Free Dream Date by Ivan Kendrick Page A

design.”
    “If you love it, I can picture how Claire will react. She’ll be head over heels.”
    Marissa laughed.
    “ I know. She’s my biggest fan, isn’t she?”
    “ Don’t doubt it for a moment, or she’ll eat you.”
    “ I don’t think so. That sweet girl doesn’t bite.”
    “ You never know. They say big things come in small packages,” Nathan said, laughing along with Marissa.
    “I’m going to tell her you said that.”
    “Come on. It’s not like she hasn’t heard that before.”
    Marissa exhaled softly. She then changed the subject.
    “ You want to ask me something, right? I can tell.”
    “ Yeah. I wanted to ask you what you know about Amanda Tilley.”
    There was a pause. Nathan could picture Marissa with her mouth open wide.
    Marissa mulled that over for a few seconds.
    “ I’m highly knowledgeable about the fashion world, so I caught wind of Amanda soon after she started her modeling career. It didn’t take long for people to fall in love with her.”
    “ Yeah, I wonder why.”
    “ I can tell you fell under her spell, too.”
    “ Maybe. Amanda is drop-dead gorgeous. We talked, and she told me she traveled around Europe the year after graduating from high school.”
    There was a loud gasp on the other end.
    “ What? You’ve spoken to her!?”
    “ Yep. I guess I haven’t told you. Amanda lives here and attends Cornell University.”
    Marissa whistled.
    “ Well, well, it’s a small world. I had no idea. She keeps her whereabouts secret.”
    “ She does? That’s odd.”
    “ Not much. I understand, as she’s a public figure. According to the Internet, she lives in New York. Obviously she lives in Ithaca, as you tell me.”
    “ Maybe she’s only here for school. She’s a freshman.”
    “ That’s most likely why.”
    Nathan paused, thinking of what to say next.
    “ By the way, why are you so interested?”
    “ I…I was just curious.”
    “ Come on. You like her, don’t you?”
    Nathan took a moment to answer that.
    “ Perhaps.”
    “ Don’t be coy about it, Nathan. Amanda’s a lovely, beautiful woman. Hell, even I’m not immune to her charms, and I’m straight.”
    Nathan chuckled, surprised by that admission.
    “Why don’t you ask her on a date?”
    Nathan could almost picture Marissa narrowing her eyes at his question.
    “ Why don’t you ask her out, smartass?” she said in an amused voice.
    “ Marissa, I’ve just met her. And I have a girlfriend.”
    “ Then why do you want to know about Amanda?”
    “ I don’t know. I just…I want to resist her. But I can’t. And I fear that I will hurt Kayla.”
    “ Do you love her?”
    “ I don’t want to think that I don’t. Kayla loves me so much. And I could really see my future with her in it.”
    “ You could? Or you can?”
    “ I can.”
    Nathan sighed, wishing he could solve his dilemma.
    “ What should I do?”
    “ Is it possible for you to keep Amanda as a friend? And nothing more?”
    Nathan thought about it. He felt that resisting Amanda was like fuel resisting being set on fire when touched by flames.
    “ As long as she’s around, I’ll never stop desiring her.”
    “ Then maybe you should wait it out. Graduation is almost here. You can move elsewhere with Kayla and forget Amanda definitely.”
    “ I’m not sure I’d want to erase Amanda from my mind if I could.”
    Marissa didn’t reply to that remark. She latched on to something else she was wondering about.
    “How long have you known Amanda, Nathan? You sound too…enraptured by her to have known her for only a few weeks.”
    Nathan wondered whether he should tell Marissa. If things with Amanda went nowhere—which they most likely would—then Marissa didn’t need to know about his past with Amanda.
    “Just a while. How is it possible to love two women at once?”
    “ Nathan, you can love two or more women at once. But you can’t be in love with more than one woman.”
    That was the key thing, Nathan thought to himself.
    “ What do