by Audrey North
He wanted to get to know her, more than just through texts. He wanted to hear her voice ask him how his day was instead of hearing her ask what he wanted to eat. And he had to admit he was dying to know what her skin felt like, what her lips tasted like, he wanted to know every intimate part. There was no way he’d ever be able to do that if all he did was send her text after text.
But how could he reveal who he really was? It wasn’t like he could come out and tell her he had a fake profile to catch Cindy’s husband in some major money scandal in order to benefit his father. It wasn’t exactly a secret what he and his family did, it wasn’t talked about for certain but people still gossiped. Sometimes it was to his benefit that men would befriend him in order to be on the inside of their operation, and some women would throw themselves at him just to say they had been with the money and power that came with Easton. In some ways, he was royalty of his city.
But for other people, it wasn’t like that. They crossed to the other side of the street when they saw him coming, avoided eye contact with him if he looked their way. For some people, he was a rotten seed that had come from a poisonous flower. Based off of the innocence and charm that came off of Maisie in waves in person at the restaurant and her text messages, he had a very good feeling that she was going to be in the second group of people.
But how could he tell her who he was? How could he take the risk of watching her reaction, as she kept up her guard in the moment when she saw who he really was? He’d been hiding behind his fake profile for so long, built her trust that Luke was who he really was, was there any way she could forgive him? He doubted it. That would be a lot to take in, a man in the mafia, a man who started off whatever they had going with a massive lie.
Maisie was a catch, there was no doubt about that, as well as recently single. There was no way she would stay on the market for long, that was a fact. But there was also no way she would keep talking to him if she knew who he was. He had seen the way she looked at him when she was his waitress. Guarded. Nervous. He didn’t even want to think about the fact that her guard may not drop when she met him finally. And why should it? It wasn’t as if by lying he had built up his reputation with her as a good guy.
He had to cancel on her, there really wasn’t a choice in the matter. Not if he wanted to keep talking to her. If he just put it off a little longer…he could keep her in his life. But eventually she would get bored with it and find someone who she could actually see in person, and he would lose talking to her anyway. Either way, he was at full risk of losing the only person that made him feel like he wasn’t stuck in some stereotype that had been built since the day he was born. And hadn’t gotten any better when he chose to follow his father’s footsteps.
Either way, whether he blew her off or revealed himself, there was a good chance that the jig was up for him with Maisie. And maybe it should be, he tried to reason with himself. She was a great girl as far as he could tell and she didn’t deserve to be lied to. So, he would go show her who he was and do his best to convince her that he wasn’t what he appeared to be.
Button-down blue shirt, unbuttoned at the top, sleeves rolled up, and a nice pair of black pants. He knew the blue matched his olive skin tone, and it typically drove girls wild. His looks, at the moment, were going to be all he had to go with until he could explain himself and what he’d been doing with a fake profile. Not that he’d even figured out exactly what he was going to say about that yet. It was probably easiest to tell her that he was just nervous to show who he was because everyone already had their opinions of him.
It didn’t matter too much that story only became true only after he had started talking to Maisie, but it was still another lie. Of course, in his line of work, lying was just par for the course. He knew his father lied to his mother constantly, but she never questioned a word he said. It was hard to imagine that he’d be able to live like that, not care about what words came out of his mouth as long as it held up a good pretense for him.
He had to go, he had to see her. Maybe the best thing for him was to go and try to break down his own walls and hope that she saw him for just being Easton.
8
If she changed her outfit once, she changed it at least seven times. Maisie, no matter what combination of clothes she put on, could not settle on what to wear to the bar. It was a nicer bar, she knew. More of a martini lounge really than a bar, though she’d never been there before it had a good reputation. But it wasn’t the reputation or the fancy drink she was worried about, it was making the perfect impression on Luke.
It was a tough debate with Claire if she should show up early, and have him see her sitting there twirling a cocktail looking ravishing, or if she should show up fashionably late and make him sweat it out a bit. Eventually, Maisie convinced her that she would be far too nervous, shaking probably, to meet Luke, her first date and interest since Heartbreak City. So if she was already sitting, sipping a cocktail, it would be far less obvious. Reluctantly Claire agreed, a firm believer in making men wait for her, and helped her search through both of their closets for something that would look fantastic while she waited.
Leggings and boots were the first option, casual yet wrapped her legs tightly to make them look great. But it seemed generic, the same thing that every other girl there was probably going to be wearing. Jeans seemed too casual for a place like that and they wouldn’t stick out either. Finally, in the back of Claire’s closet, there was a pencil skirt with a nice high slit up the front.
“This.” Claire handed her the skirt and it was not a question of if she was going to wear it, but what she was going to wear with it.
Maisie checked out the skirt, the slit was high but she had hope that it was going to make her legs look amazing. “What do I put with it?”
Claire thought for a minute before her eyes lit up. “I’ve got it!” She grabbed Maisie by the hand and dragged her, clad in her robe, back into her own room where she rifled through the hangers in Maisie’s closet looking for something specific.
“This,” she demanded again.
Claire held out a hanger that had a black sheer tank top with a plunging neckline. Maisie looked at the two pieces of clothing in her hand. A slit up far past the point of decency and a neckline that did the same thing. Yea, she would definitely be memorable in this outfit, there was no doubt about that.
Maisie couldn’t believe how nervous she was to finally meet Luke. She took way more time getting ready for meeting him than she had for anything in her life. Manicure, pedicure (even though she was wearing boots for the night), make-up that was near perfection, and every piece of hair in place. Even picking out the jewelry took extra time and luckily Claire was home to help her get herself together.
She hadn’t been on a date since the first time Ben took her out way back in high school to a school dance. He had been her crush for months and she had been stunned when he had asked her out, even more stunned when he became her boyfriend. And she had thought at the time that it had all been meant to be, it was why she had hung around for so long even when she could feel the shifting between them.
Maisie had to shake away the thoughts of Ben. It was a new chapter in her, a fresh start. Not that she wanted to get ahead of herself and think that Luke was going to be her new life, she was excited but not naïve. But just the thought of meeting someone new, going on a new date, it all felt like a new beginning for her.
“OK, so you’re going to a public place so I know you’ll be ok there.” Claire handed Maisie her jacket. “But you have to promise me that you won’t leave with him or go anywhere else without telling me. I do not want to see you on the news tomorrow night as dead or missing. Got it?”
Maisie nodded, knowing it was futile to argue with her protective friend.
“And remember, if you need an excuse, text me the word ‘cat’ and I will call and get you out immediately.”
Maisie nodded again. The realization that she was really about to meet Luke was hitting her hard. How m
any messages had they exchanged since that first one online? Hundreds? A thousand? She knew it would take far too long to count, but soon he wasn’t just going to be a message on a screen. He was going to be a real person. And she had to wonder if he was thinking the same things, if he was nervous or excited. Or maybe he was a serial dater and this was just another date in his book. Or even a serial killer. She doubted that last one, still, it ran through her mind.
“I’ll have a cosmopolitan please,” she asked the bartender.
He nodded and reached for a clean cocktail glass and started to mix her drink. It was hard not to watch the door, just to see his reaction when he walked in, but Claire had strictly advised against it, telling her that she needed to stay calm and cool. She didn’t want to appear needy or desperate like she hadn’t been on a date in five years. Even though she hadn’t. The bartender set her glass down on top of a little white cocktail napkin and Maisie took great care to not spill as she lifted the drink to her lips to take a sip.
Even though she knew the first sip wouldn’t have an effect on her yet, as soon as the sweet tang of the drink hit her lips she was already more relaxed. Carefully she set the glass back down and she heard the door to the bar open. It was a Thursday night so it wasn’t empty inside but nothing like a weekend night yet the crowd around her suddenly started to whisper, the room swelling around her into a feeling that felt familiar yet she couldn’t place.
“MaisieDaisy?” came a voice from the side of her.
Taking a breath she turned to see a small daisy being handed to her. Graciously she took the flower and looked up at the man who was handing it to her. For a moment her mind felt puzzled. He looked familiar, someone she knew from somewhere, but definitely not the guy from the pictures she’d been staring at and fantasizing over. Her mind reeled at putting faces and names together before she suddenly realized the man that was standing before her.
Easton Argenti.
“You!” She hadn’t meant to shout but the word came flying out with so much shock and horror that she wouldn’t have been able to keep it any quieter.
“I’m so sorry I lied.”
Maisie had no idea what to say. She couldn’t decide if she was more upset that Luke was not Luke, that he was someone completely different. Or if she was upset because Luke had turned out to be Easton, someone that she knew implicitly that she didn’t want anything to do with.
“I can’t believe this,” she mumbled. “I’ve got to go.”
Easton blocked her way from getting off of her stool. “Please, let me explain.”
“There is nothing to explain. You lied. Right from the beginning.”
“But please, at least let me tell you why.”
Maisie looked up at him and she could see his eyes were pleading, and God help her she was falling right into those dark eyes of his. She could feel the strength of his body leaning into hers, and the way he smelled like a spice that she couldn’t name, but one that smelled so masculine it made her dizzy. But it didn’t matter. He’d been playing her for weeks and she was sure this was all just a plot to play her some more.
“No. It doesn’t matter why. I’m not playing any more games with you. This was such a mistake.”
Signaling to the bartender for the check, over her head she could hear Easton tell the bartender it was on his tab.
“Yes sir, Mr. Argenti”
Maisie couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Apparently, he was just willing to wield his power anywhere. Bars, online dating, didn’t seem to matter to him. Whatever, she wasn’t going to argue, if he wanted to buy her a drink that was the least he could do for her.
“I’m out of here,” she declared and pushed past him hard.
Easton got knocked off balance and she didn’t dare look in those puppy dog eyes again. Or let herself register how hard bodied he felt. She did not want to imagine what those muscles felt like underneath the clothes.
Maisie headed for the door and when she felt like she was plenty of steps out of the bar she felt herself let the disappointment start to hit her. It was pathetic, she knew, to have had her hopes up so high, but still the sting of it all was bringing tears to her eyes. Maybe there was no man in the world that could tell the truth, maybe she would never find a good man to be with. Those thoughts fogged her mind until she heard her name and the footsteps chasing after her.
“Please,” he said snagging her elbow and turning her to look at him. “Let me explain.”
It wasn’t so much as a question as a demand he was putting on her and she looked up at him, fully ready to tell him off, but the way the blue shirt stood out against his smooth olive skin, she was rendered momentarily speechless, giving him just enough time to get out what he needed to say.
“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to come here tonight? People judge me before they even meet me and online I didn’t need to be judged. I could just be and talk to people without them having any thoughts of who I really was. I was just Luke.”
Maisie opened her mouth to say something but Easton put his finger to her lips, his words coming out softer now. “I didn’t want to come tonight. I’ve seen the way you look at me when I come into your restaurant, and I knew that you would look at me the same way tonight. I didn’t know who you were when we first started talking but once I realized it, I felt even more magnetized to you, more pulled to you than I already had. I didn’t want to come tonight because I was afraid I’d lose you and never hear from you again.”
He stepped closer to her and Maisie could feel her heart pounding against his body. They were so close she could feel the heat from his skin and it took everything she had to keep herself from stepping into him. She was still angry. Easton took her lightly by the chin and pulled her face up to look at him.
“But I knew if I didn’t come tonight then I’d lose you too. I had to take the risk, I had to show you who I was on the off chance that you would see past what you think you know about me.”
Maisie’s mind was reeling. She wanted to pull away from him just as much as she wanted to stay against his body. Feeling stuck either way she just stood there helplessly, finding herself believing what he said. Believing that maybe, in a way, he was really Luke after all.
Easton leaned down, his hair falling across his forehead, and she felt herself immediately pull up to toward him as if she didn’t even have a choice in the matter. Her body was making the decision for her. The moment her lips brushed against his, she felt something spark inside of her, her heart quickening. He was soft, tender, yet grabbed her face to tell her that he wasn’t going to let her go.
9
If Easton hadn't been addicted to Maisie after all of their conversations and meeting her in the restaurant, he definitely was after he kissed her. Her body had fit perfectly against his and when his arms wrapped around her it felt like two puzzle pieces sliding together. The sugary taste that lingered from her cocktail mixing with her own sweet taste had been like drinking a tall glass of water after days of thirst. And now that he'd had it, he had no idea how he'd survived without it. It hadn't been his plan to lie to her, again, about his fake profile, but it had just popped out. And the more he thought about it, the more it was easy to convince himself that he was telling the truth, that he had just wanted her to like him for him, or not like him for him whatever she chose.
Luckily for him, she had chosen to like him. There were times that he wanted to tell her the truth about Cindy, especially if she saw he was still active on the site, but then he didn't really want to mix his business life with his personal one. And Maisie didn’t ask. Sometimes he wondered if she still pretended he was Luke in her mind, this good upstanding guy instead of who he really was.
The son of the city's Mafia king.
In the two weeks since they’d met, she didn't ask about his money or his connections, or thankfully the bad things he had done. Instead, she wanted to about his favorite memories growing up and his favorite places to vacation. She'd wanted to know him as Easton an
d now that he wasn't hiding behind Luke, he liked telling her about himself.
''I should really get going," he whispered in her ear. She had fallen asleep with her head against his chest and Easton hated to wake here and even worse, he hated to leave her. But, Cindy wanted to chat with him and he was so close to getting her to talk about her ex, but he would not talk to her in front of Maisie. Against his chest, she stirred. Sleepily, she asked him to stay.
“I wish I could, but I have some work to do tonight,” he told her and kissed the top of her head, taking in the scent of her strawberry shampoo.
“You always have to work,” she yawned. “It’s too much.”
Easton felt his body stiffen under her. He knew that she was only half awake and this should be a normal conversation for any couple, but it wasn’t. Never once had she questioned him about what he did or complained, and for that he was grateful. How long could she go on without asking him anything or worse, how long she could go on pretending what he did didn’t bother her? It wasn’t like anyone knew the extent of anything, but rumors were a powerful thing, and as of two weeks before, she believed the rumors. He could tell by the way she had looked when she was around him.
