Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [54]
His clipped response barely contained his anger. “Before date one.”
She sighed, placing her hands on her lap. “So you’ve been playing me.” Her anger suddenly flared, too. Just like everybody else in her life, he’d been manipulating her. She looked at him through the blur of pain-filled eyes. “Why?”
“I wanted to follow the course. See where it led. Are you a user, Katy? Using Jake, too? To get the doddy house fixed up cheap?”
Katy folded her napkin and placed it neatly on the table in front of her. “You figure it out. I’m ready to go now.”
David didn’t make any moves to leave the restaurant. He had more to say. “Ivan told me about the deal he made with your dad. I’d hoped that after the first date, you’d go with me because you liked me, not because you were using me. I hoped you’d tell me the truth.”
“What I told you before is still true. I never intended to look for a guy, but I like you, and I was willing to get to know you. I opened myself to the possibility of falling for you.”
“A win-win situation for you, wasn’t it? So back to my question. What did you decide? Is there going to be a date four, or are you finished with me?”
“Wow, you are so romantic. So persuasive.” She reached for her purse. “Probably not, David.”
He took care of the check, and drew his lips in a tight line. “Let’s go.”
The car ride was dreadful and quiet, except for a country song on his radio about some forlorn man who’d just been dumped by his girl. From the sounds of it, Katy figured the guy in the song deserved it. There was a hint of smoke in the air, emanating from the jacket that David had loaned her the night of the fire. She had returned it earlier, and it now was on the backseat of his car, reminding her of his heroics the night of the fire, heaping more coals to her shame.
When they pulled into her drive, he spoke again. “I guess I could have gone along with the game, but my pride wouldn’t allow it any longer. One of us needed to address the issue. Make a new start if there’s ever to be a date four. Something real to go on, you know?”
She nodded. “It’s been wearing on me, too. I’m sorry for using you. Although you did use the situation to your advantage, too.”
“Guess I was willing to settle for scraps.”
She gave him a weak grin.
He said, “A promise is a promise. I’ll help you move in next Saturday.”
“No, please. You don’t need to.”
“You want to get rid of me?”
“No. I—”
“Good. There probably will be a contest between me and construction cowboy. After all, it’s almost Valentine’s Day.”
“Cowboy?”
“His holster. The tool bags.”
She guessed she wasn’t the only one who’d noticed Jake wore his pants too tight, and his tool bags only added to his attractiveness. But what had David meant about Valentine’s Day? Was he still going to pursue her? The idea of date four had been left hanging. She felt confused but remained quiet.
He walked her to the door, drew her close, and kissed her forehead. Then he tilted her chin up and kissed her mouth, slow and sensual, but he broke it off abruptly. She hadn’t wanted to kiss him at all, but she hadn’t wanted to humiliate him further by rejecting him. The kiss was calculated, the kiss of a bitter man.
With a sigh, she watched him go, sorry she’d hurt him. She stepped inside the dark interior of the house.
“Do you love him?” came a startling voice out of the darkness.
Katy clasped her heart. “Karen! Don’t scare me like that. Why are you still up?”
“To answer the phone. It was Lil.” Karen offered, pulling back the curtain and looking outside. “I told her you weren’t home yet, and she didn’t seem happy.”
Katy pushed her sister’s hand away from the curtain. Hadn’t she told Lil not to call? Maybe she hadn’t heard her above the din of the hand dryer.
“So do you?” Karen repeated.
“No. Why are you standing in the dark?”
“I—”
“Were you spying on me?”
“I—”
Suddenly Katy thought better of having this conversation so near their parents’ bedroom door. “Come upstairs.”
“If you don’t love