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 dyn**ite 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.”
“And the onions, too.” The girl finally spoke, and they both laughed.
“Okay, so a cheeseburger and fries? Anything else?”
“No, just two waters.” And then they were back to kissing again. I walked to the fountain to get them two glasses of water and sighed. There wasn’t going to be a big tip coming from them, that I was sure of. I tried to calculate how much money I had made for the night and bit my lip. I still hadn’t made enough to take my car to a mechanic. My 1991 Toyota Corolla was on its last legs and I was pretty sure that the head gasket was going to blow again. It was exhibiting the same signs about a year ago when it had blown, and I knew I couldn’t afford to be without my car now. I wouldn’t be able to get to school and work if I didn’t have my car, and I sure couldn’t afford to buy a new one. But the mechanic wanted $800 to fix my car and I only had $500. I had been hoping that tonight I would have seen some spend-happy, hungry customers from South America, but I hadn’t been so lucky. “I guess maybe tomorrow will be my night,” I mumbled to myself as I walked the two waters back to the table.
“Here you go,” I said, to no one in particular and walked back to the kitchen to do some more mental calculations. Maybe if I asked the landlord if I could pay the rent a little late, I thought. Maybe I could borrow my rent money to fix my car. I sighed as I thought about approaching my mean-faced landlord. I had a feeling she wasn’t going to go to be happy if I asked her if I could pay my rent slightly late.
“You okay, Lucky?” Mike peered at me from his station and I nodded quickly. I didn’t want to get Mike and Shayla involved with my problems. I knew they would want to loan me the money, but I also knew that they had two kids to support and they were barely able to do that themselves.
“Yeah. Thanks, Mike.”
“What did Mike do now?” Shayla came back into the kitchen and looked Mike up and down. “You bothering my girl?”
“No Shay. Lucky’s just looking slightly down.”
“Oh, I’m sorry girl, maybe they won’t be as cheap as they look.” Shayla grinned at me as she talked about the new couple that had been seated in my area. Everyone who worked at Lou’s knew from the moment they approached the table what sort of tip was going to be forthcoming. Anytime a young couple came in all lovey dovey usually meant a low tip.
“I’m sure they will be.” I laughed. “They are sharing their entrée.”
“Oh man.” Shayla shook her head and patted my shoulder to show her condolences. “But at least you have Mr. Rich, he should be good for a few dollars, right?”
“Yeah. He always tips well.” I smiled and looked out into the dining room to make sure that none of my customers was looking around for me. I stared at Zane Beaumont again and I noticed that he kept his hands to his side of the table. I always saw his dates with their hands stretched out and inching towards him, but I never saw him holding hands with them. I wondered if he had slept with them all? He was certainly good-looking enough to bag any girl that he wanted. I wondered if he dumped them as soon as they said yes. I wouldn't have been surprised to find out he was a kick ‘em-out-the-next-morning sort of guy. I shook my head and grinned to myself, he was a spend-the-night-at-their-place-and-leave-early-in-the-morning sort of guy. I was positive of it.