Chapter 4
SOMEONE ELSE
Molly felt eyes on her backside until she strutted through the door, but the minute she was out of sight, she let her back hunch, her old familiar posture returning when the false confidence evaporated.
How the hell had she pulled that off in there for hours?
She’d been nervous about her date with Dwayne for good reason. The guy was a douche.
Yet somehow she sat at the bar in a room full of strangers with a guy that she’d never have the courage to smile at, let alone hold a conversation with. And she flirted with him! For hours...
She was so lost in his rugged good looks, muscle-bound body, and charm that she forgot what a complete and utter nerd she was most of the time.
Was it the fitted dress that made her sit up higher and push her shoulders back? Maybe it was Dean’s eyes on her chest that she couldn’t help but notice.
Or the thong that she had no choice but to wear because any other pair of panties she had would have shown an outline in this dress.
She didn’t even own a thong. Damn Tonya for thinking of everything.
Either way, Molly found she was someone else completely tonight.
Someone that maybe she’d always secretly wanted to be.
A woman that a man like Dean talked to. Flirted with. Maybe would even ask on a date?
Did she have the guts to go back and test it another time?
That was the million-dollar question. And a million dollars was something she’d never even wanted, not in life, not in a man. Nope. Give her a simple life that she had.
But if her life was so great, why was she so giddy now when she hadn’t been before?
The only answers she had tonight were to get her butt home, change out of these clothes and shoes into her pajama pants and tank top, throw her hair up in a bun on her head, and get some sleep.
The minute she was in the door, she did all those things but sleep.
She picked up her phone, knowing that Ruby was probably sleeping. The same with Erika. Or they were at least in bed with their kids tucked in and next to their husbands now and watching TV.
Maybe having sex.
She hadn’t thought of sex in a long time, but the sight of Dean had too many thoughts swarming her brain and making her sweat in places that hadn’t seen moisture in oh so long.
After she composed her text, telling her sisters her date was a total flop like she’d feared, but the hours at a bar alone had been awesome, she sent it and told herself not to look for a response.
That she could let them wait while she decided what she really wanted to share and wished she’d left the second part of the text out.
She was lying in bed staring at the ceiling and wondering how one of the worst nights of her life turned into what could almost be described as one of the most exciting.
Enough so that her hand drifted down between her legs. She was horny. She was never horny.
She never looked at a guy and thought, “What would it be like to see him naked?”
But that was exactly what she thought every time Dean came back over to her at the bar.
She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, the alarm on her phone was going off and she was jumping up and falling out of the bed tangled up in the sheets.
Popping up, she looked around the room almost like she thought someone might have been watching and witnessed her clumsiness.
A few hours later she was in her office when Tonya came knocking on the doorframe and then marching in. “Back in your cardigans again today, I see.”
“It’s who I am,” she said. Was it really though? She’d been someone else last night and enjoyed that person. Maybe even liked her. The person she’d wanted to be but couldn’t figure it out on her own.
“You never got back to me so you must have been out for a long time. Well, how did it go? Dwayne’s a great guy, isn’t he?”
Molly stood up and walked closer to Tonya, her finger pointed. “How could you? How could you set me up with an ass like that? I thought we were friends. Friends don’t do that to each other.”
“Whoa,” Tonya said, putting her hand up and taking a few steps back. “First off, I’ve never seen you so riled before. Second of all, what did he do? I’ve met him before. He’s always been nice.”
“Really? Then your idea of nice or a great guy isn’t the same as mine. All he did was talk about himself.”
“Well, I’ll admit he does like to do that, but it’s not the end of the world.”
“Maybe not to you. But if that wasn’t bad enough, he talked about sex. How the women always commented on his size. He even told me he stopped at the store to get a few Viagra pills so he could go all night without stopping…for the woman’s pleasure.”
“No, he didn’t,” Tonya said, laughing. “That’s just him joking.”
“Yes, he did. And he wasn’t joking. He was smiling and then he winked. At that point, I’d had enough. It’d been thirty minutes straight of his stellar life. How successful he was. That he thought I was beautiful and did I want to go back to his place afterward.”
“I’ve never known him to be that way.”
She crossed her arms. “Then it was the way you made me look like a tramp that gave that impression.”
“You didn’t look like a tramp. You looked sexy and confident. Maybe he figured you’d stand up for yourself if you didn’t want to.”
She knew she didn’t look like a tramp or trashy, but her temper was just getting the best of her right now. “I stood up for myself. I walked right into the bathroom, then out the back door.”
“You stood him up?” she asked and burst out laughing.
“I showed up for the date. I didn’t stand him up. But I ditched him. Yes, I did. Molly Clarke, who never stands up for herself about much in life, walked out on a shitty blind date and I’d do it again if you ever even thought of trying that crap with me.”
Tonya’s hand went up again, the laughter bubbling out of her mouth. “I like this side of you, and trust me, I will never even think of setting you up again. Maybe if you showed a bit more of this personality of yours, you’d get some more men.”
“I don’t want men,” she said. “I’m happy the way I am. You seem to think I want a man, but you’re wrong.”
Which was a lie because last night while she was getting off on her hand, she really wanted a man. One particular man. Dean.
“So noted,” Tonya said. “I was only trying to help and I’m sorry. I really am. I’m going to give my brother hell and make sure it gets back to Dwayne what a douche he was and that no woman ever wants to be treated like that or talked to that way.”
“More power to you. I don’t care what you say or do, but I want nothing to do with him.” She took a deep breath and realized she was almost as worked up as she had been last night. “Now, is there anything else you wanted to see me about?”
“No. I just wanted to know about your date. And to mention that your makeup looks good.”
She narrowed her eyes. She’d hoped that Tonya wouldn’t notice that she tried to replicate her face again. She didn’t succeed, but she was happy enough with the outcome.
“Thank you.”
“So I did something good.”
“I guess,” she said, not wanting to admit she ended up in a bar last night. She’d keep that bit to herself. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”
She wasn’t buried in her work for more than an hour when her phone rang. Not her cell phone because she hardly ever got calls there or used it. But the phone on her desk. “Molly Clarke,” she said.
“Molly,” her mother said into the phone. “I’ve been leaving you messages for days and you don’t return my calls. Why is that?”
She looked at her phone and realized she had a few voicemails. She’d just brushed off those little red numbers as missed calls. Guess she should pay more attention to things.
“Sorry. I’ve been busy. Was there something important that you needed?”
“I’m not allowed to call and speak with my daughter?”
She wanted to roll her eyes over that statement. It’s not like her mother ever wanted to be that close to her when she was younger, spending too much time dealing with her father. Then not sticking up for Molly when she was getting ridiculed. Tore down.
Said that she needed to change her looks, try to play some sports, get some more friends. Or more popular friends like Erika or Matt.
She couldn’t help who she was and hated that she wasn’t accepted for it.
Sad that outside of Erika, the only other person who truly accepted her was her half sister, Ruby. The one person who could resent her after finding out that Ruby grew up in foster care because their father never even told them he had another child, let alone supported Ruby.
“It’s not against the law,” she said, going back to work while half listening to her mother. Already she knew this was going to turn into a lecture of some sort and there was no reason to really pay attention since she’d heard some version of it many times in her life already.
“How is work going?”
“Fine,” she replied as she read an email.
“Have you invented anything yet?”
“I don’t invent things, Mom.” How many times had she explained her job to her mother in the past? More times than she cared to remember or would do again.
“It’s all the same thing to me. You play with food. You should have just gone to be a chef.”
“Though I enjoy cooking, it’s not the same thing.”
“Are you working or listening to me?” her mother asked.
She resisted grinding her teeth. Barely.
“I am at work. I can do two things at once.”
Her mother snorted. “I’d like to have lunch or dinner with you sometime.”
“Are you lonely?”
“I am. Matt and Erika have their families.”
Which meant she was the last choice. As always.
When her father died, and Tessa Clarke was left alone, she changed her tune. She wanted a better relationship with her youngest child. Sorry, it was too late. Especially when the judgment and critical words were still present.
But Molly didn’t have it in her to just walk away from her mother either.
Instead, she just had to put up with these calls.
“I’ve got a lot of deadlines and have been working late and on the weekends,” she said.
“Surely you get some time off to have dinner,” her mother argued. “It’s not like you go out with friends or on a date.”
Those little jabs from her youth just always slipped in there.
“I went on a date last night,” she boasted before she could think better of opening that can of worms.
“Oh,” her mother said, sounding surprised. “And how did it go?”
“It could have been better,” she said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a meeting to go to in a few minutes and need to get ready.”
“Fine. But let me know when we can get dinner. If I don’t hear from you in a week, I’ll try again.”
“Sure,” she said. Anything to end this call.
And rather than get to work, she checked her phone to see Erika’s text asking more about her date.
She had thirty minutes, so he made the call and hoped her sister answered.
“Oh, you decided to call me back?”
“I wasn’t going to but I just got off the phone with Mom.”
Erika laughed. “How much did she tick you off?”
“She doesn’t mean to but always does. I ended up telling her I had a date last night because she said I never go out and should be able to make time to have dinner with her.”
Erika sighed. “She’s been asking me but it’s hard with the kids and Mike. It’s not like she wants a family dinner, just me.”
Typical of her mother. Just wanted her kids to herself, but she didn’t when they all lived at home.
“Well, I know the game she plays and I don’t want any part of it.”
“Good for you. Tell me about this date. Ruby texted me to see if I had heard anything. Sorry I missed your call last night, but glad she was around for you.”
“Me too. Did she show you the picture of how I looked?”
“Yep. And I really wish I wasn’t at dinner with Mike for his work event last night.”
“It’s fine. My date flopped, but I went to a bar to have a drink, get some food, and chill. I ended up talking to the bartender all night. He was so hot. I can’t believe he was even talking to me.”
“Molly. Come on. You’ve got a great personality when you let it out.”
“I always let it out.” Her sister’s snort said otherwise. “Well, most times with people I know. And I didn’t know him. I get it. It probably had more to do with how I looked, but oh well, not a big deal. I at least had fun.”
“Enough fun to do it again?” Erika asked.
“Maybe,” she said, her voice dropping.
“Good for you! If I weren’t married I’d go with you, but honestly, I just don’t feel right going to a bar without my husband.”
“I went to Pulse. There is a restaurant in the back. Maybe you and I and Ruby could go to dinner sometime. I mean not there, but somewhere.”
Erika was roaring with laughter. “Oh no. You want to go back there. To see that bartender again, huh?”
“Maybe a little bit.”
“Then I’ll talk to Ruby and we’ll see if we can make it happen.”
“Thanks, Erika. I appreciate it. All of it. You’ve always been there for me and still are.”
“Hey, I get it. I saw what you went through. It was bullcrap but you got through. I’m not sure I could have.”
She laughed. She knew her sister was only trying to make her feel better. “You would have and you know it. You’re stronger than me.”
“Don’t be so sure. You always knock yourself down for no reason. I mean it, Molly. Anyone you end up with, they are going to be lucky as hell.”
She hoped so. Someday.