Something Wonderful (30 page)

H
OLY SHIT!
H
OW THE
hell was I going to find her when she wouldn’t answer her goddamned phone? There were tons of authors, signing at endless tables. As I searched for her, my thoughts wandered. What had I done to get her pissed off at me like that? Sure, we slept together, but it didn’t seem like it frazzled her at all. We were friends, getting to know each other. Though in the back of my mind, I knew I wanted more, I couldn’t think about it at that point. But now, I was ready. Shit! I hope I didn’t mess this up.

As I looked around, I let out a chuckle when I saw the ladies wearing T-shirts that read, “Books! The other soul food,” and “Book hangovers, a girl's worst nightmare.” I laughed even harder when I saw one that read, “Book boyfriends are better because they are always there when we need them.” That reminded me of Becca and I sighed. She deserved better than me. I continued searching, becoming more and more anxious. Every second gone felt like another second lost, and the chance of making this right dwindled.

After a seemingly endless quest, and having all those ladies stop to stare at me, I finally found an information desk. “Excuse me. I’m looking for Becky Miller.” The young lady looked up with a beaming smile.

“Hi. Can I help you?” Her eyes were flirty. Usually when a beautiful girl would ask me that question, I flirted back, but not today. I finally realized I wasn’t interested in anyone but Becca. Now I knew I was in trouble. Besides, when I wanted something, I wanted it NOW! And to top it off, she was frustrating me. I had already told her that I was looking for Becky Miller. Now she was asking me to repeat the question.

“I’m looking for Becky Miller. She’s an agent. Where can I find her, please?” I tried to be calm and patient, but the longer she looked at her list and the longer I had to wait, the faster I was losing it. I was about to snatch that clipboard out of her hand and look for it myself.

“I’m sorry, but there is no Becky Miller here.”

“What?” Now I was beyond irate and my tone grew angry. Taking deep breaths, I managed to calm down. What the hell does she mean she wasn’t there? “Can you please look again? Perhaps you might have overlooked it.”

The poor gal looked nervous as she scrolled down her list. Shaking her head, she looked at me again. “Sorry. I don’t see her name.”

“Thank you for your time,” I said quickly, dialing Jenna as I walked away.

“Hello, Matthew.”

“Becca’s not here. She’s not at the book convention.” My tenor was urgent.

“Becky told me she was going to stay at her parents’ place. Maybe she decided not to go to the convention. I honestly don’t know, Matthew.”

“Can you text me her parents’ address, please? Thanks. Bye.”

Getting a taxi was not the problem; it was my anxiety. I hadn’t thought this through. As the car headed to the address Jenna sent me, my thoughts were wild. What if her parents were home? What if she doesn’t want me? What the hell was I doing? Contemplating whether to go back home or not, I couldn’t get myself to tell the taxi driver to turn around. Before I knew it, we were here.

“Thanks,” I said, handing him the fare as I stepped out. “Keep the change. Actually,” I turn to him again. “Could you please wait here for a few minutes? I may need a ride to the airport.”

Staring at her parent’s house, I raked my fingers through my hair and headed to the front door. Feeling all sorts of butterflies in my stomach, I rang the doorbell. No answer. I pressed it again with a sigh. Still no answer. I was just about to head back to the taxi, when I heard my name.

“Matthew?”

It was the sweetest sound I had heard in a long time, though all the barking almost drowned it out.

I had seen Becca without makeup before, but for some reason she looked different today. She looked absolutely beautiful. She was all natural. Just the way I liked it. “Surprise.” I beamed a nervous, geeky grin.

“Hold on. Let me put the dogs in their room.”

Becca left but quickly came back.

“What are you doing here?” Becca swung the door wider. Her hair was wet and she had a long white robe on. It reminded me of the time she did her lap dance for me. That was enough to get me heated up. Mostly likely, she had taken a shower but in the middle of the afternoon?

I turned to the driver to let him know I didn’t need his service anymore, and then turned to face Becca, debating about how to approach this. “I had to see you.”

“Come in. Is everything okay?”

Stepping inside, I did a quick glance around and listened for sounds that would indicate if her parents were home. “Everything is fine.” I knew I could fire away with my questions, since there was no sign of them. “Why didn’t you answer any of my phone calls or texts?” My voice wasn’t loud, but it expressed my hurt and anger.

Becca’s eyes flashed to the wooden floors. “I don’t know what you mean.” She tried to sound innocent, but I knew that tone all too well.

Standing in front of her, she gazed at me, her eyes bewildered and there was something in them that saddened me. Had I done this to our friendship? “Did I do something wrong?”

Before I had the chance to ask her another question, her eyes grew fierce and she spoke loudly. “You shouldn’t have come. My parents will be here soon. Besides, I’m leaving in couple of days. We can talk somewhere else. Are you here on a business trip or something? How did you get this address, anyway?” Becca was finally coming to her senses after the initial shock of seeing me.

Two could play at that game. Pressing my body forward, I challenged her back. “I’m not answering any of your questions until you answer mine first.”

“Take a hint,” she growled. In an effort to shove me, Becca placed her hand on my chest, but before she could move, I grabbed it. When she tried to yank it away, I wrapped my hands around her waist, and pulled her to my chest. Feeling her wet hair against my face cooled me down, but the need to have her was driving me crazy. I wanted to strip the robe off her and take her right there in the living room.

I don’t know how long we stood there, but I was enjoying having her in my arms. I was enjoying her so much that my hands had a mind of their own and started idly rubbing her back. Feeling her mold into my body created an overwhelming sensation, and I had forgotten where we were. That was the way it was with Becca. I was utterly lost in her. When I heard a light moan, I broke out of my daze.

“Becca, I need an answer,” I whispered. When she didn’t respond, I was pretty sure she was lost in my embrace. Wondering what she was thinking, I pulled her back enough to see her face. Her expression told me she wanted to say something, but was afraid. “It’s okay. Tell me how you feel.”

“I feel nothing,” she stammered and escaped my hold. Chasing after her, I passed the kitchen, the hallway and out onto a nice balcony. Becca was near the pool. “Matthew, I told you to go away. I don’t want to talk to you now. I’m busy. And my parents are on their way home.” Becca took a few steps away from me.

“I got that part,” I said out loud, but I was staying put. Now, I was getting aggravated. There was no way in hell I was going back home feeling like this. If she didn’t want me, then fine, but I could see it in her eyes that she did. The way she responded when I held her, I knew she wanted me too. “Damn it, Becca. I’m not leaving. In fact, I’m going to start taking off my clothes and let your parents see me naked in their pool.”

That got her attention. “Are you crazy?” she yelled. “I’ll call the cops.”

Brushing the thought off, I took off my shoes, socks and sweater while Becca stared at me. She seemed to be enjoying the view but I’m sure she was thinking I would stop.

“Okay, okay! Stop! I stopped returning your calls because I don’t want to be your friend anymore. We can’t be that close. How will it look when I start dating someone else and you want to hang out?”

Having Becca talk about dating other guys did not sit well with me. My blood pressure shot up and in my head, I just punched some imaginary guy in the face. “Friends can hang out.” I took a step closer to her when she retreated. Shivering, I tried to maintain my composure. I was beginning to wish I hadn’t taken off my sweater.

“I don’t think so. Not since we….” she paused. “Do you sleep with all your friends?”

“What are you talking about?”

“At the restaurant. The day I ran off telling you I had something important to do. Well, I saw you. I saw how you cuddled with that girl. You probably slept with her too. Actually, I’m pretty damn sure you did.”

Now we were getting to the truth. My Becca was jealous and I loved it. “Really? You saw her?”

“Yes, I did,” she said with conviction.

This time instead of retreating, she held her ground as I took a step toward her. Her confidence level was building and she was sure I was going to disappoint her. “You mean the brunette with the long hair, hazel eyes, about twenty-one.” Becca’s eyes grew wide, looking pissed off or hurt, I couldn’t tell. I continued. “And who happens to be my favorite cousin and happened to have been eating in the same restaurant?”

Becca looked totally stunned. “Your cousin?” She took a moment to digest the information I just threw at her. “It doesn’t matter. We need to stop. One of us will get hurt and it will probably be me.”

I didn’t let her talk anymore. Without thinking of rejection, I crushed my lips onto hers and held her tightly. It happened so fast, she had no idea that it was coming.

My body temperature shot up. God! She felt so good. Since Becca didn’t try to push me away, I wrung my hands through her hair. Devouring her lips and tongue with mine, I realized more than ever how much I really missed her. There were no words to describe how much.

“What was that for?” she asked, dizzily fluttering her eyes open when I pulled away. I love how my kisses could do that to her. Not only that, she couldn’t take her eyes off my chest, her eyes flickering back and forth, trying hard not to stare.

Gazing into her eyes with sincerity, my hands fell on her back. “I don’t know where we’re going with this. All I know is that I’ve missed you like crazy, and I wouldn’t be able to handle it if I knew you dated or kissed someone else. I want to be more than your friend, Becca. I’m sorry I have some baggage, but I promise it will get better. In fact, I’m letting the past go so I can have a future, hopefully with you. You’ve brought me back from the dead and given me the life I’d lost. You made me whole again. All I needed was you.”

“I’m not her,” Becca said wearily. “I can’t replace her.”

“I don’t want you to.” I paused, gathering my thoughts. “You know what I did just before I came here? I went to Tessa’s grave and told her that I was moving on.” I nodded when I saw the uncertainty in her eyes. “I told her that I found someone and that it was time to let her go. You are not Tessa, and I wouldn’t want you to be. You’re my beautiful, sexy firecracker. You put every Victoria’s Secret model to shame. You’re the one who makes me smile, who can’t use chopsticks, who delivers wild, hot sex, who makes me want to be a ‘book-boyfriend,’ and who can give one hell of a lap dance. Becca, you are the one, and I’m so glad I’ve found you.”

“I don’t know,” she said softly.

“We need to take this one day at a time. If you give me a chance, I’ll make sure that for the rest of your life, you’ll never regret your decision. I need you, Becca. I’ve been miserable without you. I don’t want to be without you another day. I want to be the one putting your book boyfriends to shame.”

I absolutely stunned Becca. I think I got her when I talked about her book boyfriends. She not only froze in place, but her eyes were dancing widely and her lips slightly parted. She was positively speechless. When she regained her composure, she threw me totally off guard.

“Take off your pants,” she demanded, her eyes gleaming with an obvious plan in mind. Knowing Becca, it was a devious plan for sure.

“What?” I said, chuckling as I started to step out of my jeans. I enjoyed sex anywhere, and in any position, but not usually on the hard ground. I gave into her order anyway.

“I owe you one.” Biting her bottom lip, she gave me a sexy hot smile. “Time for payback.”

At that moment, I knew she meant to throw me in the pool. I didn’t have time to avoid it, but my reflexes were fast, grabbing onto her robe as she pushed me in, she fell on top of me. I had prepared myself for the freezing water, but in fact, it was rather warm.

Becca screamed, her head emerging from the water, and she wiped the hair out of her face. Thank goodness, we were at the shallow end. The thickness of her robe would have been too heavy for her.

“You deserved that,” I laughed aloud, pulling her closer to me.

Becca’s eyes beamed happily, biting her lips playfully. “Did you mean everything you said?”

“No,” I said without thinking things through.

She tried to pull away, looking hurt, but I wouldn’t release her from my hold. My firecracker was struggling to break free, twisting and pulling. “Hold on. That came out wrong. Yes, I meant every single word I said. I said no because there is so much more I want to say, but I can’t seem to find the words, so I’ll have to show you instead.” Capturing her eyes, I dove in for a slow, lingering kiss. Her arms ran over my chest, around my shoulders, then to my back. Hearing her moan softly excited me, and I wanted more.

After I untied the robe, I slithered my hands inside and realized she was completely naked under it.