Page 38 of The Dating Charade

The girl was a flight risk. She even had her own escape door.

And besides, Trina could be back tomorrow. Heaven knew he’d keep calling her until she was.

So, the hazards of his current situation were most definitely not on the tip of his tongue as he watched Cassie let her hair down from her ponytail and reshape it again. She smoothed tendrils back as she started throwing out suggested dishes from the restaurant, her perfectly clear, carefree eyes dancing through the conversation. A night with Cassie Everson was even better than he could have imagined. Sensible, capably independent, yet with a streak of delicateness, he wanted to swoop her off her feet then and there without the poor excuse of going for the ball. The way she paused as she teased him, gauging with a sensitivity if he was still laughing too. The way she tried hard to show she didn’t care, and yet even in the old lighting he could see a bit of golden bronze highlighting her already naturally tan cheeks. She smelled of clean cotton fresh from the dryer, of marine mist drifting across a dawning beach.

Which couldn’t be said for him. He’d had better days.

And yet here she was, looking just as happy as he was to be here.

He took a step toward her. “You know, you are standing on the exact spot I stood at the end of regional championships my junior year.”

She stopped, looked down at her sneakers touching the three-point arch. “Is that so?”

“Yes. Thanks to the square foot of maple wood you’re standing on, there’s a trophy in the main hall.” He stepped a little closer. “Does the air feel cleaner where you are? Can you smell pure triumph?”

Her eyes sparkled a bit. “Well, I don’t know, Mr. He Who Brags While Flirting. But you could step inside this winner’s circle and see for yourself.”

Jett closed the distance between them.

Bent down.

Just as he watched her take a breath, his pocket began to ring.

As did Cassie’s.

The clash of both jingles worked its magic in removing all magic, and reluctantly, after several seconds of pretending not to hear them, they moved back.

“Just one second,” Jett said and quickly slipped his phone into view.

Sarah.

His jaw clenched, and he forced himself to step away.

“I am so sorry. I have to take this,” he said, but she hadn’t heard him. Her ear was pressed to her own phone, her legs already moving toward the far end of the bleachers.

Jett moved in the opposite direction. “Sarah. Hey.”

There was immediate screaming in the background.

“Jett? I’m so sorry to be calling in the middle of—” She paused, seeming to wait for his revelation. “—your thing, but I think we have a problem with Dakota.”

“What sort of problem?”

“I don’t know how, but I think she got a piece of pickle stuck up her nose. She keeps saying it’s burning. I looked at it with a flashlight and thought I saw something, but I’m not positive.”

Jett stuffed his hand into his jacket. “You think you can get it out?”

“I tried. Sunny’s here too. He gave it a shot. But now he’s pulled out a vacuum and says he wants to suck it out—”

“Don’t let him do that.”

“I know. I’m not an idiot, even if he is.” She paused as Drew’s voice came into the background. “No, Drew. We don’t call people idiots.”

The screaming multiplied, now including the well-known newborn wail from TJ in addition to the frantic, high-pitched shrieks from Dakota.

Jett exhaled, hearing his own exasperation in his breath. The woman refused payment. There was only so far he could infringe upon her goodwill.

“All right, Sarah. I’m on my way.”