Hotshot Deceiver: A Hero Club Novel

by K E Osborn

  Jase stays back in the car as I rush into her driveway, keeping down so she can’t see me through her giant bay window. I sneak up to her car, attaching the note under her windscreen wiper. I place a kiss on the tips of my fingers and press it to the paper.

  Tacky? Maybe.

  I just want Lyri to know I still love her.

  I quickly turn, making a mad dash back to my car. Jase reaches across, opening the door for me. I slide in and let out a relieved breath.

  “Step one complete. Now she just has to read it,” Jase offers.

  “She’ll read it. A note on her truck will grab her attention,” I tell him as Lyri walks out of her front door. I duck down a little lower. We’re back far enough that she won’t notice us, but I still feel like I need to hide. I can only just see above the dash—I have to wait now, my stomach sinking, wondering how she’ll take it.

  Lyri looks so damn good. Dressed in her usual work outfit, her hair’s framing her perfect face which has a slight smattering of makeup, but it doesn’t hide the bags under her eyes.

  Or the fact I know she cries herself to sleep at the end of every day.

  Most nights, I stay outside the bedroom window until she falls asleep.

  Okay, so I’m stalking her.

  But it’s not like I’m watching her get undressed or anything weird, I would never invade her privacy like that. I’m just there until she falls asleep. Making sure she’s okay. Maybe it’s more to make sure I’m okay. I don’t know. Honestly, I think it’s for my peace of mind to know she isn’t falling apart each night, and if she does, maybe I can do something to help.

  Lyri’s in the zone as her feet drag to the truck. She’s simply going through the motions, off to work for another day. My stomach tightens. She’s going to get in the truck without seeing my note, but suddenly, she stops. Her whole body turns to the front of the vehicle. Lyri stills as her head turns all around the street, checking everywhere.

  We both duck down farther, trying to conceal ourselves, my heart thumping at the thought of being caught before phase two has had a chance to get off the ground. Lyri hesitates, but gently eases out the note from under the wiper like it might be poison or something. My stomach lurches up into my throat watching her face while she unfolds it, then reads my words. Suddenly, she skims the street again, her eyes hard. She curls up her lip in anger, huffs, and scrunches up the note. It’s thrown to the ground as she turns and slides into the truck, seeming completely aggravated by my attempt.

  I let out a disappointed exhale as Jase starts the car.

  “Sorry, man,” he mutters as my chest squeezes with hurt. I honestly thought she might show a little bit of something other than disdain.

  Jase pulls away from the curb.

  I know we have to leave right now to keep this thing going—we have to keep to the plan—but damn if this shit doesn’t hurt.

  “Hey!” Jase calls out as he speeds off. “Don’t you do that, soldier. Do you think the troops in World War II backed away when they came up against the Taliban?”

  I cock my head to the side, thinking his words through. “Ahh… Jase, I think you’re getting your wars mixed up. The Taliban are in—”

  “Whatever, dude, you’re missing my point,” he almost yells in frustration. His tantrum actually makes me laugh. “Look… all I’m saying is, when the odds are stacked against you, you need to dig deeper because wars aren’t won in a day, my friend. They’re won with time and a hell of a lot of patience. You gotta be in Lyrical Revival for the long haul, Eddie. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen. In the words of the great Whitney and Mariah, it will when you believe.” He sings the last part from the Disney movie soundtrack.

  “Fuck, Jase, you’re so full of shit, you actually have me believing in you.”

  He chuckles, driving a little faster. “There you go… now push the red button.”

  I groan. “Your car doesn’t have a red button like in the Men in Black, Jase.”

  He squints like he’s trying to keep a big secret. “But can’t we pretend? Turbo mode on, vroom, vroom!” He presses down on the accelerator harder, making me lurch back into my seat.

  I roll my eyes. “This is going to be a long day,” I mumble to myself.

  The drive to our next destination doesn’t take long with Jase’s MIB so-called turbo mode kicked in. He grinds to a halt, like something you’d see in a James Bond film, his car skidding almost sideways into a parking space. My hands shoot to the ceiling as I stare at him sternly. “You’re gonna get us fucking arrested.”

  He waggles his eyebrows. “Hopefully, it’s a hot lady cop, and she will frisk me.”

  “You’re such a dick.”

  He claps his hands together twice like a teacher would do to gather disobedient children. “Snap, snap, Eddie, time’s a-wasting. You gotta hurry before she arrives.”

  With a renewed pep in my step, I grab note two out of the folder. Jase and I head toward the coffee shop Lyri stops at on her way to work nine mornings out of ten. I just hope today isn’t the one day she chooses not to. I grab the note, reading over it. I wonder if this one will go down better than the last one.

  I want to spend every day waking up with you and making you your first coffee of the day.

  This cup’s on me. xo

  We saunter into the shop where the aroma of fresh coffee and sweet baked goods smacks my senses. Jase eye-fucks the young redhead behind the counter. I close my eyes and just breathe slowly then open them again. I swear my best friend has the libido of a sixteen-year-old boy who’s just discovered how good your hand can be for the first time.

  We step up to the counter. The girl thrusts her tits forward in an all-too-obvious way. But Jase needs to keep his mind on the task at hand. He performs the usual stupid cocky shit he does with his face that women love—that smirk, that sideways glance, the flicking of his eyebrows up and down—they’re all done expertly to reel them in.

  She bats her eyelashes in response.

  “Well, hello…” his eyes drop to the nametag sitting right over her left breast, “… Carlee. Two E’s… that’s so interesting.”

  She giggles. I let out a frustrated groan, then she twirls her flaming red hair around one finger. “Is it? It’s just what I’m used to.”

  Jase accentuates the stupid damn smirk on his face. “Oh, and what else are you used to, Carlee?” I grunt, nudging him hard. “Oh, right… listen, Carlee… you seem like a woman who would do anything to help out the cause of true love… right?”

  Her eyelashes flutter as she stares at Jase like she’s just fallen in ‘true love.’

  “Hurry this along, Jase,” I mutter under my breath.

  Carlee nods matter-of-factly then bites her bottom lip. “Mm-hmm.”

  Jase wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Well, my man here has a dilemma. His woman is a little testy with him right now, and we’re trying to get him back into her good graces. So, this is where you come in, Carlee.” The way he sings her name I’m sure is making her stomach flutter, but mine just churns.

  She leans forward, seeming intrigued. “What do you need me to do?”

  “You ever heard of Cupid?”

  She appears as confused as I am with where he’s going with this. “You want me to shoot her with an arrow?”

  Jase reaches out, stroking her cheek playfully. She licks her lips seductively. Fuck, that man knows what he’s doing. “No, babe, we just need you to give her a little note and not tell her we are here. Can you do that for us, Carlee?”

  She’s completely swept up in Jase’s wake.

  I hand over the note, plus a twenty-dollar bill. Her eyes narrow on me. “Her name is Lyric. She comes in most mornings for coffee. Let her have whatever she wants? On me. Then give her the note when she’s about to leave.”

  Carlee places her hand over her buxom chest. “This is so romantic,” she gushes.

  “Isn’t it, though?” Jase chimes back in the same tone.

  He’s such a fucker.


  But the asshole gets the job done.

  Gotta give him credit for that.

  “Thank you, Carlee,” I tell her.

  Jase winks at her as we turn and walk to the back corner of the store. “That was way easier than I thought it would be.”

  I exhale. “You know one day, Jase… one day, you’re gonna find a girl you actually like, and she’s gonna see you for the master manipulator you are.”

  “Well, that’s a shitty thing to say.”

  I roll my shoulders. “You have the outer shell of a god, but simply asking could get you the same results.”

  His eyes narrow like he’s pondering that thought. “You don’t use your looks to get what you want?”

  I shrug. “I’m cocky sometimes, sure, but not to your extent. Being with Lyri showed me what life with one woman is like, and I want that for you, Jase. I want you to settle down and be happy like I was. I want you to fight for one woman like I’m fighting for Lyri now.”

  He leans against the wall, completely silent. Well, this shit suddenly got serious.

  The bell on the door dings, and I turn to see Lyri walk in. She’s oblivious to us being in here as she strides up to the counter to order her morning coffee.

  I can’t hear what she’s saying to Carlee, but Carlee moves off as if to get her order. Jase nudges me like he’s excited when I’m anything but. My palms are sweating—I’m nervous as hell. She scrunched up my last note. What if she does the same with this one?

  Carlee comes back with her coffee and a muffin. Lyri opens her purse to pay, and Carlee waves her hand as if to tell her to stop. She pulls out my note and hands it to Lyri.

  My body goes numb.

  Lyri’s face falls.

  She takes in the shop with a quick glance around. We duck down behind menus in the booth. She doesn’t see us, but she inhales sharply and holds it.

  She’s affected.

  I just can’t tell if it’s in a good or bad way.

  She dips her head at Carlee in a gesture of appreciation, then she grabs her order, moving away from the counter. Lyri slowly opens the note.

  My heart races. I feel sick watching her eyes mist with tears, but she holds them in as her mouth forms a thin straight line. Then she suddenly scrunches up the piece of paper and throws it hard into the trash. She turns, storms through the store and back out to the parking lot.

  Disappointment floods through my veins.

  Failed.

  Again.

  I clench my jaw, turning to Jase in a semi-panic. “This isn’t working!”

  He yanks me out of the booth, making us stand up straight. “Patience, young Padawan. It’s only note two. But c’mon, we gotta keep moving.”

  I groan. Now he’s quoting Star Wars as he drags me toward the door.

  “Can I get your number?” Carlee calls out.

  Jase shrugs. “Duty calls, gorgeous. Another time,” he replies while yanking me out of the store and back to his car. We jump in, in a hurry. Lyri has already left, so she’s ahead of us. We need to hightail it because we have to arrive at our next destination before her.

  Jase starts the engine before I even buckle my belt, and I’m thrown back into my seat as he takes off. How we haven’t been pulled over for speeding or dangerous driving is beyond me. But just like Jase always says, he could probably talk his way out of it, even if it was a male cop. Yeah, he’s full of shit!

  Within a couple of minutes, Jase rams on the brakes at Love and Lavender. We park the car out of sight as we make our way to the front of the store. I take note number three with me. This one is a little more hard-hitting than the others. The first two were warmups, but this one plays a little more on the heartstrings. I am upping the ante.

  As we approach the front door, I make sure Lyri or Paisley aren’t around, and quickly open the note to check its content.

  I miss you. But more than that, I love you.

  I miss our Netflix nights on the sofa. I miss Polly sitting with us. Hell, I miss Polly swearing at me as I walk inside your home.

  I miss you both so much it hurts, Lyri. xo

  I fold it in half, placing it under the closed sign against the door. I take a deep breath as Jase slaps my back. We walk to the car to wait. It’s like we are just another car parked on the city street, completely blending in, but we have a clear view of her front door.

  My leg bounces up and down in anticipation of her arrival and to see if this note too will fall by the wayside. I don’t know if I can continue to handle these rejections. This letter means more than the others did. I put more depth and thought into it. I told her I miss them both. I just hope it triggers something inside of her.

  Her car pulls into the parking lot of the store. I duck down a little, but Jase stays where he is. He’s not scared of being caught. He thinks we’re hidden well enough. I’m not so sure.

  She steps out of her car, coffee in hand, muffin hanging out of her mouth, slowly strolling up to the front of the store. As she approaches, her steps falter. She doesn’t search around this time. Instead, she just storms up to the note like she’s totally pissed off.

  Great, now I’m simply annoying her.

  This was a bad idea.

  She yanks the note open. Her eyes are glued to the paper. Her body slumps. I think I see a small smile trying to force its way on her lips. Hope fills every inch of my body. She holds the note to her chest, closing her eyes like she’s trying to gather her emotions. The sight nearly makes me lose all of mine. She then slides it into her jeans pocket and turns to open the store.

  “We have jackpot,” Jase calls out.

  Warmth runs inside my veins. I just want to rush out there and take her into my arms. Seeing her like this is making me fucking crazy. I miss her so damn much, but I know I can’t rush it. I have to play this smart.

  Jase taps my leg. “Okay, next one.” He gestures to a young boy riding past on his bicycle. Jase jumps out of the car in a mad dash before I have a second to gather my thoughts. But Jase has gone rogue, so I need to pull my head in and get with the program. I quickly jump out of the car to see Jase has stopped the kid and has him headed back this way.

  Shit.

  “So, kid, I have a proposition for you,” Jase blurts out.

  “Oh geez,” I grunt out. That shit sounded terrible.

  The young kid, he must be all of about ten, suddenly seems aware of the danger he’s found himself in around two grown men and a car on the side of the street.

  “My mom told me to be aware of stranger danger, so I’ll pass.”

  I let out a small laugh. This is exactly where I thought this was going. Jase might have all the moves on the ladies, maybe even some men too, but with kids, he’s just a strange weirdo.

  “Oh fuck, no, I’m not a creeper. Shit! No, nothing like that. We just want you to go into the florist right down there and give the lady with blonde hair this note, but don’t tell her we’re out here. If you do that, I’ll give you twenty bucks.”

  My eyes shoot open, but the kid suddenly drops his bike to the ground, grabs the note, and takes off. I tense as we rush around to the corner edge of the shop. We can see inside, but if she came outside, she wouldn’t see us. I watch as the kid hands her the note. My stomach twists and turns as she huffs while he runs back outside, his eyes searching for us.

  “Pssst, kid,” Jase calls out.

  I keep my eyes firmly placed on Lyri.

  She opens the note.

  I think about the message I inked to her, pretending I’m reading it from memory at the same time as she is.

  Nothing could ever explain how monumentally sorry I am. I never meant to hurt you. Please believe me. I love you more than anything. More than this world. And my world doesn’t revolve if you’re not in it.

  Come back to me, hummingbird. xo

  Jase pays the kid, and he runs off as I watch Lyri place her hand to her chest. A tear forms in her eye and slowly makes its way down her cheek. I swear she looks right at me, bu
t she can’t see me.

  Lyri wipes the tear then places the note in her pocket. Slowly, she walks toward the door of the florist and peers out. I take a step forward, but Jase pulls me back, stopping me from going to her. It takes every single ounce of strength I have not to push him to the ground and run to her. But I agree with Jase—I don’t want to ruin the progress I’ve made thus far. I don’t want to fuck this up. So, I stand back, watching her, her lips turning up just the faintest of margins as she turns and heads back inside her shop.

  Jase pats my shoulder and exhales. “Well, big man, I think you made an impression on her today. Now we need to leave the last note on her door for when she gets home.”

  I inhale. “One last one to end the day off, so she knows I’ve been thinking of her.” I pull out the note and read it over to make sure the wording is perfect before we head over to her home.

  Welcome home, hummingbird.

  I hope you’ve had a wonderful day

  and these notes have kept you in good spirits.

  I just want you to know I’ll be dreaming of you tonight as I do every night.

  Wishing I was holding you instead.

  Sweet dreams, always your hotshot. xo

  The note says exactly what I want. We just have to tape it to her door now, so when she arrives home, she knows the entire day has been about her.

  I’m not giving up.

  I’ll never give up.

  Jase steadies his shoulders with a smirk. “We post the note on her door, then on to phase three.”

  I furrow my brows. “Phase three?”

  He opens his eyes wide like he’s annoyed by my lack of comprehension. “You said she loves animals, right?”

  “Right! So, now we up the ante. Do something with animals. Something she’s not going to be able to resist?” I blurt out.