Wasted

by Suzannah Daniels

  “Maybe you can live without men, but do you really want to?”

  She gazed at me as I teased and taunted. Her chest rose and fell as she arched in my arms.

  If she thought she could live without men…if she thought she could live without me….

  “You see how you respond to me?” She was hot and wet.

  Grasping my face, she yanked me to her and kissed me, her tongue slipping into my mouth as she writhed beneath me, wanting more.

  Ending the kiss and resting my forehead against hers, I whispered, “Damn it, Lexi. You can’t do that. You can’t make me fall in love with you, then tell me that you can live without me.

  “You’re mine now, and I’m not letting go.”

  ***

  The girls had decided on a beach theme for Spanky’s retirement party. Everyone had been instructed to wear colorful, summery clothing. I’d worn a pair of blue flowery swimming trunks and a white tee shirt with a pair of flip-flops.

  I gazed at Lexi as she busied herself covering the tables that we would use for the retirement party in crisp white tablecloths. We’d finally made it to the grocery store yesterday, but not until after I’d made love to her again.

  She looked beautiful in a red sundress, her plump lips glossed in the identical color. Her hair was straight and sleek, gliding down her back like a waterfall at midnight.

  Unable to keep my lips from curving into a smile, I marveled that something as wonderful as Lexi Swafford could actually happen to me for a change.

  “You look guilty,” Stormy accused as she came to get the bowl of mixed fruit that I had just set on the bar.

  “Me?” I shot her a look of incredulity.

  “Yes, you.” She flipped her dark braids to the front of her shoulders. “Guiltier than usual.”

  She followed my line of vision. “You got it bad, don’t you, pretty boy?”

  I guffawed at her assessment. “She is pretty damn sexy.” I leaned against the counter. “And she gets me.” I darted my eyes toward Stormy. “How many girls do you think actually get me?”

  “Hell if I know. I sure don’t.”

  Amused, I reached across the bar and tugged her braid.

  “So are you guys an item now or something?” She peered at me over the top of her glasses.

  “Yeah, you could say that.”

  She screwed her face up. “The devil must have icicles hanging off his nose about now.”

  “Because you can’t believe I could get a girl?”

  She blew out a breath. “Because I can’t believe you found one you actually wanted to keep.”

  “What does he want to keep?” Hawk asked Stormy as he took a seat at the bar. “Isn’t it about time to start this party?”

  “Ten more minutes,” Stormy answered, snatching the bowl of fruit, so she could take it to the food table. “And he wants to keep Lexi.”

  Stormy scurried away in her yellow tank top and grass skirt, and Hawk gave me a strange look. “Has she been drinking already?” he asked.

  “Bar’s not open for ten more minutes,” I said. “And Stormy’s the one that’s going to tend it, so she’s stuck with being sober for a while.”

  “Then what’s she talking about?”

  “Lexi and I are together.”

  “Together?”

  “Hell, don’t make it such a big deal.” I pulled a stack of red plastic cups out of a bag and started filling them with draft beer.

  He turned and looked at Lexi as she bent over a table, placing the centerpiece, and it irritated me that he watched her longer than necessary. “Shit, stop staring at her ass.”

  Turning back toward me, one side of his mouth twitched up in a grin. “Congratulations.” He held his fist in the air, and I bumped it with mine.

  “Thanks, man.”

  Swiveling toward the open room in the barstool, he watched the action as the bar started to fill with brightly dressed people. I prepped garnishes for the bar while Stormy and Lexi completed the finishing touches.

  “I guess she’ll get to meet Rachel.”

  My head snapped around at Hawk. “What are you talking about?”

  He nodded toward the tables. “Rachel just came in.” He turned back toward me. “You didn’t know she was coming?”

  “No, I didn’t.” Shit, I wasn’t ready for this. I’d barely even explained who Rachel was to Lexi. I searched for her in the crowd, spotting her in a yellow bikini top and white shorts, a colorful lei circling her neck. Her light clothing showed off her deep bronze tan.

  “Don’t sweat it,” Hawk said.

  “You know how Rachel gets.”

  “Y’all haven’t been together in a very long time.” Hawk leaned back in the chair, folding his arms behind his head. “She has no reason to get jealous.”

  I exhaled loudly, hoping he was right.

  Stormy appeared behind the bar. “Spanky’s coming out of the office. Check out his Hawaiian shirt.”

  Spanky waddled to the middle of the room in a bright orange shirt covered in multi-colored flowers. I whistled loudly, and he turned toward me, white tufts of hair making him look like he’d just came from a spin in the dryer. His leathery face broke into a smile, and he threw his hand in the air to acknowledge me as he turned back to the crowd.

  The girls had done a great job decorating. Many of the guests wore leis, and each table had a jar of sand and seashells with a single white flickering candle rising out of it. Every bare spot was filled with sand buckets and shovels or inflated inner tubes or beach balls. The entryway was decorated with a neon pink surfboard and a fishing net filled with shells and starfish.

  A huge cake sat on its own table, shaped like a sandcastle with colorful flags flying from the turrets.

  “Guess it’s showtime.” Since I’d known Spanky the longest, I was roped into starting the evening off with a toast. I grabbed a cup of beer and made my way to the front of the restaurant. Cade came in through the front door and headed straight toward Spanky, shaking his hand.

  I spotted Lexi weaving through the crowd toward me. She gave me a quick kiss. “Are you nervous?”

  “Me, nervous?” I flashed a grin. “Haven’t you figured out by now that I know how to work a crowd?”

  “A crowd’s not the only thing you know how to work.” She gave me a sly smile as she wiped her lipstick from my lips.

  I pointed at her. “Are you flirting with me? Because that sounded a lot like flirting.”

  “Maybe.” She drew the word out, her luscious red lips curving upward to reveal her brilliant white teeth.

  “I’ll take care of you after the party.”

  “I’m driving back home after the party.” She hesitated. “To my parent’s home.”

  “You are?”

  She lowered her eyes. “Yeah. Seren’s going with me.” Glancing back at me, she continued, “I’ve got some business to take care of, but I should be back sometime tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” I rubbed my palms together. “Well, I guess I have a toast to perform.” Why hadn’t she mentioned it? Hell, I didn’t really want to meet her parents, but did she not want to introduce me to them?

  Pushing the thoughts out of my mind, I concentrated on the toast. Releasing a shrill whistle, I held my hand in the air. “Can I have your attention, please?”

  The room quieted down. “We’re all here to show our support to someone who I consider not only a friend of mine but a mentor.

  “When I was eighteen, I was very much in need of a job. I wandered into the bar, and I don’t know whether Spanky thought no one else would hire me, so he took pity on me, or whether he desperately needed help and he drastically lowered his qualifications, but either way, this man gave me a job.” I waved my hand in his direction as I walked toward him and laid my arm across his shoulders.

  Facing the crowd, I continued, “A few months in, he gave me a shot at being a bartender. I must’ve done something right because six years later, I’m still serving up drinks to some of the finest people i
n Creekview.”

  The partygoers broke into cheers and whistles at the compliment, and as I waited for them to quieten, I turned toward the man who’d believed in me when no one else had.

  “Spanky, thank you for taking a chance on me. You’ve been more than just a boss. In a lot of ways, you’ve been like a father to me, and before you head out to chase beautiful women on the sunny beaches of Florida, I want you to know that you’ve made a difference in my life.”

  I scanned the crowd. “So let’s raise our glasses to Spanky. Thank you for providing us a place to laugh with friends and a place to drown our sorrows. May you have a long and happy retirement.”

  “Hear, hear,” the guests murmured.

  We all sipped our beer, and I patted Spanky on the shoulder. “It won’t be the same without you,” I told him. “One of these days, I’m going to meet you at the beach, maybe whip us up a Pina Colada or a Mai-Tai, and we’ll watch the sun set.”

  Spanky pointed at me with an arthritic finger. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  Stormy joined in as did many other guests, telling funny stories and sharing memorable moments. Rejoining Lexi, I grabbed her hand and squeezed it as I listened. Spanky had been an admired citizen of Creekview for decades, and the vast group of well-wishers here was a testament to that.

  Spanky waddled to the middle of the floor. “I would like to thank everyone for supporting me over the years. Spanky’s couldn’t have thrived as long as it has without you. I’ve enjoyed your friendship. You know,” he paused, emotion heavy in his voice, “I’ve been in business for forty-two years. During that time, my children have grown.” His eyes flickered to where his children and their families sat, admiration on their faces. “And I lost my wife.” He rubbed his jaw with a shaking hand. “Sometimes when everything is changing around us, it’s nice to have something that remains constant. And that’s what Spanky’s was for me, my constant. Y’all gave me a reason to get up every morning, and I thank you for that.”

  He glanced at his daughter who had driven up from Florida. “Life is a sequence of changes. Some we can control, and some we can’t. But either way, we have to embrace it because that’s the only way we can thrive.”

  He rubbed his bald crown and ran his fingers through the short strands of hair that clung stubbornly to the lower half of his head. “I’ve had a good life in Creekview. And it’s time for a change. I’m going to enjoy spending time with my daughter and my grandchildren in Florida, but I’ll dearly miss all of you. I know you’ve all been wondering about the future of the bar, and I have an announcement to make. But first, let’s eat!”

  Inwardly, I groaned. His announcement would do nothing more than solidify the fact that I couldn’t raise the funds to buy the bar myself.

  Lexi pulled me toward the food table, and we piled our plates high with finger foods. I watched her bite into a chocolate-covered strawberry, her sexy lips planted firmly around the fruit. Damn, but if that didn’t make me want to drizzle her in chocolate and lick it off. She forked a bite of the sandcastle cake and held it out for me to taste.

  “Isn’t that good?” she asked.

  Nodding, I swallowed. “It makes me want to go home and do a little baking of my own.” Shit. I forgot that she had made plans to leave after the party. I could bake by myself, but that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

  Her lips twitched upward. “And what would you bake?”

  “I’m sure I could whip up a tasty dessert with a little drizzle of chocolate and some whipped cream.”

  “Oh, really?” She took another bite of strawberry, and I could feel myself growing hard. “Maybe you’ll make me one some time.”

  I winked at her. “Maybe I will.”

  Our playful banter was interrupted when Spanky took the floor again. He started talking, waving his hands in front of him as if they somehow helped him speak. “Okay, I know the suspense is killing you. An old friend of mine and his attorney walked into the bar.” He paused. “And no, that’s not the intro to a joke. This is a true story.”

  A light rumble of laughter emanated from the crowd.

  “We were having a conversation about retirement. My friend had already retired, and I was contemplating it. He told me that he was interested in buying the bar, but a few weeks later during our negotiations, he was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away not long after that, so I was back at square one in my search for a buyer.

  “You can imagine my surprise when his grandchild and namesake came into the bar, wanting to pick up negotiations where he had left off. It didn’t take us long to reach a deal, so without further ado, I introduce you to the new owner of Spanky’s….”

  The new owner was here? I scanned the crowd, my gaze fixating on a couple of men whom I had never seen.

  “Alexander Swafford.”

  Neither of the men moved. Lexi laid a hand on my shoulder as she rose from her seated position. I watched her walk toward Spanky. What the hell was she doing?

  Spanky motioned to her. “Some of you may know her as Lexi.”

  Shit. Lexi Swafford. She had been named Alexander after her grandfather?

  My jaw clenched as I gritted my teeth.

  All this time, I had been confiding in her how much I wanted to buy the bar, and she couldn’t have told me that she was the one buying it? She snatched it right under my nose like a thief in the night.

  I stood abruptly, the chair legs skittering across the scarred, wooden floor. Several people turned to stare, but I didn’t give a shit.

  I needed some air.

  Chapter 19

  Fall from Grace

  Lexi

  After Spanky’s announcement, he and I were bombarded with people, people who wanted to wish him a happy retirement, people who congratulated me on purchasing the bar, and people who just wanted to chat.

  Having seen Mason’s blatant disapproval, my nerves were on edge, giving me the sensation of my stomach being filled with hundreds of dancing spiders, their spiny legs jabbing me with each step.

  By the time I managed to escape the throng of people, I was unsure where he had fled. Taking a deep breath as I tried to decide my best approach at an explanation, I dropped into a seat in the corner and buried my head in my hands, squeezing my temples in an attempt to keep the looming headache away.

  “Do you mind if I have a seat?”

  A lyrical voice penetrated my thoughts, and I glanced up to see the beautiful blonde who was sporting the bikini top. Even though I didn’t know her and hadn’t been officially introduced tonight, I’d noticed her, and I had no doubt that everyone else had, too. She was one of those women who demanded attention the minute she entered a room. Like everyone else, my eyes had drifted to her often, even though I’d had no conscious thought to look at her.

  Pasting on a smile and trying to keep the uneasiness I was feeling out of my voice, I motioned to the chair across from me. “Not at all.”

  She held her hand out. “Rachel Cambridge.”

  I shook it. “Lexi Swafford.” I released her hand in slow motion as her name finally filtered to my consciousness. I’d been on autopilot all night after meeting so many new people, and as much as I hated to admit it, my wits had been dulled by the repetition.

  “I see you know who I am.” She fingered the artificial flowers that dangled around her neck.

  I nodded, realizing that I still didn’t know why he’d been giving her money. Was it part of a divorce settlement?

  “Funny,” she said, a smug glow lighting her exquisite features. “I don’t remember him mentioning you.”

  Her statement didn’t require a response, and I didn’t offer one.

  “Looks like the two of you are pretty chummy. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d told you about us.”

  “I know y’all were married, if that’s what you mean.”

  “And you know we had a child together?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “So he also told you why we divorced?”


  “No, and it’s really none of my business.”

  “Actually, it is. If you’re planning on getting serious with Mason, you might want to know that….”

  “What the hell are you doing?” Mason’s voice, filled with anger, came from behind me, and I turned and looked at him over my shoulder.

  “I was just talking,” I answered.

  “No,” he said, his eyes penetrating the beautiful girl sitting across from me. “I was talking to Rachel.”

  “I was just having a little chat with….” She paused and turned her attention back to me. “What did you say your name was again?”

  “Cut the shit, Rachel, and answer the question.”

  “I did answer the question. We were just talking. That’s all.”

  Mason moved to the edge of the table, the veins in his neck straining against his skin. “I did what I said I was going to do where you’re concerned. Don’t come back to Creekview trying to start a bunch of bullshit.” His voice was low and dangerous.

  “I came back to Creekview because Spanky’s retiring. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you’re apparently serious about this one.”

  “Just let it go, Rachel.”

  “Did you tell her why we divorced?”

  He stared at her, not flinching, but he didn’t respond. He hadn’t mentioned the reason for their divorce, and her behavior definitely piqued my curiosity.

  Rachel stood up and placed her hand on my arm. “I’m just watching out for you. I wouldn’t want Mason to break your heart the way he broke mine.” She glared at him before she finally turned and walked away.

  He stood akimbo, looking incredibly pissed off. “Come on,” he said, his voice brimming with anger. “Let’s go outside.”

  I immediately stood and followed him.

  We walked around the corner of the red brick building, hidden in the shadows out of the view of the parking lot.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were the one buying Spanky’s?”

  My eyes flickered down toward the ground. I hated hearing the hurt in his voice. “It wasn’t like I set out to keep it a secret. It just sort of happened that way.”