Rebound Envy (Rebound #2) (2 page)

I nod. "I do." There doesn't seem to be much else to say to that, even though he seems to be fishing for something.
 

He glances over to where Scott is still talking and mingling. "I'm surprised you're over here by yourself. Usually you like to mix and mingle. Tired of your boyfriend already?"

There's a little bite to his tone that I haven't heard from him before. "I've been mingling for a while already. My feet were hurting and I wanted to sit. Scott is enjoying himself and I saw no reason to drag him away." For some reason I've decided not to correct his assumption that Scott is more to me than a date for tonight.

Adam raises his eyebrows. "He looks like he takes longer to get ready than my sister. And she's a beauty queen."

I look at Scott's profile where he's standing in animated conversation. "He is very well groomed." I turn my gaze back to Adam. "I hadn't pegged you as the type to get jealous over another man's looks."

He laughs, but it sounds ugly and forced. Not the carefree, flirtatious laugh I'm used to from him. "I wouldn't say I was jealous of his looks, Amy."

I set the wine glass back on the table, not enjoying this exchange at all now. "Is there something you wanted, Adam? Or did you just come over to criticize my date?"

He studies my face. "Date? Not boyfriend?"

"I'm not sure why it matters." I stand and pick up the champagne flute. "You've been more than clear that you have no interest in either position."

With that parting shot I leave, heading back to Scott.

CHAPTER TWO

I heard you're going out with Scott again tonight.
 

It's a text from Jenna on Wednesday afternoon. We haven't had much chance to talk since her engagement party over the weekend. I'd just gotten home from school and pulled open the fridge to find a snack when my phone buzzed with the text alert.

Yup
. No need for more. Brevity is the soul of wit, after all.

I grab a yogurt and a spoon. Scott's picking me up in a couple hours for dinner, but I need a little something to hold me over until then. It's been a long time since I scarfed down my food while patrolling the lunch room at eleven o'clock.
 

Fine. You owe me details tomorrow.

I smile.
Deal. Call me after work.

After my encounter with Adam I'd spent the rest of Jenna's engagement party with Scott. Every so often I'd felt Adam watching me, and I'd caught his eye once or twice. I'd always looked away, paying attention to my date, not to him.
 

I couldn't tell you about any of the conversations I had the rest of the evening. I was so distracted and angry with Adam. What right did he have criticizing who I went out with? It's been months since the last time we went out and nothing ever happened. So I'm moving on.

Scott is nice and really hot. He walked me to my door Saturday night, asked me out for tonight, and gave me a goodnight kiss. It was a nice kiss. His lips were soft and warm against mine. It wasn't all that exciting—closed mouth, no tongue—but I'm hoping tonight we might progress further.

He knocks on my door right at six o'clock. Scott is Mr. Punctuality. He's been exactly on time both at the coffee shop where we met and when he picked me up for the engagement party on Saturday.
 

I grab my coat and my purse before answering the door. He brushes a kiss on my cheek in greeting. "Ready?"

"I just need to put my coat on, and then we can go."

He reaches for the black wool coat in my hand. "Allow me." He holds it open for me and I turn, slipping my arms into the sleeves.
 

Turning to face him again, I belt my coat and smile. "Thank you." He's quite the gentleman. I don't think a date's ever held my coat for me before.

The January air is chilly as we step out of my little house and head to Scott's car. True to form, he opens the car door for me and closes it after I get in.

He slides in and starts the car. The heater's on, which feels nice after the chill in the air. He looks at me before putting the car in gear. "Italian okay?"

"Italian's great."

At the restaurant we're seated right away, thanks to Scott's reservation. When he takes off his jacket, my mouth runs dry. The man looks like he could've stepped out of a J. Crew ad, wearing a soft gray sweater over a button down shirt paired with navy pants. He catches me checking him out and gives me a knowing smile as he sits down.
 

While I know I'm not unfortunate looking, next to him I feel frumpy and drab, despite my curve hugging sweater dress, leggings, and heeled ankle boots. He's just so perfect looking. It shouldn't even be allowed.

"Beth will be your server tonight. She'll be with you in a moment," the hostess informs us before walking away. It's a nice restaurant—small and intimate, with white tablecloths and low lighting. There's soft music playing in the background, not quite overpowered by the low hum of conversation from the other diners. It's not too crowded on a Wednesday evening, which means we should be able to hear each other easily.

The first part of the evening is taken up by looking over the menu and placing our orders. Once the waitress has come and gone, our ongoing silence is beginning to feel awkward. I cast about for some topic of conversation.

"It's pretty cold out this week." The weather. That's all I can come up with.

Scott nods. "Yeah. I heard it's supposed to be even colder next week."

"I heard that too. Brrr." Usually there's a bit of a thaw in mid-January in the Inland Northwest. Not this year, though. We had a bunch of snow in December, and now it's just cold.

Scott nods again. I take a drink of my wine to fill the silence and give me a chance to think of something more interesting that will take longer than two seconds to talk about.

"Jenna said that you just started a couple months ago?" Work. That's always safe, right?
 

He nods, taking a drink from his own glass of wine. "Mmhmm."
 

Try an open ended question. "How are you liking it so far?"

"It's good. I like the group I'm working with. I like numbers and it's interesting to do bookkeeping for lots of different companies."

"Does it ever get confusing working with so many different people?"

He shakes his head. "No. I have an organizational system in place so that I don't get things mixed up. I only work on one company at a time, and keep everything meticulously separated. I actually suggested my system to the manager of our office so that everyone can use it and increase our office's productivity."

I smile at that. "Wow. Good for you." Jenna was talking about the new system that her boss was forcing everyone to use. She wasn't quite as impressed with it as Scott seems to be. I wonder if she realizes he's the one behind that change. "Did you work as a contract bookkeeper at your last job?"

"No. I was a bookkeeper for a large textile manufacturing company. They had a lot of clients, both domestic and international. That's where I developed my system. It transferred over quite easily."

"Oh, how nice." I'm saved from further discussion of his exceptional organizational system by the arrival of our food.

Conversation lags while we eat. I really don't want to talk about his job anymore. Bookkeeping just isn't that interesting of a conversation topic. I love Jenna to death, but I can't even handle talking about her work with her for very long. Except for the stories she tells me about her clients and coworkers. Those are funny. And stories about people have always interested me. When she gets into detailed explanations of her actual work, though, my eyes tend to glaze over and I'm reduced to nodding and smiling.

"So, Jenna tells me you're a teacher?"

I nod, swallowing the bite of food in my mouth. "Yes. I teach high school English."
 

He raises his eyebrows. "High school? Wow. I assumed you taught elementary school."

"Really? No. I could never do elementary school. Don't get me wrong—I love kids of all ages, but I prefer the ones who can tie their own shoes and don't need help going to the bathroom."

"Do you handle all four years of high school, or just a couple?"
 

Wow, he's actually asking more about me. Most of our conversations have been focused on him. "Just a couple. I teach junior and senior English. I have a couple AP classes and the rest are regular sections."

"You must like to read a lot." He's sort of wrinkling his nose as he says that. What's with that face?

"Yeah. I've always loved to read."

He nods and makes a noncommittal sound in his throat. Before I can pursue that any further, the waitress reappears to check on us, and conversation moves on to other things.
 

At the end of the evening, Scott drives me home and walks me to my door. I unlock the door, cracking it open, before turning back to him. "Would you like to come in for a drink?"

He smiles, letting me see his perfect row of white teeth, and follows me in. I stop to hang up my coat on the coat rack and head for the kitchen to get the bottle of wine I opened yesterday evening and glasses.
 

When I come back into my cozy living room, Scott is standing and examining the bookshelves that occupy an entire wall. He's taken off his coat and draped it over the back of the armchair. He turns at the sound of my shoes on the wood floor.
 

It's strange having a man in my home. It's been quite a while since I've invited anyone in. Well, who's accepted anyway. I invited Adam in after our second date, but he declined and we didn't go out again.

I push away the stray thoughts of Adam and hand Scott the glass of wine. "It's a merlot. Not my usual favorite, but this one's really good. Brian makes me try all their new acquisitions."

Scott takes a sip. "You drink a lot of wine?"

I sit down on one end of the couch and laugh. "I wouldn't say a lot. I like to have a glass to relax at the end of a long day, or when I go out for dinner. I've learned a lot more about it and my tastes have evolved since Jenna started dating Brian. Which is kind of funny, since Jenna's still pretty clueless and just drinks whatever Brian tells her to."

Scott laughs with me about that. He's joined me on the couch and set his glass on the coffee table. He hasn't taken more than that first taste.

I gesture at his glass. "Do you not like the wine? I can get you something else."

He shakes his head. "No, it's fine. I'm fine. I just don't drink much alcohol. I've actually broken quite a few of my usual dietary rules tonight."

"You have dietary rules?"

"I stick to a fairly low carb diet and avoid alcohol and caffeine. I'd heard that Luigi's is a great place for a date, though, and figured I could bend the rules for a special evening."

He smiles at me, and I fight to keep the look of horror off my face. No carbs, no wine, and no caffeine? What a horrible way to live. Instead I try for polite interest. "Oh? How … interesting. Why's that?"

Scott laughs. "I know. You think it sounds awful. It's not that bad, really. I just like to stay in shape. Have you heard of CrossFit? I work out at the local box a few times a week and mostly follow their diet recommendations. I don't do full Paleo, but I try not to overindulge. I've already had a glass of wine tonight and the pasta with dinner." He shrugs.
 

I'm not sure what to say. I've heard of the Paleo diet, I mean who hasn't? But I'm not a big fan of anything that tells me not to eat entire food groups. I love ice cream too much to go dairy free without a pressing medical need. And chocolate and wine are how I self-medicate after a long week of dealing with high school students. I like to stay in shape, too. But that sounds a bit intense for my taste.

Scott leans in and kisses me, distracting me from my horror at his chosen diet and exercise regimen. He pulls back and takes the wine glass out of my hand, setting it on the coffee table next to his. Then he leans in and kisses me again, his lips opening against mine and his tongue tasting and teasing into my mouth. He tastes lightly of the wine he just drank with lingering hints of garlic from dinner.
 

Just as I'm starting to respond and thinking about where this might be heading, he pulls back. "I had a nice time tonight."

I smile. "Me too."

"Can I see you again? Are you free on Saturday?"

"Saturday's no good. Jenna and I are going dress shopping and other wedding planning. But I would like to see you again."

His shoulders droop a bit when I say no to Saturday, but he perks up at the last bit. "Would Friday work, then?"

"Friday's perfect."
 

He stands. "Great. I'll text you tomorrow with more details." He retrieves his coat from the armchair and I stand as well, a little surprised that our evening is ending so soon. The kiss we shared seemed promising, but now he's getting ready to go.

"Okay. That sounds good."

He presses a chaste kiss to my lips and heads for the door. I trail behind him, feeling a little stunned by everything.
 

"Goodnight, Amy. I'll see you Friday."

"Goodnight, Scott. See you then."

He gives me a little wave and then heads out the door. I close and lock it behind him. I was just getting used to having a man in my space again, and he's gone again within thirty minutes. Usually when I invite a man in, I expect him to stay a while.

I look at the clock. It's a little after nine, which doesn't seem that late to me. Maybe he has to get up early to go work out. He does seem to take that seriously, after all. Hopefully Friday will go a little better.

CHAPTER THREE

I'm back at The Barrel Room for the second time in a week. I haven't been here this often since early in Jenna and Brian's relationship when she would drag me along to hang out with her while Brian was working.

She's insisted that we meet this evening instead of just talking on the phone like we planned yesterday before my date with Scott. She wants to hear all about the date and squeeze in some wedding planning with me while we're at it.