What Happened After Vegas? (Unexpected Love #2) (5 page)

The
sides of his mouth twitched as he fought back a smile.

"Fine,"
she said. "I'll go if you let me buy you lunch one day this
week."

He
shook his head and smiled.

"You
just want to see me during the week," he said with a smirk.

She
shrugged, as she leaned back and closed her eyes.

"Fine,"
he said. "I'll let you buy lunch once this week, but you will
not pull out a single dollar or card on our trip. You also won't
object or make one comment about what we do or how much something
costs the entire time we are gone."

"Deal,"
she said with a grin. "Maybe I should have been a lawyer."

He
burst into laughter.

"That's
my job," he said, as he moved to hover over her and take her the
way he had in Vegas.

Rachel
had a great weekend. She spent time with her friends and talked to
Cliff more than once each day. When she woke up Monday morning, she
knew it was going to be a wonderful week. He hadn't looked down at
her apartment and never made one comment about how little she had.
She was excited for Wednesday to get there. He agreed to let her take
him out to lunch. It made her feel good to be able to do something
for him after everything he had already done for her. She was nervous
that she had agreed to go away for the weekend with him. That wasn't
just one night with leaving in the morning. They were going to be
together from Thursday night until Sunday night. Part of her couldn't
wait to have three whole days with him, but another part of her was
scared. Would he really be the man she had seen so far, she wondered?
At least he admitted that he wasn't perfect and was sure to make
mistakes. Jake would have never done that.

Monday
morning, Rachel cleaned her apartment spotless, showered, and got
ready for the day. She had some shopping to do for the trip. There
was a little money in her bank account she could use for a new outfit
or two. She already had several bikinis for the pool. There was no
way she wanted to charge anything. Her finances were in order, and
there was no way she was screwing it up. She felt she was doing okay
for herself. If she switched professions, she could make so much more
than she did as a teacher. The thought of that was devastating to
her. She cared so much for each child she taught. Her job was more
about passion than work. Jake used to get mad about the money she
spent on her classroom. He never understood her commitment to the
children. She liked when Cliff asked her about work and her students.
He really seemed to care.

Just
as Rachel picked up her purse, phone, and keys, there was a knock at
her door. She was surprised to see a very pretty spread off flowers.
The delivery man handed her the clipboard to sign, and she took the
flowers into her kitchen. They made her feel so special. She couldn't
remember the last time she felt as happy as she had that week. When
she opened the card, she smiled at the note.

"I
miss you."

They
had only seen each other on Saturday. Was he really missing her the
way she was missing him, she wondered? Quickly, she pulled up a new
text to Cliff.

Rachel:
Thank you so much for the flowers. They are so beautiful.

She
had gotten to her car before her phone buzzed.

Cliff:
You already thanked me for them. Are you missing me?

Rachel
sat in her car with a confused look as she reread his message before
answering.

Rachel:
You are too funny. I was talking about the ones that were just
delivered. They look really good next to the ones you brought Friday.
I do miss you very much.

Cliff:
I didn't send flowers. I'm calling you in two minutes. I have to get
out of this meeting.

Rachel
started her car and pulled out of the lot, as she thought about what
he said. Was he playing with her, she wondered? She was on her way to
the mall when he called.

"Good
morning," she said.

"Good
morning," he answered. "I didn't send flowers this morning.
I would have, but I haven't had a second to myself. I'm looking
forward to lunch Wednesday. I'm looking even more forward to this
weekend. What did the card say?"

"It
just said I miss you. There was no signature. I feel so stupid for
texting you. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have assumed it was you."

"Don't
feel like that. There's no reason to apologize. I'm counting the days
to see you. I'm trying to get all of my meetings out of the way so we
can spend the weekend without me on conference calls. Is there
someone else that could have sent them?"

"Not
that I can think of. Your flowers were the only ones I had gotten in
years. Oh shit!" she yelped into the phone.

"What?"
he asked.

"It's
nothing. I'm sorry for bothering you during your meeting."

"You
know who they're from, don't you?" he asked.

She
was silent for a moment.

"Rachel,"
he said. "We've only known each other a week. We haven't
committed or anything. If there's someone else you're talking to, I'd
like to know about it."

"I'm
not talking to anyone else. I promise you that. I think they may be
from Jake. He sent me flowers when we were much younger. They were
the same kind. I hadn't thought about it. I just assumed something
and shouldn't have."

"Has
he tried to call you?" Cliff asked in a serious tone.

Rachel
felt bad for sending him that text.

"No,"
she said. "I haven't seen or heard from him except for in court
and through lawyers. I'm sorry that I interrupted your day and got
you involved. I can handle it. I'll let you get back to what you were
doing. Have you made the plans for the weekend yet? I'm thinking
maybe."

"Stop,"
he said in a demanding voice. "You're not pushing me away
because of this. You're buying me lunch Wednesday, and I'm taking you
away this weekend. Do you want him back in your life? Please be
honest with me."

"No
way," she snapped. "He's scum. He has made my life hell
since the day I walked in on them. I now realize it started way
before that. I think it's because you took her away from him. He's
probably just bored. He doesn't have a job either, but he doesn't
know that I know. Do you think he knows we're talking?"

"No,"
he said. "I never said a word. He called here this morning
again. Maybe I should tell him to be with her. She's my sister. I
care about her, but what she did was wrong."

"What
he did was much worse," Rachel interrupted. "Maybe they
care about each other."

"If
he cared about her, would he be sending you flowers? He's an ass,"
Cliff said. "What are you doing today?"

"I'm
going shopping for our trip. At least that's what I was going to do.
I shouldn't have gotten you involved."

"I
want you to be honest with me. I would rather you tell me than keep
it to yourself," he said.

"I
know we've only known each other for a week. We're not committed,
like you said," she said. "It's just that you've made me
feel things I've never felt before. I know that things could be so
much better with someone else than it was with him. I see that now."

"I
didn't mean anything when I said we weren't committed. Your choice of
the words someone else is very interesting. What I meant was, if you
were talking to someone else before we started talking, I would
understand. It doesn't mean I would be happy about it. I told you
things about my past that I don't ever talk about."

"I
know you did. I didn't mean anything when I said someone else. I
would sound like a lunatic if I said you after only one week. You'd
probably run away as fast as you could. I'm just scared to let myself
feel things or open my heart," she said.

"You
don't think it scares the shit out of me that you're the first person
I've wanted to spend time with in years. I haven't given anyone a
chance since my wife. The same thing could happen to me. I could walk
in from work one day and find that you're not the same woman I
thought you were. I've thought about that more than once already.
There's just something about you that I can't walk away from."

"I
would never cheat on you, and I would never be fake. I'm upfront and
honest. What you see is what you get. I don't have much to offer in a
relationship. I have a tiny apartment and a job that pays enough for
exactly that. I don't pretend to be someone I'm not. I will never
give up my class and teaching for some high paying job. I even spend
some of my income on the kids. I'm not fancy. My idea of a great
night is ordering food and snuggling on the couch. All I have to
offer is me. When I love, I do it one hundred percent. That's what
scares me. You're the only man I want to take that chance with.
Please don't think you're not. I just don't see how it would work.
You own a damn law firm. So many people count on you every single day
to feed their families. You're a very important man to those people.
Nobody has to count on me. The one person that broke me down piece by
piece worked for you and fucked your sister. There is that crazy
connection. My entire apartment would probably fit in your bathroom.
One of them. Your life is established. I'm just trying to put mine
together and start over from the beginning. Not that I ever had a
house the size of yours. It was just much bigger than what I have
now. He got to keep that and everything else. Believe me, I wouldn't
want to have to deal with him to have it back. It's just I have
nothing to offer you. You probably shouldn't even waste your time on
me, Cliff. You deserve someone that's as accomplished as you are and
knows where they are in life, not someone that made a huge mistake
and is trying to figure out what she's doing with herself."

"All
I want is honesty. That is one of the most important parts to a
relationship. How can you say that nobody counts on you? Those kids
count on you every single day. Some of them don't have love or
guidance at home. Your job is so much more important than mine. You
give those children love and understanding. You listen to them. I can
tell. When you talk about your class, you are so passionate. You
teach them so many things about life. Your ex was an asshole who
treated you shitty. I'm not him. I'm nothing like him. You're not
starting over because you ran around acting silly. You're starting
over because he was a horrible man. He never should have taken your
home from you. I can't believe I ever let someone like that work for
me. It has definitely made me think about my employees. I will be
careful and pay closer attention from now on. That's for sure. I
don't care how much money you make. What matters is that you're doing
something you love. If you had all the money in the world, would you
still teach those kids?"

"Yes,"
she answered.

"That's
what matters. I would never ask you to change that. It doesn't matter
if you live in a huge house or a one room apartment. Your apartment
is not that small. Did I say one thing to make you feel like I was
looking down at your home?" he asked.

"No,"
she answered.

"You
are a smart, accomplished, caring, sweet, and beautiful woman. I
don't consider talking to you or spending time with you a waste of
time. I actually look forward to seeing you. I do not ever want to
hear you say you have nothing to offer ever again. You are taking me
out for lunch on Wednesday. Now, get your shopping done. I'm looking
forward to talking to you while I eat dinner tonight," he said
with a laugh. "What are you buying?"

"I
was just going to look for something nice to wear this weekend."

"Don't
spend a lot of money. The whole point is for us to spend some time
together without one of us having to leave early. I just want to see
you. We can stay in the hotel the entire time if you want to. It
doesn't matter to me. Do me a favor and be careful. Will you tell me
if he contacts you again?"