Rhett (Rhett #1)(29)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Yeah, how fun.” She smiled at me and I had a sudden urge to reach out and run my fingers down her pink cheeks. “That’s cool with you, right Elliott.”

“Sure.” He responded, looking anything but cool about it.

“Hi, I’m Clementine and this is my friend Elliott.” Clemmie introduced herself to Jenny.

“I’m Rhett’s girlfriend, Jenny.” Jenny narrowed her eyes and smiled fakely at Clementine.

“Oh, I didn’t know he had a girlfriend.” Clementine grinned at me. “You sly dog.”

“Jenny’s not my girlfriend.” I laughed and Jenny glared at me. “No offense, Jenny, but let’s not get the date off on a false pretense.”

“You’re a jerk.” She muttered and I could see her giving me the evil eye.

“Trust me, he knows.” Clementine responded and I pinched her. “Hey.”

“That’s what you get for calling me a jerk.” I smiled at her and we both laughed. All of a sudden, I felt better than I had in days. I knew the awkward tension had gone from our relationship and we were back to acting like we had before all the silly drama had started.

“I’ll get you back for that.” Her eyes glittered into mine and I leaned towards her and whispered in her ear.

“Promise?” I blew slightly as I whispered and she giggled. She was sensitive to air in her ears and it always made her laugh.

“Just wait, Rhett Madison.”

“I’m here all night.”

“I’ll get you when you least expect it.” She winked at me and I stared at the long expanse of her neck and then below to her glistening chest and bosoms.

“What are you wearing?” I spoke softly as I stared at her sexy outfit.

“Clothes.”

“Barely.” I raised an eyebrow and she blushed.

“So how are you doing, Rhett?” Elliott stepped towards us and tried to assert his masculinity.

“Good, you?” I gave him a cursory glance.

“Good, though not as good as you.” He looked over at Jenny. “On a date with another girl, I see.”

“Good eyesight.” I gave him a broad smile and took a step closer to him, so that he was looking up at me.

“Thanks.” He smiled at me again, but I could see from the glint in his eyes that he knew I didn’t like him and I could tell that he didn’t like me either.

“Rhett, I’m hungry.” Jenny walked up to me and batted her eyelashes.

“We’ll be seated soon.”

“I thought we were going to sit by ourselves.” She gave Clemmie a sour side-glance and then looked back at me. “I thought we could have a nice private dinner.”

“It will be more fun with friends.” I smiled at her and then looked back at Clementine who was watching us with interest. I gave her a quick smile and she winked at me.

“Your tables ready, Rhett.” Candy called us over and I ignored the number she tried to slip me as another girl guided us to our table.

“That girl was trying to give you her number.” Clementine whispered to me as we walked to the table.

“I didn’t take it though.”

“You’re such a player.” She shook her head and frowned. “I don’t know how you can date so many women.”

“I don’t know how you can date one loser.”

“Rhett.” She pursed her lips and I sighed.

“Sorry, he’s not a loser.” I rolled my eyes as I apologized.

“It’s fine.” She smiled and we sat down. I took the seat next to her in the booth and Jenny and Elliott sat on the other side. I could see that they both looked put out by the seat assignments, but I didn’t care.

“Wanna split a Ribeye and a filet?” I asked Clementine as we studied the menus.

“Sure,” she nodded. “Let’s get the blooming onions as well.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” I grinned.

“Okay then.” Elliott looked at us and frowned. “I suppose that’s you two set.”

“Oh, sorry.” Clementine blushed. “Sorry, Rhett and I always come to Outback and we always split meals.”

“Not just at Outback.” I smiled at him. “Pretty much every time we eat out.”

“Which is a lot.” She laughed. “We eat out a lot.”

“Because we’re pigs.” I agreed.

“You’re the pig, Rhett Madison. Not me.” She rolled her eyes.

“Sure, you only stuff your mouth every other meal.” I poked her in the stomach. “Not every meal.”

“Stop,” she squealed and moved away from me.

“Are you two done?” Elliott shook his head and gave Clementine a look. I could feel her tensing up in embarrassment and I was annoyed that he was trying to make her feel guilty.

“What you getting, Jenny?” I looked over at my date. She was glaring at me and she wasn’t even trying to hide her anger. “See any salads you like?”

“They only have a Cesar salad.” She looked pissed. “I wanted a Greek salad.”

“Oh that sucks.” I shrugged and looked at Clementine. “You getting any alcohol?”

“No,” She shook her head. “Not tonight.”

“Good.” I smiled at her. “I don’t want you drinking when you go on dates with strange guys.”

“Rhett.” She gave me a look and I shrugged. I wasn’t going to keep my mouth shut in front of Elliott. I wanted him to know that he better not try anything with her or I’d be on his ass.

“Let’s just order and enjoy our food.” Elliott shook his head and spoke in an aggravated voice. “Next time, I’ll make sure to take you to a more up-class restaurant, Clementine. That way we can avoid hanging out with the trash.” The table went quiet then, but I saw Clementine rolling her eyes and I smiled to myself. This idiot wasn’t going to last too long, I thought to myself.

***

I dropped Jenny off in silence. I felt her glaring at me all through the ride home and I knew that I might as well delete her number. There was no way in hell that she was going to go on another date with me. Not that I really cared. She was boring and a whiner and I knew there were too many women in the world to waste my time with her. I pulled my phone out as soon as I dropped her home and called Clementine.

“What you doing?” I asked as soon as she picked up the phone.

“I just got home. Where are you?”