The release date is very, very quickly approaching. I'm considering Friday the 13th (for luck hehe) or sometime next week to release the book, at least with Amazon and hopefully with B&N.
Jesse Gillespie
I love Friday nights at Howard's Bar. My small town gets
plenty of interstate travelers staying at the historic hotel located just
behind the bar, and more than a few of them are lonely women looking for
someone who'll soothe their loneliness for a night or two. I consider it my
personal mission to make sure these women feel welcome and entertained during
their short stay in Spring Valley.
However, this
Friday night isn't giving me the results I'd hoped for when I left work today.
I flirted with a blonde for a little while after I got here, but she kept me at
arm's length and laughed at me like she thought I was funny or cute. She even called me cute and said my hair made her
think of Mufasa in that Disney movie. My boss and best friend Bill chuckled at
me because he told me not to go for that one. I figured it was because he
wanted her for himself since he prefers blondes.
Bill and I get along great except when it comes to women. We
tried playing the wingman thing, but we discovered that I have ... a bit of a
jealous streak. So, I work alone when I decide I want a little female
companionship. I don't want to get in a fight with my best friend, certainly
not over some chick.
I look up at the clock on the wooden slats that make up the
wall near the front door. For a few seconds, a dancing couple get in my view of
it since the dance floor is right there. Ten
o'clock, I think when I see what it says and feel disgusted with myself and
my lack of luck so far tonight. I stare down at the wooden floorboards and
think about my failure with that blonde, and I wonder if I should leave and go
home, hoping for better luck tomorrow.
I lean back to stretch in my corner chair and debate what I
should do as I absently run my fingers through my wild mane of shoulder-length
hair. Mufasa. Huh, I think with a
miffed internal voice. Then I see the door open. Again, a few dancing couples
get in my way, making it so I can't see who comes in. I don't suppose it
matters anyway. I'm going home.
As I stand up and reach back behind me for my billfold, I
see an unusual shade of red hair in my peripheral vision, and I turn my head to
look.
Hello, I think as
I return my wallet to the back pocket of my jeans and sit back down. Maybe tonight won't be a loss after all.
I watch the newcomer as she sits down at the bar near Eddie
and Joe, and the two older men invite her to join their conversation almost
immediately. I'm so glad she sat at the far side of the bar because that means
she's facing me while I debate my first move.
A goddess has blessed us with her presence in Spring Valley,
and I study her features with an experienced eye. Her red eyebrows stand out on
her pale face, and her innocent-looking, deep blue eyes make it hard for me to
stay in my seat and not act like an idiot barging in on her while she eats her
dinner. I don't want to interrupt. Not yet.
I sit here, entertained, as I watch her full lips talk and
smile, and when she smiles widely, her little nose scrunches up in the most
adorable way. She reaches up to tuck her hair behind her ear before she
suddenly looks around, almost as if she can feel me watching her. I quickly
look down at the table in front of me and casually pick at the wrapping on my
mostly-empty beer bottle. Normally, I'd purposefully catch the woman's eye if
she'd feel me staring at her, but I meant it when I decided to not intrude on
her until after she's finished eating. I can still see her in my peripheral
vision, and the way I've already memorized her face allows me to continue to
admire her.
I have to have her.
One night. I'll have
one night before this goddess disappears, I think and wish I had more time.
Wait! She's getting up to leave!
"You're not leaving yet, are you? Please, tell me you're
not going to leave just because you're finished eating," I say to her
retreating form after I hop up out of my chair and try to catch her before she
can make it out the door.
She slowly turns around to look up at me with a questioning
expression. I'm sure to smile warmly down at her. She's little. The top of her
head probably only reaches my chin.
Don't leave.
"Can I possibly convince you to stay, at least for a
dance or something?" I ask since she hasn't said anything.
"No one's asked me to dance," she replies
obstinately in a voice as pretty as her face. She sounds like she's testing me,
wondering what I'm going to make of that.
"Then let me be more direct and ask you. Would you like
to dance?" There. Now you can't say
no one's asked you, I think with a humorous grin spreading across my face.
"I'm not much of a dancer," she replies, looking a
little uncomfortable. I don't know if it's me or dancing in general that makes
her act that way. I start to wonder if she might want to learn. That could be
fun.
"Well, I can teach you if you like," I offer. Just don't leave. Hoping that I can get
a yes out of her, I hold out my hand for her to take. She does nothing but
wordlessly stare at it.
Damn it! I can't let her get away, and she looks like she
wants to bolt.
I quickly decide to change my tactic.
"Please?" I ask, being sure to look a little
pitiful. I think it works because the uncomfortable, mistrusting look in her
eyes leaves and gets replaced by a more pleasant one.
"Well, since you asked nicely." Yes! "I suppose I can. I'm warning
you; I really have no idea what I'm doing," she says with a small smile as
she puts her tiny hand in mine, and I quickly close my fingers around it.
"Nothing I can't handle," I say smoothly as I spin
her once and pull her closer to me than necessary. She acts a little thrown by
what I did, and she looks down at the floor nervously.
Curious, I lean over to the side to better see her, and she
takes a tiny step back that I go ahead and allow. She needs to be distracted
from being nervous, so I talk about the first thing that crosses my mind,
mentioning how I like her sweater. It's not a lie. It's really soft, and I want
to run my hands all over her - I mean it.
She goes on to mention in a rambling way how she likes it
because that means she can make short trips to and from her car without needing
her coat. Then she looks like she mentally berates herself for rambling. I didn't
mind it because that meant I got to watch her mouth up close.
"It's soft," I go ahead and tell her while I
wonder how soft the skin under the
sweater is. Compliment. She needs one,
I think rapidly. "And the blue in it matches your eyes." Her blue
meets my green, and I smile a little before she can look away.
This is great. I'll
have this woman eating out of the palm of my hand in no time.
"My name's Jesse, by the way," I tell her, wanting
to learn her name.
"Annie," she says to me in a voice that's almost
too quiet to hear. Then, to my delight, I see a blush trying to creep up onto
her cheeks. I'm dying to know what that's all about, and I plan on finding out
sooner rather than later even if I don't plan on asking her right away. There'll
be plenty of time for that later tonight.
I suppose I'd better
get with the dancing lesson, I think and start teaching her what I know.
She meant it when she said she had no idea what she was doing, and that makes
me curious why that is. While I teach her, I also make a little small talk, learning
more about her and trying to indirectly figure out what method I should use to
get her to take me back to her hotel room. Then she surprises me.
She just moved here today! I can't believe my luck! There I
was wishing that I could have more than just one night, and I find out that she's
new in town. Oh, this is perfect!
I decide to back off a bit and have a little more fun with
this one. I want to give her the illusion that I want to date her because in 'dating'
her I can get with her multiple times, and I'm going to need multiple nights. And I suppose I can put off finding out why
she blushed until later, not that I don't have an idea already - she wants me.
Annie Carter
Jesse gives me a genuine smile after I tell him I just moved
to Spring Valley today. I like the smile on his face now better than the grin
he had earlier. That grin made me wonder what was really going on behind those
mischievous hazel-green eyes.
My first impression of him made me think he was a little
cocky but adorable. Then, when he pulled me right up to him, I couldn't help
but think, Whoa! Why did I think adorable
a moment ago? Adorable implies something like a cute, little puppy. There is
nothing 'little' about this man! The top of my head barely reaches his chin.
You could probably fit two of me inside of him, and he's solid muscle!
"Since you're new here, do you have a job yet?" he
asks me, and I get the feeling he's trying to keep up the small talk we had
going while he tried to teach me to dance. I think getting me to learn how to
dance is a hopeless cause. My ex didn't like to dance unless it was a slow
song, and then we'd only sway back and forth.
"Yes, at Box O'Books. I start on Monday," I answer
him simply. I'm looking forward to having a less-complicated life than what I
left, and I think I can find it in this small town.
Before moving here, I thought I had my life figured out. I
had a plan: get a college degree, marry the perfect guy, and live happily ever
after with a perfect marriage and beautiful children. Unfortunately, I found
out late in the game that I went after a degree I didn't really want, and the 'perfect
guy' turned out to be a world-class prick. What else could I do but decide to
start over?
I had to move. I had to get away from him. I let him define a
part of me, and once I severed off that part of myself that was the 'Annie' of 'Drew
and Annie', I didn't know what I should put in its place. I needed to figure
out how to fill this hole in my life without anyone else's help, and I hoped
that moving to a new town would help me accomplish that.
"Well, since it's Friday
night, are you free tomorrow?" Jesse asks with a hopeful gleam in his
eyes.
He just asked me out!
I think in mute shock.
In my twenty-two years, I've had only one serious boyfriend:
Drew Laramie. Our parents were friends for years, and they continually tried to
pair the two of us up. During our middle school years, it really got on our
nerves; however, things changed just before our first year in high school when
my dad tried again to set up the two of us. He got us in his office by
separately telling us to do a bogus errand, and while we were in there alone
together, Drew kissed me. After that, we became a couple. We broke up a few times,
often over something pointless, but we always got back together.
"Um ..." I stall. "I don't exactly have any
plans ..."
Plans.
I planned on helping Drew with his father's company when he
would take it over, so the two of us went to college to get our business
degrees. My grades during high school were better, so I went to our preferred
college while he went to another one for two years. During those two years, we
broke up, and I casually dated a few other guys. I never took any of them
seriously. Then, Drew transferred into the same college, and we started dating
again… until he cheated on me.
We were renting an apartment together very near the college
campus, and one weekend, he thought I went to visit my parents. I'd decided not
to at the last minute, and I came home to surprise him when I received the
worst kind of surprise. I found him in our bed with some sorority slut.
"So, is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?" Jesse asks with
his eyebrows raised as he looms over me, bringing my mind back to the present.
The woodsy smell of him drifts over to me, reminding me of when my dad would
take me camping when I was little. Blending perfectly with that is a hint of an
intoxicatingly distracting cologne.
I force myself to focus as I have to ask him, "You mean like a date or something?" I
try to keep from fidgeting as I wait for his answer.
"Yes, Annie, that's exactly what I mean," he
answers me with a humorous glint in his eyes before his face breaks out into a
wider grin.
A date? With him?
I think frantically, and I imagine the two of us out together. He's gorgeous, I finally admit to
myself. So far, I've done my best to ignore that fact. So … no. No, I can't do that yet, I decide, remembering my need to
figure out that missing part of myself.
"Jesse, you're really great, and I had loads of fun
learning to dance, but I don't want to date anyone right now," I say in as
nice a way as I can manage.
"Oh," he says and gets a thoughtful expression on
his still-smiling face. "Well, it doesn't have to be a date. We could just
go hang out or something. I could show you everything in your new town if you'd
like." He grins that grin down at me like he thinks he's a genius. Again,
there's also something a little playfully devious about that grin that makes me
wonder what he's thinking.
"I don't know…" I let my statement hang.
"Why can't we just hang out?" he sincerely adds
like it's no big deal even though traces of that grin remain in his eyes.
"Maybe Sunday," I offer.
"What's wrong with tomorrow?" he asks.
"What's wrong with Sunday?" I counter.
"Because you said you had no plans for tomorrow,"
he reminds me with a more serious look. He casually folds his arms and waits
for me to respond to his earlier question.
"I … might be too tired from unpacking." I lie. I
hate myself for lying. I honestly don't know why I decided I don't want to go
hang out with him tomorrow. All I know is that right now he's making me incredibly nervous.
"Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense," he says,
buying my lie. He asks me for my phone number, and I give it to him. I can't
help but feel like I'm giving him a consolation prize as the bartender starts
to close up the bar.
Driving home with a smile on my face, I think about meeting
Jesse tonight. I was a little surprised when he asked me out, but I also can't
help but feel flattered as well. I'm happy he didn't push the whole dating
thing and that he doesn't have anything against us just being friends.
And I'll get to see
him again day after tomorrow, I think as I pull in my driveway.
I love my cute little house. I'm renting it, and it's in a
clean neighborhood filled with other small houses with fences of various sorts
around their backyards. I love my house's simple layout. When I walk in the
front door, I'm in a main room that has the living room, small dining area, and
a little kitchen that juts a little further back into the house. Past the
living room, I have a decent-sized bedroom with a bathroom beside it. The
bathroom has entrances from both the bedroom and the kitchen, making it
possible to go in circles around the center of the house, something I used to
love to do as a child.
I'm not picky about how the house is decorated. To keep from
having to buy all new furniture or bring some things from my parents' house, I
decide to pay a little extra to rent what's already in it.
My lie to Jesse about having to unpack haunts me as I spend
most of the next day watching television in my living room. I finished all my
unpacking in a matter of hours when I got here yesterday, so I obviously don't
have anymore to do today. I didn't bring a bunch of stuff from my parents'
house, just some clothes, jewelry, makeup, and pictures of my parents and me. I
don't need much else, certainly not reminders of my past with Drew hanging
around as I try to dictate my own future.
By the time late afternoon arrives, I'm really getting sick
of terrible TV shows.
A guy on the show I'm watching says a lame joke, and I groan.
Then my phone rings on the coffee table in front of me.
Mom, I think
resolutely, knowing she probably wants to talk my ear off, asking question
after question about my safety, whether or not I'm eating right, etc, even
though I've only been here a day.
I don't recognize the number.
"Hello?" I ask, wondering who it is. There's a lot
of background noise, whoever it is.
"Annie?"
"Yes, speaking. Who is this?"
"You've forgotten me already? That's a shame since I've
been thinking about you all day."
the man says.
"Jesse?" I ask, guessing.
"Yay! So you do
remember me! That's good," he says the last sentence like a silly sigh of
relief.
I swallow back a laugh because he sounds a tiny bit drunk.
"Listen. I'm down here at Howard's if you're tired of
unpacking and looking for something to do," he offers.
I swear I can hear
him smiling as I picture him in my mind sitting at one of the small tables
towards the back of the bar.
How did he guess I was
bored? And he called the next day?! I think happily, ignoring the
butterflies in my stomach. I attribute my happy feeling to laughing at him
because he sounds a little bit drunk. Also, going to Howard's would be more
entertaining than watching lame television shows.
"Annie?" he asks like he wonders if I hung up.
"Um. Well, okay. There's nothing decent on television
anyway," I finally answer, forgetting I was supposed to be tired and bored
from unpacking. Then I hang up, turn off the television, and go change my
clothes into something suitable.
I really like Jesse. I hope meeting him is a good sign that
I made the right decision to move here.
