Pining For You (Man of the Month Club)

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

ALEXI

Van leaves me in his office with Rosemary to hurry off to one of my sweetest and most fun friends, Ava. She would love this as a surprise engagement party. A part of me wants to keep working on this just so I can be near Rosemary. She’s so fierce and beautiful. I want to find her unattractive. But even when she’s being a bitch I’m in awe. How can someone who looks so angelic but so cold? There’s no saving me. I’ve got it bad for this woman. No matter how much I want to take this thing over and then rub her face in it, I can’t.

Petty Alexi has left the building. Hello Piney Alexi. Because I’m pining for this woman something fierce. Desperate and pathetic.

“Come on. Let’s go eat some Christmas cookies and drink my specialty hot chocolate. Get us in the spirit to get this holly jolly shit done.” I half expect her to tell me to fuck off, but instead she gestures for me to lead the way. Even the entire to the main bar with patio seating outside, I keep expecting her to make a dash for her room.

“Pick a table and I’ll go get our cookies and whip up our drinks.”

Color me surprised when I find her sitting there and actually waiting for me. I wait with a stomach full of nerves as she tries my own recipe for hot chocolate.

“Is there anything you can’t do? God that’s good.”

My dick perks up at hearing her speak with so much pleasure lacing her voice. “Let’s find out what all I can do to make you moan out to God.”

She makes a tsking sound before saying, “Remember want my brother and your boss said.”

“Wouldn’t you be my boss? Especially on this project.”

“Nope. We’re partners. Or at this point you might be taking the lead.”

Partners. Does this mean she actually views me as her equal? Had I misjudged Rosemary? Hope blooms in my chest. “You can be the boss. My ego isn’t fragile. In fact, I think I’d enjoy you bossing me around. But I’m more than willing to take the lead if it means I get to hear you sound like that again.”

“Well you seem to be full of good ideas today… so who knows.”

I need to ask my dad for advice more often. Rosemary has done a complete three sixty over hearing my dad’s suggestion about a dance. All this time the answers were right there. The long hours I endured of passive aggressive comments and guilt trips might turn out to have been worth it.

After an hour of discussing both our ideas in full details, Rosemary begins to loosen up. Some of the Rosemary I first met begins to show up. Finally. I’d missed her. I pick up my fork and eye her.

“What?” She asks.

“I’ve got all these knives and fork, I need to spoon.”

She cringes. I’ll admit that wasn’t my finest moment. She leans closer and the warmth from her breath fans my ear, “I only need a spoon after I’ve been forked.”

Oh sweet potatoes. Rosemary Hayes just used a cheesy as hell pickup line full of puns on me. Baba is getting a phone call tonight that’s for damn sure. I swallow the lump that’s gathered in my throat. Keeping my voice cool and collected I tell her, “You know I lied earlier. I’m not drunk but I am intoxicated… by you.”

She bites her bottom lip holding back her laughter. Clearing her throat she stares at me a bit before saying, “I’m sorry. Do you have a map? I keep getting lost in your eyes.”

I’m two more pickup lines and three puns away from coming inside my pants. “Your lips look lonely,” my voice turns husky. “Would they like to meet mine?”

“What it must be like to be you?”

I snort. “Meaning?”

“Easily charming and gorgeous.”

I’ve heard that for the majority of my life but that compliment coming from Rosemary makes me feel light on my feet. “Did the sun come out, or did you just smile at me?”

“The sun’s been out.” Rosemary looks around, and then she pops her lips. “I guess this means we’re partners.” My eyes widen and she holds up a hand. “And hell didn’t freeze over either. I was harsh with you before. I have my own issues and I took them out on you. I was insecure.” Her chest rising with her inhale and then her shoulders drop with her heavy sigh. “My family has never taken me serious. I was hoping this would be my moment to prove myself. Prove to everyone including me that I’m not some spoiled airhead.”

My chest tightens. How can this beautiful and incredible woman think so little of herself? She has the world at her fingertips. Resources and wealth. Brains and charisma. It baffles me that she’s not as confident as I’d originally assumed. Her eyes are full of vulnerability and an emotion I recognize all to well – doubt. We’re not so different. I have resources, and look how much it took for me to swallow my pride and call my dad for help.

“And,” she continues, “it’s hard for me to trust. I’ve had people use me as a stepping ladder to the top. In social circles. Within the company. I’m often seen as nothing more than a name. It’s funny how a name can have so many different meanings. To my grandparents it’s heritage and identity. To my parents it’s legacy. To my brother it’s a standard that he feels he has to match or live up to, it’s pressure yet also pride. I’ve had people who hear my name and hear cha-ching. An opportunity. It’s almost its own stereotype. People already have their mind made up about me before I have a chance to show them me. ”

Guilt fills me. I notice she mentions what her surname means to everyone but her. “And you? What does Hayes mean to you?”

“Family.” Rosemary’s delicate shoulders shrug. “It’s simply my family. I adore my grandparents. They’re the best. Seriously. The most down to earth people and have hearts of gold. Daddy is a goof ball.”

Nope. Never would’ve pictured Mr. Hayes as a goof ball. Ava has told me Van is funny, too. I just don’t see it. They all seem like uptight assholes to me. Maybe it’s me? Nah. Who wouldn’t want to crack some jokes with me?

“My mommy is fun. She wants life to be like a musical full of hearts and rainbows. She’s a bleeding heart for animals.”

“And Van?”

“Ew. My brother Sullivan is an idiot. But he’s our moron and I love him. He means well but can’t keep his head out of his ass.”

It sounds like she’s describing my family, only mine is Greek, loud, and lacking all sense of personal boundaries. Rosemary and I have always had chemistry, yet now staring across at her and having this new understanding, there’s a kinship blossoming.

“I understand what you’re going through. My parents give me shit all the time about moving to a vacation spot and my chosen profession as a drink connoisseur and party aficionado. They wanted me to be in a more respectable profession. A big shot in a suit. That’s not who I am. I love being social and hopping around resorts. I love helping people experience their dream vacation. Plus I loved how I grew up. Why wouldn’t I want to do that and hopefully offer that life to my kids one day.”

There’s a moment of silence and understanding that passes between us. An unspoken truce has been made. “Well,” I say, “tell me your ideas.”

It’s evident by her ideas we’ve been on the same page the entire time, other than our own assumptions about one another. We both agree to have a ball and give the resort a magical small-town Christmas feel.

“All this is making me hungry for spaghetti.”

She tilts her head. “Spaghetti? That’s not Christmassy.”

“You said Lady and the Tramp. They share the plate of spaghetti. Kiss while sucking on the same noodle.” A slow smile spreads across my face. “We can share a plate. You can suck on my noodle.”

“I wouldn’t call it a limp noodle.”

“Pardon? I didn’t call it limp.”

Rosemary laughs. “Noodles aren’t hard.”

“Pool noodles are. And they’re long.” She gives me a look that says I’m stretching it here. Just like my dick is stretching my pants. I’m such a dork around her.

“Let’s get lunch and then make a plan to get the most important element for this event.” She tells me in a no nonsense tone.

“You got it, doll.”

“No.” She barks.

“Boss?”

“That’s better.”

Then I remember when shit first went down and everything turned sour. “Bad ass.”

“You know it.”

As we stand I place my hand on the small of her back. “I don’t even play cards, but somehow I pulled a Queen.”

Rosemary rolls her eyes, but I see a tint of pink color her cheeks.