Page 11 of The Playboy’s Playbook

Chapter Nine

MATT

I ’ve never been so nervous before, but when I’m in front of Laila, she rattles me like I’ve never been rattled before. Trying to speak to Laila is a learning curve because I don’t want to say something and royally fuck up my chances.

“Well, I need you to be a bit more specific,” Laila says softly.

I shift in my seat and think about the playbook. The first play is meant for me to get to know Laila. Hopefully, we can find something in common. I doubt it, but a guy can dream.

“What did you do after high school?” I start.

Good question, Matty. Short and simple .

“I went to college in D.C. and studied political theory. Now I work at the Capitol for a Senator,” she answers.

Yeah, her guard is so high up, it could rival the Great Wall of China.

Keep going, Matty.

“That’s great, Laila. Why political theory?”

Follow up questions are good. Follow up questions let her know that I’m listening to what she’s saying and care.

She shrugs her shoulders before answering. “It was interesting to me. I changed my major at least four times before I settled on it.”

She’s not bucking at all, so I know that I have an uphill battle on my hands.

Don’t give up now.

“Are you thinking about moving back home?” I ask, needing to know if I’m on a timeline.

“I’m just here for the summer. I’ll be leaving at the start of September,” she answers.

Okay, it’s good to know that I have three months to impress Laila and hopefully figure out what I did to make her hate me.

I smile and nod. “I’m sure your mom is happy for you. How is Ms. Gina?”

Laila smiles and a little spark comes to her eyes. I see a few bricks fall from her wall and she relaxes a little.

“She’s great. We traveled a lot during the summer breaks while I was in school. Our favorite place was Pennsylvania, which a lot of people write off as a vacation destination.”

“That’s cool. Where’s the next adventure?” I lean forward. Luke said that body language is key in situations like this. I don’t want to come off uninterested, so by leaning forward, I hope that shows her I’m very into her and our conversation.

I’m also taking advice from a grumpy man who refuses to date, so if this goes to shit, I’m blaming him.

“Uh, I’m not sure. It’s kind of hard to plan things now because I work when she’s free and she’s working when I’m free. I know we talked about going to California at one point, but I’m not too sure when that’ll be.”

“California seems like a cool place to visit. Which part were you thinking about?” I ask.

Laila takes a sip of her drink before answering. “Sonoma. I’ve always wanted to go.”

“What’s Sonoma?” I furrow my brows.

Laila’s laugh is music to my ears. “You don’t know Sonoma Valley, California?”

I shake my head and chuckle nervously. “No, it’s not ringing a bell.”

“Sonoma Valley is wine country. They have the most beautiful vineyards and houses. It’s my dream place to live when I retire. It just looks so peaceful out there.”

Laila gets a faraway look in her eyes and I can tell that she’s thinking about Sonoma now, imagining herself living in a house not too far from a vineyard with a garden in her backyard. She’d be happy there, in her bubble away from the world.

“It sounds like a beautiful place,” my voice just above a whisper as I gaze at Laila.

For the first time since she’s sat down, I see a flash of emotion in her chocolate eyes.

It disappears almost as quickly as it materialized.

I wish I knew what she felt so I can make sure she feels it all of the time with me.

“Can I ask you something?” Laila pulls me from my thoughts. I nod at her to continue.

“Why now?” she asks, slightly tilting her head to the right.

“Why now what?”

Laila takes a deep breath, preparing herself for her next question. “You said that you wanted to get to know me, but why now ?”

I think carefully about my answer. I could tell her that seeing her at the rodeo made me feel things and I want to explore those feelings with her, but I don’t want to scare her away.

“Uh, I guess seeing you at the rodeo before Clay got to you made me think about us as kids. Seeing you made me realize that we’re not kids anymore and I want to know the woman sitting in front of me.

Also, I’m so sorry about Clay. He knows not to walk up to people he doesn’t know, but he’s six and his dad is –”

“You’re rambling,” she chuckles.

I feel my cheeks burn with embarrassment and I look down at my hands in my lap. I force a chuckle out and rub my hand on the back of my neck. “It’s embarrassing really. I mean, a six-year-old walked up to you like it was nothing.”

“No, it’s not embarrassing. I think it’s kind of cute,” Laila says, her voice quiet. We sit in silence, easy smiles on both of our faces.

I’m going to consider the first play a success. Luke is going to be so proud.

We spent two hours talking, laughing, and catching up. She has a Yorkie named Nola, she’s back in school for her Masters’ degree, and she’s taking cooking classes as a hobby.

She asked what I did for work and I told her about working in construction. She asked if I ever built a house and I told her I helped a friend out with his house. She asked if Clay was that friend’s kid and I told her he was.

By the time we both began to feel comfortable, the bar started filling up so we took that as our cue to leave.

As we walk to her car, I notice she keeps looking over to the playground across the street. I nudge her shoulder with mine, nodding in the playground’s direction.

“Wanna go play for a bit?” I ask. Laila cuts her eyes back to me and lets out another laugh.

“I think we’ve outgrown the playground, Matthew.”

“You know, you can call me Matt. It’s not a crime.”

She nods and she gets quiet, as if she doesn’t want me to hear her. “I know, but…” she begins.

“Matthew is a comfort thing. I’ll respect that,” I answer for her, meaning every word.

We get to her car and she leans her back against the door and I stand in front of her. We’re silent, staring into each other’s eyes. I really want to pull her close to me and test the waters, but I don’t want to push her.

She closes her eyes as I brush my hand over her hair, tucking it behind her ear. She immediately reacts to my touch and leans into my hand. I take the opportunity to step closer. I can almost taste the lemons and strawberries on her lips.

Like she’s reading my mind, she leans back and opens her eyes.

There’s no denying the fire raging within them because I know mine are the same.

She parts her lips slightly and I rub my thumb over her bottom lip, not dropping eye contact.

She leans in closer to me and I wrap my other arm around her waist.

“Matthew,” she breathes. It’s comforting to know that I affect her as much as she affects me.

“Laila,” I say back, my voice raspy and low. I begin to lean in slowly to go in for a kiss, but she leans her face away and I see sadness in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I say, stepping back further. She reaches her hand out but stops herself and pulls it behind her back.

She shakes her head. “Don’t apologize. Nothing happened.”

“But I wanted something to happen,” I mutter, but she catches it.

She walks up to me and stands on the tips of her toes and places a soft kiss on my cheek.

I step around her to open her car door, helping her get settled before she turns the engine over and rolls the window down allowing me to lean in.

We’re dangerously close and it takes the strength of a thousand men to keep me from crashing my lips to hers.

“Drive safe,” I say as I lean back. She smiles softly and nods her head. She puts the car in drive and pulls out of the parking lot.

I climb into my truck and take a moment to sit still, taking a deep breath. I shift to adjust to the hard-on in my pants and get comfortable to drive, but it’s no luck.

My right hand is about to be busy tonight.

“I want to see her again,” I declare once Luke sits down at the table for breakfast. We always have breakfast at his house because it’s easier for him and the boys. Plus, my dining room at my apartment is barely big enough for two people, let alone four.

“So tell her?” Luke says in the form of a question.

“Yeah, but like, what if she doesn’t want to see me?”

He takes a bite out of his toast before answering. “Well how would you know if you don’t ask?”

“Can you stop answering my questions with questions?” I ask, taking a giant bite out of my toast.

“Can you stop being a wimp, message Laila, and tell her that you want to see her again?”

I shoot him a glare, which he ignores because he takes a sip of his coffee. Luke lives vicariously through my relationships because he refuses to get back on the dating scene.

“I don’t want to mess up with her. She’s not just some girl I want to talk to for the sake of taking her to bed, man. She’s…she’s Laila.”

I stare out the window that overlooks Luke’s backyard and think about Laila. Her smile. Her laugh. The way her hair curls tighter at the ends. Her eyes in the sunlight.

Her.

“Did y’all kiss?” Luke asks, interrupting my thoughts and earning another glare. He laughs like he’s the funniest guy in the room.

“What? I have faith in you to be respectful and not kiss her when she just barely agreed to seeing you, but it wouldn’t surprise me if little Matthew got excited and took over.”

“I hate you, I really do,” I say, scooting away from the table and putting my plate in the dishwasher. I go back to the table and get the rest of the plates and start cleaning. Luke used to tell me to stop, but I ignored him and continued to clean up after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“So?” Luke drawls.

“So?” I mimic back.

“Did you kiss or not, asshole?” Luke deadpans.

“No, I didn’t kiss her. But I really wanted to. Part of me feels like she wanted it, too.”

I turn my attention back to Luke’s backyard and take in the pool’s water shimmering in the sunlight, the trees swaying softly in the morning breeze. Oakridge summers are beautiful, but fuck can they get hot.

It’s perfect grilling weather. I try to grill out with Luke and the boys at least twice a month during the summer.

Sometimes Luke will let Clay and Jen invite the neighborhood kids over and have a big pool party.

Luke and I love it because the boys have so much fun, but we also dread it because we spend most of the day avoiding the aunts, sisters, and moms who try to hit on us or set us up with friends.

I turn back to Luke with a menacing smile on my face. “How would you like to meet Laila?”

Luke chokes on his coffee and stands up to catch his breath. “Dude, you just went out with her last week and now you want her to meet the parent? Jeez, let the girl get her thoughts together and decide if she even wants to be with your ass first.”

I shrug my shoulders. “It’s beautiful weather to fire up the grill. Plus, the boys used the bathroom in the trash can outside because you told them they couldn’t go swimming today.”

“They what!?” Luke screams before running outside and seeing the surprise Clay and Jen left for him.

“Boys!” Luke bellows as he runs upstairs to their rooms.

“Is that a yes?” I call after him.

“Go to hell, Foster!”