Love Undiscovered: Love in San Soloman - Book Two Page 6

  “Here,” she slams a glass of sparkling water down on the table in front of me.

  “Thanks, darlin’.” I meet her eyes as I say it, she looks pissed.

  “Uh-oh, what’d I do?”

  “You’re just you,” she says, as though the answer is obvious.

  “Glad to see I’m me, baby doll, I’d hate to be showin’ up as someone else.”

  “Must you?”

  “Must I… what?

  “With the nicknames. Always with the nicknames. Is it that you can’t remember a woman’s name after she tells you? Do they all just blend together due to the mass numbers that flock to you? Is it laziness? Or maybe a lack of respect? Have you ever called a woman by her name?”

  “No ma’am, not that I recall.”

  “You’re such an ass.” She turns away from me.

  “Hey, Remi,” I say softly. She does nothing. I touch her shoulder and wait for her to turn back to me.

  “Remi.” I stretch the word out with a singsong voice.

  Still nothing.

  “Come on, gorgeous, turn around.”

  “See what I mean?” She turns back and points at me.

  “I said your name! Twice in fact. You didn’t even pay attention until I resorted to nicknames.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “That’s exactly the point.” I take her half full martini glass away from her. “I think you’ve had enough for one night.”

  “Oh no.” Her eyes narrow at me. “You don’t get to tell me when I’ve had enough to drink. You don’t get to tell me anything, actually.”

  “I can’t have you falling off the back of my ride because you’re too drunk to hang on.”

  “All the more reason why you never should have brought it.” The slur to her words is a further indication that she’s had too much to drink.

  “It’s what I drive, hot stuff.”

  “You don’t have a car?”

  “Nope.”

  “What do you do when it rains?” she asks.

  “I drive slower.”

  “No, I mean, how do you avoid getting wet?”

  “I don’t. I usually have a spare pair of jeans or pants in my saddlebag in case mine are too wet. But my boots are waterproof and my jacket and helmet take care of the rest.”

  “That’s a lot of hassle just to ride a motorcycle,” she says.

  “Depends on your perspective, I suppose.” I shrug my shoulders. I don’t tell her that I can borrow an unmarked sedan from the station when I need to.

  “What are you guys whispering about over there?” Lexie asks from across the table.

  “Nothing,” she says at the same time I say, “Driving in the rain.”

  Lexie laughs and then yawns, stretching her arms high above her head. Ethan’s eyes about bug out as the top of her strapless dress lowers more as her arms go higher.

  Kat whispers in Brad’s ear, he smiles big.

  “Okay, well it looks like we are going to head out,” Brad announces to the table. “My girl is tired and I’d like to get her home.”

  He comes over to me and shakes my hand, and then leans in to give Remi a kiss, saying loud enough for me to hear, “Thank you for doing this. It meant a lot to Kat to have you here. I know it probably wasn’t much fun all things considered.” He nods his head in my direction.

  “I’m right here.”

  “I know,” Brad smirks.

  I’ll be honest, Matthews and I aren’t ever going to be friends, and it’s because I wanted to have sex with his woman and he knows it. But I still work with her periodically, and she’s wearing his fucking ring, so it would be nice if once in a while he could let that shit go. I glare at him in return.

  Kat moves in from behind him, gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and says,

  “Thank you so much for bringing Remi. I know it couldn’t have been that enjoyable, given that she was your date and all.” She says the last part in a loud whisper. Then she attempts to wink at me, which contorts her face in such a way she looks like she’s having a spasm. But, it breaks the tension between Matthews and I, which I appreciate. Remi, however, does not like Kat’s comment and says as much.

  “Thanks, bitch,” she says to Kat.

  Kat blows her a kiss in return. Remi flips her off.

  The couple’s departure spurns the rest of us to leave as well. Remi and I say goodbye to Ethan and Lexie at the valet station. I walk over to my bike and pull my leather jacket from the saddlebag, then wrap Remi in it. If her nipples are any indication, she’s cold in that dress.

  I have the valet signal for a cab and sit back to wait with her.

  “You’re putting me in a cab?” Remi asks.

  “I am.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s late and you’re cold. Plus, you’ve been drinking and I don’t want to risk your safety if you can’t hang on.”

  “That might just be the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for me, Chance Bauer,” she says slurring her words just a bit.

  “More so than holding your hair back when you puked in college?” I ask.

  “Oh, why’d you have to bring that up?” She slaps me on the chest. I grab her wrist and pull her toward me. She stumbles into me, then relaxes her body.

  “You’re warm,” she sighs. I wrap the edges of my suit coat around her as well and envelop her in my arms. She snuggles in closer. I start to feel warm inside. A weird warm, like when I’ve just received a compliment, or my mom tells me she’s proud of me.

  I like it.

  The cab comes just in time to save me from thinking too hard on how much I like the way Remi feels in my arms. I put her in the backseat, swipe my credit card to pay in advance, then follow the cab to her house anyway to make sure she gets there safely.

  Chapter 8

  Remi

  I get a text message just as I’m walking into my lab to run trials. I check it before going inside. The last thing I need are my ‘mean-girl’ male co-workers commenting on my taking personal calls and/or text messages during business hours. Not that it matters that they do the same. Working with them and their prima-donna attitudes every day is exhausting.

  They don’t respect my work because I didn’t go to an Ivy League school, and they don’t believe I can produce the same quality results from my trials because I’m a woman. My job as a chemical engineer is demanding enough without taking shit from them. I’m on the cusp of a major breakthrough in developing an environmentally friendly way to repurpose non-biodegradable materials. And I am not letting anything get in my way until I do.

  I look down at my phone screen and see that it’s Alex, asking me to call him when I get a chance. Which reminds me that I forgot to call him about setting each other up.

  I hit the button to dial his number. He answers on the second ring,

  “Hey, that was quick.”

  “Yeah, you caught me as I was walking in to the lab so I figured I’d call you now rather than in another six to eight hours. I was going to call you today or tomorrow anyway.”

  Obviously, I didn’t meet my challenge of talking to Alex before this last weekend, so I swore to the girls it would be early this week with a date set up for this weekend.

  “Before you tell me why you were going to call me, let me tell you why I’m calling you.”

  “Okay.”

  This better be good, because I’m already annoyed with this whole game that Kat has forced me into with the double-blind date.

  “I’ve got a guy I want you to meet,” he says.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I know, it’s weird, since we dated and all, but we’re friends now, and I think you’re a really great girl. And there’s this guy I think you would hit it off with.”

  How is it that he is stealing my exact speech from me before I have a chance to give it?

  “Uh, okay, sure,” I say. This will be easier than I thought if I let him think the whole thing was his idea. “So, do I get to introduce you to some
one in return?”

  “Oh, uh, sure. I guess turnabout is fair play.”

  “Great,” I say. “How’s this weekend?”

  “This weekend? Wow, you’re way more into this than I thought you would be.”

  Dial it back Remi, you’re too eager.

  “Oh, well, I just happen to have some free time available, so I figure, what the hell.”

  “Okay, let me double check with my buddy and I’ll get back to you with a time and place to meet.”

  “You got it,” I say. “Hey, Alex, thanks for thinking of me. After everything that happened with you and I, this is really nice of you.” Thinking that was very nice of him to do. Especially after I did a tap out in the middle of sex. Some people might consider that to be really rude and never speak to me again. In fact, some have.

  “Yeah, same to you Remi, thanks. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Okay, see you Saturday.”

  “See you Saturday.”

  I send off a quick text to my Yoga instructor, Harley, asking her if she’s free on Saturday and why. Then walk into the lab, fully prepared to immerse myself in six hours of running trials on elemental breakdown analysis.

  * * *

  I meet my girls that night for dinner at our favorite place, The Crazy Burro, which has salty chips, spicy salsa, and the best margaritas in town. We meet here at least once a week, except when Kat is too sick, from cancer or treatment, to get together. But when that happens either Lexie or I, or both, are at her house with her. Brad too since the two have been back together.

  I arrive first, which doesn’t happen often, and order drinks from Maureen, our favorite waitress, then sit back to wait for them.

  Lexie sends a text saying she’s running a few minutes late, just as Kat arrives at the table. She looks good, healthy even, with a dark burgundy loosely curled wig that goes past her shoulders, and wearing skinny jeans tucked into black stiletto boots, paired with a black dolman top.

  “Hey, sexy,” I tell her as she walks up.

  “What’s up beautiful girl?”

  “I’m good, just waiting for you.”

  The waitress brings our drinks and some chips and salsa. Kat and I both dig in. Lexie arrives looking adorable, as always, in her jeans and sneakers, with a Lovestone (her winery) branded hoodie and her hair in twin braids on either side of her head.

  “Oh look, all my favorite things at one table!” she says as she sits at the table.

  I ask about her day and she fills us in on everything going on at the winery.

  “And, I’m planning another movie night. But I can’t decide if I should do a romance or a comedy. And if I do a romance, do I make it a contemporary Rom-Com or one of my classic oldie-but-goodies?”

  “Rom-Com,” Kat says at the same time that I say, “Oldie-but-goodie.” We all look at each other and start laughing. It does amaze me how close our friendships are when our personalities, likes, and dislikes are so very different.

  “I like the oldie-but-goodie idea too,” Lexie says pointing her drink filled hand in my direction. “What about Casablanca?”

  “That’s a good one,” Kat says. I nod my head in agreement, as my mouth is filled with chips.

  We don’t ask Kat about her day, because it’s not always a happy topic for her, depending on how she feels, what her doctors are saying, and how much of her hair she has left. Of course, that doesn’t stop Kat from asking me about things that aren’t happy topics.

  “So, Rem,” she says, her tone snide. “How’s the date planning going?”

  “It’s actually fine, Kat. We are going out this Saturday. I just need to decide on a place and time and get back to Alex.” I’m feeling smug as I say this. Because I know that after I missed my previous deadline for setting the date, they both thought I was going to crash and burn with this whole thing and lose the bet.

  And, therefore, lose my beloved Louboutins.

  Which is SO not happening. I worked hard to save the money to buy those shoes and I am not going to watch some homeless woman take them for herself. Will she love them like I do? No, she won’t. She’ll probably sell them, or worse. Maybe I could secretly buy them back from her? Though there’s no telling what condition they’ll be in by the time I find her again.

  I tune back in to the table when I realize Kat is talking.

  “I’m shocked. I kind of can’t believe you actually did it.”

  It makes me happy Kat is shocked. I hope Lexie is too. That’ll teach them to doubt me in the future. I don’t tell them that Alex actually approached me first with the same idea. There’s no need for them to know that. And I don’t want them coming up with some reason why it now doesn’t count. All that matters is that a date has been scheduled and I will be going. Well, and making sure the guy likes me enough to want to see me once a week four different times in a row.

  “Should we have brunch on Sunday morning so we can hear all about it?” Lexie asks.

  “I can’t,” I say. “I’m already taking time off tonight and Saturday, so I’ll need to be in the lab on Sunday.”

  “FaceTime?” Kat asks.

  “Definitely,” I say.

  “When does this schedule of yours end, Remi? This is brutal. It’s like me at harvest time, only you’ve been at it for months.” Lexie reaches out to touch my arm.

  “It won’t last forever. And I know that I’m so close. There’s something I’m missing. I just have to find it.” Something I’m presenting on at a conference soon. Hence the rush to figure out the hole in my theorems.

  “Hey, I’m meeting Bauer at the precinct tomorrow,” Kat says. That surprises me because she hasn’t done any consulting work for the San Soloman Police Department since she was re-diagnosed six months ago. But it’s also why she calls Chance by his last name, Bauer. It’s a law enforcement thing. Except that Chance calls her Cookie, further proving my point that no matter who you are to him, if you’re female he can’t be bothered to learn your name.

  “Are you working on a new case?” Lexie asks.

  “I don’t think so. He has a couple things he wants to run past me, you know see if I get any tingly pinkie intuitive feelings about them. Otherwise I think we’re just going to grab lunch.”

  Kat had a brain tumor removed over a year ago. She woke from the surgery being able to feel things that are about to happen with surprising accuracy. Her only indication being that her pinky finger tingles. She describes it as more premonition than emotion, like a flash of instinct in her subconscious before her logical mind has a chance to take over and negate it. It doesn’t happen often and she can’t force it, but she has been able to help the local police, Chance included, with solving cases.

  “Is it just the two of you going to lunch?” I ask.

  “Probably,” she says.

  “How does sexy-not-ex feel about that?” Lexie asks. Our new nickname for Kat’s fiancé, Brad since they got back together.

  “You know, I think he’s okay with it. He doesn’t like it, but he trusts me. And oddly, I think he trusts Bauer. We’re friends, Bauer and me. Even if Brad didn’t like it, he’d have to suck it up,” Kat says.

  I feel a little pinch in my chest when she says she’s meeting him for lunch. It’s not jealousy.

  I don’t get jealous.

  It’s just a pinch.

  “Where are you going to go for lunch?” Lexie asks.

  “Probably the food truck in the precinct parking lot,” Kat laughs.

  “Kat, that food isn’t healthy, you shouldn’t eat there.” Lexie is, always trying to be the voice of reason where Kat’s health is concerned.

  “It’s one meal, Lex, it’ll be okay.” Kat pats the top of Lexie’s hand. “More importantly, what are you going to wear on Saturday, Remi?” She turns toward me as she says it.

  “I hadn’t thought about it,” I say. “Alex just called me today about it.”

  Fuck.

  As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize my mistake.

  �
��Alex called you?” Kat asks. Honing right in on what I would have loved for her to ignore.

  I shrug my shoulders in a noncommittal sort of way.

  “Was he calling you back?” Lexie asks.

  When did she get so fucking attune to our conversations?

  Usually she’s got her head in the clouds and not paying such close attention.

  “No,” I say.

  “So, Alex called you about a blind date?” Kat confirms.

  “Yes.”

  “Wow, what are the chances?” Lexie asks.

  “Apparently pretty good,” I say.

  “So, at the same time that you were going to call Alex to set him up, he calls you to set you up?” Kat confirms again.

  “Weird, right?” I pick at my napkin.

  “Very,” Kat says.

  “You don’t believe me?” I ask.

  “I totally believe you,” Kat says. “I was just thinking it’s a little odd. You even said it was weird. Don’t be so defensive.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway.” I sit up straighter in my chair. “The bet wasn’t that I had to call him, just that we had to double blind date and I had to stick with the guy for a month.”

  “And see him once a week, don’t forget,” Lexie says, then turns in Kat’s direction. “Technically, she’s right. Her calling him wasn’t in the bet, it was the way to the bet.” Kat grumbles about it, but we finish our meal in relative peace.

  We leave the restaurant a short time later and say our goodbyes in the parking lot. I sit in my car until they both drive off. Then I start my car and slowly head toward home.

  It used to be that my house was my sanctuary. But lately it’s more like a reminder that it’s just me in my life outside of Kat, Lexie, and work.

  All by myself.

  And sometimes I just don’t want to be reminded of that.

  Chapter 9

  Chance

  Kat is on her way in to the precinct to help me on a case. She hasn’t been around for a while, so I’m grateful to get her help again. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a real pain in the ass, but she’s smart and not remotely hard on the eyes.