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“What do you have in mind?”
He suppressed a smile. “I was just thinking of what Jax Reed said to you at the end of the interview about rethinking your whole relationship philosophy.”
“It’s not going to happen.” Jane tried to remember what, exactly, Jax had said. She’d been so freaked out by that point, she hadn’t paid much attention to Jax’s final comments.
Luke smiled in earnest. “Don’t be so sure about that.”
“I can understand your being annoyed that your girlfriend left you after reading my book, but if you’re going to help me, you’ll have to get past that.”
“Honey, I’m way past it. I just think that if you’re so sure of your own advice, why don’t you try to follow it?”
“I do.” Or at least she did, last time she had a boyfriend. Which hadn’t been in a long while, given the way men usually reacted these days when they found out who she was.
“Oh, so you’re dating someone now?”
Jane felt her cheeks burning, then reminded herself that he was probably just asking the question for security. “Not steadily, no.”
“Seeing someone casually then?”
“Um, no.”
The corner of Luke’s mouth twitched. “Semicasually?”
“I haven’t dated in months. Are you satisfied?”
“Must be hard to find dates when you’re so notorious. Or do you just not want to date?”
“I’ve been busy with book promotion stuff, writing my next book, moving into this new place….” Besides, she’d already found her dream guy, Bradley. She just needed to make him realize she was his dream girl, too.
“Right. Maybe you should consider putting your theories to the test on a willing subject.”
He went down the hallway to the back door, and Jane followed.
“I wrote my book based on years of experience with men.”
Well, sort of. More like, she’d based it on years of observing other bad relationships. Jane’s own dating history was limited to a steady, if monotonous, relationship in college, another one in grad school, and a few dates here and there since then.
The problem was usually that once guys got a look at her sisters, the blond bombshell triplets, they forgot all about Jane. Or they somehow got the notion that dating her instead of one of the triplets meant they were getting the short end of the stick. And a few nervy jerks had even tried to use Jane to get to one of them.
It didn’t help that Jane was always comparing her boyfriends to Bradley, noting the ways they didn’t measure up to her dream guy. And how could they measure up? He was, after all, far superior to every other male in the state of Texas.
“You’ve been with the wrong men, then. How about you and I go out on a date?” he asked as he inspected the door lock and frame.
Jane choked on the water she’d just taken a sip of. She coughed and sputtered until the water went down the right part of her throat. “Y-you? And me?”
He was definitely, most certainly, angling for an in with one of her sisters. Guys like Luke just didn’t take notice of girls like Jane, especially not in Dallas, where beautiful women came a dime a dozen.
“I’m assuming you’re in your sister’s wedding too, right?” Jane nodded to his question when he looked up at her. “We’ll both need a date for all the wedding festivities.”
“If you want to date one of my sisters, why don’t you just ask her out? It’s always seemed bizarre to me that any guy would think dating me might get him closer to dating one of my sisters.”
Luke gave her an are-you-crazy look. “No offense, babe, but your sisters are a bunch of dimwits.”
She couldn’t put up much of an argument there. Jane had spent most of her childhood believing that being a triplet meant you only got one third of a brain. But that still didn’t explain Luke’s interest in her.
“If you’re hoping you can get me to fall for you and then break my heart, as some kind of twisted revenge plot, forget about it.”
“Actually, I’m just hoping to prove you wrong.” He smiled. “Is that so bad?”
Jane laughed. “You don’t have a snowball’s chance, so go ahead and give it your best shot.”
But as soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could suck them back in. Daring a studly guy like Luke to give it his best shot at seducing her sounded more than a little ridiculous.
No, she had to put all her confidence in her own advice. She’d told countless women how to handle the men in their lives, and she firmly believed in the advice she’d given. Now wasn’t the time to back down. If anything, Luke’s little challenge would only strengthen her confidence.
