Chapter 12
Annie Prieto
The weather was oppressively hot for a March day, and I “luckily” had the task of opening the Downtown Cafe. Even though I usually woke up in a fairly-cheery mood, I was in no mood for any smiles or giggles. I’d stayed up most of the night drawing and imagining how nice the person was that Lucas had visited instead of me.
Thankful as I am to work, I would’ve rather slept the morning away.
For the most part, I liked my job, had grown quite fond of the customers, and they had grown used to seeing me around. I had a soft-spot for Will and John, even Bob. The farmers who came in every morning now that the crops had been planted liked to tease me about being the sweetest thing on the menu. I liked the red hat ladies who came in every Tuesday for lunch. They were more down-to-Earth than the ladies that met out at Mayor Fowler’s most every day. Ms. Ann who dropped in every day and drank exactly four cups of coffee. I made an extra effort to spend time talking to her. I sometimes got the impression it was the only conversation she had most days. Even the annoying, size-0 customer who stated the calorie count with every order no longer bothered me. In fact, I was learning a lot about what to eat and not to eat from her. A lesson we all needed at times.
But not one of them remembered a dark-haired young girl who may or may not have looked like me. Twenty years did seem to erased the mundane everyday memories.
Carterville High School had spent the night celebrating the school year coming to an end. I could still smell the faint scent of milkshakes and fries. The place had been jumping. A stark contrast with the morning. The joint was depressingly empty as I switched on all the overhead lights, so the knock on the door rather startled me.
Lucas Carter had his hands cupped around his eyes with his face pressed against the window. He motioned to the door handle and said please. He looked tired. His hair was pulled back into a messy knot but one side was falling around his face, a few strands even swept across his forehead as if he had recently rolled out of bed and never even took the time to look in the mirror. The thick stubble surrounding his jaw couldn’t possibly have come from one-night’s growth. That would take some powerful testosterone to achieve that fete. His eyes were heavy with sleep, but they were no less striking. They even matched the blue in the very wrinkled cowboy shirt he was wearing. Despite the lack of grooming, he was still the most attractive man I’d ever laid my eyes on.
I forced myself to smile. There was no way I would let him know that just the sight of him sent my heart into a funny tap dance.
I unlocked the door and let him in. “Can I help you, Lucas?” I couldn’t miss the tiny bit of jubilance I had in my voice at the sound of his name.
“Annie, I didn’t think I would find you.”
I guess he doesn’t need a friend this morning.
He didn’t even try to hide the grimace of his face. I let him in, he could at least fake one of those smiles. I would settle for one that didn’t even show his dimples. Anything was better than the way he was staring into my eyes. What he was hoping to find was beyond me.
“Oh, here’s the paper. Bob will be looking for it when he gets here.” Lucas handed me the paper, walked right past me, and behind the counter. He flipped on the coffee maker and spooned out the correct amount of coffee grounds for the commercial unit. I still had to read the directions to work the machine. Lucas had it down pat. When he finished filling the unit with water, he leaned over the counter and supported himself up with his elbows. He finally flashed the smile I’d easily become addicted to. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He pointed back at the coffeemaker. “Bob lets me make some coffee before I head home and face the parents.”
I stood there, basically speechless. Maybe Bob knew more about Lucas than I wanted to make myself believe.
“You do this often?” I waved my hands in the air, still confused.
“Nah, not really. Only when I stayed out all night. Bob understands I need the caffeine to tolerate the old man. Shit, he’s the only man in this town who hates my dad more than I do.”
I gathered that.
He narrowed his eyes and did that hot little staring thing he does. The thing that made me feel like I was totally exposed. “What’s wrong? You seem out of it,” he asked.
I let out a breath and re-secured my ponytail. Does he already know me enough to tell when I am out-of-whack? Do I want him knowing me that well? Shouldn’t I be more scared of … well, him? I started to walk toward the back and the kitchen, praying he couldn’t read my thoughts.
“I’m great, just didn’t expect to see you this early.”
“Not buying it. Talk. I have all day.” Lucas crouched over the counter and looked up at me under those incredible long lashes. It was unfair for a guy to have lashes like that. Even being brown, mine needed a fair amount of mascara to stand out.
I yawned. “I’m fine. Just sleepy.”
I stayed up late thinking about you, and I don’t want to even begin to imagine what you were doing.
Lucas leaned across the counter to place a twenty in the tip jar. The coffeemaker signaled it had finished brewing. “You look sexy. I kind of like that sleepy look you have going on,” Lucas said as he bent over to get a cup and lid out from under the counter. “I take it that mornings are not your thing.” Lucas popped up and smiled.
No, you are.
“Not really,” I said as I started to switch on the machines in the kitchen. “But I needed some overtime.”
Lucas laid down the cup and started to pour fresh grease into the deep fryer. “If you need some extra money, tell Bob to get you on at the country club. They are always looking for servers for their parties.”
I’d bent over to turn on the dishwasher someone conveniently forgot to start before leaving the night before when I caught him checking out my behind. The sound of water and a grinding engine filled the room as I rose up and pulled my t-shirt down.
“I promise you’ll make a killing in tips alone,” he added. “My dad and his friends like to tip the pretty ones big. I think hoping they stand a chance of getting in their pants.”
I’m not that easy.
I tossed a metal spoon and listened to the loud clang as it hit the sink. The stare I threw him must have worked because he didn’t say anything else, but he did spend the next thirty minutes in silence helping me open the place.
He grabbed the cup of coffee as he went to leave and raised it in his hand as if he was saluting me. “Thanks for the coffee,” he called back over his shoulder. “And don’t forget what I said about serving at the country club,” he added just as the door shut behind him.
Two minutes later, my cell dinged.
Lucas: Thanks for the coffee. The only thing is now that I’ve seen you, my day can only go downhill. Because you’re always the best part of my day.
Normally, I didn’t mind the overnights, however, it seemed they were putting a kink in the stay-pain-free plan. Coffee was all I had on the brain before I headed home, but once again, God blessed me more than he should. Annie was just the sight I needed to forget it all. I’d helped Bob more than a few times open his place when I needed to get away but never once did I enjoy it. But I didn’t want to be anywhere else. Just being near her muted the thoughts in my head. Even when she didn’t speak, the sound of her breathing was as soothing as any song. I was screwed and didn’t like the feeling.
Damn Annie.
I’d purposely stayed away, trying to figure out my next move. I had nothing, except some flirty text messages, and even they seemed wrong.
Annie was such a mystery, the way she carried herself with assurance and dignity was baffling to me and only proved that I needed to draw a line with her. I didn’t deserve a friendship with a girl like Annie, much less what my body was craving. That was when it hit me. If I ever planned to keep whatever was going between Annie and me platonic, I didn’t need to forget who I was and what I did to get through the day. I would find a hot little piece who wanted a good time with no s
trings.
Just as I hopped on my bike, I saw a girl with a micro-mini leaning over the back of a car at Gus’s service station. Her shiny, black hair bounced against her shoulders. She twisted her head and I caught a glimpse of her face. It was Harper Cooksey. She was always up for a good time. No pressure. Just fun. Not the least bit clingy. And would offer me the release I needed.
Twisting the handlebars, I climbed off the bike and walked over to Harper. I plastered on my game face with the smile that always got me any girl I put my mind on. I came up behind her and placed a hand in my pocket. “Didn’t think I would be greeted by your fine ass this early in the morning. What did I do for this privilege?”
Giggle. When would girls learn that the only thing a giggle gave a guy was a headache? She placed the nozzle back into the gas pump. Her smiled pulled to one side. “Heading to class. What are you doing out this early in the morning?”
Running from life. I waved the coffee cup I was holding. “Needed a cup of Bob’s mud.”
“Candice wouldn’t make you any?”
I hated the idea everyone assumed I was with Candice. I don’t think I’d ever really stated I wanted a relationship with her. More than anyone else, Annie thought we were some kind of couple. Crap, I had to stop always thinking about Annie.
“Candice can never make it like I want it. If I remember right, you always know how I like it.”
“We do know how to mix it up.” Her tone was flirtatious, and her smile grew even bigger.
My mom was in Austin on one of her many girls’ getaways, and my dad had to leave in the middle of the night for one of his emergencies. I could take her back to my house. Not that any of that mattered. Random girls had often been found wandering my house in the morning and as long as I showed up at the right places with an appropriate date, no one said a word.
Harper stroked a finger over my breastplate. My muscles usually jerked in response but they didn’t care what she had to offer. The only thing my body craved was working at the Downtown Cafe.
Quit thinking about Annie! But how? She had sit the bar so high, no other girl could ever come close.
I couldn’t go through the mass of conflicting emotions swimming around inside of me. I would make this work even if I had to give my body a pep talk. Something that had never happened before.
“I’ve learned some new recipes since the last time we cooked up anything together.” The top three buttons of her shirt were undone, perfectly showing off the soft curve of her breast and about twenty-five percent of the lacy bra she had on.
“I have a perfectly good kitchen that is not being used at the moment.” I smiled, making sure to flash her both of my dimples. For some reason, girls always responded to them.
Harper would have crawled in the backseat of her car if I’d asked her to. However, there was no way in hell I was taking the chance of Annie seeing what a jerk I really was.
She grabbed the handle of her car door. “Let me park my car and I’ll meet you at your bike.”
Damn, I hadn’t even thought about her wanting to ride on my bike. What if Annie saw us leave together? Hell, Annie was the only other person who had rode on my bike. My stomach twisted at the idea of someone other than her ever riding on it too. “Just follow me to the house. Gus might have the thing towed if you leave it around here.”
Luckily, Harper was a good girl as usual and didn’t argue.
She had her tongue down my throat before I even had time to get off my bike and had my shirt totally unbuttoned before we even reached the front door. We were less than graceful, but it was just what I needed to make me forget. The front door was always left unlocked, I made quick work of shoving her through the door and pinning her to the wall.
I kicked the door closed as she wrapped her long legs around my waist. Her dark-brown hair brushed against my face and smelled of strawberries, reminding me of Annie. Harper bit down on my lip, and I kind of dug it and wondered how kinky Annie was willing to get. I shook my head. I needed to stop thinking about Annie, but every time her face crossed my mind, the swelling in my jeans pushed harder against the denim. I took a step back and crashed into the entry table, sending various items to the floor.
“Shit,” I whispered in her mouth but continue to invade her lips with my tongue. The maid could pick it up later.
She made that bullshit girly laugh again. I hated that sound and was relieved Annie never made it. I let her slip from my grasp. She smiled, having no idea who I was really thinking about, and walked over to the table in the formal dining room. She leaned over, showcasing her perfectly-round ass. Hell, she didn’t have on any panties under that small, tight skirt.
Was I wrong to take something she was willing to give. If no, then why did I feel guilty? She arched her back, whipping her long, brown hair against her back.
Hell, she wanted to use me as much as I wanted to use somebody.
My zipper could no longer contain what was underneath it. I unbuttoned my jeans and slid down my zipper.
Hell, I could regret all this later.
She turned to look up at me and I was elated to notice she had green eyes too. A perfect stand-in for the one I truly wanted.
Quit, thinking about Annie, damnit.
I planted my lips on hers. “Are you ready?”
“Just wondering what you’re waiting on.”
She moaned the second my fingertips touched her tender flesh, giving me the greenlight to go for it. And I did, making sure she enjoyed every inch of it.
Chapter 13
Annie Prieto
The sun streaming through the large picture window signaled I’d slept late. It was my first day off in two weeks — I was exhausted. Stretching, I pressed my elbows onto the pillow as I sat up.
Then I heard what probably woke me in the first place: the doorbell.
It was simply a doorbell. It shouldn’t cause any warning bells to go off. Burglars I was sure didn’t use one often to gain entrance.
Or did they?
I glanced down at myself, I was wearing a pair of pajamas I’d pulled out of the laundry hamper the night before, and my hair was piled on top of my head. The look I had going on was deadlier than any weapon. I sat up and tossed the blanket to the floor.
Burglars beware.
The doorbell buzzed throughout the house again. Whoever it was, they weren’t giving up. I shifted the bun on my head and rubbed over my eyes, wiping crust away.
I knocked a sketchpad and some drawing pencils onto the floor as I got up and slipped on a pair of flip flops.
Before I got to the door, whoever it was had started banging on it.
“Coming,” I said, turning the lock.
The weird sensation I felt when it was Lucas was disorienting. Not sure why it was surprising; Lucas was the only person I’d invited over since I moved to Carterville. Even if he did nicely decline the first offer.
“Hey,” he said, and leaned against the door jamb.
“Hey to you,” I said and smiled. Lucas waking me up bought about a continuous loop of Lucas porn in my head, and I had to think about the execution scene from The Green Mile to control the lust Lucas caused without even a touch.
“I thought you might enjoy a picnic.” Lucas held up a large picnic basket and his lips turned up into a smile, exposing two very deep dimples on his cheeks. I took a step back to let him in. He lost his footing and crashed into the entry table on the wall behind me. A lamp and some figurine fell to the floor.
I reached for his hand to help steady him.
“And here I thought I was incapable of knocking you off your feet.” He laughed and leveled his gaze on mine.
Baby, you have no idea. If you only knew what your smile was capable of doing to me.
I twisted a stray piece of hair that had fallen out of the bun it was in and deliberated on the fact no one had ever put that much effort in to trying to make me happy. I knew for a fact Lucas was the first guy who was kind to me without the foregone conclusion of simply
getting into my pants. Maybe Lucas truly wanted to be friends. I’d seen him at the Downtown Cafe with his other friends, and it always seemed as if he had mentally removed himself from them.
“Lucas, there is not a girl in this world who could resist your smile.”
“Really,” he said, and cemented on the biggest, fakest smile. Even that face was irresistible.
I needed a breather to clear my mind before I could start the day. "I need to change. Can you give me ten minutes?"
He appraised me for a moment then shot up an eyebrow and tilted his head. "You’re not already ready? You mean you can do better than this?”
I looked down at my stained t-shirt. “Sure, I can get naked.”
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