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  “What’s the name of this one? This one has my vote,” I said, fanning the little strip of scented paper in front of my nose.

  “It’s by Tom Ford, we just got this fragrance in this week. Everyone in Paris and New York are absolutely raving about this scent,” said the woman behind the counter.

  “Thank you, give me just a moment to think it over,” said Jayce. He grabbed the bottle and turned it over in his hands for a few seconds. “Listen, there’s a guy to your left whose been checking you out since we came in here. I think you should casually move a little closer to him.”

  “What?” I hissed, turning around in a complete circle. Sure enough there was a very handsome gentleman with hazel eyes staring in our direction.

  Well, well, what do we have here?

  Our eyes met and he offered a friendly smile. His gaze flickered to Jayce then back at me before beckoning me to come over.

  “He wants me to come to him. What do I do?” I whispered through clenched teeth.

  “You get your cute little ass on over there,” he replied nudging me in the man’s direction.

  I walked over and smiled nervously. “Yes?” I asked.

  “My name is Damian,” he said.

  “Hello, Damian, my name is Brianna, but you can call me Bri,” I said with my smile widening. Just like Jayce, Damian’s smile was infectious.

  “You have such a beautiful smile,” he said. “I don’t want to be rude or step on any toes, that’s why I called you over to speak to you privately.”

  “Oh you’re not stepping on anybody’s toes, that guy over there isn’t my boyfriend. I’m single and open to meeting new people,” I explained eagerly … maybe a little too eagerly.

  “That’s nice,” he said, glancing over my shoulder. “But actually, I’m asking about your friend. Is he single?”

  What the fuck? Huh?

  “Him?” I asked, jerking my thumb in Jayce’s direction.

  “Yes … him. You’re very pretty, but I’m gay. You’re friend caught my eye and some guys act a little weird when you approach them and I didn’t want to cause a scene.”

  My eyes widened in shock. I walked over here to flirt with a gay man. That’s the icing on the cake for today.

  “He’s not gay,” I grumbled.

  “Oh,” he replied, with a hint of disappointment in his voice. “That’s too bad. Well, Bri, enjoy the rest of your day with that handsome specimen of a man.”

  He turned on his heels and walked out of the store. My feet were frozen in place like I was standing in cement. I didn’t even hear Jayce come up behind me.

  “What’s up, what happened?” he asked.

  “Um, he wasn’t interested in me,” I said.

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “Well … he wanted to know your relationship status,” I said with a chuckle.

  Jayce’s eyes bucked as he searched the crowd for the guy. “What?” he stammered. “That guy was gay? He didn’t look gay … are you sure?”

  I tossed my head back and laughed until my sides hurt. “How does a gay person look? Not all gay men walk around throwing glitter at everybody.”

  “But … but … ” he stuttered.

  “Don’t worry, I set him straight,” I said, trying to reassure him. “Er … um … I mean I set him as straight as could be expected.”

  “Oh, um … okay. I’m sorry, I thought he was checking you out, not me. I’m glad you told him I don’t swing that way. I have a cousin that would have been right up his alley though. Well anyway, can you give me a quick whiff and tell me if you still like the cologne. You know it tends to smell a little different once you put it on.”

  I expected him to extend his wrist, but he leaned down and turned his head instead. I inched a little too close and my lips grazed the side of his neck. A rush of heat immediately coursed through my veins. Not only did he look and smell good, but I just touched him … with my mouth.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled. “It still smells nice. I think you should get it.”

  “All right, thanks,” he said. He stood up and I caught the faint telltale signs of him blushing. “Well this is the last thing on my list of things to do. Did you have somewhere else you wanted to go?”

  “Nope,” I mumbled as I tried to store the close encounter away in my memory bank.

  “Cool. I had fun hanging with you today. We need to do it again sometime. And before I forget, I wanted to let you know I plan to start putting together your fitness chart later today after I see Vivianne,” he explained. “When you get home, grab a piece of fruit or eat some vegetables to hold you over until dinner. Tomorrow I’ll have everything a little more organized.”

  “Sounds good,” I replied.

  The ride home was quiet. We seemed to be lost in our own thoughts, I was thinking about his neck and he was probably thinking about Vivianne. I thanked him again for the clothes before heading inside. My plan started out with me helping him get Vivianne back, but my heart … or it could be my overactive imagination had plans for getting him for myself.

  I exhaled and toppled onto the bed. Hopefully my date tonight would be so awesome, it would make me forget all about Jayce.

  Yeah right, that’s wishful thinking.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I lounged around the rest of the afternoon waiting on the tech guy to call or text. Gram-Gram said she gave him my number, so what was the hold up? If he didn’t call soon, I was heading to dinner on my own. There was no sense in starving to death waiting on him. I paced the floor and wiped off the coffee table for the sixth time before my phone rang.

  “Hello?” greeted a whiny voice. “Is this Bri?”

  Please don’t let this be him … please don’t let this be him.

  “Yes it is. Who’s calling?”

  He sneezed a couple of times and cleared his throat. “I’m Shawn. We have a date tonight. Your grandmother gave me your address, so I’ll be there to pick you up in half an hour. Okay … bye.”

  Is this a joke?

  I looked at the phone just to verify the call had ended. Sure enough, the screen was black. Shawn was shaping up to be a weirdo already.

  Try to give him the benefit of the doubt, Bri. Don’t be so judgmental.

  I tried to convince myself to take it easy on the guy but damn. Half an hour to get ready? I needed at least that long to shower and brush my teeth. There was no way I’d get all of that done, get dressed, comb my hair, and attempt to apply makeup in half an hour. I ran around my room like a mad person in a race against the clock. Since I was so pressed for time, styling my hair wasn’t an option, so I settled on a simple bun at the nape of my neck. I didn’t have time for makeup either, but I tried to spruce up my appearance with lip gloss and cute earrings. At least my outfit was cute, maybe that would make up for the slacking in the other areas.

  A firm knock on the door officially informed me my time was up. I wiped away the beads of sweat off my nose and inhaled sharply before I pulled the door open.

  What fresh new hell is this? This can’t be Shawn.

  “Are you Bri?”

  I was at a loss for words as I released the breath I was holding with an audible whoosh. My head nodded on its own, and I struggled to keep my mouth from dropping open.

  “I’m Shawn. Are you ready to go?” he asked.

  I tried to mask the shock on my face, but I was confident I’d failed. Shawn was half the man Gram-Gram said he would be … literally. I’m five feet even, give or take an inch. So the fact that my date was able to look me straight in the eye let me know he was nowhere near six feet tall. This man was hobbit sized! He looked like an outdated high school nerd. Shawn’s T-shirt had the Mario Brother’s on it. I was a fan of a T-shirt for the right occasion, but this was supposed to be a date! He looked like the creepy neighborhood adult that only hung out with teenagers because they “understood him.”

  What the hell has Gram-Gram done to me?

  I closed the front door and locked it behind me.
r />   I’m going to make this a great night even if it kills me. And then later … without any witnesses around … I’m going to kill Gram-Gram.

  Shawn was in the car and waiting before I even had the chance to make it out down the walkway. I got into the car and immediately wanted to gag.

  What’s that smell? Did something die in here?

  I tried to discreetly cover my nose and mouth so the funk wouldn’t get into my body. “Where are we going tonight?” I asked in an attempt to make polite conversation.

  “My favorite place in the whole world, so prepare yourself to be amazed. It has great entertainment and tasty food,” he said, perking up.

  “Sounds great,” I muttered.

  I endured the rest of the smelly ride in silence. We pulled up at a building that looked abandoned. Shawn got out of the car and immediately headed for the dingy front doors. My eyes scanned the surroundings, trying to identify all the escape routes. I had my mace ready to go just in case shit hit the fan.

  I hope this little weirdo isn’t a serial killer or something.

  I got out of the car and practically ran into the building. At least it had a little bit of light shining from inside, unlike the pitch black void of the night we were in. The door creaked shut behind me and I immediately wanted to go back outside.

  He brought me to a fucking arcade?

  “Come on, let’s get a table,” he said.

  I followed him in a daze as I tried to convince my flight skills to kick in. My exercise plan was going to start early because I planned to run the hell out of here.

  “They have the best pizza in town,” he said. I wasn’t the least bit surprised to hear him actually sound excited to be here. As we sat waiting on the food to arrive, I tried to make small talk.

  “My Gram-Gram told me you’re a technical engineer,” I said, clasping my hands together nervously.

  Shawn pushed his glasses up on his face and snorted. “I just tell my grandmother that so she doesn’t get confused. I’m actually a professional gamer. She won’t understand if I tell her I play video games for a living,” he explained.

  She’s not the only one not understanding. A gamer? A video game playing hobbit … if he starts whispering about his precious ring … I’m leaving.

  Somewhere between the invention of the first gaming machine and his not so secret love of Pac-Man, I zoned out and started fantasizing about Jayce. Even though I barely grazed his skin for a split second, the feel of him was engraved into my mind. The memory of his warm smooth flesh caused an electric current to pulse between my thighs. I tried to recall the few instances he had his arms wrapped around me. The night he carried me to the bedroom would have been perfect if he had joined me. Shawn waved his hand in front of my face and I found myself getting instantly upset at having my daydream interrupted.

  “The food’s here,” he said, reaching for the greasy triangle.

  I’m sure Jayce would have a fit if he found out I’m eating this.

  I grabbed a slice and vowed to only eat one, but the cheese, bread, and marinara sauce did a happy dance in my mouth. Frodo was right about the pizza, but I certainly wouldn’t be coming to the sketchy part of town to get it.

  Shawn devoured three slices and quickly abandoned me at the table. After I finished eating my own slice, I had to talk myself out of eating another. I washed it all down with a glass of questionable water that left a tangy taste in my mouth, and searched for my date from hell. He was nothing like the geeks I saw on TV, those guys at least had some type of appeal to them. I felt like I was babysitting, and I didn’t like it one bit.

  I found Shawn in deep concentration at one of the old fashioned gaming machines. “Hey, are you having fun?” I asked sarcastically.

  The only response he offered was a grunt.

  Okayyyyyyyy.

  “Do you mind if I play?” I asked. I had no idea why I was trying so hard at that point.

  “Not right now,” he grumbled. “I’m on level thirty-two and I’m about to power up.”

  Excuse me? To hell with this, it’s time to go.

  I reached for my cell phone and did a quick search for a cab. “All right, Shawn, have a nice evening,” I said over my shoulder. I was one hundred percent sure he didn’t hear a word I’d said, but I officially stopped giving a damn.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I thought of several angry text messages to send Gram-Gram, but erased each one before hitting send. I wasn’t angry at her per se, I was angry I wasted my time and effort to go on a date that cared more about video games than life itself. If Shawn knew what was good for him, he’d lose my number and forget tonight ever happened. What a waste of a cute outfit.

  The pizza was another mistake I wished I could undo because my stomach was suffering from all of the grease. I practically ran to the bathroom. After a few minutes of nothing happening I decided to get undressed and lay down for a while. I curled up on the bed and hoped the pain would go away, but the cramps in my stomach had me writhing.

  Damn, do I have food poisoning?

  My phone was ringing, but I couldn’t find it. The chiming stopped for a moment and then started again.

  That has to be Kirsten. Nobody else calls back-to-back like that.

  I finally found my phone under a pile of clothes on the floor. As soon as I answered it, Kirsten immediately started talking.

  “Damn, Bri, we need to work out a new system for communication. Where are you? What are you doing?”

  “Hey, I’m home in bed … dying,” I groaned.

  “What? What’s wrong?” she asked.

  I wiped off a thin layer of sweat from my forehead and pulled my blanket up around my neck.

  “I think I have food poisoning from that whack ass date,” I mumbled.

  “Aww, I’m sorry you don’t feel good. Too bad I’m out of town until Friday. I would’ve come over,” she said. “Do you feel like talking about the date or should I call you back later?”

  I rolled over and curled up into a tight ball, bringing my knees up to my chest. “No, we can talk now. Hopefully talking will keep me from thinking about throwing up. Hold on just a sec,” I said.

  My line beeped again and I glanced at the phone to see Jayce’s name flashing across the screen, so I clicked over to answer.

  “Hello?” I moaned.

  “Oh hey, I’m just calling to see how things are going with your date. You sound like crap, is everything okay?” he asked. The concern in his voice was very sweet.

  “I think I have food poisoning,” I explained, kicking the blankets down to the end of the bed. “I’m home now, having chills, and my body can’t decide whether it wants to be hot or cold.”

  “Shit, do I need to come over?” he asked.

  “No,” I mumbled. “Hang on. I’m going to click you into my conversation with my best friend, Kirsten. That way I only have to tell this horrible story once.”

  I merged the calls and made sure everybody was still on the line. “Kirsten, I have Jayce on the line too,” I said. “Jayce, are you still there?”

  “Yep,” he replied. “Hello, Kirsten.”

  “Why hello,” she said, practically purring into the phone. “Bri has told me so much about you.”

  “Good things I hope,” he said with a laugh. “Did she tell you about my devilishly good looks?”

  Kirsten’s voice dropped a few octaves, “As a matter of fact … she did.”

  “So anyway,” I interrupted, trying to steer the conversation away from the current slippery slope of embarrassment. “My date was a pint-sized little weirdo. Gram-Gram said he was six feet tall, actually he couldn’t have been taller than five two.”

  I paused and allowed them to get done laughing. My hands groped around for my blanket so I could pull it up to my chest again.

  “Yeah, yeah … hardy har-har,” I said sarcastically.

  I tried to quickly tell them the rest of the details, because I suddenly felt the need to revisit the bathroom. The phone dropped
to the floor and I dove head first into the porcelain bowl. I heard my name being shouted through the phone, but I couldn’t respond.

  The violent heaving continued and brought tears to my eyes. I clutched my sides and leaned my head on my arm. My stomach gave me a short break before the heaving started again. I heard what sounded like the front door opening, but I was too weak to move. My heart thumped as the footsteps on the stairs got louder.

  Is this how it all ends? There’s a burglar in the house and I’m about to be murdered with my head in a toilet.

  I tilted my head so I could look into the eyes of my murderer.

  “Jayce,” I murmured.

  “Yeah, Kirsten told me where to find your spare key. I couldn’t leave you here alone throwing up everywhere,” he said, placing a cool wet towel on my forehead.

  “My robe,” I croaked. Under normal circumstances, I would be horrified for anyone to see me in my bra and panties. I was still slightly horrified, but the only thing I could think about was the stomach cramps. Jayce draped the terry cloth robe over my shoulders and stood next to me while I put it on.

  “Are you finished?” he asked gently.

  I nodded and closed my eyes. Shawn better hope I never saw him again because I was going to knock him the hell out for taking me to that shady looking place.

  “All right, let’s get you back into bed,” he announced. He helped me to my feet and scooped me up into his arms.

  I guess vomiting uncontrollably has its perks, I’m back in his arms again.

  The coolness of the sheets felt so comforting and relaxing. I exhaled loudly and rolled over to the edge of the bed. A garbage can appeared next to my face.

  “Thanks,” I groaned.

  Moments later the mattress shifted with Jayce’s weight as he got into the bed with me.

  “I’m just going to stick around until you fall asleep,” he said.