Rich Soldier (The Dirty Thirty Pledge 2)

“Holy shit,” Tia says.

I laugh, because as much as I don’t want to get caught by her father, I can’t help but flash back to times when we were almost caught in high school, and I say as much.

“It wouldn’t be less embarrassing though,” she says, but she’s smiling. “I should go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I reach out and touch her arm. “Tia, wait.” She stops, and I’m thanking the universe for her hesitation. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to make it right. Let me take you to dinner. I have some more things to tell you, and I’d like to just…talk.”

“You gonna tell me something else that’s gonna piss me off?” she asks.

I can’t help the grin that’s on my face. “I really hope not.”

Tia is quiet for a second, and then she nods. “Fine, if you want to waste your money, that’s fine with me. I like free food as much as the next girl.”

“Tomorrow night?”

“I can do that.”

I resist the urge to pull her against me and kiss her, no matter how badly I want to. “I’ll see you then.” As I’m watching her walk away, I call after her. “And wear a dress!”

She gives me the finger without looking and I laugh. She’ll wear one. And it’ll be gorgeous.

11

Tia

When Wallace told me to wear a dress, I didn’t realize that he would actually send me a dress. It’s another thing that I don’t need for him to buy, but it’s beautiful. Every day he proves more and more how well he knows me. The dress is simple and elegant, a deep burgundy with a flowing skirt that hangs around my knees. I told myself that I was going to wear something else just to spite him, but after I put it on, I didn’t want to take it off.

And now we’re here. This isn’t the kind of restaurant that I expected Wallace to take me to. It’s too fancy. He’s always been a little rough, a football and beer kind of guy. But that’s okay, because I’m like that too. Most of the time I’d rather be in jeans and boots than a dress, but tonight feels nice. I guess I should have expected this after all the gifts. He’s changed a bit.

Green Hills only has a few upscale restaurants, and I’ve never been to this one. I’ve never had the occasion. The interior is stunning, decorated in shades of blue and silver with a quiet atmosphere that feels intimate. I can’t imagine how much everything is going to cost here, but I’m not going to say anything. I know that Wallace won’t want me to.

And damn, I have to admit that Wallace looks good in a suit. And it’s not just obvious to me, he turns heads as we walks by. But even as good as he looks, and it’s so delicious that I want to tear off his suit right there and lick him, there’s still a part of me that prefers the sweaty jeans and t-shirt Wallace, the guy who’s putting in a hard day’s work and it shows. This rich Wallace is alien to me. But from what I’m seeing, it seems like it’s alien to him too.

We’ve been dancing around each other all through dinner, because the conversation has been nice and because neither of us wants to go to the place we know we have to go. When dessert is finally cleared, he holds out his hand. “Want to walk?”

I nod.

The sun is setting over Green Hills and it’s beautiful. The sky is shining off the river in a riot of color as we make our way through the evening night life. Kids are playing on the river, couples on dates walk by, groups of people with boom boxes lounge on the bank. Green Hills has its faults, but it’s a pretty good place to be. I certainly don’t mind it.

“You said you had some things that you wanted to tell me,” I say.

Wallace clears his throat. “I do. It’s not something that’s easy for me to talk about. But I’ve been working on it.” There’s a small little half-smile there, though I’m not exactly sure what that means. “I know now that it was wrong, what I did. Leaving you. Deciding for you. And I know it doesn’t matter that I really thought I was doing what was best.”

I ignore the flare of anger and hurt in my chest and let him keep speaking. This clearly isn’t easy for him.

He reaches out and takes my hand, weaving my fingers with his, and I let him. It seems to steady him, and he takes a deep breath. “There were a lot of moments when I was over there that I was afraid. And not the kind of fear that’s normal. This was different. I was scared to die. Not because of death, but because if I died, then I’d never see you again. And I hadn’t even said goodbye.”