Distraction (Club Destiny #8)(23)

Bill wasn’t handsome in the traditional sense, but he wasn’t ugly, either. He was thin and short for a man—probably no more than five six, if that—with clear blue eyes, a clean-shaven jaw, and perfectly styled medium-brown hair. All in all, he was well-dressed, polite, quite plain, and … sweet.

And therein lay the problem.

Bill was sweet.

And boring.

What the hell had she been thinking when she’d called him up last night and agreed to this? Clearly she’d been inhaling toxic household chemicals or something. It was the only excuse she had as to why it had ever even remotely sounded like a good idea.

Staring back at him, Sarah tried to hide her disappointed expression. “I … uh… Just give me a minute, please?”

He sneezed, then blew his nose.

Yuck.

“Sure.” Sniff. “I’ll be rearranging the minivan.” Sniff. His smile brightened up his entire face. “It’s one of our newest models. It’s a beaut.” Sniff.

Beaut? Who the hell said that?

Better still, who drove a minivan? Last Sarah had checked, she was thirty-eight and single. Not a soccer mom. And Bill… The man was forty-five, never married, no children. What the hell did he need with a minivan?

Oh, God.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t just the chemicals. Had she been drinking, too? She didn’t think so, but surely there was a good reason for her spur-of-the-moment lunacy, a.k.a. agreeing to a weekend away with this man. Why had she thought this was a good idea?

Damn.

She couldn’t do this.

Sneaking back to her bedroom, Sarah shut herself in, leaned against the door, and pressed her hands to her chest. She was having a panic attack. She’d been an idiot thinking she could go through with this. Bill was a nice guy, but … well, there was absolutely no chemistry between them. The second she opened the door to see him standing on her porch, she’d remembered that. No matter how hard she had tried to play him up in her mind, it never seemed to work. The mere thought of getting naked with the guy…

Uggh.

And now they were off to… Shit, she didn’t even know where they were going. He’d told her it was a surprise, a chance to see something she’d never seen before. He’d gone on and on about how this was the opportunity of a lifetime, about how they would be immersed in a group of uber-wealthy people who would want to get to know them on a much deeper level. His boss had offered Bill the invitation, since he’d been unable to attend because he already had plans or something like that. Bill even went so far as to say that this could further their careers, the opportunities endless. And though she’d been skeptical, Bill had assured her she’d have a good time.

Because Sarah was spontaneous like that.

Right. The guy clearly didn’t know her all that well. She had a routine so strict she rarely deviated from it. Grocery store on Sunday, water the plants no later than seven o’clock in the morning, spaghetti for dinner every Wednesday. In fact, she even had certain scents of body wash designated for each day of the week. Definitely not spontaneous.

But this was clearly a business thing for him. How bad could it be?

A soft knock sounded on her bedroom door and her heart went into overdrive.

She had to tell Bill this was a mistake.

“Uh … Sarah …” Bill’s timid voice sounded through the door. “There’s a guy here. He said he needs to talk to you.”

A guy?

“I’ll be out in a sec,” she called back, taking a deep breath.

When she didn’t hear his footsteps, Sarah knew Bill had decided to wait for her.

Great.

“You can do this,” she muttered to herself. “You have to do this. It would be rude not to.”

Hesitantly, Sarah reached for the knob and twisted. Inching the door open, she peered through the crack. Sure enough, Bill was standing in the hall, his eyes puffier than before.

Steeling herself, she opened the door fully and stepped out, offering him a smile. “Did he say who he was? Is he sellin’ something?”

“No, he’s not selling anything,” Bill answered, snorting. “Do you have cats?”

Sarah glanced at him, trying to catch up with his change of subject. “What?”

“Cats?” Sniff. “I’m allergic.”

Well, that explained it.

He didn’t even wait for her to respond before he said, “Anyway…” Bill glanced around. “He’s the big guy Jake was talking to at that party you took me to last weekend.”

Big? What did that mean? Tall? Fat? Muscular?

Sarah didn’t know any big guys, regardless of the definition. None who would make a house call anyhow.

As she made her way back to the living room, she saw that no one was in the house. She cast a confused glance over at Bill. He nodded his head toward the front door.

Stepping outside, Sarah came up short when she saw Dylan pacing the sidewalk that connected her front porch to her driveway. “Dylan?”

His head jerked toward her, his feet stilling. He didn’t smile, but she felt the warmth of his gaze as it traveled down to her feet and back up.

“Hey,” he greeted, his eyes darting behind her.

That was when Sarah realized Bill was standing there, watching them.

“Could you … uh … give us a minute?” Sarah asked him politely.