Kate—
Ohmigod, I’m going to kill him. The man spent the entire evening making it entirely clear that he was staking claim on me like some stupid caveman. Then, nothing. I considered stripping naked and joining him in the shower, but he’d probably just throw a towel over me and tuck me into bed. He must have spent the entire day watching Greg for me, and he wouldn’t let me pay him for his time. I doubted that he’d actually let me pay for groceries and both Liv and he had refused rent when I tried to pay.
I have never had anyone send me so many mixed signals. I thought only women could run hot and cold. I laid in bed in a haze of sexual frustration. What the hell was his problem? He had a hard-on and he refused to touch me. Maybe he was just proving he had control. Maybe I had to make a serious first move. Maybe he wouldn’t kick me out of the shower…
I thought of the tent in his pants and shuddered. He was a big man, but so controlled. And his hands, holy Mary, Mother of God did he have big hands. I wanted to feel those hands against me. God dammit, what the hell was it going to take to get him to finally touch me? I dreamed of him that night, and for the first time in my life I had an orgasm in my dream.
I dressed to go running, and he met me by the door. I didn’t even try to hide the blush I felt creeping up my cheeks. He had to know that I found him attractive. I left my music at home and decided to talk.
“What’s your problem with the pink blanket?” I asked.
“Just the color.” He admitted. “I’ll get you a white one, or blue. I just don’t want pink in the living room. Or throw pillows, for that matter.”
I groaned, “Seriously, you don’t like the throw pillows either?”
He grunted, “No.”
“They’re really comfortable if you stretch out to take a nap.” I argued.
“Tink, if I stretch out on the couch, I would have about a foot of me hanging off.”
“So pull your legs up.” I said.
“What?”
I nudged him gently, “Like spooning, without the other spoon.”
He rolled his eyes, “I don’t spoon.”
“Then you are a fool.” I answered, and picked up my pace. He was able to keep up with my pace easily. I was curious, “How many miles did you used to run?”
“We ran between ten and fifteen, but not daily.”
“Holy crap! Were you able to at least train daily?”
He chuckled and shook his head, “No Tink. Sometimes we had real work to do.” He watched my reaction, “Some of the guys were really slow. We certainly didn’t do this pace.”
We managed to make it seven miles without a single argument. He had breakfast waiting for me after I showered, but he didn’t argue about how little I ate. As I cleaned up the kitchen, he made a few phone calls.
“Ready to go?” He asked when I started the dishwasher.
“Yes. Thank you.” I answered politely.
“We’ll stop by my office first, pick up a camera.” He said as he opened up my door.
“Oh, I forgot to call Scott.”
He rolled his eyes as I pulled out my phone. I looked over at him and said tartly, “You rolled your eyes at me.”
His brows furrowed, “Did I?”
I nodded and dialed Scott’s number. He was of course, delighted to get a camera installed today. Of course, men would stick together.
I hung up and Matt looked at me expectantly, “All good?”
“Yes, Scott is thrilled and my car is all better.” I muttered.
He nodded, “After I get the camera installed, I’d like to switch cars with you for today.”
“Why?”
“I just think it needs to be checked out. What if someone knew it was your car and put a tracker on it? I want to look it over.” He looked over at me and smirked, “This is where you say, thank you, Matt.”
I counted to ten. “Thank you, Matt. Look, I’d like to pay you for your time.”
“You’re starting to piss me off.” He said quietly.
I put my hand on his arm, “I don’t want to piss you off. Honest. But you’ve spent a whole day watching Greg; you won’t let me pay rent; and I have a feeling that the car is going to take another day.”
His mouth closed tight and I could see his jaw muscles ticking, but when he finally spoke, he was in total control of his anger. “Make dinner tonight. Do the vacuuming and dusting and we’ll call it even.”
“Ok, we can start there.” I conceded and he turned and smiled at me. Whoa, he was so attractive, I felt my heart trip. I smiled back and he shook his head and turned back to the road.
I was impressed that it only took him forty five minutes to mount a fish-eye camera on the back and hook it into Scott’s other camera system. Scott was also impressed and scheduled an appointment to meet with his company to take over the security for all of his businesses, which was significant. He owned a few strip malls, but then owned several businesses in the strip malls.
At five, I was ready to head home but he hadn’t returned my car yet so I texted him.
“Hey, I was thinking of leaving work. I guess I’ll just drive your big, manly truck home?”
“Yes. I’ll be there at 6:30.”
Fine. It would have been nice if he had left me a key. I texted back, “Do I start it telepathically or is there a key.”
“On your key ring.”
What the heck? Was he kidding? Sure enough I opened my purse and found that my keys were in there, now with his key on it. He went through my purse. Not only that, but he must have made a copy of my car key too, because my key ring remained intact. Hmm. Ex-lax brownies for dessert anyone? I was getting tired of counting to ten, but I was too angry to drive. I sat in his truck and played with all of the buttons before I texted him back.
“When did you put your key on my key ring?”
There was a pause before he answered. Was he busy, or was he going to lie? “Right before I handed them to you.”
“How did you get a key to my car?”
My phone rang, and Freddy appeared on the screen. His voice was brusque, “Are you driving?”
“No, I’m in the parking lot. I don’t even talk on the phone while driving.”
“Good. I took the key that you left in the silverware drawer this morning. I put my key on your ring before I handed them back to you. What the hell has your panties in a twist?”
“The thought of you going through my purse for my keys.” I admitted.
He chuckled, “Tink, I learned a long time ago that a woman’s purse contains answers to mysteries that I solemnly wish to remain mysteries.”
I laughed, suddenly relieved that he had not in fact seen all of the feminine hygiene products stuffed into the pockets, nor the chewed gum that was wrapped up in paper, and God forbid he had seen the receipts from Aerie for lingerie.
“Good answer. I’ll see you later.” I said.
English