The Summer of Sunshine and Margot(93)

“Good to know.”

The server returned with her wine. At some point while Sunshine had been having her scintillating conversation with Steven, Phoebe and Marcus had started making out. Seriously making out, with tongue and everything. The table wasn’t big to begin with so there wasn’t much space between her and the going-for-it couple. It was kind of like “porn in the round” and to be honest, it was a little off-putting.

She turned back to Steven, then found she couldn’t think of anything to say. Thank goodness he was observant.

“What happened to your hand?” he asked.

“I cut myself.”

“How long have you been an actress?”

“I’m not an actress.”

Steven frowned. “You should be. You’re the right age, you have the body. I could probably make something happen, if you’re interested.”

She frowned. “You’re willing to help me get a job as an actress, but you won’t talk about being in the business?”

“I like to be mysterious.”

Phoebe and Marcus broke apart. Phoebe grabbed her handbag. “We’re leaving. Thank goodness my ex has Elijah tonight, but only until eight, so we have to hurry. See ya.”

With that, they were gone, leaving Sunshine alone with Steven.

“Did they just—” She stopped herself, realizing there was no good way to ask “Did they just leave to go have sex?”

“So,” Steven said, leaning uncomfortably close to her and smiling. “Want to do the same?”

“The same?”

“Come back to my place. We can talk about your career.”

She knew there would be no career talk, no anything but him getting a piece of ass. Not that she wanted to be an actress, which was perfect because she would guess Steven was a whole lot less connected than he wanted her to believe.

Exhaustion flooded her. The man-woman thing had never been a problem before, but lately it was just one disaster after another. She looked at him and knew she didn’t have it in her to fight him. From her perspective, there was only one surefire way to get him to back off.

She offered a regretful smile and lightly touched his arm. “I would love to, only things are a little contagious...” She waved her fingers toward her crotch. “Down there, if you get my meaning. It’s not horrible but the rash can really burn.”

Steven shifted away from her so quickly he nearly lost his balance and fell off his chair.

“All right then,” he said, coming to his feet. “We should probably call it a night.”

“I think that’s a really good idea.”

Just then the server appeared with the bill. Sunshine let Steven take care of it and made her way to her car. Twenty minutes later she was sitting on a molded plastic chair at her local Taco Bell, her dinner on a tray. As she unwrapped her crunchy taco supreme, a teenage guy approached.

“Hey, beautiful,” he began, as he offered her a smile.

“I’m married and he’s a Marine.”

His eyes widened. “For real?”

“Yup. He could squish you like a bug.”

He sighed and walked away. She finished her dinner, took her soda with her and headed home. When she walked into the house, she went directly to Declan’s office.

He was focused on his computer and didn’t notice her at first. He looked as good as always, she thought wistfully, liking how his worn T-shirt stretched a little at the shoulders. She could hear the TV in the family room and guessed Connor was watching a movie.

If she wanted, she could close the door behind her, walk over to Declan and... And what? Kiss him? Offer him sex? Hadn’t there been enough of that for one night?

Truthfully, she didn’t even want sex. Okay, she did want sex, but not just sex. She wanted more. She wanted love and a commitment and the promise of years with someone. She wanted forever, not just one night, and while she might see potential in Declan, she had a feeling what he saw was what Steven had seen. Boobs and an ass and nothing else.

“Hey,” she said.

Declan looked up. “Hey, yourself. What are you doing back? I thought you and Phoebe had a night planned.”

She waved her Taco Bell cup. “Not exactly. She lied. It was a setup for a double date.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope.”

She tried to figure out what he was thinking, only she couldn’t. His expression was carefully neutral, damn him.

“You didn’t like the other guy?” he asked.

“I didn’t like being lied to and no, I didn’t like Steven. However, Phoebe went home with her gentleman friend. I would say she’s completely over you, so you can let that one go.”

“Thank you for clarifying.”

“Tell me you wore a condom.”

He flushed. “What? Why would you ask—” He grimaced. “I see your point. Phoebe seems to be, ah, friendly with many men.”

“Exactly. She was with you and Marcus in the past couple of weeks. If we extrapolate from that, it’s a heady number.”

“I wore a condom, which I hadn’t done in years. It was more complicated than I remembered.”

“Everything is easy at seventeen,” she teased. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know that she has recovered from your breaking up with her.”