Truth or Date by Susan Hatler

Jake?”
    Shaking her head, her voice tightened. “I chose Dare.”
    “Fine.” Not knowing what went down, I knew the only thing to bring her back up. Hey, it’d worked for me. So I went to the freezer and pulled out another carton of my new boyfriend (don’t judge me, they were on sale) and handed her the pint-sized container. “Reality TV the rest of the evening and you have to eat this entire thing.”
    The corners of her mouth turned up. “You’re on.”
    We giggled as the next show started and by the time we’d finished off our respective cartons, I figured it was too late to text Chris back. Not that I would’ve asked him what I wanted to know anyway: if he’d been playing around when he sent that text to me or if he’d meant it.
    ****
    The next morning, I sat in my quiet office, mindlessly plugging numbers into the general ledger when someone said my name. My head whipped up and I half-expected to see Ethan demanding to know why I hadn’t invited him to the wedding. I’d still been trying to figure out that answer myself.
    Instead, Chris stood in the doorway, eying my outfit with a smile. “Decided not to go with the sweats, I see.”
    Whenever you walk into a room, I can’t take my eyes off you.
    My face heated and I put a hand over my heart. “Chris, didn’t your mom ever tell you not to sneak up on a girl?”
    “No, but she did tell me never to kiss on the first date.” He shrugged. “Not that it’s applicable to this situation.”
    “Hardly.” His mother’s advice had been a good one. Any woman with eyes would be very amenable to kissing him, first date or not. “What brings you down to the first floor?”
    “Dropping off my final expense report.” He walked over by my desk and set a piece of paper in my inbox. “Also, I got your email about my going away lunch tomorrow.”
    A wave of sadness came over me at the thought of not seeing Chris anymore, but I forced myself not to show it. “Chocolate cake, as requested. And I hope the menu’s all right with you?”
    “Of course.” He sat down in the chair across from my desk. “Why don’t we go to dinner tonight before we meet up with everyone? Just you and me.”
    I stared, dumbfounded. “What? Why?”
    The corners of his mouth twitched at my unintelligent response to his dinner invitation. “For fun? To make sure my girlfriend has a good meal?”
    “Oh.” I let out a relieved breath. For a minute I’d thought Chris had asked me out. For real. “That’s sweet of you, honey, but I’m already booked.”
    His nose wrinkled. “You really shouldn’t make plans without checking with me first, dear.”
    “Oh, really?” I laughed at the way he managed to keep an innocent face while sounding like a barbarian. “Honey, when did you get so possessive?”
    His eyes met mine and his voice lowered. “You can’t blame me for wanting you all to myself.”
    Heat sizzled between us and I reveled in it. “Think of how much more you’ll want me by having to wait.”
    “You don’t play fair.” He held my gaze a few moments longer, then finally checked his watch and stood up. “I’d better go. Phone conference in a few minutes. We still good for eight o’clock?”
    “Yep.” I’d have to cut things short with Ethan, but I wouldn’t leave Chris in a lurch. “And I promise to be on time.”
    “Thanks.” He stepped backward toward the door. “I’ll be counting the minutes, dear.”
    “Me too, darling.” I watched him leave, then dropped the expense report back to my desk unable to control the huge grin spreading across my face.
    I couldn’t wait to play more of our flirtatious game tonight.
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    “Gina, you responded to the RSVP saying you were bringing a date to my wedding but Kristen tells me you haven’t asked Ethan.” Ellen managed to sound quite indignant for a girl laying in a massage chair, her eyes closed, as the manicurist painted white tips on her perfectly filed toenails. “Is Ethan in or out?