Hoping for Forever (The Lottery Winners Book 1)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  “Not again,” Mitzy groaned about an hour later. “You’re skipping dinner, aren’t you?” she asked.

  Scarlett didn’t even bother to answer, too focused on the story. She’d gone from laughing to crying, hating the protagonist to cheering her on. Within the first paragraph, Scarlett knew that Mick had written this story.

  She couldn’t put it down. Wiping tears away, she flipped to the last page. But…this couldn’t be the end of the story! Where was the ending? In fact, it felt as if she was barely to the middle of the story!

  She sat up and looked around. The room was dark, her twin bed illuminated only by the small bedside table. When had Mitzy come back from class? Had dinner been served? Looking over at her friend, Scarlett realized that Mitzy was in bed with curlers in her hair. When had that happened?

  With a sigh, she rolled over and turned out the light, shocked to realize that it was past three o’clock in the morning. But even with the early morning hour, she still couldn’t sleep. Her mind kept going over and over the details in the story. She needed more! She needed to know what happened next!

  Chapter 5

  Scarlett waited, heart pounding and a strange excitement bubbling up inside of her. She was so excited to see him. Scarlett had a million questions and her admiration for Mick had shot up tenfold. She should be exhausted, but instead, she felt energized. Pumped up and thrilled!

  Mick had written that story! She just knew it and she was so impressed!

  So when his tall body stepped through the doors of the English department building, Scarlett completely embraced the intense burst of excitement that hit her and rushed over to him.

  “I read the story,” she announced.

  He stopped and looked down at her, a dark eyebrow going up as if waiting for more. “And?” he prompted.

  Scarlett sighed. “I couldn’t put it down! It was brilliant and I can’t wait to read more of it. Please tell me you’ve written more!”

  His laugh sent a thrill right through her. It doubled when he nodded towards one of the park benches. “Would you like to sit down and discuss it?”

  Scarlett considered her options. She really needed to hurry to the library to study for her next class, but the allure of talking with him, of debating with him and, potentially, winning that debate, was too much.

  “Yes. Absolutely.”

  “Scarlett!”

  She turned and saw Thomas coming over with Mitzy and her boyfriend, Jonas. The two were holding hands and smiling, but there was a question in Mitzy’s eyes.

  Thomas walked right up to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

  “I thought you were going to the library after class this morning,” Thomas commented.

  Scarlett stepped away from him, not sure why he would do something as familiar as putting his arm around her like that. They didn’t have that kind of relationship. “I was, but my plans changed.”

  The two men stared at each other and Scarlett realized that, it wasn’t so much that they were staring, but sizing up the competition. “Is this the animal kingdom?” she asked, her eyes moving from one to the other.

  Mick chuckled while Thomas frowned at her as if she’d just said something monumentally stupid. “Why don’t you run off to the library, Scarlett? I think your new friend and I have some things to discuss.”

  That pompous, holier-than-thou attitude really irritated her. “Excuse me,” she snapped, stepping in front of Thomas. “Did you just order me to go away? As if I’m a little girl that the big, bad man needs to take care of?”

  Thomas registered that she was angry and glanced at the man behind her, then down at her again. “Scarlett, I just think…”

  “No!” she admonished. “You do not get to think, or make decisions about the people I converse with.”

  “It’s more than just a conversation,” he argued, his shoulders taking on a defensive angle. “This man…!”

  “He is in my literature class.”

  “But…” Thomas tried to argue further but she lifted her finger in the air.

  “No! You are not my husband, you’re not my fiancé. We are friends. That’s it. So as far as I’m concerned, you have no say in who I associate with. End of conversation.”

  Turning around, she looked up at Mick, startled that he was so close. “Mr. Munroe, I apologize for Thomas’s rudeness. He apparently left his manners at home this morning.”

  “I’m fine,” Mick assured her, and she heard the amusement in his voice, her eyes narrowing. But he lifted his hands into the air. “I have to head off to work. I’m glad that you enjoyed the story. Perhaps we can discuss it another day.”

  Scarlett noticed that Mick glanced behind her at Thomas, but she wasn’t completely sure she understood the subtle nuances at play.

  Mitzy stepped up and looped her arm companionably through Scarlett’s. “Testosterone is a dangerous thing,” she intoned archly and led Scarlett off towards the library.

  Mick whistled as he walked away, feeling like he’d just won a major victory. He’d been tempted to punch the jerk in the nose for daring to touch Scarlett, but the arm-over-the-shoulder gesture seemed to indicate an understanding between the pretty Miss Scarlett Jefferson and the preppy jerk. That “understanding” had been shattered when Scarlett had rebuffed the asshole. And even better, she’d defended Mick.

  Mick chuckled, shaking his head. She was even prettier when she was fired up, he thought with admiration. But no, he wouldn’t like to get on her bad side. She seemed like a strong woman who wouldn’t put up with games.

  And that made her even more appealing. Mick had no patience for the simpering females who batted their eyelashes at men, pretending to be defenseless. It came across as manipulative, in his opinion.

  He dumped his school books onto the tool bench and grabbed a pair of overalls.

  “You’re late!” His boss’s gruff voice echoed through the garage. Mick glanced at the oil and dirt stained clock over the door leading from the mechanics garage area to the office area. “I’m five minutes early,” he came back, pulling the denim overalls up over his clothes.

  Barney Henson came out from under one of the cars he’d been working on and huffed a bit. “You look happy. Get rid of the smile and get to work.”

  Mick chuckled, knowing that the gruff man was actually a complete softy. Mick often found a couple of extra dollars in his backpack and knew that Mr. Henson had put them there, wanting to help with Mick’s college education but not wanting anyone to know about it. His wife always made an extra sandwich for Mick too. The couple was nice and they missed their own kids, so they’d adopted Mick when he’d asked for a job.

  In return, Mick worked hard, fixing up the cars that came in for repairs as quickly and as thoroughly as he could. The engines were interesting contraptions and Mick understood how to care for the vehicles, having grown up in his father’s mechanic’s garage. It was like a second home to him.

  As he fixed the timing belt in a Chevy, he thought about the lovely Miss Scarlett and her slender curves. She was pretty, sweet, and courageous. And damn, he wanted her. A part of his mind admonished him for having sexual thoughts about the lady, but for the most part, he just continued on with his fantasy of stripping off every inch of her dress and the crinolines underneath to find the real woman.

  Scarlett waited in the same place the following day. Mick hadn’t been in class this morning, so it seemed a bit stupid to wait here for him. But she’d dreamed about him last night. About him kissing her. About him touching her…good grief, even her dreams were inappropriate!

  It was colder today, a slight breeze forewarning of a colder winter on the way. But that was nothing compared to the chill she felt when Mick didn’t show up.

  “After yesterday, why would he be here?” she muttered to herself in discouragement.

  “Why wouldn’t I be here?” a deep voice behind her asked.

  Scarlett swung around, staring up at the tall, handsome man. “Mick!” she yelped. “Y
ou’re here!”

  He moved closer. “I’m here.”

  “You weren’t in class!”

  “I spoke to the professor earlier about the assignment.”

  She smiled, feeling warmth seep into her brain at the realization that he must have come here specifically to talk with her! “So…um…is there any more to the story you gave me the other day?” she asked, floundering for something to say.

  He laid a hand to her upper arm, leading her off and away from the flow of other students going in and out of the building. “I’m working on it. I showed it to Professor Collins at the beginning of the semester and he suggested I expand the plot.”

  He led her over to the retaining wall behind the building, keeping a respectful distance. Scarlett’s mind flashed back to her dreams from the night before and she couldn’t figure out how to get Mick to kiss her. She’d never wanted a man to kiss her before. It seemed so…wild!

  “You don’t color outside the lines very often, do you?” he teased.

  Her eyes flashed up to his. “I’m sorry?”

  “You’re a rule follower,” he clarified.

  She contemplated that for a moment. “Yes. I suppose I am.” Her head tilted slightly. “Are you saying that you’re not a rule follower?”

  He shrugged and took a coke out of his bag, popping the top and handing it to her. “If the rules make sense to me, then yes. I’ll follow them.”

  “And if they don’t make sense?” she asked, taking a long sip of the soda, fascinated. Not follow the rules? Her entire life was all about following rules!

  “Then I ignore them,” he answered. “Why obey a rule that doesn’t make sense?”

  “So, if a stop sign is…?”

  “A stop sign makes sense. It slows down traffic and allows people to avoid crashing into each other.”

  She conceded his point. “What rules do you ignore then?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t have an example off-hand,” he laughed. “I evaluate in the moment.”

  Scarlett was fascinated by this idea and tossed out various scenarios for him. More than his answers, she loved watching him, sitting next to him. He was so outrageously handsome, she thought. And she loved his broad shoulders, his dark hair that she desperately wanted to mess up. And she wondered if his lips would be as fabulous in real life as they had been in her dream.

  All too soon, he was standing up. “I need to get to work and you have class.”

  “When will you have more of the story finished?” she asked, looking up at him as her heart pounded heavily in her chest.

  He laughed. “I work on it at night after I finish up at the garage. It’s a bit slow-going, but I’ll get there. I’d invite you to stop in and continue our conversation, but you’d get your pretty sweater dirty.” He stepped back and, with a friendly nod, turned and walked away.

  Scarlett watched him, thinking he was one of the most amazing men she’d ever met.

  Chapter 6

  Mick was in trouble! He couldn’t seem to get Scarlett out of his mind. He loved the excited sparkle in her eyes when he challenged her, and when she argued right back with him. He loved the way she practically bounced when they debated the nuances of each of the stories they were reading in class.

  But he loved her lips most of all.

  Which is why he stayed away from class for the whole next week. Scarlett wasn’t the woman for him. She was classy, smart, brave, and alive! So damn alive with every emotion flitting across her pretty features that it made him ache inside, wanting…wanting things that were wrong.

  “You going to replace those breaks, or just glare at them for the rest of the day?” Barney grumbled.

  Mick looked up at his boss, then down at the brakes. “Replace them,” he replied, but Mick had no idea how long he’d been glaring at the innocent axel.

  With quick hands, he took off the old brake pads and replaced them with the new ones, testing them to make sure they weren’t too tight or too loose. All the while, he was thinking about the lovely blue eyes and silky, dark hair of Scarlett.

  “Hello?” a soft, feminine voice called.

  Mick knew that voice and groaned. He thought about ignoring it and letting Barney deal with Scarlett. But the man seemed to have disappeared.

  “Hello?” she called again. “Anyone here?”

  Mick sighed, ready to blast Barney for abandoning him.

  Pushing away from the car, he stood up. And there she was. Scarlett stood in the middle of the filthy, greasy garage in the sexiest pair of ladies trousers he’d ever seen in his life. She’d topped it with her normal sweater set, this one in pink and it made her blue eyes sparkle even brighter.

  “Mick!” she sighed, her worried expression relaxing as she smiled up at him. And worse, she moved closer. “You haven’t been in class all week.” Suddenly, her smile disappeared and her eyes turned troubled. “Are you avoiding me? Have I become obnoxious?” Shaking her head, she looked down at her feet. “That hadn’t occurred to me until this very moment and,” she took a deep breath, backing up as if to escape. Her cheeks were rosy, but he suspected it was due to embarrassment instead of a blush this time. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to become a bother.”

  Mick felt like an ass! “Scarlett, stop!” he called out, but when she continued to back up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back. “Please, stop.” He waited until she was looking up at him again before he continued. “You aren’t a bother. And no, I wasn’t avoiding you. I was trying to stay out of your way.”

  Her eyes were confused now. “Why would you feel that you had to stay out of my way?”

  “Because…” he tossed the dirty, oil stained rag onto the work bench. “Because you’re beautiful, Scarlett. You’re lovely and you’re going to make some wealthy man, like Thomas, a wonderful wife.”

  “I am?” she whispered, her lower lip trembling slightly.

  “Yeah. You are. I’m not…I’m wrong for you.”

  “Wrong.” She looked down again, her hands clasped in front of her. He was bracing for a slap to the face. Or maybe a stinging comment about how he was presuming too much.

  What he hadn’t anticipated was her furious eyes. “Don’t you think that I should decide if someone is right or wrong for me?” She poked him in the chest. “You said I like to color in the lines.” She poked him again. “You mocked me because I colored within the lines!” She poked him again. “I’m learning to color outside the lines, Mick!” she snapped, using his name again and damn, it sounded good! “If you aren’t attracted to me, then say so! Be honest with me. But don’t you dare assume that you know what’s right for me!”

  And with that, she spun on her heel and stalked out of the garage.

  Mick was stunned for about two seconds. But then her words hit him and he grabbed her arm, unconcerned with the grease still on his hands. Spinning her around, he pulled her right into his arms and kissed her. Her lips trembled as he nibbled, teasing for admittance. She opened for him as his hand cupped her cheek and jaw, allowing his thumb to come up and press against her chin, showing her how to open her mouth. The moment she understood, he deepened the kiss, tasting her, showing her how to kiss. Scarlett was such an innocent that she didn’t understand, but he didn’t care because her hands were creeping up his chest, then her fingers were in his hair and he felt like the most powerful man in the world!

  He was kissing Scarlett Jefferson and it was better than anything he could have imagined. Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted her higher, pressing her subtle curves against his hard chest, feeling every part of her and reveling in how amazing she felt.

  The dinging of the bells warned him that someone had driven up and he lifted Scarlett clear off her feet, depositing her in Barney’s office. Pulling away, he kissed her one more time. “I’ll be right back,” he promised, then closed the door moments before a man in a suit stepped through the open door of the garage.

  “Hey Mick,” one of the gas station regulars greeted him. “I was hopi
ng you could take a look at my engine for a moment. There’s a pinging sound that doesn’t seem right.”

  Mick grabbed the rag again, praying that he hadn’t messed up Scarlett’s sweater with the dirt on his coveralls. “Sure. I’ll take a quick look,” he said. With one more glance at the closed door of his boss’ office, he moved out into the warm sunshine.

  It took only five minutes to diagnose and fix the problem, which was just a loose screw that kept pinging against the metal frame of the engine. He filled up the customer’s gas, cleaned their windshield, and then waved the man off as he drove away.

  As soon as the coast was clear, he headed for the office, more than ready to apologize to Scarlett. He’d kissed her. Damn, he wasn’t sorry, but he knew that he owed her an apology. Kissing just…well, it wasn’t done unless there was an understanding. The rules of dating were very strict and…

  “Scarlett, I’m …” he barely got her name out before she grabbed the front of his coveralls and pulled him into a dark corner of the garage. A moment later, she was kissing him, her soft hands on either side of his head and he just about died from a heart attack. Thankfully, he recovered enough and took over, pressing her back against the wall and deepening the kiss. What she lacked in experience, she made up for in enthusiasm, he thought.

  Tearing his mouth away, he tried to catch his breath. “Scarlett!” But then he felt her hands on his chest and groaned. Leaning his forehead against hers, he looked down at her. “You’re driving me crazy.”

  “Good,” she whispered back. “I feel the same way.”

  Another ding and he groaned. “I have to get that. It’s my job.”

  She stepped back. “This is where you work and I shouldn’t be here. I just…” she looked down and sighed. “I was worried about why you’d stopped coming to class.”