Lex (Unconventional Hearts) (15 page)

Standing here, there is no way I can see her
or Bob, and she couldn’t hear a text or call over all of this
noise.

Righting myself by smoothing down the sides
of my dress, I take in a deep breath and press forward into the
crowd, my purse securely clutched in my hand. I duck under a man’s
flailing arm. He must be in some serious drunken argument with his
girlfriend. Shimmying past a group of frat boys, I inch closer and
closer to the dance floor.

The Devil’s Den is devoid of anything
resembling fancy or refined. It’s as basic as it comes. Wooden bar,
high tables, metal stools with black rotating tops, two plasma TVs
hung on the wall, a dance floor, DJ on the weekends, and copious
amounts of alcohol. The walls are exposed brick and plastered with
beer posters and neon signs. In the back, there are two pool tables
and a dartboard. It’s not much and tonight it seriously reeks of
testosterone and horny women. Or maybe that’s my imagination.

Vigilantly bobbing and weaving in and out of
the throng of bar goers, I finally spot Roni. She’s sitting at a
high table on the edge of the dance floor, wearing the tank I found
in her messy apartment, with jeans and surprisingly her auburn hair
is presentable. She looks hot! I love seeing Roni like this.

“Hey.” I yell, claiming a stool across from
her.

“Hey!” She smiles wide, taking a long pull
from her Bud Light bottle.

“How was dinner? Where’s Bob?”

Talking this loudly, guarantees that I’ll be
hoarse by the end of the night and possibly deaf, too. It’s wild in
here. Women and a few men are bumping and grinding on the dance
floor. We’re down to standing room. There isn’t an open seat and
barely an open place to stand. I didn’t even know we had this many
people in Heartfair.

“Dinner was great! Bob’s there.” She points
over to the bar where Bob is standing. He is wearing a pair of
ratty old jeans, Hanes tee and his work boots. His hair’s buzz cut
so short, he’s almost bald. Chatting with him is Auto; his boss,
Tank; who is another man he works with at Auto’s Auto Body. Then
there’s two men I recognize but don’t know their names, and they’re
chatting with Corey. I had no idea he’d be here and…the biggest
pain in my tuckus is fraternizing alongside them. Gage Masterson, I
swear he and Corey are attached at the damn hip. Why is he even
here?

Just as he notices I’m looking at him, Gage
lifts a glass of something dark red in greeting, flashing me his
sexy smoldering smile. It looks like Merlot in his glass. But I
could be wrong. It’s funny; I pegged him as a beer drinker or maybe
whiskey. Definitely not wine.

Dropping my purse on the table, I flip it
open and pull out a twenty.

It’s time to get some liquor in me, and I
don’t do beer.

“Be right back. You need anything?” I yell to
Roni and she shakes her head, mouthing ‘okay’ to me.

“Are you Lex?” A brunette barmaid asks,
stopping me from leaving my table, by touching my forearm. A tray
full of drinks is miraculously balanced over her head. This young
woman has skills.

“Yes.”

“Good. These are yours.” She explains
lowering the tray without spilling a drop and sets eight glasses on
our table. Two different colors of wines, shots of tequila, some
tea looking thing, and a glass of some clear substance, could be
vodka or about fifty other beverages.

“What are all these?” I ask, waving my hand
over the table full. Between Roni’s bucket of beer and these
glasses, we barely have room to sit much else.

“The wines are two different ages of Merlot.
Those,” she points to the shot glasses, “are José. That is an
alcoholic sweet tea.” She points to the amber liquid filled
highball glass. “And that one is Patrón.” She finishes out the
explanation and my eyes go wide. Apparently, whoever ordered these
drinks knows I like Patrón.

“Thanks… and who are these from?” I ask, just
as she gets ready to leave, her tray pressed her to chest.

“I was told to give you this.” Dropping a
white bar napkin with pen ink written on it she turns and rushes
off.

I shoot Roni a questioning look, she shrugs,
and I grab the napkin.

You look very beautiful tonight, my Lotion
Lady. Enjoy the drinks.

My heart is yours,

Suit Master.

My mouth drops open. Oh my God! Oh. My.
Fucking. God!

Quickly, I show Roni and her mouth joins
mine, nearly hitting the floor. My heart is excitedly hammering
like a piston in my chest.

He’s watching me! He’s watching me right now.
I can feel it. Frantically looking around I try to spot anything
out of the ordinary. But it’s dark. The place is packed and I have
no clue what he even looks like or his name.

“How did he know?” Roni asks, wide-eyed.

Her guess is as good as mine. I couldn’t even
begin to guess how he knew. I’ve not told anyone anything except
her that I was coming here tonight. Not even Daniel or my mom.

I know this should seriously creep me out,
but knowing for a fact he’s in here watching me, turns me on. I
guess he wasn’t joking when he said he was going to win me.

The Suit Master

Look at her, my beautiful Lex, sitting there
trying to find me.

I’m right here, my Angel. All in due time, I
will reveal myself; all in due time, my Lotion Lady.

To quote Shakespeare, “She’s beautiful, and
therefore to be wooed; She’s a woman therefore to be won.” This is
true in all forms and I will woo and win her.

Lex is even prettier today than yesterday,
when she wore that leather brown skirt and white shirt. The day I
had roses delivered to her work, I knew she’d never respond to my
emails. I know all about her and her harrowing past. And I’m sure
the thought of even dating a man is terrifying for her. I don’t
blame her for feeling that way. Even though, I’m not just
any
man.

I’ve thoroughly read the entire police case
file on Lex. That Brian was one sick son-of-a-bitch, what I
wouldn’t give to murder him myself for hurting my woman. Damaging
her so badly, she’s afraid to let me in.

I’m sitting on a stool here at the bar,
watching her in the reflection of the mirror, that’s on the wall
straight in front of me. That dress she’s wearing, my sister would
kill to own, even though Tasha wouldn’t look half as amazing
wearing it. And Lex’s long black hair is the sexiest thing I’ve
ever seen. It’s astounding how much I love that woman with
everything in me.

Having had my fair share of women since my
wife and I divorced, I’ve been trying to by my time until I could
find a way into Lex’s life. I’ve had my eye on her for years, six
to be exact.

I could never forget the day Biff, my old
boss, brought me her case to work on. He had a lot of other things
on his plate with the firm and knowing my scarred past, he knew I’d
do my best to get Lex the outcome she deserved. Sad thing is, the
sick motherfucker only got fifteen years. I tried hard to make Biff
push for more time, but he was the boss. In the end, Brian won out
and didn’t serve life with no chance of parole, like I had been
gunning for since I opened that manila folder on my desk that rainy
April day.

The pictures of her scars in that file were
enough to make even the strongest person wince and want to throw
up. What that poor woman had to endure was beyond anything I’d seen
before. Three huge gashes, that’s what I vividly remember. Three
massive, thick, rigidly scarred gashes on her body that looked like
he’d literally taken chunks out of her. Mixed among, less intense
scars. Knife slices, mostly.

She was twenty-two when she first came into
my life. I had taken her file home with me to work on over the
weekends. And the more I read, the more paperwork Biff supplied,
like; pieces of her testimony, more pictures, letters and other
things that make up a lawyers case file. I read everything five and
six times. I stared at her pictures for hours and refused to let
anyone touch her case except Biff. He was the lead attorney; I just
did his legwork. I would have represented her myself, if given the
chance. I wouldn’t let anyone do a damn thing pertaining to the Lex
Keagan versus Brian Links case. I made all phone calls, did things
that secretaries are supposed to do. All because, the more I read
and learned about Lex, the more that beautiful woman crawled into
my brain and nested there. Not only has she consumed my mind but my
heart, for the rest of my life.

After Biff won her trial, I stayed away or I
tried to—is what I should say. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t let her
go. I even went to a counselor to discuss my obsession. I knew it
wasn’t normal to feel the way I did. I’d never spoken to her
directly, I didn’t have a reason to love her like I did and still
do. But, I couldn’t change it. For two years, I locked Lex’s
pictures and letters I had stolen from her file, into a safety
deposit box at my bank. After those two years were up, no longer
able to resist the daily urge to see her angelic face, I retrieved
them. From the very beginning of my infatuation, I banned myself
from stalking her. Even though, if I’m being totally honest, that’s
exactly what I wanted to do. Craved to do.

Three years after her case was over, my wife
found Lex’s pictures in my bedside drawer. I no longer desired
Melissa, my wife, or any other woman. From the moment I got her
case on my desk, I never looked back. I couldn’t. Lex was
mine
, even if she didn’t know me. I knew her and needed her.
I needed to protect her and love her and be there for her. I just
didn’t know how, until now.

I instantly felt a kismet connection with Lex
because as a child my mother beat my brother, my sister and me. I
was burned with cigarettes more often than not. And when my mother
became too drunk, I’d take her beers away and pour them down the
drain, to keep her from passing out in a pile of vomit on the
bathroom floor. That inevitably if she did, I’d be the one to clean
up.

Taking away those beers would turn her into
an even angrier drunk than she already was, and she’d lash out.
Twice she broke a beer bottle over the lip of our kitchen sink and
attacked me with it. I have some mean looking scars to prove it.
Unlike Lex, my mother felt guilty after her escapades, and she’d
always take me to the ER to get stitched and administered
antibiotics. Not Lex, she suffered at the hand of her father and
then her boyfriend. A man I know was her first in all ways that
count. It was all written in one of the statements she made to
Biff. Brian had taken her virginity, and that not only pissed me
off, it made me insane with jealousy. Jealousy I knew I had no
right to feel. But I still do, nonetheless. I’m not sure how many
men she’s been with since Brian. It doesn’t matter to me. Well it
does, because I love her. But I have no room to talk. I’m no
saint.

I left my wife a year ago and our divorce was
finalized eight months ago, since I couldn’t make it work. I tried
to love my uptight and very demanding wife. I couldn’t. She started
seeing a therapist because of my lack of interest in her and soon
thereafter began banging her fitness trainer. I couldn’t blame her.
I hadn’t slept with my wife in nearly two years at that point. I
masturbated constantly to Lex in my bathroom, and that’s all that I
ever needed. That’s all that fueled me, her pretty blue eyes, long
black hair and flawless body. Even with scars, she’s flawless to
me. She’s perfect for me, and I know that for a fact.

Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I stare at
her in the mirror. Corey, a guy I’ve spoken with a dozen or so
times is standing next to her, conversing. I don’t like it. I don’t
like it one fuckin’ bit. If I wanted to risk giving myself away, I
would go over there right now and beat his ass to a bloody fucking
pulp for touching what is
mine
.

I’ve waited years to finally get into her
life without a wife, baggage, or other extenuating circumstances to
get in my way. This is my time and I will win her, even if it takes
tiny baby steps. Lex Keagan will forever own me and soon, very
soon, I will own her too.