A Huge Mistake

by Laney Kay

  “You’ve got some good points. I admit it. You’re hot and you’re certainly a good time, so I’ve had no complaints this week.”

  He bobbled his eyebrows at her and crooned in a low, teasing voice, “Come on. You know it’s more than that. Admit it. I’m your perfect man.”

  “Perfect for sex? Sure. You’re right.”

  He suddenly sat up straight and stopped teasing her. “Lola, this is more than just sex, and you know it. You may not want to admit it, but you know as well as I do this could be something real, and something special.”

  Lola stood up and pulled her hands free. “Maybe so. But I told you from the beginning that I’m not interested in a relationship. Period. And the fact that you’re adorable doesn’t change that fact.”

  “So once we figure this out, as far as you’re concerned, that’s it. We’re done.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. Now she was pissed. “Pretty much. Of course, I’ll send your office payment for whatever I owe you for all the security, plus whatever amount you say to cover your personal time, and we’ll just chalk this up to a job well done, with some good sex thrown in to keep it lively.”

  His face reddened and Lola could see his jaw clenching and unclenching as he tried to gain control of his temper. “I’ll be interested to see how you value my personal time, Lola. Should I bill you by the hour, or for every minute we spent in bed? Or maybe it’s per sexual act. One price for vertically against a door, another for in the tub. Maybe we can set a fee schedule.”

  He saw her eyes narrow and she looked like she was getting as mad as Jake. Before the whole situation blew up, Jake tried another tack. “You know I don’t care about the money, Lola. But, you don’t even want to give us a shot? You can just walk away without a second thought?”

  She uncrossed her arms and her face was expressionless as she stared at Jake. “Yep. Not a problem.” Lola grabbed both plates and carried them to the sink, rinsed them off, and loaded the dishwasher while Jake stared at her, frustrated. When she was done, she turned to face him and gave a huge, fake, yawn. “Well, I’m a little tired. I think I’m going in the living room to watch a little TV and take a nap. Maybe we could finish this fun conversation later?”

  Jake shook his head and smiled a fake, polite smile. He grabbed his phone off the table and shoved it in his back pocket. “No thanks. I need to blow off a little steam, so I think I’ll go find something else to do.”

  Lola answered, just as politely, “That sounds great. Well, I guess I’ll see you later.” She turned and walked toward the sofa in the living room.

  Jake watched her go, frustrated that she refused to admit that they might actually have something special between them. He was about to head downstairs, but instead, he followed her into the living room. She plopped down on the sofa and was just about to turn on the TV when he came to stand in front of her with his hands on his hips. “So let me make sure I understand this. So to you, this is just sex.”

  Lola tossed the remote on the sofa and faced him. “Yep. Just sex.”

  “And you’re not interested in anything other than just sex.”

  She smirked. “I don’t understand why this is so hard for you to understand, Jake. Once again, I’m not interested in anything with you other than sex.”

  He nodded, his jaw tight, and his eyes narrowed at her. “Well, if it’s just sex, then I don’t see any reason why we don’t take advantage of that.” He bent over and scooped her off the sofa, hoisted her up against his chest and marched down the hall.

  She was as furious as he was, and at first, she struggled against his hold, but he just held her tighter. “Put me down, you big jackass.”

  “I’ll put you down in a minute. If sex is what you want, then that’s exactly what you’ll get.” He reached his bedroom and shoved the door open with his elbow. He strode over to the bed and dropped her in the middle of it.

  She immediately hopped up onto her knees and jammed her hands on her hips and faced him. He was standing by the bed, and instantly mimicked her stance, placing his hands on his hips. She leaned forward so she could poke him in the chest and challenged him, “So what now, Jake? You want to have sex? Fine, let’s do it.” She snatched her shirt over her head and threw it on the floor. “Are these what you want?” She cupped her small breasts in her hands, while he stood there staring at her, not coming any closer. “Or this?” She yanked her pants and panties down in one motion and sat back on the bed so she could rip them off her feet and she threw them at him. They hit his chest and dropped to the floor. She flung her arms wide. “Here I am, Jake. Is this what you want? Come on then. Come and take it.”

  Suddenly, his whole demeanor changed. His shoulders dropped and he put his hands in his pockets. He stared at her for a long moment and finally said quietly, “No, Lola, that’s not at all what I want,” and he turned around and left the room. She heard him walk down the hall, she heard the front door open and close, and a few seconds later she heard the car door open. She jumped up and looked to see him rummaging in the back of his SUV. He slung a rifle over his shoulder and grabbed a duffel bag, slammed the hatch, and headed into the woods.

  Lola stood there, watching him go, and then she realized she was cold. She got dressed and then went out into the living room to watch TV. She had just settled onto the sofa when she heard several gun shots. She shot off the sofa and ran to the window, her heart feeling like it was going to pound out of her chest, trying to remember where the guns in the house were located. When she heard another series of shots, she remembered that Jake had told her he had a shooting range in the woods, and she relaxed, knowing that he wasn’t in danger, but was just taking some target practice.

  Now that he was gone, Lola started to think. When Jake turned and left the bedroom looking so defeated, it had actually hurt Lola’s heart to think that she had caused him pain. That’s when it hit her. She did care about him. A lot. She sat there, her mind racing. She had promised herself years ago that she would never put herself in a situation where she didn’t hold all of the power, and now she had met a man who could screw up her carefully constructed world. Now what was she supposed to do?

  She grabbed her phone and called Daisy, who as usual, answered her phone with a cheerful, “Hola, Lola!”

  Lola smiled, despite her bad mood. “Hey Daisy. How’s it going?”

  Daisy immediately became serious as soon as she heard Lola’s tone of voice. “What’s wrong, sweetie? Are you okay?”

  Lola sat there for a moment gathering her thoughts. “No, Daisy, I don’t think I am.” And she proceeded to tell Daisy about their fight. “And then when I finally confronted him and basically said, fine, yes this is only about sex, so let’s have sex if that’s what you want, and he stopped and said in this sad voice, ‘no, that’s not what I want at all,’ and he left.”

  “So he left you alone at his house with no protection?” Now Daisy sounded furious.

  “No, he’s near the house shooting targets. I think he needed to blow off some steam. He has his phone which would warn him of any possible problems.”

  Daisy relaxed. “So even though he was pissed, he was still looking out for your safety.”

  Lola shrugged. “It’s such an ingrained habit, I don’t think he could do otherwise.” She flopped back among the sofa pillows. “Daisy, what am I going to do? I’ve never been in a situation like this.”

  Daisy took a deep breath. “Lola, I was there when your fiancé screwed you over, and I understand why you’re so freaked about the idea of a relationship, but let’s talk this through logically. What is so scary about a relationship?”

  Lola snorted. “That’s easy. I don’t want a relationship where I don’t have all the power and control. That’s why I like my little mimbos that I can boss around. The last time I gave that up, I got bitten in the ass, and I don’t want that to happen again.”

  “Okay, I get that. But think about it. Giving up power and control wasn’t the problem. The problem was gi
ving up power and control to a person who was a total asshole. Do you think that if you were in a relationship with Jake, he would ever do anything to deliberately harm you?”

  Lola’s reply was immediate. “Absolutely not. He’s not that kind of guy. Everything he’s done has been specifically to protect me from harm.”

  Daisy prodded her. “But you haven’t known him that long. How do you know he’s not that kind of guy?”

  Lola snorted. “Please. I can tell.”

  “Exactly!” Daisy clapped and Lola started laughing at her delight. “Lola, you are an adult and are an excellent judge of character. You misjudged your ex-fiance, who I think we can all agree was a total dick, but you were nineteen years old and just a stupid kid. You’re a grown-ass woman now. You know the good guys from the bad. And you think Jake is a good guy.”

  Lola was nodding. “He is.”

  “Then what’s the problem?” Daisy spoke gently. “Lola, I’m going to remind me of what you told me when the idea of a relationship with Luke freaked me out. He’s not asking you to marry him, he just wants you to agree to date him. Just go slow and see what happens.”

  Lola was thinking it over. “You’re right.”

  “And tell him about your ex-fiance.” Daisy sounded very sure about that. “He needs to understand where your freakiness about relationships comes from.”

  Lola had never told anyone outside her immediate family and closest friends the whole story about what had happened. She hated sounding like such a pathetic loser, but she also knew that Daisy was right. If she and Jake were going to have any kind of long-term relationship, he needed to understand where her discomfort was coming from. “Okay. I know you’re right.”

  “Just talk to him, Lola, and I’m sure everything will work out.”

  Lola had been so involved with the conversation, she didn’t notice the gun shots had stopped. She heard the front door open and saw Jake come in. “Okay, chickie, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Good luck.” Lola hung up and turned to face Jake. His cheeks, nose, and ears were red from the cold and he didn’t look any happier than he did before he left. He nodded abruptly to her, then, careful not to meet her eyes or touch her, he walked past her to go into the kitchen, dumping his rifle and the duffle on the dining room table as he walked by. He grabbed a beer, then sat down and pulled a gun cleaning kit out of the duffle, along with several pistols, and spread them out on the table. As Lola watched, he took a swig of beer and started silently disassembling the rifle with practiced motions, spreading the parts out in front of him as he studiously ignored her.

  She came over and sat down across from him. “Those shots scared me to death until I realized it was you.”

  He didn’t look up as he started cleaning the components. “Sorry.”

  “I was ready to come protect you, guns blazing.”

  He wasn’t ready to make nice. He snorted. “Yeah, it would be awful for you if your latest mimbo got injured and put a crimp in your plans.” He placed some solvent on a brush to clean out the barrel of the rifle and shoved it through harder than necessary.

  Lola took a deep breath. It wasn’t in her nature to take shit off of anyone, but she knew she was in the wrong in this situation. “I assume you’re saying that you’re my latest mimbo?”

  He glared at her. “Apparently.” Then he dropped his gaze as he went back to cleaning the weapon.

  Lola picked up one of the cleaning patches and started toying with it. She wanted to tell him what was on her mind, but wasn’t sure where to start. This was the first time she’d ever told anyone other than her very best friends and her brother about her ex-fiance, and her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her ears. She started to tell him a couple of times, but each time she ended up just taking a deep breath and letting it out in a big sigh.

  Jake had finally had enough. He carefully put the barrel down on the table and crossed his arms staring at her with his eyebrows raised. “What Lola? Do you have something to say to me?” When she just looked at him with her eyes narrowing as she started to get irritated, he widened his eyes innocently in response. “Oh, I’m sorry, do you want something? Is it time for us to have sex? Since that’s all I’m good for, just let me know when it’s good for you and I’ll hop right on it. Or on you, to be specific. After all, it’s all about you, right?”

  Lola slammed her hands down on the table and came out of the chair and leaned toward him as she snapped at him. “Look you big jackass, I’m trying to explain something to you.”

  He rolled his eyes and picked up his brush and cleaned it off with cleaning solvent. “Yeah, well, FYI, for someone who supposedly explains things for a living, you’re doing a pretty shitty job.”

  She took another deep breath, trying to get a better grip on her temper, since the first try didn’t work so well. She stared at him and he kept cleaning, still refusing to meet her eyes. Finally, she slumped back in the chair and picked up the cleaning cloth and started playing with it again. In a quiet voice, she said, “I had a fiancé in college. He stood me up at the altar, took naked pictures of me while I was passed out, and then tried to blackmail me with them.” She threw the cloth in the middle of the table and stood up. She shoved her hands in her pockets. “I know I’ve got some trust issues, but I wanted you to know my problem is me, not you.”

  When she turned to leave the room, Jake dumped the gun on the table and caught her wrist. He was floored by what she was saying. “Lola, wait.” He reached onto the table and grabbed a towel to wipe solvent off his hands and her wrist where he held her. He pulled her into the chair next to him and grabbed both of her hands in his, staring at her until she met his eyes. “What are you talking about? What did he do to you?”

  She smiled and shrugged. “We went out for almost three years in college and I thought he was the one. He was smart, he was handsome, and we made all these big plans. We got engaged, we planned a big wedding, and on the day of the wedding, he just didn’t show up. I’m standing there in a wedding dress with three hundred people and he was nowhere to be found. I was scared he must have been in some kind of accident, that he was dead in a ditch somewhere, but we called the hospitals, we called the cops and no one knew what happened for three days.” She rolled her eyes, and Jake squeezed her hands to encourage her to continue. “So he finally shows up at my apartment, and I’m freaked out and exhausted, and when I asked him where in the hell he’d been, he just shrugged and said he’d been ‘busy’.”

  Jake was enraged on her behalf. “Busy? That’s all he had to say after being missing for three days?”

  Lola snorted. “You believe that bullshit? At that point, I started screaming at him, I’m crying because I’m relieved and pissed, all at the same time, and I’m asking him what the hell is going on. He finally just cuts me off, looks at me with a disgusted look on his face and tells me that, sorry, he’s met someone else, oh, and by the way, he needs some money because she’s pregnant and needs an abortion.”

  Jake was sitting there with his mouth open. He shook his head as he tried to imagine what she’d been through. “That guy had some balls, I’ll give him that. I’m sure you told him to kiss your ass.”

  “Of course, but that wasn’t the end of it.” Lola felt embarrassed retelling the story to Jake. She hated for anyone to feel sorry for her, but Daisy was right, she needed to tell him the whole thing. “When I told him to kiss my ass, he proceeds to pull an envelope out of his pocket and shows me a bunch of naked pictures of me. Apparently, I pretty much passed out after Sara’s bachelorette party and while I was out, he stripped me, posed me, and took pictures. He said if I didn’t pay him the money, he’d send them to my mother.” She swallowed hard. “And when I refused to pay him, that’s exactly what he did.”

  Jake was stunned. “Seriously? He sent the pictures to your mom?

  She closed her eyes and tilted her head back at the memory. “Yep. Fortunately, I had told Bryan, my brother, what had happened
and he and Mikey intercepted the pictures before she saw them. They then tracked him down and,” she made little air quotes with her fingers, “’convinced’ him to give up the negatives and they made sure I never heard from him again.” She smiled and winked at him. “And that part of the story I liked. I always hoped their ‘convincing’ was long and painful, but they always refused to give me any details.” She pulled her hands free and ran her hands through her hair as she slumped back against the back of the chair. “So, anyway, that’s my ridiculous tale of woe. And that’s why I’ve always refused to get involved with anyone. Since that whole fiasco I’ve never really trusted my judgment with men and relationships. Instead, I date guys that I have complete control over so I never have to worry about someone being in a position to betray me like that again.”

  He nodded slowly as he thought about what she said. “So young, dumb, uncomplicated, and someone you can boss around makes total sense.” He smiled at her. “I can also see why I’d be a problem for you.” He reached over and pulled her over to him so that she straddled his lap. He hugged her tightly, and she tucked her face into his neck and hugged him back. He pulled back to look in her face. “Hmmm. So, just out of curiosity, what is that dickhead’s name? Any idea where he is now?”

  She shrugged. “No idea.” She saw his expression and wagged her finger in his face. “And no, you don’t need to track him down and make his life miserable.”

  He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “What? No, I was just curious.”

  She rolled her eyes right back. “Right. I’m sure you weren’t going to use your computer skills to track him down and make his life a living hell.”

  He widened his eyes innocently and pointed his finger to his chest. “Who me? Of course not. And I wasn’t going to use Big Al to check out any shady business deals and then notify the proper authorities. Like the IRS. Or the Department of Justice. Or the FBI. Or maybe Jerry Jeff.”