Give Us a Chance (7 page)

"Jake." I feel Nash elbowing me and look up to see the three of them watching me. I wonder how long I was staring at Ivy. Long enough for Nash to intervene. Well, shit, that's embarrassing. I normally don't stare like that.

"Ready to go?" Nash asks.

"Yeah." I notice he has on his boots and hat. When did he put those on? Now I'm
really
wondering how long I was staring at Ivy. I help her up. "Try walking in the boots."

She takes a few steps. "They feel fine." She points to me. "What about you? Where's your stuff?"

"I keep boots and a hat in the back of my SUV."

"Just in case you want to stop somewhere and do the two-step?" she kids.

"Exactly. Gotta be prepared." I hold my arm out for her since she's not comfortable holding my hand in front of Nash. She takes my arm and the four of us walk out the door and go out to the parking lot. "We'll meet you there," I say to Nash.

"I like those two," Ivy says as we're driving to the restaurant. "Callie seems like someone I could be friends with."

"Why don't you two go do something together sometime?"

"I don't know. I guess because she's Nash's girlfriend. They always say not to mix work with your personal life."

"Callie doesn't work for us, and it doesn't matter if she's dating Nash. You can still be friends with her. If you asked her to lunch, I know she'd say yes. Or you could go out with her and Jen. The two of them are good friends, and I think you'd like Jen."

"Who's Jen?"

"A friend of the family. She's like a sister to me. She was always at our house growing up. My parents practically raised her because her mother didn't give a shit about her."

"Is that the girl Bryce likes?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I saw the two of them at the opening for the Victorian. The way he looked at her, I thought they were dating, but then some other guy came up and put his arm around her. I assume that was her boyfriend?"

"It was her date. She only went on a few dates with that guy."

"So Bryce doesn't want to date her?"

"He does. He's just too afraid to go out with her. He thinks it'll ruin their friendship. It's completely stupid. I know for a fact Jen wants to go out with him but he refuses to ask her. We've tried to knock some sense into him but he never listens."

I pull into the lot and park in front of the long brown building, next to the sign that's shaped like a giant cowboy hat.

"It doesn't look like much from the outside," I say, "but the inside is better."

Ivy gets out before I can help her. I quickly change into my boots and grab my hat and meet her on the sidewalk just as Callie and Nash show up.

"Ivy and I haven't eaten," I say to Nash. "We'll go in the restaurant and meet you guys later in the bar."

"Does the bar serve food?" Ivy asks me.

"Just appetizers. Wings, nachos, that type of thing."

"That sounds good. I don't need a big dinner."

"You sure? Because the food in the restaurant is better."

"Let's just sit in the bar." She looks at Callie. "You guys good with that?"

"Works for me." Callie shivers from the cold wind. "We need to get inside. It's freezing out here."

Maybe I shouldn't have invited Nash and Callie. I did it to be polite. I didn't think they'd say yes to going out in the middle of the week when Callie has class in the morning. Now I won't have time alone to talk to Ivy, and I needed that time to convince her to go out with me again. I thought I'd at least have her alone for dinner, but it sounds like we're remaining as a foursome. Oh well, maybe it'll turn out to be a good thing. If Ivy and Callie get along, Ivy may want to do this double-date thing again. I'd prefer a date with just her and me, but if a double-date is all I can get, I'll take it.

We go in the bar and order appetizers and drinks, then the girls take off for the bathroom. I'll never understand why girls feel the need to go to the bathroom together and why they take so long. What the hell do they do in there?

"So how'd you get her to go out with you?" Nash asks, taking a swig of his beer. "You paying her?"

"Yeah, you're funny." I roll my eyes.

"Then what's the story?"

"I asked her to dinner and she said yes. Simple as that. I think she agreed to it so she could prove that I'm the asshole she thinks I am."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she wanted to pick the restaurant, and she picked Hoedowns."

"She wanted to see if you'd check out the waitresses instead of her."

"Yeah."

"Did you?"

I shove his shoulder. "No! What the hell?"

"Well, you don't have much experience with dating, and
zero
experience with relationships."

"Yeah, well, I'm smart enough to know that you don't check out other girls while on a date."

"I thought you said you hadn't eaten. So you didn't go to Hoedowns?"

"We did. We had a drink and then we left. Turns out her sister works there. Liza. Remember her?"

Nash used to go to Hoedowns with me before he met Callie.

He stops to think. "The blonde? They're sisters?"

"Ivy's adopted."

He nods. "Now it makes sense."

The girls return to the table. Callie's got this sly grin on her face. I look at Ivy and notice she has more makeup on, mostly stuff around her eyes that makes them stand out more. And her hair is brushed out from the ponytail and looks even silkier. God, she's gorgeous. I can't take my eyes off her.

Now I'm glad Nash and Callie are here. I need them to keep me from doing more with Ivy than I should. I'm trying to keep my distance, leave her wanting more. But seeing her now? That's going to be very hard to do.

CHAPTER SIX

Ivy

"We're not really going to dance, are we?" I ask.

We finished eating and have been sitting here talking, but then a song came on that Callie likes so she jumped up and dragged Nash to the dance floor.

"Hell yeah, we're gonna dance." Jake stands up and helps me off the barstool. "I'm gonna teach you how to two-step."

"I can't. I don't even know what that is."

"Which is why I'm going to teach you." He holds his hand out to me. "Come on. Once you get out there, you'll feel more comfortable."

"With everyone staring at me? I don't think so."

"Nobody's staring at you. And besides, you told me you don't care what people think."

"I just said that so I wouldn't have to dress like this."

He leans closer to me. "You look freaking hot dressed like that, so stop worrying about it." He backs away. "Can I ask you to do something for me?"

"What?"

"From now on, if I suggest something and you don't want to do it, just tell me. Don't make up some excuse. When it comes to my personal life, I don't like playing games and I don't like people lying to me. I get enough of that shit at my job, when I'm dealing with subs and vendors and even the guys on my crew. When I get home at night, I don't want to deal with that, which is why I'm always upfront with my friends, family, women I date. I'm asking you to do the same. Don't worry about hurting my feelings or pissing me off. Even when I'm mad, I get over it pretty quick. So go ahead and tell me no. Tell me you aren't interested. Tell me you don't like me. Just don't lie to me."

Nobody has ever been that honest with me before, especially a guy. Every guy I've ever dated has lied to me at some point, usually to cover up his cheating. I've lied too, mainly to save the guy's feelings. I thought I was being nice not telling the truth. Isn't that what everyone does? Lies to avoid having to be honest with someone and tell them how you really feel?

"Ivy." I feel Jake's hand on the small of my back. "Can you do that for me?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"Good." He leans down and talks in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. "You probably already know this but, if you tell me you don't like me or that you're not interested, I'll still be stopping by the library to see you. And I might send you flowers. And keep asking you to dinner."

"So you'll be stalking me?" I ask, kidding.

He stands upright again. "If it gets to the point that you call it that, I'll stop. That's not what I'm trying to do. I just want to get to know you. That's it." He nods to the dance floor. "Let's get over there."

"I can't. I don't know what I'm doing and I don't want everyone watching."

"It's Tuesday night, which is old people night. The only people watching you will be old guys who can barely see."

I look over at the dance floor. "I see plenty of people our age."

He turns me toward him. "Ivy. If you don't get your ass on that dance floor, I'm going to pick you up and carry you there." He looks like he's actually going to do it, so I hurry off to the dance floor, and hear him chuckling behind me.

He finds us a spot off to the side so we're not in the way. Everyone seems to know how to do this and they're moving fast.

"Stop looking at them and focus on me," he says. "Otherwise you'll get confused." He takes my right hand with his left and holds it up near my shoulder. He puts his other hand firmly on the middle of my back. "Put your left hand on my bicep."

I do as he says, feeling his muscle, which is hard as a rock and huge.

"You don't have to squeeze it," he says, smiling at me. "Just rest it there."

I didn't realize I was gripping his bicep. I quickly release it and set my hand there.

"Now all we're going to do is take two slow steps, then two faster steps. That's it. It's easy. I lead, so I'll be stepping forward and you'll step back. Ready?"

"You need to explain it better. I don't know what to do." I nervously chew my lip. I'm not at all comfortable dancing. It's not me. When I was a kid, I never wanted to take ballet or any other kind of dance class. Instead, I spent my time in the garage with my dad, learning how to make stuff. Some would say I was a tomboy, but the stuff I used to make was girly stuff like doll furniture and jewelry boxes.

"Just follow me," Jake says, and then he starts moving forward.

"Wait, I'm not ready." I stumble backward but Jake keeps me upright, his hand securely on my back.

"Relax. You're too tense. Just remember two slow steps, two fast steps. Listen to the music. It helps."

"Hey!" Callie passes us, lifting her hand briefly to wave.

"Hi," I say back, but then forget where my feet are supposed to go and step right on Jake's foot. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He turns us to the left. "Count your steps and listen to the music."

I take a breath and focus on the music, trying to match my steps to the beat. I glance at Callie and copy what she's doing.

"That's good," Jake says. "I think you got it."

He's right. I'm actually doing it. Another song starts and we keep going, and by the time it ends, I feel like I've finally got it. It's not a hard dance once you figure it out.

"You want to keep going?" Jake asks. "Or do you need a break?"

"Let's keep going."

He smiles and pivots us back the other way. I like this, being in his arms, looking up at him in that cowboy hat. It's not how I'm used to seeing him. When he does construction, he wears jeans and t-shirts, and when he's doing his business deals, he wears dress pants and a button-up shirt. I thought I'd laugh when I saw him in that hat, but instead I got turned on because he looks so freaking sexy.

I can't believe I'm in a country bar, wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, doing the two-step. This is so not me. I've never done anything country in my entire life. I'm a city girl, born and raised. I've never even listened to country music. And yet, I'm having fun tonight. Is it because of Jake? Or because I'm doing something I've never done before?

We dance to a few more songs, then Nash and Callie come over to us and we all leave the dance floor.

"Callie has class early tomorrow so we're gonna head out," Nash says.

"Yeah, see ya," Jake says. "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for inviting us," Callie says. "It was fun." She smiles at me. "We should have lunch sometime."

"Yeah, we should." I like Callie. She reminds me of a friend I had in high school. "Nash has my number so give me a call or just stop by when you're at the library."

"Or maybe we could go on another double-date," she says, eyeing Jake.

He laughs a little at her meddling. "Goodnight, Callie." He gives her a quick hug. "See you guys later."

After they leave, he says, "Do you need to get home at a certain time?"

"No. Why? Did you have something in mind?"

I'm expecting him to make some flirtatious remark in an attempt to persuade me to have sex with him. I've been expecting that from him all night, but he hasn't even mentioned it. Does he usually wait until the second date? Or the third? The rumor is that he doesn't even date. He just has one-night stands. But he made sure to tell me tonight was a date. So does he really want to date me? If so, then why me? I haven't exactly been friendly to him the past few months.

"There's a coffee shop near my apartment that stays open late," he says. "It's a lot quieter than here."

So he wants us to be
near
his apartment, but not actually
go
there. Is he going to suggest we go to his apartment
after
the coffee? This guy is so confusing. He said he doesn't play games but I feel like we're playing one right now.

"Then let's go to the coffee shop," I say. "But we need to get rid of the hats and boots first."

"Hell no. We're going like this. Come on." He grabs my hand and we get our coats and go back out to his SUV.

"I can't go in there like this," I say as we park in front of the coffee shop. I can see inside, and the place is full of artsy types with black-rimmed glasses reading hardcover books and looking very serious. "I need to get my shoes out of the back."

"We'll take the hats off but the boots are staying. Nobody's going to notice your feet. And those boots will keep your feet warmer than those shoes you were wearing."

Earlier I was wearing black flats. They were the only shoes I had that looked good with my outfit, but like Jake said, my feet were freezing.