Operation Date Escape

glanced down at the pointy toed heels Nanci had worn that night with a wince. “Bet that hurt like hell.”
    “You can count on it,” she said with a mischievous grin as they hurried across the lamp lit parking lot. “That’ll teach him to invade your personal space and be a dickhead at the same time.”
    “Thanks.”
    “My pleasure.”
    She turned to Nanci as they slid into her car. “For the record, I would never ever go back to Kyle. Not even if he was the last man on earth and someone slipped me an entire bottle of female Viagra.”
    Nanci burst into laughter. “That’s my girl.”
    She glanced back toward the night club. She had faced the demon from her past and had come out of it mentally intact. Kyle was an ass and always would be. Allison could have him.
    “You okay?” her friend asked as they pulled out onto the street.
    “I’m great. ”
    “So much for finding a new place to hang out.”
    “Yeah, I could do without having to see Kyle and Allison ever again.”
    “Hey, maybe we’ll get lucky and a shark will eat them on their honeymoon.”
    Kelsie burst into laughter. “You are so bad.”
    “I try my best. What do you say we go back to my place and watch a chick flick?”
    “Sounds like a plan.” She laid her head back against the seat. This had actually turned out to be one of the best nights of her life. And seeing Kyle taken down by Nanci was definitely the icing on the cake.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

    Kelsie pulled up to the address her mother had given her. The place where she was to meet her very last blind date. That alone had her smiling.
    She lowered her window halfway down, looking around. Judging by the number of vehicles parked outside, it had to be the right place. Though there were a few cars in the mix, most of the vehicles that filled the driveway and the road in front of the house were big, shiny trucks.
    The house where the company picnic was being held was a newer split-level home with a privacy fence separating the backyard from the road in front. Woods provided the backdrop for what looked to be a partially fenced in backyard.
    She sat in her car, listening to the radio. A glance at her watch had her frowning. Had her mother gotten the time she was supposed to meet her date at the picnic mixed up? Or had he already arrived and decided to skip taking her in with him? Not that it would break her heart or anything. But then she’d still owe her mother one more blind date. She’d just as soon get it over with.
    Her ‘date’ , the one and only Max, was supposed to meet her at her car at one o’clock so they could make their entrance into his company picnic together. It was now a few minutes after one with no date in sight.
    Ten minutes later she was still waiting for her mother’s ‘Mr. Perfect’ to arrive. Kelsie glanced at the clock on the dash again with an irritated frown. She didn’t have all day to sit there and wait for her date to arrive.
    Her pale pink nails tapped the steering wheel impatiently. He had to show up. Otherwise, her mother’s promise never to fix her up again would be null and void.
    Reaching for her purse, she dug inside for her cell phone. She would call her mother and double-check the meeting time. She pulled up her contact list and had just started to scroll down for her mother’s number when it occurred to her she’d be better off not calling. All she had to do was keep quiet about the date not happening and she was home free. Her mother would never know.
    The idea as fleeting. Past experience told her that her mother would be hunting her down in the morning to see how the date had gone. There was no way she’d be able to lie to her.
    “ So now what?” she muttered in irritation. Here she was doing the guy a favor and he doesn’t even have the decency to−
    A tap on the partially open driver’s side window startled her from her thoughts. Her head whipped around, a startled gasp leaving her lips. The open phone slipped from her hand, clattering onto the passenger side floor.
    “Cole?”
    He smiled at her through the partially open window. “Hey, doll.”
    Heart racing she reached out with trembling fingers to lower her window the rest of the way down.
    “W...what are you doing here?”
    Had he followed her there? The possibility that he had both angered and excited her.
    He leaned into the open window, flashing that sexy, lone dimpled grin she’d been trying so hard to get out of her thoughts. “I would’ve been here sooner,