she did.
Rebecca didn't want to be petty about the money. Her
annoyance wasn't really about that, anyway. The problem
was the entire package, which had some wonderful parts to
it, but several annoying parts, too. Maybe she really needed
to loosen up a bit, but she was having trouble with that
right now.
They got up from the table and started to leave. As they
walked past other tables, a woman's voice called out. "Hey
there, O.E.!" Two fairly attractive women were having
dinner. Both of them waved and gave him snarky little
smiles.
Is this the siren cry of a former lover? Or did every
woman, even mere acquaintances, salivate over him?
Rebecca realized that O.E. was gorgeous enough to elicit
desire wherever he went. Totally not what she was used to in
a man.
He paused briefly at the table. "Well, well. I didn't know
you two knew each other."
The woman who had called out his name narrowed her
eyes. "Turns out we have more in common than we
thought." They both giggled.
Make that two former lovers. Did she really expect that
someone like O.E. wouldn't have women hanging all over
him? He even admitted to her, when they first met, that
women threw themselves at him. Now she could see it in
action.
O.E. seemed a bit uncomfortable. Nice of him to notice
that he was on a date with someone else. "Right. Well, I'll
leave you two alone. Later." He escorted Rebecca the rest of
the way out of the restaurant at a brisk pace.
Standing on the sidewalk, O.E. tried to explain. "I'm
sorry I didn't introduce you to those women. It was a bit
awkward."
"I understand, O.E. We've both had other lovers."
Although he'd clearly had many more.
He wrapped his arm around her waist. "Thanks for
understanding, Becky."
Did he have to use my least favorite nickname? She
really wasn't in the mood. Normally, she'd be able to calmly
ask him not to call her that. But suddenly, after his flirting,
his caginess, his ego, and his inability to pay for dinner, the
nickname managed to aggravate her. Her mood was shot.
Not even one of his kisses could help him now.
Rebecca pushed away and furrowed her brow. "Please
don't call me Becky. Just because you shorten your name
down to single letters, doesn't mean I like to do the same."
He seemed to sense her anger and narrowed his eyes.
"What's wrong with Becky?"
"I hate it, and all other nicknames. I'm Rebecca, and
that's the way I like it." She needed an apology from him,