"Meg?" Rio's voice startled her. Damn, she was jumpy tonight.
"What?"
"Would you like some dessert?"
"No, thank you." She smiled what she hoped was a believable smile, because yes, she would like some dessert, but she didn't need it.
Rio pulled out his wallet and placed his card in the leather envelope left on the table by the waitress when she cleared the plates.
For the first time there was an awkward silence between them. "Would you like to continue this evening?" Rio asked quietly.
Yes! "Don't you have other plans?" Had he said anything about plans for after dinner? Giving him an easy way out seemed like the right thing to do.
"No, nothing that matters. We can go for a walk, enjoy the weather, talk for a while."
Meg felt her purse vibrate again. "I'd like that. If you'll excuse me, I'll visit the..." She pointed toward the restrooms.
Rio stood and walked behind her chair pulling it out for her. "I'll be here."
She turned and looked over her shoulder at him. At five feet, ten inches, wearing what were basically ballet flats, the man stood head and shoulders over her. He had to be at least six feet, five or maybe even six feet, six inches tall. She felt her face turn ruddy with a blush and muttered something. What those words were, she couldn't say. As fast as her legs would carry her, she almost sprinted toward the bathroom. He was gorgeous, intelligent, interesting and a real-life kind of Prince Charming. Things like this did not happen to her!
Chapter 4
Rio watched her walk away before he sank down into the chair at his table. He hadn't been able to find anyone to hang with tonight. The people he remembered and kept in touch with were already doing things with their wives or families. He was certain he'd have a fucking lonely meal and then head home, alone. True, he could have hit up a bar and found someone for the night, but that was never his gig. His team gave him shit about the women who hit on him, but he was never the adventurous man whore some of the men in the team were. Was he a flirt? Hell yes, he enjoyed the game as much as the women who approached him, but he had an excellent example of a solid marriage growing up. He wanted what his folks had—a relationship, not a series of one-night stands.
His eyes traveled to the door where Meghan had disappeared. How the fuck did he get so lucky? The woman was vivacious and intelligent. She held his attention, and he found himself waiting for her responses to his questions. She was a genuinely nice person as evidenced by how upset she was to have stood up the loser across the dining room. Rio had seen that type of guy before. He'd read the blustering body language, the irate way he treated the wait staff. Yeah, he wasn't someone who would value Meg's conversation or time. Her sister must be off her rocker to assume Meg would like someone like that asshole. Needless to say, his opinion of said sister wasn't very high.
He watched the door open and Meghan come back out. She pulled nervously at her dress, although he didn't know why. He was digging the curves that fabric clung to and accentuated. Curves had always been his thing, and Meghan Williams’ curves were arresting.
He stood and met her in the middle of the dining room, guiding her out of the restaurant with a hand to the small of her back. "Let's head over to the water." Rio turned them left out of the building, and they strolled to the corner, turning north toward the Savannah River. "You didn't say. Were you born in Savannah?" He put his hands in his pockets to keep himself from dropping an arm casually across her shoulders.
"Yep. Born and raised here, went to community college for my associates, and I'm almost done with my bachelor’s degree. Online."
"What are you getting your degree in?" They moseyed down the sidewalk at a casual pace.
"Business, with an emphasis in project management." She shrugged. "One thing I can say about 'he who shall not be named', he's given me plenty of experience in project management. I've used examples of his work as what not to do when writing papers and working on group projects."
Rio chuckled, "That must be very satisfying."
"Oh, you have no idea!" She spun and laughed up at him as she walked backwards. "Every time he does something my professors tell me should never be done, I'm all like, 'this is going to make them all laugh'." Her eyes opened wide. "I swear some of them think I make up the antics he pulls, but I don't. I couldn't. I mean he's successful, so his methods work, but the way he treads on the rest of the world? When he takes over a company, the man has no remorse about the adverse effects the employees will suffer. He doesn't give a snap about the jobs that are lost or the economic impact on the area. Karma is going to get that guy. I want to be around when it does. Or maybe not. That would mean I have to stick around." She shrugged and spun, walking beside him, suddenly less animated, as if someone had covered her inner light. "He's vicious, but he's good at his job."
"And you hate what you're doing, don't you?"
She drew a deep breath and let it go slowly. "I..." She seemed at a loss for words.
He let the question float. He didn't need an answer; he was learning Meghan Williams had a soft heart. They reached Bay Street, and he turned the corner, taking them toward the direction of the park that ran adjacent to River Street.
"I actually like what I'm doing. I enjoy the process, taking the project from beginning to end, making sure all the details are right. The balancing act of players and assets is immensely rewarding. What I don't enjoy is the projects I work on. Does that make sense?" She continued before he could comment. "Someday I would love my work to build something up, not just buy it, tear it apart for the pieces it provides, and then move on to the next project."
He smiled to himself because she wasn't looking at him. She was lost, chasing her own thoughts, and he found he didn't mind. She wasn't looking for approval from him. He got it. "How much longer until you finish your degree?"
She snapped her head toward him and blinked like an owl. "Oh… one more semester."
"Are you sending out resumes? Looking for another place to work?"
She nodded. "I am. But there is really nothing out there. I lucked into this position. I was in the temp pool, and they sent me over. My troll of a boss was horrid, as I said earlier, but I needed the money. I stuck it out. I was the only one who had the guts to stay more than a week, so he hired me full-time. The benefits are solid and so is the pay."
"So, you are staying, unless you get an offer too good to refuse." Rio did his best Godfather imitation. She glanced up at him and smiled, then laughed. He liked that he could make her do that.
"Yeah, Marlon Brando, what you said."
"Want to sit for a while?" Rio pointed to a bench under an ornate metal lamppost that boasted iron lace and scrolls under a large white globe.
"What about you? Tell me about the life and times of the pre-SEALs Rio North." When she sat, he sat beside her. He turned toward her slightly and dropped his arm over the back of the bench. She didn't seem to mind, or notice for that matter.
"I was born here. I was shipped out of state for school, but every holiday and summer my brother and I would come back. My folks were determined we would have the best education they could afford. My brother excelled in all things academic, and he followed my parents into the family business. I decided I'd had enough schooling."
"How did that go over with your parents?"
"Better than expected. My parents are pretty awesome."
The Savannah Belle’s ferry horn blasted across the warm evening air. They both turned their heads to watch the ferry pull out of dock.
Rio could remember his father's response to his declaration that he didn't want to go to college, that he wanted to join the Navy. The man took off his glasses and closed his eyes. Fuck, he'd been so scared. He didn't want to disappoint his dad. The man was his idol. When his father opened his eyes, he hadn’t seen anger, only concern, and if he was honest, a little sadness.
"In this life each person needs to make their own way. I understand that. When I was younger, I didn't want anything t
o do with Northern Nova either, but after I met your mom, I changed my tune." His dad smiled that sad smile and leaned forward. "How about we make a gentleman's agreement?"
Rio sat up straighter. His father was affording him an opportunity. He could feel it. "Yes, sir?"
"After you graduate, you can enlist. You go after your dream of becoming a SEAL. If you don't succeed, you come home after your enlistment is up, and we revisit the option of school or put you to work for me at Northern Nova. Does that sound fair to you, son?"
"Yes, sir." Rio smiled and launched at his dad, tackle-hugging him. "Thank you."
"Remember, you'll have to make a decision when you're thirty. The way the trust is set up, each member of the family is actually working for the company or they don't inherit."
At eighteen years old, thirty seemed like a lifetime away. But time is a tricky bastard. One day you have ten years until you need to make a decision, the next, you are bitch-slapped with the reality that your decision is due.
"What do you like to do for fun?" She was looking at him when he returned his eyes to her face. Damn, those blue eyes were huge.
"I don't really know. When I was in San Diego, we trained and worked out, always prepping for the next mission."
"Do you jog?"
"I've been known to pound the ground." For miles, and miles, and miles.
"I took it up a couple years ago." She glanced at him and bit her lip before her gaze swept the park. "I have always had a hard time with my weight."
"Really?" He glanced down at her. "You don't look like you have a problem to me." She wasn’t thin, but she sure as hell didn’t need to lose any of those curves either.
"Well, thank you, but I've lost a lot of weight and workout religiously. I love to jog. I'm doing a 5K fun run next weekend."
"I'll have to check it out." Hell, he'd run a fucking marathon if it meant he'd have more time to visit with Meg.
She flashed a smile at him and glanced at her watch. "I hate to break this up, but it is getting late."
He glanced at his own watch and nodded. It was close to ten, definitely not what he would call late, but she'd worked all day, and he'd taken the redeye from Alaska so he could sleep.
"Can I walk you back to your car?"
"I'd be offended if you didn't."
"Well, I can't offend the lady, now can I?"
Rio wished it was farther to her car. He enjoyed his time with her so damn much it surprised him in a good way. They laughed and joked about nothing all the way back to the restaurant parking lot, the way old friends did, and that sensation settled into his bones. It had been a long time since he'd had this type of easy, fun relationship with a woman. His mind rifled through his mental rolodex of women he'd dated and conceded that this may be the first time he'd felt so comfortable with a woman so quickly.
"That's me, by the 'oh my God you have way too much money' car." Meg pointed to the little red Toyota.
"You mean the McLaren?" Rio glanced at his car and smiled.
"Yeah, how much money would you have to have to buy something like that? Or better yet, why would you spend so much money on something like that?" They crossed the street and headed to the vehicles.
"Maybe it was a present." From my parents for graduating BUD/S training.
"Could you imagine getting something like that for a present? I mean come on, people with this kind of money don't understand people like you and me, do they? How could they? Wealth and entitlement don't understand what it is to scrape pennies to go to school or to live paycheck to paycheck in the military."
"True, the military doesn't pay well, but I'm not convinced owning a fancy car makes a person bad."
She deflated in front of his eyes. "This is your car, isn't it?"
"A present." He confirmed.
Meghan nodded. "Yeah, well, thank you for bringing me back to reality. She extended her hand. "Thank you so much for a wonderful evening."
Rio took her hand and held it. "May I have your number?"
"Why?" She tugged at her hand and he released it, missing her soft warmth almost immediately.
"So, I can call you? Or text. I'm proficient at both." He gave her his best smile. The one he used to get his way as a child.
"Why would you want to call or text?" She pointed to the car behind him. "You could do so much better than me."
He flicked his gaze to his car and then back at her. "I don't want to date my car."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it." She reached in her purse and pulled out her keys.
He placed his hand over hers, stilling her. "Meghan, I haven't judged you other than to realize I like you. I like being around you, and I enjoy your company. Why do you assume I'm anything other than what you see in front of you because my parents happen to have money? Why have I changed in your eyes? I'm the same person who you were just laughing with." He stepped a bit closer and lifted her chin with his finger.
Those big blue eyes blinked a couple times before she shook her head. "I'm sorry."
"For?"
"Judging you. Harshly."
"You’re forgiven. May I have your phone number?" Rio smiled when she nodded and swallowed hard. He dropped his lips to hers and brushed them with a soft kiss. She trembled under his touch. God, he wanted more of her, but he refused to treat her as a one-night stand. Not that he’d had a plethora of those, no matter what his unit thought. He wasn't that kind of guy. Never had been.
He straightened from the kiss and waited. Her eyelashes rested across her freckled cheeks, freckles so faint he wouldn't have noticed them if he wasn't this close. She’d concealed them with makeup. She finally opened her eyes and gazed up at him.
"Your number?"
"Oh, yeah." She rattled it off, and he logged it into his memory banks as if it was the combination to Fort-fucking-Knox.
He took her keys from her hand, opened her door, and helped her into the car. He shut the door and said. "I'll call you."
She looked up at him through her window before she rolled it down. "You don't have to call. I really do understand if you don't."
Rio rattled off her phone number. "I will call. Goodnight." He watched her pull out of her parking spot and drive away. He would call. Soon.
Chapter 5
Meghan damn near levitated all the way home. Floated like all those Saturday morning cartoon characters she used to watch. Hearts in her eyes, toes wiggling, floating because nothing, absolutely nothing, this wonderful had ever happened to her before. The old Toyota was her pumpkin that had turned into a carriage. Yep, she was smack dab in the middle of a fairy tale.
Her phone vibrated in its slot in the plastic dash. The holder was probably for maps when the car was manufactured, but it had now been assigned the duty of holding her phone while she drove. She waited until she merged onto the interstate before she picked it up and glanced at the face. Seventeen missed texts and five missed calls… oh, God… two of the missed calls were from her mother.
She slid a finger across the face. Her sister was the last caller. Meg glanced at the time. Damn, it was almost eleven and her sister was still awake. She punched callback and put the phone on speaker, dropping it into its little slot.
"Meghan Annette Williams, you'd better be dead!" Nails on a chalkboard could not compete with the screech of her sister's hissed whisper.
"Not dead, I'm..."
"What the hell happened? Carl said you didn't show up. Do you know where my mind has been for the last three hours?"
"What?" Meghan snapped her attention back to the road after damn near driving onto the shoulder.
"You said you were heading there and asked how to recognize him and then I get nothing but increasingly upset texts from Carl. He was beside himself with worry."
"Ah… no he wasn't. He was getting drunk and being rude to the wait staff." Meghan corrected her sister. "Why would you think I'd be interested in someone like him?"
"You were there?"
"I was. You told me the man i
n question would have on a blue shirt and black slacks. I walked up to a man matching that description, not a man wearing a blue sweatshirt and black jeans. Once we figured out he was not my date, we decided I didn't need to go across the restaurant because Carl was obviously drunk and kind of an ass. We had dinner and then went for a walk by the river after. It was wonderful."
The silence at the other end of the line drew her eyes back down to the phone. Still connected. "Did you hear me?"
"I heard you. You're telling me you were there and left Carl hanging?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm telling you."
"This other guy, did he give you his number?"
"No, but I gave him mine." She blushed at the admission. Rio parroting the number back at her before she pulled away. It was a magical moment.
"Right. You've been blown off."
"What?"
"He clearly wasn't into you if he didn't give you his number. I hate to tell you, Meg, but that's how men work. Not that you would know, but they take your number and never call you."
Meghan shook her head, although she knew Mindy couldn't see her. The quiet defiance was about all she could muster right now, because the very thing Mindy had just thrown at her had happened to her before. The guys had never called or texted. Her eyes started to mist with tears. She deflected and grabbed at straws, "How do you know Carl anyway?"
"He is a friend of a friend."
"When you met him, was he nice?" Maybe tonight was an aberration of the man's character.
"I've never actually met him."
"What? You told me all these things about him, and you sold it like you knew him."
"I never actually said I knew him. I just said I knew someone you should go out with."
Her breath caught in her chest. Unbelievable. "So, all the things you told me about him being such a great guy was actually secondhand information?"
"Abby said he was a good guy." Mindy sounded distracted and not at all worried about the fact she'd set Meghan up with what a total stranger.
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