Monday, February 11, 2013

A Woman Never Believes in Love at First Sight (Until it happens to her.)

 Note: This is the story of the night I met Nick a.k.a. Griff. It is not meant to entertain, simply to inform.

A redhead is always trouble. They can please you in so many incredible ways.  The only problem is that in just as many devastating ways, they can break your heart.  So when he watched her walking into the bar, he was torn.

Walk out, never knowing how much trouble she could cause him, or stay, and find out if such a beautiful woman would even speak to him.  He chose the latter.   

It had been such a long day at work, and all she wanted was a nice drink to calm her nerves.  No guys for her, no way.. she'd had her fill in the past few months.  The last one, well, she just didn't even want to think of that pain right now.  She shook the images of him with the other woman out of her mind and stepped into the bar, lighting a cigarette as she sat down, grabbing a menu, and peeking at her options.   

"Hey Katie, whatcha having today?" the bartender asked.    
"Something cheap for me today, Tasha. I'm waiting on some friends to get here, and I can't afford much."

He listened to their conversation and tried to seem nonchalant.  She was even sexier up close, sitting just a few seats down from him.  It was easy to just jump right in, and he jumped in.. not even thinking about rejection.   
"Long day at work today, huh?" She glanced up at the husky voice, and was amazed at the sudden longing she felt. What the hell?   
"Yeah, you could say that." She turned back to the bartender and tried to ignore it.  She didn't believe in instant connections, and this was a bar.. not the best place to meet a guy, especially when she didn't want or need another one in her life. 

However, it wasn't long before she was no longer talking to the bartender, only to him.  When he told her where he was from, a small town called Palacios, she shook her head and realized this conversation would go nowhere.

That hell town was nothing but pain, but she smiled at the irony of it. A hot guy from a town she hated? May as well speak with him to fill her time. She still hadn't even ordered her drink, when her friends walked in.     

When she turned away from him to talk to the new people, he was disappointed.  He sure hadn't gotten very far, and his food would be arriving shortly. He'd have to leave pretty soon, and the only reason he knew her name was because the bartender had called her by it. Katie. 
Oh hell, she was already getting under his skin.. all he had to do was try to find some way to turn her attention away from those damned friends of hers and back to him.   

Then she shocked the hell out of him, by turning to him and asking him if he knew a guy named Billy Komer.  He laughed out loud in relief, and stated that yes, he knew the man. 
"Then you know Chad Boutwell, as well then?"   
"Yeah, I know him too."   
"I thought I'd seen you before.. I'm the mother of Chad's 2 year old daughter."  This was it.. the guy was going to bail and she wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt again.  She'd played the children card before.. it never failed to send the men running.  Being a single mother sometimes had its perks. 

But instead, it was her turn to be surprised, because instead of brushing her off with some kind of excuse, he slipped back into conversation with her.  When she asked him for his number, she was completely scared.  But there was something in his eyes that she hadn't seen in a while that made her feel like a woman again.. like a wanted woman.   

He had to smile when she asked for his number. Didn't this woman realize how out of his league she was?  But he quit questioning it, and told her the digits as she entered them into her cell phone. Then his food arrived and it was time for him to go.  He told her goodbye and she asked him to stay.  How could he tell her no?  He stayed until his boss called him.. and he left, hugging her before he did.   

When he touched her, she knew she was in trouble.  It felt so nice having his arms around her.  What the hell was she doing?  She barely knew this guy, but all she could think about was seeing him again.  When she sat back down next to her friends, she tried to smile but couldn't.  She couldn't get the image of his crooked smile out of her mind.  So she texted him.  If he didn't answer, she'd be safe, but if he did, she may as well try and go for it.He might hurt her, too, but damn it, for once, she was going to have her fun.   

Driving down the highway back to Palacios, he couldn't get the redhead out of his mind. Her laughter filled his thoughts, and he couldn't think of anything except what it would be like to have her laughing and being happy because of him.  When the text from her came in, he smiled to himself, whispering a silent prayer of thanks.   

"Having fun yet?" Even her texts were cute. He was getting in way over his head, this time.   
"I always do."   
"Are you going to come back after work?"   
"No, I have to drive some friends out of town. Hey, you wanna go?"   

Her heart sank. She couldn't go out of town, she had two children at home waiting for her and no babysitter. So she simply replied that she couldn't. She had children to think of.   

"Do they have carseats?"   
"Yeah."   
"Can they come too? I'd like to see you tonight."   
She had to think about it.  Her first reaction was yes, yes, YES. But she wasn't sure. After all, Palacios was a small town, and his friends would probably know her.. and it wasn't like she was a liked person in Palacios. She decided, what the hell.. if she went, and they didn't like her, and he didn't like her because they didn't like her, he was probably never worth it anyway.   
"Yeah, we'd love to go."   
"Great. I'll pick you up when I get done at work."       

She picked her girls up from the babysitters shortly after and realized she looked like hell. She'd been working all day, her makeup was gone, and she didn't have the gas to drive back home and change clothes, then come back to Bay City.  Then she thought how long the night might be, and realized her children couldn't stay out that late. 

She really wanted to see this man again, so she made a quick phone call to one of her babysitters, who stated that they couldn't do it, but they knew someone reliable and safe.  It would have to do.  She made the phone call and liked the girl, and arranged to drop them off later.

When he walked up at Walmart, her one year old child reached her arms out for him to pick her up. 
"She never does that.. she hates strangers." she whispered in awe.

Then she told him the good news.. that she had a babysitter, and she was looking forward to spending such a rare night away from the girls. She loved her children, but sometimes, a single mother has to get away.   

"Well, I don't have to drive my friends, they found a ride. You wanna do something else?" he stated in that husky voice. Oh, that voice did things to her.. and she believed she'd do anything, as long as he kept looking at her the way he was right now.   
"Yeah. I'm game for anything."    They dropped the girls off at the babysitters and he asked her what she wanted to do. They argued for a minute, her believing it was his money and he should choose.
"No, this is your night out, and you choose."
So she quickly mentioned the name of a bar she liked, and they headed there.   

By the time the night was over, she was wishing it wouldn't end. They had talked so easily, it was like they had known each other for so much longer than just a few hours. It was nice to have someone there to talk to and she realized there was no way to back down now. She just hoped he'd want to see her again. 

She took a drag off his cigarette, and he smiled.

"I believe that's my cigarette your smoking there.. that's my beer you're drinking... and I believe, this is my girl."

Then he kissed her, and she was lost, completely under his spell.  The hell with not believing in love at first sight, this man was incredible. 

No comments:

Post a Comment