Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Idon’t want to teach her.
I want to win her.
I want to be with her.
I don’t know when this change came over me.
I can think of a million little things that swayed me to take notice of Virginia Ryan: utterly endearing smile, that little inch long scar on the side of her right kneecap, the way she smells of vanilla, or even the way her lips fall open when she falls apart from touching her in that most heavenly of places.
But I know the truth. Deep down I know.
The minute my Paloma walked into the bar, she walked right into my heart and claimed it as her own.
It’s been two days since I left her apartment and I don’t think I’ve gone five minutes without thinking about her.
I’ve been working long shifts, on purpose.
Working beats sitting around beating off on my own.
Well, I’ve done that too. I mean, I have fresh memories to get off to.
I can almost taste V on my tongue if I close my eyes and remember her legs spread before me, her head pressed to the window for all to see us. Fuck, I’m hard again.
I tuck the bar rag into the front of my pants and tell Leo, the newest person, who’s a bartender and model, to join the team, “I’ve got to make a call . . . in the back.”
“Is that what the kids are calling it? A phone call?”
“Hey, you haven’t been here long enough to give me a hard time.”
“Doesn’t seem like I’m the one giving you a hard time, and if I am, then we need to have a talk.”
“Fuck you,” I say, flipping him off while shaking my head. I turn to leave. Fucker is funny. And ballsy. The ladies are going to love him.
I’m gone just over an hour. I went home to have lunch and deal with this situation in my pants.
It took two spurt sessions to get out the pent up desire I have for that woman.
Feeling relieved and less irritated, I leave my apartment and grab a ham and Swiss on the way back to the bar. I’m fucking starving.
When I round the corner to the street of The Hideaway, I stop and duck into a coffee shop’s doorway. Peeking around and staring, I’m not even sure why I’m hiding.
“Hardy?”
My face is plastered to the window when I jump from the sound of my name behind me. “Fuck.”
Laughter tinkles behind me. A hand takes my arm. “Sorry,” she says, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Hey Luisa.” I shrug and tug at the bottom of my coat to straighten it. “No, no, you didn’t.”
“You sure about that? By looking at the face print you left smeared on my window, I think you might be kidding yourself there, buddy.”
“I never kid myself.” Virginia comes to mind immediately. “Okay, maybe sometimes.”
“Anyway, who are we hiding from?”
“Not hiding. I don’t even know why I ducked under. It’s my parents.”
“Ohhhh,” she replies, looking around the corner. “Do you not get along with them?”
“No, I actually get along with them great.” I catch a glimpse down the sidewalk. They’ve gone inside. “I think I’m just not in the mood to be interrogated about my life, and when I say life, I mean love life.”
Laughing, she wipes down one of the bistro tables. “I see. So how is the love life? Has anyone managed to catch the eye of the unhookable Hardy Richard?”
“Ha! Good one.”
“Even funnier because it’s true.”
“Maybe.”
She squeals and jumps up. “Maybe funnier because it’s true or maybe because someone caught your eye?”
“Aren’t they sort of the same thing?”
“Maybe.” She laughs again. “So tell me.”
Walking back onto the sidewalk, I smile and raise an eyebrow. “Let’s just say . . . maybe.” I leave her with that, now laughing myself.
“You’re incorrigible, Hardy.”
“So I’m told.”
I reach the bar and pull the door wide open. Time to face the music. My eyes haven’t even adjusted between the glaring white of the snow outside and the dim lighting inside when I hear that familiar clasping of hands, and then, “Hardy, darling.”
“Hi Mom. Hi Dad.”
Leo stands up from behind the bar with a bottle of champagne in hand. “Your parents are here.”
“Yeah, thanks for the heads up.”
“My pleasure. Or maybe it’s been yours for the last two hours.”
Glaring, I remind, “My parents are here.”
“I know,” he replies, chuckling. Leo’s busy pouring three glasses while I hug my mom and then my dad because he’s become a huggy bastard since he retired.
“What brings you by?” I hand them each a glass.
My mom tilts hers to tap against mine. “Cheers.”
After we drink, my dad leads us to a table. “We were in the neighborhood.”
We settle in, and I ask, “Brooklyn? That’s quite a ways from the neighborhood of another state.”
“Connecticut’s not that far,” my mom says. “Anyway, we wanted to get some shopping done in the city.” She looks around. “The place is looking good. You’re keeping it very clean.”
“We have a service. They’re paid well.”
“Good. No one wants to hang out in a sticky, stanky bar. A nice kempt establishment brings in nice kempt customers.”
“Yes, we like catering to our upscale clientele.”
My dad says, “So business is good?”
“Solid. I might need to hire a few more bartenders in the new year. I’m also considering bringing on some wait staff.
” I take a sip and set the glass down and spin it by the stem between my fingers.
“Remember Eddie? I just gave him a promotion to help manage the place. I’m going to start focusing more on the overall operations. ”
My mom smiles. “You hoped when you left New York finance you would not work as much, but here you are working more I suspect.”
“This time it’s for me—solely and good for my soul.”
She asks, “Speaking of souls, you mentioned at the fundraiser that you might have met someone? How is that going?”
“If I remember correctly, I told you I didn’t.”
“Do you really think I don’t know your tells. I’ve known them since you were three, Hardy. You couldn’t hide behind a lie then and you can’t now, so tell us so we don’t have to worry about you.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m good.”
“Happy?”
“I’m happy.” Medium. Her lips purse. “Fine. Mostly.”
“Who is she?” Dad asks. Leo makes a round, topping off our glasses.
“It’s complicated. I don’t want you getting invested when we’re not meant to be.”
“We care about you and if you care about her, then we’re invested already,” my mom says.
“That’s so pressuring, Mom. Don’t you see?”
My dad leans his elbows on the table. “You know what I see, Son?”
Sitting back, I cross my arms over my chest. I can tell this isn’t going to be as quick as I thought. “What?”
He says, “You and your sister have been so busy with your careers that neither of you have even a second in your day to spare for the stuff that matters at the end of it.”
“I—”
His hands go up. “No, Hardy. I want you to listen to your mother and me.”
I drop my reactions and relax, willing to hear them out. He continues, “I worked hard for thirty-five years and what did that get me?”
“A five bedroom colonial in New Canaan and a retirement that you and Mom can actually survive off and live nicely.”
“Yes, it did, but it’s this woman next to me,” he says, taking my mom’s hand, “that really made it all worth it. She gave me purpose.”
“I have purpose, Dad. I like my life.”
My mom leans in. “What your father is trying to tell you is we want to sell the house and travel the world at our leisure without the heavy ties of a mortgage. Do you understand what that means?”
“No.”
“It means we can’t do that because our children are unsettled in their lives.”
“Sabrina and I are fine. She’s got an amazing job overseas and I have the bar and my life here. Don’t let us hold you back from doing what you want to do.”
“You’re not understanding. If something happens to us, we don’t want you to be alone. I’ve read about The Hideaway. You have wonderful reviews, but there’s mention, more than once, of a . . .” She lowers her voice to a mouse’s whisper, “Sexual undercurrent.”
“Oh God, please don’t ever say anything like that again. Gross.”
“Stop being ridiculous. We’re all adults here. Sex is a natural part of living a full life.”
“Mommm. No. Stop.” She laughs and I think I catch my dad sliding his hand up and down her thigh.
Ew. I stand. “Look. I’m going to be very frank with you.
There is a girl, a woman actually, that I am interested in.
She’s beautiful, and tastes like vanilla ice cream on a hot August day.
She carries the color of the changing leaves at the end of summer in her eyes.
And without a doubt, what I want to do to her perfect mouth is probably illegal in most states.
” The sins she makes me want to commit make my dick ache.
“Virginia’s beauty is more than skin deep.” Deep. God, I want to fuck her so bad. “She’s kind and thoughtful. Spirited, and when she looks at me, she sees the person I want to be, the person she believes I can be, and damn do I want to be that guy for her.”
I didn’t plan on breaking out into some lovesick soliloquy, but here I am, standing in an empty bar pouring out all those cramped emotions I’ve been pocketing onto a table in front of my parents and Leo.
When I look up, Clive and Eddie are standing near the back door with boxes of scotch in their arms. Leo starts a slow clap and soon the scotch is set down and I’m getting the worst of golf clap ovations.
When my parents stand and join in, the applause builds.
Flipping everyone off, I laugh. “I really hate you guys.” I don’t and they know it, but I hate this shiny happy shit. Kind of. Sort of. Only when I’m at the center of it.
My mom comes around the table, and says, “Bring Virginia over for dinner sometime. We’d love to meet her.”
My dad claps me on the back, and says, “Or better yet, kiss her and seal that deal on New Year’s. You know what they say about that holiday. Whatever you’re doing at midnight on New Year’s Eve, is what you’ll be doing all year long.”
If that’s the case, I can think of a million other things other than kissing I’d like to be doing with her at midnight. Or to her. Or in her. Or her to me. Or together. I think that’s what he means. Be together. #MFEO and all that junk.
I follow my parents as they head for the door. I’m thinking they’ve had enough of our antics to hold them over for quite some time. “Thanks for coming to see me. I actually feel better, more determined to make this thing with Virginia less complicated and more simple.”
“When it’s right, it’s easy.” She hugs me at the door. “I’ve never seen you with that look of love in your eyes before. It looks good on you.”
I’m not one for blushing, but the embarrassment I feel makes my face feel hot. “Thanks, Mom.”
“You’re welcome. Now go get the girl.” Her hands go up in a silent cheer just like she did when I was ten and won the regional spelling bee. I might be shaking my head, but my mom is the best.
My dad adds, “And try kissing first. That tends to win a lady’s heart. Save the illegal stuff for the bedroom.” He gives me that buddy-buddy wink. “But if you do get yourself in a spot of trouble, call me and I’ll bail you out.”
“You know I didn’t really mean I would do something to her that would get me arrested, right?
” Unless she wants me to, and then who am I to deny her needs and wants.
But to be on the safe side, I should probably look into where “fucking one’s mouth” falls legally in the state of New York.
If it is illegal, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve committed the crime with her, but it’s hard to say no when—What the fuck tangent have I gone off on?
After saying goodbye to them, I turn and see the guys still standing around watching me turn into a full on unstoppable train wreck. “Get back to work and never, I mean never, mention any of this again.”
Clive is too busy laughing. Leo is suddenly super busy scrubbing a spot on the bar top, but I see that damn mocking grin. Eddie salutes me, and says, “You got it, boss.” He sets his box on a table, and adds, “But just so you know, the guys and I have discussed the matter and we approve.”
“Approve of what?”
“Virginia. She meets all the magical unicorn criteria: sexy as all get out, intelligent, and she’s really nice.”
I want to hide from the teasing I’ve endured, but he’s right. She is sexy and smart, but it’s that last part that matters most. “She is nice.”
“Really,” starts Clive, “she’s too good for you, so if she’s giving you a shot, you should take it.”
“Fuck you very much, Clive.”
“No problem. We’re here to keep your ego in check.”
“You’re doing a solid job.”
“That’s why we’re paid the big bucks,” Eddie jokes.
“You’re paid the big bucks for your pretty boy faces that bring in the pretty bills.”
We laugh. It’s good to joke with the guys. We’re more than co-workers. We’re friends. I can count on any of them if I was ever in a bind, and they know they can count on me. Walking in from the back, Romeo tugs his beanie off and asks, “What’d I miss?” “Our fearless leader is in love,” Leo asserts.
Romeo nods, another annoying grin is on his face as if he stole the other fella’s. “It was only a matter of time before he realized it. Now that you have, Hardy, time to lock that girl down. And if you don’t, I’m sure one of us will be more than happy to.”
“She’d never go for one of you jackoffs. Like Eddie said, she’s smart.” I head for the office. “The show’s over. My life is back off limits. Get to work and let’s kick tonight’s ass.”