Page 69 of Making Over Maris

Chapter Twelve

Sara fumed as she waited for Todd to pick her up for their date. For one thing, she was going on a date with Todd—the thing she’d sworn she’d never do again. But mostly she was furious at Jack.

What they’d shared had been amazing for her—but clearly only an appetizer for him. She’d known—known—he really wanted Jenny and that little scene in the meeting only proved her right.

She hated when her dismal expectations were validated.

Why couldn’t he have been…decent?

Oh, she knew he was decent. They’d never made promises. They’d never talked about expectations. It had never been real.

But fuck, she felt so used.

As though her mood wasn’t foul enough, Todd was late picking her up.

Her displeasure must have shown on her face because when he finally arrived, the first thing he said was, “God, you are mad, aren’t you?”

She glowered at him. “You’re late.”

He glanced at his watch. “Not too late.” He offered a slick smile, the one that used to always work.

It didn’t work.

He thrust a bouquet of roses at her. She took it but only because, hey, free roses. “I’ve missed you, baby,” he purred.

“Baby?”

He flinched at the tone of her voice. “Honey?”

Sara rolled her eyes. “You missed me?” She pulled a rose from the bouquet and brought it to her nose. Drew in its delicate scent.

Todd kicked the door shut. Dropped his voice an octave. “I have.”

He was gorgeous. Sandy-blond hair, surfer-dude tan, big sparkling blue eyes. Her heart should be pitter-patting all over the place. The winking dimples should have made her breathless by now. Her body should be weeping.

Not a bit of it.

Nothing.

A smile curled her lips.

For some reason he took this as encouragement. His eyes glowed. He sidled closer. But if he knew her better—if he knew her at all—he would have been afraid. Very afraid.

She stroked the rosebud. Slowly stripped off a petal. “You never called.”

He stilled as she let the petal flutter to the floor. And ripped off another. “I, uh… I told you, bab—um, sweetie. I was out of town.”

“Really?” Another petal bit the dust. And another. Todd shifted uncomfortably. “Where?”

“Huh? What?”

“Where? Where did you go? Just curious.” Another petal. Another. “I might want to visit this place sometime.”

“What?”

Sara finished with the first rosebud and pulled out another. “I might like to visit the only place on earth with no cell phone service. Or internet access. Or landlines. Or telegraphs.” Or freaking smoke signals.

“Sara, I—”