by Eve Gaddy
“You’ve got it bad,” Zack continued. “I’ve never seen you so gone over a woman.”
“I never have been. Not even Jessica—and I planned to marry her.” He thought about that a moment and added, “Thank God she dumped me.”
“Good God, Travis. Are you talking marriage? To Tobi?”
“Not yet. But I’m not thinking about marrying anyone else. There’s just one problem.”
“Only one?”
“Ha ha. I haven’t told her I’m in love with her. And I’m not sure about her feelings.”
“Haven’t you two been basically living together, almost since she came back to Whiskey River?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“Sure it does. It means you’ve fallen, my friend.”
“Yeah, we established that. But it’s Tobi’s feelings I don’t know about.” Travis remembered Tobi talking about Zack being hung up on Lauren. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You ever been totally gone over a woman?”
Zack slid him an inscrutable glance. Shrugging, he said, “Sure. Once or twice.”
“So what happened?”
“Why are you so interested?”
“Just curious.”
“Nothing happened. It didn’t work out.”
“It? You said once or twice.”
“We were talking about you, not me. What are you going to do about Tobi?”
Maybe Tobi had a point about Zack having a thing for Lauren. But he wasn’t going to get anything out of his friend today. “Not much I can do except wait and see. And in the meantime I’ll do my best to convince her she doesn’t want to be without me.”
Chapter Fourteen
Tobi kept her phone on silent at work, but she was catching up on paperwork when it buzzed. Travis. Her heart rate did that funny bump it always did when she thought of Travis. Damn, she had it bad.
“Hi, what’s up?”
“Are you off tonight?” he asked.
“Yes, why?”
“Let’s go to Baron’s Steakhouse. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Okay, I haven’t been to Baron’s since I’ve been back. I used to love that restaurant.”
“It’s still good. I’ll see you at seven.”
Tobi hated to be fatalistic but sometimes she couldn’t help it. Things were going so well between her and Travis. That couldn’t last, could it?
The doorbell rang and she went to answer it. She grabbed Lucky by his collar, something she still had to do whenever she answered the door. He wouldn’t scare Travis, of course, but whenever someone came to the door he went into “I’m going to protect Mom at all costs” mode, at least until he was satisfied the person meant her no harm. She desperately needed to take him to obedience classes.
“You look great,” Travis said, and kissed her.
“Thanks.” She didn’t tell him she’d spent half an hour trying on clothes until she found something she liked. She’d finally settled on a short-sleeved gauzy white cotton dress with blue and red embroidered flowers in a pattern down the front. It was a little shorter than she usually wore but judging from the way Travis was looking at her, he was all for it.
The hostess seated them in the corner of a small room in the restaurant, away from the crowd, and handed them menus. “Your waitress will be with you in a minute.”
“Thanks,” Travis said.
Baron’s Steakhouse was the nicest place to eat in Whiskey River. It had a dark, intimate atmosphere with tables covered in black tablecloths, white napkins, candles and flowers. Carved dark wood chair backs with red leather seats and of course, pictures from Whiskey River’s history. The whole scene was dark and romantic, and the delicious food added the crowning touch.
The waitress came by and Travis ordered a bottle of red wine. Once they’d given her their food order—steaks, potatoes, and the vegetable of the day for both of them—she left them alone.
“What’s this about?” Tobi asked Travis.
“Dinner,” he said, pouring more wine into her glass. “You realize this is only our second true date.”
“No, I haven’t been counting.” She took another sip of wine.
“I have and it occurred to me I should take you out more. You deserve better than takeout three times a week.”
“I like takeout. But this is a nice change. Did you have to bribe the hostess to be seated here?”
He laughed. “No, I just asked for an out of the way table. But I would have if necessary.”
After a bit the waitress brought their food, along with a crusty loaf of French bread. Tobi took a bite of steak and sighed happily. “I’d forgotten how much I love a good juicy steak. I haven’t had this tasty of a steak in ages.”
“Dallas has really good food.”
“Yes, but I worked all the time. I’m not used to having this much free time. But I like it. I may take up a hobby.”
“Like what?”
“Gardening, maybe. Or maybe I’ll take art lessons.”
“I didn’t know you were interested in art. Can you draw?”
“Not worth a damn,” she said cheerfully. “But I’m a fast learner.”
“Maybe you could take up dog training.”
She leveled a scowl at him. “I’ll have you know, Mr. Smartass, that Lucky and I are signed up for obedience class starting next week.”
“Kidding. I was kidding.”
“Liar.”
“Partly kidding?”
Tobi laughed. “I’d be madder if it weren’t true. This is really nice, Travis. You were sweet to think of it.”
“If I were really sweet I’d have thought of it weeks ago.”
“We’ve both been busy. I’ll give you a pass.”
They lingered over dessert, talking, sipping wine and feeding each other bites of a delicious, creamy cheesecake.
“Do you realize I’ve never seen your apartment?” Tobi said after Travis paid the bill and they got ready to leave.
“It’s nothing special but I’ll be glad to take you by there.”
Travis’s apartment was in Kelly Commons, the apartments between Banner Bread and the Square and on the edge of the neighborhood close to the middle school. There were four or five buildings, each with two floors and eight apartments. Travis’s was in block B.
He opened the door and let her go ahead of him. “Home sweet home,” he said.
Tobi looked around. There were no dirty clothes lying around. No dirty dishes in the sink. A couple of aviation magazines lay open face down on the coffee table. She bet if she went in the bedroom the bed would be made and there wouldn’t be dirty clothes lying around in there either.
“My God, Travis.” She turned to look at him. “You’re a neat freak.”
*
Travis laughed. “I’m not a neat freak.”
“You are. You really are. I can’t believe I never knew that.”
“I’m hardly a pig at your house.”
“No, but that could have been you trying hard to be neat instead of it being ingrained.”
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Why do I get the feeling you think that’s a bad thing?”
“Oh, I don’t. Show me your bedroom.”
A little baffled, he walked down the hall with Tobi following. “There it is.” It was as neat as the rest of the apartment. He wasn’t a freak about it, like Tobi seemed to think, but he liked his space to be…uncluttered.
“Tobi? What is it?”
She’d gone over to the bed, looking around at it and the room. “I’ve never seen a man’s bedroom so neat. Not that I’ve seen that many, but still…” She reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it off over her head. Leaving her wearing tiny nude-colored panties and a matching bra.
His brain started to short circuit. Damn, she was beautiful. And sexy. “What—are you—Is this what I think it is?”
She threw herself down on her back in the middle of the b
ed, still wearing her shoes. “I certainly hope so.” She held out her arms. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
He started yanking off his own clothes. Shirt, pants, boxers, shoes and socks went flying. For once he wasn’t worried about putting them neatly where they belonged. He joined her on the bed. He ran his hand over her leg. “Do you want me to take off these shoes?”
“If you want. Unless it turns you on for me to wear them.” She held up one of her legs and looked at the shoe. “It’s not like they’re stilettos, though.”
“They could be army boots and on you they’d still be sexy.”
She let out a peal of laughter. “I like that. Tell me more.”
“Tobi, pretty much everything you do turns me on.”
“Really? C’mere.”
Already rock hard and wondering how he was going to last, he kissed her. Tongues, teeth, lips, not gentle, but greedy. They rolled together. Rolled again. She pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him. He reached behind her back to unfasten her bra, then slid the straps down her arms and flung it away. Travis filled his hands with her beautiful breasts. Her head fell back and she moaned. She rotated her hips, the wisp of fabric between them all but nonexistent.
Travis pulled her head down and kissed her. Then he rolled her over, stripped off her panties and began to string kisses from her breasts to her belly. He would have gone further but she wiggled out from beneath him and grabbed a condom.
“Lie back,” she commanded.
“I love it when you take charge.”
“Good. Because I’m about to blow your mind.”
Tobi ripped open the packet and covered him with the condom, taking her sweet time about it. Then she climbed on top of him and took the entire length of his cock inside her. Travis groaned. She groaned. Then she began to rock, slowly at first, then faster. He grabbed her hips and helped her slide up and down until he couldn’t stand it any longer. He thrust up; she sank down. Once, twice and he came with a shout, Tobi convulsing around him.
They lay together for a while. He wasn’t sure how long. While she went into the bathroom, he got rid of the condom and got back in bed to wait for her. Tobi opened the bathroom door, leaned against the jamb and smiled at him.
“You look awfully satisfied with yourself. Wild woman,” he added.
“Thank you. I am.” Her smile was satisfied and very sexy.
“Remind me to bring you over to my apartment more often. I promise I’ll have it clean for you.”
“That’s what got to me, you know.” She got back in bed and snuggled against him. “Your apartment is so neat and you didn’t even know we would come over here.”
“Maybe I have ESP.”
“Oh, really? What am I thinking right now?”
“That you’d love some ice cream.”
“I wasn’t thinking that but now that you mention it, ice cream sounds good. Do you have any?”
“I’ll go see if I do.” He paused and looked at her. “You look good in my bed.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I love you, you know.” He got out of bed and went to get the ice cream, leaving Tobi utterly silent.
Chapter Fifteen
Did he just say he loves me? I think he did. What the hell? Tobi got out of bed, picked up Travis’s shirt and slipped it on. Then she went to the kitchen to find him and see if she’d imagined the whole thing.
When she reached the kitchen he was spooning ice cream into a couple of bowls. He was naked, with his back to her. Momentarily distracted by as fine a male backside as she’d ever seen, she blinked and cleared her throat. “Travis?”
He turned around holding the bowl and spoon. “Taste this. My new favorite.” He held the spoonful of ice cream up to her mouth. What else could she do but open her mouth and taste it?
“Oh, my God. What is this flavor? It’s delicious.”
“It’s got one of those weirdo names. Chocolate + Caramel = Love My Ice Cream.”
“Gimme,” she said.
He laughed and gave her the bowl, then picked up the other, leaned back against the counter and started eating.
“Um, Travis?”
“What?” He didn’t look up, being occupied with his ice cream.
“In the bedroom just now…did you tell me you loved me?”
He looked at her, his eyes alight with laughter. “I did.”
“Then why did you immediately go to the kitchen and start dishing ice cream?”
“Because you wanted ice cream.”
“Travis, you don’t tell a woman you love her for the first time like it’s no big deal and then disappear from the room.”
He set down his bowl, then walked over to her, took her bowl and set it on the counter. He gathered her hands together in his. “It’s like this. You’re skittish. I knew there was no way you were ready to admit this is serious between us. I mean, not very long ago you wanted me to date other women.”
“No I didn’t.” He lifted an eyebrow. “I was just giving you the option.”
“Regardless, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I thought you should know.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “I love you, Tobi.” She started to speak but he kissed her again. When he finally let her up for air, her mind was mush.
“I can’t think when you kiss me like that.”
“Good. Thinking is overrated.” He started to kiss her again, but she held him off.
“You haven’t asked me how I feel.”
“And I won’t. I didn’t tell you I loved you because I expected you to say it back. Whether you do or you don’t, or you do and aren’t ready to tell me, or even if you don’t and don’t think you ever will, when or if you tell me your feelings is up to you.”
She knew she loved Travis. She’d finally admitted it to herself, but she didn’t know if she was ready to admit it to Travis.
“Come on. We’d better go get our clothes on and get back to your house. I’m sure Lucky is wondering where you are.”
They went back to her house. Travis took Lucky out to do his business and stopped to roughhouse with him so he’d work off some of his excess puppy energy. Tobi went out on the back porch to watch them play tug-of-war with one of Lucky’s toys. The dog minded Travis much better than he did her. Was it the deep, masculine voice he responded to? Or just Travis?
Travis had changed into jeans and a T-shirt. His longish dark hair kept falling in his face as he and Lucky fought over the rope bone. Not for the first time, she thought about how stubble suited him. He’d clearly shaved that morning but by now, fairly late in the evening, his face was stubbled.
After a while they all went inside. Travis was washing up at the kitchen sink and Tobi put her arms around his middle and leaned her head against his back. “Travis?”
“Yeah, babe?” he said a little absently.
“I love you too.”
He went completely still for a moment. Then he turned off the water and picked up a towel to dry his hands before turning around. “You love me?”
She nodded.
“Then why do you look miserable?”
“I don’t. I’m not.”
“Tobi, I know what happy looks like and your face is not it.”
She shouldn’t have told him, but she had. She needed to make him understand, but she couldn’t tell him everything. Not yet. Maybe…not ever. “I’m scared. That’s why it was hard for me to tell you I loved you.”
He put his hands on her arms and looked at her closely. “What are you scared about?” She didn’t answer. “Are you afraid I’m going to hurt you? I would never hurt you, Tobi.”
“No. I’m afraid I’m going to hurt you.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I wouldn’t want to. I wouldn’t do it deliberately. But things happen.” She turned away from him and lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know, Travis. This whole thing, you, me, love. It all makes me nervous.”
“Hey, come here.” He wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. �
��You worry too much. Let’s be happy we’re in love and let the future take care of itself.”
*
Early the next morning, Travis told Tobi he was flying a charter to Shreveport, Louisiana. She did okay, mainly by working and trying not to think about it. But after she left work and went home, she had nothing to do but worry. You’re going to have to figure out how to deal with this. He’s going to fly somewhere most days.
Her phone rang and hearing Travis’s ringtone, she snatched it up. “Are you home?” she demanded before he could even speak.
“No. It’s going to be a while. They’ve had some bad weather and it’s causing delays. I’ll call you when I get back. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry? Have you been living under a rock? Of course I worry.”
“Tobi, delays happen all the time.” He sounded exasperated. “I’ll be home in a few hours.”
“All right. Be careful.”
“I will.”
Tobi ended the call and scrubbed her hands over her face. Lucky, lying beside her on the couch, whimpered and shoved his nose under her hand, wanting to be petted. She scratched behind his ear, then gave him a tummy rub, noticing the action soothed her a little as well as making Lucky ecstatically happy.
So Travis was going to be late. All the flights were delayed. It was nothing unusual. Travis was careful. He wouldn’t take unnecessary risks. Except that to Tobi, flying period was an unnecessary risk. Instead of pacing around driving herself insane, she decided to call her parents. Not that she needed advice. But she hadn’t talked to them in a couple of weeks and she usually touched base with them at least once a week.
Her dad answered the phone with a gruff, “Mac Robinson.”
“Hi, Dad. It’s me.”
“Tobi, is that you?” In an aside she heard him shout, “Irene, get in here. Tobi’s on the phone.”
“How are y’all?”
“Fine, fine. Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker so your mother can hear too.”
“Tobi! Hi, honey. It’s so good to hear from you.” Her mother sounded breathless, as if she’d been running, which she probably had. She never failed to be at the other end of the house when the phone rang.
