by Tara Brent
I was a man of power. I was a man of confidence and good looks. I liked seeing women, sometimes I would fuck a few each night, depending on how early I got home.
I pulled into the parking lot of the bar that I liked the most.
It wasn't high class, but I wasn't into that scene. I didn't want to be labeled as someone who was snotty. No one could say that I thought I was better than anyone else.
There was no one in this world that could point a finger at me and tell me that I wasn’t being fair or that I didn’t like someone because of what class they were or because of how much money they made. That wasn’t me.
I helped her off the back of the bike, took the helmet from her and saw that her legs were shaking.
“You’ll get used to it.” I laughed at her, strapping the helmet to the bike before I turned and walked into the bar.
I did hold the door for her, only after I walked in and put my fingers on the door to keep it open.
There were people at the bar, people playing pool, and there was one table left that was open.
"I'm going to grab it," I told her a little louder than what I had intended.
She nodded her head. I watched her as she headed to the restroom, probably to make sure her ass looked good in the pants that she was wearing. All she had to do was ask me and I would've told her that her ass looked great.
Looking around the bar, I could see all the women that I could choose from.
There was a short red-headed woman that I walked up to and saw that she wasn’t with anyone. She had been eyeing me from the second I walked in. I could feel her stare...
“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing here by yourself?” I asked, seeing that she was smiling from the second she saw me walking towards her.
“I don’t know, I could ask you the same thing.” She laughed at me, her hazel eyes gleaming with curiosity.
“I’m staying in town tonight. I came with a friend. If you’re interested, I can give you my number. You should call me.” I winked at her,
She grabbed a pen from her purse, which was unzipped. I took the back of her hand and wrote my name and number down.
“Derek, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Sarah.” She gave me another big smile.
“I hope that you call me. I’m sure that I could show you a real good time.” I grinned at her, putting my hands into the back pockets of my jeans.
“I am sure that you could show me a thing or two.” She winked at me, took her purse and slung it over her shoulder before she walked passed me and went to the bar.
I couldn’t stop smiling. I began to rack the balls and I got my pool stick out before Jasmine even came back out of the bathroom.
While I waited for her, I broke the balls. Looking at all the other women that were there, I knew that I could have anyone that I wanted. I knew that if Sarah called me I would meet her, and we would go for drinks and have a good time back in my room.
It was who I was. I was a bachelor, and nothing was going to change that. I liked my freedom and I think if I had to fear anything, it was a relationship, knowing that I would feel trapped. Knowing that I would try to find a way out before I could even get into one. It was who I was.
“You didn’t order drinks?” I heard Jasmine’s voice over the loud music that had just started playing.
I didn’t know that I was ordering drinks, but I guess I was. I smiled at her and nodded my head.
Getting the attention of one of the waitresses I asked her for a pitcher of beer for our table. She smiled and nodded her head, going to the bar to get us what we wanted.
I watched as Jasmine bent over with the pool stick that I had picked out for myself. I watched her as she began getting in ball after ball of solids, wondering if I was ever going to get a shot in.
It didn’t matter to me; I was enjoying the view from behind.
Chapter 6
I knew what he was doing. I could see him out of the corner of my eye each time I took a shot. It was the reason why I kept getting the balls in. I was good at pool, but I didn’t tell him that I played for a league on my downtime from work and taking photos.
“You’re really good at this.” He nodded his head.
“Thanks.” I laughed when I was down to the eight ball. Getting it in like all the other balls of mine.
Turning around to face him, I took a glass and poured myself a glass of beer.
“That wasn’t luck.” He shook his head.
I could tell that he felt uncomfortable when it came to letting a woman win.
“You’re right, it’s not luck. I play for a pool league. Now, if I win the next game you have to do something that I like.” I grinned. I was confident that I was going to win.
“What do you like to do, play dress-up and make-up?” He laughed at me; it was a snide remark.
"No, I like taking photos. Not any kind of photos, though. I work for a magazine and part of my work is to capture real-life images for the magazine that I work for. I think that you would be a good fit." I shrugged my shoulders.
“You want me to pose?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. He smiled, waiting for me to laugh about it.
“Something like that, but you’re not looking at the camera. I want everyone to see the beach, the places that we go. Like, if we weren’t in the bar right now, I would take a picture of it, the outside, so that it could be put in the magazine for places to go. I write articles about it,” I explained to him.
“That’s pretty neat.” He nodded his head, and I could see that he had pride in his voice for me. It felt good knowing that he thought I did something wonderful for work.
“So, deal?” I asked, biting down on my lip.
“Sure, rack them up,” he answered with the best smile that I’d seen all night on his face.
We played another game. I knew when he missed the eight ball that I was going to clear the rest of the table.
I had tried to let him win three times, and three times he had messed up his shots. I saw his jaw clenching. I was finding out more about him; it was clear to see that when he was upset about making a mistake, his game was off, no matter what it was.
I laughed, shaking my head at him, he had tried to make me mess up a few times, but when I was in the zone that was the way it was. I didn’t have time for distractions. I got the eight ball in with the cue ball just sitting on the edge of the pocket. If someone had blown on it, the ball would’ve gone in, but it didn’t matter. I still won.
“That was so close, you could’ve lost.” He grunted, drinking down the last glass that was in the pitcher.
“I didn’t, and you owe me a date.” I laughed, leaning a little too close to him.
“I’m going to call us a cab and I’ll pick my bike up in the morning,” he said.
“What’s the matter, you’re not going to ride your bike back to the hotel?” I chuckled and shook my head at him.
“No—I’m crazy. Not stupid. I don’t think that I could handle the bike right now,” he admitted.
It was something to see that he was responsible even though he was a man that thought he was God's gift to women—and he probably was, to some.
Walking to the bar together, he told the bartender what he was doing and there was a cab ordered for us.
Going outside and waiting, we didn’t have to wait that long. Maybe five minutes and a cab pulled up out front.
Derek laughed, opening the back-seat door for me and letting me get in. He closed the door behind me and got into the front.
We didn’t talk on the way back to the hotel. It wasn’t a very long ride and I leaned my head against the window. I was looking forward to the next morning. I just hoped that he remembered that we were going to be doing photos. I would remind him in the morning.
I opened the cab door when it pulled up to the hotel. I could see that Lindsay and Julian’s lights were off. They were probably not even in the hotel. If I were them, I would be the one walking on the beach under the stars and the moon.
We waved as the driver pulled away from the hotel.
“I’m going to walk you to your room. I think that’s okay.” Derek grinned at me.
I nodded my head, I knew that he couldn’t have been drunk. There was no way that he could’ve been; we shared the pitcher of beer together.
Taking the elevator and stepping out of it, my room was right across from the elevator. I stood there, taking my key card out of my back pocket, thankful that it was still there. I turned to him.
“I had a good night; it was fun getting out for a little while.” I thanked him for the evening that we had together.
Before I could say anything else, he surprised me. He shocked me when he brought his lips to mine and began to kiss me.
That was when my head began to swim. It’s when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Chapter 7
I didn’t think that I was going to do it. I did though, I kissed her. I felt her soft lips and I knew that I had surprised her.
She began to kiss me back, the more we were kissing each other, the more we were enjoying it.
She wrapped her arms around the back of my neck. I felt her tongue and mine tease each other.
Hearing her moan against my mouth, I was sure that I had her. I brought my hands to her hips and brought her into the room just a little.
I felt my heart pounding hard against my chest. I began to wonder if it was her heart or mine, but I couldn’t tell.
“I don’t think that we should do this,” she whispered against my mouth.
“Why not?” I moaned, kissing her some more. I loved how soft her lips were against mine.
"I think that we should get to know each other a little more before we do something that we will both regret later." Jasmine kissed me one more time, a long kiss, and then she put her hand on my chest and pushed me gently away from her.
I gave her the boyish smile that I gave to all women. I was sure that she would change her mind. She shocked me when she gave me an apologetic smile and shook her head.
“Remember, you lost, so tomorrow we are going to take photos of you down at the beach. You’re going to look dashing in the photos.” She pointed a finger at me.
"I'm sure I will," I grumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.
“Goodnight, Derek. I had a lot of fun at the wedding and playing pool with you.” She leaned in one more time and kissed me on the cheek.
I was going to break her down. I could see the look in her eye. I could see the lust that she wanted to get to know me more. More than just as a friend, and I was going to get her before the vacation was over.
It was only the first night. I could tell that I couldn’t rush her. I couldn’t rush her like I did the others. She wasn’t going to just fall at my feet. It was the first time that it had happened to me.
As I turned and went down the hall to my own room, I couldn’t think of a time when a woman had cut me down. When she had refused me. But when I unlocked my room and went inside, I had a smile on my face.
It was better to do it this way. If she fell at my feet like all the others, then it wouldn’t have been a challenge.
Getting into bed and putting my phone on silent so that I could sleep, I closed my eyes.
I remembered the woman Sarah, from the bar, and I felt an even bigger smile come to my face. I wished that I had gotten her number instead of giving her mine; I would’ve called her up and had her come over.
Then something changed. She had changed from Sarah to Jasmine. With one swift motion, that was what had happened. I couldn’t figure it out, but I drifted off to sleep with Jasmine on my mind instead of the woman that would’ve slept with me if I brought her back to my hotel room.
I was sure that someone was trying to play a trick on me. I was there on vacation, not for getting up early and going to work.
The alarm went off at six in the morning, the sun was shining through the windows and someone had opened the curtain to let the sun in. I tried to cover my head with the blankets but then they were being pulled off me.
“Rise and shine, buttercup. I’m going to take you to get your bike.” I heard Julian’s voice at the foot of the bed.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon? Sleeping in and sleeping next to your wife. Having mad sex instead of in here waking me up.” I groaned, sitting on the edge of the bed.
I hadn’t changed out of my clothes from the night before and I wasn’t about to. I was going to get my bike and come back here. Jump in the shower and then see if Jasmine was ready for me.
“How did last night go? I see that no one slept in your bed…did you sleep in someone’s bed?” Julian teased me, wanting to know the details.
“No, she wasn’t having any of it. She wants to get to know each other.” I rolled my eyes, thinking about the night before.
“That’s good, though. I told you that she wasn’t going to be easy.” Julian shook his head at me.
“She let me kiss her, though, she did let me do that.” I grinned, thinking about how soft her lips were against mine. The way she brought her hands to the back of my neck and brought me in closer.
“I see a real smile on that face of yours.” Julian pointed at me.
“It’s a real smile because it was a good kiss. It doesn’t mean anything. I smile about women all the time.” I rolled my eyes at him.
"Come on, let's go get that bike of yours. We’ll stop for coffee on the way." Julian laughed, making his way to the door.
"Where is that beautiful wife of yours, anyway?" I asked, putting my feet down on the floor and putting my shoes on.
I hurried out the door after him. I needed coffee. It was something that I needed to wake me up in the morning.
“Jasmine came over early this morning to talk with her. That’s why I’m awake and that’s how I know that I have to go get your bike.” Julian looked over his shoulder with a grin on his face.
Chapter 8
I had told Lindsay that I had won at pool and what our deal was.
“You know that he’s going to hate taking the pictures. I’m surprised that he had even agreed to something like that after you told him that it wasn’t luck.” Lindsay threw her head back and laughed.
“Well, he can’t get out of it now and he’s going to look great. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up on the front cover of the magazine. I would love to see him on there.” I sighed, shaking my head.
“You like him. You like him more than just a little,” Lindsay teased me.
“So, I do. I didn’t sleep with him though. I could’ve, and I didn’t. I don’t regret that. I wasn’t going to sleep with him on the first date, or anyone else. You know that I’m not like that.” I blushed.
What would he have thought of me if I did? No, it was better to play it safe than sorry with him, knowing that he would probably just move onto the next one and I didn’t need that—who did?
“I bet he liked that.” Lindsay rolled her eyes at me.
“I don’t think he did. I don’t think he’s used to women turning him down like that. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings, but I knew that I was just going to be someone to sleep with.” I shrugged. I didn’t want to be toyed with.
We were having fun and it was nothing serious, but having sex was going to turn it into something serious and it wasn’t something that I was looking for. I was too busy myself for something serious like that.
“Who knows, he might find out that you’re the love of his life while we are here. Stranger things have happened.” Lindsay giggled and threw a pillow at me.
I felt my face grow warm, thinking that a man like Derek would fall in love…No, he was having too much fun to have that happen to him.
The hotel door opened and the two walked in with coffee for the four of us.
“It didn’t take as long as I thought it was going to. Are you ready to head out?” I asked Derek, seeing that he
hadn’t even changed out of his clothes from the bar scene.
“No, I’m going to take a shower and then I will be ready. We have all day for this, don’t we?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
“Not really, I have to get the right light. I think maybe in two hours we will be able to do it so make sure that you’re ready. I don’t want the shot messed up,” I pointed out to him.
He gave me a confused look. Most people didn’t know that if there was too much light it could ruin a photo and not enough light could make it too dark. I had to go with the sun and how it was going to react for the day.
“She’s good at what she does, man.” Julian shrugged his shoulders.
“Personally, we would’ve asked her to be the photographer for our wedding, but she was in it, so it was going to be hard to be in two places at once unless we cloned her.” Lindsey nodded her head.
I couldn’t believe how many compliments that they were giving me. If they were trying to show Derek that I was a great person, I could do that on my own. I didn’t need their help with that.
“I’m going to go. I will be back shortly. Thanks for the coffee and I will see you in a little bit.” Derek turned and pointed a finger at me.
“Don’t be late. I don’t want to miss the lighting for all the good shots.” I pointed back at him.
Julian and Lindsay looked at me as Derek left the room.
“What?” I asked, feeling the silly grin creep across my face again.
“The way the two of you were acting. I can’t help but wonder if maybe he is falling for you. I warned him about you.” Julian laughed at me, going to the other bed that was on the other side of the room and sitting down.
“Come on, we barely even know each other. We went out one time and that was it. We are going out today because I won the pool game and we made a deal.” I shook my head at him.
