More Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories (The Flirts! Short Stories Collections) (3 page)

Maria giggled one more time then got up from the couch and headed for the bathroom. Kyla dashed to the hallway to get the scoop. “What do you think of Stone?” she asked.

Maria sighed. “He’s great. You are so lucky to have a gay friend. I’ve always wanted one to go shopping with, and teach me how to arrange flowers and gossip with. Every girl needs a gay friend. That’s what I read in a magazine the other day. Can we share him?” She shrugged and wrinkled her nose. “I gotta pee. Be right back.” She hurried off to the bathroom.

Kyla caught Stone’s eye and crooked her finger, beckoning him over. “What’s going on?” she asked him.

Stone shrugged and planted his hands on his hips. “I think she likes me.”

Kyla rolled her eyes. “She thinks you’re gay.”

He jerked back. “What? Why? Do I seem gay?” He looked down at his shoes. “Is it the argyle socks? Was I wrong about those?”

Her eyes swept over his chiseled cheekbones and cool, gray eyes. The way her heart was beating just looking at him had her shaking your head. “Nope. Not gay. At all.” She swallowed hard. “Not to me. So what were you talking about with her? You must’ve said something to make her think that.”

He looked up at the ceiling, thinking. “I waited for her to ask about me, but she didn’t. So then I asked her about her shoes, because I’ve heard girls like shoes. In fact, I had originally thought about staking out the shoe department at the mall, but I thought that might shout ‘foot fetish.’”

“Right. Now, back to Maria. What did you say to her about the shoes?” Kyla asked, trying her best to be patient.

“Well, after that, she started talking about her favorite store and the new scarf she bought and I asked if it’s silk, because I used to love dressing up in my mom’s silk nightgown when I was a little boy and then I told her how I found a silky dress at the mall the other day that felt exactly the same. I just love silk.”

Kyla remembered trying on her mother’s silky nightgowns, too. The two of them had been really close. Until Kyla had screwed everything up. And the thought of screwing up brought her right back to the present. “So, you told her this? About the nightgown?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, why not? I told Mom I’d tried it on cause I liked how it felt. She let me sleep in it. My mom was cool. She didn’t want to limit her children’s experiences by stereotypical world views and expectations.”

Kyla pinched the bridge of her nose. “I meant, you told
Maria
that you used to dress up in your mother’s nightgown? And that you were in the dress department the other day?”

“Yes.” He bit his lip. “Oh, I see now how that might be confusing.”

Kyla set her hands on his shoulders. “Just out of curiosity, what’s your IQ?”

“One-fifty.”

She whistled. “Wow. You could be in Mensa or something.”

He shook his head. “Too busy to make the meetings.”

She nodded, understanding things now; the smart part of his brain had gobbled up all his common sense. “Okay, let’s try again. There are a few more single women in there, go give it another shot and do not talk about fabrics or clothing or footwear. And remember, no lines, no jokes. If they don’t ask about you first, tell them something about yourself and let it go from there. Got it?”

He nodded. “Got it.”

Somehow, she doubted it.

Stone found a chair next to Mo’s neighbor, Gayle. Kyla nodded in approval. Gayle was pretty, single, and had a good job.

She watched them chat during the who’s-got-the-most-crap-in-their-purse-game. Stone got a special prize for having nothing but his wallet in his pockets—since he didn’t have a purse. Or a European man bag, thank God. By the time the party was over, he was walking toward Kyla with a slip of paper in his hand. “I got Gayle’s number!”

“Shh,” Kyla said, slipping her new grater into her purse. “Be cool. Let’s meet at the pub, and you can tell me everything.”

When Stone left, Aubrey scooted over to Kyla. “Stone’s cute,” Aubrey said.

“And it looks like he’s got a date with Gayle. Sorry, little sis. Besides, he’s…”

“He’s what?” Aubrey scrunched her eyebrows.

Kyla thought for a moment. “He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever gone out with.”

“Wait, he’s got a date with Gayle and he’s going out with you?”

“No!”
God, I did said that, didn’t I
? “We’re just friends. He just wouldn’t be right for either of us.”

“I have a three-thousand square foot condo on Beacon Street and no one to share it with,” Aubrey said.

“I told you to start slow with all that money.” Kyla hated being the bossy big sister. “You’ll find someone, Aubrey.”

“I know,” Aubrey said.

Too bad Kyla didn’t have the same optimism for herself.

“At least we’ve got each other for Valentine’s Day, right?”

Kyla looped her arm around her sister. “Right.”

***

Kyla drove to the bar and parked her car. She tilted the rear view mirror, freshened up her makeup, and wished her hair looked fuller. Which was ridiculous. She wasn’t interested in Stone. No! No. They were way too different. Besides, she wouldn’t be seeing him again after tonight. She’d promised to teach him how to get him a date and it had worked. Her work here was done. She’d collect her hundred bucks and…

And what? Sit at home and watch Lifetime for Women and make fun of the plot lines? Try to find a cooking show that featured meals for one? Maybe she’d imagine all the ways she could be spending her mother’s money if she wasn’t so damn stubborn. She merely tolerated her job, and she hadn’t had a long-term relationship since... She shook her head. Kyla wasn’t even going to go there.

She walked into the bar and Stone was there before her, so she gave him a few mental points for that.
I should advertise my services
, she thought to herself.
I’m a dating coach. A romance guru
. Wouldn’t her mother love that? Ha! Kyla saw that Stone had already ordered her a drink.

“Very nice. Thanks,” she said, genuinely impressed with him. And her handy work. “So, tell me what happened with Gayle?”

“Well, she asked me what I do for a living, so I explained that I just got my PhD and I’m still looking for work, because NASA’s not hiring. And she laughed at that for some reason, but it’s true, they’re not. I’ve been thinking about working at a kids’ science museum, but I didn’t go to school for a hundred years to take some teenager’s weekend job away from him.” He took a deep breath. “Anyway, then she said that must be tough money wise, which I thought was quite understanding of her. She didn’t seem phased when I told her I sometimes take an odd job here or there to make ends meet. I thought she’d run away at that news, but she smiled.”

Kyla nodded for him to go on.

“And then we even got to talking about kids, and if I like them, if I’ve had experience with them.”

“Huh.” Something was niggling Kyla’s brain but she couldn’t place it. “But you got her number, right?”

“That I did.” He plucked it out of his pocket and waved it at her. “She suggested we try things out this Saturday. I told her I’d think about it.” He grinned. “I’ll wait a few days to call her like you said.”

“That’s great! See?” She patted his knee and resisted the urge to squeeze it. “I told you I could help you. That’s probably the best hundred bucks you’ve ever spent.”

“Right. Time to pay up.” He reached for his wallet and took out a few bills. “But one thing did surprise me. She asked me for references. I thought that was a little weird, but then I figured she must be doing something like you’re doing with the pre-dating survey. Makes sense, when you think about it. If I can have an old girlfriend vouch that I’m a good guy, that’ll make her more interested. Although I don’t think Susan will give me a reference. The girl I took to junior prom might, though…” He rubbed his chin.

Kyla made a timeout sign. “She asked you for references?”

He nodded.

“And if you’re good with kids, and she suggested ‘trying things out’ this Saturday night?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Kyla groaned. “She’s a single mom. She’s not looking for a date—she’s looking for a babysitter. Put your hundred bucks away.”

With a frown, he shoved the bills back in his wallet. “That would explain why she asked if I was Red Cross certified in CPR.”

Kyla dropped her head back. “I’ve heard a good babysitter can be harder to find than a single guy.”

“So, I shouldn’t call her?”

“No! Not unless you’re looking for a babysitting gig, and I promise you, you won’t ever get a date if you’re working as a manny.”

“Fine. So what now?”

“I wish my apartment was bigger. I’d have a party with women hand-picked just for you.” Kyla drummed her fingers. Then she snapped them. “I have a baby shower to go to this weekend. All the single women will have babies on the brain. They’ll be in man-hunting overdrive. You’ll get a date for sure.”

He rubbed his chin. “At a baby shower?”

“Sometimes they’re co-ed.”

“Is this one?”

“No, but we’ll tell them we thought it was to explain why you’re there.”

Stone paused. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Don’t question the master.”

“Remind again me what makes you the master?”

“Years of watching and helping three older brothers weave their magic. Now let’s get out of here.”

Stone walked her to her car, and as she stood there by her door, her lips tingled for a moment.
Stop it
, she told herself.
He’s not the right kind of guy for you
.

And why the hell not
? She sighed. There was her mother’s voice.

“Everything all right?” Stone asked.

She opened her car door. “It will be once we get you set up on a date.”

“I’m sorry this is turning into such a pain in the ass for you.”

She was about to say, ‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ but that might lead to a discussion she didn’t want to have. “Good night.” She hopped in her car and drove home.

***

Stone was chatting up a tall, leggy brunette with five baby binkies hanging around his neck.

“Can I talk to you?” Kyla asked him as she walked up.

“You and I will chat later,” he told the woman. “You can tell me all about your nursery theme.”

She shook her head, confused. “No, I don’t have a baby.”

He pointed at her. “Gotcha! And now you don’t have your binky necklace either—you said b-a-b-y! Hand it over.” He did a little victory dance, and then held out his hand, wiggling his fingers.

The brunette pouted and took off the binky tethered to long pink string around her neck.

Stone proudly looped it around his neck. “That makes six. I’m totally going to win this thing, just so long as I stay away from the granny in the corner with the bifocals. She’s got quite a few and she’s been eyeing me up. Either that or she wants me. And I don’t think I’m into the cougar thing.” He glared at an old woman in the corner, toying with the binkies around her neck, and she glared right back at him.

Kyla jabbed him with her elbow. “Be nice to her. She’s going to be a great-grandmother when this baby is born.”

“Ha!” Stone held out his hand. “Give me your binky!”

Kyla sighed and took off her binky necklace and handed it to him. “We didn’t come here to play games, we came here so you could meet some women.”

“I’m meeting lots of women.”

“And you’re pissing them all off by tricking them out of their binkies.”

His shoulders slumped. “Oh. Right, I see.”

Kyla put her hands on his shoulders. “Clearly you can’t do this on your own. So, pick out someone you think is cute and I’ll introduce you. Just smile and nod and say very little. Or nothing. Saying nothing might be good, too. Okay?”

“Okay.” He looked around the room and his gaze settled on a pretty redhead by the punch bowl. “How about Ginger over there wetting her whistle?”

“Or, a nice way to say it would’ve been, ‘The lovely redhead getting a drink.’”

“Yes. Her.”

“Follow me.”

But before they could reach the gal, the tiny white-haired woman went straight for Stone. “I don’t think I know you.”

He reached out his hand. “I’m Stone Kinney. I’m friends with Kyla.”

“I’m Nana Clark. Soon to be a great-grandma once this kiddo is born. Is this the first time you’ve been to one of these newborn shindigs?” She had a twinkle in her eye as she touched the binkies hanging around her neck, like she was making sure they were still there.

Stone opened his mouth then fixed her with a steely gaze. “You mean a party to herald the arrival of a treasured infant into the world? Yes, this is my first soiree dedicated to celebrating the birth of a family’s progeny.” He grabbed a handful of dinner mints from the table and popped them in his mouth.

Nana Clark snapped her fingers in frustration. “Dang it. You’re on to me. And I really wanted to win that body lotion basket.”

Stone locked his stare on Nana Clark’s, and Kyla wondered if she was going to have to separate them. Then Stone looked at the floor and held back a grin. “I really want to win, too.” He looked at Kyla, and cupped her cheek in his hand. She stopped breathing. “Luckily, I’m doing great at this game, right, baby?”

Kyla could only nod, while Nana Clark slapped her hand on her thigh. “Got you! You said it! Hand over those.”

“Not all of them,” Kyla said, defensively. “Surely you just get one.”

Stone took them all off. “No, I think Nana Clark deserves them all.”

Kyla was about to say something incredibly sappy about Stone being sweeter than the punch, so she took a drink of it instead. Kyla never said anything sweet. What the hell was wrong with her?

Nana Clark’s eyes lit up like she was being presented with the new baby just delivered from its mother’s womb. Nana gazed over at the gift basket. “I hope that thing’s got a few candles in it. I’m running low. I like to set them out when my gentleman callers join me in the hot tub.”

Kyla spit her punch back into her cup.

“Say, maybe you two will have a baby someday,” Nana said, and then walked off.

Stone’s eyes widened hearing the magic word, ready to snag the binkies back, but Kyla’s were glossed over with tears.