Free Mandy Makes Her Mark by Ruby Laska

wanted her. “But…what about Luna?”
    Tad shrugged impatiently, as if she’d asked about a fly buzzing about his elbow. “Would it surprise you to know that we never actually slept together?”
    â€œ What ?”
    â€œThere wasn’t any chemistry. After our first few dates, we didn’t even bother to try.”
    â€œBut then—why did you keep seeing each other?”
    Another shrug. “We met each other’s needs. We didn’t fight. She didn’t want to get below the surface and neither did I. She needed someone to be seen with, and I guess I got used to playing the part. I don’t know, I guess I thought maybe it would get better over time. But I don’t think we’ve had a single meaningful conversation in the last two years. In the end, I just got tired of pretending.” His voice grew hoarse. “And I got tired of wanting you so badly I could barely stand to come to work.”
    â€œYou?” Mandy shivered, despite the warmth of the evening. “You wanted…me?”
    â€œLike the sun wants to shine,” Tad said. “Like a fish wants water. I just didn’t have the guts to tell you. Until now.”
    â€œI never knew,” Mandy said. She felt her resolve weakening. “Someone like me…doesn’t end up with someone like you.”
    â€œYou’re wrong ,” Tad said. “I’ve watched you, shutting yourself in your office over lunch, reading your library books. You look so sexy in reading glasses, by the way. I know you save the ribbons from bakery boxes. I hear you talking to the cleaning lady about her grandchildren and I know you’ve memorized all their names and ages. You ask for extra lemon in your tea, you have pictures of Alaska on your screensaver, and you try really hard to come up with unique gift ideas for Luna’s birthday even though she forgot yours.”
    â€œHow…how do you know that?” Mandy whispered.
    â€œBecause I remembered.” Tad took a deep breath. “May tenth. It broke my heart when you spent it alone. You deserve better. You deserve the best, Amanda. I’ll never forget. I promise. Give me a chance.”
    And she would have kissed him then. Even after, when Mandy was replaying the whole scene over and over in her mind, she had no doubt that it was the moment she finally believed what she’d been longing for all these years: that Tad could be hers, that he could be the man she went home to every night, the one who made her happy. That beauty really was in the eye of the beholder, even when the beheld was an ordinary girl with extraordinary dreams.
    She would have slid over on the bench and wrapped her arms around Tad and kissed him. Except just as she made up her mind, Tad made a choking sound. His spine stiffened and his hands clutched the bench. He was having a fit of some sort, Mandy realized in shock. His mouth was opening and closing, he was blinking uncontrollably and his color had gone from sun-kissed gold to ashen gray.
    â€œAre you choking?” Mandy demanded, alarmed. “Having a stroke? Heart attack?”
    Tad barely shook his head, mumbling something unintelligible.
    â€œWhat did you say? Tuna? Ruin ?” Mandy waved her hand frantically in front of his face, trying to make out his words. “What are you trying to say?”
    That was when she heard footsteps on the path. A shadow fell across the moon. A note of familiar perfume on the breeze.
    â€œWhat the hell are you two doing out here?” The strident voice cut through the sultry evening.
    Mandy looked up and saw a beautiful woman towering over her in high heels and a short skirt. Standing two feet away was the one person Mandy thought she wouldn’t have to deal with this disastrous weekend.
    â€œHe’s trying to say Luna ,” her sister said coolly, bending down to give Tad a peck on the cheek before turning to give Mandy a conspiratorial smile. “I