Chapter Five
Matty Boy
I raise my fist to knock on the door, giving it three quick raps before taking a step back. Nothing. I step up and knock three more times, but nothing. I raise my fist to knock again, right as the door is jerked open.
“What? I mean, how can I help you?” A petite, flustered little blonde practically growls at me.
“Hey, I’m here to pick you up,” I tell her, a little bit confused with her reaction, and even more so when I take in her attire of black yoga pants and loose hanging T-shirt.
Her face blanches as her head darts out of the door, looking quickly to the left, and then to the right. She draws back inside the door, wrapping her arms around herself. “I think you have the wrong address.” She slams the door in my face, then I hear the locks clicking into place.
I hold up my phone, pulling up Avery’s text message from earlier, then lean back, looking at the numbers on the side of the house. I type out a quick text to Avery, confirming the location then wait, standing on the porch with a bouquet of wildflowers dangling from my hand.
My phone chimes with Avery’s response. I’m right, I’m where I’m supposed to be. I knock again and wait. After knocking three more times, the door is finally jerked open again.
She has a deadly glare in her eyes aimed right at me. “Listen, I don’t know who the hell you are or why you’re here, but you’re obviously at the wrong house.” She goes to slam the door again, but this time I shove my foot between it and the frame, stopping her. I wince at the pain. She might be little, but she has force behind her slam.
She slams my foot a few more times before I hold the door with my hand, my foot throbbing from all the abuse. “Awe, shit. My name is Matthew Keagan. You won me in a bachelor auction last weekend at the Regional Hospital’s annual charity event. Any of this sounding vaguely familiar to you?” I look at her, hoping to see some recognition in her eyes, but I find nothing.
She looks just as confused as I am. “What fucking auction? I don’t know anything about a damn auction. So please, just leave.”
I hold up the flowers to her with a smile on my face. She looks at them with a hint of humor in her eyes. “Wildflowers?”
I wink at her. “I picked them from the field behind my house, just for you.”
She rolls her eyes at me, then realization comes over her face. She digs her phone from the waistband of her pants and begins to furiously type on the screen. “What the hell, Mom?” she says into the phone, not giving (who I’m guessing is her mother) a chance to respond. “I told you I didn’t want to date or go out or anything!”
I take the chance to push the door off my foot and stomp it a few times, making sure she didn’t break anything. I still stand on the porch, watching her pace back and forth in the foyer as she talks on the phone. Feeling like a dumbass just standing here, I step into the house and close the door behind me. When she turns and sees me, she stops with her phone still to her ear. I hold up the flowers again, then lay them down on the table by the door. I watch as she starts pacing rapidly again, back and forth, taking in her tiny, tight body. Her tight ass is displayed perfectly in the yoga pants, and the peepshow her T-shirt is giving of her pert, hard nipples is just cruel.
She catches me eye fucking her as she ends the call. Laying the phone beside the flowers, she sighs heavily. “Look, uh…” She looks up at me.
I offer my hand to her. “Matthew.”
She takes it, and I watch as my large fingers fold around her small hand. “Matthew, I think there’s been a huge misunderstanding here.”
I can’t seem to let her hand go. “It seems that way,” I tell her, bending to the side, trying to capture her eyes with mine. “But what could it hurt?”
Her green eyes jerk up to mine, finally. “What could what hurt?” she asks, tugging her hand free from mine and taking a step away from me.
I shrug my shoulders. “Us, going out. It’s already paid for, might as well take advantage of it.” I see the doubt in her beautiful eyes. How in all the time I’ve lived in this town have I never come across her? I would’ve remembered if I had. In the five minutes I’ve been around her, she’s made quite the impression, and has stirred something in me that hasn’t been around for a week.
“Like, on a date? With you?” she asks, confused, with a little hint of disgust.
I shrug. “Yeah, with me.” I’m desperate for her to say yes. I don’t know what it is. The challenge I guess?
“But I don’t know who the hell you are.” Oh, but baby, I have every intention of finding out who you are and what makes you scream in pleasure.
~~~~~~~
Tessa
This whole situation is madness, and I can’t even get my mind to wrap around what this God of a man standing in front of me is asking me to do.
“But if we go out,” he talks with his hands, “we can get to know each other.” His smile is devastating, and don’t even get me started on his looks, or the fucking body he’s rocking.
I cock my hip to the side, propping my hand on it. “And what makes you think I want to get to know you?” I have to fight against every urge I have for this man. He’s pure sin, clad in the best pair of fitted blue jeans I’m sure has ever been made. I have to chalk it up to my neglected libido. I haven’t seen any good action in years, and he looks like a pro.
I struggle to keep my eyes on his, but they want to travel down and drink in his long, lean frame. He’s at least a foot taller than me, and I can see me wrapping my legs around his waist as he fucks me up against a wall somewhere.
I mentally shake the thoughts from my head. I don’t need this right now, if ever. He smiles again, and for the love of God, he has dimples. “Everybody wants to get to know me.” He says it with such confidence that I’m sure it’s true. A man like Matthew Keagan could ruin a woman like me, and I’m sure he has ruined many women. But he has me intrigued, and my mother insisted I go.
“You do realize my fifty-year-old mother bought you at a bachelor auction for me, right?” I ask, trying to make him see the strange reason that has brought him to my house this afternoon.
He raises his hand to rub the back of his neck, and the sleeve of the dress shirt he’s wearing tightens, showing off his very toned arm. I wrap my arms around myself, fighting the feeling of being very self-conscious around this man.
I’ve never been accused of being a knockout, but I hold my own in the looks department, meaning I clean up nice. Well, not in this oversized T-shirt and yoga pants I’m wearing now.
“Yeah, that thought has crossed my mind, but it would be a shame to let the charity money go to waste, per say.” He looks at me and smiles again. “I have a great evening planned.”
I have to give it to him, he’s almost irresistible, but I have to remind myself of the shit storm my life is and the situation I just left. They’re the reasons I’m living in my grandparents’ home, and why I had to completely overhaul my life. But what could just having dinner hurt? It has been a long time since anyone’s shown an interest in me, and getting attention from Matthew is a huge boost to my ego.
Against my better judgment, I open my mouth. “Sure. Give me twenty minutes to change.” I hold my hands out to my sides and look down at my lounging attire. “There’s beer in the fridge, or wine if you prefer. Make yourself at home in the living room and I’ll be right back down.” I must be losing my damn mind. He’s a stranger for crying out loud, and I just offered him free reign to roam around my house while I take my clothes off upstairs. Yup, I’m certifiable.
He clears his throat, stopping me on the first step, making me turn to him. “Your name, babe. I didn’t get it.” He takes a step to me, offering me his big hand again.
I inhale deeply as the sparks shoot through my body that the simple act of shaking his hand ignites. “Oh, um…sorry. It’s Tessa.”
He brings the back of my hand up to his lips and kisses it, then lingers a tad bit too long, turning the sparks into full-blown hormonal explosions. He gently lowers my hand and I can feel as the heat burns my cheeks. He totally caught me eye fucking him.
His hazel eyes hold nothing but pure evil—the wicked kind. The kind that makes you scream to the heavens in pleasure. “It helps you like what you see, because I know I do, Tessa.”
I roll my eyes at him, more frustrated with myself and the way I’m acting like a school girl whose crush just noticed her. “I better go get ready.” I climb the steps to the faint sounds of his laughter.
I stand and look at myself in the mirror, considering if he would let me back out. I’ve made some terrible decisions in my life, but I have a feeling this is up there with some of the worst, and believe me, those are some pretty shitty ones.
But when was the last time I actually did something for myself, something that was fun? Although my head is shifting through all the things that are wrong with this, the serious flutters in my belly tells me my body only wants the man.
I take a deep breath and push through all the doubts. Matthew is a good looking guy. Not someone I could see wanting me, but like he said, dinner is paid for, so why the hell not? I finish off my classic little black dress look with my grandmother’s pearls. Running my fingers over the beads at my neck thinking of the eloquent lady who’d passed them down to me.
I stand at the top of the stairs and take one more deep breath, calming my nerves. It’s been a very long time since I’ve felt the way I’m feeling right now. The jittery goodness flows through my body, making a smile spread across my lips at the thought of the man who is waiting for me in my living room.
I peek around the bannister at the foot of the stairs to see Matthew sitting on my couch, beer in hand, waiting patiently for me to get ready for a date financed by my mother.
I come to a stop at the entry into the living room. “Hey,” I say, getting his attention as I fidget with my hair. I had straightened it as best I could in the time I had. He jerks his head around to me, scooting his big body up the cushion and setting his beer on the coffee table before standing. “I’m ready,” I announce nervously, holding my hands out to my sides. He closes the distance between us, stopping just short of being in my personal space.
“Yes, you are.” He lifts his index finger, letting it drift slowly down my cheek, stopping to gently pull my bottom lip down. He continues to glide his hand over my exposed skin, across my collarbone, then down my bare arm until he stops to take my hand in his. “Let’s get this night started.” I’m lost in his hazel eyes as I let him lead me from the house to his car.
He moves with a predator’s ease and has the grace a man of his size shouldn’t possess. For this man to be a stranger, I feel completely at ease around him, like there’s no threat. To say I’m enamored and want to get to know Matthew Keagan better is an understatement. He places his hand on my lower back, leading me down the short walk to the driveway, where I stop in shock.
I point to the sleek, black Mercedes sitting behind my beat-up Nissan. “Is that your car?” I ask. My eyes are wide as I take in the beautiful machine. He steps around me, reaching for the handle of the passenger door, opening for me. I run my hand along the shiny doorframe, then duck my head inside the cabin, taking a look around. Popping back up, I turn to him. “You rented this, didn’t you?”
He rests his hand on the door and shoves his other hand down into his pocket. He lowers his head and gives me a panty melting smile. “No, doll, it’s mine.”
“Wow.” I let him help me into the soft supple leather of the passenger side seat. “Really?”
He sighs. “Yes, Tessa, it is,” he states, right before closing the door. What the hell could he possibly do to be able to afford a car like this? I let my hand caress the leather of the seat I’m sitting in, and my eyes take in the technology filling the dashboard. The new car smell still hangs heavy in the air, making me think he isn’t telling the truth. I smirk at him as he lowers himself into the driver’s seat.
He notices it. “What?” he asks as he reaches for the key to start the engine. It purrs to life under us, and I have to admit, the smoothness of the sound makes me a little wet.
I collect myself and focus. “What exactly do you do for a living, Mr. Keagan?” I lift an eyebrow at him as I try to read him, but his stone features give nothing away. It’s like he’s trained his face to not show any emotion, aside from the satisfied smile he had given me when I’d first opened my front door, or the devilish way his eyes had devoured my body when he thought I wasn’t looking.
“I’m a partner in Knights Garage on the other side of town,” he says without a hint of humor, but I bust out laughing at the absurdity of his profession and the particular luxury vehicle we’re riding in at the moment. “What’s so funny?” His question is laced with annoyance.
“Forgive me, but I’ve never met a mechanic who could afford a car like this.” My bullshit radar is ringing like a five alarm fire bell at the moment, and the doubts I had earlier have now turned to dread that I have agreed to spend the evening with the biggest poser on the planet.
He falls silent, and I fear that I’ve taken my ribbing a little too far, as in I bruised his precious male ego. But I don’t care. I’m tired of men portraying themselves as something they’re not. I learned that lesson the hard way. I have no patience for a person who lies, and he’s done it twice since we walked out of my house.
“I’m good at investing,” he grumbles, never taking his eyes off the road ahead of us.
I turn in my seat with a disgusted look on my face. “You have got to be kidding me? Good at investing?” I turn back around in my seat with a huff, crossing my arms over my chest. “This was a really bad idea,” I mumble under my breath.
“And how’s that?” I turn to him in shock. He’d heard me. I didn’t think I said that out loud.
Confronted with my complaint, I can’t turn back now. “You’ve lied to me twice in the forty minutes since we’ve met. And forgive me, Matthew, I don’t think lying to your date is the best way get to know each other.” My body jerks in my seat as he whips the responsive car into a parking space, slamming the gearshift into park.
He reaches across my legs to the glove box. Clicking it open, he fumbles with its contents, then pulls out a little zippered book. Opening it, he hands me a piece of paper. “Here’s all the proof you need to know I haven’t fucking lied to you once.” His eyes narrow as he shoves the paper at me again. “Take it, then maybe you can pull that stick out of your ass and stop judging a person you don’t know, who has been nothing but overly polite to you.”
Shocked at the change in his demeanor and tone with me, I lift my shaking hand to take the paper from him. I turn it over in my hand to see it’s a vehicle registration for the car I’m sitting in, and it is in fact registered to a Jackson Matthew Keagan Jr. I look at him out of the corner of my eye and see he’s waiting for me to eat crow.
I turn, handing the paper back to him. “I’m sorry for accusing you of lying about the car, but I still find it hard to believe you’re an investing mechanic genius.” Why am I being so fucking difficult with him? He’s been nothing but nice to me, just as he pointed out. This is the first time in a long time a man has shown any interest in me, and I’m throwing shit in his face.
He shoves his fingers through his hair, blowing out a long breath in what I have no doubt is frustration. “If I didn’t lie to you about the car, why would I lie to you about what I do?” He turns to me and he captures me with his intense gaze. “If I were going to lie, why wouldn’t I tell you I was a doctor? How about a billionaire mogul of a company I built from nothing with my own two hands?” Even though his eyes are burning me from the inside out, his features are cold, and not giving away anything that’s going on with him under his cool exterior. “If it were my intention to just get into your pants, would those professions not seem more feasible to get you hot and bothered, along with a rented Mercedes?”
I feel like such a fool. Everything he’s said has more logic than any reasons I can come up with for why he would be lying to me. I cradle my face in my hands, feeling the embarrassment burning my face for the second time in this man’s presence. I give my head a good shake before lifting it up to find him. He’s still staring at me, waiting for words I can’t find.
I shrug my shoulders, then slump them in complete defeat. “If you want to call it off and take me home, I understand. Taking a raging bitch out to dinner is probably not something you had planned on. I’ll contact the charity and tell them it was me, and that you held up your end of the contract.” I pause, then finish up with the words I should’ve started with. “I’m sorry for accusing you of being a liar.”
He smiles at me—fucking smiles—and there are those damn dimples. “Good. Now that we have that out of the way.” He turns in his seat, shifts, then pulls the car back out into traffic. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
I look at him, confused. “You’re not mad or upset?” Which he has every right to be.
“No. The way I see it is that I stepped up to you, albeit your mother bought me last weekend. You had no idea. You have every right to be leery of me. You don’t know me from Adam. I would think you’re a bit naive had you not been a little suspicious of me.” He sounds proud of me for acting like a bitch to him and calling him on his shit. “I take it you’ve learned the hard way to be apprehensive of men.” It’s a statement, not a question, so I don’t acknowledge or answer it.
I clear my throat, wanting the silence I’ve imposed on us to be over. “Where are we eating tonight?”
“My favorite, Mariano’s.” He glances over at me for my reaction.
“Sounds good. I’ve not had the pleasure of eating there.” I’ve only been in town a few weeks. My mother had set up my job for me and made sure I had a roof over my head. Other than that, I’ve not done anything outside of those two things. Laying low had been my norm for several months now.
Looking very pleased with himself, he replies with, “Well, Tessa, I’m very happy I can help you out with that.”
“It’s actually my mother who’s helping us both out,” I say with a hint of a giggle I catch with my hand.
He returns the laugh. “Yeah, it is. By the way, can I ask your mother’s name?”
I look at him, again confused. “It wasn’t on the bidding slip?”
“No, the bid was anonymous.”
“It wasn’t too anonymous. You were provided with the address of where to pick me up,” I point out.
“Well, I did have to pick you up, but I wasn’t given any names.” He smiles over at me.
“What are you smiling at?”
“It was you, wasn’t it? You were the one who bid on me and now you’re blaming your poor dear mother for it.” His smile is devious, and it ruffles my feathers.
“No!” I object, completely appalled he would think such a thing. “I don’t even know where the charity event was held or when it was. Well, now I do since you told me. Plus, I had no clue who you were until you showed up on my doorstep.” I fumble over my words, trying to explain my ignorance in all this.
He shakes his head. “Sure, sure.” He’s ribbing me now.
“Are you calling me a liar, Matthew?” I throw his jab back at him.
He throws his head back, letting out a bark of deep laughter. “Not so fun, is it?”
I chew on my bottom lip. “No.” I guess this is where he serves up the crow for me to eat. “Touché, Matthew, touché.” I return his satisfied smile.
“So, do you have a last name, Tessa?” he asks, making me think back over the two introductions we went through and not once had I given him my surname.
What could it hurt for me to give him my name? It’s not like he’s going to do a background search on me.