by Mia Brown
“Can you say it like you mean it?”
“Goodbye Blaze.”
“I’ll be there at six thirty.”
I groaned as I cut the call. Had I really just agreed to go for dinner with Blaze? What was going on with me lately? I seemed to have lost all control. It was a horrible idea. Not because I didn’t want to see him but because I was starting to really like him. And if there was one thing I really didn’t want is to like a guy like Blaze. I wasn’t sure what that said about my tastes. It was one thing sleeping with the enemy, but going out to dinner with him was another thing altogether. Why then did I feel so excited at the prospect of spending the evening with him? Blaze was smart, strong-willed, and very handsome. I appreciated all those things about him. Also, he set a fire in my belly in a way that no man had done before. But he was not the sort of guy I wanted to end up with. He was shrewd and he did business deals with bad people. I could never really see beyond that. Also, he wasn’t the most romantic man in the world. Showing up to my house with pizza and with Chinese takeout was not romantic and yet it was probably one of the most romantic things he had ever done. I wished was a little more like Will, who had sent flowers to me when he wanted to show that he liked me. I felt a stab of guilt as I thought about poor Will. Not only had I turned him down but I was now going out with Blaze. I had to hope that Will never found out about it.
“What’s this I hear about a dinner?” Madison said as she walked in with the coffee.
“Where you listening in on the conversation?”
She laughed. “Of course I was. Why do you think I took so long with the coffee? The moment I heard it was Blaze I had my ear to the wall. So, he’s taking you out for dinner? That’s romantic.”
“It’s purely business related.”
“Oh yeah? Well it didn’t sound like it to me. Also, I must congratulate you on your supreme use of feminine wiles.”
“What do you mean?”
“I assume he offered to pay for you.”
“How did you know?”
“I figured that’s what he had said. You have this guy on a short leash and I like it.”
“No I don’t. He just annoys me,” I said.
She grinned. “So, does this mean you’re going to sleep with him again? I mean, there is food involved.”
I groaned. “Not this time. We’re going out to a restaurant. We won’t be at my house. Anyway, I’m through with that now. Two times was enough,” I said.
“I have no idea who you are trying to fool,” she said. “Anyway, what are you going to wear?”
I shrugged. “I’ll just go like this.”
“Are you insane? You need to dress up. Come on, when is the last time a handsome man took you on a date?”
“Well, it’s been a while,” I admitted. In fact, I was ashamed to say that I couldn’t quite remember the last time someone had taken me out. “Although, this is not in a romantic way so it doesn’t really count.”
“It counts. Go home now. I’ll hold the fort. You have no more appointments today so you might as well go and make yourself look pretty.”
“Are you suggesting that I need longer to get ready then most people?” I said.
“I’m suggesting that you go and have the best night of your life. He’s paying. Order something expensive. Go on, go home. And send me a pic when you decide what you’re wearing.”
I chuckled. “Okay. Thanks, Madison.”
The fire in my belly burned stronger. What was I doing?
Twenty-Six
Blaze
I wondered what to wear for my date. I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought of the word ‘date’. Dallas would have a fit if she knew I was thinking it as that, but I couldn’t help myself. To me, this was date, and it didn’t quite matter what she thought of it. I usually wore a suit around Dallas, but today I decided to go a little more causal. I wore some dark jeans and a white t-shirt, and topped it off with a jacket and my cowboy hat. I took the hat off, then put it at on, trying to decide if I should wear it or not. Then I remembered how she had taken my hat to wear the last time the two of us had slept together and I decided I wanted to wear it again today. Perhaps she would look at it and want to sleep with me again. It was certainly worth a try. Tyler always said that girls liked cowboys and I had never really believed it until now. But Dallas definitely seemed to prefer me in my ranch gear than my lawyer outfit.
I decided to take Dallas to a new Japanese restaurant which had just opened up. I figured she was more of a burger and beer sort of girl, but I had heard rave reviews and it seemed a little bit more like a date place. I also wanted somewhere where we could talk and not a place where everyone was going to talk above us. I made sure to book us a table in the most ‘romantic spot’ and hoped that whoever had taken my reservation would follow through with this request. Again, I was definitely not going to tell Dallas that I had asked for this. Hopefully all of this would pay off.
I headed over to pick up Dallas and when I arrived she was waiting outside. Was that because she was too afraid to have me knock on her door again. In the two times I had done that it had led to something more. She looked beautiful. I had never seen Dallas dress this way and it took my breath away. She was wearing a sea green dress that hugged her in all the right places and her hair had been curled slightly at the edges. Even though she was only wearing shoes with small heels I could see she struggled to walk in them and that only made her cuter to me. I wondered for a moment if I could convince her to skip the dinner and just go into her house but she was at the car before I had a chance to say anything. I got out and kissed her on the cheek.
“Wow, Dallas, you look absolutely beautiful,” I said to her.
“You don’t even sound sarcastic,” she said.
I laughed. “That’s because I’m not. You really look amazing.”
“Well, thank you. You don’t look half bad yourself.”
I opened the car door for her and let her in. Once inside her dress rode up her legs a little and I forced myself to look away. At this rate I was never going to get us to the restaurant.
“I hope I’m not too fancy for wherever we’re going,” she said. “I haven’t been out for a while so I figured it would be fun to dress up.”
“Oh, we’re just going for burgers at the McDonald’s. But you look great. It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh. Okay. Well…”
I laughed. “I’m only kidding. I said I would take you somewhere nice and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I hope you like Japanese.”
She gasped. “Oh my god. Are you taking me to that new Japanese place?”
“I am. Is that okay?”
She nodded. “That’s more than okay. I’ve been wanting to go there ever since it opened. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews of the place.”
“I’m glad to hear it. You see, I’m not all that bad,” I teased.
“Hmm,” she said. I could tell she didn’t want to admit that she agreed with me but she also didn’t deny what I had said which was a positive sign.
I was pleased to find that the waiter had done well on his word and had put us in the most romantic spot in the restaurant. It was a little corner table quite separate from the others and I could see how her face lit up when we made our way to it. The restaurant itself was beautiful and definitely the sort of place you took someone you wanted to impress. The moment we arrived the waiter came by with two complimentary glasses of champagne and I grinned at him in secret. They weren’t complimentary at all, but I wanted to get her a glass of champagne and I figured she might say no.
“Wow, this place is incredible. And they gave us the best table,” she said.
“It’s great. I’m glad you like it. Oh, and I’m glad you said yes. I really did want to talk to you about the lease,” I said to her. I didn’t want her to think I was a total sleaze who was only interested in getting her into bed.
She nodded. “Well, it doesn’t really matter what you say about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not moving until I have to.”
“What if I convince him to give you more money? He’s getting desperate now and he wants me to put together some eviction papers. I have already told him that there is no point as he has no grounds to kick you out. But he’s adamant. I figured the only way this might work is if he gave you some more money. That way you actually get something good out of this. I mean, you are going to have to leave eventually, so why not make something out of it.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to make money off of Steve. I’m staying for the principal of the matter. Sure, I know that might be stupid, but I can’t help it. What he has done isn’t right. He could’ve gone about this in a much better way and he’s been nothing but nasty to me. So I’m going to stand my ground and make him suffer. If that means he loses out on his business deal, then so be it. I’m sure he’ll still get it, and I’ll probably just have to move when my lease is up, but until then I’m staying.”
I nodded. “Fair enough.” I thought of saying more but there really just wasn’t much to say. Why should I try and convince her otherwise? I was caring less and less for Steve these days and didn’t mind if I no longer had his business. I had done what I could from my side and there really wasn’t much else I could do. He didn’t have any legal reasons to evict her and I wasn’t about to help him do something illegal. Also, I didn’t really want to speak about Steve anymore. “So, do you know what you’re going to order?” I said.
She sighed. “I’d like to pretend as if I know what all this stuff is, but I don’t. I honestly have no idea. It all sounds so foreign to me.”
“Well, I have an idea,” I said and I leaned over to show her the part of the menu I was talking about. “They do a five course special here. Why don’t we just get that and then we get whatever they give us? Might be a good way to try some new things. I’m worried that if I don’t do that I’m just going to stick to the things I know of.”
She looked through the menu and then back up at me. “You know, I never would’ve pegged you for the adventurous food type.” She closed the menu and nodded. “Done. That way I don’t have to worry about whether or not I’m ordering the right thing.”
“I’m not an adventurous eater,” I said once our orders were taken. “I usually just go for the same things wherever I go, and I’m a little obsessed with pizza. But this place just makes me want to try something new.”
“Oh good. I’m exactly the same. Well, despite the awful company, I have to admit that this is nice, Blaze,” she said with a grin.
I laughed. “Just how awful is the company? I mean, what word would you use to describe me.”
“Atrocious. Really horrible,” she said with a slight grin on her face.
“And yet you’re here,” I pointed out.
“Well, you did offer to pay for the food,” she said.
“Not only am I going to pay for the food but I’m going to make sure that you have a nice evening.” I had full intentions of making sure that she didn’t regret coming out with me. I wasn’t nearly as bad as she seemed to think I was and even though I had a bad reputation I knew I could win her around if she only gave me the chance to do so.
“Oh yeah? Well, challenge accepted,” she said. “I have to admit that you’re off to a good start.”
I smiled. “Why thank you. I try my hardest. So, Dallas, I wanted to ask you about your job.” This was one of the questions I had thought of asking her before coming on the date. I wanted to show Dallas that I was capable of more than just a good time in bed. I wanted to show her that I could have a real conversation with her, and truthfully I was also very keen to find out more about her. I was glad to finally have the opportunity.
“My job?” she seemed surprised by the change in conversation.
“Yeah. When did you know that’s what you wanted to be? And did you always know you would specialize in horses? I’ve always been fascinated with why people chose the jobs that they do.”
She picked up her champagne to take a sip before answering. That’s a great question. It was actually a very natural thing for me. I always loved animals and I always wanted to help them. Even when I was younger I used to drive my family crazy because I kept bringing home strays. I just loved caring for animals so much. I saw something in them that I just didn’t see with humans. It’s hard to explain. And when I was younger we had the most incredible little dog who I would spend all my time with. I was a bit of an introvert back then. While my friends were out playing, I would be with my dog.”
“That’s quite cute,” I said. as I tried to picture a tiny Dallas with her dog. “And what about the horses?”
“The horse thing came about later. I was already studying to be a vet when I came across this sick horse and was asked to help. Now, helping a dog and helping a horse are two very different things but I found that I had a natural affinity toward them that I hadn’t known I had. The whole thing actually took me by surprise. A very pleasant surprise of course. After that I decided to study more and learn how to deal with horses. Now I deal mostly with horses but I’m still happy to do the smaller animals too. I love them all. There’s just something so special about animals. They have something that most humans seem to lack and they do it with an instinct that just comes naturally to them. Sorry, I’m waffling on. I always do that when it’s about my job.”
I smiled. “No, it’s nice to hear you talk this way. You’re great at what you do. You have a very good reputation around here.”
“Well, thank you,” she said. “That’s nice of you to say. What about you? You’ve jumped from one career to another and they are both so different. Do you miss working at the ranch? Why did you choose law?”
I sighed. “I was always that kid who wanted to get away. Tyler was always the one who didn’t want to leave the ranch. As much as I loved working there I always wondered what life would be like in the city. I wanted to experience that. And I had always had an interest in law. Back then I guess I kind of imagined myself as this great defender of the little guy. I had these dreams of helping people.”
“So what happened? Don’t you still do that?”
“Well, as soon as I finished studying I got a job in this big corporate firm. With that came a lot of money and status. And as much as I hate to admit this, well, I guess I just got caught up in the whole thing. It’s a horrible place to be but when you’re in it the only thing you can think of is just making more money and climbing even higher up the corporate ladder.”
“But then you came back didn’t you? To the ranch?” she asked.
Our first course arrived then so we stopped the conversation to admire the food. Everything was well presented and delicious, and even though we had no idea what we were eating we knew we would order it again. I figured the conversation about me was over but Dallas said she wanted to know more. This surprised me. She wasn’t even being sarcastic when she asked it.
“I came back when my father got sick. They didn’t ask me to come back but I could hear in my mother’s voice that she would appreciate it. It sort of made me reconsider my life choices, you know. Anyway, by then I was no longer working for the corporate firm but I had started my own business. I finished off whatever work I had and then took a break from it for a few months to help out at the ranch.”
“I remember how sick your dad was,” she said. “It was really bad.”
“Yeah, we honestly didn’t think he would make it. The fact that he’s made such a full recovery is a miracle. He’s the strongest man I have ever met. Even cancer couldn’t get him down. So yeah, I stayed at the ranch and helped out while my father was recovering.”
“And why didn’t you stay?” she asked.
“I love the ranch, I really do, but I have always wanted to be a lawyer. I really love it and I’m good at it too. I don’t mean to blow my own horn here, but I know I’m good at it. While I still love the ranch and always will, I know if I quit law I would regret it.�
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“And yet you seem torn,” she pointed out.
“I guess I am. I’m not loving my job as much as I used to but I don’t think that means I want to get back to the ranch either. I don’t know. It’s an odd time for me. I can’t quite figure out what I want.”
“Well, it’s good that you’re willing to admit that. Blaze, you do realize that you don’t have to do the sort of law you’re doing, don’t you? You have your own business now. You can still go back to your dream of helping out the little man.”
I nodded. “I guess you’re right.”
The next course arrived and the conversation changed back to the food. The date was going even better than I expected and I was surprised by how easy it was to talk to her. I had told her things that I generally didn’t tell anyone. Even though I was close to my family and especially close to my brother, I often didn’t tell them about my issues with being a lawyer because I figured they wouldn’t understand. They didn’t know how I could leave the ranch, especially considering I had done it to take on jobs that weren’t the most ethical. Perhaps I was the one who had gone about this all the wrong way. Maybe Dallas was right. Maybe it wasn’t the law that I wanted to leave. Maybe it was the type of law that I needed to escape from.
I burst out laughing when Dallas tried to eat her sushi platter with chopsticks but kept failing miserably. The pieces kept falling off until she finally succumbed to eating it with her hand. She caught me laughing and blushed.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“I’m laughing with you,” I said.
“But I’m not laughing. Hey, how come you can eat with those so well?”
“I am a man of many talents,” I said and she laughed.
Dallas wasn’t fiery for the first time. She responded to my questions and asked me questions back, and the two of us got on better than we had ever done before. I got a feeling that she might not hate me as much as she kept saying she did. By the fifth plate we were stuffed but we continued to sit for another long while just chatting. When the bill arrived she got out her purse.