A Captivating Conundrum (19 page)

Odd that an evening as erotic as last night would lack something, simply because I couldn't express the love I felt for her. She was so tough on that dance floor. Beth was no virginal young thing who was blushing when our bodies moved against each other. In fact, her dark brown eyes had been filled with the same need that I felt in my soul. She didn't shy away from me, but put power into her voice and her spectacular body, matching me step for step…until the night had come to an end.

As if a light switch had been thrown, Beth had turned back to the smile of friendship. Laughing, she'd taken Chris's arm as he led her out to the car—already talking about when they could experience their next shopping trip. I was almost jealous. Which I know is ridiculous, seeing as that Chris was most definitely not interested in Beth in that way. But I wanted to be
that
guy; the one she gave her whole body to on the dance floor and then left by
my
side, thrilled with the hours we'd spent together and looking forward to the ones still to come.

Knock it off!
I yelled at myself. But the image of Beth's body, wearing what I hoped was in that pink and black bag, entered my mind. 

I ran harder, faster, getting the five miles done and more as I raced back up the gravel driveway, panting from sheer exhaustion.

As I opened the door, I heard Chris laugh from the small kitchen and went to join him, noticing through the window that Beth's car was gone.

"Hey, man." I nodded.

Chris offered me a straight-line smile, as he sat back and looked almost offended by the sweat that was pouring off me. "You exercise freaks. I don't get it. Why on earth go through all that torment?"

I wiped the back of my neck with the towel. "To stay in shape."

He waved his hand in front of his nose as if tossing my silly answer aside. "You
are
in shape. What you're going to do is give yourself a heart attack. And really, the whole sweaty muscle man look is very unappealing."

I shook my head. "Well, thankfully you're not the one I'm trying to appeal to." I smacked him on the shoulder and sat down.

"Very funny." Chris pursed his lips.

"Bobby doesn't work out?" I smiled.

I caught the sparkle in the eyes before he turned away. "How would I know? I don't delve into the man's personal business."

I laughed. "What are you waiting for?"

The hand came whipping across the table and hit my arm.

Reaching for the towel, Chris immediately dried my offensive sweat from his fingertips. "We've only known these people for a couple of days. I certainly am not about to act like I'm his husband after one date!"

"Yeah," I mumbled. "The time thing."

"Excuse me?"

"I hate that rule," I replied.

"You mean, not jumping in bed with someone and declaring yourself a slut to the whole world in twenty-four hours?"

"No." I threw the sweat-soaked towel in his face. "Not sex. I'm not talking about that. I mean, isn't there just sometimes when you can see the person and just…I don't know, know?"

Chris sat back in his chair; a small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Know what?"

I sighed. "Forget it."

"Oh…" His perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowed on his forehead. "You weren't kidding at
all
,
were you?" Chris dropped the slightly teasing tone, and returned his voice to normal. "You are in love with her."

Standing up, I went to the coffee pot. "Of course not. I mean, I don't know anything about Beth. I do love her writing. Maybe that's why I'm so attracted."

"Uh, huh." 

I looked out the back window into the garden.

Chris's voice grew loud. "Well, I've only spent a few hours with her and I can already tell she's perfect for you. AND she can bake chocolate chip cookies from scratch, by the way. She's promised to make me some." He clapped his hands. "I can't wait! If I'm nice, Bobby says she'll even create her homemade cupcakes which Beth only makes for very special friends. YAY!"

I turned to face him. "Whoa, back up. How are we perfect for each other?"

Chris looked frustrated, as if the cookie conversation was really what we should be concentrating on. "You two have a great deal in common. There are the surface things, of course, like song, dance, movies and sports." He rolled his eyes at the last one.

I smiled, knowing that if Sunday was dedicated to sports in this household, Chris would be bored out of his mind.

But his face grew serious; all the joking winks and teasing smiles were gone. "But you have much more in common below the surface. Like you, Beth loves her friends, she helps everyone she can, she wants to be a good person and live a good life. She's extremely loyal and, from the things Bobby has told me, Beth takes love and honor very seriously."

He continued, "Right now she's over at that Christie's house because she wanted to check to make sure things were okay for her this morning. I think…," Chris took a deep breath. "I think Beth would stand in front of a bullet for someone she loved without thinking twice. And I already know you'd do that."

I nodded at him in thanks.

Crooking his finger at me, I sat back down.

"Look, I know I shouldn't tell you this but I have known you longer than I've known her," he began.

My heart started to race.
See that?
I was acting like that teenager who would die to get any information he could about this one girl who completely had him mesmerized.

"Beth said something about you when she and I were at lunch."

I leaned forward, mimicking my friend. "And that was?" I was ready to throw myself over the table at him if he didn't speak faster.

Chris moved back. "Calm down, tiger. We were talking about what I wanted out of love—about how I want a hero even though most people say because of…what I am, I don't deserve one."

I sat back in the chair, knowing this was one of the very rare times when I saw Chris open up.

He continued, "Beth spoke to me about Bobby and what he was like, and when I turned the tables back on her and told her about how wonderful you are, she just laughed."

My heart dropped.

"She said you were way more than a knight in shining armor."

The heart restarted.

"Beth said you were the first person she'd ever met who didn't need armor, because your soul already shines so bright that she could see it from a mile away."

I stared into a pair of very honest blue eyes. 

Chris nodded. "I thought that was an amazing thing to say for someone who barely knew you. I mean, I know she's a writer and has the right words, but the statement came out of nowhere. She didn't pause before she said it, you know? It was just true, real, and honest and I think it came out before she could stop it."

The ghost of Gene Kelly, I swear, appeared inside my soul at that moment and wanted nothing more than to head around the kitchen and dance for joy.

"Matt?"

I looked back at him. "What?"

Chris's voice dropped down to a whisper. "This woman is very…special. You and Beth balance each other out. Whereas you're in an industry that's beyond ridiculous, Beth is down to earth and works in a field that is truly a lone journey. You may be more worldly when it comes to matters of the flesh." Blushing a bit, Chris continued, "But Beth, I think, is way more worldly when it comes to life."

I stared into my coffee cup. "Do you think she's had her heart broken a lot?"

He shook his head. "Not the love thing. I just think she's stronger than you because she's had to be. I feel like this is one courageous lady, but I'm not quite sure what brought about all this courage. In other words, I think you could both learn a lot of lessons from each other." 

I nodded.

"Oh, and since it's not the broken heart she's had difficulties with—don't be the first to introduce it to her."

"
What
?"

He sighed. "I would hate to see someone whose soul shines so bright, become the man who broke the one thing Beth's kept safe from harm."

Chris's words hit my brain. "I don't want to break her heart…I want it."

Smiling, my friend sat back in his chair, sending a repulsed glance at the soiled towel. "I know."

"But," I leaned forward. "I don't even know her,
right
? There's been no
time
invested."

The laugh was loud. "I don't know Bobby either, but I can tell you right now I think he's the one who was made for me."

I was shocked at the confession. "You do?"

"Yup. I don't agree with the time thing, either. He's said it, too—how you can't actually be sure about someone until you know everything about them." Chris rolled his eyes at the inane statement. "But I'm not a planner. In this case, I have to side with you."

I laughed.

"When you know, you know…you know? And I think that can pretty much happen in a second-and-a-half. Which, to me, is the good part. I mean, if you already know you can get right to work on that life you want without having to wait, then you have a ton of years—hopefully," he said, crossing his fingers, "to be by the side of the person you love. And all those years can be spent getting to know them. From the look I see in your eyes when you even think about Beth, I have a feeling she could reveal that she's a crocodile hunter and you'd still be just as madly in love with her as you are now."

"True," I chuckled. "There's nothing she could say that would change how I feel."

We both looked out the window as the car raced up the drive sending pebbles in all directions. Beth jumped out, looking like she was about to declare war on the next person that crossed her path.

"Uh, oh," Chris muttered, just as Bobby came down the stairs.

The door slammed behind her as Beth marched into the kitchen, made straight for the coffee pot, and stared at what must've looked like a real motley crew.

Drinking the scalding liquid down without even wincing, she said, "Men suck!"

That was really
not
the statement I wanted to hear.

Fifteen

~ Hers ~

I stared at the table surrounded by what was quickly becoming the one and only group of men I could stand, and sighed. However, it would help if Matt would learn to put on his shirt, because the view was simply hitting below the belt. His abs were already cut into my memory, and I really didn't need to be reminded all the time of what his body looked like. I mean, shit! I'm a writer for crissake, I already have an imagination that would make
him
blush if he knew how many positions I'd already pictured him in.

Bobby was the first one to carefully step toward me. Not surprising, seeing as that he already knew exactly how to judge my moods. I saw him glance at the calendar and tried not to laugh. I knew he was checking to see if this was the one week out of the month to keep absolutely quiet and escape the house, but that was still over two weeks away.

Taking a deep breath, he put a smile on his face and turned back to me. "What did our race do wrong now?"

"I went to Christie's."