Dream Guy

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Dream Guy Page 20

by Dream Guy (lit)


  She frowned. “What?”

  Matt searched her face. “Just one question, Annie. If you really think Rico is every woman’s dream guy, then why isn’t Rico your bing buddy instead of me?”

  She blinked. “I thought I explained that Friday night, Matt. I told you. I’ve adopted your views on relationships now. That’s why I chose you. Rico wants more than I’m willing to give him.”

  “Do you mind explaining why you’ve suddenly adopted my relationship philosophy? Since you’ve never made it any secret that your main goal in life was finding and settling down with the perfect Mr. Right?”

  “It was my goal, Matt,” Annie said. “Was is the key word in that sentence.”

  Before Annie could continue, Collin rushed over to join them. “Goals? Did I just hear someone mention goals?” He looked at Annie, then Matt. “My main goal in life is to stay as thin as an earthworm with the shit slung out of it.”

  When neither of them laughed at his witticism, Collin frowned and put his hands on his hips. “Well excuse me. If this discussion is that serious, please tell me what I’ve missed.”

  Matt looked at Annie.

  Annie said, “I was just telling Matt I need to adopt his philosophy about relationships. Once I take over the creative department, I can’t have any outside interferences. I’ll need to focus on my new promotion and the enormous responsibility that goes along with the job.”

  Collin sent her a thoughtful look. “You’re right, Annie. Relationships do take up a considerable amount of time. Time you can’t afford to lose when you’re climbing your way to the top.”

  The look he sent Matt was challenging. “But what about you, Matt? Now that you’ve ‘made it’,” he said, emphasizing “made it” with his fingers to indicate quotation marks, “shouldn’t you stop avoiding relationships? I mean, what’s the point of having arrived career-wise and salary-wise if you don’t have anyone to share it with?”

  Where in the hell did that come from?

  Matt didn’t have a clue.

  When Collin and Annie both kept staring at him for his answer, Matt forced a wise-ass grin he didn’t exactly feel at the moment. “Share? I’m not sure ‘share’ is on my single-guy vocabulary list, Collin.”

  Collin laughed and slapped him on the back. “That’s what I love about you, Matt. You’ll be walking the walk and talking the single-guy talk right up to the bitter end.”

  Bitter end?

  Dammit, I’m only thirty-five years old!

  “Guys, get a move on,” Gretchen announced from the patio doorway. “We’re ready to start filming.”

  “Aren’t you coming?” Collin called over his shoulder as he and Annie hurried off.

  Matt waved them on. “I’ll catch up.”

  Maybe.

  The last thing he wanted to do was sit through another one of Rico’s nauseating pretend acting performances. And after Collin hitting him below the belt with the remark about him not having anyone to share his success, Matt needed a little breathing room.

  He waited until the last straggler entered the furniture store, then surveyed Groveman’s outdoor patio display area. Opting for one of the expensive patio tables with the largest supersize umbrella, he dropped down onto a chair and reached up to loosen his tie.

  August in Atlanta was always a bitch, but the summer heat wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as the hot seat Collin had put him in a few minutes ago. What the hell was wrong with Collin, anyway? It wasn’t like Collin to put him on the spot like that.

  Plus, he still didn’t know what was going on with Annie. Had she really been telling the truth? Had her big relationship hunt ended because she’d decided to focus entirely on her upcoming promotion?

  Matt leaned back against the thick chair cushion, mulling over Collin’s disturbing question and trying to decide for himself if there was any point in making it to the top if you had no one to share your success. He’d always assumed he would be content with a solitary life.

  But until the bitter end?

  Jeez.

  Collin’s brief glimpse into the future had left him slightly rattled.

  Deciding all he needed was a quick shot in the arm to remind him how terrific his single life really was, Matt unclipped his cell phone from his belt. The speed-dial button he pushed was his oldest brother’s office number.

  Matt’s father liked to tell the story that on their wedding night Matt’s mother promised to give him four strong sons if he’d agree to name them after the first four books of the New Testament. His father agreed, but only if they named the boys in reverse order so the kids wouldn’t pick on his sons at school. Whether he and his brothers had ended up being John, Luke, Mark, and Matthew by coincidence or on purpose, Matt wasn’t sure. But as his father always said, it made for one hell of a great story.

  Matt’s oldest brother John was the lawyer in the family, and the person Matt always turned to when he needed sound advice. John was also the brother who cheered him on the loudest from their small hometown in southern Georgia, encouraging Matt to hold on to his carefree single life as long as possible.

  “Big John,” Matt said when the secretary put him through.

  “Haz-Matt. Haven’t heard from you lately, buddy. What’s up?”

  Matt flinched at his old nickname, though he wasn’t sure why. “Can you talk a minute?”

  “Sure,” John said.

  Matt grinned when he heard John take a slurp from the coffee cup he constantly kept close at hand. He imagined his big brother leaning back in his leather chair and propping his long legs up on his always cluttered desk.

  “This is a hypothetical question, John. But I want you to be completely honest with me. Okay?”

  “Hit me with it.”

  “If you could trade places with me right now, would you do it?”

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean, Matt.”

  “Switch lives,” Matt said. “Trade being a small-town lawyer with a wife, a mortgage, and two kids for a carefree single life with a great job and a great bachelor pad like I have here in the big city?”

  “In a heartbeat,” John said, and Matt grinned until John added, “since this is only a hypothetical question.”

  Matt frowned. “Meaning what? That you don’t have any regrets? That if you had it to do all over again, you’d still marry your high school sweetheart right out of law school without ever having the opportunity to figure out what you really wanted out of life?”

  “Okay,” John said. “Who is she?”

  “What?”

  “Sounds to me like some lady’s messing with your head, little brother. Am I right?”

  Matt sighed.

  “What’s she pushing for? A ring on her finger?”

  Matt laughed. “Not even close. She showed up at my apartment last Friday night and announced that all she wanted from me was sex with no strings attached.”

  It took John a second to recover from choking on his last slurp of coffee. “And you’re upset because all this woman wants from you is sex with no strings attached? Are you nuts, Matt?”

  “No, I’m not nuts. Or upset. I’m confused,” Matt admitted. “This is completely out of character for her, John. She’s been a walking testimonial for happily-ever-after from the moment I met her. Until now. I just don’t get it.”

  “Maybe she’s trying to trick you,” John suggested. “Women do that, Matt. Be very careful. Or the next time you call me up, you’ll be inviting me to your wedding.”

  “Marriage isn’t something you recommend?”

  “Do you love her, Matt?”

  Matt paused. “Help me out here, John. I don’t know. How did you know you were in love with Sherry?”

  “You just know,” John said. “And since you’re not sure, you either (a) don’t love her . . . or (b) you’re just too stubborn to give in to the idea of love yet.”

  “Aw, come on, John,” Matt grumbled. “Saying you just know when you’re in love with someone isn’t a good enough answer. Is
n’t there some kind of test you can take or something?”

  “Okay. Let me put it this way. If she married someone else, or she moved away and you never saw her again, would it matter to you?”

  A mental picture instantly flashed through Matt’s mind. Annie riding off with Rico in his stupid silver Lotus, throwing her long white wedding veil out the window and never looking back.

  “Since you didn’t answer, I guess I can take that as a yes,” John said.

  “Maybe this is where you need to give me your usual lecture about holding on to my incredible single-guy life as long as possible.”

  John laughed. “Hey, you’ve fought the good fight, buddy. A lot longer than most. And you aren’t getting any younger, you know.”

  “Dammit, John,” Matt grumbled. “You could have gone all day without saying that.”

  “The truth hurts sometimes, little brother,” John said. “But if you really want my advice, I’d do this. I’d take it slow with this lady. I’d enjoy the sex with no strings attached as long as possible. And I’d wait and see how things shake out.”

  “Yeah. I guess you’re right,” Matt said.

  But after he spent the next fifteen minutes listening to John give him a detailed account of ten-year-old Brent’s latest baseball game, and eight-year-old Betsy’s winning soccer team, Matt realized his big brother had answered his hypothetical question about switching lives whether John knew it or not.

  The thought of life without Annie bothered Matt far more than the thought of handing over his single-guy membership card.

  “You were right, Rico,” Annie said when they finally finished filming at seven o’clock Monday evening. “This has been one long day.”

  Rico nodded. “Yes. A very long day.”

  Annie said a polite goodnight to Groveman’s security guard as they walked past. He promptly locked the large front doors behind them the second they stepped outside the store. Then she waved good-bye to Gretchen, who was driving away as she and Rico walked out onto the sidewalk.

  Everyone else had left earlier. Annie had been the one who volunteered to stay behind with Gretchen, making sure Rico understood exactly what they wanted when they resumed filming on Tuesday morning.

  “I hate to say it,” Annie added, “but tomorrow will be a carbon copy of today.”

  She was hoping that if she stressed what a busy day they had planned for Tuesday, Rico would take the hint and leave before he got any bright ideas about them being left alone. From the way he was staring at her with that gleam in his eye, Annie feared she wasn’t going to be that lucky.

  “We’ll have another brief interview with Claire tomorrow,” Annie rattled on. “You’ll spend the first two hours meeting and greeting your fans again. Then it’s back in front of the camera.”

  “And tonight,” Rico said with a sigh, “it will be just as busy at the club.”

  Annie was surprised. “Surely your brothers don’t expect you to tend bar tonight.”

  “Tend bar, no,” Rico said. “But pay attention to the ladies all evening, yes.”

  Annie shrugged. “What can I say, Rico? Sales are sales are sales.”

  This time, Rico frowned. “All this sales talk,” he said. “I am tired of that most.”

  He stepped much closer than Annie preferred. She tried to back away but he took another step forward, closing the distance between them.

  “All day I have been thinking of nothing but you, Annie.” He sent her a smoldering look that Annie might have fallen for had she not known the true reason behind his actions. “I have been patient waiting. Come have a drink with me now. Before I have to go to the club. A new quiet place. One Helena does not know about.”

  Helena.

  Crap!

  Annie hadn’t thought about Helena in days. Or about the promise she’d made to Rico’s ex-fiancée. The old Annie might have gone along with Helena’s ridiculous lose-a-guy-in-ten-days movie script plan. But the new Annie?

  No how. No way.

  The new Annie had no interest whatsoever in playing silly head games with Rico, with Helena, or anyone else.

  Rico reached out and took her hand. “If Helena is putting the worried look on your face, you have no reason to worry.”

  “But I am worried about Helena,” Annie said, which wasn’t exactly a lie. Since she’d never thought to ask how she could get in touch with Helena herself, she said, “I need Helena’s phone number, Rico. I’d like to talk to her before I go out with you again.”

  Rico shook his head adamantly. “Not a good idea.”

  Annie sent him a pleading look. “Please? It’s a girl thing, Rico. I’d really like to talk to Helena first.”

  He paused for a moment, thinking it over. “If I give you the number,” he said, “then you have to give me the time alone with you. That is my answer.”

  “Friday night,” Annie told him. “After we wrap up the final day of filming. Dinner. Just you and me. My treat. You have my promise.” She crossed her fingers over her heart as proof of her statement.

  Rico finally smiled and let go of her hand. Annie took a slip of paper and a pen from her purse. After Rico handed over the number, he glanced around the parking lot. Annie did the same. The only car in sight was Rico’s silver Lotus, sitting directly in front of the store.

  “If not a drink, then at least let me take you home.”

  “I’m parked in the back of the store,” Annie was quick to tell him.

  “Then let me give you a ride to the back of the store.”

  Annie shook her head. “I’d truthfully just like to be by myself. You know, unwind a little. The short walk around back will be just what I need.”

  “If you are sure,” he said with a disappointed sigh.

  Annie smiled as proof. “I’m sure. And thanks again for doing such a great job today. You were fabulous.”

  Thank God, Annie thought when Rico and his Lotus finally roared out of the parking lot. She slipped Helena’s number into her purse.

  What she hadn’t told Rico was that, in addition to treating him to dinner on Friday night, she would also be treating him to the big news that she knew exactly why he had been so interested in pursing her from the beginning. But she’d meet with Helena first.

  Annie’s hand found its way to her throat.

  It would be just like Helena to start up with that throat-sleeting business again.

  But maybe there was a way she could help Helena get Rico back.

  Regardless of what Rico thought he wanted, Annie could tell he didn’t like being ordered around one little bit. He’d been polite, but his body language had told a different story. And this had only been the first day of filming.

  Rico had been used to having his days to himself to do as he pleased, and without people pulling him in fifty different directions at once. Maybe that would be the key to solving Helena’s problem. Maybe if she turned up the pressure and became a little more demanding each day, Rico might not be as excited about his new acting career as he imagined.

  Annie was still pondering the Helena and Rico dilemma as she made her way down the sidewalk in front of Groveman’s, heading for the parking lot at the rear of the building. When she turned the corner, the last thing she needed after a long, hard day was exactly what she found.

  Matt.

  Looking like a model straight out of GQ.

  Propped against the driver’s side door of her VW bug, his navy blazer slung casually over one shoulder, he had a sexy come-hither smile on his wickedly handsome face.

  Since he’d had no success in getting Annie alone all day, Matt had decided to wait patiently while Annie wrapped things up with every woman’s dream guy. But he wasn’t taking any chances. He’d propped himself against her driver’s side door on purpose, just in case Miss To-Hell-With-Relationships got any bright ideas about driving off before he had his say.

  But when Matt saw Annie start walking toward him with that prissy little swish to her hips and the warm evening breeze blowing her g
orgeous reddish gold hair back away from her beautiful face, something amazing happened. And it hit him as forcefully as Mike Tyson’s famous knockout punch to Leon Spinks’s jaw.

  I love her.

  He loved everything about Annie, from the top of her too-stubborn head to the tip of her hidden-heart-tattooed toe.

  Perhaps it had been Collin’s glimpse into the future. Or perhaps it had been John’s question about how it would feel if he never saw Annie again. Whatever had propelled him to this point in his life, it left Matt with no doubts whatsoever.

  Annie’s the one.

  The problem was, what was he going to do about it now that Annie had decided the last thing she wanted in her life was any kind of relationship?

  “I thought you were gone,” she said when she walked up and stopped in front of him.

  “I thought you would be driving off with your dream guy to celebrate today’s success,” Matt said. “That is, until I saw him drive out of the parking lot without you.”

  Annie said, “So you decided to do what? Stick around and make sure I got safely to my car again?”

  Matt shrugged. “The jerk could have at least walked you to your car, Annie.”

  Which, of course, was the wrong thing to say.

  “Move, Matt,” she ordered. “I’m dead tired and I’m in no mood to argue with you.”

  She tried to push him out of the way, but Matt grabbed both of her arms. “Hey. I’m sorry. I’m the jerk, okay?” He released her. “That’s the reason I waited for you. I wanted to apologize for the silly argument we had last week. I was an arrogant ass to assume you were just going out with Rico to keep me from saying I told you so about my stupid adored and bored theory. It’s obvious you really like the guy. So, I’m sorry, Annie. I mean it.”

  She looked at him for a moment.

  Then she tossed her head, slinging her hair back over one shoulder. “I agree, Matt. You are definitely an arrogant ass. But you were also right. Being adored has bored me to tears.”

  Matt’s heart lurched with excitement.

  Really?

  Rico had bored her to tears? He felt like telling Annie everything he’d just figured out for himself. They belonged together. It was just that simple. But he knew Annie too well to spill his guts before she was ready to hear what he had to say.

 

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