by J. S. Cooper
“It’s me.” He laughed mockingly behind me as I walked past him and deeper into the room, and he followed behind me. “You just remembered me?” he said, a huge grin on his face. I stopped and turned around to glare at him. How conceited was he to think I’d remember him after meeting him only once?
“Henry James, right?” I said slowly as if I didn’t know his name well. I’d recognize him anywhere. He was too hot to forget, but way too arrogant to let know I remembered him.
“Lacey, right? I don’t know your last name.” He grinned at me and stared down at my outfit. “I didn’t know you were a waitress.” His eyes surveyed my outfit and I could see from his wicked grin that he was trying to picture me without my clothes on. My body grew hot as he stared at me, and I wanted to groan. Why did he have such an effect on me? I barely knew him, had only met him once before in my life, yet I felt like I’d known him forever and every part of my body wanted to get to know him a whole lot better.
“I’m not really a waitress.” I shrugged. “I just took the gig for the night to make some extra money.”
“I see,” he said and nodded in that way that told me he didn’t really believe me. “You’re a waitress for the night, huh?”
“Yes, this is my first time.” I made a face at him. “I’m really a writer,” I continued, stressing the word writer. Though I felt like a bit of a fake saying that. Was I really a writer, if I’d never actually finished a book or had one published?
“I see,” he said again with a cocky look. I wanted to ask him what exactly he was seeing and if he was always a condescending jerk, but I didn’t. Of course I didn’t. I wasn’t that crazy.
“I have to get back to work,” I said and stepped away from him, my heart racing as I glanced into his light, brightly shining green eyes. I licked my lips nervously as I stared at him. Oh my God, why did he have to be so sexy and handsome?
“So, should I take my pants off now?” He gazed at me with a challenging look.
“What?” I asked him in confusion, swallowing hard as I stared down at his well-fitting black slacks. God, but he had strong, sexy legs.
“You said you wanted to get back to work? I thought you meant you wanted to get back to servicing me.”
“Get back to?” I raised an eyebrow up at him. “I don’t believe I ever started!” I wanted to groan at my words. Why was I encouraging him in this stupidity?
“Then you’re not doing your job well, are you?” He licked his lips seductively, and I swallowed hard and took a step back.
“You really are a pig, aren’t you?” I asked him, my voice confident even though my insides were weak.
“No. Just honest.” He reached over and ran his fingertips across my trembling lips. “I would love to feel your lips on me.”
“What?” I almost screeched, and he laughed loudly as I took a quick bite of his fingertip and snarled at him.
“Oh, Lacey.” He grinned at me and winked as he pulled his fingers away from my lips. “This is going to be a lot of fun.”
“What’s going to be a lot of fun?” I asked dumbly, resisting both the urges to slap him and to kiss him.
“You’ll see.” He winked again and then cleared his throat. He pulled me toward him and I felt the warmth of his body pressed against mine for a few seconds. I could feel my heart beating erratically against his chest as we stood there. He leaned his head down and I felt his lips next to my ear, his breath warm as his lips casually touched my skin. “Now you’ll have to excuse me, I have guests to attend to,” he whispered into my ear. I almost jumped at the feel of his warm breath on my cheek.
“This is your party?” I asked him, my jaw dropping as I pulled away. I’d known he was rich but hadn’t known he was this rich. Whoa!
“Yes,” he said with a smirk. “Welcome to my humble abode.” He gave a small bow and then straightened up again. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you again, Lacey. Until next time.” He nodded at me and then walked to the door, leaving me standing there, gazing after him like a lost puppy dog as he left the room. I swallowed hard and sighed as I watched after him. I needed to call Eliza to tell her what had just happened. She’d never believe me. I almost didn’t believe me. What had just happened? And why did I feel so hot and bothered?
My head felt all a muddle as I stood there, my body shaking. I couldn’t believe that my first waitressing job was here, working for Henry James. When I’d met him at a flag football game a couple of weeks before, I’d never really expected to see him again. He was the half-brother of some rich guy named Xander, who was married to Liz, a friend I’d recently made. He’d been sarcastic and cocky and I’d taken an instant dislike to him, maybe because I’d found him to be too attractive and unnerving. And I hadn’t appreciated the way he’d looked at me, like I was a piece of meat. It was disconcerting seeing him here tonight. I had to admit that he’d been on my mind—and in my dreams, a couple of times—since meeting him. I swallowed hard as I stood there, wondering what would have happened if I had reached over to take his pants off, instead of acting disgusted and shocked by his comment. I shook my head at myself and my thoughts and hurried out of the room so I could go back to work. My face was burning as I hurried back to the kitchen. I knew exactly what we’d be doing if I had reached over to his pants. A part of me couldn’t stop myself from wishing that I had been brave enough to stay in the room and let Henry James do whatever he had wanted to do to me.
A part of me thought I would have really liked it.
***
“Hey, did you have a good time tonight?” Tad asked me as we collected our wages from the redhead, whose name turned out to be Charlize.
“It was harder than I thought it would be,” I admitted with a smile as we walked toward the back door. “But it was pretty fun. And it’s nice to make a hundred bucks for a few hours’ work.”
“Right?” He nodded. “I agree. These rich folks have more money than sense.”
“I can see that.” I laughed in agreement, my mind going to Henry. I had seen him a couple more times throughout the night, but he hadn’t said anything to me again. He hadn’t even made eye contact with me, which had upset me slightly, but I tried to ignore the feeling.
“So you still want to go for that drink?” Tad flashed his pearly whites at me and then flicked his wad of twenties. “And good news for you, I just got paid, so the drinks are on me.”
“Wow, generous.” I laughed as I nodded. “I’d like that. I just need to call my roommate and tell her that I’ll be home a little later.”
“Okay.” He grinned back at me and hooked his hand through my arm. “I’ll escort you out and then you can call her. Does that sound like a plan?”
“Sounds pretty good to me,” I said and we walked to the side door, laughing. “I like a man with a plan.”
“Then you’re really going to like me.” He winked at me as we exited the house and I was about to respond when I walked into something hard.
“Ouch!” I exclaimed as I looked up and my face immediately went hot as I saw Henry’s face in front of me.
“Careful where you’re walking,” he said with a glare as he looked at me and then at Tad. “You could hurt yourself if you’re not paying attention. Or someone else.”
“Sorry,” I said, trying not to snap at him. He was just so infuriating. Something in the way he spoke to me just irritated me right away.
“Where are you two going, then?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Is cleanup done already?”
“Oh, we’re just the servers. We don’t have to clean up,” Tad said with an effortless smile. I don’t think he had any idea that Henry was the owner of the house. “That’s the great part about being a server. Easy money for easy work.”
“Well, it’s not that easy,” I said quickly.
“So, you two know each other well, then?” Henry continued on in his conversation and it suddenly struck me that it was weird that he’d been waiting outside the side entrance. Why was he here? And why was he quest
ioning us? Had he wanted to see me again? The thought struck me, but then I quickly dismissed it. If he’d wanted to talk to me again, he could have at the party. Instead, he’d just ignored me.
“We just met tonight,” Tad said. “But we’re about to go for a drink and get to know each other better.” He gave me a sweet side-look, and I beamed at him.
“Oh, really?” Henry’s voice sounded light, but there was an edge to it. “I’m afraid that Lacey will have to catch up with you later.”
“Oh? Why?” I said, annoyed as I looked at him.
“I need to talk to you,” Henry said abruptly. “About the work you did tonight.”
“What about it?”
“I wasn’t impressed by the way you skulked around the room.” Henry’s tone became snarky. “I felt like you didn’t give my guests the proper attention that you were being paid for and I’d like to discuss your work ethic with you before I tell Charlize. I wouldn’t want you to lose such a cushy job.”
“You what?” My jaw dropped in shock. “Are you joking?”
“Oh.” Tad looked at me with a worried expression. “Uhm, you know the owner and you didn’t tell me?” His eyes became narrowed and he frowned. “Oh my God, you weren’t spying on us, were you?”
“What are you talking about?” I frowned. “Why would I be spying?”
“Well, if you’re friends with the guy that owns this house and is holding the party…” His voice trailed off and he shrugged, looking back and forth at me and Henry.
“I’m not a spy. And Henry and I are not friends.”
“Lacey, why are you keeping up this lie?” Henry said smoothly, with a disappointed look on his face. “Doesn’t your new friend deserve to know the truth?”
“The truth?” My jaw dropped. “What are you talking about?”
“Lacey, you can just come back inside now.” Henry pursed his lips. “Stop playing games.”
“I’m not playing any games.” I glanced over at Tad. “Trust me, I’m not a spy and Henry and I are not friends.”
“So you do know him, though?” Tad’s boyish face was wrinkled up as he concentrated.
“Yes. Well, no. Kinda.” I sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“And you knew he was holding the party tonight?”
“Yes. Well, no, not until this evening…” My voice trailed off as I realized how pathetic I sounded. “Do you still want to go for a drink?” I said weakly, feeling like a fool for even asking the question. As if he was going to want to go for a drink with me now.
“Uhm…” Tad bit down on his lower lip and I could see that he looked confused.
“I’ll pay.” I grinned at him, ignoring the glare I could see Henry giving me. “I just got paid.”
“Really, Lacey, why are you playing games with this boy?” Henry sounded angry. “We had one little fight and now you want to go off and have drinks with someone else to make me jealous?”
“Whaaaa…?” My jaw dropped open as I glanced at him in shock. His eyes gazed into mine with a devious look, and I just shook my head. “He’s lying.” I looked over at Tad, who was now frowning and backing away. “Trust me, he’s just trying to make me look bad.”
“Hey, I don’t know what game you guys are playing, but I’m not interested. Sorry.” Tad shook his head and mumbled something under his breath about always meeting the crazy ones. “I’ll see you later,” he said quickly and practically ran away from us.
“How dare you?” I turned to Henry and hit him in the shoulder. “How could you do that?”
“Do what?” He smiled at me innocently. “All I said was that I wanted to talk to you.”
“You did a lot more than that.”
“Oh?” He took a step toward me. “Exactly what else did I do?”
“You made him think that we had something…” My voice trailed off and I took a step back from him, starting to feel uncomfortable at the way he was looking at me.
“Something like what?” He licked his lips slowly, his mouth curving up like a wolf that was getting ready to eat his prey.
“You know.”
“No, I don’t.” He smiled innocently. “Why don’t you tell me?”
“You made him think we had something tawdry.”
“Tawdry?” He chuckled. “How so?”
“If you need me to explain, then you…” I gasped as I felt his arms around me, pulling me toward him. “What are you doing?”
“I thought I’d do something tawdry.” He leaned down and grinned at me. “Seeing as that’s what I was being accused of, right?”
“Henry…” I swallowed hard. “Let go of me.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Henry…” My eyes widened as I felt his hands running up and down my back.
“Yes, Lacey?” he said softly, and I blinked up at him, all words incapable of exiting my mouth.
“Nothing,” I said finally, knowing that anything I said would be used against me. Henry wasn’t the sort of guy to care about what I had to say. I wasn’t sure what he wanted or what game he was playing, but of one thing I was certain: he was definitely playing a game with me. And he was watching to see how I was going to react. It was all about my reaction. Maybe if I didn’t react, he wouldn’t want to continue. Maybe he’d grow bored and just leave me alone. Not that I was sure I wanted him to leave me alone. I liked the attention. I liked that he even noticed me. Guys like him didn’t normally notice girls like me. In fact, they never did.
“Come inside for a bit.”
“Why?” I shook my head at him, though I really wanted to say yes. “I’m going home.”
“So we can talk. Maybe have a drink.”
“No, thanks.” I rolled my eyes at him. “I know what a drink means.”
“So you were willing to have a drink with Tad, but not with me?” He looked annoyed. I just stared at him, trying not to smile at the slight jealousy I felt emanating from him.
“I guess that’s true.” I nodded. “But you ruined that.” I shrugged. “So now I’m going home.”
“If that’s what you want to do.”
“Yes, that’s what I want to do.” I smiled sweetly at him. “Have a good night, Henry.”
“You’re seriously just going to leave?” He frowned.
“Would you rather me not seriously leave?” I tried to joke with him to lessen the tension that was building up between us and making me feel uncomfortable.
Henry James just stood there, staring back at me, an unreadable expression on his face as I awkwardly made faces at him. I was being totally uncool and nerdy and I knew it. “I can make like a tree and leave if you want.” I cracked a joke, trying to make him smile, but still nothing. I shifted back and forth and gave him a weak smile. “So I think I’m going to go now…” I said and took a step back.
“If that’s what you really think you want.” He shrugged, his eyes staring at my face keenly. “Though, I don’t think that’s what you really want.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re excused.” He gave me a small bow. “Bye.”
“What?” I blinked at him, feeling oddly dismissed.
“You can go now.”
“But…” I just stared at him and then shook my head. “Okay, bye.”
“Don’t run too quickly after Tad. You don’t want to look too eager.”
“Whatever,” I muttered under my breath as I turned around, feeling oddly frustrated. “See ya.”
“In your dreams, I’m sure,” he said, but I ignored him as I hurried away from his house and quickly toward my car.
“Asshole,” I hissed as I walked away, my mind spinning, wondering exactly what had just happened. I still wasn’t really sure what that encounter had been about, but I knew I had done the smartest thing for my own peace of mind. Yes, maybe I could have gone in for a drink and maybe I’d even have enjoyed his company, but I was pretty sure all he wanted from me was a night of hot passionate sex, and as great and exciting as that sounded, I wasn’t sur
e it would be smart for me to do that. I wasn’t sure I wanted my first real sexual experience to be with someone like Henry James. I had a feeling he would make it hard for any other guy to live up to and I didn’t need him to set a bar so high that it could never be met in the future by a guy who would commit to me. Because there was one thing I knew for sure: Henry James was not the sort of guy who was looking to settle down.
Chapter Two
“Let’s run away from here,” he said, his voice deep. “Let’s run away and start over. You can keep up with me, right?”
“Yes,” I said, but my brain was screaming at me, What are you thinking?
“Good.” He pulled me toward him, his green eyes focused on my face intently. “As long as you can keep my secrets, everything will be okay.”
“Do you love me?” I asked softly, and his eyes widened in that familiar sexy way.
“Let me show you how much I love you, Lacey,” he said, and I waited for that familiar ripple of excitement to pass through my body as he pulled me toward him. He kissed me deeply and I melted into him. “I have to go now, Lacey,” he said abruptly as he pulled away from me, and I could feel my heart racing in panic.
“Wait, Henry! Don’t go,” I said, pleading as I felt him drifting away from me, fading into oblivion. My body started to grow cold as he disappeared. “Don’t go!” I cried out, fighting the light as I felt my body stirring. My eyes popped open and I stared at the wall, blinking rapidly, my heart beating fast, my body still warm from being next to him. “No,” I whined out loud, feeling hot, bothered and slightly embarrassed at the fact that I’d been dreaming about Henry.
“Lacey, you awake?” Eliza knocked on my bedroom door as I sat up and tried to get the image of Henry out of my mind.
“Yes.” I groaned slightly as I rubbed my eyes, and she walked in. “I had the dream again,” I said to her before she could speak.
“Of Henry James?” She looked surprised as she sat on my bed. She raised her eyebrows at me and looked at me curiously.
“The one and only,” I groaned. “I just don’t understand why I keep dreaming about him. I don’t even know him.”
