Of course Clark wouldn’t let that go. I swear he stared at them just about the entire party before he finally had the guts to approach them. I can only imagine what he said that garnered both of them to stare at him with their mouths gaped. I laughed pretty hard when Ashley’s girlfriend, Monica, punched him in the stomach. Hard. He walked back to Tina, who also gave him a punch and then turned to leave. He ran after her, which made Aubrey laugh as she watched the whole thing transpire.
The party continued way into the night and I knew for sure Vanessa had a great time. Feeling pretty proud of myself, I watched her chat with the girls while learning how to play pool with Izzy and Mel. Everyone was gathering their stuff and starting to say goodbye to each other.
I watched her as she leaned over the table, the cue stick in perfect alignment. Her hair pulled over one shoulder, dangling over her gorgeous cleavage. Of course that’s where my eyes lingered as she made her shot and the ball rolled into the corner pocket. My eyes met hers as she smiled excitedly that she made it into the pocket. Izzy hugged her as she did a small happy dance. Every day I’m with Vanessa I felt like I see another side to her. I loved every second of it.
She sauntered over to me smiling as she hooked her finger, signaling me to meet her half way. She wrapped her arms around my neck as I bent down slightly. She didn’t wear the usual heels that brought her more up to my height. She kissed me so hard and passionately and then pulled back. Smiling huge, her eyes bright, but moist with tears, she whispered, “Thank you for the best birthday I have ever had.” I gave a small chuckle knowing it couldn’t have been considering I knew how rich her parents are.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” I gave her another kiss as she pulled back, a tear slipping down her cheek.
“I really mean it, Matt. It wasn’t just the gifts you lavished on me. You put thought into everything.” She glanced around the pool table area and returned her gaze to mine. “Then you went through the trouble of finding Ashley.” Her eyes welled up with huge tears that she let fall down her cheek without wiping them. “That really means a lot to me.” I wiped her tears quickly and pulled her in for a hug as she tried to laugh off her tears.
“Hey, it’s just a party. No big deal. I’m sure you’ve had tons of them that were bigger than this at the club. I just threw together a quick one to celebrate your birthday.” I shrugged and laughed. “On the other hand, if you want to think I’m the best boyfriend ever and went through a shitload of trouble and knocked over a bunch of women to find you just the right bracelet and the perfect earrings to match, then hey, who am I to tell you not to think that,” I joked as she giggled, shaking her head.
Her smile dropped as she stared into my eyes. “You have no idea how amazing everything was today.” She grabbed my hands and squeezed. “Really, truly. Thank you so much.”
I shrugged not knowing what to say as Z and Izzy came over and began talking about the evening and how fun it’s been. I wondered if I topped anything her ex might have done for her birthday. Yeah, maybe I’m just a little competitive that way.
Chapter 26
Vanessa
Aubrey and I were drinking our coffee on the couch the morning after the best birthday of my life. Matt decided to let us have some “girl time” since I haven’t seen Aubrey in what felt like forever. Texting her all my problems and our occasional calls during the day weren’t enough.
Considering Matt and I were usually inseparable, except our Wednesday “friend” evening and my Sunday “brunch” I was supposedly having with my parents, I really didn’t have much time to tell Aubrey the full details of my problems.
Aubrey nodded her head towards the bouquet of lavenders on the windowsill and then nodded her head towards the other one on the TV stand. Matt’s roses were in my bedroom where I really could enjoy them. “What’d you tell Matt about receiving two bouquets of lavenders. Did he ask who the other one was from?”
“I told him that my parents sent two because they thought the first ones weren’t delivered to the office so they sent a second one to my apartment,” I bit my lip, worried about my white lie.
“Quick thinking Vanessa,” she said. Then she muttered her favorite quote. “Oh what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
I rolled my eyes out of frustration and whined, “Well, what am I supposed to do? I told Charles it was over, but he keeps insisting it’s not.”
Aubrey shook her head insistently. “No you didn’t. You obviously haven’t tried hard enough. Charles has always been practical.” She sat up and placed her coffee on the table as she leaned in to me. “I think you skirted around the issue and didn’t put your foot down.” I swallowed trying to think if that’s what I really did. “Do you know how I know this?” She asked as she continued, not bothering to wait for my answer. “Because I know you. And I know you still haven’t told your parents anything, which means you haven’t fully cut things off with Charles. You’re hanging on because you want something to fall back on in case it doesn’t work with Matt.”
I shook my head. “No, you’re wrong. I realize it may not work with Matt and I’m okay with that. This thing with Charles…I told him it was finished.”
“Obviously not strongly enough,” she waived her arm towards the lavenders as she continued to scold me, “if you’re still getting gifts from him. Where are the earrings he gave you? Bracelet? Necklace? Fuck, did he buy you a new car too? I mean, come on, Vanessa. You know if he’s sending you gifts he doesn’t believe it’s really over.” She looked down at my hands. “Stop wringing your ring around your finger. You know I’m right.”
Aubrey shook her head slowly as she clicked her tongue making a tsk sound. “Mmm. Two men fighting over you, Vanessa. Whatever shall you do?” She taunted me while she raised her eyebrows. God I missed her. Maybe all of this wouldn’t have gotten so extreme if she had been here.
I stood up and walked towards the gorgeous bouquet of lavenders, touching the vase as I thought about what she said. “Charles. I just can’t be with him. He’s turned into almost obsessive trying to win me back and as much as I want to give him that chance, I know I would only wind up regretting it. I do love him, but I just can’t see myself with him the rest of my life.” I turned back to Aubrey as I admitted, “I want to choose Matt, but he’s just going to go back to Atlanta after all this. He can’t possibly want to turn this into something more. I feel like he’s just with me here as his “transitional” girl or something. Just someone to spend time with until he returns to outside sales.” I leaned against the windowsill, trying to sort through all my thoughts about Charles and Matt.
Aubrey nodded. “Has he said anything about it? About going back to Atlanta?”
I shook my head. “We just don’t talk about it. Kind of like we don’t talk about my birthday night when he told me he loved me.”
Aubrey glared at me as she burst out, “He what?” She stood up and started walking towards me.
Her eyes were huge and I knew I needed to pull her back from that fantasy. “Don’t get too excited. We were having sex, intense sex actually, and I think it just slipped out. I swear it was the best sex we’ve had and we’ve really have some great sex.”
“Vanessa, most men don’t say that during sex. Women do, because we get all emotional. Unless Matt’s really a chick, which there’s no way in hell that’s the case, he may have meant it Vanessa.”
I shook my head denying that. “No, Aubrey, it was really intense. Borderline lovemaking. If we were married or something, I would actually go as far as to call it making love. It was that good.”
Aubrey smacked my arm as she yelled at me, “Then he loves you, you idiot!”
I rolled my eyes as she leaned against the windowsill next to me, crossing her arms. “It’s Matt. Remember the Matt before you left? The guy who sleeps around with everyone?”
“I’m sorry. You mean the guy who threw you a huge party last night? The guy who lavished gifts on you and left you romantic notes on y
our mirror and with your gifts? You’re lucky I don’t bash you over the head right now so you’ll get through your thick skull that he’s definitely more than just the “friends with benefits” that you claim he is.”
I pressed my lips together, my eyes wide as I remembered Matt’s words last night when I thanked him for my birthday party and gifts. He called himself my “boyfriend.”
“What?” Aubrey prodded me. I shook my head not wanting to admit that piece. “Tell me. Now,” she pressed.
“When I was thanking him last night, he teased me about how I can thank him if I want for being the best…boyfriend.”
Aubrey dropped her arms and rolled her eyes. She came at me with her hands outstretched, wrapping them around my throat to choke me. Then she dropped her hands around my shoulders and shook me. “God, I need to knock some sense into you.” She pulled me in for a hug, burying her head into my hair. “Dammit Vanessa, just take a chance with him. What have you got to lose?”
I sighed deep as I hugged her back, resting my head on her shoulder. “My heart. My dignity.” I pulled back and looked at her. “You didn’t see all the girls in Atlanta that came up to him. Some came up to me making sure I knew he had been with them too.” I dropped my arms from our hug and sulked over to the couch as I muttered, “You should have seen cute little Cassie.” I sank down, grabbing my coffee for a pretend sip. I didn’t really want anything in my stomach as it was churning right now just talking about this.
Aubrey followed me and sat next to me, hiking up her leg and crossing it under. “I’m pretty darn sure he’s never told any of them he’s their boyfriend. You might want to tell your brain and your heart to stop being so stubborn.”
A knock at the door took us out of our chat and we both turned our heads towards the door. Matt walked in using his key and smiled at us chatting on the couch. “Hey, I was just about to start a load of laundry and wanted to see if you had any whites you needed done.” Aubrey choked on her sip of coffee as she glared at me.
“You’re so fucking oblivious, Vanessa,” she whispered.
******
Aubrey was right. This thing with Matt was getting intense and I needed to make sure Charles and I were completely broken up. And tell my mother. Just thinking about that made my stomach churn. Whenever she’s called me, I’d wait a couple of hours and then send her a text. Usually my excuse was telling her how tough work is lately. I figured that would cover my bases if Charles were to speak with her at some point.
Charles’ calls were more frequent than Mom’s and I was usually able to speak with him during lunch when Matt and I weren’t together. Since we signed our “Love Contract” at work, we felt more secure in being seen together around the office. Blaine kept Matt informed of all the rumors, as Renee did to me. Blaine seemed to provide more information to Matt and I couldn’t figure out if it was because men might gossip just as much or maybe even more than women.
I called Charles and told him I would meet him again on Sunday. Using the club as an excuse again didn’t exactly go over as well as last time with Matt. I probably should have waited until he left for his seminar in a couple weeks, but I finally got to the point where I wanted to just rip off the band-aid and make sure Charles understood my true feelings.
Or at least what I think are my true feelings.
“I’d prefer to go with you, Vanessa. I just want to go ahead and meet your parents and have a real conversation with them,” he tried to reason with me as he turned me around so I could look at him. I was sifting through my jewelry, debating on wearing what Charles gave me. At the same time, I was also trying to make sure Matt didn’t notice my indecisiveness on what I wore. The whole thing was making my stomach churn. I hated lying to Matt about my whereabouts and I hated not being able to really break it off with Charles.
“Soon. I promise you, you can go with me. They just make me so nervous. I don’t want you to see me like that,” I tried to reason with him. Little did I know that just fueled Matt’s need to be there with me.
He turned me around, placing his hands firmly on my hips as he looked down into my eyes. “That’s why I want to go. I want to be there for you. Besides, I can make inappropriate comments and make your mom squirm. It’ll be a win-win,” he pressed, giving me his adorable half smile at the end. The damn dimple was so adorable that I had to reach up and touch it. My finger then ran over to his lips and he grabbed it, giving my finger a kiss while smiling. “Come on,” he pressed. He bent down and quickly kissed my cheek. “You know you want to bring me so I can divert your attention from her bitchiness.”
I smiled, knowing that I really couldn’t argue with that and I was actually looking forward to bringing Matt to the club at some point in time. “Soon,” I told him as I turned back around and started to pull out my jewelry. I hoped my short answer would help stave him off for a while.
His hand reached around and picked up the necklace he gave me, a beautiful silver chain with a slim heart dangling. It was simple and I loved it even more just for that. The necklace that Charles gave me clearly screamed expensive and extravagant. It seemed a necklace fitted for an elegant evening out. It also reminded me too much of the type of necklace that would be gushed over at the club.
Matt pulled my hair to one side as he slipped the necklace around my neck and fastened it for me. I beamed at my reflection in the mirror as he put his chin on my head, smiling. His hand touched it softly. “Do you like it?” He asked.
“I love it,” I whispered as tears filled my eyes, staring at him through our reflection in the mirror. And I love you, I wanted to say so badly to him. The words were right there. Yet I couldn’t say them knowing my relationship with Charles was not completely ended. Knowing that Matt might still move back to Atlanta also filled me with doubt. If I were to finally tell Matt that I loved him, I wanted to make sure there was nothing else that would stand in our way of our love. I still needed to speak with Charles and my mother, so I couldn’t tell him that just yet, which caused tears to well up in my eyes. I cleared my throat and glanced back to the matching earrings and started to put them on. I looked back to his reflection noticing his somber expression. Seeing him like that and wondering if he really truly meant those words he said to me made my heart hurt for him. I finished putting my earrings on and turned around, slipping my arms around him.
“Soon. I promise. I’ll subject you to them and the horrible mob at the club. Okay?”
He kissed me and gave me a concerned look. “Call me if they piss you off too much. I don’t want you crying and driving.”
I smiled and nodded back to him, pressing my lips to his. I couldn’t wait to tell him how much I love him just for saying something so caring.
******
Just like every Sunday, I arrived at the restaurant parking lot and sat there with my heart throbbing, my stomach churning and my finger raw from twisting my ring around it so tightly. Usually on Wednesday nights, I would try for a movie with Charles so that we wouldn’t have to talk. It usually worked, but when he would insist on a dinner, it was much more difficult to sit through.
I watched Charles’ silver BMW pull up right next to me. His sweet smile made my stomach drop further knowing I was going to take away that happy look he had.
He popped my door open and held his hand out. I tried not to take it, feeling as if that would mean I wanted to stay with him. I swallowed as I dodged his attempt to kiss me.
His smile dropped immediately, his gaze went to the ground and his hands lifted to rest on his hips. “Not this shit again. You still think we need to break up, don’t you,” he snapped.
I nodded trying to stand firm on this. “Yes. I…”
“Really? You want to tell me that last week at The Magenta you didn’t feel anything for me? I couldn’t meet with you for your birthday because I couldn’t get off from the hospital. You’re not holding that against me, are you?”
I pulled my brows together as I shook my head. “No Charles, no. That has nothing t
o do with this. I would never use your job as a reason for needing to break up with you.”
“Needing? What makes you “need” to break up with me?” he sneered.
“That’s not what I was implying. I just.” I took a deep breath as my nerves were shaking. “I think we’ve given it a fair shot. I think we’ve tried and it’s…it’s just not there anymore.” I cringed while admitting that, knowing it was me who felt that way and probably not him.
“No, I don’t agree at all. I don’t think you’ve given it a fair shot. I think you’ve used your job as an excuse not to see me. I mean, how many seminars and conferences can you possibly go to? It seems like you’re away far too much for an HR job.”
I was wondering if that fib was going to come back to bite me. It was another excuse I used so Charles wouldn’t attempt to come over and Matt would be snuggling up with me on the couch. I needed to get back to the actual issue, regardless of the lies I gave him.
“That’s not relevant to this Charles.” I paused as he took a breath. He looked away and sniffled quickly. Tears flooded my eyes knowing I was causing pain to such a wonderful man. He doesn’t deserve this and he doesn’t deserve to be lied to. “Charles,” I choked out. “It…we need to go our separate ways. We’re trying to fix something and it’s just not working.”
“No! You’re not even trying. I’m on my end trying to make this work and you’re not giving me an inch. You sit there on all our dates as if you’re in another world. You don’t even try to engage in conversation. Hell, you won’t even let me kiss you the way we used to.” He took a step forward and I was completely taken a back when he grabbed both sides of my face and pulled me in for a kiss. His lips touched mine and familiarity came flooding back. I let his tongue entwine with mine as I remembered what we used to be. Tears spilled down my cheek as I tried to feel a connection with him. He pulled back and stared at me, tears in his eyes. “You won’t even try to kiss me like you used to, Vanessa,” he whispered angrily.
Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) Page 45
