by Rena Olsen
He laughed. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Oh, but I insist,” I said, teasing.
“I wouldn’t be a gentleman to refuse a gift from such a lady.” He held out an arm for me to take. “Shall we?”
I double-checked the locks and then threaded my arm through his, appreciating the solidness of his bicep against mine. The fabric of his suit coat was rough against my bare skin, and I shivered at the contrast.
“Cold already?” he asked, removing his arm so he could open the front door of my building.
“Nope, just excited,” I said, smiling at him. “What do you have planned for tonight?”
Bryce shook his head. “That, dear Julia, is a surprise.”
I started to respond, but my voice caught in my throat when I saw the limousine parked in the street. Swallowing my surprise, I asked, “Is that for us?”
“Only the best!” Bryce took my arm again and led me forward. A rotund man in a driver’s cap hopped out of the front seat and hurried over to open the back door for us.
“Thank you,” I murmured as Bryce motioned me in before him. I slid across the seat and barely noticed as Bryce climbed in behind me. I’d never been in a limo before, but it was exactly like every movie I’d seen, down to the moonroof that I was dying to poke my head out of. Probably not proper for a second date, but I was sorely tempted. I wondered what Bryce would say if I did. If I opened the moonroof, stood tall, threw my hands in the air, and screamed my joy to the city. Would he join me, or would he be embarrassed by such a juvenile display? I decided not to find out, at least not this time.
The entire night was already taking on a dreamy quality. None of the dates I’d been on had ever come close to this level of extravagance. The back of the car was bathed in a soft bluish glow from tiny spotlights dotted around the interior. I could imagine myself stretching out on the buttery leather seat in front of me and taking a small nap on the way to wherever we were going. Of course, that would require moving away from the incredible man beside me, and I had no intention of doing that unless forced.
“So what’s the deal?” I asked, looking over at Bryce. “You have a limo?”
He leaned in. “Can I tell you a secret?”
I swallowed, flustered by his nearness. “Of course.”
“It’s a loaner,” he said, his voice low. “I really wanted to impress this amazing girl I met, so I called in a favor from an associate.”
Laughing, I shoved his shoulder gently, creating space between us so that I could breathe and think coherently. “Can I tell you a secret?”
He inclined his head. “Of course,” he said, echoing my earlier answer.
I lowered my voice to a whisper. “You don’t have to work too hard. She’s already impressed.”
His dimples popped. “Well then, how about we ditch the fancy dinner plans and go bowling?”
“As long as I’m with you,” I said, and immediately regretted it. Too much, Jules. Simmer down.
But the look in Bryce’s eyes said that he didn’t mind my declaration. I relaxed. Bryce had a way of making me think and say things even I didn’t expect, but he also seemed to appreciate it. I was so used to censoring myself, it was a strange feeling to be so free with someone, especially someone I’d just met.
The car was slowing by now, and I realized we were back in the city, just a few blocks from where I worked. This was an area heavily populated with office buildings, fairly quiet at this time of night. “What are we doing here?” I asked. “I didn’t know there were restaurants around here.”
“There aren’t,” Bryce said as the door opened and he stepped out. He offered me a hand, and I craned my neck to see the top of the tall building we stood in front of. “This is my office building.”
“Wow,” I said. I felt a little guilty that I’d never thought to ask which building he worked in, but then I remembered it was only our second date. I didn’t need every detail yet. “Which floor?”
“Top,” he said, pulling me forward. He pulled out a card and waved it in front of a keypad. There was a click and he pushed the door open, ushering me inside ahead of him.
The lobby of the building was dimly lit, and a security guard sat at the front desk, working on a crossword puzzle. He looked up as we approached. “Good evening, Mr. Covington. The chopper is prepped and ready to go.”
Chopper?
“Thanks, Sid,” Bryce said, his tone pleasant and familiar. “How are the kids?”
“Doin’ great, Mr. Covington. April won her class spelling bee and Nathan just started basketball camp, thanks to that scholarship the church got him.”
“That’s good to hear, Sid. Have a good evening.”
“You too, Mr. Covington,” Sid said, and nodded at me. “Ma’am.”
Bryce chuckled as we got into the elevator, waiting to speak until the doors had separated us from the lobby. “Why the frown? Do you not like the building?” He was teasing, but there was a hint of concern in his voice as well.
“He called me ‘ma’am,’” I said, pouting. “When did I become old enough to be a ma’am?”
This elicited an even larger laugh from Bryce. “He was just being polite. I don’t think he meant it in a derogatory way.”
“Clearly you are not a woman,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest. I was being dramatic on purpose, and I knew he knew it from the twinkle in his eye.
“You’re right, I’m not a woman. I’m sorry you were offended.” Bryce took my arms, uncrossing them and sliding his hands down to clasp mine. “Would you rather he asked for ID?”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I get it. Dramatics off.” I winked at him, which seemed to surprise him for a moment, and his brow creased before smoothing out again.
“Now that’s settled, miss,” he said, teasing. “Are you ready for your surprise?”
My stomach lurched. “Sid mentioned a chopper. He meant for salad, right?”
Bryce bit the corner of his lip, his expression amused. “How does a nighttime helicopter ride sound?”
“Terrifying,” I answered honestly, before I could put my filter in place. Bryce wasn’t offended, however.
“Have you ever been in one?”
“No.” For good reason. I didn’t need to be enclosed in a metal death bird. I’d seen enough movies about what happened if things went wrong.
“You should try things before you diss them.”
“‘Diss’?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Did you really just use the word ‘diss’?”
“Did it distract you?”
“A little.”
“Then my plan is working.”
“But now I just remembered that you have a helicopter. Maybe I do need to clean behind my stove tonight.”
“It’s not my helicopter. It belongs to the company.”
“Well, maybe we shouldn’t use it. We wouldn’t want to scratch the paint job.”
Bryce only shook his head in amusement and took my hand.
The elevator stopped at the top floor, and I followed Bryce to a door at the end of the hallway. I barely noticed any of the details of the top floor, where Bryce said he worked, so focused was I on what was coming next. I would have to come back and visit. If I survived the helicopter ride, of course.
There wasn’t much opportunity for private conversations once we were ushered into our seats. I was given headphones with a mouthpiece to communicate with Bryce and the pilot, but once we were in the air, I wasn’t interested in conversation. Even as I gripped Bryce’s hand, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the view. The city at night was majestic, especially from the air. It was a clear evening, and I was certain no one could ever appreciate the view of the city as I did in those moments.
“You were right,” I shouted into my mouthpiece. “This is fantastic.”
“What?” Bryce said.
“You were right,” I repeated.
“What?”
I turned to find him watching me, a mischievous look on his face. Of course he’d heard me the first time. I made a face at him without repeating myself before turning back to the window.
Too soon, we were landing in a different part of the city. Bryce jumped out first and took my waist to lift me down. As soon as I was on solid ground, he released me to adjust my dress and hair. When I was put together again, Bryce’s hand settled at the small of my back, the heat burning through the fabric of my dress as he led me forward.
We’d landed a little ways down from a small seafood restaurant on the river, which ended up being our destination. As it had been at the Burrier, the waitstaff seemed to know Bryce well and deferred to him, leading us to a quiet table overlooking the water. Bryce ordered for us without asking for menus, and I took in the general ambiance of the place.
“I’ve never been here before,” I said. “It’s charming.”
“One of my favorite places,” Bryce said. “The owners attend my church and I helped them secure the financing to open it.”
“Wow,” I said, looking around. The place was packed, even for a Friday night. Clearly they did good business here. “So, Bryce,” I said, folding my hands on the table. “You let me talk for hours the other night about every part of my life. I want to know more about you. Tell me about your family. Are your parents still around?”
I saw the walls go up before Bryce even spoke, his voice guarded but sad. “I don’t really talk about my parents, Julia.” He paused, as if searching for the right words. “My childhood was not a happy time, and I’d like to steer clear of unpleasant topics tonight.” He reached out and touched the tips of my fingers. “I want this night to be special for you.”
My smile was forced. I wondered what had happened with his family to cause that reaction in a man whom I had already grown used to being open and genuine. I was reminded that I didn’t really know Bryce at all yet. Instead of deterring me, however, that realization only fueled my desire to know more. Bryce was a puzzle I was dying to piece together, and I would start tonight.
Chapter 5
Almost a week later I hadn’t been able to learn much more about my mystery man, and he was doing everything in his power to distract me from trying. While he wasn’t closed off, exactly, it just seemed that he always veered the conversation back to me when I started to ask personal questions. And it was working. I reasoned with myself that we had only just started dating, though our connection was real and stronger than anything I had experienced before, even with Jake. I’d seen him every night that week, and when we weren’t together, I was thinking about him.
I’d even done my best to track him down online, but he had zero social media presence. When I mentioned to him that I couldn’t locate him to connect, Bryce just shook his head and made a comment about everyone putting their business out on social media before advising me to shut mine down. An Internet search only yielded his law firm’s website, which I bookmarked because of the picture on his bio page. Even the bio was generic, filled with information that could be applied to almost any male of the species.
“Ahem.” I jumped as Micah cleared her throat. “You’ve got that goo-goo look on your face again,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Thinking about Prince Charming?”
I scrunched my nose, annoyed at being caught in a daydream. “No, just trying to visualize this new project Elaine has me working on,” I lied, knowing it would shut Micah up. After her initial show of goodwill, covering up for me with Elaine when I ran in late, she’d gotten frostier with each new project Elaine asked my input on. There had only been a couple, but Micah’s questions about Bryce had become more snarky than curious. She still wanted all the details, of course, but was especially skilled at pointing out the worst possible reason for any action.
“You went for tacos?” she’d asked after I recounted the highlights of my Taco Tuesday adventure with Bryce. “That’s so tacky. Did he wear a sombrero?”
It was pretty easy to ignore her remarks, and I even brought them up with Bryce, who brushed them off. “Jealousy isn’t very attractive,” he’d said. “Not that I blame her for being jealous of such an amazing woman.”
I smiled now at the memory. Bryce had a way of making me feel secure, making me feel like things that bothered me were just small things that were easily shrugged off instead of the boulders I made them into.
“It’s creepy when you smile like that,” Micah said.
Laughing, I took out my phone. I needed a break from Bryce, because as wonderful as he was, I wasn’t focusing on anything else, and I was self-aware enough to know that wasn’t healthy. I sent a quick text to my friend Savannah, ignoring the pang of guilt that it had been several weeks since I’d texted her. Even living in the same city, it was hard to get together often. I hadn’t even told her anything about Bryce yet. Not that I wanted to spend my evening talking about him. Just the highlights.
Hey, Van, what are you up to tonight?
The response came almost immediately. Footie pajamas and Netflix, but I could be persuaded to change my plans if the right offer came along.
Mickey’s?
Hell yeah! I’ll call the Cat Pack.
Perfect. See you at 7?
You’re on.
I felt lighter as I texted Bryce to let him know I had other plans that evening. We hadn’t set anything up, but over the past few days it had seemed almost unspoken that we would see each other every day. He responded quickly to have fun and he’d call me tomorrow, and even that short text sent happy chills down my body.
With a night of girl time ahead of me, I was finally able to focus on completing the sample portion of the Sibyl program Elaine had allowed me to purchase after our conversation, completely blocking out Micah’s sighs and death glares as I hummed happily.
* * *
—
It was a little after seven by the time I made it into Mickey Finn’s, the bar Savannah and I used to practically live in during college. Along with the rest of the “Cat Pack,” as we christened ourselves, we’d celebrated highs and mourned lows at our favorite corner booth, which I was happy to see Savannah had snagged for us. I spotted her as soon as I walked in, her dark curls unmistakable even from across the room.
“JULES!” she cried, weaving her way through the crowd and throwing her arms around me when she reached me. “I’ve missed you!”
“It’s only been a few weeks, Van,” I said, linking arms with her as we made our way back to the table.
“That is forEVER in Cat years,” she said, scooching into the large round booth and pulling me in after her.
“Hey!” I exchanged hellos with the others at the table. Kara, Darci, Joni, and Amanda made up the rest of our “pack.” Even as I settled into the worn leather booth and into the natural flow of conversation that never seemed to lag, no matter how much time we spent apart, I realized how much I missed these girls who had seen me through the crazy college years and beyond. Through finals and through my broken engagement, even as I watched each of them grow and reach milestones while my own life remained stagnant. Not that I begrudged their success and happiness. I was just ready for my own life to begin. Bryce’s blue eyes flashed through my mind and I started to believe that my time had finally come.
Shaking my head, I kicked my mushy thoughts away to focus on the group. “So how’d you score our booth?” I asked. “Joni, are you still seeing the bartender?”
“Nope,” she said, laughing. “Van did it!”
I looked at Van, raising an eyebrow. “When did you get so much pull?”
Tossing her hair, she shrugged. “You know Mickey loves me. I called ahead and he reserved it.”
“Uh huh,” I said. “Even after you broke his heart all those times in college.”
“Please,” she said, laughing. “A littl
e harmless flirting never hurt anyone, and it got us our booth back.”
“I’m telling Austin,” I teased.
“He’s the one who suggested it,” she said with a wave of her hand. “My man knows how things work.”
The bar filled up as we spent time catching up. It didn’t take long for them to worm information about Bryce out of me. Not like it was hard. As much as I was enjoying the evening, I couldn’t quite push him completely out of my mind. By the time I’d finished talking about our meeting and first date, all the girls were staring at me with versions of starry-eyed optimism and goofy grins.
“You’ve got it bad,” Savannah said finally. “I haven’t seen you like this since . . . well . . . ever. Even with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.”
I squared my shoulders. “Jake,” I said, and Savannah’s mouth dropped open before curving into an approving expression. “It’s fine to say his name. I am over it, over him. I’m so over him. Moving forward. Maybe with Bryce, maybe not, but definitely forward.”
The girls looked at each other. “With Bryce!” they said in unison, and the bartender chose that moment to bring us a round of shots, sent from a table of fraternity-looking guys. We toasted them before downing our drinks, and it was like we were back in college.
“You guys! We have to karaoke!” Darci said. “Like we used to!”
“I have the perfect song,” Savannah said, eyes sparkling. “Hold on, I’ll go put us on the list.”
I leaned into Amanda as Savannah skipped away. “I’ve missed you guys.”
“Same,” she said, patting my head at an awkward angle. Amanda was the quiet one, probably the most steady of all of us. And the first one of us to get married. We jokingly called her Mama Amanda after she got married, even though Savannah said her “I dos” only a few months later. I’d have to call Amanda to have coffee soon. She was more comfortable one-on-one.