“It was nothing.”
“It wasn't nothing, Craig. When did you do this and why didn't you tell me?”
“I stopped by yesterday. You weren't home, and I had my tools in the truck. It pissed me off that you hadn't fixed it yet, so I just hammered in a few nails. Like I said, no big deal.”
“Well, it is to me, so thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
He didn't seem inclined to say anything more, and she'd missed the sound of his voice. “So, how are you?” she asked.
“I'm good. Busy, but good. You?”
“Good. Busy also, which is always good. I've been fighting something for the past week or so and I finally got some antibiotics, so I'm feeling better.”
“Sick to your stomach?” he asked.
“No, just a cold that morphed into a sinus infection. It's almost gone.”
“You been on any more dates?” he asked.
At the word date, Allie glanced at her watch. If she didn't hurry up, she'd never make it out of the shower before Jamie arrived. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I've got one tonight.”
“First date?”
She let out a breath and said, “Believe it or not, this will be our third.”
When he said nothing and the silence stretched out to an unbearable level, she said, “Craig?”
“Yeah, I'm here.” She felt...uncomfortable talking to him. For the first time ever, their discussions about her dating seemed forced. “Third date, huh? Wow.”
“Yeah, wow.”
“Who's the lucky guy?”
“His name's Jamie and I didn't meet him online. Do you remember that girl I introduced you to at Sharon's wedding? Beth Morgan?”
“The one in the red dress a couple sizes too small?”
She had to laugh. Only Craig would remember her that way. “Yes. She and I met up over the weekend and we happened to run into her brother. We got to talking; he invited me to dinner. We really connected. We're going to the movies tonight, and on Saturday, he's taking me to Bones for dinner.”
“Get the ribeye,” Craig suggested. “You won't be disappointed.”
“Ribeye,” she said. “Check. What about you? Any dates, past or future, you'd like to share?”
“I've been too busy to do anything but crash when I get home.” He ordered some guy to take his shoes off before going inside the house. “Sounds like I'd better get busy or I'm going to need a date to your wedding.”
“Stop, please,” she begged. She was having a hard enough time not getting ahead of herself with Jamie. “You do need to get out there, Craig. It feels good to be dating a normal person for once. It kind of makes all the bad dates worth the bother.”
“I'll have to take your word for it. You make sure he treats you right.”
“He does, don't worry.”
“I mean it, Allie. Make sure he listens when you talk.”
Allie laughed. Oh, Craig, she thought. Sweet, wonderful, misguided man. “He listens, and he doesn't stare at my chest or have any kids or ex-wives.”
“He sounds perfect.”
“No one's perfect, but he's pretty darn close.” She leaned on the banister he'd fixed without her even asking. “I spent all this time looking, and when I'm least expecting it, there he is.” She sighed wistfully. “I've got to go, Craig, but thank you so much for fixing my step and the rail.”
“It was no trouble. Have fun.”
“I will, thanks.” She hung up and ran her hand along the wood. He'd done something nice for her. He'd stopped by and she hadn't even asked him why. She didn't have time to call him back or even wonder why he'd come to see her. She tried to tuck it away, through her shower, through her mad rush to pick an outfit, even through the movie where Jamie held her hand and bought her popcorn and Twizzlers. Craig Archer, with his pessimistic attitude and nasty streak of kindness, was never far from her mind.
***
Craig dropped down on the couch and kneaded the sore muscles of his neck. “Too much time on the damn ladder,” he muttered as he reached for the remote. He flicked through channels with one hand and cradled his fourth beer of the night with the other. He thought about stopping at three, but figured what the hell. He had nowhere to go and nothing to do but watch TV with his dog. At least he had his dog.
He eyed his watch. Nine-thirty on Saturday night. Bones was probably packed with couples old and young, drinking expensive wine, eating luxuriant food and the best steaks in town. He wondered if Allie would order the ribeye like he'd suggested or be concerned it would send the wrong impression to Jamie.
Who named their boy Jamie anyway? “Guy sounds like a prick,” he told Blackjack and lifted his feet to the coffee table. “If she wants to go out with Jamie, be seen around town with Jamie, have great sex with Jamie, what do I care?”
The dog whimpered and rested his head on Craig's leg. “We don't need a woman, do we, BJ?”
Blackjack shifted to give Craig better access for a tummy rub. Craig obliged without thinking and took a long pull from his beer.
He should call her, he thought. Pretend he forgot about her date and see what's up. No, too obvious. He flicked the channel to ESPN and considered what would be a reason to call her. Leah? Nah, he tossed the idea aside. Too complicated.
He tried to get into the game he'd looked forward to watching, but couldn't bring himself to care who won the SEC matchup. It wasn't like him not to care when it came to college football. He finished off the beer and reached for the phone. Obvious or not, he didn't care.
Chapter 27
The restaurant was smaller than Allie had expected, but had the ambiance of a country club with its dark wooden walls and white tablecloths. Jamie had ordered the wine, a French Rhone that slid like butter down her throat. She'd worried about the delightful little buzz she felt until she'd been presented with the enormous ribeye she'd ordered on Craig's suggestion. She'd have dinner for a week on what their server had boxed and waiting for her to take home.
Something felt off. Allie had tried all night to shake the nagging feeling that despite the seemingly perfect night, she couldn't focus on her date and what they both assumed would be a big step in their relationship. Jamie looked gorgeous in his blazer and open neck shirt. The way his expertly gelled dark hair shone in the muted light had images of him primping in the mirror zipping through Allie's mind. She couldn't imagine Craig primping.
Their fourth date in one week. They'd known about each other for a long time, since college in fact. But did knowing someone existed in the world for a decade and really knowing them mean the same thing? Did she want to take this great big leap with a man who'd dazzled her, but that she'd really only recently discovered? She felt a little like she was expected to play a part in a role that had been written and performed many times over.
Dinner date, check.
Coffee date, check.
Movie date, check.
Expensive night out, check.
Sex...she wasn't so sure.
The waiter had just delivered the dark chocolate torte Jamie ordered when Allie felt her phone vibrate in the clutch she'd set on her lap after applying gloss to her lips. She stared at the screen and chewed her lip when she saw Craig's name on the display.
“I’ve got to get this,” she said and stood up from the table. “I’m sorry.” She rushed off to the bathroom to answer without a backwards glance.
“Hey,” Craig said. “You won’t believe the date I had tonight.”
“Really?” She opened the bathroom door, and when the noise from inside was too loud, she scooted to the end corner of the hallway.
“Oh, yeah,” he went on. “You won’t believe what this girl said to me.”
A loud noise from the adjacent kitchen stopped Craig mid-sentence. “Are you out?”
“Yeah, I'm at Bones. With Jamie.”
“I’m sorry, Allie. I totally forgot. I’ll call you later.”
“No, no,” she found herself saying even though talking in the cramped
hallway, dodging disapproving stares from the servers, made her feel as if she were going to get her cell phone taken away at any minute. “I’m in the bathroom anyway. Tell me what happened.”
“Allie. Go enjoy your date. This can wait. I thought you’d be at home.”
“You sure?” she asked. Why was she stalling? Jamie was waiting at the table, he'd given her his undivided attention all night, and Craig insisted his call wasn't important. For some idiotic reason, she didn't want to hang up.
“Of course. Have a good time. One of us should.”
“Yeah. Okay. See you.”
She tucked the phone in her purse and made her way back to the table where Jamie sat scrolling through his phone. When he saw her coming, he sat back as his half lidded eyes took her in from head to toe.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes. Sorry about that.”
“Hey, no worries. I got the pleasure of watching you walk back to the table.” He picked up the bottle of wine and filled her glass while his eyes never left hers. “You are so beautiful, Allie.”
Smile, she thought. That was a nice thing to say. But it was hard to smile at someone who looked as though he wanted to eat her alive with one very big bite. Was Craig right? Could a man who called her beautiful, a man who openly admitted he liked to watch her walk, hear her? Really listen to her?
She reached for her water and gulped down a swallow as her devious mind started playing tricks on her. Should she do it? she wondered. Could she possibly lie to a man she'd spent all week with just to test him?
“So, you know how I was telling you about going back to school?” she asked as her heart thundered in her chest. Deny it, she willed him. Tell me I never said that.
“Um hum,” he said and lifted a bite of torte to her lips.
“I’m going to do it,” she said and pulled the fork from his hand. “I’m going to stop teaching and go back to school.”
She took the bite as he watched the fork slide in and out of her mouth.
“That's great, Allie.” He motioned for their server to bring the check. “Are you ready to get out of here?” he asked.
Her heart and her spirits plummeted to the floor. How could someone so eager to go out, so willing to twist his plans around to see her, not listen to a word she said? “Yes,” she said. “I'm more than ready to get out of here.”
***
Craig shouldn't have called. He'd have gotten up and drank the rest of the six pack if he hadn't had a dog sprawled over his lap and a nagging headache from the first four he'd quickly downed. It was stupid to call. What had he accomplished? He'd heard her voice, confirmed she was in fact at Bones with Jamie, and made her think he'd been on a date. What the hell good had any of that done but piss him off?
He turned the volume down on the game and laid his head back against the couch. How had he gotten to this place in his life where a woman, one woman, could wreak havoc on his life? Hadn't he sworn off the species for anything more than an occasional tension reliever? He'd been damn happy the way his life was going before she'd barged—or banged—right into him and changed everything.
He didn't want to care about someone. He didn't want to risk giving any control over to another person. He'd vowed he'd never be that vulnerable again. So how, in the span of a couple of months, had Allie come to mean so damn much? How was it that he couldn't get through a day, or hell, an hour, without thinking of her and wondering where she was or what she was doing? How had he let himself slip so far down the slope that nearly killed him before?
His head bolted up at the banging on the door. Blackjack, now fully awake and ready to battle whoever stood on the opposite side, bolted out of his lap to bark furiously at his late night visitor. Craig hushed him with a simple command and opened the door to find a furiously gorgeous woman on his stoop.
Oh no. “Allie?”
Chapter 28
“What are you doing here?” Craig asked. He wore faded blue jeans and an old App State sweatshirt. His feet were bare. How dare he look so casual, so innocent, when he'd ruined everything? “I thought you had a date.”
She stepped inside the foyer, not waiting for an invitation. “I did. I’d probably still be out with him if it weren’t for you.”
“I shouldn’t have called.” He closed the door and then just stood there, his hands in his front pockets. “I’m sorry.”
“You think it was the call? You seriously think it was your phone call that ended the date?” She pushed past him into the den. He had some football game on the television and it annoyed her to hear someone, anyone enjoying themselves when she felt so upset.
He followed her into the room and faced her where she stood in the middle of the den. “Ahhhh, how much did you have to drink tonight?”
“Not nearly enough.”
“Okay, I get that you’re pissed, but what I don’t get is why.”
“You ruined everything! You told me all this stuff about how men think and what they want. I never would have noticed that he wasn’t listening to me. I never would have been offended because he called me beautiful. I would’ve gone home with him, I would’ve been having pretty excellent sex right now if his kissing was any indication of his skill in that department. But no. Nope. Now I’m testing him, asking questions of him, making sure that he’s listening to me and not just seeing me. And you know what?” She threw her hands in the air. “He wasn’t listening at all. Not one little bit. And it’s all your fault.”
“I take it your date didn’t go so well.”
“It was. It should have. He’s never been married. He’s an investment banker. No kids, no bitter attitude about women. He knows wine and sports and he even took piano when he was a kid. He should have been perfect.”
“If you were building a man online, I’d say he was perfect.”
“He didn’t hear a word I said and it wasn’t because of my girls.” She pointed to her chest, nicely hidden under her long wool coat and behind her conservative, yet sexy black cocktail dress. “Men don’t hear me.”
He cocked his head to the side and the look of pity on his face made her want to scratch his eyes out. “Not all men, Allie.”
“No, you’re right.” She started forward, inching toward him as a look of sheer panic crossed over his face. “You hear me, don’t you, Craig?”
He nodded and seemed more than a little unnerved at having to admit the truth.
“Why do you hear me?”
He shrugged. “I listen.”
“You listen all right.” She stopped within a foot of where he stood. She felt powerful, wicked, and just a little bit crazed. “When you called, I was sitting at the table with him. I left him right in the middle of dessert so I could hear your voice. And that doesn’t make any sense because I shouldn't even like you. You’re rude and you’re insensitive, and you’re so damn honest that you make me feel exposed and not in a good way. But you're kind and you're loyal and all the goodness in you is all the more sweet because you don't want any part of it.”
He stood there, straight as a board, not squirming, not denying, just staring at her as she emptied her soul at his feet. “And you never tell me I’m beautiful. Everyone tells me I’m beautiful, but not you.”
“I don’t like to state the obvious.”
“You think I’m shallow.”
“Of course I don’t think you’re shallow. You shouldn’t care what I think. You shouldn’t care what anyone thinks.”
“I care, okay? Not about everyone, not even about most people, but I care what you think. I can’t help it.”
“You don’t want to know what I think.”
“Urrrgh,” she groaned. “You see? This is exactly what I’m talking about! Why can’t you be rude and insensitive and honest when I ask you a direct question?”
“If I thought you really wanted to know the answer, I’d tell you.”
“Oh, never mind,” she said and pushed past him. She yanked open the door and was almost through when he gra
bbed her arm and spun her around and crushed her against his chest.
“You want to know what I think? You want me to be honest?” He was so angry, his teeth were clenched. “I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known and I’m not just talking about what I see when I look at you. You’re soft, and vulnerable, and funny, and ridiculously kind. And if those jack legs you go out with don’t listen to you, it’s their problem, not yours.”
He let her go as abruptly as he’d pulled her to him and she had to reach out and grab his sweatshirt to keep from falling. Her head was spinning from the words he'd just spoken and the musky scent of his skin. “Oh.”
“I think you should go,” he said and pushed his hands into his pockets. “You need to go.”
Every nerve in her body felt alive and tingling as if a charge ran between them. “Is this you being honest, or is this you running from something that might involve actual feelings?”
“I’m not running from anything. I’m saving you from doing something we’ll both regret.”
“The only thing I’ll regret is if I do go. You’re so good at self-protection. You can’t get hurt if you never let anybody in, right? But it’s too late for that. I’m already in, and I'm not leaving unless you kick me out.” She put her hands on her hips and stared straight into those misty blue eyes. “Your choice, Craig. Kick me to the curb or take me to bed.”
“Damn you, Allie. You don't know what you're asking.”
“You wanna bet?” She lunged. There wasn't any better word for the way she simply threw herself into his arms. Their mouths met in kiss meant to destroy. There would be no tenderness with Craig. No soft words or coaxing from his mouth as it streaked from her lips to scrape greedily along her neck.
“It's your smell,” she heard him mutter. “You always smell so damn good.”
“Put your hands on me, Craig. God, I need your hands on me.”
She didn't have to ask twice. When they streaked over her, under her coat, down her dress and up, she felt the sting of the cold air against her legs. “The door.”
He shoved it closed with his foot and pushed her back against the carved wood. He dragged the coat from her shoulders and stood back to look at her. “Good God, Allie. It's a wonder the man could put two words together with you dressed like this.”
The Accidental Encore Page 18