Vick, on the other hand, was completely oblivious. I had to stifle as laugh as he said naively, "You were in the bathroom? I
noticed several patrons complaining to the manager that they couldn't get into the men's room. They said there was some kind of ruckus going on inside. You two must have been having quite the noisy argument."
Gwyneth smacked him on the shoulder knowingly and grinned. "They weren't arguing. Just the opposite. They were making up."
"Oh?" Vick looked confused, and then suddenly, his expression changed to one of understanding. "Oh! Were you two really fucking in the bathroom?"
"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell," I said, wanting to be respectful of Kayla's modesty. "Suffice to say, Kayla has the special key to relieving my tensions and making me feel like my true self when I'm filled with doubt or fear."
"Wow, you're a completely different man than guy you were in college," Gwyneth said, and I took it as a compliment. "The guy I dated would have closed himself off in a private stall to get loaded, and never opened up his true feelings to anyone. I like the new you a lot better.”
"I have Kayla to thank for that. Ever since we started seeing each other, I've felt like a different man. First, I closed myself off to the world with drugs, and then work. My career was a healthier obsession than speed, but an obsession none-the-less."
Vick nodded and said, "This is the longest I've seen in you a relationship with a woman since Gwyneth. You've had nothing but a string of one-night stands for the past twenty years."
"You're right," I admitted with chagrin. Squeezing Kayla's delicate hand in my own, I looked into her eyes and said, "It feels so good when we're together, I don't want to leave."
"Does this mean you're in a real, committed relationship now? Is the infamous bachelor officially off the market?" Gwyneth gasped. Her eyes were sparkling and she licked her lips, hungry to be the first one to hold such juicy gossip.
"We have to go now. Thanks for the drinks. We'll have to go out again soon, when I have more time. Right now, Kayla and I just want to be alone together," I said, without answering her question. I admit I took a cruel delight in leaving her hanging like that. as I grabbed Kayla by the hand and escorted her from the restaurant
I took her home to my mansion in Beverly Hills and poured us each a drink from the bar. We carried our drinks outside onto the balcony, looking up at the moon shining brightly over my backyard pond filled with Japanese Koi. I told Kayla everything she wanted to know about my past: my years in college, when I first started working for Krueger, and how I shared an apartment with a bunch of friends, partying all the time.
As the moonlight sparkled on the water, the fish leapt at insects drawn by the light and I kept talking. Sometimes she would ask questions, and I answered them all. It was like the dam had been opened and all my life's secrets came flooding out.
I told her about the pressures I'd felt to succeed at Krueger and how it got me addicted to speed. The erratic emotions of being a drug addict probably contributed to my quitting the company and deciding to branch out on my own. No sane man would have made such a decision, but I did it.
We talked about my relationship with Gwyneth and how shattered I'd been when it was over. I told her about the months I'd spent in Garden Hope Center getting myself cleaned up, and how I made my company my new obsession when I came out. I told her how my career was the only thing that mattered to me and how I refused to ever let myself fall in love.
Finally, we talked about the lawsuit, how ridiculous it was, and how scared I felt that I might actually lose half my company to Dorsey.
"Well, if the jury decides in his favor, then you'll just continue making the greatest motorcycles in the country. Your number one for a reason, and you don't need the money. You already have more than enough." Kayla was always one to look at the bright side of anything, and I kissed her lips for it.
"Thanks," she smiled happily.
"Thank you," I grinned at her. "You can make anything seem better. Now, what do you say we go inside?"
"Sounds great, but I just have one last question."
There couldn't possibly be anything left that was unsaid between us, but I was curious to know what she wanted to ask. "What is it?"
"It's actually Gwyneth's question from earlier at the restaurant, but I'd like to know the answer. Are we in a committed relationship now?"
Shit. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to say yes, and that scared the shit out of me. I'd vowed to never put myself in the same, dangerous position my father had been suffering in for years. I had vowed to never fall in love, but I couldn't risk losing her. I had to think fast.
"Well, that's not fair," I said with a mischievous twinkle in my eyes. "I just spent the last several hours telling you everything there is to know about me and answering all your questions about my past; but what do I really know about you? How do I know you don't have some secret skeletons in your closet I need to be made aware of first?"
The ploy worked, and she giggled like I had hoped she would. "I'll tell you what. Come with me to my parents’ house this coming weekend. They're having a party to celebrate my father's fiftieth birthday. You'll get to hear all the stories you ever wanted to hear about me and I'll have nothing left to hide. Then, you can decide if we're in a committed relationship or not."
There was no way I could say no. Besides, I was surprised to discover that I wanted to go. "Agreed." I grinned and she kissed my lips happily.
We ended up making love on the balcony under the moonlight, overlooking the pond of leaping Koi, and then again in my bed, and every night that week after that, and every morning, too.
It was amazing how quickly I'd come to think of my Beverly Hills Mansion as not just being mine, but ours, and how the bed I'd purchased was now our bed. It was a perfect week and easily the happiest time of my life.
As much as I was looking forward to the weekend and meeting Kayla's family, I was also dreading it. Because then this perfect time would be over and I would have to make a decision to commit to keeping it going, or risk losing her forever.
Chapter Thirty-One: Kayla