Chapter 4: Chapter Four

Mitch left work in desperate need of a shower and still having four hours of work left on the transmission that would help him pay his rent that month. All day long, he fought the urge to reach out to Karla, asking her again to join him for dinner. It would only play into her way of thinking, make her feel like she had the upper hand in their relationship, if what they had could be called a relationship. She needed to come to him if what he hoped for was ever going to come to pass. She needed to realize not all relationships were the same.

As he turned on the shower, allowing the water to heat up, Sandy’s words echoed in his head again. Karla Harper doesn’t do relationships. She does men. But why? What happened to her that caused her to be so frigid when it came to matters of the heart while being so hot between the sheets? That was what he wanted to discover, what drove him crazy not knowing.

He stepped into the shower spray, the hot water pelting his flesh. Not for the first time he wondered why he even bothered. Sandy was there. She was fun, uncomplicated, exactly what he wanted in his life, what he was used to settling for. So, why was he fussing with Karla who couldn’t care less about being with him in any romantic sort of way? She didn’t do relationships, after all. Neither did he, for that matter. So why pursue this?

Because he was tired of settling.

He allowed the hot spray to wash away the grime of the day as well as his sporadic thoughts. She would show or not. He was still going to have a steak. He needed it, even if he ate alone. Sandy offered to join him if Karla was a no-show, but it wasn’t a route he wanted to travel tonight. No. He would have Karla his way tonight or dine alone. Whether he was punishing Karla, Sandy, or himself, he didn’t know, but it was the way his mind was going, and he had no intention of arguing with himself.

Or surrendering.

He dried off and slipped into clean jeans and a button-down, short-sleeve navy blue shirt. Running his fingers through his wet hair, he decided that was enough of a combing and headed for the front door. Karla would either be there, or she wouldn’t. That didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun either way. As he opened the driver’s door to his car, deciding to take it instead of his motorcycle, he checked his phone one more time. Nothing. He wasn’t surprised. Fighting the urge to reach out, just to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind, he slipped the phone into his shirt pocket and slid into the car. The night was cool, so he decided to ride with the windows down, allowing the wind to cool his frustration. With Karla, there seemed to be a lot of frustration and none of it made sense to him. He thought back to the last time they had dinner. He tried to make it a nice night, play the gentleman, but she only thought he wanted to control her, make decisions for her. He did, of course, but not that soon. He just wanted to push her buttons that night and see where she stood. What he discovered was that she stood defiant, hands on her hips, yet obeying his orders.

As they slid into their seats, Mitch ordered a bottle of wine to start the evening. He hoped it would relax her. Instead, it seemed to incense her instead. “What if I wanted something else?”

He shrugged, making sure to keep his smile on his face. “You can have it. I just thought this would be nice.”

“Are you ordering for me, as well?”

He gave a slight shake of his head. “No. Not unless you want me to, that is.”

“No. I’d like to at least be left in control of something, thank you.”

“That’s important to you, isn’t it?”

“Control? Yes. I don’t trust other people being in charge of my actions.”

The waitress arrived with the bottle of wine, opened it and, after pouring the first glass for Mitch to sample, filled their goblets with his approval. He picked up his glass and gestured that Karla should do the same. She rolled her eyes but followed his lead anyway.

His smile sparkled in the candlelight. “To learning to trust.”

She lifted her glass slightly and then took a sip. As she set the glass back on the table, she said, “Trust is not something that comes easily, if ever. I’ve learned that most people don’t deserve it.”

His head tilted to the side as he looked at her, a sad expression covering his face. “Someone must have hurt you pretty bad.”

She gave a casual shrug, feigning a nonchalance that he could tell she didn’t feel. “Only once. Twice, perhaps. That’s all it took for me to learn not to allow it to happen again. I live my life by my rules. People either deal with that or they don’t. I don’t care. I am who I am and people either take me that way or they can take a walk.”

“People who say that are usually saying it to justify they’re an asshole and can’t change. You’ve shown you can be sneaky, but I wouldn’t necessarily call you an asshole.”

“Gee, thanks. Just why did you invite me out again?”

“Dinner. Remember? We are at a steak house, after all.”

“You know what I mean.”

He just smiled at her as he took another sip of his wine. He was sure she wanted to strangle him. The waitress arrived and they placed their orders, Karla selecting the second most expensive item on the menu. Mitch didn’t flinch and, instead, ordered the more expensive steak and lobster. She gave a low growl, and he did his best to hide his chuckle. He knew she was trying to piss him off, but it wouldn’t work. He was ready for whatever she wanted to dish out.

Once the waitress left to place their orders, she asked him again.

“I find you intriguing,” he said. “Fun, even. I wanted to try and get to know you better.”

“Look. I’ll save you some time. I’m not the relationship type. They never last with me and, before you say what every other man has said, let me just say that, yes, I’ve tried and so have they. Each one would say something cliché, like ‘You haven’t tried with me. I’ll prove you can do it.’ Things go well for a few months, and then it’s over because I can’t stay still that long. So, save yourself some headache and heartache and don’t even try.”

He nodded his head slightly as he listened. He knew better than to give her the same lines the others had. If he was going to win Karla Harper, he was going to have to go about it in a way she would not see coming. “So, you’re the booty-call-only type of girl. Pop by, get my rocks off, and then go about my merry way. Men use you for a while, and then find the one that will settle down with them?”

“Exactly.”

“You’re better off not being committed to someone. You want to be free to screw someone who makes your juices flow. You like the random encounters.”

“How many other ways do you want to say the same thing? Men are to be used and then dumped. I thought you were the same way. After all, you did try and get into my sister’s skirt after you got into mine.”

He laughed. “For the record, you dropped your pants for me. I didn’t get into them. And yes, I did go out with your sister. I still would except she’s made it pretty clear she has an interest somewhere else.”

“So, you came back to the sure thing.”

“You really don’t think too highly of yourself, do you?”

“I believe in looking at who I really am, instead of who people wish I was.”

He shrugged. “Who says you can’t be both and that either one is a bad thing?”

She stared at him a moment, trying to process what he was saying. “Men don’t like to come home and see their girlfriend banging the next-door neighbor.”

“So, don’t settle for the normal man. You need someone who fits your view of things. I think you’re so busy pushing everyone away because you’re afraid they’ll screw up what you want—whenever you figure that out, that is—that you haven’t noticed that, just perhaps, there is someone who can give you all that and allow you to be the woman you want to be.” He sipped his wine again. “I think you gave up on relationships too fast.”

“I didn’t give up. I just changed tactics. Now, I make them work for me.”

“So, you’re coming on to me was about getting me to work on your sister’s car for free. Did I look that gullible?”

“You’re male. You’re all that gullible.”

He laughed as his head bobbed up and down. “I suppose we can be, at times.”

Was he being gullible now? Should he just shrug it all off and move on to more accessible conquests? While Karla was definitely gorgeous to look at and a challenge he wanted to conquer, was she worth the aggravation he was putting himself through?

He was just about to decide she wasn’t when he pulled into the parking lot of Charlie’s and saw her standing by the entrance under the canopy. He grinned. He couldn’t help it. Game on then.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

God, he frustrated the hell out of her. Who did he think he was to make demands of her? That was not how it worked. She threw open her closet doors and stared at the dresses which hung there, trying to decide what to wear to a steak dinner she didn’t want to attend. He’d probably order for her this time, all in the guise of being the perfect gentleman. It was a ploy, she knew. He was trying to prove he wasn’t a player, that’s all. Just like the other night when he made her practically beg for him to come into her apartment and fuck her.

Karla unlocked the door to her condo, and then turned to see how Mitch played out the ending to their night. Once the meal was over, he ordered a cup of coffee and continued the conversation while he sipped it. Then, he paid the check and escorted her back to the car. She expected him to offer to take her back to his place, the garage, a dirt road, anywhere, but back to her condo. Yet, he didn’t. He drove her straight home. He did insist on walking her to her door, however. “Consider it all part of playing the role of the gentleman.”

She didn’t believe him, though. She knew he was going to ask to come in for a nightcap, and then attempt to have sex with her. Men could only put up a facade for so long before their real motives came out.

Yet, at the door, he leaned in, kissing her softly on the lips and then wished her a good night.

“What?”

“Good night. It’s what you say to someone when you drop them off at their door after a date. You really haven’t done this too often, have you?”

“I’ve done this plenty of times. It’s just that most of the time I’m hearing good morning and it’s as the man wakes up beside me.” She looked at him curiously. “You’re really going home now?”

He laughed. “Yes, I am. I told you. I just wanted dinner. This wasn’t about getting into your pants. I’ve been there.”

Her eyebrows rose as she stared at him. “What the hell does that mean? You’ve slept with me, but you don’t want to again?”

“That’s not what I meant at all. I simply mean that sex was not the goal for tonight. I know, it’s probably a new concept for you, but it does happen among normal people.”

“I thought we already established you and I are not normal.”

He smiled down at her, and the flames of her passion roared back to life between her legs as her heart doubled its beat. “We’re not normal, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pretend now and then.”

“I don’t want to pretend tonight.” She gripped his arm and pulled him toward her door. “I’ve followed your rules all night long. Now, I want you to come inside and finish out the night the way it’s supposed to end.” He didn’t move to follow her. “Please.”

He grinned at her as he gave one brief nod.

She growled as she snatched her little black dress from its hanger, the one that hugged her hips and cupped her ass and slipped it over her head. Who did he think he was, making her force herself upon him like that? Men begged her to get between her legs, not the other way around.

She ran a brush through her hair, slipped the gold chain with the obsidian drop pendant around her neck, another gift from a lover whose name she forgot, and headed for the door—and the restaurant where she would pay for a meal she didn’t feel like eating. She checked her phone before she started the car. Nothing. Why wasn’t he reaching back out to see if she had changed her mind? Why wasn’t her phone blowing up with him apologizing, saying he would pay for dinner if she would only join him? Why the hell was she getting in her car and meeting him?

Why did she even care?

Mitch Greenway was trying to prove he wasn’t like other men, that he could give her something others would never be able to handle. She doubted he had it in him. Oh, they all said the same thing in the beginning. I’m not like your other boyfriends. I don’t mind you being the wild child. They think it’s hot and the idea of it all turns them on and makes their cocks stand up and salute. Yet, the first time another man puts a hand, not to mention his mouth, on what men felt was theirs, all the fantasies came crashing down around them and suddenly she’s just the slut who cheated on them. Mitch would turn out to be the same way. Oh, it was true he was fine with having a threesome with Sandy, but no guy minds sharing their girl with another girl. It’s when she asks for another cock in the mix that things get hinky. Things always became hinky.

In the end, that’s what made her decide to join Mitch for dinner. She might as well prove to him he was just like everyone else and get it over with, so he would leave her alone and cease his incessant attempts at proving otherwise. The sooner she proved him wrong, the sooner she could go back to just using him without the hassle.

She beat him to the restaurant and decided to just wait for him outside. He’d want to hold the door open for her, after all. She didn’t text him that she would be there. Better that she surprised him. If he even showed up, that is. It might keep him off guard for the evening. When he did appear, she could tell by the shitty grin on his face that he thought he won. Might as well allow him to think that right up until the moment he couldn’t handle her anymore. She was sure it wouldn’t take long.

“Glad you made it,” he said as he approached.

She just cocked an eyebrow at him. “Am I going to have to beg for sex after dinner tonight, as well? Or since I’m buying is it a guarantee?”

He just laughed as he placed a hand on her arm, while with his other hand he opened the door. “Whatever the lady wants,” he said.

I really wish he would stop calling me a lady. She just glared at him and allowed him to escort her to their table.