“Well, then, by all means,” she said, putting on her best haughty airs.
I got out and ran around to open Melinda’s door. In a limo, there’s room for the man to get out first, but in an SUV, I would have had to climb over her. I made a big show of assisting her out. Jackie caught it all, as did several paparazzi who had been tipped off. My security guy made sure we didn’t have to deal with the paparazzi in our faces. I helped Melinda into the carriage.
Jackie waited until we were situated, and then she joined us to arrange how she wanted us to sit and to place the blanket across our laps. Who knew that A&F sold blankets? Of course, it had a red, tan, and charcoal tartan design.
“Just act like I’m not here,” Jackie instructed.
Yeah, right.
“So, tell me more about your ‘Seaver Fever.’”
“Is this all we’re going to talk about?”
“No, but I am interested in how he could get a Victoria’s Secret model to date him.”
“His people called mine and set up a date.”
“And that worked?” I asked as my forehead scrunched up.
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“I’ve done everything in my power to get Hannah Minacci to go to Prom with me. I even got her a job in a movie I’m in. She got engaged instead.”
“You got me a job,” Melinda said.
“Will you go to Prom with me?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yes, I’ll go to Prom with you. I never got to go to my own. I started modeling full time when I was sixteen,” Melinda explained.
“We’ll talk about that later. I want to hear about you and the Seavs.”
She rolled her eyes at me.
“Are you seriously going to have me talk about another guy when you have me on a romantic carriage ride?”
I looked at Jackie, and she smirked at me. Melinda had me there.
“I, uh, well,” I stammered.
Melinda leaned over and kissed me. For a faux date, this was going well. I couldn’t care less about what’s-his-name.
◊◊◊
The Loeb Boathouse Central Park sits on The Lake. As we rode up, it was starting to get dark, and they had the place lit up with thousands of white Christmas lights. The building sparkled, and the light reflected off the frozen lake, making it resemble something out of a storybook. They had a special Valentine’s event that Adrienne somehow got me an invitation to attend. I imagined how much Pam would have liked this.
I was a little peeved that she’d wanted to go home. It reminded me too much of Tracy and her reaction to the headline that said we’re dating. I had to remind myself that while Pam was going to be the mother of my child, she wasn’t my girlfriend. If she didn’t want to be in the news, I had to respect that. It clarified for me that whomever I ended up with would need to be able to handle the press. I didn’t see any way they could avoid it, at this point.
“You went away for a moment,” Melinda said.
I gave her a half-smile. I needed to keep in mind that I was with her, even though it was a job. There was definitely an attraction between us. What I didn’t know was whether she was simply doing a good job modeling or whether it was for real. I chuckled a little, remembering my argument with Teddy Wesleyan. I’d accused him of not giving people the benefit of the doubt. Boy, I hoped I never turned into him.
“What’s so funny?”
“I just realized that I forgot that this wasn’t really a date,” I said and nodded towards Jackie who had just taken our picture.
“Why don’t we make it as real as we can under the circumstances?” Melinda suggested.
“Let’s,” I agreed.
“You really planned a nice date. I would never have thought of the Boathouse. They’re normally only open for breakfast and lunch.”
“I can’t take credit; Tyler or Adrienne thought of it. It is pretty,” I said.
The setting on the edge of the lake made you forget that you were in the middle of New York. The city really had some fantastic spots. I would bet that being young and single would be fun here. They seated us in the middle by the window. Someone had told them we were on a photo shoot, and they wanted the restaurant to get the best possible exposure. It looked like it would be a great summertime place to eat. They had a big outdoor patio where people could dine and watch the rowboats. The Loeb Boathouse was open only eight months of the year.
They had a special menu for tonight. I chose the crab cakes for an appetizer, and Melinda picked the scallops. We acted like we were longtime lovers out on our special date. I stopped Jackie at one point to make sure that my security and her assistant would get something to eat. She assured me they’d been taken care of. I guess they were in the bar where my security guy at least could see us.
For the entrée, we both got the lamb chops. That wasn’t something I usually had, but I enjoyed them. For dessert, we had something that was chocolate, on chocolate, on chocolate, made for two. Jackie loved it when we began to feed each other. It was fun, and Melinda was playful and sexy. I found as the night went on that I was starting to really like her.
◊◊◊
