Page 44 of The Dating Charade

“We’re a real pair, aren’t we?” Cassie grinned, several snow flakelets resting lightly on her rose-brushed cheeks. “So,” she forged on, “besides dousing yourself in coffee and trying to get hypothermia, what are you doing out and about?”

“Me? Oh—” A holiday bag wacked him on the shoulder as a shopper passed. “Christmas shopping. I was just about to go in here.” He jutted his thumb behind him.

Her eyes drifted dubiously over his shoulder to the awning. “In there.”

Vaguely, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a silky robe covered in paper hearts. No doubt one of the general stores selling everything from root-beer-scented candles to beef jerky; tourist traps like that were a dime a dozen around town.

“Yeah. Still looking for something for my aunt and uncle. These places are corny, I know, but they’re great for one-stop shopping. I can always find something eclectic for my uncle.”

Her eyes became mirthful. “Is that so? You’ve done it before?”

“Plenty of times. You can only buy so many ties before you have to get creative.”

Her smile widened. “Right. ‘Creative.’” Her phone beeped, and her expression changed. “Well, I’d love to stay and watch exactly what you pick out, but I have to meet a friend. Are you going to the parade Saturday?”

“I’ll be in it.”

“Really?”

“Sure. What’s a parade without a fire truck? We’re runner-up to Santa Claus as far as enthusiastic kids are concerned.” He hesitated, the choice of words reminding him of the impending meeting, a meeting he was getting later for by the second. “Anyway, it was great bumping into you—”

“And watching you spill coffee on yourself,” she added.

“But, uh, see you Saturday, after the parade?” Then he remembered the little hitch—or rather, three little hitches—getting in his way. It would be painful to ask Sarah again, especially the way things were heading. “Maybe?”

Oddly enough, the same cloudy expression fell over her face. “I’ll be working that night. Doing a volunteer thing with the Leadership Club for some shut-ins. But maybe. Either way, I’ll be sure to wave from the crowd.”

“I’ll be on the lookout.”

Both Jett and Cassie backed away slowly, regretfully, she seemingly as committed to her appointment as he was, yet seemingly wishing just as much as he to stay. He backed up to the storefront door, turned the knob, gave her one last wave. Her grin was as bright as a lightbulb as she watched him turn. Her steps seemed to slow, in fact, until he had no choice but to actually go in after all.

The smell of spandex met him, and even before taking in the floor-to-ceiling rows of cheap, lacy intimate wear on plastic hangers, he knew his mistake. A neon-pink sign hung above the register, and a woman with thin, permed hair teased into a ponytail began striding toward him. “What’ll be your pleasure, sir? Looking for something—”

Jett scrambled back out the door and practically tripped, this time for real, on the sidewalk. Even several buildings down, from the front of the DCS building, he heard Cassie cackling.

He straightened his shirt. “That’s not Buck’s General Store, in case you’re wondering,” he called.

“Oh, really? I didn’t know,” she called back, grinning elfishly before stepping inside.

She had just gone into the very building he needed to go into.

Not to mention the top half of his body was numb.

There were a few other stores in the immediate area to solve that problem, but hiding out in nonlingerie stores wouldn’t help in the matter of getting to his meeting. He’d have to chance it.

Cautiously he looked inside the windows of the government building before stepping inside. Cassie was nowhere to be seen.

He made his way to the front desk.

The receptionist, a man wearing what appeared to be a permanent work frown, looked up. “May I help you?”

“Yes, I’m here to see—” But just then he heard Cassie’s voice floating through the hall. “—the restroom.”

The man’s eyes didn’t so much as blink. “You’re here to see the restroom,” he repeated.

Jett nodded. “And then I have an appointment.”

“To the left, down the hall. Make a right after the water fountain. Hit the cat poster, and you’ve gone too far.”