Page 10 of Secret Admirer
She could tell he meant it, and that gave him another point in the perfect department. “Well, that’s an honorable trait.”
“What is?” He glanced toward the door.
That was her signal to tune it down. She tugged her dress to angle the stain away from him. “Not wanting to disappoint a woman.”
He lifted his glass to his mouth, every move graceful and elegant as he swallowed his wine. He leaned closer, covering her hand with his palm. “Rebecca, you’re unusual.”
His touch set her off course. “Is that good or bad?”
He gave a small laugh. “I honestly have no idea. What is it you do for a living?”
Guys like him didn’t get their hands dirty. She scrubbed her hands nonstop to get the grease out of her skin. She glanced around the outside bar to the beach, where palm trees swayed and people on towels half-burned beneath the sun. Here, the covered terrace had air blowing on them to keep them cool. The best of both worlds. “Does it matter?”
He nodded fast, which took her by surprise. “The last time I thought it didn’t, I almost ended up ruining a business opportunity for my brother.”
She picked up her glass--would he be put off by her boldness? If there was a napkin, she would jot her number on it. She had to get back to the plan--a date. Technically a second one as this definitely counted now. “I doubt that will happen with me." Unless his brother was in the garage business? Although, her dad could help him get the right tires. "I’m hoping that once we are both more at ease, and loosen up a little, that we might find out if we’re compatible.”
His eyebrow raised and her blood warmed. How would he kiss? She imagined how she’d run her hands over his five o’clock shadow and let his face tickle her skin as his lips claimed hers.
With a blink, she shook that image off. He leaned closer and said, “That sounds interesting.”
The zip inside her was for him. She nodded, less like a toy and more relaxed. “First dates are important, and I don’t want to ruin anything but I want to give you my number so you’ll call me again, so we can go out on a second,planneddate.”
Her pulse pounded as she held out her hand for his phone. She breathed an inward sigh of relief when he gave it to her. She added her digits as he asked, “This is a date to you?”
Her entire body felt hot, but she handed his phone back and ignored the quick spark that rushed through her from their brief touch. The white of his pants was perfectly clean without one speck of dirt and her dress… well, it was the best of her horrible choices that all had stains on them. She folded her hands back in front of front of her and nodded. “Yeah, why not? It’s just the two of us. It’s a beautiful afternoon where the sun is about to set and you might turn out to be who I hope you are. It’s something to discover.”
He scratched his chin. The hair on her arms stood at attention as she waited for judgment, like this was some sort of courtroom. Her legs began to shake under the table, and finally he said, “Rebecca, I can honestly say I’ve not met anyone like you.”
Fair--she'd never done anything like this before. Would he turn her down? If she didn't calm down, she’d end up in the hospital. She fanned her face. “Is that… never mind. I won’t ask the same question again. What kind of woman are you interested in?”
He studied her like she was a rat in a lab. “My brother told me that there was a woman out there for me that would make me happy to come home. I told him I didn’t believe I’d met her yet.”
Did that mean that he also believed in true love? Anything was possible. She stilled though every cell in her body was alive and asked, “And now?”
He took a large swallow of his wine and then looked at her as if really seeing her. This time she didn’t feel like some alien, realizing that he was checking her out. Maybe that’s what he’d done all this time? He touched her hand. “I don’t know, but I’m open to finding out. I don’t want to be like my father.”
Who was his father that he didn’t want to be like? Was it wrong to just go home and Google him? She had the sense it was online, but she didn’t want to turn into a huge stalker. She'd already chased him down.
“What was he like so I can tell you if you are acting like him?”
She decided to let the rest unfold and she’d have to hold onto this decision when she was home, alone, in her bed dreaming of Bart. Bart’s chin lifted like he was bracing himself for an argument. “He used women, including my mother, and rumors are that my sister, who I thought was dead, might actually be alive. He possibly kidnapped his own daughter.”
A tremble washed through her at the idea. That sounded horrible. Her father had been stable and raised her after her mother took off "to find herself" or so she’d claimed in various postcards throughout the years. Her father had married her mother just out of high school and neither had known better. Now, with his new girlfriend, her father seemed to have found his happily-ever-after.
He'd protected her from her mother's disasters. She considered fathers to be generally awesome people, but then Melissa’s parents had abandoned her and she'd been adopted, growing up next door to Rebecca. Everyone had different experiences, none of them perfect. She pressed her hand against her heart. “Kidnapped her?”
He poured them more wine from the bottle while he said, “She’s probably dead, but I need to keep myself in check and never be like him.”
Once his glass was full and he'd topped hers off, she held up her wine. “Well, cheers. To new beginnings.”
He winked, clinked glasses with her and said, “To new beginnings. Where you’re not nervous anymore,cara.”
Rebecca hoped this meant he’d call her.
Bart Morgan was genuine, and more real than she’d ever imagined--how could she make his life better? And might Bart Morgan actually be her prince charming?
Chapter 4
