One Last Kiss by Susan Ward

Author:Susan Ward [Ward, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Music, New Adult, Romance
Publisher: Susan Ward
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

We are quiet on the drive from the mall up State Street. We both seem lost in our thoughts. I haven’t a clue what’s bothering Jack. I know what’s bothering me.

I can’t shake my feelings of dishonesty in what I’m doing here with him. It has only intensified after seeing what a tiny wardrobe at a fashionable Santa Barbara boutique costs, and watching as he paid for it.

It’s the closest I’ve ever come to taking money from a man and I don’t like it. That I am only staying because I want something from him makes accepting his kindness all the more despicable.

I peek over at him and smile. My smile is not returned. My already tense muscles grow more taught with apprehension.

The vibe in the car is strange. Something has changed in him. It started after the dressing room, when I rejoined him in the store. The smile left his face and I haven’t seen it since. Without batting an eye, he paid for everything, took the bags and put them in the trunk. But he hasn’t smiled at me since.

He isn’t talking and he’s maintaining a careful distance between us. I wonder if Pretty Patty put poison in his ears while I was conveniently out of the way trying on dresses.

I stare down at my hands and knot my fingers. I feel very shaky, like I do right before something terrible comes my way. I am an expert at sensing impending doom. Whatever is happening, isn’t going to be good for me.

I look up at him. The tension is unbearable.

“Do you think you can arrange for me to get back to LA? I don’t know how to catch up with my ride. I don’t know if she’s still in Santa Barbara. I have class next week.”

He downshifts the car and turns on the signal. “When do you want to go?”

My heart leaps into my mouth and I suddenly feel emotional. Why did I ask that? Why did I push instead of waiting for his mood to pass? We’ve gone from “stay as long as you want” to “when do you want to go.”

I stare back down at my hands. “I have to be back by Wednesday. The school monitors my attendance because of my scholarship.”

His expression hardens. “I can arrange for a car and a driver. It’s no big deal.”

Oh no. He wants me to leave. What’s changed? His jaw is clenching and his eyes are fixed on the road.

I can’t stand the tension. It makes me attack.

“I can leave tonight if you want me to,” I say stiffly.

I lift my chin and wait.

“There is no need to make a decision this second,” he says patiently.

I look away from him, searching for something to say. I realize we’ve stopped and are parked in a lot close to a small restaurant with white and blue trim. Philadelphia House. It looks fancy.

I’m glad I wore the black Audrey Hepburn A-line dress and the new platform shoes when I left the dressing room.

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