Dream Date (37 page)

Being in love with someone so unreachable is tough
, Nathan thought to himself, clenching his fists.
But she’s damn worth the fight. I won’t give up on the girl of my dreams.

As Kayla was walking back to class, the guy who’d spoken to her the previous week intercepted her. She stopped, looking apprehensive.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“You haven’t done what I told you. Nathan is out there madly in search of Amanda.”

“Listen, I don’t know who you are. And I don’t care what you want from me. If you really want Amanda, why don’t you talk to her yourself?”

“You were supposed to make Nathan stay with you. He stands in my way.”

“I won’t force him to love me.”

“You have to.”

“Excuse me?” Kayla said, placing her hands on her hips. “You better tone it down a tad. I’m jumping to some conclusions here you wouldn’t like to hear.”

The guy just stood there in disbelief, watching Kayla leer at him.

“What happened? Weren’t you in love with him?”

“Very much. But like I said, I’m not going to force him to be with me. You want Amanda, go win her heart by yourself. Aren’t you a big boy?”

Kayla turned on her heel and walked away, shaking her head.

Amanda vehemently avoided Nathan at school the rest of the week. She kept her mind busy with schoolwork, modeling, and browsing the Houzz Web site. She was fascinated by the inspiration that the design ideas gave her. She was hurting a lot because of what Nathan did to her, but Amanda wasn’t the type of girl to sit around and cry when things went bad.

As she looked at a bedroom design she liked, Amanda heard her doorbell ring. She didn’t react, letting Hughes answer the door. He came into her room seconds later.

“Judith and Emmy are here to see you.”

“Oh! I’ll see them right now,” Amanda said, and Hughes left. She stood up, looking at herself in her mirror. Amanda didn’t look as frightful as in the morning after the shocking discovery, but she still didn’t look like her usual self. Maybe what she needed was a distraction.

Without fixing her appearance, Amanda walked to the living room. Judith and Emmy stood in front of the sofa.

“Hi, friend,” Judith said when Amanda entered the room.

“Are you okay?” Emmy asked. “We noticed that you’ve been looking real upset today in class lately, and thought we could do something to help.”

“Thanks, but I’m fine,” Amanda said, sitting on the armchair next to the coffee table and large sofa.

“Your appearance betrays you,” said Judith. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

“Tell us what’s bothering you.”

Amanda sighed.

“
Bothering
is putting it mildly. I would say I’m freakin’ disappointed.”

“In who?” Emmy asked as she and Judith sat down on the sofa. Amanda waited before answering.

“Nathan.”

Judith and Emmy exchanged puzzled looks.

“I thought you two were together now.”

“He wishes he were that lucky.”

Emmy raised her eyebrows.

“What did Nathan do to deserve your hostility? He has been nothing but kind to you.”

“Emmy,” said Amanda, thinking her words carefully. “There’s nothing kind about rubbing in my face that he loves his girlfriend.”

“Rubbing in your face? But they broke up.”

“That’s what he had me believe.”

“You must be mistaken,” Judith said. “Didn’t you tell me the other day that Nathan declared his love to you?”

“Cynic bastard. He didn’t break up with Kayla then, and he certainly hasn’t broken up with her now.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Amanda pondered whether she should share everything with her friends.

“He sent me a damn note asking me to meet him at a hotel close by.”

Emmy’s eyes widened.

“Subtle much?”

“Exactly what I thought at first. Given what he actually cited me there for, I wish he’d summoned me there for you know what.”

“What was it about, then?” asked Judith.

Amanda sighed, closing her eyes.

“When I got there, the place was semi-dark. It didn’t take me long to notice a trail of petals on the floor. I followed them to the bedroom.”

“And he was there?” Emmy prompted, as Amanda had paused to recompose herself.

“Yes. But he wasn’t alone. He was with his girlfriend.”

Judith and Emmy looked confused.

“I don’t understand. Why would he ask you both to be there? In a hotel room, of all places?”

“To hurt me, of course. I saw Kayla, who was…doing a striptease for him.”

Emmy’s jaw dropped.

“You must have been dreaming.”

“I wish, Emmy, I wish. But I’m not mistaken. The two of them were there. It’s bad enough that she had no clothes on—she had lingerie that could only have been bought someplace expensive.”

Judith’s expression started to become angry.

“If Nathan really did that to you, then he’s a big jerk. He doesn’t deserve you crying over him.”

Emmy put a hand on Judith’s shoulder to try to calm her down. Then she looked at Amanda.

“Amanda, you have to be mistaken. Nathan is in love with you. There’s no way he’d put on a show like that to hurt you.”

“I saw what I saw. I was on my full five senses.”

“There has to be an explanation,” Emmy said. “Maybe you’ve both been set up.”

Amanda forced a laugh.

“This isn’t a soap opera.”

“Yeah,” said Judith, her jaw set. “I can’t believe it. First Ashton plays with my heart, and now Nathan’s doing the same to you. They’re the same.”

Emmy just shrugged, thinking hard.

“There’s definitely something fishy. Are you sure the note was even from Nathan?”

“Positive. I admit I’m unfamiliar with his handwriting, but it looked much like another note he’d given me before.”

“I don’t know what to think.”

“Just don’t, Amanda,” Judith told her. “Move on. I have no regrets about kicking Ashton to the curb. He thought it would be fun to make me his latest notch on the bedpost.”

“I shouldn’t have opened my heart to Nathan. I’m angry and embarrassed for having come between him and Kayla. I should tell her I’m sorry.”

“You’re joking, right?” Emmy asked.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Judith said. “Just stay away from them both. You don’t need them complicating your life.”

Amanda gave a half-smile.

“I guess not.”

“You should find yourself something to keep your mind occupied,” Judith suggested. “Maybe you could schedule more photo shoots.”

“I have one, actually. It’s with Rachel Edwards, a friend of Marissa who would love to photograph me.”

“When is the photo shoot?”

“I’m working on that with Hilbert. Hopefully, it’ll be a week or two before Thanksgiving.”

Hilbert was in his office, working on Amanda’s contract with Ralph Lauren. In the years that he’d been representing her, Amanda had become very successful.

Now, Hilbert wished he were just as successful in his personal life. At 27, he was already starting to feel a little old. Hilbert didn’t want to be in his thirties and unmarried. By then, he’d probably have gray hair on his temples.

There was only one woman Hilbert wanted to marry. She was, unfortunately, too stubborn and blind to see all that he had to offer her. Amanda had no idea how many women wished they were in her position.

As he browsed through files on his computer, Hilbert’s desk phone rang. It was his assistant.

“Sir, Rebecca Jenkins is here to see you.”

Hilbert hesitated for a second. For the past week, he had been waiting for the best moment to tell Rebecca that they were through. He would do anything to have Amanda….even if it meant sacrificing his arm candy. And Rebecca was almost as attractive as Amanda. Almost.

“Let her in, Julie.”

A few seconds later, Rebecca entered.

“Rebecca. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“You didn’t answer my phone last night,” Rebecca said without preamble. Hilbert stood back in his chair, crisscrossing his fingers.

“I was busy.”

Rebecca sneered, sitting down on a chair in front of Hilbert’s desk. She crossed one leg over the other.

“I’ve been hearing that same answer lately.”

“But I really am busy. I’m handling important contracts for my clients.”

“We both know that’s not the only thing that’s been demanding all your time. I know what you do during all those flights to Ithaca.”

“Those are business trips.”

“Yeah, and that business has a name. Amanda Tilley.”

Hilbert stood up straighter.

“What’s your point, Rebecca?”

“I just want to let you know that I’m not some woman you can rebound to whenever you get a whim. I’m serious about you, but if you aren’t, you can kiss me goodbye.”

Hilbert chuckled, rubbing his designer stubble.

“That’s just why I’m drawn to you. You’re a sweet little firecracker.”

Rebecca didn’t seem the slightest bit amused.

“I just want to know something,” she asked.

“What?”

“Is Amanda just a whim for you? Everyone knows how you are with women.”

“That’s wrong. I keep my private life private.”

“You get my point. You never become attached to any woman. All you want them for is…you know.”

“So?”

“Amanda and I are the only women you’ve cared about enough to let us know you better. I…you are special to me. Is Amanda a whim?”

“No. Why would you care?”

“Because I’m afraid she will hurt you. I’ve already told you this.”

Hilbert let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Please. She can’t hurt me unless she withdrew sex from me indefinitely.”

“You’ve never been with her, dumbass. How can you ache over what you’ve never had?”

“It’s not hard to imagine how incomparable sex with Amanda would be. I can’t wait.”

“Frankly, I’m concerned about your obsession with her, Hilbert.”

Hilbert narrowed his eyes.