“South City, hmm?” I could see the wheels turning in her head. “Employed I hope?”
“He works for the brewery. I’m not sure exactly what he does. We’ve never discussed it in detail.” But I was going to have to in order to keep Anna satisfied. I wrote myself a mental note.
“So what’s he like?” Anna leaned forward eagerly.
I wondered what I should say. What was Ollie like exactly? “He has a wonderful sense of humor and he loves to laugh. Not narcissistic, likes to try new things, loves taking float trips on the river. What else do you want to know?”
Anna sat back in her chair, her sharp brown eyes gauging my every move. “What does he look like?”
“He’s tall, six one or two, with brown hair and green eyes.”
“Facial hair?”
“Goatee.”
Jared cleared his throat. “You sound like you’re reciting a list of personal facts you read off a want ad.”
I froze.
Anna leaned forward, her gaze intent. “Where exactly did you meet Elliot Oliver?”
She had me right there and she knew it. I’d been hoping to avoid that question. See, I don’t lie. Not that I never have a chance to or never want to. I don’t do it because I have so many tells, I’m worse than a toddler playing poker. Lies just feel wrong. Something in the pit of my stomach twists up into a knot, and I start to feel nauseated. I’ve always been like that. Nobody rats me out like I do. And right then, I was hanging myself out to dry.
“C’mon Anna,” Jared chided softly. “Back off a little. It’s not like Megan belongs to some convict outreach program or something.”
“Don’t you start,” she told him. “You know half the players in the city. I shouldn’t have to explain to you why I’m being nosy.”
Jared slanted a sly look in my direction. “As if Anna Thompson needs an ironclad reason to be nosy.”
I passed him a grateful smile. He and Anna grew up together. Their moms were, and still are, best friends, so they were raised like brother and sister. It’s why they’ve never dated, and why he’s so good at distracting her by pushing her buttons. Unfortunately I knew that wasn’t going to work this time.
“Quit trying to change the subject, you two.” Anna narrowed her sharp brown gaze. “Where did you meet this guy, Megan?”
I sighed, giving into the inevitable. “Facebook.”
“What?”
Their collective horror actually drew attention from a few of the other people in Cheeky’s. I glanced around, throwing nervous smiles at them so they’d go back to their own thing and quit staring.
“You aren’t serious?” Anna demanded.
“Quit being so melodramatic,” I told her, my eyes busy watching my fingers peel the label from my beer bottle. “People have been using dating services for years. How is this any different?”
“Megan, it’s a lot easier for someone to lie about who and what they are on the Internet,” Jared said quietly.
I lifted my gaze and was surprised to see genuine concern in his blue eyes. I knew we were friends, but I hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from him. From Anna, certainly, but Jared was a guy and a serial dater. Surely he’d used every tactic in the book to find his dates.
“How did you meet him on Facebook?” Anna prodded. “Is he a friend of someone you know?”
“Yes.”
“Someone you know personally?” she clarified.
I shrugged. “A friend of a friend.”
“This is crazy, Megan!”
“It’s no different than a blind date.”
“A blind date is pre-screened!” Anna sat up and waved her hands in the air for emphasis.
“Do you have a lot in common?” Finally, a rational question from Jared.
I nodded at him. “We seem to.”
“Like what?” Anna demanded.
I struggled to answer. It wasn’t that simple. How do you explain to someone that a list of activities we both liked didn’t matter when there were so many other things we had in common. That was what had astounded me the most about Ollie to begin with. We’re both laid back and willing to try something new. We weren’t inclined to force our opinions on people and didn’t expect anything but respect in return for acceptance. How could I explain to my friends that the most important thing Ollie and I had in common was our outlook?
“It’s complicated,” I began hesitantly. “We have a lot of the same personality traits.”
“Maybe it just seems that way,” Jared offered realistically. “Sometimes what seems like a good match in a chat doesn’t pan out when you get real chemistry involved. It’s always easy to get along with someone when there’s a time delay in the conversation.”
I appreciated his point of view. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had those same thoughts a thousand times before. I mean, I’d started chatting on a daily basis with a virtual stranger. It was like falling in love with a television character. How did I know the whole thing wasn’t a figment of my imagination?
“I thought of that,” I admitted. “But when we talk on the phone it’s just like our chats. We can talk forever about nothing or everything and it doesn’t matter. I just like talking to him.” I paused, trying to put what I felt into words. “He listens to me.”
It sounded so simple, but it really wasn’t. If you’ve had this with another person, you can understand. If you haven’t, you won’t ever understand until it happens to you. It’s that one person you want to talk to no matter what. The one who maybe doesn’t always agree with you, but still manages to make you feel like a million bucks anyway.
Jared smiled at me, his full lips tilting up at the corners though I didn’t see the flash of perfect white teeth from his full, devastatingly handsome smile. I think he got it, even if Anna didn’t. That was sort of strange since his relationships typically had an abbreviated lifespan. I wondered if he’d ever had a real connection with someone, only to have it fade away over time. It was the one thing I was most afraid of with Ollie and the number one reason I’d resolved to take things slowly. I’d jumped in headfirst with Professor Jackass. There was no way I was going down that road again.
“Please tell me talking on the phone is all you’ve done,” Anna moaned. “What if this guy is a psycho axe murderer? We should check him out on casenet.com or something.”
I sucked in a big breath and held it. “He wants to meet.”
Anna snatched my hand, squeezing it until I thought my fingers might pop off. “Megan Myers, are you insane?”
I did a sort of noncommittal shake of my head. “I don’t know. I’m thinking about just doing it.”
“Megan…” Anna gasped.
“In a public place somewhere!” I shot back defensively. “I just want to know if this is a real connection or just some freak accident.”
“Meeting him in person will definitely answer the chemistry question,” Jared murmured. “But you have to remember that people can lie in person too.”
“Anyone can lie,” I told them bitterly. “I thought I knew Professor Jackass. Look how many lies he told.”
“You know what?” Anna announced, “This is a good thing! You’ll meet him and realize he’s some freak who looks like the Elephant Man or something.”
I looked at Jared and we both burst out laughing. It was so like Anna to put a slant on something that was to her advantage. It was how she operated. She eyeballed the two of us laughing like crazed hyenas and her face took on a distinctive pout, which made Jared and I laugh all the harder. No matter what life held for me, I was really thankful for my friends.
“You’re not helping her see reason, Jared,” Anna told him, reaching over to smack him on the back of his blonde head. “I could use some back up here.”
“Baby, you’re on your own,” he rumbled before lapsing into another chuckle.
As always, Jared’s Missouri drawl made my heart thud against my ribcage. It reminded me a little bit of Ollie’s distinctive voice, also guaranteed to melt you from the inside o
ut.
Just as that thought bounced through my head, my fully charged and full volume phone began to sing inside my purse. I didn’t even have to wonder who was calling. My face blushed red hot and my heart began to race. Why did this have to happen right here and right now?
“Are you going to answer that?” Jared asked, picking up his glass and taking a long swig of honey-colored beer.
I swallowed, wishing I didn’t feel as if I’d just run five miles on the treadmill. I was even sweating!
Anna gave me a penetrating stare before skinning her olives from their green plastic sword with her even white teeth.
I dug my iPhone from my purse and slid the touchscreen to answer. The happy Marimba jingle blasting at full volume told me exactly who it was, and because Anna and Jared knew that I had firm feelings about chipper, upbeat ringtones versus traditional ringers, they did too.
“Hey baby,” Ollie’s baritone rumbled in my ear. “I’m missin’ you.”
That new and yet familiar tone of his voice tickled my ear and sent a riot of chills all over my body. I’m not usually a big fan of pet names, but every time the man called me baby, it gave me that butterfly sensation in my stomach.
“Hey Ollie,” I said, trying to keep my voice somewhat normal. “What’s up?”
“I was thinking about what you said earlier, about meeting somewhere public. I was thinking over a couple of possibilities, but I want you to be the one to make a decision. I just want you to feel good about it. If you don’t want to do this yet, just tell me.”
My heart swelled and I stopped worrying about my audience. That was one of the things I liked best about Ollie. He was the antithesis of pushy about our relationship. I smiled into the phone, more than ready to make this decision. “I’m ready to do this. Just tell me where. You know my schedule is more flexible than yours.”
“Okay, then how about we meet tomorrow for breakfast at that café like we talked about earlier? It’s pretty much halfway between work for both of us.”
The butterflies in my belly exploded like the Fourth of July. “I’ll be there.”
He chuckled nervously. “I feel like a teenager again. I’m afraid I’ll get tongue tied and you’ll think I’m an idiot.”
“I feel the exact same way. We’ll probably sit and stare for half an hour, and that’s okay. One step at a time, right?”
I could practically hear him smile into the phone. “That’s exactly right. Listen, I know you’re out with friends tonight, so I’ll let you go. I miss you, baby, and I can’t wait to meet you in person.”
“Me too,” I murmured, hanging up while trying and failing to suppress my gigantic grin.
I was going to meet Ollie! Finally after three weeks of Facebook chatting and phone conversations, I was going to meet the man who seemed almost too perfect for me. It was wonderful and horrible and scary and exciting all at the same time. I wasn’t completely deluded. I knew that I could be walking into a total disaster, but something inside me knew I had to try it or I’d always regret the not knowing.
Putting my phone down was a little like waking up from dream with a bucket of cold water. Anna and Jared were both staring at me like they thought I needed to be locked up in a padded room.
“You already made plans to meet this guy?” Anna said through her tight-lipped expression. “You weren’t going to mention this to us until you’d already met him in person?”
That had been my plan exactly. But I didn’t figure it was wise to tell her that. “It just happened that way.”
Anna pounced. “You didn’t wonder if maybe he was luring you there for his own reasons?”
She made it sound like Ollie was some weird Internet predator. It made me angry. She didn’t know him. She’d never even spoken to him! “I knew you’d overreact, Anna. I figured I would meet him first, that way if it didn’t work out for some reason you’d never know. Then I wouldn’t be stuck having this conversation.”
Whatever Anna was going to say next never made it out of her mouth. Jared reached over and clamped his hand on her shoulder. He shook his head once and then turned his keen blue gaze toward me. “Look Megan, Anna isn’t trying to be bitchy here, okay? We’re your friends. We’re just trying to look out for you. It’s what friends do.”
I relented a little. I knew he was right. They didn’t know Ollie from Satan. They hadn’t connected with him like I had. I couldn’t expect them to understand. I sighed, folded my hands on the tabletop and wondered what to do next. I hated feeling torn like this. Anna and Jared were my best friends. I never would have gotten through my breakup with Professor Jackass without them. Even before that, Anna had always been there for me.
Anna had started out as my real estate agent. I’d gotten her name through a mutual friend who’d sort of drifted out of our lives since introducing us. But we’d clicked while looking for my townhouse and just never stopped calling each other. We’re a good balance. She’s the extrovert, I’m the introvert. She won’t let me be a hermit, and I’m not afraid to tell her when she starts to turn into a pushy, over-functioning control freak.
“Where and when?” Anna asked quietly, the pushiness receding into genuine concern.
“That cafe about three blocks down from the gym at nine a.m.”
Anna caught and held my eyes. “I’m going with you.”
“What? No way!”
Hurt vied with determination for control of her features. Then I saw her relent. She knew it wasn’t personal. I just refused to take the chance that she wouldn’t interfere, and she knew she couldn’t guarantee that she’d keep her mouth shut.
“Fine. Jared will go.”
Jared and I stared at each other, both of us surprised by the suggestion. I warred with the idea of having the most attractive man I knew witness my very first meeting with Ollie, but my good sense chimed in with a reminder about basic safety and the buddy system.
“All right,” I finally agreed. “But he has to sit across the room and he can’t make it obvious that he’s watching me.”
“Fine,” Anna agreed. “But if he thinks the guy is a total perv, he’s going to kick his ass.”
“Fine,” I said with a nod.
“And no leaving to go somewhere else with him, understand?”
I rolled my eyes. “That sort of defeats the purpose of meeting in a public place.”
“And if he suggests you head for the parking lot to take a ride in his car or get a cheap motel or—”
“Or get in his spaceship,” I finished with a grin. “Yeah, I get it!”
Jared stood abruptly. “You two are impossible, and I still have paperwork to finish tonight.”
Anna glared up at him. “You’ll be there, right? You know which cafe she’s talking about, don’t you? It’s the one right down the street from your gym.”
He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’m not an idiot, Anna, and yes,” he glanced over at me, his gaze hooded. “I’ll be there.”
I offered him a hesitant smile, but the expression on his face gave me a weird jolt in my midsection. Was he really that worried about me? Why? Did he have no faith whatsoever in my judgment?
“See you tomorrow,” he murmured, leaning down and brushing his lips over my forehead.
As always, his scent enveloped my senses in a whirlwind of awareness. I suspected he had that affect on everyone. There’s something very strong and certain about Jared Walker that makes the feminine portion of my brain start thinking about long-term relationships, babies, and forever. But isn’t the essence of what makes a player effective the ability to tweak a woman’s thoughts and emotions and then use those very things to accomplish some secret guy agenda that generally involves getting into our pants?
“Is he dating anyone right now?” I asked curiously. “I don’t remember seeing him with anyone for awhile.”
Anna finished off her martini as we watched Jared push through the front door of Cheeky’s. “Jared has his own issues, Megan. But we’re not talking about Jared
tonight.”
I sighed. “Do we really have to do this? I’m getting tired.”
“You told me you never wanted to date again after Professor Jackass,” she reminded me. “I thought I was going to have to drag you kicking and screaming out of that hermit hole of yours. What happened?”
I shrugged. What had happened? “I got lonely I guess.”
“Keep going.”
“I’m turning thirty-five?”
“And?”
“And nothing, Anna. That’s it. I had a plan. You know how I am about my plans. I’ve been living all alone in my house for long enough. I want to share my life with someone special. I think Ollie is that someone.”
It was her turn to sigh. “Just don’t jump into something without looking first, okay? It always feels great in the beginning. That’s because you don’t have to forgive all of those little crappy habits that drive people crazy.”
“You haven’t said anything that isn’t a risk with any new relationship,” I pointed out.
“But it’s worse with this kind of a relationship. You guys are already too close, but it’s the kind of close that hasn’t required anyone to make any sort of compromise. How easy is it to be forgiving when it’s totally impersonal? When there’s no real risk?”
“I thought you’d be happy for me, Anna,” I ventured softly.
She shot me one of her frank, assessing looks. The ones that make other real estate agents and mortgage brokers run for cover. “No, you didn’t. Or you would’ve told me the minute you met him.”
Chapter Two
My general response to nervousness is over-preparation, and my first date with Ollie was no exception. I started plowing through my wardrobe at about six a.m. and went through every possible outfit twice before settling on my favorite pair of worn, low-rise blue jeans. I donned a long sleeved gray shirt because there was still a damp spring chill in the air and then layered my favorite short sleeved dark green tee over that because green is lucky. After that I stepped into a pair of thick-soled Docs and grabbed my keys.
I could have dressed up, but the only time I do that is when I meet new clients for the first time or when Jared, Anna, and I go someplace special. I’m not comfortable in dressy clothes. Anna’s the one with the great fashion sense. I prefer nice earth tones and simple clothing you can live in. Like I already said, I’m a big girl, big boned, solid, whatever you want to call it, but I’m happy with it. Sure, sometimes I get a little miffed when some twiggy bimbo makes a comment at the gym, but at least I don’t have to wear a training bra and buy underwear that makes up for the lack of an ass. So even though my clothes aren’t what most people would call sexy, I’m not afraid to wear a pair of snug jeans and a fitted T-shirt either.
Mr. Wonderful Lies Page 2
