Leave now.
Let him chase you.
But what if he doesn’t?
That would be my luck.
“Well…have a nice life, Tate.” I put one foot in front of the other and began walking away.
A few seconds later, he said, “Wait.”
Bingo.I stopped, turned, and batted my lashes. “Yes?”
“Have dinner with me.” He paused. “Justdinner.”
“What else would there be?”
“Nothing. But I don’t want to be alone and would appreciate the company.”
“Dinner with you… Why? So you can hand me a children’s menu and taunt me?”
“Come on.” He grinned. “I’ll buy you a Shirley Temple.”
My mouth fell open. “A Shirley Temple! Well, now it’s just too tempting to turn down. Sounds like a salacious night ahead.”
“Meet you in the lobby in a half hour?”
There was no way I wanted to spend the night alone, either. Having dinner with Tate was an easy yes—as easy as I would’ve been if he’d gone along with our original hookup plan.
“Well...” I sighed dramatically, pretending to hesitantly concede. “That would be okay, I guess.”
“Great.” He grinned. “See you then.”
Feeling like I was walking on air, I rushed to my room because I knew I’d need extra time to do myself up. Not only did I want to look as mature as possible tonight, I wanted Tate to eat his heart out for having reduced me tosome silly kid playing games. While much of my behavior on this trip had been immature, it wasn’t a reflection of who I was. I’d spent most of my life overly cautious and overly loyal, and it had gotten me nowhere.
It was time to have some fun.
Chapter 4
BLAIR
Operation Eat Your Heart Out, Tate was in full force.
I’d put on the sexiest dress I’d brought, the highest heels, and a push-up bra. I’d blown my hair out and styled it for volume. I’d also painted my lips red and applied the darkest shade of mascara that brought out the blue in my eyes.
As I checked myself in the mirror, I had to admit: I looked hot. And older.Olderwas definitely what I was going for under the current circumstances.
Tate’s reaction when he spotted me approaching in the lobby was exactly what I’d hoped for. Actually, with the way his jaw dropped, it wasbetterthan I’d hoped for. Naturally, he looked amazing, dressed in dark jeans and a form-fitting black Henley, rolled up at the sleeves to taunt me with those sexy forearms. The sight of him seriously did things to me. And his smell? It was a mix of leather, musk, and vanilla. I wanted to drown in it.
He cleared his throat as he took me in. “Well, if you’d dressed like this when we first met, I might’ve believed the lie about your age.”
“Amazing what some makeup can do for a fresh face like mine, huh?”
“You look nice, but you don’t need it.”
“Justniceis how I look?”
“You look hot, and you know it.” He gritted his teeth. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Doris-Delores.”
