Chapter 13

Blaine

It had been an extremely hard week to get through, considering I sat at work all week just waiting for the clock to tick down so that I could see Reese. It was Thursday, and I had managed to get to see her every day since our hot, passionate sex. Tonight, though, I was going to relax at my place, text her a bit, and wake up early for work. She said she had a busy day planned for Friday, so as much as she wanted to see me, she had to keep going with her responsibilities. I forgot sometimes how lucky I was to own my own successful business, being able to take off whenever I wanted.

I looked down at my phone and noticed that it was nearly two in the afternoon already. Luckily, I didn’t have any meetings, but I did have a ton of paperwork to get done with before I could leave the office. Just as I pulled out a file, my secretary’s voice came over the speaker, letting me know Caleb was out front. I instructed her to let him through and stood up to shake his hand as he entered the office.

“Wow,” I said, sitting back down. “You never come here to see me. I’m glad you did, though. I haven’t seen you in a while. How are things?”

“They’re good, man, really good,” he said, smiling. “Caroline is back from her honeymoon, and they are already talking about starting a family. I guess when you get married, there’s a lot of pressure to keep moving forward.”

“Wow, I guess so,” I said, chuckling. “Nobody enjoys life anymore, though. They all just rush right into the next things, forgetting to look around them.”

“That’s a strange notion, coming from the guy who works all the time,” he said, laughing.

“Yeah, well, I think I’ve started to slow down a bit,” I said, shaking my head. “Life was just passing on by.”

“You’re not having a midlife crisis or anything are you?”

“I hope not, I’m only twenty-nine,” I said, laughing. “No, I just had to realize it so I could stop missing out on stuff.”

“Well, speaking of not missing out, why don’t we hit up the clubs this weekend?” he asked. “Check out the hotties, have some drinks, and just relax.”

“I actually already have plans,” I said, looking down at my phone.

“Oh yeah? Is it with that Reese girl?”

“Yeah,” I said, laughing. “It’s with that Reese girl. We’ve actually been spending a hell of a lot of time together, and I’m really starting to like how she makes me feel.”

“Okay, okay, I get it now,” he said. “You are slowing down in life because Reese is making you stop and smell the roses.”

“It’s something like that,” I replied.

“Well, just be careful, man,” he said, shaking his finger at me. “Don’t forget that roses have thorns.”

“I’m not sure what that comparison is supposed to mean, but I am being careful,” I said, laughing. “She has really changed the way that I look at the world, which I am pretty sure I needed after being stuck at work every day for the last decade.”

“True, but if you hadn’t been stuck at work for the last decade, you wouldn’t have built your empire by the age of twenty-nine,” he pointed out. “Now you are in a place where you can take some time for personal stuff and know that your business will not fall apart at the seams. You did something most people our age can’t do.”

“What’s that?”

“See what the long-term goal is and remember that when it’s time to decide to put your nose to the grindstone or go out and party,” he said. “You knew that parties would come, but you had a limited time to make your small company into a huge one. You did an amazing job.”

“Thanks, man,” I said. “And I think you are right, and I think that Reese came along at the perfect time. She makes me not take life so damn seriously.”

“I’m not going to lie,” he said, leaning forward. “I’m a bit shocked that you have put so much time into one girl. I mean, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just not used to seeing you take on one girl and make it a long-term thing. I’m happy for you, though. I can see that she is making a really good impression on you, and I’d like to see you slow down a bit and see how us normal people live our lives.”

“You’re not really normal,” I said, grinning.

“Well, I’m not a billionaire either,” he snapped back. “You live in a world that even I can’t understand sometimes, and that has to be hard on you.”

“They always did say that the top can be a very lonely place,” I replied. “But as far as spending a lot of time with Reese, I am surprised, too. I hadn’t thought that this was where it was going to go with her, so I’m taking all of it in stride. In fact, after she blew me off, I figured it was worth a try, but I couldn’t get my hopes up. I’m really glad I took the chance on her.”

“All I can say is, don’t get too hooked, too fast,” he said. “Remember that Reese may be different, but all women are relatively the same. I just don’t want to see either one of you get hurt in all of this. Remember that when you commit to someone, it’s your job to protect them and make sure that you’re treating them with respect.”

“I know,” I sighed. “I just know it’s the right thing to do.”

“Well then, I wish you all the luck in the world, buddy,” Caleb said with a smile. “But I have to get going. I was just on your side of town and figured I would stop in on my way back to the office.”

“Thanks for coming by,” I said, standing and shaking his hand. “We will get together soon. I promise.”

“No worries, dude,” he said, turning and walking from the office.

I sat there thinking about what Caleb said to me, realizing that he was right in a way. I had been putting more into Reese than I ever had with any other girl. Reese was one of a kind, though, and I had never been with a girl that I even thought about long-term plans with. The girls I usually met were not too bright and didn’t hold a conversation very well, but Reese was different. I pulled out my phone and decided that if I was going to think about her and talk about her, I might as well give her a call and see how her day was going. I knew she was busy during the days with work, so I would keep it short and sweet. I just really wanted to hear her voice. I flipped to her contact info and pressed the call button, putting the phone up to my ear and listening to the ring.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey there, beautiful,” I said, smiling at the sound of her voice.

“Why hello there,” she said with a giggle. “How are you?”

“I’m fantastic,” I replied with a smile. “And you?”

“Good,” she said. “Wishing I was with you, but still good.”

“Nah, you would find this place really boring.” I laughed. “So, I just wanted to make sure that we were still on for Saturday night’s dinner and a movie back at my place.”

“Of course, we are,” she chirped. “And I’m so stoked to watch a movie with you. It’s like my favorite thing to do.”

“I don’t know,” I teased. “I’m pretty sure something else might have surpassed that now.”

I smiled at the nervous giggle that I heard on the other end of the line. She was shy about her sexuality, and that was to be expected since she just started having sex. There was a long, silent pause, and my cheeks grew warm thinking about how she tasted.

“Anyway,” I said, clearing my throat. “We’re going to watch the heck out of some superhero movies on Saturday. I’m just glad that you’re a fan. It’s like my new favorite thing about you.”

“New favorite?”

“Sure, there is something new on a regular basis, which is amazing,” I said. “You’re full of surprises at every turn.”

“I’m glad that I can be there to keep you on your toes then,” she said with a giggle. “But I have to go. Lots to do. I’ll text you later, okay?”

“Sounds good to me,” I said with a smile.

When we hung up with each other, I sat there at my desk, replaying the conversation in my mind. She was more excited to have movie night at my place than any of the expensive restaurants or adventures that we had planned together. And the fact that we were watching superhero movies set her off even more. Her giggle was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile and laugh when she got that excited. She was the first girl that I had ever been able to impress with such a small gesture, and I loved that about her. She wasn’t high maintenance at all, and it was obvious she was not interested in my money, either.

I set the phone down on the table and leaned back in my chair, a smile moving across my face as I thought about how awkward Reese could actually be. It made me laugh, and in fact, it made me laugh out loud right there in my chair. Her weird personality and shy tendencies were extremely adorable, and were what made up the charm that followed her around. She was a normal girl, and our inability to function like everyone else in social situations was so similar. She just didn’t hide it as well as I did. I actually didn’t think I would ever find a girl that was so like me, who could understand what it was like to feel out of place in the simplest of situations yet excited in the ones that no one else around us would be excited about. I couldn’t even start to imagine asking one of the girls I had dated to come over after dinner to watch superhero movies. They would have laughed in my face and told me I was cute, but I needed to grow up. Not with Reese, though. I could actually be myself with her, and she wasn’t thrown off by my quirks.

I shook my head and looked down at my work, realizing that I had just spent twenty minutes of my day laughing at how adorable someone’s awkwardness was and then pining over her. What in the world was happening to me? I couldn’t focus to save my life. I thought about this girl more than my own business, and everything that was important before suddenly wasn’t so important anymore. I had turned into the guy that I hated, obsessed with the little things, and finding a woman the most important part of his day. Now that I was in that position, though, it didn’t seem so hard to understand anymore.

I took a deep breath and scooted my chair forward, pulling out the files I needed to work on and forcing myself to focus. It was fine that I had all of a sudden become so smitten with Reese, but I still needed to make sure that I was functioning. No more outbursts from me, no sir. I put the pen to the paper and started writing, a smirk inching over my face and a chuckle rising in my throat. It was useless to try and suppress it. This girl had changed my world.