“I’ll let Meri do that herself.” He turned to her. “We’re about to play Truth or Dare. I know it’s your favorite. Want to join us?”
“We’re going to state line to the casinos,” Andrew said.
Meri glanced between the two men. They were both great in their own ways. Different but great.
“I’m tired,” she told Andrew. “I’d really like to stay in tonight.”
His. expression tightened. “I’m not interested in hanging out here. I’ll go to the casino without you.”
She touched his arm. “You don’t have to do that. You could stay.”
He glanced toward the dining room, where she could hear Colin arguing theoretical equations.
“No, thanks,” Andrew told her. He started for the door.
She turned to Jack. “This is all your fault.”
“What did I do?”
She huffed out a breath, then hurried after Andrew.
“Don’t be like this,” she told him on the front porch.
“Like what? Interested in spending time with you alone? I haven’t seen you in weeks. The last time we talked on the phone, you said everything was fine. But now I find out it isn’t. Were we taking a break, Meredith, or were you trying to break up with me? If that’s what you want, just say so.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. Andrew was perfect for her in so many ways. He was exactly the man she was looking for. Added to that was the fact that she’d had him investigated and there was nothing in his past to indicate he gave a damn about her inheritance. Men like that were hard to find.
Six months ago she’d been almost sure. So what was different now?
Stupid question, she thought. Jack was different. Being with Jack was supposed to make things more clear, and it hadn’t.
“I’m not trying to break up with you,” she told him. “I’m glad you’re here. I just need some time to get used to us being a couple.”
“Hard to do when we’re apart.”
“So stay.”
“Come back to my hotel with me, Meredith.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
She wouldn’t. He was right.
“Andrew…”
He walked to his car. “I’ll be back, Meredith. I think you’re worth fighting for. The question you need to answer is, do you want me to keep trying?”
She watched him drive away. The front door opened and Betina stepped out next to her.
“Man trouble?” her friend asked.
“When does my romantic life flow smoothly?”
“Practically never. You’re always interesting, I’ll grant you that. So what has his panties in a snit?”
Meri looked at her. “You never liked him. Why is that?”
“I don’t mind him. I think he’s too impressed with himself. But he’s good to you and he passed your rigorous inspection, so that’s all I need to know.”
“But you don’t like him.”
“Do I have to?” Betina asked.
Meri shrugged. “Do you like Jack?”
“Are you doing a comparison?”
“No. I’m just curious.”
Betina considered the question. “Yes, I like Jack.”
“Me, too.” Meri held up her hand. “Don’t you dare start in on me that you knew I would fall for him, blah, blah, blah. I haven’t fallen for him. It’s just different now.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. Jack and I are friends. The bigger question is, what do I want from Andrew?”
“How are you going to figure that out?”
“I haven’t got a clue.”
She followed Betina back inside, where everyone sat around on the oversize sofas. Two bowls filled with pieces of paper stood in the middle of the coffee table. They would be the “truth” and “dare” parts of the game.
Meri had learned not to mess with dare with this group. Not when they wanted things like mathematical proof that the universe existed. Answering personal, probably embarrassing questions was a whole lot easier.
As Jack was new to the game, they let him go first.
He pulled out a question and read it aloud. “Have you ever gone to a convention in any kind of costume?”
He frowned and turned to her. “This is as wild as you guys get?”
She laughed. “It’s not a big deal for you, but-trust me-there are people in this room with guilty Star Trek secrets.”
Jack put down the paper. “No.”
Colin groaned. “You weren’t supposed to get that question.”
“Which means there’s another one in the bowl about doing it with twins,” Meri told him with a grin.
She reached into the bowl and pulled out a paper. “Have you ever been stood up?”
The room seemed to tilt slightly. She remembered being eighteen, wearing her prettiest dress, although a size eighteen on her small frame was anything but elegant. She’d had her hair done, actually put on makeup and gone to the restaurant to meet a guy from her physics lab. She’d waited for two hours and he’d never shown up.
The next day he’d acted as if nothing had happened. She’d never had the courage to ask if he’d forgotten or done it on purpose or for sport.
Jack leaned over and grabbed the paper from her. “She’s not answering the question. This is a stupid game.”
“I don’t mind,” she told him.
“I do. I’ll tell them about the twins.”
All the guys leaned forward. “For real?” Robert asked. “Twins?”
She shook her head. “Jack, it’s okay.”
“It’s not. What happened is private.”
What happened? How could he know she’d been stood up? He’d been gone for months. Actually, the nondate had gotten her to think about changing. She’d joined a gym the next day.
She started to tell him that, then found she couldn’t speak. Her throat was all closed, as if she had a cold…or was going to cry. What was wrong with her?
“Excuse me,” she said and ducked out of the room. She hurried into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
It was stress, she told herself. There was too much going on.
She heard footsteps and turned to find Colin entering the room.
“You okay?” he asked. “I’m sorry about the question. It wasn’t for you. I was hoping Betina would get it.”
Something inside Meri snapped. “I’ve had it with you,” she said. “Look, you’re a grown single man interested in a woman who obviously thinks you’re hot. For heaven’s sake, do something about it.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it. “I can’t.”
“Then you don’t deserve her.”
Nine
Meri needed coffee more than she needed air. It had been another long night but not for any fun reasons. She’d tossed and turned, not sure what to do with her life-something she hadn’t wrestled with in years.
She was supposed to have things together by now. She was supposed to know her heart as well as she knew her head. Or did being so damned smart mean she was destined to be stupid in other ways?
The coffee had barely begun to pour through the filter when someone rang the doorbell. She hadn’t seen
