“You’re going to dinner with cow-shit guy?” Ken asks, his eyebrows high on his forehead as he wipes down the counter.
“I didn’t know how to say no,” I admit, walking over to him. “He kind of caught me off-guard, and I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“You weren’t riveted by his talk of ranch work?” He drops his jaw and gapes at me in mock surprise. “How could you?”
I giggle. “I know. I’m terrible.”
“What do you mean you didn’t know how to say no? It’s pretty easy. Two letters. One syllable.”
Reaching out, I shove his shoulder lightly. “Shut up. I know, okay? I planned for this over text. I can come up with a response, and then spend two hours rewording it until it’s perfect. I can’t do that to his face. How do I tell him he kind of disgusts me in person?”
“Well, let’s just hope he actually cleans up nicely for dinner. I can’t imagine trying to eat with that smell.”
He clearly didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation to know what else was on his clothes. “This dating app may not be everything I thought it was going to be.”
“If you decide the date’s a bust, I’m working tomorrow night, too. We can grab something to eat after.”
I smile. “Thanks, Ken. Meeting you has honestly been the bright side of this evening. I’ll probably see you again soon.”
He’s cute, but do I really want to date a barista? Then again, I’d never have bad coffee again…
Feedback
Working Late
“Ithought you had a date tonight,” Mona says as she walks past my desk around five.
I haven’t told her the full extent of my terrible dates. Partly because she was on a cruise with her family, and partly because admitting it out loud means acknowledging that this experiment was a stupid idea and is failing miserably.
I was so certain I’d find the man of my dreams using this app. That certainty is fading. Fast.
“Tyler needed me to stay late to finish this project. It’s a second date, so I rescheduled,” I say.
What I don’t say is that it’s a total lie. I canceled on the cowboy the second Tyler hinted that he might need me to stay late, and I have no intention of rescheduling.
I had to sniff peppermint essential oil last night just to get the scent of cow manure out of my nose. There is no desire to have to do that again.
“Oh, a second date? Someone made it past date one? I need details,” she says, hopping up to sit on my desk.
Tyler walks by just then, and I could kiss him for the timing. I nod toward him and stand. “Gotta go. Talk later.”
Hurrying to catch up to my boss, I sigh in relief when we step into his office and close the door. I hate lying to Mona, but if I tell her too much, she’ll see right through me. I’m a terrible liar.
Short, white lies are best.
“I didn’t know you had a date tonight when I mentioned staying late,” Tyler says. “I can take care of this if you need me to.”
“Trust me, you saved me.”
He leans back in his chair and studies me. “I did?”
Decker’s not around, and I haven’t talked to him since the night he picked me up from Thomas’s house. We keep missing each other, and I need to talk to someone about this.
Someone who isn’t Mona and won’t tell me to my face I’m stupid.
“This is probably more information than you need because, well, you’re my boss, but I can’t tell Mona. And I think I might explode.”
“You look like you might burst. What’s going on?”
