That did seem likely, and a sour ending to a victory party. “I guess I can ask Beth to watch the kids, but I can’t stay out late. My kids went to bed really late last night after the race and they’re going to need to be in bed by eight. Beth can put them to bed at my house, but I can’t ask her to sit around for hours. How many people are going to be there?”
“Not many. Like ten, tops. That’s why I need you there. It’s going to be awkward.”
“Wow. I can’t wait then.” Just how Tamara wanted to spend her Monday night after one of the strangest weekends of her entire life. She had managed to avoid Geoffrey around campus that morning, and was hoping to do the same in the afternoon, but what she really needed was a good night’s sleep after watching a chick flick in her pajamas, not a night making small talk.
“Thanks, babe. You don’t know how much this means to me.” Suzanne took a deep breath and glanced around the sleek deli. “Where is the waitress? I’m starving.”
“I don’t know. But I wanted to tell you I canceled my date with Elec.”
Suzanne didn’t exactly look surprised at that news. “Why?”
“Because I got to thinking about my in-laws and my kids and what you said about him being a player . . . and I thought about the text message he got when we were together and I just decided it’s a bad idea.” And she was sticking by her decision. Even though she felt mildly nauseous and discontent, and had developed a nervous tapping of the foot.
“What text message did he get?”
“Some woman sent him a picture of herself naked.” She would be lying if she said that hadn’t been bothering her for the last twenty-four hours. That woman had looked amazing.
Tamara hadn’t looked that good ten years ago, pre-babies and gravity. It was scary to compare herself naked to that waxed and perky body.
“Are you serious? How do you know?”
“He showed it to me.”
“Why? To get you excited or something?”
Yuck. “Why would seeing some hot chick naked get me excited?” Nothing like comparing yourself and coming up short to really get the juices flowing. Please.
“Well, I don’t know! Maybe it was some kind of ménage fantasy or something. So who the hell was she and why was he showing it to you?” Suzanne dumped yet another sugar packet in her coffee after tasting it and making a face.
“He was annoyed by it. He said he went out with her a few times and now she won’t stop texting him. He didn’t seem overly impressed with her method of pursuit. I’d almost say he was disgusted with her.”
“That says good things about him. But he should know that’s the kind of women he’s been dating and that he can’t expect much better than that. Did he say what her name was?”
“Crystal.” Tamara made a face. “Blond. Built.”
Suzanne grimaced. “Oh, I know who that is. A total pit lizard. She’s always tramping around the garage looking to hit on drivers. I swear, if that girl had as many sticking out of her as she has sticking in her, she’d be a porcupine.”
Tamara grinned at the metaphor. “That’s a beautiful way to put it.”
“Why, thank you.” Suzanne flagged the waitress, who indicated she’d be there in a minute.
“God, I could eat my arm. What is taking so long? We haven’t even ordered yet.” She refocused on Tamara. “So what did Elec say when you canceled your date?”
“He didn’t answer. At all. What do you think that means?” Feet still sore when wearing heels for an entire day at the track, Tamara halfway kicked off her sandals and hoped no one would notice.
“I think it means that he’s choosing to ignore what you said. He’s lying in wait, planning his next move.”
“Really? I just find that hard to believe. More likely, he just didn’t care enough to respond.”
Which kind of really bummed her out. Not that she could go out with him, but it would be nice if he did actually want to.
Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Oh, Lord, we’re going to have to dust off your boy radar, girl. Of course he cares. He would not have asked you out in the first place if he wasn’t interested.
And the number one rule of men is that if something happens or something is said that they don’t like, they just ignore it, hoping it will go away.”
Somehow she could believe that. “So what should I do?”
“Wait a minute. You canceled. He let it drop. You don’t have to do anything now.”
Shoot, Suz had a good point. “Right.”
“Unless you want to see him again . . .” Suzanne raised her eyebrows and looked at her expectantly.
“No, no, of course not.” Not really. She was pretty sure. Maybe. “I don’t know. I have no clue what I’m doing and I just feel like crap.”
“Wear a great dress tonight,” Suz said. “That will make everything feel better, I promise.”
That might work when you were five, but at thirty-two, it wasn’t likely.
ELEC stood outside Ryder’s condo sweating bullets. He had no idea if Tamara was there or not, and he was as nervous as a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs. Normally he slept late on Mondays, but after getting a call from Ryder the night before about a half hour after he’d talked to him saying the party was a go, and for the next night, Elec hadn’t slept much. In fact, it was fair to say he hadn’t slept at all.
He’d done a lot of tossing and turning trying to figure out what to say to Tamara and how exactly he could convince her that there was no sense in pulling the plug without at least a date or two. That seemed fair to him. Maybe after a few dates they would discover there wasn’t anything between them except sexual attraction, and he wouldn’t be stuck with a case of wondering “What if?” Though somehow he doubted he was going to lose interest in Tamara after a few dinners. But he might never get the chance to find out because there was nothing slick about him, and he was well known for keeping his mouth shut instead of using it to cajole anyone into anything.
There was no hope for it. If she didn’t want to see him, she didn’t want to see him. Wasn’t a hell of a lot he could do about it.
It was that thought that had him sucking in a breath and ringing the doorbell. Maybe just showing up at Ryder’s would speak volumes to her. And if it didn’t, he’d deal with it. Life had dealt him tougher stuff than one sexy, intelligent woman turning him down.