A Single Date (Dating Just Got Serious) (5 page)

“When I asked you
to be quiet, I meant all the sighing too. You’re making it hard for me to
concentrate on my driving.”

“Well, I wouldn’t
want to make you uncomfortable. Why don’t I try to disappear?”

He pulled into the
parking lot of his favorite Italian restaurant. “I hope this place is okay with
you. As you can see, I’m not dressed to go anywhere fancier.” He jumped out and
opened her door before she could respond.

Red neon lights
flashed around the large plate glass window of the restaurant, giving it a
cheery welcome. Even though it was usually very busy most nights Drew knew he
could get a table at his favorite place. He walked in behind her.

“Hey Drew. You
haven’t been here in a while. You want your regular table?” The hostess pointed
toward the back.

“Yes and please bring
us a pitcher of the white wine sangria.”

“Do you want the
usual?”

“I’m so hungry
tonight I could eat two of them,” he teased. “But can you bring a menu for my friend.”
He pulled out the chair for Yani. He opted for the seat with his back to the
wall.

She ran her finger
down the list of entrees.

“Want a
recommendation?” he asked.

“Are you giving me
permission to speak now?” She stared at him, thunderclouds gathered in her
eyes.

“I just didn’t
want to hear you say no. You’re good at shooting a man down.”

“I’m good at
sniffing a fake. Let’s just say your behavior didn’t pass my sniff test.” She
reached for her glass of water just as the server placed it on the table and
took a swallow. “But I don’t want to talk about the other night. Let’s just
talk about my house and nothing more.”

The server showed
up to take their order.

“I’ll just have a
Caesar salad,” she said.

“Bring her the
same thing you’re bringing me.” He picked up the menus and handed them back to
the server. “Don’t worry, Yani, I can cover this.”

“No, I can’t ask
you to keep buying me meals.”

He pulled in a
deep breath to redirect his thoughts to a more positive place. If she were
taller, she’d probably look down her nose at him. Did she think he was some
pathetic shmuck who rushed his check to the check-cashing store to buy milk? He
wanted to tell her he had enough money to buy her dinners and those expensive
purses for the rest of her life. But watching her sweat it out was so much more
enjoyable.

“Don’t worry about
the meal. My credit is good here.”

She huffed either
from exhaustion or from distress. “So what did you need to tell me about the
house?”

A few days later, Yani
walked into Cat’s office and dropped her briefcase on the floor before closing
the door. “We need to talk.”

Cat pushed away
from the computer to face her. “Is it about the dreamboat working on your house
that you keep talking about?”

“I’m glad my
personal life brings you so much pleasure.” She rubbed her forehead. “This is
bad, Cat. I think I like him. I’m trying to ignore him and my feelings. He’s
the nicest man. Even though I keep giving him clipped answers or one word
replies he remains unfazed by my attitude. I know it’s the most ridiculous
thing in the world but I can’t help myself. Every evening when I go home, I hide
in my office or bedroom until he leaves with his crew. Just so I don’t look
like a schoolgirl with a crush. But when he looks at me, I feel like he really
sees me.” She touched her lips.

“Wow, that sounds
serious. What will you do?” Cat asked as she leaned on her desk. “You can’t
ignore how you really feel about him.”

“Oh, yes I can. I
hired him to do a job. Once it’s completed, he can move on to another project. I
can’t romanticize the situation.” She couldn’t tell Cat what’d happened last
night after dinner it would be like posting the information on Facebook.

“So you’re going
to let him walk away? Suppose this is your one true love. You only get one, you
know.” Cat pretended to swoon.

“He’s not my one
true love, Cat. He’s…”

“What Yani, what
is he?”

She masked her
apprehension by laughing. “In the bright light of day, we don’t have much in
common. Can you just see us going out on a date? He’d probably want a burger
and I’d want steak. The man drives a truck for God’s sake.” She placed her
elbows on the desk and cradled her chin in her palm. “He’s my handyman. I can’t
date the handyman.”

“Why not? Why
can’t you date him?” Cat sat back in the chair and gave Yani a stern look. “Is
it because your orderly neat little life would be turned on its side?”

Yani pushed a
stack of papers aside. “Save me the sermon. I’m supposed to marry a doctor or a
lawyer or a CEO. My parents have preached that into my head since I was a
little girl. I’m not ready to disrespect my family.” Yani dismissed her friend
with a wave of her hand. Cat was trying to be helpful, but her speech wouldn’t
change anything.

“But you are
interested. You talk about Drew every day. I have a new car mechanic, but I
don’t mention him in every sentence, or sit around daydreaming about him all
day, now do I?”

“I’m protecting
myself,” Yani shot back.

“From what—life?”

“It’s easy for you
to criticize me. You’re in a relationship.” Yani pushed a curl behind her ears.

“Yeah, and I
didn’t turn him away when he showed up at my door to deliver my pizza while trying
to make a little extra money to pay off student loans for medical school.”

“My parents would
sign papers to have me committed if I show up for a visit with Drew on my arm.”
Yani shrugged, not wanting to admit Cat was right. “He’s not a professional,
and I only date professional men.” Yani wanted to put an end to this awkward
conversation.

“Are you sure that’s
the reason? Or are you just quoting the bull you grew up with?” Cat came around
the desk and parked her butt on the corner.

“Okay, so I don’t want
to date handymen. What’s wrong with that?” Yani leveled her gaze at her friend.

“Nothing, if you don’t
mind being alone or being a snob.”

“I’m not a snob. It’s
just…” Yani couldn’t finish the sentence. “Why bother dating a man when there
isn’t a chance it can work? I don’t want to waste my time, and I’m sure Drew doesn’t want me to waste his, either.”

Cat threaded her
fingers together. “I know you better than you know yourself. You need to put
your fears aside and relax. Don’t turn your nose up, because your condo can
get pretty cold in the winter, especially if you’re in it all alone.”

Still smarting
from Cat’s comments, Yani smoothed her skirt over her narrow hips before
picking up her briefcase and heading to the door. She waved at her friend before
she walked out.

Cat could talk
about staying warm this winter because every night she cuddled up with her soon-to-be
fiancé.

Mr. Right was
supposed to show up dressed in a Hugo Boss business suit and a crisp, white
shirt, not a white t-shirt and ripped jeans. But, there was no denying Drew’s
sexiness; just thinking about him excited her.

Sitting at her
desk she stared at the contracts. Instead of thinking about Drew she needed to
get this deal signed. But Cat’s words had rubbed her raw. Maybe her friend was
right. The last time she had a serious relationship she was the only one vested
in it. Drew seemed so different, but she knew so little about him, there was no
way to be sure what kind of man he really was. He could be just looking to have
some fun. The idea that he wore a teddy bear on his tool belt didn’t prove he
was a good guy.

The shrill ring of
the phone shook her thoughts loose. The call was from Drew. She hesitated
before picking up the receiver. He never called during the day.

“Drew, is
something wrong?”

“I know you’re
real busy, but I need you to come home, now.” His tone was sharp, like he was
distracted.

“Did something
happen?”

“Yes. See you in
thirty minutes.” He disconnected the call without waiting for her to confirm.

She shutdown her
computer, grabbed her purse and briefcase. As soon as she got in the car, she
dialed her friend.

“I have to get
home, Cat. Some emergency came up. I’m waiting on the last changes on the
Silverman Contract. Can you pick them up from my assistant when she’s done and
drop them off at my house on your way home?”

“Are you going
home for business or pleasure?” Cat teased.

“Are you going to
help me or not?”

“I’m having dinner
with Phoebe tonight. We’ll drop it off before we head downtown. We’re going on
a double date. Me and Robby and Phoebe and Cory. See, if you’d go ahead and let
Drew into your life you could hang with us tonight, too.”

“Do me a favor,
give me a break, please.”

“Okay, I’ll stop
pushing you. You know I love you. I just want you to be happy.”

“Thanks, Cat.”

Yani pulled in
front of the house and jumped out as soon as she put the car in park. Drew
stood in the doorway with his tool belt slung low on the side of his hips. The
teddy bear caught her eye.

“You took your
sweet time getting here.”

“I came as soon as
you called, but I didn’t run any red lights. I figured if there was fire or
blood you would have called 911 and not me.” She pushed past him into the house,
expecting to see the great disaster.

“What is it?
What’s wrong?”

“Well, there are a
couple of things.” He led her into the kitchen and pulled out a piece of
insulation. “Do you see what I see?”

She inched closer
with her fingers clenched tight. She saw five black spots. “You called me home
because you found ants behind the wall? You couldn’t kill them or spray them?
You mean I had to come home for this?”

“They’re carpenter
ants, princess, and they’ve been eating the beams. So now we have to get an
exterminator in here and we have to replace the studs. The contingency budget
is already spent, so you’ll need to come up with more money.”

“Ants don’t eat
wood. You’re talking about termites, right?”

“I wish. And I’ve
found some other issues. In the bathroom, you have no insulation in the walls
at all. It’s a wonder you didn’t freeze to death last winter.”

She flopped in the
nearest chair. “Okay. I get it now.”

He sat next to
her. “I know it’s a lot to throw at you, but I needed an answer to keep this
project on schedule.”

“How much more
money do you need?”

“I’ll work up the
numbers and get them to you later today. But we’re talking a few thousand.”

She glanced down
at his work shoes. He was as solid as the Grand Canyon. His command of the
situation reminded her of her father. Drew was a great guy. He could have been
the
guy. Without question, she trusted he knew what he was talking about.

“I believe I’m in
good hands, so do what you need to do.” Instead of looking at the wall in the
kitchen, she focused on his crotch. She hopped up to put some distance between
them. “I’m going to change clothes. I’ll work from home for the balance of the
day so if you need me, I’ll be down the hall.

“Before you go,
can I ask you a question?”

“If it’s more bad
news you might as well tell me now.”

He stood and
grabbed her hand. “No this is about us.”

She swayed as the blood
rushed to her heart and grabbed at the back of the chair for balance. She
filled her lungs and waited for him to finish.

“Maybe we
shouldn’t have slept together on that first day,” he said.

“It wasn’t our
first day. It actually happened on the second day.” She had to correct him. It
was bad enough she’d had sex with him, but at least it hadn’t happened the
first time she met him.

“Okay, my bad.
Anyway, since then, you’ve been a little standoffish. I’ll be honest with you,
Yani. I think you’re hot and I’d like to spend more time with you. Not time
just working on your house, but real time.” He rubbed his hand down her arm,
leaving a warm trail behind. She refused to release a full breath until he
lifted his fingers off her flesh and broke the spell.

“I-I…just thought
we were having fun. I didn’t want to take us too seriously. You understand,
don’t you?”

“No, I don’t. I
don’t normally sleep with my clients. You are the first. It meant something to
me.” His rich brown eyes blazed, but there was no smile behind them.

“I get it, Drew.
But I need to slow things down a bit. We started out so hot we were bound to
fizzle. I don’t even know anything about you.”

“Let me take you
to dinner tonight and I’ll answer all your questions?”

“I need to make
some phone calls. Can we talk later?” She inched away from him. There wasn’t
enough air in the room to sustain her.

#

She strolled down
the hall. Her pencil skirt was so tight he was able to easily examine her smooth,
round butt and wanted to grab a handful of it. He scratched his head, and
gathered his falling hair into the elastic band used to hold it in place.

“Do you need any
help getting out of your outfit?” he yelled to her before she disappeared into
her bedroom.

She stuck her head
out the door. “No. But thanks for the offer.”

Would she be more
willing to take him serious if she knew he owned the company instead of just
working for it? No way would he open up to her, yet. If she wanted him, it had
to be for him, tool belt and all. Not because of anything else.

Once she was out
of sight, he dug through the clutter in the kitchen until he found his tablet
and calculated the cost. Completing the project in the most economical way was a
priority to her so it was important to him. He heard her close her office door.
Did she think hiding from him would solve her problems?

The doorbell
buzzed. “Yani, you’ve got company,” he yelled down the hall.