Vacation (23 page)

"How is it that you always make me
feel so much better?" I let all the sarcasm I could muster sink into my
voice as I turned and backed the car out of my parking spot.

"We've been friends since you could
walk. I'm not telling you what you want to hear. I love you too much for that
shit."

"And what do I want to hear?"
Frustration pumped through me. Why did I call her again? She was always the
voice of reason to a fault.

"You want to hear that the two of you
will cordially part ways and remain friends until you're healed and he's
settled into a schedule that doesn't have him flying all over the world."

"How do you do that? It's annoying."
I stopped at the stoplight in front of me and crossed my free arm over my chest
while I waited for the green light.

"I know you, remember?"

"Why can't that be the future,
though? That sounds so much better than all the other options that have played
through my head."

"Because it doesn't work like that.
Someone is going to steal his heart or yours if you don't leave your fear
behind you and try this out with him. It's stacking up to be something
incredible, Viv. Stop pushing him away. Give this a chance."

"I can't." I shook my head and
gripped the steering wheel as I hit the gas. "I don't know how to."

"It's natural to think that you
don't, but you do. Go with the flow, and make decisions with him based on the
fact that he loves you and wants to be a part of your future."

"What if he doesn't though?" I
realized how stupid I sounded, but we were too far into the conversation to
stop
 
now
. "Then
what?"

"Then we move on, but you're not even
giving him a proper chance. Let your guard down. Promise me that you'll try
tonight."

I nodded and let out a sigh of
resignation. "I'll try, but that's all I've got right now."

"That's good enough."

Chapter
24

Easton

Just hearing her voice left me wanting to
find her wherever she was. Warmth infused me as I dropped the phone on the
couch next to me, and I let out a long groan, closing my eyes and thanking the
stars that she answered and agreed to see me.

I needed to work on a good handful of
write-ups for work but having something take most of my afternoon was going to
work out well. Keeping my mind on task and off of Vivian was going to be the
trying part.

I worked diligently and wrapped up my
portfolio of write-ups for Miami by four-thirty. After packaging everything up
nicely, I got in the shower and cleaned up quickly. I wanted to get to the
restaurant a little early with flowers so I could make sure the dinner went
exactly as I had planned in in my head the night before.

She deserved so much more than I felt like
I had to offer, but I was going to pull out the stops and see if it didn't push
her a little more in my corner. I'd take as long as she wanted me to, but I
needed another night in her arms soon. She brought me to life in ways that I
couldn't remember feeling for a long time. Everything was a little brighter, my
mood much better, my disposition much more giving.

I dressed in black pants and a dark green
button-down, hoping the outfit would scream class and yet comfort. I tugged on
a heavy black jacket and decided to forgo the tie. The owner of the restaurant
was a friend of mine from college, his father having given him the place when
they decided that traveling was something he and his wife would rather be
doing.

A driver picked me up forty-five minutes
before six, and I was itching to get there and get everything set up. I wanted
a driver in case we had a few too many drinks. We'd have a quick, responsible
way to get back to my place.

"I need to stop by the flower shop on
tenth and Johnson." I leaned forward and looked up to catch the driver's
eye in the rear-view mirror.

"Not a problem, Sir." The guy
tipped his hat to me and pulled out of the circle drive in front of my
building.

After grabbing a dozen white and red
roses, I got back in to the Lincoln and forced myself to relax. This wasn't a
first date, nor was it a blind date. I knew Vivian as much as she'd let me know
her. I was quite positive that she was the girl of my dreams though. That was
the reason I couldn't stop my leg from bouncing, my heart from fluttering
incessantly in my chest.

"Here we are, Sir. I'll be waiting in
the valet parking lot. Just text when you're ready and I'll drive right up for
you." The driver turned and smiled at me. "That okay?"

"That's perfect. Thank you." I
got out of the car and walked into the restaurant as Jared turned and clapped
his hands together.

"Easton Parks. You old dog." He
laughed and reached out to shake my free hand.

"Jared. How are you, my friend?"
I smiled and gave him a quick hug.

"I'm excellent. Now, you're here on a
date, right? No critiquing my shit tonight?" He reached for the flowers.
"Let me have these. Lucky girl..."

"It's a bit more complicated than
that, but it's a date slash job interview. I want to get this girl a job with
my company, but I need to see her in action. It's a date because I want her in
my life."

"For the long haul?" Jared
glanced over his shoulder. "You know your momma would be thrilled."

"I think so, but we just met a week ago.
I need to get to know her a little better, but everything I've seen so far
leads me to believe that she's the one." I chuckled. "Yeah, my mom's
actually being reserved with this girl for some reason. She's been pushing at
me so long, that having me actually find someone would leave her with nothing
to bitch at me about. Then what would she do?"

"Start in on your brothers. You're
just first in line. You know that." Jared smiled. "Come on back. Let
me show you the room."

I stopped by the open door at the back of
the restaurant and smiled. "This is perfect. Are you letting me use this
private room tonight?"

"It's all yours, buddy." Jared
glanced at a server who was working on the table. "Put these in a few
vases and make the room look romantic. Low lights and such."

"Thanks, man." I let out a long
breath. "I'm nervous."

"You? No fucking way." He turned
and walked toward me, brushing down the front of my jacket. "There's
nothing to be worried about. You're Easton Parks. There wasn't a girl at NYU
that wouldn't have dropped her panties for you. I'm more concerned for the
girl."

I laughed and pushed at him. "Get the
fuck
outta
here. She's a tall, beautiful redhead. Her
name is Vivian."

"I like her already." Jared
patted my chest once more and walked to the door. "The menus are on the
table. Just order whatever you want. It's on the house."

"No. I got this." I reached for
him, but he turned, leaving me to grasp air.

"You're one of my good friends from
college,
East
. It's not happening. Enjoy and good luck
with the girl. I hope she's worth a good guy like you." He closed the door
behind him as I picked up a menu and scanned it.

"It's me that needs to be worth her
time and effort." I started to run my fingers through my hair and stopped.
I'd put a little bit of gel in it and didn't want it jacked up before she got
there.

Twenty minutes later, a knock sounded on
the door behind me, and I moved to open in.

"Hi," I spoke softly as my eyes
moved down her delicious figure. Her cream-colored dress looked like a summer
day on her. "Beautiful."

"Thanks. This is incredible."
She pressed her hand to my chest and looked up at me. "What are you up
to?"

I laughed and bent down, kissing her cheek
once before moving back. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

I moved back and her breath caught in her
chest. "Easton."

"It's okay. Just a dinner and a bit
of fun. I love overdoing things, but I didn't get a chance to in Miami. Let me
have my fun, and you just relax and enjoy the evening. I ordered us a four-course
meal to share. That okay?" I took her coat as she slid it off her
shoulders. The dress hugged her breasts tightly and fanned out, but had no
sleeves or straps. I yearned to press my lips to her shoulders and taste her
skin again.

Soon.
Chill the fuck out.

"Okay. I can do that." She sat
her purse down on an empty chair near the door and walked to the table, leaning
over and smelling the roses. "I don't remember this restaurant doing all
of this."

"They don't." I pulled back a
chair and nodded toward it. "Sit down and let's eat. We can play our
twenty questions game and perhaps get through more than two questions."

She chuckled as she sat down. "Yeah,
maybe we could start on something other than marriage and kids."

I moved around to take my seat, but paused
to pull my jacket off. I loved the way she watched me, as if she were in a
slight trance. If I were a third party observer, I'd have figured her to be as
taken with me as I was with her. I could only hope my assessment was true.

"Okay, here's the other thing I want
to do." I pulled my napkin into my lap, leaning forward to engage the
beautiful girl a little more. "Let's have you critique each dish and then
either I can write it up, or you can. I'd love to see how well your tastes
align with my own reviews of Jaspers. I owe the owner another round of reviews
on the place in a few weeks, and I refuse to send Kevin here."

"How fun." She smiled brightly
and pulled her napkin into her lap. "I can type them up. Are you wanting
to see them once I'm done?"

"Absolutely. I'll share them with my
boss, Jon. If you're okay with that?" I sat back as a bowl of dark orange
soup was delivered to the table and placed in front of us.

"This is our cream of pumpkin soup
with sherry, bacon, and toasted pumpkin seeds. Enjoy." The waiter bowed to
us and walked away.

"You
wanna
use your phone or mine?" I smiled as her face lit up even more. She
couldn't have been more entrancing to me.

"Mine." She got up and retrieved
her phone, my attention resting on her the entire time. She sat down and
pressed the button, recording the dish and a few descriptors as she tasted it.
She pressed the stop button and glanced up. "I'm usually so nervous to
critique in front of anyone."

"Not me, though, right?"

"Not at all." She blushed, and I
reached across the table, running my fingers over the tops of her knuckles.

"Good. Now, tell me your favorite
color." I leaned back and picked up my spoon, tasting the soup and
listening intently as we walked through the various facts about ourselves that
meant little to the commoner, but to a lover, everything.

Jared kept the music low and romantic, the
wine flowing, and the food coming in slow waves. We laughed throughout the
meal, and by the end, she was relaxed, her posture a little less stiff and her
smile authentic.

I stood from the table and offered her my
hand. "I know you're stuffed, but I'd love to dance with you, if you'd do
me the honor."

"I'd love to." She took my hand
and moved to stand in front of me, sliding her free hand up my chest and around
to lock onto the back of my neck. "Why do you have to be so damn
smooth?"

"You'd rather I be overly
hairy?" I lifted my eyebrows in playful confusion.

She laughed and snorted, causing me to
laugh as well. "Stop it, or I'll fall madly in love with you, Easton
Parks."

"And that would be bad because?"
I pulled her closer to me and turned us toward the open floor just behind me.

"Because you said yourself that a
relationship was impossible due to you traveling all the time." She
glanced down, and I felt her pulling back from me yet again.

I tightened my grip and leaned down,
brushing my nose by hers. "And you said that I should find a woman that
wants to be on the road with me."

"I know, but that's not going to
happen for a while, if ever." She stopped moving and I shook my head.

"No. You're not blocking me. Not
tonight." I forced her to spin with me and moved us toward the balcony,
releasing her and opening the doors. She walked out onto the patio and stood by
the outdoor heater as she pressed her hands to the railing and took a sharp
breath.

"This is incredible." She
glanced back at me. "You're killing me."

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed
the side of her neck, wanting my place to always be behind her, holding her up,
supporting her in any way she would let me.

"I don't want it to feel like a
death, Viv. I just want to think about working toward what you want." I
kissed her again and moved up to suck her ear lobe into my mouth.

"And what do I want?" Her voice
was airy as she spoke.

"To live life with someone. I'm not
asking for forever just yet. I just don't want to give up what started in
Miami. It doesn't have to be anything insanely serious. Just be exclusive to
me, and I'll do the same." I kissed the side of her jaw and slid my hand
up between her breasts to cup her throat as she turned her face and pressed her
lips to mine.

The groan that left me would have been
embarrassing if it were anyone else. She echoed it with a precious moan of her
own, and I tightened my arms around her. I couldn't lose her. It just didn't feel
like a possibility I was willing to accept.

She broke the kiss and licked at her lips
before turning in my arms and wrapping me in a tight hug. "What if I'm
scared, Easton?"

"Then we'll be scared together. You
have to learn to trust me, which will take time. I have all the time in the
world." I moved down and pressed my lips to hers, kissing her tenderly,
but not penetrating the warmth of her mouth until she opened up for me. The
minute she did, I shifted my hips forward to let her know just how much she
turned me on.

"Let's get out of here," she
panted against my mouth.

"Come home with me tonight. I've
asked and been rejected too many times so far. Don't turn me down again
tonight." I rubbed the tip of my nose along hers and stole another quick
kiss.

"No. I won't." She lifted to her
toes and pressed her soft warm lips to mine.

I knew without a doubt that I had her.
Keeping her would be a challenge, but for the night, she was mine again.