All of us have our own suite of rooms and my old dog follows me as I go toward mine. A shrill cry has us both groaning as it hurts our ears. I see Ariel has made it home first.
I didn’t even notice the limo out front. “What are you doing here? Where’s the car?” I ask.
“I let it go. I don’t want to go alone, Jude. I want you to go with me. Since you won’t, I told the driver to leave. I kept the vouchers, though. That way you and I can still go out and have fun. Only you can drive us. Doesn’t that sound better?” she asks as she waves the cards around.
I hold out my hand and ask, “Can I see those?”
She hands the cards over to me as she walks toward the guest house. “I’ll be getting ready. I want you to wear something better than that suit. It has no tie or anything. I’m thinking since that one club is private that you should wear a tux. I like the way you look in a tux anyway.”
I spot Mercy’s name on the back of one of the cards and underneath it, there’s a little note saying to call her with the amount of the bill and there’s a phone number. It might be her cell phone.
I cross my fingers that I’m right as I walk up the staircase that leads to wing of the house my rooms are located in. Ariel finally figures out that I’m ignoring her and turns to look at me with a loud yell, “Did you hear me, Jude?”
I nod and walk up the stairs. There’s no way I’m going to take her anywhere. I have my sights set on Mercy and Mercy, alone.
She seems to be the kind of woman who wouldn’t give the time of day to a man she sees as a player. To get her attention, I will have to camouflage myself as a one-woman man.
It’s not that I couldn’t be one. I can be whatever I want after all. I’ve just never seen fit to before. And after I find out more about the young woman, I may release her back into the singles pit where she came from. Or I might keep her as a trophy. Then again, I might make her my pet.
One never knows what they’ll do with their prey once they’ve managed to trap them!
MERCY
With both kids in the giant pit of plastic balls, I take the time to myself to use my cell phone to Google Jude Hurst. And just like that, I see a few pictures of him on social media.
His Facebook page has a link to it so I click it and the next thing I know I’m stalking his page.
What am I doing?
Well, I am here anyway so I may as well see what he’s really about. The first thing I notice is his profile picture is new. Like today new. He’s wearing the brown suit he had on earlier and that same little smile that makes people think he knows something no one else does.
He has a lot of friends on his page and I have to say most of them seem to be wealthy too. There are a hell of a lot of pictures of people on yachts and private jets and in exotic places. No, I am not in his league at all!
Then I see one picture of him wearing camouflage with his arm around an old man who is also wearing similar gear. An old, red bloodhound is standing in front of them with a duck in its mouth. Jude’s grin goes from one ear to the other and he seems to be very happy.
A few more pictures are here with him doing some type of hunting in them. So the man is a hunter. I didn’t call that one. I mean, the wealthy men I’ve seen at the spa don’t seem the hunter type. But then again I have a mindset that most men who hunt are named Bubba and have long beards and smell kind of funny.
Jude didn’t smell funny at all. Quite the opposite, he smelled wonderful.
Stop!
I have got to stop thinking about this man. Not only am I not in his league, he’s not what I need or want. He’s a fast man and I know he only wants to get into my pants then he’ll leave me wanting more as he goes off to Peru or Russia on his next billionaire excursion.
That will leave me heartbroken at home with two little kids. I couldn’t even drink my pain away after he leaves me because I have to stay sober to take care of my niece and nephew.
No, he’s a risk. He’s a heartbreaker. He’s dangerous. But damn it, he’s hot.
Oh, look here. It says he has a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology. Maybe that’s why he’s so well built. Here’s a picture with his shirt off and oh, Lord!
My body just went about ten degrees hotter and I can’t seem to take my eyes off the picture of the man with massive muscles all over his chest and those abs! He’s built like a statue.
He can’t be real. That picture has to have been doctored. No man is that perfect. No man!
My cell rings and I find myself juggling it as it startles me. Once I have it steady back in my hands I see it’s a local number that I don’t recognize. But it could be important so I answer it, “Mercy Noland here.”
“Well, hey there, Mercy Noland. Guess who this is?”
The sound of the male voice on the other end is soft, deep, the tiniest bit gravelly, and I know who it is immediately.
“How did you get my private number?” I ask.
“How do you think?” he asks back.
I pop my forehead with my palm and remember that my cell number was on the back of the voucher for the private club so I could pay the bill over the phone for that bitch tonight.
“So, you found my number. Are you two having fun? I hope you are. I meant for you too. Is Miss Harmsworth doing better? I hope she is. I want to apologize again for her injury. It was a misfortunate accident. Please tell her..”
“Mercy,” he says, cutting me off. “I’m not with her. I’m in my bedroom thinking about you. And it sounds like you’re at some badass club having a great time. So tell me where you are and let me come join you.”
He could not be more wrong about where I am and it makes me laugh, “Ha! I’m not at a club. And I’m leaving soon, anyway. It’s getting late, I have to get back home.”
“It’s eight o’clock, Mercy,” he says with a deep chuckle that makes my toes curl it's so manly and sexy and my Lord I have to stop thinking about him like that.
“Already?” I ask as I really had no idea it had gotten so late.
The kids still need baths and the house is fifteen minutes away and they need to be in bed by eight-thirty or they’ll be so cranky and then it’ll be hard to get them to sleep.
“Already?” he asks, chuckling again. “Mercy, that’s not late at all. Not one bit. Now, come on and let me in on where you are so I can come see you. I miss you already.”
A little chill runs through me with his choice of words. Then I shake that off and realize he’s such a player. “Miss me? You don’t even know me, Mr. Hurst.”
Making my way to the ball pit, I start the long process of trying to get the kids’ attention with a whistle and a wave. But like all the other mothers, I’m completely ignored.
“I know that, Mercy. I want to get to know you. What’s the harm in that?” he asks.
I kick off my flip flops and head into the pit of despair to gather my niece and nephew and say, “Sorry, Mr. Hurst. I really have to go. Goodbye.” With a swipe of one finger, I end the call and put the phone in my bra as I fish for the kids. “Carter, Mia, come on. It’s getting late.”
A voice comes out from under the plastic balls, “No! We aren’t ready yet.” It’s Carter’s voice I hear.
I start to dig in the area I heard his voice come from. “I know, Pumpkin, but it’s getting late and you both still need baths.”
A ridge forms underneath the balls and I see two little figures bolting away from me. Making a lunge to intercept them, I grab the back of a shirt and pull up kids that are not mine. “Hey, leave my kids alone,” comes a shout from an angry mom.
“Sorry,” I let them go and reach into the balls at another lump in them. “There you are, Carter. Grab your sister and let’s go.”
“Awe, man,” he whines as he pulls his hand up and his sister dangles from it. “We have to go, Mia. Aunt Mercy is being a grumpy old lady again.”
Pulling them along with me, I head out of the noisy pen of kids and balls, getting knocking in the head by one and listening to laugh
ter fill the air as whoever threw it is being high-fived by a bunch of the little scoundrels.
As I pull the kids out of the pit, I think about what I could be doing right now instead of wrestling them and dodging incoming, tiny, plastic balls. I could be sitting across a small table, sipping some fancy little drink while staring into the green-brown eyes of one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen.
Instead, I’m pulling some very stinky socks onto a pair of stinky little feet and cramming them into a pair of stinky tennis shoes.
Why did I tell him no?
JUDE
Well, that was a bit rude!
I didn’t think she’d be so abrupt. I didn’t think she’d give into me either. But I’m laying the groundwork.
You have to keep your target aware that you are still there. Still on the hunt for them. The key is to let them in on what your plan is so they have a fighting chance at making an escape. It’s no fun if there’s no challenge at all.
With that little phone call, I let Mercy know a few things. One, that I have her number. I have access to her when I want it. Two, that she’s on my radar. And three, that I’m not about to give up.
Now those things are settling into her brain. This is when she’ll try to come up with her own plan to stay hidden away from me. Maybe she’ll think about going on vacation for a week or two and hope I’ll lose interest in that amount of time or move on to some other quarry.
Maybe she’ll fake an illness and stay at home, leaving her phone turned off so she can rest. Or maybe she’ll do something smart, like turn the tables on me and become the hunter herself.
That happened to me once when we were tracking a mountain lion in Wyoming. It was only when we saw the tracks behind us did we figure out we had gone from being the hunters to being the hunted.
The only thing is, that didn’t stop me from taking the prize in the end. It just meant we had to have a battle and I happened to win that one. So even that tactic will not stop me from getting what I want.
Loud bangs fall on my door, making me jump. “Jude, are you ready yet?” Ariel calls out from the other side. “I’m dying of thirst out here. I need a drink and you to hang onto while I drink and dance. Come on. If you play your cards right, I’ll sleep in here with you when we get back.”
My stomach twists on itself and I stifle a gag. “I’m not going,” I say as I go to open the door.
When I open the door, she looks me up and down and realizes I haven’t changed like she told me to and her face goes red in a flash. “Jude, damn it! I came all the way out here from New York to hang out with you. It’s been months since I’ve seen you. You seem to be staying to yourself far too much. I came here for you not myself. Which is not a thing I usually do. Now come on. I guess you can go like that. I mean you look okay.” She grabs my hand and attempts to pull me.
With one hand on her shoulder, I push her gently away from me. “Go ask Rose to go with you. I’m not going, Ariel.”
The sound of feet pounding the stairs has us both looking toward them and my youngest brother’s filthy body emerges from them. “Hey,” he says with a wave.
“What happened to you?” Ariel asks him with wide eyes.
“Nothing,” he says as he stops and looks from me to her. “I was riding out on the bike track. You look pretty, Ariel. Where are you two headed?”
“Out,” she says as she looks at me. “Only, Mr. Stubborn here is refusing to go along with me.”
“Hell, I’ll go with you,” Ram says as he looks at me. “Is that okay, Jude?”
With a nod, I say, “It’s fine with me. Ariel and I are not a thing, Ram.”
Ariel’s head jerks as she narrows her eyes at me. “You don’t need to say it like that, Jude. You and I have been intimate after all. It’s not entirely out of the realm of things that we could be together.”
“It is too,” I say with a little laugh. “Anyway, there’s your date for the evening.” I hand her the vouchers. I’ve put Mercy’s cell number on my phone so I won’t need to hold onto the card any longer.
Ram kicks up his heels then shoots down the hallway to his suite. “I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”
“Wear a tux, Ram, please,” she calls out to him.
He laughs as he goes into his room. I let her in on what’s about to happen but only a little of it or she won’t accept him as her escort for tonight. “He won’t be wearing a tux or a suit. He’s a blue jeans and boots kind of kid. And you’ll want to make sure he eats at dinner. He can drink a lot more than most men can but he has to have food on his stomach first to be able to handle it.”
“I’m not about to be his babysitter. I’m not into raising children, Jude. How old is he again?”
“He just turned twenty-one, last month,” I say and watch her bite her lip.
She makes a humming sound and looks down the hallway as she says, “Would it upset you if I spent the entire night with him, Jude?”
A snort comes out of me. “No. I don’t know how much clearer I can be with you, Ariel. I’m not looking for a relationship. That’s not me. Be with whoever you want.”
Her brown eyes move up to mine as she says, “Really, Jude? I mean you’ve never thought about me and you and making a thing out of us?”
With a shake of my head, I tell her, “No. Sorry, Ariel. It’s not a thing I’ve ever thought about.”
“Not even when you held me in your arms after we had sex?” she asks.
I hate when women do this shit!
“Not even then, Ariel. Look, I’m just not ready to settle down. And I have to be honest with you. You’re not what I’m looking for in a girlfriend. I like down home women with down home style. I like manners and I like nice behavior. I can’t stand people who treat other people badly. Get it now?”
She nods and runs her hand over my cheek. “You want a country bumpkin and I’m a New York lady who will never fully capture your attention. Okay. I get it now. Will I stop vying for your attention? No!” She gives my face a little slap and walks away, shaking her little ass as she goes. “See you on the morrow, Jude. You have a nice night yanking your wanky all alone.”
Stepping back into my bedroom, I shake my head as the woman is just so clueless. There are plenty of rich East Coast assholes who she’d get along with well. Why does she want a country boy like me?
Settling back on my bed, I pick up my phone and see it’s nine o’clock. So I think it’s still early enough to send a little text to my intended. -In bed yet?-
I wait and pick up the remote to the television. Then I see my screen light up on the phone and pick it up to see she has replied. I wasn’t sure she would.
Her test says, -Not yet. I had some things to do when I got home. I hope you have a nice night with Miss Harmsworth, goodnight.-
Man, she’s really getting under my skin. I text back, -I’m not going out with her. I won’t be going out with her anymore, as a matter of fact. Her ways don’t suit me. Your ways are something I’d like to know more about. How about you call me and we can talk over the phone?-
And now I wait and wonder if she will call me. Bet she will!
Smoke Part 2
Billionaire’s Quarry
By Michelle Love
MERCY
The phone sits on the bed next to me as I watch television with the sound low so I don’t wake the kids who climbed into my bed after their baths and fell asleep after their long day.
It’s been thirty minutes since I got a text from Jude Hurst, asking me to call him. I haven’t responded at all. I hope he gets the hint.
I don’t want to get into the specifics with him about why I’m not a viable candidate for his harem of women I’m sure he has. The kids make it a bit problematic.
He surely will move on and stop this nonsense with me soon. He has to. I don’t know how long I can hold out.
His voice, alone, makes me wet. Add in his gorgeous face, hot body, and that charm. Well, let’s just say, I am only human. A human who has other humans
to think about now.
I foresee an office full of flowers when I go back to work on Monday. Perhaps a few boxes of expensive chocolates and maybe a bottle of wine to inebriate me into giving into him. He underestimates my resolve in keeping men at a distance for the foreseeable future.
I suppose when the kids get grown, I can date. That’s merely sixteen years away. I’ll only be forty-two then. Whoa! No way!
I can’t wait until I’m forty-two to start dating! That’s just crazy!
Now I’m back to looking at the damn phone and wondering what the hell I’m doing. How do single moms know when they can have a life again? How old do the kids need to be before introducing a new person into their little family pack?
I wish there was a solid plan all single parents could follow. That would be so helpful. But there isn’t and I’m not prone to following advice since our situation is fairly unique.
There are plenty of nights when the kids sleep in their own beds. But there are also plenty of nights when one of us needs the support and comfort of the others. Even me from time to time.
Thinking about my lost family is a thing I try not to do. It always brings me heartache and pain. And not in that cathartic way our therapist talks about.
It’s in a way that leaves me weak. It leaves me on edge and wondering if I can really do all that I need to do.
My niece and nephew have no one else. Their father was an only child and his parents had him when they were older. Both of his parents died before he married my sister. There are no other relatives that we have who are near the age where they could care for the kids.
I am it for them. If I don’t keep myself on the straight and narrow, then they’ll have no one. No one to hold them when they miss their parents and grandparents who they were very close to as well. No one to know what kinds of little things make them happy. No one to love them the way only a family member can.
Mallory Page 104
