“You need to eat and once the hen party starts, you won’t eat again. Tell me, I’m wrong?”
She shook her head. “If I eat this food on top of what I ate already, it will push me in the other direction; I’ll pass out from hyperglycemia.”
“Save it for later; especially if you’re drinking tonight.”
“I don’t drink, per se. I might have a glass of wine or a fruity mixed drink, but no hard liquor. Diabetics should avoid alcohol or use their head and stop after one or two drinks.”
“I guess you’re the designated driver when you’re out with friends.”
“Yes I am when I spend an evening with the girls.”
The hotel’s bright lights guided Walker through the curvy path to the guest parking lot. Locating a space close to the front door, he gathered the food, and they hurried inside. The massive lobby consisting of polished marble floors and tall ceilings was nearly empty except for the service personnel hanging around the front desk.
The older woman behind the service desk called to them. “Excuse me; may I help you?”
Walker didn’t stop his stride towards the bank of elevators. “Nope, she knows the way to her room.” He chuckled as the old bird’s head lowered, and her eyes peered over the rim of the wired glasses teetering on the end of her nose. It was the twenty-first century, and a number of people still had issues with different races mingling together.
The brass-colored elevators doors opened, and Nicole pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. The soft hum of the elevator was the only sound circulating in the compartment. Walker cleared his throat. The question he wanted to ask had to be done; it was now or never. “Nicole, may I ask a personal question?”
“Sure but my honest answer will be dependent on how personal the question is.” The elevator doors opened to the desired floor. “My room is around the corner, can your questions wait until we are there?”
“Yeah, it can wait.”
Nicole stopped in front of door 1401. A block of rooms on the floor had been reserved for Patty and Jeremy’s out of town guests and the bridal party. Digging inside her purse, she found the keycard. “Let me do that for you,” Walker said handing her the food and drinks. Opening the door, the room was basic but furnished nicely with a couch, chair, double bed, desk, and a 32-inch flat screen television.
Nicole put the food on the coffee table and took off her coat. “Okay, what did you want to ask me?”
Walker followed her lead and removed his coat laying it across the bed. “I’m gonna be blunt and ask. How does your boyfriend handle your illness?”
Nicole’s left eyebrow instantly lifted. “Seriously…that is what you really want to know?”
“You got me. Nicole, do you have a boyfriend?”
Her smiling eyes had not lost their luster despite what she’d been through. Walker stood patiently not caring for the silent treatment she was exhibiting. He didn’t know her and couldn’t read her mind like he could Mary Ellen. That was the problem with meeting new women. Each woman he’d dated had no common similarities. Mary Ellen came across as a mother protecting her children from men who may not receive them. In the end what she wanted was a man to take her boys under his authority so she could play freely with her ex-husband.
The scent of Nicole’s perfume lingered under his nose as she reached across him to take his coat from the bed and hang in the closet.
Fed up with the silence, Walker cornered her against the closet door. He placed his hand on the wall trapping her between the door and his muscular frame. Nicole had not taken off her high-heeled boots and he towered over her. Her brown eyes widened then surrendered. A notion to kiss her swept over him. He would gladly accept whatever punishment she laid on him afterward.
With his face close to her, he said in a gentle voice, “Are you thinking how to let me down gently? If the answer is yes, there is really no argument I can make. Your life is in Columbus and mine is in Cleveland.”
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend,” Nicole replied, her voice lacking any emotion. “Now that you have your answer, may I have my freedom?”
He took a step backward letting her pass under his arm. “I’m sorry, Nicole. It’s been one hell of a day.”
“I empathize with you. You got dumped by your girlfriend, and you’re pretending it doesn’t bother you.”
“It doesn’t bother me. I’m blatantly hitting on you because I find you attractive and want to get to know you.”
“And you thought that grandiose move would get my attention?”
He moved towards her. “What I did was stupid and I apologize. Believe me, I don’t force myself on women; I’m a gentlemen.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I would hope not. What gentleman traps a woman against a wall?”
He clasped his hands together bowing and begging. “Please forgive me. It will never happen again.”
“Well if you ever do anything like that again, you will be nursing your damaged jewels.”
Walker crossed his legs. “Ouch. Are you quick to knee a guy?”
“I have a black belt in karate. I could have had you on your back screaming like a baby before you knew what struck you.”
He inched closer to her. “Why didn’t you chop me down to size? You had me in the perfect position.”
“I do have a heart sometimes; two strikes against you in one day would be cruel. Besides, you saved my life.”
He didn’t respond but allowed his eyes to linger with hers. The magnetic forces gravitating around them, was strong and drew him deeper to her drowning out her talking, temporarily.
Nicole crinkled her nose and released a grunt. “I don’t care for arrogant men.”
He blinked returning to the present. “I’m not arrogant but forward. One thing about me is I don’t have a problem going after what I want.” He’d said it and was sticking to it. And, suddenly his stomach gurgled, and it wasn’t as much from hunger as it was from the excitement bubbling with anticipation of spending an entire evening with a mysterious, beautiful woman.
Her eyebrows pinched together as she walked away from him to sit on the couch. “Your food is getting cold.”
“I don’t know what it is about you making me use unorthodox methods, but I assure you, this is not how I operate.”
She opened the fast food bag removing the salad and his sandwich. “Oh, somehow I suspect unorthodox methods are what you use to lure unsuspecting women into your web.”
He pulled the boxy chair around the opposite side of the coffee table and sat down. Unwrapping the cold hamburger, he took a bit quickly washing the nasty flavor of imitation charbroil and strong onions, down with the milkshake that remained thick and creamy.
“I thought you weren’t hungry or are you eating because I’m making you nervous?” He asked tilting the straw of the shake until it touched his lips.
Nicole stabbed a chuck of chicken with her fork putting it in her mouth. “As grateful as I am to you, I’m not having sex with you tonight.”
He coughed spitting milkshake from his mouth after her comment. The chocolate mixture spilled down the front of this sweater. “Whoa! Where did that come from?”
“So you aren’t expecting any type of payment for helping me earlier?”
“Hell no! I’m definitely not expecting sex as payment.”
“Then why are you hovering over me? You have to want something for your trouble.”
“All I want is to talk to you!” His baritone voice deepened as he raised his voice.
“Okay!” She shouted back. “We’ll talk. I’ll warn you; I’ve had encounters with men like you. I will not be easily taken by your charm.”
“Charm? You think I’m charming,” he said wiggling his eyebrows.
“Well, you’re handsome, easy to talk with; both those are catalyst for leaving women broken hearted in the end.”
“Nicole, what man has broken your heart?”
“We can talk about anything but my love life. Do you wa
nt to talk about your breakup with Mary Ann?
“Her name’s Mary Ellen and no I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Don’t you demand closure to move forward? How long were you with her?”
“Tonight I got the truth and closure flushed down with the eight months of suspicion I spent with her.”
“How she did you was awful, Walker. Relationships are hard for single people. How couples maintain a relationship when children and ex-spouses are involved is beyond me.”
Walker folded the wrapping paper around the uneaten burger and tossed it in the bag. “Getting to know the man or woman is the key to a happy relationship. I look at my brother and Patty. He knew she was the one for him and didn’t stop until she realized the same.”
Nicole nodded adding dressing to her salad and taking another bite. “They are great together. Patty doesn’t just love Jeremy, she adores him, and he worships her.”
“Yeah, love of that caliber doesn’t happen for everyone.” He reached over with a napkin and wiped the smudge of salad dressing from her upper lip. He shocked himself with the move and stood up. “I should go and let you get ready for the hen party tonight.”
She stretched thrusting her chest upward causing his hormones to spike. To control his awakening libido, he gathered the trash on the table and dumped it in the wastebasket by the closet door. He looked down at his shirt. The stain from the chocolate shake caused an unsightly pattern in the center of his chest. He pulled the sweater over his head unearthing the shirt he wore underneath from the waist of his pants.
His head turned in Nicole’s direction catching her watching him. He knew he was in great shape. Operating an automotive shop kept him busy. Lifting and hauling heavy equipment twelve hours a day or longer, was hard physical labor that paid off by giving him bulging muscles in his arms, shoulders, and legs. He tucked his shirt inside the waistband of his pants. “I hate wearing dirty clothes.”
Nicole licked her lips. “That is cashmere. You should have rinsed that stain right away; it’s a chance the milk ruined it.”
“You say its cashmere; I say it’s a sweater.” He tossed it in the wastebasket with the remains of the fast food.
“What are you doing?” She scurried over retrieving the sweater from the basket. “Take it to the cleaners before throwing it away.”
She shoved the sweater between his hands causing their hands to meet. Her fingers were slender and her skin cool. Walker let his thumb slightly caress the outside of her hand defining the structure of her bones. Silence fell between them. Walker moved his other hand using a finger to caress the side of her face. He expected her to back away but she did not.
Touching her soft skin made his own crawl with desire. “Nicole, I don’t want you to be surprised by this, but I’m about to kiss you.”
Her lashes lowered from his eyes to focus on his succulent lips. “Since we’re using outdated clichés, I might slap your face if you do.”
“I’ll sacrifice my left cheek to make it easy for you.”
His arm went around her waist pulling her close to him. He tilted her chin upward with his forefinger. Bending his head their lips were about to touch when a hard knock from the other side of the hotel door came.
“Ignore it,” he whispered as the tip of his upper lip met hers.
Nicole attempted to pull away not completing the kiss. “It’s probably Patty. I have to answer the door.”
Walker kept his hand on the small of her back. “Tell her to come back later.”
“I can’t, Walker. She knows you are here.”
He groaned releasing her as the knocking continued outside the door. “We’ll continue this later.”
Nicole stared at him opening the door. “Hey, Patty,” she said smiling meekly.
Patty hugged her. “I got worried when you didn’t open the door. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said moving away from her hold.
Patty entered the room and spotted Walker behind the door. She looked at him then back at Nicole. “Am I interrupting anything?”
“Yes,” Walker spat out matter-of-factly.
“No you aren’t,” Nicole chimed in. “Walker was getting ready to go when you knocked.”
“Yeah, I was getting ready to go alright,” he said getting his coat from the closet.
Patty chewed on her lower lip. “Nicole, can I have a word with Walker; it won’t take but a minute.”
“Sure, I wanted to change into my nightgown for the pajama party anyhow.” She went to the dresser removing a silky red garment and disappeared into the bathroom.
Walker folded his arms across his chest. “You have impeccable timing, Patty.”
“You little devil; were you about to….”
“I’ll never know where that kiss would have led—will I.”
“You kissed her? I knew she would like you.”
“We were about to heat things up with a kiss until you interrupted.”
“This is great! What a blessing Mary Ellen dumped you tonight.”
“A blessing? I wouldn’t call being dumped a day before your wedding a blessing.”
“Walker, please. You will not lose any sleep over Mary Ellen.”
“No, I won’t, but I’m not filled with joy over it either.”
“Nicole will give you those fuzzy feeling Mary Ellen could not provide. She is a wonderful woman. She is independent, strong and has such a big heart.”
“I have forty-eight hours to get her interested in me, Patty. That time-frame is impossible for even me to work my magic.”
Patty swatted him on the shoulder. “You are halfway there. Wait, didn’t you have on a sweater?”
He rubbed his hands across his chest rumpling his white shirt. I spilled chocolate shake on my sweater.”
“I bet you did,” she said with a crooked grin. “Anyhow, let me work on Nicole during the party. I will call you when we disburse for the night.”
“I’m supposed to show up at her door in the middle of the night? I don’t think she’ll approve of that.”
“Walker, forty-eight hours to work your magic remember. You don’t have any minutes or hours to spare to get Nicole to fall under your spell.”
“I don’t care how long it takes. God help me, Patty, I will travel 71-South to Columbus, every freaking weekend until she notices me.”
“You are crazy enough to do that. Look, Jeremy is waiting for you at the Old Tavern bar. I will work on Nicole and call you later with any progress. Walker, don’t drink a lot trying to wash that witch, Mary Ellen, from your system.”
Putting on his coat, he grinned. “Who?”
Chapter Three
Walker strode through the crowded bar with a pep in his step. The day had started on a good note, soured and then regrouped to even itself out. He entered the private room reserved for Jeremy’s bachelor party. He believed having a guy’s night out the night before his wedding was asking for trouble, but that was Jeremy.
The noise from the loud-thumping music was sealed behind the heavy door separating the private party from the rest of the bar. Instantly, the smoke filling the room burned his eyes. Walker took a few steps and noticed the scantily dressed women entertaining men smoking cigars and stuffing dollar bills in the G-strings of the women prancing around them. A half-naked woman, he presumed a stripper, was in the middle of her routine. Jeremy seated front and center watching the show fully enthused.
A strong hand grabbed onto his shoulder. He turned to see Lance standing behind him clinging onto a woman who appeared barely of legal age to be in the bar. “Hey, Lance. What’s with the strippers, man? I thought we were going to have a few beers and call it a night.”
“I couldn’t let your brother go out like that! For the next forty-years, he will be tied to the same woman, getting the same sex, and waking up to the same face. He had to have something to remember before taking the vow to give up women for the rest of his life.”
Walker laughed nodding his head. “I
agree but I don’t think Patty will appreciate Jeremy having a massive hangover at the wedding tomorrow.”
“He’s been limited to two drinks but given a supply of condoms to use as he pleases. Your hands are empty; are you drinking your normal, buddy?” He asked motioning for a waitress.
“Nah, it’s too late to be drinking liquor. I’ll have a beer.”
“The night is young; the girls are hot, and you don’t have a broad to answer to anymore; at least that’s what I heard. You should be celebrating.”
“You heard right, but I know my limitations and if I’m going to be at the wedding tomorrow, I need to stick to beer tonight.”
“It’s your call, man. But, I’m taking advantage of tonight,” he said nuzzling his head between the young woman’s breasts. “Hey, these things are like pillows from heaven. You wanna given ‘em a try?”
“I’m cool. I’m only sticking around for bit.”
“Ah, I see what you’re doing.”
Walker pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders. “What am I doing besides being responsible for a change?”
“Bullshit, Walker. We’ve been friends since high school. I know you, dude. You are a ladies man. I’ve been with you to nightclubs and saw women willing to drop their panties because you smiled at them. So what’s up? Are you hunting the chick you were with earlier?”
“I’m not hunting any woman. I don’t feel like drinking,” he lied. He wanted to remain sober in case Patty called saying Nicole wouldn’t mind having him stop over tonight.
“Whatever; she was hot, and I wouldn’t mind getting to know her.”
“Don’t you have your hands full at the moment?” The waitress handed him a beer. He took the beer waiting for her to return to her job of taking orders for drinks. When she stood there, he asked. “Do you want me to pay you now?”
His eyes were drawn to her low cut blouse revealing creamy mounds of goodness. “I’m not just your waitress but your date for the night. Do you want to go upstairs now or later?”
He turned to Lance, who was laughing and snickering. “Is she serious?”
“Yup, she’s serious. I thought it would be fun to give each guy a gal for the night. This way no one strikes out.”
Yearning for Love Page 4
