Page 25 of Tattoo My Heart
With that last thought in mind, I gave myself a healthy mental slap upside the head. Doing anything with Cal Prentice is the worst idea ever on a good day. I wouldn’t be able to handle him or the situation something like that put us in.
I came into work a few minutes before Nancy. By the time she waltzed in, I was already taking stuff out for a new order.
“Hi, honey.”
She gave me a happy smile that made me squirm in place. I felt like she could see right through me, and that whatever show me and Cal put in front of her when she interrupted our make-out session never fooled her.
“Bass is stopping by today at noon,” she informed me proudly, making me shake my head in confusion.
“Who’s Bass?”
“My nephew,” she explained patiently. “I told you about him yesterday. He lives in the city. He is a very handsome boy,” she smiled at me with pride. “I think you two would hit it off.”
I nodded in agreement despite the fact that I really was not looking forward to being set up. I mean, yeah, she thought he was handsome, but that’s because it was obvious she had a soft spot for him. But what if I didn’t like him at all? Or, worse yet, he hated me on sight?
When lunch came around, Bass promptly walked through the front door of my shop. And he was a very pleasant surprise. We… Well, we did hit it off.
But that was yesterday, when, after a very pleasant lunch at the coffee shop in town, he asked if I’d want to do a repeat today.
“I’d love to,” I grinned at him while at the same time feeling super guilty about it. I felt like I was cheating on Cal. After one kiss. Completely irrational of me.
And that’s how I find myself today, at the end of the day, walking down the sidewalk in my small town, with Nancy’s very handsome nephew, Bass.
“Isn’t the drive from the city just gruesome?” I know for a fact that it is. That is why the delivery service I hire for my flower arrangements has a cut off time every day. That way, they allow for enough time to make all my deliveries every day.
“It’s not so bad,” Bass chuckles. “Not when I know there’s good company waiting for me here.”
“Ha,” I shove at his large frame teasingly. “That’s a smooth line, Bass.”
“I hope it works,” he flirts back.
I take a moment to look him over. He is very athletic looking, I think he is into sports of some kind. And he has a very handsome face to match. Not as handsome as Cal’s, I decide, but handsome enough.
Thinking about Cal while out with another man is bothering me. I know I am not doing anything wrong. I am too hung up on a man who barely wants to give me the time of day. That’s not very smart of me.
A thought starts forming in my head, and it refuses to go away.
“Hey, Bass,” I call up to him. He is much taller than Cal, but it suits him.God, stop comparing him to Cal, I chastise myself.
“Hey, Evelyn,” he teases back.
“What are you doing on the Fourth of July weekend?”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I want to take them back. I don’t think I want to start anything with Bass, and taking him with me to the Hamptons feels like the start of a commitment.
“The Fourth?” His eyebrows go down into a cute frown. Great, now I think he’s cute when he’s frowning. “Isn’t that kind of far away?”
“It is,” I agree. “But I have a party to go to. And I need a date,” I explain. “I was trying to get this blind date thing. But I like you, and I would feel more comfortable bringing someone I sort of know.”
My face is on fire now. I have never been bold like this with a guy in my entire life.
Bass takes a few seconds to think it over, but then just shrugs.
“I don’t have anything going on that weekend. Nothing special at least. I’m game.”
His answer is almost too much for me to handle. I am excited. I can’t wait to show up at my mother’s party with this hunk of a man on my arm. I wonder what Cal will say.
Suddenly, I remember about the message I got on theHolidatesapp. I never replied to that guy, but I should. I don’t want to lead him on.
