What He Wants: Trusting You prequel novella (4 page)

I scoffed. “I don’t think so. My luck with men has been disastrous.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not always going to be like that,” Lia cut in. “You need to get yourself out there and actually give people a chance.”

“Starting with that one,” April agreed, pointing to the guy at the bar. “Unless you’re too scared. If you don’t want to partake, do you mind if I go up there? I’m pretty sure I’d have a good time with him.”

She started to get up, but I put my hands on her shoulders, halting her. I couldn’t stop the odd sense of jealousy that swept over my body. It was strange, but I didn’t want to see her with him.

“Sorry, babe, but you guys kind of challenged me. I have to go through with it now.”

Taking a deep breath, I turned around and started toward the bar. My heart dropped when I glanced at the empty seat where the guy had sat just a few seconds ago. Where did he go?

When I got up to the bar, I sat down in the seat beside the vacant one my guy just left and waited on Ryan to come to me. “Good evening, Melissa,” he greeted warmly. “Do you want your usual?”

“Yes, please. I’ll also take a glass of Riesling and a glass of Chardonnay please.”

Ryan nodded. “Coming right up.”

Biting my lip, I wanted to ask him where the gentleman in the suit went, but I didn’t want to sound desperate. “So how’s it going?” I asked.

Noncommittally, he shrugged. “It’s going okay. We’ve been really busy the past few weeks. I was just telling my friend about it a few seconds ago.”

“Oh yeah? Which friend would that be?”

He fixed my tequila sunrise and handed it to me before nodding toward the seat beside mine. “It was the guy sitting right there. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no reason. I was just trying to make conversation,” I lied.

Smirking, he passed me the glass of Riesling and the Chardonnay. “He’s a pretty good guy,” he added. “Just to give you a heads up.”

Mouth gaping open, I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks. Ryan winked at me and sauntered off to fill more orders while I stood there, waiting. Waiting on what I didn’t know. My heart pounded out of control, and instead of looking like an idiot with three drinks in my hands, I strolled back over to my table and gave them to the girls.

“Where did he go?” April asked. “He was just there a minute ago.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not now. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.” April looked bummed, so I bumped her in the shoulder and nodded toward her wine. “Okay, ladies, bottom’s up!”

We tapped our glasses together and in one huge gulp I tossed back my drink. The burn slid down my throat and warmed me instantly; I wanted another one. It just so happened that my phone started buzzing in my purse, distracting me from my haze. When I reached in to grab it, I actually had seven missed calls and four messages. What the hell?

“Girls, I’ll be right back. I need to see what’s going on?”

April stopped me with a hand on my arm. “If that’s your ex, you better tell him to leave you alone or I’m going to rip off his balls,” she demanded. “He needs to leave you alone.”

“I agree,” I said. “Give me one minute and I’ll be right back.”

Off to the side of the bar there was a door that opened up to a patio where a little courtyard sat nestled in between the massive high rises in downtown Charlotte. Most people went out there to smoke, but it was a better choice to go out there instead of out the front where everyone waiting in line could hear me cussing out my ex-husband.

When I got outside, most of the tables were occupied … except one. Immediately, my skin grew damp with the summer heat as I started toward it, dreading even looking at my messages. With my head down, glaring at my phone and the gazillion text messages, I strolled in the direction of the vacant table and took a seat.

Daniel:
I need you. Please let me make it up to you.

Daniel:
I want you back, baby. I’ve changed. I love you.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I hissed under my breath, disgusted.

What a bunch of bullshit.

“You know, if it’s that bad to sit beside me I can move,” a voice to my right spoke out.

Gasping, I fumbled with my phone and it fell to the ground. I didn’t even know someone was there. Instantly, I bent down to pick it up, but the other person got to it first, holding it out to me. When my fingers brushed against his it was like a jolt of electricity coursing through my veins, sending shock waves up my arm.

What the hell?

Quickly, I grabbed my phone and sat back into my chair, clenching my tingling hand as I glanced up. The breath left my lungs the second I looked into the most gorgeous set of stormy gray eyes I’d ever seen.

It’s him.

“Hey,” I stammered awkwardly, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. “I honestly didn’t know you were sitting here. I swear I thought the table was empty.”

His lip tilted up in a mischievous smirk. “It’s okay. I think you were a little too preoccupied with your phone to notice me. I was about to go back inside, anyway. Enjoy the rest of your night.”

Smoothly, he stood from his chair and gazed down at me before straightening the jacket of his gray suit and walking back to the door.
Say something to him.

Each step he took, my body screamed at me to go after him; especially when he looked back and tilted his lip up in a smirk. My body froze, and I all I could do was watch him walk away. Once the door shut and he disappeared, I wanted to kick myself in the ass for not asking him to stay.

What the hell? I never go after men.

Other than my ex-husband, I had never been flustered by a man before, but with this one it felt like a whole new ball game. Daniel pursued me with a passion and it was impossible not to fall for him. I didn’t know the first thing about making the first move. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter anyway because if he was interested in me he would’ve stayed … right?

The thought of getting attached to someone else scared the shit out of me.

Sighing, I glanced down at my phone, but all I saw was a black screen; it must’ve turned off during its crash to the ground. Knowing the messages were probably all from Daniel, I’m sure it was best that I didn’t look or listen to them. His incessant badgering to get me back was bordering on a psychotic level. Obviously telling him I didn’t want him wasn’t getting through his thick head.

After putting my phone in my purse, I headed back inside where April and Lia sat talking to a couple of guys. Like always, it didn’t take long for them to get noticed. The guys were pretty cute, but a little young for my taste judging by the popped collars and their fraternity insignia on the front of their polo shirts. College boys were a definite no-no for me. I was twenty-eight years old and I figured out pretty quickly that men in their early twenties had a lot of growing up to do.

After Daniel and I divorced, I let April set me up with one of her cousins … who happened to be twenty-two. I felt like I was his babysitter. I wanted a man who was experienced and knew where he was going in life, not ones who only cared about drinking and having a good time.

Thankfully, there were just two guys with April and Lia and not three. When I approached, both girls waved excitedly at me while Lia slid another tequila sunrise my way.

“Thanks for ordering me another one,” I stated happily. “You have no idea how bad I needed it.” I wasn’t about to go into detail about my psychotic ex-husband with the guys around.

“I didn’t order it,” Lia said, shrugging her shoulders. “Ryan came by and dropped it off. He said someone bought it for you.”

I glanced down at the drink, then around to the people in the room to see if anyone acknowledged me.
No one did.

“Ryan didn’t give you a name or point to anyone?” I asked.

Lia shook her head. “No, nothing. But hey, it’s a free drink, right?”

Yeah, but it’d be nice to know where it came from
.

The young guy beside her—the one with blond, spiky hair with the purple polo shirt—leaned in and whispered something in her ear, making her giggle. They flirted back and forth, and I couldn’t help but wish I could be like that. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t. Lia was only twenty-four years old and completely single with no attachments. Sometimes I envied her and April because they didn’t have ex-husbands who gave them problems.

Lia giggled again when frat boy asked her to dance. Before getting out of her chair, she squeezed my hand and smiled. “Enjoy the drink, and I’m sure whoever sent it to you will come by and say hello. I’ll be back later. I need to show this guy how I get down.”

Sheepishly, April glanced back at the dance floor and then back to me. She didn’t want to leave me alone, but I wasn’t about to let her worry about me either.

“Go, April,” I commanded, bumping her shoulder. “I know you want to dance, so go out there and have fun. I’ll be perfectly fine here.”

Her eyes lit up. “Are you sure? You can come dance with us if you want.”

I snorted, “I don’t think so. I’ll be right here enjoying my drink.”

Once she left with her newly found friend, I watched them all dance with carefree smiles on their faces. I was still young, but going to bars and meeting decent men wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I’d dated Daniel through all of my college years, so I didn’t really have the dating experience to see what else was out there. Knowing my luck, I was probably going to end up being a cat lady … old and alone.

Once I finished my drink, I slid the glass to the side only to see Ryan coming toward me with another tequila sunrise, smiling. “Another one?” I asked incredulously.

Chuckling, he set it down and shrugged. “What can I say? I think the guy likes you.”

“Or trying to get me drunk so he can take advantage of me,” I mumbled. Usually three tequila sunrises was enough to give me a good buzz. About five of them and I’d be slurring my words and making no sense. “So where is this guy?” I asked.

Ryan turned his head and peered back at the bar, pursing his lips when he faced me again. “Well, he
was
at the bar. He keeps disappearing on me.”

That’s convenient.
“What does he look like?”

Shaking his head, Ryan chuckled and tucked the serving tray under his arm. “I don’t know … tall, dark, and handsome. Isn’t that what you ladies like these days?”

There were a lot of men in the room that were tall, dark, and handsome. It didn’t mean they were good guys.

“Not all the time, Ryan,” I admitted truthfully. “Good men come in different packages.”

“And that’s what gives me hope,” he said with a wink. “If I see your secret admirer again, I’ll point him out to you.”

“Thank you.”

After about two more songs, Lia and her date came back, all sweaty and pumped from dancing while April stayed out on the dance floor.

Leaning over, Lia whispered in my ear, “I think April and I are going back to their place tonight to have some fun. You want to go?”

“Hell no,” I snapped. Was she serious? “I’m not going to wait in the living room while you and April have sex with these guys. After we’re done here just drop me off back at home.”

“Are you sure? Why don’t you find someone to hook up with? You’re single now … you need to live like it.”

I hadn’t slept with another man since Daniel, and it was mostly in part to not finding anyone that appealed to me. The only guy tonight that actually caught my attention hardly acknowledged me.

“It’s hard to live like that when you’re not used to that lifestyle,” I replied. “I was with the same guy for years. It’s not easy opening yourself back up after what I went through.”

Lia’s gaze softened and she nodded. “I understand. Why don’t we have a couple more drinks and dance for a bit? Maybe your secret admirer will come around. I take it he sent you another drink?” she asked, glancing down at my glass.

After twirling my straw in the fruity substance, I bent down and took a long sip. “Yep, and Ryan said he disappeared. I have no clue who the guy is.”

Lia pursed her lips and glanced around the room. “Hmm … that is kind of creepy. Maybe he’s ugly or something and he’s embarrassed.”

“Maybe,” I said halfheartedly. “I guess I’ll never know.”

At the bar, Ryan smiled over at me and started in my direction with not a drink in his hands, but a piece of paper. “Uh oh,” I mumbled. “Ryan’s coming back.”

Holding my breath, I waited on him to reach me. “I was told to give this to you,” he instructed, handing me the folded piece of paper.

“From the same guy?” I asked, taking the note.

Ryan nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t read it.”

When I opened up the letter, there was just a simple phrase on it:

What was this guy thinking? I wasn’t going to meet him outside. If he wanted to talk to me he could come inside. I didn’t like playing games. Folding the note back up, I laid it on the table and shook my head.

“I’m not going out there,” I thundered.

Lia snatched up the letter, read it, and immediately got to her feet. “Oh my God, I’m going to go see what he looks like.”

She took off before I could even stop her while Ryan laughed and headed back to the bar. Lia stopped at the patio door and gazed outside with wide, excited eyes. Our taste in men was on opposite sides of the spectrum, but when she started fanning herself I knew he exceeded her expectations. As soon as she came back and sat down, she nodded her head appreciatively.