| |
Teresa
“Remind me why I said yes.” Teresa sighed, looking at her open wardrobe.
“Because you actually like the guy and honestly had no real reason to refuse him,” Anna replied, looking amusingly at her from the bed. Anna, her best friend, had come to lend her a hand at picking an outfit. She also had the difficult job of convincing her that dating Vance was a good idea, despite her qualms. Luckily, she had not brought the other three girls with her, or Teresa would go crazy before the night had even started.
“I do not like him!” Teresa snapped back at her and Anna laughed, holding her hands up in the air, calling for peace.
“Okay, okay, whatever you say, Tess.” Anna laughed over mockingly using the nickname that Vance had given Teresa. Since Teresa had told her friends that he usually called her Tess, they had been calling her that non-stop. “But I really don’t understand why you never date! You’re young, beautiful, and single – are you secretly married or something?” Anna wondered with a fake gasp.
Teresa rolled her eyes and chuckled. She trusted Anna, but she had never told her where she came from or that she had been the rogue princess in a motorcycle gang. And she definitely had never told her about her abusive father and her distrust of men because of him. She didn’t want Anna to pity her – or worse, fear her because of her past.
“I just don’t trust men, that’s all,” Teresa replied nonchalantly. “But I suppose one date won’t hurt. It’s not like it’s serious, or anything. And Vance does seem like a decent guy, even though he is a slight nutter,” she muttered.
“And he’s handsome as hell,” Anna said, laughing. She had only seen Vance once when she’d stopped by Silver Spoons for Charity one morning to drop off a couple of things she had borrowed from Teresa. “Although he did follow you everywhere,” Anna added with a small frown. “Can’t decide if that’s cute or creepy.”
Teresa bit her lip. “Do you want me to date him or not?” she snapped, pacing back and forth in her room. She had not forgotten that, and she definitely did not need her friend reminding her that the guy had behaved like a total creep prior to the date.
“Sorry, sorry!” Anna laughed again. “From what you told me, he seems nice, and you guys get along really well. It’s a good thing that you decided to give him a chance, at least. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s the sexiest guy we’ve all laid our eyes on.” She sighed and fluttered her eyelashes in jest. Teresa laughed at her behavior: Anna had really been charmed when she first saw Vance Tate.
Teresa knew that her distrust of men was out of proportion and that she really should get over her dad one day. She knew not all men were like him, but she simply had not met a guy who proved to be nothing like what she hated.
But maybe Vance was really one of the good ones. He acted nothing like her dad. In fact, he was everything her dad would hate: kind, caring, intelligent, fun, and sweet. And really, really handsome.
“You are daydreaming about him again!” Anna hummed. Teresa realized that she had been standing there for three minutes, probably smiling like a teenage girl in love.
“Shut up!” Teresa blushed to her ears and turned around to face the wardrobe dilemma again. She didn’t know what to wear, and it was getting closer to eight every minute. She was wasting precious time by fooling around with Anna.
She had already showered, dried her hair, and put in curlers she was about to take out. Now she only had to pick an outfit and put on some makeup. Jesus Christ, it had been so long since she went on a date that she had forgotten how much she hated this part.
“Help me out or get out, Anna,” Teresa warned her friend, who was more than used to her blunt language. Anna got up from the bed, went into Teresa’s wardrobe, and after fumbling around for a bit, picked an outfit for her friend.
“Hurry and try it on! Or he’ll catch you still in your towel,” she warned Teresa, handing her the clothes.
Teresa put on the dress and the shoes Anna had selected for her. It was a sleeveless, sky blue dress with small flowers at the bottom of the skirt, which ended just above the knees. It was not too formal, but it she hoped it would fit with wherever Vance was planning on taking her. And she had to admit that she looked really good in it.
“I don’t know why I don’t wear this dress more often,” she mused aloud, going to the bathroom to finish getting ready. She decided to put on a light touch of makeup and started applying a silvery blue eyeshadow that matched her dress.
“Because that dress screams ‘date me’ and you don’t date, remember?” Anna mocked her. Teresa threw a shoe at her from the bathroom but missed. It hit the opposite wall, and Anna started laughing even louder.
At a quarter to eight, Teresa was ready, and Anna had left the loft, urging her friend to tell her every detail after the date was over. Teresa barely had time to grab her purse and a light jacket for the night when the doorbell rang. Standing on her doorstep with a small plastic bag hanging from one arm and a bouquet of flowers in the other hand was Vance, as charming as ever.
“Hey! Good evening,” he said with a smile. “You look wonderful.”
“Hi, Vance. Thank you. Come in,” she replied, taking a step back to let him in.
“These are for you,” Vance said, holding the flowers out in front of him. It was a simple bouquet of daisies, and she accepted them gratefully. “I didn’t know which flowers you liked, sorry. But I didn’t picture you as a rose type of woman.”
Teresa laughed lightly. “Nothing to worry about. You’re right; roses aren’t really my thing. I love these, thank you,” she said, smelling the bouquet. They gave off a nice, spring-like aroma that was really refreshing. “They’re lovely,” she added, heading into the kitchen to find a vase. “You really didn’t have to.”
She arranged them and left them in the vase on the counter. Vance was still in the hall, standing sheepishly, looking around.
Teresa couldn’t help but look him over now that the flowers were out of the way. He was dressed casually in dark, slim-fitting jeans that suited him perfectly and a white button-down. She looked at him, and he was smiling at her. The glow in his eyes made her heart jump.
She cleared her throat. “What’s in the bag?” she asked curiously, trying to hide her moment of weakness.
“Oh! These are for you as well,” he said, handing her the bag. “I hope I’m not overdoing it.” Something jolted in her stomach, like a hundred butterflies and bolts of lightning swirling around, when his hand lightly touched hers as she took the bag and saw what was inside.
“Why...?” she started, looking puzzled at Vance. She took them out: three old books, all of them thriller novels.
“I accidentally came across this secondhand bookstore that had a sale going on, and I didn’t know if you had read them but I thought you may like them and before I knew it I had already gone into the shop and bought them...” Vance rambled on until Teresa laid a hand on his arm and silenced him.
“You definitely did not have to,” Teresa said, looking at the books again. “But thank you – I haven’t read them yet. I’ll fill a couple of nights with these, thanks.” She winked at him, and Vance unfroze.
“I’m really glad you like them. Shall we go now?” To accompany his words, he offered Teresa his arm, and she looked at it, amused. She left the books on the table and took his arm gently.
Teresa was so close to him when they left the building that she felt his breathing, and a warm feeling trickled through her body. She felt the places where they touched tingle, and the butterflies had started to flutter again in her stomach.
They chatted for a bit while walking to their mystery destination, no more than small talk and trivialities, when Teresa finally asked him where he was taking her.
“It’s a surprise!” he answered. Teresa looked at him, raising one eyebrow, but Vance did not cave and flashed a smile at her.
Teresa blushed and looked down. It was both frustrating and bizarre to feel like this. The butterflies, the slight nervousness, the awkwardness, the blushing. Since she had sworn off men long ago, she felt shaky and out of sorts when these jittery feelings resurfaced.
When Vance finally stopped in front of a small coffee shop, she looked at the place in surprise. She had almost completely forgotten they were heading somewhere: talking and laughing with Vance had made her unaware of all her surroundings.
“I know it’s a bit weird to go to a coffee shop on a date, but they also serve dinner and their coffee is really good. And I know how much you like coffee, so I thought you’d like it...” He was rambling again, mistaking her expression of surprise at the venue choice for disapproval.
She laughed. “Vance, it’s fine. It looks perfect.”
They sat at a table next to the window overlooking passersby and twinkling lampposts and stoplights in the distance. Teresa glanced across at Vance perusing his menu and smiled to herself, feeling glad she took a chance.