Scent of a Nightmare, page 8
Maybe he changed his mind.
Maybe he didn’t mean to text me.
“Hi.” I said, unsure if I did something wrong. I looked behind me and noticed that no one else was in the store with us.
“Uh... hi.” He responded. His face flushed as he ran a hand through his perfect hair and then bent down to pick up the bills he dropped. He set them down and came around the counter. He brushed past me and towards the door. He turned the open sign to closed and locked the door. When he came back, he approached me, and I froze.
“Hi.” I said again, stupidly.
He looked at me like he had never seen me before.
“You look... beautiful.” He said.
“Maybe I should straighten my hair more often.” I joked with him.
He laughed. “I was hoping you would ditch that hat.”
“You don’t like my hat?”
“You should never hide behind anything.” He said.
“Scandalous, Pops.” I joked with him as I pushed on his chest lightly and took a step back. “You don’t even know me.”
He laughed. “That’s why we are hanging out.”
I smiled at him and ran my hand through my hair nervously as I stepped further back from him and changed the subject. “So Tate, where are we going to dinner?”
“I was going to see if you wanted to go to this new restaurant that opened up in town.” He said. He looked at his watch on his left wrist and then glanced at the front door. A dull knock echoed in the store. We both turned to it. There were three other women that were trying to open the door. The one banging on the window was the girl with large tits from earlier. She knocked on the window and her friends stumbled over their feet into her as they laughed. They were all clearly drunk. She yelled into the glass. “Tate!”
I turned to Tate and raised an eyebrow. “Are they coming too?”
“God no.” He shook his head.
“You guys seem to know each other well.” I indicated, hoping he would tell me otherwise.
He sighed heavily and shook his head. “More like a really bad decision I made two years ago.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “All three of them?”
He snorted. “Hell no. Just one.”
I looked back at them and noticed one girl standing to the side. She was trying to not look at Tate and I suspected maybe she was the bad decision... or it could have been the one he called Brex. The quiet girl was texting on her phone while she swayed. Brex and the other girl kept banging on the door obnoxiously.
Jealousy rolled in my gut, and I felt ridiculous feeling it at all. It wasn’t fair to feel that way. It wasn’t like Tate was mine. We didn’t even know each other. I wasn’t even supposed to still be here. This whole situation was never part of the plan. I nodded and he read my reaction.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t a topic I wanted to talk about tonight.” He said nervously as he headed back to the cash register.
I shrugged. “I mean we all have a past. We have no control over the things that happen to us or the people who come into our lives.”
He grinned at me this time and his playful personality came back. “I have to count this money before we can go. I will need you to not look at me like that though or else I will never be able to count this money.”
My heart stopped beating.
He did not just say that.
Fuck...me.... of course he did.
I bit my lower lip out of reaction and his eyes darkened. We stood in silence for a moment. We were not ready for that step yet. For fucks sake, I wasn’t ready to do that yet. It didn’t mean I didn’t want to do that... I certainly did. The idea of him taking me on the counter played in my mind again. My breath hitched in my chest. We didn’t even know each other. For all I know I could be one of his many collections of women.
Like the three girls outside.
That thought alone made me nauseous. I could not handle that. That would ruin me.
“Count your money, Pops.” I ordered him, a little breathy. I waved him towards the cash drawers. I needed distance from him. The sight of him alone was making me think bad thoughts. Thoughts that made me feel hot and flushed in all areas of my body.
He chuckled as he walked around the counter and I followed him as I hopped onto the counter next to him. I kicked my feet since they couldn’t touch the floor and Brex banged on the window again. Tate looked up and she waved at him, irritated. I looked back at her and her friend next to her shrugged her shoulders at Tate. She was appalled that he ignored them.
He looked away and shook his head as he counted the money and then placed the bills in an organized line in the cash drawer. I glanced back and saw Brex and her friends were now talking to each other with their arms crossed over their chests.
I watched them and then looked back at Tate as he knelt by the safe that was tucked under the counter. He placed the drawers in the safe and grabbed his wallet from inside and stuck it in his back pocket. He locked the safe and faced me. He walked towards me and stood in the spot between my swinging legs. His cologne of woodsy spice and the scent of coffee coated his tattooed skin. He placed his hands on either side of my thighs, not touching me though, and I felt my chest seize. My breathing hitched again, and this man turned my body to liquid.
Hot boiling liquid.
He made my brain disintegrate from my body.
I was severely too warm in my clothes as he looked at me with this intense hunger in his eyes. A look that no one had ever looked at me like.
I should’ve pushed him away, but I didn’t. I couldn’t stop thinking about his mouth on my body...His hands touching me. I couldn’t stop picturing him and me... right here. Right now.
“Tate.” I said, more aware that his mouth was inches from mine again.
“Hmm?” He asked as he watched my face.
“We should get going.” I didn’t want to say it, but I was losing control over my willpower to not run my hands through his hair. He grinned at me in a devastating way and nodded.
“Yeah, we are going to miss our reservation.” He told me as he grabbed a set of keys that were beside me. “You were blocking my keys.”
I bit my lower lip again. “Scandalous.”
“Opportunist. I’ll take any opportunity to be close to you.” He said as he placed the keys into his pocket.
“I can’t get down.” I told him as he stayed with his hands on the counter, close to touching me. I just wanted them to move over slightly to touch me.
“Right.” He took a step back and removed his hands in the opposite direction of where I wanted them.
I hopped down and another round of knocking filled the empty store. He rolled his eyes at the group of women that were leaning with their backs against the glass.
“I’m sorry about them.” He apologized again.
“I find it amusing they’re outside and I’m inside.”
He grinned and I was surprised I was still standing.
“Let’s go.” He said as he motioned me to follow him to the back door of the store. I stood there as he ran to the alarm box by the front of the cafe and set it. He grabbed a helmet that hung on a rack by the back entrance and closed the door behind us. He locked the door and we turned to a parked sports bike.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Is this your only form of transportation?”
He laughed, knowing what I was getting at. “Yes and before you say anything...”
I cut him off. “How were you going to give me a ride home with this? Where was Waylan supposed to go?”
He and I laughed as he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I said it before I could think it through. That was why I didn’t fight you when you declined.”
I motioned my hand to the bike, but he caught it. He held my hand for a moment and then he handed me the helmet that was in his other hand.
“It’s my extra one I keep at the cafe.”
“Is this the helmet all your ladies wear?” I asked, hoping my joke wasn’t the truth.
He shook his head. “Jealous of other ladies?”
I scoffed, annoyed at him. “No.”
“Liar. But no, I have never had another woman on the back of my bike.” He made sure it was secure on my head and then he unlatched the other from the back of the bike and placed it on his gorgeous head.
My stomach did backflips at his comment. He climbed onto the bike and looked at me. I hesitated and then I nervously climbed behind him. I had never been on a motorcycle before and my grandpa would have shot Tate with his gun if he knew he had me on this thing. I wondered what he would say if I told him. I grinned at what I pictured his face would be.
I wrapped my arms around Tate’s solid abdomen. I could feel the muscles and hardness under his thin black shirt. I felt nervous to place my hands there. I felt like I was getting handsy with the thought of picturing what was under his shirt. My skin warmed again and I tried not to touch him too much.
“You are going to have to hold on tighter if you do not want to fall off.” He looked back at me.
I rolled my eyes and gripped him tighter, leaving no space between us. My grip on him got even tighter after he started the bike. It revved loudly and the vibrations shook my bones. The nerves engulfed me, and I squeezed him harder. He shook in laughter and touched my hand with his to ensure I was safe.
I felt safe, even though this was the farthest thing from it. We pulled out of the parking lot, and I squeezed my thighs against his body. Then we were on the open road, and I never let up my grip on him. Nothing was more satisfying than riding past the girls that were now sitting on the curb outside of the coffee shop. Brex glared at us. I grinned under the helmet. If I wasn’t scared to let Tate go, I would have flipped her off.
We got to the restaurant located on the pier fifteen minutes from the coffee shop. The parking lot was packed when he parked the bike in a spot I was pretty sure was illegal. I climbed off clumsily. My legs felt like jello and my nerves were buzzing with adrenaline.
However, I liked the bike.
Especially, since no other woman had been on it before me.
Tate took the helmet from my head and secured it next to his on the bike. I ran my hands through my hair, knowing it probably had helmet creases in it.
“You look perfect.” He winked at me.
He held a hand out to me and I took his. I laced my fingers in his and we walked into the restaurant. A tall dark skinned man with brilliant green eyes, greeted us at the doorway. He smiled at Tate and they fist bumped.
“Hey Tate.” The man said.
“Hey Kellan, this is Cadence.” Tate introduced me.
I waved at him, and he nodded at me.
“Ahh you are the date.” Kellan replied.
My face flushed and I glanced at Tate. He shook his head at Kellan.
“Come on Kellan.” He said, looking a little embarrassed.
“No, I want to hear more about this.” I joked with him.
“He was so nervous to ask you out.” Kellan said.
“Oh my god.” Tate muttered.
I smirked and thought it was cute he was talking about me to his friend.
“Yeah he was obsessing about asking you all day.” Kellen smirked at Tate. Tate ran a hand over his face.
“And you were worried about me being a serial killer.” I said back to Tate.
Kellan laughed and nodded his head for us to follow him. We walked inside the restaurant and Kellan looked back at Tate. “There was a huge turn out.”
“It looks great.” Tate responded.
The inside was dark and had an orange glow all around the room at each table. There was a bar along the far end of the restaurant that overlooked the lake behind it. A large window took up the entire back wall and a massive pier went out over the lake along their outside sitting area. Kellan directed us to the second level of the restaurant and we sat at a table that overlooked the lake from the upstairs view.
Kellan pulled a chair out for me, and I thanked him as I took a seat.
“You’re not going to pull my chair out for me?” Tate joked.
Kellan laughed and shook his head. “You aren’t pretty enough Tate.”
I laughed at their interaction as Tate took a seat.
“I’ll have a waitress with you guys shortly, thanks again for coming.” Kellan looked at me when he said it and I smiled back at him.
Tate shook Kellan’s hands. “I hope it goes smoothly.”
Kellan nodded and then left our table.
“I like him.” I told Tate.
“Everyone does. He’s a good guy. This restaurant had been a huge project. Took over a year to get it running.” Tate leaned back and sighed heavily.
I looked at him and noticed he had worried creases in his forehead. I hadn’t noticed them before because he was always joking around with me.
“You ok?” I asked.
A waitress passed Kellan on the stairs and carried a pitcher of water over to us. She poured us glasses and Tate asked her to give us a few more minutes to look over the menu.
“It’s just really nice to relax.” He told me after the waitress left. “We have been really busy lately and I think one of my employees either can’t count for shit or is in need of extra cash. Our drawer was short tonight by almost seventy dollars.”
“That’s awful. What are you going to do about it?”
He took a sip of his water and looked more serious now. “I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and see if it happens again. If it does, then I’ll have to see what’s up.”
I was surprised by his response. “That’s it?”
“Yea, why?”
“Most employers fire their employees for that. Aren’t you afraid that if you give them a pass, they will take advantage of you and do it again?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Sometimes people need help and don’t know how to ask for it.”
“True. Or they are awful and take what they think they deserve from the ones who are too nice.” I countered.
He stared at me for a moment and I wondered if I had struck a nerve.
“Perhaps, but I like to give chances before I make that decision. I try to find out the truth rather than assume. Giving the benefit of the doubt type ordeal. That way when they let you down, you know you gave them a chance to think about what they are doing.” He said as he picked up a menu and looked at it.
I nodded, figuring I should drop the subject. I picked the menu up and glanced at it too.
“What kind of food do you like?” I changed the subject.
“Pasta. Surprisingly, I am a glutton for anything with pasta.” He grinned at me. “What about you?”
“I love everything, but potatoes are my weakness.” I crossed my legs and shifted in my seat.
“What about pastries?” He peered over the menu.
“I love cheesecake. Not the kind where you mix cream cheese and powdered sugar and cool it, but those dense New York style cheesecakes. I can eat a whole one.”
He laughed at my comment. I loved hearing him laugh. It was a sound I could listen to for the rest of my life and never tire of it.
“My grandma used to make me one for my birthday every year. She would put those canned pie cherries on top.” I couldn’t pull my eyes from him. We looked at each other like that for a while until a waitress coughed to get our attention. She held a bottle of wine and went to pour Tate a glass, but he shook his head at her.
“No thank you.” He told her with a grin.
She poured me a glass and then took our orders and walked away.
“Do you drink?” I asked him, taking a sip.
“Not when I am responsible to bring you home to Waylan.” He told me.
A strange sensation fluttered in my stomach at the idea of him making me a priority. He was driving me around and making sure that I got home to Waylan. I’ve never been worthy enough to be a priority like that before.
“How old is Waylan?” He asked.
“She’s five. She’s starting kindergarten this year.”
“Are you going to be here when that happens or are you still just visiting?” He asked.
I sat in silence for a moment.
How do I answer that?
“I don’t know yet.” I said quietly.
“I hope you stay.” He admitted.
I couldn’t answer him. I wasn’t planning on it after the interaction with Shane from earlier.
“Waylan likes you.” I told him, changing the subject.
I shifted in my seat and bumped my foot against his. That falling feeling hit me again.
“Sorry.” I muttered.
He grinned at me. “You don’t ever have to apologize for touching me.”
He destroys me.
My face flushed.
I took a few more sips of my white wine and remembered that I hadn’t eaten anything most of the day.
I probably should not drink too much of this.
It would make me want to touch him more than I already wanted to.
I really needed to stop objectifying him.
“I like Waylan. She’s funny.” He responded.
“She’s definitely a character.” I told him.
“So, you said you were visiting your grandparents right? How’s your grandpa doing?”
I sucked in a breath. I couldn’t believe how much he actually listened to me when I talked. Most guys I had met had very selective hearing. I opened my mouth to respond when the waitress brought us our food we ordered. We thanked her and then I cut into the chicken that I ordered, and Tate cut into the steak he ordered.
“He’s... not the same.” I said sadly. “He is doing ok right now thankfully, but I don’t think they are being completely transparent with how he’s really doing.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Are you really close with your grandparents?” Tate asked, sincerely.
I nodded, taking a drink of the wine. “They raised me. My mom died when I was just a kid.”
