Illusion (Swept Away #1)(5)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Oh, that was weeks ago, and I canceled it.” I groaned. “I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to work out.” I stared into my eyes in the mirror as I spoke. I felt bad about keeping secrets from Rosie.

“Bianca, you can’t cancel the date before you meet him. Plus, he looked hot in those photos you showed me online. All masculine and sexy.”

“Yeah, he was hot.” I nodded as I walked back to my computer. I shook my head as I sat down. I’d obviously told her about Matt if I’d shown her photos. “He just seemed like a bit of a creep.”

“They’re all creeps.” She sounded annoyed. “Anyway, he looked cute.”

“I don’t want to date a guy who’s creepy before we even meet.”

“How was he being creepy?”

“Listen to this e-mail he sent me last night.” I sat on the bed and put my laptop on my knees. “Hold on a sec. I’m going through my trash, since I deleted the e-mails.”

“No worries.” She paused. “Hey, I wanted to tell you that I saw David a couple of weeks ago.”

“Oh?” My heart stopped for a second, and I took a deep breath. “How did he look?”

“Handsome as ever.” She paused again. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I said stiffly as an image of David crossed my mind.

I didn’t want to talk about David. Not over the phone. Not now. He was the most handsome guy I’d ever dated, with his dark brown locks and bright green eyes. He was tall and buff, and he looked like every woman’s dream. Rosie had been shocked when he’d asked me out and we’d started dating. She hadn’t known the lengths I’d gone through to get his attention. Though, to be honest, I’d never felt secure in the relationship, and when he’d cheated on me, I hadn’t been that surprised. Our relationship had been complex, and no one else knew exactly how complex it still was.

“Have you spoken to him recently?”

“Not since we broke up.” I bit my lower lip, hating to lie again. “I’ve started several e-mails though.”

“Does he still call you?”

“He called me a few times, but nothing in over a month.” I sighed. “Maybe he’s moved on.”

“He’s a dick, and you know what he was thinking with.” Rosie sounded hesitant. “I mean, I know guys have needs, but shit, he should have told you that he couldn’t wait anymore.”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to sleep with him.” I sighed. “It just never felt right. I wanted it to be special.” And it would never have been special with David, no matter how handsome I thought he was.

“I know. He’s an asshole.” Rosie went back to being supportive. “It’s his loss.”

“Exactly.” I sighed as I thought back to David. “Did he say anything to you when you saw him?” I asked casually.

“He said hi.” Rosie’s voice sounded awkward. “And something else, but it didn’t make sense.”

“Oh?” My fingers froze on the keyboard. “What else did he say?”

“He said that there was more than one way to skin a cat.”

“What?” I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I think he’s trying to woo you.” Rosie’s voice became thoughtful. “I guess he figured out that just apologizing and calling wasn’t going to cut it. I bet he’s going to try to step it up a notch and really try harder to win you back.”

“You think so?” I stared around my bedroom and thought for a second. This was the one room in my apartment that David and I had never really spent much time in. I lay back on my bed and sighed. “I was an idiot, wasn’t I. I should have just had sex with him. I’m sure it would have been amazing. Maybe we’d still be together now.” I felt odd saying the words, as if I were playing a part in a play. You’ve been watching too many movies, Bianca, I thought to myself.

“Don’t blame yourself, Bianca. It’s not your fault. Maybe this is what he needed, to see how much you mean to him. Maybe he’ll be all romantic now. What if he takes you on a surprise trip to Paris or something? Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“You think he’d really do that?”

“Who knows?” Rosie laughed. “Hey, hold on. I just got a package from a new and very cute delivery guy.”

“Okay.” I laughed and sat back up, still looking through my e-mails for the deleted messages from Matt. I wanted to get away from the conversation about David.

I should have known from his screen name that he was going to be an asshole. I mean, Knight in Shining Armani? Only a pompous asshole would choose such a name.

“Thank you, Billy.” I heard Rosie speaking to the delivery guy and ripping open her new package.

I smiled to myself as I imagined her decimating the package so she could find out what was inside as quickly as possible. She’d always been impatient when opening packages and presents. I only hoped she treated any packages she received from me with more care. I stared at the plastic bag on my night desk and wondered if I was making the right decision to entrust my papers with her.

“Oh my God, are you there, Bianca?” Rosie’s voice was jittery and excited.

“Yeah, why?”

“Someone just sent me a present.”

“Ooh, what did they send?”

“A Tiffany’s bracelet and a note.” Her voice was growing louder with excitement.

“What does it say?” I asked casually as my stomach flip-flopped.

“It says ‘My dearest Rosie, you don’t know me yet, but I very much want to know you. Accept this gift as a token of my friendship.’ ” She paused. “And that’s it.”

“Who’s it from?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice was low. “I wonder if it’s Joe from accounting. I’ve seen him giving me a few rather obvious admiring stares recently, ever since I got those blond highlights.”

“But you know Joe. Wouldn’t it say ‘You don’t know my intentions yet’ as opposed to ‘You don’t know me yet’?”

“Who knows? Maybe he’s slow or didn’t think it through properly.” She laughed. “Who cares? I just got a bracelet from Tiffany’s.”

“I can’t wait to see it tonight.” I was slightly envious. No one was sending me gifts from Tiffany’s. Not even David, who might or might not be trying to woo me back. I thought back to my own, more ominous note and wondered if there was a connection.