“And what hints are those?”
“I laugh at all his jokes, even the bad ones, and I do the little hair twirl. I think I’ve mentioned at least ten times I’m single when other people talk about their Friday night plans, and I gave him a discount on the pants he bought yesterday.” She lists each item, ticking off her finger as she goes, and I shake my head.
“You, my friend, are delulu.”
She gasped and threw her hand to her chest.
“How dare you suggest such a horrible thing?”
She helped me clean up our mess before slipping out, something about dinner with her mom, and I had a gym session I wanted to do so I could record some new videos while it was quiet.
She texted me all the details about tomorrow night’s blind date, which, of course, was out of town and an hour away, which meant not only would I arrive irritated, but I wouldn’t be able to have even one drink. Everyone knew a blind date needed copious amounts of alcohol just to take the edge off things.
The next night, I was getting ready while on FaceTime with Millie. She’d already vetoed half my closest, and I was running out of things to wear on this stupid date.
“Black mini. That should be it,” she said, not paying a whole lot of attention as she was baking some new protein brownie recipe she saw online.
“I wore the black mini last time, and we both decided it was not a good idea.”
“Remind me why again. That was months ago. You know I have short-term memory when it comes to your bad dates.”
“Short-term memory, or do you choose to forget all the dumb blind dates you send me on that fail?”
“Tate, I’m getting old waiting.”
“He tried to slip his hand up the dress when I was sitting in the booth next to him. He thought it was, and I quote, ‘an open invitation.’”
She grimaced. That was a particularly bad date. I think she called the cops on him when I called her from the bathroom.
“So don’t sit next to him, and keep your legs crossed. Hell, it’s a bar. I don’t know, just don’t sit down!” she exclaimed, and Irolled my eyes, putting the black mini dress on. It did accentuate every single good quality I had, and it was backless.
It was snug, clinging to my ass and boobs, thankfully, so I didn’t have to worry about it slipping down, since I couldn’t wear a bra. It was a risky situation when I started dancing, though. I paired it with my favorite gold heels, studded with rhinestones, and a shiny new gold bag I’d been sent as an affiliate gift.
I’d already blown out my hair, done my favorite smoky cat eye look, and applied what Millie termed my hooker lipstick, only because it was bright red. I snapped a picture in my full-length mirror modeling the bag and posted it straight to my story with #datenight as the only caption.
“Let me see you,” Millie called from my computer that was on my dressing table. “Oh, you look hot. Hooker red, I see. Not sure I would have gone with that, but you’re a total catch, and he’d be lucky to take you home.”
“Millie, I hope you didn’t tell him I would go home with him.”
“Of course not. I did tell him not to kiss you unless he thought you were extra special.” She grinned and winked.
She was so desperate to get me my first kiss. Apparently, I was missing out on something. Can’t say I agreed because the thought of swapping spit with a man grossed me out.
“Call me when you get there, and text me if you need an escape. Call me when you’re in the car driving home,” she demanded, stopping her intense mixing to look at me.
“Yes, Mom.” I saluted and ended the call, grabbing my wallet and car keys from my daily bag and throwing them in the gold purse. I sprayed some perfume on my neck and then plugged the address into my Maps app.
Forty-five minutes later, I had given my car over to the valet and was stepping inside some very luxurious rooftop bar. I hadbeen embarrassed when I pulled up. My car didn’t fit the scene at all.
“Tatum?” A tall, decently good-looking man in a suit stood from a table as I walked up to the hostess stand. He reeked of whiskey and cheap cologne, to my dismay. Immediately I was disappointed.
He took my hand and kissed it, leaving some spit behind as he grinned at me with pearly white teeth so bright I had to blink multiple times, so I didn’t get blinded. He then took my hand and hooked it in his elbow, leading me to his table.
Wet kisser. Ew.
I ordered a gin and tonic and an appetizer so I would at least have the liquid courage to get through tonight. I was going to kill Millie.
“So, Tate, hope you don’t mind me calling you that, Millie has told me so much about you. Well, I guess she told my sister, who told me.” He was stumbling over his words.Was he nervous or that drunk?
