Page 4 of Shielded

He texts back quickly without a load of bullshit, and I appreciate that. This sucks enough already, and I think he knows it.

Me: What’s your address?

Siren: I wasn’t myself earlier.

Dear God, why does asking for an address need to be this complicated?

Me: No worries. What’s your address?

Siren: I just want you to know that I’m not going to hold back when I see you tonight. If I do that on Saturday, everyone will know something is up. I need to be myself.

Me: Sounds good. Address?

She sends me a pin to her house, and I pull up the map, studying the directions ahead of time. I should stop home and shower, put on some cologne, and pick up some flowers. We’re faking this, but I don’t do anything half-assed. A date is a date, and I plan to make her feel like it’s one.

Chapter Three

Siren

I want to call my sister, but I don’t want her advice. She’s too close to the situation to understand or be objective. After all, she’s in love with the man who’s begrudgingly helping me. Instead, I call my best friend, Dot. We’ve known each other since we were kids, and while we don’t always see eye to eye, she’s always there to listen.

One year, she spent a week's worth of recess time hiding under the slide with me while I avoided all the kids that were picking on me—the ginger thing. She even told a few of them to screw off. My young heart fell in love with her that year. We’ve been friends ever since.

She picks up on the first ring. “Hey, babe!” Her tone is upbeat and cheerful, as always. Every time I hear that voice, I know my day is going to get better. “What’s up?”

“Oh, just questioning all my life decisions. What’s up with you?”

“Umm… I’m not at the questioning my life decisions part of the day… yet. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I did the thing… the thing you told me not to do.”

She laughs. “You’re going the fake date route? I mean, it could work. Did you meet the guy yet?”

“Met him today. We’re going to dinner tonight.”

“You don’t sound happy about it. I thought this was what you wanted.”

“Well, I did. I do. I mean, this guy is going to make everyone jealous, including my mom. He’s a total smoke show, but his personality needs some work.”

She laughs. “Well, didn’t you know that going in? You couldn’t have thought that you would pick up a random guy who would be amazing at everything to be your fake boyfriend, right?”

She has a point. I did put my eggs in the former military with communication issues basket.

“I only met him for a few minutes today, but he has this really dominating presence. It’s like he has to push through every conversation to get to the point or else you’re wasting his time.”

“So, let’s think this through.” She’s so good at managing problems, even in the way she speaks calmly to me. “He’s a dominant man, which you don’t care for, but dominance isn’t all bad. I mean, you want him to control the situation on Saturday, right?”

“Yeah, but—”

“But nothing. You’ve spent a bunch of time to find a man that’s dominant enough to manage your mother, and now you’re worried he might be too much? I’m sorry, Doctor Frankenstein, but you created this monster of a situation.” Dot chuckles under her breath as she says, “I love you, Siren, but you keep going in circles like this with every guy you date.”

“First off, I’m not dating him. He’s someone I’ve hired to do a job. Second, how did my love life bleed into this?”

“You’ve just created your real-life dating scenario for this wedding. After dating Fred for a bit, you said you wanted a guy who’s not as aggressive, then you date a softer dude, and you hate that he’s so placid. Pick a lane, girl.” Her tone is curt and to the point. “No one is everything. You have to take the good with the bad, and as much as you claim to hate alpha males, you clearly want one.”

“What? No, I don’t.”

“Yeah, you do!” She laughs. “You broke up with your last boyfriend because he didn’t plan things and take you out, and the one before that wasn’t good enough because he left everything up to you. You like a man who is in the driver’s seat. Hell, what was the first type of man that you wanted in your fake date scenario? It was a dominating, alpha type of guy. Why… because that is the type that you think has the most value to show off.”

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