Chapter 3

Amanda

When I woke up on Sunday, I was happy to see that Lindsey had the day free and could meet me for lunch. I had been so caught up in meeting Nathan that I had completely forgotten about rescheduling things with her. I got ready and headed over to a small café uptown, smiling as I climbed out of my car and waved at Lindsey standing on the corner. She was so beautiful, with her long blonde hair, perfect body, and blue eyes that every guy fell for immediately. The entire world wept when Lindsey announced her engagement to Jordan, fantasies of thousands of men crumbling at their fingertips. To me, though, she was just Lindsey, the goofy chick that fell into modeling by accident and just kind of went with it. I wish my life would explode into superstardom without me even trying.

“Hi, love,” she said, kissing my cheek. “I’m sorry again about Friday. It was a nightmare.”

“It’s alright. I kept myself busy.” I felt my cheeks blush as I held open the door and followed her inside.

We sat down and ordered some salads and coffee, and I pulled out my notebook. We were finally getting to talk about all the details that I had been chasing her down about for months. We went through each page, laughing and checking off the choices that she had finally made. We were cutting everything close, but while I was extremely anxious about it, she seemed cool as a cucumber.

“We should have just brought everyone to Tahiti and eloped.” She sighed.

“Yes, you should have.” I laughed. “I could use a tan.”

“Me too,” she said, swallowing her bite of salad. “Did you decide whether you are going to bring a date or not?”

“No, probably not,” I said. “I’ll have too much to deal with as your Maid of Honor to watch over a date, too.”

“You make your title sound like you’re my nanny.” She giggled.

“Am I not?” I asked. “No, I just want to make sure everything is perfect and that you don’t have to worry about a thing. That is my job as your Maid of Honor.”

She went on gushing about the dresses that had come in a couple of weeks before, thanking me profusely for talking her out of floral print. My mind wandered as she spoke, going back to the conversation Nathan and I had over breakfast. He really was an awesome person to be around, and I hadn’t been able to get him off my mind since we parted ways on Saturday morning.

“Uh, hello? Amanda, are you in there?”

“Huh?”

“What’s up?” she asked. “You seem slightly distracted.”

“Truthfully?”

“Duh.” She rolled her eyes.

“I met someone,” I said, realizing I had to get it out.

“Oh, my God, tell me everything,” she said, leaning forward.

“Well, after you canceled dinner, I moved to the bar and met this really hot guy,” I said. “We ate dinner, drank, talked a lot, and then we went back to my place.”

“Saucy,” she said, jiggling her eyebrows. “Who is he?”

“His name is Nathan Roberts, and he owns—”

“iTech,” she blurted out. “Holy cow. You had sex with Nathan Roberts? That is crazy. Jordan works for him in the IT department.”

“That’s who Jordan works for?”

“I told you that,” she said excitedly.

“No, you told me he was VP of technology for some big company,” I said, astounded. “That’s so crazy.”

“Are you going to see him again?”

“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “I mean, I think I want to.”

“You think?”

“Okay, I know I want to, but I gave him my number, and I have to wait for him to call,” I said, looking down at my phone.

“Ugh, guys always wait forever to call back,” she said. “Jordan didn’t call me for a second date for like a week. It is so exhausting.”

“We both know they live in their own little world, thinking these crazy things about chasing a girl,” I said. “It’s like they think if they call the same day or the next, they will come off as needy. Personally, if you call me within a couple of days, I know you are really interested and not leaving me as back up because you have something better on the books.”

“Right?”

“Jordan, of course, is the exception because we all know he was head over heels for you the first time he saw you,” I reminded her. “And wasn’t the reason he didn’t call you for a week because he was taking care of his sick grandma?”

“Yeah,” she said, pointing at me. “That’s right. I forgot that.”

“How could you forget that?” I asked. “It’s like the sweetest thing ever.”

“I’m sure he will call you soon,” she said.

“Or not at all,” I replied. “I can’t really expect a lot. I met him at a bar and took him home that night. I gave up the goods right away.”

“That means you know what you want,” she said, shaking her head.

“Or I wanted to get laid.” I laughed. “I think it was a little of both. Anyway, if he doesn’t call, so be it. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ll be disappointed in a man.”

Just as I said that, my phone buzzed on the table, making me jump. I looked down at the screen and saw a number I didn’t recognize. I looked back at Lindsey with wide eyes.

“Is it him?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t have his number, remember?”

“Answer it,” she said.

“Hello?”

“Hey, beautiful, it’s Nathan,” he said.

“Hey,” I replied, shaking my head at Lindsey. “How are you?”

“I am excellent. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No,” I said nonchalantly. “Just having lunch with my best friend.”

“The one getting married?”

“Yeah, the one getting married that stood me up on Friday,” I said, sticking my tongue out at her.

“Tell her thank you for that.” He chuckled.

My cheeks immediately went red, and I did not repeat what he said. I couldn’t believe that he had called so quickly. Maybe I should have had just a little more faith in him than I originally did. If he was calling that quickly, that meant I was on his mind, maybe even as much as he was on mine. I definitely wanted to see him again, but I wanted him to be the one to ask.

“Why do I feel like you are blushing right now?” he asked.

“Because I am.” I giggled, watching Lindsey’s face turn to shock at the sound of my girlish laughter.

“I don’t want to keep you from your wedding duties,” he said. “I just wanted to call and find out if I could see you again. I really had an amazing time on Friday, and then again on Saturday morning. Well, actually consecutively. I consecutively had fun that whole time, and I wanted to start that all over again on an actual date where I asked you and you accepted.”

“So, you are assuming I’ll accept? I’m just kidding.” I laughed, hearing his silence. “Yes, you can see me again, I would like that.”

“That is awesome,” he said, chuckling. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow night?” I asked, smiling at Lindsey. “Nothing.”

“How about I pick you up at your place at six, and we go have a nice dinner at Iliad’s?”

“Iliad’s? Don’t you have to have a reservation like a year in advance?”

“Usually, but the owner is a friend, so I have a standing reservation,” he said shyly.

“Oh, well then yes, I would love to,” I said, shaking my head.

“Perfect,” he replied. “I’ll see you at six then. And convince your friend to do the whole wedding in paisley. That would be so much more interesting.”

“I will do that.” I laughed. “And I’ll see you at six.”

I hung up the phone and sat there for a second, thinking about what just happened. I had just gotten done talking about guys calling in a few days, and then my phone rang. Did that mean he was interested in me more than just inside the bedroom? I shook my head and looked up at Lindsey.

“So?” she asked.

“We are going to dinner tomorrow night at Iliad’s,” I said quietly.

“That’s a nice place.” She smiled. “That’s where Jordan asked me to marry him.”

“I don’t think I have anything to wear to a place like that,” I said.

“Come over to my place,” she said, waving her hand at me. “I have a ton of stuff for places like that. I can get you all dolled up for your date. You know how I like to do that kind of stuff.”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “Like when you sent me to prom looking like a train wreck?”

“I’ve gotten a lot better since prom.” She laughed. “I’ve picked up a few tricks of the trade along the way.”

“I hope so,” I said, shaking my head.

“Just be careful,” she added. “I saw how much it hurt you when you caught your ex cheating on you.”

“With your sister you mean?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She rolled her eyes. “My sister and four other women. I just don’t want to ever see you hurt like that again. I mean, it kind of turned you into a scrooge when it comes to love, and I thought you would never get over it.”

“Do you ever get over something like that?”

“I hope so.” She smiled. “Because you are too amazing to not be sharing your life with someone else. You have a damn heart of gold, Amanda, and there is a guy out there that will appreciate that. I know it. Maybe it’s Nathan, maybe not, but I am happy that you are taking the opportunity to test the waters more than just the line of one night stands you’ve had since you and the asshole broke up.”

“The asshole? Is that what you call him?”

“I’ve always called him that,” she said, shaking her head. “I just think it’s now safe to call him that around you instead of in conversation when you aren’t listening.”

“Just don’t tell your sister,” I said.

“Of course not,” Lindsey replied. “I don’t really even talk to her. She thought it was a betrayal when I took your side during the whole drama. I don’t know why she would think I would stand by her after she slept with your boyfriend. Blood may be thicker than water, but I consider you my sister, too. She doesn’t need to know about anything going on in your life.”

It was crazy to me that Nathan owned the company that Lindsey’s fiancé worked for. All the past drama aside, I was really excited to get to know him better. Not only did he know Jordan, but he was taking me to the place where they got engaged. I was starting to think that fate was reaching down and playing a hand in all of these things. I pushed that thought down, though, remembering how dangerous it could be to think of relationships like they were designed. You tended to lose track of reality and that was when you missed the things that could be huge red flags. I had done that once in my life, and once was enough.

“I just want you to be careful,” she said, smiling at the waiter as he took her plate. “I’ve heard that Nathan is a bit of playboy.”

“I think I am finally in a place where I can handle myself,” I said. “Though I do love you and thank you for being such a great friend.”

“Always,” she said. “So, are we done with all the wedding talk?”

“I think so,” I said, scanning my notes.

“Good, let’s figure out what you are going to wear tomorrow night,” Lindsey said.