Pranked (63 page)

“
Y
ou really are old school
, aren’t you?” I said to Sarah, looking around at the faux-‘50s décor of the malt shop she’d chosen as our dining experience for the evening. Between this, my leather jacket, and my classic car, I might just burst into a rendition of
Grease Lightning
at any minute. “Man, I feel like I should be taking you to a sock hop.”

“I have no idea what any of that means,” Sarah said, hands clasped in front of herself. God, she looked so different out of that black, long-sleeved dress style she’d been wearing since I met her. “But we can eat somewhere else, if you’d like.”

I shook my head, looking her up and down. “No, darlin’. This is good.” And I gestured toward one of the booths near the window, letting her lead the way so I could watch the sway of her ass in the skirt she was wearing.

Sarah was still dressed in a way I considered modest, even though it was obviously scandalous to her. She was wearing a white, sleeveless blouse with pearl buttons up the front of it, only one of which was undone, the collar falling just at the hollow of her throat—and it was tucked into a blue and white, floral print pencil skirt with a small slit in the back to give her room to walk. On the way here, I’d heard the story about how Hannah had tried to force Sarah to wear heels, and how Sarah had chosen a pair of gold ballet flats instead, which she remarked were a lot more comfortable than her typical footwear, if less well-made. She was wearing makeup, too, though not a lot—except for her lips, which Hannah had painted a ruby red.

She looked… flawless. Modern. And to anyone who didn’t know any better, she probably passed for any other girl you might see in a shop like this. But I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was feeling out of place, like she was an outsider. An anachronism.

And she was holding her borrowed clutch purse—it matched her shoes—like someone might run by and steal it at any moment. Her damn knuckles were white. Christ, did this girl
ever
relax? Then again, given what happened at the fair, maybe that part was understandable. But no one is grabbing her here. Not with me sitting here, staring at her.

A waiter came by with our menus and asked what we wanted to drink. From the look on her face, you might’ve thought Sarah had been asked to come to the front of the class and answer a long division problem. She flipped through the menu, her eyes darting wildly over the items, even as our server rattled off the options the restaurant had. “Coke products,” he said. Like that meant anything to her.

“You like iced tea?” I asked her when her hands began to tremble. She nodded at me, wide-eyed, and I smiled at the waiter. “Sweet tea for the lady and a beer for me. Thanks.” After he’d left, I told her, “You’re gonna wanna try a milkshake later, though. Trust me on that.”

“Thank you,” Sarah said, blowing out a long, labored breath. She fanned herself with her purse and gazed out the window. “I’m sorry. I just… don’t really know how all this works.”

“I can see that,” I replied, glancing over my menu. “You want any help ordering, all you have to do is ask.” I let my gaze roam to her again. “You look gorgeous, by the way. In case I didn’t make that clear when I picked you up.”

Just like she had at Hannah’s apartment, Sarah blushed. The color her cheeks turned was so damn cute, some shade that lay right in between pink and red. “I’m… glad you think so,” she said, fussing with a strand of hair. Hannah had put it up in a loose bun. I liked it better down, but I had to admit, this style suited her.

“I know so,” I said, folding my arms on the table. “I’m not just saying it for shits and giggles. You look
really
nice in… what do you call them? English clothes?” She nodded. “You’re gonna have to get used to me telling you that you’re pretty, Sarah, because you are, and because I can’t help noticing whenever I’m with you.”

She shifted her gaze to her left. “Is that why people keep staring at me?” she whispered. “I thought maybe I’d done something wrong. Or that I looked ridiculous…”

Curious, I followed her line of sight. There were a few guys here at Johnny’s Diner tonight, some at the counter and a few scattered throughout the tables and booths. A lot of them were here with their dates, and yet all of them kept glancing at Sarah. A few outright stared and I felt something dark begin to burn in my chest, like my lungs and heart had become infested with hunks of smoldering coal. I didn’t like the way they were looking at her. Not one bit. I could see the hunger in their eyes, and it pissed me right the fuck off.

Normally I would have been proud of myself. There was nothing like escorting some beautiful girl through a crowd of men who had to watch and wonder how you got so damn lucky. But with Sarah, it was different. I didn’t know why, but the thought of some other man lusting after her, looking at her the way I did, had me grinding my teeth. I didn’t even realize I was halfway up out of my seat until she put her hand on me.

“Reid…”

I looked down at her. She twined her fingers through mine. A sudden calm passed over me and I sat back down, slowly, at our table. She said, “It’s okay. I’m here with you. Not with them.” And then she smiled at me reassuringly, putting an immediate halt to the withering glare I was inflicting on anyone who dared to so much as tilt their head in our direction.

“Yeah,” I muttered, “I know. But after last night…” I shrugged and leaned back against the plush upholstery. “Well, I think it’s just better to err on the side of caution, you know?”

Sarah frowned. “Do you really think it could happen again?” she asked me.

I shook my head firmly. “No. Not while I’m around.”

I wasn’t about to let what that fucker did yesterday ruin our day today, so I did my best to shrug it off and change the subject to something more befitting a date. I focused on convincing Sarah to order a double-bacon cheeseburger, French fries, and a chocolate milkshake, an All-American trifecta I could hardly believe she’d missed out on as a kid. Knowing the place she came from was so vastly different than the world I’d grown up in was still surreal to me, and I wasn’t sure how deep the rabbit hole truly went. Every word I said, I had to look at Sarah to make sure she understood. But instead of it being off-putting, I relished the opportunity to introduce her to all kinds of new experiences and concepts, and with each passing moment, she seemed a little more confident and at ease with me.

That was exactly what I wanted—for Sarah to let go of her inhibitions and just open up to me. I wanted to get to know the girl under all the rules and regulations she’d been led to believe would keep her safe. I knew there had to be something more to her than just the shy Amish babe. I could see it in her eyes whenever I taught her something new about my world—that spark. The one that told me she was inquisitive and intelligent and capable of so much more than anyone had ever given her credit for. I got the distinct impression that Sarah had been forced to adhere to “her place” for decades now, and that nobody had realized you can’t put everyone in a box.

It struck me that she didn’t belong with the people she’d grown up with. Not really. She didn’t fit with them, in all the right ways. But with me, in my arms? It was like a puzzle piece that had finally found its mate. The one place in all the world where the parts came together and made sense. I was thinking all of this… after only three days.

What was this girl doing to me? Why did I care so much? Where was the guy who’d committed to a shitty bet at her expense? Where was the Reid Brody who would love ‘em and leave ‘em and never look back? That guy never got attached, let alone so quickly. He would’ve had Sarah bent over by now, her skirt hiked up around her waist, his hips slamming into the backs of her pretty thighs. He would have gotten his dick wet and saturated with the virgin scent of her, and then he would have sauntered up to his brothers and threw his victory in their faces.

But that guy wasn’t me. At least, not now. No matter how badly I wanted it to be—no matter how simpler things would’ve been—I just couldn’t bring myself to not give a shit about Sarah.

“You like it?” I asked her as she took her first bite of the cheeseburger. Christ, she ate like a bird—tiny bites that made me wonder if she could even taste it—but I could tell by the way her eyes rolled back into her head that this was some kind of spiritual experience for her. Her first taste of cholesterol and grease.

“Oh, wow,” she moaned around a mouthful of cheese, bacon, bun, and ground beef. I grinned. “This is… incredible. I’ve never tasted anything like it!”

“Try the fries with some ketchup,” I urged her. I felt like I was living vicariously through her, enjoying the way everything was so new. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt like that; I missed the rush of joy and wonder that came with doing something totally and completely different from what you were used to. I’d blown through most extreme sports. Skydiving, BASE jumping, racing cars and bikes, skiing and snowboarding—you name it. The adrenaline rush was always there, but it never got better than your first time out. I’d spent a lot of time chasing that particular dragon.

It didn’t escape me that I’d been responsible for many of Sarah’s first times already. But there was one in particular I was aiming for. Whether I cared for her or not, I had a reputation to uphold. All my feelings meant was that it might not be a one-time thing. Especially if she chose not to return home.

I couldn’t let my brothers know that, though. They’d think I’d gone soft. I needed to nail her right away. The rest could fall into place later. This was going to be a balancing act, for sure.

Sarah was halfway done with her burger when I realized I hadn’t even touched my own plate. As I started in on triple-decker, she said, “Since I picked the restaurant, you should pick the movie. It’s only fair.”

“You sure?” I asked her. “It’s your first movie
ever
, right? Seems to me like you should choose.”

She laughed then, taking a sip from her long milkshake straw. Her lashes fluttered when she tasted that sweet chocolate. “What do I know about movies? I’ve never seen one before!”

“You have a point,” I conceded, considering what Sarah had told me. There was nothing out that I really wanted to see, but if there was a horror movie, that might be my ticket to intimacy. A little scare might make Sarah cling to me, might get her blood pumping, and if there was anything I’d learned thus far about Sarah, it was that she was very suggestible when she was a little scared.

And unlike the Ferris wheel, the movie theater would be a controlled location. No actual chance of somebody getting hurt. It was a perfect and devious plan. And if I played my cards right, there was a chance that Sarah wouldn’t want to sleep alone afterward.

Oh, yeah. This was good. Even though I was having second thoughts about making the bet in the first place, what’s done was done so I might as well win the damn thing—and all of a sudden I was feeling more confident than ever. Three days in and it was practically in the bag.

Until we actually got to the theater, anyway.

My choice in movie turned out to be a little bloodier than expected. I was loving it, of course—what can I say? I’m a guy—but the way Sarah was gripping my hand made me feel like I’d made a wrong move. Sure, she was all over me, hiding her pretty face in my jacket and squeezing my fingers so hard I thought they might break, but this wasn’t exactly what I’d thought it would be. Her face was so pale she looked like one of the walking dead up on the screen, and her eyes were so wide I was starting to fear they’d pop out of her head at any minute. About halfway through, she’d even stopped eating her popcorn and had shrunk back into her seat, eyes closed, breathing deeply.

“Hey,” I whispered into her ear. She jumped at the sound of my voice. “Sorry. Uh, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…”

“Maybe not,” she murmured, cringing as a jump scare, accompanied by the shrill keening of a violin, got the best of her. Groping for my hand, she found it and dug in her nails. “I’m so sorry, Reid. I just… I can’t do this.”

Shit.
Once again, I’d read Sarah all wrong, and instead of pulling her closer to me, I’d pushed her away. Goddammit… she was so unlike any woman I’d ever met. So delicate. So easily startled. I sighed, rubbing my face.

“It’s all right,” I said. “We’ll go do something else. Do you wanna—”

“I need air,” Sarah answered, standing up on wobbling knees. Muttering another apology, she hurried away from me and out into theater lobby, the door swinging loudly behind her.

For a moment, I didn’t follow her. I just slumped in my seat, my face in my hands, thinking long and hard. Why was this so difficult for me? Why was Sarah so damn hard to read? Trying to figure her out should’ve been easy—she had no idea what she wanted, after all. Maybe that was why I was having such a hard time, though. I was used to being with women who knew what they wanted, who just needed me to give them permission to ask for it—or beg, as the case might be. Sarah had no earthly idea what she liked and didn’t like, and so neither did I. The most I really, truly knew about her was that she liked the quiet life, and that for her, home was where you were surrounded by acres of land and not much else.

Which reminded me of something Ash and I had talked about just yesterday. A plan B, in case things here didn’t exactly work out. Or in case courting Sarah took a lot longer than I thought it would. I hadn’t thought it would come to that, and definitely not so soon. But it was becoming clear to me that I was going to have to execute a Hail Mary here, because I was running out of time with Sarah. And not just because of the bet, but because I knew that even an Amish girl’s patience would be wearing thin by now. We needed to do something she would enjoy before she only came to associate being with me with bad experiences… and this was my last hope.

Slowly, I stood up and ducked out of the theater. I was a man known for going to extremes… but this one seemed so much more daunting than all the others, even to me.

I found Sarah not in the lobby, but standing outside. I watched her through the glass doors. She was standing very still behind one of the columns, her hand over her heart, her eyes closed as if to shut out the entirety of the world around her. It must have seemed so big, so… overwhelming to her. I frowned and made my way outside.