Page 23 of Cinderella Screwed Me Over
I pointed at the flower. “And I need this. Mrs. Crabtree’s got a pink bathroom and it has this shelf that needs decorations. That piece will fit perfectly there and luckily the shelf’s high enough her granddaughter won’t be able to reach it, so it won’t get broken.” I smiled at Tina. “Sorry, you don’t know her, so you probably don’t care.”
Tina returned my smile. “I just like hearing that my stuff will be in a bathroom.”
I laughed. “This bathroom is the size of most people’s bedrooms, so I swear, it’s going to be very well done.” I glanced around the room. “Actually, I’d love to get your card. I’m an interior designer and I’m always on the lookout for good accent pieces. And these are all extraordinary.”
Tina nudged Jake. “I like her.”
Jake’s eyes locked onto mine and I forgot how to breathe for a second. “Me, too.”
…
“I better take that,” Jake said as we walked out of the gallery.
I had Mrs. Crabtree’s sculpture in a bag hanging from my arm. Tina had wrapped it in padding and stuffed it into a box. “It’s not like it’s heavy.”
“No offense, but I haven’t known you very long, and I’ve already seen you lose your shoe and dump everything out of your purse.”
“I swear I’m not normally clumsy.”
Jake flashed me a skeptical look and held out his hand. I hesitated for a moment, then went ahead and gave him the bag. “We fixed the floor in the restaurant, by the way. There was a crack that needed to be filled in. I think that’s why your heel caught.”
“Then it’s a good thing you took care of it.” I bumped my shoulder into his, no longer able to keep myself from flirting with him a little bit. “Especially if someone as clumsy as me is going to be in there again.” And who was I kidding? I couldn’t avoid Blue much longer.
After being around Jake and Tina, I’d seen another side of him. He was still his charming self, but there was something more. The way he talked to Tina, the way he listened as she went into excruciating detail about how she made each sculpture. I’d also been in the elevator with him enough times to know that his floor was at the top, where the expensive, great-view condos were. “So, you’re a good-looking, successful guy…”
“Thanks,” Jake said.
“Not a compliment. I’m wondering why you’re still single. And I’m sure you’re thinking the same about me. The truth is, I don’t really believe that I’ll ever have a successful relationship.”
He pressed his lips together. “Isn’t that a little cynical?”
“No. It’s a lot cynical. Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
Jake slowed his pace and studied me for a moment. “I guess I just haven’t found the right person yet. It doesn’t mean I don’t believe she’s out there.”
“You don’t have to pretend you believe in”—I threw up my hands and made air quotes—“‘the one’ and falling madly in love to impress me. I wasted too much time believing in all that, so now I’m realistic. The odds of you and me working aren’t great.”
“But what if we do work out? What if we end up being perfect for each other?”
I shook my head. “See, that’s the problem. Everyone’s been taught this unrealistic idea that there’s someone out there who’s perfect for us. A soul mate who completes us. But I’ve found that’s just not the way things work.”
Jake grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. “I’m going to make a guess as to why you feel that way. If I guess right, I get a date.”
I twisted to face him. “You think you know enough about me to guess how I got so cynical?”
He met my gaze, a challenging glint in his eye. “One date.”
“If you guess right.” I knew he couldn’t. It had taken a lot of bad relationships to get me to this point. The analysis of all of my exes as I turned them into case studies probably hadn’t helped with the cynicism, but it had made me smarter. They say the truth will set you free.
He looked me up and down, like I might be hiding all my secrets in the way I was standing. “Child of divorce. Watched your parents never find love, so now you don’t believe people can be happy together.”
I crossed my arms. “Wrong. My parentsaredivorced, but both of them found love. They’re both happily married to other people now.”
“I was still right.”
“Half-right,” I corrected.
Jake grinned. “So I get half a date. We’ll go somewhere and get an appetizer. Or we’ll go to a movie and walk out in the middle of it.”
