“Who says I’m crooked?”
He stared at her as if she had two heads. Maybe she did. Shefelt like two sides of her were at war. Jekyll and Hyde to be exact.But why that head-shake? In front of everyone!
Part of her knew he was telling the truth. A big part. The logical part. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were engaged or married. He could go out with anyone he wanted, and if she kept acting like a spoiled brat, he just might.
She fell back against the leather seat and sighed. “Okay. You’re right. It’s not your fault. I don’t know why I’m mad, I just am.”
“That time of the—?” He halted, but she knew what he was about to infer.
Ebbing embers of anger flared again. “What? How dare you?” If glares were daggers, he’d be shish kabob.
“I was almost married, once,” he said softly. “I know the signs.”
Why did he have to remind her he had been hurt? Why did she have to care? Why did she suddenly hate any woman who had ever laid a hand on him?
She retreated back into silence. It was safer that way. He was right. She was due for her period in a couple of days and shifts in hormones were making her crazy.
“There won’t be a second date with her, Merry. You know that, right?”
She cocked her head and stared at him. He glanced over a couple of times. All she saw in his eyes was sincerity.Shit.She still wasn’t ready to forgive him.
“How do you know? You haven’t even been out with her yet.”
He let out a long exhalation and turned left onto Brookline Ave.
“Where are we going? You still haven’t told me.”
“Look, it’s probably not the best time to tell you this, but tonight was a test.”
She gasped. “A what?” she asked indignantly.
“A test. You failed miserably. Unfortunately, so did I.”
“What the blazes do you mean by that?”
“I mean…” He pulled over to the curb and gave her an intense gaze. “I figured I’d find out how you reacted to me getting some pretty strong female attention. And I thought that if you were okay with it, I’d want to move our relationship to the next level.”
Oh, crap. Sails—no wind. She was caught completely off guard and her heart crumpled.
She folded her hands in her lap and figured it was over. He was probably driving her to Rhode Island so he could dump her on her father’s doorstep and tell him to come and get her stuff at his earliest opportunity.
“Don’t you want to know why I failed, too?”
“Uh, yeah. I can guess, but go ahead.”
“What do you guess?”
“That you thought we could stay friends, but you don’t even want that anymore?”
There was that look again. She was tempted to check her neck to see if she really did have two heads growing out of it.
“No, Merry. In fact, you couldn’t be further from the truth. I still want you—as a friend and as a girlfriend… in a big way. Like a full-time monogamous lover.”
“And you call that failing?” Her crumpled heart filled again. With the blood back, it warmed her all over.
“What do you call it?”
She smiled. “Acing it. Passing with flying colors.”
