He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t want to fight with you either.”
“Good. Let’s agree to disagree and move on.”
“Evie, it isn’t that simple. I know this kid. He is bad news.”
“I don’t understand how you can say that. You don’t know him. You knew him for five minutes in your classroom ten years ago. He is not the same person he was. I’m not the same person I was ten years ago.”
He shook his head. “A leopard doesn’t just lose his spots.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means the man is incapable of thinking of anyone except himself. He will hurt you. He’s only using you. You are a pretty young woman and that’s all he sees. I can’t stand the thought of that punk touching my little girl.”
“I get that this might be hard for you to hear, but there have been other men in my life. You have never reacted so strongly to any of them.”
“Because they weren’t him,” he spat.
“No, they weren’t. Xander isn’t selfish. Not by a long shot.”
“That kid thinks it is funny to disrupt things,” he said.
“Things? Like what?”
“My classroom for one. He went out of his way to argue with me in front of the entire class. He tried to make a fool out of me. He thought he was so much smarter than me and everyone else. He was some young punk with no life experience and he was convinced he knew better. He refused to listen to history and reason. He was only about himself and proving his point.”
“He was right,” I said. “Do you know what he has done? How much he is worth because he listened to his gut and did what he knew was possible, despite you and everyone else telling him it was impossible?”
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “It doesn’t change who he is.”
“Maybe in your eyes, but I see a man that is a modern-day Jefferson or any other inventor from the past. People laughed at him and told him it wasn’t possible. A lesser man would have given up. A lesser man would have taken the harsh criticism to heart and let his dreams die. Xander didn’t give up. He pushed through and I’m so proud of him.”
“You talk like he is some kind of hero,” he spat the words like they tasted bitter on his tongue.
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “Maybe he is my hero.”
He groaned. “He put you under a spell.”
“I’m falling for him,” I told him, looking directly into his eyes. “Not falling. I already fell.”
His face fell. “I cannot condone a relationship with that man.”
“That’s your choice. Just like it’s my choice to choose a relationship with him. I can’t change your mind and I will stop trying to do that but I’m asking you to respect my decision. Stop trying to change how I feel about him. I know a different man than you did. I wish you would give him the chance to show you he isn’t that guy.”
“I have to trust my gut,” he said. “I know in my heart he is not the one for you. He’s going to hurt you and then I will hate him more than I already do.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” I told him. “Maybe he will hurt me. Things might not work out between us. I have to find out for myself. I will always wonder what if. This is something I want to do.”
“Like you said, you are an adult. I can’t stop you from making a mistake you will regret.”
He wasn’t going to budge. I should have known he wouldn’t. My father was set in his ways. He seemed to dislike people in general. Again, he was so much like Xander it was crazy.
I had tried. That was all I could do. It felt a little lonely to be moving forward without my father’s support, but there was nothing to do about it. I wasn’t going to give up on what I felt was a good thing because he couldn’t get over something so trivial.
“I’m going to be at your award ceremony,” I told him as I got to my feet. “You can’t stop me from being happy for you.”
He offered a small smile. “I’ll be looking for you.”
“Goodbye, Dad. Please take care of yourself. No matter what you think about my decisions, I do love you.”
He didn’t get up from his chair. “I’ll be just fine.”
“Bye, Dad,” I said, my heart feeling heavy in my chest.
“Be careful,” he warned. “You are playing with fire. I don’t want to see you burned.”
I left the house without saying anything more. There was no point. He was never going to budge.
I might get burned. I knew that was a strong possibility. The problem was, I didn’t care. I was a little infatuated with him. Oh hell, who was I kidding? I was a lot infatuated with him.
Every time we got together, I learned a little something more about him. I was seeing who he really was. I was getting to know the Xander no one else got to see. I felt incredibly privileged to be one of the few.
I knew Xander was still guarded. That was okay. I wasn’t pushing him. I was okay with taking things slowly. I was convinced he felt something for me as well. I felt it in the way he touched me and the way he looked at me. I felt it in the little things he did, like bringing me flowers out of the blue.
My father couldn’t see that side of him, and that made me sad.
Chapter 41
Xander
I checked the time and cursed. I didn’t know how to get myself to be where I was supposed to be at the right time. I was blaming the project this time. Once again, I had gotten caught up and lost all track of time. I whipped into the parking lot of the casual restaurant where I was meeting Evie for lunch.
I walked inside and scanned the restaurant. Her black hair immediately caught my eye. She was looking down at her phone, probably wondering where in the hell I was. I made my way to the table. She looked up and smiled.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “I tried to get here.”
“You’re right on time,” she said, getting up and giving me a quick kiss before taking her seat again. “Your time, that is.”
I laughed and sat down. “I have tried every trick in the book. I set my watch ahead. I have my phone give me ten-minute warnings. Nothing works.”
“It’s really okay. I plan for you to be a little late and get some work done while I wait.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I really am sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“God, I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” I told her.
“It has been a while.”
“How was your trip?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Stupid. The bride makes bridezillas look like creampuffs.”
“It has to mean something if she sought out your firm to do her wedding, right?” I asked.
She laughed. “Only because she has burned through everyone else in LA. My boss didn’t give her an answer. She is mulling over whether she wants the hassle.”
“Would you be on the account?” I questioned. We had been keeping up with each other via text and phone calls. She was a busy woman. Her services were in high demand, which made me feel an odd sense of pride that I couldn’t quite explain.