Page 27 of Reckless (Adventures in Love 3)
“Fine, I’ll call him.” I give in, hugging her back, then let her go so I can stand up. “Let me get my bag.” I let out a long breath.
“Yay.” She grins. “I have a good feeling about this.”
“At least one of us does,” I grumble, hearing her laugh as I go grab my bag from where I left it. When I get back to the kitchen, I pull out Ken’s number from my wallet along with my cell phone.
“You’ve got this,” Cybil says as I plug Ken’s number into my phone and press call. My stomach twists into a tight knot as the phone rings, and I’m honestly relieved when the call goes to a generic voice mail.
“Um, hey, Ken, it’s Jade, the girl you pulled over for driving under the speed limit . . .” I roll my eyes at myself. God, I sound like a dork. “Call me . . . or don’t.” I hang up, wishing I’d thought to delete that voice mail before I’d ended the call.
“Well, okay, we might need to work on your phone skills,” Cybil says, and I glare at her, then look down at my phone when it starts to ring.
Recognizing Ken’s number because I just dialed it, I stare at my phone in horror as it rings again. “He’s calling me back.”
“Answer it.” She nudges my phone, and I slide my finger across the screen on the fifth ring, then put it to my ear.
“Hello.”
“I didn’t think you were going to answer.” Okay, so Ken also has a very nice voice, deep and rich. “I got your message.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
“It was cute,” he says, then adds: “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d call.” Well, I wasn’t going to, I think but don’t say.
“I did . . . surprise,” I say, and he laughs.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Tonight,” I repeat, and Cybil starts to nod like a madwoman. “Nothing.”
“Are you up to having dinner? I get off work at six; I could meet you somewhere around seven.”
“That sounds good.” I drop my head in order to block out the sight of my best friend dancing around waving her arms in the air. “Do you know where you want to meet?”
“Do you like Italian?”
“I do.”
“There’s a great Italian place on Main Street, Amico’s. We could meet there.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll see you there at seven,” he says, and I nod, then remember that he can’t see me.
“It’s a date,” I say, and he laughs before saying, “Later,” and hanging up.
“Wow, he must really like you if he wants to see you tonight.” Cybil claps, and I put my cell phone back into my bag, wondering what the heck it is I’m doing. I have no desire to go out on a date with Ken, even as handsome as he is. “I have a really good feeling about this.”
“You already said that.”
“Don’t be such a Debbie Downer. It’s going to be awesome, plus you said it yourself that this guy is good looking, so even if he can’t hold conversation and is a total drag, you’ll have something pretty to look at this evening.”
“There is always a positive.”
“Always.” She grins. “Now where are you meeting him?”
“Amico’s.” I shrug. “He said it’s an Italian place in town.”
“It’s not just an Italian place; it’s a really nice Italian place.” She looks at her watch. “We need to go figure out what you are going to wear. Claire will be down for a nap soon. We can go down to your place once she’s asleep and go through your stuff. Did you bring any dresses with you?”
“I’m not wearing a dress to dinner.” I wave her off, and she pouts out her bottom lip. “You and I both know that dressing up here consists of wearing a nice sweater and your darkest blue jeans and maybe heels, if you’re that kind of girl, but not a fancy dress.”
“Fine.” She gives in because she knows I’m right. “We won’t look for a dress, but we will find you the perfect outfit for tonight.”
“Sounds like fun,” I lie, because all I really wanted to do today was spend some time with my friend, then go back to my place, get on my pajamas, and lie in bed with a book for the rest of the day.
“Also we need to talk about a name for the shop. I was thinking the Second Chapter, but I’m totally open to something else.”
“I love that name.” I feel my throat get tight. “It’s perfect.”
“Don’t start crying, ’cause if you do, I’m going to start crying.”
“I’m not going to cry.” I get up and walk to where she is and wrap my arms around her. “I love you.”
“Always,” she whispers back. As much as I know she doesn’t want it, I hope one day I can pay her back for giving me a second shot at my dream.
