Dating for Keeps (3 page)

"Tessa, do you really think it would be a chore for me to help you? I want to help, honestly. What time do you want to get started?" Seeing her hesitation Lucas added, "That is, unless you'd rather not see me."

"Oh, no, it's not that at all. I'd love for you to come help." Tessa blushed. "It's just that I don't want you to feel obligated, that is all. I know how busy you are with work."

He smiled at her. "Never too busy to spend time with you. How does 9:00 tomorrow morning sound?"

"Perfect. Thank you Lucas. For everything."
"It's my pleasure." They pulled up to her apartment and the car came to a stop. Lucas waited for his driver to come around and open Tessa's door. Tessa felt the few moments were prime opportunity for an intimate moment, but Lucas apparently didn't feel the same.

"See you tomorrow," he called out to her as she exited the vehicle.

Tessa sighed as she watched him drive away. Still no kiss. She trudged inside, unsure of what to make of this whole dating thing. Were all guys so difficult to read? Maybe it was just her - after all, it had been years since she had spent more than one date with a guy.

"Hey," Becky called as Tessa walked in the door. "I've been waiting for you to get home. Is Lucas with you?"

"No he left. Why?"

"Well, it's probably just as well," Becky said coming into the room. "Something weird happened today that I wanted to tell you about."

"And that was...?"

"Well a man from the FBI came here asking for you."

"The FBI? He came here to the house? What did he say?"

"He said his name was Michael Levy and he was doing an investigation and needed to speak with you. I told him you were out and he asked where you worked so I gave him the address. Did he come by there today?"

"No, but I was out most of the afternoon so I don't know if he showed up there or not. I wonder what on earth he could want?"

"Well, after I told him you weren't here he started asking me lots of questions about your relationship with Lucas, and how well I knew Lucas. He started weirding me out so I simply told him he would have to wait and talk with you."

"Wow," Tessa said as she sat on the couch stunned. "What do you think I should do? Should I call Lucas and tell him about it?"

"No, I don't think so. The one thing he told me as he was leaving was to make sure you don't tell Lucas about him. He said it might throw off his investigation. He told me that he would be by your office Monday to speak with you then. Until that time you should just continue on as normal. Oh, and there's one more thing I was thinking about," Becky went on. "Didn't you say that there was a guy staring at you at dinner a couple weeks ago?"

"Yes, that's right there was. Do you think it was this FBI guy, Michael?"

"Well, what did he look like?" Becky asked.

"Blond hair, tall, stocky build," Tessa couldn't shake the stranger from her mind, so calling to mind a description came easily.

"Yes, that's him. He was the one here today. What do you think it all means?" she asked alarmed.

"I don't know," Tessa began slowly, "Something weird is certainly going on. I don't really know what to make of it. But for some reason I want to trust Lucas. Is that bad? It's just that he has been so nice to me and seems so genuine. I want to hear his side of the story before I believe anything.  Besides, I need to actually talk to this Michael myself and hear what he has to say. What do you think?"

Becky pondered the situation for a moment, "I agree - you do want to make sure you know the full story before you make any judgement calls. But I still worry about you. If you are still dating Lucas just because of the bet, I think you should call it off. I'll let you have the bedroom. I don't want anything bad to happen just because of our silly bet."

"No, it's okay, really. I like Lucas. A lot. I know I never would have ended up with him if it wasn't for the bet, but that isn't the reason I am staying with him now. I don't want to break things up, especially if there is no reason to. Besides," she said with a smile, "I kind of like a little excitement. He's far more interesting than any of the other guys I've ever dated."

"He certainly is," Becky agreed. "He honestly seems like something out of a movie, complete with a British accent. Just promise me you'll be careful, ok?"

"I promise," Tessa assured her. "Oh, and I almost forgot the good news. Lucas said he has nothing planned for tomorrow and he is coming over to help us move."

"Oh my gosh, that's so great. I was really worried how we were going to move everything on our own. See Tessa, he definitely is a knight in shining armor. Unless this FBI guy tells you that Lucas is like an international criminal or something, you have to keep him around."

Chapter 5

A knock on the door the next morning let Tessa know that Lucas had arrived. She glanced at the clock as she went to answer the door.
9:00
. Always punctual.

"Lucas, hi. Wow." Tessa stammered as she swung open the door.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no, sorry. I just realized that I've never seen you in anything except a suit and tie. You look - "

"Normal?" He finished the sentence for her.

"Yes. That is, I mean, you look great." Tessa flushed as she realized that this probably wasn't the best way to greet the guy she liked so much. She opened the door wider and invited him in, then followed him into the kitchen, which afforded her a better look at his altered appearance. Instead of his usual blazer and slacks, he was wearing wind pants and a fleece pullover. His usually impeccable hair was tousled, and his entire appearance gave him more of a frat-boy look rather than the international businessman he claimed to be. Either way, he was still hot. Really hot.

"Tessa, you can stop gawking now," he teased her. "I told you I meant it when I said I would help. Do you think I want to be carrying boxes and furniture all day in my nice clothes?"

"No, of course not," she laughed. "I have to admit, I wasn't really sure if you were going to do the work yourself. I half expected you to show up here with a company of movers."

He grinned, "Well, I will say I did consider it. I think this is a better way for me to spend my day though. It gives us a better chance to work together and continue to get to know one another."

As Tessa smiled at his kind words, Becky entered the room.

"Hey Lucas, good to see you," she said warmly. "Thank you so much for offering to help us today. Tessa thought we would have a good handle on it ourselves, but I told her she was crazy.  Unfortunately Ron got called to go on a work trip last minute."

"Well, never fear. I am here to offer assistance." Lucas grinned.

Becky smiled, picked up a box and left the room, but Tessa paused.

"What did you say?" She asked turning to Lucas.

"I said I'm here to offer assistance. Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Tessa said slowly. "But you said that phrase in an American accent. Not British." Her voice was barely a whisper and she looked at Lucas with questioning.

For a split second he appeared very uncomfortable and off-guard, as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He swiftly regained his composure, although Tessa was astute enough to notice the change in his demeanor.

"Oh, so you noticed? Splendid!" His voice, which once again rang with his British accent, was cheerful.

"Noticed?"

"Yes, I've been trying out an American accent. I'm not always very good, but I find it useful to speak like an American, especially since I
live
in America. How did it sound to you?"

"Okay I guess. I've just never heard you speak that way, that's all. It caught me off guard." Tessa looked at him puzzled. She couldn't figure out if he was telling the truth or covering something up.

"Well, we better get to work!" he said cheerily as if trying to change the subject.

Since the two girls had already boxed up most of their belongings, the bulk of the work lay in loading up the moving truck they had rented for the day. They accomplished this in several hours and then drove the two miles to their new apartment.

"Ok, let's get this thing unloaded," Lucas exclaimed with gumption after they took a short break.

"Ugh, I don't think I have any energy left and we're only half done," Becky groaned.

"Don't worry, take it easy and only do what you can. I've still got a lot of wind left in me," Lucas offered, grabbing a large box. "Just tell me which bedrooms are which and I'll start putting stuff away."

Becky and Tessa glanced at each other but didn't say anything. Since they were still in the middle of their bet, they hadn't yet resolved who would get the large master bedroom. Luckily, this new apartment had three bedrooms.

"I'll take this bedroom here, and Becky will have the one downstairs," Tessa said, pointing Lucas to the two smaller rooms.

"What? What about the large master bedroom? You guys aren't just going to leave it empty are you?"

"Oh no, one of us will end up moving in there. We just haven't decided who yet." Tessa told him.

"And why can't you decide now? It will be a lot more work to move into a bedroom today only to switch later on."

"I know, but we just can't decide now. Sorry." Tessa was apologetic for more than one reason. All of a sudden she felt incredibly guilty knowing that she had technically started dating Lucas all because of the bet to get the bedroom. Hastily she justified her behavior by telling herself that the bet was helpful in actually meeting Lucas, but she wasn't dating him because of it anymore. Even if there had been no bet she would still be with him. He was unlike anyone she had ever met before.

While she expected him to lend a hand, Tessa was blown away by how much effort Lucas put into helping her and Becky. His dedication and strength wasn't something she expected from a guy who wore expensive Italian suits everyday and had his own personal driver, and it only made her like him all the more.

"Dang Tessa," Becky whispered to her while the two were taking a break just out of Lucas's earshot. "You scored yourself a good-looking guy who actually isn't afraid to work. This would have taken us three times as long by ourselves. And did you notice how easily he lifted your dresser? Very impressive strength!"

"Yes, I know. I honestly had no idea he would be this helpful," Tessa admitted with a grin.

"Does he have any brothers?" Becky asked giving her a friendly elbow.

"Actually - I'm not sure."

"You're not sure if he has brothers? Don't you know anything about his family?"

"Umm, no, not really."

"Tessa, you guys have gone on several dates and have hung out quite a bit now. That seems a bit - weird."

"I know, I know, but I don't know what to make of it. He keeps telling me he doesn't like to talk about himself because he is 'boring'. In fact, the only thing I know for sure is his age and that he moved here when he was eighteen. He vaguely referred to his business, but never told me what it is he actually does. What do you think I should do?"

"Well, don't ditch him just because of that - he's too nice - but you should definitely get him to open up soon. Especially if you are dating."

"Yeah, that's the other thing..." Tessa began. "We haven't even kissed yet. I don't know what he wants from our hanging out together."

"Seriously?" Becky was incredulous. "He certainly seems interested in pursuing a relationship, or else I don't know why he would be working so hard. I think you do need to find out more about him though. Maybe after you talk to the FBI guy on Monday."

"I know, I will."

"Why do I get the sense that you ladies are talking about me?" Lucas ventured into the kitchen where the two girls had been whispering.

"I don't know why you think you're so interesting that we would be talking about you," Tessa teased.

Lucas feigned shock at her remark."What? Not interesting? You mean I don't intrigue you?"

"Well, actually, yes, you do. A lot."

"Good," he said leaning in close to her face. In one fell swoop and before Tessa could prepare, he put his hand on her cheek and pulled her into him, kissing her hard. After her initial shock, Tessa felt herself give way to the kiss as the fireworks inside her exploded. She wanted their lips to stay locked forever, but after a few moments Lucas pulled away. He carefully brushed aside a piece of hair that had  fallen in her eyes and looked into her eyes with longing. "I just need you to trust me, ok?"

His statement made Tessa wonder if he had overheard some of their conversation. "Of course. Why wouldn't I trust you?" She placed her hand on Lucas's side in an effort to draw him back close to her, but instead she was startled when she felt a large, cold object instead.

"What's that? Is that - a gun?" she asked with alarm.

"Oh, yes, ignore that, it's nothing," Lucas said pulling away quickly.

"
Nothing.
How can you say that? It's not nothing. People don't just walk around with a gun concealed in their pants. Normal people anyway. Why do you have that?" Tessa's eyes were big and her voice rang with fear.