Making Me Believe Page 2

  “Well, I’m the only one who lives here. I’m capable of picking up after myself, so it just doesn’t get dirty,” she said.

  “Remind me to never show you my apartment,” he told her. “I think you’d be pretty disgusted.”

  “Typical male?” she asked. He struck her as someone who could be very organized and take care of things well, but he had to care first. She doubted he cared about how his apartment looked.

  “Yeah, I’m afraid so. My sister used to try to hire cleaning girls for me, but they’d take one step inside the door and run away screaming. It was sad. She stopped trying,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Go back and babysit your laundry,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He was halfway to the door, when she stopped him, “What should I wear? Jeans okay?”

  “Yeah, jeans are fine. We’ll go somewhere casual.”

  “Sounds good,” she said as she shut the door behind him.

  Chapter 2

  Rose got up early to get done with her chores the following morning. She didn’t really have anything that she wanted to wear on a date. Since she’d graduated from college two years before, she hadn’t been willing to spend any more money than absolutely necessary. Work clothes were a necessity. Workout clothes were a necessity. Workout clothes could be worn for laundry and errands. Why did she need nice jeans?

  Tonight, she needed a nice pair of jeans. She needed a pretty blouse. She may even need some cowboy boots. She’d moved to North Texas when she was sixteen, and had gone to college in Arlington, where she still lived. Her parents had long since moved back to Illinois where she’d grown up, but she’d stayed for college, and had found a job in nearby Fort Worth when she’d graduated.

  Every extra dime had gone straight into savings. Maybe it was time she lightened up and lived a little. She could spend a little bit of that savings. Rose spent the afternoon wandering around the mall, looking for just the right clothes. She found a pair of jeans that fit her body snugly, but not so tightly that she couldn’t breathe easily. She hated jeans that were that tight, and couldn’t understand why any woman would wear them that way.

  They fit so well that she bought two pairs. You never knew when you’d need jeans.

  She found a buy two get one free sale on blouses at a favorite store of hers. She’d bought some blouses from there while she was in college, but they were long since in ruins. She wasn’t into shopping, and tended to wear her clothes until they were stained or falling apart. She bought three blouses and headed out.

  She went to a small western store and found a pair of pink cowboy boots. She’d never been big into cowboy boots, but she did love pink ones. She’d debated buying a pair on and off during her eight years in Texas.

  She arrived home around 4:30 and started to get ready for her date. She had dated very little over the years, which was mainly due to her outspokenness. She had given every man who had looked at her twice her opinions about sex before marriage, and most had either been looking only for sex, or had just not been willing to date someone who was as outspoken as she was. Either way, she was happy to get them out of the way. She wasn’t in any kind of hurry to get married. If the right guy proposed, then sure. Otherwise, she was young and had a goal.

  She was ready at 5:45 and grabbed her nook which contained the romance novel that she was currently engrossed in. She curled up on the couch and read until she heard a knock. She shut off her nook and set it on the coffee table. She quickly went to the door and opened it. She’d chosen to wear jeans, a soft pink button up blouse, and her new cowboy boots.

  Alex stood there in a pair of jeans, a western shirt, and a pair of cowboy boots. He grinned at her. “You look great.” His made no effort to hide the way his eyes slid over her from head to toe.

  Rose almost felt as if his hand had stroked up her body. She was amazed at just how sexually aware she was of this man. She’d never met anyone who made her feel this way. “Thanks. You look pretty good yourself,” she told him.

  He handed her a bouquet of carnations, and she buried her nose in them, and then went to the kitchen to put them in water. “I love them! Thank you. Come on in while I find something to put these in.” She didn’t have a vase, so she used a water glass.

  He followed her to the kitchen and watched her, leaning lazily against the counter. “I thought we’d go out to a steak place I know. They have dancing and a good Country band most nights,” he said. “It’s not a bar, but they do serve alcohol. I hope that’s all right.”

  “Sounds great! I love to dance,” she said. “I’m not much of a drinker, but I don’t have a problem if you want a drink or two.”

  “I don’t drink,” he said. He didn’t elaborate, but she had a feeling there was a story in there somewhere.

  “Let me get my jacket, and I’ll be ready to go,” she told him. She grabbed her jacket off the chair where she’d laid it earlier, and slipped it on. He held the door for her and even took her key to lock it.

  “I do know how to lock my own door, you know,” she said. She didn’t mind that he was doing it for her, but she felt she needed to make at least a token protest.

  “I know. My mama always taught me that a gentleman locked and unlocked doors for his date. So that’s what I do,” he explained.

  “That works. Tell me about your mama,” she said. She’d always thought that you could tell a lot about a man by how he felt about his mother.

  He led her to a dark blue pick-up truck and opened the passenger door for her. “Well, let’s see.” He walked around the truck and got in beside her.

  “She was a great mom. She was a teacher when she and Dad were first married, but decided to stay home to raise us. She always had a snack ready when we got home from school. Now that Dad is retired, they’re travelling around North America in an RV.”

  “Sounds like fun to me! Did you grow up here in Arlington?” she asked.

  “Yep. I lived in the same house from the day I was born until I graduated from college.”

  “Wow. That must have been great. We moved around quite a bit because my dad was a manager for a retail chain. They’d move us to new areas to open new stores, and then move us again once it was up and running,” she said. “My parents have moved back to Illinois, and Dad said he’s not moving again.”

  “So that Yankee accent I hear is Illinois? I was wondering.”

  Rose sighed. “After eight years, you can still hear the accent?” When she first moved to Texas, she didn’t think that the Mid-Western states had accents. Now when she went back to visit, she would almost cringe at the strong nasal voices.

  “Once a Yankee, always a Yankee,” he teased. “Did you have to show them your green card when you started your job?”

  “You’re one of those, are you?” she asked, referring to native Texans who tended to think that everyone from any other state was a foreigner.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m proud of it too!” he grinned.

  She laughed. Looking out the window she realized they were headed north on highway 360 and had left Arlington behind. “Where are we going? I figured you’d take me somewhere in Arlington.”

  “Nahh. I found this great little place up in Grapevine. I figured I’d take you there. I get more time in your company that way,” he said.

  “Okay,” she answered. “You said your mom stayed home with ‘us’. How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

  “It’s just me and my kid sister, Sarah. She’s married and has a little boy. They live here in Arlington. How ‘bout you? Any brothers or sisters?”

  “I’m an only. My mom always wanted more, but it just didn’t happen.” She knew her mother had been disappointed in only having one child, and she’d really been torn up when Rose had decided to stay in Texas when they moved back home. They remained close, though.

  “So were you a typical spoiled only?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so. I mean, my parents made sure I knew that I was the center of their worl
d, but I didn’t get everything I wanted whenever I wanted it. They expected me to work hard and get good grades. I had to get summer jobs in high school, and they expected me to get a scholarship to pay as much of my way through college as I could.”

  “Sounds like they raised you right,” he said with a grin. “That’s the kind of parent I plan to be someday.”

  “I’m so glad you approve,” she said sarcastically. She did note that he wanted children. That was definitely a point in his favor.

  He laughed and said, “You should be! I’m the most important man in this truck!”

  “You sure are!” She grinned. “How did work go today?”

  “It was good. I think we should be done within the next couple of weeks, and that thrilled the client. I’m ready to move on to other projects,” he said.

  “What do you have in the works?” she asked.

  “Just some more houses. I think that’s going to be my niche. Custom homes. I have no desire to design the cookie cutter homes that you find in every neighborhood.”

  “How long have you had your own business?” she asked.

  “My dad was an architect. When I graduated, I worked with him for a couple of years, and then he retired, and I took it over. It’s been mine for about four years now. Some of the guys who have been there forever still think of me as the boss’s kid.”

  “Does that make it tough?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine having to constantly live in her father’s shadow.

  He shrugged. “I guess it did at first, but now it’s no big deal. They always do what I say, and that’s what matters when you get right down to it.” He pulled the truck into the parking lot of a small restaurant.

  He ran around the truck to open her door for her, taking her hand and helping her down. “Those manners your mama taught you seem to have stuck,” she said.

  “They better have! She’d take after me with a wooden spoon if they hadn’t,” he said with a grin.

  “Are you afraid of your mama?” she asked with a laugh.

  “Every smart southern man is afraid of his mama. You never outgrow having to listen to her. Never,” he said seriously.

  He opened the door for her, and they went into the restaurant. He’d made reservations and they were led to a corner booth. He waited until she slid into one side, and then he slid into the other.

  “I’m glad you’re not one of those who thinks we need to sit on one side together. That always looks weird to me,” she said.

  “I think so too,” he told her quietly. “Besides, I want to be able to watch your pretty face as we talk.”

  She looked down at her menu, a little flustered by the compliment. “What’s good here?”

  “The steak is great. I haven’t bothered to try anything else, because it’s a steak place, and it’s Texas. If you get the chicken, you’re liable to be run out of town,” he told her.

  “I think I’ll have a steak,” she said with a laugh.

  “I think that’s a fabulous choice,” he told her with a wink.

  The waiter was there then asking for their drink orders. “I’ll just have water,” she told him. “No lemon, please.”

  Alex asked for a sweet tea, and as the waiter walked away he asked, “What is it with always putting lemon in people’s water anyway? I mean, if you want lemonade, you order lemonade. Water should be just that. Water.”

  “No kidding! That’s a major pet peeve of mine. I hate lemon in my water. I don’t understand why people want it, or why restaurants expect everyone to like it that way,” she sighed. “I like water. Plain boring old water.”

  He reached out and took her hand in his. He slowly rubbed his thumb over her palm. “I assume hand holding before marriage is okay?”

  “I can make an exception, just this once,” she returned with a smile. She felt a tingle shoot through her. She knew most girls thought handholding was boring, but she’d done so little of it, that it was actually exciting for her.

  The waiter came back with their drinks, and they ordered their meals. As soon as the waiter walked off, he stood and pulled her to her feet. “Dance with me, Rose.”

  She followed him onto the dance floor going into his arms for a slow country song. They danced together in silence. He had one hand holding hers, and the other was at her waist. He rested his cheek against the top of her head as they slowly swayed to the music, not talking, just enjoying being close.

  He was a good dancer, and it was easy to follow his lead. She enjoyed being held by him. He held her just right. He wasn’t trying to hold her so close that it felt like he was trying to force her to have vertical sex with him, but he wasn’t holding her at arm’s length either.

  After the song ended, they returned to the table. The waiter had brought their salads, and they talked softly while eating.

  Rose had seldom been with a man that she felt this comfortable around. There was a definite attraction, but he was so laid-back, that it was easy to just be in his presence and talk about anything and everything.

  She learned that he was thirty to her twenty four. He enjoyed putting on work clothes and helping out with the construction side of things on the job at times. He went to his sister’s house every Sunday evening for dinner.

  He liked his brother-in-law and enjoyed spending time with his nephew. After they’d finished their meal, they shared a piece of cheesecake with raspberry sauce. She enjoyed the intimacy of sharing a dessert with him. He fed her the last bite, because his Southern manners wouldn’t allow him to eat the last one himself. They danced to a couple more songs, before they headed back out to his truck to make the twenty minute drive back to the north part of Arlington.

  “What did you think of my favorite restaurant,” he asked once they were back on the highway headed south.

  “I loved it. The atmosphere was perfect. We were able to talk without yelling, but it was still a fun place. I don’t think you could have picked a better place,” she told him.

  “What did you think of your steak?”

  “It was fabulous. It was perfectly tender, and they actually cooked it right. I give it two thumbs up.”

  He grinned. “I’m glad you liked it. We’ll have to go back there sometime. Assuming that you agree to go out with me again,” he said.

  “You haven’t done anything that would make me say no yet,” she replied.

  “I like that ‘yet’ like you’re waiting for me to do something really stupid,” he said.

  “I thought you would,” she laughed. “So far, no man has disappointed that yet.”

  “What big plans do you have for tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Oh, probably finishing the novel I’m reading. I might go nuts and get my grocery shopping done for the week,” she said.

  “How would you feel about taking a nice long walk up at River Legacy Park?” he asked.

  “That sounds like fun. I could go for that,” she said, secretly pleased that he wanted to see her again so soon.

  When he pulled up in front of her apartment, he got out and opened her door, holding his hand out for her key. She set the key in his hand, and he unlocked her door for her. “Do you want to come in for a drink?” she asked.

  “I’d love to,” he responded, following her into the apartment.

  She got him some tea from her fridge and grabbed herself a glass of water.

  She sat next to him on the couch, and they talked a while. He told her some funny stories about some of the guys at work, and she talked about some of the crazy investors that she talked to on a daily basis. Many of them treated her as if she needed to worship at their feet because of the money they had with her company. She was glad the investors couldn’t see her face as they spoke.

  After about thirty minutes, he stood up. “It’s getting late. I should get home. I’ll be back around noon tomorrow to pick you up, if that’s all right.”

  “Noon is fine,” she told him. “Do you want me to pack us a picnic lunch? We could find a good spot to stop and eat during o
ur walk.”

  “I’d like that,” he said. She walked him to the door, and he leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you at noon.”

  “Good night,” she said, as she closed the door softly. She leaned back against it and let out a breath. She had never had a date like that. He had been absolutely polite and hadn’t tried anything. She wasn’t sure if she was glad that he respected her, or disappointed that he hadn’t at least tried to kiss her. She could fall for Alex if given half a chance.

  Chapter 3

  Rose packed a picnic lunch of sandwiches and some individual bags of chips along with some cookies she baked that morning. She included several bottles of water, and packed it all into a backpack that they could carry along on their walk. The knock on her door came at exactly noon, and she opened the door to find him standing there.

  She handed him the backpack with their lunch in it and grabbed her jacket. She would probably only need it for the first few minutes of their walk, but she could always tie it around her waist if she got too hot.

  After they were settled into his truck, he asked what she’d fixed for lunch. “Nothing exciting,” she answered. “Just some turkey and pimento cheese sandwiches and some chips. Chocolate chip cookies for dessert.” She was missing something. She knew she was. “Oh! And some bottles of water in case we get thirsty.”

  “Did you make the cookies?” he asked.

  “Actually I did,” she told him. “Don’t ever expect it again, though. I only bake when I feel like it. I felt like it this morning.”

  “I expect nothing from you,” he said. “I just enjoy your company. If you hadn’t wanted to fix a lunch, I’d have run through a fast food place for us.”

  She grinned. “You’re starting to get to know me already, aren’t you? I’m nothing if not unpredictable.”

  He laughed. “Well, you were there when you said you’d be there, so that was predictable.”

  “I can stand you up next time to prove my point, if you’d like,” she offered with a smile.