Speed Dating (Preston's Mill Book 2) Read online

  “Yes! I haven’t thrown up in three days! Maybe this horrible endless morning sickness is finally over. I was afraid I’d be one of those women who have morning sickness for the entire pregnancy.”

  Isabella tried to smile and react appropriately to this comment, but she was suddenly hit with a wave of mortification and confusion, as she remembered kissing Jace.

  What had she done?

  She’d been so out of it this morning, not thinking clearly. Reflecting on how nice it felt to wake up with Jace, and hoping she’d have a man to wake up with like that every morning.

  But her brain clearly hadn’t been working at full capacity for her to ask Jace to kiss her the way she had.

  Had she destroyed so many years of friendship with a moment’s stupidity?

  “What’s the matter?” Tori demanded, her eyes narrowing as she peered at Isabella’s face.

  “Nothing.”

  “Don’t lie,” Carla said. “You look weird. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Isabella tried again. Then she sighed and admitted, “I don’t really know.”

  “It’s not your date last night, is it?” Tori asked.

  “No. No, nothing like that.”

  “Something with Jace then?” Tori had put down her tablet and was focusing completely on her sister.

  Isabella’s shoulders stiffened. “Why would you assume it has to do with Jace?”

  Carla laughed softly. “Call it a lucky guess. Now what’s going on?”

  Fighting through her instinctive resistance at admitting how silly she’d been, she finally managed to say, “I… we… kissed.”

  Both of her sisters sat up straight, their eyes wide.

  Before they could give voice to their obvious surprise, Isabella hurried on. “It was… it was really stupid. Just a thing that happened. It wasn’t supposed to be serious. But now it has me all confused and upset.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Nothing. He… I didn’t give him a chance to say anything. I just ran out of there.”

  “Well, that was dumb.” Carla was giving a familiar big-sisterly frown of disapproval.

  “I know, but I didn’t know what to say. We’ve been friends for so long. That wasn’t supposed to happen. And now it feels like everything has changed.”

  “Do you want it to change?” Tori asked.

  “I don’t… know. I don’t think so. It was just… a really good kiss. But it was wrong in so many ways.”

  “If it was just a random kiss, then I’m sure you can get past it. Things like that happen, and if you’re both mature, then they don’t have to mean anything.” Carla was speaking slowly, obviously thinking through the issue as she did. “But if you both want your relationship to change, then why shouldn’t it?”

  “I just said. I’m not sure… I do. And I don’t think Jace…” She trailed off, trying to fight a tiny swell of excitement at the idea that Jace might actually be interested in something more than friendship from her.

  She’d never even considered it before. But maybe… maybe…

  “Has Jace ever said anything about changing your relationship?” Tori asked, her voice strangely gentle.

  “No,” Isabella admitted.

  “Has he ever made any moves? Any romantic gestures? Anything?”

  Isabella shook her head, feeling that little swell of excitement shrink at this knowledge.

  “Was he the one who kissed you this morning?”

  “No. It was… it was my idea.”

  She hated to admit it because it placed the blame for the situation entirely on her. But it was her fault. She was the one who’d gotten them into the situation. She had no idea what she’d been thinking—or if she’d been thinking at all.

  If only she could go back in time and take back the morning—make it never have happened.

  The world wouldn’t allow do-overs, though, so she was stuck with her own stupidity.

  Tori had been silently for a moment, but now she asked, “Do you have any reason to think he’s interested in more than friendship?”

  Isabella sighed and shook her head mutely.

  “Then he doesn’t. After all these years, if he was interested in you, he would have told you.”

  “Unless he’s afraid…” Isabella trailed off, knowing even as she began that the sentiment was foolish.

  “If guys are really interested, they let you know. It’s only girls who read all kinds of romantic stuff and deep meaning into their nonexistent actions. You know that.”

  Isabella nodded. One result of having three sisters was having plenty of experience in watching guys interact with girls. “I know. But he did… he did seem to enjoy the kiss.”

  “Of course he did. He’s a guy. If you give a guy the chance to kiss you, almost all of them will take you up on it. It doesn’t mean that he wants more—unless he both tells you and shows you he wants more.”

  Carla had been letting Tori do most of the talking, but now she interjected, “If he hasn’t told you and showed you he wants a relationship, then odds are he doesn’t. Don’t get hung up on one kiss. If you start hoping for something to happen between you without a clear signal from him, then that’s really going to mess up your friendship.”

  “I won’t.” Isabella squared her shoulders. The little fluttering excitement inside her was completely dead now, but she felt more like herself. She wasn’t going to be stupid. Not anymore. “I’m sure it was nothing. Jace has never done anything—not anything—to make me think he wants to be more than my friend.”

  “Then he doesn’t.” Tori seemed pleased with her sister’s common-sense approach, and she reached into her bag to pull out a slightly crumpled piece of paper. “Here. I was saving this for you, and this seems like a good time.”

  Isabella took the paper and read the title in large font. Speed Dating.

  “It’s one of those speed dating things. Next weekend. There’s still time for you to sign up. I thought it might be a good way for you to meet a lot of guys at once, instead of wasting so many evenings on loser dates.”

  Isabella scanned the information and tried to summon some sort of excitement.

  The truth was, she wanted to go home and daydream about kissing Jace again.

  But that was wrong. And that was foolish. And that was only asking for heartache.

  Plus, more importantly, that would seriously get in the way of a friendship that was one of the most important things in her life.

  She wasn’t going to mess things up. She was smarter than that.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” she said.

  “It’s perfect. Maybe you’ll meet your Prince Charming there and forget all about that kiss with Jace.”

  Maybe. But Isabella wasn’t sure that would happen any time soon.

  ***

  She stayed at her parents’ house until early afternoon, when she had to go to work in the beauty salon. She was always busy on Saturday afternoons, so she didn’t have much time to dwell on Jace and what had possessed her to kiss him that morning.

  He called once at about three, but she didn’t take calls when she was working, so she figured it wasn’t wrong to just ignore his call for the time being.

  She had no idea what to say to him.

  She was leaving the salon and heading to her apartment down the block when she stopped suddenly.

  Jace was standing directly in front of her.

  “Oh,” she said, swallowing hard. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” He was watching her soberly, not even a hint of a smile on his agile mouth.

  “I’ve been working,” she explained, gesturing toward the salon.

  “I know. That’s why I’m waiting here, so I can catch you as you leave.”

  “I saw you called. I just didn’t have time…” She trailed off. There was no sense in lying to him. He knew she wanted to avoid him.

  He knew her better than anyone else.

  “Can we talk?” he asked, his eyes searching her face, as if look
ing for signs of whatever she was feeling.

  What if he was afraid she was interested in him now?

  What if he wanted to break it to her easy?

  She cleared her throat and nodded. “We can walk down to the river, if you want.”

  The downtown of Preston was made up of two blocks of cute, renovated shops and restaurants, plus a half mile walk by the river with benches and a couple of landmark signs. They walked in silence until they found a bench, where they sat down.

  “I’m sorry I ran away this morning,” Isabella burst out, wanting to get the conversation over with. “I was just embarrassed and confused and… and I ran.”

  “I understand.”

  “But I don’t want anything to mess up our friendship. It was just a… a fluke or something.”

  “Is that what you think?” He was searching her expression again, and she had no idea what he was looking for.

  Hopefully not signs of a broken-heart or something. “I don’t know exactly what it was, but we can just move on from it, can’t we? I mean, we’ve been friends for too long for something like this to come between us. You don’t want that, do you?”

  “I don’t want anything to come between us, no,” he said slowly.

  She released a gust of relief. “So we’ll be okay then. I mean, my feelings haven’t changed at all for you. Yours haven’t changed, have they?”

  He stared at her for a long time—almost frozen—before said softly, “My feelings haven’t changed.”

  “So the kiss was just a fluke. Please say we can just forget it ever happened. Please, Jace.” She reached out to grab his arm. “I’d completely fall apart if our friendship ever changed.”

  His lips parted, and he let out a strange little breath. “Okay. Let’s forget it ever happened.”

  She smiled and reached out to hug him. It took a moment, but he finally hugged her back.

  As she pulled away, she was more conscious than normal of his warm, hard body, of the physicality in his fingers, his jaw, in the shape of his shoulders.

  She suddenly imagined kissing him again.

  It took a moment, but she managed to shake those stray thoughts away. They were just the result of the kiss that morning, but they wouldn’t linger forever.

  She’d known and loved Jace for years without kissing or sex or bodies getting in the way of their relationship. It might take a few days, but she’d get back there eventually.

  She had to.

  Clearing her throat, she pulled out the flyer Tori had given her about the speed-dating event. “Look,” she said. “I’m going to go to this thing next weekend. You should sign up for it too. It would be fun for us to go together.”

  He frowned as he read the writing on the paper. “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, Jace. Do it for me. I bet you’d have fun, and maybe you’d meet someone. We could double-date!” She sounded more excited about that prospect than she felt, but it was absolutely essential that they move on from that morning.

  It was the only way out of this mess she’d landed them in.

  He sighed and glanced away from her. For a moment, he almost looked defeated.

  Then he turned back with a little smile. “Sure. I’ll go. Why not?”

  Eight

  Worst. Idea. Ever.

  Seriously, what was he thinking in agreeing to this? And worse than that, why the hell hadn’t he tried to convince Isabella that this was a bad idea for her as well?

  “Wow! Look at how many people are here,” she said as she stood beside him, scanning the trendy, generic bar—one of the most recent additions to minimal nightlife in Preston. It was wall-to-wall people. Jace had no idea there were this many single people living in the area. “Is it weird that none of these people look familiar?”

  He shook his head. “I guess people were willing to drive from all the surrounding towns for this. I had no idea this was actually a thing.”

  “Me either.” Isabella paused and looked around some more. “Should we mingle? Get a drink? Or maybe—”

  Her words were cut off by the sound of a loud bell.

  “Can I have everyone’s attention? The number each of you was given at the registration table is your starting point—meaning, that is where you are supposed to go and sit for your first date. Each one will last for three minutes, and then I’ll ring the bell, and the ladies will stay where they are, and the gentlemen will rise and move on to the next table. Everyone understand?”

  Jace watched as the over-enthusiastic female host held up numbers and a bell to demonstrate for those in the room that didn’t grasp the concept of those items. (Clearly speed daters must be clueless based on this demonstration.) He was just about to say that to Isabella when their host spoke again.

  “You have also all been given cards with your names on it to hand out to those you feel a connection to and wish to see again—you know, for a real date! And believe me, you’ll probably find more than one. There’s good energy in the room tonight. Don’t you think so?” The host’s smile was way too bright.

  Jace had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

  The woman was in her late-forties to early fifties—if he was being generous—and wearing a leopard print dress two sizes too small. She had big hair and loud makeup and was showing way too much cleavage.

  Clearly this wasn’t her first rodeo.

  “Now I know some of you are shy and may feel a little uncomfortable with making small talk, but you should try to just stick to the basics. You only have three minutes, and you want to make sure that each of you has a chance to share something about yourself. Don’t be an over-sharer, but don’t be too quiet!”

  Seriously, was this thing for real? Unable to help himself, he leaned over and whispered in Isabella’s ear, “This is a little like the Three Bear’s scenario—don’t talk to long, don’t talk to short, talk just right.”

  Beside him, she giggled and swatted him playfully on the arm.

  Maybe he stayed close a little longer than was necessary, but damn did she smell good. Really good. Good enough to taste.

  Slowly.

  All over.

  From head to toe.

  Leaning in a little bit more, he discreetly inhaled as his eyes slowly closed. God, what would it be like to have the freedom to do this and then take her by the hand and lead her back to his place? It may not be the perfect time, but if he could just…

  The damn bell rang out again.

  “Everyone to your tables please! We’re ready to begin!”

  “Oh! It’s time! Exciting!” Isabella spoke with a familiar mocking enthusiasm—as if she were excited but making fun of it at the same time—but Jace sensed her mood was a little forced. Her smile didn’t quite meet her eyes. Was it possible that she wasn’t as thrilled to be here as she was leading him to believe?

  “Bella, are you sure—”

  “I am. This is gonna be good. Right? I mean, look at all of the people here. Wouldn’t it be great if we both met someone tonight? And then we could double-date and go out and—”

  He placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her. “Bella, you’re babbling. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly. “I… I guess I’m just a little nervous. I wasn’t expecting quite so many people.”

  Jace looked around and sighed miserably. “Yeah. Me either.”

  Reaching up, Isabella squeezed one of his hands. She was about to say something but the bell rang out—yet again—with the one-minute warning.

  “Okay, we better get to our tables,” Isabella said. She gave him a smile and a thumbs up as she took a step back. “Good luck.”

  He didn’t want luck. Not here. He wanted her, dammit! Why couldn’t he just freaking admit it and get the hell out of here? “Bella, I—”

  The noise in the room was too loud. She was swallowed up by the crowd as she made her way toward the back of the bar to her table. Jace looked down at his number and groaned. Three. So he was all the way in the front, and she
was all the way in the back.

  Great.

  It would be at least an hour before they were at the same table.

  Like a man going to his execution, he made his way to Table Three and had to stifle a groan.

  Cougar.

  The woman smiling up at him was easily in her fifties. She could have been the host’s clone with her too-tight clothes and too-big hair. Ugh. If this was how the night was kicking off, he was already ready for it to end.

  “Oh, my,” the cougar purred. “Aren’t you yummy!” She held out her hand to him. “I’m Tammy. And you are?”

  Very sorry to be here, he almost said.

  Not wanting to be rude—he was raised better than that—he shook her hand as he sat down. “Jace.”

  “Such a sexy name,” she said, leaning forward to show him way too much cleavage.

  The bell rang out.

  “Okay, people! Let’s speed date!”

  ***

  There was a possibility that Jace met some nice, eligible women over the course of the evening, but he couldn’t say so with any great certainty. Mainly because he had been so distracted by trying to catch a glimpse of Isabella with each of her dates. Every time he moved a little bit closer, his anxiety grew. The closer he got, the more he could see her smiles or hear her laugh, and each time he had to ask himself if she was actually having a good time and making a connection with any of these guys.

  He seriously hoped not.

  “…so I teach tenth grade biology and let me tell you, it’s as brutal as it sounds.”

  Forcing himself to focus, Jace smiled at the blonde sitting across from him. She was cute, he guessed, but there was definitely no spark.

  “I always enjoyed science classes,” he said conversationally, and then leaned to the right to see who Isabella was talking to.

  The blonde turned around and then back again. “Is that your ex?”

  “What?”

  “The girl back there that you keep looking at. Is she an ex-girlfriend or something?”

  Busted.

  “No. No. She’s just a friend.”