That Thing You're Good At (A Starview Novel Book 1) Page 6
“Number three what, Holly?” He watched her turn his way, smiling sadly.
“Speed dating.”
“Who’s number four?”
She sighed and to his surprise placed her warm hand on his face and his temperature sky-rocketed. “You.”
“Perfect.”
Chapter 12
HOLLY
A single mom constantly questions herself and attempt to balance life. Internet search results such as How to be the best parent? How to feel like a desirable woman? How to lose 20lbs in 7 days? Struggles she wished no one noticed. But they occupied her brain. Daily. Not that her struggles were any different from those of other women or mothers around the world, but not everybody had a secret crush on the same guy since high school, who turning hockey pro, who then retired to their home town asking “what she was good at”.
Oh, crap. Reena might have been right, she should get her foot in the door of dating again, more so, her body ready for some action between the sheets that didn’t involve having a toddler’s finger up your nose at 1 am.
Word on the street had it dates with Holly ended up six feet under. Odds were currently not good in the dating world and she remembered to check the list of men she’d chatting with during the dating event.
Her eyes went down the list, not that it was long, the town wasn’t that big and although Drew had stopped by her table for a few seconds she questioned if the Police Chief’s life was in any danger. He had a rival list a mile long, he’d told her. If someone wished him dead he would already be. Jake, on the other hand, didn’t hold the rank of Chief, and he was loaded with money from his hockey career, owned properties around the country, and should some lunatic want attention Jake would make the perfect subject to eliminate from her list.
Holly chewed on her lower lip and contemplated the people on the paper. Two had been crossed off, deceased . . . she shuddered at the notion, but in between date one and three on the paper was number two, and she hadn’t been able to reach him since the event. She just had to speak with Drew about this and drove down to the meager police station to discover it closed and his handwritten out-for-lunch sign hung on the inside of the window. She knew the neighborhood like the inside of her own pocket and parked her car in Drew’s driveway and walked up the gravel to his front door. He was a homeboy, and she bet he was down deep in a large lasagna or other Italian dish. The doorbell chimed, and she pulled her thin sweater around herself in the air.
“You?” she said to her surprise. Jake’s body concealed the opening of the door and a faint grin tugged at his lips.
“The one and only. And hello to you too, Holly.”
“Oh, yeah, hello. I’m looking for someone else,” she replied trying to look around him with no luck. The only thing meeting her gaze was the strained fabric of his t-shirt across his pecks and shoulders and how nicely his jeans fitted his . . . everything. All the way from his feet up to his–. She caught herself staring and checked his face to see if he’d seen her staring. He had. Fudge.
“I’ve got a list of names on request of Drew. Is he here?”
“Nah, just me, Holly.” God she loved when he mentioned her name. Everything in her body melted into a puddle of goo.
“Why?”
He snickered at that and took a step back waving his large arm inviting her into Drew’s ranch style home. She’d been here before dropping off something for his sister before she’d moved away to Singapore to teach English, the two of them being the same age had made them close friends in school and Drew the dangerous older brother. Yet, he’d always felt like a brother more so than a romantic subject and seeing him with only board shorts on in the pool during the summer didn’t compare to Jake, who made her horny by only using his voice.
Imagine what touching him would do? Her fingers running over the soft skin she pictured underneath and his washboard abs. God, she’d lick those. Not that she’d seen them lately, or in real life for that matter. The magazines gave a good picture of what may be underneath that white t-shirt tucked slightly into his jeans.
“Ass,” she mumbled and tilted her head to drool over his behind when he paused to turn, putting his hands on his hips. He studied her with one eyebrow pulled up. So hot, myfuckinggod.
“What did you say?” he asked incredulously. “Did you just call me what I think?”
“I . . . I . . . I heard nothing. Who said something?”
“Your mouth said something, that’s who, Holly. I’m sorry I’m not up in your standards. You can leave the list on the table should you want Drew to look it over when he comes home. Not that we are a couple or anything,” he huffed and went through the living room and into the kitchen. She followed.
* * *
JAKE
Jake had seen no one prettier while lying than Holly. He’d heard her exact word about his ass but wouldn’t cave unless she confessed, which she refused. So now she was apologizing to him instead, which he thought was kinda cute. She was cute getting nervous, her face heated and she stammered.
The list on the table wasn’t long, but it really bugged him that he was on it. The verdict was still in on person number two but after a few calls, finally getting in contact with Drew, who refused to give up his location, who knew why, they got it confirmed bachelor number two was out of the country. Holly sighed, then highlighted another living person on the list in pink. Two were crossed out and next name down was his. Fuck.
Drew had already had him in his office with another officer that he didn’t know the name of, and questioned him about the case. Sure, it didn’t look great knowing he was a living person on the list while two were already deceased and the fact that he “had a thing for Holly,” as Drew pointed out. The officer at his side hadn’t blinked at the revelation and continued writing things down on his laptop. Drew had mentioned Holly being a mom and didn’t need this extra, ridiculous attention in her life and if Jake knew better he’d stay away from her.
It was just that, well, he could divert his thoughts during the day when he was distracted by other things but it was at night when he was alone in his bed that she started to weave herself into his subconscious. She was more good-looking than she gave herself credit for. She was smart, she’d helped him in school even though his memory of it was bleak, and he liked how she ogled him whenever she got a chance. Call a man shallow but it felt damn good every time he caught her staring. He could still get women to pant. Fuck yeah!
“Are you house-sitting or something?” Holly asked while she sat herself at one of the chairs at the kitchen table making herself comfortable. Something even more comfortable, he thought, would be to move to the couch and have her straddle him . . . but she would run if he suggested it. So he zipped it, locked it, and put it in his pocket. Skittish as she was.
“Or something,” he mumbled and poured them both a cool glass over lemonade from the fridge. “I’ve known Drew since we were young and he suggested I live here for a while until things have calmed down a bit, or whoever follows this list,” he pointed at the paper at the table, “decides there is no need for me to be on there.”
“I’m so sorry for this, Jake. I don’t know why someone even cares what I do or whom I see. I’m nothing. I haven’t played for the New York Rangers like you or have a stash of green hidden somewhere, and I’m absolutely not model pretty. I’m just single-mom Holly from Starview. That’s it.” Her hands motioned vividly in the air.
Jake looked across the table and got hard. The way her tongue came out and swiped the lemon flavored moisture that collected on her lip from the lemonade made everything inside his pants tighter. “You are it, Holly.”
“Pardon me?”
“You are many things that can make a man make a hit-list of competitors. You’re not pretty, you’re beautiful, Holly. You work your ass off to provide for your child, and no matter how much money you may or may not have in the bank you are surrounded by people who loves you. You’re kind. And you turn me on when you get flustered. All that is you.”
&nbs
p; “I turn you on?”
“Is that all you heard?” he chuckled and swallowed the last of his lemonade, leaning back in his chair.
“I’m not very familiar with the bedroom business, to be honest,” she sputtered and stood to push in her chair. She mumbled again, and he found it slightly amusing he did that to her. He accompanied her to the front door and seized her arm as she was ready to open the door. He leaned down and put his mouth close to her ear. He watched her nostrils flare and her breathing pick up. “Not just the bed, Holly. On the table, bending you over at the counter, push you up against the shower wall.”
Chapter 12
HOLLY
“He was pacing the hallway like a caged lion, and before I had the time to go he cornered me against the front door and kissed every single molecule out of my brain. He made me brain-dead, Reena! My brain thought of nothing in return and I hightailed out of here.” There was a snicker on the other end of the line.
“And you haven’t spoken to him since?”
“Correct.”
“Three days and nothing? You didn’t even think about telling me this sooner?”
Holly thought about it for a second. “It was the weekend, and I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Holly,” Reena sighed on the other end of the phone line. “When a guy, and not just some guy, the guy whom you’ve been attracted to since you got your braces off, makes you hot and steamy against a door that is material I need to receive!”
“It’s been on my mind all weekend and now it’s Sunday.”
“You know what we have to do, since this is taking you closer to seeing each other in the nude—“
“We are not seeing each other in the nude, Reena!” Holly shrieked and felt a drop of sweat fall down under the bra line on her back. “I’ve still got many pounds of baby-weight to drop first.”
“I think you need to reevaluate that fact and accept he likes you the way you are. Why else would he put his hands all over you and his tongue down your throat? That says sexy-time el pronto to me.”
“If, and I really mean if, he sees me without clothes on he might . . . I don’t know . . .”
“Sigh in disappointment and leave?”
“You just said the thought that has been on my mind since the day he came back to town.”
“Holly, my friend, I am only saying this because you are my closest and dearest friend. If I was attracted to women you would be the first I’d person I’d put my hands on. Your curves would fit perfectly in my hands, you’re soft in the right places and would feel good to rub myself against, and—“
“Shush, Reena! I . . . I . . . I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Hey, I’m not lesbian I’m just trying to give you a compliment!”
“Sounds great. See you tomorrow, and, well, thanks.”
Morning had broken and Aubrey had been fed, clothed and had a great time in the stroller walking down the street with Mrs. Peterson. God, she’d been lucky to have a friend like her. Without her, life as she knew it would be impossible.
The store was thirty minutes to opening and she found Reena with a cup of coffee in hand flipping through fashion magazines on the large white craft table in the main room. Stacks of fabric covered Holly’s seat, and she moved them aside to face Reena.
“Sorry for freaking out on you last night. I really appreciate your compliments. It’s just hard to take.” Reena smiled and stopped flipping through the pages and handed over a note with a number on it.
“You’re welcome,” she said and went back to her coffee putting the magazine aside.
“You will call that number today and set up a date with this guy. His name is Nathan and he owns the Vacation Inn outside town by the 10 Freeway. He is already expecting your call as I spoke to his mother about you yesterday while responding to her ball gown request via online video chat.”
Before Holly had a chance to decline Reena handed over her phone dialing the number and Holly heard it ringing on the other end. “Better not be a pussy and let it go to voicemail if you are going to rail in a beast like Jake.”
Fifteen minutes later Holly returned the phone to Reena and sighed. “I have a date with Nathan this evening, damn it, at the hotel’s restaurant after hours.” Reena snickered and put her coffee cup to her lips.
“Better start rehearsing for that thing Jake thinks you’re good at. And now is not the time to be shy on that part.”
“What?”
“If there’s a chance to embarrass yourself it’s with Nathan. The more you practice your uselessness in bed the better you’ll get for the grand prize which I infer being Jake.”
“You’re killing me Reena.”
“Let’s hope not.”
Day had turned into evening, and evening into early night and after a long dinner Holly sat across the table from Nathan. He wasn’t unattractive, she thought, with his short blond hair, white Crest smile, and height. His was nice, his mouth was nice, and that was the problem. She thought she wanted nice, yet here she was, loathing his properness. Determined to know more about him, she placed her elbows on the table and steepled her hands under her chin. “Tell me who you are here at Vacation Inn? Do you enjoy your job?”
“My hotel is the best there is. Making it so makes the job enjoyable,” he said without a trace of arrogance and she could respect that. She had been a stay-at-home single-mother and now part-owned a quite successful store in town. She wasn’t raised to be modest yet not pushed in the opposite direction, either. She was fine being somewhere in the middle, whole-some, slightly boring, but content.
“You know, there are some very nice rooms upstairs that I’ve made “vacant” for tonight,” he murmured and leaned over the table in the same manner she had. She leaned back at the comment and gestured for another drink of wine from the bottle between them.
She should accept the offer, get her gears moving again, but looking across the table at Nathan she didn’t feel the zing that radiated between herself and Jake whenever they happened to be in the same room.
“Are you unattached? Seeing someone?”
* * *
JAKE
Jake had a tough time staying inside. He’d had the same problem all week long and he’d flipped Drew the bird when he’d gone to the gym and left him inside. “Can’t let you leave,” he’d said and placed a finger against his head making a boom sound as he walked out the door, pushing the issue of Jake’s current main job—not dying.
He’d brought home a stack of Men’s Health magazines from the store, used his weights to boredom, and now paced the house eating a bowl of hot salsa with a bag of corn chips tucked under his arm. He stared out the window, the street was dark and quiet. If someone wanted to shoot him, now was the moment. He was fully in view, his broad chest wouldn’t be a difficult target, and for some reason he stayed, taunting the unseen.
He’d given an opportunity being target practice yet he was still breathing inside Drew’s living room. The bag of chips got put back in the cupboard and the salsa back in the fridge for a later consumption as he grabbed his car keys and jacket while heading out the front door to his car.
“Still alive,” he muttered and revved the engine of his truck to life. God it felt good to be in charge of some horse power and he pushed the gas pedal down hard as he hightailed down the street.
A few miles down the road, he released his foot of the gas pedal and rolled down the window of the truck getting a cool evening breeze through his hair. The faraway lights from the city glowed a soft yellow in the distance until he spotted a white sedan parked at the side of the road, the two right tires touching the grassy field. He rolled his truck to a stop behind the sedan and seeing as nobody was around he opened his truck door and stepped outside. Someone was inside the car, someone female.
He tapped the driver’s window with his finger and watched the woman inside gasp in shock, then roll down the window.
“Holly Winters, well good evening to you.” With a grin he watched Holly’
s chest rise rapidly, which was a view in its own. Her hand pressed against its movement, the other hand was grasping a phone.
“You scared me to death, Jake!”
“Let’s not hope literally. That would make me a suspect.”
He grinned and leaned forward in the window, placing his lower arms in the opening. “So, what brings you out here at this time of night?”
She looked him up and down before she answered. “You’re off duty, no need to interrogate me, Jake.”
“Not at all, but it is slightly after ten and you’re parked here alone in your car. Is everything okay?”
She sighed and placed her phone back in her purse on the passenger seat. “Not really,” she mumbled and he watched her pick her fingernails as he waited for her answer. “Reena set me up on this date, and since I’m here in the car, it obviously wasn’t a success. No need to laugh, Jake.”
“I’m not! Grinning, this,” he pointed to his mouth, “is called grinning.”
“Well, stop that too.”
It was hard. He was delighted her date had gone awry, the grin showed for it, he just didn’t have the heart to tell her. But damn if it didn’t make him glad.
“You’re still grinning,” she muttered and crossed her arms, pushing up the already mighty rack. He stood back at the view and took pleasure in watching her through the window, he was sick that way. Sick with hotness for her that was it.
“Why not just drive home, Holly?”
“Well, that’s just the thing. As I . . . I’m not sure why I’m even telling you this . . . “
“Go on.”
“As I excused myself from the date and drove blindly in shame and embarrassment I forgot to notice the gas light and here I am, in a car with no fuel. I was just about to call Reena to pick me up but she seemed to not be responding.”
“That is some bad luck.” She grunted at his comment and fumbled around her purse for her phone again. He realized this might be his moment and took it, just like the coach had told them while playing-one chance and one chance only, take it.