Trusting You (Second Chances #2)(20)
Before going home, I stopped by the store and grabbed everything I’d need to make dinner. I told Brett the night was going to be for him and I meant it, even though deep down I knew that his job was going to be taking him away from me for a while.
After preparing our celebration feast, I sat down to enjoy a glass of wine. Brett usually arrived at my house by six every evening so I had a little time to spare. When my phone rang beside me, I should’ve known to look at the screen before answering, but I didn’t. Big mistake.
“Hello,” I answered, taking a sip of my wine.
“It’s about damn time you answer my calls,” Daniel scolded. “Why do you keep ignoring me?”
Groaning, I sagged in my chair and downed my glass of wine. I was going to need it to handle him. “Daniel,” I said smoothly, trying to keep my temper in check. The last thing I wanted was to be pissed when Brett got here. “We’ve been over this before. I have no interest in getting hurt by you again. You screwed up and there’s no way you can take what you did back.”
“I said I was sorry, Mel. Please give me a second chance. I really need to tell you something and I don’t want to do it over the phone. Can I come over?”
A car door slammed outside, so I rushed over to one of the front windows. Brett was right on time and walking to the front door. “You can’t,” I blurted out quickly. “Look, Daniel, I’m seeing someone now and I’d really appreciate it if you left me alone and stopped calling me. I have to go.”
He screamed into the phone, “Melissa, wait!” I hung up the phone and turned it off. Daniel was a persistent man, and if he needed to see me he would make sure it happened. If it came down to that I was going to have to tell Brett what Daniel was trying to do.
Taking a deep, calming breath, I opened the door for Brett and was immediately swooped into his arms with his lips locked to mine. When he set me down, he removed his blue tie and unbuttoned his white dress shirt while closing his eyes and breathing in. “The house smells amazing, firecracker.”
“Thank you,” I remarked, taking his hand and leading him into the kitchen. I tried to put all thoughts of Daniel out of my mind and how his calling all the time could put a strain on mine and Brett’s relationship. But that was one of the last things on my mind at the moment. My main concern was all the traveling Brett was going to be doing soon.
As we sat down to eat our roasted chicken, potatoes, and salad, Brett watched me intently, studying me the whole time. “Melissa, what’s wrong? I can see that something’s wrong by the expression on your face. I might not have seen it much, but I can read it just as easily.”
Sighing, I shook my head and lowered my gaze. What was I supposed to say? I’m scared that you’ll be spending ungodly amounts of time across the states from me? Had I really become that needy? No, it’s just that you’re falling hard for him.
“You can tell me,” Brett said softly. “I need you to open up to me and be honest. I want to know what’s going on.”
Releasing a heavy sigh, I decided to just come right out and say what was on my mind, even if it did sound selfish. I explained, “I’m afraid that when you do this job that you’ll be spending a majority of your time on the West Coast. I was just concerned about what it would do to us … to our relationship if you were away for a long period of time. I’ve never done the long distance thing before.”
Brett stared at me for the longest time before he burst out laughing. I sat there dumbfounded, wondering why he’d be laughing; I didn’t find anything about it funny. “I’m glad you find this so hilarious,” I snapped, getting up from the table. Brett got up too and tried to calm me down, but I pushed him away and headed straight for the bedroom, taking the whole bottle of wine with me.
“Hey, slow down,” Brett hollered, trying to catch up to me.
When I got to my room I wanted to slam the door in his face, but he caught up to me and grabbed my arm. “Hey, calm down, firecracker. I’m sorry I laughed, but you looked so cute when you were talking. That pouty look on your face did me in.”
Rolling my eyes, I took a big gulp from the bottle of wine in my hand. “I was being serious, Brett,” I said.
Taking the bottle from me, Brett set it on the dresser and took my face in his hands. “Well, if you wouldn’t have stormed off you could’ve let me explain. Yes, I’m going to be spending a lot of time in California, but I’ve been working on the schedule. I want you to come with me when I go.”
“What?” I remarked, wide-eyed. “How can I go with you? I have to work.”
Smiling, he bit his lip and shook his head. “Oh no, you won’t be. You see, I made it to where you could join me if you wanted to. The first time I have planned to go out there is for one week at Christmas. I figured since your parents probably wouldn’t be around that you wouldn’t mind spending it with me in our own little place out there. We could even get our own Christmas tree.”
Stunned and shocked, I sat there with my mouth wide open. He specifically made out his schedule so that I could join him. I was speechless. “What about when you start laying the groundwork? When will you be doing that?” I inquired.
He smiled again. “I have that all planned out for next spring. Since you have time off for spring break, I figured you could come with me then. Just think about the fun we could have out there. If you don’t want to go that’s fine, but I thought I would give you the option. I actually have to meet with my client next week for dinner and I thought maybe you’d like to join me there, too. My client said he wanted me to bring a date since he was bringing one.”