The event was formal, but I defaulted to my standard work uniform of a shirt and tie anyway. Once I stepped out into the warm evening, I regretted choosing long sleeves. Figuring I had the option, since this wasn't a real work event, I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows and hoped like hell Hal wouldn't notice.
I pulled up in front of Brynn's house and threw the car into park, ready to go to her front door and knock. But before I could take my first step, I glimpsed a bright blue blur. She popped up at my passenger door. "Hang on a second, I left the living room light on." She ran back up her porch, unlocked her front door and switched it off.
I stared at her, dumbfounded, the whole time.
Her dress was bright, electric, sapphire blue. The halter neck left a wide swath of her tanned back open, and the way the waist nipped in before falling down to swish around her knees made my throat go dry.
She turned around. "What?"
I shook my head slowly as I took her in, from the sleek cap of her bright blond hair down to her perfectly polished toes. "Damn."
Her mouth twitched upward at the corner. "Is that a good damn?"
"Can't you tell?"
"I never can with you."
"It's a good damn. Josh Withers had better shut his mouth. I win the hottest date contest."
Her cheeks pinkened prettily. "Maybe. But I'm just using you to get trashed on champagne and eat fancy food.” She grinned.
"Fine by me," I said, walking around to open her door for her. Especially if you keep blushing like that, I didn't add.
She did a double take when I opened her door for me, then grinned at me again before she slid into her seat. I smelled the sun on her skin and wondered how she'd spent today. It crossed my mind that I really didn't know anything about how Brynn liked to spend her days. I made it a note to remedy that.
"I can't believe I'm finally getting to the country club," she said, as I pulled onto the main road.
"You mean you've never been?"
"No. I've driven past it a million times, but I've never actually been inside. Your parents belong, don't they?"
I shook my head. "No, but they have friends that do. They've dragged me to a few events there over the years. It was boring then, and it's boring now."
She laughed. "Wow. Way to sell this date, McCabe."
I snuck a look at her. She was looking at her hands, her fingers twisting around themselves. The word date hung in the air. I wasn't sure if I should let it, or if I should let her off the hook.
I decided to make it easier on her.
"Didn't your class have the senior prom at the country club though?" I asked, changing the subject away from dates and whatever it was we were doing together tonight.
"No. That was the year we got caught having an underage party in the woods." There was an odd note in her voice. "A bunch of us weren't allowed to go to prom."
I whistled through my teeth. "That really sucks."
"It did."
"Seems little harsh."
"I'm surprised to hear you say that."
"Really? Why?"
"You're such a rules guy."
Her words struck me like a blow. "Am I?"
She was uncomfortable, so I said nothing more.
We drove in that silence until I turned on my blinker. "Well now is your chance to see it. Here we are."
Fallsview Country Club didn't really have a view of the Falls. But it did have an incredible view of the lake. Situated on a bluff to the north of town, it angled along the bend in the lake, giving a bird's eye view of the full, sixteen-mile length of it. White boats dotted the blue water below us and white gulls wheeled in the blue sky above. Brynn grabbed my arm with an appreciative gasp. "Shit," she said. "It's so pretty up here."
"You're prettier," I told her.
She laughed dismissively. "You're useful for my ego too, aren't you Rett?"
I licked my lips. She still didn't take me seriously. It didn't matter.
She would soon.