by R B Hilliard
After touring me around, he led me back to Dillon, who was standing behind the bar. “She’s all yours man,” he announced, patting me on the back. Then, noticing the panicked look on my face, said, “I have a ton of paperwork to do. Hang with Dillon for a while and let him show you the ropes. You will be working with both he and Garrett most of the time so you should get used to each other now. See you later, Ells. Later man,” he nodded to Dillon and escaped to the back.
Thanks a lot Kurt.
By the end of the hour I had secretly nicknamed him Delicious Dillon because, well, the guy was yummy from head to toe. He was also really nice, funny and super cool. We worked out a plan for the bar. Actually, it was more like he told me his thoughts and I agreed. At that moment I probably would have agreed with anything that came out of his mouth. I was in lust. Normally it bothered me when guys got up in my space and outrageously flirted, but with Dillon it was just fun. We had undeniable chemistry.
I left the bar that night in a great mood. Halfway home, it dawned on me why I was feeling so happy and was tempted for a moment to pull the plug on moving back to Charlotte. Then I remembered my earlier talk with Joss, as well as something my aunt had told me long ago.
Honey, it’s okay to have a special place inside of you reserved just for Max but this shrine to him that you still carry around with you worries me. It’s time to stand on your own two feet. He is gone and you are still here. You have to start living again.
She was right. The attraction I felt for Dillon, the chemistry, reminded me of when I had first met Max. But Max wasn’t here now and hadn’t been for a long time. Dillon was and the possibilities… well, they just made me smile.
Joss showed up around four the next afternoon, ready and willing to paint, drink booze and eat pizza. She informed me that, since Dragonfly was closed on Sundays, Kurt would be joining us as soon as the football game was over.
An hour later Kurt strolled in, followed by Dillon, Polly, two people I had never seen before and Harry.
Kurt introduced everyone. “Ellie, you met Dillon yesterday. This is Elena Owens, one of my new waitresses, Garrett Lanier, a new fellow bartender and you already know Polly. Harry, as usual, invited himself. I brought everyone along because I wanted us all to hang out before we started working together.”
Already a few beers in and a bit loose lipped, I announced, “Hi everyone, welcome to my humble abode. I have all kinds of booze in the kitchen and will be ordering pizza soon. Grab a drink and help us paint, but please don’t screw up my walls!”
Everyone headed to the kitchen to fix their drinks. I tried not to hyperventilate because Delicious Dillon, now shortened to DD, was in my flipping house.
Elena, who I hadn’t formally met, rolled out of the kitchen first. “Hi Ellie, I’m Elena but please call me Lena.” Lena could be a model. She had a head full of long black hair, amber eyes and the most beautiful milk chocolate skin I had ever seen.
“I would kill for your eyes and skin,” I blurted.
“Funny, I was just thinking the same about your eyes and lips.
My eyes, I was used to getting comments about, but my lips? This was a new one.
“Careful, girlfriend, or she’s gonna think you’re batting for the other team,” Polly said, joining us.
“Now that I’d like to see,” Dillon smiled and winked at me.
Immediately my mouth went dry.
This guy seriously affects me.
“Sorry to disappoint,” laughed Lena. She then added, “you are gorgeous and all, Ellie, but I love dicks…the bigger the better.” She spread her hands to measure well over nine inches.
“Duly noted,” I laughed with her.
“I can vouch for Ellie preferring dick. That is, unless Max’s leaving caused her to totally change teams.” Harry said, trying to get into the conversation.
He did not just say that.
“Harry!” Joss and Kurt both shouted from across the room.
“What?” he asked.
“Who’s Max?” asked Polly.
I couldn’t help but glance at Dillon when she asked this. He was standing in the kitchen doorway with a beer in hand and his eyes on me. I didn’t want to tell them about Max. This was supposed to be my starting over paint party. Max had no place here.
I was contemplating what to say when Garrett stepped in and saved me.
“Hi Ellie. We haven’t formally met yet. I’m Garrett Lanier.” He held out his hand. He stood about an inch taller than me, had a stalky muscular build, brown shaggy hair and a sweet boy next door smile. I instantly liked him.
“Nice to meet you, Garrett,” I said, while shaking his hand.
“What do you need us to do Ellie?” Kurt asked as he threw Harry the stink eye. “We are here at your disposal.”
Giving Kurt a huge smile of thanks, I said, “Well, the master bedroom needs some serious paint.”
“What color did you pick?” Lena asked.
“It’s called Urbane Bronze. I wanted something dark and rich to set off the comforter set I have picked out for my brand new king sized bed.”
“I can give you something dark and rich,” Dillon growled, eyebrows wagging.
Polly, who was standing next to him laughed and rolled her eyes. “From what I’ve heard, it’s more like light and flakey.”
“Ha! That was funny,” Harry laughed as he eyed Polly with interest.
This made everyone laugh.
This is going to be a fun crew to work with.
“All right, all right people, shall we start?” asked Kurt.
Once we agreed on rock music over pop, Harry wanting Britney Spears or Ke$ha, the rest of us giving him a big “Hell No,” it went pretty fast.
I was unconsciously shaking my butt while singing along to Steve Miller’s The Joker when I felt two hands on my hips and a warm body at my back.
“You keep shaking your goods like that and we might have a problem,” Dillon’s deep voice whispered in my ear, causing an uncontrollable but obvious shiver to run through me. I was about to give a flirty response when his phone rang.
“Hang on a minute.” His hands instantly disappeared and I shouldn’t have felt the loss…but I did.
This guy is seriously dangerous.
Stepping away, he answered it, said three words, gave my address out and hung up.
“Dana’s on her way over,” he announced.
A collective moan went through the room.
“Dana?” I asked, assuming that it was another of Kurt’s waitresses.
“Dana is Dillon’s flavor of the minute,” explained a drunken Joss.
My heart instantly dropped. Of course a guy who looked like that would have a girlfriend.
I am so stupid.
I suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of guilt and shame. I had compared this guy to Max just last night. He was nothing like Max.
He just had his hands on my body and was talking naughty to me when his girlfriend called. Who does that?
I suddenly had the urge to take a scalding hot shower.
Dillon stared at me for a minute as if taking my pulse. Then, sensing my disapproval, he carefully chose his words. “Dana is someone I have spent some time with.”
I bet she looks like a model or an actress.
“Yeah, right,” I mumbled then and turned away in disgust. When I glanced back he was staring down at his feet with a regretful look on his face.
Good, you shouldn’t have tried to play me.
Thankfully, Garrett interrupted my thoughts. “Ellie, can you tell me if this is what you want?”
“Sure thing,” I said. Once again I turned my back on Dillon and headed across the room to help Garrett.
We finished painting the bedroom and had just ordered pizza when the doorbell rang.
“I got it,” I shouted.
Dana Harkins was nothing like I had imagined. From the second she strutted through my front door, I knew she was trouble.
“Where’s Dillon?” Were th
e first words out of her mouth. Not, “Hi, my name is Dana, thanks for inviting me into your beautiful home” or “Hi, my name is Dana, is Dillon around?” Nope, she strutted into my home in her six inch heels, swinging her plentiful ass, while almost knocking me down with her gargantuan breasts.
“Uh,” I managed to get out. I was completely shocked that this was Delicious Dillon’s girlfriend.
Maybe she pays him to say he’s with her.
“There you are,” she said and flashed a blindingly white smile at something over my shoulder.
Glancing back, I watched him approach us. I held my breath and waited for some grand show of affection.
He stopped a mere arms-length away. “I see you’ve met Ellie.”
“I was just telling her how much I liked her cute little house,” she straight faced. I tried not to choke on my tongue.
A part of me wanted him to lay one right on her so that I would forever be cured of my lust fest. Another part of me wanted to cheer because he didn’t.
“Come,” he said, grabbing both of our arms, “Let’s go eat.”
We were halfway through dinner before Dana acknowledged that anyone other than Dillon was in the house, much less at the table.
“So, Ellie, Dillon tells me that you recently graduated with a degree in Home Ec. or was it PE?” she asked.
“Um, my degree was in Business,” I answered. I couldn’t help but wonder what Dillon had told her.
“My degree was in Physical Education,” Lena said, holding up her hand, “Elementary Physical Education to be exact.”
Dana kept on talking as if Lena hadn’t just spoken. “Are you planning on going into marketing or owning your own business?”
I looked over at Dillon, flashed my sexiest smile and batted my lashes. “Nope, I’m going to be bartending at Dragonfly… with Dillon.” I knew that I was totally poking the bear but couldn’t resist.
Take that, you heifer.
“Oh, and I can’t forget adorable Garrett, can I?” Unlike Dillon, I genuinely smiled at Garrett. The knowing smirk on his face almost made me laugh.
I watched her beady eyes narrow possessively at Dillon. She reminded me of a coiled snake. “Dillon, darling,” she drawled, “you failed to mention that Ellie was going to be behind the bar with you.”
“Well, being that I’m not the owner, Dana, I really had no say in the decision,” he snapped.
I tried not to let his tone hurt my feelings.
She swung her head back in my direction and I almost ducked for cover. “Well, if you decide that bartending isn’t… stimulating enough, I’m sure I could find you a marketing position with my company.”
“Oh yes, Ellie,” Lena sneered sarcastically, “in case she hasn’t already told you, Dana is the number one personal shopper at Neiman Marcus, in the nation.” She held up her beer in mock congratulations to Dana.
“So, Lena,” Dana all but snarled. Are you still shacking up with that model guy, you know….the one who looks part… white?” She emphasized the word ‘white’ as if everyone at the table was hard of hearing and a spark of white hot anger ignited in the pit of my stomach.
“I am not shacking up with Brent, Dina. We just screw when we get the urge, kind of like Dillon’s doing with you right now. Oh, and for your information, he is one hundred percent African American and has the junk to prove it, trust me.”
“Dana,” she snarled.
“Pardon?”
“My name is Dana.”
I was shocked by her hateful tone of voice, not to mention the horrible things that she was saying. My gosh, did Dillon not see how mean his girlfriend was? All kinds of scenarios raced through my head.
Was she blackmailing him? Maybe his mother was on her death bed and her last wish was for Dillon to be with her best friend’s daughter? Could she secretly be a prostitute who he paid to treat him like utter crap? Maybe this was a secret fetish or something.
A picture of Dana in a witch’s hat, dressed in black leather, wielding a riding crop and screaming hateful things flashed through my head.
“Hey El, do you have the hot tub heated?” Kurt asked, distracting me from my disturbing thoughts.
“Why yes I do Kurt. Are you interested in a soak?”
For years I had tried to get my aunt to put a pool in the back yard. Lord knows it’s big enough. Instead, she appeased me Christmas of my junior year in college by having a six man hot tub installed on our back patio. I’ll have to admit that it is pretty amazing but I still wanted a pool.
Maybe I could afford to put one in now?
“You have a hot tub?” Dillon asked with his silver eyes on me.
Please stop looking at me like you want to devour me.
“Ellie has the best damn tub in town,” bragged Polly. “Her aunt used to let me come over and soak after working doubles at my old gig. It worked wonders on my back and tootsies.” She wiggled her toes in the air.
“If you need a foot rub, just say the word. I love women’s feet,” groaned Harry. He eyed Polly’s feet as if they were covered in hot fudge.
“Ewwww,” Joss and I both shouted before breaking into laughter.
“Funny, Polly, I swear Dillon told me that you had an English degree?” Dana snarked.
I heard someone suck in a breath behind me and watched Dillon physically cringe.
“I do,” Polly replied. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Oh, nothing really. I just assumed that they would have taught you proper grammar.”
Garrett arched an eyebrow at Dana. “Why you be such a bitch?”
Not willing to let an opportunity to tweak Dana pass her by, Lena rode in on Garrett’s grammatically incorrect coattails. “She be a bitch because she done got to pay her man for sex.”
Trying not to laugh, I held up my hands. “Okay you two, do I need to sit you in the corner?”
“Dana,” Dillon sighed, “we talked about this the other night. This is my boss and these are my co-workers that you are insulting.”
“What? I didn’t mean to insult anyone. I was just trying to be helpful.” I watched her bat her eyelashes at him innocently and wanted to poke them out of her mean little head.
“Mmmm Hmmmm. How about toning it down okay?” he warned.
“Sure, honey,” she leaned over and kissed him right on his beautiful mouth.
Disgusted with the two of them and needing a breather I said, “You guys go ahead. I’m going to grab some towels, make some margaritas and will meet you in a few. Ladies, there are some extra suits in the bathroom closet. I can’t guarantee they will fit but I will let you figure out the details. Sorry boys, but you’re on your own.”
“I’ll help you in the kitchen,” offered Garrett.
“Me too,” said Polly.
“Hurry back P. I’ll be saving a place on my bench just for you,” purred Harry.
Garrett and Polly helped me make up a batch of my special margaritas. Garrett didn’t say much. Then again, it’s hard to get a word in with Polly around. He did manage to tell me that he was from a small town somewhere in Kentucky.
I was about to ask him where when Polly bumped me with her elbow. “Saw you watching Dillon earlier, girl. Lord, that boy really heats my motor.”
“Revs my engine,” Garrett corrected.
“You too? And I had you pegged as a straight man.”
The look of horror on Garrett’s face made me laugh.
Before she terrorized him any further, I said, “While he certainly isn’t hard on the eyes, I have absolutely zero respect for him after meeting Dana. By the way, what is up with you and Harry?”
“Who knows?” she smiled mischievously, “I might let him rub my feet or… something else.”
I tried not to gag when she said this. Harry looked exactly like a long haired Dana Carvey when I first met him. The last five years had not been very kind to him as he now resembled a blonde Jack Black circa Tropic Thunder.
Garrett, still looking traumatized,
headed out to the hot tub with the pitcher of margaritas.
I was following right behind when Polly stopped me. “I didn’t want to say this in front of Garrett because I really don’t know the guy, but don’t write Dillon off yet. He is a beautiful man who has no faith that he can land an equally beautiful woman. He settles for a lot less than he deserves.”
“Why her?” I couldn’t help but ask, “she’s hateful.”
“We’ve been asking him that for the past six months. I think he’s beginning to see the light, especially now that you’re in the picture.” Polly grabbed the glasses off the counter and was halfway out the door when she paused. “Just don’t write him off completely. He is a great guy who just needs the right woman to make him believe it.”
I leaned against the counter and took a deep breath. I was exhausted and hadn’t even started drinking, yet. I took another deep breath, grabbed the towel and followed after.
This was going to be a long night.
I actually stutter stepped when I saw Dillon’s naked chest as I approached the hot tub. I was totally defeated. The man was an absolute work of art.
Why, why, why does he have to look so good?
Not only did he have washboard abs but he also had the most amazing tattoo of some sort of fish spread across his left peck.
Thank Jesus most of his body is below sea level right now.
My Dillon bubble burst into a thousand tiny molecules when I caught a look at Dana. She had managed to squeeze her butt and boobs into my favorite bikini….from ninth grade. There were no words to properly describe how obscene she looked.
Blech!
“I know! Let’s play a drinking game,” Joss screamed. Submerged in bubbles, she too was in one of my bikinis….from last summer, thank God. Kurt and all of the guys had opted to wear their boxer briefs while Lena and I remained fully clothed. Plunking my fanny on the edge, I dangled one foot near Garrett, the other near Harry. I wasn’t much of an exhibitionist and never had been. If I was going in I would be wearing one of my more modest suits. For now, I was just happy playing waitress.
