by Lindsey Hart
“Nope. No deal. That’s still a date. In disguise.”
“Darn.” Matt grinned, completely unfazed. “I guess I still have a couple of hours to change your mind.”
“You go ahead and try. It’s not going to happen.”
Except that, after two hours of sledding and screaming, rushing down the hill on tubes, toboggans, sleds, plastic disk things and plastic squares which Callie didn’t even know the name of, she was tempted to give in. Matt didn’t ask her again and she didn’t bring it up. She’d had fun. Real fun. For the first time in a very long time. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so much.
“I’m soaked through,” she said, as they neared their cars. “Thanks. I had a great time.”
“Whoa, there. I didn’t say the date was over.” Matt’s raspy, deep laugh filled up the night. God, he had a nice laugh. It wrapped around her like something soft and warm and did something to her insides yet again.
“What?” She whirled. Her hand fell away from the car door.
“I may or may not have had plans to cook you dinner. If that’s alright?”
“I…” it wasn’t, but something stopped her from saying it.
Dinner at Matt’s house? Cooked by him? It was way too romantic. Although, part of her was tempted to throw caution to the wind and just keep enjoying herself. She was intrigued. She wanted to see what a man like Matt would or could cook. A small part of her wanted to see his house as well, just to get that glimpse into his private life, a life outside of work.
“I promise I have the best intentions only. The rated G kind. It’s just dinner. I just thought after sledding we would be a mess, soaked and starving and you might not want to go out somewhere. I would have done it after but sledding on a full stomach would have been uncomfortable.”
Callie didn’t say so, but she was impressed. Matt really had thought ahead. Truthfully, he’d put far more thought into the date than she ever would have or could have. It touched a part of her, that part of her heart that was hard and cold, wounded and closed off.
“You’ll have your car. You can leave at any time.” He tried again to coax her into it.
“Uhh… I’m soaked.” She looked for a way to back out. “The only clothes I have are underneath these ones.”
“I’ll lend you a t-shirt and sweats.”
His eyes roved over her body, likely just assessing her for size and she shivered. A blast of heat tore at her stomach and that painful pulsing, the throbbing that never really seemed to go away since that kiss, was back.
Just go. For once in your life, do something. Don’t be old like Chantara said and look back on everything and regret that it was all wasted. Just live for once. It’s just this night. If I don’t go, he will probably try and ask for a second date since I bailed on the last part of it.
“Alright,” Callie relented. “But it had better be G rated.”
Matt smiled and it was the kind of look that melted her insides. Or it would have if they weren’t already completely liquid. Her legs felt a little weak like they might go all buttery and collapse. She needed to be in the car before that happened.
“I’ll give you my address.”
“I don’t need it. I already know where you live.” He seemed momentarily stunned, but then he recovered.
“Right.” His eyes snapped with humor. “Of course, you do. You book all my- well, everything.”
“Yeah. Yes, that would be me.”
“For tonight, let’s just forget about that. You’ve done a good job so far. Just forget about it for an hour longer. I promise that’s all it will take.”
He turned around and got in his car with all his gear on, started it and drove off before she had time to protest or change her mind. Smooth. Real smooth. It didn’t even occur to her until she was halfway to Matt’s house, to wonder just what that hour was for. That’s all it will take. What the hell did he mean by that?
CHAPTER 10
Matt
Matt could tell Callie was thawing out. She’d been pretty frigid at the beginning of the date, but after the first couple of runs down the hill she really opened up. She was laughing and having a good time and he got a glimpse of the woman she probably was outside work. Or maybe not. Maybe she’s reserved at home as well. There was something about sledding, about just letting go and being a kid again, that brought out the best in everyone. He felt better than he had in ages.
He pulled into his garage and was in the house just long enough to find a spare change of clothes for himself and lay one out on the couch for Callie before she rang the bell.
Matt opened the door, not completely surprised to see that Callie was already back to being guarded. Obviously, she’d thought way too hard on the thirty minute drive over. She hadn’t bailed though, so there was still hope for him.
He was in the middle of pulling his T-shirt over his head when he answered the door. He realized, once he finally had the damn thing pulled down, that Callie was eyeing him up suspiciously. He felt her stare, hot and fiery, rake along his body then quickly back up to his face. The blush that always seemed to be there lately, was back. His entire body heated up and since he was wearing sweats, he turned quickly so that she couldn’t see that his cock had a mind of its own.
“Here. I found you a change of clothes.” He indicated the sweats and t-shirt on the edge of the couch. “The bathroom is down the hall, first door on the right.”
“Thanks,” Callie mumbled.
Matt figured there was a good chance she wanted to escape out the front door and run back to her car. He almost expected to hear the door slam behind him when he turned his back. It didn’t.
“Do you eat pasta?”
“What?”
“Pasta?” He turned half back around, just in time to see Callie kick off her boots. She bent and lined them up on the matt and he tried not to stare at her ass as she did so. Thank god she was wearing snow pants and a jacket still and most of her behind was covered up. “Do you like it? There aren’t many things I can cook, but it’s one of them. I have red sauce or white sauce. Or… I have a premade bag of salad in the fridge-”
“Pasta is fine, thanks.” Callie scooped up the clothes, ducked her head and rushed off in the direction of the hall. She left a wet trail in her wake as her sopping snow pants were too long, dragged down from being wet.
“You can hang your wet clothes over the shower bar,” Matt called, but he got no response.
He headed off to the kitchen, trying to damn well control himself. He’d invited Callie over for dinner and that was it. Absolutely it. He didn’t want to imagine her in his clothes, wearing his t-shirt and his sweats. He couldn’t help it. His thoughts totally went there, and he knew before she even emerged from the bathroom that she was going to be hot.
Of course, he was right.
He raised his head and his hand froze. He had been chopping herbs, but that was quickly forgotten. The knife hovered midair. The clothes were way too big. Callie swam in his t-shirt, even though the thing was one of his smallest ones. She’d tucked it into the grey sweats and tied up the drawstring probably as far as it would go. They rode low on her hips. She looked… god, she was so sexy he forgot to breathe for a minute. He was so used to seeing her in work clothes, nothing but perfection, well put together, composed. It was nice to see her a little- undone.
The ends of her long blonde hair were wet and hung in clumps. The parts that had been under her toque were mussed. He could tell she’d tried to run her fingers through it to smooth it out. He found himself wishing he could have done that for her. Her hair looked like it was soft. Real soft. It probably feels like silk.
“I- uh- can I help with anything?” Callie shot him a look that told him she knew he was studying her. Her face burned bright, but he wasn’t actually sure if the blush was just her fair skin flushed after being in the cold for so long.
“No- I- I’ve got it under control. Unless you want to set the table.” He nearly winced. He shouldn’t
ask his guest to set the table.
Callie nodded. “I guess I can do that. As long as it doesn’t require candles and we keep the lights on.”
It finally dawned on him that she was talking about the whole romantic dinner for two atmosphere. “I planned on leaving the lights on.” He pointed towards one of the cupboards on his left. “The plates are in there. And below that, in that drawer, is the cutlery.”
“Okay.”
Despite the fact it wasn’t her house and she was probably nervous as hell, though she did her best to hide it, Callie made quick work of the table. And he managed to put on a pot of water and get the rest of the herbs chopped for the sauce.
“You have a nice place.” Callie leaned on the other side of the island. She was attempting a casual pose, but he could see how uncomfortable she was in the rigid set of her jaw and shoulders.
“Thanks.”
“I didn’t expect anything less.”
He rolled his eyes. “Also, thanks?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I just- it was what I imagined.”
“It was a good deal. I bought it as sort of an investment. It needed quite a bit of fixing up. The previous owners actually foreclosed on it. And before you ask, no, my parents didn’t help me out with it. At least not with the money part of it. Some of the renovations, yes.” Callie looked a little taken aback. He had to laugh. “What? You can’t imagine me lifting a hammer and doing anything myself? I might push paper around for a living all day, but I do have some other hidden talents.” He was pretty sure now that the pink hue riding high on Callie’s cheeks was a blush.
“I guess I just thought- because you’re rich that-”
“I’m not that rich. I make a good living, but that doesn’t mean I’m drowning in money. My parents are well off and I had nice things growing up. I also have two brothers. We didn’t have the best of everything. My dad worked hard for what they have. And I paid for college by working part-time, and, I went to public school. And I didn’t go to an Ivy League before you ask.”
“I- well- I wasn’t-”
“Yes, you were. I have a regular business degree just like everyone else. I just happen to be good with numbers and better with people and that served me well.”
“Everyone says you’re a good manager,” she admitted, then looked embarrassed at letting that little piece of information slip.
Matt got the sauce going, just premade pasta sauce with a few added fresh herbs, and put the pasta into the boiling water. He made sure everything was at the right temperature and turned back to Callie. She was staring at him but dropped her eyes quickly back to the counter.
“Did you have fun tonight? No, scratch that. I know you did. Was it really so bad? Letting yourself enjoy the evening?”
Her head snapped up and her lips shifted upwards at the corners. He thought he spotted a dimple on her left cheek, but the smile was too small to actually produce it.
“I guess I had a good time. Although, I’m pretty sure that anyone would have. It was a good choice. I didn’t even know you could do sledding like that. And not having other people there- I guess that was pretty cool.”
“It’s definitely better at night. It reminds me of being a kid. My brothers and I would take our sleds to this hill a few blocks from our house. It was in a park, but that’s all the park was- a huge hill. We used to spend hours and hours sledding down there. It was always dark, and I thought it was so much better than in the daylight. There was just something- magical or whatever, about the night.”
“Really? I was always scared of the dark. My parents always said something would happen to me at night and that I had to be careful. That was when I was a kid. After that- I- I grew up and I guess it didn’t matter to them as much.”
Callie’s eyes flickered downwards, to the granite countertop. Matt had the feeling that she wasn’t just talking about the natural progression of getting older and parental guidance tapering off. It was something else. Something- something worse.
His insides tightened. The urge to protect her was so damn strong he nearly walked over and wrapped his arms around her small, frail shoulders. Don’t. It’s the last thing she wants. She’s made that real damn clear. No funny stuff, she said. That was her stipulation. He kept his distance, but barely. He had to grip the edge of the countertop so hard his knuckles turned white.
Callie, clearly not in the mood to say anything else, drifted away to the table. She pulled out a chair and sat. Matt let her have her space. The silence that stretched on between them surprisingly wasn’t awkward.
He set the food on the table and pulled out the chair where she’d set his plate. His table was large, in a kitchen that was massive. The huge piece and the eight chairs barely made a dent in the room. It was a good thing the kitchen took up the other half and his mom had helped him pick out a few antique pieces, namely the buffet and china cabinet. He only knew what they were because he’d heard her call them that more than once.
“Look,” Callie said quietly as he slid the pot of pasta and the scoop towards her. He wasn’t going to be presumptuous and put it on her plate for her. “I- I grew up in a small town. I had a happy childhood, but not after that. It was hard growing up. I really struggled. I was glad to get away. There isn’t anything wrong with me now. I- maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He nodded slowly. She didn’t take any pasta, so he filled his plate instead. After that, she slowly added a scoop to her own. She put sauce on, swirled her fork around and tasted a bite tentatively.
“Wow. This is actually pretty good.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I have to say, I am.”
He laughed. “Just another one of those skills that I have that no one knows about. It extends to pasta and toast and other small meals that I use to keep myself alive and that’s pretty much it. I could never cook a full-on meal.”
“Those are bad for you anyway. At least, everyone says people should eat small meals more often. I think I agree. I hate being over full. The oven at my place doesn’t even work. We’ve decided to get a toaster oven instead. I- uh- I guess you don’t care about that though. I don’t even know why I said that.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” He jammed a forkful of pasta in his mouth and chewed. It was pretty good. Luckily one of his better batches. “So- that small town- was it- was it one of those repressive things where no one minds their business and there aren’t any opportunities and if you have an ounce of independent thought, people get upset?”
He grinned and Callie offered a small smile back, but at least it was something. It was enough, at any rate, to get him distracted by her beautiful mouth again. Which got him thinking about that kiss again, which had him rock fucking hard under the table. Again.
“I guess so,” she admitted.
“I’m glad I grew up in the city. I wouldn’t have done well in one of those places. I was in trouble often enough as it was.”
“Really? I can’t imagine you getting into trouble.”
“Yeah. I never wanted to listen to anything the teachers had to say, but I was pretty charming, so I could usually work my way out of it.”
Callie giggled. “I guess not much has changed. Everyone says you’re very personable.”
“I don’t know why. Half the time, I think I’m too hard on people.”
“I think you’re just right.” She blushed furiously and grabbed her fork. “I mean…” she stammered as she twirled it into her pasta. “I mean- uh- okay that came out totally wrong.”
Callie’s eyes flicked back down, but her fork froze. Her hand, he noticed, trembled. When she looked back up, he was shocked as hell to see tears in her eyes. She blinked hard, letting her fork fall with a clatter, and raised her hand to her face to wipe them away.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t- I didn’t mean to-”
“Don’t apologize.”
Without thinking, he reached over and took her hand, the other o
ne, the one resting beside her plate. He felt her tremble when he gripped her fingers, but it was something more than that. The shock of the touch sent a wave of something hard and vital racing through his arm. His fingers tingled, the hair on the back of his arm stood on end as goosebumps appeared. Actual. Fucking. Goosebumps.
“I’m just cold,” Callie whispered in a shaky voice. “Just- just chilled. I just-” but those tears kept on coming, tracing patterns down her cheeks, falling like rain.
She ripped her hand away and stood, shoving her chair back so hard it screamed in protest even though there were those felt pads along the bottom to protect the hardwood from scratches.
Matt stood up slowly and Callie stared at him, frozen, lips parted. He took a step closer, hand out, as though she was a frightened animal and he didn’t want to scare her off for good. Her cheeks were wet with the constant flow of moisture that tracked down them. She finally reached up to brush them away.
“Callie- I don’t know what’s going on with you, but- I- I can help you.”
She stared at him, as though debating with herself. Her eyes searched his face and he never broke contact. Hers were red-rimmed already, but the irises were even bluer than usual. Something in her changed. Her shoulders fell and her body seemed to cave in on itself. He sensed it and when he stepped forward again, she didn’t edge away.
His hand fell to her hip, so gently, her small body covered in his clothing. All he meant to do was offer a comforting touch. Just pull her into a hard hug that wasn’t exactly appropriate, but he knew she needed it and he was the only one there.
When he touched her though, felt the warmth of her body burning him through those sweats, he couldn’t move. He couldn’t do it. He knew if he got closer, he might lose control and that was the last damn thing she needed.
She hesitated, eyes as wide as saucers, but she was the one who made the first move. She swung around, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body into his. She pulled his head down to hers and raised her face. Her lips parted, those sweet, soft lips that he couldn’t stop thinking about, dreaming about.