“We didn’t, but that doesn’t mean that I want to see him right now.”
“Okay, and whenwouldyou want to see him?”
“I don’t know, but ideally I’d be holding a Pulitzer Prize certificate and wearing an evening gown.”
A tired kind of smile appears on Ryan’s face and after a moment of hesitation, his hand moves. I think he’s reaching for his drink, but he’s not. His hand slides down and pushes back the hair that’s falling across my forehead. I don’t move as his fingers graze my neck and linger near my ear.
“You know, Sullivan, no girl ever made me laugh as much as you do. That always bothered me.”
His words shock me out of my somewhat panicked state. “Is that laughing at me or with me?”
“With you.”
“Thanks. My agent always says I have a way with dialogue.”
Now Ryan does move his hand to reach for his drink. “Are you done hiding? Are you going to go say hello?”
I peek around his shoulder to watch Mark and some woman sit down at a table across the room. They didn’t even take a board game. The sacrilegious pair. “I can’t go over. He’s with someone.”
“So what?” Ryan asks easily. “You’re with someone. Tell him I’m your boyfriend.”
I give him a flat glare. “I don’t need you to be my pity date.”
“I wouldn’t be your pity date. We’d just be pretending. What’s the harm in making him a little jealous?”
“I don’t want to make Mark jealous and he’s not like that anyways.”
It’s true. In all our years together, Mark was never jealous where I was concerned. But then, maybe I was suspicious enough for the both of us. Mark said it wasn’t in his nature to act that way, but part of me always assumed that he just didn’t care about me enough to get territorial.
I start to sit up and try to adjust to the very real possibility that I’m moments away from facing Mark and his new girlfriend. “Okay. I’ll just go over there very briefly and say hi.”
“If you don’t want to say that I’m your boyfriend, you should at least tell him we’re on a date. I dare you.”
“I’m not going to lie. I’m no good at it and there’s no point.”
“I guess times really have changed. Quiet as you were, the Kara Sullivan I remember never backed down from a dare.” Ryan finishes off his beer and places it softly onto the table, so as not to disrupt our game.
The college girl in me smiles at his cockiness while the woman in me gives him the stink eye. If he thinks a couple of smug comments will get me to do what he wants, then he’s right, I have changed.
“Fine,” I say with an air of certainty. “Since you’re so desperate for people to think we’re dating, I’ll do it. Come over and introduce yourself when I wave. And if you sabotage any of the blocks while I’m away, I’ll know and I’ll put a curse on you.”
Not waiting for a response, I get up and head in Mark’s direction. He’s sitting at a small table on the other side of the patio, facing me. The floor squeaks with every step I take, the worn-down boards begging me to turn and run.
Not going to happen.
I’m halfway there when he looks up and sees me, recognition and surprise washing over him. I arrive at his table a second later as he gets up out of his seat.
“Hi, Mark. Fancy meeting you here.”
“Wow. Kara, hey.” He offers me a warm smile as we then embark on one of the most awkward hugs of all time. Our arms can’t figure out where to go and we end up looking like two nervous octopuses in a slap fight.
“How are you?” I ask as we step apart.
“I’m good. We were just stopping by for a quick drink after work.”
Oh, werewe?
Mark looks down and across the table and I figure I should take this chance to see who he’s with, considering this person is now my arch-nemesis. My eyes follow his and find his dental assistant, Julie.
