Page 34 of Outplayed

Chapter Nine

Violet

“You didn’t tell me we’d be traveling to Melbourne for the date,” I said, shifting in the passenger seat to stare at Travis. He looked amazing, like always. Damn him. He’d dressed in one of his expensive suits. Awareness hit me. Knowing where he got his money from curled my belly. I glanced away and pushed that thought down. I promised myself to be on my best behaviour, and I would. I knew it would be strange, maybe even difficult with only the two of us and no Izzy as a buffer, but I wanted to give this a shot because I enjoyed… no, I loved the side of Travis I saw when he was with his daughter.

“I said where I wanted to take you would be a surprise.” He smiled.

My heart stumbled. I glanced away again. He had said he wanted it as a surprise on the phone earlier in the week when I asked multiple times where we’d be going. I didn’t expect to be traveling out of town for it, and what if I wasn’t dressed right for the date? I played with the hem on my black dress. Then again, it’d been said a little black dress could be for any occasion. I mentally berated myself for caring what I looked like. I had to stop.

He either accepted me as I was or not at all.

I had a feeling he would accept me even if I wore tracksuit pants and a sweater.

Travis wasn’t shy about how he wanted me in his life. I knew it, and even though it scared the hell out of me because of his business, I was still in the car there with him.

And all because I had seen the man he was with Izzy, and I wanted to be around that man. A lot. Especially when he’d dealt with his ex in a way that showed him to be a better man than I realised he was. If it had been me, I would have used words and fists as my weapon, but he didn’t do either. He stood back and let someone else deal with it because he had hope for Izzy and her mother to one day have a better relationship. He thought of Izzy before himself.

He amazed me.

Hell, all these feelings were after only one night of being around him.

What would tonight lead to then?

Having him alone could cause me to throw the differences between us to the wind and yell, “Fuck it,” while falling into bed with him.

After all, he had asked me to pack a bag for the night. I did, with a promise to him over the phone that I wouldn’t be sleeping with him.

If the night was as amazing as it had been at his place, though, my willpower would fall to the floor along with my clothes.

How crazy was that?

It was too soon, but I couldn’t help but remember the days, years we’d had when we were younger. We’d been strong and real. After being around him, it was clear my feelings for him were still inside of me. They’d been buried over the years but had perked up at first sight of him.

Yes, this was crazy. We still had a long way to go if we ever wanted something like we’d had, but I did want to see how the night went.

The drive went fast as we spoke of random things during the trip. It wasn’t until we sat in some fancy restaurant that I asked, “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

“You already know I own an electronics company.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t remind me.”

He chuckled. The waiter set down our drinks we’d ordered on arrival, and when he moved away, Travis said, “I also co-own a construction company with Link. Then there’s the law firm I own.”

“A law firm?”

“Yes.” He smirked. “And I co-own a few branches of hairdressing shops around Australia.”

“Hairdressing?” I laughed. “How did that happen?”

“Link’s sister wanted to run her own. I went into partnership with her.”

“That’s… nice.”

He shrugged. “Link and I have been friends for a long time. When he refused to place his name to ‘anything girly’—his words—Trisha came to me. She has a brain for it, so I backed her and it paid off.”

“I like this,” I blurted, feeling my cheeks burn.

He leaned in. “What?”

---