Love Resisted (The Real Love Series) (7 page)

He let out a laugh and said, “Surely the thought of riding with me can’t be that bad.”

“It’s not, so long as you keep your hands to yourself.”

“He better,” Logan said with authority as she went to leave the room, but not before she caught Mike’s cocky grin at her being forced to ride back with him. Especially since he knew she was trying to find alternate modes of transportation. So she decided to mess with him a little, by messing with her brother.

When she made it to the door, she looked back at her brother and said, “I sure hope he does, especially since I caught him looking up my skirt earlier today.”

Logan yelled, “Excuse me!” in Mike’s direction as she went to say goodnight to Gillian and Jake, smiling the entire time. She was still smiling when Mike made his way to the front door after also saying goodnight to Jake and Gillian.

When he walked up, shaking his head, he asked her, “Do you always like to walk into a room, rile everyone up, and then strut out like that? That was messed up, throwing me under the bus like that … while your brother was driving, no less.”

She shrugged as he opened the door and said, “I’ll admit that it’s fun to do, and I apparently have a natural talent for it.” This time when Mike put his hands on her waist and hoisted her into the truck, she was prepared for it and didn’t let out any girlie squeals. She thanked him as he closed the door and made his way toward the driver’s side. Once they were settled and on their way, silence descended, and it was thick with unspoken words. The almost-scene during the slideshow hung in the air, and she was suddenly embarrassed by it. Though he didn’t seem to judge her for it, he knew what she needed from him. She wondered if he had experience with panic attacks, or with someone who did. Unsure what to say, she
went with, “Thank you again for your help today. I appreciate it.”

He glanced across the seat toward her and nodded. “No problem.” Once again fighting the sudden embarrassment, she felt the need to explain. “Just so you know, I don’t usually have that problem. Well, not anymore at least.”

“Really? Because that panic attack came on hard and fast,” he said.

Dropping her head, she looked at her hands in her lap as she absently twirled the ring on her thumb. “I know it did. It took me totally by surprise. It’s just, you know … sometimes, for a few brief moments, I forget that he’s gone. The pain goes away, and I can smile … then it all comes crashing back into my heart, and it takes my breath away.”

“Yes, Allie, I
do
know,” Mike said in a soft voice from the other side of the truck.

Looking over at him, she lost some of her embarrassment over what happened. She believed that he did know what she was talking about. Clearing the lump in her throat, she clarified for him, “Well, that’s what happened today. For some reason, I found myself in that make-believe world where I never felt that pain. And then it slammed back into me and I didn’t recover the way I should have. And well, all I can say is that it probably would’ve been a lot worse if you hadn’t been there to help me.”

“That’s what friends are for,” he said as they arrived home and parked the truck. When he pulled the keys out of the ignition, she smiled at him.

“Yeah, that’s what friends are for,” she repeated.

CHAPTER SIX

ALLIE was awake bright and early the next morning. She needed to be up and out the door by seven because avoiding Mike Lawson was the name of the game today. In the middle of the night she remembered him mentioning her stopping by after four o’clock with Zane’s card, and that there just might be dinner at that time. This had her setting an urgent pace. After her almost panic attack, and the confessions in the car, both before and after graduation, her mission had never been clearer.

Her scheduled clients didn’t start ‘til mid-morning, and while she could definitely use the extra sleep, she wanted to get the card for Zane on their doorstep before there was a chance of running into Mike. Showering in record time, she threw her hair up on top of her head, knowing she could just do it at work with the extra time she’d have. She quickly slipped into her jeans and tank top as she fumbled around to find her shoes. Once ready, she grabbed her bag and made sure she had his card before heading out the door.

As she locked the door, she heard footsteps approaching and cringed at the possibility of running into him this early. Afraid to turn around, she paused and just stood there, her back to the sidewalk as she pretended to lock her already locked door. It was a juvenile display of if-he-can’t-see-me-I-can’t-see-him
for sure. When the footsteps paused somewhere behind her, she was debating whether to retreat inside. But then she heard, “Good morning.”

Sweet relief washed over her when she recognized the voice of another neighbor—a sixty-something, awkwardly round Italian man with a comb-over. Definitely not Mike Lawson. Putting her keys in her purse, she turned around as she re-shouldered her bag and said, “Good morning to you, too, Mr. Giovanni.”

He was making sure his comb-over was secured in place as she turned toward him. Trying to hide her snickering grin, she looked down at the steps as she ascended. “Hello Ms. Allie, lovely morning for a walk,” he stated in his thick Italian accent.

“Sure is. It’ll be hard to stay inside at work today, but thankfully there are windows,” she said as she bent over to pet the little dog he was walking. It was just begging for Allie’s attention, and let’s face it, she was still avoiding the comb-over.

“You young people work too much. The weekend is for play and relaxation.”

“Ah, you are correct Mr. Giovanni, but the luxury of being in control of my own schedule, is that I can pick exactly when I want my weekend to be,” she said with a smile as she stood up and finally made eye contact with him. He was shorter so the two of them stood eye-to-eye.

Giving her a smirk and a nod, he replied, “This is true. Well, don’t you work too hard or else you be old like me too soon.”

She smiled at his thick accent and broken English as she wished him a good day and made her way to Mike’s place. Since it was on the way to the parking lot, it made it difficult to slip past him unnoticed
at times. She decided her plan was to carefully slide the card in between the screen and the door, as it would be seen but she wouldn’t have to make a lot of noise getting it there.

Making her way quietly up his steps, she held her breath as she cautiously opened the screen door. Praying it didn’t squeak, she slipped it inside then closed the screen.
Letting out a breath, and relaxing slightly once she heard the door softly click as it closed. She retreated the way she approached, like a thief, quietly and cautiously, while keeping her eyes on the door. She couldn’t help but shake her head at her ridiculously juvenile behavior.

Allie Baxter was a strong, confident, and independent woman. Or at least she thought she was. After all the time spent recovering from heartbreak, she had managed to convince herself and everyone around her of that. So why exactly was it that she was acting this way? Being a coward and sneaking around like she was everything but a strong woman—that wasn’t her. Making her way toward her Mini-Cooper, she popped the locks and was climbing in when she noticed that Mike’s truck wasn’t even in the parking lot.

Well, now she really felt like a fool. All that covert activity to sneak in and out undetected, and there wasn’t even anyone there to notice. It might have been humorous if she wasn’t totally irritated at her own behavior. As she sat in the driver’s seat deciding whether or not she should just go back inside and actually spend the morning doing what she wanted to do, something in her rearview mirror caught her eye. Looking closer, she could see a man, approaching from the distance. He was running, shirtless, with dark hair, broad shoulders, and running shorts slung low on his hips.

Mesmerized by the figure approaching the parking lot, she noticed a little too late exactly who it was running in her direction. “Crap!” She fumbled with her keys, trying to find the ignition. She was reaching for her door when she looked up and made eye contact with the one person she was hoping to avoid.
Mission failed
.

There he was, in all his glory, skin glistening with sweat, chest moving with his deep breaths, hair wet and hanging forward into his face. Maybe she should call this mission a ‘successful failure,’ because he was certainly a site to behold. He lifted his arm and ran his hand through his hair. The movement caught her attention, dragging her gaze up from all of his exposed skin. A knowing smile spread across his face and fueled
the irritation she momentarily forgot to possess whenever he was around. “Well good morning, Allie. Heading out early today?”

“What can I say, when you’re as good as me, the demand is high,” she said with attitude, which of course he didn’t deserve, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Attitude was her only defense against him. Then she remembered yesterday, and how he helped her through that panic attack, and she immediately felt like
crap. He was a nice guy, and apparently she was a mean girl—next on her list would be to start kicking puppies.

Fortunately for her, he wasn’t even fazed by it as he replied, “Of course you are. Anyone who can pull off chunks of purple hair like you has to be good.”

She reached up and touched her purple streaks. What could she say to that? He paid her a compliment, and he noticed her hair, so she gave the only reply she could, “Thanks.”
Lame.

He gave her a wink and a smile as he started to make his way out of the parking lot, but not before he said, “Hope to see you this evening, Allie. I’ll tell Zane you’ll be stopping by.” And then he was gone. Guilt crept in as she visualized him finding the card she had already delivered and not mentioned to him. He wasn’t an idiot and would immediately know she was avoiding coming around that evening. So she did the only thing she could do in that situation—she started her car and got the hell out of there, before he could come back and try to convince her. She really didn’t want to tell him no. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to. She was already close enough on the mean-scale to kicking puppies, and telling Mike no might just push her fully into that category. Not to mention, she wasn’t sure she
wanted
to say no.

MIKE had a smile on his face as he made his way to his condo, passing Mr. Giovanni along the way with a wave and a good morning. When he opened the screen door, a blue envelope fell out and landed at his feet. He could
make out his son’s name across the front. It only took him another second to figure out that it was from Allie. If he hadn’t seen her leaving this early, he would’ve been confused. But he was certain it was from her as he bent forward to retrieve it. Standing back up, he looked in the direction of where he saw her and mumbled to himself, “Keep running Allie, but eventually I
will
catch you.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that her leaving the card now effectively eliminated her need to stop by later. Thus, preventing them from sharing a meal together. He thought in the future, it would be better to avoid telling her his plans when they included anything that was remotely similar to a date. He
’d hoped that what happened at the graduation party would have broken down a little of her resistance toward him. It most likely did, but he needed to make sure that she wasn’t able to replace whatever wall might have fallen yesterday.

He made his way inside with the plan to shower, eat, and attempt to relax today. He’d gotten up so early to drop his truck off, so a nap seemed in the cards, too. He’d decided to have some work done on it, and then ran home; this worked out nicely since it put him in her path. He smiled as he thought about how she would react the next time she got in his truck. As he made his way up the stairs, he caught sight of Zane exiting the bathroom, freshly showered. “Morning, Dad.”

Mike barely got his reply out before the kid closed his bedroom door behind him. He heard Zane come home in the early hours of the morning, so he was in for a long day ahead of him at work. He called out to Zane, “Don’t forget about dinner tonight.”

A muffled, “You got it, Dad,” came from behind the bedroom door. Satisfied with the response, he headed for his own bathroom to get the rest of his day started.

A few hours later, he had managed to get the paperwork in his office filed away, had sent out a few emails to clients, and basically caught up and planned his work week. Feeling accomplished, he grabbed a beer from the fridge and plopped himself down on the couch to find a game to watch. He was going to have to retrieve his truck at some point, but was pretty sure his friend doing the work would help with that. Now he needed to figure out a plan of attack with the beautiful, yet elusive, Allie Baxter.

Of course, he now had a little more insight into exactly why she was so resistant. He wondered if she had dated anyone in the time since she lost her husband. Mike really didn’t like the thought of Allie with someone else. Even if it was only in theory, it was something he would do his best to avoid thinking about.

The problem was that he needed to know if she was hesitant with all men, or just him. He really had no way to figure that one out without just asking, and that might be difficult to drop into conversation. Not to mention he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear that he was the only one she fought the obvious connection with. Then he would have to question why. It was entirely possible that she had just given up dating all together. Maybe it was because, as it appeared yesterday, she was still dealing with her grief.

That made him a little sad, if not because he totally understood it, but because it was no way to live. The past was nowhere to be, and if that was the case with Allie, he was more determined than ever to get her out of there. His phone vibrated on the table in front of him, dragging him out of his thoughts. Putting his beer down, he grabbed it and saw a message from Jake.

Now that was not a friendship he had expected. Clearly Jake Michaels was a stand-up kind of guy, and Mike was glad they could hang out together. The message said he had gotten his hands on some tickets to the Padres game that night and to call him if he wanted in. It only took one ring before Jake answered.

“Hey man, you want to go? I’ve got enough tickets for you to bring Zane, too, if you want.”

“Yeah, I want to go. Zane would love to, as well. How much you want for them and how should I get them from you?” Mike said with a little excitement. Since his plans to feed Allie had fallen through, he might as well make other ones.

“There are six tickets, and I was just going to hand them over to Jason or Logan since they are going, too. Maybe you guys could all ride together and save on parking. You know how it sucks downtown,” Jake replied. A baseball game with Jason and Logan? That left two more tickets. Who else was going? He hoped Allie was one of them.

“Sounds like a plan. Should I call your brother to set it up?” Mike asked.

“Sure, that way you guys can coordinate everyone. You could all just meet up here; I won’t be leaving the house tonight anyway.” Mike could only assume that was because of Gillian.

“Great. Send me your brother’s info, and I’ll call him. By the way, who’s all going?”

“Well, you got two, Logan is bringing Jonathan. And then my brother and Allie got the other two tickets.”
Bingo!
That was what he wanted to hear. An evil grin slid across his face as he thought about how she tried to avoid him tonight, but now she was going to be stuck with him for hours after all. Jake continued, “I figured you wouldn’t mind if Allie went. Was I wrong?”

“No man, you weren’t wrong. I don’t mind at all. Not sure how she’s gonna feel about it, though. Does she know I’m taking two of the tickets?” Mike asked, trying to formulate a plan in his mind. He loved nothing more than to keep Allie on her toes, and showing up at her door to pick her up for a baseball game that she had no idea he was going to would do just that.

His smile grew when Jake said, “No, I don’t think she does. Gillian is the one that called her about it. I was talking with Jason when she did. You want me to find out if she does?”

“That’s okay. I have a feeling, knowing Gillian, she kept that bit of information from Allie.” He smiled bigger as he
thought about it. “Give that woman of yours a big kiss for me and tell her thanks.”

Jake snorted a laugh. “Don’t have to tell me twice to kiss my woman. I’ll send you Jason’s number. Later.”

“Thanks,” Mike said as he disconnected the call. Once he got Jason’s info, he quickly called him, eager to get some plans in motion. He was to meet Jason, Logan, and Jonathan at Jake and Gillian’s place where he would pick them all up and take his truck. Allie didn’t know it yet, but she was getting a ride over there with Mike. Sending a quick thanks out into the universe for the unexpected turn of events, he made sure to let his son know the plans, too. Now he just needed to make sure his truck would be done in time.