Misguided Heart

Seven

Aston

He looked exceptionally dashing when he came sauntering into my office about half an hour later. I slowly tried to regain my composure, as I stood to greet him.

“Well, good morning, Mr. Holden. How are you?” I half smiled to not show him how uncomfortable he made me these days.

“I’m doing well, but not as well as you. Did my father tell you what dealership I am taking you to?”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. “No, why? Which one are we going to?” I pushed.

“Well, I guess I will let it be a surprise then. He smiled. “Shall we?”

I gathered my things and began walking towards him. “We shall.” This little banter was starting to become a daily thing, and I liked it. We walked out of the office side by side and our hands grazed each other’s at least twice. It seemed that every time I had any physical contact with this man, my heart skipped a beat and my body felt like electricity was surging through my veins. I liked it! Probably more than I should.

We pulled into the BMW dealership a half hour later. I covered my mouth with both of my hands to try to mask my shock. I couldn’t believe it; my boss was buying me a BMW. I had owned my Honda since I was 16 and I never imagined that I would be able to buy a brand new BMW someday. Ok, I guess I had fantasized about it, but I never thought it would really happen.

“Here we are.” He said as he opened the car door for me.

“Are you sure we are at the right place?”

“I’m sure.” He laughed. “My father gave me specific instructions to let you pick and customize any car you would like. There is no cap on how much you can spend.” He winked.

I swallowed hard in disbelief. “You have got to be shitting me.” I whispered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Let’s go, I guess.”

The aroma of brand new leather seats filled my nose with happiness. I took in a deep breath and began searching for my perfect car. I knew exactly what I wanted but I couldn’t find one on the showroom floor anywhere. I spotted it out of the corner of my eye a moment later by mere chance. It was nestled into the back corner of the showroom and I made a beeline for the beautiful piece of artwork.

I ran my fingers up the sleek hood as I made my way to the driver’s side door. My face was beaming as my skin slid across the fresh alpine white coat of paint. I opened the door and fell instantly in love. This was the first time I had ever believed in love at first sight. I was sitting in a 2012 BMW 328i x-drive coupe. It had everything I ever wanted, a sunroof, bamboo anthracite wood trim, grey leather interior, satellite radio, iPod and iPhone adapter in the center console with shelf and navigation system. Yes, I had researched this car a million times. This was love!

I watched Sloan walking towards me through the windshield. He could tell I was extremely happy and this made him smile. His shoulders looked inviting and I wanted to jump into his muscular embrace. I wanted to feel our bodies intertwine with one another. Plain and simple, I just wanted him, any which way I could.

“Do you like it?’ He asked.

“Like isn’t the correct word to use in this case, I am in love with this car!” I smiled.

“Perfect. I’ll go grab a salesman.”

I watched him walk away, knowing that I wanted to see his backside over and over again. I shook my head to dislodge my unprofessional thoughts and climbed out of the car. I decided to take a peek at the price tag while Sloan was off finding someone to pay. Shocked, I clasped my hands over my mouth, this time to prevent myself from screaming a profanity in the BMW showroom. The car as is was $47,975 US dollars. There was no way I could accept this car. I grappled with my decision for about sixty seconds, and then I just decided to let this happen. I knew Jim Holden, and he was an extremely stubborn man. Putting up a fight wouldn’t change the outcome. I had to face it; I was now an owner of a brand new BMW. Pure elation settled into my expression, quite nicely I might add.

A short time later, Sloan was back by my side with a small surprise. “Here are your keys, my dear.”

“No way! Thank you so much.” And then, I slid my arms around his neck and gave him a huge hug.

“Your welcome, but all I did was sign a paper. I’m sure my father would enjoy a hug like that though.” He winked.

I blushed. “I save those for special people.” I winked back.

I arrived back at the office about an hour later and I was beyond excited. I half ran to my office to share my news with Annie. We both bounced around for about half a second, as we noticed everyone in the office was suddenly staring at us. I straightened out my pencil skirt and walked into my away.

I reached for the phone to call, who else, Shelby, but there was a knock at my door just as I finished dialing her number. I quickly put the receiver back in its cradle and summoned whomever it was to come in. There he stood, looking better than I had remembered from an hour and half ago. I was suddenly nervous and aware of everyone in the whole building. I stood up slowly as he closed the door behind him.

“I just wanted to make sure that we were still on for tomorrow night?” His amber eyes turned dark and wanting.

“Of course, unless something has changed on your end?” I prayed that nothing had changed.

“Well actually, I was wondering if we could go at seven instead of the later time we had decided on?”

A wave of relief washed over me, and my nerves suddenly vanished. “That actually works out perfectly. I’m hoping to be out of here by six tomorrow and then I just need to go home and change.” I scribbled down directions to my house and passed him the small piece of paper. “It should be easy to find. So, I guess I’ll see you around seven tomorrow?”

He studied the paper for a second before answering me. “Absolutely. I’ll see you around seven.”

He began to walk out of my office when he turned to tell me one more thing. “Oh, and thanks for the hug. It was, nice.” He chuckled as he left my office.

I sat in my chair and shook my head with a smile plastered across my face. The friction between the two of us was undeniable, but I was going to have to feel out the situation before I even contemplated anything further, with any physical contact.

My day went by at a glacial pace. I swear it was going by about as fast as I imagined it would have been waiting for the lifeboats after the Titanic sunk. It probably didn’t help that I kept looking at my clock every ten minutes, but I was on the impatient side. Finally the clock hit six and I quickly turned off my computer and gathered my things that I would need for the weekend. I was halfway out of my office when my cell phone rang.

I let out a loud sigh before answering. “This is Aston.” I rolled my eyes in annoyance. The number was unknown.

“Hi Aston. How are you?” A deep manly voice answered back. It was the sound of pure sex in my ear.

I knew exactly who it was the minute I heard the voice. My heart did back flips for approximately five seconds, then I regained my composure and settled in for a long conversation.

“I’m good, how are you?” I guess this was his opening to carry on and on about everything that was going wrong and right in his life.

I said ‘yeah’ and ‘oh’ in all the right places as I pulled closed my office door, waved good-bye to Annie and waited for the elevator while tapping my foot against the dull white tiles. I rummaged through my purse for my keys and finally decided to interject for a brief second.

“Nole, why are you calling me?”

“I’m not exactly sure. To be honest, you have always been the one constant that I could count on to be there. I thought, well, um, I thought maybe we could get together for dinner tonight.”

Was he serious right now? “Nole, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re getting married in a couple of weeks and Sara already dislikes me. Even so, I have plans tonight. I’m sorry.” I really wasn’t but I played the empathy card.

“It’s cool, I understand. You’re right. It probably isn’t the best idea. Well, I guess I will let you go.” There was an extremely long pause. “Oh hey Aston, are you coming to the wedding?” I could hear the hope in his voice.

“Yes Nole, I am. Didn’t Sara tell you? I sent in my RSVP card like a week ago.” This was a blatant lie, but how the hell would he know. I’m sure he wasn’t counting the RSVP cards with her.

“Okay, great, well, um I guess I will see you in a couple of weeks then.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“You will. Bye Nole.”

“Bye.”

I was silently thanking my lucky stars for the shortness of the conversation. It still amazed me that Nole and I hadn’t crossed paths, not even once, since we broke up. Arizona was a big state but we frequented the same after work bars, and we both worked downtown.

I pulled into my driveway fifteen minutes later. I was relieved to have bypassed that bomb. Did he really think that I was just going to meet up with him for dinner, like it was no big deal? He had so many issues; I didn’t even know where to start.

The next night I rushed home as soon as I was finished at work. Working on a Saturday was turning out to be dreadful. I quickly fed Bugsy as I headed up the stairs. I had already decided what I was going to wear on my date with Mr. Holden the night after he asked me. I slipped my work attire off and shrugged into the black and maroon Prada wrap around dress. I tied the small bow on the left hip and took a glance at myself in the mirror. I smiled as I straightened out the skirt and the small bubble sleeves. I freshened up my makeup, added some extra lip-gloss and then slipped my tired feet into my black patent leather, silver studded heels. I was instantly six inches taller and I had to say, I looked hot.

I switched out my large Prada bag for my small, maroon satin Prada clutch. I took one last look in the mirror, scrunched up my loose curls and headed downstairs. I was completely famished and wanted to snack on something light, but I knew better than to do so before going to dinner at Sea Saw. I had only been there one other time, but I had made the mistake of eating something light before and I only made it to the second course. I felt like such an ass. Needless to say, that was my last date with that guy.

Five minutes later, the doorbell chimed and Bugsy began his halfhearted attempt at barking. I slowly made my way over to the front door and peeked out the peephole. Man, I was in trouble. I swung open the door with a smile plastered to my face and waved him in. I reached up and half kissed him on his cheek while giving him a one armed hug.

He looked beyond words in his three-piece Dolce and Gabbana suit. His suit jacket pulled tight over his taught muscles had me squirming. His hair was a tousled mess on the top of his head, but he pulled it off quite well.

“You look handsome.” I was in awe.

He ran his hand through his hair as he responded. “You look amazing. Literally, there are no words.”

I blushed again. “Thank you very much.”

I bent down to grab Bugsy’s collar as he made his presence known by sniffing Sloan’s pant leg like it was a steak. “This is my handsome fellow Bugsy.” I smiled up at him through my curls.

“Well, you are a handsome man, aren’t you?” He bent down and began playing with Bugsy.

Maybe I had underestimated this man’s potential. If he could get down on the floor in a $1,200 suit and play with my dog, he was definitely someone worth getting to know. He stood up a minute later and wiped the dog hair from his slacks. Bugsy turned and pranced across the room and snuggled into his dog bed. I turned back to Sloan and smiled.

“I love your house. How did you ever find this place?” He inquired.

“I have a really good real estate agent, my cousin. I told him what I was looking for and he found it about a month later. The first owner’s weren’t exactly looking to move but I can be quite persuasive when it’s called for.” I shrugged. “Do you want to see the rest of it?”

“Of course, I want the grand tour.” He grabbed my hand as I turned to walk towards the kitchen, and my breath hitched.

“Well, you have seen the living room and the entryway, this is the kitchen. I made a few upgrades when I bought the place. You know your basic alder cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, oh and I tore out the linoleum and put in travertine flooring. I’ll show you the backyard before I show you upstairs.”

I opened the french doors off of the kitchen and stepped into the sunset. “When I first moved in, there was just the pool and spa. I added the ramada and the misting system, put in two fireplaces and added a kitchen with a built in BBQ. I love being outside, so I figured I might as well make it as homey as the inside.” I smiled, mainly because he was still holding my hand, and actually listening while I talked on and on about my house. “We can take this staircase up to the upstairs.” I guided him over to the circular staircase winding all the way up to my bedroom. We walked through the french doors a minute later and were standing smack dab in the center of my room. “Here is my room, not too much to see in here. Down the hall there are four more bedrooms. One is an office, one is an exercise room, one houses my father’s paintings and the other one is my guest room. That’s about it.” I paused to look at him. My eyes glanced over to my bed, calling his name. Then my thoughts were of nothing but getting this gorgeous man naked on my sheets and under me. Man, I was starting to sound like a guy.

“Your house is amazing. I think it suits you well. You ready to go? We have reservations at seven thirty.”

“Yeah I’m ready. Let’s go.”

We sat in an awkward silence the whole way to the restaurant. I didn’t know if I had scared him off, but he was the one who took my hand in his earlier. I had made no attempt at physical contact, and maybe there lied the problem. We pulled up into the valet circle a couple minutes later and I was relieved to be exiting the overwhelmingly uncomfortable confines of his car. He opened my door and reached for my hand and I took it graciously into mine.

I decided to chalk up our car ride to nerves; because once we sat down to have dinner, Sloan turned back into himself. He was cracking small jokes and trying to feed me food I would never have tried under any other circumstances. We joked and laughed all night. Physical contact had gained some ground throughout the evening as well. I would coyly place my hand on his leg and he would reciprocate. It was one of the best first dates I had ever had. When the waiter brought over our check, I was a bit bummed that the evening was coming to an end. I wanted to spend more time with him and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to until later this week, and even then we would be at work.

I stood up out of our booth, and smoothed down the hem of my dress and grabbed my clutch off of the table. He slid out right behind me, sliding his hands around my waist, pulling me close into him. I let out a sigh and turned to give him a kiss on the cheek. He had other plans as he pulled me into his chest and planted a kiss right on my lips. I was in heaven. That is if heaven existed in the middle of a restaurant.