the moment pass.
And she would have. If she didn’t glimpse him pushing around his noodles not
out of distaste but discontent.
“You
know, she’s not the one that got away. She’s a bullet you were lucky to dodge.
Seriously. And this is coming from a former hollow point.”
His
sad expression broke and crumbled away with a laugh and a grin that dropped her
guard. “I don’t think you’re as bad as you think you are. Maybe we should give
a real date a shot.”
It
felt so good to hear him say that. Too good. Was this what she wanted?
Validation that she wasn’t as bas as she used to be? That she might be capable
of something more? It didn’t take Allie’s psych degrees to know those things
couldn’t come from another person. She shook her head and played it off with a
smile. “You don’t want to get involved with me. I’m…‘Relationship napalm’
according to my brother.”
“Reese
said that? Not very nice.”
“No,
it’s not. But it is accurate. Or it was. I’m a work in progress.”
Madden
spread his arms in a Hello, me too gesture.
“Okay,
yeah, but that’s why we can’t date. Ever hear of the blind leading the blind?”
“Or
maybe we could encourage each other. Come on, who else fits this specific
support group?” He was tenacious, she’d give him that. And exasperating. Before
she could come up with a response, he poked again at is food. “So where are the
noodles?”
Avoiding
rejection with a change of topic. Her mouth dropped open in a mix of amusement
and admiration. When he looked at her innocently, brows up, she sighed. “The slimy
things on the bottom that look like squid? Those are noodles.”
“Man.”
He made a face like a little kid looking at a plate of wilted broccoli. “You
should write the menu description.”
“They’re
good. Try them.” As encouragement, she took a spoonful from her plate and
licked her lips. “Mmmm.”
He
watched her mouth, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “You’re giving
me other ideas.”
She
pointed her spoon at him. “Eat.” But now that he brought it up, those other
ideas danced around her head too. Maybe it was the forbidden aspect, or maybe
there really was something about him, but she couldn’t remember wanting someone
the way she wanted Madden Vaughn. It just wasn’t going to happen.
His
shoulders drooped dramatically, and he pouted, which only made him cuter,
damnit. But he picked up his spoon and tried a bite. Then another. “Hey, you’re
right. This is good.”
“Yeah.
I come here once a week. Not just for the food but atmosphere.”
“I
can see that. This place isn’t so…Vegas.”
“Exactly.”
She ate some sea bass and watched him wrestle a piece of his out from between
the greens and the noodles. Adorable. She was in so much trouble.
