Dark Daze Read Online Free Page A

another single friend
who may not have the body Gina had, but she is getting her Masters
in Psychology. Is that smart enough for you?”
    “Oh no.” No more women to let down gently. He
couldn’t do it again. He didn’t have the heart. “Didn’t I just tell
you not to set me up anymore?”
    “Yeah, but you know Mandy. Since she got
preggers, she can’t handle having any single friends.” His voice
took on a robotic tone. His arms rose as though he were a robot in
an old fifties movie and his eyes stared blankly ahead. “All must
join us. All must marry. Procreate.” His head twitched back and
forth, as he repeated the last word. “Procreate.”
    “Dork.” Ian laughed so hard, the family,
who’d been fascinated by the puffer fish, turned to gape at them as
if they were insane. He coughed as the mother herded her children
in the other direction.
    “Mandy’s out with her now. She’s probably
working on her as we speak, and if I don’t get you on board, I may
not hear the end of it until she gives birth next month. Maybe not
even then.”
    “All right, I’ll take her number, but no
promises. If I’m feeling masochistic enough maybe I’ll use it next
week some time.”
    His i-com rang. He tugged it out of his
pocket and pushed the talk button, putting an end to the Jamaican
island rhythms emanating from the speaker.
    “Hello?” A female voice he’d never heard
before came from his ear bud.
    “Hello?” She hesitated a second. “Is this
Ian?”
    “You’ve got me. How can I help you?”
    “Well, I…uh…I’m Brie, a friend of Mandy and
Paul.” She started talking faster. “Mandy has been asking me for
hours if I would call and talk to you. She says she won’t stop
until we talk, so I thought I would call you before she decides to
move in. I hope you don’t find this too forward, but we do live in
modern times, after all.”
    Ian stared at his i-com, and suddenly he
wished he’d pushed video to put a face to the voice. He’d never had
a woman talk to him like this. She had guts, calling him to ask him
out. He liked it, but he wasn’t sure how to respond. He
laughed.
    Paul pantomimed holding an i-com to his ear
and pointed to it . Is that her? he mouthed. Ian turned away
from him.
    “So, did you want to go to dinner sometime?”
Her voice, though feminine, was deep and smooth like honey. “Since
I was modern enough to ask, I suppose I’ll treat as well. So, how
about it?”
    Would she be as sexy as her voice? And what
could he expect from her? He wanted to find out, because he’d never
had a woman both ask him out and offer to pay. Paul leaned around
him, eyebrows lifted.
    “How can I say no to such an enticing offer?”
He frowned and ignored his friend’s enormous grin. “But I insist on
paying.”
    “Deal. How about tomorrow noon?”
    “That’s not dinner, that’s lunch.”
    “So it is. How about this…we can go to a
restaurant and have the waiter draw the shades so we can pretend
we’re eating dinner.”
    Ian smiled. “I’ll do you one better. How
about tonight? Then it will be dinner.”
    Paul gave him a thumbs-up and Ian rolled his
eyes, pursing his lips to hide the smile tugging at the corners of
his mouth.
    “Tonight?”
    “If you’re not too busy.”
    “No, it sounds great. I was just surprised.”
She laughed—an unexpectedly sexy sound. “I don’t have any
plans.”
    “You know where Amanderos is?”
    “In Apple Valley, right?”
    “Yup.” He paid no attention to Paul who
pumped the air. “Six?”
    “Great, see you there.”
    She ordered the disconnect without waiting
for a reply. What an unusual woman. He liked her already, which
only made it harder. Why hadn’t he said he couldn’t? Made an
excuse? He really didn’t want to break her heart or his own, and
those were the only two options for this date.
    Paul stepped toward him, arm extended.
    “Don’t even say it.” Ian held up a hand. “For
your sake, I just hope this woman is more interesting than