Falling Into You (Geek to Chic) Read online

  The guys looked like they had actually seen real combat. All muscle and intensity. Wait a minute, she knew these guys.

  "Aren't those your drinking buddies?" She turned to ask Derek.

  "Why yes, they are." He answered with a smile. With that Derek placed his hand on the small of back leading her into her living room. "How on earth did this come about?" He asked to no one in particular. Izzy and Gracey both turned from the game, bolting toward Roni when they heard Derek.

  "You're home. Oh my God are you ok?" Izzy gently took Roni's bandaged hand to examine. "How many stitches this time? Do you need anything? Come sit down and rest." Yep, Izzy might be a little tipsy but she was in full blown mother hen mode.

  "Izzy I'm fine, really. Only eight stitches. No big deal."

  "Only to you is a night at the ER, which ends in eight stitches, no big deal." Izzy giggled. As Roni and Izzy plopped down on the couch. Derek came to sit on the other side of her.

  “Roni the hospital should give you a punch card or something. But Izzy, she’s right eight stitched is far below average for her.” Gracey giggled out just as she turned back to the guys.

  Alex turned to answer Derek’s earlier question. “After the two of you had to leave, so Clumsy Barbie wouldn’t bleed to death, in walked these guys. We started talking video games. Needless to say we were all shocked to hear that the demon pixie here was a huge gamer. Since she had called Gracey to let her know about Roni’s latest mishap and have her meet her at her house we all decided to have a little video game death match while we waited. Seriously Roni, we need to start taking you out in a bubble or some safety suit or something.” That last part was said with a huge grin across his face. Taking a swig of his beer he turned his attention back to the game.

  “Hey, don’t you dare un-pause that game until I have my controller! First, you cheat at pool and now at Call of Duty! You have no morals!” Izzy spat at Alex as she hurled herself off the couch and toward her controller. Alex only laughed, hitting the pause button just as Izzy’s hand wrapped around her controller. “I’m going after your ass first Super Asshole!

  As each of the guys died in the game they came over introducing themselves since she had left the bar with Izzy before learning their names that night. “So Collin what is it you guys do for a living. You look like you all live in a gym.” She asked with a smile.

  Collin laughed. “I feel like I live in a gym sometimes. However, we are all programmers. Like I told Derek the other night, we are his competition. We don’t quite have the government contacts he does, but we do ok.”

  “I offered to buy his company. He laughed at me. So not cool dude.” Derek deadpanned then at the last second laughed.

  “Make me a real offer, you know more than a pitcher of beer, and we’ll talk.” Collin quipped, turning his attention back to her. “I thought your clumsiness only set its destructive forces on this dip wad? What’s with the stitches in your hand?”

  Roni had to laugh. “Oh, this is far from the first time I have done myself in. My clumsiness has left me in stitches, a few concussions, too many bruises to count and a couple broken ribs. That bubble idea of Alex’s might be a good one.”

  “Luckily for you Rocco is an engineer. I’ll have him start working on one for you. Maybe something with air bags.” With that, he went back to trash talking those playing the game.

  Derek shifted slightly accidently bumping the leg, she had her injured hand resting on. “Ouch!”

  “Ok, that is my queue to get you ready for bed and give you your pain pill.” Derek declared, lifting her into his arms. “Bedroom?”

  With a shy smile on her face, Roni pointed toward her room. Leaning her head onto his shoulder. Once there, he gently laid her in bed. He went to her dresser, without asking, and began pulling open drawers. When he opened her underwear drawer he gave her a wicked smile. “I like this drawer.” She blushed, earning her a chuckle from him. He continues to rifle through her stuff until he found her some pajamas. Handing her, her favorite most comfortable pair. “I am going to go grab you a glass of water while you change and get ready for bed.” He placed a small kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.

  When was the last time a guy she was dating had taken care of her when she was injured or sick? Roni thought for a minute and realized the sad truth was never. This was the first time, any guy had ever taken the time to care for her. With that warm thought in her mind, she quickly changed and went to the bathroom to do her nightly routine. Returning to her room, she found Derek sits on the bed waiting for her, with a glass of water in one hand and her bottle of pills in the other.

  “Do you want to watch a little TV?” He asked quietly as he handed her the pill and glass.

  She took the pill, lay the glass on the night stand before crawling into bed. “Yes, that would be nice. Although I am not sure how long I’ll be able to stay awake once the pill kicks in.” She patted the space next to her. Derek quickly kicked off his shoes and claimed his spot on her bed. Wrapping his arm around her, pulling her close to him. He turned on the TV with the remote.

  After flipping for a bit they settled on a rerun of The Big Bang Theory. “This episode is one of my favorites.” Derek mumbled as he rubbed her back gently with his large hand. After the show he asked. “How are you feeling?”

  “Mmmm, nice.” Roni said in a small drug induced voice.

  “Well, it looks like you are about to fall asleep. I will let myself out and call you in the morning.” Gently pulling away from her, he started to leave.

  Panic suddenly slammed through her system, nullifying the effects of the pain medication. Roni did not want to be away from him. “No, stay. Just a little longer…. until I fall asleep. Please.” Ok, she knew she sounded pathetic, but she couldn’t let him go, not yet.

  Without a word or even a pause, Derek slid his arm back around her bringing her even closer than she was before. He kissed her forehead again, and she could have sworn he sniffed her hair. Roni felt so calm and safe now that he was staying. She burrowed closer to him. She felt like she couldn’t get close enough. It was her turn to smell him, his cologne was a blend of pine and fresh air. “Hmm” Escaped her mouth. As he drew her closer to him still, she couldn’t resist kissing his neck.

  He cupped the back of her head, forcing her to look at him. She saw pure lust in his eye just before his lips captured her. His tongue was in her mouth dueling with hers. Her good hand gripped his shirt. Derek rolled her under him. Moving down to kiss her neck. His hands moving toward her breast. She sighed, arching towards her. As quickly as he started he stopped. Resting his forehead against her own. Both of them breathing heavily. “Oh Roni, I wish this night was ending differently. As in us alone in a house without either of us having stitches. But you’ve had pain meds and the Call of Duty marathoners are screaming at each other in the other room, I think we better go back to watching TV.” He snuggled her back to where she was before the kiss.

  She felt special at that moment (and a little annoyed). Most guys would have taken advantage of her state. Derek has shown her over and over that he wasn’t most guys. Though part of her was wondering why he had stopped? Was he really not that into her? Her insecurities coming up hard and fast. She buried those old feelings. “Only if you promise we will be alone in a house as soon as I’m healed?” Her smile when he laughed and nodded. She laid her head on his chest. Listening to his heartbeat as he once again started to slowly rub her back. It only took a few moments before she was asleep.

  ***

  Derek felt Roni’s breathing slow and even out, signaling that she had slipped into deep sleep. He decided to stay for a bit longer. Holding her in his arms was very relaxing to him. Roni was not the type of girl he normally pursued. His usual type were runway ready, zero personality and knew that come morning he would be gone. He hadn’t invested anything into a woman since his early years of college. Since the minute he had seen her all those months ago, he had been enthralled with her. Even without talking to h
er. He had watched her each morning. Watched her kindness with everyone she came in contact with. Watched as she smiled and asked the baristas about their significant others or kids. Those few minutes a day in her presence were always the best time of his day. Heck, he had even stopped having his one night stands months ago.

  Getting run over by her was the best thing that could have happened. No matter how confident he was with worthless women or business, he simply did not have the confidence to approach someone as full of life as Roni. Luckily, fate stepped in and brought them together. Although he wished fate would have been kinder in the way in which she decided to introduce them. Now he just had to make sure not to screw it up.

  Kissing her gently on the forehead, he slowly moved out of her bed. He grabbed his shoes, looked over his shoulder one more time at his sleeping beauty and slipped from her room.

  The chaos that met him was almost overwhelming. The guys and the girls were still playing war games. From the trash talk, he had walked in on, you would think it was an actual life or death situation. He shook his head when he saw Lexi standing on the coffee table so that she would be eye to eye with Alex. “What, you think just because I’m a girl I can’t kick your ass at every video game out there? You my friend need to join the 21st century and realize that girls can kick your ass at anything!” Izzy spat into Alex’s face.

  “First, glad to hear we are friends.” Alex commented, with his best alluring smile attached. Earning him a death glare. “Second, I think I proved that you can’t beat me at pool.”

  “You cheated.” Izzy yelled poking at him in the chest.

  “You two need to knock it off. Roni is sleeping.” Derek said in a frustrated voice. Looking from one of them to the other before he continued. “You two need to kill each other or fuck and get it over with! Either way, keep it down and let the poor woman sleep.” The others scattered around the room laughed quietly and nodded their agreement.

  "I'm never letting him get anywhere near me with that STD infected micro dick!" With that Izzy pushed past a shocked Alex towards the kitchen. The guys fell into a heap of laughter onto the floor at her comment. Gracey followed Izzy into the kitchen laughing hard.

  Derek turned to Alex, feeling as though he was speaking to a child. "Why must you annoy her? At some point she will kill you and to stay on Roni's good gracious, I will help them bury the body." Derek declared.

  "She makes it so easy. Plus, she is sexy as hell when she has that death look going." Alex shrugged with a shit eating grin on his face.

  "Ok your funeral dude." Derek said looking at his friend like he was a man with a death wish. To Derek it seemed the two of them had something between them. "Come on, let's get out of here before we wake Roni or Izzy comes running out the kitchen with a butcher knife to finally end you." Derek started heading for the front door all the guys following suit. Yelling goodbye to Izzy and Gracey, who were both still in the kitchen. He heard a murmured reply from the girls.

  The guys stood in the driveway for a few minutes trying to figure out if it was too early to call it a night or if they should go hang out somewhere.

  "Come on, let’s grab a drink. I have some real business questions to ask these guys anyway." Alex declared. “And since I was the waitress, buyer and DD last time I am thinking I have earned a free drink or two.”

  “How about we just head to my house. I have a fully stocked bar and we can continue to kick Alex’s ass on my 80 inch flat screen. We’ll even let him choose the game.” Collin laughed.

  “Very funny asshole! I was going easy for the girl’s sake. I’ll kick your ass at any game.” Alex basically whined like a third grader being teased by his older brother.

  Derek and the rest of the guys laughed as they got into their cars to head to Collins.

  Derek looked out the window one last time toward Roni’s house. He wished he was staying with her. He wanted to take care of her, but their relationship (if you could call it that) was very new. He didn’t want to smother her. Even though every protective instinct inside of him was screaming to stay to be sure she was really ok.

  Laughter came from the driver’s seat. Actually, it was hysterical laughter. Derek turned to glare at Alex. “And what is so funny fuctard?”

  “You asshat! Wow, I never thought I would see the day when you fell in love.” Alex did the last word in a sing song voice. “You the man who believes all women are only after his money.” Derek didn’t reply. Alex was right. He didn’t believe in love, only greed. Women wanted nothing to do with him until he had made his first million. “I know you always like to hear my opinion on the women in your life, so here it is. I like her. Sure, she might end up killing both of you in some freak accident involving a cheese grater or plastic forks, but she never sees your money. Only that ugly face of yours. “

  “Well, now that I have your blessing I feel so much better.” Derek chided.

  “Seriously D, she’s not after anything. She’s not that sorority bitch from college. Keep that in mind, when you decide to choose work over her or get scared and do something obnoxious to drive her away.”

  Derek’s anger had kicked up a notch with Alex’s perceptive statement. “Now that we’ve saved my love life, let’s talk about yours. What the fuck is up with Izzy and you? I know how you operate with women. You like the easy ones. The ones that have nothing to offer besides a set of double Ds. Izzy is a tiny little sprite of a girl. Nothing like the amazon women that usually share your bed. Plus, she has a brain. And that sense of humor of hers is actually witty.” Alex’s hands were now clenched around the steering wheel. His knuckles white. His face hardened.

  “She just reminds me of someone from a long time ago.” Derek knew not to pursue this any further at the moment. Like Derek, Alex had his own reasons for keeping women at a distance. Derek’s reasons were just closer to the surface.

  With that the conversation was dropped. They drove the rest of the way in silence. Both seemingly lost in thought of girls they had known only a small amount of time.

  Chapter Eight

  Roni woke the next morning to Lexi and Gracey playfully arguing in the kitchen. She pushed herself up in her bed. “Holy fuck that hurt!” She gasped. Obviously she had neglected to remember that her hand was injured and she should be careful not to put her weight on it. Holding her hand, she made her way out of bed and towards the kitchen. The smell of coffee filling the house.

  “Gracey, I just like to fuck with him! He is an easy target for me. Between his arrogance and playboy attitude I have a never ending supply of material. All of which is for the entertainment of others. I am a one woman show.” Izzy laughed at her own joke.

  “Morning ladies, why are we grilling poor Izzy so early today?” Roni teased on her way into the kitchen.

  “Well while you were playing snuggle bunny with hotty geek boy, our little friend here was demolishing Alex. Both in and out of the game. So unlike our little hostess, don’t you think?” Gracey was clearly goading Izzy for a response.

  “Again, I am maintaining my stance that he is nothing more than an easy target.” Izzy smiled, saying nothing more as she skipped off to the bathroom.

  “Was she really that mean to him? In her own home? I saw a little bit of her over reaction to him, but I figured that he had pushed her to that point.” Roni uttered.

  “Nope, he was actually being civil. From what I have heard about the guy it was like aliens had replaced him on his way over. He was complimenting her on the house, offering to help her in the kitchen, etc. All of his kindness seemed to just send her over the edge more. It was amusing to watch really. You missed out.” Gracey clearly had enjoyed the night of switched personalities. She sipped her coffee. “Enough about the middle school duo. Tell me what happened between you and the tech mogul? I want details! Remember, I am in a self-imposed dating embargo. So I have to live through you.” She folded her hands in front of her waiting for the non-existent details.

  Roni laughed, still not completely understan
ding why Gracey had closed the door on dating completely. Sitting down at the breakfast bar with her friend she began to tell her non-story. “Nothing happened. As in a big fat zero. Once we left the living room, he help me get ready for bed and gave me my pill.” She blew out a breath before continuing. “When I tried to put the moves on him, he complied at first, then must have felt like he was taking advantage because he stopped. Why did he have to be all…. noble?”

  Her friend shook her head. Holding in a laugh it seemed. “Roni, you shouldn’t be offended that he was…’noble’. As you put it. Most girls would be complimented that he was able to put his needs aside to care for her. You on the other hand, are so used to guys being all over you that you misinterpret his actions. No guy who is not falling for a girl, in more than a one night stand kind of way, takes care of her when she’s injured. Good thing he seems good at it, with how often you injure yourself.” She was no longer holding in the laugh.

  “I guess you’re right. I just am used to guys wanting one thing and only that from me. They see my boobs and fall in lust. Which never turns into anything more once they realize what a walking disaster zone I am. Ugh…it… it… …it’s just that I have been lusting after him for six months. I created a version of who he was in my head. Every time I saw him I added a characteristic making him my ideal man. He is proving that the version of him in my head, was completely wrong. The real version, Derek himself, is so much better. So now like every woman I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Although I hope it never does. I want this relationship to last. To go the distance. Hell, I will probably end up killing the poor bastard with my clumsiness.” Roni knew she was babbling. Gracey knew she was babbling too. But Gracey being the good friend she was, let her babble.