Red Red Rose

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  He shook his head, but was unable to hold onto his frown. “Obviously, dummy.” He ruffled his hand over my head, messing up my hair. I swatted it away.

  “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” he said seriously again.

  “It won’t. I promise.”

  “You can’t promise that,” he argued and I drew in a deep breath preparing for him to drag us back into the debate, but he just stepped back. “Go on your date, Nora, and I hope you have a good time. I hope you’re right about him.” Then he turned and walked out, bumping into Cassie on his way. It looked like she said something to him, and he grumbled a reply and then continued out the door.

  “What was that all about?” She walked over to me. “He seemed in a bad mood.”

  “He doesn’t like that I’m going on a date with Shaw tonight.”

  “Oh.” Her face fell slightly.

  “Not like that, though. He’s worried Shaw is going to serial kill me or turn out to be another asshole like Nathan.”

  “Oh,” she perked up slightly and then her brow pinched. “That’s stupid. I already told you guys, it’s not him. He’s all sexy and brooding and dark and mysterious.”

  “Yeah well, apparently Bundy was a looker and had a way with the ladies too,” I pointed out, not that I was making Will’s argument now.

  “No, that’s not what I mean. Shaw looks dangerous, I’ll give Will that, but I think if he really was a bad guy, he’d try to look like less of one. The way he comes off, everything about him screams that he’ll kick your ass. Or if you’re a female, he’ll fu– ” I clamped my hand over her mouth.

  “Okay, I think I get what you mean.”

  She pulled my hand away. “I’m just saying, guys that are truly bad will do everything they can to hide it, and that boy is not bothering to hide that he is bad in all the best ways,” she grinned.

  I shook my head at her and sent her to clock in, even though she wasn’t wrong. She made a good point. Shaw didn’t seem to have any issue being himself. He was intimidating, imposing and dominant and he didn’t do anything to try and hide it or tone it down. I think the guys like Bundy try to make you think the opposite and appear unassuming. Even the regular assholes like Nathan are all about charming and putting up an appearance, whatever they have to do to impress. While Shaw certainly could be charming and very impressive, he didn’t have to try. Everything about him seemed sincere. Didn’t mean he couldn’t still turn out to be an asshole, just meant I was willing to take the risk.

  At four I left Cassie, Nina and Carlie to run the show and I headed home to start preparing for my date, my stomach all aflutter. James was about as excited as Will had been when I shared my plans with him. He didn’t say anything or try to talk me out of it the way Will did. I could just see the tight expression on his face. He shut himself in Emily’s room until it was time for me to leave.

  “Damn,” he spoke softly when he finally emerged. “I’m not sure the guy is worth all that, but you look good.”

  “Thanks.”

  I knew the tight, black skinny jeans I wore did wonderful things for my bottom, enhanced by the five-inch heel on my gorgeous, peep-toe ankle boots. They were hot– steel grey with black embellishments and a nice, dangerous, spike heel, also black. They came up high over my ankle and had several cute, strappy, wrap-around buckles. They were an instant confidence booster, like I was pretty sure I could conquer the world in those shoes.

  On top, I layered a loose, long-sleeve, almost sheer top that was somewhere between magenta and violet, over a black camisole. It wouldn’t keep me very warm, but it looked good. A long chain necklace with multiple pendants dangled between my breasts and I’d put a few loose curls in my hair before pinning some of it back. After that it was a few dabs, brushes and strokes to enhance my eyes, and a little matte color on the lips.

  If James’ appreciative look was any indication, it was effective.

  He cleared his throat. “Before you go, I have to tell you something.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m being called back to duty after the weekend.”

  “What?” My face fell.

  “It’s been almost three weeks. That’s more time than they had to give me. The last thing I want to do is leave, not without knowing you and my sister are both safe, but they own my ass. My only other option is to go AWOL, in which case they would still drag my ass away.”

  “There’s nothing you can do?” He’d basically just said as much, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted there to be a way for him to stay.

  “I’ve talked to my commanding officer, updated him on the situation, but it’s not looking like he’ll be able to do anything. Unless he calls me back and tells me otherwise, my orders are to be on a plane Monday. If that happens, I’m not leaving you here by yourself, even with the security system. I’d feel better if you would stay with my parents.”

  “I’ll think about it.” That was a longer drive to and from work and I relished my independence too much. “But I wish you had told me earlier. I can cancel my date tonight so we can hang out.”

  His eyes roamed over my get-up again and then he tipped his head up to the ceiling and groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face. “As much as I want to tell you to cancel on that guy and keep you to myself, especially when you look like that, you should go on your date.” His eyes were regretful when he pulled his hand away and brought his gaze back to me.

  “You sure?”

  “No,” he laughed dryly. “But you should go anyway.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Just remember what I said about trusting him.”

  “You going to explain what you mean by that?”

  “Just don’t want to see you get hurt is all.”

  I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I gave him a slight nod. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you when I get home.”

  Eleven

  Shaw was already inside when I got to the restaurant, and a table was ready for us. Before the hostess could lead us that way, he pinned me in place with a heated look. His eyes skimmed from the tips of my silver painted toes all the way up. He didn’t need to use words to tell me what he was thinking, but he still chose to. He leaned in close, brushing his lips over my cheek. “You look beautiful,” his voice hummed softly in my ear.

  I felt warmth blossom over my cheeks as I murmured, “Thank you.”

  We followed the hostess, Chantell, to the table that was awaiting us. He pulled out my chair in true gentlemanly fashion, as if it wasn’t even a thought, but second nature. I wobbled embarrassingly on my heels when I went to sit and he steadied me with a strong hand on my elbow.

  I laughed awkwardly and looked over my shoulder at him with a self-deprecating smile. “In case you couldn’t tell, I don’t get many chances to wear these shoes. They’re not exactly practical for the shop.”

  His smile was warm and didn’t make me feel awkward at all. His eyes flashed briefly to my footwear. “No, I don’t imagine they are. Although they look like they’d make an excellent weapon. I don’t want to imagine the damage you could do with one well placed kick.”

  The corners of my mouth pulled into a grin as I took my seat. “If you don’t want to find out, you better behave tonight.”

  He walked around to take his own seat, his eyes lit with devilish mischief. “I’ll try my best to behave, but no promises.”

  I had to lift my menu between us, cutting off the connection to collect my thoughts for a second, because I found myself sort of hoping he would misbehave. Or maybe I was thinking about misbehaving. Either way, I needed to rein it in.

  Waters, glasses and a bottle of wine that Shaw had apparently requested appeared on our table while we were perusing our menus, and our cute waitress, Melinda, asked if we were ready to order. Once she’d taken our order and our menus, I had nothing to hide behind. Shaw was completely relaxed at his end of the table.

  “So,” I started, “how many dates before I get to know the other half of your name?”

 
“Spencer,” he supplied, reaching for the bottle and pouring the red into our glasses.

  “And in what order do they go?”

  A smile cracked his lips. “Spencer Shaw.”

  And I thought his name couldn’t get any hotter.

  “But you like to be called Shaw?”

  “Just what I’ve gone by most of my life, but you can call me whatever you’d like. If you want to make me feel like I’m eight years old and in trouble, you can even use my full name, Spencer Nicholas Shaw. Although if you do that, I might have flashbacks of my mother.”

  I laughed. “Were you in trouble a lot when you were younger?”

  “I found my share, and if I didn’t, it seemed to find me.”

  “And what about now?” I sipped from my wine glass, studying him over the rim. He was being especially forthcoming.

  “I cleaned up my act after high school, but I’d be lying if I said I’d been a saint ever since.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think I’d believe that, even if you tried to convince me.” I set my glass back on the table. “So you mentioned your Mom, are you two close? And what about the rest of your family? Do you have siblings?”

  He tipped his glass to his lips, taking a long drink, before lowering it back to the table while I waited. “I think it’s your turn to answer some questions.”

  “What do you want to know?” I asked guardedly.

  “How old were you when you were adopted?”

  “Fourteen.”

  “And before that?” he prompted.

  “My parents took me in when I was thirteen, but before them, I bounced around foster homes.” Each one worse than the one before it. Except the first one. That place was the very definition of hell.

  “Were you born in Washington?” I wished he’d ask about something besides my past.

  “No. I was born in Idaho. Didn’t move to Washington until I was fifteen, when my dad started his own contracting company. There were more opportunities for him here than where we were.”

  He listened intently and then opened his mouth to voice, I’m sure, another question, but I beat him to it.

  “Your turn again.”

  “You want to know about my family?”

  I nodded, taking another sip from my wine glass, noticing that I’d been sipping distractedly and now my glass was almost empty. The food better hurry up.

  “Yes, I am close to my parents, but I don’t see them as often as my mother would like. They live in Spokane, which is where I was born and raised. I have one brother; younger. Camden. He’s a real pain in the ass.” His tone was light-hearted, belying his gruff words when he spoke of his brother.

  “So, what do you do when you’re not in my shop?”

  “What do I like to do?” he echoed.

  “Yeah, you know, for fun, like skiing, snowboarding, fishing . . . hiking,” I prodded. “You seem the outdoorsy type.”

  “Do I?” His lips twitched.

  “Mmhmm,” I said around the rim of my glass as I drained the last drops. Oops.

  He took my glass from me, refilling it. “I enjoy fishing and hiking, and I grew up snowboarding. Rock climbing and occasionally kayaking when I have the time. Is that outdoorsy enough for you?” He set my glass in front of me with a smirk.

  “There’s a great indoor climbing gym on State Street. Have you been there?” Whenever I got the itch to exercise, I preferred the climbing gym over a regular gym. Em would go with me when I dragged her, but she was a runner and didn’t have the patience for climbing. She didn’t like when a particularly challenging wall kicked her ass. I loved the challenge and could spend hours making the wall my bitch until my arms ached and my legs shook.

  “You’ll have to take me some time,” he suggested. “I haven’t had the chance to check it out.”

  “How long have you been in Bellingham?”

  “Not long.”

  Melinda returned at that moment with my roasted red pepper raviolis and Spencer’s grilled steak. In my head he was already Spencer now. It was more personal. Almost intimate, and the more we talked, the more I wanted to know him. Every question I asked, he answered openly, and he listened intently every time I spoke. More than that, he seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. That was rare. Either that or he was just so much better at playing the game than Nathan was.

  Damn all these stupid doubts that still wanted to creep in thanks to Will and James.

  I remembered my first date with Nathan. He’d been charming and funny, but he’d mostly just wanted to talk about himself– his achievements, his goals, his dreams and his plans. How I hadn’t seen him for the complete ass that he was, I don’t know. Being here with Spencer, having the undivided attention of a man who didn’t feel the need to boast and pump himself up, showed me just what an idiot I’d been to waste a single second on Nathan. I had to believe I couldn’t be so wrong twice.

  Spencer’s seat was angled toward the door and I noticed when something at the front of the restaurant caught his attention. “Isn’t that a friend of yours with one of your employees?”

  I turned in my seat to see Will and Cassie walking in the door, his hand on the small of her back as they entered the dimly-lit restaurant.

  “Yeah, it is,” I ground out, knowing that it was no coincidence Will just happened to show up here when he knew I had a date. I grabbed the napkin from my lap and set it on the table, rising from my seat, trying to keep a lid on my irritation. “Excuse me, I’m going to say hello real quick.”

  “Hey, Nora,” Cassie greeted cheerfully and I smiled at her. Will tried to give me a friendly smile as well, but I returned it with a hard frown.

  Cassie, not noticing, turned to him. “While you get our table, I’m going to use the restroom.” She left the two of us there, standing in front of the hostess table. When the hostess told Will she would go check on their table, it gave me an opportunity to lay into him.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed in a low voice.

  “I’m on a date, same as you,” he said tightly.

  I glared. “That’s low Will, using Cassie so you can keep an eye on me. She has a crush on you.”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” he whispered back harshly. “I’m not using Cassie. I wanted to ask her out, and yes, I may have suggested we come here so I could make sure you weren’t in over your head, but I wouldn’t play games with Cassie like you’re suggesting.”

  Great.

  Now he was pissed

  The hostess returned to let him know a table was ready for them and I excused myself back to mine. Cassie and Will were seated across the restaurant, and I tried to ignore their presence and focus on my own date. I knew Will’s intentions were good, and he was just trying to have my back, but if he messed with Cassie’s head, I would kick his ass.

  “Did you know those two were seeing each other?” Spencer saw me glance toward their table for the third time, failing to ignore them.

  “It’s a recent thing.” I turned my attention fully back to Spencer.

  “And it bothers you?” He was watching me closely.

  “No. It doesn’t bother me that they’re out on a date. Cassie’s just a sweet girl, and Will hasn’t had a lasting relationship since I’ve known him. He’s more of a three-dates-and-see-ya-later kind of guy.”

  “I see.”

  “But they’re both adults, so I guess they can do whatever they want. Sorry if I seem distracted.”

  “Just trying to figure out if there was ever anything between you and him.”

  I choked on a laugh, and then choked on the bite I’d just slipped in my mouth. I coughed a few times and swallowed. “Sorry, you just caught me off guard. No, there’s never been anything between me and Will. You heard when I said he wasn’t the relationship type, right?”

  “Yeah, three dates. I was just curious if you knew that from experience.”

  I laughed awkwardly. “No. Definitely not.”

  “Because you are the relationship type?”
he prodded.

  “Yes,” I answered, straight forward. “And also because there was never any chemistry or connection like that between us.”

  “You sure he feels the same?” he arched one brow.

  “Yes, I’m sure. Can we talk about something else?” I urged, not comfortable with the current conversation.

  “What would you like to talk about?” He cut into what remained of his steak, forking a bite between his lips.

  I shoveled my raviolis around and tried to decide if I really wanted to ask the question that was on my mind. I stilled my fork and then lifted my eyes from the dish to see he was watching me curiously. I decided to go for it.

  “When was your last relationship?”

  He didn’t answer right away, and I started to think he wasn’t going to.

  “My last relationship ended about eight months ago.” There was no inflection in his voice, making it impossible to get a read on how he felt about it.

  “Why did you two break-up, if you don’t mind me asking.” I couldn’t help my curiosity, and if I had to put money on it, I’d say he was the one to end it. Mostly because I couldn’t imagine any sane female tossing him back in the sea.

  “Just didn’t work out.” I got the feeling it wasn’t a subject open for discussion.

  I nodded and forced one more bite, even though the button on my jeans was already protesting all the pasta and wine. Spencer didn’t have a problem clearing his plate of the steak, potato gnocchi, veggies and jumbo prawns he’d added on.

  I shoved my bowl away, afraid that if I looked down again, I might convince myself I could finish off the last few raviolis. They were so good, but I would be miserable.

  “You want dessert?” he asked once his plate was cleaned.

  I groaned, “I wish. I love their homemade spumoni. And the cheesecake, but I’d die if I attempted it. If you’ve still got room, go for it though.”

  “I’m good.” He drained his wine glass and then sat back a little in his seat.

  “Not a dessert guy?”

  “I like dessert just fine, but my tastes are very particular,” he answered, his eyes dead serious, but his mouth curved up wolfishly. “Nothing on this menu particularly appeals to them.”