Dating by Design Series - Box Set

by Jennifer Peel

  “No, you did an excellent job. I have a date with Liz.”

  “Oh. You called her.”

  “No. She called me.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Yeah. It’s a little different for me, but I guess a guy likes to be pursued every once in a while.”

  “So, why do you need my help?”

  “She wants to meet at some dog park she frequents.”

  That was a little different. “If you want to know about dogs, you should talk to Rick.”

  “I don’t need to know about dogs, but what do you think I should wear?”

  A tiny laugh escaped. “I thought only women worried about that sort of thing.”

  “I’ve never had a woman ask me to a dog park,” he replied in his defense.

  I thought for a moment. “I suppose she wants to see how you react to her dog, so I would wear something comfortable, that would allow you to play with her dog, and that you wouldn’t mind getting dog hair on.”

  “You’re a genius.”

  “No need to exaggerate.”

  “All right my PRM, flowers or no?”

  “They might be awkward at a dog park. And do you want to set that precedence upfront?”

  “Good point. What would I do without you?”

  “Well … I hope you have a great time.”

  “Thanks, Kenadie. Maybe we can talk about it over lunch tomorrow?”

  “You want to kiss and tell?”

  “There won’t be any kissing.”

  “Are you sure? This could be the one.”

  “I’m not looking for anything serious with Liz,” he said sternly.

  I was surprised by his tone. “If you say so.”

  “I do. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What’s up with the company memo?” Zander popped his head into my office around mid-morning.

  “I figured a reminder was in order.”

  He grinned wickedly. “Why? Have you been dating our clients?”

  “No. Have you?”

  “Darlin’, that hurts that you have to ask.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t think your side-stepping maneuver made it past me. Just make sure you’re not dating your dates.”

  He grinned and nodded. “Speaking of dating, I hear Jason has his first date with Liz.”

  “That’s the rumor.”

  “And how do you feel about that?”

  I looked up from my quarterly financial report. “How should I feel about it?” I was confused by the question.

  “You tell me.” His eyes widened.

  “You are behaving very oddly. Even more than usual.”

  “I don’t think I’m the one being odd here.” And with that, he walked off.

  I didn’t even try to begin to understand what he meant.

  There were a lot of things I was finding myself not understanding. Like Jason, for instance. He’d had his first date with Liz and I expected him to be more enthusiastic about it when we met for lunch the next day. He had me meet him at a duck pond and we brought sack lunches. I guess he was tired of fighting me on the whole separate check thing. It worked for me. I preferred being outside and eating my own food anyway.

  So there we were, eating our lunches on a cute wooden bench and feeding the ducks all while enjoying the beautiful springtime weather.

  “Are you going to tell me how your date went last night?” I finally asked after we had finished our lunches and we were eating the homemade snickerdoodles I had brought to share.

  He smiled over at me as he was about to take a bite of his cookie. “These are excellent, by the way.”

  “Thank you, but you didn’t answer my question.”

  He thought for a moment as he chewed and swallowed his big bite of cookie. “It was nice.”

  “How very nondescript.”

  He smirked over to me as he took another bite of his cookie.

  “So, no sparks?” I asked.

  He stared down at his cookie. “Not really.”

  “Oh.”

  “You sound disappointed.” He sounded disappointed, too.

  “I guess I should hang up my relationship manager hat and put the president one back on. I’ll let Eva help you from now on.” I liked the president hat much better, anyway.

  He gazed at me for several seconds. “We’re going out again.” He sounded reluctant. “You can’t hang up your PRM hat yet.”

  “I think I should. Eva is much better at this sort of thing than I am. I’m good with writing code and running a business. I’m a terrible people person, as you have experienced yourself.”

  His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head. “Kenadie, I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but the only experiences I’ve had with you are pleasant ones.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a liar.”

  He grinned. “So maybe you made me look like a jerk at a restaurant or two, but besides that, A+ experiences.”

  I nudged him with my shoulder. “A+?”

  He smiled at me with those eyes of his. “Perfect score.” He didn’t sound playful at all.

  My stomach kind of turned in that whoa kind of way. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

  “Remember, you gave me an A–.”

  “Speaking of which, when are you seeing Liz again?”

  He sighed in an irritated sort of way. “Friday. She asked me to some club for drinks and dancing.”

  “That sounds like fun.”

  “You think so?”

  “It’s not my style, but don’t listen to me. I hang out with grandmas and eat ice cream on Friday nights.”

  He laughed in his good-natured sort of way. “I’ll take that over the club scene any day.”

  “Maybe you could suggest something else?”

  “Nah.” He threw some bread out into the pond and the ducks went wild.

  “I could pick someone else for you.”

  He reached up and stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “You picked well, and besides, I’m not looking for you to choose my soul mate. I can handle that on my own.”

  I touched my cheek where his hand had just left. I was taken aback by the gesture. “You know I can find you one if that’s what you want.”

  “I’ll let you know.” He tapped my nose.

  We didn’t talk anymore about Liz, unless you count her dog, Cooper. Jason was taken with him. He kept going back and forth about getting a dog for himself.

  “Do you want to shop for puppies?” he asked me as he walked me to my car.

  “Hmmm.”

  “What?” He smiled.

  “I may be tempted to get one myself, and my condo association doesn’t allow them.”

  “We can share custody,” he teased.

  “So, you’ll do all the house training and I’ll just come over and play with it?”

  “Deal.”

  “You say that now, but wait until it pees on your new furniture.”

  “Maybe … I’ll hold off for now.”

  “When you’re ready, let me know. Rick knows some reputable breeders. Or I suppose since you’re chummy with my brother you can ask him yourself.”

  “Does that bother you?”

  “No, but you realize all the trouble you’re causing me with my momma, right?”

  He grinned knowingly. “Your mom does have excellent taste.”

  “Well, someone drank their ego juice today.”

  He broke out in laughter. “So you are hilarious.”

  “I told you.”

  “Are you ever going to give your mom what she wants?”

  I paused and looked into his sparkling, yet sincere, eyes. I was becoming quite fond of them. I blew out a deep breath. “I don’t know. Rick says someday I’ll find a guy who is a faster runner than me, but I think I need a tortoise, someone slow and steady, with the patience of Job. And even then, I’m not sure.” Why I told Jason things like that, I never knew. I had even surprised myself with the
admission that there might be a tiny window of hope for Momma’s fondest wish.

  Jason reached up and rested his hand lightly on my upper arm. “Your secret, and your running shoes, are safe with me.”

  “Thanks,” I said with some sarcasm.

  He grinned and slid his hand down my arm. “Thanks for meeting me for lunch.”

  “Thanks for asking. I hope you enjoy your date on Friday.”

  His smiled faded and he dropped his hand. “I’ll call you later for fashion tips.”

  I shook my head. “Okay, but I would recommend not rehashing any John Travolta-ish ‘Staying Alive’ outfits or moves.”

  “Darn. I guess I’ll have to put the polyester bell-bottoms back in the closet.”

  “I would keep them there permanently, if I were you.”

  “All right, my PRM, I’d better get back to work.” He kissed my cheek before opening my car door.

  “Design something pretty.” I got in my car.

  “Speaking of which, I have some approved plans to show you.”

  “Oooo, I can’t wait to see them.”

  “How about Saturday?”

  I nodded.

  “Perfect, you can help me shop for dishes and some other cooking things, and I’ll impress you with my design skills.”

  “You’re too much.”

  “See you Saturday.” He didn’t even wait for my response, he shut my door and patted the roof of my car before he walked—I would almost say strutted—off.

  As I drove back to work, I found myself grinning. Jason had that effect on me. It also got me thinking about tortoises, of all things. Maybe I could slowly work my way back to fully living and maybe, just maybe, to dating. It scared me to even think about opening the door to that possibility, but I was finding myself kind of craving male companionship. But I meant what I said, it was going to take a special kind of man to deal with me, because if I ever decided to try having a relationship, I could see myself having moments of backing off or pushing away. I had no doubt there would be plenty of those moments. I wasn’t sure there was anyone out there capable of putting up with me, myself included.

  Jason called me several times before he ever made it to his date on Friday. It was getting to the point where he was calling me more than Zander did. Zander’s excuse for his decline in phone calls was this secret project he was working on. Whatever that was.

  Jason and I rarely talked about Liz. I knew he wasn’t thrilled about their date. I kept suggesting to him that he propose a different location or activity, but he shrugged it off. I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings or he didn’t want to bother with it. I had a feeling I hadn’t chosen well. I know Jason said I did, but I had this nagging feeling Liz didn’t do it for him, and probably wasn’t going to.

  “Don’t eat all the butter brickle tonight,” Jason teased me as we talked on my drive over to Momma’s Friday night.

  “I’m definitely going back to two scoops. Are you ready for tonight?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “You know, sometimes second dates are where the real connection is made. She could totally set your world on fire tonight.”

  “Yeah …” He didn’t sound very enthusiastic.

  “Is that a skeptical yeah?”

  “I just find it interesting that you can be so optimistic, and even excited about the prospect of others finding love, and yet you stay away from it like the plague.”

  I paused for a moment. Jason, in true fashion, didn’t fill the silence; he let me gather my thoughts before I spoke. “Jason, I know I don’t make sense, but I guess it makes me happy to know that because of what happened to me, others get to benefit. It gives me hope to know that true, lasting love really exists, even if I never get to experience it.”

  “I wouldn’t count yourself out yet.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Really?”

  “Maybe,” I teetered.

  “I guess we’ll have to work with maybe.”

  I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I didn’t get the chance to ask him to elaborate.

  “Kenadie, I have to go. Say hello to your mom for me. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

  I found myself looking forward to that. I also found myself wishing Jason and Zander would show up at Shasta’s. I knew it would cause me a headache with Momma, but later that night, I felt their absence as we sat there.

  “Why so glum, sugar?” Adelaide noticed me staring down at my ice cream.

  “It’s been a long week.” I looked up to find all the biddies staring at me with concern in their eyes.

  “So where’s Jason?” Cissy asked.

  “He’s on a date.”

  Momma rolled her eyes so hard I thought they may have gotten stuck. She had already ranted about that fact during dinner. Cissy and Adelaide shook their heads in disapproval.

  “Are you going to see him again?” Adelaide asked.

  I tilted my head. “We are friends.”

  “She’s seeing him tomorrow,” Momma informed her friends.

  That seemed to make Cissy and Adelaide happy. I had been trying to avoid that. I wanted them to be happy, but not at my expense, especially because it wasn’t for the right reasons.

  “He’s such a nice man. And handsome. Those eyes of his.” Adelaide fanned herself.

  I had to grin. “Should I get you a cold drink?” I teased.

  “You do realize how fine that man is, right?” Cissy asked.

  “I’m not blind or dead. I can appreciate a man’s good looks without being involved with him.” I thought of the unrealistic crush I had on Hawaii Five-0’s main character. Talk about handsome, and some seriously beautiful eyes. I would have to say that Jason’s ranked right up there.

  Adelaide took my hands. “Oh, honey, you’re missing out.”

  “I’m trying to make some changes. I’m just not ready to open that door yet.”

  I realized too late that I had said too much. Momma’s eyes bulged out. “Did you say yet? Kennie, does this mean what I think it means?”

  I wanted to smack my head, or bang it against the wall. “Please don’t read anything into that.”

  Too late. She was already planning my wedding in her head, and I could tell the other ladies were mentally planning what they could do to help.

  Momma took my face in her hands and squeezed my cheeks. “First Rick, and now you, my prayers are being answered.”

  All of the biddies looked up as if to pay homage to God for this miracle, but what they didn’t realize was that it was anything but real, or miraculous. I was nowhere close to dating. I was only in the early stages of considering it for a possible future time.

  I turned to my ice cream and let the biddies have their moment. Nothing I could have said at that point would have mattered. Momma saw a glimmer of hope, and she was going to hold on to that for as long as she could … or forever.

  I went home that night with a massive headache, but that didn’t stop me from reading. I needed to escape, and admittedly I had a thing for the male protagonist. If only I could have relationships with fictional characters, ones where I could guarantee it would always work out, my life would be so much easier.

  I stayed up until two in the morning finishing the sci-fi thriller/romance. I was so taken in by it; I couldn’t fall asleep for another hour as I lay there and thought about it. I loved how the hero ended up being the maker of the books and he only showed himself to her because he was so enthralled by her and she needed his protection. I loved how strong and even stubborn the heroine was, and how, in the end, they saved each other. I made a mental note to check out other books by the author.

  I wished I could script out my own life. The big question was, how did I want it to play out? And, what did I really want? Was I brave enough to try?

  Chapter Nineteen

  “You were right.” Jason drove us to a nearby home goods store Saturday afternoon.

  “I was
? What about?”

  He glanced over and smiled at me. “I ended up having a great time last night.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I think Liz could tell the club wasn’t really my thing, so we ended up playing miniature golf and going out for ice cream.”

  “That sounds like fun. Did you get butter brickle?”

  “It wasn’t on the menu. I went with plain ol’ chocolate.”

  “I’m glad you had a good night.”

  “I owe it all to you.”

  “Yeah.” I turned toward the window with this sudden feeling of annoyance that I couldn’t place. I watched the rain splatter against the glass. It was storm season in Georgia, but like everyone else, we were out in it. We had so many severe storm warnings that never amounted to anything, that we Southerners probably didn’t heed them like we should have.

  “How was your night?” Jason drew me out of my thoughts of the weather and my own storm I felt brewing inside.

  “Great, really great,” I responded into the window.

  “That’s great.” I could hear the laughter in his voice.

  “I finished the book you loaned me. Remind me to grab it for you when you drop me off.”

  “What did you think of it?”

  “I loved it. Five stars, for sure. Thank you for loaning it to me.”

  His hand brushed my knee. “You’re welcome. I have a couple more of his books. I haven’t read them yet, but you’re more than welcome to borrow them.”

  “That’s okay. I already ordered a couple more of his titles online this morning.”

  “Even better. We can read them at the same time and then discuss them.”

  “You want to start a book club now?”

  “As long as we’re the only members.”

  “What about Liz?”

  “I don’t think she reads books unless they’re about dogs or have dogs in them.”

  I remembered Zander mentioning she was a little obsessive about her dog. I guess he was right, which wasn’t surprising; he was right a lot. He also mentioned in his notes that he thought she was still in love with her ex-husband. I wondered if that were true, and if that was why she selected the nothing serious category. “Maybe you should get a book about dogs.”

  “I don’t think so,” Jason responded.