All evening, I’d felt there was something familiar about her, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Chapter 4
Chloe
My head hurt, and I was so nauseous I thought I’d throw up in the bed. I sat up quickly and didn’t know where I was. Nor, did I know the man beside me. I slid out of bed and practically crawled into the bathroom before tossing my cookies.
I realized I was naked and had no memory of how I got that way or what had happened to me. I quietly closed the French doors to the bathroom and started the water running in the shower. It was a huge bathroom, like a designer suite in a hotel. All of the products in the shower were for men, but I didn’t care.
I saw the pink color of my hair in the mirror and freaked out, forgetting for a moment what I had done.
Once I was under the water, the pink tint slowly started washing out because the water turned the same color. It just kept coming. I rinsed and rinsed and prayed my hair would be back to my normal blonde when it was all said and done.
When I dried off with the towel and peeked at the mirror, there was less of the pink and all the harsh makeup had been removed with soap. Once again, I was barefaced and all natural, back to my normal self.
Except for my clothes.
No way in hell was I going to put that tank top back on.
There were two doors on opposite sides of the shower. I opened one and it was an empty closet. Nothing in it but a box in the middle of the floor.
That was strange.
I opened the door on the other side and found a closet full of neatly organized clothes for a man. Must’ve been the one in the bed who was currently nameless.
His choice in clothes was weird. He had a gazillion white designer shirts, all the same. A rack of suits and a rack of jeans. Either he didn’t like colors or couldn’t make choices.
I helped myself to one of his white shirts and figured he probably wouldn’t miss it. Taking the shirt and slowly tiptoeing out into the bedroom, I found my clothes strewn on the floor. Sure wished I could remember how they got that way. When I stumped my toe on the furniture, he stirred and moaned, “Monique.”
Who the hell is Monique? Oh wait, that is me. Did I tell him my full name? I had no freakin’ recollection.
Slowly, I picked up my clothes and tiptoed into the next room where I found a sweet golden retriever.
“Please don’t bark,” I whispered. “Good boy.”
I stroked his coat and he nuzzled my hand. We instantly became friends.
With lamps on, I found my way around like a thief. My purse was on the ottoman in the living room. Grateful that my phone still had battery, I looked up a number to a cab service. Just one problem—I didn’t know where to tell them to come. Still continuing to tiptoe, I found the front door of the large home and prayed there would be mail in the mailbox.
Before I went outside, I pulled on my skirt and his shirt, which hung down nearly the length of the tiny amount of black fabric. In my mind, I was cursing April for such an eventful evening. One day, I would pay her back for sure.
I peeked out the large wood and iron door and looked to see how close the neighbors were. I was thrilled to realize his house was positioned on a large lot, and the closest neighbor wasn’t within yelling distance. With my risqué outfit in tow, I walked barefoot down the drive to the mailbox. As I walked, the fresh air began to breathe life back into my brain. The sun had barely come up, and it was a beautiful morning. I needed to get to the stables and check on Cherokee before it got too warm.
I struck gold with the mail. His name was Flynn Davis, and I had an address for the cab. On the way back into the house, I had the strangest feeling I knew him, but I couldn’t place it. I would have to wait until the alcohol left my body before I could revisit the thought. The most important thing was getting out of his home before he woke up.
The cab arrived quickly and I escaped without embarrassment. I heard the golden boy whining when I closed the door behind me, and I figured my gentleman friend would be awake momentarily.
“Please sir, I’m in a hurry,” I uttered to the driver.
As the cab quickly pulled away, I looked back toward the house and saw him standing in the doorway. All I could do was pray I hadn’t told him who I really was and that the girls kept their mouths shut.
***
It was midafternoon before the text messages started flooding in. Rather than continually type things out, I called the girls, starting with the Instigator, my new nickname for April.
“Why are you calling me? Why aren’t you still in bed with the hottie?” April teased.
“I snuck out early this morning. Why don’t you give me a play-by-play, seeing as how I don’t remember anything?”
“What do you mean you don’t remember?”
“I woke up naked, but I don’t remember having sex. I don’t remember him driving us to his place. I don’t remember telling him my name, yet he moaned out Monique. You got me into this shit, so do you mind helping me please!”
“OMG, well, for starters, you told him your name was Monique, so we rolled with that. Y'all took the limo to his place, and the service sent someone for his car, but I can’t tell you if you had sex or not. Do you feel like you did? I mean it has been a while.”
“Oh, stop it. No, actually, I’m not sore or anything, just nervous. I couldn’t even tell what he looked like because I escaped so fast, but this morning, flashes of us dancing have come back to me.”
“You call that dancing? You two were all over each other, and he is smokin’ hot. But, there is something I have to tell you, and I don’t want this to hurt because I could tell he was in to you…”
“The fucker’s married?” I interrupted.
“No, he’s not. His friends bet him two hundred bucks that he couldn’t score that night. Seems it had been a while for him as well. So after y’all left, they started talking, and we overheard them grumbling they had to pay up.”
“Son of a— I have to go.” I hung up.
I don’t know what I was angrier about—the bet—or my own stupidity.
Chapter 5
Flynn
I heard Simon whining at the front door. When I called out to him, he didn’t respond. I felt the other side of the bed, it was empty. I had a sick feeling she was gone.
I threw on a pair of old shorts and walked through the house, but there was no sign of her. Simon was sitting in the front entry and appeared as though he’d just lost his best friend. When I opened the door, the Yellow Cab Service was driving away. Obviously, she’d thought things were a mistake, and found skipping out to be the better option.
“Ma’am, one of your drivers just picked up someone at my residence,” I spoke into my phone. “Can you tell me where they are being dropped off?”
“I don’t have that information yet, sir, we don’t the destination until after the transaction is complete unless it is a pre-order. You’ll have to call back later after the fare is complete.” The lady hung up without giving any more information or volunteering another second of her time.
I decided to shower and get dressed, so when I found out where she’d gone, I could go to her and tell her nothing had happened.
When I walked into my bathroom and started the shower, there was a pile of pink suds at the bottom of it. I began to wonder what color her hair really was, since I knew it was no longer pink, and who the mystery woman named “Monique” really was.
Thoughts of her in my arms caused my heart to skip beats and my cock to stir. Suddenly, I regretted for a second not claiming her over and over again, but then, that wasn’t the gentlemanly thing to do.
After an hour, I called the cab service back and got the address for the drop off. When I searched the Internet, I came up with Grape Creek Animal Clinic.
I looked up their number, but it was after hours and only their answering service picked up and they denied knowing a Monique. But, I didn’t let it end there. When I pulled up the web page for GCAC, I sa
w a mega smile and a beautiful woman, Dr. Chloe M. Howard. There was little Miss Blue Eyes.
The M had to stand for Monique. Did she really go by Chloe or Monique? And then it hit me where I knew her from…Stuttgart Farms.
I wasted no time in driving to the clinic, but it was closed. I didn’t see their work truck anywhere, and I took a gamble that she might be checking on Cherokee. With daylight burning, I raced like crazy out to the farm.
Driving up the county road and along Stuttgart’s fence line, I saw the work truck for GCAC. I didn’t want her to see me, so I took the second entrance to the farm and came through the back gate. I found Glenn out riding on the ranger. He stopped me on the road out of earshot of the stables.
“Hey, Flynn, what brings you out today?”
“Ah, I was out running errands, and I thought I’d stop by and see Cherokee.”
“He’s doing much better. Doc is down there with him now. Why don’t you go say hello. In fact, why don’t you take the ranger down there? I need to go up to the main house for a meeting, and I could use the walk.”
I parked my car in the shade of a large, old oak tree and hopped on the ranger. Little Miss was going to be surprised, but I hoped it would be a good one for both of us.
When I got to the stables, she was grooming Cherokee and having a one-sided conversation. Well, make that two-sided, if you can understand horse talk. She didn’t see me standing at the gate.
“Does he talk back, Monique?” I finally asked.
She froze with her back to me, her arm still in the air holding the brush. “How did you find me?”
“Research. Why did you run out?”
She slowly turned toward me and let her arm fall to her side. God, she was beautiful in a summer dress and boots, long blonde hair blowing in the wind and no exotic make-up or fucking pink hair.
“You’re beautiful. Do you know that?”
Her blue eyes danced when she smiled. She walked toward me. “Hi, I’m Chloe Howard.”
“Hi back. I’m Flynn Davis. Have dinner with me.”
She took a step backward and her smile went away. “I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked while my gut clenched. She was shutting me down.
“Both.”
“Look, we need to talk about last night, and this isn’t the place.”
“It’ll have to do. Start talking and don’t forget the bet,” she said while she started brushing Cherokee again, her back turned to me.
“Okay fine, I’ll start with the bet. Some of the guys bet me I wouldn’t take a girl home and get lucky. Not because I couldn’t, but because I hadn’t since Courtney and I broke up eight months ago. I figured, what the hell. Then they picked you. That was the second part of the bet. When we started dancing, something happened between us. It got hot and heavy on the dance floor. And for the record missy, you kissed me first. We took the limo back to my place, and on the way, you were all over me. We didn’t have sex, we started to, but I thought maybe it was your first time, and you’d had too much to drink, and I’m ramblin’. Let’s start over. Please have dinner with me.”
She paused again and repeated her earlier moves, but this time, she wasn’t smiling when she approached me.
“You bet on me?” She pointed her finger in my face.
“No, I didn’t. The bet occurred while I was in Phoenix for a meeting. It had nothing to do with you.”
“But you could’ve stopped it,” she pouted.
I lifted her chin with my hand and saw her eyes water. “I did stop it. I didn’t make love to you because I wanted you to be able to remember our first time. It was me who said no. I was a gentleman when I realized how far gone you were. So, technically, I lost the bet, and I’d do it again.”
She walked around the stall for a moment, and then she stopped just short of me. “I took your shirt. A white one. I didn’t think you’d miss it because it looked like you had a dozen more just like it. Some of the pink in my hair rubbed off on it. I hope the cleaners can get it out.” Then she started to laugh.
“If not, we can dye it pink and I’ll wear it every day to remind me of you and how we met.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“But I want to and for me, that’s a huge step.”
“Me too,” she whispered as her gaze fell to the ground.
“What time and where do I pick you up?”
“Where are we going?”
“I know a great place out on the lake. It’s casual. Shorts, swimsuits, and flip-flops. What’s your number?” I asked, pulling my phone from my jeans pocket.
She rattled off a number, and as I typed it into my phone, I realized it was to the animal clinic that I’d called earlier.
“That’s the clinic. What’s your cell number?”
Her eyes lit up with her laughter. “I haven’t given it out in so long, I forget it.”
“Maybe this will help you remember,” I whispered against her lips. Then I claimed her mouth with my own. Our tongues danced and I traced the contours of her lips. She responded by gripping my arms and pressing her body tightly to mine.
“Familiar, but I need more, my mind is still foggy.”
I obliged by pulling her tightly against my body and holding her close with my arms wrapped about her. Her kiss was like magic, as if fairy dust had been sprinkled in the hay around us. Her scent was sexy and enticing, and masked all the smells of our surroundings. When I was with her, I couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything else.
I was like a catfish on the line; all she had to do was reel me in.
Chapter 6
Little did she know, I was taking her to my family’s cabin at Lake Lewisville. As I packed my bag, I thought about how long it had been since I’d taken someone there and hoped that the evening ended up better than the one before.
She was dressed in a pair of cut-off khaki shorts, flip flops, and T-shirt with her beautiful blonde hair hanging in soft curls. I noticed a beach towel sticking out of her large bag.
“Did you pack your swimsuit?” I asked.
“Yup.” She smiled.
I opened the door for her, and she slid into my car. Before I put it in drive, I needed to taste her lips again to remind me I wasn’t dreaming. We were all over each other in the front seat. Passion thick between us. Then I realized maybe I would need to stop at the store and pick up something for later. I pulled away from the kiss to find us both breathless.
“Wow, babe,” was all I could muster.
I stopped for fuel and ran in for my needed purchase. I didn’t want her seeing me overly presumptuous with a box of condoms, so I went to the restroom and put the condoms in my pocket, disposing of the box.
We drove up to the cabin, arriving about thirty minutes later. She changed into her swimsuit, and boy, did she ever rock a blue bikini. When I looked down at her belly-button ring, she gave me a horrified look.
“You don’t like them?”
“Like it, I love it. Last night I thought it was—”
“I thought you said we didn’t…”
“We didn’t. We played around, or should I say I played around and you enjoyed, but we didn’t.”
“What exactly did happen?” she asked with her arms crossed over her chest.
“You really want blow by blow? Well, that was a poor choice of words, but…”
“Stop rambling. Yes, I want to know.”
Miss Impatient.
I pulled out the chair for her to sit at the bar, taking the seat next to her.
“Things got heavy between us in the living room. I led you to my bedroom and after undressing, you went to your knees in front of me.” I paused as she began to blush and covered her mouth with her hand.
“I pulled you up and put you on the bed where I enjoyed your body. You are quite the little animal and make the sexiest moans when you have an orgasm.”
Her face reacted to my last statement. She turned red and hid behind her hands.
“You climaxed on m
y fingers. I’m just sad you don’t remember it because you surely seemed to enjoy it.”
She removed her hands and bit at her lower lip. “Yeah, me too, especially since it was my first.”
“No freakin’ way. That was not your first.”
“Not my first orgasm, but my first with a guy…well, you know. I own a vibrator and that’s the extent of it.”
“Chloe, who’s mistreated you all these years?”
“A long story for another day. You cooking or am I?”
Saddened that such a beautiful, spirited woman like her had been disappointed, I wanted to know more. I sought the rest of the story, but not at the risk of pushing her away.
We put on music, grilled our fish out on the deck, and danced like crazy. For someone who didn’t dance, she sure seemed to be enjoying it. When the sun began to set, I took her for a boat ride out on the lake. The water was surprisingly smooth, and when I killed the engine, it was like we were floating on air.
The evening air was crisp or she was nervous because she huddled next to me and shivered. I took a towel and wrapped her up tightly, but what I really wanted to do was undress her completely and take her right there in the boat out on the lake.
She reached over the side of the boat and put her hands in the water. “The water is warmer than the air. I’m going in.” She dropped the towel and jumped over the side of the boat, giggling. I guess she didn’t shut her mouth when she hit the water because she came of coughing and gasping.
“Girl, don’t you know to shut your mouth before going in?”
“Yes!” She splashed water at me.
Since I was half wet, I decided to join her. She was right; the water was warm from the sun. We played and kissed, and she tried to duck me a few times before giving up and finally, simply held on to me.
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