The Eyes That Own Me (Timing is Everything Book 1)

by Rebecca Fischer

  Shaking my head, I reply, "Not until tonight. I'm taking her out to dinner. She works from seven am until three-ish on weekends. Last week after I left you guys at the gym, her boss flipped out on her for me showing up. I don't want her to get yelled at again, especially if I'm there. I'd end up punching the guy."

  He throws a dishtowel at me before vacuuming down his own breakfast. "Dude, I ain't got bail money. No punching people."

  I throw the rag back at him as he keeps talking, "For the record, I really like her for you, man. She’s pretty awesome, and I'm glad she accepted my apology. I can see what you meant about her being a little skittish around us. She seemed to relax after a while. I love that she kicked your ass in two games, too."

  Thinking about those little hustler moves is starting to get me hard again. Fuck, I can't get hard now. I have to get out of here before I need to go run into another cold shower. I've already taken four since last night, and my skin is now dry and cracking.

  I smack Jer upside his head. "Hurry up and finish eating. I'm gonna go take the dogs out and grab my gym bag."

  The dogs love to run the trails with me. Since I'm going to the gym with Jeremy, I just take them in the backyard to do their business. They are more than willing to go play in the backyard and even take a couple jumps into the pool in warmer weather. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with the back patio space. I bought my new state of the art grill and placed next to the pool and built a marble bar all around it. Maybe someday if I have kids, I'll add a water slide. Hell, the dogs might even find it fun now. I have some trees in the back, but I might add some fruit trees to make it somewhat unique.

  It's hard not to laugh at my two fuzzy goofballs. Nike is my strange, hyper chocolate lab while Zamboni is my calm, baby girl golden lab. Nike is always jumping around and is the dog that's awake at three o'clock in the morning standing next to your head with drool all over him. His black eyes are creepy in the middle of the night, staring at you when you're half asleep, but then he licks your face and all is forgiven. Usually, Zamboni cuddles up near me to protect her daddy.

  Fuck, I never asked Charlotte if she likes dogs. I'll have to make it point to ask her tonight. I would hate to have to hide them or get rid of them if she hated dogs.

  After two hours in the gym, I've managed to burn off some of the pent-up sexual energy. Unfortunately, my thoughts kept going back to last night. Watching her bent over the pool table, concentrating on her shot was probably one the sexiest images of my entire life. I tried to stand behind her so that no one else could stare at her ass and give myself an excuse to do it. Now I'm back at square one from this morning, and I'm going to have to take care of the problem before tonight.

  Charlie gave me the okay to come pick her up for our date. It was only a 15-minute drive. The complex she lives in seems fitting for early to mid-twenties people. She gave me the code to enter the complex, which doubles as her unit number.

  I find her Jeep quickly and cringe at the idea of her driving it so much. It really has seen better days. I take the flowers I bought for her off of the front seat and jog up the stairs, anxious to see her.

  I've pretty much seen her every day this week, with the exception of Thursday. I'm on campus Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. She's on campus: Monday afternoons and nights, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday afternoon/evening, so we've tried to coordinate our schedules. I found out she helps her mom at the community center on Thursdays, teaching soccer and volleyball to the young kids.

  Will this girl ever stop shocking me?

  I knock on the door, and a very petite woman answers. Assuming this is Kylie, I extend my hand and greet her, "Hi, I'm Matt. You must be Kylie, right?" She shakes it back even though my large hand might crush hers.

  "You must be correct. She's almost ready. You can come inside." I step inside behind her and notice how homey it is. I stand a few feet in the doorway and take a look around. To my left, there is a small dining table with a few chairs and to my right is a small hallway that has two doors currently closed. I assume one of those is a bedroom and maybe the other is a bathroom.

  Past the dining room is a pretty good size kitchen for a condo. It has a marble breakfast bar that holds the sinks and all of the other appliances are against the left wall. There's a lot of table space, which is probably great for Charlotte's cooking practice. A coffee maker and toaster sit along the walls with some colored coffee cups stacked nearby. In the corner is a set of accordion doors, which either house a pantry or laundry area.

  In front of me is the living room with a doorway on the far end. It looks like a page out of Southern Living magazine. All of the walls are beige with coastal paintings hanging randomly throughout. Next to that doorway is the wall where a darker beige suede couch sits. Perpendicular to it is a matching love seat. There are dark red throw pillows on both couches with those geometric shapes on them.

  This is a pretty nice place. If I had decided to buy a condo instead of a house, I would definitely pick something like this.

  Kylie has been standing there, watching me look around. "Would you like a drink, Matt?"

  "Sure. Water is fine. Thank you." She walks around the breakfast bar and reaches into the cabinet grabbing a Gamecocks mug. I take a big gulp of the water, trying not to be a creeper while waiting for Charlotte. We make some small talk about her job as a NICU nurse and concerts.

  Her accent is about the same as Charlotte's, but her voice is a little higher pitched. She is pretty much opposite of Charlotte looks wise. For one thing, she is a few inches shorter, which makes her a solid foot shorter than me. Her light brown hair is chin length accentuating her rounded face. Her eyes are a baby blue, and her skin is about four shades darker than Charlotte's. She looks like she did dance or gymnastics because her body is solid and her posture is perfect.

  She's very attractive, and I can see why any guy would go for her, but my heart is only beating for the woman somewhere in the condo. She seems to hold a bit of sadness in her eyes, though. Losing a family member, especially a sibling, had to be extremely difficult, and I have a lot of respect for her. I can't imagine what it would be like if Amy wasn't around.

  I hear the door behind me opening. The hairs on my arms and neck stand up as that berry vanilla scent hovers to my nose. I turn around as my beauty walks from that little hallway. She takes my breath away every time. I told her I'd be driving us to a small Italian restaurant in the next town over, and we could keep it casual. She's wearing a dark purple V-neck shirt and a thick gray sweater over it. Dark blue skinny jeans cover those luscious legs, and her feet are covered in a pair of gray Toms.

  I love that she doesn't cake on her makeup. Her intoxicating eyes are lined with a hint of purple, and her lashes are so dark, I can't help but stare. I've mentioned to her that her eyes are what sealed me in. I love that she wants to embrace them with me.

  Somewhere I hear, "Girl, put the man out of his misery and kiss him already."

  She gives Kylie a dirty look over my shoulder, and they both break out into a fit of giggles. She walks up to me and gives me a small kiss on my lips.

  While holding onto her hips, I jokingly scold her, "You tried that same stuff last night, ma'am. That was not a real hello kiss, but I can wait until we are alone.” I pull the flowers from behind my back. "These are for you."

  Her jaw drops at the kind of flowers I brought. "Oh my god! Blue daisies? How did you know I love blue daisies?"

  "Your car keychain on our first date tipped me off."

  Giving me another kiss on the cheek, she squeals, "That is beyond sweet, Matt. Thank you. I love them." She turns to Kylie who has a big goofy grin on her face. "Will you put these in water for me please?"

  Kylie takes the bouquet from Charlie before going into the kitchen. "I'll put them on your dresser where they can't get knocked down."

  As we are walking out the door, I hear a little bark come from the small hallway and then a small, brown fuzzy dog runs, actually more l
ike bounces, up to us. Guess that answered my question about dogs. It looks to be a long-eared dachshund spaniel mix. It's so small; my dogs would probably eat it on sight thinking it was a hot dog. It is cute, though. I crouch down to give the pup a scratch behind the ears, and he proceeds to fall down to shake his leg, showing me his manly glory.

  "Hey, little one, who are you?"

  Charlotte bends next to me. "This weirdo is Ruckus. He's two-years-old and causes all sorts of trouble any chance he gets. Always jumping around the place then tripping over his ears and sitting on my head in the middle of the night." Her eyes have a light in them as she picks up the dog and gives him a kiss.

  She turns to me. "Do you like dogs? If you don't, I can go put him in my room really quick. He does love new admirers, though."

  I assure her, "I love dogs. I actually have two: Nike and Zamboni. Nike is a chocolate lab, and Zamboni is a golden lab. I was actually going to ask you tonight if you liked dogs, but Ruckus here has confirmed my suspicions. Looks like he's living up to his name."

  She snuggles the wiggly dog, "I love labs. Kylie has a Calico cat, Waffles, who is wandering somewhere around here, and he's scared of big dogs. When I saw this little pup at the adoption center, I couldn't say no. He was my gift for graduation for my bachelor’s."

  I feel relieved yet overjoyed that we have this in common, too. At least she's not scared of big dogs either. Nike has a tendency to tackle new people, and my sister's kids tend to use him as a horse. Zamboni is usually used as a naptime pillow.

  With the way my brain has been moving the last few weeks, it's difficult not to imagine Charlie at my house with kids and dogs running around everywhere. I just hope my dogs don't squish hers first. That would be a bad impression for them to make.

  We say our goodbyes to Kylie and little Ruckus before we head off to dinner.

  Matt has been incredible these last few weeks. His efforts to make me as comfortable as possible are refreshing and yet scary. I hope we won't get bored with each other as time goes by. I'm not ready to give him up. I'm not sure when I'll be ready to get physical with him, but at the rate my head and body are colliding, it might be sooner than either of us expect.

  The drive to the restaurant is filled with dog discussion. I love animals, and my little Ruckus was a perfect graduation gift. I tell Matt about how I named him Ruckus because he kept hiding all of my left shoes under my bed causin' all sorts of—you guessed it—ruckus! You can't stay mad at the little stinker because he'll trip over his own ears and look too cute falling.

  Where I'm a little shy and closed off to new people, my crazy boy runs right to them. He even has my brother wrapped around his little paw. If Aaron is hanging out at my house, Ruckus jumps onto his lap and plants himself there the whole visit. I swear, one of these days, I'm going to find my pup at Aaron's place a few buildings away with his own room.

  I laughed at his dogs’ names, too. Such sporty names. He chose the name Nike because he was always on the go and he felt like he needed to put a pair of Nike's on him to keep his paws safe. Zamboni, he called his calm baby girl. She glides like a Zamboni does on the ice. Given I've never watched hockey, I'll take his word for it. I love his admiration for his dogs. I find out more things to like about him as the days go on.

  About thirty minutes later we arrive at the Tuscan Bistro. It's a cute, small place at the end of a strip mall with the Italian flag hanging from the green awning. Matt opens my door and helps me out of his Jeep. He grabs my hand and walks toward the restaurant, keeping me close to his warm, hard body. Bistro chairs and tables are lined around the corner of the building with tea light candles on each table. People who seem to be enjoying a glass of wine and appetizers occupy a few of the tables, some giving Matt a second glance. Who wouldn't? He's gorgeous. The windows to the front are tinted, making it hard to see inside.

  How did I not know about this place? I love Italian food.

  Opening the door for me to walk inside, I'm greeted with the most delicious scent of garlic and bread. The hostess stand is right in front of us with a view of the main living room to the right. Their restaurant is filled with patrons.

  "Good evening, folks. Welcome to Tuscan Bistro. Do you have reservations?"

  "Reynolds for two."

  She looks down at her folder then back up to us. "Perfect. Right this way please."

  She gives Matt a look that lingers a little too long for my liking. He grabs my hand and has me walk in front of him. His hand moving to my lower back still has the same skin on fire effect. I turn my head to look at him, and his eyes are trained on mine. We come to a stop behind the hostess at a small booth for two. I like that it's secluded enough for us to be close to each other and actually have a conversation. I bet he specifically requested it. That sneaky, sexy man. I swear he jumps into my brain to see some of my thoughts.

  I wonder if he can see the naughty ones, too.

  The hostess places the menus in front us, taking extra special attention putting Matt's next to his hand, 'casually' grazing hers over it. He immediately yanks it to the side and grabs hold of mine. I'm too busy laser beaming her in between the eyes to notice much of anything else. It is rule one of customer service: never hit on the guy in front of the girl he's with. Come on!

  Boobs for brains tries to use a 'sexy purr' voice that makes me gag just hearing it. "Your waiter is Paolo. If you guys need anything else, please do not hesitate to ask him or me. I am Martina."

  She flips her jet-black hair over her bony shoulders before placing both hands on her obviously enhanced fake baked breasts that are falling out of a small black dress. Usually, I'm not this catty, but seriously? She's still here and gives Matt a look that borders on bad porn seduction rather than politeness.

  Matt doesn't seem to appreciate the blatant advance. "Just Paolo is fine, miss."

  Her jaw drops for a second before she regains composure and walks hastily back to the front. He hasn't taken his eyes off of me since we sat down in the burgundy-cushioned booth.

  I've taken a look at the menu and found one of my favorite dishes, Chicken Marsala. Simple and classic. I think I'll indulge in a glass of white wine tonight as well. Paolo comes over with a basket of warm bread and takes our drink orders.

  Matt opted to get wine as well but chose a Merlot versus my Riesling. Now we're talking about going to a winery for a date at some point. After Paolo brings our wine, we give our orders and go back to talking. My hand plays with the stem of my wine glass as we discuss my pool hustling skills from last night. I did say I've practiced before. One of the rules of pool is never be overconfident. Bryce and Aaron taught me that when I was in high school.

  Matt interrupts my thoughts, "Charlotte, there is something I want to ask you."

  "Umm okay? Is everything alright?"

  He gives me a warm smile. "Everything will be if you say yes to my next question."

  Being brave, I reply, "Okay. Lay it on me."

  He chuckles before putting on a serious face. I guess he didn't miss my double meaning.

  Whoa, the eyes have turned dark green. "We've been spending a good amount of time together lately and have been talking longer than that. I know this only our third official date, but we also spend a large portion of the week seeing each other and hanging out on campus. In an effort to keep you comfortable around me, I'd rather ask you than tell you. As high school as this may sound, which is fine, since our whole meeting has been unconventional anyway—"

  "Matt, you're ranting. Take a deep breath."

  He raises his eyebrow at me for using his own words on him.

  "Haha, funny lady over there." He takes a deep breath then continues, "I know it's soon and I feel like I'm back in high school, but...would you be my girlfriend?"

  Wow. Okay. That made my innards jump for joy. I was not expecting that at all. This man. This handsome, smart, funny, kind, and did I mention handsome hunk of man, wants me to be his girlfriend? I think the answer is a resounding...

  "Yes
!"

  I did not mean to yell that at him, though, and practically drench us in my wine. If the smile on his face is any indication of the yelling freaking him out, I think I’m in the clear. He takes my hands from my wine glass and pulls them to his lips, kissing inside each palm.

  His smile is wide. "You have made me a happy man with that yes."

  Wow. Three seconds in, and I've already made my downright sexy boyfriend happy. Inner fist pump! "I appreciate everything you have done to make an effort for us, and I enjoy being around you. Plus, your friends were very welcoming yesterday. I had a lot of fun with all of you. I'm glad I was wrong about us not liking each other after hanging out."

  He keeps a hold of my hands until our dinner is brought out. We ‘cheers’ to our new relationship and he wants to discuss plans for going to the movies soon. I would love to be snuggled up in those arms. I can't wait to use his chest as a pillow. If hugging him is any shadowing to his cuddling, I will be one pleased woman.

  In hopes to get wrapped in them sooner, I ask, "Would you like to come over next Friday for a movie night? That seems to be our token date night. Kylie is working a night shift, so we'd have the place to ourselves."

  We rarely get to be alone, and I want to be able to kiss him without an audience. His lips are sensational, and I could have them attached to mine for hours. I want to explore the naughty sides with him. For goodness sake, I want to see the man shirtless at least once in the near future.

  "I would love to have a movie night with you. I know you have to work early Saturday. I'd love to show you my house too and cook dinner for you since you seem to do it for everyone else. Would you like to come over when you get off work? We can have a double feature weekend."

  My mind slightly revels in the fact that he wants to show me his house and is willing to come to my place as well. I think he's probably chicken that Aaron might just randomly stop by on Friday. Usually, he'll text me if he needs something and is coming to get it. Sometimes, he just walks in to hang with my dog and eat whatever recipe I've been working on.