Page 51 of Sweatpants & Sweet Tea

“How was your date with Dr. Russell?” His deep voice rippled through me like water’s surface disturbed by a skipping pebble.

My eyes shot up to his as I snapped back, “How was your date with Ariana?”

I didn’t mean for the question to come out sounding like an accusation, but it did.

The corner of Harlan’s mouth lifted up in a smirk of amusement. “That wasn’t a real date.”

“Really?”

Just like the condoms weren’t yours, and you’ve never taken anyone out to the pond.

I told myself it didn’t matter. We weren’t a couple. We weren’t even dating casually. We’d hooked up one night and didn’t even have each other’s phone number.

“Really,” he doubled down.

“What was it? Old friend’s catching up?” I could hear how jealous I sounded as the words tumbled from my mouth, but there was nothing I could do to stop them.

“She was the Bond villain.”

It took me a second to catch on to his meaning. “Ariana was the one who bid on you?”

He nodded. “It was not to catch up. She wants to buy the farm.”

I had a list of follow-up questions running through my mind, but before I could ask any of them, I heard a loud honking, and I turned and saw the black SUV pulling into the driveway. Ernie was dropping Davina off for makeup and hair.

“I have to go.” My heart sank in disappointment. I didn’t want to leave Harlan. I missed him. I hadn’t even realized how much until I was standing in front of him again.

“You have a date?”

It was a question, but I had a feeling he already knew the answer.

I turned back to him. “It’s not a real date.”

He inhaled through his nose and then slowly exhaled through his mouth. “Have fun on your not-real date.”

As I turned and walked back across the field, I could feel Harlan watching me. I wished it was him I was going on my not-real date with. I wished I was going on a real date with him.

24

HARLAN

As I saton the bench across from the Ferris wheel, music was blasting from the speakers behind me. Suddenly my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out. As soon as I saw the message, I cursed under my breath. My cover had clearly been blown. Not that I could do anything undercover in this town.

Dawson:I never pegged you for a stalker.

I glanced around, wondering if my friend was at the pier or if someone had tipped him off that I was here. I was about to type back an equally smartass response when AJ rushed up, slightly out of breath.

“Can I borrow twenty dollars?”

“Who’s that?” I tipped the top of my beer bottle toward the redhead my godson had been making googly eyes at for the past hour.

When he called after dinner to ask for a ride to hang out at the pier with his friends, I knew something was up. Especially since he had a perfectly good ten-speed and had always used that form of transportation in the past. I pulled up to the front of his house, and when he walked out, the plot thickened. I saw his hair was styled with gel, and he had on a new shirt and pants.

The original plan had been to drop AJ off, but that changed when I remembered that Phil mentioned to Ernie this morning, after we shot the interview, that tonight’s date was happening at the pier. Instead of heading back home, I decided to hang out. The decision to stay instead of dropping AJ off had been spur-of-the-moment. One I hadn’t thought through. But after our conversation in the field earlier today, I was even more convinced that therewassomething between us. She wasnothappy when she thought I’d been on a date with Ariana. That was something.

So, here I was. Sitting on a bench in the middle of the pier. It was prime real estate, tucked between the carnival games and food and drink stands. And it afforded me a front-row view of Daphne on her date with Mark Lyons.

Did that make me a glutton for punishment? Sure.

---