Dating by Design Series Box Set

by Jennifer Peel

  Nan looked me over. “You’re right. It’s palpable.”

  That was it. “We are—”

  “Let me guess,” Nan laughed patronizingly, “just friends. I’ve heard it from Kenadie and Meg. And look where they are now. Y’all just need to listen to the mommas—we know a thing or two.”

  “Amen.” My mom somehow gained a Southern accent all of a sudden.

  I almost dropped down on my knees and gave praise when the lights lowered, signaling it was showtime. Even better, Nan and Jack sat in front of us, separating the troublesome women temporarily.

  The man causing all the drama in my life walked out onto the stage to loud applause. The stage loved him, as did his clothes. Even from a distance, it was easy to see how perfectly snug his dress shirt and jeans fit him. His fine beard was back already, and I think I decided I liked the stubble over the clean-shaven.

  Mom squeezed my hand like him gracing us with his presence should be significant for me. I was doing my best to feel like it meant nothing. I wasn’t doing a good job. Feelings of being proud of him arose as he spoke about the journey he had taken with these kids and how much they had grown. And when I looked over at Skye, thoughts of wishing the three of us were more than friends filled me. I knew I would miss their presence when they left tomorrow. Almost as if a piece of me were leaving.

  I shook my head. Those were crazy thoughts.

  The performances were a semi-good distraction, albeit a little depressing. A couple of the monologues dealt with death, one with divorce, and one with infidelity. Thankfully, most of them were comedic in nature. There was quite a bit of talent up on the stage, and I wasn’t talking about Nick.

  I found it very cute when he came out and they all did a scene together where he played a lost blind man and each kid played a part in helping him find his way home. But the blind man was actually helping each of them to see. It was poignant.

  Once the performances were all over, there was a mass rush to the stage to greet the performers and Nick. Everyone around me did the same, except for Janelle; she took the seat next to me where I was observing. It was what I did.

  “You’ve been good for Skye,” she began.

  “I don’t know about that, but I’ve enjoyed getting to know her. I’ll miss her when she leaves tomorrow.”

  “You aren’t the only one.” She grinned and nodded in the direction of Liam.

  “Poor kid looks so nervous.”

  “He’s had a crush on her for a long time. But you didn’t hear that from me.” Janelle pretended to zip her lips.

  “I had a feeling.”

  “I don’t think Skye and Liam are the only crushes going on this summer.” Janelle wagged her eyebrows.

  “Oh, not you too.”

  She laughed while standing up. “I don’t blame you for being cautious, but I think you’ve been good for Nick too. See you later.” She started to walk off.

  I caught her before she took a few steps. “How’s it going with Preston?” He was the man she’d been paired with.

  She turned back my way with that smile you get with new infatuation. “I’m being cautious.” She winked and turned away.

  Cautious was good. Wasn’t it?

  After a good half hour, the auditorium began to empty and the man who should have caution tape plastered all over his body made his way to me.

  “You didn’t leave,” he sounded surprised as he approached. “I’ve been trying to make my way to you.”

  “You are admired, and my parents refused to go,” I teased.

  He threw himself in the chair next to me, while our family and friends below were all trying to pretend they weren’t watching us, but they were doing a horrible job of it. I tried to ignore them, instead fixating on Nick’s hand resting on my bare knee.

  “Thanks for coming, Kate.”

  “You’re welcome. Your students did a good job.”

  “They did.” His hand began to caress my knee.

  Suddenly it was getting warm.

  “Um . . . It’s getting late. You have an early flight, right?”

  “We do.” He squeezed my knee. “Kate . . .”

  “Yeah?” I turned to meet his eyes, which were poised to draw me in.

  His hand moved from my knee and tucked a tendril of hair behind my ear. He didn’t say anything for a moment, as if he was debating if he should speak or not. “I’m going to miss you.”

  Oh. Did that sound more than friendly to anyone else?

  My wildly beating heart said yes. My mouth said, “I’ll miss you too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  I laid my head on my propped-up hand, which rested on the table in front of me, holding back a yawn and my drifting thoughts. The doctor espousing new wave treatments for children and adolescents kept getting off topic, making me do the same. It was the same topic I’d been thinking about for days. Nick. I absentmindedly wrote his name on my notebook. Oh my gosh, what was wrong with me? I scribbled it out and sat up straight. I was an adult now. And we hadn’t talked in six days. I knew we wouldn’t. He was going into full writer mode, no distractions.

  At least I’d had contact with Skye. We had talked every night after I got back to my hotel room. Which was usually right after dinner. I hadn’t met anyone. Though I’d had dinner with a psychiatrist from London last night in the hotel restaurant. Loved the accent. Him, not so much. He drank like a fish and talked about his patients as if they were there for his entertainment. And, admittedly, I kept comparing him to Nick. Nick chewed with his mouth closed. And Nick didn’t laugh like a hyena. Nick rarely laughed, but when he did, it was deep and masculine. Nick would have paid the tab. Not that I expected Rupert to, but he had asked me to dinner. Nick asked questions about me; Rupert talked about his brilliance. Okay, Nick did that too. But all Rupert wanted to know was my hotel room number. Not happening.

  Skye was enjoying being home with her pool and friends, but she too was missing someone. Liam and she were texting, but he was getting ready to start at the university there, so he was busy. Skye wasn’t sure what that meant for them. Liam had yet to even hold her hand. I didn’t know what to tell her. I was as confused as anyone when it came to relationships. It was much easier for us to discuss the fictional one of Elondra and Kieran. They were currently locked in a dungeon together. Skye and I were both rooting for a reunion kiss. I would find out tonight when I picked it back up.

  Today was the last day of the conference. And it had been good. I picked up some new research to study in both of my jobs. Some interesting research about attraction and the key to successful relationships was discussed in one of the sessions yesterday. I picked up the presenter’s book they were selling after. I also was intrigued with some of the new cognitive therapy research and approaches that I could use in therapy sessions. I was even proud of myself for not only having dinner with Rupert, even though that was a bust, but I also ventured into LA with a group to have dinner and walk around two nights ago. I was trying to be less closed off.

  That said, I was looking forward to curling up in bed tonight with my dragon shapeshifter book. And maybe hearing from Nick. He said he would call tonight or tomorrow depending on how much he had written and on his meeting schedule. I knew I was crazy for anticipating that so much. Part of me thought I should text him and tell him I was renting a car to do the tourist thing, so we couldn’t see each other. That was the rational and probably right thing to do, but I didn’t want to.

  Inside, I was shaking my head at myself. I tried to focus back on the speaker. It was useless.

  After closing remarks, I decided room service and reading sounded divine. The introvert in me needed the downtime. And you never knew when someone might call, like my mom. She had called every day to see if Nick and I had seen each other. She was highly disappointed.

  I sat on my bed picking through the pecan chicken salad I’d ordered for dinner, wrapped in my silk robe, reading and doing my best not to check the time. If he was going to call, he was going
to call.

  At nine my phone buzzed. I took a breath before I picked it up to see who was calling. My heart leapt when I saw the name on my screen. I stared at it while it buzzed a couple more times. I didn’t want to seem eager to answer it. I had to remind myself that despite how blurred my personal feelings were at the moment, we also had a professional relationship that needed to be maintained, though I knew his call had nothing to do with Binary Search or my role as his relationship manager.

  This seemed different somehow, away from Atlanta and on his home turf. Away from those professional boundaries. But he was the name and face of Binary Search. I answered anyway.

  “Hello.” I did my best to keep any breathiness out of it.

  “Kate.” His voice wore my name too well.

  “No hello?” I could picture his pressed lips and arched brow.

  “See what six days without you has done to me?”

  “I see you are back to your ill-mannered self.”

  He didn’t disagree. No, it was much worse.

  “Hello, Kate.”

  It was like my name had been dipped in the deepest, richest dark chocolate. I wanted to dive into the chocolate fountain where it swirled.

  He was an actor, I told myself. He was trained to sound like he was the world’s best word chocolatier. I will not be tempted. I will not be tempted.

  “How’s Skye?” Not like I didn’t already know, but I was nervous and Skye was safe. Sweet, not sinful like her father.

  “She misses you.”

  “I miss her too.”

  “I can remedy that.”

  Why did part of me feel like he could fix so much more? “What do you have in mind?”

  “Would you like to join us at Universal Studios tomorrow?”

  “No,” I blurted without even thinking.

  He paused. “I thought your conference was over.” He sounded disappointed.

  I closed my eyes, embarrassed at my lack of finesse. “It is. It’s just . . . I can’t go to an amusement park with you.”

  “Let me guess—this is on your list of rules.”

  “It’s not a rule, per se, more like a guideline.”

  “Care to fill me in?”

  I threw myself back against the bed in my hotel room. How did I put this?

  “When you engage in thrill-seeking activities like riding roller coasters with, let’s say a friend, sometimes the rush of adrenaline you get when doing such activities may cause you to feel more for the other person than you might normally.”

  And I didn’t need any more help feeling things for him I shouldn’t.

  He did something he had rarely done in my presence. A low rumble of real laughter came through the phone. “Do you believe yourself in danger of such feelings for me?”

  “Of course not,” I stuttered while my heart pounded out what a liar I was.

  “Your concern lies with my well-being, then.”

  “No,” I eked out.

  “Then tell me, Kate, what are you afraid of?”

  Him. Most definitely him. “I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize Binary Search’s reputation.”

  “Right.” His disappointment came through loud and clear. “Lucky for you, I have meetings there all day tomorrow. It would just be you and Skye, as well as her friend Hensley, thrill seeking, as you put it.”

  “Oh.” Why didn’t he just say that in the first place?

  “Is it a date then? We can pick you up at nine. Where are you staying?”

  “I’m at the Marriott near the airport in Burbank. I think they have a shuttle that goes to Universal if it’s out of your way.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Okay. How’s your writing going?”

  “Well.”

  “No distractions?”

  “Just one.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You should be.”

  My cheeks burned. “How do you figure?”

  “I think you know.”

  I held my stomach.

  “Kate.”

  “Nick.”

  “I don’t need a roller coaster to produce a rush of adrenaline when I’m with you. Good night.”

  The adrenaline was rushing. I buried my head in my pillow. What had I gotten myself into?

  I didn’t sleep well and was up well before I needed to get ready thanks to the phone conversation with Nick and debating all night with myself about what I was doing. I knew we’d crossed a line last night. But we both knew we couldn’t act on it, right? He was my client, for goodness sake. And he was him and I was me. Safe in my rules. Lonely, but safe.

  I stared at myself in my hotel mirror. I wore a pale pink tank top with scalloped edges and casual shorts that showed off a lot of leg. It was supposed to be a warm day in the mid-80s and I knew we would be in the sun most of the day, so I wanted to dress accordingly. I had to say I was loving the California weather. Hot but not humid, and at night it cooled off. It wasn’t sweltering like Georgia in late August. I had thrown my hair up in a messy bun. I’d almost curled it but didn’t want to seem like I was trying too hard.

  By ten minutes to nine, I couldn’t take it anymore; I headed for the lobby to wait for Nick and Skye to arrive. The lobby’s furniture and décor were done in serene tones, but it wasn’t helping my nerves. I kept staring out the large double glass entrance doors to see if Nick had arrived. At five till the hour, Skye texted.

  Dad wanted me to tell you that we are going to be ten minutes late. Traffic is bad.

  I smiled at his thoughtfulness that not long ago didn’t seem to exist. See you soon.

  Can’t wait.

  Me either.

  I meant it too. I missed Skye and Nick. I tried to relax on one of the lobby couches, but it was no use. Nick Wells was picking me up. My twenty-year-old self was having her moment, and she wanted to lay down on the couch and kick her legs in the air. I stopped her before she could.

  At ten after the hour I walked outside, and within a minute, a 1966 Mustang convertible in springtime yellow pulled up with its top down carrying two people I was coming to really care for, along with a girl with striking blue hair and a nose ring, who I guessed was Hensley. I dug her style.

  The car suited Nick, and I was in love. With the car. Not him. Before I could ogle him too much, Skye jumped out of the passenger seat and ran around the car to hug me.

  I held her tight and kissed her blonde head. “Hey, pretty girl, I missed you.”

  “Me too.” She squeezed tighter. “I kept telling Dad we should have come sooner.”

  This girl owned my heart.

  Her dad pierced it. He stood waiting for Skye and me to end our embrace. As soon as she was in the backseat with her friend, Nick made his move.

  He didn’t hesitate to kiss my cheek. “You look good.”

  I missed those kisses and the way his facial hair rubbed against my face.

  “Thank you.” I sounded shy. “You do too.” And did he ever. He was dressed to impress in dark slacks and a blue dress shirt that played well with his eyes.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

  I threw my small purse around my shoulder and nodded.

  Nick did something he had never done before. He followed me to the passenger side and opened the door for me.

  I stood astonished. “What’s this?”

  His eyes took ahold of me. “The way it’s going to be between us from now on.”

  Oh.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  With Nick being who he was, we got super-secret access to the back lots of Universal Studios. It was there I got to meet Margo, his assistant, who I assumed was a lingerie model. I was wrong yet again. I mean, maybe she was at one time, but the elegant woman with silver hair that sparkled like a crown in the sun was at least in her late fifties, I would guess. And she was fully clothed in a conservative wraparound dress. She screamed propriety, and you could tell by the way she walked she was no-nonsense, even if she wore a warm smile.

  Margo,
carrying a designer looking bag, must have been waiting for us since she was almost to the car by the time we parked.

  “You’re running late, Nick.” She opened his door for him and immediately pulled out a gray tie that matched his outfit perfectly. It was like a song and dance watching them. She tied his tie for him while he introduced me.

  “Margo, this is Kate.”

  Margo peeked around Nick while still working on his tie. I was out of the car, but standing by the passenger side door. The girls had hopped out and were nearby me.

  Margo gave me an appraising look and smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you.” She turned her focus back to Nick. “You’re right,” she said to him.

  “I know,” he said cryptically.

  What did all that mean?

  I wasn’t sure if I should join Nick or stay by the girls, who were excitedly chatting about which rides to hit first. Harry Potter was on top of their list.

  Honestly, I wasn’t sure about a lot. The way Nick kept giving me heated stares on the drive over had me feeling like I should be reciting The Science Behind Why Good Girls Love Bad Boys, but I couldn’t remember a single thing I’d learned from it. I hadn’t even brought my copy with me. Maybe I should have packed it.

  While I contemplated my crisis at hand, Nick and Margo came around and met me. Margo started handing me VIP passes for the park and a credit card with Nick’s name on it.

  “You’re authorized to use this.” She was so matter-of-fact.

  I tried to hand the card back. “I don’t need this.”

  Margo wasn’t taking it; she kept on task. “The passes will allow you entrance onto any ride with express access to them. You can also eat in the VIP dining room.”

  I looked to Nick and tried to hand him his card.

  “Margo, will you give us a minute?”

  “You can have one minute; you and Simon need to prep.” She stepped away.

  Nick took her spot but he drew much closer than her.

  “I don’t want your credit card. I can pay my way.”

  His brittle smile appeared. “You are taking care of my daughter and Hensley today, so use it.”