Where Would I Be Without You (10 page)

"Gosh, Marion.  I know.  It's like my prayers have finally been answered when it comes to a good man.  I would have settled for half his looks and all of his sexy good nature."

"So have you already, you know?"  I knew exactly what she was insinuating.

"No
t yet.  He's Catholic too, not that we practice, but we agreed on seven dates."  I beamed with pride because if I liked a guy, I barely made it past date one without giving out the goodies.  Probably why, I had not gotten to the prize - a true relationship.

"Wow.  You are
practically Virgin Mary."  She taunted.

"I know."  I jokingly laughed back.  "So Wally Woo called me in.  He has plans to get into management with International Sales and knows he
can't transfer until he has someone in his spot.  I'm the candidate.  Lucky me.  I am so stoked.  This just took a major off my 'I'm gonna grow up now that I am thirty' plan."

"Well, I think I can help you with the charitable
volunteering part.  We are having twins."

My scream could have shattered the windows.  "
What?  Yes!  Boys or girls, or one of each.  Because if it is one of each that would be so very cool, not to mention the whole twin connection thing and your plan of wanting two kids over in one shot..."  I would have rambled on, but she put a hand gently over my mouth.  Then when she pulled it away, we both giggled, as she knew that was one way to stop me from babbling when I was excited.

"Don't know the sex yet, just that I was so tired
that Carl insisted we go back to the doctor, and they did an early ultra sound and heard two heartbeats.  So cool huh?"

"Yes.  So very cool.  How's Carl doing with all of this?"

"Wonderful.  By the way, I'm not going to be making pilates for a while.  In fact, I found a pregnant yoga class; I'd ask you to join me, but that would be kind of weird."

"
Quite alright.  Count me in as baby helper, sitter, whatever.  This is exciting.  What does Carl's mom say about all this?"  I looked over at her as she pulled into the guest parking spot at work.

"Let's not go there.  Hey.  Have a great day at work.  Carl said he sends his love and would have liked to come by your work party
tonight, but he's in a meeting until seven, and then he wants to take me out to celebrate the twins.  Is that alright with you?"

I reached over and hugged her as my good bye.  "Quite.  I'm hoping Mason will drag me out early.  He considered
today's lunch number three, which makes tonight number four, Thursday is five, Friday is six, and that leaves only one good thing to do on Saturday."  I started to laugh.

"Slow down there speedy."  She teased.  Just remember, just the fact the two of you agree that an established relationship is best
seems terrific.  I don't want you to go too fast.  There is definitely something there between the two of you.  I can see it.  The way he touches you possessively, the way he looks over at you lovingly, and responds to your mom at just the right time.  He's good."

"I know."  I let out that breathy sigh I always feel in me when I think of him.  "Marion.  Can you say a prayer for me on this
one?  It feels like he's the one."

"I will.  Now get back to work before Wally Woo is
mad you took an extra half hour."

The rest of the day blazed by.  I had a lot of
inquisitive coworkers to my cubicle, not so much over the flowers but the man who visited my office.  The two 'troublesome drama duo', I like to internally call them, tried to ask a few too many questions about Mason and how they thought his name use to be Steve, less than a few days ago.  I held my ground and insisted they had the name wrong.  However, a small part of me realized that even though I was happy about Mason, it was not but less than a few days ago, I thought Steve might be the one.  Was all this because my biological time clock was sounding off that I was looking for the Mr. Right? I was so taken with sexy words and does all the right things Steve, that I forgot to do a little online investigative work of my own.  Had I done so, I would have quickly discovered that Mr. Smooth Talker, let me buy your batteries and replace them, was a jerk all along.

I had every intention of taking a few moments to search Mason Montahue online, but my workday got away from me.  By the time I was heading to the ladies bathroom to plug in my curling iron, freshen up my
makeup, and make myself look sexy thirty, not I work at a production plant attire, I was already running late.  I texted both Marion and Mason that I was about fifteen minutes out.  The few coworkers that said they were going were already there.  I saw Wally heading out just as I was heading towards the ladies room and told him to save a table for four for us.  I got the sure thing sign, or at least some kind of hand gesture as he walked out with his white ball cap sideways.

Just as I arrived at the bar, I saw Marion
already in her car parked and waiting for me, as Mason pulled up.  He parked his BMW next to her Audi, parked next to my two door used parking lot special red thing.  I felt out of my league by dating Mason and having a best friend who was rich, yet I had to remember that Marion was middle to poor class like me not that long ago and something told me that Mason was not raised with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Marion and I waved at Mason as he parked.  Then as he stepped out in
faded well-worn jeans, a tight black tee shirt that showed his bulging muscles, and some really expensive looking black cowboy boots, I swooned, as so did Marion.  Our collective, ah's, filled the air between us as he walked over and spoke in a country manner.  "Evening ladies."

Marion nudged me and I finally spoke up.  "Uh.  What's with the cowboy gig?"

"What?"  He kicked his feet out and showed me one of his cowboy boots like I showed him my red kitten heels at the bar the other night.  "You don't like?"

"Oh I like alright.
  I just didn't peg you for a cowboy."  I teased as he grabbed my hand to walk inside.

"Well, then maybe later, you and I should do a little getting to know each other better.  Honey, I do country.  This is
Colorado; you can be a cowboy one minute, and city boy the next.  I'm a little bit of everything.  Just you wait and see."  Then he dropped a soft quick kiss on my lips, and when he pulled back, he put his lips to my ears and whispered against them.  "I can't wait to get to know you better later."

Ok.  Here is where my whohaw just gave the rebel middle finger to my parental you are thirty and grown up inner child voice.  One look, one kiss, one whisper and I was in a tailspin of fantasy and could easily have skipped out on my own work birthday celebration if Marion wasn't standing there looking in awe at the two of us.  Then she said something that struck a romance chord with me.  "You two remind me of Carl and myself when we first met.  Mason, I can't wait for you to meet Carl."

Then Mason said something that shocked both Marion and myself.  "We've already met.  His company has done business with Montahue properties.  Just ask him.  He'll tell you.  So yes, I look forward to the four of us going out for a dinner or drinks."

Right after that comment, we stepped inside the loud ruckus of a dimly lit bar to several coworkers shouting.  "Happy Birthday Amber!"  I
moved about the bar talking with coworkers with Mason by my side, while Wally Woo and Marion caught up.  She used to work with him on the actual production line when they were in their early twenties.

Two hours later, as Marion made her escape to go celebrate with
Carl; I whispered into Mason's ear.  "Anytime you are ready to leave.  I'd rather be alone with you."

I
did not have to say another word.  I was quickly whisked out of there with very brief goodbyes as coworkers still noshed on the questionable buffet bar and kicked back two for one beers.  As soon as we got out into the parking lot, Mason walked me over to my car, leaned his body into mine, pulled my head up to his with his hands and dropped a tongue twisting kiss that left me with only one sound to escape me.  A very loud and discernible 'ah', which caused a bit of laughter out of Mason.

"What?"  I teased.

"You.  That 'ah' sound after we kiss.  It's so adorable.  You're so adorable.  How did I get so lucky with you?"  His statement was so romantic that I had to remember I was being swooned by a man who might be wearing a mask.  He might not be all that I am making him up to be.  He could have a dark hidden past that I had not revealed yet.

"Mason?"  I knew what I was about to ask.  It was actually very
mature of me even though my whohaw was tugging at my jeans insistently begging me, screaming at me 'no, don't bother with that, just kiss him again', while I said what I said next.  "Can we talk?"

He took a second as he eyes stared at me seriously.  Almost afraid of what I wanted to talk about.  Then he piped up.  "Sure.  What about?"

"Us.  You.  I need you to tell me things about you, so I don't listen to this internal voice that you are too good to be true."  My voice was pleading with him, as he confidently answered me.

"Well then.  It is I, who thinks that you are too good to be true, but sure.  Let's head to my place, I'll cook us up a decent
dinner, and you can ask me anything you want."  He followed that up with a kiss that left me struggling with my inner fun girl as I drove my car all the way back to his apartment.  It wasn't until I was parked, and he was walking me up to his building, hand in hand, that I realized that I had to go with my gut on this one.  He is a good guy.

Chapter Eight

Well
, he is not a good guy; he's a great one.  As I sat at his kitchen counter on a barstool, I watched him chop up a salad for us, while he had two chicken breast cooking on the stove in some sauce that smelled to die for.

"You know."  I started to tease.  "Doing dishes for a woman i
s one thing, but cooking for her takes it up a whole other level."

"Do you need me to do this with my shirt off too?"  He teased as he looked over at me with just the right amount of seduction to his face that I almost answered yes.

"That might make us jump to date number seven, tonight."  I took a sip of white wine that he poured for me, because there was some truth to what I just said.  Just watching him cook, with the way his ass looked in his jeans and his cowboy boots gave him a rugged sexy appeal, triple ah!

He put down his knife that he was using to cut tomatoes, walked over to me and gently brushed my hair behind my ear.  He let his lips drop to mine for a soft kiss and when he pulled back, he shocked me with what he said next.  "As bad as I want to make this date
seven, and the fact that I wish we never set a number, we just let nature take its course; I know that we both want something more here.  Besides, you haven't started asking me questions.  I thought I might be barraged with at least a few by now.  Instead, you have sat in my kitchen, looking at me like I need to undress you and make you feel every bit the woman you are."

Oh swoon.  I let out that ah
sound, and he laughed and walked back over to cutting tomatoes.  I took a big swig of wine, not very lady like, but I needed some courage.  Once I swallowed, Mason got his questions shot out at him like a tennis ball practice machine in overdrive.

"So what made you want to stay with the family business?  What were your last serious girlfriends like?  What was this about
Internet search on me, and can we do one on you tonight?  What is your family like?  Your mother?  Your sisters?  You've mentioned your dad is kind of hard on you, how so?  How is it you and Carl already know each other?"  I would have gone on, but the look on his face was priceless.

"Say again.  What was your first question?"  He laughed.

"Ok.  Tell me about your family."  I put my hands folded together under my chin and leaned my elbows on his island countertop as I stared at him with intent.

By the time we finished eating
, I knew more about him than most men I have ever dated.  He is the oldest of four kids, and his Catholic family wanted him married off to a nice Catholic girl years ago.  His father preferred he married someone like his sisters, educated and employed in prestige positions; his mother just wanted him happy and in love.  His sisters just wanted another sister and some more babies to go around.  His dad was hard on him and rarely showed appreciation.  We laughed about my mom being the same with me, and that it must be a first-born child thing.  I found out that his last two girlfriends were a bit on the stalker side; one actually called him every hour on the hour.  Now, he will not take a girl to meet his family until he does a background check.  He never got around to how he knows Carl, because by the time we talked about him doing a background check on me, he had his laptop in front of me and his name in a search engine program that one must purchase.  He told me to hit the return button as he had already typed in his vital information.

I spent the next twenty minutes reading some interesting things on Mason Montahue.  He is quite the delectable young man.  Had a few strange posts on line but what person doesn't.  Had a
YouTube video of him singing that he had begged a friend not to post, which was why he refused to do a song with me at the bar earlier this evening.  I will not be asking that of him again.  By the time I looked over at him doing the dishes in his kitchen, while whistling, I realized I was more in love with the man I just read about and waiting a few more days was not necessary.