Bliss Series Boxed Set: The Whole Damn Harem (32 page)

“God, you guys are like rabbits!” I say, grinning. In Kate speak, what I really mean is I’m so freaking jealous it’s insane. All I get are sexy dreams with unattainable dream guys.

Daniel flashes a huge shit-eating grin. “It’s not my fault she can’t keep her hands off me.”

“Oh stop it. It’s these crazy pregnancy hormones.”

“That’s not what you said when you stuck your-“

“Anyway...” I say, trying to stop the sex talk.

“Oh yeah,” Mac says, sitting up cross-legged on the tangled sheets after giving Daniel a none too impressed glare. Her cute little baby pot belly clearly poked out from under her tank top now. “Daniel’s parents want to meet us for lunch tomorrow and I need you to come with us.”

“Mac, no. It’s not my place.”

“Whatever. Since when has it not been your place to support your best friend? And I need you there as a distraction.” She pulls out the puppy dog eyes and bats her lashes at me.
I look over at Daniel and he’s smirking at the interaction, but seeing my glare, he holds his hands up in mock surrender. “If it’s me you’re worried about, Kate, I’d love for you to come. If it means that Mac chills out and reduces the risk of a bathroom freakout, I’m all for it,” Daniel butts in, ending with a smirk toward Mac.

She shrugs and looks back at me. “He’s right, you know.”

I giggle. He’s so damn right. Goes to show how perfect Daniel is for Mac.

“Yeah. Damn superhero know-it-alls.” I poke my tongue out at him. “Where and when? I’ll be there.”

“Yay” Mac shrieks, jumping up and tackle hugging me into the hallway wall.

“Whoa, dude, are you crying?”

She quickly wipes her eyes, failing to hide the evidence. “No!”

I pull back and look at her with a ‘you have got to be shitting me’ look.

“Oh alright. Yes. Stupid hormones. I’m like a leaky fucking faucet. All I do is cry. Nobody warns you about this girly shit!”

I quietly laugh while wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “And you’ve still got four months to go too.”

“Oh, shut up. I need bacon. Lots and lots of bacon. You owe me bacon after that comment.”

I hear Daniel chuckle as we walk away.

I’m going to miss these two when they move.

∞
∞~

A little while later, I’m checking my online options once again, when I come across a profile that catches my eye.

Princeinwolfsclothing

I’m 27 years old and looking to meet new people, make new friends, and if I’m lucky enough, find my soul mate. I work hard and play harder. I can be somewhat intimidating at times, but really I’m a softie at heart. Would love to talk to you.

My first thought is that he sounds nice and honest. He admitted a fault in his profile which would normally put people off, but I find it kind of endearing. Looking at his photo, he’s got gorgeous wavy brown hair that is longer on top and short on the sides—definitely looks after himself. I bite the bullet and message him.

Fireinthesky24:
Hi. I’m Kate and I’m 24. Just wanted to say that I loved your profile and would
love to
like to chat more if you’d like. To chat that is.

God! How is it that in the salon I can talk my clients’ ears off all day and not sound like a nut, but this internet dating thing suddenly makes me sound like the world’s biggest goof?

I see Nightdancer23 come online, so I sit there for a good five minutes waiting to see if he’s going to message me. Our conversation last night gave me hope that not all men on this site were like Roger—old, wrinkly, and liars.

I smile when I see a new message come in from nightdancer.

Nightdancer23:
Hey, Firebird. How’s your Sunday going?

Fireinthesky24:
Hi. Sunday has been good to me so far. Just hanging around home with my best friend and her boyfriend. How about you?

Nightdancer23:
Just boring stuff. It’s my only day off, so I try to stay on top of things.

Fireinthesky24:
How very responsible of you ;)

Nightdancer23:
Ah yes, a responsible single male in Chicago. See, they do exist!

Fireinthesky24:
They do indeed. A rare find, and a treasure to behold.

Nightdancer23:
One might say you shouldn’t waste time when you find such a rare gem.

Hot damn! This guy is the biggest flirt I’ve ever met! He makes Zander seem tame!

Fireinthesky24:
Ah yeah, maybe ;) But one must proceed with caution to make sure the gem is genuine and not a replica.

Nightdancer23:
Touche. Indeed.

Fireinthesky24:
And how about you? Are you genuine or a replica?

Nightdancer23:
I’m as genuine as they come. Tried and tested.

Fireinthesky24:
giggles
Don’t think you should be telling women that you’re well tried ;)

Nightdancer23:
Probably not. Maybe I need to be put under your close scrutiny then.

Fireinthesky24:
The testing process could be rigorous.

Nightdancer23:
I think I’m
up
for the challenge.

Fireinthesky24:
Maybe we should arrange a meeting so that this testing can begin.

Nightdancer23:
I’d like to get to know you a bit better first. Is that ok?

In other words, back off, Kate! God, I’m an idiot.

Fireinthesky24:
Of course. Yeah. Sounds good.

I feel rejected now. Why do I feel like this when I’ve only been chatting to this guy for a little while?

Nightdancer23:
Well, I’d better get back to my laundry. There’s a cute 70 year old here giving me the glad eye, so I might go try my luck. You never know ;)

Fireinthesky24:
OMG, I just snorted my drink up my nose! You go, stud muffin. That is beyond a cougar, so you’re setting your sights high.

Nightdancer23:
I love a challenge. Talk again soon, I hope. Have a great day, Firebird.

I’m in trouble.

The dreamer in me is already pinning my hopes on this guy, and I don’t even really know him. No photo, no real details in his profile, and I’m already building up an image of him. I can see him being tall and muscular. Not huge like a bodybuilder, but definitely someone who takes care of himself. Piercing eyes, strong jawline, and big hands that he knows what to do with.

Our messages and banter are so smooth, effortless even. I’m finding myself not wanting our conversations to end. And I’m not going to lie, when I saw him come online and message me, I got excited. He might just be interested in me. Even if it’s just a little bit, that’s a start, right?

Maybe this internet dating thing isn’t going to be a write-off after all.

A new message snaps me out of my daydream.

Princeinwolfsclothing:
Hey, Kate. You sound very suitable. Would you be interested in meeting for a drink this evening?

Oh shitballs! I usually like to talk a little before I jump into a first meeting, but he’s just blown that plan right out of the water by asking me out.

I’m still deliberating what to do when Mac and Daniel walk into the living room, and going by the glow in Mac’s cheeks that is not of the pregnancy variety, I’d say they shared the shower.

“What’cha doing?” Mac asks, plopping down on the couch beside me. “Ooh, look Superman, she’s got another date.”

Daniel leans over the back of the couch between us, reading the message on the screen before frowning and standing up, running a hand through his hair.

“What is it?”

He looks down at me with concern. “Kate, do you really want to carry on with this internet thing? Take it from me, you’re a catch and sooner or later someone is going see that and run with it. There are some real creeps on sites like that.”

“Oh, and I’m going to just walk onto the L and find my soul mate like you two? Do you know how many dates I’ve been on?”

Mac puts her hand on my arm. “Hon, he’s just worried about you.”

I let out a big breath and slouch back into the soft cushions. “I know. But you guys always know where I am, and we’ll just do the whole twenty minute checkin phone call thingy this time.”

“So you’re gonna go out with this prince in wolf’s clothing guy?” Daniel asks incredulously.

“Yeah, why not? It’s not like I have any other plans tonight,” I say, shrugging my shoulders.

He growls low in his throat before he walks to the fridge and grabs himself a beer.

“What?” I ask, looking at Mac.

“It’s okay, hon. As I said, he’s just worried after the Roger fiasco.”

“I know,” I mutter under my breath as I type out a quick reply to Prince.

Fireinthesky24:
Sounds great. Where and when?

I put the laptop down, making a mental note to check for his reply later. I spin around on the couch to face Daniel.

“I know you’re just looking out for me, but this time we’ll do it right. A twenty minute checkin phone call from Mac after I arrive, and if I say it’s okay, you’ll leave me to it. If I say it’s not, you’ll come save me. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” he says, smiling at me like a proud big brother. Although, in all honesty, if my real brothers knew about this they’d be shitting bricks.

I jump up off the couch and give him a side hug as I grab his beer and take a swig before handing it back to him. “And with that, I’m now off to make myself beautiful for my date,” I say, walking off down the hallway, leaving Superman with his mouth open and Mac giggling her tits off.

“Wake Up Call”

Kate

It’s Saturday night, 8 p.m., and I’m standing outside Spirelli’s, an Italian restaurant just a few blocks from my apartment. I’d heard of it before as this was where Daniel had brought Mac for a date and she had raved about the Tiramisu, describing it as being like a food orgasm waiting to happen, so I’ve been dying to try it out. Princeinwolfsclothing—aka Spencer—suggested we meet here for dinner and I couldn’t come up with a reason not to.

All afternoon I’ve been psyching myself up for this date. It’s only my second blind date as such since joining the dating website, so my nerves hit overdrive as the afternoon dwindled away. Mac tried to get me to relax, and the glass of wine she literally poured down my throat before I left definitely aided her efforts.

She also helped me choose the perfect dinner date outfit. I’m wearing a black pencil skirt with a sleeveless burgundy peplum top and black patent pumps. I’d styled my hair half up, half down, letting a few curls loose to frame my face. I was going for classy, but not over the top. Mac and I pretty much gutted my closet finding the perfect combination. Daniel said there was too much estrogen in the house, so he left us to go workout. To be honest, it was nice to have some one-on-one girl time with my bestie, despite my threatening panic attack.

As I stand on the sidewalk, I can’t help but reflect on my past first dates. They’ve never really been anything to write home about. Nothing stands out as being epic or romantic comedy-esque. Then, of course, I wonder where nightdancer23 would take me for a first date. Would it be to a restaurant like this, or would it be something more fun? More low key? There’s no point thinking about it since he all but brushed me off this afternoon.