Before Lucky (Forever Love #2.5)(9)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Whatever, you can sit here and think of Arizona, and I’ll go relax in a hot tub with my new bikini, a very small G-string bikini.”

“That should be fun.” I nodded, not caring if she would have said she was going skinny dipping in the Atlantic ocean. I just wasn’t interested.

“Hey, I’m sorry, guys. Is there anything I can get you?” Lucky rushed over to the table looking worried, and I shook my head, wishing that I had the ability to shake her from my mind as well.

“Brigetta is just leaving, but I’ll be staying to get something to eat.”

“And to think about Arizona.” Brigetta glared at me.

“Arizona?” Lucky looked at me with a perplexed expression and a twinkle in her eyes. I could tell that she thought Arizona was another girl and that I had been caught in my player ways.

“You wouldn’t understand.” I grinned at her, enjoying the fact that she was close to me and that we were talking and joking around like friends.

“Oh, I think I would.” She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, you think so?” I winked at her and watched as exasperation and humor filled her face. From my peripheral view I could see Brigetta leaving but I didn’t bother turning around to look at her. She was already gone from my mind. There was nothing she could give me that meant anything to me. Bimbos like her were a dime a dozen. And knowing she could give me no information on Braydon had taken her to the bottom of my list easily. If she had gotten that shocked about me asking if he did drugs, there was no way she knew any more info.

“Oh, I know so.” Lucky twirled her hair in her fingers. “I know guys like you.”

“Guys like me?” I tilted my head to the side. “What sort of guy am I?”

“If you don’t know, I don’t think I need to tell you.”

“I want you to tell me.”

“Would you like to place an order now, Mr. Beaumont?” She raised an eyebrow at me and I laughed.

“I told you to call me Zane.”

“That wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“I’m not an appropriate sort of guy.” I licked my lips and watched as her eyes followed the movement of my tongue. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did.” She shook her head and looked around. “It doesn’t take a Mesa scientist.” She looked at me, deadpan, and I burst out laughing.

“You’re different, aren’t you, Lucky?”

“I’m not from Mars if that is what you’re asking.”

“No, you look much more like our friends from Venus.”

“Why, thank you, kind sir. It’s not often I get complimented on my beauty.” She curtsied and then grinned at me as she straightened back up. “Now, what else would you like? My manager is going to fire me if I stand here talking for another minute.”

I looked at her with a wide smile, feeling more alive and happy than I had in a long time. I felt a pang of disappointment at her words. I could stand here talking to her all night. I didn’t want her to leave the table. I wanted her to sit down and banter back and forth with me all night. Then I wanted us to leave the diner and go back to my place, so I could devour her body one inch at a time.

“Zane?” Her voice questioned me lightly and I looked up at her searching eyes. We stared at each other in silence for a moment, and I felt a surge of electricity pass through me. It was so sudden and strong that it made me freeze for a moment. I felt as if I had been electrocuted. That’s how powerful the connection was.

“I have to go.” I jumped up, suddenly feeling disoriented. “Sorry, here.” I pulled out a $50 bill and handed it to Lucky. Our fingers touched, and she jumped back slightly as we shocked each other.

“I didn’t mean to be rude.” Lucky bit her lip and looked away from me. I could tell that she felt slightly uncomfortable and I wanted to pull her towards me and touch her. I needed to feel her skin beneath mine, so that I could breathe in her smell, and then taste her sweetness. I wanted to make her laugh so that her eyes crinkled and her lips curved up, I yearned to hear her panting and begging me to take her. I desperately ached to make her eyes roll out of passion and not exasperation. I wanted to just talk to her; so that I could ask her where she grew up, what her favorite color was, if she liked dogs or cats, if she’d ever been horseback riding.

“I don’t have time for this.” I shook my head viciously, as if I could shake the unwanted thoughts out of my brain.

“I don’t know what…” Her eyes looked at mine in worry, and I cut her off.

“Have a good night, Lucky. I’m sorry, I have to go.” I touched her shoulder and walked out of the diner quickly. I started running as soon as I walked out of the door and cut down the side street to take a detour at the beach. I didn’t want to go home, I didn’t need to be reminded of Noah right now. I needed to rid my mind of Lucky and all the unfamiliar emotions that were coursing through me. I’d never had this sort of visceral reaction to anyone, and while I hated thinking and feeling this way, a part of me was in wonder. How could this girl have ingrained herself in my thoughts so heavily, without us even having a full conversation? I’d never even spent an hour alone with her. I didn’t know her. But a part of my soul lit up like it never had before. Seeing Lucky and talking to her, took me to a place that I never knew existed. It was as if she held the key to a place in me that had never been opened before. A place so dark and secret that I wasn’t sure if I wanted it to be found. I knew what women were capable of, and I knew that love was an emotion I didn’t want to experience. There was nothing good that could come of love. It was a fleeting and fickle emotion and it made no rational sense.

I reached the boardwalk and almost pushed past a little boy to get to the sand. I stopped and waited patiently as he picked up shells and moved forward. He looked up at me and grinned, holding up a small, translucent shell in his fingers.

“Shell.” He mumbled, and I smiled down at him.

“Very nice.” I was about to move past him, when he pushed his other hand up to me.

“Shell.” He showed me the shell in his other hand, it was slightly bigger, but had a darker exterior that was still covered in sand.

“Another beauty.” I nodded at the boy, and he grinned.

“Here.” He made to give me the shell and I shook my head.

“Oh, no, those are yours.” I ran my hands through my hair as I stared into his big, open brown eyes. “You should take them home and keep them as a souvenir of your trip at your beach.”