Truth or Date by Susan Hatler Page B

with.” She gave a light shrug. “He told me he asked you out, but you turned him down. Having second thoughts?”
    Yes. “No.”
    “Gina, you’re being ridiculous. Anyone with half a brain can see you’re jealous that he’s here with me. Even though we just came as friends.”
    Friends, right. Where had I heard that before?
    Finally, she let out a laugh. “You really don’t know.”
    “What?” I bit out, exasperated. “What don’t I know?”
    “Why I brought Chris with me.” She shook her head as if I were the most clueless person on the planet. “I’ve worked down the hall from Chris for five years. I even flirted on occasion...albeit, years ago. He had every opportunity to ask me out, to ask any of the girls in the office out. Any guesses why he didn’t?”
    “Yes.” I grabbed my neck and pressed down, trying to rub out the stress building up there. “A girl from work broke his heart once. Now he doesn’t date people from the office.”
    The look she gave me made me feel two inches tall. “Who do you think that girl was, Gina?”
    I pulled my chin back. “You can’t mean me .”
    She blew out a breath and threw her hands wide. “Sometimes you are so dense. I was supposed to order his cake.”
    “What cake?”
    “For his going away party at work. I was next on the rotation. Right?” She waited a second to see if I was following along. “You think I didn’t have ten minutes to call and order his cake and lunch myself?”
    Actually, I did think that was odd at the time. . . .
    “Chris and I were talking about his new job, then Ellen’s wedding, and somehow it came out that he knew you and George had broken up. He asked me if I thought you were over him yet.”
    He’d asked her about me? Really? “What did you tell him?”
    “Honestly, I told him I wasn’t sure.” She shrugged. “So, I sent you to order his cake as a nudge. I thought you’d make a great couple. I still do.”
    My mouth dropped open. “Why do you guys never tell me these things?”
    She groaned. “I did. Repeatedly.”
    Oh, right. “I totally messed things up.”
    She leveled me with a look. “Then you, my dear, have got some groveling to do.”
    Shaking my head, I groaned. “You don’t understand how mean I was yesterday. I don’t think I can talk to him.”
    Her hand touched my elbow. “You don’t have to talk with him.”
    I let out the breath I’d been holding. “I don’t?”
    “No.” Her lips spread into a smile. “When the first song comes on, you have to ask him to dance.”
    My heart stopped. “I can’t.”
    “You can and you will.” She held her glass up. “I dare you.”
     
    CHAPTER TEN
     
    As Ellen and Henry danced all close and cuddly to Come Away with Me by Norah Jones, I could hear a clock ticking in my head. Ask Chris to dance? Rach was so off my Christmas Card list. She could forget a birthday gift, too.
    Every so often I’d steal a quick peek at Chris’s table where he was seated with the select few who’d been invited from work. Whenever our eyes met, I couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking. Did he hate me? Did he think I was a total witch? Did he think I had invited Ethan? Probably not since I hadn’t been to his table at all, but still. I didn’t want him to get the impression that I was interested in anyone else.
    Still, when the wedding party was invited to the dance floor, I kept imagining what it would be like if Josh were Chris. Dancing wouldn’t be so bad. If he agreed to dance with me, that is. Oh, man. What if he said no? Not like I could blame him if he did.
    After the song ended, Ellen danced with her dad. Although she didn’t have high hopes for much of a relationship with him, since he’d been absent most of her life save for a few milestones like graduation, she’d said it did mean something for him to be at the wedding. So, she would go into it with her eyes open and enjoy the moment with him even if it was all it was.
    Halfway through the song,