Are you okay? Is there anything I can get you?
Claire
I’m fine, thanks. My stomach’s just a little off.
Rowan
Call me if you need anything. I’ll be right around the corner.
I groan, because of course he’s going to be sweet while I’m preparing to drive a knife through his heart. Then again, this is exactly why I need to follow through with my plan. Rowan really does deserve better, and he needs to understand that he won’t find the love of his life if he’s too busy doting on me.
With a renewed sense of purpose and a slightly more humane plan on deck, I force myself to get ready for my date and ignore the way my stomach cramps and roils as I prepare dinner. It isn’t long after I shove a pan of meat and vegetables into the oven that I hear the rumble of loud truck pipes.
Frankie and Oscar bark and circle my feet as I move to answer the door, but they don’t bother hiding their displeasure when it swings open to reveal someone other than their favorite blond-haired, blue-eyed doctor.
“Hey,” my date says with a crooked smile, his eyes immediately running over me.
He’s handsome, I suppose, though his style seems identical to my ex’s. His dark hair and beard match the tattoos peeking out from above his collar and past the hem of his tight shirt sleeves, and Isuddenly find myself wondering how I ever thought the cowboy-gym-rat look was attractive in the first place.
“Hey, Nick. Come in,” I reply, stifling a cough when his cologne wafts into the house before he does.
Frankie growls and snaps at Nick’s boot-clad foot the second it crosses the threshold, forcing him to sidestep and trip over Oscar. He stumbles and grabs my arm to right himself, nearly spilling the open beer bottle he’s already nursing.
“Sorry about that,” I say, shrugging out of his grasp to catch the dogs by their collars. “They can be a little bratty around strangers.”
Nick huffs out a laugh. “It’s fine. Guess I’d be the same way if my gut dragged the floor.”
“Yeah. Be right back.” I blink away my annoyance and haul Frankie and Oscar to their kennels, frowning when they begin whimpering.
“I’m sorry, guys. But you kind of started it when you tried to bite my date.”
Frankie howls in response, which translates to,You started it when you brought that douche into the house.
And I’m pretty sure Oscar yips out,I’m telling Rowan about this.
“This won’t take long, I promise,” I assure them before I shut the door behind me.
Then I clear my throat and adjust my boobs in preparation for my return to the kitchen, where I find Nick manspreading on one of the stools and twisting the cap off a fresh beer.
“Want one?” he offers as I walk past him to check on our food.
“I’m fine, thanks,” I mumble, cringing at the prospect of his beer breath.
“So,” he begins when I turn back from the oven. “What’s for dinner?”
I open my mouth to answer him, but I’m interrupted by the lock beeping, and my heart leaps when the front door swings open.
“Hey, it’s me,” Rowan calls out. “You stopped answering my texts, so I got worried?—”
He cuts himself off abruptly as his gaze lands on the extra occupant, and I clear my throat.
“Um, hey. This is Nick. Nick, this is Rowan,” I say awkwardly.
Nick nods in Rowan’s direction. “ ‘Sup, man.”
“Good to meet you,” Rowan says, his voice just low enough to contradict the sentiment. “I guess I didn’t realize that date you mentioned was tonight,” he adds in my direction.
I shrug, forcing as much nonchalance as I can muster. “It was sort of a last-minute thing.”
