Her Perfect Man (7 page)

He was gone before she could say more.

Seated at a table in front of
Ouzo
Charlie glanced surreptitiously at his watch and tried not to look like a pathetic guy who’d been stood up. Kim should have been here twenty minutes ago. Was she just running late or had she blown him off?

Maybe he’d been too pushy yesterday afternoon.

Kim hadn’t really wanted this date with him.

Maybe you weren’t pushy enough.
That’s what Kevin would have said. His older brother, a font of wisdom on the subject of women.
See, that’s what women really want—a man who takes charge. Forget all that feminist, egalitarian crap. That’s what they say, but a woman would rather have a guy who knows what he wants—even if he is a bit of an asshole—than some wishy-washy twerp who’s too worried about being politically correct to even make a move.

Charlie could almost see his brother Kevin seated across the table—his blond hair, his square-jawed face, his killer smile. Lady-killer smile. He’d grin as he said all this, keeping his voice low enough so that women seated nearby would strain to hear him. Being a bit of an asshole himself and knowing women would want him anyway.

That’s your problem, Chuckles,
Kev would say.

You’re too nice. Too polite. Women don’t want a gentleman, not really. They want the alpha male.

Alpha all the way, baby.
Then he’d thump his chest like a caveman and both of them would laugh.

But even while he laughed at his brother’s bullshit, Charlie would wonder how much of the bullshit Kev actually believed.

Charlie knew there was a kernel of truth to what Kevin might say. In high school and even college, instead of being the “gay friend,” Charlie often found himself in the role of “guy friend.” The sounding board, the safe buddy a girl could turn to when her boyfriend was acting like an ass. She might come to him in tears, asking,
Why’s he being this way?
Or,
How come he hasn’t called?
And since Charlie owned a penis, they expected him to explain the dickishness of his fellow males.

When all he really wanted to say was, “He’s an idiot. Why don’t you dump him and go out with me?”

Things had eventually evened out, and Charlie’d had his share of girlfriends. Some might take him for too much of a “Mr. Nice Guy,” but he was who he was. And he was fine with it. He wasn’t interested in getting into pissing contests or trying to prove he had a bigger dick than the next guy.

That didn’t mean he was a doormat. Or a masochist. So if Kim refused to show tonight, he wouldn’t pursue her. If she wasn’t brave enough to face him sober, outside of the bedroom, then they had no chance for a relationship.

But when he thought of their tussle yesterday in her apartment, his cock stirred and he hoped like hell she’d show up. He checked his watch one last time. He’d give her five more minutes.

****

Kim agreed to be at
Ouzo
by six-thirty but arrived almost twenty minutes late. Charlie already sat at a table outside, nursing a beer. He gave a little grin when she slid onto the seat across from him. “I was wondering if you were going to stand me up.” “What?” Kim asked, pretending to be surprised.

“Of course not.”
Liar.
She’d been tempted to do just that, going back and forth about it all day. The dithering made her even less useful at work than usual, earning her a royal bitching out from Snotface.

Finally, she decided to show for two reasons.

One, if she stood Charlie up, he’d know how chickenshit she was about this whole
dating
thing.

Two, she hoped to convince him to sex her up again, and no way would that happen if she pissed him off.

“Ooo-kay,” he murmured, clearly not believing her. Hoping to change the topic, she eyed the menu in front of her. “Looks good. Cute place. Ever been here before?”

“No, but a friend told me it’s good. Do you like Greek food?”

“Sure.” A brief silence followed as Kim pretended to read the menu. She could feel Charlie staring at her.

“Kinda silly for us to drive here separately,” he said. “Considering we live in the same building.”

“Oh, well,” Kim said airily. “I didn’t want to put you out.” Which made no sense whatsoever, but she couldn’t let him know the real reason she hadn’t wanted to ride with him. She’d have felt trapped.

Suffocated. Not that she distrusted Charlie. But she felt safer, knowing she had her own vehicle. If things went bad, she could get away.

“Uh-huh. You wouldn’t be planning to make a trip to the ladies’ room and sneaking out on me, would you?”

“What?” She gaped in genuine shock. “You think I’d do that?”

He shrugged, and when he did, Kim’s heart bumped. She’d caressed those broad shoulders, held them. “I hope not. But it wouldn’t be the first time someone did.”

“For real?”

“Oh, yeah. This blind date I went on once, as soon as we’d finished eating, she told me she had to use the powder room. Well, twenty minutes later I’m still sitting there. I asked the waitress to check the bathroom for me and my date was long gone.”

“Oh, man. That sucks.” She couldn’t believe some bitch would do that to him. “Well, the same thing happened to me. Except he told me he wanted to go out for a quick smoke. He never came back.

And stuck me with the bill.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, and it was no blind date, either. He was my supposed boyfriend. Not surprisingly, we broke up after that.”

“Well, of course.”

Of course. Except it took another two months of repeated crappy treatment for Kim to pull the plug on that relationship. But no way would she tell Charlie
that
and really look like a loser.

An unexpected spurt of anger shot through her.

Why the hell should she care what
my-friends-call-me Charlie
thought? Who was he, Mr. Perfect?

But he never claimed to be. So why did she feel on edge with him? And who, exactly, was she angry at? Charlie? Herself? The loser boyfriend whose name she’d long since forgotten?

Why did he make her so nervous?

When the waitress arrived, Kim asked for a plain iced tea—no alcohol for her, not for the next decade or so. They ordered souvlaki platters and fried calamari for an appetizer. Just as she handed the server her menu, she glanced across the street and saw Adam Vostek sitting at a table outside Hanover’s restaurant.

Shit
. She must have said the word aloud without realizing, because Charlie blinked at her in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I…I just…no.” She shook her head, her heart thudding sickly. What the hell? Did God have it in for her or what? What were the chances of something like this happening? It was crazy.

Maybe not so crazy. Summit was not a huge city, and Second Street was home to plenty of cute shops and popular eateries, places people liked to congregate. But still. Shit.

A horrible thought occurred to her. If she could see him, then he could certainly see her as well.

Cursing under her breath, she dug around in her handbag and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.

Charlie watched her, mystified, as she grabbed the wine list. Pretending to study it, she hid the lower half of her face.

“Did you want wine?” His voice buzzed in her ears, muffled by her thumping heart.

“What? No…I mean, maybe…it looks interesting.”

But she needn’t have bothered with her half-assed disguise. Adam didn’t notice her at all. He was completely focused on the blonde sitting with him.

Charlie hooked his finger over the wine list and pushed it lower, revealing Kim’s face. He no longer appeared confused. Now he looked irritated. “What’s going on? And don’t tell me nothing,” he added when she opened her mouth to deny it. “What’s with the Mata Hari act?”

He twisted in his chair, following her gaze to zero in on Adam and his girl. “Do you know them?”

“I know him,” she admitted, glum. She slid the wine list back in its holder. No need to be self-conscious. She could sit here naked, and Adam wouldn’t turn his head. He only had eyes for his date.

“Oh.” The way he said that one word let her know he understood everything. “Old boyfriend, huh?”

“I’m not sure.” The word
boyfriend
implied a certain level of romance that had never really been part of their relationship. “I don’t exactly know what you’d call what we had.”

They both looked again at the couple outside Hanover’s. Adam was so engrossed in his partner that a bomb could go off and he wouldn’t notice. He’d never looked at Kim that way.

Charlie’s lips were compressed and something flashed in his eyes. Anger, yes, and something else.

Jealousy? Nah. Her imagination was on overload. No one had ever been jealous over her. No one had ever cared enough.

“They look pretty tight,” Charlie observed. “Who is she?”

“I don’t know her name. But I recognize her face.

I found a picture of her once in his bedside drawer.”

“Hmm.” He looked none too pleased at the information. Maybe because he realized just how close she and Adam had been for her to have access to his bedroom. “A guy holds on to a woman’s picture like that, he’s still hung up on her.”

“Yeah, I know. I knew the minute I saw it.”

When she found the blonde’s photo, Kim knew deep down she had no chance of a future with Adam.

Why hadn’t she cut her losses then and just walked away? Because she was a true glutton for punishment. She had to wait until she got kicked to the curb.

Charlie’s voice sliced through her memories.

“Cut him loose, Kim. You deserve better.”

That startled her. How did he know what she deserved
?

“I’ve been cut loose,” she told him, her voice flat.

“He took care of that.”

“His loss, then.”

“What?” Kim couldn’t stop watching Adam and his blonde. He held her hand across the table and looked so comfortable doing it. He’d never held her hand like that, never cuddled or kissed her unless it was part of foreplay.

A wave of sadness passed over her. She wanted somebody to look at
her
that way. Someone who’d reach for her hand in public, without embarrassment, not caring who watched.

“God,” she murmured. “She’s so
pretty
.”

Kim’s heart sagged like a beach ball leaking air.

She could never compete with that. “I wonder what they’re saying.”

“Too bad you can’t read lips,” Charlie clipped out. She cut her eyes at him. His mouth flattened in a grim line. He was mad?

“Kim. You’re supposed to be having dinner with me
. But if you’re more interested in your ex-whatever-he-was, I’ll be happy to leave you alone with him. Or should I say
them
. I certainly wouldn’t want to get in the way of your little spy routine.”

“I’m not spying,” she said, her face hot.

“I don’t like talking to a pair of sunglasses.

Would you kindly take those silly things off so I can see your face?” Even through her darkened lenses, she recognized a man making a supreme effort to hold on to his temper.

“Fine.” She removed the glasses and set them on the table.

He was silent for a long uncomfortable moment.

“Would you like me to leave?”

“No. Of course not. Look, I’m sorry.”

He relaxed a bit at her apology. “I’m sorry, too.

It’s an awkward situation.”

She snorted. “For sure.”

“If you want, we can ask for the souvlaki to go and eat at my place.”

His place
. Flames licked over her at the thought of what else they could do at his place. Then she frowned. If they left now, she’d be running away.

She and Adam were bound to run into each other in public sometimes. Was she going to crawl away every time that happened?

Hell. To. The. No.

Adam hadn’t noticed her yet. Maybe he wouldn’t, as caught up as he was with his girl. But
if he did
, by God he’d see her having fun, enjoying her life. Not mooning over him.

“No. Let’s stay.”

Charlie nodded. The waitress brought their appetizer and they chatted while they ate, although Kim kept up her end of the conversation on autopilot. As much as she wanted to give her
date her full attention, her mind kept wandering to the couple across the street.

And she didn’t fool Charlie one bit. As he offered her the last piece of the appetizer, he said, “They’re gone.”

For a minute, she thought he meant the calamari. Then her head swiveled to scan the tables in front of Hanover’s. That table was empty.

“They left a while ago,” he told her.

“That was fast.”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t even stay for the main course,” Kim said.

“Guess they had something more interesting in mind.”

“Guess so.” Charlie gazed at her, his eyes soft with sympathy. But she didn’t need sympathy. She wasn’t sad, really. Or mad. Just kind of numb.

“How long ago did he break it off?” he asked.

She sighed. “Two days.”

His eyebrows lifted briefly. “Oh.” He gave that some thought. “Guess that makes me Rebound Guy, huh?”

Kim didn’t answer. She had no idea what to say.

“That’s all right.” Something hard glinted in his eyes. “I’m not scared.”

She smiled. “That’s right. You don’t scare easy.

You teach Middle School.”

“Damn straight.” The waitress brought their dinners and they dug in hungrily. There was little conversation as they ate. Their earlier sparring had sharpened their appetites.

Charlie wiped his mouth when he finished his plate and laid the napkin on the table. “It’s my turn now.”

“Turn for what?” Kim asked, her fork poised halfway to her mouth.

“To issue a challenge.” He smiled, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

Kim scowled. “Oh, yeah?” She popped the forkful of lamb into her mouth and chewed furiously.

Her frown didn’t put him off. “Well, it worked before. It got you here, didn’t it?”

She swallowed her mouthful. “You think I’m that easy to play?”

“I’m not trying to play with you, Kim. I told you, I want to know you better.”