Deserving Love: A Contemporary Romance Series (Nick & Lexi Book 1) (3 page)

Did you see my photo of the Prime Rib?

I did. It looked delicious.
 

It was. Have you ever been to the Bistro?

Where’s it at?

What? Are you kidding me?
 

I told you I was fairly new in town.

Everyone knows about it.

Everyone but me.

It’s at Biltmore Estate. Delicious. You need to go there.
 

I’ll keep that in mind.
 

What do you do besides photograph buildings and miss out on the best cuisine of the area?
 

Chat with this amazing woman I’ve never met.
 

Sounds like a boring life.
 

I like sports. I play several. I travel a lot. Things like that. What about you?

Food. Cycling. Food.

I gathered from the pictures.
 

Is this a bad thing?

When you are hungry it is.
 

Don’t scan Facebook while hungry.

I was kidding, in case you wondered.
 

About?

The hug. I was kidding. You don’t have to be uncomfortable with me.

I’m not.

Okay.

I had better go though. I have a lot to do tomorrow.
 

Good night Lexi.

Night Nick.

As I climbed into my bed that night I wasn’t sure how I felt about the conversation. The thought of him looking for the perfect woman bothered me. The fear that he would want to meet bothered me. The realization that it’d been a joke and he wasn’t trying to meet me had bothered me. It was like there was no way this situation was going to please me.
 

Kendall had been right. This situation was strange at best. I made a mental note to try and put more emphasis on the real world and less on the conversations I was having with Nick. It’d probably be healthier for me considering that I really didn’t know him.
 

Drifting off to sleep I realized that the thought of not chatting with him made me sad. I also realized that I probably wasn’t going to stop even if I knew it would only disappoint me later.
 

*****

Chapter 3

The next day was one of the longest I’d had in a long time. I didn’t have the privilege of my typical morning conversation with Nick. My guess was that life had gotten busy for him as well. It was the time of year when that tended to happen.
 

Almost as soon as I’d opened the shop it had gotten busy. Both tourists out visiting Biltmore Estate and locals that were enjoying the beautiful weather had decided they were in mood for some of my exquisite and unique candies.
 

I enjoyed much of the chatter with my customers, but found myself running back and forth trying to keep up with helping them and serving them. It was these types of days that made what I did seem worthwhile. It was also these days that pushed me to fight for the area I loved.
 

Which was why I spent just as much time that day discussing the potential development with the locals that came to the shop as I did packaging their candy orders. Patty had delivered the flyers and I found myself handing out many of them over the hours that I was open.
 

Many of the residents were surprised that a retail store was even being considered. Even a few of the tourists were unimpressed with the idea. One man, I forgot to take his name, shared a viewpoint that was similar to mine.
 

“One of the reasons I come here is because of the way this area is. Biltmore is nice,” he mentioned, referring to the Estate that everyone came to visit, “but the village is special. I love being here. If they turn it into another retail shopping district I’ll cancel my pass.”

I had shared with him about the community meeting and invited him to attend, but he told me that they would be leaving to go home to South Carolina that afternoon. His wife said if they could manage to return to help they would, but she couldn’t make any promises.
 

Talking with customers made me realize that the community was really going to support the Preservation Society in our attempt to fight the developers. At least that was the way it seemed to be.
 

Unfortunately, Evan Monroe cut into the enjoyment and pleasure of my day. A phone call from him, trying again to convince me of the benefit the development would offer and suggesting we discuss it over dinner, only served to ruin whatever positive vibe I had going on. I quickly informed him that he would not gain my support or my desire to have dinner with him.
 

After I closed the shop I hit the streets, wandering around and talking to people about the Society and our goal to stop the development. Patty had also created a petition that we would present to the HRC and I managed to collect a couple of hundred signatures. It seemed small, but considering the tiny area that I was working in it was a pretty big accomplishment.
 

As much as I’d enjoyed the majority of my day, and as happy as I was with the income I’d taken in, I was exhausted. My entire body wanted to go home and rest. So much so, that I was almost giddy with excitement when I finally turned into my driveway.
 

The first thing on my agenda was a long soak in a hot bath. Starting the water before I’d even planned my dinner; I undressed and prepared to relax. Just before I slipped into the tub I heard the chirp of my phone and decided that I’d take it with me and enjoy the conversation.
 

Did you see that Misty did an interview? She says she is definitely leaving.

I had seen the same story and been disappointed when reading it. The chaos in my day, however, had almost made me forget about it.
 

Well, thanks for ending my day on a depressing note.
 

I’m sorry.
 

Uh-huh.

You didn’t know?
 

Actually, I did. I was just making you feel guilty.
 

It worked.
 

Of course. I’m successful at anything I try.
 

Is that so?

Yes.
 

How was your day?

Ugh, don’t ask.

Another bad one?

No. Just crazy-busy. But let’s not talk about that. I need to unwind, not think about what wound me up.
 

Okay. What would you like to talk about?
 

I’m not sure. You pick.
 

What are you doing tonight to unwind?

I’m soaking in a hot bath.
 

Are you trying to get frisky with me?

Is it working? ;)
 

It might be. I can’t remember how it works, so I’m not sure.

Ha Ha Ha.
 

You like that huh?
 

Clearly. So I assume you aren’t even dating?
 

I found myself tense up slightly as I waited for the answer. I was pretty sure that he wasn’t, but I noticed that the thought that he might bothered me. I was getting a little tired of the fact that so much bothered me when it came to Nick.
 

So I can only date if it includes sex?

Did I say that? Hmm, I guess it did sound like that. I just assumed that you were saying you hadn’t had the opportunity.
 

So now I’m too ugly for women to want me?

No. It’s just that if you had the opportunity and didn’t then you wouldn’t have said it like that. You’d have made a choice. You made it sound like you didn’t have a choice.
 

I see. I’m ugly and no women want me and that’s why I can’t get a date because if I could get a date and wasn’t ugly then I’d be having sex.
 

No. That’s not what I meant. Oh hell, never mind. I’ll just sit here quietly and remove the foot from my mouth.
 

No, I’m not dating. LOL!

I hate when you do that.
 

What?

Make me think you are serious. I get frustrated and can’t figure out what to say.
 

Well, in case the thought has crossed your mind, I’m not ugly.

I didn’t assume you would be.
 

What makes you say that?

I don’t know. Your personality. You don’t seem like someone that could be ugly.
 

I didn’t realize there was a criteria for looking like a troll.
 

There is. And you don’t meet it. I’m sorry to tell you.
 

I’m disappointed, but I suppose I will live.
 

Do you get lonely?

Lexi, I think everyone gets lonely. Even people who aren’t physically alone. Sometimes I believe that’s the worst kind of lonely. I can’t imagine sharing my life with someone and feeling like I’m alone.
 

Me either. But sometimes I wish I had someone there. Every now and then it’d be nice to be touched or hugged or kissed. Life can be a little empty when you do it by yourself.
 

It can. But it’s still the choice I make. I don’t want a relationship. I don’t really believe they work. Anytime I’ve tried, it’s failed. Maybe it’s me. I’m a little too devoted to my job. That takes time away. But part of it I think is the world. They don’t view it the same anymore.
 

Tell me about it. Men don’t value women the way they used to. That’s why I avoid relationships. Well, and the fact that my life stays pretty full with everything I have going on.
 

I like this.
 

What?

This. What we have. I like it. It makes the world feel a little less lonely.
 

Yes, it does. But don’t go falling in love over there.
 

No worries, Lexi. I don’t want to be involved. I like this because we have no preconceived notions about appearance and lifestyle. We can just chat. I don’t feel so alone as I sit here alone. But I don’t have the pressure and problems of being with someone.
 

You also don’t have the sex.
 

Very true. That part I miss.
 

Sigh. Me too.
 

So you aren’t dating either?
 

No. I don’t even have time to meet people to entertain the idea of dating.
 

I hope you know that during this entire conversation I’ve been picturing you naked in the bathtub.
 

Nick! That’s totally not appropriate.
 

Sometimes inappropriate is more fun.
 

Well I hope you enjoyed the mental picture. It’s as close as you will get.

I did. Feel free to picture me naked.
 

I’ll pass, but thank you.
 

Must be because you still think I’m ugly.
 

No! It’s because I don’t want to picture a stranger naked.
 

Who do you want to picture naked?
 

No one!

See? A little less lonely.
 

A little.
 

Sometimes I want to break our rule. The never going to meet or know each other rule. I feel like you are my only friend here.
 

I’m sure I’m not. Give it time. Things will look up.
 

That your way of saying we will never meet?

Maybe. I like the status quo.
 

Yeah, me too.

I wasn’t really sure what to say. I’d blown off any suggestion of meeting Nick, mainly because I was scared to. I didn’t want a relationship and the idea of meeting him and something going wrong scared me. I looked forward to our chats. If I knew him, or worse, didn’t like him, it’d take those away. I didn’t want to risk it.
 

Did I lose you?

No. I was washing my hair.
 

I didn’t like lying to him. Even that didn’t make sense to me. Why would I care about telling a white lie to a man I didn’t really know? But I didn’t want to tell him what I was thinking either.