Penthouse Prince(7)
“I haven’t, no. But I haven’t really been asked out.”
“Well, I’m asking you out right now. I want to take you out. Somewhere nice, so you can wear your dress and I can see you in it. What do you say?”
The blast of a car horn yanks me from my trip down memory lane and throws me right back into the present, where I’ve totally missed the fact that the light turned green and I’m holding up traffic.
Oops. I give an apologetic wave to the car behind me as I pull into the restaurant’s lot, gripping my gearshift a little tighter than usual as I slide it into park.
Okay, Corrigan. Time to shake that memory off.
Yes, Lexington Dane was a sweetheart and a charmer. Emphasis on the was. That was before he up and left the state, and my life, without a backward glance. So unless the favor he wants from me is a slap across the face and a kick in the you-know-where, there’s not a favor in this world I would do for him.
Inside the restaurant, Sarah Jo has already settled into our usual booth near the back, where she’s happily munching on chips and salsa. If memory serves me right, this is our third time here this month.
“Fancy seeing you here,” she says, grinning as I scoot into the spot across from her.
“Us? At Pepe’s?” I gasp, feigning shock as I dramatically press a hand to my chest. “Who would’ve ever guessed?”
We’re still laughing when our waiter arrives, asking if we have questions about the specials.
“Nope.” Sarah Jo laughs, having not even looked at the menu. “I’ll have a lime marg on the rocks, and she’ll have a frozen strawberry margarita, extra salt.”
God, I love this woman. No wonder we’ve been friends our entire lives.
When the server disappears back to the kitchen, we get to work on the chips and salsa, laying down a solid layer of carbs to soak up the tequila we’re about to consume.
“So, what’s your game plan this summer?” Sarah Jo asks, wiping tortilla chip crumbs from the corner of her mouth. “Are you finally going to download that dating app I’ve been telling you about?”
I shake my head, holding up a finger while I finish chewing. “No need. I’ve got a hot date with the library and then I’m putting my booty in the sand at Wilmington Beach for as many days as possible until September rolls around and I get back to the classroom.”
Sarah Jo rolls her eyes, but lucky for me, our waiter appears with our drinks before she can give me any grief on my extra-mild summer plan that definitely do not include dating apps.
I don’t know what she was expecting. It’s me, after all. Sure, I had a few flings here and there in college. I even had one semi-serious boyfriend a few years back, until we decided that my teaching schedule and his bartending gig made it too difficult to see each other. Other than that, though, it’s common knowledge that I steer clear of the dating pool. I haven’t had much steaminess in my life since . . .
Well, since Lexington, to be honest.
I take a hefty sip of my frozen margarita through the pink plastic straw. Maybe if I’m lucky, I can brain freeze that sad reality away. And if not, some tequila might make it a little less painful and I’ll forget everything.
“Okay, that’s it.” Sarah Jo slams her margarita down hard enough that it splashes a bit across the table.
I flinch at her intensity, wiping a cold drop of splashed marg from my cheek. If she’s willing to waste booze like that, she must mean business. “What’s up?”
“I should be asking you that question.” She huffs, folding her arms over her chest. “You’ve been acting weird since we left your classroom. What’s going on? And don’t try telling me that nothing’s wrong. You’re clearly stewing about something.”
Defeated, I sigh. I can’t lie to my best friend. And I’m already feeling loose-lipped after a few sips of my margarita, so I might as well break the news now.
“It’s Lexington,” I say on a sigh. “He’s back.”
Sarah Jo’s palm hits her lips with the slightest smacking sound. “No freaking way. The Lexington Dane? I thought he was a city guy now, some penthouse prince living in the big apple.”
I nod, cringing slightly at hearing her call him by the nickname I’d heard him called in the local media. The day Lexington graduated from college, he booked a one-way flight to LaGuardia Airport and never looked back. Not at North Carolina, and certainly not at me, the high school girlfriend he left in the dust with a hundred questions and not one answer.
“Well, what is he doing here?” Sarah Jo asks, scooping up a heaping helping of salsa with a tortilla chip and popping it into her mouth.
“No clue. All I know is what Dak told me, that he’s back in town and he needs some kind of favor .”
I should have chosen my words more carefully, because my dirty-minded best friend hears the word favor and immediately starts wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, seemingly forgetting all about my hellish history with Lexington.
“Not that kind of favor,” I say on a groan. I’m not in the mood for her antics right now.
“Then what the hell would he want from you?”
“I wish I knew so I could practice the best way to shoot him down. If anyone should be asking for something, it should be me, asking him for an apology.”
Sarah Jo lifts her glass in agreement. “You’ve got that right. So, what are you going to do?”