Page 5 of Don't Lie to Me
“Fell in love?” He asked and based on the sparkle in his eye when he asked, I knew Dean and I were going to be great friends. Macy gave the same look when she wanted the good gossip.
“I meant the city; but there was a guy, too. He left after I got pregnant.”
“You have a kid?” He asked, shocked.
“Macy didn’t tell you?” That was odd. She always told guys she wanted to hook me up with I had Logan just so I didn’t have to tell them and have an awkward moment like this one.
He shook his head. “No, but that’s great. How old is he?”
“He’ll be five in a couple of weeks. His name is Logan.”
Our friendly banter continued through dinner as I shared stories of Logan and heard about his nieces and nephews from his oldest brother and sister. He was great to talk to, and definitely easy on the eyes, but the more I got to know him, the more I felt like the chemistry between us was of the friendship variety, and not the I-want-to-jump-your-bones variety. I let him pay the check after we were finished before he walked me to my car.
“Would it be a horrible way to end the date if I said it feels like you’re my sister?" I laughed, loudly, at his question when we reached my car.
“No…I was feeling the same way.”
He placed a hand over his chest like he was wounded. I slapped it away with no pretense or stress of an actual date. “I didn’t mean that you’re a girl. Just that I feel like you’re my brother or something.”
He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I had a great night with you. Can we hang out again sometime?”
I kissed him back and just as I expected, only felt a friendly affection when I pressed my lips to his cheek.
What I didn’t expect was to immediately hear the voice that caused butterflies on a daily basis to come from behind me.
Jack McMillan’s voice sent shivers down my spine instantly.
I looked up at Dean, whose face had lost all friendly appearance and turned to Jack. He looked stunning in his black dress pants, perfectly pressed white shirt even though it was nearing eight o’clock at night, a dark purple tie I had just bought him that week, and short brown hair I almost daily wished I could run my fingers through.
“Hey, Jack.” I said breathlessly. I couldn’t help myself. I looked back to Dean and introduced them watching them size each other up as only men can do when they’re in the presence of competition. Except I wasn’t anyone’s prize so it left me feeling confused.
Dean leaned in my ear and spoke quietly. “Call me sometime. We can double with Macy and Tate.”
I smiled up at him. “Absolutely. I’ll see you later. It was really nice meeting you.”
“You too.” He gave me another quick kiss on the cheek goodnight before turning around and walking to his car down the street.
I watched him walk away for just a second and took a deep breath before turning back to Jack.
“How are you, Jack?”
His focused gazed was still on where Dean had walked away. It made my insides swirl when I realized Jack was tenser than I normally saw him. Surely he wasn’t jealous, was he? I brushed the ridiculous thought from my mind instantly, but not before a slight blush crept on my cheeks.
Jack noticed when he turned his eyes towards me. “Good date?”
The deep timbre of his voice made my stomach do flip-flops. What was wrong with me? I had worked with this guy for five years and I’d always found him attractive and completely sexy, but lately whenever he talked to me I felt like a girl getting ready for her first date; all weak kneed and stuttering with nerves. It wasn’t like me at all, but something happened to me whenever Jack focused his dark brown eyes on me, much like he was doing now. I swallowed slowly.
“We had a nice dinner.”
“Doesn’t look like it went that well if it’s over so soon.” He spoke with the same tightness in his voice he had the night before. I felt just as unsettled as I did then, too. His masculine hands clenched into fists at his sides before opening and stretching. I wondered for just a second what those hands would feel like on me and brushed it away before I completely embarrassed myself. That was just stupid. Jack had never looked at me with any sort of interest beyond a professional capacity. He wasn’t jealous or anything else towards me except maybe, protective like Tate.
Thinking of my date reminded me that he had one that night too. With Jessica. The very thought of the overly botoxed and breast implanted Barbie doll made me grimace.
“He was nice. How’s Jessica, weren’t you supposed to go to the Opera with her tonight or something?”
That time it was Jack who flinched visibly. “I ended it with her.”
I smiled inwardly. Jessica had obviously reached her three date limit one date too soon. I simply nodded in understanding. I’d worked with him long enough to know that he didn’t get close to anyone; except for maybe Logan. Jack was kind to him and I was thankful that besides Tate, there was another man in Logan’s life willing to teach him about all the important boy things, like how to play video games. It was something Jack had been much more willing to do in the last year when he got home early and I wasn’t done cooking dinner for him.
