Page 54 of The Wrong Date Deal

“Well,” she said, sitting back in her seat, “if anything changes, you can let me know. I’m here and I’m your friend. I care about you.”

August smiled and finished her drink. “I appreciate it.”

Meilíng nodded at the mug. “Do you need to get back? So you can get to an actual date and not afriend?”

August narrowed her eyes slightly at the emphasis she put on the last word but didn’t say anything. They were moving on from that conversation and commenting would just open the door again. “Probably.”

Meilíng grinned. “Well, I’m keeping everything crossed for you tonight.”

“I’m sure you are,” August laughed as she watched Meilíng finish her drink.

She wasn’t any more excited about her date than she had been before, but she was more than a little confused about the tiny spark she felt imagining calling Piper after the date to discuss how badly it had gone—and to, maybe, go over this conversation with Meilíng. And wasn’t that unusual?

???

“Come on. Let’s go,” a cute redhead said as she appeared beside August.

Her sudden appearance was a little jarring given that August was waiting outside a bar on a dark street and had beenexpecting her date to come walking towards the bar, as opposed to appearing from inside to immediately speak into August’s ear.

August looked at her with wild eyes. “Sorry?”

She laughed and took her phone out. “Black coat, brown hair, outside the bar… I assume it’s you I’m meeting.”

August stared at the conversation the woman pulled up, seeing her own words sent to her date. “Oh. Right. Where are we going?”

“Dancing,” the woman said, taking August’s arm and pulling her away from the bar.

“Oh.” August allowed herself to be led along, puzzled. They’d agreed they were going to the bar she’d been waiting outside of. Nothing about dancing or another location.

She felt like her instincts about this date had been right on the money. She didn’t mind spontaneity, she didn’t mind dancing, but she did mind someone misleading her on the first date. She did mind someone whose name she didn’t even know dragging her along to an unplanned location. And, if she was honest, she did mind people who weren’t communicative with plans. Sure, that had arisen from bad experiences with her ex, but it was part of who August was now. And who she was was a woman who needed communication.

The redhead seemed fun and she was pretty, but none of that put August at ease. Maybe everything was above board. However, she wasn’t naive. It was not best practice to allow strangers to drag you off in the dark, no matter how innocent they seemed.

She pulled her phone out, still being led along by the woman in question, and hesitated only for a second before pulling up her chat with Piper. She could have picked Ford. She could have picked Meilíng. But she didn’t want to. Piper would understand, Piper would get it. Piper was the one she had a deal with for these dates. She was the obvious choice.

Without overthinking it further, she shared her location, typed,On a date. Just in case, and slipped her phone back in her pocket.

“Have you ever taken dance lessons before?” the redhead asked, glancing briefly back at August.

“When I was a kid,” August said. She didn’t have especially fond memories of her time as a ballet dancer, but she’d been about five and her teacher had been uncommonly strict.

The woman laughed. “Great, well, tonight we’re going to a rumba class.” She winked over her shoulder at August. “I thought that was fitting for a date.”

“Great,” August said, her voice a little flat. “Why rumba?” She didn’t know enough about dance to pick up whatever it was the woman felt was both obvious and worthy of a wink.

“It’s the sexiest, most romantic dance. It’s a dance of love.”

“Love?” August’s eyebrows shot up her head. “Optimistic.”

The woman laughed again. “Don’t worry, love can be just for the night, too.”

“Ah.” August sighed. This hadn’t been exactly what she’d been imagining for this date, but she had been right this wasn’t the one. There was someone out there absolutely perfect for the redheaded woman—multiple people, probably—but it wasn’t August. She felt too much like she’d been kept in the dark about who this woman was, and that just wasn’t working for her at this point in her life.

They made it upstairs into a dance studio, joining about ten other couples and a pair of teachers. August eyed everyone’s shoes. She could dance in the dark brogue boots she was wearing but they weren’t exactly dance shoes. She was glad to see other people in similar footwear.

Her date slipped her coat off and stood in position, motioning August to join her. “I’m Eva,” she said with a grin when August stood in front of her. “What’s your name?”

“August. It’s nice to meet you.”

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