while he was there, ask Hope to join them. ‘Umm, I was thinking...’ he glanced at his hands, plucking up the nerve to ask her to join him, but when he looked up, her gaze met his and it penetrated his soul. Words failed him. He wanted to reach across the counter and kiss her.
Hope stared, her eyes flicking between his lips and his eyes, waiting for him to finish the sentence, but he didn’t. She eventually took a deep breath, interrupting the moment by telling him how much he owed. He quietly tapped his credit card to pay.
‘Have fun,’ she smiled as she handed him the receipt but it lacked her usual enthusiasm.
‘Thanks...you too.’ He absently took the receipt from her fingers and before he knew it she was serving her next customer.
He stormed across the car park.
Does it matter how many dates she’s been on? Why didn’t I ask her to come with us?
He couldn’t find an easy answer, other than he didn't want her to reject him, again. He shifted his mind to work, the problems around that topic weren’t so confronting or challenging.
Later that afternoon, James realized he’d missed an item off Lauren’s shopping list – Doritos for Ben. It was 6pm. He had a table booked at the restaurant for dinner at 7pm with Ben and Lauren and their respective partners, Gemma and Nathan. Just enough time to head back to the supermarket.
He arrived to find Hope sitting on a bench outside the shopping complex.
‘That’s a different look.’ Her voluptuous breasts caught his attention, threatening to tumble out of her black and red corset top, at the slightest move. ‘Are the whip and handcuffs in your bag,’ he chuckled, realizing it was a costume.
‘Pardon?’ She stared at him for a second then her eyes dropped.
Assuming his comment had been drowned by a passing car, he spoke louder, ‘you’re going to a fancy dress party, right? Dressed as a dominatrix?’
Guessing what or who someone was meant to be, in their fancy dress get-up, could be tricky at times but, he was quietly confident he'd picked it, correctly.
She looked up at him through black-rimmed eyes and false eyelashes, her face and neck as red as the color painted on her lush, full lips.
Uh oh. Wrong guess. James cringed.
‘I’m waiting for my date. He’s taking me to dinner.’ She pulled on the edge of her very short, tight black skirt, which was clinging for dear life, snuggly around her thighs, themselves covered by black fishnet leggings. The skirt didn’t move with her efforts.
What the fuck?
‘Your hair looks nice.’ He couldn’t think of anything else to say. It did look nice. Half up, half down, held off her face in a braid, it was soft and beautiful, a style more suited to a flowing, flimsy romantic dress.
She sighed, retrieving her phone from her handbag, she proceeded to stare at it. Avoiding him. He couldn’t help noticing the finishing touches of patent, black, knee high boots, with stiletto heels.
‘Have a nice night.’ James walked inside not waiting for her reply. He didn’t want to make her more uncomfortable than she already was. But, he made a mental agreement that if she was still there when he came back out, he’d ask her to cancel her date and come out with him instead. Of course he might suggest a change of outfit first. It was a bit risqué for a dinner date.
Hope had gone by the time James returned, and he found himself thinking of her, and wondering about her date, as he walked towards home through the car park. Then he noticed her, sobbing, leaning up against an old VW beetle, her forehead on her arms, which were resting above the rear passenger door window.
‘Hope?’ James moved closer.
She let out a cry of fright, turning. ‘Oh, it’s you.’ Taking a deep breath, she wiped tears from her face.
‘Sorry for scaring you.’ James stepped back to give her some space. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, yes I’m fine,’ she smiled, her eyes still full of tears. ‘I’ve just been stood up but I’m okay. I’m just waiting for my friends, they’ve just slipped in to the bottle shop.’ She quickly opened the door of the car and stepped inside, looking decidedly awkward in her outfit. She pulled on the door, but James grabbed it, stopping it from closing.
‘Can I join you?’
She pursed her lips. ‘I guess.’ She slid along the seat to make room for him.
As James moved into the back seat he noticed a box of tissues on the floor and handed one to her.
‘Thanks,’ she mumbled, pulling a water bottle from her bag and taking a sip, apologizing for her outfit as she tugged on her skirt.
‘Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? Take you to dinner, maybe?’ His tone gentle as Hope placed the water bottle back in her bag.
She looked vulnerable, despite the outfit, his heart rate slowed. He figured he could look beyond the clothes and moved his hand, rubbing her arm in a comforting manner.
Hope stared at him, a lusty look filling her eyes. She’d misinterpreted his gesture. Before he could move, she leaned in, pressing her lips to his, kissing him. His brain scrambled with the buzz that shot through his body. Against his better judgment – he couldn’t resist – he kissed her back.
Reluctantly pulling away, he gazed into her dark, mesmerizing eyes, chaotic thoughts racing through his mind.
‘Have sex with me?’ she whispered on his lips, running her hand up his leg and feeling around his groin. He was hard with no way of hiding it.
‘What...?’ ‘Now...?’ ‘Here?’ His vision blurred, his thoughts jumbled – caught between the need to touch and explore her, and his moral compass – the situation didn’t equate to a healthy, committed relationship. ‘No. I can’t do this,’ he spluttered, moving out of her reach.
Hope wasn’t the type of woman he’d thought she was. He opened the car door.
‘No, no stop! Please stay?’
James froze. Glancing around, her overflowing breasts caught his eye, rendering him breathless as shivers ran down his spine. Closing the door, he kept his distance.
‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen,’ she murmured, sucking in a breath and letting out an audible sigh as she turned to him. ‘It’s been four years since I’ve had sex.’
‘And?’ He was listening, with a pounding heart. Her explanation better be good.
‘That was when I was unceremoniously dumped by my boyfriend. We’d been living together for two years when he ran off overseas with a work colleague. Leaving me forty thousand dollars in debt. We'd purchased furniture and things to set up our rented apartment. I subsequently couldn’t afford the apartment on my own, so sold what I could, and moved in with a friend. I had no way of contacting him. His friends and family refused to speak to me.’ She slumped back in the seat.
What a bastard. His heart went out to her.
‘I’ve been working as many shifts as I can, at Coles, as well as full-time hours, from home, for a transcription service until all hours of the morning just to pay it off. I’m almost there, and this year, as you know, I started studying accounting. I want a better life and work opportunities.’ She closed her eyes momentarily. He nodded. That was an impressive effort on such a low income.
‘It’s taken me a long time to move on. My friends had the crazy idea that I should have a one-night stand, assuming that would kick start my interest in dating, and from there I'd eventually find someone to love again.’ She rolled her eyes and gazed at him before looking down at her hands, resting in her lap, twisting the tissue she was still holding. ‘So, on my birthday, I made an agreement with them. That I’d make a concerted effort to find a man and have sex by Valentine’s Day.’ She glanced up through her raccoon eyes. ‘My friends were only trying to help, they organized those dates I’ve told you about,' a sense of resignation in her voice. ‘Were you just feeling sorry for me when you asked me out?'
'What? No.' He frowned.
'Why else would a nice, good-looking man like you, ask someone like me, on a date? I mean, look at me! I'm short,
fat and ugly and you're the hottest man I've ever seen. You probably have heaps of women after you. Are you a model?'
He shook his head. 'I'm flattered, but you need to stop underestimating yourself. You're beautiful. I'm incredibly attracted to you. Your smile makes my day, my week even. And, underneath there's substance, you've got guts and you're smart.' He narrowed his eyes at her, nodding, wanting her to acknowledge what he was saying.
She smiled. 'I wanted to say yes when you asked me out.’ She hesitated, putting her tissue in her handbag, stopping James when he went to speak. ‘But, I'm hopeless when it comes to men and I didn’t want you to end up being a disastrous date or a one-night stand,' she pursed her lips, glancing at him. 'I look forward to seeing your sparkling blue eyes and that wicked smile of yours, every Friday morning. It’s a highlight of my week. I don’t want that to end.' Looking down, brushing her hands along her fishnet covered legs. ‘Anyway, with it being Valentine’s Day tomorrow my date tonight was my last opportunity. I thought maybe dressing like a sex goddess...’ she waved her hands up and down indicating at her outfit.
James blinked. Sex goddess! Got it. He had to admit the look, on Hope, was growing on him. He wanted to hug her, tell her how amazing she was, and reassure her everything would work out.
‘...I wasn’t expecting to be stood up but, at the same time, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about having meaningless sex with a random guy,’ she laughed. ‘I’m sorry for making a
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