CHAPTER SEVEN
The rest of the drive was in silence, but it had finally changed to comfortable silence. After Tony’s quick squeeze of my hand earlier, the atmosphere in the truck lightened. When we turned off the highway, onto an old country dirt road, I realized Tony hadn’t lied about the entry to his property. It was a rough one, but I also realized that it wasn’t too rough for my little car.
He tricked me!
I decided to bite my tongue.
As we drove closer to the house I could see off in the distance, Tony pointed out his window.
”The stable is over there. I also own a small duplex on the other end of the property. Larry, my stable manager lives in one with his wife, and two of the stable boys share the other one.”
Butterflies filled my stomach and smiled. This was going to be an experience… whether good or bad, it was definitely going to be one of a kind.
The stable was huge and nothing like I’d imagined. I was excited. I couldn’t see details, but the light in front of the large building was bright and it illuminated a huge rustic star that hung over the entryway.
I couldn’t wait to check it out. Tomorrow couldn’t get here fast enough.
“We’re here,” he said as we pulled up to the house, and again, I was completely blown away. It was a beautiful, single-story, red brick ranch house with a set of four steps that led up to a large front porch--.
“Son of a bitch,” Tony hissed at my side and the truck came to a complete stop. I faced him. He looked worried as he glanced in the rear view mirror.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, but quickly got my answer when lights from another vehicle were reflected in the front window. I twisted my neck around and watched as a truck pulled up right behind us.
“Is that one of Z’s boys?” I asked, because I wanted to make sure trouble hadn’t started already.
“Z’s boys?” he repeated questioningly.
“What? It sounded better than Zacharias. And why does he go by Zek instead of Zach anyway? Kind of stupid if you ask me.”
He stared at me for a long time before he sighed and turned away from me.
“No, this has nothing to do with him. Just be nice,” he muttered, opened his door and got out.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I opened my door, jumped down, looked toward the other vehicle and watched as a woman climbed out. I couldn’t see her very well, but she was every bit a woman. There was no missing the long blonde hair, light skin and small figure. She looked right at me, and I suddenly, I wasn’t so excited anymore.
Tony walked up to her and they hugged. My heart thumped double time in my chest. They parted slowly, but remained within touching distance as they exchanged words for about thirty seconds.
I’d counted.
Tony turned, walked back to me and I couldn’t make heads or tails of his expression; his face was void of any emotion.
“I’ll take you inside and show you around,” he said, just before he reached over and into the bed of his truck and pulled out two of my bags. I looked back to the woman who hadn’t left. She sat back inside her truck, left the door wide open and waited.
“Come on,” Tony said to catch my attention. I looked at him again. If I wasn’t mistaken he looked annoyed, but I honestly didn’t feel like analyzing the reason at this point.
“You’re hurt. I can carry those,” I offered softly, as I tried extremely hard to hide the sadness in my voice.
He shook his head. “I got it. I’ll come back for the other two when I get you situated inside.”
I glanced back at the woman one more time, exhaled and turned back to Tony who still watched me. I walked past him, up the steps and I heard him followed.
A part of me wanted to look around and study the house, but I couldn’t concentrate. Tony showed me the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the two extra bedrooms and his bedroom, until he finally opened a door to the bedroom he declared was mine. It was nice, simple.
A large, queen sized bed with a white coverlet and matching pillow cases was situated against the far wall. A small nightstand sat to the right of it. A chest of drawers was located directly underneath a double window that was outlined by sage green curtains. A tall, six-drawer dresser adorned the wall directly across from the window, but that was basically it. There were no decorations. It felt empty… cold.
Tony walked further into the room, dropped my bags beside the bed and faced me.
I wanted to go to him, I wanted him to hug me, I wanted him to tell me everything was going to be okay, but I knew that was foolish thinking. And if I had any question as to who the woman outside was to Tony, that was instantly cleared up.
“I’m dating her… or I was,” Tony muttered.
I didn’t know how to feel about his admission because he sounded so irritated that it threw me off a little. He had no reason to be irritated with me.
“It’s none of my business, Tony. You’re single. We’ve been over a long time. You were with many women before me and I know for a fact that you were with even more after me. I’m a big girl. You don’t have to explain anything.” I managed not to cry, but I forgot to hide the unhappiness in my voice.
Tony rubbed the back of his neck and he looked very frustrated, almost impatient.
“I need to talk to her,” he stated, clearly not wanting to leave his girlfriend waiting, so I shrugged my shoulders indifferently.
“Go. She’s waiting for you. If you would just bring in the rest of my bags, I’ll unpack and go to bed. It’s been a long week for me anyway and I could really use some sleep,” I said quietly.
“I know you’re lying,” he rumbled low.
I turned to stone.
“I’m not lying.” I was, but I’d never tell him that. “I’m not going to play the same games we used to play, Tony. I’m serious. To be completely honest with you, I lived in misery for the past two years because I never got the chance to explain things to you, but I finally got that chance. And whether you believe what I had to say or not, it was the truth. I can live with you not believing me, not trusting me… even hating me, as long as I know in my heart that I told you the truth,” I finished and knew damn well that everything I’d just said was complete bullshit. I was dying inside. I was dying for him to still love me, because I still loved him.
Tony’s expression was unconvinced, but I met his stare with confidence. Without breaking eye contact, he stepped toward me, right in front of me and cupped my cheek. I wanted to cover his hand with mine, but I stopped myself.
“I’m thinkin’ I want the Trish back from an hour ago. The one that fights back. The one that jumped outta my truck because I pissed her off. The one whose cute little nose flares when she’s trying hard not to lose it. I don’t like the new Trish standing in front of me.”
“She’s gone,” I whispered. My heart was in an unimaginable amount of pain, but I managed to keep it together and slip out of his hold.
Tony looked stunned, then he looked angry, and I watched a muscle tick in his jaw, but I kept going.
Our relationship had been over for a long time and I’d known that. I’d known about the women before me; all of them. I’d heard about his playboy status after me, but after I watched him touch another woman with my own eyes, listened to him tell me point blank that he was dating someone else… I knew now that what I’d wished for, for so long, was never even a possibility.
“Just go,” I rasped, walked past him, knelt on the floor next to my bags and didn’t look back. I unzipped the first duffle bag and pulled out clothes. I didn’t even realize how long I’d been holding my breath until I heard the door click shut behind him and I exhaled.
Tony returned minutes later with the last of my bags and dropped them next to me on the floor. He stood there, waited for me to look at him, but I refused. I heard him leave and seconds after that, the front door slammed shut.
An hour had passed, and as much as I wanted to peek out the front window to see if Tony and his hooker were still out there, I decided it would be in my best interest to let things go. I changed into my gray, oversized sleep shirt that had the words “Bite Me” printed across my chest and walked to the restroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and put away my toiletries.
And go through the drawers. There was nothing feminine in any of them… or cabinets, Nor anything pink. I figured those things would be in his personal bathroom if he had one.
By the time I made it back to my room, Tony still hadn’t come inside. I went to bed and tossed and turned until I finally fell asleep.