The Impostor, A Love Story (9 page)

My secret crush was getting really bad. The
fact I hadn’t seen him go home with any girls lately made it even
worse.

At the end of the evening, I pulled the money
out of my pockets and walked to the bar, counting it. I loved
cashing in my tips on nights like these. Smiling at the fives and
tens in my pile, I leaned against the bar, waiting to trade the
ones in for bigger bills.

The lights went on and everyone started
cleaning up. As the band began putting away all their equipment,
Dylan made his way up to the bar.
Oh my god, why was he so
beautiful
? I caught myself staring and quickly looked at the
bar, ironing the crumpled dollars on the counter with the palm of
my hand to try and distract me.

“Hey, thanks for all the drinks tonight.” He
grinned.

Those annoying butterflies tickled the walls
of my abdomen. I breathed in, trying not to say anything dumb. “Oh,
it wasn’t me. It was my customers. They were great. They were
buying me drinks all night, so I thought I’d share the wealth.” I
leaned over and lightly touched his arm to imply don’t worry about
it.
Holy crap, it was a rock
.

“Well, we all appreciated it.” He smiled that
incredible smile again. “So what do you like to do after work?” I
was still thinking about how hard his bicep was. It took me a
moment to realize I was supposed to respond.

“Truth is I really am kinda boring. I usually
just go home to bed.”

“Well, that sounds fun.” He winked.

“It’s not an invitation. I’m sorry. I go
alone. Well, not really alone, but with Emily.”

“That really does sound fun.” He cocked his
eyebrow. I turned away embarrassed.
How do I respond
?

It was so hard to pretend I wasn’t
interested, especially since I was tipsy.

“Why don’t you all come to my place for a
while?” Brad asked.

“How does that sound?” The chiseled god
focused back on me. He tucked the hair that hung in my face behind
my ear and stared into my eyes. “What would you like to do
tonight?”

Was it obvious that I found him incredibly
delicious? I had to break eye contact and glance down. Because of
the alcohol, I fixated on his attributes: an incredible musician
with an Olympian body, a great sense of humor, and did I mention
his chocolate-brown eyes? As he leaned on the bar, his biceps
bulged out even more, and his chest almost broke through the tiny
tank top he had painted on.

I imagined his muscular arms wrapped around
me as I lay on his chest. Mmm, the warmth of his hot muscular body
as he serenaded me to sleep, I sighed. I shook my head to get
myself out of my dreamlike state, but when I came to he was still
perfect, and he was still looking deep into my eyes. I playfully
glanced down and then back into his eyes as if that would break the
spell.
It’s got to be all those drinks I had
.

“Come on, Nicole. It’ll be fun. Bring your
friend if you like.”

My name seemed to sing from his lips. I
exhaled.

“Why don’t you come with us? I promise I will
behave.”

I just blushed again. “I really can’t.” I
grabbed my purse from behind the bar to leave.

“Goodnight, Brad. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Then I turned to the Greek god, “Goodnight, Dylan.” I smiled
bashfully.

“I hope you change your mind. Here’s my
number in case you do. I can pick you up if you need a ride.” He
cornered me on the bar. His fingertips gently ran over my forehead,
brushing the hair that had fallen, out of my eyes. Leaning over, he
cradled my face in his hands and kissed me on the cheek.

I froze in his grasp, unable to move away.
His lips were so soft, warm, moist; his hands, so gentle. I felt
fragile, desperate to collapse in his arms and have him whisk me
away.
Kiss me
, I silently pleaded but blinked and slowly
pulled my face away from his, trying to break the captivity of his
almost-ebony eyes.

“Goodnight, Dylan. Sweet dreams.” My
heartbeat almost rang in my ears.
What just happened
?
Am
I dreaming
? It was just a kiss on the cheek, but it might as
well have been a wedding proposal.

I almost stumbled as I walked toward the
door, even more intoxicated by his beauty than all the shots. Emily
was in the corner of the bar waiting to see what I would decide to
do.

Somehow, I was able to muster the strength to
walk away. Of course, I’d dream about him for the next . . .
forever. But at least I didn’t do anything stupid.

Emily and I jumped into one of the cabs
waiting out back. Once the door closed, I began almost shaking.
Thinking about him made chills go up my spine and made me weak in
the knees.

“I think I’m in love.”
Okay it wasn’t
love. It was complete infatuation, but who cares
? I felt hot,
then I shivered with cold. I just wanted to sprint back inside and
jump into his arms, but I stopped myself.

“We can go to Brad’s place. Whatever you want
to do. It’s kinda cute to see you get all flustered.”

“Oh my god, is it that obvious I’m totally
into him?”

“Yeah, it sure is.”

“I’m so embarrassed.”

“I think he likes you too. There is nothing
to be embarrassed about. He kissed you, remember?”

“It was just on the cheek. It’s not like he
meant anything from it.”

“I don’t know, Nicole. I think he did. Why
don’t we go back? He leaves next month. If you want to spend any
time with him, maybe we should go to Brad’s. Besides, I haven’t
heard you even mention Ronald since you started crushing on Dylan.
That’s a good thing.”

“I know, but I don’t want to complicate
things. My stomach’s in knots. He really messed me up. I don’t want
to feel like this.” I sighed.

“You can handle a pretty boy who is amazingly
hot and wants you as much as you want him. You can control
yourself, I’m sure. You have for all those other pretty boys who
have come on to you.”

“I know. It’s probably because I drank a lot
tonight. I have to think about breathing, and it’s almost like
someone is tickling me. I feel nauseous. Why am I so foolish? He’s
a total player. It’s got to be the alcohol. Tomorrow I’ll be
fine.”

The cab finally pulled into the motel. As we
paid him, the smirk on his face told me he had been listening to
our whole conversation.

The cold air stung me as we opened the door
and ran to the motel room. I didn’t even wash my face or take off
my clothes. I jumped in bed and rolled the covers around me,
falling asleep. I began to enter the world of dreams.

“Goodnight, Dylan.” I gave him one last
delicate kiss. “Sweet dreams,” I whispered pulling myself away and
began to walk out the door. He followed me.

“Don’t go.” He pulled me close to him and
leaned in to kiss me. As his lips kissed mine again, I just gave in
to my desire and melted into his touch. I couldn’t breathe.
Mmm
.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. The blasting noise
trumpeted and broke my delicious dream.
Five more minutes
! I
wanted to escape back into his rippled arms.
Just five more
minutes
. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. It trumped again. I covered my
head with the pillow, but the noise kept screaming at me.

There was no way it was already time to get
up. It seemed like I just closed my eyes. I yawned, nestled deeper
into the covers and began dreaming about how safe it felt having
his arms wrapped around me. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
Shit
. I wanted
to throw something at the stupid clock.

“Nicole, it’s already nine-thirty. We better
hurry. Chris is going to pick us up after the lunch shift.”

I didn’t want to get out of the covers into
the frigid air, and jumping in the shower seemed even more
troublesome. Part of me really wanted to go to work so I could see
Dylan this evening. But, being the chicken I am, I was really happy
we planned to go horseback riding with Chris instead.

“Nicole, are you thinking about Dylan again?
You deserve to be treated like a goddess. He is cute, but don’t get
too attached, you know of his reputation. Hurry up. We don’t want
to be late.”

She was right. I finally made my way to the
blow dryer and started getting ready, quickly sneaking in a call to
my Jessica to tell her I was going horseback riding! I loved to
begin the day with her sweet voice.

I remembered the locket Steve had given me. I
grabbed my pants off the ground, pulling out the necklace. I went
through my pictures of Jess to find one that would fit in the
locket, placing each picture over the face of it until I found the
perfect one. I ran to the office and borrowed some scissors and cut
the picture to fit. I placed it in the locket just as the taxi
pulled up.

“Have you ever ridden a horse before?” Chris
asked, walking in the fenced-in area.

“Yeah, back in Maryland,” I said
confidently.

“Great, I’ll give you Misty.” His soft
dimples appeared. Chris’s tall and slender build seemed more
relaxed in the jeans and t-shirt he wore today than in the suits he
usually wore. He pulled a horse out of the stable with a chestnut
coat and a gorgeous black mane—so beautiful, and so, so, so
tall.

Okay, I’m five feet
. I scrutinized the
horse.
How the hell am I going to get up there
? Chris could
see my anxiety and shook his head with a gleam in his eyes as I
practically did the splits to reach the stirrups.

He brought Emily a striking white horse,
noble and magical like a unicorn. Emily appeared so tiny next to
this mammoth creature. Of course, her delicate frame made the
animal seem much bigger than it was. She held the reins for a
moment. It was a stunning picture. Emily stood there elegantly, her
light brown hair streaming past her shoulders. Her smile was
contagious.

Her dimples, more pronounced than Chris’s,
made her face light up when she spoke. She stood, holding onto the
beautiful alabaster mare with the Alaskan mountains as her
backdrop. I couldn’t believe we didn’t have a camera.

I waited for a moment to see her make a fool
of herself, too, but Chris saved her the humiliation. He chuckled
as he brought her horse over to the fence to help her get on.

“This is how it’s done,” he instructed.

“Okay, make me feel like a fool, why don’t
you?” I commented on my failed attempts at mounting the horse.

“It was rather entertaining.” Chris
laughed.

“Hey, you better be nice, or I’ll tell Emily
you are a serial killer and not to date you.”

“How do you know that I’m not?” He laughed an
exaggerated evil laugh. Even though I knew he was joking, I
couldn’t help thinking for a moment about that guy that was out
there bringing girls to remote areas in the wilderness and hunting
them down. I looked at him again. This was kind of remote. My
thoughts were broken by Emily.

“Nicole is a black belt. Why do you think I
bring her with me on all my dates? She’s my bodyguard,” Emily
joked.

Truth is we were each other’s bodyguard. I
went with her everywhere, and she went with me everywhere. We were
in this strange new place where we were totally at the mercy of
others. Not that we were really much protection for each other. We
were both a little over one-hundred pounds, but it made us feel a
little safer that we were together.

The black-belt thing was a lie. I couldn’t
hurt a fly.

Climbing up the fence, I held on to the top
as I straddled the horse.
Piece of cake
. Chris opened the
doors to the barnyard. I focused on the mountain in front of
us.

Chris kicked his horse and started toward the
mountain range. “Um, we are going out there?” I mumbled.

The mountain was kind of big. No, we were in
Alaska. That sucker was huge. I have to admit, I was a little
intimidated by the vast wilderness we were about to disappear into,
especially since he made the “How do you know I’m not a serial
killer?”comment.

Chris was one of the sweetest guys around. I
was sure he wouldn’t do anything that would put us in danger. At
least I hoped not. Maybe I shouldn’t have said I’d ridden
before—that had been an easy trail ride, not an Alaskan
adventure.

“Come on,” Chris beckoned
us.
Emily and I sat there
. I felt mean
kicking a horse.

“Kick
it. Let’s head on
out,” he advised.

I made a lame attempt at kicking her. It was
more like a love tap.

“You’ve got to kick her harder.” He shook
his head. Finally, after multiple attempts, I got Misty going.

I had never
been in the
mountains on horseback. It felt almost freeing as
I rode
through
the fall foliage of the Alaskan
wilderness. The world seemed so different on her back. Peaceful. It
was as if I was on a drug. My senses were being stimulated,
awakening in me things I hadn’t felt for a long time.

The gentle breeze through
the trees seemed to whisper and gently caressed my hair. I just
sat, as we made our way up the mountain, listening to the sounds of
nature. The steady strike of hooves as they hit the dirt began the
symphony with a drumbeat. A choir of songbirds filled the air with
music. And the breeze
became the cello, adding an underlying
warmth, transporting me into a world of my own—like my dad’s
classical music did while growing up.

I let go of my nagging thoughts and relaxed
into the moment. I wanted to close my eyes, but I didn’t dare. I
didn’t want to fall off the horse (that would have been a bad
thing), but mostly, I realized, I didn’t want
to
miss a minute of it. There is nothing quite like the Alaskan
mountains. The breaks in the trees unveiled the snow-covered
mountain tops.
Could anything be so
beautiful
?