Neighborly Complications (Stories of Serendipity 3)

by Conley, Anne

  And now, here he was. He had his restaurant, in the Cargill mansion on Magnolia Street in Serendipity, Texas. And it wasn’t working out like he thought it would.

  He saw her as soon as she came in, the woman with the long auburn hair, wearing worn jeans and even more worn cowboy boots. He probably noticed her initially, because she was so tall, she stood out in the crowd. She had on a creamy beige, peasant style top, which she wore off her shoulders. He hadn’t noticed a woman in a while, and he sighed heavily as he remembered why. Something about this woman made him want to keep looking, though.

  Connor watched her and her petite friend with the pink hair visit for a little while, before her friend went off to the dance floor. He was still watching her when the little guy sat down to talk to her. Connor watched her body language while she talked to him. She did not seem happy at all to be having whatever conversation they were having. Connor watched the little man get up and walk over to the bar. Little probably wasn’t the right word, but compared to Connor, this guy was little. He walked with a swagger, which suggested he knew he was little, and tried to give a bigger impression. Connor didn’t know the man, but his first impression was, he didn’t like him. His eyes were following the woman when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

  “Hey, big brother, watcha watching? Or should I say who are you watching?” Connor turned to see his brother sitting on the stool next to him at the bar. He hadn’t even noticed he had come in.

  “Hey Luke, nothing much. Just noticed a pretty girl.” Connor took a swig of his beer and motioned with his chin as the woman in the peasant blouse finished her drink and then went to say something to her friend on the dance floor. He watched the sway of her hips as she crossed the floor and went out the door.

  “Well, go get her!” Luke punched Connor playfully in the arm.

  “Naw. I don’t think so, man.”

  “Why not? You never know what could happen. And she is hot!” Luke had been trying to convince Connor to start dating again, since they had moved to Serendipity. Connor suspected Luke wasn’t planning on sticking around, and wanted to make sure his brother wasn’t lonely. As if he had time for a woman.

  “What would it accomplish? I’m not interested.” But he was interested. He kept thinking about those hips, in those tight, faded jeans. And her hair, which hung in loose waves down her back. Connor briefly wondered if her hair was as soft as it looked. He was so entranced in his own vision he didn’t notice Luke was talking to him. He snapped out of it just in time to hear the end of his monologue.

  “…to her.” Luke took a swig of his beer.

  “I’m sorry. What?” Connor tried to shake the vision of the woman so he could pay attention to his brother.

  “Dude. Go out there and talk to her before she leaves.” Luke sounded annoyed with him.

  Connor decided it couldn’t hurt to go outside for a minute and get some air. Maybe he would see her, maybe he wouldn’t. He finished his beer, slapped some money on the bar and walked out the door.

  When he got outside, he inhaled the clean air. This definitely was not Houston air. He loved the feel of Serendipity air against his skin. In Houston, when you walked outside, it was like getting slapped in the face with a wet washcloth. Here, it was like being enveloped in a flowery caress. Connor could smell the flowers, which were planted in the area.

  He decided he could look around for the girl, just to see if she was still around somewhere. Connor didn’t see her right here, but he knew she might have walked over to the side of the bar to get away from the light. Maybe. She had come with her friend, and her friend was still dancing, so Connor assumed she was around here somewhere…

  He walked around the side of the bar, and heard the tinkling of water. As Connor followed the sound, he noticed a small footbridge, with the woman sitting right in the middle of it, her legs dangling over the edge. He stood still for a minute or two, just watching her. She was hard to see in the dark, but he could see her hair contrasting with her blouse, and again, he imagined what it would feel like between his fingers. She looked up at the sky, and her profile was clear against the moonlight. She had a smooth forehead, even nose, and velvety lips that looked glossy as the moonbeams hit them. Connor watched as she licked her lips, and then he felt something inside himself turn to mush. Then he felt something not so inside him harden. He inhaled sharply

  Jessica heard something and looked over to the noise. There was a man standing there, watching her, in the dark. Suddenly, she felt danger in the air. There was something dangerous about being caught behind a bar, alone, in the dark. She was suddenly aware of her weakness, her feminineness, and his audacity. And it pissed her off.

  Another night she might have embraced the danger, flirted with it, even. Tonight was not the night.

  The man stepped forward, “I’m sorry to bother you.”

  Jessica stood quickly, “Right.”

  He looked nervous, but Jessie didn’t trust her perceptions. “I just came out to …”

  “You just came out to what?” Jessica was on edge. This was a dangerous situation, and she wished she had brought her purse with her. She kept her .380 in there, and it was doing her no good in the car.

  “Say hi.” He ran his hands through his hair, and wiped them on his pants leg. He shuffled his feet. “Hi.” He said, hopefully.

  Trying not to give away her anxiety, she replied “Hi.” Jessica said, as dismissively as possible. She was hoping he would just leave.

  He stood there awkwardly, for a minute. “This wasn’t a great idea. I’m gonna go. I’m sorry to bother you.” He turned around and walked back to the bar.

  After he had left, Jessica counted to 100, then followed him back to the bar. When she got inside, she found Summer, who was doing a shot of something green with her dance partner.

  “Hey! Where’d you go? I missed you!” Summer leaned over and draped her arms around Jessica’s waist, and leaned her head on Jessica’s shoulder. She’d had a few drinks since Jessica left.

  “I just took a walk. I ran into Asshole, and needed some air, only to be followed outside by another asshole. So, I decided to come back inside. Safety in numbers, right?”

  “Right! I’ll take care of you! Meet Stephen!” Summer turned to her dance partner, who looked at Jessica and leered, waggling his eyebrows.

  “Girlfriend!” He grinned lasciviously at Jessie. “So many hot women, I wish I wasn’t gay!” He shook her hand, holding it just a tad too long for polite company, but this was the Gin, no polite company anywhere in sight.

  “Charmed.” Jessica extricated herself, just as the DJ started playing Copperhead Road. “I’m going to go dance.” She actually liked this song, and enjoyed the line dance that went with it. Very simple. “Get me a shot, please, Summer?” She entreated her friend.

  Summer winked as Jessica walked out to the dance floor and joined in the line of people stomping, kicking, and forced herself to have a good time.

  Connor stayed on his bar stool in the corner, watching her. He couldn’t help himself. As much as he tried to listen to Luke prattle on about the carriage house renovations behind the restaurant, he just couldn’t pay attention. Finally, he gave up on listening, and gave in to his desire to watch her.

  Her movements in this simple line dance (kick, kick, kick, kick over the knee, stomp, stomp, stomp, turn) were like a choreographed ballet, they made his pulse race, his face flush, and his jeans tighten. For the first time all night, she was having fun. Her full lips opened in a smile, revealing even, white teeth. Her smile was stunning, and knocked his breath out of his body for a second, before he recovered.

  After the line dance, Jessica returned to Summer at the table they had been sitting at, and drank her shot in one swallow, grimacing as she set down the glass. “My God, Summer, what was that?”

  “Jägermeister. Nasty, huh? Want another?”

  “Why would I want another? That was disgusting!”

  Summer laughed at her. “It gets the job done,
fast. I’m gonna have another.” She waved the waitress over and ordered two more shots. When she returned, the waitress had the two shots, plus two beers.

  “Here’s your shots. The beer is from that man over there. He told me to tell you he’s sorry. Just between us, I would forgive him.” She dropped off the drinks and left.

  Summer’s eyes popped out of her head while she craned her neck around to see who had bought the beer. “Sorry for what? Jessie, what happened?”

  “Nothing. Do your shot.”

  “Seriously. Nobody ever buys us drinks. Who is he?”

  “No one. Drink your shot.”

  They both drank their shots and sipped on the beers. Summer looked at Jessica with one eye open. “I won’t ask anymore, but if it is that really hot guy over in the corner, I’m with the waitress. Forgive him and get in those pants!”

  Jessica looked at the guy in the corner, and sure enough, he was pretty hot. She couldn’t be sure it was the same guy that had approached her in the dark, but she thought it might be. It was dark, and she hadn’t been able to see any of his features. The bar wasn’t much brighter, but she could see a tall man with sandy blonde, tousled hair, a shock of which was hanging over his forehead. His physique was exquisite. Her eyes swept from his face down his chest, which was hiding under a short-sleeved linen shirt that exposed ropy forearms decorated with tattoos of a tribal nature. His jeans looked comfortably worn, and he was wearing Dock Martins on his feet. She hadn’t seen Dock Martins in a while. He wore them well. And his intense stare made her body shimmer with awareness. Any other night, she would jump him, but Chad had completely put her off taking anybody home tonight.

  She tipped the beer to him in a thank you gesture. He tipped his back at her, and smiled a crooked smile. Jessica flushed and looked down.

  The DJ started playing some LMFAO song, and Summer grabbed Jessica’s wrist and dragged her onto the crowded dance floor. They danced to the next four songs before they took a break. Jessica went to the bar to get the next round of drinks, deciding this would be their last round. If she had much more, she wouldn’t be able to get home, much less drop off Summer. She managed to avoid the hot guy while she was ordering, but unfortunately, Asshole was right there next to her as soon as she got the bartender’s attention.

  “You look really good tonight, Jessie.” Jessica did what she could to ignore him. She was just starting to have fun tonight, and didn’t want him to kill her buzz.

  “Jessie. Look at me.” He grabbed her arm, and tried to turn her around to face him.

  Jessica yanked her arm out of his grasp, hitting a solid wall of muscle behind her. “I’m sorry,” she tossed over her shoulder absently at whoever she had just hit. “Chad, touch me again, and I’ll slap you with a restraining order so fast you’ll get whiplash.”

  “Touchy. I just want to talk to you.” He was drunk. He staggered back, caught himself, and grabbed the bar to steady himself. “You wouldn’t get a restraining order against me. Not after what all we’ve been through.” He slurred at her.

  “After all we’ve been through, you would be lucky if a restraining order is all you’d have to deal with from me. Please leave me alone, Chad.” Jessica grabbed hers and Summer’s beers and turned to leave, running smack into a solid wall of muscle. The muscle grasped her arms to keep her from falling. Chad grabbed her elbow and spun her around with so much force, she dropped one of the beers in her hand.

  “Don’t you EVER turn your back on me bitch.” He spoke with a quiet fury, which reinforced the rage under the surface.

  Before she could react, a mass of white linen was between her and Chad, and all she could hear was a quiet murmur. Then she heard Chad’s voice.

  “Look, motherfucker! I don’t know who in the Hell you think you are, but I’m a cop, and you can’t talk to me that way. Asshole!”

  More soft murmuring. Then, “FUCK YOU!” Chad hauled off and punched the white wall, which Jessica was just noticing as a person, in the face. Bouncers materialized out of nowhere.

  “I’m sorry guys, y’all are gonna have to do this somewhere else, or we’re calling the cops.” Chad looked irate.

  “I am a cop, you dipshit. This guy is harassing me.”

  “Whatever. Outside.” The bouncer took Chad by the elbow and escorted him outside, the guy in white following. When they got a little farther away, Jessica noticed the guy in white was the same one who had bought her and Summer the drinks.

  “Oh, wow!” Summer’s voice came from over her shoulder.

  “You saw that?” Jessica turned to look at her friend.

  “I think the whole bar saw it.” Summer took her drink from Jessica, who had gotten another one from the bartender, and followed her to the table, where they finished their drinks and went home.