Third Date (25 page)

“When do I get to meet this new boyfriend of yours?” he asks.
 

“We broke up. It wasn’t working.”

He gets his concerned father face. “Was he the one who ended it? Because if he did, he’s a fool and you’re way too good for him anyway.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m the one who ended it, Dad. Grant and I are too different. At first I thought it was a good thing that we had different interests. But then we couldn’t find anything to do together that we liked. Grant’s a great guy, just not for me.”

“So you’re not bringing anyone to the wedding?” He gets his phone out. “I need to tell Sophie. She’s finalizing the guest list.”

“I’m bringing someone. I thought I told you this already but I guess not. I’m bringing Brad.”

“Brad who? Do I know him?”

“Brad from high school. I told you he ended up moving back here. He works at my company, remember?”

He looks surprised. “Brad Fletcher? Are you two dating now?”

“No.” I smile. “But we might start dating.”

“Huh. My daughter with Brad Fletcher.” He ponders this, as if he’s not sure if this is good or bad.

“Dad, I thought you liked Brad. In fact, I kind of got the feeling you wanted me to date him.”

“I
do
like him. Well, I don’t actually know him. I only know what his father told me. And I know
you
like him so I was trying to be supportive. But I
do
remember Brad having a bit of a reputation back in high school.”

How does my dad know that? I didn’t realize Brad’s reputation had spread to parents. But it makes sense that word would get out to at least a few moms and dads. I imagine photos of Brad tacked on refrigerator doors all across Bloomington with a note attached that reads, ‘Do not let this boy date your daughter!’

“Brad’s changed since high school, Dad. He’s grown up a lot.”

My dad starts swiping through his phone. “If Brad’s coming to the wedding, I should invite his mother, too. I have to tell Sophie to add another person.”

He calls her. I’m sure Sophie’s not going to be happy about this last minute change to the guest list. Men have no clue how women stress about wedding details. Dad acts like it’s no big deal. He just thinks adding a guest means adding another chair, like it’s some backyard barbecue. He doesn’t get how it affects the caterer, the seating chart, the wedding favors, and so forth. And Sophie’s too nice to tell him.
 

He hangs up with her. “She said it’s no problem. She’s taking care of it. What do you want to do next?”

We spend the rest of the weekend together while poor Sophie runs around town finalizing the wedding plans. I offer to help her but she tells me I should spend time with my dad. I think she really just wants me to keep him busy so she can get stuff done.

***

On Monday, I’m actually anxious to get to work. I go upstairs to see Brad but he’s not in yet. Then I run into one of his co-workers from the marketing department who tells me Brad decided to stay an extra day in Chicago but should be back tonight.

When I get home from work, I stop by his apartment. I know I shouldn’t keep showing up there uninvited, but I do it anyway. I can’t wait to see him. But when his door opens, I’m disappointed to see a girl answer.

It’s not Cassie this time. It’s a petite brunette, around 25 with shoulder-length hair and an annoyingly cute dimple. She has on jeans and a white v-neck shirt that shows off her small but perky breasts.

“Hi,” she says. “I’m guessing you’re looking for Brad. He’s getting stuff from the car. He’ll be back in a minute. Do you want to come in and wait?”

“Sure.” I probably should leave, but I have to know why Brad has yet another girl in his apartment. Is she another cousin? A friend he brought back from Chicago?
 

“I’m Jessica by the way.” She smiles, showing off the dimple.

“Are you his cousin?” I ask, hoping she says yes.

“No. Brad and I went to college together.”

They went to college together? Brad met his fiancé in college. And her name was Jessica.

“And who are you?” she asks.

I suddenly realize that the person from Brad’s past that he can’t get out of his head isn’t me. It’s Jessica! His ex-fiancé! He probably went to Chicago to pick her up. And now he’s getting her stuff from the car because she’s probably moving in. No wonder Brad acted so weird on Friday. He’s getting back with his ex!

I race to the door. “I forgot something. I have to go. I’ll talk to Brad later.”

She probably thinks I’m crazy racing out of there like that, but I don’t want Brad walking in and seeing me there. He’ll think I’m stalking him, showing up at his apartment the second he gets back from out of town.
 

Luckily, I don’t run into him in the hall. I make it back to my apartment and lock myself in, deciding to swear off men forever. Well, maybe not forever, but for a little while. I can’t take this roller coaster of emotions. I finally find a guy I’m totally into and think about constantly and it turns out he doesn’t like me the same way. Why did I ever think that he did? Was I just hoping he did, so I made it all up in my head?

I call Paige. I have to vent to someone. She answers right away.
 

“He’s getting back with his old girlfriend!” I yell it into the phone, not even saying hello.

“What? Who is this? Morgan?”

“Yes. You know the girl Brad couldn’t get out of his head? The one from his past? It’s his ex-fiance! I just met her. She’s down in his apartment right now.”

“I didn’t know he had an ex-fiance.”

“He was engaged in college but she cheated on him.”

“And he wants her back?”

“Apparently.” I sigh. “I’m swearing off men for the next year or two. Maybe longer.”

“Don’t be crazy. This stuff happens all the time. You just don’t date enough to know it. Forget him. You’ll find someone else.”

“But I really liked him, Paige. We had this connection that I normally don’t get with a guy.”

“You’ll meet someone better. Maybe you’ll meet someone at your dad’s wedding.”

“Oh, crap! The wedding! Now I don’t have a date to bring. And if Brad doesn’t go, his mom won’t go. My dad’s gonna kill me. Or his future wife will. I keep changing the guest list. I should call her right now.”

“You should check with Brad first. Maybe he’ll still go with you.”

“I doubt it. But I’m not going back downstairs to ask. Who knows what they’re doing down there. Probably having makeup sex.”

Paige’s husband is calling her in the background. “Sorry, but I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow. And don’t worry about Brad. We’ll find you someone better.”

I hang up and think about how stupid I was to get so hung up on a guy. I’m never that way. Then again, I’ve never liked a guy as much as I like Brad. I’ve never had someone make me feel the way he does. I’ve never felt that rush of excitement, that spark, that surge of happiness I feel with Brad, with any other guy.

I really thought Brad and I had something together. I thought he liked me as much as I liked him. But I guess I was just taking what we had in Boston and making it into something that it wasn’t. All those times I thought he was flirting, he was probably just being friendly and I misread it. I’ve been misreading the signs this entire time.

The next day I decide to put all my energy into work. If I’m putting my romantic life on hold, I’m going to concentrate on my career. I might even get a new job. Maybe I’ll move out of Minneapolis and head somewhere warm.

During lunch, I check my phone and notice some unread text messages. I don’t use text messaging that much and the texts I get are usually just spam.

I go to delete them but notice some of them are from Brad. Maybe his future wife told him I stopped by and now he’s trying to figure out what I wanted. Either that or he’s just giving me updates about the picnic.

I read the first message
Morgan. I’m in Chicago and just wanted to check in. Call me.

I check the date on it. Saturday? Why didn’t I see this before? Probably because I never check my text messages.
 

I scroll to the next message, which is dated last Sunday.
You never called. Guess you’re busy. Anyway, I’m staying an extra day. See you Tuesday.
 

There’s another one dated last night at midnight. I’m pretty sure Jessica would not be happy with him sending me all these texts.
I know it’s late, but call me if you’re still up.

That one makes no sense. Why would I call him with Jessica there?

Just as I’m getting ready to read the next text, Brad walks into my cubicle. And damn, he looks good. Dark pants, white dress shirt, grayish-green tie. Those blue eyes. That perfect smile. And that body. He wouldn’t let me see it in Boston. He wouldn’t even take his shirt off that night we were making out. And since then, I’ve imagined what he looks like without all those clothes. In fact, I’m imagining it right now, even though I shouldn’t be.
 

“Is there a reason you’ve been ignoring me the past few days?” He smiles and leans against the cubicle wall, his arms crossed over his broad chest.
 

“I didn’t read your messages until just now. And I wasn’t ignoring you. I just thought you were busy. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Bother me?” He cocks his head. “Are you sure you read my messages?”

I look down at the phone. “Well, no, not all of them.”

“Finish reading them.” He walks away.

“Wait! You’re already here. Just tell me what they say. Is this about the picnic?”

“No.” He laughs and keeps walking. “It’s not about the picnic, Morgan.”

Then what? Does he want to tell me about Jessica? Break the news via text message instead of in person? And what’s with all the messages? Why didn’t he just call me?

The next message says,
Check your email. Your personal email. Paige gave me your email address.

Now I’m really confused. Why did he ask for my personal email address? I guess if he’s telling me about Jessica he wouldn’t want to do that on our work email. And his explanation would be too long for a text. Now it makes sense.

I open my personal email account, which I always forget to check. I usually just get junk mail in that account anyway.

I scroll through and find two emails from Brad. The first one was written at 7 this morning. It reads,
Morgan, I’ve been wanting to say this to you for a while now, but I wouldn’t do it knowing you had a boyfriend. But now that you don’t, I need to tell you this, so here goes. Ever since Boston I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. We have something together that I can’t really explain but it’s something I’ve never felt before and I want it to continue. I don’t know if you feel the same way, but if you’re even the slightest bit interested, I think we should pick up where we left off and see where this goes.

I almost drop my phone. I re-read the email three more times, making sure I read it correctly. Then I read the next email which was written right after the previous one. It reads,
So what do you think? If you’re not interested, I understand. But if you are, I’m taking you to dinner tonight. I need to make reservations so text me by noon if you want to go. If I don’t hear from you, well, I know what that means. We can still be friends.

The clock on my phone says 1:05. Shit! He thinks I’m turning him down! Why didn’t I read these messages sooner?

I fumble with my phone trying to text him as fast as possible. Normally I can text without even looking, but now I can’t even hit the right letters.
 

Dinner. YES!!!!!
I review the text. The multiple exclamation points seems desperate. I take a few away, leaving three. I hate odd numbers so I take another one away. Two are left, which looks stupid. Two doesn’t really express excitement. Might as well go with none at all. What the hell am I doing? Just send it already! I hit send.

Seconds later, I get one back.
Too late. You missed the deadline.

I slump into my chair.
 

“I’m joking, Morgan.” I look up and see Brad standing there, smiling. “I had to give you a hard time after you took so damn long to respond. I was about ready to assume your answer was no.”

I jump up from my chair and go over and hug him. “It’s definitely not no.”

He hugs me back. “You sure about that? Because you didn’t seem that excited. Your answer didn’t even include any exclamation points. Not one. Punctuation is key in expressing emotion in texts, Morgan.”

I laugh. I should have left all six exclamation points in there. “Let’s go grab a coffee quick. Do you have time?’

“No, I’m supposed to be in a meeting right now. I stepped out when I saw your message. I gotta go. I’ll swing by and get you tonight at 6. Sound good?”

“Yeah, sounds great.”

He turns to leave, then stops and turns back around. He walks right up in front of me, holds my face in his hands, and kisses me. And, oh my God. So good. His soft lips move gently at first and I feel his warm breath over my mouth. I part my lips and feel his tongue glide over mine and a burst of sensation shoots through me. Sparks. Fireworks. I don’t know what you call it but his kisses get me going in a way I didn’t think was even possible.

He slowly pulls away and looks at me with that gorgeous smile. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a very long time. I’ll see you tonight.”

He takes off and I melt into my chair. That kiss. It was incredible.

After he’s gone, Paige walks in. “I saw Brad just now. Did you ask him about the fiancé?”

“I forgot all about that,” I say in daze, my head still spinning. “He didn’t say anything about her.”

I tell Paige what just happened and show her the messages on my phone.

“But then why was his ex over at his place?”

“I don’t know. And right now I don’t care. Just let me enjoy the moment when something actually worked out for me romantically. I’ll ask him tonight.”

We go back to the lab and Paige spills my news to Kayla. I was hoping she wouldn’t, because I know Kayla will have something negative to say.