Struggling was the word I would use to describe how she was handling her date. I almost sat down, but then I saw her roll her eyes, and I decided to have a little fun with her.
“Excuse me,” I said, walking up to her table. “Are you—” I laughed, running my hand over my mouth. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe it’s you.”
She looked up at me in confusion. “Um…”
“You don’t remember me. I mean, that’s a little hurtful, but…Mike.”
“I don’t…” She shook her head, not understanding what I was doing.
“From the Underground.”
“Sorry, but what is the Underground?” her date asked.
“Oh, hey, I’m sorry. I’m Mike,” I said, holding out my hand. “Yeah, I met this one at a sex club.”
Ellie was just taking a sip of wine and nearly choked on it.
“Feisty one, she is,” I chuckled. “Trust me, you do not want to get on her bad side. She likes the whip.”
“Hey!” Ellie snapped.
“Uh…” Her date scooted back in his chair. “You know, I think I should go.”
“I’m not—I didn’t meet him at a sex club!” she shouted at his retreating form. “Wow, thanks a lot.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Why are you smirking at me?” she snapped. “You just ran off my date!”
“And you were bored to tears. You’ll thank me tonight when you go home and enjoy a glass of wine instead of staying here for the next hour, listening to whatever he was going to say next.”
Despite how mean it was, she was having a hard time denying that she was grateful she no longer had to sit with the man.
“You can pay for my drinks since my date walked out.”
“I’ll tell JR to put your drinks on my bill.”
Standing, she grabbed her purse and flung it over her shoulder. “Now, how are you going to get out of your date?”
My lips twitched in amusement. “I think I can find a way.”
11
ELLIE
I avoided seeingRyder like the plague. He seemed to pop up all around town, in the most random places.
Like the coffee shop.
The diner.
The General Store.
Okay, they weren’t exactly random places, but why did he have to show up when I was in the same place? Was fate intervening to bring my childhood bully back to torment me in my adult years? Because frankly, with all the shit going on in my life, I really didn’t need anything more to push me over the edge.
I scanned the streets as I got out of my Jeep, looking for any signs of the devil himself. For just a second, I thought I saw him at the flower shop, and quickly ducked behind the driver’s side door, peering over the hood like a creeper.
“Um…what are you doing?” Josie asked as she came around to my side, watching as I squatted like a lunatic.
