I had to admit as I sat on the sofa in Trista Sand’s condo, she had a nice place. The furniture was too pink and girly for my taste, but the floral pattern probably suited her well. From what I could see, the layout was the same as my own condo. I stored that tidbit away for future reference; you never knew when you might need to know the inner workings of somebody’s home. If I had to guess, Monroe’s would be a mirror image.
Even though I knew I would have to find a way into their lives, I hadn’t expected to be invited into it. Especially not so quickly. Trista came home as I was affixing my name onto the mailbox. She introduced herself and asked me if I wanted to come in for a drink. After handing me a tall glass of lemonade, she excused herself and fled the condo. Since I could hear her running up the stairs I assumed subtlety was not her best trait.
I could also assume she was going to get Jenna so they could grill me together. That was a good thing since I was supposed to focus my attention on Monroe, but it would have been easier if Trista didn’t already have a boyfriend. She was really more my type. By the end of the weekend, she’d have me staying over. Maybe I’d get lucky and she’d have a fight with her boyfriend so I could offer a shoulder to cry on. That always suited me well in the past.
When I was beginning to wonder if I was going to sit in the den alone all night; Trista appeared at the door. “Sorry about that. You must think I’m absolutely awful.”
“No, I understand. You just got home when you saw me. You probably have other things to do,” I replied.
“Don’t be silly. It’s just I had dinner plans with my friend Jenna and I wanted to let her know I was home. She has the condo across the hall from you. You’ll get to meet her soon. She’ll be coming down in a few minutes.”
When Trista flashed me a coy smile, I could tell she was lying. Dinner plans, my ass. It’s been a while since I did the dating scene, but I could smell a set-up a mile away. It was funny, though. She didn’t have any idea how much she was helping me out.
I decided it might be fun to test her lie, so I stood and said, “It was nice to meet you, but I should go. I don’t want to interfere with your plans.”
I watched as a look of panic flashed through her turquoise eyes. “I wasn’t trying to give you the impression I was trying to get rid of you. You should come with us. It’ll give you the chance to get to know the area.”
“I don’t want to be a third wheel,” I insisted.
“My boyfriend is meeting us at the restaurant. It wouldn’t be an imposition at all,” she assured me.
“What won’t be an imposition?”
I turned to face the person who’d spoken. The woman standing before me was far more beautiful than her picture in the dossier made her appear. It was official, I withdraw my idea of working on Trista. Her long chocolate brown hair was pulled back, but a few strands had come loose and were framing her face. It was obvious she wasn’t wearing much make-up, but her complexion was still creamy and smooth. The description in the file had also been lacking when it came to her figure.
I hadn’t even imagined from her height and weight that she would be as curvy as she was. It was a lucky thing for me that I had long ago learned how to study a person without obviously looking them up and down. Otherwise, I’m sure I would have got smacked. Shapely legs leading to smooth hips, a slender waist, voluptuous chest…I had to stop this line of thought before it got any more out of hand. Okay, Jackson, focus on something else…look at her eyes or something. Crap, that was a bad decision…just look at those eyes…I was a sucker for beautiful brown eyes.
My ex had gorgeous eyes.
Out loud I said, “Hi, I’m Jackson Caldwell. I just moved in upstairs.”
I extended my hand out of and was surprised when she took it. She had a good grip – something on which I definitely couldn’t allow myself to dwell. Most women tended to let their hand fold into yours. I hated it when women did that and I was glad Jenna was different.
Trista walked from behind me to close the door and said, “I was telling Jackson about our dinner plans. I hope you don’t mind, Jenna.”
“Dinner plans, Trist?”
I could tell that Jenna didn’t know a thing about any dinner plans. She didn’t seem too happy about it, either. If Trista noticed, she ignored it and walked into the kitchen. After clattering around in there, she walked back into the den and handed Jenna a glass of lemonade.
“You know, Jenna, the plans we made to go to dinner with Blaine. I thought that it would be nice if we asked Jackson to come along with us.”
Jenna looked shaken, but quickly regained her composure. Sipping at her drink she said, “Oh, that dinner.”
Trista ignored her again and continued speaking. I was getting the impression that she did that a lot. “I was letting him know that we would love to have him come out with us so he can start learning the lay of the land.”
From that I took my cue. I didn’t want Jenna to think that I was overeager. I’ve always been able to read a woman like a book and the opening line of this book said that tactic would be rejected. I needed to appear aloof. That always worked for me when I was still single and playing the field. Maybe I should go back to that since I’d been single for quite a while…
“Really,” I said as I walked to the door, “I have quite a bit of unpacking to do and I should let the two of you get going. Like I said, I don’t want to intrude.”
“You won’t be intruding, Jackson. I always have to be the third wheel at dinner. Please come with us.”
“Let me go change. I’ll be right back.”
I was surprised by the response I got. The plan worked; the request came from Jenna.
© 2009, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Talk to Me