I do not own JE's characters. I just like to play with them.
A/N: This a new story. Brace yourself, Babes, this is a TART. I welcome your reviews and input. The rating is for future scenes.
I get closer to the identity of our mystery man. Originally, I was keeping it a secret until much later, but it will come out in the next chapter. Thanks for reading.
Steph POV
I called Gram and explained to her that I needed her to make sure letters I am sending her get delivered. I already have most of my clothes and what I do not have with me, I will not miss. Gram agreed and I went to FedEx and dropped off letters with pictures included addressed to Dickie, Mary Lou, my mother and father, Gram, the priest at the church, Dickie's parents and my lawyer. It would go on file showing that Dickie no longer met the requirements.
I called the florist and donated the wedding flowers to the children's ward and any funeral that came up.
I called the caterer's and had them to coordinate with the local shelters for the food. I called and had the bakery send the cake to city hall's cafeteria with a note of thanks to the current administration.
My mother was on her own for the hall and the dresses.
The reason my grandfather even had that much money was that he hit the lotto right before he had a heart attack. He made Gram promise not to tell how much money he won. He set her up with a trust fund, too. That is why she will not live with my mother. She told Ma that she is older, not handicapped. Grandpa Harry put money into a trust for Val's kids that she can only use for their education until they get older.
My mother thinks I have what equates to a dowry and that Grandpa just wanted me married and settled instead of going away to college like I did. Please. I spent every summer with Gram and Grandpa Harry and he taught me things. He said a girl needed to be self-sufficient.
I can change a tire, do home repairs and I know about car engines. I was never afraid of getting dirty. Anyway, that is one task finished.
I headed to the jewelry store where I sold them my engagement ring and I put another ring on order. The man said it would be done in a day. Good. I went back to my room and changed into my royal blue V-necked sundress and matching sandals that were also 6" heels.
While I waited for it to be 5pm, I called Lula. She answered with 'How Many Licks' playing. She is so silly.
"What?" She must be busy.
"So, you were right and I am not marrying Dickie." She cackles laughing.
"Girl I was gonna come up there and kidnap your cracker ass in a couple of days. So, now what?"
I studied my reflection in the mirror. "Lu, I met someone and I like him. He is funny and he is a gentleman and he can dance." I smiled thinking about him.
"Girl, whatever. Are you coming down here or what?"
"Yes, I will be there in a week." She hums.
"Listen, I think we should not sell lingerie. We can still do the after school center thing, but we can be image consultants and just invest in a lingerie business. For us to be able to do what we want, we do not need to be tied down. Think about it and make sure your white ass shows up in a week, too. Be careful, girl." She is so nice.
"Ok, Lu. That sounds like a good plan. I will see you." I hang up and check the time. Oh no, I am almost ten minutes late. Those military types are probably sticklers for being prompt. I rush out of my room to meet him.
His POV
It was harder to get away from the guys today. They all think I scored last night. I did, but not the way they are thinking. I met a sweet, funny, lively girl that is not afraid of me and that can understand where I am coming from. It was so easy to talk to her.
I leave in 6 days and I have already handled my paperwork and I have spoken to my priest. Some of the guys joked that we should get married. Ranger said that would not be fair to leave a spouse. He is so compartmentalized. He can turn off all emotion in an instant. That is what makes him the best.
I have never really had a relationship, but I want to try and court this girl. She seems special and the way she talked about her friends makes me sure that she is loyal. I am standing here with these variegated blue-green roses in the lobby of her hotel waiting for her. I bought two flowers to represent us. I check the time. Just like a woman to be late! I am not upset; it is another thing I can tease her about.
She gets the cutest little frown when I irk her. I watch the elevators for another ten minutes and suddenly one arrives and she almost runs out looking around. She spots me and I do not return her smile. She walks over to me and I just stand there.
"Hello." She looks up at me. Her dress is pretty and simple. I like it very much.
"Good evening, Miss. Can I help you?" She pouts and it is adorable.
"Stop messing with me, man. I was talking to my friend on the phone. I am sorry I am late." She gives me a slight glare.
I smile and hand her the flowers. "I forgive you. I thought about it and though I like our fake names, I want to let you call me by my middle name. Please call me Mateo." She smells the flowers.
"Thank you! These are beautiful. Okay, my middle name is Michelle." I take her hand and lead her out of the hotel.
"Have you been working out, Mitch? You seem to have lost weight." She giggles.
"Not today. I cancelled the wedding as much as I could and I sold the ring. Ha!" I am glad she cancelled that wedding. The pictures alone would have been awful.
We walk to an Italian restaurant and go inside. We are shown to a table near the window and I help her into her seat.
"So, Mateo, how are you feeling, today?" She keeps on smelling her flowers. I take her hand.
"I am feeling pretty good, Mitch. I am ready to take on my assignment. You look really pretty today. Will you marry me?" She chokes on her iced tea.
"What? You can't ask me! I was going to ask you!" She is so silly.
"Mitch, I told you it is my job. We can spend time together for the rest of this week and the day before I leave, we can get married by my priest. We can keep it quiet and I will sign a pre-nup if you want. I really like you and I know my feelings would only grow. What do you think?"
She wipes at her face. "I think we should get to know each other more. I don't want to get a divorce, Mateo." She has a point.
"So I will spend time with you every day, Mitch. I love looking at your smile, anyway. I will just have to keep asking." She blushes again.
We order and eat. She is so easy to talk to. I ask her to go to the movies with me because I don't want the date to end. There is a theater that shows old movies. Mitch agrees and we drop off her flowers at her hotel.
She sits next to me as we watch 'The Hangover' and laughs and giggles the whole time. I just watch her. When it is time to leave, I ask if she wants ice cream and she beams a smile at me. I have a weakness for cookies and cream ice cream. At her hotel later, I walk her to her door and she kisses me. When I pull away, she looks as dazed as I feel.
"I had a great time, Mateo. Thank you. What time are we going out tomorrow?" He just grins at me.
"Please be ready at 0900. We are spending the whole day together. If you are late again, I will leave you." She shoves me.
"I said I was sorry. I will be ready, I promise." I lean into her and kiss her this time. I get lost in her scent and her taste. She moans. I pulled away and tell her goodnight. I have to force myself to leave.
"Goodnight, Mitch." She smiles and I walk away.
Stephanie POV
Oh, I really like this guy! He is so funny and not what I would expect of someone about to go on a potentially deadly mission. He seems to be so carefree. Maybe he is just taking joy at everything he will not see for two years.
He won't tell me where he is going , but the food thing is killing me. How could he not have good food where he is going? I shudder just thinking about it. And he proposed! He is so silly acting. I wonder what he will want to do tomorrow.
I wake up to the phone ringing. Who hates me?
"What?" I hear laughter.
"I warned you, Mitch. I am in the hotel lobby and I am leaving for my fun filled day without you because you are late. If you did not want to spend the day with me you should have said so. Maybe I can find another sweet, blue eyed girl to smile at me. Bye, Mitch." He hung up.
I jumped out of bed and ran to the shower. I dressed quickly in a red sundress that had white and silver flowers on it and red wedge heels that gave me a 5" boost. My bikini was underneath should we go to the beach. I was fixing my hair when I decided to check and see how late I really was and the clock read 7:45.
I want to smack him. I glared at my own reflection in the mirror as I fixed my ponytail. Why is he so early? Suddenly a thought struck me. Either he is just impatient to start the day, or he missed me. No, I will not swoon. He tricked me! He could have just asked me to come earlier. I grab a white wrap sweater to ward off a chill later and my bag and leave the room.
His POV
She was going to hit me again, I just know it, but I could not resist. Also, I did not want the desk guy to listen to me tell her that I could not stop thinking about her smile all night. Ranger and the guys think I scored big time. They are right, but for the wrong reasons. Today should be fun. I will have to bribe her with food before she lets me off the hook.
The elevators ding and finally she steps out looking gorgeous. I prefer her hair loose, but with it pulled into a ponytail, I can really appreciate her beautiful face. She makes eye contact with me and smiles. Why isn't she pissed? My face must show my confusion, because she takes my hand and pulls me towards the door while talking.
"Honestly, Mateo, you could have just said you missed me. Where are we going?" It's like she can see right through me. I clear my throat and kiss her cheek.
"Mitch, after we eat, we are going to an arcade so I can beat you at skeeball, and then I thought we could have lunch and I will beat you at go karts. I will let you choose what we do after that, though I am amenable to a trip to the beach." She smiled at me.
"That sounds great. Tell me, do you cry when you lose or do you just throw a tantrum, Mateo?" I just smile and put my arm around her shoulder as we walk to the diner where we ate yesterday. We get some looks from the regulars, but we ignore them.
After we sit down, she asks me an important question. "So, where do your friends think you are?" My answer will piss her off.
"They think I scored yesterday and that I have gone back for more. Kind of storing up all the debauchery like a camel stores up water, you know?" She stares at me, and then she laughs.
"No, really." Oh man.
"No, I am telling you that is what they think, Mitch. My friends all think I am a ho. I just like people and I am easy to talk to. Women let me buy them a drink and they tell me their problems." She frowns.
"I never told any of them my problems until I met you, Mitch. Stop getting jealous. Anyway, the guys all think I must have slept with those women because they always smiled at me if our paths crossed again." She takes my hand in hers.
"That is a likely story, Mateo. Are you sure you are not covering up for some wild and raunchy adventures. You can tell me." She smiles sincerely at me.
"I am telling you the truth. It was easier to let my friends and the rest of our platoon at the time believe what they wanted. I got a reputation among the ladies and a good guy to talk to and among the guys as a ladies' man." I look up at her.
"I am not a virgin, but I am not some lothario. From spending time with so many women, I picked up a few things. You may have noticed my chic flick obsession?" She continued to hold my hand.
"I guess I should tell you why I believe you." We had finished eating, so we walked towards the arcade.
"My hometown is full of gossiping women with nothing better to do than talk about each other. When I was sixteen and working at the bakery, this guy came in at closing time. He was out of highschool. Anyway, he tried to seduce me right there on the floor behind the éclair case. I refused and I showed him what I thought of his offer violently." I want to go and show that guy a thing or two. What a creep.
"The next day, I found out that he left for the navy, but before he did, he wrote about having had sex with me and how I have a sweet, creamy center that is good to eat. As if! He wrote it on the bathroom walls at the pizza shop and the stadium." She sighs.
"Everyone to this day believes I willingly had sex with that guy. My own parents included. When he came back to town two years later and I saw him on the street, I ran his ass over and broke his leg in two places. No charges were pressed. Of course the town harpies think it was a lover's spat." She sighed. I hugged her.
"I believe you, Mitch." She looked up at me and smiled, then she mumbled something.
"Nope, I do not speak mumble. What did you say?" She takes a deep breath.
"I am still a virgin." I stopped walking. We were standing on the boardwalk with people milling around and to me they have all disappeared. Whoa. I pull her the side of the walkway and sit us on a bench.
"Thank you for trusting me with that information. You really dodged a bullet with that Dickie guy, huh?" She laughs and the tension is gone.
"Are you trying to seduce me or to distract me from beating you at skeeball, Mitch?" She hugs me.
"Thanks for not being all weirded out, Mateo. I never told Dickie about that and my friend Lula thinks I am crazy. She said one day bats will fly out of my vajayjay and I need to let someone dust it off or break the seal. She changes it around, but that is her gist." I laugh. Vajayjay indeed.
"No one in my hometown would believe that I waited. School was more important and I did not want to have sex with some guy who thought I was easy just because supposedly Morelli had conquered me." I hug her back.
"Do you feel better now that you got that off your chest, Mitch?" She kissed me gently and I loved it.
"Yup. Prepare to lose, homie." She races into the arcade and I just chuckle and follow her. I would miss her when I left, but I was here now.