Page 55 of More Than Pen Pals

“Ashley.” I shouldn’t use the name he despises, but I can’t help myself.

“That wasn’t what it looked like in there.”

“It didn’t look like anything,” I lie, still not looking at him. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Although I’m dying for him to do exactly that.

“Neither of those things are true. Please be honest with me.”

I can’t deny him that, so I turn to face him and plant my fists on my hips. “All right, then. Are you dating that woman? Are you in a relationship and you didn’t tell me, even after all that’s happened the past two days?” Tears fill my eyes against my will. “Did you lie when you promised you’d wait for me?”

“No.”

His simple answer deflates me a little. It also releases some of the tightness in my chest. “Care to enlighten me then?”

“Leslie, I didn’t lie to you.” His anguished look reveals he’s speaking the truth. “The woman’s name is Melissa Teague. We went to school together a long time ago. She recently moved back to town, and my mother decided I should date her. Mom invited her family over for dinner tomorrow night and sprung it on me yesterday. I couldn’t say no.”

I give him an incredulous look. Is he not a grown man who can make his own decisions?

“You haven’t met my mother,” he says in response to my unasked question.

Then something he said hits me. “Wait a minute. Melissa Teague … where have I heard that name before?”

He sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

My hand goes to my mouth. I remember that story. “Oh, no.” I want to march back into the suite and smack her.

“Oh, yes.”

I tilt my head. “Then why were you all over her in there?” I narrow my eyes. “And why is she here?”

“I wasn’t all over her. Her necklace got caught on my shirt when she hugged me,” he explains. “And believe it or not, she works here and happened to walk into our suite.”

I shouldn’t like that he calls it “our suite,” but I do.

Now he crosses his arms. “Why do you get to be all high and mighty anyway, after what you told me in the car? Are you the only one who gets to have second thoughts about us?”

I gasp. “I’m not having second thoughts!”

“So you’re planning to tell Glenn to go fly a kite?”

My stomach churns and I look away from him as tears threaten to spill over again.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” he says with a light touch to my arm, which sends sparks on an erratic journey throughout my body. “I’m sorry. It’s a totally different situation.”

“It is,” I say. “But you’re right. We’re not dating each other. You’re free to do as you please. She’s pretty, your family likes her, and what she did to you when she was twelve isn’t any worse than what I did.” My throat closes up and I choke out, “Why shouldn’t you date her?”

“Leslie, look at me,” he says softly.

I slowly turn my head toward him and look up into his eyes.

“I don’t want to date her. Okay?”

I nod.

“And you have never been mean to me like she was. You got that?”

I nod again. A tear rolls down my cheek and I swipe it away. “Why are you being so nice to me?” He shouldn’t be. He should forget about me and my baggage and my stupid Operation Pen Pal idea. Even if he doesn’t want to date Melissa, there are plenty of other women who would be a lot less trouble for him than I am.

“I’m being nice because I care about you.” His eyes tell me he wants to say so much more, but he doesn’t. Those eyes briefly dip down to my lips, which tingle at the thought he might want to kiss me.

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