Sam looked at the couple that laughed as they twirled around and around, not giving a damn who watched. She diverted her eyes back to Cara. “I miss watching it.” She said softly, meaning every word. Back in the day she loved going out with Jake and Cara. Jake was a dancer, loved to dance, and he would always drag Cara out on the dance floor. Even if there wasn’t a dance floor, if Jake heard a song he liked, he’d grab Cara and they’d dance.
“I used to hate to dance.” Cara said remembering. “The first time Jake and I went to a club, I stayed in the corner hiding from him the whole night. There were a bunch of us that night and Jake made it his goal to dance with everyone. I thought I’d just look ridiculous until he pulled me out of the corner and led me around the dance floor. I took his lead and followed his steps… and before I knew it, I was the one looking for him to dance with.” She laughed at the happy memory. “I miss that.”
“So dance.” Sam said.
“I have no one to dance with.” Cara said chuckling. “And I’m not that desperate to go dancing by myself missy.” She took a sip of her diet soda and looked up when Phillip and Mallory made their way back to the table with their glasses full.
“I’m a genius!” Phillip announced.
Sam laughed and eyed Cara, insinuating that this should be good, coming from a drunken Phillip. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why are you a genius?”
“Samantha, darling, I’ve come up with the perfect mate for our dear friend Mallory.” He said as he draped an arm around her shoulders.
“Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s wasted.”
Cara laughed. “Well, come on, let’s hear it.” She encouraged Phillip.
“Luke!”
“My brother Luke?” Sam asked taken back.
“Do we know another?” Phillip asked as he scratched his head trying to rack his brain.
Mallory rolled her eyes and plopped herself down in a seat, taking a long sip of her slushy margarita. “I may have admitted that I thought he was drop dead gorgeous.”
“Actually, you said you wouldn’t mind getting on top of that.” Phillip said in a matter of fact tone and took a seat beside Cara. He looked at her, nudging her with his elbow. “What do you think Cara? Since apparently Samantha needs a minute to take in my genius idea.”
Cara swallowed and looked at Mallory, who lifted an eyebrow, anticipating her answer. She was beautiful, Cara thought, and she seemed nice enough, but… she wasn’t good enough. She knew that sounded horrible, even inside her own head, but it’s what she felt. She looked at Mallory and she couldn’t see her being the woman that made Luke smile and he deserved to smile. He had a great smile. Mallory still had oats to sew, that was apparent in the way she carried herself, and again she wasn’t trying to demean her in any way.
Sam stared at Cara for a moment before turning to look at Phillip. “It’s a bad idea.” She looked at Mallory. ‘No offense, you know I love you. But Luke, well, he’s kind of taken.” She lied. Cara glanced up at Sam, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“Lucky lady.” Mallory mumbled and then turned to Phillip. “Onto the next one?”
“Sorry sweets, really thought that was a solid one.” Phillip said reluctant to go on the prowl again finding Mallory a mate.
“Cara, come with me to the ladies room, these two are on a mission.” Sam said as she rose to her feet and nodded towards Mallory and Phillip who were perusing the restaurant for their next conquest.
Sam pulled her to her feet and tucked her arm around Cara’s and dragged her to the ladies room. “I love the both of them dearly, but they are a lot to handle when they’re drunk. And when you’re sober and they’re drunk? Well, they’re just crazy.”
“Why’d you tell them Luke was taken?” Cara asked once they were inside the bathroom.
“For starters, Mallory is all wrong for Luke. No use in setting them up only to end in disaster. Besides, he is kind of taken. You know how hectic his life is, he’s taken by everything he’s got on his plate. When does he have time for a woman?”
“I’m a woman. He took me to dinner last night.” Cara blurted out, leaving out how badly that went, still trying to get over the fact that her words sounded like she was confirming they went on a date.
Sam swung open the door to the stall. “You and Luke went to dinner?”
Shit! Way to go Cara. She decided now was a good time to reapply her lip gloss and turned around and faced the mirror, digging into her purse for the tube of gloss. “Yeah, so I mean that proves that if he can take me to dinner, then he can find the time to take any other woman.”
“Luke took you to dinner.”
“We’re friends Sam. You and I are at dinner aren’t we?”
“Luke took you to dinner.”
“Does he not eat dinner usually?” Cara asked incredulously wishing Sam wouldn’t make such a big deal of it.
Sam opened her mouth to say something when her phone rang. She reached into her purse and pulled it out, seeing that it was Nick on her Caller ID. “Hey, honey.” She said her eyes firmly on Cara through the mirror.
“Where are you?” He slurred into the phone. “And what are you wearing?”