Free PartyNaked by Mari Carr Page B

doubted his sincerity. He made her feel warm and tingly
inside.
    The waitress came over and offered to fill their coffee
cups. Stephanie glanced at her cell phone. It was well after midnight. She
waved the waitress off. “No thanks. Any more of that and I’ll be up all night.”
    Jarod agreed and asked for the bill. A small part of
Stephanie was sorry to see the night end.
    “Did you finish your homework?” she asked, hoping that Jarod
hadn’t had a chance to finish reading the romance novel. If he bailed on the
group discussion, she could too.
    “Yep. I even highlighted a few parts to talk about.”
    “You’re joking.”
    He shook his head. “Nope. I’m totally serious. Did you read it?
Because a deal’s a deal—I’m only doing the discussion if you do.”
    “I read the damn thing. Talk about a waste of time.”
    Jarod studied her face seriously. “You really are missing
that romance gene.”
    She started to reach for the bill when the waitress put it
on the table, but Jarod beat her to it. “I’ll pay.”
    She pulled her wallet out of her purse. “You treated for
dinner and the movies.”
    “My date, my tab.”
    “Christ. You know, you have a tendency to throw in a lot of
last-minute rules.”
    He tossed a few bills on the table. “Just part of my
appeal.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
    They rose and walked to the parking lot together. Jarod
opened her door. It was an old-fashioned, gentlemanly thing to do, but she
liked it. She wondered when guys had stopped doing that. None of her dates in
the past had ever opened her door for her.
    Soon they were on the road, heading back to her place. They
were both quiet for a few minutes, but the silence didn’t feel awkward.
    Finally, she said, “My mom’s been married four times.”
    “Four times. Wow. That’s quite a track record.”
    “I think it has something to do with the fact she’s never at
home because she’s always working. Add to that, her habit of holding everyone
she meets up to an impossible standard, and as a result, she spends most of her
life being disappointed.”
    “Couldn’t have been easy growing up in that kind of
environment.”
    She scoffed. She’d read enough psychology books in her life
to understand her childhood wasn’t as bad as it could have been. “I’m not
playing the poor-me card here. I had a fine upbringing. My dad is still in my
life. My stepdads weren’t pricks. My mom, for all her faults, loves me. I know
that. I’m just saying I notice there aren’t a lot of romance books out there
that show how tough forever really is.”
    “Maybe your mom hasn’t figured out the trick to romance, but
that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
    She looked out the window of the car and sighed. “All I’m
saying is, I think that has a lot to do with my lacking the romance gene. Real
life is never as frilly and perfect as those stupid books portray. I have a
hard time suspending reality enough to believe in the fairy-tale ending. In my
world, ‘happily ever after ’ begins with a pre-nup, averages about
four-to-six years and ends in a divorce lawyer’s office.”
    Jarod didn’t reply and she wondered what he was thinking.
She’d gotten accustomed to at least having a feeling for where his thoughts
lay. Unfortunately, right now, she didn’t have a freaking clue.
    They rode the rest of the way in silence, which gave her too
much time to worry about what she’d just said. Regardless of her assurances to
the contrary, she was coming off as someone with definite mommy issues. For the
first time in a long time, she didn’t push away the thought—dismissing it as a
mistake. Tonight with Jarod had been amazing and yet, in the back of her mind,
she was already plotting the end, trying to figure out her escape route.
    Shit. The words “physician heal thyself” drifted through her
mind.
    When Jarod pulled up in front of her apartment building, he
put the car in park. She noticed he didn’t turn it off and she