Page 27 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

"Oh snap," said Alex. "Tim's right, you are being kind of a bitch about this girl. You've been talking about her all day and then you don't even ask her out?"

"I was just waiting for her to respond." I added, "Where do you want to go for dinner?" and hit send. "There, I asked where she wanted to go for dinner."

Tim put his hand on his head. "You didn't ask her if she wanted to go first? Chivalry is dead."

"I like it," said Alex. "Way to man up."

"Do you even have proper Brazilian evening dress?" asked Tim. "This is a disaster."

"What is this, Downton Abbey?" asked Alex.

Alina's response popped up on my phone: "Wherever you want. Where should Kristen and I meet you guys?"

Damn. Her inviting Kristen was a pretty clear sign that she didn't want it to be a date. Em's advice ran through my head. It's not complicated. Go get her. "Well, she thinks you guys are coming. And her friend Kristen is coming. Who wants wingman duty?"

"Is Kristen her friend from last night?" asked Tim.

"Hmm...I don't know who you're talking about," I said. I wanted to see if I could trick Tim into saying her codename outside of a mission, a clear breach of spy protocol.

"You know. The tall one with the dark hair."

"Oh, you mean Brunette Gir..."

Tim slapped me. "No! No codenames."

I should have been shocked, but slapping was Tim's go-to move when he got upset. Whenever anyone questioned him about it, he insisted that punching was "too brutish."

"Alright, fine. Yes, Kristen is her friend from last night. Now help me figure out where we should take them. We need somewhere real nice."

"I read about a steakhouse in the city that's simply to die for," said Tim. "I think it's called Carne Duro."

"My Portuguese is a little rusty, but doesn't that translate to Hard Meat?" asked Alex. "As long as we aren't going to a gay strip club, I'm in."

Tim grabbed his phone and brought up his trip advisor app. "Oh, my mistake. It's actually Carne Deliciosa. Carne Duro must have been...never mind. Here, I'll make a reservation." He clicked a few buttons and then said, "Done. Tell the girls we'll meet them at the north village exit at 6:30."

Chapter 11

Monday

Alina

I finished blow-drying my hair and glanced down at my phone. I had been silently willing Chris to text me all day. He was doing a great job staying away from me, which is what I had requested. But that was before I had told him we were done. And this silence didn't feel like he was respecting my boundaries. It felt like we really were over. I knew we needed to have another conversation. I refused for it to end by me slamming the door in his face. I didn't think he really meant the things he said, but he still said them.

If he called me right now, I'd answer in a heartbeat. I'd hear him out. But he wasn't calling. And I couldn't help but think that he was hanging out with a bunch of sleazy women, catching up on all he had missed out on in the last two years. I put my elbows down on the sink and my face in my hands. It really was over. Gabriela had won. Again. I just felt so defeated.

A knock on the bathroom door made me jump.

"Hey, are you almost ready?" Kristen asked.

"Yeah, just a sec." I glanced down once more at my phone. Chris had cheated on me. I had found out. And now we were done. He hadn't reached out to try to fix things, because there wasn't anything else to talk about. Even if I could forgive him, I couldn't trust him. Maybe if this had been the first time that he hadn't been faithful. But this wasn't the first time we had a conversation like this. I just never had photographic evidence before. I was like putty in his handsome hands and he knew it. Screw you, Chris.

I took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. All the under-eye concealer in the world couldn't hide the fact that I had been crying, but I applied a little extra hoping it would help before unlocking the door.

"Wear this one," Kristen said and tossed me a sparkly, low-cut dress when I walked out of the bathroom.

"I want something a little more conservative." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and opened up the closet.

"It's a date, not an office meeting."

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