He knew how he was affecting me; no doubt he had the ladies lined up. Not being able to come up with a witty comeback, I did the only thing that came to mind. I poked my tongue at him. Yeah, real mature, but he did things to me; one of them being that he screwed with my mind and turned me into a hot mess, unable to process my thoughts quickly.
He surprised me by laughing. It was one of those genuine laughs that made his eyes crinkle, and that sent another jolt through me. Crinkled eyes were another turn on for me. Weird, I know, but there was just something about a man whose laughter touched his whole body. It was all tied up with my feelings about family, happiness and my desire to build a life with a man who also valued those things. Crinkled eyes symbolised those things to me.
I took a sip of Gatorade and waited for him to talk. He indicated for me to drink more so I did. Finally he spoke. “The job’s yours if you want it.”
I nearly spat my drink all over him. “What? Why?” Again, sentences were not forthcoming.
“I was a dick to you last night. You were right; I don’t know you. If you say you can handle asshole customers, I’ll give you a shot.”
Right. Dick last night. Asshole customers. Another shot. I churned through these thoughts much faster; the banana must be working. And then another thought occurred to me.
“How did you know where I live?”
“I asked Amy. You gave her your address last night to give to the cabbie. Now babe, focus, because I’ve got another appointment to get to. Do you want the job or not?”
“Are you always this bossy?”
“Yeah, it gets shit done.”
“No, I meant with women. Do you boss every woman around that you meet?”
“I meet a lot of women, and yeah, I boss them around. But if you’re asking whether I boss around the women whose homes I visit and who flash their ass at me on that visit, I couldn’t tell you because I’ve never visited a woman at her home before.”
There was that crinkle at his eyes again; the one that gave me butterflies in my stomach. He was watching me intently and it put me even more off my game.
“Well, just for the record, I’ve never flashed my ass at a man I just met. Not until today, anyway.”
Oh, good Lord, his eyes crinkled even more if that was possible, and then he smiled which brought out his dimple, and I was completely gone. “I get that about you, babe. I’ve no doubt that if you weren’t hungover, I wouldn’t have been treated to any of what I’ve seen this morning.”
Of course, just at a crucial moment in the conversation, my phone started ringing. It was where I’d left it last night, on the kitchen bench, and Scott stood up straight away to retrieve it. He grinned at me as he passed it to me. I wasn’t sure why he was grinning like that so I ignored it and checked to see who was calling. Seeing that it was Cassie, my friend who took me out last night, I hit the button to silence the phone. She was a have-a-chat and would keep me on the phone for ages. Placing the phone on the table, I looked up to find Scott leaning against the bench with his arms folded, still grinning at me.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“What the fuck is that song you’ve got for a ring tone?”
“Holding Out For A Hero by Bonnie Tyler. Why, what’s wrong with it?” I asked, indignantly. I loved that song.
“How old is that song?”
“So I like songs from the eighties. I also love the nineties. You got something to say about that?”
He held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “Wouldn’t dare, babe.”
“Good. Now, about this job. I don’t know what I was thinking last night. It must have been the alcohol. I don’t want to work in a strip club, sorry. But thank you for making the effort to come here.”
He nodded, and then pushed off from the bench. “That’s what I figured, but thought I’d let you make that call.” He checked his watch. “I’ve got to head.”
I followed him down the hall, to the front door, making sure to check out his ass as I walked behind him. I figured I’d never get to see it again, so may as well enjoy it while I could. It was just my luck though, that he whipped around to face me just as he stepped outside, and caught the direction of my stare.
Chuckling again, he reminded me, “My eyes are up here.”
Throwing caution to the wind, I muttered, “Yeah, but they’re nowhere near as nice to look at.” Holy shit, I couldn’t believe I actually said that. I never flirted that openly with a man; usually I was too shy.
A slow smile formed across his face. “Never met anyone like you. You continue to surprise the shit outta me.”
I smiled back. “Yeah, well I’ve never met anyone like you either.”
“Later, sweetheart,” he said, and left me standing there, drinking in the sexiness that was Scott Cole as he walked to his bike. My head still ached, although not as bad as earlier, and my stomach was still ill, but my happiness levels were at an all time high. It was just a damn shame that this was the last time I’d see him.
Chapter 9