Carlos replied.
“I’m just telling you what she told me. Food is great, but I guess it wasn’t…fun.”
“Shit! I had it all planned out. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Valentine’s Day is in two days.”
I could hear the panic in Carlos’s voice. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him, but a proposal was big and if my date was a flop, I didn’t want Carlos to face the same.
“Is there anything…special that you two like to do?” I asked.
“I’m not dropping on one knee in the bedroom, Jack. This has to be memorable.”
“Hell, I don’t know what to tell you. Why don’t you ask Deidre? She’s better at this shit than I am.” Because I am the least romantic person I know.
“If I tell her, she might tell Allison,” Carlos said.
“No, she won’t. You can trust her.”
“Even though she’s Allison’s best friend?” Carlos asked.
“That’s exactly why you can trust her. You might want to give her a call now.” I was sure she could use the distraction. I know I did. It was going to be another long, lonely night without her.
“Thanks, Jack. I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll call her now.”
I ended the call and slipped my phone back in my pocket. Looking up at her apartment I saw the lights were still on. Damn it. I wanted to climb those stairs so badly.
I started the car and pulled away from her building. I should go to my hotel, but I was stopping at the liquor store on my way. A beer wasn’t going to cut it tonight.
Chapter 13
Deidre
“What is wrong with you, Deidre? You haven’t heard a word I said,” Allison huffed from my office doorway. “Did you have a fight with Jack last night?”
Oh, I heard every word. She was talking about baby names, and if it was a boy, he’d be Carlos, Jr. But I was looking down at my desk and trying desperately to contain myself, which probably made me look…sad.
“No. The date was okay,” I replied.
“Oh, no. Okay is a bad sign. I mean, it should be awesome, amazing, memorable. You know, a ‘he made your toes curl and you still don’t know your own name’ type of date,” she said.
“No. No. And sadly, no.”
“You mean you guys didn’t do it?” I shook my head and she said, “Isn’t that two nights in a row?” I nodded, my body crying out for Jack and getting no response. Allison sighed. “I don’t know what to say. I really thought you two were soulmates and this was your second chance at love. Maybe you’re right. I am no Love Vixen. My advice…sucks.”
Well, this is a first. I didn’t want to talk about me and Jack, but at least it meant we weren’t talking about her and Carlos. Somehow I had become the confidante for them both. I’m great with secrets, but these two were huge. I was bubbling over with excitement and wanted to call Jack and tell him, but I’d sworn not to say a word.
I had tossed and turned all night, thinking of Jack and trying to figure out what was going on with him. Why the sudden change? It wasn’t that I didn’t like going to Angelo’s with Jack - it’s that just I enjoyed our night at home watching TV more. It was more like us, and that’s all I wanted us to be, ourselves.
And when I wasn’t thinking of Jack, my mind raced about Carlos and Allison. Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day. It was all about to come out, the baby, the proposal. It just proved that these two were truly meant for each other. I was so happy for them that I was bursting at the seams.
“Allison, I love you and I appreciate you trying to help, but I’d rather just be alone right now,” I said.
She got up and was about to leave my office when she turned around, tears streaming down her face. Oh, great. What did I say?
“I’m sorry, Allison. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s not you. I am just…so emotional. I cried listening to the diet coke commercial on the radio this morning on the way to work.”
I’d never experienced it, but I’d heard that is normal with pregnancy. “It’s your hormones. Nothing to be worried about.”
“Nothing to worry about? Look at me. I’m supposed to do a demonstration tonight. What kind of sales do you think I will make if I’m holding up a vibrator while bawling my eyes out?” she asked.
It wasn’t funny, but I