Opposites Attract (8 page)

“Well, can you?” he asked.

“Can I what?”

“Be happy with someone who can’t give you everything your heart desires. If I recall, that’s what you wanted when you left me.”

Francesca bit her lip and stared at her hands a moment. “I thought it was. But it hasn’t brought me happiness. Money is good, but it isn’t everything. I know that. I didn’t only want a wealthy man, I also wanted someone who loved me as well.”

They sat silently for a few moments. Glancing up, she saw Randall’s gaze was intense and focused all on her. She didn’t know if he just had nothing to say or if his mind was going a mile a minute like hers.

“Could you ever be with someone like me? I get my hands dirty every day. I don’t like fancy restaurants. My ideal Friday night is a cold beer and a movie. I have no desire to live some fancy life and waste my money on stupid things like expensive cars or on a seventy dollar bottle of wine, when I can pick up perfectly good wine for three dollars at the local supermarket. Is that a life you could live?”

“I think so.”

“I like you, Francesca, a lot more than I’d like to admit. But I don’t want you to sacrifice things you want to be with someone like me who
might
be able to give you what you want.” He paused a moment, then added, “What if I told you right now I could actually give you those fancy things? That I’m loaded.”

“I know you’re not.”

“But if I was. Would I be perfect for you then?”

She smiled but didn’t say anything. Randall stood up and her smile faded. “Are you leaving?”

“You gave me my answer.”

“I didn’t say anything,” she argued.

“Exactly. You smiled, telling me my suspicions were true.”

Francesca stood and placed her hands on her hips. “I’m sick and tired of you thinking you know me. I smiled because I was thinking when it came to you, money doesn’t matter. Even if you were rich, I wouldn’t care. No, I don’t have the same desires for a Friday night like you do, but maybe we could have met in the middle and compromised. But you’ll never see me as anything else.” She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “And I have no one to blame but myself. I dumped you years ago for that reason and have been living the rich life. And I like it. But for the right person, I could give it up.”

Randall licked his lips, and for a moment she thought maybe he’d grab her, press his lips against hers, and make love to her. God, she just wanted to feel him touch her. Whenever they connected, she felt whole and as though the world had stopped moving. He made her complete.

He took a step toward her, and she braced herself for the passion. But then he spun around and left. The door shut behind him and all was silent again. It was as though he hadn’t even been there. She plopped back down on the couch. What a turn of events. He’d come here to apologize and when he left, she was now the bad guy.

Chapter 10

Sitting across from her brother Adam at Sweet Muffins Bakery, Francesca listened to him talk about work. The past week had been very entertaining for him. He’d had all sorts of calls from cats in trees to a woman who needed an alien arrested for abducting her. She knew Adam was just trying to make her feel better. He’d never been one to want to just sit and listen to her problems, but he did what he could to try and put a smile on her face. Right now, however, nothing was going to make her feel better until she figured things out.

She’d bumped into Randall a few days after their last fight. They’d both been at the same gas station. Neither of them spoke to the other. Just looked. She wanted to go over and talk to him but knew it was best not to. Until she sorted things out for herself, she couldn’t try and work things out with him. He’d said a lot of things that made her think. And she needed to figure out if she could settle for the life he had to offer her.

Francesca hadn’t seen him again. This could be the break she needed. But was it what she wanted?

“Francesca, you there?” Adam waved his hand in front of her.

“Sorry. My mind is elsewhere.”

“Shit, you want to talk, don’t you?” He rubbed his forehead.

She laughed. “No, Adam. This is something I have to do on my own.”

“Look, sis, you’re perfect the way you are. You don’t take shit from anyone. Don’t sacrifice who you are for anyone.”

“Even if I think I might love him?” She brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“If he loves you back, then you wouldn’t have to sacrifice.”

“Love sucks.”

“So, you do love him?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I never stopped. But you’re right. I suppose it’s time for me to stop thinking about how I need to change and who I have to be and find out if he can accept me for who I am.”

Adam sat back in his seat and took a sip of his coffee. “It’s going to take a special man to put up with you. And I will say that I think
he
is the one who can do it. Heck, he’s still around, that should tell you something.”

Francesca sighed. “Maybe. I just need him to see me for me and not who he thinks I am. If money is such an issue now, won’t it always be? How do I get him to understand I don’t care?”

“If he can’t see it, then it’s his loss. Want me to play bad cop and pull him over and give him a talking to?”

Francesca burst out laughing. “God, no! Talk about embarrassing. I don’t think I could ever look at him again, and I’d have to leave town.”

“What’s so funny over here?” Amy asked as she took a seat next to Adam.

“Your future husband. He wants to pull Randall over and give him a talking to.”

Amy poked Adam. “You better not.”

“I wasn’t really. It was an offer,” Adam said.

“I feel bad for our kids.”

Adam pulled Amy close and wrapped his arms around her. “Let’s skip the wedding and get started on those kids.”

“Eeew, I’m out of here.” Francesca stood, pushing her chair back.

“If you need some real advice, call me. I’m always here.” Amy laid her head on Adam’s shoulder.

“Thanks. Because he is no help.”

“Hey! That story about the woman and alien thing had you smiling.”

Francesca shook her head. “It’s never a dull moment with you. Glad you found a woman who can put up with you!”

She began to leave when Amy called out. “I still have you down for bringing a guest to the wedding. I expect a certain someone to be there.”

“We’ll see.” She pushed her way through the door and out into the bright afternoon. She was happy that her brother had found someone to be so happy with. Nothing else mattered for Amy and Adam except one another. Perhaps she and Randall could have that as well.

* * * *

Randy stood outside the shop and listened to Mr. Arnold talk about the latest car he was rebuilding. Usually he enjoyed hearing the man’s stories, but today had been a horrible day. If it could happen, then it did. And he had a finger wrapped up to show it. He had been damn lucky it hadn’t been chopped off when the hood suddenly fell from the car he was working on. There was still a chance his finger was fractured.

He’d fallen several times in the shop over things out of place. The phone had rung non-stop from customers calling with questions. He had a full day ahead of him tomorrow, and tonight he was on tow-duty. The guy he had hired needed the night off for a school event for his kids. Sometimes he thought owning his own business was one of the worst mistakes he’d ever made. All the pressure was starting to get to him.

He hoped tonight was uneventful. Since he couldn’t relax with a six-pack, he planned to at least relax with a movie.

“Well, once I get her all shined up, I’ll drive it up here for you to see,” Mr. Arnold said.

“Awesome. I can’t wait to see it. Sounds like you’ve got quite the project ahead of you though.”

“Oh, I do. But all I’ve got is time.” Mr. Arnold laid a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t forget to take some time for yourself, boy. Life is short. Enjoy it.”

“Thanks, sir. I’ll try.”

Mr. Arnold nodded and then went toward his vehicle to head home. Randy went back into the shop to turn everything off and make sure the phone was set to forward to his cellphone. Once that was all done, he went out the back door and walked up the hill to his house.

The first thing he did when he got home was take a shower to wash away the grime from the day. After that, he rummaged through the fridge before deciding on a sandwich and a whole bag of chips. Plopping down on the couch with his food, he turned the TV on and flipped through the channels. A movie that he hadn’t seen was beginning on one of the movie networks. Finally, this day was starting to look up.

His phone rang. Grunting, he answered. It was someone wanting to know his hours of operation. He really needed to invest in one of those fancy answering machines at the shop where callers could press one to reach him and then he could include all that other nonsense people called about on the message.

His sandwich was gone and half a bag of chips before he was full. Randy kicked his feet up so they rested on the coffee table and did his best to concentrate on the movie. There was a blonde actress in the movie and each time he saw her from behind, his mind immediately went to someone else. Someone he was doing his damn best to get over and forget. He was sure things between them weren’t going to start up again. They couldn’t be in the same room without fighting. Some people just weren’t meant to be together, no matter how much they wanted to be.

Randy’s eyelids began to feel heavy and he decided a nap would be good. Just as he was about to drift off, his cellphone rang. “Fuck!”

He picked it up and saw it was a number he didn’t know. “Hello.”

“I’m looking for a tow. My car has broken down about a block from your shop.”

At least he didn’t have to travel far. “Okay. Can I get your name and a description of the vehicle I’m looking for?”

“Sure, my name is Skylar and it’s a white Lexus.”

He was beginning to hate white Lexuses. “All right, Skylar. Stay in your car, and I’ll be there in the next ten minutes to help you.”

“Thank you. You won’t regret it.” She hung up.

Regret it? What the hell was there to regret when it came to towing a car? Hopefully a serial killer hadn’t just called him.

Chapter 11

Randy pulled up behind the white car. He couldn’t see the woman inside yet. The whole drive over he’d had a weird feeling. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but something seemed off. But he was here anyway in the event that this woman really did need help.

Leaving the engine on, he climbed out of his truck and started to walk toward the driver’s side door. It opened and the first thing he saw was a pair of long legs. He followed those sexy legs up to a tight jean miniskirt, and forced his focus further up until he met a familiar face. What was going on?

“Francesca.”

“We need to talk,” she said.

“Couldn’t you have called?”

She walked up to him and when he inhaled, he smelled that scent she wore that always drove him insane. Much like the woman in front of him.

“I’m so sick and tired of fighting with you.” She yanked him by his shirt and pulled his face down toward hers. “Quit arguing with me all the damn time and let’s figure this out.”

He gazed into her eyes and did his best to resist her, but he couldn’t. The need to taste her took over, and his mouth smashed into hers. He thrust his tongue in and couldn’t believe how much he had missed the way she tasted.

Francesca’s grip tightened on his shirt before she broke the kiss and pushed him off. Damn this woman!

“I need to know you can accept me for who I am. Yes, I like fancy things. And no, I can’t settle for being curled up with you on a couch every single Friday night. I can eat fast food, but at least once a month, I need to be taken out someplace where we are going to overpay for our food. And if we live paycheck to paycheck, I don’t care. Money doesn’t buy the type of happiness that I’m looking for. Only your love can give me what I want. I am stubborn, and I make mistakes all the time. I am vocal, and I’m going to speak my mind—a lot. But that’s who I am. And I’m not changing just so you will be with me. Take me as I am or don’t take me at all.”

Randy smiled. “There isn’t a damn thing about you I want to change. You keep life interesting.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Randy.” Francesca took a step closer to him.

“That’s Randall to you.”

Francesca threw her head back and laughed. He liked seeing her happy.

“What about that tow?” he asked.

She leaned up and kissed his neck and slowly moved toward his ear. Sucking on his lobe, she whispered, “Let’s come back later, right now we have a lot of making up to do.”

“I like the sound of that. Promise to sit next to me in the truck.”

“Only if you promise to touch me the whole ride.”

He wrapped his arms around Francesca and carried her to his truck. Opening the door, he sat her down, wishing they weren’t on the side of the road, otherwise he would have feasted on her damn legs in that miniskirt all the way to her sweet center. Instead, she slid over as he climbed in.

Once he was inside and back on the road, Francesca grabbed his hand and placed it high up her inner thigh. “I’m not wearing any panties,” she said.

He knew just what she wanted and he was going to give it to her. “Spread them open.”

She did. He slowed the truck down but made sure to hit each and every bump he could. His hand found its way to her pussy. She was wet. Taking no time, he let his thumb roll over her clit and then thrust two fingers into her opening.

She laid her head back and let out moans of delight. Her breathing was quick. His parking lot was ahead and he knew the bumps of the unpaved road just might bring her over the edge. Thrusting in and out of her faster, he managed to make the left turn with one hand on the wheel and then with a thud, the truck jerked as he slowly crawled down the gravel road.

“Oh God,” she called out.

“Come for me.”

He pressed her clit a little more and she cried out. Her hips grinded into his hand. He did the best he could to get the truck up to his house. He needed to get inside of her.