One Good Man (12 page)

Should she tell him the truth? He might not like it.

"I'd think it was pretty obvious," she hedged. "I saw you and I wanted you."

"That's it?" When she didn't answer, he went on. "It's all right. You can tell me."

"I'd found out my boyfriend"—
get it right, Andie
—"my
ex
-

boyfriend, was cheating on me."

"Shit. That sucks."

"Yeah." Just thinking about it brought back the scalding humiliation. Matthew must have seen it on her face.

His hand skimmed down her arm, then moved up to her face. He traced his thumb along her lower lip. "He's an asshole."

Exactly what she needed to hear. She smiled. "Thanks."

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"So this is a rebound kind of thing for you." His voice was light but contained a steely note as well.

It sounded so cold, put out there like that. It made her sound as if she was using him. There was more to it than that. Much more.
What makes you think it's more for him,
Andie? There you go, getting yourself in trouble again.
"I wouldn't put it that way."

He shrugged. "I don't know how else to put it." He was watching her closely as though expecting her to say more.

Andie's heart bumped her breastbone and she looked away, swallowing hard. What did he want from her?

"But that could apply to you, too, right?" she asked.

"Ah, the neighborhood gossip mill," he sighed. "Well, what have you heard?"

"That you were engaged to someone and the two of you were going to be moving in together...into your new house..."

"Mmm. Well, it's a relief to know the gossips didn't get it all wrong." He set the burger on his lap. "Actually, Chelsea and I weren't engaged. I was never quite able to pin her down."

What was her problem?
Andie wondered as she gazed at Matthew's handsome profile.

"Chelsea
said
she wanted to get married," Matt explained.

"I think what she really wanted was the gown, the ring, and the fancy reception. You know, the whole white picket fence thing."

"Well, of course. That's the dream," Andie murmured.

That's what all the bride magazines sold—the dream of happily ever after. And every woman was a sucker for it. Not 111

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men, apparently. There were no groom magazines, were there?

Matthew went on. "It really wasn't me she wanted. Any guy would have done. The marriage was more important than the man. She wasn't in love with me. She just wanted to feel safe."

Andie didn't really care what Chelsea wanted. She wanted to know
Were you in love with her?
She wished she had the nerve to ask, but she wasn't ready to hear the answer.

Instead she asked "What do you mean? Safe from what?"

Matt shook his head. Andie knew he was trying to explain it to himself as well as to her. "Chelsea always liked the guys with the rough edges. The bad boys. The ones with the tats and the piercings and the attitude. Thing was, though, they always treated her like crap."

"Were they violent?" Andie didn't want to feel sorry for this Chelsea, but the sympathy came nonetheless.

"Not physically, but they did a number on her emotionally.

I was doing a job for her uncle and I met her through him.

We started seeing each other. She'd been hurt by these assholes and I was..."

"You were different," Andie put in.

"Yeah. She wanted different. She wanted...safe. Boring."

"You're not boring." Andie's voice was sharp. She hated what Chelsea had done to him. Making a considerate, decent, hot-as-hell guy doubt himself. Safe? Not a chance. Not to Andie.

Matthew lifted his shoulders. "She wanted to love me, I guess. She tried." He glanced at her and then away. "Bottom 112

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line, you can't make yourself love someone." The corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. "She hooked up with a biker named Sledge and took off for parts unknown."

Andie almost coughed up her burger. She bit her lip. It sounded so ridiculous, but she didn't want to laugh. After all, he was talking about how he'd been dumped. "
Sledge
?"

He slanted her a look, then started laughing himself. "I know."

"That's like something out of a cartoon or a comic book..."

"I know...Sledge..."

"
Sludge
," she muttered, and laughter overtook them both.

Andie's laugh subsided. She placed her hand on Matthew's wrist. "She made the biggest mistake of her life when she left you."

He took her hand and gazed at her, his eyes full of warmth. "Thanks."

She looked down at their clasped hands. "I feel terrible."

"It's not your fault," he answered, his voice registering surprise.

"No, I mean...I really misjudged you. Before I got to know you, I assumed the break-up was your doing. That you were a player or something..."

"Huh? Why?"

"Oh, 'cause you're so damn attractive!" She looked at him and laughed with embarrassment, her face hot. She should have known better than to assume the worst about him based solely on his looks. Hadn't she been judged on her looks most of her life? He'd been hurt just as she had been. Andie lifted her shoulders. "I'm sorry."

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His eyebrows rose. "Sorry for thinking I'm attractive?"

"No." She laughed again. "For jumping to conclusions."

"You're forgiven. So, how
attractive
am I? How do I compare to, say...Brad Pitt?"

"Oh, he can't hold a candle to you," Andie swore, keeping a straight face.

"Really?" Matt rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What about that DiCaprio guy?"

"Leonardo? Believe me, you put him completely in the shade."

"That's what I want to hear." He pulled her close and nuzzled her ear. "You're perfect. Cute as a button and crazy as hell."

Her snort was muffled against his shoulder. Matt pulled back. "What?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. "Nothing." She looked away, her face heating again.

"Andie," he said after a moment, his smile fading. "I can't be the first guy who's ever told you you were pretty."

A corner of her mouth lifted. "You mean aside from my dad?"

His forehead crinkled in consternation. "Come on."

Andie thought of Ricki and smiled. "No. You're not the only one." The smile dimmed as she remembered someone else.

"There was this guy in college..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at Matthew. Maybe she shouldn't tell him.

"Go ahead," he urged her, his tone gentle. "I told you about Chelsea."

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"This guy Logan. Like I said, it was college. I met him in the dining hall. He was next to me in line and we were getting dinner and he noticed all I had on my tray was a salad and diet soda. He started lecturing me on how I needed to eat nutritiously if I wanted to lose weight..." She glanced over at Matthew. "I was a lot heavier then." Forty pounds heavier.

Way to go, Andie. Let the guy picture you as a blimp, that'll
make him real hot for you.

What difference did it make? This was a one-shot deal, right? One weekend. Then they'd go back to being people who occasionally waved hello to each other. And he wanted to know. Andie's resolve stiffened. Why should she hide who she was?

"Anyway, he told me I shouldn't be starving myself. I was completely mortified, being lectured like that in front of everybody."

Matt frowned. "He sounds like an ass."

"No, not really. Logan was very into health and exercise, nutrition, all that. He was in great shape. He sort of became my self-appointed weight-loss guru...and my boyfriend."

Matthew's face was smooth and expressionless. "Okay..."

"We'd exercise, go for walks, go to the gym. He helped me with my diet, cheered me on. Told me how much he cared about me, how beautiful I was." Andie rolled her eyes. "I guess guys will say anything to get laid."

"Andie—"

She stopped him before he said more. "Don't." The smell of the french fries, which had been so mouth-watering a few minutes ago, now turned her stomach. Andie pushed them 115

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aside. She only wanted to finish the story now. "I believed him. I was so on board with him, I mean I really fell for it.

But then he stopped believing in me."

"Why? Because you didn't lose the weight?"

"Because I
did
lose the weight. I was in the best shape of my life. I went above and beyond everything he taught me, and I thought he'd be so pleased. I wanted to make him proud, you know? Give him the hot skinny girlfriend he deserved instead of the chubby chick. But that wasn't what he wanted. It wasn't a week after I reached my goal weight he told me things weren't working out. Later I saw him with another girl on campus—a big girl, bigger than I had been.

Come to find out I wasn't the first girl he'd done this with, nor the last."

"Shit."

"I guess he wanted to be the hero, you know? Save miserable, lonely, fat girls from themselves. Well, after he dumped me, it didn't take long before I started eating everything in sight. But then I realized I was only hurting myself. So..." She sighed dramatically and wiped an imaginary tear from her eye, playing up the melodrama to hide the fact her guts were in knots. "That's my sad, sad saga. Care for a tissue?"

"No. No tissue." He grabbed her ass and pulled her close.

"This is what I want." His mouth descended on hers, and she forgot about Logan, forgot about everything but Matthew and how much she wanted him.

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Matthew woke her up with donuts and coffee on Monday.

He wore his usual choice of T-shirt—a green one today—and jeans, and his hair was still damp from an early shower. She shifted comfortably in bed, smiling up at him, but her smile faded a bit when she remembered this was their last day together. He had only asked for the weekend.

And why did that bother her now?

Stop it, Andie. Don't screw things up. Enjoy today and
don't spoil it.

She gave him a playful pout and flicked a finger to indicate his wet hair. "You didn't wait for me this morning."

He shrugged and her smile dimmed further. Was he trying to ease away from her? Regretting the time he'd spent with her? Matthew silently handed her a mug of coffee and offered a plate of donuts. She chose a chocolate one with sprinkles.

"Thank you," she murmured, trying not to look at him.

"You're welcome." He chose a jelly donut for himself and sat at the foot of the bed, taking a bite of the donut.

Powdered sugar dusted his lips and the tip of his nose. "By the way, I took Daisy out already."

"Poor Daisy. I've really been neglecting her this weekend.

I'm glad you've been on the ball. Thanks so much."

"You're so polite." He said it fondly, as though he was amused by her courtesy.

"Is that wrong?" she asked, her tongue catching a wayward sprinkle from the corner of her mouth.

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Slouching back as he looked at her, Matthew said. "No, as long as it doesn't hold you back from asking for what you want." His eyelids drooped to half-mast. "Do you know what you want, Andie?"

"Yes." Andie let the bedclothes fall to her hips. She crawled across the bed to him, her breasts swaying. When she reached him she licked the sugar from his lips, the corners of his mouth. She playfully sucked the tip of his nose. She nuzzled his neck. He smelled like coffee and soap. When she kissed him, he tasted like jelly and toothpaste. His tongue played with hers as he let his hand skim down her back to cup her butt cheek.

Matthew broke the kiss. "Why don't you hop in the shower?"

Andie pulled back, blinking in surprise. He wanted to stop?

The dampness between her legs told her she was just getting started. Immediately Andie's insecurities got the best of her.

Did she smell bad? Maybe she had yucky morning breath. Or was he turned off by her less-than-perfect body in the morning light? "Sure," she said quietly, slipping off the bed and padding toward the bathroom. She wanted to cover herself, but she refused to humiliate herself that way. She felt humiliated enough.

She was half-hoping Matthew would join her in the shower the way he did yesterday, but no such luck. While the hot water pelted her, Andie allowed a few scalding tears to slip down her cheeks. Apparently Being In Total Control of Herself was not as easy as it seemed.

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When she emerged from the steamy bathroom wrapped in a towel, damp hair brushing her shoulders, Andie found Matthew sitting on the bed in his boxers. The bedclothes had been smoothed out and folded down to the bottom of the bed, and fluffy towels lay on top of the sheet. She hesitated, then saw the bottle of massage oil on Matthew's lap, and relief flooded her.

"How about a massage?" His tone was light but desire burned in his gaze.

He wasn't tired of her—he didn't want to cut their last day short. He only wanted her out of the way long enough to prepare this surprise for her. She'd misread him and immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion, letting her lack of confidence make her stupid.

"I'd love one," she answered, her own voice brimming with need. "As long as I can return the favor."

Matthew patted the mattress and held out his hand. As she came within arms' reach, he whipped off her towel, tossed it onto the floor, and pulled her down beside him so they both flopped across the mattress. The bed jumped and Andie laughed.

They lay face to face crosswise on the bed. "What's on the agenda for today?" Andie asked.

"After the massage? Well, that's up to you." His hand drifted up her arm. "I hope you weren't too bored yesterday."