Beyond Beautiful (Love in Providence Book 2)

by Heather MacKinnon

  I could feel him watching me for another couple of seconds before he finally turned away and drove off. The tension had amplified to dangerous levels, and I was struggling to put us back on solid ground. I wracked my brain for something to say, anything that would change the atmosphere again.

  Finally, I cleared my throat. “Isn’t All You Need Is Love from, like, sixty-seven?”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is.”

  “Then I guess you’re a fan of their earlier work too.”

  He shot me a small smile. “I’m a fan of all their stuff. Abbey Road is just my favorite.”

  “With good reason. But it’s still not their best.”

  He shook his head, his smile growing. “Then tell me, Ms. Garcia. What was their best album in your opinion?”

  I bit my lip again as I tried to settle on just one. Which, with a discography like The Beatles had, was almost impossible. Finally, I figured out a loop hole.

  I turned to him with a wide smile. “The Beatles 20 Greatest Hits Album.”

  He laughed loudly, the sound reverberating in the small confines of the car. “That’s cheating.”

  I shrugged. “You didn’t mention any rules, so how can that be cheating?”

  “I see. Belle Garcia likes to skirt the rules.”

  “Hey, there were no rules.”

  His smile was wide across his face and I knew he was enjoying himself. “I’ll have to remember that for next time.”

  We settled into silence for a few minutes and it was actually nice. My heart rate returned to normal, and I was able to enjoy the ride for a little while. That was until he spoke again.

  “There’s a Beatles cover band playing downtown in a few weeks.”

  “Yeah, I’ve already got a ticket.”

  He nodded a few times before speaking up again. “I hear it’ll be a great show. I haven’t seen them before though. Who are you going with?”

  I swallowed and fisted my hands tighter, knowing exactly where this was going. “Um. I was going to go alone, actually.”

  He shot me a quick look. “Alone?”

  “Yeah, I go to shows by myself all the time.”

  He was quiet again for a few seconds. “I was going to try to talk Ryder into going with me, but it’s not really his thing. We should go together.”

  He said it so flippantly. Like it was just an offhanded thought when, to me, it was a huge-ass deal.

  “Um. That kind of sounds like a date.”

  He scoffed. “Yeah, but you don’t date, so it can’t be, right?”

  Using my own logic against me? Touché Remy.

  “I guess not.”

  “It just makes sense,” he continued. “We live in the same place and we’re going to the same show. It would be silly not to go together.”

  When he put it that way, it really did make sense. It didn’t sound like a big deal, but then why did it feel like a boa constrictor was squeezing my insides?

  I let out a deep breath, admitting defeat. There really was no logical argument that could get me out of this situation and being illogical would only make me look bad. Besides, if I wanted to desensitize myself, spending more time with him would only help that cause, right? Right.

  “Okay, yeah. We might as well.”

  He smiled then, looking like I’d just made his day and I had to turn away again.

  “How far down Waterman are you?”

  I looked out the window, searching for a landmark. “Oh, I’m another couple of blocks up on the right.”

  He nodded and pulled to a stop to let some college kids cross the road. “I shouldn’t be home as late today. Last night I had a bunch of stuff to take care of at Gramps’ that took longer than I thought it would.”

  I shrugged. “No big deal.” I have a date anyway was on the tip of my tongue, but I kept the words to myself. I hadn’t confirmed anything yet, and I didn’t want to look like an idiot, or worse, a liar, if things fell through.

  Remy pulled to a stop in front of my gallery and I quickly gathered my things. Being in his presence hadn’t done anything but make me anxious and I was ready to end this little experiment. Maybe one day I wouldn’t be so affected by him, but that day wasn’t today.

  “Thanks for the ride, Rem.” I turned and winced as that damn nickname fell from my lips again.

  “Anytime, Belle. Have a good day.”

  I shot him a weak smile and climbed out of his car as quickly as I could. That ride hadn’t gone like I’d hoped. Instead of getting used to him, I was only finding more reasons to like him and that needed to stop immediately. Remy needed to be a part of my past and not my future. Unfortunately for me, he’d also be a big part of my present for the next couple of months. Which meant I’d need to try harder to get past this little infatuation of mine.

  My phone chimed with an incoming message from the dating app and I grinned. Looked like I had a date tonight after all.

  Chapter 12

  Remy

  Not even Mohammad Ali could have slapped the stupid smile off my face.

  To be honest, I didn’t know what I was doing with Belle. I didn’t know what I expected to come from this or even where I wanted it to go. All I knew was I liked the way she’d looked at me that morning, like she couldn’t tear her eyes off my chest. I liked the way she blushed when I caught her. I liked driving her to work and learning more about her.

  Truth was, I liked Belle.

  I’d tried to deny it, tried to forget about her, but I just couldn’t. I knew it was stupid to catch feelings for a girl like Belle Garcia. One as opposed to relationships as she was, but I couldn’t help how I felt. And I couldn’t help the way she made me feel.

  How just seeing her walk in a room made my hands sweat, or watching her smile spread across her pretty face made my day better. I especially liked the way I affected her. How her breath caught in her chest when I grinned at her. How she’d look away from me and clench her hands like she was holding herself back.

  I knew I was being an idiot, though. No one needed to tell me that. Belle had stressed over and over that she didn’t do relationships. What did I think would come of this? How would spending more time with her make any difference in the end?

  I didn’t know the answers to those questions or the dozens more that spun through my head, but none of that was stopping me. I knew I’d continue to steal as much time with her as I could. Knew I’d keep trying to work my way under her skin any chance I got. I just had to hope it didn’t turn out as badly as I thought it would.

  I made it to work a little later than usual, but I didn’t care. I was here early every other day. If it meant I got to help Belle out after everything she’d done for me, it was a small price to pay. And of course, there was the added benefit of those stolen minutes I’d gotten.

  “Good morning, Mr. MacAlister.” The receptionist was smiling at me like I was the last chocolate frosted doughnut in the box.

  “Morning, Brianna.”

  I was almost past her desk when she spoke again. “In all the years I’ve worked here I’ve never seen you get a visitor before. I was kinda surprised you had one yesterday.”

  I stifled my sigh and turned to her. “Yeah, I was surprised too.”

  “Did she find her way up to your office all right?”

  Was that really what she wanted to know? I doubted it.

  “Yep. She did.”

  “That’s good.”

  She looked like she wanted to say more, but I really wasn’t interested in hearing it. Brianna had been checking me out for years and I’d never given her a reason to continue. I’d thought she’d have gotten the hint by now, but that clearly wasn’t the case.

  “Is she a friend of yours?”

  Another sigh tried to work its way out of me, but I held it in. “Yeah. I guess you can say that.” She opened her mouth to speak again, but I cut her off. I’d had a great morning, and I wasn’t going to end it by being grilled by the damn secretary. “Have a good day, Brianna.”


  She snapped her mouth closed and nodded as I strode past her toward the elevators. I tried to get my mind to focus on work and what I had scheduled for the day, but it kept drifting back to Belle.

  I was so excited she’d agreed to go to the Beatles cover band show with me. For a minute there, I really thought she was going to say no. I knew I was tap dancing along the limits of what she was comfortable with, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to push all her boundaries until they were behind us. Wanted to keep shoving until she gave in to me again.

  What I was looking for exactly I wasn’t sure.

  Was it still just another night in bed I was after? Another chance to taste her, touch her, feel her come apart beneath my hands? Or was it becoming something more?

  I shook my head as the elevator door opened on my floor.

  I couldn’t afford to want something more with Belle. She’d made it crystal clear she didn’t want anything other than casual. That meant I’d have to be okay with that. I’d have to take what I could get and be happy about it.

  “Morning, Mr. MacAlister. Your eight o’clock appointment is waiting in the conference room for you,” my secretary, Helen, called as soon as I stepped out of the elevator.

  And so it began. For the next ten hours, I’d need to shelve thoughts of my new roommate and focus on work. I had a feeling that would be more difficult than ever today.

  I worked through lunch with the hopes I’d be able to leave early. The sooner I got out of here, the sooner I could get to Gramps’ and take care of him, which meant the sooner I got home to Belle.

  Pathetic? A little. But if there was no one to call me out on it, I was perfectly happy ignoring that fact.

  Luckily there were no last-minute fires to put out, and I made it to Gramps’ earlier than ever.

  “Remy, my boy! What are you doin’ here so early?”

  I gave my grandpa a one-armed hug and a slap on the back. “Got out of work early today.”

  “Good, good. You work too damn hard at that place, anyway.”

  That wasn’t the first time I’d heard that from him.

  “If you want to stay at the top, you’ve–”

  “–Got to arrive early and stay late,” Gramps finished for me. “Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled.

  I shook my head with a chuckle. “What’s goin’ on today? Has the AC been working all right?”

  He waved a hand. “That damn thing is still clunking and hissing like a Tom cat. I think I’m gonna have to replace it.”

  “Nah, let me take another look first.”

  “Remy, I can afford a new AC unit.”

  “Yeah, but why do that when I can fix it for you?” Or just buy you a new one myself, I thought but didn’t say. He’d bitch for days if I did that, but I knew he wouldn’t return it. Since I didn’t want to hear him complaining, I’d try again to fix it, and if that failed, I’d have a new one installed for him tomorrow.

  I grabbed Gramps’ tools and got to work. Unfortunately, my skills only went so far, and it seemed like this AC was well beyond them. Ryder probably would have had no issue with it, but since I still hadn’t convinced him to come out here yet, I was left doing this kind of stuff on my own.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out so fast I almost dropped it. When I saw it was just an update from my ESPN app, I shook my head and put it away again.

  “You waitin’ on a call or something?”

  I turned to find Gramps leaning against the doorframe, watching me with curious eyes. “Um. No. Not really.”

  Which was the truth. I had no reason to believe Belle would reach out to me just because we’d exchanged numbers last night. Admittedly, I’d been thinking about texting her all day, I just hadn’t come up with anything important to say.

  “Uh huh,” the old man said and walked away.

  Unfortunately, my grandfather knew me better than most and I knew he hadn’t bought my answer. Luckily, Wheel of Fortune was about to start, and I’d be given a little reprieve from his questions.

  “Hey, Gramps, I was gonna heat you up some leftovers from last night. Is that okay?”

  “I can heat my own damn leftovers, Remy. Just get goin’.”

  I shook my head and ignored him. It wasn’t much, but I liked to make sure he had at least one decent meal a day. I couldn’t control what he ate when I wasn’t here, and I was pretty sure it was shit I wouldn’t approve of.

  Normally, I’d cook him dinner and leave the leftovers for his lunch the next day, but I was sort of planning on trying to have dinner with Belle. Nothing formal of course, but I’d happily pick us up Chinese or something if she’d eat it with me.

  Pathetic? Once again, a little. I just didn’t particularly care.

  As Gramps’ dinner spun around in the microwave, I retrieved my phone and pulled up Belle’s number. I stared at the ten digits for a while, trying to think of something witty to say. Failing in that department, I figured if I could just come up with something that didn’t sound stupid, I’d be all right.

  The microwave beeped, and I stowed my phone again. Another couple of minutes to think it through wouldn’t hurt.

  I grabbed a set of utensils and a diet soda from the fridge to bring into the living room. Despite Gramps’ reluctance, he had his TV table set up in front of him. I set the food and soda down and took a seat on the next couch over.

  “Thanks for this, Remy.”

  I’d already pulled my phone out, but I looked up to give him a smile. “Anytime, old man.”

  I turned back to the screen in my hand and typed out a text.

  Me: Hey, Belle. I’m leaving in about thirty minutes. Have you eaten yet? I can pick us up dinner.

  I looked at the words on the screen for a long minute before deleting the message.

  Me: Hey there. I’m grabbing Chinese, what’s your favorite dish?

  That sounded stupid too, so I deleted it as well.

  “You doin’ some advanced mathematics over there or something?”

  I whipped my head in Gramps’ direction to see his eyes glued to the phone in my hands.

  Busted.

  I set the phone on my lap and gave him my best nonchalant look. “No, just checking to see how the Sox did today.”

  He quirked a bushy brow. “Sox didn’t play today.”

  Double busted.

  I sighed and shook my head, knowing this was going one of two ways. I could either tell him the truth now or try to lie and get caught and have to tell the truth eventually anyway. I’d never been able to lie to Gramps. He saw through every word that came out of my mouth.

  “I bet it’s a girl,” he said, his lips twitching with a grin.

  My head fell back on the couch cushion as I admitted defeat. “Kinda.”

  He pursed his lips. “It’s kinda a girl? Does that mean it’s kinda a boy too? I’m not judging, I’m just trying to get a clear picture here.”

  “No.” I laughed. “She’s all woman. But thanks. It’s good to know I have the freedom to love who I want.”

  He shrugged my words off. “So, what’s wrong with this woman, then?”

  “Who says there’s anything wrong with her?”

  He tilted his head to the side as he examined me closely. “From the look on your face, I’d guess she’s givin’ you trouble, and if she is, she’s gotta be out of her mind.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Well, because you’re a MacAlister. We’re great men. She’d be crazy not to like you.”

  I rolled my eyes. Of course, my grandpa would think I’m great. It was Belle who needed convincing.

  “It’s not like that, Gramps.”

  He muted the TV and turned to face me, and now I knew he meant business. Gramps didn’t mute Wheel of Fortune for just anything.

  “Tell me what it’s like then.”

  I sighed and slumped lower on the couch. “I don’t know, Gramps. She’s just… complicated.”

  He nodded slowly, his lips twisted to the side. “
So, you’ve already slept with her.”

  My eyes widened as I looked at him, but his expression didn’t change.

  “Well, have you?”

  “I, uh, yeah. Kinda.”

  “Son, if you’re kinda sleepin’ with the girl, I don’t blame her for being difficult.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “All right, I didn’t kinda sleep with her, I actually slept with her. It’s just been complicated since then.”

  “Let me guess, you both thought this would be a one-time thing and now one or both of you don’t feel that way anymore.”

  My jaw fell open as I looked at him, shocked silent.

  He waved a hand at me. “Don’t think your grandfather knows about one-night stands, Son?” he scoffed. “Who is it that started to have feelings?”

  I sighed. “Me.”

  “I figured as much. You’ve got the biggest heart of anyone I know, Remy. It’s bound to get you in trouble.”

  “Yeah, no kidding.”

  “Seems to me like you’ve gotta convince that girl to give you a chance.”

  I released a deep breath and looked at the black screen of my phone. “Yeah, that’s what I’m workin’ on.”

  “Along with havin’ the biggest heart, you’re also one of the smartest people I’ve ever known. You’ll figure it out.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Son, I’m the second smartest person I’ve ever known. I’m almost always right.”

  I chuckled and shook my head.

  I picked my phone back up and typed another text.

  Me: Hey, I’m heading home soon, and I was going to pick up Chinese for dinner. Can I get you anything?

  There. That didn’t sound too stupid. A little considerate, a little nonchalant. All in all, not too bad. I hit send and set my phone on the couch face down, resolved to not check it for at least five minutes.

  “You know your grandmother was supposed to just be a fling.”

  I turned wide eyes to my grandfather again. “Grams?”

  “Yep. But I eventually wore her down.” His smile was wide as he slapped his chest once. “All us MacAlister men need is one chance.”

  I chuckled at my grandpa, hoping he was right.

  My phone buzzed next to me and my heart jumped into my throat. I picked it up slowly and saw I had an unread text. Clicking on the notification, Belle’s name was in bold at the top of my messages and my hands began to sweat.