His Glorified Maid

Fifteen

Jenny returned Tyler-less by the time she had finished eating. She almost wished she had stayed away once she started pestering her with questions she preferred not to answer. Right now, her automatic need to answer was a curse. It was Carlos' presence that made the difference. He saw too much, and she didn't want him to know more about her than he already did as she felt inadequate as it was.

Jenny and Lawrence bombarded her with questions about her dating history. They took turns, like a tag team in a pro wrestling match, and never really gave her time to answer.

"If Carlos wants to know more about Mike, maybe he should ask her himself?" Dan said in a quiet, yet challenging tone.

There was an awkward silence and then Jenny asked, "What about you, Dan? Are you seeing anyone?"

Michaela snorted. "Dan dates anything in a skirt. It's true," she added when he gave her a look. She was grateful the attention was diverted from her for a change. "What about that one time when we went to Sassy's Bar - " she started but was cut off with a look. She couldn't hold it in any longer and her joyous laughter bubbled over as Dan challenged her with his eyes to say more.

"Glad I could make you smile," he said with a shoulder bump that had her leaning into him again.

Jenny's eyes were still on Dan when she asked her next question. "You two seem close," she said gesturing between Dan and her. "Have you two ever dated or almost dated?"

Michaela snorted again.

"She should be so lucky," Dan said. Mock offense was written all over his face at her response. "Michaela's never been on a date."

Michaela stopped laughing, her eyes going wide as the words slipped out of his mouth in front of this particular company. She didn't want the attention back on her and that's exactly what that comment did.

"It's not like it sounds," she said hugging her arms around herself trying to make herself smaller. "Paul and I went out," she said looking at Dan, begging him with her eyes to agree so they could drop the matter. To her dismay, she saw a look of disgust on his face. His next words shocked her because she hadn't realised the depth of his feelings against her and Paul's former union.

"Not on dates. Name one sweet thing that he ever did for you. That asshole didn't even bring you flowers. I bet he doesn't even know your favourite flowers."

Michaela felt heat flush her face and cringed internally and this time it wasn't a response to Carlos and the way he made her feel. This time she was humiliated because he wasn't wrong, but it didn't mean he had to announce it in front of everyone.

Had he always felt that way about Paul? Maybe it shouldn't surprise her because she knew Luke felt that way about him.

Her silly heart had a moment to remind her that Carlos knew what her favourite flowers were even if he'd only asked to prove that they weren't on a date. It's something that he probably did for his real dates.

Unsophisticated. She could probably add unworldly and inexperienced there as well.

"He wasn't the romantic type," she mumbled, attempting to lessen the strength of Dan's words.

Michaela saw anger in the set of Carlos' shoulders, in the way his jaw clenched. She saw it in his eyes that burned with it. She didn't understand the reason behind it. Was he angry that she had a past? It would be hypocritical of him considering his extensive dating history.

"We were friends before we started going out. It's not like we had to date to get to know each other first. His proposal was sweet," she added. And it was, he had held up a sign while they were diving one day. It showed planning and forethought. And diving was an activity they both enjoyed, so it was sweet. Of course, he had dropped the ring trying to place it on her finger and they'd spent the rest of the dive looking for it. At the time, she'd thought it would make a good story for their grandkids about how their grandad had proposed to their grandma.