Something More (6 page)

He snaps the blanket
open and places it neatly on the sand. I walk to the edge of the blanket
closest to the water and sit, leaving my feet still on the sand. I slip off my
flip flops and clap them together, wipe the little bit of sand off of my feet,
and place them cleanly on the blanket. I hear laughter coming from behind me. “You
sure are particular, aren't you?”

“What are you talking
about?”

“You, with the shoes
and the sand and everything,” he says, circling his arm in the air encompassing
me and the blanket.

“I just don't like to lie
in sand or get it in my clothes. Do you?”

“Well, no. But the way
you did it all was a bit…anal retentive?” he says, somewhat shyly.

“I have had lots of
practice doing it.” He follows my lead and leaves his feet off of the blanket.
I scoot back a little and lie down. I feel a little weird out here in my jeans,
and I know I'm going to be sweating
really
soon. A moment later, he lies
down next to me. Not too close, but close enough to make the fire inside burn hotter.
He reaches for my hand but, sadly, there’s no kiss this time. The fire deep
inside roars a little stronger.

After just laying on
the beach, with no kisses and hardly any conversation for about thirty minutes,
I'm ready to go back in the truck. I'm pretty hungry. “Drew?”

“Hmmm?”

“I'm ready to go eat, I
think. Maybe afterwards we can come back here, unless you have something else
planned.”

“Okay. Let's go.” We
gather up our belongings and he shakes the sand out of the blanket, careful not
to sling any in my direction. He's learned something about me, at least. I grin
at him and he returns one to me.

As we trek back through
the sand to the Hummer, I hear the engine start.
I need to get me one of
those remote starter thingies
, I think to myself. He throws the sandy
blanket into the back of the truck and comes to open my door. Always the
gentleman.

After we hop inside,
we're on our way to our next destination. I hope it's not a fancy place, or
even a mildly fancy place because I probably smell and I'm not dressed for
anything other than a dive.
Oh, I forgot that I brought a dressier blouse.
That's why I brought the sandals. Not such a dumbass, after all. Just
forgetful.

I'm sure my hair is a
disaster, too. The place can't be too nice if he's in gym shorts, though. I
relax a little at that thought.

“There's a little café
just up the road overlooking the ocean. It's quaint and the food is great.”

“I'm starving so I'm
sure it will be fine no matter what.”

The little café we
arrive at is cute. It looks like an old shanty with white-washed wood
everywhere. I immediately think of a shipwreck for some reason. This is my kind
of joint. Seems like a place where the locals go and everybody knows everybody.

Drew snags us a booth
in the back corner next to a window that looks out over the ocean. We're pretty
high up on a cliff and the view is spectacular. A house with a view like this
would be amazing. “This view is absolutely stunning,” I tell him. “Just
gorgeous.”

“It's definitely a
stunning view. Almost as stunning as you.” I feel my cheeks redden.

“Thank you, but I'm
sure I look and smell awful.”

“Nonsense. You are
beautiful and you smell just fine.”

“I'm sure I'd smell
better after a hot shower. I feel like I sweat like a man.” I chuckle.

When the waitress comes
over and takes our drink order, I notice her eyes are fixed on Drew.
Hmmph
.
The nerve of her. Doesn't she see that he is here with a woman? We could be
married and she doesn't even seem to care.
Tramp
. I guess I really can't
blame her, though. He is as gorgeous as they come. I bring myself back to
reality.

I open the menu, a bit
roughly, as the waitress goes off to retrieve our drinks. “What's good here?” I
ask.

“I'm not really sure.
It's been a while since I've been here.”

I look over my menu at
him. “Been a while since you've been on a date?”

“Rebecca, I told you, I
don't date.”

“You mean you've never
dated? Ever?”

“Well, not never, but
not since I was young.” I feel a crease form between my eyes and my forehead
wrinkles in disbelief.

“So you haven't had a
relationship in over ten years?” He shakes his head. “What have you been doing
for your...? Wait. I hold up a hand to stop him from answering, “I don't think
I want to know the answer to that.”

He smiles. “Probably
not. We all have a past, though. I'm not particularly proud of mine, but it is
what it is. A past.”

I nod. “True.”

The waitress comes back
to take our order and he sends her away, letting her know that we need a few
more minutes. He didn't even look at her. That makes me feel good.

“I think I will play it
safe and get a salad, and a turkey and swiss sandwich.” He nods, acknowledging
what I've said. “I'm going to go to the ladies' room and freshen up a little.
Will you order for me? Honey mustard salad dressing, and mayo and mustard on
the side for my sandwich, please.”

“I can do that for you,
Miss Michaels. I shall go, as well, after I've placed our order.” He gives me a
wink and a smile. I grab my bag, get up, and head to the restroom. I do my
business, wash my hands and arms, splash my face, and freshen up my makeup.

Good thing I threw my
mini purse into my backpack. I give a little squirt of perfume and tidy up my
hair.
Better, Bec. Much better
.

Heading out of the
restroom and into the hallway…SLAM!
You've got to be kidding me! Again?
I look up into those Caribbean blues of Drew's, and then burst into laughter. “Seriously?”
I exclaim. “I think you plan these run-ins, Mr. Chambers.”

He wraps his arms
around my waist and leans down to kiss me. My arms wrap around his shoulders
and pull him in tighter. The fire deep inside ignites and my core squeezes up
into a tight little ball. My lips part and my tongue quickly finds his. They
find a nice rhythm and then I retract mine, realizing where we are. I give him
a nibble on his bottom lip and then a kiss.

Grabbing his hand, I
lead him back to the table. He leans down to my ear from behind as we arrive at
the table and says, “I did plan them, Miss Michaels.” My head whips around to
him to see if he's joking. He doesn't appear to be.

“You did what?” I say,
not believing what I've just heard. “You planned me running into you? Why would
you do that?” He snickers as we both take our seats.

“I didn't plan on the
actual
running into
you, just meeting you. There was this...” He motions
with his hand back and forth between me and him. “...pull towards you that I
couldn't understand. Until now.”

My eyes are wide open,
eyebrows up in complete shock. “Umm. You couldn't just walk over to me and meet
me that way?”

“I could have, but what
fun is that? Are you mad at me?” I frown. I don't know if I'm mad or not. I
mean, it worked. Wait. Did he say he figured out this thing between us? Now I'm
curious.

“What have you figured
out?”

Looking me straight in
the eyes, he hesitates a moment. “This thing between us,” he says,
nonchalantly.

My brows furrow. “What
is
this thing between us? In your opinion, that is.”

Of course the waitress
comes with our salads as he is about to answer. I want to hear this, but now
all I can think about is food. I mix up the salad so the dressing is evenly
dispersed and take a bite.
Mmm. Food.
My stomach growls in appreciation.
Another bite in and I look up at Drew. He is staring at me. I must look
uncivilized. “What? I told you I was hungry. By the way, feel free to answer my
question whenever you're ready.” I smile.

“Rebecca, I believe you
may be…my soul mate.” I stop chewing and am conscious to keep my mouth shut
because there is food in it. I just stare at him like a deer caught in
headlights. What the hell? Soul mate? We just met. I can't deny the connection
or the feelings, but it's been what? A little over a week since we met?

He's still watching me,
probably trying to read my reaction. Surely I am just showing pure shock.
Am
I breathing
? I do an internal check. Yes, I'm breathing…barely. My insides
are bunched up nice and tight. Everything sounds about right when I'm around
him. I should probably say something back, but I can't seem to move. I wonder
how much time has passed. I blink for what feels like the first time, and
muster up the will to speak. “Why would you think that after such a short time
of knowing me? We just met.”

Drew looks down at his
salad and starts to fiddle with it. He looks a little...nervous? That's a new
look for him. I wonder if he thinks I might be scared off at his realization. I
must reassure him, but he interrupts me before I am able to open my mouth.

“I've never felt like
this with anyone before, Rebecca. Anyone. It's a new feeling for me and I'm
pretty sure that this pull between us, one that is undeniably strong, is that
of a soul mate connection. And the fact that it's not just an attraction, that
there is such a pull that we both feel, just makes me believe that you are the
one for me.” The one? What is he saying? Marriage? The long haul?

“Rebecca, please
breathe. You are worrying me. And close your mouth.” He smiles. I snap my jaw
shut and swallow whatever food is left in my mouth. Crap. I take a napkin and
wipe my mouth, just in case anything may have escaped. Now that would be
embarrassing.

“What exactly are you
saying, Drew? Are you suggesting…?”

He chokes a little.”Oh,
good god, Rebecca. No. Not marriage. Well, not yet anyway. But I do think that,
in the future, it's a possibility. I just can't deny these feelings I have.” I
let out a deep breath.

“I thought you had gone
off the deep end. I couldn't even fathom that right now. Still, maybe talking
about it this early in the game is a bit much.” I should cut him some slack.
He's not had a relationship since he was young.

Reaching across the
table, I grab his hand and give it a little squeeze. A small gesture of
encouragement. He smiles and pats my hand. “Perhaps I should've kept it to
myself a little longer, but why wait when you know what you want. Just go for
it, right?”

I snicker. “Well,
that's one way of looking at it.”

Getting back to eating
our salads, we keep the conversation light. The waitress comes back with our
meals. She still only looks at him, totally ignoring me. I just want to smack
the rudeness out of her.

As we finish up our
lunch, I wonder what else he has planned. I allow him to pay for my lunch. I'm
not quite sure why I did, but it made him happy. He's even sexier when he's
happy.

We stand at the table,
getting ready to leave, and I feel the urge to make that bitch of a waitress
jealous. I step closer to Drew, wrap my arms around his waist, and look up at
him. He, in turn, wraps one arm around me and his free hand comes up to my
face, pulling my lips to his. It's a very PG-rated kiss, but I can feel the
passion radiating…especially down deep. He releases me and grabs my hand as we
walk out of the café together, as a couple.

“Did you enjoy that
display, Rebecca?”

Huh? “What display?”

He's grinning from ear
to ear. “That PDA in the cafe. That was a show for the waitress, was it not?” I
blush.
How did he know it was for her benefit?

“How do you know it
wasn't just an 'I want to kiss you' kiss?” I reply and he chuckles.

“I pay attention. I saw
you glaring at her every time she came to the table.” I look down at the
ground. Is he mad? With two fingers, he lifts my chin up, amusement in his
eyes.
Oh, goody!
He's not mad.

“I enjoyed it very
much, even if it was to make her jealous. Feel free to use me like that
anytime,” he says with a big boyish grin.
Such a man
, I think as I smile
back at him.

“She deserved it for
being so rude and ignoring me,” I mutter.

Drew places a quick
kiss on my lips and smacks my ass in a playful way, then opens the truck door
for me. I gasp and rub my butt. It didn't hurt, but I'm going to try and make
him think it did. “That wasn't very nice,” I say. Grinning wider, I climb into
the truck and try to hide my face.

Watching him walk
around to the driver's side, I see a smirk on his face. Shaking my head, I have
to giggle. So much for my acting skills. This man is laying on the charm today.
I hope it's not a one-time deal. I like this Drew. A lot.

“What's next on your
agenda, Mr. Chambers?”

“I thought I would take
you to another scenic spot and then head back to town. If that's okay with you?”
Hmm. Not an all day date then. Everything inside me seems to wilt.

“Okay,” is all I
manage.

Drew drives us up the
coast. The views are astonishing. I thought he wouldn't be taking us far, but
it seems I was wrong. About an hour goes by and he finally pulls off of the
road. It doesn't look like much to me. “What are we doing?” I ask.

“We are going to go to
a scenic spot, as I said. But it's a little further up the hill. We will have
to walk from here. You might want to put your other shoes back on.” I frown. I
don't want to put those things back on. My feet are happy being out of shoes. I
take a deep breath and let out a sigh.

Reaching into the back seat,
I find my shoes and socks. They are still sweaty.
Note to self…bring extra
socks next time.
“Ugh. This is gross.” He laughs a little. Scrunching up my
face in disgust, I pull on my sweaty socks and I just want to gag. It feels so
nasty. I get my shoes on and look at him, all gorgeous and perfect. It's not
fair.

“Come. I'm excited for
you to see this.”

My brain lingers on
that first word for a moment.
Get your mind out of the gutter, Becca.

We head up the hill and
through the trees, hand-in-hand. It makes me smile. I follow his lead around
rocks and limbs. I can hear the ocean below. It sounds so serene and beautiful.
The sound seems to get closer as we continue on. About twenty minutes into our
little hike, the trees seem to part and there before me is the most magical
view. My breath hitches. “Oh my. This is absolutely breathtaking.”

Out of the corner of my
eye, I can see that he is looking at me and not the scene before us. I want to
look at him, but I can't take my eyes off of the view. “How did you ever find
this?” I vaguely hear him smile. At least, I
think
that's what it was.

“I came across it on
one of my hikes. I sometimes hike off the path and this is what I found. I come
here once in a while to relax or think. No one ever bothers me here.” I tear my
eyes away from the view to look for a spot to sit and maybe a tree to lean back
against.

Drew sees what I'm
looking for so he ushers me over to a spot and we sit down together. It’s the
perfec
t
spot. He puts his arm around me and pulls me in close. I fight the urge to rest
my head on his chest because I don't want to skew my view. Instead, I place my
hand on his leg and just lean in. “Thank you for bringing me here. It's
perfect,” I whisper.

“The pleasure is all
mine, Rebecca.”

After what seems like
hours, I think my butt has fallen asleep so I shift. Yep, it's numb and tingly.
Ouch.
I grimace and lean over and rub it. Drew looks down at me with a
grin. “Problem?”