Ask Me (Mess with Me 2)

“No fair. You look like James Bond and I have to do the walk of shame in my wrinkled clothes from yesterday.”

He leans over and plants a kiss on my forehead. “You’re welcome to leave clothes here. That should make it fair, hmm?”

“Really?” The thought makes me a little giddy but also introduces so many questions. What are we doing? Are we a couple now? I don’t want to be the typical clingy girl asking for meaning when maybe he was just lonely and in the moment yesterday. But to me, it felt like we said some pretty significant things last night.

I’m just not sure how they hold up in the light of day.

“You have the most expressive face. I can see everything you’re thinking.” He chuckles and pulls me into his arms.

I relax against his chest. “Was yesterday a dream?”

“No. At least I hope not because I felt like it was the start of something pretty special. I know you’re worried about what will come but all I ask is for a chance to prove myself.”

“You don’t have anything to prove.” Doesn’t he get it? He’s already got me. He’s the one I want and I’ve only been fooling myself to think we could be just friends this long.

“I want to do this right. I want to take you to dinner. Hold your hand. Listen to you complain about your boss when you’ve had a bad day. All of it.”

My heart is dancing hearing him describe everything I’ve ever wanted. But as usual, reality intrudes.

“I want all those things you described but I’m worried about what happens when the campaign is over. We live very different lives. You’re a rich, famous guy and I’m a small town girl. It feels like a fairy tale now but what happens when the clock strikes twelve?”

He shakes his head. “You’re right that we’re different. But different doesn’t mean impossible.”

I feel like he’s deliberately missing my point. “Can you really see me at one of your fashion shows? On the red carpet with you? I don’t fit into your world.”

“My world is what I make it. I can give that all up and live happily for the rest of my life on the money I already have.”

“That’s not what I want. You enjoy your work just like I do. I would never want you to give that up for me.”

Andre leans his forehead against mine. When we’re together like this, it’s so easy to forget about the outside world. But that world is always going to be there.

Doesn’t he understand that I’m just trying to protect the both of us? I know what it feels like to be heartbroken and humiliated. It’s funny, even though he’s the one in the public eye, he doesn’t understand how vicious people can be when you fall from grace. I do.

“We tried to be just friends and I don’t know about you, but I was miserable. We did things backward from the start so lets try something different. Spend the next few days with me. Go to work and be the

amazing career woman that you are. But then spend your evenings with me. Get to know me and let me get to know you.”

“You want to date?”

He leans back and looks me dead in the eye. “I want to be the man in your life. The one who won’t let you down.”

19

* * *

Even though she lets it go, I can tell she’s still worried. But her expressive face revealed her true secrets as she told me about the asshole she dated in college. What happened to her may be different from what happened to her mother, but I’m sure it felt much the same. To be abandoned by someone you trusted and treated like you aren’t good enough would make anyone wary.

I don’t want her to ever feel that way again.

Like I told her, things have been backward from the start with us. Sex, then friendship, then sex. But it’s important to me that I show her she matters. That the way we started isn’t going to determine how our relationship ends. That she can count on me to be honest and to stick around.

I know there will be some hard times ahead. People who won’t be happy to see us together and I’m sure my mother will be at the top of that list. But none of those things should keep two people who care about each other apart. I plan to spend the next few days showing her how a man is supposed to treat the lady in his life.

She deserves that.

As we agreed, Friday after work Casey comes directly to the penthouse.

“Hey. How was your day?”