But Ray was already emphatically shaking his head from side to side. “I’ve already got more clients than I can handle right now.”
That was probably a lie. But I wasn’t going to stand here and call him out on being a horrible liar in front of the Musgraves. “Well then. I’ll just have to handle it, won’t I?”
“I suppose you will.”
“Jerk,” I muttered.
But he only chuckled and gave me a finger wave on his way back to his office. I turned and gave the Musgraves my best realtor smile. They were whispering between the two of them and looking at a stack of paper that appeared to be a print out of the properties I had been sending them throughout the week.
“So we think we want to start here.” Mr. Musgrave held up a sheet of paper that looked like an MLS listing.
“I have already called and made appointments at all of the homes you told me you wanted to look at. We have enough of a window of time that we can go in whatever order you’d like. So if that’s where you’d like to begin, let’s start there.”
I felt a moment’s dread as we all walked out into the parking lot. This was the moment of truth. The point at which my clients could suggest that I just do the driving so that they could save gas. It wasn’t that I was opposed to driving people around. It was that sometimes the vents in my car emitted a foul odor that was very reminiscent of Beau the mechanic’s smell.
“I think we’ll just follow you if that’s all right?” Mrs. Musgrave called out. “That way we’ll be a little freer to discuss whatever we need to in the car between houses.”
“Sounds perfect!” I waved at them and beamed because I was so damned relieved that I wasn’t going to have to explain the origin of my stinky mechanic smell. “I’ll lead the way!”
Chapter Nineteen
Valentino
Date. Was this a date? I felt like it was a date. My guts felt like it was a date too because they were tied in knots and feeling pretty sickly. I’m sure that this is normal. Blah, blah, blah. You know how it is. Oh, everyone feels like that on a first date. It’s totally natural. It’s just because you feel so excited that you’re going to spend time with someone new and get to know them. It’s natural anticipation. Whatever.
This was the first time first time I had been out with a woman sine I was sixteen years old. I didn’t date. I didn’t go out. I didn’t chat up women I met at the grocery store or ask them for their phone number. I didn’t do any of those things. I had started dating Cari when I was sixteen and she was fifteen. I married her at nineteen when she was eighteen. And she was dead before her twentieth birthday.
I sat in my car in front of Tansy’s apartment complex thinking about this for several minutes. This was a big deal. If I told my parents… No. I could never tell my family that I was doing this. It would be one of those situations where they would never, ever let me forget it. I would feel ready to roll over and die just to get away from their probing questions.
Taking deep breaths seemed to help. I had to keep reminding myself that this really wasn’t a date. Not in the strictest sense of the word. I got out of the car. I took a deep breath of the damp air. It felt like rain. Or snow. Or maybe ice. It was hard to say. But I knew that I was ready to go up to that door and ring the bell. So I marched up to that door and I did just that.
An old lady stuck her head out through the opening made by the chain lock. “Hello?”
I took a mental step back. Who was this? Did Tansy live with her family? Surely not. She seemed as annoyed by her family as I was. I could not begin to imagine her living with them. “Excuse me, ma’am. I’m sorry. I was just looking for Tansy Economides.”
“Oh. You got the wrong building.” The old lady cackled. I think she was enjoying this. A lot actually. “You want Building D over there. The number’s right though. Did she give you the wrong address on purpose? Girls do that these days, you know. They never did that in my day mind you. But they do now…”
“Thank you,” I said loudly. I had a feeling that this woman was never going to shut up if I didn’t make an effort to convince her I was leaving. “I really appreciate the help.”
This was apparently building B. Maybe I had just written the letter down in a way that it looked like a B instead of a D. There was no way of knowing, but I didn’t believe for a second that Tansy had given me the wrong building on purpose.
It was a bit of a shocking way to start my date though. And honestly by the time I hoofed it across the damp grass in the courtyard and over to building D, I was totally over my case of nerves, which was good. At least I think it’s good. Right? I should be getting over my nervousness by now if I’m not really on a date to begin with. It’s just two people having dinner in order to celebrate the victory of getting Harvey Kraus to pay his bill.
I knocked on the other door. Within seconds Tansy opened it up. She was still dressed as she had been earlier that day. Same boots and blouse and leggings and she looked so damned adorable with her hair up in a high ponytail that I was almost tempted to kiss her again.
“Hi.” I felt like I couldn’t stop staring at her hair. The way that ponytail encouraged the curly locks to sort of fall around her neck and shoulders gave me decadent thoughts of pushing that hair away to expose the soft skin of her neck so that I could enjoy a few kisses. I cleared my throat. I was still staring. Dammit! She was going to think I was a brainless perv!
“What?” She frowned. Then she lifted her hand to her head. “Oh my God! I didn’t mean to leave it up like this! I look like a twelve year old.”
I snorted and reached for her hand to stop her from taking out the rubber band. “Let me assure you, Tansy. You don’t look anything like a twelve year old. Because I’ve never in my life been attracted to twelve year olds, probably not even when I was twelve. And right now I feel like I could stand here and stare at you for hours and hours without ever tiring of the sight.”
Her lips parted as though she had been about to say something and then had lost her train of thought. “Wow,” she finally whispered. “You really know how to make a girl feel special, Val Alvarez.”
I felt my eyebrows drawing together and I tried to smooth my features. I didn’t want her to think that I was getting upset at all. I was just curious about her choice of what to call me. “Why Val?”
“Because you’re a casual man and I think that’s an amazing trait,” she said without hesitation. “I think that the name Valentino is kind of formal for you. That’s all. It’s not meant to be insulting. Would you rather I call you something else?”
Not now. Especially not since she had given me her explanation. I shook my head and smiled. “No. You can call me whatever you want. And that’s not meant to be a hooker joke either.”
Her burst of laughter was enough to make me grin even more. This woman made me laugh and smile in ways that I could not be accused of doing in years. I didn’t know if it was good or bad, but I did feel as though I were getting addicted to being around her and to the way it made me feel.
“So where are we going?” She was already reaching for her jacket. “And please don’t say we’re eating Greek food.”
“Ha. No. No Greek food. I thought American. Like burgers?” I could not explain why I felt as though I had just handed her some kind of test. What sort of man was I that I would test her over something as silly as what kind of food she was willing to eat?
“I love a good burger,” Tansy assured me. “Have you ever been to that little burger joint about three blocks from my office? It’s really good.”
“The deli?” I frowned. I couldn’t think of anything in that area because we were quite a distance from my home stomping grounds. “I’m not all that familiar with Chesterfield so you tell me where you want to go and I’m up for anything.”
“Then let’s hit the Brickyard. It’s always got good burgers and cold beer. If you’re into that kind of thing.” She gave half a shrug. “I don’t actually drink, but I like to eat.”
“I don’t
drink either.” I was a bit surprised to hear her say that. It was another mark in her favor. Wait a second. Why was I doing that? What marks? There were no marks. No bad ones. No good ones. We were just hanging out. Right?
I could not believe how easy it was to talk to her. The two of us were talking and laughing and chatting the entire way to the restaurant. And she didn’t backseat drive or shout her directions or give him in some incomprehensible female order that meant you were constantly having to turn around and go back.
“Oh good,” Tansy exclaimed. “We’re here after the big rush. I’m so sorry that we had to meet so late, but my afternoon was just packed with taking clients to visit potential properties.”
“Were you successful?” I got out of my car and wondered if she was going to let me run around to the other side to help her out.
“I wrote one contract,” she said excitedly.
Nope. Tansy was already bolting out of the car and heading around to meet me in front of the hood. I hoped she wouldn’t hold it against me. I could not even begin to fathom how pissed off Cari would have been if I hadn’t opened each and every door for her. It was like a race. But Tansy wasn’t Cari. Even though that had been my thought at first, the more I got to know Tansy, the more I could not even see a minor resemblance between their attitudes.
I did get to the front door the restaurant first though. Tansy smiled at me and said thank you as she walked through. Why is it that I felt like falling down in shock? Am I really that bad? The thought kept bouncing around in my head. Am I really so convinced that all women are nothing but a bunch of entitled bitches that I’m stunned when just one woman proves me wrong?
“What are you thinking about?” Tansy whispered as we waited for the waitress to seat us. “Your expression is impossible to read so I figured I might as well just ask.”
Wait. She was asking instead of just assuming that I was having some kind of contraband thoughts that would immediately indicate to her that I was somehow insulting her with my contemplative silence and doing it on purpose too.
“I was just thinking that I haven’t been on a date since high school and that I feel like I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to be doing here.” I wondered if I should have somehow tempered that thought with something else, but it was just there in my head and I needed to get it out.
“Right this way,” the hostess said with a huge grin on her face. “Tansy, it’s good to see you again.”
“Thank you, Rachel.” Tansy offered the hostess a huge smile. “I don’t know when you turn twenty-one, but I know that the Brickyard has a ton of waitstaff. If you want, I could help you get a job at the Greek Maiden. I know they need servers during the week. It’s usually slower, but there’s enough business that you can easily pull down a couple hundred a night if you hustle.”
“Whoa. Seriously?” Rachel the hostess beamed at Tansy. “Thank you so much! You’ve always been so sweet to me. I would love a chance to work for your mom and dad.”
“Just go fill out an application. I’ll send my mom a text and tell her to expect you.” Tansy patted the girl on the shoulder as we sat down at our cozy corner booth.
I waited until Rachel had retreated before shaking my head at Tansy and reaching across the table to take her hand. It was forward of me. I didn’t care. Here I was barely able to contemplate the idea that I was out on a date after all this time swearing I’d never do that, and now I was completely powerless to keep myself from being affectionate with this woman because she was just so unexpected.
Tansy pursed her lips and lightly stroked the back of my hand with her fingertips. “Tell me why you thought I was like Cari. Before, I mean. And before you ask, Lena told me that you told your brother that.”
“Ah.” I bobbed my head and sighed. “I was totally ratted out by the whole girl network, huh?”
“In a manner of speaking. Yeah. You were. So why?” Her expression was so earnest that I felt the need to lay my soul bare for her. It was an odd sensation. Let me just say that.
The waiter came and took our drink order. I smiled at Tansy and waited. I wanted this to be the exact right wording. It was complicated I think. Anytime there was this much baggage in a budding relationship—wait one damn second. Did I actually use that term? Budding relationship? Sheesh!
But back to the budding relationship. I had to wait until the waiter had brought our drinks and had taken our order before I felt like I had enough time and the right words to make this count. “Tansy, I can’t really express to you just how horrid my relationship with my dead wife was. She was a shrew. She was the kind of girl who makes other girls get pissed off because she makes all of you look bad. I don’t know why I married her. I can’t explain it. I can’t even remember why I thought that was a good idea. I was really young and that’s my only excuse.”
“Eleanor used to say that,” I murmured. “Lena’s sister used to say that she was really young the first time she and her now live-in boyfriend, Kevin Landau, met. Eleanor ran away from the altar and left Kevin there the first time.”
“Well, I should have run away,” I said darkly. “But I didn’t. And I tried to make the best of things. And I think when you and I were arguing over whether or not I had fixed your car or what I had done or whether or not I was trying to pull a fast one, I think it reminded me of all the times that Cari accused me of lying to her.”
“I’m so sorry.” She took my hands and lifted them to her lips.
I think I forgot about the apology. I’m not even sure if I actually acknowledged it. I was too busy trying to remember to breathe. Her lips were so soft. A different kind of soft than when I kissed them. I felt the light tactile sensation of her kiss on my rough, work-worn knuckles. Her skin felt like silk. I can’t even explain how soft something feels when you are the type of person who works with their hands all day long. The roughness of my skin was such a shocking contrast with the softness of hers that I almost groaned out loud at the beautiful sensation.
Tansy exhaled lightly and her breath whispered over my hands. “I never meant to call you a liar. I guess I was just confused and so very sure that I knew what I was talking about while simultaneously being so arrogant that I actually felt like I was acknowledging that I didn’t know anything about cars. It was so wrong of me and I hope you know that I’m not usually like that.”
“I know you’re not usually like that,” I told her. “You haven’t been like that since. You have been nothing but gracious and helpful and concerned. I don’t think I’ve met a lot of people who would turn the world upside down to pay a car repair bill like you did. Especially not when you already had the car free and clear and there was nothing I could really do to force you to pay.”
“Well,” she told me in a voice laced with amusement. “You would know.”
Chapter Twenty
Tansy
I am pretty sure that I was about to melt my way right through the booth in the corner of the Brickyard. I had never felt like that before in my life. It was like being set on fire. I could safely say that I had never before experienced this kind of openness with a man. The guy was asking me questions. He was expecting frank and honest answers and he didn’t mind when they weren’t easy or comfortable. It was a wonderful thing.
The food arrived and I discovered that for once, I was not feeling self-conscious about what I might or might not look like while I was eating. I didn’t care. I just knew that I was having a good time with my friend. If we could just keep calling this a friend date, that would be okay, wouldn’t it?
Our burgers were half gone before I felt the need to address the whole date or not date issue. I cleared my throat and wagged a french fry at him. “So, are you really being honest here when you say that you haven’t gone out on a date since high school? Honestly? Because I’ll admit that is really hard to believe.”
He seemed to think about that for a long moment. Finally, he took a long drink of his soda and then wiped his face with a napkin. “I honestly haven’t
dated since Cari died. We were only married for six months when she got sick, but we had been together since I was sixteen years old. So I haven’t dated anyone new since then. I’ll admit that it’s probably very, very hard to believe.”
I bit my lip. I could not ask the question that was burning on my mind. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it either. “So. Uh.”
His dark eyes were sparkling. He hadn’t changed clothes after work either. He was wearing dark cargo work pants and boots with his black long-sleeved thermal shirt. He looked so incredibly handsome. That made it just that much more difficult to believe that the guy had been celibate for decades.
“Go ahead,” he urged. “Ask me. I can absolutely feel just how bad you’re dying to ask your question.”
“Oh, I can’t ask that!” I put my hands over my mouth and felt my eyes open wide.
He was still laughing at me. “Didn’t you already ask it? You know, by not asking it?”
“I suppose you’re right.” I could not actually fault his logic on this. “So then, have you—you know—been with anyone since your wife died?”
He snorted and sat back in his seat. “This is where I should be telling you that I’ve been with plenty of people. I should tell you that I’m constantly getting tail or whatnot. Right?”
“If you were the average guy, then yes,” I agreed. “You should be telling me whatever you need to tell me in order to make sure I know you’re totally masculine and experienced between the sheets.”
“Well, I’m not.”
I think I might have choked on my tongue at that point. I know I almost sent my french fry down the wrong pipe, which would have left me breathing the thing. I cleared my throat and coughed. “I’m sorry. I’m not meaning to be rude here. I’ll just admit to being surprised. Or maybe I’m just—well, you know—because you’re so…”
Tangled: Contemporary Romance Trilogy Page 61
