Holiday Spice & Everything Nice

by Conn, Claudy

  She let out a chuckle. “Nope, the name had me laughing for a good ten minutes. What else did you send me, other than his name?”

  “His birth date. He just turned 28, and today, is his birthday.” I couldn’t help but to frown because I didn’t have a gift for him.

  “Let me get this straight. Bear with me here, because I’m enjoying this and maybe a little too much. Your one night stand, who you had amazing sex with, was the last person to see your parents before they died and his name is Huckleberry Finn Flynn,” she let out a cackle, “I’m sorry, I can’t even say it with a straight face.” She tried to catch her breath as I waited for her to get out whatever the fuck she felt she needed to say. “He somehow tracked Brett down and has the family jewel, but refuses to give it to you until you go out with him on three dates and today is his mother effin birthday? Wow! I thought that kind of shit only happened to me.” I could hear her beating something with her hands as she was laughing and I wished for once that she would actually die from the laughter.

  “Goodbye, Monica.”

  “No, wait. Hang on. Can’t breathe. I’m sorry. I’m dying here.”

  “I sure hope so, you wench.” I snarled out.

  “I can’t help it. It’s so funny.” I knew that she had moved the phone away from her mouth, but I didn’t miss the loud, raucous laughter and could tell that she was actually losing her breath from it and I couldn’t help but to laugh along with her while she tried to compose herself. “Okay, okay, I’m back. I just have one more question and I’ll let you go.”

  “OMG. What now?” I waited for her to answer.

  “Well, you’ve already fucked him and I’ve just got to know one thing.” Her voice lowered down to a whisper and I could tell that I was one second away from hanging up on her and knew that she was about to piss me off.

  “What is it?” I gritted my teeth.

  “Are you going to suck Huck off before you fuck the ever loving fuck out of Huck, again?”

  I pressed the end call button because she was laughing too hard and enjoying herself a little too much and knew that I was going to hang up on her as soon as she uttered the words.

  I immediately got a text from her apologizing, but I didn’t miss the laughing Emoji’s that went along with her apology. She wasn’t a bit sorry. She was thoroughly enjoying my situation and a little too much.

  I heard a knock at the door as I was staring into the mirror and I couldn’t help but giggle and wondered if I was going to be able to keep a straight face, knowing that I was indeed heading out on a date with a man named Huckleberry Finn.

  I’m your Huckleberry.

  Ugh. I’m going to kill my soon to be a dead best friend. That damn line is going to be running through my head all night long, every freaking time I look at him.

  ***

  If I would have been told that we were going to go putt-putt golfing, I would have worn something a little more casual. After reaching the fifth hole, my dress flew up above my waist for the second time, from the fans that were blowing around to keep everyone cool. Every time it happens, there always seems to be a crowd and Flynn quickly jumps behind me to keep anyone from seeing my ass.

  “Nice, um… black thong.” Flynn had a jealous look as he glared at everyone that kept watching my little predicament.

  “If you would have told me that this was going to be a date for a teenager, I would have dressed differently.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  It was bad enough that I had to take off my wedges, but the gentleman that he is, he has carried them around for me to each different location so I’ll give him props for that.

  He let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair and nodded.

  “I’m sorry I picked this place, but I was excited when I drove by here earlier today and it took me back to my teenage years and I wanted to do something fun. I’m not going to deny though, as soon as I saw you in that cute little dress, I should have changed my plans, but I knew I was going to thoroughly enjoy watching those sexy legs of yours stretch every time you took a shot.” He looked around us and a crowd of teenaged boys was licking their lips every time they glanced in my direction and I cringed in knowing that I was probably going to be the image they think about while jacking off tonight. He turned around and gave me a heated look. “Let’s go, before I beat the shit out of the underage boys over there with their lascivious thoughts that they’re having every time they look at you.”

  I didn’t even have a chance to react as he grabbed my hand and pulled me away, right when I was in the middle of making my shot. I dropped my putter and had no choice but to rush behind him as he dragged me along with him.

  As soon as we reached his car, he stopped in front of my door and instead of opening it for me, he turned around with an apologetic look on his face. He leaned down and gave me a little half-smile, making his dimples show and making me go weak in the knees. I’m not sure that I’ve ever noticed anyone’s dimples until his, and I can’t help but to smile back at him.

  “I’m sorry, Gemma. I should have made you change as soon I laid eyes on you, but you looked so damn beautiful in that dress, I couldn’t even form the words.”

  I loved the way he seemed to enjoy the sight of me as he took me in from head to toe. As insecure as I’ve been since Brett left me, Flynn makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world by the heated glances he’s been giving me tonight, but I still didn’t know much about him, which had me a little hesitant.

  An idea popped into my head, because I haven’t forgotten what the day is and I had a funny feeling that it was why he wanted to do something childish and fun for our date.

  I rose up on my tip toes and leaned against him. “Do you trust me?” I winked at him and rested my hands on his shoulders.

  He raised an eyebrow and grinned back at me.

  “I’m not sure. I barely know you, Precious.” I let it go that he called me by my real name because I haven’t brought up his ridiculous name yet.

  I leaned in closer as he lowered his head and I reached into his pocket and snagged his keys out of it. I backed away and jingled the keys in front of his face and beamed with excitement.

  “Get in, I’m driving.”

  Before he had a chance to ask me any questions, I jumped into the driver’s seat of his rental and waited for him to get in. When he finally sat down in the car, he was glaring at me.

  “I’m sorry, but as the man, I’m the one that is supposed to be driving. I was taking you out, remember?”

  I reached down and started the car and put it in reverse and started backing out of the parking lot.

  “I know it, but you already blew it by bringing me somewhere that let everyone know what color of panties I’m wearing, so I’m taking over. Put your seatbelt on, I promise you’ll love where I’m taking you and anyway, I’m starving.” I grinned at him. “I love to eat. I’m not one of those little skinny bitches that you probably take out on dates and I’m definitely not afraid to eat in front of a man.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  A few minutes later we pulled into my favorite Mexican restaurant. They were famously known for their cheesy, chicken enchiladas and cheap, but very strong margaritas. Of course I loved the huge margaritas more than the food, but who cares. It’s not like Flynn hasn’t seen me drink before.

  After we ordered our food and drinks and were seated, I went and found our waitress and put my plan in motion. When I came back to our table, Flynn rose up for me to sit next to him in the booth instead of across from him so I crawled into the corner and was thankful that our drinks had arrived.

  He put his arm round me and pulled me closer to him, giving me his full attention.

  “Where’d you go?” he asked.

  “Can a lady not go to the restroom without an interrogation?” I innocently asked.

  He turned in his seat to face me and narrowed his eyes, as if he knew I was up to something, but I changed the subject.

  “Tell me about yourself. I feel
like I’m at a disadvantage here because you know way more about me than I know about you and it’s not fair.”

  “I don’t know about that, Precious.” he said with a cocky grin. “Maybe once you get to know me better, you might quit liking me so much.”

  “What makes you think I like you now?” I frowned and then giggled when it looked like I had hurt his feelings.

  “What do you want to know about me?” He moved his hand from my shoulders and started caressing my neck, giving me tingles all over as I cocked my head at him to give him my full attention while enjoying his touch.

  “I don’t know. The usual I guess. How old are you? Where are your parents, do you have any brothers or sisters, did you go to college, what do you do for a living, the usual standard questions that one might ask on a first date.”

  “This isn’t exactly our first date,” He gave me a heated look as his deep voice dropped another octave and I couldn’t hide the shiver it gave me. “Are you cold?”

  I shook my head. “Not at all.” I was actually warm all over now, but wasn’t about to let him know that.

  We had already snacked on chips and dip, but the waitress chose that time to bring us our food and Flynn’s eyes about popped out of his head when he saw the platter that was placed in front of him.

  “Holy shit! This looks delicious and please tell me they’re not bringing us more food. I’m going to have to run two hours, instead of my normal one, to get rid of the calories from this.”

  I looked him up and down and never pictured him as a runner and knew that he had to do more than run to keep that muscled up body of his in shape.

  “Other than dessert, this is it.” I replied.

  “Dessert? Hell no. I don’t think I’ll be able to eat this, much less dessert.” He shook his head, but dug in and moaned out loud when he took his first bite. “Okay, maybe dessert as well. If their dessert tastes as good as this, I can suffer.” He winked at me. “You’ll still like me if I get fat from all of this, won’t you?”

  “I never said that I liked you in the first place.” I teased with a grin.

  He grinned back and started answering my questions.

  “I’m twenty-eight. My dad died when I was seven of a heart attack and my mother died when I was twenty of breast cancer. Because my mother mourned for my father until her last breath, she never remarried so, no siblings. I went to Stanford and got my degree in criminal justice and also became a semi-professional photographer. After working as a cop in LA for two years, I quit because it was more dangerous than I preferred and I like working my own hours so for now, I’m a private investigator. I do all right with money because my mother was a famous poet and I live off of the royalties from her poetry books. I don’t really have a home because I travel so much and live like a gypsy and out of my suitcase.” He turned to me. “Any other questions, Precious?”

  My heart ached for him because I knew that he had to be lonely to not have any relatives of any kind. At least I have my siblings for the rest of my life to get me through the hard times, even if they drive me crazy.

  “Have you ever been married?” The thought never crossed my mind, but for all I know, he could have a wife, and kids, waiting for him somewhere. “Are you married?” I panicked when he didn’t immediately give me an answer.

  He chuckled and then gave me a cute little shrug. “I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t think so?” I asked incredulously.

  “Well, there was this one time in New Guinea.” He waved his hand away and shook his head as he went for another bite of food. “It’s not worth mentioning. I’m not married so no worries there.”

  I grabbed his arm to stop him. “Nope, I have to hear the story. Sounds like you could be married and I don’t mess around with married men.”

  Maybe he’s in the middle of a divorce and the papers haven’t been signed. I had so many thoughts running through my mind and the last thing I wanted to have were feelings for someone I had no chance with.

  “It’s a long story, but I’ll try to give you the condensed version.” He sat back in his seat and turned around so that he could face me.

  “I was on a case, looking for a husband who I suspected had faked his own death. The wife found some mysterious emails on his computer and saw some correspondence going on between him and another man that she thought were suspicious. Long story short, the husband had fallen in love with this man who turned out to be a big drug lord in Indonesia, if you can believe that, but nothing surprises me anymore.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head and continued. “Anyway, the husband and the drug lord threw everything away to be with each other and planned to live the rest of their lives in a tiny little hut away from civilization.” He nodded when I frowned at him, not believing his story, but he kept going.

  “I found the husband in a quiet little undiscovered village after his life partner changed his mind and decided that solidarity wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. When I walked into this very undiscovered village, the people led me to the man and assumed that I was looking for him, which I was, but, he was dying from dehydration because he was refusing to eat or drink anything after they found him walking around near their village.”

  “Are you making this up? This story sounds too unbelievable to me.” I couldn’t believe my ears.

  He grinned and shook his head. “I’m serious. It gets better, I promise.” He winked and continued. “After getting the gist of his story, the man who he was in love with, jumped in their little dingy and he never saw him again. Seeing as how the world thought he was dead, he decided since he had already thrown his life away for this man, he didn’t want to live anymore so he basically killed himself. He died two days after I had found him from starvation, but this is where it gets interesting. I decided to hang out for a few more days because one of the women who had been caring for the guy, really liked me and kept flirting with me, ya know, sweet little glances here and there, blushing when the other women caught her watching me.” He blushed and I couldn’t help but to giggle and knew where his story was going. “I couldn’t understand a word of their language, but she was very beautiful and I couldn’t help but to kiss her one day when I helped her pick up a big pot of water that she had filled from the stream.”

  I was right and his face was a deep magenta by now, but he continued with his story.

  “After I kissed her, she giggled and ran away from me and I was afraid that I was in trouble, and was about to get killed by a jealous suitor, because everyone kept watching me, the closer I reached the village. The next thing I knew, she’s walking out of her hut, wearing a jeweled tunic and a head dress, and her father, who happened to be the chief of the village, waved me over to him. He said words as she stood in front of me, and grabbed my hands with a smile on her face, and someone handed me a goat, an actual goat, and motioned for me to give it to her father, which I did, and the next thing I knew, she and I were walking into the hut and she started stripping that tunic off and, well, we acted like a married couple for a few days, until I figured out that we might actually be married, and I was about to run out of condoms, so, I left in the middle of the night and went to Africa to take pictures and never looked back.”

  He reached over and pushed my chin up that I had dropped and turned back around and finished his meal and didn’t say another word while I digested his story.

  “That poor goat and I guess you could say that you break hearts for a living as well?” I grumbled out as I turned back around and stared at my plate.

  He shook his head at me. “I wouldn’t say that. It was more of an attraction than anything else. I doubt she was in love with me,” he paused, “ and it wasn’t like she was a virgin and I’m sure I wasn’t her first marriage, as fast as she went after me once we were alone and I’m sure her father has received a lot of goats.” He chuckled.

  I went back to my food, feeling a little sorry for the woman from the village that he ran out on because I knew what that felt like, to be to
ssed away like garbage with no consideration to your feelings.

  “Gemma.” He was staring at me with sympathy.

  “We heard it was someone’s birthday at this table. Could you please stand up?”

  I looked up and felt Flynn’s eyes on me as I saw six waiters surrounding our table, carrying the cake that I had ordered and a big sombrero for Flynn to wear.

  “Are you Huck? We were told it was your birthday. Could you please stand up so that everyone can get a look at you? That’s how we do it here.” Our waitress gave him an eager grin, but I didn’t miss the blush of embarrassment on his face as he stared at me with curiosity.

  “Surprise!” I said with a smile plastered on my face.

  He stood up and narrowed his eyes at me when the sombrero was placed on top of his head and I tried to lighten the mood and clapped along as they sang happy birthday to him. I laughed when they sang out ‘Huckleberry’ and watched him die inside when he heard his name.

  After they left, he looked at the cake that I had the waitress put, ‘Happy Birthday Huck,’ on.

  “I guess you figured out my real name, and that today is my birthday.” He said quietly while staring at the cake.

  “Yes, I did. Thanks to Monica. She was the one that pointed it out to me because of the text I had sent her the other night.” He wasn’t saying anything and stayed completely still in his seat as if something were wrong with him.

  “Are you all right? How about you blow the candle out and make a wish, maybe that will put you in a better mood.”

  I moved the cake closer to him while he closed his eyes. He opened them after a few seconds and blew the candle out and turned to me with a small grin on his face, but it left quickly.

  He looked so sad all of a sudden and I was kind of hoping that my little prank would have at least made him happy that someone remembered his birthday. If anyone should be upset, it should be me after his little story about leaving that poor young woman in another country, wondering what was wrong with her.