The Lineup(47)

“Can I tell you something that you promise you won’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone?”

Lindsay looks over her glass of iced tea that’s poised at her mouth and then slowly sets it down. “Are you pregnant too?” she gasps out loud. “Oh my God, with Knox’s baby as well?”

I roll my eyes, wishing my friend wasn’t such an idiot. “Can you not say stupid things?”

“I’m sorry, but that would be such a twist in all of our lives. It would be kind of cool if it were true because, you know”—she puts on an Orpah-like voice when she drags out—“drama!”

“As much fun as that sounds, no, I’m not pregnant with our best friend’s boyfriend’s baby.”

“Ooo, what a book title.” She scrolls her hand through the air. “I’m Having My Best Friend’s Boyfriend’s Baby. Or wait, Baby Daddy: Best Friend’s Boyfriend. It could be a series. Baby Daddy: Daddy’s Best Friend. Baby Daddy: Brother’s Best Friend. Baby Daddy—”

“I get it.” I take a calming breath and say, “This is big and I really need you to focus.”

“Oh, crap, okay.” Lindsay sets her drink down. “What happened?”

“And you promise this stays between us?”

“Of course. What’s going on?”

I play with the silverware next to my drink, a quiet breeze picking up the edge of the tablecloth of our outdoor table. We’re taking advantage of the warm fall day by sitting outside, especially since we’re both hauled up inside all day every day.

“So you know how I’m in the midst of a big deal with the Carlton acreage?”

“Yeah, is everything okay with that?”

“Sort of, they basically told me yesterday they might have to go with Heller and Parks because Kate Heller is engaged to the Parks kid and they like the idea of passing the family business down to family.”

“Uh, that’s been the whole structure with you and your dad.”

I hold up my hand. “Don’t even get me started. But they began to say since I wasn’t even dating anyone . . .”

Lindsay’s eyes widen. “Oh, no . . . you didn’t.”

I bite my bottom lip, feeling ashamed. “I did.”

“Who?”

“Well, you know, I’ve been in correspondence with this guy lately.”

“Oh, Dottie. Please tell me you didn’t say Jason.” There’s no understanding in Lindsay’s eyes; it’s pure judgment, and I don’t even blame her.

“I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to. I was on a mission not to lose the deal.”

Lindsay subtly shakes her head. “Did you tell him?”

“No. How on earth could I tell him? He thinks I hate him, when I don’t. I mean, he’s really annoying at times, but he is also a good guy, too good if anything.”

“And yet, you’re dragging him into your crazy.”

“I know. I know.” I lean back in my chair and cross one leg over the other while pulling on my high ponytail. “That’s not even the worst part.”

“Please tell me you didn’t say you were engaged.”

“No, thank God.” Hinted at being madly in love, but I don’t need to relay that information to Lindsay. “Knowing that the Carltons are probably going to want to meet him at some point, I decided last night to make a move on him.” I pick up my glass of water and take a sip. “Let’s just say it went horribly wrong.”

“How wrong?”

“It ended with the enchiladas he’d cooked for dinner, smashed on the floor because I startled him so much with my advances.”

Lindsay covers her mouth and laughs, while apologizing at the same time. “Sorry, but, what were you doing? Poking him with torpedo tits or something?”

“No.” I brush my hand over my slicked-back hair. “I was, you know, not being myself. Apparently, he’s used to me being a bitch to him. So he kept asking if I was drunk or high. That morning I was mean to him, so he noticed the difference. I bolted out of the apartment after the dinner went crashing to the floor. The whole thing was a giant mess.”

“It makes sense though. You needed to ease into it, not go full force ‘Let’s be boyfriend girlfriend.’”

“Yeah, I totally tried to label us as a couple last night. Good God, what was I thinking?”

“You weren’t. I think for the first time since I’ve known you, you actually weren’t thinking. But it’s understandable, because you are the type that will say yes to make a deal, even if the answer is no, and then you’ll find a way to make it a yes.”

“That’s exactly what I did, and now I’m at a loss for what to do. The Carltons think I’m dating Jason Orson, Jason thinks I’m psycho, and my dad is relying on me to close this deal.”

“So why don’t you just tell Jason what’s going on? He seems like an understanding guy, and he’d probably go through with pretending.”

I shake my head. “Not only would that be humiliating, but I’m afraid he would be hurt by it since I tried to attack him last night. I’m afraid he’ll think I was only hitting on him because of what I said during the meeting.”

“Well, that is the only reason you were hitting on him, so yeah, he’ll probably be hurt by it. He’s sensitive, it seems.”