Page 55 of Legally Yours

I froze. “Oh...hi, Jared. What’s up?”

Immediately Jane’s lips rounded in a silent “Oh!” of recognition, and she tiptoed away to another rack.

“I was just wondering if you’d gotten any of my texts this week,” Jared said. “Are we still on for our date tomorrow?”

Shit.I’d completely forgotten, and now here I was out shopping for a date with someone else. I’d been dodging Jared’s texts all week, sending noncommittal promises to get back to him later.

“Oh, yeah, um, about that…” I mumbled, failing to come up with a reasonable excuse that wouldn’t make me into a massive liar. Jared was a nice guy. He didn’t deserve to have the wool pulled over his eyes, although I didn’t think he deserved the absolute truth either. No one really needs to be told they’re just not that interesting.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled as I flipped through a sale rack of t-shirts before moving to another area of the store. Jane meandered closer to eavesdrop. Excuse, excuse, I needed a decent excuse not to see him again. “I’m just really busy these days. I still don’t have a job offer, so I’ve been doing some networking stuff and working extra hours at the clinic…”

From the other side of a tall rack of jumpsuits came a pronounced snort.

“Tell him his kissing was like making out with a block of tofu,” Jane whispered loudly, suddenly beside me again. She held up a black silk blouse with a drawstring collar. I waved her away, but pointed at the shirt and gave a thumbs-up.

“Who was that?” Jared asked.

“Ah, no one. TV. But, yeah, I was saying that, um…I just don’t think I’m going to be able to make it out any time soon.”

“Really? You can’t even get dinner? Everyone has to eat, don’t they?”

His tone was friendly, but I thought I caught a hint of irritation.

“I’m sorry, Jared,” I said, trying and failing to keep my voice from tightening. “I’m just swamped. Maybe another time.”

“Yeah, anotherlifetime,” Jane commented to a rack of wrap dresses.

“Okay, I guess,” Jared said. To his credit, he was trying to be nice. “I hope you get everything done. Let me know when your schedule frees up, okay?”

“Will do,” I said. “Bye.” I tucked my phone back in my purse and then turned to Jane. “What is with you? I thought you liked him.” I swatted playfully at her with my purse, which she neatly dodged.

“I liked the idea of you going on a date,” she corrected me. “Our toaster was getting more action than you. And we don’t even eat that much toast.” She handed me three more shirts. Since none of them were cut to my navel, I draped them over my arm.

“And now?” I couldn’t help the sly grin creeping across my face.

“Well, now you’ve got Mr. Tall, Blond, and Eat Me Out for Breakfast. Why would you keep a guy with the soggy oatmeal personality when you’ve got a giant plate of sizzling bacon ready for you?” She shook her head. “Didn’t you say kissing him was like kissing a cold fish?”

I shrugged, unwilling to meet her gaze as we walked to the small dressing room in the corner of the shop. “I think it was cold cuts, not cold fish.”

“Oh. Yeah. Making out with a bologna sandwich sounds so much better.”

I chuckled as I brought my things inside a dressing room and pulled the curtain closed while Jane stood outside.

“He doesn’t deserve to be told off or anything. What would you have had me say?” I asked while tugging on one of the tops. The purple shade washed me out. Nope.

“Well, if it were me,” Jane said, “I probably would have said something along the lines of, sorry, Jared, I can’t go out tomorrow because you have the personality of a Dodge Minivan.”

I burst out laughing in spite of myself. “Well, I already turned him down, didn’t I?”

“Or sorry, Jared, I’d rather take the LSAT four more times in the same day than kiss you again.”

I pulled on another top and immediately discarded it, although it was hard to get it off while laughing. “You’re mean,” I chided my friend before trying the last shirt, the black one.

“You want me to keep going?” Jane asked. “I have so many more. I’d rather wear head-to-toe beige. Have lunch with a room of insurance salesmen. Attend a mayonnaise convention.”

“Stop!” I cried. Tears were starting to stream down my face. “I…can’t…you…stop!”

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