15. Getting Her Way
15
GETTING HER WAY
T he minute Coy left her apartment, Angel jumped up and down and let out a squeal loud enough to have her neighbor bang on the wall.
Her hand slapped in front of her mouth. Where the hell had that come from?
It came from getting her way!
Holy cow, Coy came to her.
Pissed off too. But she’d managed to get him to see her side of it.
She wasn’t sure how and wasn’t going to question it.
Nope, she ran to her room, was going to find something to wear, then shower.
They were having their first official date tonight.
In her heart, they’d had two already, but hey, whatever made him feel better.
He’d said he’d take care of everything, for her to show up when she was ready.
She said she’d be there in less than an hour so he didn’t change his mind.
She was in her closet pushing shirts aside. There was part of her that wanted to look sexy.
Then she realized she didn’t own anything sexy other than a few dresses and showing up in a little black dress would be awkward for them both.
She found a fitted sweater on the shelf. She didn’t wear it often. It barely hit the top of her jeans and if she lifted her arms, some of her belly showed.
Yep, perfect.
Not to mention it showed her breasts a bit more being snug but not tight.
She grabbed her stretch jeans and decided to make him sweat a bit.
It’s what she’d wear if she was going on a date with anyone else.
But this was Coy!
She didn’t wash her hair, just brushed it and then tipped it upside down to fluff it some. She looked in the mirror and didn’t achieve the tousled sexy look she was going for.
Oh well, good enough since she’d blame it on the wind when she got to his house.
When she got in her car, she took a deep breath, tried to calm herself down, but only ended up screaming in excitement one more time.
Thankfully no one was around to see her acting like an idiot.
She pulled into Coy’s driveway again, got out, and went in the front door without ringing the bell. He hadn’t told her to do it, but since she did last time and he knew she was coming, she didn’t think it was that big of a deal.
“What are you doing?” she asked when she got to his kitchen.
His hands were in dough, stretching it out.
“Making calzones,” he said.
“You’re cooking for me?” she asked. No man had ever cooked for her before. Even with Coy, they’d ordered out.
“I am,” he said. “A problem with that?”
“No,” she said. “It’s just you’ve ordered before.”
“That was before,” he said.
“Meaning they weren’t dates and you weren’t trying to impress me?”
He squinted one eye at her. “I’m not sure I’m trying to impress you. It seems to me that I’ve been living in a closet for a bit when it comes to you, so maybe you think I’m perfect.”
She couldn’t help to laugh over that. “I wouldn’t go that far. I only know what I do about you from Spencer over the years. Maybe he’s made it all up.”
“You’ve been working for me for two months. Since you kissed me last night I’m going to assume what you knew or heard hasn’t been all that different to change your feelings?”
She liked that he wasn’t shying away though she knew he was unsure of things. They’d have to talk about it. Maybe during dinner they could.
“Nope,” she said. “It just made you more normal to me.”
“Normal?” he asked. “I’m offended. I’m not sure I’ve ever been accused of being normal or average.”
This was a side of Coy she’d never seen. “Are you flirting with me?”
“I think, all things considered, I could be myself with you. Or what I’ve found I’ve wanted to do but held back.”
She did a little dance in place on her tiptoes. “Woohoo.”
“What was that?” he asked.
“Me acting immature, but I don’t care. I can’t believe this is happening. Pinch me.”
“My hands are a bit dirty,” he said, still working the dough.
She reached out and pinched him. He yelped, but she knew it wasn’t hard. “Okay, same thing. It’s not a dream.”
“It’s not,” he said. “But I’m not sure of much more other than we are going to have dinner.”
“And talk,” she said. “I know. I get it.”
“You’ve had years to look at this through your lens. I’ve had like an hour.”
“Really, Coy?” she asked.
“Fine, a few months to think of it, but I never thought it’d be more.”
“But you invited me here for two Friday nights. Did you really think nothing more would come of it?”
She wanted to know what was going through his mind.
“I don’t know what I was thinking. That is the hard part. I’ve always known where I was going and how things would turn out.”
Because he’d had the cushion of his family and wealth to land on. Unlike others.
Which brought up something else they had to address too.
“I haven’t known much at all. We look at life differently.”
“You wanted this though for years,” he said. “What do you want in your calzone?”
“You’re making more than one?” she asked as he was stretching out another wad of dough.
“Yep,” he said. “I’m going to fill mine full of sausage, pepperoni and cheese.”
She saw the package of sausage not yet cooked and reached for it. He slapped her hand.
“Ouch, what was that for? I need these hands. My boss might get annoyed if I can’t use them.”
“That wasn’t hard,” he said, laughing. “Lighter than your pinch. And I’m cooking tonight. If you want to cook another night, then you can.”
She smiled. “Deal.” She’d have to practice a few meals to not mess up though.
“You didn’t tell me what you wanted in yours,” he said.
She went to the fridge. “What kind of vegetables do you have?”
“Peppers, mushrooms and spinach,” he said.
“Perfect. Let’s do one meat and one vegetable and we can share.”
“Sharing works for me,” he said. “Sit and have a glass of wine if you want. We need to talk.”
“Here it comes,” she said.
“It has to be done,” he said.
“I know,” she said. “I was hoping we could get through a nice meal first.”
“It’s not going to be that bad,” he said. “At least I don’t think so.”
“I’ll start. No, I don’t want Spencer to know. Nor do I want anyone else to know at work or your family. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Not at all. Not right yet,” he said. “Let’s just see how things go.”
“Works for me.”
“Speaking of work,” he said.
“I just said I don’t want anyone to know there. Though if I growl when Abby flirts with you, I can’t help it.”
He laughed. “I want to growl too so you aren’t alone there, but that isn’t what I was going to say.”
“What then?” she asked.
“Whatever happens with us, and we have no idea, your job is safe.”
She had no plans of things not working out, but she wasn’t naive enough to not realize that shit could happen. She just didn’t want it to.
“Thanks,” she said. But she was positive if things didn’t work out with him she wouldn’t be able to still work with him and see him daily.
No reason to add that to the conversation, as she didn’t want that day to ever come.
“Anything you want to add to this?” he asked.
“First, I like that you are completely relaxed now. Different than the past few days. Why?”
“I was trying not to overstep before. It was this war in my head that I had no right to look at you that way.”
“Because I’m Spencer’s sister?”
“Yes,” he said. “That more than anything else. He’s asked me to watch out for you.”
“And I expect you to watch me,” she said, doing a spin around him, her hands coming around his waist and testing him with a hug.
He turned his head to look at her and she puckered her lips for a kiss.
He leaned down and gave it to her easily.
“You’re different too,” he said.
“I’m giddy. I’m not normally this silly so if you could indulge me for a bit, I’ll stop.”
“Don’t stop being who you are,” he said. “Never.”
“True,” she said. “It’s not like my brother tried to dress me like a guy.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “I wish I didn’t tell you that, but I can tell right away you’re going to fit in with my brothers.”
Which meant at some point his family would know.
Not yet. They had to get through this newness.
Not really new for her, but it’d take some adapting to a new dynamic.
One she’d been waiting to experience.
“That’s good to know,” she said. “You can tell me anything. I’m almost afraid to know what Spencer has said about me for years.”
“Nothing horrible,” he said.
“Just that I’m weak and frail and that he thought he was going to lose me before I had open heart surgery?”
“Yeah,” he said softly. “Remember, you had surgery that first year he and I were roommates. I saw what your brother went through.”
“Tell me,” she said.
“No,” he said. “It’s in the past and you don’t need to know. And I don’t need to think about it because I’m going to feel as if I’m betraying him.”
Which she knew was going to be the biggest obstacle for Coy.
She squeezed him and then moved away from him. “You aren’t betraying anyone. We are entitled to feel what we do and act the way we want. We are two consenting adults.”
“We are,” he said. “Though I still see you as a teen and that is hard to get past.”
“You’re just going to have to. We aren’t that far apart in age. Seven years isn’t much.”
“No,” he said. “I’ve got relatives that have bigger age differences. It works for them.”
“It’s going to work for us too. Unless you think I’m immature.” Which she had been acting today and had to rein that in.
“You’re not,” he said. “It’s refreshing.”
“I like the sound of that better,” she said. “And just so you know, I’ve worked hard to get to where I am in my career. I know I’m just starting out and the last thing I want to do is jeopardize that. I expect you to tell me if I’m doing something wrong.”
“Trust me,” he said. “I will. That is a given. It’s my practice and my patients have to come before any relationship for safety reasons.”
“Then I think we’ve got a good understanding of everything. No more talk about that. Let’s just pretend this is date three rather than one and get comfortable like we’d been.”
“Sounds like you’re the smart one tonight,” he said.
He grabbed a pan, turned the burner on and started to cook the sausage. “Can I at least chop up the vegetables and help? I’m hungry. It will get done faster.”
“Sure,” he said. “Just don’t cut yourself.”
She turned her head sharply. “What did Spencer tell you?”
He laughed. “That he was nervous that you wanted to put drills and tools in your hands because you cut yourself more than anyone else he knew with a knife while cooking.”
She sighed. “I do have to practice more in the kitchen.”
He took the knife out of her hand. “Then let me do it. Your boss gets a little cranky if you’ve got cuts on your hands.”
She handed over the knife. “Only if I get a kiss first.”
“Deal,” he said, leaning down to give her a quick one.
It wasn’t what she wanted, but she’d get to that later.