He was still standing in the same spot looking very confused. Confusion was good. It was better than anger or irritation. I checked in with the caterers, made sure there was plenty of appetizers coming out, and made my usual rounds around the room.
I stopped, turned, and looked for my mystery man. I realized in that moment I never even got his name. I never gave him my name. I would probably never see him again. He didn’t shut me down, but he didn’t exactly say yes. I wasn’t sure how that made me feel. I couldn’t explain why I had any interest in him at all. I really had nothing to go on.
The guy wasn’t the kind that gave a girl the warm and fuzzies. But, as usual, I was attracted to the wrong kind of guy.
Chapter 7
Xander
I parked my BMW in the parking lot, not caring I was stuck at a spot way in the back. It was the parking lot she designated—no ordered—me to be at. I was actually on time, which surprised me a little. I couldn’t explain why I was there at all. The woman intrigued me. That was why I was there. She had challenged me. I did not turn down a challenge, especially from a beautiful woman.
I tapped my hands on the steering wheel, staring out at the cars in every size and color, and wondered once again why I was there. I shouldn’t have come. I moved to start the engine, ready to get the hell out of there when there was a knock on my driver’s side window. I nearly jumped out of my seat.
It was her. She was peering at me through the heavily tinted window. How did she know it was me? I pushed the button to roll down the window and looked at her. “Are you going to sit in your car all day? That really wasn’t what I had in mind.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then come on,” she said, reaching for the door handle. “I’m parked right in front of you. How crazy is that? With these windows, I never would have been able to see you. Are these even legal?”
Her rambling put me off my game a little. I climbed out of the car, leaving my shades on. “Do you always talk this much?”
She burst into laughter. “I do. I have a feeling I have to talk enough to make up for the both of us. You don’t strike me as a great conversationalist.”
“Not really,” I replied, closing the door and hitting the lock button. “I don’t mind the peace and quiet.”
“I love a little peace and quiet as well, but a conversation isn’t really noise.”
It was to me. “I suppose that’s one of those things everyone has a different opinion on.”
“Subjective,” she agreed. “Thankfully, I am not one to care a whole lot about other people’s opinions.”
I inwardly groaned. What in the hell had I gotten myself into? “Isn’t this place kind of touristy?” I asked, noticing the families taking pictures of every fucking thing.
“I love it here, tourists or not. We all have our little space in the world.”
“Seems awful crowded in my space,” I complained.
She patted my arm. “I promise you will be okay. No one will invade your space.”
I looked down at her hand touching my bicep. “Good to know.”
“I’m sorry. I had to know.”
“Know what?” I asked, quickly growing tired of the back and forth. She was exhausting me. I had only been with her for less than five minutes and I felt like I could use a drink.
“If you were really prickly,” she said before bursting into laughter.
Her laughter was contagious. I found myself laughing a little. “And?”
“And you don’t feel prickly at all.”
My short-sleeved T-shirt barely hid the tat, the standard barbed-wired, around the upper part of my arm. “Good to know. So where are you taking me? What is it you think is so special about this place?”
I gave her a look. “I grew up in San Diego or the general area. Yes, I’ve been here.”
“All right, all right, I was just making sure. I thought there was a chance you spent your days in a dark dungeon.”
She was making a joke. Teasing me. That was definitely different than the other women I dated. I quickly reminded myself it wasn’t a date. It was—hell, I didn’t know what it was. “I suppose you want to walk through the shops and stuff?”
“I was thinking we could go on a short walk and then to the Japanese Garden first,” she said with way too much enthusiasm. “I love going there. It is absolutely beautiful. Have you been before?”
My brain felt like it had just been tossed on a hamster wheel. I was trying to keep up with the onslaught of talking. “Yes.”
“Great! Then I won’t have to explain every little thing.”
She was already on the move. I took a second to check out her ass in the shorts she was wearing. The shorts weren’t the booty shorts that had the cheeks hanging out. They were a respectable length that showed off plenty of leg without being too much. She was wearing a pretty pair of sandals with little jewels on the straps. The sandals showed off her toes that were painted with a bright red polish. The shirt she wore was fitted around the waist and flowing in the middle with massive shoulder cut-outs. Her long black hair was pulled up in a ponytail. She was beautiful.
“Are we in a race?” I asked.
She stopped walking and turned to look behind her. “Your legs are twice as long as mine are. Keep up.”
My brows shot up. She was a bossy thing. “What exactly are we doing here?”
“We are enjoying the beauty of the world we live in.”
“Why?”
“Because we can,” she shot back. “Are you always this obstinate?”
“I suppose I am. Are you always this pushy?”
She laughed again. “I am.”
“Why me?” I asked the question that had been on my mind all night. “Why are you insisting I come enjoy life with you? I’m not the most personable man.”
“You’ve got that right,” she said.
“Then why me?”
She let out a long sigh, slowing her pace to fall in line with me. “Because I see a man in need of saving.”
“Saving from what?”
“Yourself.”
“I’m fine.”
“You are fine, but you are not great,” she answered. “I guess I can’t walk away from a project. I see a man in need of a boost. A man that needs to see the brighter side of things.”
“I see things just fine,” I replied.
“You see things in black and white and maybe a hint of gray, I suspect.”
We kept walking, finding an easy pace that allowed us to talk without sprinting. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, if you are at work or working on a project. I am a very black and white girl Monday through Saturday. Sunday, I like to see color.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
“It means on Sundays, I like to come here. If I don’t have a job on Saturday, I will take the whole weekend and go up the coast. I love to get out in nature and recharge. Nature is the place that reminds me how lucky I am to be alive. I need the color. I need the lively activity of nature. It’s like a reset once a week.”