Unexpected Mr. Right (2 page)

Kaylee grabbed her hand across the table. “No one is telling you to change what you want. You just need to be more careful."

"Maybe I should stay away from men all together,” Tabby said sarcastically.

"Blasphemy, child.” Brianna smiled then continued, “You're just too trusting. Most men want one thing and one thing only. You need to learn to weed those men out."

"I think Bri might be right,” Kaylee added.

"What do you mean, I might be right,” Bri jumped in. “Girl, I'm always right. I got you to go for it with Luciano, didn't I?"

"Yeah, whatever..."

Tabby halfway listen to them two women bicker. She hated to admit it but they were right. It wasn't as if she needed a man. She was a strong woman, capable and willing to take care of herself. But the truth was she wanted a good man. Someone to share her life with, her dreams, goals, someone to laugh with, and someone to hold her tight. But the truth is no matter how much she wanted one, she wouldn't let herself settle for anything less than what she deserved. Why she always seemed to attract those kind men she didn't know.

Look at how attracted she was to Nico? He was a nice guy but the wrong kind for her. The one kiss they did share was interrupted by a woman who he was supposed to be meeting for a date that night. Yet she still desired him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. On the other hand she could be proud of the fact that she had yet to fall for his flirtatious ways. Want him or not, she continued to turn him down when he requested a date. Even if it was a struggle. If only he'd stop flirting with her, stop making her so hot things would be so much easier.

"Maybe you guys are right,” Tabby said.

"No maybe about it,” Bri added.

"I'm just sick and tired of all the losers out there."

"There are good guys out there, Tab. Look at Luciano."

"Yeah, I just don't know how to find them,” her voice was playful but her words were very serious.

Before they had a chance to discuss it any further Luciano approached the table, bending down to kiss Kaylee. He pulled two chairs over, one for himself and one for Nico. They always came out and sat with the women, Nico bringing the food on his break and Luciano taking as many moments with his fiancé as he could.

"Nic's coming out in a few minutes, Tabby. You think the two of you can be civil to each other?” Luciano asked.

Ever since he stole the kiss from her in Luciano's office only to be interrupted by a woman, Tabby couldn't seem to get along with him. Although he'd apologized she couldn't bring herself to trust him, which she guessed was a good thing. She didn't seem to have trouble not trusting Nico. Still it bothered her that she was still so upset at him. Sure they'd kissed but it wasn't as if he owed her anything, it wasn't as if they were in a relationship but every time she thought about the woman who he was supposed to date that night, Cindy, her blood boiled. Maybe it was because of all the times she'd been hurt. Cindy could have just as easily been her.

"I don't know, you're asking a lot,” she said with a smirk to Luciano. They all knew about the kiss but like Tabby herself they knew it was time she got over it. Nico had no commitment to her just as she didn't have one to him. What they didn't know was at the time, the kiss had meant something to her. Until Cindy walked into the room.

Seconds later Nico approached the table wearing a smile, chef's whites and carrying plates. Tabby sat in the corner trying to ignore the fluttering her in chest.

"Hello, ladies,” Nico said setting plates in front of Kaylee, Bri and finally Tabby. “You still mad at me, Slugger?” he said to her with a wink. Embarrassing as it was, she'd smacked Nico after the incident in Luciano's office. Since then he called her Slugger. It was really pretty funny. Well if the name was for someone else it would be.

"What do you think?” It would help if he wasn't so damn fine. She wished anger made her blind. She didn't want to be so attracted to him but one look into his eyes and she wished she were more like Bri, willing to hook up for a night and then forget about him. No guy she ever met had eyes like his. A sinfully dark shade of brown, long, thick soot colored lashes, one look and they could make any woman swoon.

His smile was contagious, big and happy but his face still held a chiseled, strong edge to it. And his body, God she couldn't even imagine what it looked like. He had strong, toned arms and she had no doubt the rest of him was just was delicious. Six feet of yummy, sexy, man. Yummy, sexy, I never want to settle down, man. A perfect body wasted on a man that was completely wrong for her.

"You'd think after a couple months you could forgive me. I guess I'm going to have to find a way to make it up to you.” She didn't have to guess what he meant by that. Being the fun-loving, flirt he was, Nico always had some kind of sexual innuendo in his words.

"What makes you think you can?"

He bent down and whispered in her ear. The warmth of his breath caused her to shiver. “Why don't you give me a chance to show you what I can do? I promise you, I won't let anyone interrupt us this time."

She couldn't reply. Her mouth felt glued shut. In some ways he was so different from the men she was usually attracted to. She never went for the out-spoken, obvious ladies man type but for some reason, Nico got her juices flowing. She strayed toward the wolf. Nico let it all out. He didn't try and hide who he was from anyone.

"I don't know what you said over there, Nic but give her a break. She's just might pop you one again.” Luciano patted Nico on the back when he spoke.

Everyone laughed. It was a big joke amongst the group but she still felt like shit for hitting him. She'd never slapped anyone else in her life.

Nico backed away from her and sat in the next chair over. “Naw, she's not pissed at me. She's just wants to be."

"You deserve it."

"Tabby,” he started to say but looked around as if he remembered they weren't alone. In a quick change of subject he said, “We'll talk later. Dig in everyone. I added a secret ingredient to the sauce tonight."

They ate their meal chatting like always. Tabby worked hard to ignore Nico sitting next to her, to ignore his spicy, sexy scent. The way his leg brushed against hers from time to time, warm, and hard. He made it difficult but she was determined. To keep herself sidetracked she talked about the wedding, making final arrangements. Kaylee and Luciano looked at each other dreamily as Tabby talked their ear off about stuff they already knew.

"Well, I need to get back to work,” Nico said standing up.

Luciano stood as well. “We saved this part for as long as we could but since it's obvious the two of you are going to be fighting for some time we thought you might want to know you're walking together in the wedding."

Kaylee swatted him in the arm. “Nice job breaking it easy."

"Why can't Bri walk with him?” Tabby asked.

"Because she's walking with Marco,” Kaylee replied.

"Why can't I walk with Marco?"

"Because—” Kaylee tried to say but Nico broke in.

"Because you're walking with me,” he said with an authority she hadn't heard from him before. “We're walking together and that's the end of it.” Then he turned and headed into the kitchen.

Tabby sat back shocked. Nico was always so easy going. She'd never heard him snap at someone the way he just did her, which made her immediately feel bad for being so foolish. This would be Kaylee and Luciano's day. She could and would put her feelings for Nico aside to make their day a success.

Brianna laughed before downing her Martini. “I guess he told you,” she said to Tabby with a smile.

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Nico stalked around the restaurant after hours. They finished everything but he couldn't bring himself to leave. He'd re-cleaned what the waitresses cleaned before leaving, gone through his kitchen to make sure everything was stocked and ready, and he thought about Tabby the whole damn time. The woman was the most irritating person he'd ever met. And the sexiest.

Damn he'd dated a lot of sexy women. Why couldn't he get this one out of his head? To make things worse he hadn't even had her in his bed. She wouldn't give him the time of day and it was seriously starting to piss him off. Sure he liked to flirt but what was the harm in that? Women were beautiful creatures and he liked them to know just how beautiful he thought they were. She acted like that was a crime. He knew how to treat a woman. No one complained before and she wouldn't either if she'd give him a chance.

Plus the last time he checked it wasn't against the law for a single man to go out with different women as long as they all knew the score beforehand. He never led anyone on. Right up front he made sure they all knew he wasn't looking to settle down with anyone anytime soon. What was the big deal? He hadn't met a woman who had a problem with him. Until Tabby.

Just forget about her, man. There are plenty of fish in the sea. But he couldn't and he didn't know why. Yeah she was hot, he'd always thought so. He'd flirted with her, asking her out since the first time she came into the restaurant. It became a little game between the two of them, one he enjoyed immensely. Then came the kiss. Nothing had been the same since he had the pleasure of tasting her.

First, she hadn't spoken a civil word to him. He'd had a casual date with another woman that night but canceled to work at the restaurant for Luciano. How was he supposed to know she'd come looking for him? It wasn't as if he had one woman waiting for him while he sat in the boss's office with another. She misunderstood the whole damn thing but Tabby wouldn't hear anything about it.

But the real kicker was himself. Since he'd shared that one kiss with her he hadn't gone out with another woman. Hell, he didn't even look at other women the same way. He couldn't stop thinking about her plump lips beneath his, her smooth, dark skin that he could only dream about exploring. Something was seriously wrong with him. He didn't stress over women, he didn't stalk around the restaurant on a Friday night due to sexual frustration.

Hell, he'd never even experienced sexual frustration before Tabby.

It had to be the fact that she continued to turn him down. He didn't like to sound conceited but women didn't turn him down. It just never happened. Not until Tabitha. Now she hardly spoke a word to him. He missed her gorgeous smile, their easy banter, hell he even missed her turning him down because that meant that they were at least talking. So what's up, Valenti. You going to sit around and not do anything about it? He wasn't the type to do nothing. He was an action man, always had been.

Walking over to the register he grabbed the checks for the night. He knew he really shouldn't be doing this but it wasn't as if he was a stalker or anything. You're just acting like one. All he needed was her address so he could go see her and talk some damn sense into her. Halfway through the stack he finally came across a check with Tabitha Harris on the top. He quickly scribbled her address down.

"What are you doing, Nic?” Luciano said walking up on him.

Quickly he covered the piece of paper with Tabby's address on it and slid it into his sweaty palm. His heart beat like a teenage boy who'd just been caught with his pants down. “Nothing. Just thought I'd grab the deposit and bring it back to you.” He handed the checks and money to Luciano and for the first time in a long actually felt a smile on his face.

Tabby soaked in a warm, lavender bath, a wet rag draped over her eyes. Today was about relaxation. She'd lounged around the house most of the day, watched movies, and thought about her conversation with Bri and Kaylee the night before. After a lot of thought she decided to stop her quest for Mr. Right. At least until she knew exactly what to look for and how to find it. She needed to start slow, take the chance to get to know herself and experience men in a different way than the “husband prospect” she'd always seen them as in the past.

She had to stop falling for the wrong type of men. In reality, she had no idea what men really wanted. Her relationships never lasted long enough for her to find out. Sad, really. A woman who just wanted to love and be loved yet she couldn't keep a relationship? Now that she thought about it, she really never had a real relationship. Not one where they shared the same hopes, dreams. Where she could be herself and share her secrets. Sadly, she tried to be what they all wanted and that wasn't getting her anywhere. How could she be what she didn't understand?

Had she ever actually just been friends with another man? Not that she could remember and that broke her heart. The only people who really loved her for herself were Brianna and Kaylee. They were her closest friends. She'd been an only child with absentee parents who would rather be out on the town attending high society parties than be with her. They'd loved each other, she'd seen it in the way they looked at each other, in the way they touched, the things they did for one another. She however hadn't been good enough.

They'd continually broken her heart since she was a child. Now it seemed something inside her called out to the type of men who would do the same thing. Hurt her. Not love her. The behavior had to stop. Today. Maybe by shifting gears, by putting love on the back burner she could heal like she needed to.

Shifting in the water, Tabby let the bubbles and scents wash away her thoughts about her parents, about her love life. Raising her hand she looked at her pruned fingers and decided it was time to wrap herself in her plush, white robe and slippers and climb on the couch.

Grabbing a towel from the wrack she dried her body before slipping into her robe. As she tied the knot the doorbell sounded in the background. Wiping her hand across the mirror above her sink she glanced at her reflection. Her face was makeup free, her long, black locks tied in a knot on the top of her head. She looked just as relaxed as she felt. Whoever it was would see the laid back version of Tabby.

"Just a minute,” she yelled, leaving her slippers behind, padding her bare feet across her carpet. Without checking the peephole she grabbed the handle and cracked the door open. Her breath almost stopped in surprise. Nico stood on the other side.