“So,” Blaze said as he wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin and placed it back in his lap. “I have a proposition for you.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked with one eyebrow raised. “And that is?”
“Come back to Tulsa with me,” he said. “Be my Old Lady. You’ll never have to work a day in your life. I’ll take care of you. You’ll go everywhere with me. We’ll be inseparable.”
“Oh,” I said. I didn’t know what to think.
“I know it seems absolutely insane,” he said in a hushed voice. “And maybe it is. But I have to be with you, Molly. I’m crazy about you. I want to take care of you. I want to be with you forever.”
In that moment, the glow of the boyfriend fantasy I’d been living out in my mind during the last day came to a screeching halt. He did sound crazy. It wasn’t realistic.
“I can’t,” I said with a hesitancy. I scrunched my face and tried not to fall for the pained look on his face. He knew all the right words to say. He hit all my soft spots. But it just wasn’t realistic. “My house is here. My job. My life.”
“Start a new one,” he pleaded. “With me. You’ll never have to worry about a damn thing in your entire life as long as you live.”
“It’s really tempting,” I said. “Believe me. It all sounds great. It’s not just realistic.”
“Will you just think about it at least?” he asked. “I’m leaving tomorrow. You can either go with me or stay put and live the same old life you’ve always lived. The choice is yours. I can’t make you do anything.”
I took a sip of my red wine and sat back in the booth. His offer was tempting for sure, but it was completely insane. I felt myself falling back down to reality. This would never work. I could never leave St. Louis, my job, my friends, or my family.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked as he tried to read my face. “I can tell you’re thinking about something.”
“It’s just too bad that it can’t work,” I said with a regretful smile. “I’m sorry, Blaze.”
He looked crushed, but within minutes his entire demeanor changed. He got up and went back to his side of the table.
“Are you mad at me or something?” I asked.
“No, no, not at all,” he insisted. Though he suddenly looked distracted, maybe even a little distraught.
“Okay, what are you thinking about now?” I asked him. “I can tell something’s on your mind.”
He laughed. “Just disappointed.”
“Well, let’s not let it spoil the evening,” I said with a smile. “We can still have fun and make the best of it. This dinner was amazing by the way. Thanks for taking me out.”
CHAPTER 11
The server stopped by and dropped off our ticket and he slapped a crisp $100 bill in there before standing up and putting his jacket back on. I grabbed my purse and scooted out of the booth, following him out to the car. He didn’t hold my hand. He didn’t hold the door open for me. I could tell he was pissed that I wouldn’t agree to be his “Old Lady”.
I could never in a million years see myself running around with a motorcycle gang. I wasn’t into that lifestyle. I wasn’t that kind of person. Hooking up with him was a one-time thing for me. Okay, two time thing. It wasn’t my intention to turn it into anything else. I knew I had to explain it to him, but it was a matter of finding the right time.
I hopped into his truck and watched him from the corner of my eye. His shoulders were hunched a bit as he leaned onto the driver’s side door and drove with one hand. The whole drive back to my townhouse was in complete silence.
The quietness was awkward and killed me at the same time. I wasn’t used to him being such a closed book. Apparently he really believed I would run off with him, and all his dreams and hopes must’ve come crashing down the moment I told him it wasn’t realistic.
Maybe he just really liked me a lot? I wondered. I probably bruised his ego a bit.
Seeing him go from hot, hot, hot to freezing cold almost made me want him a little more. It almost made me want to try to make it work, maybe in a long-distance form. It was nice having him pine after me like I was some ridiculously gorgeous and highly sought after bombshell. He made me feel sexy. Not even Jeremy made me feel that way and we were together several years.
He pulled into my townhouse driveway and slammed the truck in park. I climbed out, keeping an eye on him, as he hopped down and shut his door hard. He followed me inside, and I was admittedly a little nervous as to what he was going to say or do next.