Her phone buzzed as she got in her car, and she pulled it out to find a text from Katrina.
Are you okay? How did it go with #BeachBastard?
She gritted her teeth. She didn’t think she could call him a bastard anymore now that she’d gotten confirmation over why he’d flaked.A loved one died and I was overwhelmed with griefwas a way different excuse fromsomething came up.
Rhi texted back.It was fine. I got closure, I didn’t fall into bed with him again. He’s going to talk to Annabelle.She hesitated. She finished typing,By the way, why don’t we go ahead and get that cat you’ve been wanting?
Eeeeee. On all counts.
Rhiannon busied herself pulling up directions. She was grateful she wouldn’t have to see Katrina tonight, that she was staying in her loft. She checked the time and groaned. Even if that meant she’d be sitting in traffic forever heading back to L.A.
There was no reason to be rattled over that momentary blip of panic and attraction. That had been as cool and calm a meeting as she could have imagined. Boom, they’d settled the question of why he’d ghosted her so she could, if not trust him completely, not carry this load of anger anymore. Boom, she’d gotten the promise of an intro to Annabelle that seemed somewhat legit.
Rhi.
How did he make her nickname sound sexy?
Boom.
She shivered and put her car into gear. Automatically, she glanced in the rearview mirror and paused when a shiny red Mazda pulled up behind her. A gorgeous girl with long red hair and a tight white dress clambered out of the car, dropping her keys into the valet’s hands.
The sinking sensation in her chest intensified. His date? Was this what kind, sweet, and loyal looked like?
Well, that was fine. Totally and utterly fine.
If Rhiannon’s tires squealed when she peeled out of the driveway, well... that must be what closure sounded like.
Chapter Nine
HEYYYYYYY,SAMSON.”
Samson groaned and lifted his head from his cupped palms. The fancy hotel restaurant was deserted except for him and Tina. “You don’t have to use that tone.”
“What tone?” The blonde slipped into the chair opposite him, where his “date” had sat twenty minutes ago.
“Thatmustn’t upset the talenttone.” Samson grimaced. “I know I stank.”
Tina interlaced her fingers on the snowy tablecloth. There was a wine stain next to her thumb. “You didn’tstink, exactly...” She stopped when he growled in disgust. “Okay. That was not you at your best.”
Samson grimaced. That was a severe understatement. “Can we get that poor girl a consolation prize? Disneyland tickets?”
Tina cracked a smile. “She doesn’t need Disneyland tickets. I told her we would reimburse her for dry-cleaning or replacing her dress.”
Samson groaned again. The red wine he’d accidentally knocked over onto the woman’s lap had left a glaring stain.“I don’t know what happened.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or Tina.
Tina patted his hand. “Listen, we all have off days. Sometimes there’s no chemistry between two people, no matter what the match percentages say. Don’t tell Belle I said that, though.”
“She’s going to be disappointed.”
“We can work some editing magic, probably, and cobble together a few minutes, at least, of you two looking at each other like you were enjoying each other’s company.” She hesitated. “Or at least, not actively disliking and boring each other.”
“You know, my friend Harris, he mentioned that I may be out of practice when it comes to dating. It’s possible he got in my head? That’s the only explanation.” It was true, he hadn’t dated for a long time. But he’d broken the seal with Rhi months ago. That Night hadn’t felt so weird and awkward. When they hadn’t been talking in that dark bar, they’d sat in comfortable silence, their knees pressing together.
Speaking of whom...
“Can you edit out the part where I called her by the wrong name?” he asked grimly.
Tina winced. “Yeah, that probably wasn’t your smoothest move. In your defense, Rachel and Rhi do both, um, start with the same letter.”
