Rumors: Megan & Vinnie

by Rachael Brownell

  There is it. That feeling. My heart picking up the pace, skipping a few beats, and racing toward him. Followed by the undeniable need that begins to build the closer he gets. Need to touch him, for him to hold me. Visions of ripping his clothes off consume me, distracting me from his approach.

  “I’m sorry I’m late. Hunter wanted to give me the rundown on my two o’clock meeting because he’s not going to be with me.”

  His voice cuts through the thick fog that’s attempting to cloud my brain. Pushing all thoughts of nakedness away, I let his words wash over me, soaking in the limited amount of time we have to spend together.

  “So we have an hour?”

  “Basically.”

  “And what is this about you leaving town?” I ask as he kisses me on the lips and guides me toward the door.

  “I’ll tell you all about it over lunch,” he states, taking my hand as we step out onto the sidewalk, my heels softly tapping against the concrete.

  I dressed up for him. Heels and a skirt. A semi-low-cut shirt. My hair is down and curled, similar to the way I styled it for the wedding. The first night we met.

  I’m glad I took the time to look nice. My first outfit, jeans and a blouse, wouldn’t have been sufficient. Standing next to Vinnie in a suit, his tie matching the blue in his eyes and his jacket pressed so perfectly you can still see the crease down his sleeves… it makes me feel like I’m underdressed.

  Like I’m a piece of the puzzle that doesn’t quite fit. I want to. I can try and insert myself, but no matter how many attempts I make, the pieces won’t snap together.

  If I had worn jeans, this feeling would have been even stronger.

  That’s all I can focus on as we walk down the sidewalk hand in hand. I feel like the world is watching. Judging. Whispering to each other about us. About me.

  The fog lifts when he opens the door to the restaurant.

  The one restaurant in the entire city I never thought he would bring me to.

  It’s not fine china and silver flatware. You won’t find the tables adorned in fresh linen. There are no waiters dressed in white oxford shirts and black ties.

  Nope.

  He brought me to a hot dog place. You walk through the line and order. You eat from a red plastic basket, and there are paper napkins in dispensers on the worn wooden tables.

  He brought me to Amara’s favorite restaurant. The one he promised to take her to for dinner last weekend.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “Don't worry. I’ll make sure nothing gets on that gorgeous outfit of yours.”

  “That’s not the point. I have a washing machine.”

  “I’ll explain, I promise. Let’s order and get a table in the back.”

  Four hot dogs and two orders of fries. Just for Vinnie. I order one for myself and onion rings will the intention of stealing a few of his fries.

  “Start talking,” I say as he takes his first bite, moaning as he savors the flavors.

  “Now that I found my own place, I have to leave town for a few days to take care of my apartment and get my shit moved. I was trying to wait until this weekend, but my boss called me and needs to me go over a few things with him. Considering I’m technically on vacation right now, I need to appease him until I quit.”

  “You haven’t quit!” I practically yell, garnering us a few sideways glances.

  “Not yet. I intend to, but I don’t really know what to tell him. He asked if I could come into the office for a few minutes on Friday, and I told him I would. That’ll give me two days to get packed and moved, and I’ll fly back as soon as our meeting is over. Hunter knows, and he’s cleared my schedule.”

  “You have to tell him, you know that, right?”

  “I know, but I also don’t want to lose my benefits. I had six weeks of paid vacation when I left for Ty’s bachelor party. That was almost three weeks ago now. If I quit while I’m there, he’ll cut me off, fire me on the spot. I’ll lose a lot of things. If I can ride it out for two more weeks, I have some stocks that will vest, and I’ll cash them out, quit, and it’ll be over. I just need to play nice until then. He can’t find out that I have another job. He can’t find out I’m moving. I lied and told him that Ty’s wedding was canceled, Angela left him at the altar, and that I’m staying up here to help him out for a while. He bought it and granted me an extended vacation. If I lose the stocks before they vest, I stand to lose more than a couple hundred thousand dollars.

  “I don't know about you, but I’d risk it for that kind of money. Plus, as long as I keep him up to date with my clients but don’t have contact with them while I’m on vacation, I won’t be in breach of my contract. Trust me, I read every detail of it when I signed it and again before I left.”

  My mouth is probably hanging open at this point. Not that I didn’t think Vinnie was smart and resourceful, but there’s something about him, his playful demeanor or the free spirit I’ve seen, that doesn’t strike me as a serious businessman.

  Color me surprised.

  Not only is he serious, but he’s as smart as hell when it comes down to it. He knows what he wants, and he’s going to get it by working the system to his favor.

  “Say something. I know it sucks that I have to leave already, but it’s not for long. Three days, maybe four if my meeting goes longer than I expect.”

  “I get it.”

  “The expression on your face tells a different story.”

  “I’m just surprised, is all. I didn’t realize that you hadn’t quit your other job yet. I figured that was the first thing you would do once you started at Dixon.”

  “In any other situation, I would have. This is a little different. I didn’t come here with the intention of finding a new job, a new life. It was only supposed to be an extended vacation. My job was stressing me out. I loved and hated it at the same time. That’s why I was reading my contract.

  “I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t contractually obligated to contact my clients while I was here. I didn’t want my phone ringing in the middle of the ceremony with the knowledge that I would have to step away to take the call. That was my biggest concern before I left. Letting Tyler and Angela down. I had already canceled on them for everything else, I had to be here for the wedding, and if I was going to be here, I wasn’t going to be focused on work.”

  “So that’s why your phone was shut off most of the time you were at my house,” I note as I take a bite of my forgotten hot dog.

  Vinnie’s phone rang once the week he spent at my house. It was right after he turned it on. We had spent three days avoiding the real world. My phone was dead, and we needed to order food. He ignored the call, ordered our food, and powered his phone down as soon as he was done.

  I didn’t think much about it at the time. Maybe it was dying or he forgot to bring a charger with him. I was focused solely on him at that moment, and his phone would have been a distraction if it had been on. Mine needed to stay on, just in case Amara needed me.

  “If my phone’s on, it rings. I get a million emails a day, and clients like to call me if I don’t reply within a few hours. They’re needy, one of the reasons I’m ready to take my career in a different direction. Tech marketing is different. When I first started out, I wanted to be the go-to guy for my clients. If there was something they needed, they knew they could call me. I would be there to help them. I’d hack into their computer if need be and fix the issue immediately.

  “At first, it wasn’t bad. After working with a few clients for a long stretch of time, it felt like they gave up on certain things and I was doing a good chunk of their job for them. My job never ended. Five o’clock would come and go, and I’d still be in my office working.

  “I was in demand. Everyone wanted to work with me because they knew I could be counted on. It was a good feeling, but it also sucked. My boss started to send me to meet the clients. I was traveling a few times a month and working twice as much for the same salary. It wore me out.

  “Ty’s bache
lor party was my first day of vacation in almost three years. My phone rang four times on my way to the airport before I finally shut it off and decided it would stay that way most of the time. After a weekend with the guys, I decided I wanted more time off. I needed it. My boss must have known I was teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown because he told me to take as much time as I needed. So here I am. A new adventure in front of me but before that can happen, I need to put my old life to bed. I need to get moved and settled.”

  A new adventure.

  I know life is supposed to be an adventure, but we’re not college kids anymore. We’re adults. We have responsibilities to attend to. Jobs and children, and an adventure sounds like more fun than we’re allowed to have at our age.

  “Well, I’m glad that you’ve found something that makes you happier.”

  “And someone,” he quickly replies as he shoves half a hot dog in his mouth.

  How do I respond to that? I can’t go on an adventure with him. I think it’s time to decide what this is and where it’s headed because as much as I enjoy having fun, I have to think of Amara.

  “So, I’m assuming you’re referring to me.”

  “Mmm hmm,” he says as he finishes chewing.

  “Then I think we need to figure out what this is. When you get back in town-”

  “What do you want this to be, Megan?”

  He’s put me on the spot. I can feel the back of my knees starting to sweat, my nerves suddenly on edge.

  “Um, I don’t know.”

  “What was it, the week we spent together?”

  “Fun. Crazy.”

  “Sure, but what were we doing?”

  Lowering my voice and leaning closer, I whisper, “Having a lot of amazing sex.”

  “Sex?” He hasn’t lowered his voice. In fact, it feels like he’s screaming. “Is that all it was?”

  I can’t continue to have this conversation. We’re getting nowhere, and he needs to get back to work eventually. I need to pick up Amara from school. The real world awaits us both.

  “Why don’t you tell me what it was to you, then?”

  Taking a sip of his soda, Vinnie thinks it over, never once breaking eye contact with me. Once he sets his cup back down, he snags an onion ring off my plate, pops the entire thing in his mouth, and slowly chews.

  “It was beautiful and magical and the beginning of something special. I know you feel it. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be having lunch with me right now, teasing me in that short shirt. Or showing me the tiniest glimpse of cleavage. I’ve seen it all, Megan. All of you. Everything you have to offer, and I like it. I want more of it. I crave you when I close my eyes at night. I miss the feel of you in my arms as I drift off to sleep.

  “If you want me to put a title on it, I will. You’re my girlfriend. If you want to be, that is. What I won’t do is pretend that we haven’t already passed that initial awkward stage in our relationship. The one where we tiptoe around one another so we don’t ruin what we have. We’re solid. Nothing is going to ruin this. We both know who the other person is and accept them as they are.”

  I knew he was a sweet talker. He convinced me of that the night we met. He somehow drew me in and kept me there long enough to tempt me into inviting him into my home. And now, my heart.

  Damn him.

  Damn his common sense and sweet revelations. I’m not sure how I can say no to anything he’s said when all I want to do is crawl across the table and straddle his lap.

  I’m not in love with Vinnie, but lust will do for now. Lust is a powerful emotion. It can bring you amazing highs or dark and dangerous lows. It’s worse than love. Lust can crush you before you realize what’s happening. When it comes to love, at least you have a fighting chance.

  Chapter Nine

  When I pick Amara up from school later in the afternoon, I have to break the news to her about dinner. Since she was sick, we rescheduled dinner for tonight, but Vinnie’s left town this this afternoon, and he won’t be back until Friday at the earliest. She was looking forward to not only meeting Vinnie, because according to her he’s the funniest person on the planet, but also because she was excited about eating at her favorite hot dog place.

  Knowing this, I made sure to grab her a hot dog before we left in hopes to make her feel better.

  The mind of a six-year-old is fickle, though. All it did was make her angry when she found out I went without her. I betrayed her in a way. Eating at her favorite restaurant with Vinnie while she was at school.

  So, to appease her, and get her to stop crying, we hop in the car and drive into town to eat at the restaurant. At the table Vinnie and I shared. She wanted the entire experience. Of course, she complains the entire time that Vinnie isn’t here. That it’s not the same. She’s jealous that I got to have lunch with him.

  Her pouting makes me want to laugh. She doesn’t even know him, and she’s disappointed. I can only imagine what happens after she meets him. If she likes him as much as she thinks she does already, I pray he never disappoints her. Or me.

  “Now that you have a full belly, do you want to watch a movie when we get home?”

  Amara grumbles something from the back seat.

  “Or if you want, we can walk down to the beach and look for rocks.”

  Hunting the shoreline for rocks is one of her favorite things to do in the summer. The weather is fairly warm today, warm enough to endure the ten-minute walk plus a little time to search.

  “Can we call Vinnie?” she asks, catching me off guard.

  “Why do you want to talk to Vinnie?”

  “I want to know why he stood me up.” She sounds like a woman scorned, only with a high-pitched voice. Peeking at her in the rearview mirror, I’m met with an angry stare. Her arms are crossed over her chest, her lips pursed.

  My little girl is pissed.

  “Sweetie, I told you why he had to cancel. When he gets back in town, we’ll have dinner with him. I promise.”

  “I don’t believe you. Did you break up with him?”

  “What?”

  “He’s your boyfriend, right? Did you break up with him? Did you make him mad?”

  As concerning as her words are, she makes me want to laugh for a split second. Then I realize she thinks this is my fault. That he didn’t come to dinner because of me. Not her. Not because he’s out of town. The real reason he didn’t want to have dinner with her was because of me.

  “Yes, Vinnie and I are seeing each other. No one is mad at anyone, though. I promise. Remember how I told you he had just moved here?” Watching in the mirror, I expect her to nod. What I get is the raising of an eyebrow and a look of skepticism. Damn her. She’s just like me. Too much so. “Well, he had to go back home to California to pack up his apartment and move his stuff here. He’s been living at Uncle Ty’s house out of a suitcase.”

  “Is he moving in with us when he gets back?”

  Hell no!

  Can’t say that.

  The thought of Vinnie moving in with us scares the shit out of me. We’re not there yet. Not even close. Hell, we’ve barely seen each other with our clothes on. We’ve been on one date. If you can call spending an hour together eating hot dogs a date.

  “No, sweetie. He found a place of his own. He’s going to be staying with Uncle Ty for a few more weeks and then moving into his new apartment.”

  “Why doesn’t he just move in with us? Emerson is Daddy’s girlfriend, and she lives with us.”

  Damn it. I told him they were moving too quickly. Living with Emerson after only dating her for a short period of time was setting a bad example for Amara. Of course, he didn’t listen. Hell, I didn’t even find out she was moving in until right before it happened. Like, hours before.

  He probably only told me out of obligation. Even if I had pushed him to reconsider, he wouldn’t have. So I shared my concerns and kept my mouth shut about how I really felt. At the end of the day, them living together has nothing to do with me. It concerns my daughter, though
, and that’s where I kept my focus when we talked.

  On Amara.

  The little girl was going to get confused about relationships. She’s going to think it’s okay for her to move in with her boyfriend when she’s older. And it will be. Once they’ve dated for a while. Not right away.

  “Daddy and Emerson are different. They’ve known each other longer than I’ve known Vinnie.”

  “I don’t care. I think he should move in with us. Then he could take me to dinner whenever I wanted. He’d play dolls with me when you’re busy. He could tuck me in bed at night and tell me jokes.”

  Amara continues to rattle on about all the fun things Vinnie and she could do together if he lived with us. My mind wanders to all the dirty things I could do with Vinnie if he was in my bed every night.

  Neither is a good reason to make this situation happen. There will be nights when Amara is with Ryder and Vinnie can stay over. We don’t have to live together to make our situation work. In fact, it’s probably better if we don’t right away. As much as he claims we know each other, I can’t think of a single fact about him right now.

  What’s his middle name?

  Where was he born?

  Are his parents still alive?

  I’m pretty sure they are. I should ask him when he calls later. He should be landing in Cali in a few hours. He promised to call once he made it to his apartment.

  Now to play the waiting game. I have plenty to keep me busy until then. Primarily the angry child sitting behind me. I don’t think there’s anything that will distract her right now. Unless…

  The doorbell chimes an hour after we get home. I feign surprise and ask Amara to answer it. She rolls her eyes at me, her entire head moving in a circle, and heads to the door. If I wasn’t certain who was on the other side, I’d be right behind her.

  “Uncle Ty!” she screams.

  The only man in her life that she loves almost as much as her daddy. Why? Because he spoils her rotten. To the point it’s annoying. If we tell her no, Tyler is bound to tell her yes.

  Amara runs into the kitchen, dragging Tyler by the hand.