Beach Love (Love Collection Book 4)
Page 3
Just Plain Nuts
A week had gone by and Melissa still hadn’t had any communication with Connor. That was completely unlike her. One of the reasons she was the best at what she did was because she gave everyone one hundred and ten percent of her time and attention. Even with the most finicky of clients—and she was thinking Connor topped the list—she’d work her fingers to the bone to give them the home of their dreams. Or at least in their budget.
Was she still looking at properties for Connor? Sure, she was. It was just the pickings were slim at the moment. And talk about picky! Or she should say high maintenance. Good Lord the things he wanted didn’t even make sense. Different styles, different patterns, different flooring in each room—she started to wonder if he was eccentric or just plain nuts.
Thankfully one new house did pop up today and the least she could do was see if he was interested in seeing it. Rather than call him, she sent him off an email, figuring he was working. Then she left her office and drove to a closing that was scheduled in an hour and she needed to do the final walk through with her clients.
When she pulled into the property and saw her clients excitedly waiting for her, her phone went off. Rarely did she look at it when she was with someone, but since she was still in her car, she looked down quickly and saw that Connor had already emailed her back. If seeing his name caused her skin to tingle in anticipation, she wasn’t admitting.
He wanted to see the house, so she typed back quickly. It might go fast. I recommend seeing it today or tomorrow. Let me know ASAP and I’ll try to get us in. I’m not available until after 6:30 tonight, or after 1 tomorrow. Melissa.
She shoved her phone back into her purse and made her way to the door. When she heard her phone ding, she ignored it, wondering if it was Connor again, but pushing it aside. She needed to focus on those in front of her, not the handsome doctor that was driving her thoughts and emotions insane.
When she got in her car after the final walk through, she glanced at her phone and saw Connor wanted to see the house tonight. She buckled herself in with one hand and filled out the online app to request a showing at six-thirty tonight with the other hand. She’d learned to multi-task with the best of them. Then she started her car and left.
Before she even got to the lawyers, the showing with Connor was confirmed and she replied back to Connor in the parking lot. Now she just needed to mentally prepare herself to be in his presence again later tonight.
***
Connor pulled into the driveway of the house he was viewing tonight. Melissa had sent him the link of the listing to view online. He didn’t have high hopes for this place either, but after not seeing her for a week, he would be willing to look at a junkyard just to assess his next move.
He walked to the front door and opened it, making her jump. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I didn’t hear your motorcycle,” she said.
“I just came from work. I don’t drive my bike in a suit.”
Her eyes traveling the length of him gave him a little bit of encouragement. He needed anything he could get at this point and her admiration was a definite confidence booster. When did he start to doubt his confidence?
“I didn’t think of that,” she said. “Makes sense.”
She was dressed in a suit herself right now. Though she’d had a skirt and killer heels on the other day, it wasn’t as fancy as now. “We make a cute couple,” he said.
She turned her head sharply, then grinned, smooth and sensual. Whether she meant to do that or not, he wasn’t sure, but he was adding that to the list of positives too. “I just got out of a closing. It’s best to look the part when I’m around a bunch of stuffy lawyers.”
“Lawyers aren’t quite my thing either.”
She laughed and the sound shot heat into his body like it had the first time he heard that sound over a month ago, drawing him away from the water he was staring beyond the houses and into her personal space, not wanting to leave her side, just like at Erik’s wedding. “Yet you look exactly like one right now.”
“It’s not the first time you’ve seen me dressed up,” he said.
“Not like this. You had on black pants and a light green shirt with a yellow, blue and green tie that day. No jacket.”
“I’m touched you remembered.” She flushed. Good.
“Well, I did spend a lot of time in your arms that night.”
“Are you flirting with me, Ms. Mahoney?”
She dropped her smile and put her business face in place. “So where would you like to look first? Like I told you in the email, this house doesn’t have a beach just yet, but you could easily add one here.”
“Let’s go look at the outside first then,” he said, trying to figure out what he’d said to make her lose her mood. They moved through the house, then out the back door and down a little brick walkway. “This brick would have to be replaced with concrete.”
“Why?” she asked. “It’s charming.”
“And dangerous,” he said when her heel slid between two bricks and she stumbled a touch, but he was there to catch her. To feel her fall against his body. The softness of her he remembered, the little gasp of her breath telling him she was remembering too.
She straightened herself up. “Most people won’t be walking out here with heels on.”
“Just as well, we can see enough from here. Twisted ankles aren’t my specialty.”
“You could just call Erik for me then,” she said, laughing.
“Ouch,” he said.
“Please. I don’t believe anything could put a dent in your ego.”
He never thought so until she turned him down. He almost said that too, but figured that would be pushing it. Not only that, it’d be giving her a form of power he never handed over to anyone before.
“Well, I did say it wasn’t my specialty, but I’m sure I could handle you just fine.”
“Only fine? I’m not sure I want to take my chances with just fine.”
“More than fine when it matters.”
And her breath caught again. Definitely an improvement.
***
Melissa had no clue what had come over her. All she could think of was the fact that she was so used to flirting and bantering, being friendly, that she was struggling to hold it back with Connor. Though she was crossing the line with innuendos that she never did before with someone she wasn’t in a relationship with. Definitely losing her mind.
All her innuendos, she’d learned them in her climb up the ladder. When she was at work functions and parties, the men often took her for some silly little girl that didn’t know what she was doing.
She’d never forget the first time she fell for a supposed mentor at work, thinking that he was just trying to help her and forge a bond of sorts. He was a colleague and he’d offered to show her the ropes. Help her close a sale. He helped her, all right—he stole more than one sale from her and negotiated enough to benefit him and hurt others. Cutthroat she was not, nor did she want to be with someone like that.
Tough lessons to learn, especially when you had rainbows in your eyes for a future with someone you thought you had so much in common with. Someone you imagined opening your own business with and taking over all of Kent Island.
Instead, she set out to prove that his betrayal didn’t hurt nearly as much as the several empty bottles of wine and boxes of tissues she’d gone through that first month.
The fact that she might be falling for some smooth-talking man again was slightly distressing for someone who prided herself on being one step ahead.
Maybe it was the suit he was wearing. He sure did fill one out pretty darn fine if she did say so herself. She’d been a sucker for a sharply dressed man her whole life.
Did she really tell him she remembered what he wore to Sheldon’s wedding? Talk about giving herself away, making her wonder if Sheldon’s personal love story with Erik was putting thoughts in her mind.
But she’d told him no and she did
so for a reason. She wasn’t that type of girl.
She wasn’t her mother, she reminded herself. She didn’t need a man to make her feel like a woman. To hold her hand and tell her she was special. To give her affirmation because nothing was ever enough. Not her father. Nor her daughter. Selfish people were never satisfied unless they got exactly what they wanted when they wanted it.
She wouldn’t be selfish.
“The kitchen is in decent shape,” she said once they were back in the house. She had to focus on her job right now, not the sexy doctor that was making her lose her train of thought and wish that she could give in and have a little fun once in awhile. What would it hurt if she went in with her eyes wide open?
“Needs work.”
“I said decent, not perfect. I’m starting to think perfect doesn’t exist for you.”
“I know perfection when I see it,” he said, holding her stare, his eyes traveling over her similar to what she’d done to him moments ago. She knew the air conditioning was on, but she wasn’t feeling it. Instead, it felt as if she were in a hot tub with steam billowing around her, causing little drops of sweat to fall between her breasts. And thoughts of a hot tub and the hunky doctor in front of her weren’t helping.
“Moving on to the rest of the first floor.”
They’d made their way through the house. He didn’t rip this house apart like he had the previous two, so that was a bonus, but he did say, “It’s just not enough space for me.”
“It’s twenty-five hundred square feet. That was one of your requirements.”
“I know. But I’m thinking it’s too small. Or maybe it’s just cut up small and not the best use of space in some rooms.”
She had to agree with him, which was why she didn’t argue the point. “Okay. I’ll take this one off the list. I’m not sure how long it will be before another property opens up. Spring is a better time for house sales or at least new listings.”
He frowned at her. “Why’s that?”
“You’re a single guy. Well, I think you are. But still, if someone is looking to sell their house, they do it before school starts so they don’t have to change schools on their kids mid-year, if they can avoid it.”
“Makes sense. Guess I never thought of it before. And yes, I’m single. You?”
“Yes.”
“Then maybe we can get some dinner together. I just came straight from work. You said you weren’t available until after six-thirty so I’m thinking you haven’t eaten yet either.”
She hadn’t. She wanted to say no. She wanted to go home and take her shoes off and dangle her feet off the dock into the cool water.
Instead, she found herself saying, “If you’re buying.”
Love Match
What was wrong with her throwing out that option? She should have kept it businesslike and left it alone. She shouldn’t have flirted with him. She shouldn’t have teased. Then she backed herself into a corner and he took the opportunity.
She jumped headfirst into a freezing cold unknown body of water. If she knocked herself unconscious or broke her neck, she had no one to blame but herself.
It had just been too long since she’d been on a date. And as Sheldon so kindly pointed out, she did ask to be introduced to Erik’s friends once upon a time, hoping for her own love match.
Then there was the fact that she’d been very clear with Connor that she wasn’t interested in a one-night stand, yet he was still actively pursuing her. So should she take that as a sign he was interested in more? Or that he was still trying to wear her down. Maybe it was a challenge and once he got what he wanted, he’d toss her aside.
She’d find out tonight because she was throwing it all out on the table and making sure she was so crystal clear he’d be able to see his own reflection in the answer.
She was going in with her eyes wide open and she was determined to pry his to the same distance.
“You’re more familiar with this area, tell me where you want to go,” he said.
Being accommodating. She liked that. Good start.
“Just follow me,” she said. It’d be a test of sorts to see what kind of person he was. Did he think he had to wine and dine her? Or maybe he’d think she was a cheap date. Crap, this might already backfire.
Too late though because she’d made her mind up and very rarely did she change her mind once she made a decision.
Yet here she was driving to a restaurant with a very expensive Mercedes trailing behind her. He sure did have nice taste in transportation.
The minute she parked her car, she heard laughter before she could get out. He’d rolled his window down as he parked next to her. “A pizza joint. You’re my kind of girl.”
If that comment warmed her up like a mug of cocoa in her hand on a cold winter night, she wasn’t letting on at all. That would be giving him more ammunition than he needed.
“Nothing better than pizza and wings when you’re starving.”
“Says every college student known to mankind.”
“Everyone but you?” she asked, tilting her head. He held the door open for her and if they got a ton of odd looks walking in there dressed like that, they both just grinned and continued on. So far he was passing.
“Pizza was my main meal in med school. I’d get one every other day and eat it cold the minute I got home. Grab a slice or two out of the fridge and have it gone by the time I made it to my room and fell facedown on the bed. When I woke up, I’d go get another slice. When the box was empty, I picked another one up.”
“Okay. That’s kind of gross,” she said. Even Sheldon wasn’t that bad and Sheldon ended up with an ulcer months ago because she forgot to eat when she got on a run with her books, and then when she did eat, it wasn’t the best of foods.
“You do what you can to get through. I said that to myself a lot in college.”
They were sitting at a booth now and the waitress came over and took their drink orders. “You pick since it seems you’re more of a pizza connoisseur than me,” she said. “I’ll eat just about anything.”
“A large loaded,” he said. “A dozen hot wings and we’ll start with a chef salad. I think we might hit all the levels on the food pyramid with that order.”
She burst out laughing. “You know. I think you’re right.”
“I know I am,” he said winking at her.
“So why a doctor?” she asked. They had to start somewhere.
“Why not?”
“We aren’t going to get anywhere if you answer questions like that.”
“Do you want to get somewhere?” he asked with the same charming smile he used on her a month ago. She was so weak when she’d never thought she was before.
“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t willing to explore it. But we’ll get to that part of the conversation before the night is over.”
“I expected as much. I wanted to change my life around and make someone proud. I chose something that no one would expect of me and then when I did it, I knew I accomplished what I set out for.”
She thought that was odd. “So you went for someone else? Not for yourself?”
“For both of us,” he said. “Long story and definitely not one I’ll be sharing when I don’t even know what conversation we’ll be having before the end of this dinner.”
She smirked at him. “You know what that conversation is going to be. Don’t delude yourself.”
He nodded but didn’t drop his smile. “So how many one-night stands have you had?”
She started to cough after taking a sip of her water that the waitress had brought over when she’d taken their orders. “Wow. That’s a little personal.”
“So is asking me about why I went into medicine.”
“I’m thinking not so many people would agree with that statement. But if you must know, the answer is none.”
“Really?” he asked, more curious than judgmental. “Why?”
“Because I think more of myself than that.”
***
Surprisingly he was tempted to tell her why he did it. Why he chose a field of study no one expected of him. Why he wanted to shock those closest to him. Why he finally started to look at his life back then and realized his grandfather was right and it was time to make some changes.
When it all came down to it though, no one was shocked. His parents needed to care in order to be shocked. His grandfather nodded his head in approval, but still no shock.
“Why a realtor?” he asked her. No reason to go any further on the one-night stand question. She made her point. And yet he was still sitting here at the table wanting to know more about her. That alone reminded him why he was doing this. That she was different and yet maybe she was willing to give him a chance when he thought for sure he was being shown his walking papers.
“I want to reply with ‘why not’ but that would be too cliché. Honestly, I just fell into it.”
“How’s that?”
“I went to a community college. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I took some business courses and enjoyed them, but didn’t see myself behind a desk. I like to wheel and deal. I like to hustle, but not in a bad way. I made myself into who I am through hard work. It’s a pride thing, I guess.”
He got it, but he wouldn’t say that. Something he didn’t expect them to have in common. “You must have a lot of pride because you drive a nice car for someone so young.”
“How young do you think I am?”
“You look like you’re in your twenties, but act older. I’m going to go on a limb and say late twenties, maybe pushing thirty just by the way you carry yourself and for no other reason.” That question was a great way for a man to get shown the door...calling a woman older than she was.
“I’m twenty-nine. I’ll take your explanation as a compliment. I don’t want to be thought of as silly or immature, let alone inexperienced. But looking the way I do throws people off. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes not. And since you know my age...”