Page 74 of A Summer Mismatch
She turned on Timothy, anger swelling up in her. “What are you doing?”
“Can we dance while we talk? We are on a dance floor.”
“No.” Confidence swelled in her as she said the word for once, so she said it again, reveling in the power of one simple word. “No. You crashed my date.”
“Please,” he wheedled, giving her the charming smile that always worked on everyone.
She stared steadily at him.
“Julia. Everyone’s looking at us. One dance, and then I’ll go.”
She glanced around, and sure enough, people were staring at them. “Fine. One song while we talk, and then I’m done.”
The magic of the night dissipated as she placed her hand on his shoulder, and he touched her waist. She made sure to keep extra distance between them, but that only allowed him to really take her in for the first time.
“That dress.” He whistled under his breath. “Did someone tell you this was a costume party?”
“No. Grandma Winnie made it for me.”
“Those old people are so clueless sometimes.” He rolled his eyes like they were in on a joke together.
“Those old people are your patients.” Disgust kicked up like the sand at their feet.
“Come on, you know I don’t mean any offense. Winnie’s great.”
Julia recalled Grandma Winnie telling her that Timothy could be really condescending toward them when they came in to see him. How had she missed it all this time? “The song is winding down, Timothy. What did you want to say?”
He tried to pull her closer but she held her elbow straight and firm, making it impossible for him to gather her into his arms. He frowned in frustration. “I love you. I’m sorry that you thought I didn’t, or that you thought I was breaking up with you on a permanent basis, or that you felt like you had to turn to some lesser version of me to have a relationship.”
“Lesser version of you?” She felt her eyebrows wing upward.
“Sure. I’m a medical doctor. He’s a vet. I’ve worked in third world clinics around the world. He worked at some elephant farm in Africa.”
“Conservation center,” she corrected.
“I drive a truck, he drives a smaller truck.”
“Wait.” She held a hand up. “How do you know so much about him?”
“From when he came to the equestrian center.” He paused. “And your grandpa. Horace really hates him, did you know that?”
Yeah, she knew that. She closed her eyes. “Did he tell you to come?”
“Um, sure. Yeah. But I would have come anyway if I’d known how close you’d gotten to that animal guy.”
“His name’s Logan.”
“I know.” He winked, and she knew he meant for it to be charming and teasing, but it only increased her irritation further. She wished she’d never agreed to dance with him. She should have held tight to Logan’s hand, told Timothy to bug off, and then spent the rest of the night in Logan’s arms, blissfully ignoring tomorrow.
Instead, she was dancing with the wrong guy and, at this point, might never be able to get back that effervescent feeling she’d had all evening. She peered over at Logan, who was talking on the phone. He caught her gaze, and she noticed that something seemed off with him.
She dropped her hand from Timothy’s shoulder to go to him.
“Julia. We’re meant to be.” And with that, Timothy grabbed her by the waist, pulled her into him, and kissed her.
She pushed on Timothy’s chest so hard that he stumbled back a step. She searched the table for Logan, but he was gone. She finally spotted his back as he walked through the crowd toward the parking lot.
She went to race after him, but Timothy snagged her hand. She let out a growl of frustration, and said something she should have said a long, long time ago. “Timothy, I am breaking up with you. For good.”
