Fate Intended (The Coulter Men Series Book 3) (2 page)

Mr. Perfect probably thought she was an idiot. She couldn’t think straight with him so near. How could she not realize what
stepped out of line
meant? Having him close made her brain work like pudding. She shook her head and grabbed an empty laundry bag from the hook. Turning to leave, she jumped at the shadow cast by a man in the doorway.

Trip smiled down at her. “That was quick.”

“Just had to drop off.”

“Well, I still feel bad. Let me buy you coffee?”

Jane chewed her cheek. She really needed to work, but she really wanted be with Mr. Perfect. Her heart fluttered. If she said no, she could miss her one opportunity. Jane pointed to the little break room across from the laundry room. “I suppose I could take a few minutes.”

“Excellent!” Trip allowed her to lead the way, but stepped ahead as they approached the coffee maker. He grabbed two cups and filled them both. “Cream or sugar?”

Jane shook her head.

Holding up the can of powdered non-dairy creamer, he grinned. “You sure, only the finest fake milk in DC?”

Jane laughed as she took the cup. “Black is good.”

Trip leaned against the counter. “I really am sorry about how Olivia treated you.”

Jane answered quietly, barely above a whisper, “You said that.”

“Yeah, but I really mean it.”

“I never doubted you,” Jane said, her eyes locked on her Converses again.

“It’s just that ‘sorry’ seems lame after all you went through.”

“I am unharmed.” She flashed him a quick smile, then offered, “It’s okay. You are forgiven for being in bad company, Mr.?”

“Trip. Rowan…actually, but I hate that name, so since I was a clumsy kid, my family called me Trip, and it stuck. So call me Trip. Trip Coulter.”

“Well, thank you for the apology. It repaired a horrible day.
Spa’ sibo,
Trip Coulter.”

Trip cocked his head, “You’re Russian? That was Russian, right?”

“Yes, I said thank you.”

“Your accent, it’s a little different.”

Jane nodded. “My mother was British, my father Russian. I grew up in London until I was eight, then to live with my father, then to college at Oxford.” Jane swallowed hard, then added, “In England.”

“Of course. Impressive. So, if you’ve been to Oxford…hmmm.”

“Why am I scrubbing toilets for bitchy women?” Jane smiled.

Trip shrugged. “Not that, just good to know you’re…well, you’re not…I mean, you’re an adult.”

“Of course! I turned twenty-three in June. I spent three years in school, and I have many hours to my credit, but no degree. I was never a very serious student. But being in school seemed like the adult thing to do.”

“I understand,” Trip said casually, then grinned and added, “No, that’s a lie. I was always a serious student. Never partied…too busy studying.”

“Oh, I never partied.” Jane shook her head. “Poppa would have brought me home fast. I just didn’t study. I suppose if I’d realized I would have to get a job later, I might have made better decisions. Funny how little I thought of ever having to work when I was a girl. I suppose I was a bit of a spoiled dreamer. Always a dreamer. Always a fool.”

“No, not a fool. Being a dreamer is a good thing. I think that’s part of the world’s problem…. Adults don’t dream enough. It’s like as a kid, you plan to be…to do…whatever it is you love. Because, as a kid, you don’t care about whether or not the money is good, or even if the idea makes sense…. You just know, you’re going to do it. But then, everyone tells you to grow up. Be sensible. And you do. You work…every day…doing what’s safe…then you realize: damn, life’s half over and I’m stuck.”

“You are stuck?”

“Hypothetically speaking. But let’s say I was stuck, but then, I got the chance to do what I want to do. Like it fell in my lap. I call that fate.”

“You believe in fate?” Jane asked softly.

“I guess. I mean, hell, I never dreamed my day would go the way it has, that I would follow you to the basement laundry and tell you crap that I couldn’t, in a million years, explain to Olivia. Which is really weird; but it feels natural.”

Jane swallowed. Her heart screeched,
YES! YES! I knew it. Fate made you for me!
Again, her lips made no sound, but she did manage a nod.

“So, you don’t think I’m crazy?”

“Oh, no. I think….” Jane moistened her lips and swallowed the heart that was trying to plant itself on her sleeve. “I believe you must live to be happy.”

“Yeah,” Trip echoed. “Got to do what feels right. What is right for the soul.”

“Exactly,” Jane agreed.

“I’m not sure if Olivia sees life that way.”

Jane wasn’t surprised. Olivia was an evil harlot. The only thing she knew about life was how to suck it from someone else’s soul. Titling her head to the right, Jane offered a little smile and an, “Oh?” She was shooting for a look of innocent curiosity—he wasn’t ready to know the hard truths.

“No, we definitely see things differently.” Trip shook his head slowly as if he was piecing the puzzle together. “As a matter of fact, that’s what we’re fighting about.”

“About life?”

“Sort of. You see, this summer, I spent a couple of weeks fishing with my brothers, and I realized: both of them are happy. I mean really happy. They love their wives, love their jobs. I mean if you gave them a magic wand, they’d change nothing. They’ve got it all. It got me thinking, am I happy? Well, I’m not unhappy, but I have to admit, to myself at least, that I’m not…”

“Excited?”

“Yes. Excited. Nothing in my life makes me eager to start a day.”

“And you want that?”

“Yeah, so I quit my job and started a new one. The pay’s half, I’ll have to be totally retrained, and it involves a lot of overseas travel.”

Trip leaned against the wall, so close his arm brushed against hers. She shoved her hands in her tunic pockets and willed herself not to pass out. All of this was almost too much for her hopeful heart to handle. She
knew
they shared a connection, and now...here he was…pouring his heart out to her, because she understood him. And no one else did. It took all of her might to say without an eager quiver in her voice, “These changes? They will make you happy?”

“I think so. I mean I haven’t felt this good in years, you know? You’d think me being happy would make Olivia happy, but she’s furious. Told me if I go through with
my insanity
, it’s over.”

“Oh.” Jane tried to hide the joy that bubbled through her. “So what will you do?”

“I’m sticking with my plan. And Olivia will either adjust or move on.”

Jane nodded as her mind sang—m
ove on, move on…to me!

Trip paced the hall. “It’s not just Liv. My decision has everyone pissed at me, but I can’t help how I feel. It’s
my
life, right? I have the right to be in control of it.”

“Yes!” Jane bounced on her heels. “You must…always follow your dreams.”

“Yeah! I refuse to quit living before I’ve ever even started. I don’t have to explain to people…it’s not like I have kids or a wife or…” He slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned.

“Worried about Ms. Higgins?” Jane offered. “I’m sure, eventually, that she’ll come to understand.”
Or not. Hopefully the latter.

“No, not her. It’s Eve. Damn.” He tugged at his floppy blond hair. “How the hell could I have forgotten about Eve?”

“Oh, I see,” Jane answered, her heart sinking to her toes.

Chapter 2

Her spirits sagged as she looked Trip over more critically. Her brows knitted together as she tried to imagine him as a womanizer. He didn’t seem the type, but honestly, she had no record for comparison. She’d never, in her twenty-three years, been on a date. As a matter of fact, with the exception of the one in front of her, no man ever made her want to take the time. She picked at the chipped plum paint on her thumb nail. “So, you have another girlfriend?”

Trip’s look of surprise by the question was instantly replaced with a grimace. “No. Not a girlfriend. Eve’s my new puppy.”

Jane had to stifle a happy dance, but she couldn’t control the grin that spread from one ear to the other. “Ahh, you have a puppy?”

“Yeah, and I was going to ask Olivia to dog sit, but she took the first part of the news so badly, she’d probably take my head off if I asked her for a favor. But then I guess I have to ask her, I don’t really have any other…”

“Leave her with that witch? The poor creature.” The words tumbled from her mouth and only stopped when she clasped a hand over her lips.

Trip’s laugh came like rapid fire.

Jane felt the heat of humiliation from head to toe. She had been doing so well, playing the game of appearing neutral.

Trip gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Oh, hell, don’t look guilty, she deserved that.”

“I still shouldn’t….”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re just being honest. I admire that.”

Jane nodded, removing the hand that covered her lips, but her eyes remained wide.

Trip studied the ceiling a moment before speaking. His words didn’t really seem to be directed at Jane; it was more like he was thinking aloud. “I hadn’t planned on getting a dog, but one day I left for work and there was this little dog rooting through my trash. It was like she came out of nowhere. I gave her the sandwich from my lunch and left her sleeping on my porch. When I came home, she was still there waiting for me.”

“Aha…Eve.”

“Exactly,” Trip said. “And just like the original Eve, she is causing complications. I don’t know what to do with her while I’m gone. I’d ask one of my brothers, but they live out of state, and there’s no time. My mother’s definitely
not
a dog person. I could call a kennel, but she’s so small.”

“I could keep her, if you trust me,” Jane asked, her voice timid, with just a touch of anxious quiver.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Trip answered with a shake of his head.

“Really, it’s no problem. It’s what I do; I help people…here in the building. I mean I clean and get laundry; sometimes even groceries. It’s really no big deal.”

“But it’s a pup, not a load of laundry. Pups can be a lot of work.”

Jane waved off his concern. “I know dogs. I have a little white poodle dog named Frosty. I’m sure he’d love the company.”

Trip’s eyes lit up. “You would seriously do this for me?” He barely waited for Jane to finish nodding her head before he added, “I’d be forever grateful, and I promise I’ll pay you.”

“No, really. We are now friends, no?”

“But it’s too much. This is definitely a family-level inconvenience I’m asking for. I’ll be gone three months.”

“Uh, well, I…I really don’t mind. I love puppies. Can you bring her by before you leave?”

“Well, she’s in my car, in the parking garage.”

“Oh, poor puppy!”

It was Trip’s turn to flush and look embarrassed. “She’s not been there long. I planned on bringing her up to L—”

Jane grabbed his arm to interrupt him. She didn’t want to hear the name
Livia
on his lips again. She was Olivia. Livia was a sweet person’s name…or a nickname given to a chum…and Jane didn’t want her to be either. “I trust she is fine. Can I meet her?”

“Yeah, I have to leave tonight. If that’s okay?”

Jane nodded. “Of course!”

“Man. Really?”

Jane nodded.

“Thank you.” He grabbed her hand and shook it. “You don’t know how much this helps me. And I mean it, I’ll pay you. Eve’s cute and all, but I know how much work she is.”

“I will enjoy it,” Jane assured. He kept hold of her hand, which made her heart beat quicker. And she would see him again! At least once, when he picked up the dog. Jane bit her lip to subdue a goofy smile. Her wild imagination raced as fantasies spun like cobwebs filling her eager brain. They would talk and laugh over stories about the dog. He would see how right they were for each other and see what a bitch Olivia was in comparison to her sweet self, and before she knew it, he would kiss her. A timid kiss, but one filled with passion. He would tell her how lucky he was to fall in love with her. Jane’s meanderings were interrupted when the hand he had latched onto was jerked toward the elevator. Her body followed.

As the doors opened, he dropped her hand and made the gentlemanly offer of letting her in the car first. The ride to the first floor was quiet. Jane pressed her body against the cool wall and wondered what it would be like if touching him was a natural condition, rather than a freak moment of emotion. She wanted that. She wanted to reach out and fix the piece of hair that was left sticking up after all his worrying.

But she couldn’t.

He wasn’t hers.

As the doors opened, he led her through the garage, telling her about his dog as he walked. How he called her Eve because she came out of nowhere.

“And I took her to the vet, but she’ll have to go back for the rest of her immunizations.” Trip’s pace slowed. “I never thought of that.” He seemed to lose some of his enthusiasm.

“If you have her record, I could take her to Frosty’s doctor. He is close by.”

Trip nodded. “Yeah, I brought it. And I mean it about the money. You won’t have to pay for anything. I really appreciate this. I’ve only had her a week, but she gets under your skin, you know?”

Jane nodded and felt her heart lurch. She completely understood loving someone you barely knew.

He unlocked his car door. Jane smiled at the Subaru sitting among all the Mercedes in the lot. Trip really did have his own humble style. As he pulled the door open, a wagging, whining bundle of fur wiggled its way from under a blanket. Trip scooped her up and turned her to Jane. She was a Beagle still young enough to have her puppy pot belly. From her floppy black ears to her black-tipped tail, Eve was adorable. No wonder Trip rescued her without hesitation.

Heck, Jane was already deep in puppy love at first sight.

Eve licked Trip’s cheek as he held her against his shoulder and scratched her ears. Looking down into the pup’s big brown eyes, he said, “Now, Eve, this is Jane. She’s going to take good care of you. What do you think of that?”

The dog whined and kept wagging her tail.

Jane reached out and scratched the dog’s chest. “Hi there.” Trip handed her over. Jane laughed when she, too, was bombarded with puppy kisses. Jane lifted her face out of range. Her laughter rang out in the hollow garage as Eve tried even harder to give her kisses. “She’s the most affectionate pup I ever met.”

Trip smiled as his eyes lingered on Jane for a moment. He shifted his weight and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against his car. “She definitely likes you.”

“Either that or I taste good.” Jane kissed the top of the dog’s head and hugged her a little closer. Trip stared at her a moment longer, then cleared his throat. Jane talked to the pup in purring tones.

Trip shifted again and rubbed the back of his neck. Clearing his throat, he said, “I, uh, really can’t thank you enough.”

Eve continued to lick at Jane’s chin. Jane had to strain her neck to avoid getting French kissed by the pooch. “She is so sweet. I think we will be good friends.”

“I think I may get jealous.”

“Oh, silly, she will still love you. I promise.” Jane giggled and tucked the pup against her body with her tail under her arm. Eve whined and wiggled, looking at her temporary mistress.

Trip rubbed his jaw and mumbled, “Wasn’t her liking you that I was jealous of.”

“Pardon?” Jane asked, unable to make out his words.

Trip’s cheeks flushed and his attempt at replacing his original comment came with a bit of a stutter. “I said you must be sweet?”

His comments filtered into her mind slowly, almost escaping cognition. As they made sense to her, she couldn’t help but let out a little squeal. “Oh, you are a sugar talker, Trip Coulter.”

“Sorry. That was….” Trip ran a nervous hand through his hair.

Jane bounced on her heels. She wasn’t an expert, but she was pretty sure he was flirting with her, and she definitely wanted him to know it was fine with her. She added quickly, “No. Don’t feel bad. You can sugar talk me; I don’t mind.”

“Sweet talk,” Trip said as he stared down at Jane. A quiet study of each other passed between them. Trip broke the silence with a quiet declaration. “Scratch that. Sugar talk is better. Much more you.”

“Sweet talk, yes, sweet talk. I am not so smart about your phrases, but I like them. They are fun. I like to learn them, but mess them up so much.”
Especially when you’re around and my brain is slow
, she thought.

“You’re actually, very good. Very impressive.”

“Why, thank you. And thank you for letting me watch your puppy.”

“I’d be in a major bind without your help. And I hate to have to run off, but I have to catch my flight,” he said, looking at his watch, “son of a bitch…in two hours. I didn’t realize how late it was. I better get going.”

“I hope this job is good for you.”

Trip’s face softened. “I think it will. Thank you, Jane. I really am in your debt.”

Jane nuzzled the pup against her cheek. She avoided looking at him. She feared her eyes would betray her hope that he would repay the debt with his heart. That was all she wanted from him. She peeked up at him as he shook his head. Before she could wonder what he was thinking, he took two steps closer and cradled her face in his hands. His thumb stroked her cheek. “You really are something else…. I have to do this….” Taking a deep breath, the pressure of his hands increased ever so slightly as he pulled her closer. Before she could imagine what he planned, he landed a quick kiss, smack on her lips. Jane experienced a flutter that left her warm and slightly weak in the legs and mind.

That was the most tantalizing peck she’d ever dreamed of.

He let go of her and stepped away. “For good luck.”

Jane nodded, swallowed hard, and prayed her rubbery knees could hold up the rest of her.

Trip kept moving backward toward his car. “Wow, you have the prettiest eyes. I can’t believe I never noticed them before today.”

“I, uh.” Jane didn’t know what to say. Her cheeks felt hot as fire. She took a deep breath and tried to keep from passing out.

Trip stopped, hand suspended above his door handle. “Oh, money. He pulled out his wallet and handed Jane a card. “Here. This is my debit card.”

Jane pushed his hand away. “No, no. You can’t do that.”

“It’s the only thing I can do. You’ll need money for the vet, and for food. I can’t even guess how much it’ll cost. You take it.” He wrote on a scrap of paper. “This is my pin and my email. Maybe you could send me updates on Eve? Maybe I could even talk you into sending me pictures?”

“Of course. But to give me this?” Jan held out the debit card.

“I trust you. Besides, even if you cleaned me out, you’ll only get what’s in my bank account. And that kiss was worth that.”

Jane shook her head. “Are you always this crazy, Trip Coulter?”

Trip laughed. The sound echoed. “No, never. But I gotta tell ya, I feel like my life is on the verge of something really good.”

“I think you are too.” Jane eagerly agreed.

He tapped the tip of her nose with his index finger. “You seem to be the only one who believes in me. And you don’t even know me.”

Jane flushed as her heart tripped over itself. “I just think everyone’s dreams should come true.”

“Thank you, Jane. You are the sweetest.”

As compulsively as a child who gets a gift of a lifetime, Trip grabbed her and gave her a hug, squeezing her body into his. Jane thought she might pass out from the constriction his grip put on her lungs and the dizzy feeling hope sent to her head. “I hate to go. I feel like I could talk to you all night, but I have to catch that plane. I guess I’ll see you in three months?”

She nodded silently, her euphoria dampening with the reality—he was leaving.

“You will email, right?” he asked.

“Of course,” Jane promised.

Jane watched dumbstruck and barely able to manage even the little wave her hand somehow produced as he climbed into his car and drove away. She took her first breath as his tail lights disappeared around the corner of the garage.

She knew it! He did long for adventure! She was right about everything. Her dreams were vindicated. But, she wouldn’t tell him that right now. He’d think she bypassed crazy and headed straight for Looney Town.

She’d wait and tell him all about it on their honeymoon.