Give Us a Chance (4 page)

Callie smiles up at Nash. "Having a girl turn a guy down just makes you guys want us all the more."

"You're right." He kisses her. "You turned me down so many times I should've just given up and yet I kept coming back for more."

"You're exaggerating. I didn't turn you down that many times."

"You sure as hell did. Practically every time I invited you over. I thought you weren't interested, but then you'd give me a flirty smile or show up at my house in shorts that barely covered your ass and I didn't know what to think. You had my head spinning."

She laughs. "I love how us girls can get to you guys like that. Get you all confused, wondering what we're thinking."

I wonder if that's what Ivy is doing. Does she like me, but she's playing hard to get? If so, I can play that game. I can be damn persistent when I want to be.

"So you got the supply lists from Dad?" Nash asks.

"Yeah." I push the footrest down on the recliner and pull the order sheets from my pocket and hand them to him. "I should go. I'm sure you two want to be alone."

"You could stay for dinner," Callie says. "I'm making enchiladas."

Callie is a freaking awesome cook. If those two get married, Nash will be eating well for the rest of his life. And the best part is, Callie actually likes to cook. She's always inviting my dad and brothers and me over to eat.

"I think your boyfriend would rather have just the two of you for dinner."

"Don't be an idiot." Nash gets up. "You know you're always welcome. You want a beer?"

"Sure, I'll take one."

"So you're staying?" Callie acts excited about it. She loves to feed people.

"I guess I am."

She jumps up. "I'll go put the enchiladas in the oven. I made them earlier today."

I was going to go home and call up Tracy, that girl who texted me earlier, and have her come over to my place. But that would just be another one-night stand and I'm trying to cut back on those. Hanging out with my brother and his girlfriend is probably a better option. And then there's the fact that my mind has been stuck on Ivy ever since we talked today. If I had sex with someone else tonight, it'd be Ivy's face I'd be seeing.

The next day, I stop by the library, bringing lunch like I always do. If I don't, Nash will kick me out. He doesn't want his crew thinking I'm coming over here to check on him or the project. It looks bad. He's the one in charge, and he doesn't want anyone thinking otherwise. So I bring him lunch, and we stay in the office to eat it.

"What are you doing here?" he asks when I walk in his office. "It's Tuesday."

I usually come here on Mondays and Thursdays, just enough for me to get my Ivy fix, but not so much that she thinks I'm a stalker. Shit, I hope she doesn't think that. I'm sure she doesn't. I never even talk to her, except for yesterday.

"I was in the area so I thought I'd stop by." I drop the sack of tacos on his desk.

"She's not here." He takes a couple tacos from the sack.

"Who? Callie?"

"Are you still pretending? Seriously?" He gets up and goes over to the mini fridge. "We both know you're here to see Ivy. She left a few minutes ago. I don't know when she'll be back."

"Oh." I take a seat on the metal folding chair, surprised at how disappointed I feel that she's not here. I really wanted to see her. It's frightening how much this girl gets to me, in every possible way. "So where's Callie?"

"She has class at noon on Tuesdays." He holds up a can of pop. "You want one, or you want water?"

"I'll take a water."

He keeps the can of pop for himself and grabs a bottle of water from the mini fridge and brings it over to me.

"Is that why you got so many tacos?" he asks, sitting across from me. "You thought Callie would be here?"

"Yeah. Guess I got too many."

"Maybe not." He smiles and waves at someone behind me. I turn and see Ivy on the other side of the glass office window. She glances at me, then back at Nash. I turn back and see him motioning her to come in the office.

"Did you need something?" she asks, standing at the door, holding an energy drink.

Nash points to the sack of food. "Just wondering if you want a taco. Jake thought Callie would be here but she has class today so now we have too many tacos."

"Um...sure, I'll take one." She walks over to the table, not even looking at me, but just having her near me is making my damn heart beat faster. This isn't normal. I'm not even dating this girl. She shouldn't have this much of an effect me on me.

She leans over the table to get the sack of food and my eyes go directly to her breasts. They're right in front of me. I just want to reach out and touch them, cup them in my hands. They're definitely more than a handful.

She takes a taco from the sack.

"You can have more than one," Nash says. "We've got over a dozen in there."

She takes another one, then smiles at Nash. "Thanks."

He nods in my direction. "Thank Jake. He's the one who bought them."

I look up from her breasts just as she rises back to standing. "Thanks, Jake," she says on her way out the door.

"You're welcome," I say but she's already gone.

Nash gets up and closes the door, then comes back to the table, laughing. "Shit, you're going to have to work your ass off for that one. I thought Callie was tough, but this girl's gonna make you work a hell of a lot harder. You sure you're up for this?"

"Jake Wheeler doesn't back down from a challenge." I dump the sack out, piling up tacos in the middle of the table.

"Why do you want this girl so much? Just because she's hot, or is it more than that?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I've asked myself that a million times and I haven't been able to figure it out. Maybe it's like Callie said, when a girl ignores you, you want her all the more." I rip open a packet of hot sauce and drizzle it over my taco. "Speaking of Callie, when are you proposing to her?"

He coughs a few times then slurps down some pop. "Where the hell did that come from?"

I chuckle at his reaction. "What? You're not going to marry her?"

"Hell yeah, I'm gonna marry her, but not next week."

"I didn't say you had to get married anytime soon, but I thought you'd at least want to put a ring on her finger."

"She's not ready for that. You know Callie. She has a timeline for everything. She'll want to finish school before we get married."

"Are you sure about that? If you ask me, she seems pretty ready to commit. You guys already live like married people. I'd put money on her saying yes to a proposal. I don't know what you're waiting for."

"We haven't even dated for a year."

"But you love her, right?"

"More than anything." He scrunches up his empty wrapper and tosses it on the table.

"Then ask her. I know you have money for a ring."

Nash inherited money from his grandfather. Nash is my half-brother and this grandfather of his was from his mother's side. His mom died, making Nash the sole heir, so he got all his grandfather's money and possessions, including his house, which is a couple hours south of here.

"It's not about the money." Nash shifts in his seat and rips the tab off his pop can.

"Then what's it about? You don't want to get married? You were going to marry that bitch, Marissa, so why wouldn't you marry Callie?"

"I WILL marry her. I'm just not ready to propose yet."

"Why not?"

"Talk about minding your own business." He unwraps another taco. "You should take your own damn advice."

He's getting really defensive about this. I know he loves her and wants to marry her, so why is he reacting this way?

"Nash." I wait until he looks at me. "What's going on with you?"

He sighs, his head tipping back toward the ceiling. "I'm just being an idiot."

"What do you mean?"

He looks back at me. "Don't go blabbing this shit to Bryce or Austin. Or Dad. This is just between you and me."

"Okay. Go ahead."

He leans back in his chair. "I'm worried about asking her."

"You think she'll turn you down? Because I guarantee that's not gonna happen. She loves you, and I know she wants to marry you."

"Yeah. So did Marissa." He shakes his head.

"Are you seriously comparing Callie to Marissa? They're not even close to being the same. Callie is awesome. Marissa's a selfish, conniving bitch."

"Like I don't know that? That's not what I meant. And I know Callie would say yes. We've already talked about it."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't want things to change. Callie and I are perfect right now. Things couldn't be better. But once we're engaged, things might change and...I don't want them to."

I shove my food aside and plant my arms on the table. "Okay, you're delusional if you think Callie's going to do what Marissa did. Callie is not going to cheat on you. There's no freaking way in hell that would ever happen."

He nods. "I know she wouldn't, but that doesn't mean things won't change between us. I keep telling myself they won't, but I'm not willing to risk it. Not yet."

"You're fucking nuts. Callie is the best thing that ever happened to you. I've never seen you this happy. Getting engaged isn't going to change that. If anything, it'll make you even happier. I mean, isn't that what you want? To marry her? Make some babies? Live happily ever after and all that shit?"

He smiles, gazing behind me as if he's imagining that. "Yeah. That's exactly what I want."

"Then get your ass to a jewelry store and buy her a ring. Just promise me you won't do one of those stupid proposals where you break into dance or serenade her and record it and put it online."

He laughs. "I guarantee that'll never happen."

"So you're going to ask her?"

"I was always going to ask her. I just haven't decided when. But I might take your suggestion and go buy the ring."

"Well, at least that's progress." I bring my food back in front of me. "We need to stop spending so much time talking about girls." I grab another packet of hot sauce. "So are you watching the game tonight?"

The conversation switches to basketball and we talk sports for the rest of lunch. Before I leave, I stop by the children's section to say goodbye to Ivy.

"How were the tacos?" I ask. She's standing over her toolbox, putting something away.

"Good. Maybe tomorrow you could bring pizza."

I laugh. "So now I'm buying you lunch?"

"I was just kidding." She turns to face me and my eyes go right to her lips. Soft, full, beautiful lips that I want to cover with my mouth and kiss until we're forced to come up for air. "You don't have to bring me lunch."

"Why don't we go out for lunch sometime? Get you out of here for an hour."

"I only get a half hour for lunch."

"I know your boss. I could persuade him to give you an hour."

"The other guys on the crew would notice if I was gone that long. I don't want them thinking I'm getting special favors. You know how it is."

She's right. The guys on the crew are always keeping score and they get pissed if someone's getting what they consider to be special treatment. And it's even worse for a girl, because the guys already assume she's getting treated better than them. It's stupid, but that's just how it is. I've worked in construction long enough to know this. In fact, if they knew Nash gave Ivy those tacos, at least one of the guys would complain about it, guaranteed.

"So how about dinner?" I ask. "Tonight at seven?" I prepare for her to laugh at my boldness and tell me to get lost.

"Sure. But I get to pick the place, and I'm meeting you there."

My jaw almost drops in shock, but I manage to keep it in place, not wanting her to see how surprised I am that she agreed to dinner.

"Where are we going?"

"Hoedowns," she says.

Now my jaw drops, but I quickly shut it and ask, "The place with the half-dressed waitresses?"

"That's the one," she says with a straight face. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. As long as you're good with it. Some women are offended by the uniforms, but if you're okay with it..."

"I suggested it."

"Right. So Hoedowns it is. Have you been there before?"

"I go there all the time."

"Because you like their food?" I ask, because there's no other reason she'd go there. People go there to see the waitresses, which is why the place is always filled with guys. Wait—is that why she wants to go there? To check out all the other guys and prove to me once and for all that she's not interested in me?

"So see you at seven?" she asks, not answering my question.

"Yeah. Sounds good."

She gets back to work and I leave and go out to my SUV. I have a sales call at one thirty and I'll be late if I don't hurry up. As I'm driving to my meeting, I laugh to myself. Hoedowns. What the hell is she up to? She wouldn't have suggested that place unless she was up to something. So what is it?

I get a feeling this girl's gonna be full of surprises. And I gotta say, I love a good surprise.

CHAPTER FOUR

Ivy

Jake arrives at Hoedowns just before seven. I thought for sure he'd be late. Guys like him don't seem like they'd be punctual. They don't need to be. Girls put up with a lot of shit for the privilege of dating a guy like Jake. But not me. If he wants to date me, he needs to earn it. I'm done putting up with shit from guys.

I'm standing by the hostess stand, watching as Jake looks around the crowded waiting area. He didn't see me, but before I go up to him, I take a moment to check him out. He is one fine specimen of a man. Around 6'4, with a wide athletic build, and dark brown hair that he keeps short on the sides, longer on top. He's wearing his leather jacket with a black button-up shirt underneath. I sneak around someone so I can see the rest of him. He has on dark jeans and black leather shoes that look expensive. Jake's a good dresser, better than most guys, and better than me. I'm terrible at picking out clothes. I live in jeans and t-shirts. Liza is the fashion expert in the family. She's always telling me to dress better. Tonight I went with jeans and a black knit v-neck sweater. It's not great, but the sweater looks nicer than a t-shirt.