Drew’s a badass loner dude who Audrey has loved since she was six. Crush at first sight. He was eleven. I honestly never thought her crush would last this long. In my opinion, it’s become a problem, preventing her from moving on. She’s my age, twenty-nine, and says she’s ready for marriage and kids. For a while there, she was making a valiant effort to use eLoveMatch to find her Mr. Right. Lots of first dates with guys she never saw again. As far as I know, she’s never had a date with Drew.
I’m busy not looking at Eli in a white button-down shirt and jeans. Casually hot. We had a moment at my shop yesterday. A heart-pounding, he’s about to kiss me moment that I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted to. The pull was too strong to resist. He kissed my cheek, a tender gesture of affection that made my skin warm and tingly and left me wanting more.
Audrey elbows me. “Why do you keep looking at Eli?”
I avert my gaze. “I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. Did something happen between you two?”
I sip my martini, feigning nonchalance. “We met up a couple of times about the fender bender. He was—” Wonderful. Tender. Sexy. “—gracious about it.”
Her blue eyes widen. “Eli was gracious? The same guy who terrorized us at sleepovers?”
I find myself smiling. “He was a terror, wasn’t he? Now look at him, such an upstanding member of the community.” I catch his eye, and he gives me a slow sexy smile. Warmth rushes through me, my body humming in anticipation.
Audrey leans against my shoulder. “Well, now, wasn’t that flirty? He is a police officer now, and Sydney says he takes good care of his new pit bull mix, Lucy. They’ve had some doggie playdates.” She straightens, looking thoughtful. “Okay, I’m on board. A man with his life in order, who loves his dog, means he’s one of the good guys now. Does Sydney know you’re into him?”
“Don’t say a word to her,” I whisper fiercely. “She warned me off him.”
Her brows shoot up in surprise. “Why?”
“Because she wants better for him.” I press my lips tightly together to keep them from quivering. The truth cuts deep.
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“It is! Just drop it!”
“Okay, okay, sorry.” Audrey gives me a sympathetic look. “For what it’s worth, I think it would be great for you and—”
“Shh.”
She lowers her voice. “If anyone can handle a reformed bad boy, it’s you.”
I tuck my hair behind my ears. “Thank you, I think. He was never really bad.”
“Jenna, he stole cars. That’s bad.”
“But he gave them back. It’s more like he borrowed them from people in the community. Sort of like that program they have in the city, where you take a car and drop it off at a certain location for the next person.”
“Uh-huh. And let’s not forget how he stole our snacks, dropped popcorn over our heads, and scared the crap out of us, sneaking around corners and popping out of closets. I swear I slept with one eye open at every slumber party for ten years.”
I shake my head. “You were seriously scared of a boy two years younger than us?”
She narrows her eyes. “He was capable of evil.”
I glance at Eli, looking so chill watching the game. “Yeah, all right. So instead you develop a mad crush on the quiet one who turned into a finely tuned assassin.”
“He is not an assassin!” she exclaims, and then turns bright red, realizing she’s given away the fact that she’s still hung up on Drew. She’s denied it fiercely, but she can’t fool me.
“Sure, okay.”
Audrey is still fired up, defending her love. “He was an Army Ranger and left the military with honors. Drew would never intentionally scare anyone or do any of that stuff Eli did.”
“Finish your wine. You’re going to need it.” I’m tired of her pining for a clueless guy. She needs to either get with him or get over him. “Hey, Drew!” I call. “Got a minute?”
Audrey grabs my arm in a death grip. “What are you doing?”
“I just want to talk to him.”
“No. Be cool.”
Drew gets out of his chair, his eyes glued to Audrey.
“Too late,” I whisper. “Are you afraid to talk to your lifelong crush?”
Drew ambles over to us in his silent but deadly way. His brown hair is freshly cut—short on the sides, long on top—his jaw scruffy as usual. His dark gaze lands on Audrey for a long moment, but she refuses to make eye contact, staring at his chest. “What’s up?”
I elbow Audrey.
She sends me a death glare, tosses back her wine, and meets his eyes, her cheeks flushed pink. “Nothing much,” she chirps. “Just wondering if you would be at the thing on Saturday with your demo. Not next Saturday, three Saturdays from now. If you weren’t busy.”
“If by Saturday thing you mean the Fall Harvest Festival for our karate demo, then yes.”
She waves him away. “That’s all we needed to know, thanks and have a good night.”
He shifts closer to Audrey, his voice lowering. “I get the feeling you’re avoiding me lately.”
“Nope,” she says to his chest. “Not at all.”
He glances at me, and I face front as though I’m not listening. Just sipping my martini here, taking in the delightful sounds of ladies’ night. There’s a group of women knitting to my left, talking and laughing. I almost wish I could ask them to lower the volume to help with my eavesdropping.
Drew’s voice is gruff. “It’s been since last New Year’s Eve. Nine months now. That’s enough time to get over whatever you need to get over.”
I can’t resist peeking.
Audrey’s face flushes red with anger, her eyes flashing. “There’s nothing to get over. Nothing whatsoever, and there never will be.” She turns away and lifts her hand to the bartender, Betsy, gesturing for another glass of wine.
Drew stands there for a moment, staring at her, but she refuses to look at him. “Right.” He turns and walks stiffly back to his table.
I wait until Audrey has her wine. “What’s the deal with him? Come on, Aud, you can tell me. You know I’m on your side.”
She stares at the bar, her brow furrowed. “Just drop it. Seriously.” She takes a healthy swallow of wine and turns to me with a smile plastered on her face that’s not fooling me for a minute. “I’m not dating anyone until I know they’re Mr. Right. So if that means I’m single for the rest of my days, so be it.”
“So you don’t want him anymore? You’re really moving on?”
She traces a circle on the bar top, her eyes downcast. “I want Mr. Right.”
“What if there is no Mr. Right? What if there’s only a Mr. Almost Right and needs some training?”
She laughs a little. “Like a puppy.”
I smile. “Exactly like that.”
Her lips form a flat line, her expression grimly determined. “I’d prefer if another woman trained him, dumped him, and then he came to me fully ready to be my Mr. Right.”
I sigh. “That’s the dream, isn’t it?”