7

When their food came, Helen thought for sure Dominic would send his steak back to the kitchen. It didn’t even look like it had been cooked. When his knife bit into it, his plate practically filled with blood. Was he going to put something that raw in his mouth?

He chuckled when he saw her face and offered, “Would you like to try some?”

Laura laughed outright at Helen’s screwed up nose and horrified expression. “You should try some.” The other woman laughed. “You’re so fond of 'enjoying the moment!'”

Helen pretended she didn’t hear the dig while Dominic took a slice of the steak and put it on the tip of his fork.

Crap! Helen thought. I only know one way out of this. She took his fork and as she was about to place that red, raw meat into her mouth, she flipped it around and fed it to Dominic instead, allowing her hand to rest on the back of his neck.

“You’re very kind,” he said when he finished chewing. “Are you sure you don't want to try it?”

“I plead guilty. It’s too red for me. Tonight, a girl like me can only taste sugar and spice. Blood isn't on the menu, but,” she said, twisting her hair between her fingers, “I don't mind if you drink it." She looked alluring, but in her heart, she was questioning what was on his mind eating something that raw. It was disgusting.

Mark was doing his best to ignore them as he began sawing into the loaf of courtesy bread.

“Are you all right?” Laura asked him, taking the knife from him and doing it more delicately than he was able to. “Let me do that,” she said.

“You’re very capable,” he said turning away from her and looking at the other diners instead of Laura.

Guys had said things like that to Helen many times, and she’d always taken it as a compliment. At that moment, she realized Mark meant it as an insult. Had all those boys who had said similar things to her meant to insult her? Most of them hadn’t hung around. But one thing was clear, Mark didn’t care if Laura was good at slicing bread or not.

Helen picked up her fork and started in on her meal. Thank goodness it was completely delicious.

***

After dinner, they went to a local movie theater. Helen fought to remember afterward which movie they saw, but it never came to her. She had spent the whole movie in the dark holding Dominic’s hands in decent locations. She didn’t know if he would stray, but she didn’t trust him enough to take the chance. In the dark of the movie theater, she sat between Dominic and Laura, by Dominic’s design. Helen thought he was trying to rub Helen’s beauty in his sister’s face and also keep his date as far away from Mark as possible.

After the film, the three of them went out for hot chocolate at a nearby cafe and Dominic and Laura criticized the movie for a solid hour. Helen had nothing to contribute. She hadn’t been paying attention. Mark simply stared at the floor. Anytime Helen looked at him, he seemed fascinated by something away from their table.

Dominic and Helen said goodbye close to midnight on the street outside the cafe. They had already shaken off Mark and Laura.

“Do I get a kiss?” Dominic asked, moving in to get one anyway.

Helen put her fingers over her mouth and said, “That’s not part of our contract tonight. Besides, you don’t even want to kiss me. You were just relishing making Mark and Laura suffer.”

“And you helped me!” he said positively, drawing her into an embrace. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were a good sport.”

“Don’t kid yourself,” Helen said sharply. She didn’t feel under any obligation to remain under the pretense they were on a happy date when they were alone. “It’s in my contract to play your game. I keep my promises.”

Dominic laughed. “Tell me you didn’t enjoy teasing them?” Helen averted her eyes.

She had found some of it interesting.

“Where did you get the idea to do something like this anyway?” she asked instead of answering his question.

“My sister wants Mark. I took you away from him so he would go out with her tonight,” he said.

“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but it doesn’t seem to me that you like your sister very much. Why do her such a grand favor?”

“I owe her,” he said simply. “Now how about if I make you a deal?”

“What kind of deal?”

“Anytime Mark phones your agency and asks for you to ‘accompany’ him, please promise to telephone me. I’ll double whatever he offers for the night, and you won’t have to bother with anything as silly as a date with me. What do you say?”

Helen frowned. She needed the money so badly, and who was Mark to her? After Valentine's Day, he would probably never think of her again without simultaneously thinking a curse. There wasn’t anything there to fight for. Most likely, he hated her. Finally, she answered Dominic humorlessly, “I hope he calls every night this week."

“That’s a good girl,” Dominic said brightly, before helping her into a taxi.