Page 56 of Last Love

Presley

Discussion Topic 8: It’s a Thin Line Between Trust and Blindness.

Katherine stabs at her cobb salad with an excited grin on her face. “You know you love being in my books, darling.”

“I know I love the expensive dinners we go to for celebration,” I counter between bites of my herbed ricotta and grilled chicken summer salad.

“Speaking of celebrations, any idea what you wanna do for your birthday this year?”

“I don’t have any idea what I wanna do this weekend with you and that’s much closer.”

“I’ve just gotta submit my discussion topics to my editor for feedback that morning and then I’m open to whatever.” She prepares to scoop up another bite. “Bikini shopping and margaritas, perhaps? I hear the weather is supposed to be stellar on Saturday.”

Another bite of my dish is taken prior to abandoning it for the new email that’s popped into my inbox. “Do you really need a new bikini?”

“You sound like Carter, darling, and that is not a compliment.”

I lightly chuckle until I read the sender’s name.

Huh.

That’s um…that’s unexpected.

Curiosity gets the better of me pushing my finger to click open instead of delete as Katherine begins to ramble about her husband believing their daughter to be a musical prodigy after hearing her hum the ABCs.

To: Presley Morrison (Owner)

From: Xander Bloomfield

Presley,

I know you prefer not to receive personal emails at work; however, I find myself becoming a desperate man in this situation. I’ve tried calling you on your cell and once at the office. I’ve tried texting and even sent a message on Instagram, which we both know is horrid to me. Having had no answers, I decided to try this.

I know, initially, that you wanted space, so I restrained myself.

I kept my distance.

I dine at only one of our regular restaurants.

I even changed gyms.

However, now…now, I’m now asking you to please find it in your heart to give us a moment to chat?

Simply talk.

About us. About what went wrong. About what maybe we can make right?

I hope to hear from you soon, and I hope you were fond of the flowers I sent.

Looking forward to your reply,

Xander

I flop my face into the palm of my hand.

I knew to be weary of those flowers that were just delivered.

Dumping them in the trash will be the first thing I do post lunch.

While it’s a sweet sentiment, it’s too little, too late, too not for me.

Not that I don’t like flowers.

I just…I don’t want them from my ex-boyfriend who seems to have used our split to grow into someone I possibly could’ve enjoyed my time with.

“I am not putting Angel into piano lessons, darling. She’s one and can barely hold Cheerios without crushing them,” Katherine chortles, sound cut off by a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I insist and close the email.

An unexpected face peers around it on a cooed, “Hey you…”

“Hi you…”

Katherine swings herself around to officially get her first in person glimpse of him.

“Busy?”

“Just finishing up lunch. I have a conference call to discuss a possible change in the type of busses we use in about fourteen minutes.”

“Very precise.”

“At work I always am.”

“I respect it,” he sweetly beams. “I just…haven’t seen your face outside of my phone all week and needed a fix.”

It’s impossible not to blush.

“I’m Katherine – never Kat,” she warmly interjects, reminding us that we’re not alone. “The best friend.”

He slips inside, shuts the door quietly behind him, and extends an open palm her direction. “Collins.” They shake as he cockily states. “The everything.”

I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from swooning.

And he is.

He really, really is.

“Well, aren’t you in love?” Katherine pokes on a playful snicker.

“More and more every day.”

Another round of redness rushes to my face.

His eyes cut to me at the same time he shoves his hands into his jeans. “I really didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch or possibly make you late for a call, baby. I just uh…,” he clears his throat to continue, “missed you.”

I’m not entirely sure who swoons louder me or my best friend.

“You are always welcome to stop in and come see me, Ry.”

Surprise slides onto his face. “Yeah?”

“Yes.” A sweet smile is wedged in between sentences. “However-”

“That’s how she gets ya,” Katherine teasingly states on a wag of her fork my direction.

“However,” I reiterate after tossing her a mirth-filled glare, “two things. Number one, do not use your niece’s pin to get into the building again. That is for pick up and drop off only. Using it to sneak in to see me creates suspicious log in activity on the records.”

He flashes a small guilty cringe.

“And number two, just call or text first to see if I’m in the building. Sometimes I’m at a conference or running errands or last-minute pickups because we’ve somehow managed to run out of extra packages of wet wipes in the entire building. On days that I’m just giving a tour or doing an evaluation of an employee or playing on the swings, you’re more than welcomed to wait in my office for me to be finished – I’ll inform Clemmy today.”

“Still a huge fan of the swings, huh?”

“You know I don’t trust people who aren’t.” Both of them laugh and afterward, I state, “The rest of my day is maxed out, but I’m free tonight. Dinner? Movie? Finally teaching me how to play frisbee golf?”

He slightly shifts his weight. “I can’t tonight. I have plans.”

“Cancel.” my best friend rudely interjects.

“Katherine!”

“I’m so sorry.” She places an open palm over her chest and offers us both an apologetic expression. “What I was meant was…reschedule.”

“Katherine!”

“I can’t,” he politely informs, stare swinging to her. “Support group and waffles afterward with a friend from the meeting.” His gaze momentarily shifts to me. “And while my woman is the most important fucking thing to me in the entire world,” it’s impossible not to blush under the proclamation, “I haven’t always been the best about keeping my word in the past, so I’m working on that. Commitment requires commitment so to speak.”

Pride thoughtlessly pumps through my gaze. “Wanna come by when you’re all done?”

His gaze shifts to me. “Might be a little late? That okay?”

“Yeah, just use your key.” An almost embarrassingly schoolgirl style smile slips onto my face. “I wanna fall asleep beside you tonight.”

“I could never say no to that, baby.”

“Ohmygod, get cuter you two,” Katherine teases while resuming her eating.

“Why don’t I get going,” Ry casually suggests, “so that you two can finish up the last of your lunch together?”

He begins to move my direction for a goodbye kiss prompting me to ask, “Are you headed back to work?”

“No. I um,” his tongue steals a small swipe of his lips, “actually took the afternoon off – with Big Roscoe’s blessing – to uh…,” he clears his throat, “look at a few technical schools in the area.”

The information lights up my face. “Ohmygod, really?!”

“Yeah. Big Roscoe wants more certified hands under the hood and certified mechanics make more money than those not. Plus, he wants to eventually expand to another garage in a more upscale area and has mentioned wanting me to run it if I get my shit together.”

“Ohmygod, Ry!” My hands briefly cup my mouth. “That’s so exciting! I’m so proud of you!”

“Slow down,” he swiftly insists upon his arrival in front of me. “I said I’m looking. And that’s all it is right now, Pres. Looking. The shit is expensive and time-consuming and just fucking stress I don’t know that I need or can even fucking handle at the moment. Besides, I don’t even know if any place would want me.”

His defensiveness has me doing the one thing I’ve always tried to do.

Protect him.

Even from himself.

“Ry,” the firmness in my voice lifts his eyebrows, “look at the schools with an open mind. You find one that you want or feels good to you or that you think you can handle, and we’ll figure out everything else together. Okay?”

He sheepishly nods.

“You going alone or taking Noah?”

“Law.”

His sponsor.

And having him openly share that with me as well as exercises or assignments he’s given to work on fills me with awe.

Awe that he trusts me.

Awe that I can trust him not to revert back to his old ways.

Awe that I can believe him when he says he’s really trying.

Not that I didn’t believe him.

It’s just nice to have proof of it in actions.

“Text me if you find anything worth a second look.”

His palms land on the arms of my chair. “That doesn’t sound like asking.”

“That’s because I’m telling.”

He lightly chuckles at the same time leans in closer. “You really are on your boss shit when you’re at work.”

“Completely.”

His open mouth drops to mine and his tongue eagerly inside. While I’m sure the original intent was just to execute one stroke, one stroke turns into three. And a nape grab from him. And then three more until I’m softly moaning in surrender, proving to him that I may be the boss in the office, but he’s definitely the boss in the bedroom.

Ry slowly pulls away to cockily state, “That’s what I really came for.”

I push him backwards on a giggle right as Katherine questions, “You drove all the way over here just for a kiss?”

“I did,” he answers, eyes still lingering in mine. “And I’d happily fucking do it again.”

She poorly buries her swoon behind more lettuce.

“Finish your salad, baby,” Ry lovingly insists prior to tapping a dark mark on my arm. “And take your meds when you get home. That’s a new bruise, and my ass didn’t put it there.”

Guilt is flashed in the form of a small cringe.

Okay, I’m not always the best about taking my medication to help my condition, but I’ve gotten better!

Sort of.

Ugh.

It comes in waves.

Although, Ry is particularly good about making sure that my iron supplement, my birth control pill, and my vitamins are taken daily, especially when he’s around.

I like how he cares for me even when I get too busy to care for myself.

“I’ll take it when I get home,” I quietly promise.

“Pres.”

“Swear.”

Ry offers me a crooked grin and begins to back out of the room when Katherine states to him, “We should all have dinner together sometime.”

Panic widens my stare.

No.

No. No. No.

This.

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