Page 34 of Heated Rivals
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Carrigan checked her phone for the twelfth time in five minutes. There was no way around it. Not only had James not called her back since the first time, but Kellen O’Neill was late. Extremely late. Over thirty minutes late.
She should have known after the conversation with her mother that the day was only going to go downhill from there, but the puppy had been so eager over the phone that she hadn’t really thought he’d stand her up. Another glance at her phone. Yeah, still late. She heaved a sigh. She should just go home. Dmitri had already offered her a legitimate choice, even if it was the best option of a group of truly shitty options. She didn’t reallyneedKellen O’Neill.
But she didn’t stand up and leave.
A few more minutes. She eyed her empty glass. Another martini wouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like she was driving. She smiled at the nervous-looking waiter andordered.He thinks I’m being stood up, too. Wonderful. More to keep her hands busy than anything else, she texted James.Hey stranger.
As soon as she pushed send, she regretted it. He hadn’t answered her call earlier. Yes, he’d called back—a call she’d ignored—but… really, she didn’t have a reason to be hurt or pissed or anything. They’d had sex twice, but they were hardly friends. She shouldn’t even be texting him right now. Another glance around the restaurant proved that Kellen was, in fact, still late.
Her phone rang in her hand, startling her so bad, she almost dropped it. “Hello?”
“I’m sorry I missed your call earlier.”
She was, too. Though it had allowed her to get through lunch without the distraction he offered—both a blessing and a curse, as it turned out. What the hell was she going to do about Dmitri? She straightened the fork next to her plate. “It’s not a big deal.”
“It is. I told you I’d be there and then I fucked up. I’m sorry.” He went on before she could answer. “What are you doing right now?”
“Being stood up, I think.” She forced a laugh.
“Another date with a guy from that list?”
“Yes.” This was what her life had been reduced to—and it hadn’t exactly been a dream to begin with. She was waiting for a man her father approved of, with the sole purpose of marrying her off, while on the phone with a man that was the enemy as far as the O’Malleys were concerned. “Apparently he doesn’t find Ciao to his liking.”
Something rustled on the other end of the phone, and she thought she heard a door slam. “He’s a fool.”
“I’m not arguing that. I’ve giving him tenmore minutes, and I’m bailing. Right now a date with my bathtub sounds like heaven.”
James growled. “I like the picture that brings to mind. Bubbles?”
“Absolutely.” She smiled and nodded her thanks to the waiter who brought her drink replacement. “Mine smell like roses and suds up to extreme levels.”
“Damn, lovely, I’d like to see that.”
He wouldn’t be able to, though. He wasn’t welcome in her house, and she sure as hell wasn’t going back to his anytime soon. Unlike Teague, James didn’t keep an apartment somewhere outside the territory of their families. She let herself imagine what it’d be like to have him in a bed, to be able to cozy up with him on a couch while watching a movie, to do any of the thousand little things that people took for granted. It would never happen.
She glanced up to find a young man hustling through the tables toward her. His suit was wrinkled, and he’d obviously been worrying at his tie because it was loose and hanging cockeyed. She’d bet this was Kellen O’Neill. “I’ve got to go. I think my date is here.”
“He’s not worth your time.”
No, he wasn’t. She’d much rather stay on the phone, but this date was a necessary evil. “I’m not arguing that. Good night, James.” She reluctantly hung up and slipped her phone into her purse.
The guy stopped next to her table. “Carrigan O’Malley?”
“Yes.”
“I am so damn sorry. You wouldn’t believe the hell I went through to get here.” He dropped into the seat across from hers and scrubbed a hand over his face. “My car broke down two miles away andI had to hoof it.”
He wasn’t bad looking, though his red hair somehow made him look even younger than he likely was. Pretty blue eyes, though. She raised her eyebrows. His car broke down? It must have been some trek if he somehow managed to get lipstick on his collar in the process.
Another one bites the dust.
She sipped her drink. “You made it, though.”
“I did.” His smile was kind of sweet, and she was struck by the thought that her world would eat him up and spit him out without hesitation. A puppy, indeed. “Thank you for waiting.”
“I almost didn’t.” If she didn’t get this conversational ball rolling, they’d be reduced to commenting about the weather in thirty seconds flat. “So what is it you do, Kellen?”Why are you on my father’s list?
