Dating in the Dark (Dating Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  And it’s true. Tinley knows Marek is way completely outside of her league, but it doesn’t stop her from lusting after him no matter how much she hates herself for doing it. He’s the kind of attractive where he knows he is and doesn’t hide that knowledge one bit. The supervisors all get to choose who is on their team, and of course, Marek has built his own fraternity in his corner of the call center. Or at least that’s what Dakota and her like to refer to them as. All of the guys on his team are all just as arrogant as Marek is and they all treat him like he’s a god or something. It’s actually kind of sickening.

  Dakota plops down on the couch next to her and immediately starts tapping away on her laptop, completely oblivious to the conversation going on around her…or maybe she just doesn’t care. It’s weird because she spends all day typing on a computer and then comes home and spends all night doing the same thing. This has been going on for months now, Tinley has bugged her on multiple occasions to spill about what she’s doing, but she’s been pretty tight-lipped so far.

  Tara shrugs and takes a heavy drink from her bottle of water and adds, “What can I say? I’m hip. I know what the cool kids are saying these days. I’m in the know.”

  “Don’t make me laugh.”

  Tara ignores Tinley’s comment and turns her focus to her sister’s roommate. “Dakota, please tell your roommate I’m superfly.”

  That grabs her attention, and she finally looks up from her computer, but just barely. She takes another swig from her wine glass before placing it back on the coffee table and saying, “Tinley, your sister has no idea what she’s talking about. Don’t ever listen to her.”

  She sits forward on the edge of her seat, and her mouth drops open. “Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side here.”

  “Dude, I’m on nobody’s side.” Dakota doesn’t even look up from her screen as she continues working away on whatever she’s writing. “But if you keep talking like that, you’re just going to make a fool of yourself.”

  “Neither of you know what you’re talking about. Livi thinks I’m awesome.”

  Tinley can’t hold in her laughter any longer after that statement. “That’s because she’s seven and your daughter. Of course, she thinks you’re awesome—you’re the only person she knows.”

  “I don’t even know why I keep coming to these things. I don’t have to put up with this abuse. I can get my sugar fix elsewhere, you know.”

  “Oh my gosh, Tara, you sound exactly like Mom right now. And you know nobody makes their cupcakes as good as I can. I happen to recall you telling me I should open my own bakery.”

  “No, I don’t. You take that back right now.” She sneers at Tinley and then quickly changes the subject and her focus. “Dakota, what are you working on over there?”

  Before her roommate can answer, Tinley pipes up. “Don’t even try to get her to tell you. It’s some sort of top-secret project she’s been working on. She refuses to tell me, and this has been going on for months now. At this point, it’s more annoying than anything else.”

  She quickly closes her laptop and puts it on the coffee table in front of her. “Anyone else starving? Let’s eat.” Then she’s up from the couch and heading off to the kitchen for the casserole, which is most likely cold by now.

  Tara glances behind her to see if Dakota is watching and then leans forward, reaching for the laptop. Tinley shakes her head and says, “Don’t even bother. She has it password protected.” Reaching a hand down to help her up, she says, “C’mon preggo, let’s go get some food in that belly.”

  Speaking of the cupcakes, the timer starts going off as they both walk toward the kitchen. The entire room is filled with the delicious chocolatey coffee scent, and Tinley can’t help but breathe them in as she pulls them out of the oven to cool.

  Dakota has a second bottle of wine open and is drinking from her recently refilled glass as she studies the casserole dish on the counter. “Someone gave zero fucks when they cut the vegetables for tonight’s dinner.”

  Tinley takes a sip of her glass of wine before glancing down into the food and shrugging. If this were a competition based solely on presentation, she would be asked to never return. She lets out a small giggle. Okay, so she might be buzzing just a little bit. “I always say Anne Burrell would have a field day with my knife cuts if we ever shared the same kitchen.”

  “Am I supposed to know what that means?”

  Face meet palm. There’s no way her roommate doesn’t know who she’s talking about. Tinley spends her free time watching TV, and when Netflix isn’t on, the Food Network is. “Hello, Anne Burrell, as in the celebrity chef from the Food Network. She co-hosts the show Worst Cooks in America, and she always cracks down on people for their knife cuts. I might make good food, but I can’t consistently cut anything to save my life.”

  A moan comes from behind them, and both girls turn around to find Tara already working her way through the dinner. She’s got a giant spoon in her hand and is leaning over the counter, scooping out bites. “I don’t care what it looks like as long as it tastes good, and this definitely tastes fanfuckingtastic.”

  All three of them crack up laughing as they take turns devouring the semi-warm casserole, and Tara’s right: it is pretty damn good. Then again, anything involving potatoes, cheese, and bacon usually is. After they finish polishing off dinner, Tinley starts putting the dishes in the sink to clean everything up. If there’s one thing she hates more than anything, it’s a dirty kitchen. She just can’t focus while there’s a mess nearby.

  Dakota takes the dirty forks out of her hands and shoos her away. Tinley sits on one of the bar stools and takes a small sip of her wine while looking from her sister to her roommate over the top of her glass. These two are definitely up to something, that’s for sure. Dakota never volunteers to clean up the kitchen and Tara is avoiding eye contact altogether. “Okay, what’s going on here? What are you two hiding from me?”

  Tara sighs and leans against the counter. She polishes off her bottle of water and rubs her belly. She glances over at Dakota and then back at her sister. “Promise you won’t be mad?”

  Chapter 3

  Unease builds in the pit of Tinley’s stomach. This doesn’t sound good at all. “Mad about what?”

  “You have plans tomorrow night.”

  “Um, no I don’t.” She thinks for a minute…is she supposed to be babysitting for her sister? She doesn’t remember agreeing to that, but it’s possible she just forgot, or…oh no! She’s not trying to set her up with a guy from Clark’s work again, is she? Every time her sister tries to set her up with one of her husband’s co-workers, it always ends in disaster. Tinley treads lightly as she asks, “What are you talking about?”

  Tara nibbles on the bottom of her lip and her eyes travel around the room. She avoids eye contact with Tinley at all costs and then turns her focus to Dakota. “You tell her, Dakota—she’ll take it better from you.”

  “No way.” She shakes her head and waves her hands in the air. “This whole thing was your idea. I just found out about it and told you. You’re the one who actually signed her up.”

  The back and forth banter between her sister and roommate does nothing but make her head spin. The two of them have an intense stare down making Tinley want to scream for someone to say something. They can’t build up all of this anxiety in her and not at least tell her what’s going on.

  “Fine, be a big baby about it.” Tara turns back toward Tinley and turns on her mom voice. “We signed you up for a blind date. Well sort of. It’s kind of hard to explain what it is exactly.”

  And all that explanation does is confuse Tinley even more. How could they have signed her up for something and not know how to explain it to her? That doesn’t make any sense at all. She releases a huff in frustration and asks, “Okay, what does that mean?”

  Dakota groans in frustration and walks back into the living room. When she comes back, she has her laptop in hand. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, it’s speed dating in the dark
—super short dates, and you don’t get to see the dude you’re on a date with, kind of like the blind auditions on The Voice. The whole point is to get to know someone without any kind of biases involved.”

  Tinley chokes on the last bit of wine that she was in the process of draining from her glass. They can’t be serious about this. Can they? Speed dating in the dark? That sounds completely made up. “Wait, you’re kidding me, right? Are you just making all of this up? Not that it’s a very good story. Speed dating in the dark? There’s no way that would ever actually be a thing.”

  Tinley’s mouth falls open as Dakota places her laptop on the bar in front of her. Sure enough, there’s a flyer inviting her to speed date in the dark at a local restaurant, and yep, the event is tomorrow night. Why the hell would they sign her up for something so ridiculous? Her empty wine glass comes into focus out of the corner of her eye. She’s going to need another drink and a strong one at that. Wine just isn’t going to cut it at this point.

  She grabs the bottle of tequila out of the freezer and a shot glass out of the cupboard. She quickly slams back one shot, and then a second. The familiar burn is welcomed as it slides down her throat and into her belly; anything to get her mind off of the information she was just given. Joining in on the fun, Dakota takes a couple of shots as well.

  Tara shakes her head and rubs her belly while watching the two of them get completely hammered. “As much fun as it is watching you two polish off a bottle of tequila, this preggo has to get going. If I don’t get home and take off this bra and these pants soon, I might just have to strip down naked right here. My boobs and belly are currently screaming for freedom. You two have a fun night—just don’t get too drunk.”

  Tinley cringes at that picture. Her sister is wearing a pair of leggings and a tunic. How that could possibly feel restricting makes zero sense to her. Pregnancy sounds like the last thing she’d ever want to do. She couldn’t even picture herself with a giant belly with a baby inside. Besides, in order to make a baby, you have to have sex and Tinley doesn’t even want to think about how long it’s been since the last time that happened. Nope, pregnancy is not something that is in her near future, if ever.

  “Gross. Dakota, please remind me to never get pregnant, ever.”

  Dakota leans over and offers up her hand for a high-five. “You and me both sister. We’ll make a pact on that right now. No babies for these bitches. Ever.”

  Tara laughs and points at both of them. “You say that now, but then next thing you know, you’ll both be knocked up, just like me.” She walks over to Tinley and offers her a hug. “Please don’t be mad at us, okay? We’re just trying to help you out.”

  “I’m too drunk right now to be mad. Ask me again in the morning, and I might be able to give you a better answer. I’m almost thirty, Tara, and this is my life. I’m not a project or something for you to fix.”

  She knows they both mean well, but this was definitely not the way to help her. Speed dating? Seriously? Who even does that? She always thought it was some crazy thing they slipped into thirty-minute sitcoms to mix things up, you know, when things start getting stale and they need a little something extra to add to the storyline and make people laugh so they can forget about their miserable existence—and yes, Tinley would happen to be one of those people.

  Dakota walks over to the coffee table and grabs her laptop, hugging it to her chest. Odd. “I’m heading to bed now, do you need anything from me?”

  She eyes the bottle of tequila still sitting on the counter and contemplates another shot. The combination of the wine and liquor sloshing in her stomach makes her slightly nauseous. It probably wasn’t a good idea mixing. She quickly puts the cap back on and stashes the bottle in the back of the freezer buried underneath a bag of frozen veggies. Logically she knows that won’t keep her from drinking it, but maybe it’ll be a slight deterrent.

  “Nope, I’m good. I think I’ll do the same.”

  They both walk down the hallway to their separate bedrooms, and when Tinley closes the door behind her, her own laptop comes into focus. She needs to do an internet search on this whole dating-in-the-dark thing. It can’t be that common, can it? Fortunately, the first link that pops up is exactly what she’s looking for. What she’s surprised to find is that they run these events in almost every major city. Who would have thought?

  Speed dating…in the dark…with a stranger. What were those two thinking? Tinley continues looking over the site, which is filled with what has to be a bunch of stock photos because nobody in their right mind looks that happy going to speed dating. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes her queasy. Or maybe that’s the tequila again?

  Fifteen minutes—that’s all you get to find the man of your dreams. A small chuckle escapes from her mouth. Nobody in their right mind can actually believe they’ll find their true love in fifteen minutes, and if anyone does feel that way, she just feels sorry for them. Finding your soul mate at speed dating—oh yeah, that’ll go over about as well as a nun in a strip club. And not the sexy kind either. The legit full-gown virginal nun. She giggles just picturing that in her head. What reason would a nun have to step foot into a strip club? Her giggle fit continues on for a few seconds. Maybe she’s still a little buzzed after all?

  She slams her laptop shut and releases a heavy sigh. Throwing herself back onto her bed, she contemplates the situation. Sure, her thirtieth birthday is coming up, and she isn’t in a serious relationship, but Dakota isn’t either. She’s a grown-ass woman and doesn’t need her best friend and sister telling her how to live her life. It’s not like their lives are perfect either.

  That’s it, in the morning she’ll just tell them both that she won’t be going. The whole thing is silly anyway. How mad can they be about it? It’s just a stupid speed dating thing, it’s not like they could really be all that serious about it. And it’s not like they can force her to go anyway. Right?

  Chapter 4

  There’s a knock on Tinley’s bedroom door, and then Tara immediately opens it. What’s the point of even knocking if she’s going to just barge right in?

  “C’mon lazy bum, we need to go shopping.”

  Tinley rolls over in bed and looks at the clock on her nightstand: it’s not even nine yet. What the heck is her sister doing waking her up this early on a Saturday? “What are you even doing here, and what are you talking about?”

  “It’s an emergency. We need to get you a new outfit for your dates tonight.”

  Of course, because only Tara would be freaking out over something as inconsequential as a “fashion emergency.” Tinley pulls her comforter over her head in hopes that it’ll make her sister go away. When the cover is ripped from her face, she isn’t the least bit surprised. She should have known it wasn’t actually going to work. Her sister has always gotten her way. Even when they were kids, whatever Tara wanted, Tara got. Perks of being the first born she would have to guess.

  “Yeah, about that…I’m not going.”

  Tara throws her arms up and places her hands on her hips. There’s a scowl on her face as she rolls her eyes and her mom voice comes out, “Don’t be ridiculous, of course you’re going. We’ve already paid for it.”

  Well, she can’t back out now. She’d feel guilty knowing they paid for the damn thing and she just skipped it—not that she asked them to do it or wants to go, but it’d still be a waste of money.

  “Do you know how ridiculous you sound? The guy isn’t going to be able to see me, and what do you mean by dates? As in plural?”

  “It’s not for the guys. If you have a cute outfit, you’ll feel more confident and have a better time, and what did you think you were getting yourself into? We told you it was speed dating, meaning you’ll have multiple dates.”

  “As long as that’s all you mean and you didn’t sign me up for multiple nights of this crap. Why do I let you two talk me into shit like this? Okay fine, if you’re insistent on me getting new clothes, you’re paying.”

  “Whatever, just get
out of bed already. I’m limited on time. If I leave Livi with Clark for too long by himself, he goes a little crazy. That girl is too strong-willed, and her father doesn’t know what to do with it.”

  She can’t help but laugh at that. Livi is an exact replica of Tara. Tinley never understood why women would refer to their children as their mini-mes until her sister had her daughter. And that’s precisely what Livi is. “What did he think he was getting into when he agreed to have children with you?”

  “Trust me, I tell him the same thing every day.”

  They’ve been walking from store to store but Tara still isn’t happy with anything they’ve come across, and Tinley won’t even get started on the fact that this whole shopping trip seems to be about her sister and not her. Every time she tries to pick something up, Tara immediately puts it right back on the rack. Honestly, the whole excursion makes zero sense. Why make such a fuss about an outfit nobody else is going to see? Maybe it’s the whole pregnancy thing—since she can’t wear these cute clothes right now, she’s picking out something for Tinley to wear now and she’ll take it later for herself. Wouldn’t be the first time Tara has “borrowed” something from Tinley’s closet without asking.

  After what seems like hours of walking in and out of stores, they’ve finally stumbled into one that has clothes her sister likes, and Tinley is just ready to get this day over with. The stack is growing steadily, and she just isn’t mentally prepared for the disaster that is the fitting room. Tara grabs a tunic off the rack and looks it over. “How do you feel about sequins?”