Ahh, so is that what this 180 of hers is about? Interesting.
“I’ll drive you tonight since I’m going too.”
“What? Why? It’s ladies’ night.”
“You do know what that means, right?”
She blinked a few times. “Collin, may I remind you that just because I’m newly legal, it doesn’t mean I don’t understand bar lingo. Of course I know what it means. Special-price drinks for ladies.”
I nodded. “Do you know why bar owners run that special?” She cocked her hip and crossed her arms over her chest. “Because if ladies are there, men are there. If they had guys’ night, they’d lose money.”
Charlie’s lips twisted to the side. “Your point?”
“My point is, I’m driving.”
“Sally was right… you are old.”
“Yeah, that’s me. I’ll be ready as soon as I get my hearing aid.”
“Funny.” When I cupped my ear, she glowered at me and closed the bathroom door.
And I still didn’t know what we were having for dinner.
Chapter 12
Charlie
Embarrassment mixed with anger wasn’t a good look for me. My reddened cheeks proved that to be true. So many thoughts ran through my mind. The first being that he had heard me talking about my virginity with Sally. The second being that he was going to be at the same bar, most likely picking up women while I watched. The third and worst one of all of them (if that was even possible) was that I would be a fish out of water.
I had a feeling that even though I was twenty-one and legal to drink, I wouldn’t overindulge. I went to college, for Christ’s sake. It wasn’t as though I hadn’t had a beer or a spiked seltzer; it was just that I preferred to study and move on with my life. Going out sometimes just seemed to be a waste of time.
And as far as my virginity, well, that was a completely different issue. Blame it on some of the medical books I read about diseases. Trust me, that had been enough to turn me off from jumping into bed with any Tom, Dick, or Harry. Aside from that, I hadn’t gone out very often thanks to those medical books. And when I did, finding some random guy to sleep with hadn’t been a priority.
Unlike some of the girls I knew, I never thought of sex as something “fun to do” or a rite of passage that I needed to get over with. Rather, I thought of it as a bond between two people. A moment shared that involved feelings. When my mother gave me the birds-and-the-bees speech, she told me that my father was her first. Granted, I didn’t think they were married; she didn’t go into specifics, and I didn’t ask. What twelve-year-old wanted to know that? Not me. Although now that I’m an adult, it would be my guess that my mom wore white at her wedding by choice, not tradition.
Being an inexperienced twenty-one-year-old, I was starting to wish I had been more like those girls. Maybe if I had been, I’d be better equipped to deal with a man like Collin St. James. When I was younger, I would fantasize about him being the one kissing me after my prom or coming to my house to pick me up for a date, but that was all those were—adolescent fantasies.
Yet I was living in his house, working with him, and doing my best not to be completely mortified that he’d just seen my face swirl down the sink; and worse than that, he now knew I was a virgin. To Collin, that must have solidified the fact that I was too young for him. Still, I didn’t believe that to be true; nor did he deserve my attitude.
I closed my eyes and let out a few cleansing breaths before regrouping. Sophie and Cami were going to be at the bar soon, and I needed to finish getting ready even if my first attempt had been a complete and utter failure. This time, rather than try to use makeup as a filter of sorts, I went with the clean-and-simple look. I remoisturized my face and used a natural foundation just to give my skin a bit of a glow, a dab of blush, a swipe of mascara, and, for good measure, a little bit of lip color. My hair was straight and still looked decent despite my fingers nervously raking through it several times. Satisfied, I smiled at my reflection and went to get dressed.
Cami had picked out this super-cute outfit for me when we went shopping, so that was what I put on: simple black slim-fitting jeans, a periwinkle-blue short-sleeved sweater that hugged what curves I had, and, for comfort reasons, a pair of black Converse to finish it off. Maybe my choice of footwear wasn’t the obvious pairing for my outfit—and not what Cami had picked, but I needed to feel like myself, so sneaks it was. After a spritz of my favorite perfume, I stepped into the hallway and immediately smelled tomato sauce. Tentatively walking down the steps, I spotted Collin standing in the kitchen. Making my way toward him, he looked up and gave me a tight grin.
“I’m sorry,” we both said in unison, then laughed.
“I am, Charlie. I didn’t mean to hear your conversation. It was personal, and it was wrong of me to stand there as long as I did.”
Not knowing exactly how long that was didn’t make me feel much better, but I didn’t want to keep talking about the subject of my intact hymen. “I’m sorry you heard it and sorry that I took out my frustration on you. I just want to go out and have fun tonight. If I meet someone, then fine, but contrary to what your sister encourages me to do, having sex is not an end goal of mine this evening.” He grimaced. “Sorry, Sally is a bit of a wild child. You could blame yourself. Your antics paved the way. You know how she is with herWhat would Sally do?mindset,” I said with a smile.
“Yeah. My sister,” he touted with exasperation.
Testing the waters to see how deep it would be later, I breezily said, “Don’t let me being there tonight stop you from meeting someone. Since McNulty’s is your spot and all.”
Rather than comment, he tipped his chin toward the stool in front of the island. “Have a seat. I made spaghetti. We need to eat before we go anywhere.”
“You cooked?”
“Well, I poured sauce from a jar in a pan and boiled some water. Not sure that’s cooking.”