Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) (33 page)

“Story?” I asked, knowing what he was really asking, but unsure of how I was going to answer it.

“Yeah. Are you into her and I need to back off or are you two really just friends?” He leaned forward and lowered his voice, “Cause I gotta tell you, she really seems like a fantastic girl.” An overwhelming urge to punch him for just thinking about Vanessa that way gripped me hard. I swallowed hard and got a grip. Kind of.

Fuck it. “You think she’s fantastic? Wow, she’s got you fooled. The girl is a mess of problems. She drinks too much — actually she drinks like she did last night all the time. And man, whew…” I whistled low before continuing, “the mood swings.” I shook my head. “Fuck, I can’t deal with that shit, you know what I mean?”

Luke stared at me, nodding slightly. “Mood swings?”

“Oh God, they’re horrible. Just as her friend, I started tracking
that shit monthly,” I lied.

He continued to listen, so I continued to lay it on really thick. “She does this thing where she…” I went on and on for quite some time about anything and everything a woman might do to annoy a guy. I finally stopped as Mandy returned with our drink order.

“Wow, man, I’m glad you told me that. She sure had me fooled.” He shook his head and pulled out a twenty, throwing it on the table. I tried my best not to smile as relief flooded me. “Hey, I’m gonna head out of here before she gets back. Just tell her I got an emergency call and had to help out a friend or something, alright?”

“Yeah, sure man. I’ll definitely do that for you,” I said as he clapped my back and shook my hand. I watched him head out the door just as Vanessa was coming back to the table.

“Where’s Luke going?” She asked, seeming slightly deflated that he was leaving.

“He said he had to help out a friend. He answered his cell and told me there was some emergency,” I lied, again.

She flopped onto the bar stool with a pout. I couldn’t help but look her over. Especially in that little top she was wearing, which shoved her tits right to the top, almost spilling over. Grazing my lips over them earlier wasn’t going to cut it. I was dying to cup her breast hard.

“Darn it,” she exclaimed, making me flick my eyes from her breasts back to her eyes. “I really thought we hit it off. I’m glad he gave me his number. Maybe I should give him a call and see if he needs any help?” She asked me. She was really asking my opinion? I guess a friend would help her out in this type of situation.

Pulling my brows together, I pretended to act concerned. “No, I wouldn’t do that. You might sound a bit desperate. You want to play this thing the right way,” I advised her.

She nodded with a thoughtful look. Then she glared at me. Did she see through my lies? “By the way, you’re on my shit list. What was up with telling him about my night last night and holding my hair? That was a jerk thing to do.”

I chuckled as I shrugged off her comments. “What? All I was doing was tell him the truth. Didn’t I hold your hair last night?” She rolled her eyes, knowing full well I wasn’t embellishing last night. “See, I was just telling the truth,” I shrugged as I took a drink from my beer.

“Well, you didn’t need to tell him all that,” she told me as she glanced at the table. Her eyes glanced back to mine as she perked up and smiled. “He’s really sweet, isn’t he? He was so nice to talk to. We exchanged numbers earlier. I hope he calls me.” She pressed her lips together as she thought more. “Do you think he’ll call me tomorrow? Should I call him?” She asked way too anxiously.

Quickly I responded, “No, you shouldn’t call him. You never call a guy.”

“Never?”

I shook my head. “Never.”

It was finally closing time and we started walking back to our apartment building after saying goodnight to everyone. Vanessa had really paced herself tonight, but I noticed after Luke left she was a bit more tipsy than she was earlier.

I glanced over and laughed as I checked out her tits. She must have bent over at some point and her left boob came out of that tiny bra she tried to tease me with earlier.

“Your tit popped out,” I stated flatly as I glanced back over at her while we kept walking back to our apartment building.

“What?” She asked, still smiling from ear to ear.

“Your tit. In that tiny bra you’re wearing. Popped out. It looks like you have one up and one down.”

I watched her from the corner of my eye stop walking and glance down. I stopped walking and noticed her face flush with embarrassment. I chuckled while she turned towards the building and tried to adjust her boob back into her bra, while mumbling, “Oh shit.”

I waited for her to fix things while glancing around. There were mostly young drunks walking back from the bars now. Some were stumbling into pizza joints that stayed open for the after bar crowd. It reminded me of college a little, only everyone was dressed in more expensive clothes.

Vanessa fixed herself and walked towards me. “Thank you Matt,” Vanessa said as she smiled and knocked into me. I couldn’t tell if it was because she was pretty buzzed or if she was trying to be playful.

I had to chuckle as I asked, “For what? Telling you your tits were uneven?”

She laughed and then tilted her head as we continued walking. “For convincing me to go out.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, but…” she took a deep breath before continuing, “I have a tough time meeting new people and getting out.”

I wanted to say, “No shit,” but I refrained. Instead I tried to act surprised, but it came out more sarcastic. “No, you?”

Her face became completely serious continuing to look right at me. “No really. I do. I’ve always had a hard time meeting people.” She huffed. “That’s why I decided to go into HR. I wanted to force myself out there.” She shook her head as she told me this. I couldn’t help but smile. That took guts to throw herself into something, especially a career, in order to get out of her comfort zone.

We arrived back at our apartment doors and I stood there watching Vanessa take her keys out of her purse. This wasn’t a date, I reminded myself. So I shouldn’t want to kiss her. But I really wanted to. I stared at her lips wanting to taste them again. All her teasing from before we went out was no longer there. She seemed more humble or thoughtful tonight as she toyed with her keys. She looked up into my eyes.

“I know this sounds strange, but,” she paused and bit her lip, glancing away quickly before looking back into my eyes. Hers were so bright and beautiful as I glanced back at her lips that were now curled into a sweet smile. “I really had a good time tonight. I mean, I know we didn’t have a date or anything and we were actually apart most of the time. I…” she scrunched up her face and shook her head rolling her eyes. “Sorry, I guess I’ve had too much to drink. I’m just gonna go in and shut up.” She gave a small laugh.

I put my hand on her arm, giving her a smile back. “No, I actually know what you mean. I had fun tonight forcing you out there.”

She laughed at my small joke and nodded, glancing away. “I think I really like our new friendship.”

Her eyes flicked back to mine and I gave her a sincere smile. “Me too,” I told her with pure honesty. Well, minus the jealousy I had tonight. Aside from that, watching Vanessa smile, laugh and flirt, even if it wasn’t with me, really did make it a pretty nice evening.

“Goodnight, Matt.”

“Goodnight, Vanessa.” I watched her open her door and go inside. She smiled before she finally closed the door fully. I just stood there staring at the door wondering if I should have said something more.
Friendship.
I wasn’t sure if that’s really all that I wanted, but I’ll have to just bide my time for now.

******

Me:
How ya feeling Gorgeous?

I smiled to myself as I sent Vanessa a text the next morning. I wondered if she enjoyed being called that. I wasn’t sure if I should ask her or not. I mean, who wouldn’t like to be called that, right?

I was surprised when she replied so quickly.

Vanessa:
Feeling great. You?

Me:
Good. Want to run out and grab some breakfast?

Vanessa:
I don’t usually eat breakfast, just coffee. But I’ll head out with you.

Me:
Meet you in 15?

Vanessa:
K

I was surprised she didn’t argue with me. I expected to at least have to drag her out since it seemed to be her initial response.

Fifteen minutes later and I was knocking on her door. Aubrey held the door open, smiling and wearing a tight tank top and tiny shorts. God I love my neighbors. I smiled at Aubrey as she eyed me like a piece of candy from head to toe before stepping aside to let me in.

After she closed the door she stepped towards me, inside my personal space. If I didn’t know any better I’d say she was coming on to me. She gave me this sexy grin and I wasn’t sure what to think. My eyes quickly scanned the room for Vanessa. I wasn't sure if this was a trick or something.

“You better treat her right. I can be a fucking bitch to deal with if you’re an ass to her. Got it?” Aubrey directed to me as she crossed her arms over her chest.

I swallowed quickly as I realized how protective she is over her friend. I nodded.

She pressed her lips together, returning my nod. She strutted away from me towards her room with a confident, sexy walk. Damn, she’s hot. I shook my head as I walked to Vanessa’s room like I did last night. I got a chub just remembering how she came out of the bathroom dancing naked. I’ve seen just about all sides of her, I was pretty sure. At least I hope the bitchy side I saw at work was as bad as it gets. I can handle that.

I glanced around her bedroom and thought about sitting down on the bed like I did last night, but heard her singing to herself in the vanity area. I peeked quickly and watched Vanessa apply make-up, she caught my eye and smiled.

“Hoping to catch me naked again?” She teased with a glint in her eyes.

I walked in and hopped up on the counter as I watched her apply blush. “Nah. Just thought I’d head in here while I wait for you. I meant to invite Aubrey, but forgot to.”

She chuckled as she searched for something in her drawer before pulling out a tube of something. I watched her unscrew the top and pull out a long black wand. She pulled it up to her long lashes and began to stroke them with the wand brush. “I bet you forgot. Aubrey was wearing her tiny clothes and you couldn’t remember what it was you were saying, huh?”

I laughed as I averted her eyes and looked to the floor. “Something like that.”

“She’s packing anyway and has to leave soon. She won’t want to come with us.” I nodded. “So I was thinking about what you said last night — that I shouldn’t call Luke. Is that dating rule 101?”

“No, that’s just a basic ‘don’t come off as desperate’ 101 rule.” I replied.

Frowning, she stared into the mirror before protesting, “I don’t think I would come off as desperate.”

I shrugged while looking around at her countertop. “Fine. Don’t trust my male knowledge. Call him and see what happens.” Did I feel guilty? Nope. Not a bit. If she does wind up calling him and doesn’t get a response or he tells her he doesn’t want to see her again, who’s going to be the shoulder she cries on? Yep. I got a plan for this.

She stopped applying her makeup and gave a soft pout while turning toward me. “He seemed into me last night, didn’t he? Or was that just me being tipsy?” She shook her head as she looked back at her reflection.

I picked up a bottle of her perfume and sniffed the pump. Wow. I really like that one. Flowery. “I don’t know. He’s goofy like that. I’ve met him before. Think he’s too into bodybuilding or something.”

“What do you mean? He doesn’t really date?”

“Nah. Bodybuilding takes up too much of his time. I haven’t seen him there in a while. I was actually surprised to see him there last night. You’re better off. He travels a lot and girls are always hanging on him.” I picked up another bottle and took a look at the label. I felt her glare so I looked up to see her staring at me.

Vanessa wrinkled her brows and squinted her eyes while glaring at me. “He said he doesn’t compete,” Vanessa pointed out. One hand moved to her hip and she jetted it out. “Did you chase him away?” She walked the couple steps to me and looked up to my face. I couldn’t help but smile. Maybe I just like to banter with her like this.

“I didn’t chase him away.”

Her mouth popped open and she smacked me on my arm. “What did you tell him about me?”

“Nothing!” I protested as I pretended my arm was hurt where she hit me.

She squinted her eyes. “Are you lying to me?”

“Pfft. No.” I tried not to look her in the eyes, but when I looked back at her she dropped her gaze to the countertop. I clapped my hands to change the subject. “Come on. Let’s go get some coffee. You look like you could use a pick me up.”

She pulled her brows together staring at me and then looked at her reflection. Turning her head from side to side she seemed to be reviewing her features. I hopped off the counter and laughed. “I’m not saying you look bad. I just thought we discussed getting some coffee.”

After she finished getting ready we headed out to a nearby diner. I grabbed a booth near a window and sat down. I ordered this great platter they have called the Hangover Special. I glanced up to see Vanessa looking at me curiously.