He stopped and looked at me, his expression clearly saying he was waiting for a response.

How the hell was I supposed to respond to something like that? “I-I,” I stammered. “Thank you, Cade.” I finally managed to find words. “I appreciate the offer, but I don't do casual sex.”

He stood and grinned down at me. “Trust me, there's nothing casual about how I do sex.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, rectangular card. He held it out to me. “Like I said, this is all business, and Adelle is footing the bill.” He winked. “The least you can do is make her pay. Literally.”

I took the card. “Tempting as it is, I don't think I'll be using your services again.” I stood. “Thank you very much for coming to set things straight. I really do appreciate it.”

“But you're not interested in my offer,” Cade finished for me.

“No.” I shook my head.

“Well,” he said as he headed for the door. “If you change your mind, give me a call. There's no expiration date.”

As the door closed behind him, I looked down at the card in my hand. There was no way I was going to call him, I told myself as I carried our mugs back into the kitchen. I stuck the card under a magnet on my refrigerator.

No way at all.

Chapter 4

I tried to be insulted by Cade's proposal but, in a way, I knew it was a result of what I'd said. I was annoyed at myself for sharing such personal thoughts, but I couldn't really be angry that he'd taken what I'd said and tried to help. He hadn't acted like I was pathetic and couldn't do things on my own, only that I needed more confidence or whatever it was he offered to women. I hadn't seen any pity in his eyes at least, and for that I was grateful.

Still, I couldn't consider taking him up on it, even if it would be nice to make Adelle pay for what she'd done. By Wednesday morning, she'd called half a dozen more times, leaving voicemails each time. When I saw Mindy waiting for me in my classroom, I knew Adelle had reached out to her.

“Bree, I don't know what happened between the two of you, but you need to talk to Adelle.” She didn't even bother with a greeting or trying to ease into it. The annoyed expression on her face said that Adelle had either called her more than once or had woken her up early this morning.

“It's complicated,” I said as I unpacked my bag.

She leaned against one of the front row desks and crossed her arms. “So complicated that you're not even going to give your oldest friend a chance to explain?”

“You're my oldest friend,” I joked. She scowled at me. Apparently she wasn't in the mood for our group's way of reminding her that she was three years older than Adelle and me.

“What happened, Bree?” she asked.

I sighed. This was not a conversation I wanted to be having.

“Look, something's going on and you're obviously not talking to Adelle about it. You can't keep all this bottled up. It isn't healthy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? You're going to go all school counselor on me?”

Mindy raised an eyebrow and got that stubborn look on her face that meant she wasn't going to let this one go. She wasn't pushy about everything, but she believed that once she chose to fight a specific battle, she stuck through it to the end.

I walked around my desk to face her. “Fine. You want to know why I'm not speaking to Adelle? Here it is. The date she set me up with wasn't a date. She paid for me to get laid.”

I was satisfied to see Mindy's jaw drop. At least I didn't have to ask if she'd known. I continued, telling her all about how Cade was my mystery man and I'd gone through the entire date thinking he liked me for me. I forced myself to keep my head up and my eyes straight ahead. I hadn't done anything wrong. I didn't have anything to be ashamed of. Still, I couldn't stop the heat in my cheeks when I confessed to sleeping with Cade or the proposal he made. That was the only part of the story I wasn't entirely truthful about. By carefully choosing which piece of information I gave, I made it sound as if Cade's offer had come from wanting to help me 'get back on the horse' and not from any confessions of inadequacy on my part. I knew Mindy. If I questioned why I attracted men like that, she'd feel like she had to discuss it and try to make me feel better. I didn't want that right now. I wanted to get this done and over with so she could tell me it was okay for me to be mad at Adelle.

By the time I finished, Mindy's eyes were flashing. “I can't believe she did that!”

I went back around my desk and began setting out what I needed for my first period class. “Now you know why I'm not taking her calls.”

“And then this Cade offers what, to 'teach' you?” She shook her head. “Well, you were definitely right to turn him down. You don't need to have anything to do with that.”

“My thoughts exactly.” I pushed aside the fact that I hadn't been able to stop thinking about Cade since that night. Mindy didn't need to know those details.

“But...” She hesitated.

My eyes narrowed. “But what?”

“But you and Adelle have been friends for such a long time.” She held up her hand before I could argue with her. “I'm not saying she was right, and you have every right to be pissed at her. She deserves your anger, without a doubt.” Mindy pushed her hair back from her face and I could tell she was trying to word this right. “My only concern is, after everything you two have gone through, do you really want to ruin your friendship over something like this? You know Adelle. Her heart's in the right place. It's her head that doesn't think straight.”

I knew Mindy was right. I knew Adelle wouldn’t intentionally hurt me and I knew I would eventually forgive her but today was not that day. I was still too wounded and raw right now and I didn’t want to talk to the person who had done the cutting.

“I'm not saying you have to let it go and be all sweet to her,” Mindy continued. “But I think you should at least talk to her. Let her tell you her side of things and if she truly did have your best intentions at heart, at least make an effort to understand where she was coming from.”

I frowned but didn't say anything.

“I need to get back to my classroom,” she said. “But if you need to talk some more, you know where to find me.”

I nodded but knew I'd never take her up on her offer. A part of me was annoyed that she was trying to play peacemaker, but I could understand why. She and I worked together, so we had that, but she and Adelle had a lot in common too. If Adelle and I were fighting, Mindy would be caught in the middle. No matter how angry I was at Adelle, I wasn't going to force Mindy to choose.

Unfortunately, that meant I was probably going to have to see if I could at least be civil to Adelle. I glanced at the clock. The students would be arriving soon, so I couldn't do anything about it now. I'd call Adelle at lunch and see if we could salvage things between us. After more than twenty years of friendship, it was the least I could do.

I managed to focus enough on my morning classes that my students didn't notice anything was wrong. Then it was lunchtime and I knew I had to follow through with my decision to call Adelle.

She answered before the first ring had even completed. “Bree, oh, I'm so glad you called!” For the first time I could remember, there was a note of almost panic to her voice that competed with the hint of hope and relief. “I didn't think I'd get a chance to talk to you before Friday.”

Friday. Shit. I hadn’t even allowed myself to think about our Friday night dinners, or how much I would miss them. I closed my eyes. I didn't even want to think about having to be in the same building as her, much less at the same table.

Adelle kept talking, as if she was afraid I wouldn't let her get the whole story out if she paused even for a moment. “I know you're angry with me and you have every right to be. It was wrong of me to lie to you and trick you into thinking I was setting you up on a blind date. But I thought… no, I knew you and Cade would hit it off and it seemed like the only way I could get you guys to meet.”