Then I turn.
Oh my God. Up close she’s even more gorgeous. She actually makes my heart skip an excitable beat. It must just be the thrill of having someone here to take my mind off how boring it is. It can’t be anything more. Can it?
My lips curve up into a smile as our eyes lock, and she can’t seem to resist giving me the same expression back. Something about the moment feels intense and powerful, like it might be the start of something important.
“Hi,” I say strongly, needing to keep her attention all on me. “You were absolutely incredible up there, Lola Boots.”
Chapter 3 – Lola
The way that my name rolls off his tongue makes me shiver. There’s something very intensely sexual about his words which seems impossible considering it’s only my name, but that’s just how it feels. I don’t know how to take it, I feel all weird and squishy inside.
“Erm, yes, thank you,” I say awkwardly back. “I’m glad you liked the show.”
It feels weird to really be talking to him. I’ve spent the last half an hour fantasizing over him and feeling his eyes intensely look at me, and now I’m talking to him normally. It’s just too odd for words. I don’t know what to do with myself. I wish my hot pants weren’t so short that I don’t have any pockets. I need somewhere to put my hands so they don’t just hang.
“Oh it was very interesting. It’s made my first night in this town very… thrilling.”
“I thought you must be new.” There’s no point in lying, we can see how tiny it is here. “We don’t get many new faces around here so someone new is easy to pick out.”
“Actually, that’s why I’m here, to change that.” I give him a curious look while I wait for him to explain. “I’m here on a property development project, out in The Fields.”
My face falls and I feel a bit sick. I’ve been dead against the new housing project and all the associated building plans around it because although it’s boring and small time around here, I don’t know that a new project will help that. I actually think it’ll hinder it and take all the character out of this place. It’s a farming town and that’s all it needs to be.
“Oh,” I reply coldly as my eyes fix down on the floor. “Right.”
“I take it you don’t like it?” he asks, sounding bemused. “Are you a protestor?”
“This isn’t the sort of place that people protest.” I offer him a half shrug. “It’s just not the sort of place that we need new development projects, that’s all.”
“So you don’t want to expand? You don’t want something new?” He doesn’t understand, I can just hear it in his voice. “I’m surprised to hear that from someone so young.”
“You live in the city, right?” I stare defiantly at him. In his bar seat he looks broad and muscular, but I can just tell from the length of his legs that he’s over six foot. He’ll tower above me when he stands upright. If I’m going to be strong I need to do it now while we’re on the level. “So I suppose you don’t understand what this town is like.”
He pauses for a second with a grim look on his face and I wonder if maybe I’ve overstepped my mark. I don’t like why he’s here, but he’s still the most exciting thing to happen to this place in recent history, I don’t want to completely alienate him.
But then he talks again, proving that I haven’t. “I suppose you’re right. I don’t know what it’s like to live in a place like this. I assume you should want development, but maybe not. Maybe I’m wrong. I’ll have to report that back to my father.”
My face breaks into a grin as I start to get a better picture of him. He might be a flash, rich, city boy, but he has complications of his own. He has a controlling father who he apparently works for, and who sends him to run difficult projects that people will resist again. I might have only just scratched the surface of him a tiny bit, but I actually like learning this little bit about him. It’s kind of cool, it’s interesting to get to know someone new.
“I see, so it’s your father who’s to blame, not you.” I take a seat next to him and watch him squirm a little bit. “He decided on this project and you just have to do as you’re told.”
I can see him struggle. He doesn’t want to admit that he isn’t in control but he also doesn’t want to take the blame for something that isn’t his fault. I like that I’ve disarmed him, it gives me a little bit of the power too. I lean onto my elbow on the bar and watch him.
“I… I guess not. I mean, I do tell other people what to do as well,” he stammers over his words. “But yeah, I think I do a lot of what I’m told. I didn’t notice that before.”
Doreen comes over to me with a glass of wine that I already know she won’t take any money from me, this is just another part of our weekly routine, and as she hands it to me she gives me a warning look. I can pretty much read her mind, she doesn’t think I should be talking to this sexy stranger, and she’s probably right, but I’m sick of doing what’s right. Just for once, just to try something new, I want to do what’s wrong.
Maybe I’m getting a little bit tired of my current life, not that I’m about to change it. Maybe I just want to push it to one side just for a night. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? I’m twenty two years old, this is the time for experimentation and fun. I’m not doing anything that anyone else my age wouldn’t… the only difference is that I shouldn’t be living at home to have this fun. But still, what choice do I have?
“So, how long are you here for?” I flutter my eyelashes in a much more seductive way. It comes out of me as if from nowhere. “To finish your little project, I mean.”
“A few months. I’m not one hundred percent sure, it depends how long it takes to complete, I suppose. Could be a year, could be three months.”
“Ooh.” I take a big sip of my drink, steadying my nerves. “I see. How will you cope away from the big city for all that time? Will you have to go home on weekends?”
“It depends if I have anything keeping me here, I suppose.” He holds out his glass for me to clink against in a cheers gesture. “We’ll just have to see.” He slugs the rest of his drink back. “Doreen, we’ll have two more drinks here.” He pauses for just a moment and thinks about what he’s said. “Actually, we’ll have a bottle of wine. White.”
He’s taking control, ordering my drinks for me in a powerful way that entices me. The men around here, not that there are many anywhere close to my age, aren’t strong like this. Maybe that’s what makes me keep them at arms length, I just don’t want to know if I don’t think they can take command of me. It doesn’t even bother me that he probably acts this way all the time when it comes to women. Right now, it’s for me and me alone.
After all, this isn’t ever going to be a long term thing, is it? What do I have to worry about? “Oh right, thank you.” I let him pour me a drink. “That’s very kind of you.”
“You’re very welcome.” He stares into my eyes and I lose myself in the warm, hazelnut color looking back at me. He looks like he has layers and layers that need to be pulled back, and I can’t wait to at least do a little bit of that. “You deserve it after that singing.”
I can’t take any more compliments on my singing, it’s getting a bit overwhelming so I find a way to change the subject instead. Anything will do. “You know, I don’t actually know your name. I don’t usually accept drinks from strangers.”
“Oh right, well it’s Brandon Heath-Smith,” he tells me, as if I should know what that means. I’d look him up online to see what’s so special about him if he wasn’t sitting right in front of me. “The Heath-Smith name is famous in old money, it’s also a big one in business too. I mean, I don’t expect you to have heard of me, but yeah…”
I don’t know if that’s an arrogant comment or not so I chose to ignore it. Maybe he gets by on his name usually, but this isn’t the big city. He needs to get by on his own damn merits.
“Oh right I see, well the Boots name is important here… but then you probably already know that since you’ve been here for at l
east an hour.”
At first he widens his eyes in shock at my words, he can see I’m taking the piss, but soon he bursts into laughter as if I’m the funniest person alive. His chuckling is infectious and soon I’m joining in, giggling alongside him like we’re a couple of school kids acting foolish.
“Oh yeah, I heard the Boots daughter is kind of a bitch though. This singer who’s a real diva. Big dreams and even bigger demands, you know the sort?”
“Oh I know… but I didn’t hear that.” I slurp my drink, feeling a little drunk now. “I heard she’s super sweet and everyone lives her. Isn’t that right, Doreen?”
“Oh we all love you alright,” she replies while giving Brandon a warning look. “That’s why we’re all here for you, looking after you.”
She zaps a bit of fun out of the game, I start to wish I didn’t bring her into it, but then Brandon gives me a playful wink as if we’re on the same side. Us against them. I like it. It makes me want to sidle closer to him, to wrap my arms around him, to kiss him…
“What do you have planned now?” he asks me thickly. “Do you have anything that you usually do once you finish singing a set?”
“If I did, I’ve already broken it by sitting here and drinking with you. One drink is my standard, now I’ve had a couple, so I guess all routine is gone.” God, it’s freeing to say that. I didn’t realize how constricted I felt by the rut I’m in until that very moment. “It looks like anything is possible.”
“It is… the only thing we’re constricted by is the small town we’re stuck in.” When I gave him a look he quickly retracts that sentence. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I just presume there isn’t another bar we can go to.”
Okay, admittedly he has me there. “No, I suppose not,” I drawl slowly. “But there are other things we can do. You just need to use your imagination.”
His eyes become heavy and thick with lust. I have him exactly where I want him. “Oh yeah? Well my imagination has thousands of ideas.”
Of course he does. This is a man who knows exactly what he’s doing in the bedroom. The fantasy of his fingers all over my body, exploring every damn inch of me, might just about to become real. I shiver and smirk before sliding off my chair and making it absolutely obvious that I want to go. This is all fun but I want more. My body has been asleep for far too long and now it’s awake again. It needs to find some serious satisfaction and since it looks like I’m not going to get my ‘alone time’ anymore, I might as well have some ‘together time’ with this seriously sexy stranger. After all, how often does the opportunity for that to happen come around?
“Are we going?” he asks me happily.
“That depends.” I lean across the bar and stare intently into his eyes. “Are you finished here?”
“Oh I’m finished.” He stands up without hesitation. “I’m ready, let’s get out of here.”
And then in his commanding way he stalks from the bar, leaving me with absolutely no choice but to follow him.
Chapter 4 – Brandon
So, what are the chances of me getting to see your place then?” I ask Lola cheekily as we leave the bar. I know I wanted to take her back to my motel to dirty the place up with her, but now that I’ve spent just a few moments with her I think she might be too good for that. Not for the being dirty part, I still want to see if she has that part in her, but the motel bit. It just seems to seedy for someone like Lola. “Or is that me pushing it a bit?”
Without answering me, Lola snakes her fingers through mine and she drags me along behind her. With any other woman the fact that she’s holding my hand might feel weird and possessive, but Lola just has this way about her that simply feels playful and fun.
“I see, you’re going to be like that, are you? Fine, I don’t mind.”
“You don’t mind?” She spins around and smirks at me. I feel like her blue eyes are piercing into my soul. “So you don’t mind letting go of control then?”
“Are you always this perceptive?” I can’t help but ask. “It’s a little weird that you can see things about me without us even talking much.”
It’s mostly weird to me that she cares. If I think back to all the meaningless experiences that have come before, I realize that’s been a two way street. I haven’t cared about learning anything about the girls, just like they haven’t me. They haven’t wanted to know what goes on deep inside me, they simply care about my name, my reputation, and my bank balance. Shedding that here in this small town, even if it’s just for a short while, is surprisingly fun.
I never thought I wouldn’t want to be a Heath-Smith, but as it turns out, for now I don’t.
“I am quite perceptive,” she says quietly, changing her tone for just a moment. “I knew that Mom was sick way before she did. I kept begging her to go to the hospital but she never would. Not until it was too late anyway.” Her eyes fix on the ground as we walk, but still she doesn’t take her hand away from mine. I wasn’t expecting this vulnerable moment from this cool and spunky girl, but surprisingly I don’t mind it. Maybe this trip will end up bringing out a whole new side to me. “I also knew that Rory would be gone long before he did…” Suddenly she glances up as if she’s just remembered I’m here and she’s horrified at herself. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to get all heavy then, I don’t know what happened to me…”
“No, it doesn’t matter.” I need to put her out of her misery quickly before she falls into a pit of guilt. “Actually, when Doreen was warning me away from you she said you’ve had loss and heart break. How long ago was it?” I need to know to work out how I should behave.
“Four years, so a long time ago.” She gives me a weak smile and a bit of a giggle. “Long enough ago that Doreen doesn’t have to treat me like a child anymore.”
“Oh I think she just cares about you… to be honest, this does seem like the sort of place where everyone’s a bit like family. In a good way.” I think!
“And yet you want to come along and want to build all over it,” Lola says, but with a hint of teasing so I know it isn’t about to descend into an argument. “Just bloody marvelous. It’s always the big city types that want to wreck everything, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. We have no soul or heart, all we want to do is make money out of everything.” I say this as a joke, but actually it’s much closer to the truth than I’d like it to be. At least for my father, if not me. I’ve never cared too much about making heaps of money but that’s because I’ve always had it. “Anyway, it might be an improvement, you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you? In two months you might change your mind completely.”
“Hmmm, we’ll see about that one. I don’t think I’ll agree until I’ve seen it for myself.”
“Or maybe you won’t be here… maybe you’ll be a famous singer by then!”
I am only teasing with my remark, but judging by the way Lola looks crestfallen I know I’ve said something wrong. Only I don’t know what so I can’t even make it right. All I can do is squeeze her fingers between mine and hope that whatever I’ve said doesn’t put her off me. She’s the most interesting woman in this town, I don’t want to push her away already.
“So, this is my home,” she suddenly blurts out, making me jump. I got so lost in worry then that I forgot we were even walking! “That little cottage, right there.”
She points to a small, wooden type building that can only be made for one. It’s sitting on the edge of a farm that looks like it was bustling and full of life once upon a time, the sort of place you might see in a children’s picture book, but now it’s failing. Not quite post apocalyptic, but certainly not thriving anymore. The animals appear to be few and far between, the equipment is rusty, the house at the other edge of the farm is crumbling and falling apart. It’s not the sort of home I would have pictured for Lola.
“Oh right, it’s nice!” I lie a bit too enthusiastically. “It looks really, erm, homely.”
“You don’t have to say that to make me feel bet
ter,” she replies dryly while unlocking the door to her home. “I know it isn’t much, but it’s all we have at the moment.”
I want to ask her more. I want to pry further into her life and find out all about her but I don’t know if I can. This isn’t even like a first date or anything, just a chance encounter than neither of us were expecting. I don’t know what the rules of privacy are, but I’m sure if she wanted to offer me an explanation, she would.
Instead of probing her, I step inside behind her and glance my eyes everywhere inside, which doesn’t take long because there’s hardly anything; a tiny kitchen with a tabletop oven and a microwave, plus a couple of drawers to store everything in, then a small table in the same room. There’s a partition separating a couple of chairs and a TV in what must be the living room, and two doors. I presume one leads to her bedroom and one to a bathroom.
Wow, she really doesn’t have much. Money must be the issue here. No wonder she doesn’t want some big shot billionaire coming into her town and telling her what it does or doesn’t need. We couldn’t be further apart in our worlds if we tried.
As I walk through and I take one of the chairs, I think about my own home back in the city. I have a massive, luxurious three piece suit in my living room and a massive flat screen television with all the extra gadgets a person could ever want surrounding it. Three of this cottage could fit in that one room. Then I have a kitchen with all the cooking equipment known to man, and I don’t ever use it, I just get take out. I have four bathrooms and five bedrooms. Plus a games room and a reception area. It’s ridiculous really, far too much for just one person. I’ve never seen it that way before, not even once.
“Why don’t you live in the other building?” I ask without thinking as she hands me a drink. A mug filled with wine so cheap it’ll probably make me sick. Not that I care about that. “I mean, you do have it lovely here, it just seems like there would be more room there.”
“That’s my dad’s house,” she replies quietly. “I live here so I get my own space and I can practice my music without disturbing him. It’s just easier, and I like it.”
The Most Eligible Bachelor: A Texas Love Story Page 24
