Page 30 of Falling for Mr. Bossy Pants

“Why don’t we head out and try that little gelato place down the street?”

Lacey puts her glass down and smiles. “That sounds great.”

We make our way out the door to my SUV. We’re almost to it when Lacey’s heel gets caught in a crack in the pavement and stumbles. I’m close enough that I catch her, but her ankle rolls to the side and she cries out in pain.

“Lacey, are you okay?” I stand with my hand around her waist holding her up. I give her a second to respond.

“Ugh, I think so.” She pulls away from me to start walking to the car. She stops after a few steps.

“Lacey it might be sprained. C’mon let’s get you in the car and I’ll take you to my place and put some ice on it.”

I help her in the car and I start the drive to my place. I don’t know what made me think this was a good idea, but the thought of her being in my house sends shivers through me.

Her big brown eyes look down then back up at me without saying a word. Without hearing any objection, I start the car and head to my house.

Chapter seventeen

Lacey

Tonight has been really nice. Nice until I miss stepping over a crack in the parking lot pavement and twist my stupid ankle. Of course it had to happen on my first real date with Jared. I don’t think it’s anything too serious; it hasn’t started to swell but it’s a little tender. When he said he was taking me back to his place my stomach dropped. I do want to see his house, because I think it’ll tell me more about him. It’s like his SUV. It’s some sort of hybrid which tells me he cares more about the environment than driving an expensive sports car. I pay attention to these things as they’re soft clues to a person’s personality.

When we pull into his driveway, I’m struck by how the trees are perfectly lined on each side. Whoever planted these trees clearly had some sort of OCD. There’s a gentle bend and as we come out of it, his house is in full view. It’s not at all what I was expecting. It’s large, with a three-car attached garage. It’s sided in light gray paneling with white trim. The yard looks freshly mowed. The trees have fresh mulch and I spot a birdbath beneath one of them. This feels like a house where a family of five should live, not a single man.

He pulls into the garage and helps me out of the car. We then walk into the kitchen. The vibe in the kitchen doesn’t match the outside of the house. It screams single bachelor. The countertops are black granite, and all the cabinets are dark cherry wood. The appliances are all black, which normally I’d hate but for some reason it all works well here. There’s a small fruit basket on the high countertop sitting next to a coffeemaker. Other than that, the counters are completely bare.

I peek in the living area when I hear Jared coming towards me. He’s holding a bag of ice and tells me sit on the sofa and put my feet up on the ottoman.

I half expected him to have black leather furniture, but instead his sofa is an oversized sectional in a soft pale gray fabric. There’s even a cream-colored throw blanket across the back. I sit in the corner near the ottoman and place my feet up. I reach down to unbuckle the straps of my heels when Jared rushes over.

“Stop. Let me do that for you Lacey.”

I stop. His voice isn’t demanding but it commands my attention. I don’t fight it. It makes me feel cared for which is something I haven’t felt in a long time. He has me hold the bag of ice while he reaches down and undoes the buckle. His hands are warm which makes the skin on my legs prickle. There’s no way he can’t see it and there’s nothing I can do to cover it. I watch him as he carefully takes off my first shoe and places it on the floor. He rubs my foot for a second and I let out a soft groan. He looks up at me and then moves his attention to my left foot. He goes slowly taking my shoe off then places it next to my other. He gently rubs his hand down my shin to the top of my foot. I’m about ready to come out of my skin when he takes the ice from me and places it on my ankle. I let out a large exhale closing my eyes.

“Lacey, are you sure your ankle isn’t getting worse?” he asks in a soft concerned voice.

“I think it’s just tweaked a little. It’s not swollen so I’m sure it’s fine,” I say.

He moves up to the sofa sitting next to me. He peels off his sportscoat and unbuttons the first few buttons of his shirt and leans back on the sofa. He quickly adjusts his position and picks up my left leg and puts it on his lap. He begins caressing my calf. His touch feels even warmer than before, then I feel his hand tense.

I place my hand on his. “Jared. Are you nervous that I’m here?”

He gives me a small smile and clears his throat. “No. I mean, Lacey, you don’t make me nervous. I’m just not sure I should be doing this.”

I’m genuinely not sure what he means so I ask, “Doing what? Being here with me? Dating me?”

He sighs and scrubs his hands down his face. “Lacey, my dating life has been pretty non-existent. I dated a few girls in college and grad school. Then a few years ago I was in a relationship with someone, but she broke it off.”

I sit completely stunned anyone would dump Jared. We all have flaws, but I have yet to find something so hideous that I’d want to dump him. I start to wonder if he did something to cause the relationship to end.

I turn to face him on the sofa. “What was the reason she ended it with you?”

He looks down at the sofa cushion then back up at me. “Lacey, my job is demanding, and I spend a lot of time in the office, sometimes traveling and having meetings outside of business hours. It’s a lot being the CEO, but it also means a great deal to me. I worked hard to be where I’m at, and that’s always been my priority.”

I nod, understanding what he’s saying. “So she couldn’t handle your work life?”

“To be fair to her, I wasn’t exactly trying my hardest to be a good boyfriend either. I don’t know why…I just didn’t focus on her or us, I could only focus on the company.”

I sit rubbing the sofa cushion next to me. Maybe this whole dating thing with Jared is a bad idea. I appreciate his honesty about his priorities. And as I look around, I don’t see anything that resembles a video game console so that’s a positive. I’d like to think I’m not needy in a relationship, but I don’t want to be an afterthought and I certainly don’t want to be ignored.

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