All of my plotting would have to wait, though. I had a date to look forward to tonight, and I wasn’t about to let anything stand in the way of me enjoying it to the fullest. Step one of making sure that would happen was to be waiting for Vaughn before hearrived. Knowing my parents, I had no doubt they’d make him feel less than welcome if they beat me to the punch, and I didn’t want them ruining this night for me.
With a final swipe of gloss over my lips, I stepped into my strappy sandals and headed for my door. Opening it cautiously, I strained to listen for any sign my parents were around before moving into the hallway and heading for the stairs. When I reached the bottom step, I heard their voices, but the sound was muffled. A quick glance to my left confirmed the door to the study was closed, and it sounded like their conversation was drifting towards me from that direction. I knew it would anger them if I left without saying goodbye first, but I went directly to the front door anyway.
Luck must have been on my side because there was grey Lexus coming up our drive. I’d been in his office when my father had let the guy manning the gate know to expect Vaughn’s arrival this evening. If I was super lucky, they’d allowed him to drive through without calling the house first. Since the odds usually weren’t in my favor like that, I moved down the steps so I was waiting for him at the end of the sidewalk when he pulled up to the house.
I didn’t give Vaughn the chance to get out and open the door for me, opting to fling it open myself instead and hopping into the passenger seat as soon as the car rolled to a stop. It was the smart choice since the front door to the house opened as I was slamming the car door shut.
“I get that this is your first date and all, but it’s customary for a man to come to the door to pick up his date.” Vaughn glanced towards the house before shifting his gaze back on me. “And it looks like it’s what your parents were expecting, too.”
“You donotwant to start this night out with a conversation with my mother and father,” I insisted.
Vaughn lifted his head to stare over my shoulder, his eyes narrowing in what looked like annoyance. “I take it your daddy’s pissed that I messed with his plan at the bachelorette auction.”
“Yes, my father”—I put a lot of emphasis on the word because he hadn’t been my daddy since the day I was shipped off to boarding school—“for some odd reason, which I’ll never understand because heaven forbid he actually have a real conversation with me, is not happy about you placing the winning bid. I have no idea how it’s even possible, but losing a date with me managed to harm one of his business relationships.”
It was impossible to miss the flare of anger in his eyes as his gaze swept over me before he shifted the car back into drive. “Screw my good intentions.”
“Pardon me?”
As we pulled out onto the street in front of my parents’ estate, he reached over to clasp my hand in his. “You may deserve more, but with the path your father is apparently going down, you’re likely to end up with a hell of a lot worse than me.”
“Umm,” I mumbled. “Was that supposed to make what you said clearer to me? Because I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Nope, that was more for me than for you.”
“That’s good, because I’m still not understanding over here,” I grumbled.
“I know,” he quipped. “But that’s how I want it for now.”
“Then I guess I’ll let you get away with it,” I conceded begrudgingly, but only because I had a feeling getting Vaughn to share something he didn’t want to share was near to impossible. “For now.”
“Works for me,” he murmured, sending an approving smile my way. “I was hoping you’d be looking forward to our date enough that you’d let it pass.”
I felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to seem like I’m not excited. Because I am. Really.”
The squeeze he gave my hand was comforting, but the grin he flashed me had my stomach fluttering—excitement quickly replacing the irritation I’d been feeling only moments earlier. “Really, huh?
The question should have come across cocky, but it worked for him. A little too well, considering the butterflies that were taking flight inside me. “What can I say? I’m nineteen. We say things like really a lot.”
“Hmmm. I must have missed that memo,” he teased. “I guess they didn’t think to CC me because I haven’t been nineteen in quite a while.”
“I’m pretty sure there wasn’t an actual memo. Way too old school. A snapchat? Maybe,” I giggled. “But since you brought it up, how long of a while has it been?”
“Is that your clever way of asking me how old I am?”
And here I thought I’d managed to be semi-subtle about it. “More like my not-so-clever way, yeah,” I confirmed.
His fingers tightened around mine. “Does my age matter to you?”
“No, I don’t think it does.” Sure, I was curious about it, but it wasn’t as though I didn’t already know there was a considerable difference in our ages. It hadn’t stopped me from being attracted to him. With the sparks he set off in me, I was starting to think nothing would dampen my attraction to him.
“Good,” he exhaled, loosening his hold slightly. “Because it’s been almost ten years since I was a teenager.”
“Is that all?” I gasped, surprised by his response. With the way he carried himself, I would have guessed mid-thirties if he’d asked.
“Chronologically, yes. But it feels like a hell of a lot longer, probably because I spent the last two years of my teens in the Army.”
It was sobering to know he’d been off fighting for his country for a year already when he was my age. It certainly put my troubles with my parents in a whole new light, strengthening my resolve to find a way to get out from under their stifling control sooner rather than later. It also made me feel even more out of my depth with Vaughn, adding another impressive layer to an already remarkable package. One which got impossibly better when he pulled up in front of the perfect location for our date.
