Friends & Lovers Trilogy (16 page)

Roni poured some more wine, then scooted
dramatically closer with a big laugh.

“
Oh goody, do tell. Make me
feel better about myself.”

Nicole laughed at Roni, then sighed and
smiled at her new roommate.

“
I think this is gonna be
great. You and me, together in this town… I think we’re going to be
lifelong friends.”

Roni smiled widely and picked up her glass
to clink it with Nicole’s.

“
Me too.” She responded.
“Now quit procrastinating and get to the good stuff.”

Chapter Three

Kent stretched languidly as he drifted out
of sleep the next morning. He’d gone out with Rich for a few more
beers after they’d dropped off Roni’s stuff, but he didn’t feel any
worse for it.

He slowly opened one eye, happy for the
blackout curtains he’d hung in his bedroom.

He was not a morning person.

Kent glanced over at the clock, his forearm
brushing against the empty sheets next to him, and he wondered how
long it had been since he’d had a woman in his bed.

Shit, at least since Roni had come to town
and stayed in his house. Well, now that she had moved out and he
had his space back, he would have to remedy that.

His mind wandered to Briana, and he wondered
how she was doing in Austin. He couldn’t help but smile.

Although he was sad that she’d taken Colin
back and moved away, he couldn’t help but be proud that she’d
followed her dreams.

He could think of her now without feeling
like he’d lost her. He knew that she’d never really been his to
lose in the first place, but he’d still felt bereft when she’d told
him she didn’t want to see him anymore.

He wasn’t naïve enough to think that he’d
loved her, but he knew that he could have, if she’d given him the
chance.

“
Oh, well,” he thought as
he pushed himself up in the bed and threw his legs over the side.
“No use wishing for something that was never going to happen. Time
to move on.”

He sat still for a moment, allowing himself
time to wake up, before standing up and heading into the bathroom
to take a shower.

Although he worked at the local newspaper,
Kent had always been smart with his money. He’d started saving as a
young child, and had received a scholarship to go to school, so
he’d worked and saved all through college as well.

Growing up poor had taught him
determination.

He was determined to never live the way his
parents had, to never settle for someone who didn’t love you, and
to make sure he was always prepared to care for himself and his
twin.

Kent loved his house. It was a small, two
bedroom home on the outskirts of town. He’d paid to have it
renovated, and enjoyed the small luxuries that he’d put in the
house.

Even more, he liked knowing that it was
bought and paid for, and was solely his.

Of course, Roni knew that it was available
to her whenever she needed, as was anything he owned, but like him,
she wanted to make her own way. He was proud of her for that.

As the hot water from the dual shower heads
streamed over his back, he wondered what he would do now that he
was a free man again.

Maybe he would go out that night and try to
break his slump.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, he
couldn’t stop the flash of a certain beautiful, busty blonde from
creeping in.

Damn, Nicole was hot.

Kent could tell she was attracted to him. It
had been apparent by the way she’d stood there staring at his chest
yesterday, he thought with a chuckle.

He didn’t know much about her. Just that she
was sweet and kinda quiet. He hadn’t seen her with any guys since
he’d met her, and wondered about that for a minute.

He knew he’d upset Nicole one night at the
bar. It was after Bree had told him that she was seeing Colin and
didn’t want to see him anymore. Kent had been drinking and was
trying to prove to Bree that he didn’t care about her and Colin,
and he’d hit on Nicole in front of her. He’d apologized and Nicole
seemed to understand that he’d meant it.

He wondered if she was as sweet as she
seemed. If so, she was probably the last thing he needed right
now.

He needed someone who was the opposite of
sweet.

The opposite of good.

The opposite of anything
that was going to make him
feel
things.

He just needed to get laid.

He stepped out of the shower and toweled off
with his plush full body towel, then hung it to dry, as he went
naked to the mirror to shave for the day.

As he walked from the bathroom into his
bedroom to get dressed for the day, he thought, “Yeah, it’s good to
have my house back.”

While he drove into town listening to his
favorite Country station, Kent decided to give Rich a call to see
if he wanted to hit up the bar that evening.

He had only just gotten to know Rich, he’d
met him and Colin at the beginning of the summer, and although he
didn’t think Colin was good enough for Bree, he couldn’t help but
like both of the guys.

He and Rich had been hanging out quite a
bit, and it was nice to have someone to chill with. Too bad, Rich
had to head back up to school soon.

He pulled up to the newspaper office and
went inside. He’d been putting out applications recently to
newspapers in big cities, but the newspaper business was on such a
downward slide, no one was hiring.

Kent brushed off the disappointment and
pulled out the charm when he rounded the corner and encountered the
Editor in Chief’s secretary.

“
Morning, Marla,” Kent
started with his most charming smile. “You’re looking lovely as
always. Is the boss in?”

Marla turned a jaundiced eye on him and
drawled in her best Clint Eastwood impression, or maybe that was
just her voice after fifty years of smoking a pack a day.

“
Don’t think that smile is
going to get you anywhere with me, young man. The boss will see you
when he’s ready, and not a second sooner.”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” Kent replied,
keeping the smile in place as he walked to his cubicle.

He hoped that all of the crap he’d put up
with since being hired on here would eventually pay off.

Chuck, the Editor in Chief, had been
reluctant to hire someone right out of college with no experience,
but Kent had managed to get the job anyway.

Chuck and Marla had both been working at the
paper since the dawn of time, and Kent had convinced Chuck that he
could bring them up to speed with this century, and help them keep
the doors of the paper open.

He’d been working his ass off to keep his
promise, but it seemed like the two of them had fought him every
step of the way.

He got the paper online, set them up with
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and every other account he could think
of to keep the small paper relevant.

There were a couple interns from high school
and the local community college, as well as a photographer, but
that was it for staff.

Kent sat at his desk and checked the notes
left for him from the night before, turning on the police blotter
as he settled in.

A buzz on his phone notified him of a
message, and he smiled when he saw that Rich was “game on” to meet
at the bar for some beer and food.

He hoped a night out would take his mind off
work, and Bree, and get him back in the game.

Chapter Four

The bar was pretty full that night and
Nicole had a full station. She had never considered waitressing
before she’d moved here, but she really was having a fantastic
time.

She laughed at something an older couple
said as she refilled their sweet tea, then turned to go to the
kitchen to check on her orders, when she noticed Kent and Rich
standing at the hostess station talking to Roni, who seemed to be
ignoring Rich altogether.

Nicole’s heart jumped in her chest at the
sight of Kent. He had on jeans and a t-shirt, nothing fancy, but
the way the t-shirt hugged his muscular body, had her belly
tightening. And a glance at his biceps bulging from beneath his
sleeve, almost made her walk straight into Kara.

“
Distracted much?” Kara
asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“
Hmmm?” Nicole replied
absently.

Kara laughed and made a production of
looking over at Kent and then back at Nicole.

“
Stop it,” Nicole
whispered, when she saw how obvious Kara was being.

“
Oh, please,” Kara said
with a laugh as she grabbed Nicole’s arm and pulled her into the
kitchen. “It’s as plain as the dreamy look in your eyes, that you
have a thing for Kent.”

“
It is?” Nicole asked,
suddenly worried that it was obvious to everyone, including
Kent.

“
Duh,” Kara said, stopping
in front of the prep table and looking to see if any of the plates
were for her customers. “Don’t worry, I doubt it’s obvious to
everyone, but I’ve been watching you since you started working
here. I know that you haven’t given any of the guys who have hit on
you the time of day, but when Kent comes into the bar, Woo-Hoo…
Sparks fly.”

“
You think so?” Nicole
asked, picking up a few plates and arranging them on her
tray.

“
Honey,” Kara drawled. “You
look at him like he’s a tootsie roll pop and you want to lick your
way to the center.”

Nicole blushed at that and was about to ask
Kara what she thought of Kent, when Pete came walking in from the
back.

Kara squealed, “Hi baby,” as she ran over to
give Pete a hug and a kiss.

Pete grinned broadly and seemed to enjoy his
beautiful girlfriend wriggling in his arms.

“
Not at work, Kara,” He
chided, his face showing the pleasure that his words did
not.

“
Oh, you’re such a rule
follower,” Kara replied, kissing him loudly on the lips. “I love
that about you. Now, get your cute butt behind the bar, so I can
watch you break all the poor girls’ hearts.”

“
Please,” Pete said with a
laugh. “There are no other girls, but you.”

Nicole groaned good-naturedly, as she headed
back out into the dining room. “Give me a break. You two are so
corny.”

Once she dropped off the meals, she checked
on some of her other guests, before going to Rich and Kent, who had
just been seated in her station.

“
Hey, Darlin’,” Rich said
with a suggestive look. “How’s everything going with your new
roommate?”

Nicole couldn’t help but smile at Rich’s
flirting.

“
It’s great.” She said
truthfully. “Thank you both so much for helping us. Can I get you
started with something to drink?”

She worked up the courage to turn in Kent’s
direction, and was immediately caught in his direct gaze.

His lips turned up slightly as he looked her
up and down.

“
You look lovely this
evening, Nic.” His grey eyes twinkled and she began to feel
light-headed.

“
Thanks, so do you.” She
blushed slightly once the words were out of her mouth. She cleared
her throat before turning back to Rich, who made her feel much more
comfortable.

“
I’d like a draft to
start,” Rich said with a wink. She smiled back at him before
turning once more to Kent.

“
Make that two,” Kent
added.

Nicole turned to go, but was stopped by
Kent’s hand on her arm.

“
What time are you off?” He
asked, making her stomach flutter wildly.

“
Um, eleven,” She replied
breathlessly.

He just smiled and released her arm.

Nicole walked off towards the bar, wondering
why he’d asked.

The night went by very quickly. Even after
the dinner crowd thinned out, the number of people eager to hang
out and have drinks and appetizers never seemed to die down.

Nicole counted down her drawer and went in
the back to clean up and get her stuff, when Roni walked into the
back room.

“
Oh, my poor feet.” Roni
said dramatically.

“
Busy night, huh.” Nicole
replied, realizing how badly her feet throbbed. “What do you say we
have a drink before we go home?”

“
God, Yes. That sounds
great.” Roni picked up her purse, then linked her arm through
Nicole’s and they walked out into the bar.

They were about to grab a stool when Kent
called out Roni’s name. He and Rich had moved up to one of the
tables by the bar after they’d finished dinner, and had been
hanging out watching a game and talking.

Roni looked at Nicole when Kent waved them
over, Nicole shrugged.

She wanted to go and hang out with them, but
she didn’t want to be obvious about it.

Nicole walked behind Roni until they got to
the table, and was about to sit next to Rich when Kent said, “Nic,
why don’t you sit over here by me?”

She looked over at Roni, who seemed a little
surprised at his request, then rolled her eyes when Rich chimed in,
“I’ve got a spot for you right here, Roni.”

Nicole couldn’t help but chuckle at the
interaction between the two of them. She felt her palms begin to
sweat when she sat down next to Kent, her arm brushing his as she
settled in.

He lifted his arm and laid it across the
bench behind her head, then leaned over and whispered in her ear,
“Thanks. I’ve been waiting all night for the chance to talk to
you.”

“
You have?” Nicole asked
disbelief apparent in her voice.

He leaned back and asked, “Why is that so
hard to believe?”