Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Chase
This woman was fucking unbearable. How dare she say those things to me. I helped her with her car, treated her to a nice dinner, and that was how she behaved. This was totally unacceptable.
“Enjoy your dinner.” Kara smiled as she set our plates down in front of us.
“I’ll try,” I spoke as I glared at Kinsley.
I had never had to deal with a woman this difficult before, and no woman had ever talked to me the way she had. She might have been beautiful, but she was stubborn, intense, and had a smart mouth. I guess that was how small-town girls were raised, and I didn’t like it one bit.
We ate our dinner in silence, neither one of us saying a word. She owed me an apology, and I wanted it.
“You owe me an apology,” I spoke.
“Excuse me? I owe you an apology?” She pointed to herself. “No, jerk! You owe me an apology.”
I was taken aback by her calling me a jerk.
“I don’t owe you shit. I was nice enough to help you out with your car and treat you to this nice dinner, and that’s how you treat me?”
She let out a roaring laugh. A laugh so loud that the people at the table next to us looked over.
“You have called me a coward, disrespectful, and unstable in two days!”
“Oh no, he didn’t,” the lady at the table next to us looked at Kinsley and spoke.
“Oh, but he did.” She slowly nodded.
“Shame on you!” The lady waved her finger at me. “If you were my son, you’d get a good whooping.”
“Well then, thank God I’m not,” I mumbled. “Okay. Everyone needs to calm down. Kinsley, I’m sorry for calling you those things.”
“No, you’re not.” She pursed her lips.
I sighed. “Can we please just finish our dinner so I can take you home?”
“Fine,” she spoke.
Suddenly, I looked up and saw my father and Penelope following the hostess to a table. Shit. If he saw me with Kinsley, he wouldn’t be happy. I gulped as he saw me and walked over to our table.
“Chase. Kinsley,” he spoke disapprovingly and then turned to me with a glaring eye.
“Hi, Mr. Calloway.” Kinsley smiled.
“Hey, Dad.”
“So, the two of you are having dinner together?” he asked with suspicion.
“When I left the office, I saw Kinsley in the parking garage, and her car wouldn’t start. So, I called a tow truck and offered to drive her home, and we stopped here to get something to eat on the way.”
“I see. Kinsley, this is my fiancée, Penelope. Penelope, this is my temporary secretary, Kinsley Davis.”
“Nice to meet you.” She smiled as she extended her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Kinsley spoke as she placed her hand in Penelope’s.
“Well, then, we’ll let you two finish your dinner. I’ll see you both tomorrow morning.”
“See ya, Dad.”
We finished our dinner, and I waved Kara over for the check.
“Don’t forget about that drink, Chase.” She winked.
“I won’t, darling.”
Kinsley reached into her purse, grabbed some cash, and threw it on the table.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“My half of dinner.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m paying,” I spoke as I picked up the cash and tried to hand it back to her.
“I didn’t ask you to take me to dinner. Plus, I don’t want you holding it over my head.” Her brow arched.
“Kinsley, come on. Please.” I cocked my head with a small smile.
“Fine.” She grabbed the cash from my hands and got up from her seat.
“Don’t I even get a thank you?” I held out my hands.
She ignored me and walked out the door. As soon as I dropped her off at her apartment and she walked away without as so much as a goodbye, I went home and poured myself a drink.
Kinsley Davis was an insufferable woman, and she drove me insane.
I’d never felt this kind of contempt for any woman, which bothered me.
Why was I letting her get under my skin?
The next morning, I woke up in a bad mood. I didn’t sleep well, and I tossed and turned all night.
“Good morning, Chase.” Lexi smiled brightly.
I glanced at her and walked into my office, throwing my briefcase on the couch. Suddenly, I heard the door shut.
“Okay, what’s going on? Who has your panties in a twist?” Lexi asked as she handed me a cup of coffee.
“Nothing is going on, and no one, as you so eloquently put it, has my panties in a twist.”
“I call bullshit. I’ve known you forever, Chase.”
Suddenly, the door opened, and Steven walked in.
“Not now, Steven,” I spoke as I took a seat in my chair.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Someone has Chase’s panties in a bunch, and he won’t tell me who or what happened to put him in such a foul mood this morning.”
“Oh. Is that so? Do tell.” He smiled as he took a seat across from my desk.
I sighed as I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling.
“It’s Kinsley.”
“Now, what happened?” Lexi asked in a monotone voice.
“When I was leaving last night, I saw her in the parking garage, and her car wouldn’t start. I called a tow truck and we stopped and grabbed some dinner on the way home.”
“Let me guess.” Steven grinned. “She refused to have sex with you.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “No. Sex wasn’t even on the table. She told me about catching her ex and her best friend in bed, and that’s why she moved here so suddenly. I asked her if that was the only reason because it seemed a little unstable.”
“Oh, Chase. You didn’t.”
“You called her unstable?” Steven asked.
“She told me that the only reason I have sex with so many women is that I’m insecure.”
Lexi snorted, and I shot her a dirty look.
“When I debated with her about it, she told me I use sex as a coping mechanism.”
Lexi snorted again, and I pointed my finger at her.
“Then I told her she owed me an apology, and she voiced rather loudly that I owed her one, and she refused to apologize.”
“The two of you need to have sex and get it over with,” Steven spoke.
“I’ve never seen you like this before,” Lexi said. “Kinsley is a strong and independent woman. You’re not used to that. All the women you sleep with are airheads.”
“That is not true,” I spoke.
“Yeah, bro. It is,” Steven agreed. “You don’t let women get to you at all. So, having this conversation tells me that you’re afraid of her.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I chuckled. “Why the fuck would I be afraid of Kinsley?”
“Because you don’t know what to do with her,” Lexi replied. “You’re not used to this kind of challenge. You snap your fingers, and women drop to their knees for you. But with Kinsley, you snap your fingers, and she runs the other way.”
“She does not, Lexi. Maybe she doesn’t know what to do with me. After all, she’s from a small town with probably no experience at all. Maybe that’s why her boyfriend cheated on her.”
“That’s low, Chase. Even for you.” Lexi’s brows furrowed.
“Yeah. Perhaps it was. I need to get to work, and so do the both of you.” I pointed at them.