“We had a great time.” After the annoying call from Jordan, I went back into the restaurant and apologized profusely to Cade for temporarily abandoning him. We ate our dinner and it was delicious. We went to the movies and were entertained. He took my hand as he walked me to my front door and he gave me a sweet, simple goodnight kiss before I slipped inside my apartment.
Confession time: I thought of Jordan when Cade kissed me. I dreamed again of Jordan that night. I threw myself into cleaning my apartment all day yesterday and fell into bed a little after nine o’clock, totally exhausted. I purposely wore myself out so I wouldn’t dream, but yeah. That didn’t work.
Had yet another dream about Jordan last night. A rather vivid one involving naked body parts. I woke up in a sweat, irritably turned on.
No way am I telling Lena any of this.
“I bet you did. I think he’s dreamy.” For the quickest moment, I think Lena’s talking about Jordan. But she’s not. Of course she’s not. “I like his hair.”
“He has nice hair,” I agree. There’s no denying Cade is attractive.
“And eyes. Dark brown eyes get me every time,” Lena continues with a sigh.
Wait a minute. “Are you crushing on Cade?”
“Me?” She rests a hand on her chest, her eyes wide. “No. Absolutely not.” She takes a giant bite out of her hamburger…maybe so she doesn’t have to say anything else?
Hmmm.
“Lena…” I draw out her name, sending her a look. I hope my suspicions aren’t true, because if they are, this makes me feel like crap. Maybe she’s been into Cade all along and she thinks I swiped him from her? If she did like him, I didn’t have a clue. Like not one clue whatsoever.
“Oh my God.” Lena buries her face in her hands, her voice muffled against her palms. “Please don’t make me say this.”
“I’m totally going to make you say it,” I tell her firmly, curiosity getting the better of me. I have to know. The thing I like about Lena is she’s always honest with me. We tell each other stuff straight up. “Come on.”
“Fine.” She drops her hands, her gaze meeting mine. “I’ve liked him from the very moment I saw him walk through the door, okay? He caught my eye, and I was totally interested. We started talking, I started flirting, he flirted a little bit back and then…he starts asking me about you.” The disappointment on her face is painfully obvious.
“Oh, Lena.” I feel terrible. Awful.
Especially since Cade isn’t on my mind at all. Instead, I’m consumed with thoughts of Jordan.
“He’s totally into you, and he just sees me as a friend.” She shrugs. “Guess I missed my chance.”
She’s obviously miserable, and I’m miserable too, because honestly? I’m not that into Cade. He’s kind. Funny. Good looking. Easy to talk to. I have nothing against him. He’s a perfectly nice guy. We had a good time on the date, but there weren’t really any sparks. Do I want to continue dating him? Can I imagine—having sex with him?
Um, that would be a no.
I’m about to tell her she can have Cade when my phone starts an incessant buzzing, rattling against the table where I left it. I glance at the screen to see it’s the same number Jordan texted and FaceTimed me from on Saturday night.
For real?
I ignore it, flipping my phone over so it rests screen down on the table.
“You going to get that?” Lena asks. We’re always worried we’re going to get called back into work before our lunch hour is through.
“It’s a spam caller. I’ve probably won another all-expenses paid vacation to Orlando.” Perfect excuse. We gripe to each other about those calls from Elizabeth at Hilton Vacations all the time.
“Are you lying to save my feelings, Amanda?” I’m about to respond, but she keeps talking. “Was it Cade? Is he wanting to hook up for a quickie during lunch? I won’t hold you back, you know. I’m all about the lunch break hookup.”
“No, God, Lena, it wasn’t Cade asking for a quickie. Just…” I lean across the table, peering at her. “Do you really have a thing for Cade?”
“Of course not.” She sits up a little straighter. “Not anymore.”
She’s lying. I can tell by the tone of her voice, her body language. “I never knew—”
“I never told you, so don’t feel guilty, okay? You have no reason to feel guilty,” Lena says quickly.
“It’s just that—”