More Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories (The Flirts! Short Stories Collections) (12 page)

She dashed home and took notes, but she didn’t have enough yet to cobble together a full proposal. The publisher was going to have to relax their deadline. Would they cancel the deal instead? She called her agent with the news.

“They’re not going to like that,” Miriam said after Diana told her.

“I’m working on it,” Diana said. “But the idea isn’t fully fleshed out yet.”

“And you’ve been out there? Going out with nasty men?” Diana could swear she heard Miriam smoking over the phone.

“I’ve had plenty of dating duds. I just need some more time.” Why couldn’t she make this work? What was missing?

“Okay. Keep me updated.” Miriam hung up sounding very unpleased.

***

After that, she ignored another phone call from her mother, because she was sure to ask about the book and her blind date and Diana didn’t feel like talking about either of those things. It seemed like a good weekend for sulking, but she had tickets to the Daffodil Ball. She was a longtime supporter and didn’t want to disappoint the organizers. When she bought two tickets a month ago she’d been hopeful that she’d have someone to bring, but here she was still dateless.

So, she called her brother. They’d have to get over this sometime, plus he was always up for a party and free booze. He’d often stood in at such events when she needed a stand-in date. “Hey, Matt. I’ve got a charity event this weekend. The Daffodil Ball. Want to come?”

He was quiet for a moment. “I think we need some time apart.”

“What?”

“You weren’t wearing panties, Diana. For a date. With me. Your brother.”

“I know. I was there, too.”

“You sent me a picture of….”

“I told you not to look! Matt, it was all a big misunderstanding!”

“Give me space. Give me time to heal.” And he hung up.

“Give me a break!” Diana shouted at the phone.

***

Saturday night, she stared in her closet. Her dating research was becoming exhausting. Since she’d decided to take a night off from meeting bad men, and she didn’t have the energy that night to deal with the attention a tight evening gown would bring, she reached for her navy ball gown and wrap, the old, conservative standby. She skipped the eyeshadow, opted for simple earrings, and pulled her hair up, fastening her bangs to the side with a rhinestone barrette.
You’re a barrette girl and you know it
.

When she stepped into the ballroom, she scanned the crowd and saw all the familiar faces that always came to these events. That included a few old boyfriends. When one spotted her, she gave a friendly wave and scooted off to the ladies room. On paper, the two of them would be perfect. No doubt he’d want another chance so he could round out his lifetime achievements to finally include a wife and family.
No thanks
. She hid out for a while, and then decided she needed a drink.

As she left the bathroom, she bumped into a man who looked familiar.

“Don’t I know you?” he asked.

Her mind spun until it landed on that night in the bar when she met Eric and his brother. The hot one she’d brushed off. The one she’d run past after the disaster date with her brother. “I don’t believe so,” she lied. “But it’s never too late. I’m Diana.” She held out her hand.

He shook it staring at her. “I’m Toby. I swear we’ve met.”

“Perhaps at one of these events.”

“Perhaps.”

He stared at her with an amused smile. “Are you here with anyone?”

She tipped up her chin and arched a brow. “I’m not. And you?”

“No. But my ex keeps chasing me down. Some people just don’t understand the concept of good-bye.”

“I know what you mean. So, you need some help deflecting her?”

“I thought so.” He took a step closer. “But now what I really need is to get to know you better.”

She stepped back, forcing a smile and trying not to picture how this was going to end a year from now; he was the type she always fell for. It seemed she wasn’t destined to make her mom’s professional dreams for her come true or her own dreams of a family. But, seeing as how she had no other options at the moment, she said, “That would be nice.” She offered her arm so he could escort her to a table where they’d eat food that aspired to be more, and listen to an emcee talk far too long, and laugh at jokes that were only passably funny.

He pulled back. “Oh, no. I don’t want to go back in there.”

“Excuse me?”

He unleashed a wicked grin. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Because of your ex?”

“Because I can’t get to know you if we’re making polite conversation with the mayor. Or whoever we’re stuck at the table with.”

“But we haven’t eaten.”

“I know a few places.” He grabbed her hand and whisked her out of the ballroom, then down the stairs.

She stepped out into the night air and looked up at him, the wind loosening a few strands of her hair. “Who are you?”

“I told you, my name’s Toby.”

“Toby who?” she asked.

He reached for her hand and kissed it. “Let’s just get to know each other before we give last names or trade resumes.”

She caught her breath. “Sounds good to me.”

“Great. Now let’s go eat.” He led her down the street and they looked up at the moon and talked about the joys of spring versus the delightful crispness of fall. They discussed favorite books and places they longed to travel. Diana thought she might be in love even before they got to dinner, wherever that might be.

He stopped in front of a cart on the corner of the street, steam rolling off the grill and the delicious smell of cooking meat filling the air. “Welcome to my favorite hotdog cart in the whole city.”

Diana covered her mouth and laughed. “This is definitely an upgrade from whatever they’re serving back at the ball.”

They each ordered a footlong with everything, and sat on a bench to enjoy their feast. “I remember roasting hotdogs on the beach down on the Cape when I was a kid,” Diana said. “It’s not going to taste right without a few s’mores to follow it up.”

“I have yet to see a s’more cart downtown. But that would be an interesting venture,” Toby said. “Did you spend your summers on the Cape?”

She looked down, folding the paper hot dog holder into a neat square. “For a few summers we did.” Until her father had left. Once the divorce finally went through, her father sold the house. “Now whenever I see a bonfire on the beach, I stay away, saying the smoke bothers me. But it’s really so no one will see me crying. The happiest days of my childhood were spent down there, before the divorce.” She looked up at him. “That’s getting too personal for tonight, I suppose.”

“No, it’s not. I imagine we’ve all been banged up a bit by this point in our lives. And I’m sorry you have, too. Tell you what. We’ll go up to Maine this summer instead, and roast hotdogs and s’mores. The Cape’s too crowded, anyway.”

“Like I needed more reasons to fall for you,” Diana said.

Toby stared at her. “So you’re feeling the same thing, too?”

“Sometimes, if she’s very lucky, a girl knows what she wants.” Damn, if she were one of her clients she would’ve told herself to slow down. Way down.

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and brushed his lips across her forehead. “Why haven’t I met you sooner?” He took her hand, and then stood up. “Come. Let’s walk. I need to know more about you. Were you more of a shell collector or sand castle builder at the beach?”

“Both. I collected shells to decorate my castles.”

He laughed, and squeezed her hand. “We only went to the Cape a few times. We certainly didn’t have a house there.”

“I bet we would’ve had fun playing together as kids,” she said, leaning into him.

“Or maybe I would’ve been awful to you, to hide what I’m sure would’ve been a secret crush. I probably would’ve thrown sand at you and kicked over your castles.”

“I would’ve seen right through it. I had good instincts even when I was a kid.”

He laughed, and tightened his grip on her hand. They strolled the streets and talked for hours, then stopped for coffee and talked some more.

***

Toby couldn’t sleep when he got home, even though it was three in the morning. It was thrilling to have connected with such a beautiful woman without knowing the most basic things about her. What did she do for a living? Had she ever been married? All he knew was he had to see her again.

After two more dates without revealing their most basic background information, Toby decided it was time to lay everything on the table. “Let me make you dinner,” he said over the phone. “It’s time we talked.”

“So, you’re ready for that?” Diana asked, her husky voice over the phone stirring something inside him. “Sounds like a good idea if we’re going to move forward.”

“We are going to move forward. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

Diana gave him her address and made plans to meet him in the lobby.

How had he wasted so much time with so many wrong women? He closed his eyes, smiling.
She’s the one. I know it
.

***

I can’t get into a serious relationship right now
, she said to herself. Research for the book had to come first. Hard to do when she’s dating a great guy while her task was meant to be dating losers. What was she supposed to do? She didn’t have enough for the book, and this past week with Toby—well, she just couldn’t include Toby in the book. There had to be a solution. Maybe Toby could help her figure it out.

She slipped into one of her conservative outfits, relieved she no longer had to wear skirts and shirts that left her perpetually chilly, and hurried down to the lobby. Would her heart ever stop pounding?

Toby was there, right on time. He rushed over to the elevator and barely gave her chance to step off before he was kissing her, far longer than she usually allowed in public. He nudged his nose against her ear. “I can’t wait to get to know everything about you,” he whispered, his breath warm and inviting.

She slid her arms around his. “Me, too. I have so many questions for you.”

He led her outside to a waiting Mercedes limo. She paused. “You didn’t have to arrange this.”

He suppressed a grin. “I didn’t. This is my car and driver.”

“Oh.” She blinked and finally ducked into the car when Toby placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her along.

They sat down and the car zoomed away. “I wasn’t expecting this. Who are you?” she asked.

“Toby Carter.”

She blinked. “One of those Carters?” He was one of her old client Aubrey’s brothers.

“Yes, one of those Carters. Maybe you understand now why I didn’t want to tell you at first.”

She looked out the window and twisted her hands in her lap. “It was horrible that the press made such a big deal of the inheritance your mother left when she died.”

“Mom left some of the money to a charity, and hoping to get more publicity for their cause, they released the story about the teacher who had secretly stashed away a fortune.” He sighed. “Despite what you might think, it hasn’t been easy.” He reached for her hand. “Does that change anything for you?”

She shook her head.

“Good.” He smiled and kissed the side of her head. “And what about you, Diana? Tell me about you.”

She hadn’t even thought of where to begin. She laughed. “I feel like we’re on our first date again.”

He grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “They’ve all felt like first dates.”

“I know.” Closing her eyes, she sighed. He was perfect. She’d been right. “Well, let’s see, what can I tell you about me. I’m Diana Hart, and until recently, I was a relationship therapist.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. And now?”

“I’m writing books. Relationship books.”

“Not about me, I hope.” He chuckled.

She shook her head. “No. In fact, I’ve been purposely dating the wrong men to write about the disastrous results.”

He leaned back. “And I’m one of those men?”

She laughed. “Absolutely not. Your brother was, though. That’s where you know me from. Dina from the The Brownstone?”

He slapped his thigh. “You picked my brother, Eric, over me.”

She bit her lip, thinking. “And my brother, too.”

“What?”

She shook her head. “Never mind. You don’t want to know. I also saw you one night out on the sidewalk. Both times I wanted to talk with you. But I couldn’t.”

“Because of the book,” Toby said, with a hardness in his voice.

“That’s right.”

Toby ran his hand through his hair. “Are you going to stop working on the book now that we’ve met?”

She paused. “I don’t think I can. I signed a contract. I need to finish the proposal.”

“Contracts can be broken.”

“But it’s my new career. I’ve got to do something now that I’ve quit therapy.”

Toby slumped back and sighed. “Of course I was attracted to you. I seem to gravitate toward women who are hyper-focused on their career.”

She put a hand on her hip. “I’m hardly hyper-focused.”

“You’re purposely dating men you don’t like so you can write about it.”

It didn’t sound pretty when he put it that way. “I’d think you’d appreciate a woman who wants to make her own way.”

He softened his voice. “Diana, I want someone who thinks I’m more important than a job. I’ve never been something more than an accessory or a trophy to anyone. I want to be someone’s everything. Is that so much to ask?”

She perched on the edge of her seat and looked out the window. “It’s scary. That’s what my mom had with my dad. He was her everything, and it just crumbled apart leaving me and my mom with a hell of a lot of pieces to pick up. I grew up learning to depend on myself. A man would just be…”

“Something extra.” He nodded. “I know. It’s why every relationship of mine has ended.”

Diana smoothed her hands down her skirt and took a deep breath. “I guess we were smart keeping all these details to ourselves for a few dates.”

Toby’s sigh was far too long and sad. “I’ve been in too many relationships that involved me, the woman and her career. I can’t do it again.”

“Are you saying if I finish this book, we can’t be together?”