Stephanie Doyle - One True Love?

“It was nice. It got me through, thinking that I had a friend like you who cared.”

Now it was starting to make sense, Corinne realized. That’s why he was here. It had nothing to do with a crush. It was out of some warped sense of gratitude that he felt for her because she was the only one who had come to visit him in the hospital.

Her vanity was somewhat offended. After all, chasing her down because he thought she was kindhearted wasn’t nearly as flattering as being chased down because he thought she was gorgeous and sexy.

In an easy manner she laid a hand on his arm and gave him her let-me-give-you-some advice expression. “You just need to open up a little more, Matthew. People don’t know you because you don’t let anyone inside.”

He never considered himself closed. He never thought about it one way or the other. He worked. He paid his bills. And he had his painting. By nature he liked solitude, but he didn’t think he ever intentionally cut people out of his life. Then again, he never went to a lot of trouble to include them either.

“You know me,” he reminded her.

And he knew why. It was because Corinne wasn’t the type of person to wait to be let inside. She was the type who disregarded any barrier that got in her way. Even his stoic silence. He remembered their first meeting vividly.

They’d begun with the growing software company at the same time to establish internal financial controls—him as the auditor and her as the financial controller. She had waltzed into his office, and he’d immediately felt as if he were in the presence of a star rather than a serious businesswoman who worked with numbers all day. Her flaming-red hair had been loose about her shoulders; she’d worn a yellow sundress that flowed over her body like water over land, and from her wrist had dangled five gold bangle bracelets that clinked about and made music while she spoke.

We’re both new which means we’re bound to be friends. I’ll meet you in the cafeteria for lunch. I prefer to eat around noon, low blood sugar and all of that, is that all right with you?

At the time, he recalled nodding, and then another gust of wind hit him in the face as she blew out of his office as dramatically as she had blown in to it. She’d left behind a lingering hint of her perfume and a hell of an impression.

They did eat lunch together that day. Mostly, Matthew sat and listened while she spoke about her plans for the company. He knew then that it was going to be his job to keep her in check. For whatever reason, that bologna and cheese sandwich and green apple had tasted better that day than it ever had before.

“Of course I know you,” Corinne said, snapping him back to the moment. “After all, we work together. And you can’t hide anything from me. Every thought you have is always written right there on your face. Come to think of it, you would make a lousy poker player. Be careful that you stay away from those tables when you go to the casino.”

“I’ll do that.”

“It’s not that I mean to be critical, Matthew. Truly, you are a wonderful man. And you deserve to have someone in your life. If you would behave more like a single man and less like a…like a…”

“Relic,” he supplied.

“Yes…you would be amazed at the women who would come knocking at your door.”

“But would any of them be you?” he muttered under his breath. Aloud, he said, “Thank you for the advice. Maybe I’ll try that.”

“Good,” she said, pleased with her apparent success. “So what are you going to do now?”

“I was thinking of taking a swim.”

“So you’re staying?”

“If I wouldn’t bother you.”

“See,” she pointed out. “That’s another one of your problems.”

“Another one?”

“You’re too accommodating.”

He thought he was just being polite. “But…”

She continued without interruption. “What difference does it make if I want you to stay or I want you to go? You probably paid just as much money as I did to get here therefore you have every right to enjoy your vacation. You shouldn’t let me tell you what you can do.”

“That’s true….”

“You’ve got to learn to take what you want out of life and stop letting other people dictate your actions,” she charged.

“Okay.”

“You have to speak up, Matthew. Learn to just barge right in there with your thoughts and your wants. Let people know you’re serious.”

And he would have, too, if she hadn’t kept rambling. After a few minutes he tuned her out, the point of her little speech having already been made. It wasn’t the first time he heard one of Rinny’s speeches, and he wasn’t the only one ever to receive them.

Often, he could hear Rinny inviting people into her office, giving them a pep talk along with their assignments. She would listen to their woes and then pick that person up off the floor again with her cheerleader-like attitude.

Just another thing to love about her was her good and generous heart. It was a shame that few people ever understood her generosity. Most people got lost in the act she portrayed. They believed her to be whatever she wanted them to. Many were convinced she was simply shallow and self-absorbed.

But Matthew knew differently. He’d known it the minute he’d wakened from his coma and found her on the other side of his bed with unshed tears in her eyes.

“You’ve got to be bold,” she continued. “You’ve got to be aggressive. And most important, you must always implement a course of action!”

Inwardly, he chuckled as her cheeks started to heat up and her eyes began to take on a new glow. She wanted him to implement a course of action, huh?

What if he reached over there and pulled her off that chair, ripped off that silly sarong she had tied around her waist—no doubt to hide what she considered unsightly curves that he considered womanly—and kissed her until she couldn’t see straight? That was a course of action he certainly wouldn’t mind implementing.

It would shock her. It was something she would never expect from him, but he did have that side to him. It was one of the few things that Debbie had never understood about him. She had hated to be taken by surprise. For that matter she hadn’t liked to be fondled much. She’d only made love with him after they became engaged, and then it had to be in a bed at night with lights out and her nightgown, if not on, at least close by. He’d loved her, so he respected her wishes. He had hoped that one day she would see that making love was about having fun and enjoying each other.

Making love with Rinny would be that. It would be that and a hundred other things as well. Intense. Hot. Exciting. Playful. He could see them together in his mind. A sudden surge of lust overwhelmed him and vaguely Matthew realized that the dunk he was planning in the ocean was suddenly becoming something necessary to cool his overheated libido.

“So I’m staying,” he told her, not too sure where she was in her speech but wanting to at least make that clear. “And I’m going for a swim. Coming?”

Corinne was breathing a little heavily. Perhaps her speech had gotten a little out of hand. The good news, though, was that he had listened to her and had taken her advice. He was doing what he wanted to do and that was stay. Since it was what she wanted him to do, too, things had really worked out for the best.

“No, you go ahead. I’m not a real big swimmer.”

This clearly confused him. “Why would you come to an island if you don’t swim?”

Haughtily, she answered, “That’s non-swimmer discrimination.”

“It is? I thought it was just a question.”

“Just because I can’t swim doesn’t mean that I should be denied the privilege of coming to an island. I like to look at the water. And maybe later, if I want to, I will sit by the pool, too.”