by Kay Maree
I approach the door, and the first thing I notice is her long blonde hair. My mom was a box dye blonde, but this girl looked like the real deal. Either that or the hairstylists out here in small-town Idaho are wizards.
"Good morning." I smile in her direction as I pull out the chair opposite of hers and take a seat. She spins in her chair, clutching her chest.
"My gosh, you scared me, girl!" she gives me a once over before continuing. "Good morning to you too, beautiful. Don't you look like you just stepped out of a magazine."
"Thank you." Now I'm blushing. I've never been good at taking compliments, but I didn't want to make things awkward, so a simple thank you would have to do.
"What brings a city girl like you to Fostmore? We get a lot of people our age leaving, not many coming." I'm sure that's the question on everyone's mind today. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and I loved it there. I am a city girl through and through, and I plan to get back there eventually, but right now, my focus is on building a relationship with the family I never got the chance to know. The only problem is my dad made me promise not to tell anyone until we announce it publicly at his annual Christmas party. It's only a week away, but the secret already feels like it's burning a hole through me.
"Change. I met Richard a few months back at my mom's funeral, and he offered me the job and the chance to start over, and well, here we are." That's kind of the truth, right?
"Richard, huh? Already on a first-name basis with the boss man. I like it. I think we're going to be good friends you and I," she finishes with a wink. My stomach drops as I realize there's a chance she may think me and my dad have some sort of personal relationship if you know what I mean.
"I'm Stassi, but the folks 'round here just call my Stas."
"Nice to meet you, Stas. I'm Londyn," I extend a hand, and she slaps it before standing up and bending down to give me a hug.
"I'm heading to the break room, you want anything? The donuts are killer. You know, if you're into carbs and gluten." She gives me another once-over. People always assume you're a tree-hugging, gluten-free, vegan when you say you're from LA. In reality, that's just mostly Hollywood and a few over protective suburban moms.
"I'd love a donut," I say, flashing her a smile.
"My girl!" I hear her say as she floats out of the room.
CHAPTER TWO
When I return from lunch, I notice that my dad's door is still closed, so I decide to shoot him a quick text.
Londyn: Hey dad! The first day is going great. I haven't seen you all day. Just checking in.
Two hours pass and still no response. All I can think is I hope he hasn't gotten cold feet. I moved my whole life down here to be a part of his, and it would suck if he backed out at the last minute. Seeing me mindlessly staring into my third cup of coffee of the day, Stassi rolls over in her chair and gently lays a hand on my shoulder.
"What's wrong, Cali?" Cali being short for California, and now the new nickname she had chosen for me over lunch. She liked the idea of it being a location since my real name was as well.
"Nothing. Just tired today, I guess," I answer with a half-smile.
"I don't believe you."
"And why not?" I ask chuckling to myself.
"Because that's your 3rd cup and I know you have to be wired by now. Whatever it is we're going out tonight and dancing it off."
"Oh no, we're not. I'm not really the dancing type. Or the going out type either."
"Londyn wasn't, but Cali is. Didn't you say you came here to start over?"
"Yeah, but..."
"No buts, just butts on the dance floor." I roll my eyes at her corniness.
"Can I just think about it?"
"Sure, you do that love," she agrees, but somehow, I still feel as if I don't really have a choice. She was becoming more like my mom by the minute.
I excuse myself and head toward the ladies’ room not really needing to go, but more so just wanting the quiet. I head into the first stall and lean my back against the door. Moments later, I hear footsteps enter, and the sound of the lock quickly behind it.
"Londyn, hurry up in there, I'd like to talk to you," an unfamiliar voice calls outside the stall door. She sounds upset, and I quickly try to rack my brain to figure out what I could have done wrong already.
When I open the door, I'm greeted by a face I've previously only seen in pictures.
"Olivia! It's so nice to finally meet you," I reach out a hand in an attempt to shake hers, but she doesn't return the gesture.
"We don't have much time, so let's skip over the pleasantries," my father's wife starts. "I don't know what your true intentions are, but I intend to find out. If you think you are going to hurt anyone in my family in any way, you have another thing coming."
"I promise my intentions are pure. I just want the chance to get to know you guys." She scoffs at my remark. "Look, I don't know what you think you know about me, but if you think you can bully me away, you're gravely mistaken. I'm here and a part of this...family," I roll my eyes at the idea of it. "...whether you like it or not. Now excuse me, some of us actually have work to do around here."
I shove my way past and make my way to the door. Without looking back, I unlock it and then gently close it behind. I knew Olivia hated my mom; Richard never tried to hide that fact. I mean what woman wouldn't despise her husband's mistress of 6 years, but he forgot to mention how much she hated me.
I adjust my skirt and glance around for anyone who could have possibly overheard the conversation. There are no looks of shock and awe in sight, so I assume we are in the clear. I quickly make my way back to my desk, plop down in my seat and bury my face into my folded arms at my workstation.
"Rough restroom break?" Stassi asks, barely looking up from her screen.
"You have no idea. Does that dance offer come with alcohol by the gallon?"
"If you're with me, it comes with anything you want." I lift my head and find her beaming at me.
"Ok, I'm in," I whisper before dropping my head back down.
"Oh, you've been in. I was just waiting for you to realize it," she chuckles. "The ladies are taking over Chuck and Barrels tonight!"
****
It took forever for my car service to arrive tonight. In LA, no matter where you are, you're usually less than five minutes away from the nearest vehicle. Today it had taken nearly 20 minutes, something I vowed to keep in mind for when I was ready to leave this evening.
We pull up to the bar, which looks like a rundown version of something out of an old western movie, and it takes everything in me not to head back home. As I approach the door, two men stumble out almost knocking me down.
"Well, hello there, Beautiful! Let old Rudy buy you a drink." The older man reeked of alcohol and had what appeared to be puke stains down the front of his shirt.
"You can't buy her anything from out here, Rudy. Go home and sober up before you have to get those kids to school in the morning," the younger gentleman interjects.
"I can give you the money, and you can bring the drink out here to us, Frank. A favor for your old pal." Frank frowned and pointed in the direction of the car, which I wish I were still in, just took off.
"I’d rather not. Get home Rudy and leave this young lady alone."
I smile up at Frank as he holds the door open for me, and I reluctantly head inside, whispering a light thank you as I pass. Frank, on the other hand, smells of lemon and soap. Not quite what I imagined a bartender in a small town to smell like.
The bar is extremely dark and lit by dim wall lights around the back, christmas lights behind the bar, and Stassi's aura just a few feet in front of me that seems to light up every room she's in. I spot her almost immediately, leaning in the lap of one guy as she chats with another.
"Cali, you made it! I was starting to think you flaked on me," she yells across the room before rushing over to give me a hug. "Everyone this is my girl Cali. She's hot, and she's single!" Th
e men in the bar erupt in cheers, and I nearly pass out from embarrassment.
"Stas, are you crazy?!" I cover my face as she leads us back over to where she was just sitting.
"Crazy? No. Drunk? Maybe. Now let's get some liquor in you, baby girl." I wasn't going to argue with that. That was the reason I decided to come after all. "Four shots of Tequila, Frank, for me and my girl Cali over here." She points at me, but she's back to kissing the gentlemen whose lap she is on.
"Cali?" The handsome bartender asks.
"Londyn, but she wanted to give me a nickname so,"
"So, Cali it is." He smiles, sitting the shot glasses down in front of us. I reach across the bar to hand him my credit card, and he shakes his head. "Any friend of Stas is a friend of mine. On the house." I watch as his smile dims as he watches her with the other gentleman. I make a mental note that the bartender is off-limits, he clearly has a thing for Stassi, but I wonder if she knows it.
"Bottoms up, princess" she nods her head in the direction of the shots.
"Wait, are these all for me?" I assumed she and the guys she had been chatting up were going to join me.
"Yes! You said alcohol by the gallon, right? Bottoms up!" That was all it took for the whole bar to break out into a chant.
"Bottoms up! Bottoms up!"
"Wait, I need lemon or something" I'm just trying to buy time at this point.
"Here you go!" Frank slides the metal tin of lime wedges across the bar to me, and I seriously almost have a panic attack. Well, this was what I asked for, so I guess bottoms up.
I line the glasses up neatly on the bar in front of me and take a deep breath before tossing the shots back quickly one after the other before biting into a lime as the crowd cheers around me. Tequila and I aren't really friends, so I bet my head won't be too happy with me in the morning.
"I hope you're not planning on driving home tonight." The familiar voice both excites and angers me.
"What's it to you?" I spin to face the sexy stranger from earlier.
"I'm a cop. I'd have to take you in for a DUI if you do." Oh yeah, that. I guess those shots were working quicker than I thought.
"Well, not that it's any of your business, but I'll be taking a car service home."
"No, you won't. I'll take you home when you're ready."
"Excuse me! I can take care of myself, Officer."
He leans into my ear and whispers, "why would you want to when I could do it so much better." My breath catches in the back of my throat.
"Yeah, Cal, those driving apps aren't so safe out here since we don't have the major two," Stassi adds, not hearing the last bit of the conversation.
"Well, I wish someone would have told me that before I took one over here."
"Now you know," he says, placing his empty beer bottle down on the bar while signaling to Frank that he's done for the night. I can feel his body heat against my back as he stands behind me. No one in their right mind would have the type of reaction my body is having to the man who had given them a ticket earlier that day. But I can't seem to control myself around him.
"Ruin any more people's day today?" I ask sucking on another lemon wedge.
"Did I ruin yours? Sorry about that."
"Yeah, you kind of did, but I could think of a few ways you could make it up to me." Yeah, the alcohol was giving me balls of steel right now.
"Be careful what you wish for?" He bites his lip and leans in closer to me, resting a hand on my hip. I turn a bit more towards him, causing it to move around to my ass.
"What? You were the one who offered to help take care of me." I wink at him, and he just bites his lip and shakes his head.
"You're playing with fire, Londyn." He moves his hand from my ass but not before giving it a squeeze, and then looks around to see if anyone noticed.
"Perfect! I like it hot." We just stare at each other for a long moment until my phone buzzing interrupts us.
I take my phone out of my purse and tap the lock button to check the time. It's a quarter after midnight, and I almost instantly sober up when I see my father finally responded to my text.
Richard: So sorry love. Had 2 run out of town for the day. Made it home safe. See you bright and early.
I quickly text back.
Londyn: See you tomorrow. Goodnight!
Who did I think I was going out on a work night? This was the most important week of my life, and I had let Olivia get under my skin enough to jeopardize it.
"I think we're going to head out. It's getting kind of late, and we have work in the morning." Stas says giving me a look that asked if I would be alright if she did.
“Sure. Work,” Frank chimes from behind the bar.
"Mind your business, Frankie," she retorts playfully.
"Yeah ok, I guess I'll just hang here for a bit until Officer Bossy sobers up."
"You're in good hands, love. The best. See you," she glances at her phone screen "...well, in a few hours." She grabs the hand of the guy whose lap she was on and leads him out of the bar. The grin on his face tells me there won't be much sleeping going on tonight.
"Officer, do you mind if we head out now. I have a really big day tomorrow."
"Shawn."
"Huh?"
"It's my name. But you can keep calling me Officer if you like." He leans into my ear. "It's sexy."
"Are you hitting on me?" I ask feigning innocence.
"You hit on me first."
"I wasn't hitting on you I was just..."
"What exactly were you doing?" He leans in super close to my face, and our foreheads are nearly touching.
"I was flirting." I lean the rest of the way in and kiss him gently on the lips. I can tell he's shocked at first, but once what was happening settles in, he grabs my face with both hands and deepens the kiss. When he finally pulls away, he just stares at me for a bit, which makes me feel slightly self-conscious. It's short-lived when he grabs my hand and pulls me from the barstool toward the exit.
Oh, I definitely can't wait to see where this goes.
CHAPTER THREE
If I had to guess what type of car Shawn drove, I would have picked exactly what we were currently riding in. A black-on-black sports car that wasn't too flashy, but definitely made a statement when it arrived, just like its owner.
"So what brings a girl like you to Fostmore?"
"A girl like me? Way to start the interrogation."
"It's not an interrogation, I just want to know a little more about the woman I'm taking home."
"Work brought me here. Richard offered me a job at my mom's funeral, and I took it for a fresh start."
"Sorry about your mom. That had to be hard."
"Still is. She was really the only family I had growing up. Now it just kind of feels like I'm free-falling a bit."
"That might just be the tequila."
"Ha. Ha. You're so funny. That wore off the second you kissed me."
"Actually, you kissed me."
"Same thing."
"Not really. I think it's important we establish who made the first move."
"Why? You plan on pressing charges?"
"No, but I plan on seeing you again. If that's ok with you?"
"Only if you promise to deliver on your promise to take care of me."
"I think I can do that."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Tonight?" There was a long pause.
"I can't tonight."
"So, you're going to make me take care of myself after all then? Disappointing."
We pull up in front of my house, and I reach for the handle to get out, but he locks the door from his side.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking care of you. But are you sure that's what you want?" I don't even bother responding. I climb on top of him on the driver side. "I'll take that as a yes."
Our lips crash into each other, this time it's not so obvious who kissed who first, bu
t neither of us is really thinking about that right now. I reach down between us to unbutton his pants, but he grabs my wrist.
"No, tonight I take care of you." He gently pulls me back in for a kiss while reaching his other hand between my legs and gently caresses the wet material. I moan into his lips as I feel him growing harder beneath me.
"Damn, you're so fucking wet." He hooks a finger beneath the thin material of my panties and rubs his knuckle up and down my clit, and another soft moan escapes my lips. I toss my head back in response to his touch. He slowly moves down to the opening and extends the finger as he enters me.
"More," I beg.
"Be patient. I promise I'm going to give you everything you need. Just let me enjoy you for a bit." He takes his other hand and releases one of my breasts from the top of my dress. "I've been thinking about these all damn day." I moan when his lips inhale the nipple as he starts to pump his finger in and out of my moist center.
"Fuck. Yes." Words seem to be failing me right now, but he understands what I need as he adds an additional finger and speeds up the pace. I start to rock against his hand, guiding him deeper with each thrust. He hooks his fingers up, and they connect with my g-spot, and I feel myself getting ready to tumble over the edge.
"That's right, beautiful. I want you to come all over my fingers, so I can see how sweet you taste." With my eyes squeezed shut and my head thrown back, he adds a third finger, and like magic, I erupt around them coating his fingers and lap in my juices. When I open my eyes, he is making good on his promise, and I watch as he licks each one of his fingers clean. "You taste as good as I imagined."
"I...thank you."
"No, thank you. Now, you better get inside it's getting late."
"Crap! You're right." I adjust the top of my dress, covering up the still exposed breast and grab my purse from the passenger seat before exiting out of the driver side door. This is the first time I've ever hooked up with a stranger, so I don't really know the protocol. Trying to play it cool, I adjust the bottom of my dress as I glance around looking for possible nosy neighbors before I head up the walkway to my house. I glance back and wave awkwardly as he stands outside his car, looking over the top at me. I fumble with my keys before opening the front door and slamming it shut behind me. I press my back into the cold, hard wood, sliding down the door as I cup my face.