She shook her head. “Quite the opposite, very impressed. I love it, it’s beautiful.”
“What do you drive?” I asked, eyeing her bare legs before looking up into her eyes. I knew she was totally naked under that dress because she had mumbled something about having to take off the wet bikini before asking for a plastic grocery bag to cart it home in – and I doubted any undergarments fit into that tiny purse she had brought.
“A twelve-year-old P.O.S. Toyota that is probably going to need new tires soon.” She seemed to sigh at that.
“Once you become a nurse, you will be able to get whatever car you want,” I replied, genuinely trying to sound encouraging.
“I know. I can’t wait. I still have two years left, but they will be the hardest. I don’t know how I’m going to get through them. I won’t be able to work hardly any hours while I do fulltime classes and then an internship.”
Then she cleared her throat as if she regretted telling me that, and continued, “But I will get through it. It’ll be worth it.”
I nodded and then frowned, turning my attention back to the road. Nobody was helping her through college? My mind floated back to my thoughts earlier this afternoon about how grateful I should be that I had so much support. I wanted to ask her if she was going at that alone, but the time didn’t seem right. Besides, I was still dealing with a painful hard-on that didn’t seem to want to go down.
“So you need to turn down this street and then my apartment is on the right,” she said.
I nodded and took a right turn down a street lined with mostly apartment complexes. “Wow lots of them on this street. Which ones are yours?”
She pointed to a sign. “Aspen Oak Apartments.”
I turned into the complex and she instructed me where to drive to get her closest to her unit. “You can let me out here, mine’s just up there.” She pointed to the second floor.
I found a guest parking spot and parked there. “I will walk you up.”
She smiled and pushed some hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not letting you walk up there alone in this type of –” I quickly caught my poor choice of words, but it was too late.
She already had the door opened and was jumping out with her little purse slung across her body. “I’m good, Hunter. Thank you for driving me home.”
She closed my door as hard as she could and sprinted into the building after punching in a code. I watched her disappear up a flight of steps after sprinting through the lighted lobby.
I raked fingers through my hair and punched the community mailbox set in front of it. “Fuck!”
“Why are you being like this, Claire?” I asked my cousin, who was being completely obstinate and refused to give me Reece’s phone number. I’d asked her every day since the party, which was five days ago.
“Because it’s not my place to just give out her phone number without her permission,” she retorted over the phone.
“So ask her,” I demanded.
She snorted. “I did. She said she wasn’t interested in you, Hunter. I don’t know what you did to her because she won’t talk about it, but I can guess.”
I bristled at her words. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Fucked her and didn’t even bother with a thank-you?”
I pounded my fist on my desktop, my laptop jumping at the motion. “No, I did not do that. All I did was drive her home since you were too plastered…”
“And?”re
I ran a hand through my hair and leaned back in my chair. “And I… I don’t know. Whatever, Claire. Please give her my number. I need to apologize and no, it’s none of your business why.”
I hung up and got up and paced the room. I should be happy. I was set to move into my new house tomorrow, and had a solid job lead for a position with a private security company that helped keep downtown’s largest downtown buildings safe. It paid a fuckload of money too, and I was really excited about my interview on Friday.
But I couldn’t help but feel like a complete lowlife for what I had said to Reece. I hadn’t meant it at all. The apartments she lived in weren’t in the best area, and there were quite a few shady characters hanging around the parking lot, and as God as my witness, her safety was my only concern. Sometimes I have this brain to mouth filter that doesn’t quite work properly, and that wasn’t the first time it had malfunctioned.
I chewed my thumbnail and continued to pace the floor. I checked my watch and saw it was almost 5 p.m. I went out into the kitchen to get an apple and some water and saw Izzy in there boiling some eggs and looking at something on her iPad.
“Hey, Iz. Whatcha doing?”
She looked up at me and smiled. “Looking at the newest fall line from Paris.”
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I flashed her a smile and said, “Hey, you know Claire’s friend Reece?”
She looked back down at the iPad and said, “Yes, dumbass, she was here this weekend. You seemed like you knew her real well.”
“Do you know where she waits tables?”
“Yes, why?”
I bit into the apple and mumbled around it. “Just tell me, Iz.”
She made a face at me talking with my mouth full and said, “Jake’s.”
My eyebrows went up. “Seriously? Didn’t you wait tables there once?”
She snorted and set the tablet down. “Yeah, for like two weeks when I felt like having a job. Waiting tables blows. People are assholes.”
“Tell me about it,” I murmured, walking back toward my room.
Jake’s was one of the most popular seaside restaurants in St. Petersburg. The waterfront view was amazing and I’d never seen this place not completely packed. I hoped for Reece’s sake that she made good tips working here to help her through school. Judging by where she lived, I had no doubt she was completely doing it on her own. The wait to get a table was insane, so I pushed my way through the bar and lucked out when a couple got up, threw some cash onto the bar, and walked off. I snagged a barstool and looked around. I wasn’t even sure Reece was working tonight, but it was Thursday and if I knew anything, I knew it was probably a good tipping night and she’d be hard pressed to turn down a busy night like this.
Unless she had other plans. Maybe a date…
“Hey, what can I get you?” a good looking older lady wearing a white dress shirt and bow tie asked me from behind the bar.
“Heineken, if you have it.” I flashed her a smile.
She smacked her palm on the bar top and smiled back. “You got it, handsome.”
I looked around some more and saw what looked like a yuppie or after-work crowd. Most were dressed nicely or semi-formally. I figured this would be the case, so I had put on a collared white shirt, dress pants, and a suit jacket myself. The bartender returned quickly with my green glassed beer and set it on a cocktail napkin.
“You wanna start a tab, sugar, or payin’ cash?”
I pulled out a twenty dollar bill and slid it to her. “Cash.”
She grabbed it and smiled. “Great.”
“Hey,” I said to her before she could walk toward the till. “A server named Reece, she work tonight?”
She looked at me quizzically for a split second, then nodded. “Yeah, Reece is always here. She’s one of our best. She works the main floor, though.” She jutted her chin toward the dining area.
I raised my beer in thanks and took a swig.
“You need change?” she asked.
I shook my head no while she smiled and shoved the bill into her apron pocket.
I finished my beer a little quicker than I should have and got up from the bar, not sure what my next move was going to be. I didn’t think interrupting her while she worked was a good idea, but I needed to talk to Reece. Why I was obsessing on this girl, I wasn’t sure, but I did know that I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I felt like a total douche for what I’d said to her the other night, and the fact that she wouldn’t l
et me apologize was eating at me.
Twelve-year-old P.O.S. Toyota…
I walked out to the parking lot and sadly, I was able to identify a car matching that description almost immediately. The only thing even close to it, actually, was a small gold-colored Camry parked in the back of the lot. I wandered over to it and saw the Florida State College parking pass from the rearview mirror and smiled in triumph.
I went to my truck and fired it up, drove it to where her Camry was parked, and took up the spot next to it.
The parking lot of Jake’s began to empty quickly after that. I waited until it was mostly empty and then sucked in a breath when I saw a weary but still beautiful Reece walk out of the establishment wearing a collared black shirt and pants, her white apron wrapped around her hand. She fumbled with her keyring and froze when she got near her car and saw me resting up against it.
About six feet away, she glared at me. “Hunter, what are you doing here?”
I smiled because I couldn’t help it. Just the sight of her flawless skin and messy light brown hair up in that clip made me feel like a seventh grader. “I’m here to see you, of course.”
“Well, you can leave, I don’t have much to say to you,” she replied. She didn’t move though. She couldn’t. I was leaning up against her driver’s side door.
“I’m sorry, Reece.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Sorry for what?”
I turned my head to the side and pushed off her car. “You know for what. I was a condescending asshole – everything I hate – and for that, I’m truly sorry.”
She nodded. “Okay. Well I need to go now.”
“Why haven’t you called or texted me?” I asked, scrambling for anything to keep her talking.
“I don’t have your number,” she said flatly.
“The hell you don’t. I know Claire gave it to you.”
“I didn’t write it down.”
“Yes, you did,” I shot back.
She chewed her lip and looked around the parking lot. “Apology accepted. Goodnight, Hunter.”
She headed toward her car and stood there like she expected me to move. She obviously didn’t know me very well. I stayed rooted to the spot.
Sighing, she got within a foot of me and said, “I’m tired. Can I go home now?”
I drilled my gaze into hers, those hazel eyes of hers looking defiant but tired. “Depends.”
“On what?” she asked, fumbling with her keys.
“Agree to go out with me.”
She quirked an eyebrow at me. “Out where?”
“I don’t care. You choose. I am at your beck and call.”
Reece stared at me hard for a few minutes, a war seeming to rage across her features. Finally she said, “The boardwalk. All day. All the rides, all the funnel cake I can eat.”
A grin I could not control spread across my face. “Deal.”
I moved away from her car door, waited for her to disarm it, and then opened it for her, and with a flourish, indicated for her to get in.
But before she could climb inside, I gripped her upper bicep with my fist, and just touching her made more excited me than it should.
“I’ll pick you up – at your apartment door – at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Be ready.”
Swallowing hard, she looked up at me and nodded. “Okay.”
Before she could completely drop into the driver’s seat, I pushed her toward me, grabbed her hair at the back of the scalp, and pushed her face into mine. Our lips met, and then moved in sync like that’s what they were meant to do. Her arms wrapped around my backside and I got no resistance at all as I kissed her. I think I even heard her groan in the back of her throat. I couldn’t be sure, though, as the shouts in my head of how much this girl was meant for me were drowning out the sound.
“Goodnight,” she said, pulling back from me and sinking into the driver’s side.
Before she closed the door, I said, “Wait. What apartment number?”
She gave me a cheeky grin and said, “Number 216.”
Chapter 4
Reece
Stop looking in the mirror.
Better check myself one more time.
He doesn’t care about the color of your dress, idiot.
Why was my mind warring with me? It was damn annoying, but I couldn’t stop.
I had agreed to go to the beach-boardwalk with Hunter. The same guy who had crushed me into powder when he’d dropped me off at my crappy-ass apartment building almost a week ago and had made no secret of what he thought about where I lived. So why, on God’s green Earth, was I agreeing to see him again? Because I’m weak, that’s why.
Hunter didn’t exactly have humble beginnings. Born into money, I wasn’t sure if he knew what true struggle was. Did he know what it was like to wonder how the hell you were gonna pay rent next month? Did he have to conjure up creative ways to make Top Ramen edible so you didn’t starve? Did he have the stress of having to steal fruit and crackers from the college lunch line and make them last all day so you wouldn’t have to eat Ramen for the seventh night in a row? No, no he didn’t.
Admittedly, a part of me found an escape in just thinking about him. What my life would be life if I found a man like him. Wasn’t that why I was struggling and starving to put myself through nursing school so I wouldn’t have to rely on a man like him? I pulled my lip between my teeth and contemplated it.
Two knocks at the door had me jumping. I checked my reflection one last time and sped for the door like a crazed schoolgirl with a crush. Okay maybe that’s what I was.
Hunter stood there with a day’s worth of blonde stubble on his chin and cheeks, a white polo shirt I wasn’t surprised he had on paired with khaki shorts, and some flip-flops.
“You look beautiful,” he said with a genuine smile.
“So do you,” I said back, not knowing what else to say.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
I nodded. “I am.
I snatched my purse, keys, and phone from the table next to the door. He moved out of the way and I closed and locked the door behind me. I was going to invite him in but I didn’t want him to pass judgement on my tiny studio apartment. I figured he had probably learned his lesson on keeping his mouth shut about me and where I lived, but I just didn’t want to see it on his face.
He led me downstairs to his waiting truck and the drive to the beach was short. There was a small carnival in town that came by once a year and I always went. Usually with friends, but I thought it would be fun to go with him instead this year.
We had to park kind of far out, on a small side street, and walk a distance but it was okay, I needed the exercise.
As we walked, Hunter grabbed my hand and then looked at me and smiled when he saw I was smiling. I couldn’t see his blue eyes from behind his Ray-Bans, but he couldn’t see mine either from behind my cheap red sunglasses.
We walked mostly in silence, and when we reached the beach entrance, he led me toward the area bustling with little booths where vendors sold anything and everything. He was patient when I wanted to stop and look at something, or take a breather in shade, as the day was heating up fast. He would always ask if I liked something or wanted something when I’d stop to inquire.
I know he wanted to buy me things, but no way was I going to let him pay for anything more than a meal at this point. I knew how he felt about my current circumstances and I had to show him I was headstrong and could take care of myself.
Still – a small part of me – the girly, mushy part – felt hugely flattered that he wanted to buy me things. No girl in the world could argue that it felt nice to be taken care of, no matter how damn stubborn you were.
We moved through the vendor tents and into the carnival area and I’m sure my face lit up like a little kid when we reached the excitement of the carnival. I never got to go to these things as a child so the amazement never quite wore off, for some reason.
“Oh, look, funnel cake,” Hunter said, heading towa
rd the little silver makeshift truck selling it.
I yanked on his hand. “We’ll get some later, I’m not that hungry. Let’s go on some rides.”
He stopped and stared at me. “Really? You trust those makeshift carousels and Ferris wheels?”
I pulled my lip into my mouth and looked at him. “Are you scared, Hunter Jenkins?”
He lifted his chin and looked at the Ferris wheel, then back to me. With his shoulders pushed back proudly, he said, “Absolutely not.”
“Then let’s get in line.” I didn’t hide the challenge in my voice.
We walked toward the line to get on and he never let go of my hand. Since it was fairly early in the day, there was no waiting and we got right on. If Hunter was afraid, he didn’t show it.
The carnival worker put us in a swaying red car and strapped us in, then went back to her station. She pushed a button to move us up a space and then strapped in another couple who had come for a ride. This went on for five more times until she closed the makeshift gate and hit a button to get the Ferris wheel going.
I looked over at Hunter as the ride started. “I hope you have a good grip on those flip-flops.”
He nodded. “I’m not too worried about it. It’s just a Ferris wheel.”
I bit back a smile because I could tell he really was nervous and this gave me some sort of strange satisfaction. Just not sure why.
As the ride reached the very top, I sucked in a breath at the view. Crystal blue gulf water stretched out for as far as the eye could see. The endless water’s edge sat straight against a blue sky, the sun winking off every choppy wave.
“Beautiful,” I breathed.
Hunter put his arm around me and he pulled me closer. “I’m going to kiss you.”
Dragging my gaze away from the mesmerizing water, I looked at him. He had his sunglasses on the top of his head and his eyes stared into mine.
“Okay,” was all I could reply with, licking my lips.
He turned his head to the right and pressed his beautiful soft lips to mine. I reached over and slid my hand around his waist. He already had a hand on my bare thigh and I tried to scoot in closer to him.
Bad Boys & Billionaires: An Anthology Page 17
