Page 12 of The Hot Mess

I quickly rattled off the details. How I’d known Jack since high school. My whole family had. Yes, he was hot, but also off limits and completely out of my league. He seemed a little flirty in his response to my new look, but I wasn’t sure that had anything to do with him asking me out to dinner. He specifically said it was just for giving me tips on the new project.

“Sounds like a date to me,” she decided when I was finished.

“What about anything I just said implies a date?” I asked, baffled.

“You don’t know much about men, Jada. But if a man wants to take you to dinner, I don’t care what he says about the reason for it…He’s attracted to you and wants to be around you more.”

“Jack Landson. Attracted to me?” I laughed. “I may not know much about men in general, but I think I know enough about this specific man to say that’s not what’s happening here.”

I stuck to my guns for the rest of our call, but by the time I hung up, I couldn’t stop my heart from soaring with the possibility that maybe Jane was right. Could Jack really have just asked me out on a date?

The thought carried me on a cloud the whole way to my meeting with Isabella the following afternoon. I followed her instructions on gaining entrance to the mysterious, unmarked brunch spot she wanted to meet at. The speakeasy-like building had no sign, but once I gave the password to the woman at the front, she let me right in and directed me to a private room where Isabella was waiting.

I marveled at the tropically decorated room, complete with palm trees and salt fountains that filled the air with the scents of the ocean. Isabella was decked out in a pool-side worthy dress, draped elegantly on a set of satin pillows in the floor around a low table.

“Isabella?” I asked, like an idiot. Who else would it be?

She pulled her sunglasses down her nose, revealing the most disarming pair of eyes I had ever seen on a woman. She was undeniably gorgeous with her classic auburn waves and painted red lips. She looked like something out of a Lana Del Ray music video, and I immediately felt less accomplished in my makeover.

“Have a seat,” she waved at the cushion across from her.

I couldn’t stop staring as I took my seat, watching her take a careful bite of the shish kabob appetizers already served on the table. I tried to piece it together in my mind…Jack’s first mention of her. His insistence that I interview her. Who was this woman? Surely she wouldn’t be a romantic interest of his if he was peddling her off to find a man on Heartstring.

Or maybe…Maybe there was something about her that wasn’t good for his image. I couldn’t imagine what, but if they wanted to keep their relationship a secret from the public eye…making her separate dating life public would accomplish just that. She certainly looked like the kind of woman Jack should be with, far more than I did.

“You’re Jada,” she purred. Her voice was deep and sultry, and her words seemed very sparse and carefully chosen.

“Yes, nice to meet you. Thanks for agreeing to this,” I swallowed, watching her take another bite. The sauce-drenched meat and veggies looked delicious, but I knew I could never sink my teeth into them without spilling or getting sauce all over my mouth. I couldn’t eat as gracefully as this Isabella lady could.

“Forgive me for asking, but…Why exactly do you need to sign up for Heartstring?” I asked slowly. “No offense. You’re just so…so…Well, I can’t help but think if someone like you has to turn to online dating to find someone, the rest of us are screwed. You must have men lining up around the block to take you out.”

She offered a reserved smirk. “I guess you could say that. But that kind of attention makes you guarded. Maybe I’ve become too picky and off-putting to men. I don’t give anyone enough of a chance. At least that’s what Jack seems to think.”

“So, this was Jack’s idea?”

“I’m certainly not in any rush for a relationship,” she replied, taking a sip from her cocktail.

“Okay,” I nodded, pulling out my pen and pad to take notes. “That’s a good perspective to offer our audience. I imagine a lot of people might sign up out of pressure from friends and family.”

“And how is it that you know Jack?”

I sensed some concern in her tone, which was laughable. As if a woman like me could ever give someone like her any amount of competition.

“Oh, he’s just an old friend,” I waved. “My siblings and I have known him since highschool. He does a lot of work for Heartstring.” I paused then ventured to add, “So, if you have a thing for him…You obviously have nothing to worry about.”

“A thing for him?” she laughed. “God, no. This isn’t West Virginia.”

I wrinkled my brow, staring back at her cluelessly.

“I’m his sister,” she barked, like I was an idiot for not knowing. “So, ifyouhave a thing for him, you obviously have nothing to worry about. Not with me anyway. Maybe every other woman on the planet, but not me.”

“Oh, of course,” I buried my face in my hands. “How silly of me. I guess now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance. It’s strange, though. I never knew Jack had a sister.”

“We attended different high schools. You would have never seen me. My mother shipped me off to an all-girls boarding school. The same one she went to. Our family believes that’s the best way to keep teenage girls out of trouble.”

I tried not to smile too obviously from my restored hope that maybe, just maybe, I did stand some kind of chance with Jack. But even with Isabella out of the running, there were still plenty of other obstacles that made it unlikely.

“Did it? Keep you out of trouble?” I asked, refocusing.

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