Dirty White Candy, Ultimate Vacation, Book 2 (10 page)

I looked around the kitchen until I found plates and silverware.
 
I set the table, lighting the candle in the center.
 
Every time I looked around, it looked as if a professional decorated had graced the premises.
 
Everything was simply perfect.

When I came back to the kitchen, John was tossing broccoli with some sort of dressing.
 
I swallowed hard.
 
I didn’t particularly care for cooked broccoli.
 
I was going to have to choke it down.

He carried plates in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other.
 
“Hope you’re hungry.”

“I’m starving, actually.
 
John this all looks wonderful.”
 
I sat down while John poured the wine.

“Dig in,” he said smiling.

I cut the first piece of steak and took a bite.
 
The juices and wonderful tastes filled my mouth and I groaned.

“Oh my god,” I said with my mouth still full, “this is the best steak of my life.”

“Glad you like it.
 
Now eat your broccoli, it’s good for you.”

I looked at him and stopped chewing.

“What?” he said laughing.
 
“You didn’t think I knew you hated broccoli?
 
Trust me, you’ll like it.
 
It’s steamed and dressed with a light warm vinaigrette.”

How did he know that?
 
It’s not like I complained about broccoli.
 
I swallowed my steak and pierced a piece of broccoli with my fork.
 
Slowly, I put it in my mouth.
 
Surprisingly, the taste was wonderful.
 
The warm vinaigrette had taken the pungent taste away that I didn’t like about cooked broccoli.

“You just have to know how to make it,”
 
he said before sipping at his wine.

I was in awe of this man.
 

“So, I was thinking, if you worked for your dad since you were a kid, certainly, you didn’t work as a cook.
 
How did you learn to cook like this?”

John put his fork down and stared at me.
 
His brow was furrowed, but
 
his lips were turned up slightly.
 
I could not tell if I’d made him angry, uncomfortable or what he was feeling.

“What’s with the fifty questions tonight?”

Guilt.
 
I had just been hit with an incredible wave of guilt.
 
The more John knew about me and the less I knew about him the worse I felt, but at the same time, I was trying to cram all the information in one night.

“I’m sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?”
 
My heart was in my throat.

He just sat there staring at me.

“John?”

Still no words came out of his mouth.

“John?
 
Aren’t you going to speak?”

“Not until you answer my question.
 
Why are you asking me so many questions.
 
First the records, now my work history.
 
What’s the deal?”

I looked down at the table, not wanting to admit that I had failed miserably at getting to know more about John.

I answered at a near mumble, “you know me more than I know you.
 
I’m ashamed that I have been so self-absorbed.”

John snickered.
 
“Are you kidding me?”
 

“What?”
 
All the oxygen had left my body.
 
I couldn’t breathe.
 
Was he mad?
 
Did I make an ass out of myself?

“Candy, when I met you, you were in the beginning of discovering yourself.
 
Of course I’ve had more time to focus on you… because you’ve been focusing on who you are and what you want rather than getting to know every aspect of my life.
 
It’s okay.
 
We have plenty of time to get to know about each other.”

Oxygen finally came back to my lungs as I took a deep breath in.

“After my father died, I didn’t want to work on houses.
 
I was mourning him.
 
We were so close and his death was very difficult for me to accept.
 
So I watched a lot of television and was addicted to the Food channel.
 
I started buying huge amounts of food, more than I would eat, and cooked whatever I saw on the shows I watched.
 
I would record them, go to the store to buy what I needed, come back and make what was on the show.
 
Cooking became very fun and therapeutic for me.”

How endearing. He lost his daddy and it took him some time to recover.
 
My heart melted.

“Dinner is wonderful.
 
Thank you.”

“Thank you for staying.
 
I was very happy to wake up with you in my bed.
 
Dinner and a movie, maybe some popcorn later… I can see why girls like slumber parties.”
 
He winked at me.

We finished with dinner and put the dishes in the dishwasher.
 
I gave my house keys to John and he ran to my apartment to grab my laptop bag.
 
When he returned, I set everything up and we scrolled through movies before we settled on a romantic comedy.

“No gore, no horror, good old fashioned laughter,” John said pointing at the screen.

John sat behind me on his couch, legs and arms wrapped around me.
 
Resting the back of my head on his chest I felt warm and relaxed.
 
Every time he laughed my head bounced a little, making the moment a little more comical.
 
I realized something simple yet wonderful had happened—I was happy.
 
I belonged here.

A knock at the door made me jump.

“Stay here, I’ll see who it is.”

“John, I’m not wearing anything other than your shirt!”

He turned around and looked at me, running his fingers through his hair.
 
He pointed down at his erection.
 
“Thanks for pointing that out right this second.”

I bit my lip.
 
“Sorry.”

The knocking at the door got louder.
 
“John!
 
Open this door right now!”

John opened the door.
 
“What the fuck, man?
 
I’ve been calling you for hours.
 
I thought something bad happened to you.
 
Why the hell…”
 
The guy stopped talking and looked past John at me standing there in John’s shirt, legs peeking out from below.

“Yeah, bad time, bro.”
 
John stepped to the side to block the guy’s view.

“For you, not me.”
 
He stepped around John.
 
“Hi, I’m Dan.”
 
He walked toward me, hand extended.

“Dan, I’m Candy.”
 
I looked at John, “I’m going to go put some pants on.”

“Thanks man,” John groaned.

“You don’t have to put pants on, on my account.”
 
Dan grinned, peeking around John again.

“Eyes back in your head, Lieutenant.”
 
John pushed Dan, but it was playful.

“Lieutenant?” I asked.

“Lieutenant Dan,” John laughed, “he looks like Lieutenant Dan off of Forrest Gump.”

I looked at Dan and started laughing.
 
He did look like Gary Sinise’s character from the movie, long hair in a ponytail, similar features… I could see the joke.

“Oh, Lieutenant Dan!”
 
I laughed.
 
“I’m going to go get those pants.”

John rolled his eyes and waved me on.

UNUSUAL FRIENDS

I wasn’t really comfortable sitting there in sweats, so I grabbed my jeans and a tank.
 
When I came back into the living room, Dan and John were sitting on the couch drinking beer.

“Hello beautiful, you clean up nice, though I really preferred you in what’s-his-name’s shirt.”
 
Dan toasted me with his beer bottle.

“So my romantic evening in has been crashed I see.”
 
I plopped on the chair feeling defeated.

“I knew Johnny boy had it bad for someone, but he wouldn’t spill.
 
I see why.
 
Dirty bastard has been hoarding you, keeping your beauty all for himself.”

“Oh man, you’re going to have to tone it down, I’m not wearing boots.”

“Damn!
 
Now you see why I love this woman!”
 
John laughed and punched Dan in the arm.

“In love?”
 
Dan’s mouth fell open.
 
“Never would have thought I’d hear those words coming out of that mouth.
 
Congrats!”
 
Dan punched him back.

It was like a weird frat brother atmosphere in the apartment.
 
Part of me wanted to flee to my apartment, a more estrogen friendly environment.
 
The other part of me just wanted to sit there and wait out Dan’s departure.
 
My longing for more time with John won.
 
Besides, I thought, getting to know one of John’s friends was part of getting to know John.

I watched the two banter back and forth, talking about the good old days, John’s high school football days and the time he lost his virginity, a story I could have lived without hearing.
 
The boredom must have been evident on my face.

“So, Miss Candy, what do you do for a living?”
 
Dan asked as he popped open another beer.

“I’m in advertising.”
 
I forced a smile, fighting to hide the fact that I selfishly wanted John alone.
 
I felt like such an asshole.
 
So I continued, “You know, I come up with the ad campaigns you see in magazines and the television.”

“Ever do any of those Super Bowl commercials?
 
Those are great!”

“Nope, nothing like that.
 
Those cost a ton of money and I would rather sell things for my clients than to entertain the mass drunken football fans.”

“Makes sense, I guess.
 
So what do you do for fun?”

“John,” I teased.

Dan spit his beer all over the coffee table.

I couldn’t help but laugh, neither could John, who was running to grab paper towels.

“Damn girl, ya’ made me spit my beer.
 
I like you!”
 
Dan wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve.

“Thank you.
 
I like you too.”
 
It wasn’t a lie.
 
I needed to ease up.
 
John had more than just me in his life.

“I see you’re not drinkin’ beer?” he asked as he mopped the beer spray from the coffee table.
 
“Sorry about the table, John,” he said out the side of his face.

“I’m not a beer fan.”

“Bar is stocked, Candy.
 
My home is your home.
 
Make whatever you want.
 
Some of your favorite ingredients are in there and the fridge.”
 
John flashed me an apologetic smile.

I retreated to the bar on the other side of the room and looked around.
 
I could make just about anything I wanted, so I settled for a cosmopolitan.
 
It was difficult to hear what was being said over the shaker, but I was certain it was very testosterone filled.

Returning with my glass and a shaker full to refill it, I found Dan’s mother was the topic of conversation.
 
She had been sick, but had recuperated, despite the doctors verdict, though I missed what she’d been sick from.

“I’m sorry for being the wrecking ball to your evening, ma’am.”

“That’s quite alright, Dan.
 
I can share John for a little while,” I said raising my glass.
 
“Life’s too short not to make new friends.
 
So what do you do?”