Fixing Freddie (4 page)

“Brianna? I don’t believe it. She’s been down on more men than the Titanic!”

“For heaven’s sake, Lauren. Does everything have to revolve around sex?”

Her friend gave her a puzzled look. “Well, doesn’t it?”

“Not always, no. Besides, Freddie says it was just a rumour. That guy Luke started it because she wouldn’t sleep with him. Everyone piled on and pretty soon no one questioned it.”

“Jeez, that’s so unfair. I know I believed it.”

“Me, too.” Samantha still felt guilty.

Lauren narrowed her eyes, deep in thought. “So, he’s doing this for her.”

“No, somehow I don’t think so.”

“But he got your attention.” Lauren gave her a sly look. “How did you feel when he mentioned her? A little jealous, perhaps?”

Samantha rolled her eyes. “One day at home watching talk shows and you’ve turned into a shrink. Give it a rest, Lauren.”

“Oh, all right.” She lay back and closed her eyes. “Bring me a glass of juice before you go, will you? And I want a complete report tomorrow after work.” She opened one eye. “Complete.”

* * *

Samantha wasn’t surprised to find Freddie waiting for her the next morning. As she opened the door he nodded to the barista behind the counter.

“Here, sit down.” He pulled out the chair across from his. “I’ve ordered for you; the coffee will be here in a sec.” She could get to like this kind of attention.

“Okay,” she said, stretching out the word. “But how do you know what I want?” She shrugged out of her coat.

“Decaf tall caramel latté.” He frowned. “That’s right, isn’t it? It’s what you had yesterday. I noticed the label on the cup.”

“Of course. For a minute there I thought you were psychic.”

“If I were psychic I’d hopefully be a better dresser.”

“You’re not so bad.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “I said that yesterday, didn’t I?”

He just smiled. “Speaking of yesterday, I’d like to say something.” One of the staff placed her coffee on the table and he paused. “If you’d rather not do this, I’ll understand completely.”

A sharp pang of disappointment took Samantha by surprise. When had she gone from regretting her sudden offer to looking forward to it? She took a tentative sip of her drink. “Fired already, before I’ve even begun?”

“No, not at all.” He seemed stunned by her words. “But let’s be honest. It was a quick thing, and it seems only fair to give you some wiggle room if you’ve had second thoughts.”

How could she tell him that she’d thought of little else all night? Especially since Cody seemed to be back to his usual tricks. She looked across the table. “Actually, I was sort of looking forward to it.”

“You were?” He blushed; this time she was sure of it. “Okay then. Where do we start?”

She’d thought about what she would say to him, but those carefully rehearsed words had deserted her. “Well...” It was hard to think when he was looking at her so intently. “I think the changes should be organic.” She stopped. “No, that’s such a trite, over-used expression. What I’m trying to say is that change should come from inside you, not from me. How do you see yourself evolving? If you know that, I think we can formulate a plan.”

He raised his eyebrows, and she took it as a sign of approval. “I’ve thought about it, like you suggested. What I do know is that I don’t want to become one of those slick citified types. I live a casual lifestyle and I want my clothes to be casual, but a bit more stylish.” He blushed again. “This is hard to talk about.”

She reached across the table and touched the back of his hand. “You’re doing great.” His hands were beautiful; she hadn’t noticed that before. Large, masculine hands, but the way he held his coffee they were gentle, too. She had an almost uncontrollable desire to slip her hand inside his. Somehow she knew she would be safe there. Lauren would definitely have something to say about that...if she told her.

“Is there anything else you
don’t
want to change?” she asked. It was a roundabout way of getting the information, but whatever worked.

He briefly touched his hair. “I’m not sure if I want to cut my hair. It’s kind of who I am.” He glanced around the coffee shop at the other men. “They all look the same with their styled hair and half-shaven faces. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine for them, but that look isn’t for me.”

“I’ve been thinking about your hair, and I think you should keep it.”

“You do?” He looked like a kid on Christmas morning. “I thought for sure you’d want me to cut it off.”

“No, but I’d like to see you change it.”

He spread his hands. “How?”

“I’d like to see it pulled back and tied. Maybe with a piece of leather, but pulled back fairly tight to your head.” She watched as he absorbed the idea. “Trust me on this. You’ll have to beat the ladies off with a stick. Oh, and there’s one more thing.”

“Hold on. I’m still picturing myself being swarmed by the ladies.” He made an elaborate show of thinking, but couldn’t hold the pose and broke into a smile. “Okay, what else?”

“I want you to lose the glasses.” She reached across and gently removed the offending eyewear. “You have the most gorgeous eyes, Freddie. You should show them off. Besides, glasses just don’t work with the pulled-back hair thing.” She put the glasses down on the table and visualized what the new Freddie would look like. Damn, but he was going to be hot!

“Have you ever had contacts?”

“No, but my snowboarding buddies were telling me that I should get them.” He squinted at her across the table. “I guess I could do it.”

“You snowboard?” She couldn’t quite picture him as a rider. Cody had never been able to master it and was forever putting them down. Particularly when they whizzed by him on the slopes.

“Yeah.” He put his glasses back on and his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “I started up on Grouse and Seymour when I was a kid in school, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Funny, she’d never seen him there when she was waiting for Cody. “Do you still go there?”

“Ah...no. I prefer Whistler.”

The big time. The idea of him besting Cody gave her a guilty flush of pleasure.

“Okay then.” She glanced at her watch. “We know where we’re going to start.” She held up three fingers. “Hair, contacts and clothing. The rest we can work on as we go along.” She started to slip her arms into her coat. He jumped up and held it for her, his hands lingering for a moment on her arms. It felt good.

And then her words seemed to sink in. “The rest?” He stepped back. “What else is there?”

She looked up at him. She’d been right about those broad shoulders. For a wild, crazy moment she wondered what he looked like under those baggy clothes. “Well, you said you’d like to improve your social skills, so I thought we might spend some time talking about what women like in a relationship.”

He swallowed...hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “What women like?”

“Just general stuff.” Why was he looking at her like that? “From a woman’s point of view. If we’re going to do this, we may as well do it right.”

They walked toward the door and he pulled it open for her. “I suppose so. But now it’s time for you to do some thinking,” he said.

“Me? About what?”

“About how I can repay you for helping me.” He held up a hand. “I know you don’t want money, but there must be some way I can thank you for all this.”

She laughed. It felt good, and she realized that she hadn’t been laughing enough recently. “Let’s wait and see how it turns out first, okay?” They walked up the street and parted at the corner. She could feel him looking at her all the way across to the other side, but when she turned to look a bus had pulled up, blocking him from view. It wasn’t until then that she realized they hadn’t made another date.

Chapter Five

He didn’t show up for coffee the next morning. She told herself that it was nothing; she wasn’t disappointed. So why did she look up eagerly every time the door opened? And why was she casting a critical eye at every man in the coffee shop, comparing them to Freddie?

Get a grip,
she told herself, grabbing the remainder of her coffee and bolting out onto the street. She stopped at the intersection and looked in all directions, but eventually she had to admit that he wasn’t around. She forced herself to cross the street, and to keep walking without looking back. There! That would fix him.
Yeah, right,
said the voice in her head.
You really showed him.
The day was interminable, and at a quarter after four she lost focus and deleted an entire contract from her database. She took a deep breath, managed to stay calm, and retrieved it. But she was shaken, unwilling to risk a more serious mistake.

“I’m outta here,” she said to her supervisor with a thin smile. “Tomorrow will be better, I promise.”

* * *

“Guess what, Babe?” Why hadn’t she put a stop to it when Cody called her that? She hated it...really hated it. But it was a discussion they should have in person.

“What?” she said, switching the phone to her other hand. “You sound excited.”

“I’m off to Toronto on the weekend for sales conference.” She could visualize him on the other end, puffed up with self-importance.

“That’s short notice, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. The area manager had to bow out at the last minute and they chose yours truly to attend. But the good news is, we’re going to take on another luxury line. Isn’t that great? A whole new customer base; cross-marketing, everything.”

No way could she even begin to match his enthusiasm. “Sounds great.”

She needn’t have worried. He was completely wrapped up in himself. “How long will you be gone?” she asked. Maybe she’d get lucky and he’d stay there.

“Three or four days. They want us to go to the vehicle assembly plant for a full indoctrination on the new line. Look, Babe. I probably won’t see you before I go.”

She waited for the little twinge of disappointment that should have followed his words, but it didn’t come. “I understand,” she said. “Have a good time and I’ll see you when you get back.”

They disconnected and for a moment she wondered who he was with tonight, then realized she didn’t really care. She wandered into her bedroom to choose her outfit for tomorrow morning. Now that was something she could get enthusiastic about.

* * *

Lauren’s cold had developed into the flu. Samantha felt guilty for thinking this way, but her friend’s absence meant that she could arrive precisely ten minutes later than usual at the coffee shop. If Freddie wasn’t there, so be it, but she wasn’t going to sit there again, watching for him to come in; missing him. Okay...she admitted it. She’d missed him when he didn’t show yesterday. Missed his gentle teasing, his deep, rumbling voice and the way he pulled out her chair, opened the door for her.

Her steps slowed as she approached the coffee shop. How had he become so important in her life? And so quickly? Only a week ago he hadn’t even been a blip on her radar, and yet here she was, practically breaking out in a rash at the thought of seeing him again. She looked through the glass, but didn’t spot him. Had he changed his mind about the whole thing?

She considered walking past, but her feet didn’t get the message. She opened the door and went inside. New plan; she’d pick up a coffee and take it to work. After all, this had been
her
coffee shop before he barged in and spoiled everything.