The Last Boyfriend
Read The Last Boyfriend Online
Authors: J. S. Cooper
Tags: #alpha male, #New Adult, #teen romance, #Contemporary, #Romance, #Adult, #college romance
The Last
Boyfriend
J. S. Cooper
This book is a work of
fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or
actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters,
businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the
product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously.
Copyright © 2013 by J. S.
Cooper
Table of
Contents
Prologue
He wasn’t sure why he
always chose this diner. It was a risky thing to do. If any of the
waitresses slipped up and mentioned something about all of his
dates here, it could ruin everything. All he knew was that he liked
this diner: it was low-key, comfortable, and relaxing. It allowed
him to entertain the girls without feeling any pressure. They were
all beautiful women, and he was able to get what he wanted from
them easily. They were everything he wanted and nothing he needed.
If he was honest with himself, he knew that he liked
it this way. He wasn’t going to allow a woman to get under his
skin. He was never going to change his mind about falling in love.
Not for anyone, and certainly not for a brunette named Lucky who he
barely knew. He had to be focused on the plan at hand, and he
couldn't allow for emotions to get in the way of what he needed to
do.
Chapter 1
“Can you believe that this
guy is in here again with another girl?” Shayla peered out into the
dining room and shook her head. “Are these girls
stupid?”
“Maybe they don’t care?” I
shrugged, indifferent to how many different dates Mr. Big Tipper
brought to the restaurant every Friday night.
“Or they don’t know.” She
rolled her eyes as she prepared two garden salads for her latest
customer. “But really, how can they not know? One look at him tells
you that he’s a guy that’s not going to be faithful.”
“Shayla,” I laughed as I
sorted mountains of silverware and folded sets of them into
napkins. “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
“So you would go on a date
with him if he asked you?”
“Oh, hell no.” I laughed
and looked out at the tall, handsome jock sitting at one of my
tables. His name was Zane Beaumont, and he had been frequenting
Lou’s Burger Joint every Friday night for the last three months
with a different girl each time. This week’s date seemed as vapid
as all the other girls he had previously brought into the diner.
But I was no longer surprised—not like Shayla was—every time he
walked in with a new girl. In fact, I would have been more
surprised if he came in with the same girl, two weeks in a
row.
“You don’t think he’s hot?”
Shayla turned to me and wriggled her eyebrows before heading off to
deliver her salads.
“Oh, he’s hot all right.” I
laughed again and stared at him, studying his face clinically. “But
he must be the biggest player in Miami.” Zane Beaumont was
everything I wanted to avoid in a guy. He was too handsome to be a
good guy, with his light blue eyes and dark brown, slightly too
long hair. His hair was always perfectly spiked with a wisp in his
face that he combed through with his fingers to give it a tousled
look. His face was chiseled and classically handsome, and he always
had a slightly smug and superior look on it. There was something
about his persona that I was instinctively attracted to. But I knew
there was no way I would ever act on the attraction I felt—not that
he would ever be interested in me anyway.
“You should go for it,
girl.” Maria, the other waitress working that evening, wriggled her
eyebrows at me as she finished counting out her tips. “He always
sits at your table. I bet he has a crush on you, chica.”
“Thanks for the vote of
confidence, Maria, but I doubt it.” I laughed easily while a warm
flush ran through my body. “Even if he was interested, which he
isn’t, I would never date someone like him. There is no way that he
would fit my rules.”
“Ay dios mio.” Maria rolled
her eyes. “You talking about those rules again? Forget the rules.
Just go with the flow.”
“You know I can’t do that,
Maria.” I sighed. “I created the rules for a reason. I don’t want
to just be some guy’s bed buddy anymore. I’m saving myself for the
real deal.”
“If you say so.” She
stuffed her thick wad of cash into her handbag and jumped up. “But
I’m sure he would be dynamite in the sack if you were to change
your mind.” She laughed, and I had to nod in agreement. There was
something in the way that Zane Beaumont moved that was rhythmic and
sexy. Plus, his hands were large, warm, and manly. I flushed as I
remembered the shock of electricity I felt each time our fingers
touched when I took his payments.
“Bye, Maria. I’ll see you
tomorrow?”
“No chica, me and Pedro are
going salsa dancing.” She grinned, and did a couple of steps in the
kitchen.
“Oh, that should be fun.” I
smiled at her, slightly envious. I wish I could afford to take
Saturday nights off. Not that it actually mattered anyway. I didn’t
have a boyfriend, and my two best friends were coupled up. So when
I did have the night off, I was usually at home by myself, watching
crappy movies with a large tub of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice
cream.
“You should come with us
one night, girl. Pedro’s cousin just moved here from New York, his
name’s Armando. I think you’d like him.”
“That’s okay. Thanks,
Maria.” I laughed and quickly made my way into the dining hall as a
new couple was seated at my table. I sighed as they got into the
booth on the same side. They were obviously a new couple, trying to
cozy up together as much as possible. It was hard working at the
diner on Friday and Saturday nights because they were usually date
nights. But, they were also the best nights for tips. Zane Beaumont
always tipped me at least 50%—what girl could say no to
that?
“Hi, I’m Lucky, and I’ll be
your server tonight. Can I start you off with any drinks?” I kept
the smile plastered on my face, even though the couple paid no
attention to me. They were too busy kissing each other. “Or maybe
I’ll give you a few minutes.” I walked away from the table as they
continued to ignore me and went to check up on Zane and his
date.
“Hi, is everything going
okay?” I smiled pleasantly, trying to ignore the excitement in my
stomach as Zane stared up at me attentively with a sexy
smile.
“Is this Diet Coke?” The
beautiful brunette asked me with an attitude. “I asked for Diet
Coke and this tastes like regular Coke.”
“I can assure you that this
is Diet Coke ma’am.” I tried to make sure I didn’t roll my eyes. “I
personally filled your drink order, and I made sure to hit the Diet
Coke button.”
“Well, are you sure?
Because it doesn’t taste like Diet Coke.” She glared at me, and I
turned to Zane. “Is there anything else you need, Mr.
Beaumont?”
“I told you to call me
Zane.” He laughed. “And no, we’re good here. Thank you,
Lucky.”
“My pleasure.” I smiled and
walked back into the kitchen grinning. I would never admit it to
Shayla or Maria, but I loved seeing Zane Beaumont every week. In
fact, seeing him was the only thing that kept me sane and from
dying of loneliness. I had been single for a year now—no dates, no
kisses, and certainly no sex, and it was starting to wear on me. I
had been asked out by a few guys, but none who I would give the
time of day to; and certainly none who I found as attractive as
Zane.
Not only were my work
friends shocked at my lack of dates, but so were Leeza and Shannon,
my two best friends. The three of us had bonded during Freshmen
Week at the University of Miami and had been regulars at pretty
much every party on campus for our first two years. We had all gone
from boyfriend to boyfriend and I thought nothing of our dating
habits. That is, until about a year ago, when my boyfriend at the
time, a graduating Senior who was also the president of his
fraternity, Sigma Chi, broke up with me. It had pretty much
devastated me, and it was his closing words to me that had the
biggest impact on me: “You didn’t think this was serious, right,
Lucky? Everyone knows you’re the girl for a fun time. How many guys
have you been with since you started UM? You’re like a
hurricane with guys.” And then he had laughed at his
joke. “Hurricane—get it?” He had asked, and I had nodded
wordlessly. The fact that he had jokingly compared my dating
history to the school’s football team was not funny to me. He had
made me feel like a slut, like I was one of those girls that just
went from guy to guy and bed to bed. I knew that he thought that I
was that kind of girl, but I really wasn’t. At least not in the way
that he had thought. It was true that I had dated about eight
different guys during my three years at UM. But, I had only slept
with three of them. Apparently, the five I didn’t sleep with didn’t
pass that information on when they talked about me.
It had taken me about a
month to get over the hurt and pain, and I had made a decision with
myself—that I wasn’t going to date just to date anymore. I wanted
to make sure that any guy that I dated had the possibility of being
my last boyfriend. That meant, he had to fit a number of
criteria:
1. He had to be
honest.
2. He had to be
good-looking, but not too hot, or he would have too many women
after him, something I knew from experience.
3. He had to be looking for
a serious relationship, but not be too old or too desperate to
settle down.
4. He had to be financially
secure, but not too rich, or too many women would be after him,
once again, something I knew from experience.
5. He had to be funny,
loyal, faithful, and modest.
6. He had to agree to wait
for sex until we were married or engaged.
I figured that I had
created a pretty thorough list. Shayla, Maria, Shannon, and Leeza
all thought I was being ridiculous with my list and destined for a
lifetime of singledom. But I explained to them that I wasn’t
looking to just date anyone—I was looking for the guy that would be
my last boyfriend. This was the only way I can ensure that I didn’t
get my heart stomped on again.
So now, here I was, a year
later at 22, and just about to graduate from
college with no current
boyfriend and none in sight.
Zane Beaumont was the type
of guy I would have gone for in a heartbeat before I created the
list. But he was also the type of guy that I knew would take my
heart and rip it into pieces.
“Hey Lucky, your new table
is ready to order.” Shayla came running into the kitchen with a
plate in her hands. “And Mike, they asked for white meat, not dark.
You need to do the white meat special again please, and quickly. I
don’t want to miss out on another tip.”
“Gotcha, Shayla.” Mike
grinned and dropped some chicken into the deep fryer. He winked at
her and she sighed before turning to me with an exasperated look on
her face.
“I tell ya, I don’t think
it’s smart to work with your boyfriend.”
“You wouldn’t have it any
other way, Shay.” I grinned at her before going back into the
dining room. Shayla and Mike had an almost perfect relationship.
They had both been working at Lou’s for over five years before Mike
decided to ask her out on a date, and they have been together ever
since.
“Hi, are you guys ready to
order now?”
“We’d like a cheeseburger
and fries.” The guy ordered for both of them, and the girl just sat
there, grinning. “We’re going to share, so put the pickles on the
side, please.”
