Love Resisted (The Real Love Series) (21 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-
THREE

MIKE had just finished slipping his shoes on when Zane walked in. “Dad, I need help with my tie.”

It was the night of the benefit the family planned in support of breast cancer research. They held it at the beginning of October every year to kick off the fundraising for awareness month. The black tie event had grown over the past few years, and he found himself looking forward to this year’s event, more so than the previous ones. Smiling at his son, he moved him before the full-length mirror and stood behind him. “Don’t you think that you should know how to do this by now? When I was your age …”

“Ugh, Dad, are you really giving me the ‘when I was your age’ line?” Zane groaned.

Mike laughed as he considered it. “Damn. I guess I was. Now I feel old.” Making eye contact with him in the mirror he added, “If you tell my dad I said that, I’ll take your car away from you.”

Laughing, Zane said, “It’s not that I can’t tie it, but it just doesn’t look very good when I do. It looks like a two year old did it.”

As he finished making the knot in his son’s tie, he took in their combined appearances in the mirror. They were close to the same height. Zane came in only a few inches shorter than him. They were both wearing new black suits with pink ties for the benefit, and their strong resemblance to each other shocked him. The only difference in their reflections, aside from their age, was that Zane was wearing a black shirt, while Mike wore a white one.

It once again struck him how grown up his son had become. Standing in front of him, dressed for a night out to help raise money for
a cause that had a direct effect on his life. Placing his hands on his shoulders, he met his son’s gaze in the mirror again and said, “You’ve turned into a man right before my eyes, but as I stand here and look at you, I want you to know that your mother would be very proud of who you’ve become.
I’m
very proud of the man you’ve become.”

Mike watched as Zane’s eyes glistened, then he nodded, obviously choked up. After a moment, he turned around
and hugged him. “Thanks Dad.”

They hugged for a few moments longer before separating. Mike helped him fix his coat and make sure the tie was straight and then checked his own. When he deemed they both looked their best, he said, “All right, now let’s pick up my date.”

Smirking at his dad, Zane added, “Let’s do this.”

Zane was now living in the dorms on campus, which was required of all freshmen. It was strange for Mike to not have Zane around all the time, even if he was attending college locally. Since the semester started, he had made it a priority to have dinner with him at least two times during
the week. Allie, of course, came along, so long as her schedule permitted. There was even a time or two where Allie and Zane had gotten together without him.

It was a great thing for him to see them develop a relationship of their own over the past two or three months, since Mike and her had started dating. It’s not
like there was a rulebook saying a person needed to bond with the adult child of their boyfriend, but with Allie, there was no other way.

Together, they went to pick Allie up from her place. She said she had to get dressed over there because girls needed all of their
girlie stuff
when getting dressed up. Mike knew that he should never get in the way of a girl and her arsenal of girlie stuff, so he let her have the afternoon to herself. He did make sure to tell her that he didn’t think she needed to do anything at all; she was pretty without all the added fuss. That only earned him a gag and an eye roll before she shoved him out of her way and left his place. She didn’t know it, but he thought she was even more adorable when she did that. It only made him want her more.

He knocked before turning the knob to open the door. It wouldn’t be so great if he barged in and she wasn’t dressed yet, considering Zane was with him, so he made sure to call out, “Babe, you ready?” as he entered.

“Be down in a second,” she hollered from her room.

Zane whispered, humor evident in his voice, “Doesn’t that translate to ‘I’ll be down in thirty minutes’?”

Mike smiled over at Zane who was now eyeing the gaming consoles Allie had in the corner of the room. Knowing he was probably going to suggest playing one, he cut him off, “Don’t even think about it, son.”

Zane was about to defend himself when they heard Allie coming down the steps
, drawing their attention. The sound of her high heels getting louder as she got closer, announcing her descent. When she stepped into view, Mike felt his eyes widen and a smile spread across his face. Of course he thought she was beautiful and had told her that plenty of times over the past couple months. But tonight, right then, standing in front of him, she surpassed all previous images he had of her. She went beyond beautiful—tonight she was magnificent.

ALLIE was nervous as she stood in front of Mike and Zane, waiting for someone to say something. She’d had a dress made for the event, specific to the
colors of the evening, and she worried it was too much. One of her clients was a fashion designer who did a lot of specialization in costume designs for plays as well as custom wedding pieces. When she had mentioned this event, she insisted on designing something for Allie to wear. When Allie hesitated since she figured it would be a lot of work, her client insisted, claiming the advertising alone would be great. Once she heard what she envisioned for the dress, Allie couldn’t say no.

The dress was an off-the-shoulder, black satin dress that hugged her body down to the waist. The bodice tastefully accentuated her cleavage with form fitting lines, and there
was a little bit of white tulle, trimmed in pink, that peeked out over her breasts. There was a pink satin sash across her waist which tied in a bow at the back. From the waist, the dress flared out away from her legs, ending above her knees, where more pink trimmed tulle peeked out from under the skirt. She topped off her outfit with a pair of pink patent-leather peep-toe high heels and matching pink toenails.

Smoothing her hands down the front of the dress, she asked, “Will this work for tonight?”

Mike’s silence had her doubting, but she’d never been to a benefit before so it was all guessing on her part. Reaching up, she sought out her now pink streak of hair. This was something she did when she was nervous. She was seconds away from fleeing upstairs when Mike cleared his throat and said, “You look stunning, Allie.”

Her spine straightened as she perked up at his words. Smiling, she asked, “Really? It’s not too flashy, is it? I’ve never been so nervous over my clothes before. Usually I totally own it, but I know tonight is
a big deal for your family …”

Mike walked the few steps to where she was and took her hand in his. Lifting it up to his lips, he kissed it before wrapping it in both of his hands and holding it against his chest. Smiling at her, he said, “Oh, you totally own it, sweetheart.”

She couldn’t help the excitement that bubbled up inside at his approval. She knew she looked good but had let her nerves about the event get in the way of her usual confidence. But Mike’s reassurance bolstered it back to its usually high levels. Her need to make sure he was happy had become a dominant force in her everyday life. It was nice to have someone who you wanted to make happy, and who wanted to make you happy, too.

Still smiling, she slid closer and placed her other hand on his chest and said, “Thanks. You look pretty nice, too.” Pausing, she looked at Zane and said, “Nice duds, college boy.”

With a cocky smile, he replied, “I know, right. I totally owned it, too.” Then he winked at her. Shaking her head, she looked back to Mike, who was still staring down at her. The hunger in his eyes was evident and once again her confidence soared.

The two of them were silent as they stood there for a few moments before Mike once again cleared his throat. “Magnificent, Allie. It’s the best word to describe you right now. And your hair … the purple is gone.”

She shrugged. “Figured this was an occasion worth modifying it.”

“It’s perfect.
You
are perfect. How’d I get so lucky?” he asked.

Leaning in, she whispered, “Keep talking like that and you’ll definitely be getting lucky tonight.”

Mike stiffened as his hand went to her waist and held her against him. “I’m already having trouble leaving with you looking like that. Saying that is not helpful.”

She could only smile. Leaning up, she placed a soft kiss on his lips before moving around him toward the door. Grabbing the cover for her shoulders, she wrapped it around her and picked up the small black clutch she’d put together. Zane held the door open for her as she stepped through. Once outside, he extended his elbow to her and assisted her down the stairs while Mike locked her door. At the bottom of the steps, she smiled at Zane before looking to where Mike was making his way toward them and said, “I’ve got to hand it to you, Lawson, you sure did train this one well.”

Stepping up on her other side, he, too, extended his elbow and said with a smirk, “Yeah, maybe a little
too
well.” Allie just laughed and let both of them escort her to the parking lot.

MIKE had Allie next to him when they entered the venue where the benefit was being held. The funds and donations they’d received this year were phenomenal, and even the venue was allowing them use of the facilities at minimal cost. There was catering staff that had donated their time to the cause, only leaving them to cover the cost of food. It always humbled him to see so many people working together to support a common cause. It wasn’t even just to support his family’s loss, but for everyone who had been or could be affected by the disease.

When Allie squeezed his hand, he looked down at her as she said, “This is crazy cool. Your sister has really outdone herself. She’s my new idol.”

Leaning down, he kissed her and said, “Let’s go find her and tell her that.”

Together, they sought out Paige. Finding her by the silent auction tables, barking out orders, it took her a few moments to realize they were standing there. When she did, he moved to hug her. “This place looks great, Paige.”

Paige beamed at him, clearly very pleased with herself as she said, “I know, right. It’s perfect.”

Allie took that opportunity to squeeze between them and hug Paige, too, adding, “Girl, are you sure you’re not a party planner? Because you should really give that some consideration.”

“Thanks. I’m very satisfied with how it turned out this year. We were able to get more donations since the event has grown and more people are aware of it. All of the decorations and gift baskets you see were all donated to the cause,” Paige stated.

The three of them took a moment to admire everything—from the balloons that spread everywhere, varied in colors of pink, white, silver, and black, to the pink floral arrangements on the black tablecloths, and even the chairs were draped in white covers wrapped with pink bows. There was also confetti spread on the tables, shaped in the trademark pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness. Two of the outer perimeter walls were lined with tables that held baskets for either the silent auction or the raffle. Near the front of the room was a dance floor with a DJ nearby preparing his equipment for the evening, and then there was another wall lined with tables that contained the food.

Allie was right—Paige really had outdone herself. Mike and the rest of the family helped with collecting donations and getting contributions, but Paige planned the evening. All the credit for it was hers and hers alone. He was about to convey his appreciation when Paige began to gush about Allie’s dress.

“Oh my God, Allie, that dress is fantastic! Where did you find something like that? It looks like it was made just for you.”

Allie blushed a little, which Mike thought was endearing. She really did look fantastic.

“Thanks, it actually
was
made just for me. A client of mine designed and made it.” Allie gave it a little twirl and showed them the bow on the back that rested just above her bottom. He smiled at the thought of getting her out of that dress a few hours later. The shoes, though? Those could stay on for what he had in mind. He inwardly groaned as his thoughts wandered to what Allie had on underneath that dress. And now he was standing in a room, filling slowly with people, talking to his sister with a hard-on.
Perfect
.

Trying to control his wayward thoughts, he looked around and spotted one of his clients. Kissing Allie on the cheek,
he asked, “Will you be okay with Paige for a few? I see one of my clients and want to thank him for coming.”

Allie smiled and said, “Of course, go do your thing, babe. I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”

He winked at her and then left them to chat and do whatever it was that girls did when men weren’t around.

CHAPTER TWENTY-
FOUR

MIKE couldn’t have hoped for a better turn out. They had sold three hundred seats for dinner that night and knew they would be making more money by the time the night was over from the raffle and the silent auctions. His family had done an amazing job, and it could only be considered a success. Now all he needed to complete his evening was a dance with his woman.

He had unsuccessfully tried for the past hour, but things kept coming up. A lot of these people were friends of the family, business clients, and so on; therefore, when they came up to chat, he had little choice. Every time he thought he had a second to be with her, someone else would approach. There had been a few stolen glances, a wink or two, and she even blew him a kiss once when he caught her attention. It was apparent that he was a terrible date that night, so he was happy that her family and friends had come out to support the cause as well. He would’ve felt terrible if he had drug her to an event, knowing few people, and then left her hanging the way he had done.

Scanning the crowd, he felt a hand
snake around the back of his waist moments before a small body pressed into his side. Lifting his arm to wrap around her, she ducked and slid in closer as his arm secured her against him. Smiling down at her, he said, “I was just looking for you.”

She answered with a smile and asked, “You were? Did you miss me?”

He dropped his lips down to meet hers, lingering longer than appropriate in their current surroundings, but he did miss her. Lifting his head, he said, “Very much. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy.”

She wrapped her arms fully around his waist and settled against him. “I understood that I had to share you tonight. But just so you know, you’re all mine when we leave.”

Mike growled low in his throat as he tightened his grip on her. “You’re damn right I’m all yours. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been staring at you from a distance all night? Every time I tried to get to you, someone would get in the way. I was determined to find you this time, and then you just appear. It has to be a sign.”

Letting out a laugh, she asked, “A sign of what?”

“That you need to stay right here by my side for the rest of the evening. I don’t like when I can’t touch you.”

He saw a pleased expression cross her face, triggering his own feeling of satisfaction. “Well, I’m here now.”

“Right where you belong,” he added before taking her lips again. When they separated, it was to the sound of someone clearing his throat. Mike looked up to see Logan glaring at him.

“Mind if I steal my sister for a dance?” Logan asked.

Mike wanted to snarl a
hell no
, but clearly remembered how he still
owed him one
for his participation in karaoke night. Looking down at Allie, who must have seen the scowl on his face, she said, “I’ll be back soon.” Then she tiptoed up to kiss him once more, before disengaging herself from his hold. As he watched her walk away with Logan, he knew without a doubt that he was in love with Allie Baxter. Oh, he knew he had been falling for a while, but he just hadn’t voiced it. Well, that wouldn’t be the case any longer. Not being one to back down, he resolved himself to making sure that Allie knew exactly how he felt, even if he feared how she would react.

ALLIE’s poor feet were aching and ready to pop right out of her heels. Sitting down at the table, she resisted the desire to take them off knowing full well that the moment she did, it was game over. There would be no way they’d be going back on tonight. Besides, she felt sexy in them, and since Mike was the average male, she was pretty certain he would enjoy if she kept them on a little longer. But the fact was that she had danced with her brother, her nephew, Zane, and Jason, so they were killing her.

Just taking her weight off them helped, and she did so as she sat and reached for a glass of water on the table. When her glass came down, her gaze met that of Mike’s mom, causing her to almost choke on the water. Dealing with your boyfriend’s mother was an awkward thing, or so she assumed, since she hadn’t had to deal with one in decades. After lifting a napkin to her mouth to take care of any spillage, she set it down and said, “Hello, Mrs. Lawson. What a great turn out this evening, don’t you think?”

Allie had only met his mother once before, and the woman was completely nice to her. She really wasn’t sure why she felt nervous around her, other than fear of the woman not liking her. With a smile and a nod, Mrs. Lawson said, “Yes, Paige and Mike sure did a great job tonight. And please, call me Renee.”

Allie replied with a smile, “Okay, Renee.”

A few moments of silence passed between them before Renee simply said, “Thank you.”

Not sure what she was thanking her for, Allie was about to ask when her expression must have given her confusion away. Renee said, “Thank you for putting the spark back in my son’s eye. I wasn’t really sure it was ever going to return, but as his mother, I was hopeful. Then when I met you last month and I saw it, I was so relieved.”

Allie wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. It was a heavy topic of conversation to have with someone, especially the boyfriend’s mom. So she waited. After another awkwardly long pause, Renee leaned forward and took Allie’s hand, gave it a squeeze, and said, “Every mother wants her child to be happy in life. Mike finally looks happy again, and that is something I am very thankful for. For you.” Another moment of silence passed as she smiled at her, stood, and kissed her on the cheek before walking away.

Allie could only follow Renee’s retreat, as she felt planted to her seat. Having the mother’s approval was a big deal, and it appeared that even though she wasn’t seeking it, she had it. She wasn’t sure what to do with it, but she could figure that out later. She perused the now thinned out crowd to find Mike. She missed him. Spotting him in the far corner chatting with Zane, she watched them as Mike gave him a nod and then they hugged. Allie loved that Mike was close to his son, since family was a big deal for her.

She watched as Mike turned and Zane left. Then she saw Mike accepting goodbyes from a few others, including his parents, as they all began to take their leave. Her friends had already said goodnight, so she only needed to wait for Mike and help if Paige needed anything. When Mike turned her direction again, he met her stare and a big, satisfied smile overtook his face. It was a smile of a person who just found exactly what he was looking for. She shivered. As he made his way to her, he didn’t drop his stare. Just watched her as he closed in on her.

He turned his head to say goodbye to someone, but never took his eyes off her. When he made it to her, he dropped down to his haunches and said, “There’s the most beautiful woman in the room. How is it that you always manage to be on the opposite side of the room from me?”

A blush crept up her neck at his words. He was so sweet. Even though his words were cheesy, they totally worked on her.

Shrugging, she said, “I’m not sure, but I won’t complain about it. Watching you prowl toward me from across the room was
hot
.”

His smug grin erupted across his face. “Oh really? I like the thought of that. I felt like I was stalking, searching for my prey. I’m determined to not let you get away this time.”

Standing up, he offered her his hand. Taking it, she stood slowly, giving her feet some time to stop pulsating. Reaching to the back of her chair, Mike took her wrap and draped it over her shoulders as he waited. “Feet hurt?”

She nodded. “They’re well on their way to being completely numb so we should be fine.”

“I promise to rub them when I take those sexy shoes off,” he said as he offered his elbow and kissed her against the temple.

“Deal!” she said a little too excitedly. It was a mixture of excitement and pain as she moved the first two steps. He tried to hide his smile, but she knew it was funny so she didn’t give him any grief over it. After a few more goodbyes and hugs on the way out, they finally made it to his truck. When he opened the door, he lifted Allie by the waist and set her on the seat. He moved his hands down one leg, rubbing along the way, before removing one shoe. She groaned as he gave her now free foot a few quick rubs before moving over and repeating the motions on the other side.

“Oh, sweet merciful heaven, please don’t stop doing that.” She sighed as he took a few moments to rub both of her aching feet.

Mike chuckled and said, “How about I get you home and I can do this properly?”

“Deal!” she exclaimed once again as she lifted her legs into the truck so he could close the door. Once Mike was in and they were on their way home, she realized something.

“Hey! We never got to dance,” she said with a pout, glancing over at him.

He gave her a knowing smile. “I know, baby, I’m sorry. I was going to attempt to dance with you right before we left, but it was obvious that your feet were hurting. There’s no way that I would intentionally torture you like that.”

Sagging against the seat, she tried not to be too disappointed since he was just thinking of her. Reaching down, she attempted to slip her shoes back on as Mike pulled into his parking space, but he stopped her.

“Don’t put them back on, babe. I’ll get you to the doorstep,” he said with a grin.

She waited for him to come around and get her door. With her shoes in hand, she used the side step to bring her closer to him, where he handed her his keys. Then he turned her around and pulled her down so that she fell into the cradle of his arms, letting out a squeal as she went. Throwing her arms around his neck, she was careful not to knock him in the head with her shoes.

Mike used his shoulder to close the door. “Lock the truck for me?”

“Oh, I think I can handle that,” she said with a smile as they made their way toward one of their places. “My place or yours?” she asked.

He gave her a wicked look. “Definitely mine.”

She giggled at the
look of promise in his eyes, she didn’t even have to know what that promise was, but she liked it. Mike set her down and took the keys from her. Once inside, he moved her to the center of his living room by her shoulders and said, “Stay right there.”

He quickly removed her wrap and tossed it on the couch alongside his jacket, before bending to push the coffee table over. Not sure what was going on, she just watched him as he pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through something before docking it on the sound system. When he turned toward her, he smiled just as music filtered into the room. Approaching her, he put his hand out and said, “May I have this dance?”

She felt her smile spread widely across her face as she placed her hand in his. In a playful tone, she said, “I thought you’d never ask.”

Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed it before pulling her closer. Still holding her hand between them, he wrapped his other arm around her waist just as a sultry male voice reached her ears, singing about wearing a woman down. Together, they rocked slowly as she listened to the words of the song. Mike held her gaze as the singer sang, ‘
I’m gonna get to you, you’re gonna give in to me.
’

Listening to the words being sung about starting a fire
,
she couldn’t help but feel as if they were coming directly from Mike. And then he started to sing along, ‘
I’m gonna burn for you, you’re gonna melt for me …
’

He led the dancing, picking up the pace occasionally when the tempo called for it. A turn or two later and she couldn’t help but fall completely under the spell he had weaved—dancing in her bare feet, in the middle of his living room. ‘
My heart is set on you, I don’t want no one else
…’

As the song approached the end, she absorbed all of the words that were being said. Hearing their meaning and knowing for sure that Mike had picked this song for such a perfect moment.  As the closing of the song wrapped up around them, she lifted her hand to his face as they slowly came to a stop. Leaning into her hand, he closed his eyes and took a noticeable breath before opening them again. When his hand let go of hers and made its way to the back of her neck, a place she knew he loved to hold, she knew he wanted to tell her something.

Moving her thumb across the soft skin high on his cheek, she waited, just absorbing him through her touch. Her gaze dropped to where her thumb was idly stroking his cheek, still entranced in the magic of the song, their dance.

“Allie …” Mike said is a raspy voice that immediately caught her attention and wrapped warmly around her. Meeting his gaze, she smiled up at him for a moment before he said, “I love you.”