Lexi James and the Council of Girlfriends by Melissa Jacobs

Author:Melissa Jacobs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Arranged on a decorative mountain of ice, an order of ceviche sits on the table between me and Jack. “It’s raw fish, cured with citrus,” Jack explains.

“I know what ceviche is,” I tell him.

“Go ahead then. Dig in.”

“You first.”

“Fine.” Jack dives his fork into the prettily arranged fish. I do the same. Our forks clink, and Jack pulls his away.

Okay. That’s enough. “You know, Jack, it’s a little late to be worrying about whether or not I have cooties. And for the record, I don’t.”

“I do not think you have cooties.”

“Then why are you acting so weird?”

Jack tilts his head and looks at me. “Because I can’t figure you out.”

“What’s to figure?”

“You really want to know?”

“I asked.”

“Okay. Fine. When I saw you at Lola’s, you were cold. Like you didn’t want to talk to me. Then I got to your apartment and you were hot. Very hot. Very aggressive. So, I thought, ‘Maybe she just wants to have sex.’ Which was fine by me. Then we spent all those hours together, although we weren’t really talking, but I thought maybe there was some kind of something going on there. I asked you to have brunch with me, and you blew me off. Then, you call me out of the blue and ask me to dinner like you want to have a date. Then, on the street, you expected me to kiss you, which I would never do on a first date. Except this isn’t really a first date, is it? Except it is, technically.” Jack sits back and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “You’ll pardon me if I’m a little confused.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. First of all, I didn’t blow you off for brunch. I had plans with the COG.”

“Yeah, what is this cog?”

“My best friends. The Council of Girlfriends.”

“Council?”

“Yes. They counsel me on things. Work. Clothes. Men. Whatever. In fact, the whole reason I asked you to dinner is because the COG made me.”

“They made you?”

“Yes. They put a lot of pressure on me to do the right thing.”

“Who decides what is the right thing?”

“We all do.”

“So this is, what? Peer pressure? Didn’t you get over that in high school?”

“You misunderstand,” I tell Jack.

“Tell me this, Lexi. The night that you were waiting for me outside the gallery? Did the COG make you do that?”

“I wasn’t waiting for you. I just happened to end up on that street. I was running away. From. Something.”

“Right. That’s why you were standing still and talking to your friend on your cell phone.”

“Right that minute I was talking to my friend, but I had previously been running away from something. From a bunch of drunks.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes. They had knives.”

“Knives? A bunch of drunks with knives?”

“And guns.”

“Knives and guns? Yikes.”

“Yes.” I smile. “And swords.”

“Swords? Wow.” Jack smiles back at me.

“And a pack of wild dogs.”

“Okay, Lexi.” Jack reaches for my hand and covers it with his, the first intimate gesture of the evening. “Are you really running away from something? Don’t give me a snippy answer.

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