Dark Universe (2 page)

“If not, the boredom of doing so eventually would.”  I mutter. 

“Life is not all about having a good time, Lola.  Eventually you have to grow up.” 

“Eventually, being the key word there, Mom.  You act like I’m running out of time or something.  I’m only twenty six years old.”

“Yes and when I was your age, I was already married and pregnant with you.  You don’t even have a boyfriend; which brings me to why I called.” 
Oh shit.

“No way, Mom.  Not again.  Don’t even say it.” 

“Oh just calm down, would you.  I really think you’ll like this one.” 

“No, Mom.  I’m not going out with one of your friend’s sons again.  Not gonna happen.”

“Oh well.”  She sighs, and it makes me nervous.  She gave up far too easily.

“Um, thanks.  So if that’s all I’ll see you guys when you get back in town.”

“Just a minute, Dear.  If you insist you don’t want to even get to know the poor guy, you’ll just have to tell him yourself.”  Aaaand there it is.

“Why would I do that?”  I say warily, already sure I’m not going to like her answer.

“Because he will probably be there in a few minutes to pick you up.” 
Well, hell.

“Damn it, Mother!  You better call him right this second and tell him to turn his ass around.”  I demand, though it will do me no good. 

“Language, Lola, really.  I will do no such thing.  If you are going to refuse to see him, you will be the one to tell him.  Honestly, I can’t imagine why you seem so upset over this.  Knowing you, you’ll probably enjoy delivering the rejection first hand.”

“Mother, I am not kidding around…”

“Oh honey, the waiter is here to take our orders, your father says hello and to mind your manners.  Tell Vincent we said hello.  Buh bye now, love you.”  Then, the little witch hangs up on me. 

“Damn.”  I pocket my phone and go back to applying my makeup.    I blot my lipstick and roll my eyes in the mirror.  I can’t believe she pulled this shit again.  I’ll give her this much, the woman is good.

The doorbell rings and I giggle a little. 
Good timing. 
I glance in the mirror one more time and smooth down my sweater.  My phone chimes once more on my way down the stairs, and I stop at the landing to check it. 

Nins: I’m going to kick your ass Lo.  He keeps touching me and the waitress keeps flirting with him.  Oh and wait till you see the message I got from the Universe.  Not cool!

I smile and click reply and type:
Suck it up bitch;
then put my phone back in my pocket, and shake my head at my best friend’s craziness.  It’s about time she got a little shook up.  If I have to hear one more comment about “The Universe” and it
’
s “plan”, and how you have to “read the signs” I might have to get a little handsy, and not in the nice way.  Nina’s life story may be intense and tragic, but it has nothing to do with “The Universe.”  Shit happens.  People are flawed and they make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes completely change your life.  I have a brother finishing out a three year sentence who can attest to that. 

The doorbell rings again, and I snap out of my reverie and finish walking to the front door.   That will be Vincent.   
Here we go again.
  I open the door, and my mask of cool indifference falters a little.  Not enough he would notice, but it’s something.  Standing on the other side of the door is the exact opposite of what I was expecting.  This is no perfectly groomed country club member with a pressed white button down, expensive Stetson and snake skin boots.  No, the man that is standing in front of me is so much worse because he is
so
much better. 

My eyes travel from his dirty, plain black boots, to the faded denim jeans, the black cotton t shirt and finally up to his tanned face with black eyes framed by inky curls peaking out of a ball cap that has seen better years. 
Wow, not bad, Mother, not bad.
  I resist the urge to drool and instead shoot him a flirty smirk, and lean casually against the door frame. 

“Well, I gotta say, you’re definitely not what I was expecting.”  I offer and Vincent’s face betrays absolutely nothing at my tone or words. 
Interesting.
  “Don’t worry, handsome, I meant that as a compliment.”

He quirks an eyebrow at me and seems to take my blatant perusal as an invitation to look me over in the same fashion.  Very slowly.  I’ve had plenty of guys check me out before, so this should be no different, but for some reason a prickle of unease follows his eyes and chills break out against my skin. 
Shit, so this is what nervous feels like. 
The feeling intrigues me just a little bit.  There are three universal facts of Lola everyone knows.  I never wear red lipstick or white pants, it’s far too cliché and super tacky.  You don’t mess with my best friend, and I never, EVER get nervous in front of men.  I eat them for breakfast.

“Sorry, Miss, I’m not sure I follow.  I’m here to see…”

I wave my hand dismissively, cutting him off.  “I know all about why you’re here.”

“Reeeally.”  He drawls.  “In that case do you think you could let me in, so we could go over my proposal?”

“Proposal, huh?  That’s definitely new.  I haven’t been proposed to in a while, and never on the first date.”  His expression finally changes to mild confusion.  “Oh come on, Cowboy, it was a joke.  I know you didn’t mean that kind of proposal.”  He says nothing, but when I run my fingers into my hair to push it back from my eyes, his head swivels down the length of my body brazenly. I wait for him to finish before I raise my eyebrow at his second blatant perusal.  His soft baritone laugh is felt down in my bones and I visibly shiver. 
Damn. 

My mom has definitely upped her game with this one.  I wonder where she found him. 
Hmm…
An idea forms in my head, and I smile at its perfection.  “Alright, cowboy, I’ll admit, I was fully prepared to send you on your way before uttering your first sentence, but now after seeing you, I’ve decided to hear what you have to say.  Let me get my coat.  We’ll go down to the diner and get some food and chat.  My treat.”

I grab my coat and keys off of the hooks by the door and walk out onto the porch and graze my chest against his arm before turning to set the locks.  That move always gets a reaction.  Vincent doesn’t so much as change his breathing. 
Have I lost my touch?
  I turn back around and catch him rubbing his upper arm casually.  Nope still got it.

“Come on, cowboy, follow me.”  I head towards my parking spot, and when I see Vincent walking toward my truck with me I stop and turn around.

“Hand me the keys. I’ll drive or we can take my truck.”  He offers, and I laugh out loud earning another confused look from Vincent.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to laugh at your very gallant offer, but we’re not driving together.  I don’t even know you.  There is no way in hell I’m getting into a vehicle alone with you.”  There’s a flicker of surprise and approval in his gaze, but he says nothing.  “It’s that or nothing.” 

He nods and walks over to his truck.  “Lead the way, Miss Chase.”

“It’s Lo.”  I shout out the door before closing it
,
and start the engine.

Out on the highway, I see a man on the side of the road with his head under the hood of a red Mustang’s smoking engine.  In my rearview, Vincent’s truck pulls over to the side behind him. 
Hmm
,
gorgeous and a gentleman.
  I keep on towards the diner and tell the hostess to get me a table for two.  I order a tea, knowing it could be little while before he can get here.  However, before the waitress even returns with my drink, Vincent walks in the door.

“That was fast.” 

“Pompous asshat refused my help. He said he could do just fine on his own.” 

“Huh, well his loss.”

The waitress walks up with my tea, and doesn’t try to hide her blatant once over of my companion. 
Little hussy.
  “Is there
anything
I can get you?”  She breathes, and the way she stresses “anything” is so obvious it’s comical. 

“Just a coffee, Ma’am
,
” Vincent drawls.

The waitress smacks her gum and licks her lips earning an eye roll from me.  “I
would
like something to eat.”  I interject and she barely acknowledges my words pressing her pen to her notepad in preparation.  “I’ll take the country omelet, a bowl of fruit, a half order of biscuits and gravy and a croissant with extra butter.”  I’ve always hated girls that order a salad every time they go on a date.  That shit is for rabbits.  I take a sip of my tea and see my dining partner is staring at me incredulously.  “What?”  I ask, daring him to comment.

He just smirks and makes a noncommittal gesture. 
A girl’s got to eat.
“Okay, Miss Chase, here is what I am proposing…”

“Let’s get one thing straight,
h
andsome,” I interject, “I know my mom put you up to this.  She has this notion if she shoves enough eligible bachelors my way, I’ll magically fall in love, get married and pop out some grandkids.  I usually would have just nipped this in the bud at the front door, but you’re not the typical yuppie she usually finds, so I was…intrigued.  Yea intrigued.  It also helps that you’re hot.”  Vincent smirks slightly, his eyes still squinting, as if at any moment some horns are going to poke through the skin on my forehead.  “Don’t get a big head or anything, because assuming you own a mirror, you already know this.  I think we can come up with an arrangement that will suit both of us.  You don’t look like the marriage and babies type any more than I do, so I’m assuming you’re either looking for eye candy
,
or to get lucky.”

“I don’t think…”  Vincent’s face has transformed from slightly confused to completely baffled.  Shocking people isn’t new for me, but he looks so lost it almost has me rethinking this whole idea.  I should have spoken slower.  It seems his looks make up for a lack in the brain department. 
Just great.

I cut him off again, because I wasn’t finished talking and really, interrupting is just rude.  “Here’s what I’m proposing.  If we need someone to go out with, some arm candy, or just a date to keep the drunks at bay, we use each other.  This will also keep my mother off my back so it kills two birds with one stone for me.  You get to have an on call date whenever you need one without having to worry about buying flowers or insane expectations of diamonds.  As far as the getting lucky part goes, I don’t sleep around.  I’m not a virgin by any means, but my panties stay on until the time of my choosing.  And trust me, I’m choosy.  If you’re a total tool, you can count on going home alone every night.”

His eyes have widened to saucers and his jaw is hanging by threads.  I smile wide and lean back in my chair, confident in his answer. 

“So, what do you think Vincent, do we have a deal?”

Vincent’s face smoothes out slowly as understanding dawns and he grins like he was just told the greatest secret of all time.  “I think there has been some sort of mix up.”  I cock my head to the side and wait for him to explain.  “My name is not
Vincent.” 
Oh shit.
  “And I have never met your parents.” 
Double shit! 
“In fact, I was here to speak to them about a business proposition.  You answered the door and started talking about proposals, I assumed it was in regards to the email I sent your father and they had delegated you to speak about it.” 
Merciful Lord, kill me now.
  “So…like I said…mix up.”  He takes a drink of his coffee, I assume to stop from falling on the floor laughing like a hyena, and I can do nothing except sit there and stare at him.

After a few seconds, my mortification turns to anger and indignation.  “Why didn’t you tell me your name wasn’t Vincent?”

“You never…”

“No, No! You just let me go on and on and never tried to stop me?  Do you enjoy making fools out of people?  What the hell is your name anyway?”  I snarl at him.

“The name is Drake Thomas, and you never called me Vincent until the end there.  You kept calling me Cowboy or Handsome.  And I didn’t
let
you do anything.  You kept interrupting me. Christ, woman, you don’t even breathe when you talk.” 

“I did too call you Vincent!” 

“Did not.”

“Did too!” 

Drake laughs and I melt.  Having someone make you melt when you’re supposed to be angry with them is a major inconvenience.  “Whatever, it doesn’t even matter at this point.”  I motion for the check and chug my tea glaring over the rim at Drake.  His eyes are really dark and combined with his other smoky features and that damn smirk of his, he looks downright sinful.   I can’t even really see where his pupils end and the color begins.  His black hair curls in damp rings over his ears and shirt collar, and my fingers are just itching to reach over…
Christ on a cracker
,
Lo!
  The waitress arrives with my check and I slap some money on the table and get up to walk away. 

“What about your food?”  Drake drawls behind me, sounding completely unaffected.

“Help yourself.”  I go to shout out over my shoulder only to realize he is walking out behind me.

“So, about that business proposition…”  He begins, following my angry stomping out to the parking lot. 

“My dad will get back to you.”  I really just want this embarrassing altercation to end already.

“Sounds great.  About the other one, your… very charming proposition…”  I turn to glare at him and he snaps his mouth shut and chuckles.

I unlock my truck and slip inside as something occurs to me, “Hey Drake!”  I shout at him.  He turns and inclines his head.  “Since it’s scientifically impossible not to, I do
too
breathe when I talk!”  I go to slam my door, excited I got the last word in.  Before I get it closed all the way I hear his deep voice.

“Do not.” 
Jackass!

I’m halfway home when my cell phone rings. 
“Your Mother is calling.  She will keep calling.  You might as well…”
  I snatch it up and answer it with a clipped, “Yea, Mom.”