Chapter 48

Since Jocelyn didn't take his calls all day, Caden wondered if he had misread her signals, or maybe the romance had been all in his head. He had texted and called Jocelyn alternately all day, but her phone kept going straight to voice mail. Then his phone rang. For a moment, he hoped it was Jocelyn, but frowned when he saw that it was Mallory.

He sighed as he clicked on the phone. "Hello, Mallory. What do you want?"

"Well, that's a fine way to greet an old friend," she replied on the other end.

"Friendship has to be earned." Caden shook his head, not in the mood for more of Mallory's shenanigans. "As I asked, what do you want?"

There was a pause and, for a moment, Caden almost regretted being so abrupt with her- almost. "Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner with me." When he didn't answer right away, she added, "You know, for old time's sake."

Convinced that everything with Jocelyn was all in his head, he relented. "Sure. Why not? What time shall I pick you up?