Watching Her (2 page)

“Wow, haven’t seen you smile like that in a while. What’s
up with that?”

I was surprised to look up to see my friend Jillian
standing in the doorway of my office. She worked in HR at the same company. We
started here on the same day and had been best friends ever since.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. I have a date.”

“
Ooo
…” She sat in the
chair in front of my desk. “Tell me more.”

Butterflies dive-bombed in my stomach as I thought
of Brett. “Well, Dave gave me some stupid reports to do again before he left
last night.”

“Again? Asshole,” she muttered.

“I know, right? Anyway, I decided that I was sick of
this place and went to Starbucks to work on them. I’d been working for a little
while when this guy came in. He was
smokin
’ hot -
tall with dark brown hair and a body to die for. He had on a leather jacket and
one of those chains on his wallet. A few piercings.”

“Yummy, my favorite.” Jillian was known for dating
bad boys.

“I was so embarrassed when he caught me checking him
out, but he said hi. He got his coffee and then sat with me.
 
I was mortified I was just in my jeans
and sweatshirt. I couldn’t even believe he said hi.”

Jillian shook her head. “You so underestimate
yourself. You are gorgeous all the time.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever! He slipped off his
jacket as we chatted, and he had all of these tattoos and these ripped arms. He
obviously spends a ton of time at the gym. I seriously thought I was going to
die. To make a long story short, he asked me out for dinner tonight. And I said
yes!” I had to keep from bouncing in my seat.

“For real?” She looked at me wide-eyed.

“What? Do you think I shouldn’t have said yes?” I
was worried now that maybe I had made a mistake.

“God no! I just can’t believe you said yes. I mean,
I am glad you did, but you always date these boring accountant or lawyer guys. He
doesn’t sound like he is your type at all.”

“He’s not. When he asked me out, part of me thought,
‘why not?’ I am 30 and all alone so something obviously isn’t working for me.”

Jillian nodded. “I’ve been trying to tell you
forever that it was time to shake it up in the man department.”

“I know. And maybe you’re right. We’ll see. We’re
meeting at Alfredo’s tonight at six. Let’s hope that Dave lets me out of here
in time.”

Jillian snorted. “Unlikely. You’ll just have to tell
him that you have to be somewhere. You have to have a life outside of this
place. There’s so much more to life than work.”

“I know,
Jilly
, I know.”

Just then my phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID,
I groaned, “Dave.”

Jill stood up. “That’s my cue to leave. We’ll talk
later. If not, have fun tonight and I expect a full report.” She headed back to
her office.

“Yes, ma’am!” I picked up my phone, “Good morning,
Dave.” I was sure my boss would keep me more than busy for the rest of the day,
which would keep my mind off Brett. Hopefully.

Sure enough, Dave kept me tied up the rest of the
day.
 
I was finally getting ready to
head out the door around 4:30 p.m. when Dave came sauntering in. “Leaving
already?”

I looked up from my purse, where I had been
searching for my keys. “Yes, I have things to do tonight.”

“Well,” he walked over to my desk, “I need you
to redo those reports tonight and email them. The corporate people need them by
morning.”

“Are you kidding me? What was wrong with what I
did?” My shoulders slumped. I couldn’t miss my date with Brett.

“Well, they were missing a bunch of data I forgot to
give you. I just emailed it to you. I really need these done.”

“But-” I fought back the tears of frustration that
threatened to fall.

“Elizabeth, I wouldn’t ask you to do it if it wasn’t
important. I know that I can count on you.”

I powered my computer back up and sat down with a
thud. “Yes, Dave. I’ll get them done.”

He gave me one of his fake grins that made my
stomach turn. “Thanks, Elizabeth. I’ll be sure to remember this at review time
next month.” He got up and walked out of my office.

I took a shaky breath and wiped a tear away.
He will not make cry. Asshole.
Of all nights.
I got my phone out to text Jill.

Dave wrecked my night. Just told me that I need to redo
reports I did last night ‘cause he forgot to give me some data.

Shut up! Make him do it!
I couldn’t help but smile a little at her response.
I knew she would be furious with him for me.

You know I can’t do that.

Oh Lizzie, I’m sorry.

Me too. Texting Brett now.
I bit my lip, fighting back tears.
 
I found our conversation from earlier.

Can’t make it tonight. Have to work late.

He responded almost immediately.
That’s too bad? What if we just make it
later?

I am not sure when I’ll be done. Don’t want you to wait.

There was no response for a bit. Maybe he decided I
wasn’t worth the trouble.
 
Finally
my phone pinged.

How about you text me when you leave?

At least he still wanted to talk to me.
Ok. I will.

Don’t work too hard, gorgeous.
I couldn’t help but smile at
that.

I fought back a sob as I turned back to my computer,
diving into the reports and the new data Dave had sent. I ended up having to do
some pretty extensive rewrites. It was 9:30 p.m. before I was able to hit send.

Rubbing my eyes, my thoughts turned to Brett. Should
I text him or not? It was too late to go out. Should I even bother?

After the shitty evening I just had, I decided to
text him.
Leaving
now...finally.

He responded right away.
Good.
Wanna
go out? Or want me to meet you at your place with pizza and wine?

I smiled. He still wanted to see me! Truth was, I
was exhausted and not really in the mood to go out, but did I really want to
invite him over to my place? I barely knew him.

Oh what the hell? I have played it safe my whole life.
There was just something
about him anyway, something that made me feel safe.

I sent Brett a text with my address. He responded
quickly.
 
See
ya
in
about 20 minutes.

I couldn’t wait.

Chapter 3

My heart was racing as I drove home. What if Brett
didn’t show up?

As I was walking up to my apartment, looking for my
keys in my bag, I was startled by his deep baritone voice.

“Hey gorgeous.”

Squealing, I dropped my bag.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.” He looked down
at me as I bent down to pick my bag up, concern in his eyes.

“It’s ok.” I laughed, finally finding my keys and
unlocking my door. “I’m just on edge. It’s been a long day and then I thought
that maybe you wouldn’t show up.”

He followed behind me as I walked inside.
 
He chuckled as he set the bottle of wine
and pizza down on the counter. “Now why would I do that? I said I was going
to.”

I slipped out of my shoes, giving him a sheepish
grin. “I know, but I haven’t had the best luck with men and let’s face it, we
hardly know each other.”

He waved a hand at me as if to dismiss my silly
thoughts. “Where are your plates?” He held up the bottle of wine. “And most
importantly, your corkscrew and wine glasses.”

I quickly showed him where everything was. As he
opened the wine, he stared at me with those dark eyes. “Well, gorgeous, I’ve
been looking forward to seeing you all day. I was pretty disappointed when you
texted me you had to work. But I’m glad to see you now.” He poured some wine
into the glasses. Raising a glass to me, he smiled. “Here’s to getting to know
each other.”

I smiled. “I’ll drink to that.” I took a sip of my
wine, watching him over the top of my glass. I couldn’t believe this tattooed,
sexy man was standing in my kitchen.

Setting my glass down with a sigh, I said, “Would
you mind if I changed? I’m dying to get out of these work clothes.”

“Sure, gorgeous.”

“Thanks. Make yourself at home. The remote is over
there somewhere. I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry back.” He grinned. My stomach flipped.

“I will.” I hurried into my bedroom, shutting the
door behind me. Leaning against it, I took a deep breath.
 

I slipped out of my dress clothes, pulling on some
yoga pants and a t-shirt. I gathered my long curls up into a messy bun,
checking myself in the mirror quick. Could I look any less glamorous? Really,
what did he see in me?

My stomach grumbled just then and I decided I better
get out there to eat some pizza. Brett had turned on the radio and had a slice
of pizza for me on a plate.

His eyes lit up when he saw me. “Hey, gorgeous.” I couldn’t
help but grin when he called me that.

Pulling at my t-shirt, I rolled my eyes. “I don’t
feel so gorgeous. Definitely not what I had planned to wear on our first date.”
I sat on the stool next to him.

“No? Well, I think you look sexy as hell right now. There
is nothing hotter than a woman who is comfortable to just be herself around a
man.” I squeezed my thighs together, feeling desire pool in my belly as his
gaze roved over me.

I grinned sheepishly. “Thanks.”

We talked as we ate, getting to know each other
better. I discovered that he owned a tattoo shop and loved old movies, reading,
and motorcycles. Music was a passion of his too. He could play piano, guitar,
and the drums. He loved rock n’ roll, but also enjoyed country and classical
music. I loved that he didn’t fit the mold of the kind of guy I thought he
might be.

He didn’t mention much about his family, other than
that he was raised by his mother and that he had two older sisters. I told him
about my boring life, never getting into trouble, college, and my unexciting
job.

When we finished eating, he helped me clean up the
dishes. I couldn’t help but notice the confidence with which he moved around my
kitchen, as if he had been there a million times before.

Turning around, I leaned against the counter next to
him. “Thanks for the wine and pizza.”

He looked down at me with a smile. “Any time,
gorgeous. I’m just glad I still got to see you.”

“Me too,” I murmured, my eyes locked on his. I was
dying for him to kiss me.

He moved close, his hard body pressing me into the
counter, almost trapping me. “It’s late. Do you want me to go?”

All I could do was shake my head as I looked up at
him. He brushed his knuckles on my cheek. “Good.”

He leaned down to kiss me, his lips soft and gentle
at first. Snaking my arms around his neck, I pressed my body into his. A growl
escaped his throat, his kiss suddenly growing in intensity as he moved his
hands to my hips, pressing his erection against me. His tongue searched out
mine, teasing it. Man, could he kiss!

He pulled away from me suddenly, his breathing
heavy. His eyes were hooded with lust. “I better go, gorgeous, before I do
something I will regret.”

I brought my hands up to my swollen lips. I had
never ever been kissed like that in my life. I didn’t want him to go, but I
knew he was right. Another kiss like that and I would let him do anything he
wanted to me. I didn’t want this to turn into a one-night fling.