Promise Me (23 page)

"That's my girl."

That was a couple of hours ago, so, in the guise of wanting to give him a chance to ride it, I volunteered to give him a ride to his restaurant. In reality, I was being a little selfish since I wanted to be able to spend as much time with him as possible.

I get up off the bed reluctantly, clutching the towel around me and walk to his closet, where he's currently standing with a towel wrapped around his waist eyeing up his clothes.

"I don't mind at all. It gives me an excuse to spend more time with you," I say to him while leaning against the frame of the closet door.

He turns his head to look me over. His eyes examine me from head to toe in appreciation and the corners of his lips curl up just slightly before he abandons the clothing search and comes to stand before me.

Without even touching me his words envelope me in warmth. "You're making this extremely difficult on me, baby."

I tilt my head and smile at his use of his pet name for me. I was never overly fond of pet names, but coming from him, I never want to hear him call me anything else.

"I'm sorry," I say to him, "I'll go get dressed."

When I shove off the doorframe, he captures my hand and pulls me back to him and starts to kiss me. Mourning the loss of his lips, his eyes search mine longingly for a moment before he speaks.

"I would rather spend the rest of the night here in this bed with you. If I could, I would make it so you wouldn't have to leave tonight or tomorrow for that matter. I wish that I could make those things happen right now more than anything."

Smiling at his words, I get up on my tip toes and brush his lips softly against mine. "I wish you could too."

He kisses me one last time and I let out a contended sigh then set off to get dressed. About a half hour later, I stroll into the living room area to find him thumbing through his cell phone. When I approach him, he lifts his head and looks me over then pockets the phone and asks if I'm ready. I'm too busy ogling him in his black dress pants and charcoal grey button down shirt to vocalize anything, so I just nod.

The drive there doesn't take that long but the whole time I'm dreading the impending goodbye. My stomach is in knots while I steal a quick glance at him sitting in the passenger seat. Since we hadn't discussed anything further than the ride here, I pull up as closely as I can to the restaurant and brace myself. While staring out at the road before me, I see Tyler's hand take one of mine off the steering wheel. I tilt my head to look at him as he's bringing it to his lips and pressing them softly across the backside of my hand. Shifting fully in my seat to face him, he reaches out with his other hand to tuck some hair behind my ear.

"Do you want to come in for a minute?" He asks while stroking my cheek with his thumb.

I hesitate before answering because the tears are right there on the cusp of falling over and would make this goodbye seem like something out of a Lifetime TV movie. The pessimist in me is starting to take over my thoughts on this whole situation. I was fine a few hours ago, but now, the reality of the distance that will be between us is disheartening. I take a quick gulp of air to keep it in check and say yes.

"What's the matter?" He asks.

"Us."

He eyes me warily as his body stiffens slightly. "What about us?"

It takes me a second or two, but I finally admit it. "I don't want to go."

"Then don't."

Is he serious? Didn't he just tell me the other night that he doesn't really do relationships? I stay silent while my heart battles the logical thoughts that keep me from just saying okay to him. God knows I want to, more than anything, but eventually the logical wins out. Even if he was joking about not leaving, which I can't tell if he was or not, I tread carefully in my response.

"These have been the best few days of my life, Tyler. But, it's not that easy... I wish it was, but it isn't. My whole life is there. I can't just pick up and leave after three days. Everyone will think I'm nuts... that we're nuts. I mean, this is nuts... well it's not, sort of, but still. And..."

I stop talking when his finger presses against my lips cutting me off.

"Baby, this isn't nuts, but I get it." He sighs heavily keeping a watchful eye on me at the same time.

"Look, I'm not going to sit here and lie to you that the distance doesn't bother me too. It does. A lot. But, who says we have to figure this all out today? I told you that I'm kind of new to all of this, so you're going to have to put up with me while we both figure this out together. Okay?"

His finger taps playfully against my bottom lip and my mouth opens to say something but he beats me to it.

"Before those perfect, delectable lips of yours say anything else, all you need to be certain of is this: I'm not letting you just up and walk out my life after finding you again." He pauses and takes his finger away to kiss me and keep me from talking. His tactic is working since I can't think clearly when his lips are on mine.

"Now, I'll make you deal," he offers with a sly smile on his face when he pulls back within an inch away from my mine, knowing full well the effect he has on me. "You let me worry about how this is going to work... because it's going to work if it kills me."

"Okay," I say way too breathy and embarrassingly so.

"Why don't you come in for a minute?"

"Okay."

Tyler chuckles at my use of the word "okay" twice in as many seconds then steps out of the car and waits for me on the sidewalk. When I reach him, he takes my hand in his and laces our fingers together before leading me to the entrance. There are only a few people here since the restaurant isn't open yet for the night. A couple of them give quick glances our way and go back to whatever it is they were doing before we walked in.

"My office is back that way," he says motioning with his other hand to the far end of the restaurant.

I have no idea what he needs me to see in his office, so I just let him lead me through the bar area. I'm taking in all the decor that I really wasn't able to appreciate last night when a man's hurried voice calls out, "Tyler, thank God you're here. We've got a problem with the delivery from earlier today."

Tyler curses under his breath, stops walking and turns us around to see where the voice is coming from. A handsome, older man with a frustrated look in his eyes is stalking towards us. I'm guessing this must be the famous "Jimmy" he's told me about. He's dressed nicely with a pair of dark slacks and sky blue button down dress shirt, carrying a stack of papers in his hand. He's about to start talking and then notices me standing next to Tyler and stops suddenly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were busy."

"Don't worry about it, Jimmy," Tyler says and starts to introduce us. "Sabrina, this is Jimmy, my right hand man. Jimmy, this is Sabrina... my friend I was telling you about."

I catch him with a stunning smile as the description escapes his lips and it makes me momentarily forget my manners. Flustered, I put my hand out to shake Jimmy's, "Nice to meet you finally. I've heard a lot about you."

"All lies, I'm sure," Jimmy chuckles and takes my hand in his. "Hello, Sabrina, I'm so sorry, but can I borrow him for a minute or two."

"Oh, sure," and I sneak a peek at Tyler when he asks Jimmy to give us a second.

"I'll be at the bar," he says then turns to me with a friendly smile. "It was very nice to meet you, Sabrina."

Tyler turns around and I follow him when he walks towards one of two doors in the very back of the restaurant. He takes his keys out to unlock the door and turns on the lights. His office space has basic furniture with just a few stark personal touches here and there, nothing fancy.

"I'll be right back, okay," he says just before he kisses me on my cheek and leaves.

As soon as he disappears from my sight, my mind goes into hyper-drive mode. What the hell does 'friend I was telling you about' even mean? This should make me a little happy because he's talking to someone about me, but just a couple of days ago he was telling me that he's not use to relationships… or a girlfriend. The word alone is almost exotic to me and makes me even more anxious than before. I haven't been a "girlfriend" to anyone in so long that I'm not even sure what that entails anymore. I realize that it seems silly that a twenty-eight year old grown woman doesn't know the first thing of how to be in a relationship with someone. A long distance relationship one, at that, but it's the sad truth. I already know I'm falling for him, which is half the battle, I think. Who am I kidding, the way I'm feeling, I've already fallen flat on my ass for him.

I go to take a seat in one of the chairs facing the dark oak desk and dig through my purse for my cell phone. I'm in the middle of sending a text to my mom to let her know my arrival time when a woman's voice from behind me makes me stop.

"Look who's here."

The hairs on the back of my neck stand at the sound of Ava's voice. Before I turn around, I already hate the fact that I'm not dressed for this Mexican standoff of sorts. My selection of comfort over beauty due to a long drive ahead of me won out earlier. So, the low rise jeans, distressed Blondie t-shirt and my favorite pair of black Converse sneakers are not exactly prime battle armor right now.

When she comes into view, her ruby red lips curl up in an almost snarl while she leans in the doorway and puts one hand on her hip. For a woman I know I don't like at all, I hate to have to admit she's gorgeous. Her black dress pants ride low on her hips, while her black fitted dress shirt is tucked to reveal that hour-glass figure that rivals Marilyn Monroe's. Her brown hair is swept up in a ponytail with a slight poof, accentuating her striking blue eyes and high cheek bones. I study her closely while conjuring up images of her being doused with water and melting to the ground, leaving only her steaming clothes behind before she starts talking again.

"I don't think I've ever seen Tyler bring one of his girls here. You must be
special
," she says with a lilt in her tone.

"What do you want from me, Ava?" I ask quickly and put my phone on Tyler's desk to give her my full attention.

She smiles as she drops her arm from her hip and pushes off the door to sit in the chair opposite me. Crossing her legs so that one can dangle precariously within inches of my shin, she leans back as if she hadn't a care in the world. I can't fool myself, this is bad. Not like I had enough to worry about with the logistics of a long distance relationship, but to know that she is here and I'm not... it's really bad.

"He's got you fooled, doesn't he? Tyler's never been in a serious relationship. He's more of a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy. You are no different."

She scrutinizes my face carefully to make sure her words have left their mark as she uncrosses her legs and leans forward. And they most definitely have. My heart drops and my palms start to sweat as I think of some of the things he's told me in an almost panic: He doesn't want to see me walk out of his life; he's going to kill himself trying to make this work between us. Why would he lie to me? He has nothing to gain by stringing me along especially since I don't even live in the same freaking state.

"Did I hit a nerve?" She asks in a concerned voice that is laced heavily with amusement. She smiles and waits for me to say something, anything. I would like to say a lot of things to her at this moment, but all of them would give her the satisfaction she is trying to achieve. Instead, I opt for the cool as a cucumber approach, even though it takes all of me to not smack the stupid smile off her face.

"It looks more like I'm the one who strikes a nerve," I say as I mimic her slightly by leaning back in my chair and crossing my legs. "If not, you wouldn't be in here looking as desperate as you do right now."

"Keep telling yourself that, if it helps," she shoots back evenly.

My cell phone vibrates on Tyler's desk and Ava eyes dart over at the noise at the same time mine do and see that it's a text from Alex. I curse my iPhone for previewing texts on a locked screen since it reads as clear as day his text for the world to see.

Dinner date when you get back?

Why did he have to pick this exact moment to text me? All he had to do was wait a few more minutes. But no. I could never be that lucky. That would be asking for too much.

"Does Tyler know about this Alex person?" She asks way too interested for my liking. "Looks like someone isn't so saintly after all if you're stringing men along like this."

Her smile deepens and she tilts her head to the side, glancing momentarily at the phone then back to me. Keeping her eyes trained on mine she takes her hand and smoothly runs it over the surface of the desk, stopping just short of caging me in on one side.

"You can pretend all you want that you're special to him, but trust me, as soon as you leave, he'll go right back to doing what he does best."

"And what's that?"

She lets out a hasty laugh and then says, "Honey, if you have to ask, then I really feel sorry for you."

Most definitely jealousy has reared its ugly head and I'm reeling.

Score one, for Ava.

"Please, just leave," I faintly say focusing my attention on the desk instead of her.