Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) (36 page)

“Don’t forget to change your earrings. I noticed last night you like to match everything up,” his words were almost a whisper. Teasing me, just as I had teased him. Whatever game we were playing, I realized I was loving every second of it. I wasn’t sure where it would wind up, but for some reason I didn’t seem to care. He slowly walked over to the door and nodded with that damn Cheshire grin. “Come on, I’m starving.”

And that was how the rest of our week went until Friday night after our dinner. Aubrey texted me constantly, begging me to take Matt to speed dating just to see what would happen to our “friendship.” I had told Matt that I’m signed up and can’t back out of it, blaming Aubrey completely for this fiasco.

We walked into the large bar. Small tables, adorned with a chair on each side swarmed the usually empty dance floor. The tables were spaced out nicely for some sort of privacy, but all in uniformed rows.

“Tell me again why we’re here?” Matt asked as we walked in and I continued to fidget with my grandmother’s ring.

“Because I promised Aubrey I’d go to one of these things. She’s out of town and since we’re just doing the friends thing, you have to be my friend and go with me.”

Matt grunted. “You’re kidding me right? I’ve fucked you. That has to count for something higher than a friend who goes with you to a speed dating thing.”

I couldn’t really argue with his theory, but I rationalized with myself that I really needed to branch out and date, while on my break — my break from Charles that Matt doesn’t really know about.

I took a deep breath as I tried to explain, “Aubrey promised me it would be fun. Besides she would make fun of the night. You have a fun sense of humor and could help ease my nervousness,
friend
.”

He shook his head not knowing what else to say. “Fine. A night of loser women or if they’re any good I’d get a phone number or two to pass on to Clark.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, you would pass those on to Clark.” Sarcasm dripped from my statement to him.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” That darn half smile appeared after he noted his correction.

We stood at the bar with our drinks as more people started to filter in. Some came alone and others came with their friends. I noticed no one else walked in with a person of the opposite sex. I quickly emptied the contents of my Cosmo needing the alcohol to help meet new people. Matt watched me with curious expression.

“You alright?” He asked me as he flagged down the bartender and ordered another Cosmo for me and another beer for himself.

I nodded as I started to twirl my ring again, noting the time was getting closer to begin this “thing.” “Just getting a little nervous. I’m not great with meeting new people,” I reminded him.

Matt smiled. “You’ll be fine. Just pretend you’re talking to your friend,” he said sarcastically.

“Funny,” I flatly stated to him as my stomach continued to churn from my nervousness.

The hostess for the evening adjusted her microphone and explained the rules. The women were to take their seats and the men would rotate seats after five minutes of speaking to their ‘date.’ We were to all mark our forms with each person’s name and the number they had given each of us with comments on a scale of one to five how we would rate the person.

The women were all instructed to pick a seat. I gave one last look at Matt and he gave me an encouraging smile. “Have fun,” he teased. I smiled back. “You too.”

My first “date” wasn’t too bad. He seemed very nice, but a little quirky with his odd mannerisms. He kept flicking his watch clasp.
Open. Close. Open
.
Close.
The distraction was driving me nuts, but then again I have my odd habit of twirling my ring. So maybe that bothered him too. I gave him the benefit of the doubt with nice comments and a rating of four.

My next date - smelled. Terrible. He had horrible body odor and I felt bad for him thinking he might be as nervous as I was. I smiled nicely throughout the date to try to get through it, but only rated him a two. I don’t think I could go out on another date and possibly have to smell him the entire time.

One right after the other sat down in front of me and each time my nervousness decreased about meeting someone new. They all seemed very nice, some more than others. The next thing I knew I looked over and noticed Matt was just about to take his seat to “date” the woman next to me.

My heart immediately soared just seeing him. His warm smile and casual wink at me made me want to jump into his arms. I glanced at the woman he was about to sit with and she was watching his every move. I was waiting for drool to drip out of her mouth.

Instead of sitting he took a couple steps towards me. He leaned over and smiled, “Hey, you’ve got that bitch scowl working. Knock it off or you won’t get any dates.”

I wasn’t sure if I had that “look” from watching his soon to be date drool over him or if maybe I just look that way to begin with. I tried to accept his advice, knowing I probably make that face he’s talking about when I’m nervous.

Then I realized he was giving me advice so that I “get” dates. So he really wants me to meet new people. Friends. My stomach dropped a little as it hit me that we really were going to be nothing more than just friends. Swallowing back my sadness, I flashed him a half smile.

He tilted his head, laughing. “Better.” Just then my date walked up and I watched Matt’s eyes follow him as my date sat down in front of me. Matt’s eyes lowered to the table and then over to his date. I decided to follow suit.

I turned my gaze toward my date and tried to give him my full attention. He was a really charismatic guy and kept making jokes that reminded me of Matt. I tried my best not to look to the next table, but whenever I did Matt’s eyes would flick to mine. Finally the bell rang for the men to switch seats. Matt sat down in front of me and I stupidly grinned from ear to ear.

“How’s that ring finger doing?” Matt asked as he nodded his head in the direction of my grandmother’s ring. I rolled my eyes, smiling that he knew my nervous habit. I picked up my pen and started to write down his name and the number on his sticker attached to his shirt. He smiled at me and started writing also. I guess technically we didn’t need to talk during our time frame, so I put my head down and started to write about Matt.

Rate: 5 Although Matt seems to be the player type and wants nothing more than a quick lay, I’m sure he would be a fun person to hang around with, if nothing more than a really good friend.

I looked up to see Matt gazing at me with a sweet thoughtful look. I smiled back and then glanced down to his paper. It seemed like he wrote a book about me. My mouth popped open, as did my eyes. I quickly snatched the paper to see what he wrote about me.

“Hey. That’s against the rules. You’re not allowed to do that,” he teased. He reached over and grabbed mine as I began to read his.

Rate: 5 Vanessa seems like the perfect person to take home to my mother. Her sweet and caring mannerisms lead me to believe she would make the perfect match for me. I could completely see our future together as she would make a fantastic wife and future mother to my children. I would love nothing more than to go out on a date with this woman.

Shocked, I looked up at him. He did the same as he flicked my paper back to me.

“Nothing more than a good friend?” He asked, clearly agitated.

“Mother to your children?” I asked him, still shocked at what he wrote. Does he really think these things? I thought for sure he would write something like I did. Did he really mean this stuff? Or is this just something he wanted to tease me about.

The bell rang and we sat there, continuing to stare at each other, wondering if the other really meant what we wrote. There were three dates left before I could talk to Matt again. I watched him as he stood shaking his head, looking disappointed and went to the next table.

I bit my lip, debating if I should change what I wrote. Maybe I should rewrite it so we would be matched up? Is that what he was doing? Writing something sweet so that he wasn’t matched up with other women he wasn’t attracted to?

I didn’t know what to think at that point as I looked up to see my next date in front of me. He was a body builder type that reminded me of Luke, which brought back memories of how Matt made sure to tell Luke about having to hold my hair. Does Matt really want more with me? Oh God, I was going to get a headache from the thoughts going back and forth in my head.

The last bell for the final date rang and we were all instructed to hand in our papers. They would be tallied up and we would be emailed our matches. If we wanted to go out on a date with any of the matches, we could email them back and have it arranged.

I stood up and looked for Matt. My heart sank, as did my stomach, when I noticed three women surrounded him. Three. Should I go over to him? The bodybuilder who reminded me of Luke walked over to me and we began an easy-going conversation. He didn’t drink because of training, which is a good thing I guess, even though I do like my occasional glass of wine or a Cosmos when I’m out. Kara ordered one for me in front of Luke and I didn’t correct her. I can’t seem to get enough of them now.

My eyes kept flashing over to Matt. He wasn’t looking over to me in the least, not that I could blame him since he had so many women to chat with.

“You seem a little preoccupied,” Declan the bodybuilder, said to me.

“I’m so sorry. I guess I still have my mind on work.” My remark led to a discussion about what I do and what he does for a day job besides body-building.

The bar was nearing its closing time and I had the best buzz going on. Declan and I really hit it off and we exchanged phone numbers on our own. The entire night Matt was enjoying himself with as little as three women. Their faces would change, but for the most part, he was always surrounded by at least three women. Size or shape didn’t matter; they all wanted to speak with him.

No, I didn’t stare at him the entire night. After the first hour of cheerful conversation, although it was a bit slow at first, with Declan, my glances over to Matt became fewer. Especially after I noticed that he wasn’t even concerned with where I was or whom I was speaking with.

That sealed it for me, friends is all he really wants with me. He enjoys many women and that’s just how he is. My feelings towards him were nothing more than sexual attraction and a desire for more of a night full of sex.

As I spoke with Declan more and more, I realized what a sweet man he really was. He had this hard exterior, a receding hair line and a slight crook to his nose. No, Declan was definitely not a man I would pick out to date, even from just seeing his picture online; however, the ease of conversation and the way he was able to make me smile with his sweet jokes made me realize you really couldn’t judge a person just based on looks.

We discussed online dating and I explained to him about Aubrey setting me up with Mr. Octopus. It was actually a great story to tell and Declan and I had a nice little laugh about it. He told me which dating service he uses and suggested I get on there too so we can chat and match up. Aside from having nothing in common, the ease of our conversation made it a really enjoyable evening.

The bar was closing and I watched Matt walk towards us with a brunette on his arm. She was quite beautiful and I had a hard time fighting the jealousy that settled in the pit of my stomach. I watched her “pet” his arm continually and her doe eyes ate every word he spoke as they strolled towards us.

I quickly introduced Declan and Matt introduced his new friend, Ava.

“Are you ready to head back?” Matt asked me directly, which shocked me. I wasn’t sure if he meant he was also going to take Ava with us on our small walk back to our building.

Declan spoke up, another surprise to this little end of the evening. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind walking you back, if you don’t mind, of course.” I glanced at Matt, unsure of what to do. I felt comfortable with Declan, but then again I just met him.

“Well, Ava, you’re heading back with your friends, right?” Matt said as he glanced around searching for her friends.

“I wouldn’t mind walking back with you actually, Matt.” Matt’s smile dropped as he looked over to Declan.

His voice dropped to a more serious tone as he glared at Declan. “Actually, Vanessa and I live in the same building, so I can just take her back. It’s really no big deal,” he directed Declan, ignoring Ava’s suggestion and obvious desire to sleep with him tonight. Why wouldn’t he take her back?

“Oh, I didn’t realize…” Declan started to say as he glanced back and forth between Matt and me. “Are you two…?”

“No,” I interrupted quickly. “No, we’re not together, we’re neighbors actually. I dragged Matt out with me tonight to help ease my nervousness of meeting new people.”

“Oh,” Declan nodded his head in understanding. “Well, that’s fine. I’ll just chat with you online or I can call you tomorrow if you’d like.”

I couldn’t help but beam as I honestly told him, “Yeah, I’d like that. I’ll log on tomorrow and check it out.”

His broad smile was endearing as he stuttered, “Umm, great. Okay, I’d like that. I’ll…we’ll talk tomorrow then.” He took me by surprise as he wrapped his arms around me and gave me a strong hug. I couldn’t help but return his hug, knowing now what a really sweet man he seemed to be.