The Makeover (6 page)

“Dude, are you serious about this Daria shit?”

He frowned up at Ben. “Of course.”

“So you won’t mind if I ask Mykal out?”

Actually h
e did mind, but he couldn’t come up with a legitimate reason for objecting. So he shrugged. “That’s fine.” But he sincerely hoped Mykal turned him down.

“Great.” He slapped him on the shoulder. “So you’ll set that up for me
, right?”

Greg suppressed a groan. “Sure.”
It was only after he agreed that he recalled the girl Ben had brought to his house. “What about Michelle?”

“Who?” Ben asked.

He rolled his eyes. “The girl you brought here tonight.”

“Oh, that’s not serious. We hook up when the mood strikes.”

“Mykal’s not that kind of girl.”

“They’re all that kind of girl on occasion.”

“Ben, she’s just coming off a bad breakup-”

“I don’t need her history from you. I’ll learn all I need to know about her when you set us up, all right?”

Greg sighed and then forced himself to drop the topic. If he kept pressing, it woul
d only make Ben more obstinate. He turned to Max and gestured toward the television. “Mind if I take over?”

***

After working out at Greg’s, Mykal returned to her house to shower. She bathed quickly since Greg would be over after showering at his place. She was just fastening her jeans when the doorbell rang. Tugging on her t-shirt, she jogged down the stairs and let him inside. They hadn’t talked much while they were working out since he was concentrating on his breathing, but she had told him a bit about her job. Greg was a good listener. He’d nodded as she rambled on about her day. Though he didn’t say much, she could tell from his eyes that he was really hearing her.

She led him into her kitchen and she asked him about his game ideas
. She could tell he was really passionate about gaming. His light blue eyes sparkled and he used lots of hand gestures. They’d cooked dinner and were sitting down at her dining table before he stopped. His cheeks colored. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to go on for so long.”

Admittedly, she wasn’t into gaming, but she’d enjoyed listening to him. “It’s fine. I can tell you really love it.”

He sipped his water. “Daria never wanted to hear about it.”

The more she heard about Daria, the more she wondered at his
determination to win her back. The woman wasn’t good enough for him. Fearing that discussing her would lead to an argument, she asked, “Do you need help painting?”

He shook his head and his too long hair swished back and forth. “I’ve done a couple of them already. And my friends volunteered to help me with the last two.” He put down his fork and cleared his throat. “Um, by the way, Ben really liked you. He was wondering if you’d like to go out.”

Ben was a handsome enough guy in a burly sort of way. But he’d impressed her as the type of guy who was his own number one fan. She didn’t like cocky guys. She liked her men intelligent and sweet, almost shy. “As you know, I just got out of a relationship. I’m not ready to start dating again. Besides, since he’s a friend of yours, it’s not a good idea. If it blew up, because we’re neighbors, I’d still have to see him after.” Appearing relieved, Greg nodded eagerly. It made her suspect he’d never wanted her to accept in the first place.

“Thank you for dinner. As you can tell, it was delicious.” He tilted up his empty plate for her to see. “You’re quite the cook.”

She shrugged. “Cooking was always been a family affair in my house.”

“My mom did all the cooking and cleaning. I didn’t even enter a kitchen until I got my own place.”

“Oh, so you’re spoiled.”

He shrugged. “I was an only child.
My dad died when I was young. My mom was this amazing dynamo. All I had to do was keep my room decent and keep my grades up. That’s all she asked of me. She passed away a few months ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

He nodded. “Anyway, I’ve learned to fend for myself.
Mostly with junk food, but that’s in my past. This is twice you’ve cooked for me. I owe you a meal.”

Scared of what she might get, she immediately shook her head. “You don’t have to.”

“No, I insist.”

Mykal bit her lip. She’d have to arrive early to guide him through it. How bad could it be? “Okay. I look forward to it.”

He laughed. “Yeah, right. You look like you’re looking forward to it with about the same amount of enthusiasm as you would a root canal. Don’t worry. I’m not perfect like you, but I can read a recipe.”

He thought she was perfect? That was sweet but so wrong. If she were perfect, then Mario wouldn’t have cheated on her at the first opportunity.
No matter how many times she told herself that she was not to blame for his weakness of character, she couldn’t help wondering what she’d done wrong that he hadn’t loved her enough to be faithful. She stood and gathered up their plates. Greg got the glasses. “Tell you what, I’ll stick around after our workout and help you. It’ll be fun.”

“I’m not going to argue.”

They cleaned her kitchen together. She convinced Greg to
hang out and watch a movie with her. She curled up on one end of her couch while he sprawled comfortably on the other end. “So, Greg, tell me what makes Daria special? What makes her worth this effort?”

He gave a husky laugh and pushed his hands through his hair. “This effort may be entirely wasted. She may not want me back no matter what I do.” He paused, the sparkle in his eyes dimming a little. “I think I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. There was just something special about her. You couldn’t help but watch her. She has the type of charisma that causes her to naturally be at the center of attention. She’s also smart and determined. When she wants something, she’s tenacious. And, of course, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever been with.”

Mykal had always considered herself to be a romantic at heart. Maybe her recent experience with Mario made her biased, but she didn’t think that winning Daria back would be a good thing for Greg. She only hoped he realized that when the time came.

Chapter Four

“I read somewhere that music increases your workout performance,” Mykal announced about two weeks into their sessions. Greg didn’t argue. He could use the motivation. Five minutes on the elliptical felt like an hour. And there were some days when he thought he’d be willing to fight for a slice of cheesy pizza. He used to dream about sex. Last night he had a dream about eating a hamburger with large fries and a chocolate shake. The sad thing was that he became filled with such guilt that when he’d awakened, it had been an hour before he recalled that he hadn’t actually eaten the burger.

The reason for his exaggerated guilt was currently thumbing through his mp3 player and frowning. Mykal was working so hard to help him. He didn’t understand it, her working so hard to help him with his love life. A few weeks ago, they’d never exchanged more than a nod if they both happened to be outside.
He couldn’t have correctly identified her outside of her yard if his life had depended upon it. Now his main motivator was that he didn’t want to let her down.

Sighing, Mykal put his player down. “I think I have at least an hour of music on my phone.”

He frowned. “Is something wrong with my player?”

“Yeah, it’s full of sucky music.”

“Hey!” he objected. “There are some fine tunes up there.”

“It’s a mix of crap I’ve never heard of, country,
rap and heavy metal.”

He blinked. “You didn’t find anything you liked in there?”

“Nope.” She dug through her purse and came out with her phone.

“Wait. Suppose I don’t like your music?”

“Tough. It’s my gym. Deal with it.”

He choked. They were standing in
the middle of his workout room. But then she flashed him a smile as she connected her phone to a portable speaker.
Damn
, he thought to himself. He was a sucker for a pretty face. Maybe he should be getting some therapy for that. As pop music flooded the room, he shook his head.

They began as always with stretches and he found a safe spot over Mykal’s shoulder
on which to focus. She had a killer figure and her fitness bra and tight little shorts did nothing to hide her assets. He wore loose shorts and a long t-shirt and he was still worried she might spot his boner.

“So you’re really into pop, huh?” he asked as another enthusiastic girl anthem began.

She laughed.
“I like several types of music. I chose my upbeat playlist. Don’t you just want to dance to this?” She had her hands over her head and she suddenly did a sexy shimmy that caused her full breasts to jiggle. The move also had him almost swallowing his tongue.

“Maybe if I could dance,
” he managed to say despite the rapid evacuation of blood cells fleeing his brain for regions south of his waistband.

She grinned. “I’ll teach you later. Women love a guy who knows how to move his hips.”

He almost groaned. Dance with Mykal? Have his hands on her while she made more moves like the one she’d just done? It sounded like pure torture to his sex-starved male brain.

***

Mykal glanced up as Greg’s fork clattered onto his plate. They’d pre
pared dinner at her house tonight. It was her first time preparing artichoke hearts and she thought it’d turned out pretty well. They’d just been discussing movies, trying to decide what they’d watch after dinner. Greg’s mouth hung open in what appeared to be shock. “Is something wrong?” she asked as he simply stared at her.

“Mykal, I-I just can’t believe you’ve never seen
Star Wars
!”

She shrugged. “It’s a long movie and then they added more movies to the series. I’m just too far behind to catch up. If it makes you feel better, I’ve never seen
Gone with the Wind
or any of the Godfather movies either.”

“Because they’re too long? What’s your time limit for movies?”

“Certainly under two hours. I’ve got stuff to do.”

He laughed. “Sitting is such a burden, huh? You’d never do well at gaming.”

She wrinkled her nose. “No, I wouldn’t. I don’t do well with the controls. You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to learn how to drive.”

“Yet
, you can dance.”

“Like nobody’s business. And I’m going to teach you
enough to get you on the dance floor.”

“Why the hell did I bring that up? I don’t need to know how to dance.”

“We’re going to bump into Daria at a club. Don’t be shy. We’ll take it slow.” She drained her wine glass. “And since you’re only growing more anxious about it, maybe
we should just get this over with now.” She wiped her mouth with her napkin and stood.

He looked up at her. “Shouldn’t we clean this up first?”

She held a hand out to him. With a groan, he put his hand in hers. Mykal laughed at his reluctance. “This won’t hurt a bit,” she ensured him. “Let’s take this to the den.”

She was wrong. It hurt her feet. An hour later and she’d long since shed her cute peep toe sandals to save them from injury. Greg was trying his best. Actually, maybe he was trying too hard. Not all of her winces were due to his stomping on her toes. “Okay,” she said, calling a halt to his twitching. “Let’s go simple. Less is more. Listen to the music. Feel the beat. Ignore the words.” A little more guidance and she had him dancing in a way that wouldn’t humiliate him or his dance partner. He wouldn’t win any contests, but she was satisfied. “How are you with slow dancing?” They hadn’t tried that yet. As it was, he’d seemed reluctant to touch her as she danced around him.

“Um.” He grabbed his hair and yanked. “I’m okay, I guess.”

She selected a slow song on her phone and stood in front of him.
She waited patiently for him to pull her into his arms. She sighed when he did nothing. Finally, she grabbed his hands and placed them on her hips. He turned an adorable shade of red. It was strange. She’d had far more eloquent compliments on her beauty but none so sincere or as moving as Greg’s reaction to her.

Grinning at him, she placed her hands on his shoulders. “Just follow my lead and remember to keep it simple.” He didn’t pull her too close and he kept his hands rigidly in the exact location where she’d positioned them. Unlike him, she let her hands roam over his broad shoulders and down his back. “You’re doing well.”

“Thank you,” he said stiffly.

“Greg, I’m not going to slap you if you move your hands an inch.
I’ve had to contend with a fresh suitor on more than one occasion. I’m not going to faint. Besides, you’re in pretty safe territory.” She shifted closer to him as they were practically an arm’s length apart. She was assailed by the clean scent of him. She didn’t think he wore cologne. His smell was a combination of soap and shampoo. Somehow she couldn’t recall ever being with a man who smelled better.

He cleared his throat and backed his hips away from hers.
Mykal resisted the urge to laugh. He was so sweet. The second the song was over, Greg immediately dropped his hands and stepped back. “Well, that’s good, but I’d recommend you get a little closer. You want the woman to be able to rest her head on you. Want to try?”

“Um, no. That was good. Closer—I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Okay, then. Would you like to watch a movie? Your choice—as long as it’s under two hours.”

“How do you feel about superheroes?”