by S. A. Wolfe
“No.” He shakes his head.
“Whew, good.” I playfully swipe the back of my hand against my forehead.
“Although, you did maul me. Of course, I didn’t mind that one bit.” He grins, his eyes lighting up as the heat rises in my cheeks.
“Oh, God,” I mutter, bringing my hands along with the smelly, dirty sandal up to cover my face.
When I peek at him over my fisted hands, Cooper smirks. “I have to get back to work,” I say, annoyed.
“So, we’re not going to talk about what happened?” he asks with amusement.
“No. I was drunk. It doesn’t count as anything. But thanks for helping me, and I hope your sister likes the necklace.”
His smile fades as he nods. “She will.”
He stares at me for an extra beat then turns and makes his way back to his bike. Instead of immediately going back inside, I stand there and watch him again because it’s just so damn easy to watch a hunky guy stride to his Harley like he has all the time in the world. He knows I’m watching him, too.
“And the answer is no!” he shouts as he turns around and puts on his sunglasses.
“No, what?” I shout in return.
“After you had your tongue down my throat and before you licked my ear, you asked if I had a tattoo on my ass.”
While, from behind me, I hear Lauren gasp, I’m mortified again, and he’s enjoying this.
Cooper swings a long, muscular leg over his bike and sits back into it like a seasoned pro. That confident posture is amplified with the Harley between his legs. He’s smiling and loving the fact that he’s shocked me.
“The answer is no,” he reiterates as he straps on his helmet.
I stand on the porch, mute and thankful he didn’t shout this in the diner or in some other crowded venue.
“And, Imogene,” he says. “I enjoyed it.”
Fortunately, the roar of the bike’s engine breaks the silence as Cooper peels out of our front yard, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.
“That was exciting,” Lauren exclaims from the doorway.
I turn around and hold up my filthy sandal. “He was just returning my shoe.”
“Oh, he was doing more than that,” she laughs. “It’s like Cinderella.”
“Yeah, it’s just like Cinderella,” I respond with a sneer. “Except there’s no glass slipper and no Prince Charming.”
“Apparently, there was a whole lot of tongue, though,” Lauren responds gleefully.
Four
For the next two weeks, I’m ruthlessly pragmatic in terms of not facing my own humiliation. I decide the best way to save face is to refuse to wait on Cooper during every shift. I astound everyone with my sudden zeal to serve and bus any table that isn’t his, completely breaking character from my usual wisecracking, mopey presence. It all comes down to maintaining a vast distance between myself and Cooper, who keeps a watchful, amused eye on me the whole time.
I pretend to be the most attentive, caring waitress to everyone other than him, and it has got to be some of the best acting I have ever done in my life. When I’m not giving one of my Oscar-worthy performances at the diner, I’m holed up at home with Lauren, working and going over prospective business objectives from Archie.
“Hey, remember Yadira Saldana?” Lauren asks, looking at me over her shoulder. “I just got an email from her. She’s having a party tonight.”
“Yadi?” I put down the necklace I’m working on. “We haven’t seen her in at least two years. I thought she moved to Chicago for a job.”
“The company went under, so she moved back here. She says she’s renting a house with Kimberly Baker.”
“Is Kimberly still a librarian?”
Lauren opens the library website on her monitor and reads from it. “She’s the Director of Stone Hill Public Library, and it looks like she lined up a job for Yadi, something clerical to help her out. Kimberly works with historic preservation … documents and buildings according to her bio. It’s a little library, so I doubt they pay well, but it sure is a nice title.”
“Well, Kimberly was the brainiac in tenth grade English. She was the only one in our class who got an ‘A’ on her essay of A Separate Peace.”
Lauren laughs and swivels in her desk chair to face me. “Mr. Enger was so angry at us that day. He said we all turned in sloppy papers. It was June, none of us could think straight. You were the worst, though. You said the characters were elitist, whiny, prep school boys.”
“Enger was so pissed at me. It was his favorite book. He said I had no right to disparage great literature. Then he made me memorize the first ten pages of The Catcher in the Rye and recite it to the class. I got in trouble again for adding a little speech to the end, saying how much I despise whiny Holden Caulfield. That set Enger off again. I couldn’t wait for that school year to end. All I wanted to do was put on a skimpy outfit and head to the Potato Mash to scope out cute guys.”
Lauren giggles. “I can’t believe we raced out to that place every night to meet guys.”
“Nothing says sexy desperation like inappropriately dressed teenage girls at a roadside food stand with giant paper cones of French fries. Gah, we have to go to this party just to see some of the old gang.”
Leo decides to meet some friends at a local biker bar, The Rack, where the pool games have the celebrity status of The Voice. Clean-cut Leo looks out of place with the hairy, tattooed clientele, but he’s earned a lot of respect for his skills in billiards and a spot on the hotshot roster posted on the wall. Honestly, when Leo wears his wire-rimmed glasses, sometimes it’s like watching Harry Potter go up against the Sons of Anarchy. As long as he doesn’t come home with a painful wedgie or a broken leg, Lauren lets him put money down on his games.
We arrive at Kimberly’s house a little after eight to find people I don’t recognize are already spilling out of the house onto the front lawn.
“Lauren! Imogene!” someone screams from the crowded living room as we walk through the front door. Yadi bursts through the people and sandwiches us into a hug. Her black hair has been styled into a pixie cut, showing off her long neck and strong features, dramatic cat eyes with heavy eyeliner, and a wide smile with bright red lipstick.
“You look so different,” I say, remembering the girl from high school who had hair down to her butt and didn’t wear a stitch of makeup.
“When I moved to Chicago, I decided to reinvent myself. I decided to be braver and put myself out there the way I always dreamed of doing in high school but was too afraid. I finally grew out of my awkward stage.”
“It suits you,” Lauren adds.
“You look more sophisticated,” I nod. “Exotic and pretty.”
“Thanks. You two look great, too. I heard you have a serious boyfriend, Lauren.”
“He lives with us,” I explain. “I’m going to have to find a new home soon.”
“His name is Leo and he’s wonderful, and Imogene does not have to move.” Lauren frowns at me.
“So you’re working with Kimberly?” I ask, scanning the crowded room for her.
“Yeah. When I lost my PR job in Chicago, I couldn’t afford to live there, so Kimberly gave me a decent administrative job. I like it and the people are so much nicer than the cutthroat PR world. The paycheck is seventy percent smaller, but it’s something. Kimberly was already renting this house, so she doesn’t charge me much.”
“What are the male prospects here?” I ask bluntly.
Yadi sighs. “We’re a little low on nice hotties. There are three groups of guys here from what I can figure. There’s group one, the immature idiots who wish they were still in high school because they don’t want to grow up. Avoid them. Group two is the married guys who are out, pretending they are still single and trying to escape from wives or babies or both. Avoid them. Then there’s the third group. They are the nice guys who can actually carry on conversations. They’re scattered around here somewhere and about as hard t
o find as a gold-plated toilet. I have to go stock more wine and beer in the kitchen if you’d like to get a drink.”
“I’ll help you,” Lauren offers and gives me a pointed look.
“Not me. I’m going to check out the guys.”
I regret saying that the minute I see Brian Torrance telling some poor, unsuspecting woman a joke about pigs that ends with him asking her to pull his finger. The woman looks around uncomfortably for an escape, and I cover the side of my face and zoom by so Brian doesn’t notice me. I squeeze through a group of people and end up behind a tall potted fern. It gives me a moment to scan the room, and that’s when I see Cooper.
His back is to me, but I’d know that sexy, shoulder-length blond hair and long V-shaped muscled back anywhere. It’s the perfect topping to a nicely packaged butt. Hidden behind him is my old friend, Kimberly. She’s a petite woman with an adorable smile framed by honey-colored corkscrew curls. She throws her head back and laughs at something Cooper says.
“Here you are.” Lauren pops in next to me, behind the fern. “I got you a beer. Why the hell are you hiding behind this plant?”
“It seemed like a good place to check out some of the guys at this party.” I take a swig from the bottle.
“Ugh, I know. I just saw Brian Torrance.” Lauren sips from a mini seltzer bottle. “I bet he still picks his nose in public. But there are some nice looking men here, too. Oh! There’s Cooper. Look.”
“I saw. He’s talking to Kimberly.”
“Why aren’t you going over to say hi?”
“I don’t want to interrupt their conversation. Maybe it’s private.”
Lauren looks at me in disbelief. “We’re at a very crowded party, no one is having private conversations. We’re supposed to interrupt people and say hello. It’s called mingling.”
“What if they’re dating? How else would he know her?” I sneak another glance at Cooper and look away. The image of him tooling around town on his Harley with Kimberly hanging on to him gives me a stab of annoyance.
“Maybe he was invited by some other friends and met her tonight. I don’t know. Let’s go talk to them.”
“No,” I mutter. “Do you know who he’s dated? Was he serious with anyone? Leo would tell you, right?”
“Good grief. What has gotten in to you? Why don’t you go ask him? The Imogene I know would walk right up to a guy and be very direct with him.”
“That was the old me. I don’t want him to get the wrong idea.”
“What idea? That you’re interested in him?” Lauren grins.
“I haven’t decided if I am. I have been down this road too many times with a lot of Cooper look-a-likes.”
“Oh, blah, blah, blah.” Lauren huffs with exasperation. “I have a great idea. I’ll pass a note to Cooper and ask him to check the yes or no box for if he likes you.”
“This may seem like sixth grade nonsense to you, but I already know he’s interested in me. The issue is whether or not this is just about sex, and it more than likely is.”
“What has happened to you? You never had dating dilemmas. If you liked a guy, you would let him know. You never sat around, worrying about these kinds of things.”
“I’m a little older and wiser. I don’t want to spend my time with a guy who isn’t serious about me.”
“How can anyone be serious about you if you don’t date them? Honestly, you’re all mixed up lately.”
“Okay, how about that guy?”
Lauren follows my gaze to a tall, handsome guy standing across the room with a group of men. He has short, dark hair and a nice build, filling out his jeans and T-shirt perfectly.
“Who is he?” Lauren asks, eyeing him.
“I have no idea, but he’s hunky and has a great smile, and there’s a plus side to hitting on a guy who isn’t known in town and doesn’t hang out at our neighborhood diner.”
“Really? You’re looking for a one night stand now?” Lauren gives me a judgmental glare.
“I’m going to go flirt and see if I’m interested in him.”
“Why?” she snaps as I pull her arm and drag her off with me.
“You’re my wing girl.”
“Yeah, I’d like to wing you,” Lauren mutters.
As we approach the group of men, Tall-dark-and-handsome flashes a grin and big brown eyes at me. I smile and he steps forward, pushing a couple of his friends aside.
“Hi, I’m Imogene.”
Out of sheer habit, my body language changes. One shoulder dips forward as I take a more poised stance with a hand on my hip and a slightly bent leg with one foot pointed out as if I’m about to pirouette in my platform sandals. I dangle the beer bottle in the other hand, giving maximum stretch across my generous scoop-neck top.
“Oh, brother,” Lauren mumbles behind me.
“I’m Anton.” His voice is deep as his eyes sweep over me from my red toenails up to my face. He didn’t pause at my cleavage before meeting my eyes again. It’s an unfair test since my bosom is on display, but I still like to play the little game, if only to humor myself. Some men can’t help blinking or staring too long at my chest; however, Anton, like Cooper, must be very experienced at this game.
“This is Lauren.” When I point to her with the beer bottle, she reaches out to shake his hand.
“Do you know Yadi and Kimberly?” Lauren asks Anton.
“Yadi is my cousin.”
“Really?” I’m surprised since I’ve never seen him in town. “We went to school with Yadi. You’re not from Hera, are you?”
“No, I grew up in Westchester, but my construction firm relocated out here because of the boom in vacation homes. I built a place for myself between here and New Paltz.” He has the self-assured grin of a man who has no problem getting women. At least I know exactly what I’m dealing with here.
“One of our best friends is also in the home building business. Have you heard of Blackard Designs? They have a furniture company, and they build these amazing houses.” I lay the coyness on a little too thick, but I have Anton’s rapt attention.
“I know Carson Blackard. We bid on the same projects. His houses are more expensive because he uses all that high-end green material,” he says with a dismissive shake of his head.
“Hello, ladies,” says a familiar voice from behind me. Then I feel Cooper’s strong arm around my neck as he pulls Lauren and me in for a semi-head lock, making me stumble and grab on to his waist, which makes him hold us more securely against him.
This is not the smooth move I was going for in front of Anton. Lauren laughs as I give Cooper a sideways kick to the shin with my platform sandal.
“Hey, Anton. I see you’ve met two of my favorite people.” While Cooper sounds defiant, Anton frowns.
“We were just getting to know each other.” I push away from Cooper to stand up straight again, but he keeps his arms wrapped around the back of our necks, his hands dangling protectively next to our faces. I look sideways at him to see his gray eyes challenging mine.
He smells fantastic, and I can’t complain about how good it feels holding onto his hard body, but I don’t like getting manhandled when I’m in the middle of my flirting schtick. He’s intentionally blowing this for me.
“I’m loving this town already. Hera has some beautiful women,” Anton says, smiling at Lauren and then letting his gaze settle on me.
“Yeah. This has been fun.” Lauren plucks Cooper’s hand off her shoulder. “You’ll have to excuse me. I’m going outside to call Leo.”
She whispers something in Cooper’s ear and then wades through the crowd. There’s obviously some bad blood between Cooper and Anton; they look like they are about to duel, and I doubt it’s because of me.
“Anton, try my new creation!” Yadi suddenly interrupts with a pink cocktail in her hand, shoving it under his nose.
“Excuse us,” Cooper says, moving his arm down to my waist. “Imogene and I need to have a little chat.”
“Why the hell were you coming on to Anton Pierce?” The anger comes through clearly as he gets in my face.
I look at his lips and back at his eyes as I flatten myself against a wall. “I wasn’t coming on to him. We were talking, kind of like what you were doing with my friend Kimberly.”
“What?” he asks in disbelief.
“How do you know her?” I shoot back.
“I’m a customer. She talks to everyone.”
“A customer? Are we talking about the same thing?”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but I actually use the public library. That’s how I know Kimberly.”
“I heard my name,” Kimberly says, rounding the corner of the hallway with a wide smile. “Imogene!” She gives me a big hug, feeling soft and cuddly and sweet, like her disposition.
“I was asking Cooper how he knows you,” I say glumly.
“Oh, Cooper comes into the library almost every week.” Cooper gives me a smug look. “He likes to go through the old blueprints we have on historic houses, and he checks out a lot of non-fiction. Philosophy, right?”
“Philosophy?” I snort.
“Hey, I have to go help pass out some pink drinks Yadi made. Would you two like some?” Kimberly asks.
“No thanks,” Cooper responds. “We’re fine.
Kimberly bounces off with her curls bobbing along with her.
Cooper stares at me and leans in with his hand braced against the wall behind me. “Satisfied?” he asks. “Were you talking to Anton about library books? Doubt it. Do you have any idea how sleazy that guy is?”
“No. I didn’t get to talk to him—you showed up.”
“Good. You’re lucky it was me and not Carson. He’d pummel the shit out of that guy if he saw you with Anton.”
“He’s my friend’s cousin; he can’t be that bad. You’re jealous because he’s a business competitor. He said you guys bid on the same projects.”