Operation Foreplay (31 page)

“I’ll call you later, then. Tell Berk to call me if he wants to work out tonight.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Okay.”

“Bye, Jared.”

“Bye, Melody.”

I clicked off the call and placed my phone on the desk in front of me like it was fragile piece of china.

“A date?” Berk asked.

“A date,” I repeated, suddenly quite pleased with myself.

“When’s the last time you went on a date?” He poked one of my dumplings with his chopstick and shoved it in his mouth.

“I’ve been on dates.” I reached for his lo mein.

“Let me rephrase. When’s the last time you went out on a first date that mattered?”

“Touché,” I replied after I slurped up a stray noodle and handed the container back to him.

“What are you going to wear?”

“Something new, obviously.” I waved him off. “Oh, and call him if you’re going to the gym.”

“So we both get to date the guy with the fabulous cum gutters?”

“Hands off my man!” I laughed.

“Your man? Don’t you mean your
boy
friend?”

“Shut up.” I threw a balled-up napkin at him, but for the life of me I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.

“Hey. At least one of us has someone to go on a date with.”

“I thought things were good with you and David?”

“Eh. He and I aren’t as compatible as I thought.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. He’s a nice guy.”

“He is. But the age difference really is too much for me. I’m tired of being treated like a kid. I know he doesn’t mean it, but it is what it is.”

“I’m sorry, Berk. I know you liked him.”

“It’s okay. Besides, I have a date with that hot waiter we met at brunch a couple weeks ago.”

“Oh. He was hot! What’s his name?”

“Mario.”

“As in Mario and Luigi?” My snicker was met with his stare.

“As in you are voluntarily cutting yourself off from sex so you have no room to make fun of anything.”

I considered his words for a minute and repeated my earlier sentiment. “Tou-freaking-ché my friend. Tou-freaking-ché.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

I
made sure to get my workout in early the next morning. Sarah and I took a forty-five-minute boot camp class that was supposed to hit all the basic workouts in a shorter amount of time. Unfortunately, the entire class had my mind in the gutter and Sarah giggling at my reactions.

Music filled the space and we all got into our positions and jogged in place. Scott, our instructor, bounced around and slapped everyone a high five.

“High knees in five, four, three, two, one.”

“High knees.” I snickered. Scott heard and blushed.

“Jesus fuck,” Sarah said as she worked her knees as high as she could. “I really need to get a better sports bra. My tits are banging against my kneecaps.”

“No they aren’t!” I giggled, messing up my concentration, causing me to double high knee my left leg.

“Yes, they are. Look.” Sarah pivoted so she was high-kneeing in front of me and sure enough, she drove her knees high enough to hit her boobs.

“Oh my God, Sarah!” I nearly fell over. “Stop doing that!”

“I can’t help it.”

Scott saved her by counting us down to stop. After a short stretch we worked our legs with squats, lunges, and the ever-enjoyable round of burpees. By the time we whipped through that quick set, we were panting and on the floor. Which was good considering the next round was abs. I hated ab workouts.

“On your backs. Knees bent. We’re going to start off with thrusts.”

For sixty seconds I pulsed my groin to the ceiling while muttering nonsense about blister dicks.

“Stop thinking about fucking my brother.”

“I am not thinking about fucking your brother.”

“You most certainly are. You don’t think I remember the blister dick, stinky pussy story?”

“I can’t help it.”

“For fuck’s sake. You two live in the same pea pod, I swear.”

“Okay. Spread your legs wide into a vee while lying on your back. Your legs and your body will form a triangle. I want you to sit up and slap that triangle as hard as you can!”

“Slap the what?” I said a bit too loudly.

“Slap the tri—never mind.” Scott turned beet red and turned away. “Sit up and slap the center, between your legs.”

“Seriously, Scott?” I raised an eyebrow as I attempted to remove the pornographic images from my head. They were doing nothing to help my celibate situation.

“On the floor. The space on the floor that just so happens to fall between your legs.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Sarah whispered.

“I think I am going crazy.” I sat up and slapped the space on the floor that just happened to fall between my legs.

“No shit you’re going crazy. You two are making me crazy. I swear he’s more nervous about this than when he was waiting to hear about his scholarship to college.” She shook her head as she sat up.

“He’s nervous?” I froze mid sit-up and fell back when my midsection began to cramp.

“Hell yes, he’s nervous. And so are you. You’d think the two of you were competing for gold or something. God. It’s just sex.”

I pulled my legs in and grabbed my water bottle. “No. It’s not just sex.” I stood.

“That’s what he said. What the hell did you do to my brother?” She continued with her sit-ups. “The more disturbing question would be what the hell did he do to you?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.” I took a swig of water and headed out the door fifteen minutes before the end of class.

*  *  *

Work, of course, limped along. Other than having to deal with answering my own phones and getting my own coffee, it was quite uneventful. I couldn’t wait for Jenny to come back from her vacation. I hadn’t realized exactly how much she did for me.

I quickly hopped online and ordered her a bouquet of thank-you flowers with my corporate card. She really did make my life easy.

I hadn’t heard anything about her interview and made a mental note to talk to Zac about it at some point during the day, but when I finally got around to it, I found out he’d left early.

Lunch consisted of a giant apple and a few tablespoons of peanut butter when all I really wanted to do was eat a pizza. An entire pizza. By myself. I thought the nervous eating ended in college. Apparently it hadn’t. At least I had the sense to make better food choices.

The date with Jared weighed on me. The closer it got, the more I panicked. It hadn’t dawned on me that we hadn’t gone on a date. The night before, as I shopped for something new to wear for the occasion, I mentally flipped through the times we’d spent together. I probably would have chalked them up to dates if someone had asked but I never thought about the formality of asking someone out on a date. Had it really been so long since I’d been treated to a proper evening out with someone who expected nothing physical from me in return for a meal and some drinks?

I did what I could to shake off the thoughts but Jared had shaken up my idea of fabulous and I was a little out of my element. A good night’s sleep and a decent workout had me looking at things with new eyes. Fabulous didn’t need to be larger than life. Fabulous didn’t need to be lonely. Fabulous could be low-key. Fun. Quiet. Fabulous could be Jared. And me.

*  *  *

I was ready to go by six o’clock. Showered, hair curled loosely, lightly made up, dressed in a non-cleavage-baring dress with brand-new heels on my feet, sitting on my couch, glass of wine in hand, exactly one hour before Jared would be there to pick me up.

What.

The.

Fuck.

I leaned back, pulled a pillow onto my lap, and flipped through the channels. When I was sure it was almost time to go, I checked my phone and saw only fifteen minutes had passed.

Entirely too keyed up, I called Caroline.

“Hey.”

“Are you eating?” My stomach growled.

“Yes. Pizza. So good.” She moaned. “What’s up?” She sounded happy.

“Brian off tonight?”

“Yep! We’re going to curl up on the couch, eat lots of pizza and popcorn, and watch a movie. When is Jared picking you up?”

“Seven.”

“Don’t you need to get ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“What?” She coughed.

“I’ve been ready since six.” I stared at my nails, happy I’d decided to leave work a bit early for a mani-pedi.

“But what about your hair? It takes forever to straighten.”

“I left it curly.”

“Makeup?”

“Done and understated.”

“What are you wearing?”

“Baby blue boatneck A-line dress.”

“Does it at least fall above your knees?”

I laughed. “Yes. And I’m wearing brand-new, cream patent-leather peep-toe wedges.”

She was silent a beat longer than she should have been.

“Hello?”

“Two things. One. You really like this guy. And two. I want to borrow those shoes.”

“One, don’t act all weird. It’s no big deal. It’s just a date. And two, no problem.”

“No. Not ‘no big deal.’ You
really
like him.”

“I’d rather talk about shoes.”

“Melody Ashford!” Her voice didn’t quite reach stern.

“What?”

“Admit it.”

I sighed. “Fine. I like him, okay? Happy now?”

“That makes my heart happy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s just a guy! I am such a goopy puddle of mush over him. It’s strange.”

“You love him.”

“I haven’t known him long enough to love him.”

“You think love has a timeline? Or in any way takes your feelings on the subject into consideration?”

“Well, I wish it would.”

“It doesn’t. Sorry, babe. You’ve been smacked in the face with the frying pan of love.”

“Nice visual.”

“It’s the truth. And you wanna know the best part?”

“What’s that?”

“You fell in love without sex.”

“A seemingly impossible feat, and you’re crazy.”

“Too true.”

The doorbell buzzed. “Hold on. Who is it?”

“Jared.”

“Where’s your key?” I’d never taken back the key from when he was staying with me.

“I thought since it was a date, I should pick you up like it was a date. It’s okay. I’ll use the key.”

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Giddy butterflies danced in my stomach.

“No! Hold on, I’ll buzz you in.” I pushed the button before returning to Caroline. “Did you hear that?”

“I heard that!” she squealed.

“I have to go.” There was a knock at the door.

“Is he knocking?”

“Yes.” I looked through the peephole and smiled. He was shifting from leg to leg and adjusting the collar of his shirt. “He has flowers!” I whispered.

“Flowers? Brian, he brought her flowers!”

I heard Brian mumble “Great” on the other end.

“He looks nervous.” I chewed on my thumbnail as I one-eyed the peephole.

“Oh my God! Go have fun and call me tomorrow. I want to hear all about it.”

“Okay. Love you, Care.”

“Love you, too, Mel.”

I clicked off, tossed my phone on the couch, smoothed my dress, and opened the door.

*  *  *

“I am having such a great time.”

We walked hand in hand down Nassau Street in Princeton. We walked from restaurant to restaurant, from bar to bar, stopping in for a small appetizer and drink at each.

“So am I. What’s been your favorite so far?”

“The empanadas from that first place. They were so good!”

“They were!”

“What about you?”

“The paella from that Spanish place.”

“I loved that. And I loved sitting out on that rooftop terrace. Looking over at everyone walking around. And the sangria! I need more of that in my life.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun.”

“What made you think of Princeton?”

“My grandparents used to live in Lawrenceville before they died. They used to bring me here for ice cream when I was a kid.”

“Ice cream?”

“Yes. And that is where we are headed.”

“So that’s Princeton University?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s gorgeous. So old and regal looking. I would love to smell their library.”

“I’d never have pegged you as a library girl.”

“Yeah. I get it. Most people don’t peg me as smart.” I turned my head, suddenly aware that I cared more than I thought about how Jared saw me.