Hate to Date You (Dating #4) - Monica Murphy Page 0,35

matching my top tonight. I wonder if Carter noticed.

I should absolutely not care if he noticed.

“Please don’t be mad at me when I tell you this.” Eleanor’s voice is actually shaking, she sounds so traumatized.

I turn to face her, my lipstick forgotten. Worry fills me at the stricken look on my friend’s face. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“Your Carter? I think…oh God.” Eleanor tilts her head back, staring up at the ceiling as she takes in big, gulping breaths.

My heart starts to pound. She’s freaking me the hell out. “Just spit it out, Eleanor. Come on.”

“I think he was flirting with me.” Eleanor starts pacing the bathroom. “There’s no thinking. I’m positive he was flirting with me just now.”

Wait a minute, she’s acting like she’s dying over harmless flirtation?

“Why would I be mad at you if Carter was the one flirting?” I ask.

“I feel like I might’ve started it! I don’t know. The entire situation was weird. He just started talking to me and he was so friendly. Making idle conversation is no big deal, right? And then the next thing I knew, I told him his longish hair is a good look for him.”

She’s right. The longish hair is a good look for him.

“And then we’re laughing, and he’s asking for my business card since I told him I’d give him a haircut but he’d need to make an appointment. And then he sends me one of those—looks,” Eleanor explains, completely flustered.

I’m frowning so hard my face hurts. “What sort of look?”

“One of those smolders! You know the one.”

Huh. Okay. I said I wouldn’t be mad, and I’m most definitely not mad at Eleanor. She’s not the best at flirtation, so I can imagine she was immensely awkward throughout the entire ordeal. But…

Carter is actually smoldering for someone else? One of my closest friends? That’s not right. Not at all.

In fact, it’s complete bullshit.

“Are you mad?” Eleanor asks, her voice the tiniest bit whiny. I wonder if she’s had too much to drink. Her face is flushed and her eyes are a little wild.

“I would never be mad at you.” I pull her into a hug and we cling to each other for a moment before I release her. “But I’m super pissed at Mr. Smolder.”

“Don’t be mad at him! He didn’t mean it. He’s so into you! He sends you way more smolder than he ever gave me. Maybe he’s just flirtatious by nature,” Eleanor says.

“Don’t defend him.” I chew on my thumbnail, my mind racing. Caroline doesn’t know about us, and I’m pretty sure he’s aware of that fact. Otherwise, his sister would bombard him with endless questions. For all I know, Caroline would be mad at him for hooking up with me.

He knows I’m good friends with every woman in that room. The only single ones beside myself are Kelsey, Eleanor and Amelia. He sat next to Eleanor.

Huh. Could he have lured her in with fake flirting to—oh, I don’t know—test her somehow? Test me?

Such a prick.

I’m not about to say anything to Eleanor, though. Not yet. I don’t want to hurt her feelings and tell her, oh, he’s not flirting with you for real. He’s just trying to get to me.

“I don’t think he was actually flirting with me,” Eleanor suddenly says. “I have a feeling he was trying to, I don’t know, get to you through me somehow?”

That was some weird telepathy there, wasn’t it?

“I was thinking the same exact thing,” I say as I go to her and hook my arm through hers. “Come on, let’s go back out there and give him some shit.”

We exit the bathroom, and I’m practically dragging Eleanor toward our banquet room as she shakily asks, “Wh-what do you mean?”

“I want you to flirt with him. In front of me,” I tell her.

Eleanor appears positively horrified by my suggestion. “No way.”

“Yes way,” I say firmly. “You can do this.”

“Maybe I don’t want to.”

“It’ll take five minutes out of your life, if that. And I’ll owe you,” I say.

“Owe me what?”

“Tell me what you want and if it’s reasonable, I’ll agree.” I know exactly what it’s going to be. It’s what they all want from me.

Eleanor huffs out a breath. “Free lattes from Sweet Dreams whenever I want them for the next month.”

“Two weeks,” I return automatically, fully prepared for the request.

“Deal,” she says as we enter the room to find my brother rising from the chair next to Carter, which Eleanor vacated only a few minutes ago.