by J. J. Dorn
LOVELY DISTRACTION
Copyright ©2015 J.J. Dorn
Lovely Distraction is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading and sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
First eBook edition: March 2015
Cover design : © L.J. Anderson at Mayhem Cover Creations
Editing : Deliciously Wicked Edits
Formatting : L.J. Anderson at Mayhem Cover Creations
DEDICATION
Sometimes we find ourselves catapulted down a path in life until something or someone breaks up the momentum that is driving us. It is these moments that can become the loveliest of distractions, if we have the courage to let them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
ChapterTwenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Epilogue
Other Titles
About The Author
PROLOGUE
“Are you totally excited or what, bff?” Olivia beamed at me from the window seat of our first class seats.
“Yes! I can’t believe we are going to Vegas for my Bachelorette party!” I was super excited for a weekend getaway with my two best friends, Audrey and Olivia. In a few short months I was going to be getting married to my boyfriend, Cain Stratford. We had met in law school during our third year. He invited me to a join a study group with him. I thought at first he was just trying to use me for my brain but I was wrong. It took Cain all of three study sessions before he asked me out with such confidence it stunned me at first. But I knew on that first date that Cain and I were perfectly matched. We had similar passions and goals in life. We made sense.
“I, for one can’t wait to get my party on,” Audrey announced from beside me, shifting my attention back to our ensuing trip. I was looking forward to this vacation. I needed it. I was exhausted between planning this wedding and working endlessly as a new associate attorney at a large firm. I was hoping a three day vacation would be the perfect thing to reenergize me.
“Oh shit.” I heard Olivia say as I was rummaging through my bag on the floor in front of me.
“What did you forget?” I looked over at her but her eyes were wide and her face was locked on the front of the plane.
I followed the direction in which Livy was looking and gasped. I couldn’t help it. The mere sight of him sent my body and my mind into overdrive. It took just a half a second before his eyes locked onto mine and a hint of a grin spread wide across his lips. Fuck my life.
“Oh no, here we go.” Audrey mumbled from the seat next to mine. I couldn’t respond to her. I felt like I was having an out of body experience. What are the chances that the one that got away, or in my case the one that ran away, ends up crashing my Bachelorette party?
March 20, 2009…
It was spring break and I was home in Huntsville, Alabama celebrating almost being done with my senior year at the University of Tennessee. Audrey, Olivia and I were on our second round of mojitos when a particularly gangly looking guy approached us.
“Hey ladies, what’s up?” he asked slurring his words slightly.
“Not much.” I jumped in before Liv got ahold of him. I love Livy but she isn’t the most patient person when it comes to drunken morons.
“Well my friends and I were just wondering if you ladies wanted to share a drink with us,” he asked swaying as he talked.
“Oh, that’s nice but I think we are okay.” I told him politely.
“Alright, well if you all change your mind we’ll be over there.” He pointed to a table full of guys that we had been ogling all night. The bar was pretty empty for a Thursday and the group of good looking guys had immediately grabbed our attention. We had chosen to go to our local hang out, Havens. It was a hole in the wall kind of joint, but it always provided endless entertainment.
“Wait, those are your friends?” Livy asked him, her mouth hanging open in astonishment that this kid would even know the guys across the bar.
“Yup. Well, have a nice night.” The drunken guy said and headed back toward his friends.
“Wait, we are coming with you,” Audrey piped up. She stood up and gave Livy and me a look indicating we were to stand up as well.
I followed behind Audrey and Liv as they proceeded to make their way across the bar. I was the shortest of the three of us. Being 5’8 isn’t really considered short but compared to my 5’10 friends; I’m the shorty spice in the group. I watched Audrey sashay her way toward the table. Audrey is a gorgeous girl. She has a supermodel frame that is all leg. Her soft brown hair is medium in length and on this night she loosely curled it giving her that very southern belle look she loved to do.
Livy also strutted her way over to the table with her signature flare. Like Audrey, she’s all leg but has subtle curves that drive men crazy. She is part Hawaiian with jet black hair and the most amazing golden skin that I swear actually glows. She should be a freaking swimsuit model. It’s so not fair.
Unfortunately, I’m not like my two best friends, I am not all leg. I am mostly long torso with some serious curves. Livy and Audrey are always telling me my curves are amazing and I suppose they are right. I know big butts are in thanks to Kim Kardashian, so I guess I have that going for me. I grabbed my stick straight long blonde hair and toss it over one of my shoulders. I don’t know why I was so nervous to talk to these guys, but something in the back of my mind told me to be on edge.
I caught up to the girls so we all reached the table at the same time. I came face to face with the most gorgeous navy blue eyes I had ever seen. I felt the air in the bar being sucked out and my mind raced like I was having a dizzy spell. I couldn't hear or see anything but him, it was like everyone around us disappeared and we were the only two people on the planet. He was freaking beautiful. He had the most delicious tan skin; it was flawless. I could see just a bit of his dirty blonde hair sticking out from underneath his white baseball hat and it intrigued me. I wanted immediately to pull it from his head and run my hands through it. The rest of him was just as delicious. His perfectly sculpted frame was tucked away behind a white button up shirt and khaki shorts, but I could still see the outline of hard muscle underneath his clothes.
“Ladies…these are my friends.” The drunken guy slurred, yanking me back to reality.
The guys all said hello in unison and I watched as they postured to see who would get to talk to which girl.
Hot blue eyes stood up from the table and put his hand out to me. “I’m Jamieson Wellington,” he spoke in the deepest, sexiest voi
ce I had ever heard.
“Hi, I’m Jenna Middleton.” I extended my hand out to meet his. The second I touched him, I felt a wave of heat run through my whole body.
“Well, Jenna Middleton can I buy you a drink?” he flashed me a smile that had trouble written all over it.
“Sure.”
“What would you like?”
“Oh, whisky sour please,” I told him.
Jamieson ordered my drink when the waitress had returned. He found me a chair; conveniently it was right next to his. I looked around the table as I waited for my drink, trying to stamp out my nervousness. Audrey was talking to a very handsome looking guy with the most perfectly chiseled cheek bones. Livy was talking to a guy whom I think said his name was Julian. He was obviously South American of some sort and completely hot. His accent alone was utterly intoxicating.
“So tell me, Jenna. Why haven’t our paths crossed until now? Are you from Huntsville?” Jamieson asked me, looking intrigued.
“Yes, I was born and raised in Huntsville, but I have been going to school in Knoxville. I’m a senior this year.”
“How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” Okay, kind of odd but I’ll answer him.
“Twenty-three. How old are you?” I asked him in return.
“A bit older. That probably explains why we have not met until now,” he drawled in his southern accent.
“Probably.”
“What is your major?” he asked and then took a sip of his drink.
“Computer science.”
“Wow I’m impressed, stunning and smart. That is a lethal combination,” he said flashing me a sly grin that sent my nerves back into overdrive.
I was totally blushing and I knew I was twelve shades of red by this time. “Thanks.”
Jamieson and I continued to chat back and forth for a long time. He asked me lots of questions, but rarely gave me any hints into his life. Not for lack of trying on my part, but he artfully avoided answering my questions. I realized quite quickly that I was in over my head. Jamieson was skilled when it came to ladies, he was an expert. He was a lion and I was his prey. If this was one of those discovery shows about wild African cats, I would have been the stupid gazelle that coyly looked at the lion begging to be eaten. The sadder part was I didn’t feel that bad about it. I was totally in awe of him. He was sexy as hell and funny too. He didn’t seem to have a problem making fun of himself or his friends for that matter. I thought that to be a bit odd considering I could tell this crowd was wealthy. Just from the way they conducted themselves, which was very intimidating. It wasn’t that my family was hard up or anything, we weren’t, but there was a difference between being comfortable and truly wealthy. I had a feeling Jamieson Wellington came from old southern money, the kind that I most definitely had no clue about.
“Oh shit! Mitch just got hit in the face!” One of the guys at the table shouted out. I snapped my head around to see a large husky guy punch their drunken friend in the face.
Chairs instantly flew backwards as the four boys jumped up to aid their friend. I looked over at the girls and we watched as the guys stormed out front of the bar.
“I’ve got to see this,” Liv said standing up and quickly making her way toward the exit. Audrey and I glanced at each other and then jogged to catch up with everyone.
When we got out to the front of the bar, there was a full on brawl taking place, it was hard to even understand what was happening. I could see fists flying and I think I made out the back of Jamieson’s head in the middle of the crowd. We pushed past the small crowd forming and I saw the guy we met earlier, Julian, had their friend Mitch up against the brick wall holding him back looking at his bloody nose. I felt bad for Mitch. He may have been kind of a drunken idiot, but he seemed harmless. I could see why the guys were protective of him, he didn’t mean to offend anyone—he was just clueless.
As I got closer to the center of what was happening, I saw Jamieson and my heart stopped. He was fighting the husky guy from the bar. It was a fairly even match but the big guy was definitely getting some good hits in.
I have no idea what possessed me but I took a step forward like I was going to intervene when a large arm stopped me. “Ladies, I think it’s safer if we stand over here.” The dark haired guy Audrey had been talking to ushered us off the sidewalk next to the parked cars. “Watch your step there is a curb there.”
I could tell this guy was a pretty boy. It was obvious from the fact all of his friends were fighting but he remained completely scuff-free. I don’t know why that bothered me but it did.
“Aren’t you going to stop them?” I asked him, my annoyance laced throughout my voice.
“Nah, they need a good fight every once in a while,” he explained to me like it was no big deal.
I saw something fly through the air and land in a clatter across the pavement. I crouched down to look at what it was and I could see it was a cell phone.
“Hey, I think your friend’s cell phone just landed under that car,” I pointed-out to pretty boy.
“Yeah probably.” He clearly gave a shit less about the phone or any of the events transpiring before him.
“Uh, aren’t you going to get it?” I asked dumbfounded. I looked at Liv and Audrey to see if they were paying attention but they were too concerned with the fight.
“Nah, I don’t want get dirt on my new shirt,” he said coolly.
That infuriated me. I stomped over next to the car and bent down to pick it up, not caring that I was in a mini skirt.
“Jenna, what the hell are you doing? Your butt is hanging out!” Livy exclaimed, freaking out.
“Well I think this is that guy’s cell phone and it flew off under this car. He may want it later,” I explained as I got down on all fours to reach under the car.
It took a minute but I grabbed the cell phone and climbed out from underneath the car. When I popped up there were three sets of eyes staring at me shocked.
“What?” I asked. “It’s not like he was going to get it.” I motioned to the useless pretty boy.
“You’re filthy,” Audrey gasped as she helped me dust off my skirt.
“Ah, it’s alright. It’s just a little dirt,” I told her unconcerned.
I looked around to see what was happening with the fight now. Climbing under the car had only taken a few seconds but it felt like longer because the fight had moved down the sidewalk.
“Alright, alright break it up you knuckle heads.” A huge bald headed man, covered in tattoos crashed in between Jamieson and the husky guy.
I recognized the big guy as a bouncer from Havens. He stood in between Jamieson and the other guy forcing them to go in separate directions. The husky guy hurled some insults at Jamieson and then slowly began to walk away with his friends. Jamieson made his way back up the sidewalk towards us. He stopped next to Mitch and Julian squinting at Mitch’s nose. He looked at it closely, clearly checking out the damage.
“I don’t think it’s broken bud,” he said in an even tone.
“I’m sorry man. I swear I didn’t know she was married,” Mitch replied looking a bit sheepish.
“It’s alright could've happened to anyone,” Jamieson reassured him, patting his shoulder.
I watched this whole exchange like I was watching a movie. It didn’t seem real somehow. I was in awe watching Jamieson go from raging maniac to calm concerned friend in seconds. I know it shouldn’t excite me, but somehow it did.
Jamieson turned around and looked over at the group of us as if he could tell we were watching him. He slowly began striding in our direction. I could see his white shirt was trashed. It had blood all over it, some of it was his and some of it was the other guy’s. He had a fairly large cut above his eyebrow which made my stomach turn a bit. I assumed he was coming to talk to his friends but instead he continued on until he was squarely in front of me.
“I’m sorry you had to see all that,” He watched my face for a reaction.
“Oh, no worries,” I
stammered. “Here, I think your cell phone fell out of your pocket,” I said and thrust my hand out, holding the phone towards him.
“Thanks,” he replied quietly, taking the phone from my hand. When his hand brushed mine electricity melted its way straight up my arm again.
“It was nothing.” I blushed a bit under his stare.
“Yeah right you totally climbed under the car to get it and ruined your skirt in the process!" Audrey exclaimed. Thanks Audrey.
“You did that for me?” His eyes went dark and the intensity that lay behind them was intriguing.
“I knew you would probably want it.” I had no idea what I should have said to him. My mind had suddenly gone blank. We just stared at each other sharing some sort of weird silent connection.
“Hey you ladies want to meet us at Hals in a bit?” Julian broke in from across the sidewalk; putting an end to the connection between Jamieson and me.
Hals was a famous local dinner. It was the original greasy spoon, but it hit the spot perfectly after a night of drinking.
“Sure.” Liv agreed a bit too eagerly.
“Cool, meet us there in a half hour?” Julian told us as the guys started to walk away towards their vehicle.
Jamieson however, didn’t move. He was still staring at me.
“You’re going to come right?” he asked me.
“Yeah, it sounds like it.” I tried to play it cool.
“Good, I’ll see you soon,” his voice was quiet. He hesitated as he turned to leave but finally found his momentum and jogged to catch up with his friends.
“Uh…earth to Jenna. Come in, Jenna.” Liv waved her hand in front of my face waking me from my daze.
“Oh, hey,” I said groggily from my trance.
“What the heck was all that about?” Livy asked with her hands on her hips. Audrey stood behind her with the same question on her face.
“I really have no idea,” I told them truthfully.
“Well whatever it is, it looked like trouble.” Liv smiled. “And you know trouble can be a very good thing, right?” Her grin said it all; she thinks Jamieson and I were going to hook up or something. Liv and Audrey always gave me a tough time about loosening up and living a little. It wasn’t that I was stuck-up or anything, it was just that I was focused.
