Page 45 of Paging Dr. Breakup
He leaned a fist against the doorjamb. “Yes. Okay, I was at the diner.”
“Then I did see you there. With that guy who tried to hurt my brother and me.”
“Yes, but I didn’t have dinner. With that guy.”
“So, you canceled on dinner, met Randy the asshole at the restaurant instead, and the fact that you didn’t consume food is the win in this scenario?”
“Fair.” He looked over his shoulder. A neighbor slowly walked their dog past Deirdre’s house. “Can I come in for a sec?” He held up his hands. “Please?”
Too emotionally wrung out and too exhausted to argue, she said, “Fine.” Then she stepped back.
Chapter Seventeen
Cal didn’t knowmuch about women, but he knew that the wordfinewas secret code for the exact opposite offine.
This was what it was like for a pirate to walk the plank. Or a criminal to step up to the chopping block centuries ago. Menacing music would be the perfect accompaniment to his morbid thoughts.
He inched into Deirdre’s home and shucked his coat and boots right inside the front door.
“You want something to eat?” she said, one brown eyebrow raised.
“I already ate,” he retorted.
Crossing her arms, she said, “Of course you did.”
“No, not at the diner. Before going to the diner.” Inwardly, he face-palmed himself.Good job there setting the stage for success, slick.
“You ate before you stood me up?”
“Damn it. That didn’t make it better, did it?” After rubbing his damp palms on his pants, he added, “I ateaftercanceling dinner with you andbeforemeeting Randy.” There, all better.
The sadness in her downturned mouth and those angry glinting eyes nearly knocked his legs out from under him.
“You should have quit while you were ahead,” she said.
“I’m getting the impression that there is no ladder tall enough to get out of this hole I’m digging.”
“Not in the least.” Waving him toward the small living room area, she settled at one end of the couch, drawing her legs under her.
The lamplight and the tan sweater made her skin glow. It did nothing to warm up her icy glare, though.
He held his hands up, as if holding off a charging brown bear. “Let’s reset. Deirdre, I am sorry to cancel dinner. I had looked forward to spending time with you.”
Her tiny intake of breath tormented him. “It’s fine to cancel. We’re not dating.”
“It’s not fine, and we are dating. Sort of.”
“Not in a real-world kind of way, Calvin. It’s okay. We’re not dating. There are no mortgage-bearing complications here. We can make adult decisions and have adult preferences about things like meals.” She tapped her lower lip with a finger, making him jealous of the digit. “What hurts more is that you went out with Randy.”
“I didn’t—”
“I get it. Not a date.” One side of her mouth lifted, giving him a glimmer of hope that he might survive this conversation. “That guy was the jerk from our lodge. Why were you talking with him?”
“That’s what I wanted to explain.” He swallowed, despite a dry tongue. He needed to explain this but keep his plans hidden. While preserving a chance in hell that he could repair whatever fragile relationship was developing with Deirdre. He could walk this fine line. “Randy was behind the guy being at Mom and Pop’s house earlier this week.”
“How? What?”
Raising a hand, he said, “I needed to figure out what was really going on, so I contacted the man. I, um, acted like an interested party and drew him out so that he would explain his angle.”
