Never Say Never (5 page)

"Oh shut up." She said and opened her door.

Grace let out a giggle and Hayley frowned at her. “It’s not funny.”

“Now I know why you never want to come out with me.” Grace laughed as they got out of the car.

“I had one sip!” Hayley shook her head as they walked around the car. “Oh my god! I am so sorry…” She started to apologize as the driver got out of the car and she stopped dead in her tracks.

“Hey, it’s the blonde…” Nick grinned.

“Hayley?” Lucas smiled at her.

“Oh my god! It’s you.” Hayley sighed and
ran her hands through her hair.

“You know this guy?” Grace crossed her arms.

“I’m Lucas.” He held out his hand towards Grace. “And this is my friend, Nick.”

Grace looked over at his friend, standing at the side of the car. Grace raised an eyebrow in approval and flicked her hair over her shoulder.

“Grace, nice to meet you.” Grace shook his hand and looked over at Hayley, raising her eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" Lucas looked over at Hayley.

“I’m fine, but your car isn’t. I am so sorry." Hayley frowned and walked over to him.

"Don’t worry about it, are you sure you’re okay?" He asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine." She nodded.

"And you Grace?" He asked.

"Yeah, I’m good." Grace nodded.

"I can't believe this." Hayley muttered as she looked at the damage to the back of his Subaru.

"Actually it's my fault, I wasn't supposed to park here." Lucas said.

"No, it is my fault, I should have watched where I was going...” Hayley exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it." Lucas grinned.

"My insurance should cover the damages..." Hayley said.

"That's not necessary." Lucas said.

"Of course it is! I drove into your car!" Hayley frowned.

"It's not like it was on purpose, Hayley." Grace said next to her.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t drive into my car on purpose, right?” Lucas grinned at her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Of course not. I didn’t even know this was your car.” Hayley crossed her arms. “And even if I did know, I still wouldn’t drive into it on purpose.”

“The lady protests too much.” Nick laughed and Grace laughed in agreement. “She would fail a lie detector test even if she’s innocent.”

“Is she always like this?” Lucas asked Grace.

“Oh yeah, all the time…” Grace nodded. “You should see her when…”

"Uhm, excuse me!" Hayley cleared her throat and Nick, Lucas and Grace looked at her. “I’m standing right here.”

Grace grinned and winked at Nick. Lucas walked over to her and dug his hands in the front pockets of his pants. He looked her square in the eyes and she frowned.

“What?” She asked, slightly breathless by his closeness.

“Come have a drink with us.” Lucas smiled slightly.

“We can’t…” Hayley shook her head.

“We were headed over to Flanagan’s if you wanted to join us.” Grace said behind her.

“Grace…” Hayley whispered to her, but she didn’t seem to hear.

“It’s the least you could do. After all, you did d
rive into the back of his car, which looks really expensive, by the way.” Grace smiled.

“Grace, you’re totally not helping.” Hayley muttered and Grace laughed.

“One drink.” Lucas smiled at her. “It’ll take the edge off.”

Hayley studied his playful expression and felt her resistance slipping. “Fine. One drink.” Hayley said to Lucas.

Grace walked up to Hayley and put her arm over her shoulders. “Actually, we can do more than one drink. The babysitter’s only due home at one.”

Before Hayley could protest, Grace grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the car.

“Okay, drive safe.” Lucas grinned playfully and Hayley had to bite her lip to prevent responding. Hayley looked over her shoulder at Lucas and he winked at her, then turning to walk back to his car.

“Stop staring at his ass, Hayley.” Grace whispered with a grin and Hayley looked at her in disbelief. “Which looks good by the way.”

“Grace…” Hayley shook her head and ran her hands through her hair.

“You know I’m right.” Grace raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Hayley frowned slightly at her friend and shook her head.

Of course Grace was right, he did have a very nice ass, but she shook off the thought and dropped her gaze. When they were inside the car, she turned to Grace with a look of disapproval. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

“Did what?” Grace looked at Hayley.

“The babysitter is only due home at one!” Hayley shrieked. “You didn’t need to disclose that information to them! They could be madmen, or psychotic serial killers.”

“Jeez, Hales, calm down. It’s just a drink.” Grace said calmly, as if nothing happened.

"I’ve heard that one before…” Hayley glared at her friend, but Grace was not fazed by her anger at all.

“Hayley, no offence, but you need to lighten up a little.” Grace said to her, with raised eyebrows.

“You sound like Jess…” She muttered and
Grace looked at her. “…and trust me that is not a good thing.”

“Hayley, just shut up and drive, please.” Grace narrowed her eyes at Hayley.

Hayley looked at her for a second, started the car and looked out onto the road.

“How do you know Lucas?” Grace asked after a brief silence.

“I don’t. Well, not really, I only met him once before. Owain was talking to him at the convenience store last night.” Hayley sighed.

“What?” Grace frowned.

“I took Owain to the convenience store for sprinkles.” Hayley nodded.

“Sprinkles.” Grace repeated.

“Yes, for his cupcakes.” Hayley looked at Grace. “Thursdays we…”

“Yes, I remember.” Grace nodded. “How does he fit into the story?”

“I’m getting to that. I went to get sprinkles and he went to the toys. I momentarily lost him, but found him by the pet food, talking to this guy.” Hayley said.

“Lucas.” Grace tilted her head with a smile.

“Yes.” Hayley nodded and looked at Grace.

Grace had that look on her face and Hayley shook her head.

“I know what you’re thinking, so just stop.” Hayley said.

“Come on, Hayley. He’s really, really hot.” Grace said. “Don’t deny it.”

“I’m not denying anything.” Hayley parked the car in front of Flanagan’s and looked at Grace.

“So you think he’s hot.” Grace narrowed her eyes.

Hayley glared at Grace for a second and grabbed the bottle of tequila from her. She took a sip and gave it back to Grace. “Let’s do this then.”

“Al right!” Grace cheered and they got out of the car.

Hayley locked her car and put her keys in her handbag. She turned around and looked at Lucas and Nick approaching.

Lucas had thick dark spiky hair, a strong jawline and hazel green eyes that sparkled in the moonlight. He had a pair of dark jeans on with a dark grey shirt on. Hayley dropped her gaze and pulled herself together. She looked at Grace, who saw right through her and shook her head slightly.

“Come on.” Grace walked over to the door and looked over at Nick. “Let’s show these old people how to party.”

“We’re the same age, Grace.” Hayley frowned.

“No, we’re not.” Graze winked and looked at Nick.

“After you.” Lucas stopped in front of the door and waited for Hayley to go in.

“Thank you.” She gave him a small smile.

Smitty and Al, who was parked on the opposite side of the road, exchanged glances and Smitty grabbed his phone.

“Carter, we have a problem.” Smitty frowned.

“Please don’t tell me you lost her.” Carter, the bald one, sighed.

“No, we didn’t lose her.” Smitty said. “We just saw her going into Flanagan’s.”

“Why is that a problem?” Carter asked.

“Because she went in with Luke.” Smitty said.

“Shit, that’s not good.” Carter muttered.

“What do you want us to do?” Smitty asked and looked at Al.

“Nothing, just don’t let her out of your sights.” Carter said.

“Okay.” Smitty nodded and looked at Al.

“Are we going in?” Al asked.

“No, Luke will
recognize us.” Smitty said.

“So we wait?” Al asked.

“Yeah, we wait.” Smitty nodded.

“So it ends up that this cocky kid was my boss’s son.” Nick exclaimed and Lucas, Hayley and Grace burst out laughing.

“So you arrested him anyway?” Grace asked.

“Assaulting an officer is a serious offence.” Nick nodded and Grace laughed.

“I’ll remember that.” Grace smirked. “Dunedin needs more cops like you, Officer Nick.”

“Dude, you seriously need to draw the line somewhere.” Lucas laughed.

“It’s difficult, Luke.” Nick shook his head.

“So what do you do, Hayley?” Lucas asked.

“I’m a teacher at Curtis.” Hayley said. “So is Grace.”

“Teachers. You must love kids then.” Nick interrupted.

“Yeah, kids are great.” Grace nodded. “That’s why we get along with you two so well.”

“Touché, Miss Grace.” Nick laughed and looked at Grace.

“She’s really funny.” Lucas chuckled and looked at Hayley. “Do you want to dance?”

“I’m not much of a dancer.” Hayley shook her head and looked at Lucas.

“I’d like to dance.” Grace smiled and stood up. She looked over at Nick and winked. “Let’s see what you got, Officer Nick!”

“Oh yeah! You’re in trouble now!” Nick nodded and stood up from her chair.

Lucas laughed and he and Hayley looked over at Nick and Grace heading to the dance floor.

“She’s fun.” Lucas smiled at Hayley.

“Yes, she is.” Hayley nodded. “That’s why I hang out with her. She takes away my serious side.”

“I take it you don’t go out much.” Lucas said.

“Is it that obvious?” Hayley frowned.

“No, I just thought with a kid, you’ve got your hands full.” Lucas said.

“He can be a handful sometimes, but he’s great.” Hayley nodded.

“So is Owain with his dad tonight?” He asked.

“No, he’s with his babysitter.” Hayley answered.

“Is his dad working then?” He asked.

“No.” Hayley shook her head. “There’s no dad.”

“No dad?” Lucas frowned.

“No.” Hayley shook her head.

“You take care of Owain all by yourself?” Lucas asked.

“I do.” Hayley nodded.

“No husband, or boyfriend either?” Lucas asked.

“No...” Hayley looked at him and studied his expression.

“Wow! That was wildly inappropriate.” Lucas muttered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“I think it’s time for a topic change.” Hayley smiled uncomfortably.

“I think so too.” He nodded and he laughed slightly.

“This might sound like a really strange question, but what was my son talking to you about, in the convenience store?” Hayley looked at him.

“Oh, that.” Lucas laughed and crossed his arms. “He was asking me strange questions.”

“Strange questions?” Hayley frowned. “Like what?”

“He wanted to know about my family.” Lucas laughed.

“Really?” Hayley frowned. “What else?”

“You really want to know?” He gave her a crooked smile and she studied his face. She felt quivers run up her spine and nodded. “He said he had a checklist and wanted to know if I could pass it.”

“I kid you not.” He laughed
when he saw her horrified expression. “He’s really smart, how old is he?”

“He’s five, he’ll be six in September.” She
smiled at him.

“What?”
He exclaimed and she nodded. “Wow!” Lucas looked at her and studied her expression for a second. She looked really proud, and beautiful. “He doesn’t look like you at all, though.”

“No, he doesn’t.” Hayley shrugged and looked over at Grace and Nick on the dance floor, dancing. Their table started vibrating and Hayley reached for her bag. She found her phone and looked at the screen in slight alarm. “Oh my god, it’s the babysitter. I have to take this. Do you mind?”

“Of course not.” Lucas shook his head and Hayley left the table and walked outside.

After a minute, Nick and Grace returned from the dance floor.

“Where did she run off to?” Nick asked.

“She’s on the phone with the babysitter.” Lucas said.

“Everything okay?” Grace asked.

“I don’t know.” Lucas raised his shoulders.

A few seconds later, Hayley came back to the table, her phone in her hand, with a frantic look on her face.