JUDE
Watching her walk away with the slight swish of her skirt being the only noise at all in the quiet hallway, I’m left more than a bit stunned by her answer to my offer of a drink after work.
Who the hell declines a drink with a fucking billionaire?
“Jude? Where the hell are you?” I hear Ariel screaming as she looks into the hall. “Oh, there you are. Come on. Let’s get out of this dump.”
I turn to leave then stop and say, “You have that private car waiting on you and I brought my Jag so you go ahead. I’ll tell Zeek to escort you on your evening out.”
“What?” she shrieks yet again, and it’s a sound I am completely tired of. “No! I want you to come with me, Jude. Come on.”
She comes to where I’m standing in the place that woman left me so callously and grabs my arm. “You come with me. Zeek can be so handsy and you understand it when I say I’m tired. He doesn’t. Plus, my toe hurts like hell.”
I look down at her exposed toes as she has on these little flip-flops and see absolutely nothing on either of her big toes. “Which one is hurt again?”
“Don’t worry about that. I took care of the bill, didn’t I?” she asks, spreading an anger through me as I had an idea she was being scammy but now I know she was.
“Ariel, you may well have gotten that woman fired,” I hiss at her as I take her by the arm and lead her to the lobby so she can get the hell out of here.
“So?” she asks as she comes along with me, pretending to limp as we go.
“You aren’t hurt. It’s wrong,” I can’t believe I have to tell her this.
“It doesn’t matter. These people can get hired right back on at another place. It happens all the time. They’re a dime a dozen. And since when did you get all good Samaritan, Jude?” She looks up as a young man comes from behind the main desk in the lobby walking toward us.
“Miss Harmsworth, my name’s Dave and I have your car ready for you and your friend,” he says as he comes up to us. He has a basket full of fruit and wine and I see some expensive cheeses in there as well. “Please accept this gift from us at The Dallas Day Spa. We’re so sorry for your pain and want you to let us know if you experience any type of medical problem or treatment of your injury. We will be more than happy to pay for that.” He looks down at her feet then frowns and looks right back up at her.
Her brown eyes narrow as she silently dares him to ask her a thing about her supposed injury. He heeds the warning and I am glad to say he thinks better about saying anything. Instead, he motions for us to follow him out the side door of the huge lobby.
Past the fountain with a mermaid rising from the center and three dolphins seemingly swimming around her, we go as we follow the man all dressed in white scrubs that fit a lot better than any I’ve seen before.
“You work out?” I ask him as I hold Ariel by the arm and pull her along faster than her fake limping allows.
“Yes, Sir,” he says as he looks back at me with a smile. “Every day, twice.”
“You know, with the right nutrition and the right exercises, you don’t have to work out twice a day to stay in the shape you’re in. I work out one hour each day and along with the right foods and nutritional supplements I manage to keep my body very fit.”
He opens the side door and looks me over. “Wow! How do you manage that? Please don’t tell me steroids because I’m against them.”
I shake my head. “I have a Master’s Degree in the fitness genre. I know where each and every muscle is and how to make it work to its best capacity.”
“Do you have a gym or a private training gig?” he asks as he opens the car door for us.
“No, I have a home gym and my own regiment. I could make out a program for you if you wanted me to. No charge,” I say, surprising myself.
When the hell did I get so chatty or offer anything to anyone?
Ariel slides into the very nice, deep black, leather covered backseat and reaches for a bottle of chilling Champagne immediately. “Look, drinks.”
Looking inside the car, I say, “So off you go, Ariel. If you don’t want Zeek to go with you, then I’ll ask Rose to. You two can make it a girl’s night out.”
“You really are leaving me like this?” she asks as she glares at me. “Really? What else do you have to do, Jude?”
I’d rather shovel sheep shit than go anywhere with her after what she just pulled. That was low in my book. The woman has more than enough money. When you add in the fact I was going to pay for everything it really ticks me off. She pulled the scam just to prove something to herself.
“I have to take care of some business, Ariel. I’ll see you around.” I close the door before she can squawk at me anymore. I give Dave a nod and a thumbs up and he tells the driver to take her without me.
As we walk back inside, I tell him, “I want to pay the bill, anyway.”
“I completely understand,” he says without adding any more to it.
I like a man who knows when not to ask too many questions. The fact she was being a crazy, conniving bitch is pretty obvious. But when people with vast amounts of money complain, people do what they want with no questions.
I’ve seen it done all of my life. The rich may pay for extravagant things but let there be the least little complaint about virtually anything and they get it free with no hesitation at all. I think it’s ridiculous.
I don’t mind spending my money. Even when things are subpar. I have it, I may as well pay for the things I want. There’s no reason to scam anyone.
Following Dave to the front desk, I take out my wallet to get my credit card as he looks at the computer to find the bill. “Let me see here. Oh! Well, I’m sorry, the bill has been removed from the system. I suppose our manager did that. Looks like your spa day was free after all, Mr. Hurst.”
With a shake of my head, I say, “That’s not going to do for me, I’m afraid. I live in this town and I won’t have my name bantered about as a person who doesn’t pay his bills and pulls scams on the local companies here in Dallas. I’m afraid I’m going to need to see whoever is in charge here.”
Dave looks at the time on his watch then back at me. “Sorry, she’s left for the day. She leaves at five-thirty sharp every day. You missed her by mere minutes. I can tell you that once she puts her mind to something, she never changes her direction. If she took this bill off that quickly, then she’s not going to change things.”
“I want to pay. This makes no sense. Can’t you just call her and get her to come back?” I look at my phone and see it’s only three minutes past the time she left. “She’s probably still in the parking lot. Just call her. I’ll wait.”
I watch him do as I’ve asked and am not happy with the results as I hear him telling her things, then saying the words, ‘yes, mam.’
After he puts the phone down, he says, “Like I thought. She’s compensated the bill and she won’t be changing that. She told me to tell you to have a nice weekend, Mr. Hurst.”
Well, she’s made that impossible, hasn’t she?
MERCY
After giving Rhonda a three-day weekend, with pay, so she can recuperate after that she-wolf made a meal out of her, I’m on my way to pick the kids up from daycare and thinking about the phone call I just received from Dave.
It seems Mr. Hurst wants to pay the bill anyway. Perhaps he’s found out his girlfriend is a huge liar. Or maybe he just wanted another chance to talk me into drinks with him. Either way, I’m not buying into any of it.
The company can handle the loss. It’s not that bad at ten thousand dollars. Bad reviews would’ve been worse than the lost profit.
I tap the steering wheel as I see our private car pulling out behind me. Miss Harmsworth, the horrible bitch, is inside of that car. Along with the, thinks he’s so smooth, Mr. Hurst.
So what if my body heated when he touched me. It’s been over two years since I’ve had any male attention, it’s to be expected for my poor body to react to his touch. The crazy thing
would be if I didn’t react at all to the man’s touch.
Jude Hurst is tall, dark, and handsome. The way his dark hair stays perfectly in place is pretty cool. His eyes are a combination of green and brown and shimmer all on their own like he has a little secret he wants to tell you.
His lips are the color of a pink swirled caramel and pretty damn luscious. The bottom one is a touch more full than the top one which has a cute little cupid’s bow right in the middle of it.
I wonder how those lips would feel on mine.
What’s the matter with me?
Shaking my head to clear it, I notice our limo pulling up next to me at the stop light and wish my windows were tinted darker. I can almost feel his eyes on me as he’s probably looking out the window at me.
I wish I could see that to be sure. And maybe to get one last look at him.
Oh my goodness! What has gotten into me?
I take a left at the next light to get away from them even though it will take me fifteen minutes longer this way. I just can’t have him staring at me like I assume he was.
Easing off the gas, I notice a chocolate colored Jaguar hauling ass behind me. They must have somewhere important to be so I pull off to the side to allow the speeding car to pass me.
It’s him!
Wait, I can’t be sure that was him. He was going too fast to really see. Great, now I’m seeing him all over the place. What has he done to me? And why wasn’t he with the horrible bitch?
My curiosity is too much and I hit the button on the screen to call the front desk back at the spa. “Dallas Day Spa, Dave speaking. How can I help you today?”
“Dave, it’s Mercy. You can help me by telling me if Mr. Hurst accompanied Miss Harmsworth in our car earlier.”
“He did not, Mercy,” he tells me and it sets something off inside of me. A little heated triumph.
“Did he say why he didn’t go with her?”
“No. But if you ask me, he seemed to be ashamed of her. How come you didn’t let him pay the bill, Mercy?” he asks.
“I have my reasons,” I say. I don’t even know myself what they are. Stubborn pride I guess. “You didn’t happen to see what he drove, did you?”
“A dark brown Jag. It’s a beast of mechanical engineering. I saw it when the valet brought it up to the front. I happened to be standing there with him talking about things. He’s a nice guy. Not stuffy like a lot of the rich guys who come here are. He asked a few questions about you.”
“What?” I ask like a teenage girl. “What did he ask about me? Oh, God! What did you tell him? Oh my God, Dave! Please tell me you didn’t tell him anything about me.”
“Whoa! Calm down, Mercy,” he says with a laugh. “You seem a little frazzled by the man. He’s just a man, Mercy. Anyway, he asked about your personal situation, if you had a boyfriend or a crazy ex-lover he might have to contend with.”
“Contend with?” I ask feeling somewhat confused. “There will be no contending. He asked me out for drinks. I told him no. See, no need to contend with anyone or thing.”
Another laugh erupts out of Dave, then he says, “Okay, no need to contend. And that’s what I told him.”
“Wait, you told him I had no one in my life?” I ask, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden. “What did he think about that? Did he think I’m a complete loser for being all alone?”
“Not at all. He seemed happy you were all alone. He also asked me where you usually hung out on your days off,” he says.
“My God! What did you tell him, Dave?” I shriek at him.
“I told him I didn’t know,” he says. “Because I don’t know. What do you do on your off time, Mercy?”
I’ve kept my private life, mine, and mine alone. I don’t go telling my story to anyone. I don’t like the sorrow-filled eyes looking at me with pity and asking how I’m doing with it all.
“Never mind what I do. I do plenty,” I say because I do a lot on my off time. I probably work harder on my days off than I do at work. Being a mom isn’t a very relaxing job. Not with a two and a four-year-old, anyway. “Did he ask anything else?”
“No, his car pulled up and that ended our conversation. “Mercy, why would you tell the man no about having a drink or two after work? There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Never mind, Dave. You’d never understand. Thanks for filling me in. I appreciate your help. You should get back to work. I’ve taken up too much of your time on this silly thing as it is. Bye now,” I say then end the call before he can try to dive into my personal life any further.
The daycare comes into view and my heart sputters as I think about the kids and wonder how their day went. I love those little midgets!
I hope they don’t protest too much that I have to stop off at the house and change my clothes. I can’t go into Pizza Palace dressed like this. I do foresee a fight, though.
As I pull into the parking area, I think about that awesome Jag and the awesome man who was behind the wheel. His fast driving was dangerous and he’s nowhere near the kind of man I would need in my life.
I need a safe man who’s responsible and great with kids. I need a man who drives slow and watches out for other traffic. A real defensive driver is what I need in my life. Not a reckless man who thinks he’s invincible.
No, Jude Hurst is not the man for me. There may not be a man for me after all. It might be me and the kids forever and ever.
Oh my, that sounds a little depressing, doesn’t it?
Maybe I should think about finding a man. Not Jude Hurst, of course. But someone to share my nights with. Not that I have room in my nights anyway. Not with getting up to take Mia to the bathroom at least twice a night.
No, I’m better off alone. The kids need me.
JUDE
Armed with the knowledge that Mercy Noland is free of any men, I’m making my plan to find her this weekend. A little chance encounter might break open some of that person she has closed off.
The guy at the spa who works for her gave me some insight into the woman. She’s extremely professional at all times. He’s never witnessed even one occasion in the last couple of years since she took over the management of the facility where she lost her cool.
I’d like to see that woman lose her cool just for a little while. Screaming my name as I pleasure her is where I’d like to see her lose it. By the way the guy talked, he’s never known of any man in her life these last couple of years.
That makes me highly interested in her. Almost like a virgin, fresh and ready to be picked. She thinks she can throw me off. But I’m a long time hunter and she’s in for a surprise with me.
An infinite amount of patience is required in hunting and I have all the patience I need to make her mine. She has no idea about me. I get what I set my eyes on. Always.
My sights are set on her now. She is essentially, my prey. I have many tricks to catch my quarry. I’m above nothing when it comes to getting what I’m after.
Pulling into the private road that leads to our family estate, I see my father has purchased a few more Longhorn cattle to reside on the left side of the road. A black and white one and two red and white ones. All have extremely long horns and seem to be getting along well with the other eight he already had.
The members of my family have different things they collect. Dad has his cattle of various breeds he keeps separated by miles of fences. Mom has her little dogs. Also of various breeds. They are not separated at all and roam freely all over the house.
Mom has a maid just for the dogs and the clean-up required as they rarely like to venture outdoors to do their business. Even though they have a yard exclusively for them and that business they do a hell of a lot of.
My younger brother, Zeek, collects antique cars. My sister, Rose, collects porcelain dolls. She’s twenty-four-years-old with a room that adjoins hers and it’s full of her dolls. It’s weird if you ask me.
Then there’s the youngest of us all, my baby brother, Ram, he’s twenty-one and as wild as the
y come. He collects motorcycles. He also rides them wherever and whenever he can. He’s a daredevil who’s broken several bones in his young life.
I collect guns. I have so many guns, I had to use the spare bedroom next to mine for them. Six gun-safes hold my personal arsenal in that room that I keep locked up tight.
It was my mother’s father who taught me how to hunt. I was the first born and he took me under his wing when I was just five years old. I’d go sit with him in his hunting blind.
Depending on what time of the year it was, we’d hunt everything from deer to squirrels. He also taught me how to clean and prepare them. We never wasted a thing on the animals we took.
I miss that old man. I lost him five years ago to cancer. He taught me so much about nature and how to respect it. None of my brothers or sister ever wanted to go with Grampa. They found hunting boring.
Not me, though. I loved it. A bad day of hunting is better than a good day of work. One day, I hope to have a son or two to pass down what all Grampa taught me. Though I haven’t even begun to settle down yet.
I haven’t found the right woman for me. Everyone I know is wealthy and spoiled in ways I don’t care for. I know I’m spoiled too. I’ve gotten every single thing I’ve ever asked for.
Well, now that you count Miss Mercy Noland and her not giving me what I want, I can’t say I’ve gotten every single thing I’ve ever asked for, anymore. I’ll have to change that.
As I pull up, I hear my old hunting dog I inherited from Grampa barking as he hears my car pull up. The old hound dog knows the sound of my car and he only gets excited when he hears me pull up. He could give less than a shit about any other member of our household.
Well, that’s not entirely true. He likes the cook, Mrs. Juarez, too. But that’s only because she gives him all the bones he could ever want. He has his own yard right off the kitchen and his weight is showing that as he waddles around to the driver’s side door to greet me.
Rubbing his red head, I say, “How’s my puppy, Sebastien?”
He makes odd little growls and groans as his answer which I assume means he’s seen better days. He follows me along to go inside the mansion. It’s a large three story number that my parents have added onto at least three times since I can remember.
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