Chapter 5

“I’m sorry,” Drake said as they drove up the Pacific Coast Highway. “I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”

“It’s alright. I’m sure you are used to calling all the shots in your business and were just trying to be helpful.”

“I was. Really, I was just trying to help.”

“How about we forget about that for now and just enjoy our day together. I’d love to drive up north on this highway a bit. I’ve heard so much about how beautiful it is.”

“Yes, it’s one of the most relaxing drives. There’s a nice restaurant about two hours north of here, would you like to go there for dinner?”

Drake felt so out of his comfort zone that he was stumbling over his own words. Nothing like this had ever happened to him on a date before. He wasn’t his normal confident self, and he felt like the date was running off into some horrible place. Scarlett and he had gotten along so well throughout the week; they were so suited to each other.

He had to figure out what was going wrong and fix it fast. There wasn’t time for making up for things later. Their date day would be over soon, and Drake would be left to make a decision about which one of the women he wanted to keep with him. He had to make the right choice.

The original idea for the week full of women had admittedly been a little perverse. Drake liked the idea of having a group of women all fighting over him. His ego liked the idea, his body liked the idea; everything seemed perfect until emotions started mixing into the situation. As the week had progressed, Drake had become tired, his view of the women had expanded to include so much more, though. Every one of them was unique and beautiful. It weighed heavily on him that he would have to choose only one of the women.

Even though the next day was going to be very difficult on Drake, he didn’t regret bringing all the women to his house. He would never have met this same group of women in any other situation, so Drake was very grateful that they had all decided to come.

“Dinner sounds great,” Scarlett replied. “Maybe we could stop and walk on the beach a little too.”

“Perfect.”

Scarlett reached over, grabbed Drake’s hand, and he instantly felt better. Whatever tension had been going on was released in that touch of hers. They might not have seen eye to eye on her business dealing, but Drake was trying to look out for Scarlett.

It wasn’t as if he had said something that wasn’t true. When it came to business, Drake knew what he was doing and was certain he could have saved Scarlett at least a hundred thousand dollars on the property. But he wasn’t going to dwell on it. Every business had to be run in a way that made the owner proud, and Drake was going to have to let Scarlett run her own affairs.

“You’re an amazing woman. I admire you. I’m sure the other women around you look up to you as well.”

“Thank you, I work really hard at being fair and consistent in my interactions with the world.”

“Did I mention you’re beautiful? I don’t want to forget that part as well.”

Scarlett laughed as she smiled at Drake. He was trying hard to make things work between them, and Scarlett couldn’t fault him for that. She wanted it to be a good match for them. She had stuck around all week long and endured the women of the house all because she wanted to give Drake the chance he deserved. She wasn’t about to let his slip up about her business deal ruin their entire date.

Many other men had tried to step on her business toes, so to speak—it seemed to be a man thing. They wanted to show off their knowledge or help out in some way; Scarlett didn’t hold that against Drake at all.

She was going to put every effort into making the rest of their night one to remember. No matter what else came after that day, Scarlett didn’t want to ever look back and think that she would have done something different.

As a strong woman, she often pushed men away from her. Scarlett knew this about herself and was working on getting better at it. She had strong opinions and that didn’t always sit well with the men she dated. One of her friends had told Scarlett that she emasculated men when she was on dates with them.

It was a devastating blow to Scarlett to think that she was doing anything that would make the men she knew feel like they weren’t worthy of her. She didn’t feel that way about the men, especially Drake. She liked him very much and had enjoyed watching him throughout the week. He had expertly handled the emotions of the women in the house while still working to enjoy himself. Scarlett appreciated Drake for the efforts he had put in, and she really, genuinely, wanted to get to know him better.

“Where’s your perfect vacation spot?” Scarlett asked as they drove on the beautiful coastal highway.

“I’d have to say New York or London. The excitement in those two cities is hard for me to give up. I love how much technology and innovation is always going on there. Oh, and Beijing. Have you ever been there? It’s so fast-paced and beautiful.”

“I’ve been to London and a lot of Europe, but never to China. I didn’t think it was all that safe to be traveling around there as a single woman.”

“I’ll take you sometime. There is this hotel that doesn’t rent out rooms, but instead just rents these capsules that have beds in them. It’s really cool.”

Scarlett couldn’t help smiling at the excitement in Drake’s voice. He clearly loved to travel, and so did she. Although, she tried to choose quiet beach locations instead of bustling metropolis cities. It did appear that they had different tastes in what their perfect vacation location would be.

“What do you do if you’re traveling with someone? Is the capsule big enough for two?”

“I don’t think they have double occupancy capsules. But it was a cool experience.”

“Did you go to the Great Wall of China?” Scarlett asked.

“No, that’s a little out of the way and in the countryside. I stuck to the city, and the business meetings I had kept me pretty busy for most of my trip.”

“So, you went all the way to China and didn’t see one of the great wonders of the world? You must have been pretty darn busy.”

Scarlett didn’t like the sound of that at all. What kind of man would travel all the way to China and not take one extra day to see the Great Wall? It seemed preposterous to Scarlett and such a waste. When she traveled, Scarlett loved to be part of the local community as much as possible. She didn’t like the big cities and, instead, preferred small cities or private beaches where she could mingle with the locals.

“Yeah, when I’m traveling for business I’m usually just in and out of a place as quickly as possible.”

Scarlett watched out her window as the houses rushed by the car. She had dreamt about a moment like that with a man. Romantically driving up the coast as they talked about life. But Scarlett had imagined the moment being much different. She had imagined she would be in love with the man she was traveling with and the moment would be filled with pure joy, but instead, she felt increasingly awkward around Drake.

The control she exercised over her life was hard for others to appreciate sometimes. It often made her seem like she was judging people or not enjoying herself. But Scarlett was just a tough, single woman trying to get by in life. She didn’t want things handed to her and was more than happy to work hard for what she had in her life. Even in the romance area, Scarlett was happy to work at any relationship.

“How much do you think houses on the beach cost?” Scarlett asked as she continued to watch the large homes on the cliffs and make small talk.

“It matters which side of the highway you’re on and how far north you go. Some of the smaller houses might only be a million dollars while the larger houses on the beach could go for well over twenty million dollars.”

“I don’t think I could live right on the ocean. I’d probably never get any work done.”

“Same thing I was thinking. I love to visit the beach, but if I lived out here, I’m sure my business would suffer.”

“Pull over,” Scarlett said softly, squeezing Drake’s hand. “I need to fix something.”

He found the next parking area near the beach and parked the car. But as he got ready to get out, Scarlett pulled him back in. The intense look on her face had him instantly concerned.

“What’s wrong with us?” Scarlett asked in frustration.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t pretend like things are going well. We can’t even have a conversation without it feeling forced. We got along so well this week. I can’t figure out what’s going wrong.”

Drake gave a huge sigh of relief as he grabbed Scarlett’s hand and pulled it up to his mouth to kiss it. Her words were exactly what he had been thinking and had been too afraid to say. There was something wrong between them, and it was new and awkward, and Drake wanted it to go away as quickly as possible. He needed things to return to the way they had been at the house when they were first getting to know each other.

“Perhaps we put too high expectations on ourselves for the day?”

“Well, we need to fix this.”

“I’m game. What do you think might work?”

Scarlett flung her seatbelt off and climbed into Drake’s lap. Her legs straddled either side of him and her breasts were only inches away from his mouth. Whatever her plan was, Drake was one hundred percent in agreement with it. Anything that involved her breasts being so close to his lips had to be a good idea.

She didn’t say a word, but instead leaned down and started to kiss Drake. He didn’t argue. Her sweet lips tasted delicious as he moved his mouth around to gently taste her. She moaned slightly under her breath, and he grabbed her ass and pulled her closer to him. The tight jeans she had on ensured that nothing more than a fun make out session was going to happen, but that was just fine with Drake. Scarlett was full of contradictions, and he was eager to learn more about what she liked and didn’t like.

While wearing a dress, she didn’t like him sliding his hands up her thighs. But in her jeans, she seemed liberated and excited by his touch. She obviously liked taking control of the moment and not letting things that bothered her fester and get worse. It was refreshing to see how much she was willing to do to make their date go better. He was already feeling like the tension between them had lifted.

He moved his hands from her ass to the front of her shirt as he pulled it out of her jeans. Drake let his hand move up Scarlett’s bare skin until he came to her delicious breasts. He felt like he might be pushing his luck if he tried to unbuckle her bra, so Drake pushed the cup from one of her breasts down and exposed her nipple to him.

His lips moved down her neck and wrapped tightly around her exposed nipple, and Scarlett let out the most delightful moan he had heard that day. The more he tugged on her nipple, the more she moaned. Drake felt like he had a secret key to delivering Scarlett some kind of pleasure and wasn’t about to give it up.

She moaned and arched back, just enough that the horn of the car sounded and everyone in the vicinity looked over at their car. Scarlett quickly pulled her shirt down and then buried her face in Drake’s neck out of pure embarrassment. She climbed off him and into the passenger seat as she ducked down and tried to hide from the eyes of everyone around them.

“Oh, my gosh,” she said, now practically on the floor of the passenger seat.

Scarlett continued to duck down farther and farther until she was actually sitting on the floor in the front seat. Drake had to try and hold in his laughter as he watched her dramatically trying to avoid the watchful eyes of people passing their vehicle and heading out to the beach.

“They are moving on,” Drake said with tears of laughter.

“I can’t believe that just happened. What if they call the police?”

Drake continued to laugh as Scarlett hid on the floor of the car. Her concern over getting caught making out in the car was so endearing. Scarlett’s cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, but the mood had certainly been lightened up quite a bit.

“No one is going to call the police. Come back up here.”

“Oh, I can’t. Not until everyone has gone away and stopped looking at us.”

“They aren’t looking. It’s safe. Come back up here.”

Drake held his hand out for Scarlett, and she pulled herself back up from the floor of the car. She kept her head down as she looked around out of the corner of her eyes to see if anyone was still watching their car.

Scarlett wasn’t the kind of girl who made out with guys in their cars. The previous night when they had pulled into the abandoned parking lot had been a huge step for her to give up on her anxiety and just kiss Drake like she wanted to.

Climbing onto his lap had also been way outside of her comfort zone. Scarlett still couldn’t believe she had done it and really wasn’t ever going to forget it after what had happened with the car horn.

“Can we go for a walk or something? I don’t want to be in the car anymore.”

“Of course.”

The pair made their way down the sandy beach, and the tension between them seemed to have totally disappeared. Scarlett held onto Drake’s hand as they climbed up and over some rocks and continued to walk down the beach. Their conversation went on for almost anything they could imagine, from business to dogs and everything in between.

It was a romantic evening, and they were lost in conversation as the sun started to set and they slowed their stroll. Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t actually died from embarrassment, and they sat on the beach to watch the sunset and enjoy a little more time together.

Drake pulled Scarlett into his arms and held her close to keep the nighttime chill from getting to her. She was delighted to have his arms around her but wasn’t going to let things go any further than they already had. She certainly wasn’t going to get herself arrested for indecent exposure—that was for sure.

“Do you think this week was worth it?” she asked Drake.

He paused for what seemed like forever before he finally answered her. His answer seemed very well thought out and diplomatic for the situation they were in.

“I am a very lucky man to have gotten to know all seven of you. I wouldn’t change a thing from this week. No matter what happens tomorrow, I really do believe this week was worth it.”

Scarlett had a ton of other questions she wanted to ask him, but she wasn’t going to. She wanted to know if he had slept with all of the other women. She wanted to know if he already had his decision made of who he was going to pick. There were dozens of thoughts that she could have tortured herself with, but Scarlett decided not to.

She had never been the type of woman who was jealous because of other women and wasn’t going to let a week at Drake’s house change her. Certainly, it was awkward that Drake had spent time with so many other women so close to when she went out with him. But the truth was that everyone had a history before they met each other and that couldn’t be changed.

A couple could only move forward from the point that they decided to be an item. Scarlett was confident she would be able to move forward with Drake after their week of craziness. She liked most of the other women anyway, and if he picked one of them over her, well, Scarlett would be alright with that also.

Men weren’t something that Scarlett pretended to understand. She truly didn’t get them most of the time and wasn’t going to pretend she did. If Drake found a better match among the other women in the house, then she would be happy for him. But there was only one other woman that Scarlett really thought would be a perfect match for Drake; only one other woman besides herself, of course.

“I think this week was worth it as well. As wild and crazy as it has been, it was a huge learning experience for me.”

Drake started to laugh.

“What on earth could you have learned this week?”

“Don’t laugh, I actually learned a lot about myself this week and how I interact with other women. I’m not all that understanding to some women, and I worked really hard to be respectful of them and their spot in this process this week.”

“Sophia? You like her, right?”

“No. Actually, I don’t like her all that much.”

Drake was caught totally off guard. He had watched Scarlett washing Sophia’s hair in the hospital. She had been gentle and kind to Sophia, and it had certainly looked as though she liked her very much.

“But you went to the hospital to check on her. I saw you washing her hair.”

“I knew she would want to look beautiful for you when you came to visit her. I had just come to check on her and offered to help her. Sophia’s face lit up at the idea, so I went with it. I was happy to help her out. I know it was rough on her having to back out of the week with you. But she still hoped you would pick her.”

“You didn’t think I would pick her, did you?”

“No, I knew from talking to Samantha that you weren’t going to pick Sophia.”

“I like that you and Sam get along so well, but I must admit, it’s a little scary to me.”

“Because you think she’s told me all of your secrets?” Scarlett winked.

“Yes, or that she …” he trailed off.

Scarlett turned around to look at Drake. There had been something he wanted to say, but he stopped himself. Something about Samantha that he was only a moment away from blurting out; but Drake was too afraid to continue.

“It’s getting late, should we head back? I think the water has gotten pretty high,” Scarlett said as she saved Drake from having to finish his sentence.

Drake obviously had strong feelings about Samantha, and from the conversations Scarlett had with Samantha, she had similar feelings. But the two of them had decided their working relationship was more important. That was admirable to Scarlett, although she wasn’t sure she agreed with the logic. But clearly the two of them had worked together for over five years and nothing had happened yet, so it was highly likely nothing was ever going to happen between them.