The Crush

The Crush (Part 16) - Part Time Lover

I locked up my apartment – all the while taking note of Michael's proximity to my body. He was so close I could feel his breath on my neck. I turned in what little space was between us and he closed that distance.

"Have I said how amazing you look in that dress?" he asked. I blushed and bit my lip. A flash of him ripping it off came to mind again.

"I remember you saying something about incredible inside," I laughed. "Are you taking me on that date or..."

"I mean, if we have other options, like-" he gestured toward my door just as I cut him off.

"You owe me a date, Mr. Oliver. I intend for you to take me on one," I smiled. "Besides, I have questions."

He raised an eyebrow and took a step back from the door.

"Are these question off the record, N. Pretty?" He asked, using my name I signed to the bottom of my column. N for Nia and Pretty for the magazine. It was my turn to be curious.

"You read my column?" I asked, surprised. It also stirred another question. "Did you run into me purposely at the coffee shop?"

He laughed. "Yes, to reading your column. No," he shook his head, "to purposely running into you at the coffee shop."

I gave him a disbelieving look.

"Piper reads your column. She's always talking about it and asking my opinion about some of the letters you answer. I had no idea that you and N. Pretty were the same person until I walked you in to work that day, Nia."

His answer satisfied me partially – only because I'd felt a tinge of jealousy when he'd mentioned Piper. Of course, she read my column. Most women in Houston and it's surrounding areas did. I wondered what his manly opinion was to some of my questions I got in, but I didn't ask them.

I allowed him to guide me down the stairs all the while feeling his hand on the small of my back. I wasn't lying when I said I had questions for him. I was about to put my reporter skills to good use on this date.

He chirped the alarm for his car and I have to say I was impressed. He had a midnight blue ford mustang. And it was almost as sexy as him. I realized I still had no idea what Michael did for a living. Most of the times when we talked on the phone we'd talk about maybe meeting up, high school, or trivial surface issues. Tonight was my night to find out who Michael really had become in the past ten years we hadn't been around each other.

He opened my door for me and I climbed in. The leather seats were as smooth as butter. A girl could get used to riding around town in a car like this with a man like him on my arm. Don't get me wrong I was by no means thirsty enough to just want a guy based on the things he had, but I could appreciate nice things.

Michael drove me out to the Woodlands to this restaurant I told him I loved called Brix. They had the best salmon and risotto plate. And their crème brulee melted in your mouth. Once we'd settled into our seats and the waiter had brought out the wine Michael had ordered, he waved his hand in my direction.

"Ask away," he said. I cleared my throat and dug into my small clutch. I pulled out a folded sheet of paper and unfolded it, laying it flat in front of me. He laughed and I stared at him with a smirk. I meant business. "You have hand written questions?"

"You have a way of easily distracting me, sir," I said, with a nod. "I have to stay focused on the task at hand." He smiled and I couldn't help but smile back. I caught a glimpse of the boy I remembered from high school. That smile could always get my heart racing.

"What do you do for a living?" I asked.

"I am an investment manager at my father's hedge fund company," he said.

"Okay," I said. I had no idea what an investment manager did. I was vaguely aware of what a hedge fund company did, but it was all mostly Greek to me. He saw the look on my face and elaborated.

"Our company invests in other companies hoping to turn a high profit by either taking them over or breaking them apart and selling the company components to the highest bidder. It's like gambling but with business, basically."

"Sounds like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman," I said. He laughed. I loved to make him laugh. It lightened his whole aura. It made him seem sexy and boyish at the same time.

He nodded his head. "It's something like that, but I would be Jason Alexander and my father would be Richard Gere since it's his company."

"Got it," I said. "And do you like what you do? Is that what you wanted to do in life, Michael?" Something about the way he talked about it made me feel like he wasn't happy with it. More like it was a familial obligation. Something he was just expected to do.

"I told you my life was mapped out for me long before I ran back into you, Nia," he said. I gazed at him and reached out to touch his hand. He wound his fingers into mine. I never imagined him with his overwhelming statue and presence to feel so enslaved. Or at least that was the picture that I was getting. It made my heart ache for him. I couldn't imagine not being able to write. To do what I loved.

The waiter came then with our food. After we'd taken our preliminary samples of our selections, he motioned for me to continue.

"How did you meet Piper?" I asked. He didn't look surprised by my question. He probably had a rehearsed line to give me about their relationship.

"Our parents introduced us at a party," he said. "Kind of like the gala event you attended the other night."

"Do you love her?" That was a stupid question. Of course, he loved her. He'd asked her to marry him. He was planning on spending the rest of his life with her. But I wanted to hear him say it.

"Not in the way you think," he said. I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn't know what I thought. He was here with me and not with her, so I had some indication of how deep his attachment to her ran. But then again I had no way of knowing if I was the first girl who had been in this situation with him. Contending for his affections, while he had a fiancée. He had said he wasn't a dog and deep down my gut told me this was the truth. Yet, here he was with me and he seemed to have no remorse for doing it all behind Piper's back.

"I don't know what I think, Michael," I said. "I mean you're here with me. You've openly told me you would choose me over her. I'm just wondering why, I guess. You don't know me enough to call off an engagement to a woman you obviously had every intention of living happily ever after with."

"The relationship I have with Piper is complicated," he said. I hated that word. Complicated meant lies. Complicated meant you didn't want to make things plain. Complicated meant you wanted to keep secrets. I was breathing hard because I was getting upset. I felt like I was here with all of my cards on the table, while he was hiding aces up his sleeve.

"Do you believe me when I say I want to explore this thing with you?" he asked. I studied him. I searched his eyes for deceit and lies. But I truly didn't feel he was that type of man.

"Am I your way of running away from something, Michael?" I said. "Because I don't get it. Piper is a beautiful woman. She seems to be head over heels in love with you. You proposed to her so she has to mean something to you. All the pieces are just not coming together for me." I just couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't telling me everything. And the more he tried to hide it, the more it made me rethink being here with him. He could see the confliction in my eyes.

"Nia, my parents are rich. All my life they have been grooming me to head up this legacy when my father retires. The only decision of my own that I have made in the past ten years is you. Don't doubt me. Please." His eyes pleaded with me to believe him.

"I'm trying not to," I said. "I just feel like I'm your way to rebel or something. This is serious to me. I'm not interested in being strung along."

He sighed. "I did not propose to Piper," he said.

Now I was totally confused. Had she proposed to him? How modern of her. He saw the question in my eyes.

"My marriage to Piper is arranged."