“What’s so funny, Lucky?”
“Just wondering if Mr. Rich is as good in bed as he looks,” I said wryly and turned to Shayla with a grin. “And don’t you dare say a word.”
“Girl, I’m not going to say anything.” She winked at me and laughed. “But I’m betting that is a man that can go all night long.”
“Okay, I’m out of here.” I groaned and ran back into the dining room. I didn’t want to think about Zane and sex. It had been too long since I’ve dated or had sex, and just thinking about him was getting me hot and bothered. But it had been my decision and I needed to remember that. I couldn’t afford to daydream about a guy like Zane.
“Everything okay, Lucky?” Zane’s voice was deep and husky, and he looked at me with concern. “I hope nothing’s burning in the kitchen.”
“Oh no. It’s all good.” I smiled at him and turned away from his gaze. Every time he said my name I felt a flush inside. “Do you guys need anything else?”
“Just the check.” His smile was gone and his eyes were vacant again. “And quickly please.”
“Sure.” I turned away, confused by his sudden change in demeanor. “I’ll get it right now.”
“So Zane, where are we going now?” His date preened.
“I thought we could go get some cocktails on the beach?”
“South Beach?”
“Yeah, we can go to Washington? I know a cool place.”
“We can go to my place.”
“Yeah, we can do that.” His voice was smooth as silk. I peeked behind my shoulder and watched as he caressed her hand. Asshole! I thought to myself as I printed out Zane’s check. I wanted to slap myself for thinking that perhaps he wasn’t the playboy I had thought him to be. He obviously was. He was not boyfriend material, and I had to keep reminding myself of that.
“Here you go.” I dropped the check off at the table and spoke to the girl, ignoring Zane. “You can pay at the front.” I walked back to the kitchen quickly and into the bathroom. I locked the door and quickly splashed some water on my heated face. I was upset, and frustrated. I stared in the mirror at my dark brown hair and brushed my fingers through my ponytail. I gazed into my wide, upset eyes through the mirror and saw the stress lines at the corners and sighed. I looked depressed and washed out; you couldn’t even compare me to the bevy of girls that Zane paraded in and out of the restaurant. Sometimes living in Miami gave me an inferiority complex and I’m not one prone to low self-esteem. Don’t get me wrong, I have my days like everyone else, but generally I am happy with my looks and my life. I’m not Miss America, but I don’t think I’m ugly. I didn’t like the uneasy feeling in my stomach. I didn’t really understand why I was so upset at Zane’s dismissiveness. It wasn’t like we were friends or had anything. And it wasn’t as if I fancied him. I mean, yes, I’ll admit it, I think he’s cute, but he’s not all that. And he’s a player and he’s pompous. The typical rich handsome guy who has had everything handed to him. He wasn’t the type of guy that I wanted to end up with. No, not at all. I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
“Lucky, you there?” Shayla banged on the door.
“Yeah, I’ll be right out.”
“You better, your young man is waiting outside for you.”
“What young …” Oh shit, I thought. He was probably mad that I gave the check to the girl. My heart started thumping and I felt a little sick. What if he decided that he wasn’t going to come back to this diner? What if I never saw him again?
“Thanks, Shayla.” I walked out of the bathroom and through the kitchen to the front of the store where Zane was waiting for me with a concerned expression on his face.
“Hey Lucky, thanks for coming over to talk before I left.” His blue eyes pierced into mine and I stared back at him without a smile.
“Sure.”
“I have to go in a second since she’s waiting in the car.”
“Okay.” I wanted to ask him why he called her “she” instead of by her name. “So did I get something wrong on the bill or something?”
“I wanted to apologize if I said anything to upset you.” He paused. “I just hope I didn’t come off as rude.”
“Oh no, of course not.” I was taken aback at his statement.
“I was raised to treat everyone equally.” He continued and I looked at him in surprise. What was he talking about? “I hope you don’t think I was disrespecting you as a waitress?”
“Not at all.” I blushed and looked away. All he saw when he looked at me was a waitress. I wanted to laugh. Even if I didn’t have my rules, he wouldn’t be interested in me.
“Good. Well have a pleasant evening Lucky.”
“You too.” I smiled at him weakly.
“Oh, I intend to.” He grinned at me and then sauntered out the door after rubbing my shoulder. I went back to his table to collect the cash he had left on it for my tip. My jaw dropped when I saw the $100 note and a short “sorry” message on a napkin. I looked back to the front of the restaurant and sighed. I stuffed the note into my pocket and walked back to the kitchen with my head starting to pound. I was so confused and felt almost delirious. I touched the spot on my shoulder that he had rubbed and I felt a warm flush run through my body as I remembered his warm touch. I shook my head at the excited feeling that was running through my veins. “Remember the rules Lucky,” I muttered to myself as I started on my side work duties.
Chapter 2
“Lucky, come to this party with us tonight.” Leeza begged me as I walked into the kitchen, yawning on Saturday morning.
“I’m working tonight.”
“Come after work.”
“I’ll be too tired.”
“Come on Lucky.” She pleaded. “You haven’t hung out in ages.”
“Leeza, you know that I’m not in the mood for partying.” I sighed.
“It’s not a frat party,” She whined. “This girl I met in Econ is dating a DJ and he has a hookup on Star Island, and some hot shot actor is holding a party to celebrate his new movie being number one or something.”
“What actor?” I asked curiously.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure there will be lots of hot guys there.”
“I don’t care about hot guys.” I sighed.
“You may be a nun now Lucky, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on every piece of fun in the universe.” Leeza flung her long blonde hair over her shoulders and shook her head. “We’re only young once, so let’s have some fun.”
“I’m not going to meet the guy I’m looking for at a snooty party.”
“You might.”
“In between the potheads and the cokeheads?”
“Since when did you become so judgmental?”
“Since I decided I wanted a good guy who was going to value me.”
“Yawn.” Leeza drank some freshly-squeezed orange juice and rolled her eyes. “Just try and come, please Lucky. You know you, me, and Shannon haven’t hung out in ages.”
“It’s a girls’ night?” I squinted at her suspiciously.
“Yes!” She beamed at me innocently, and I sighed knowing that if I saw her alone for five minutes, I would be shocked.
“Okay, I will try.” It will help to stop my dreams of Zane Beaumont, at least. That guy was seriously doing a number on my head. He intrigued me and I was starting to have too many naughty dreams of him doing things to me that I’d only seen in movies.
“Wear something cute tonight, Lucky.” She grinned at me and ran out of the kitchen. “Have fun at work today, I’m going to the beach to get my tan on.”
“Lucky.” I called out to her enviously, and she laughed.
“No need to say your name girl.”
“Haha.” I opened the fridge as she ran to her room and looked for something to eat. I wanted to make sure I ate something hardy before I got ready for work. Lou’s Burger Joint gave us a 50% discount on all of our purchases, but I knew that I had no money to spare until after I got my car fixed. I looked at the rotting head of lettuce and the hard looking chicken br**sts I had cooked a few days before, and sighed. I wrinkled my nose and opened the freezer and grabbed the hot pockets quickly. I knew they weren’t mine, but I also knew that Leeza wouldn’t mind if I ate one. As soon as the microwave beeped, I grabbed the hot pocket in a tissue and ran back up to my room to count my cash. I nearly had enough to get my car fixed now. I had thought about applying for a credit card to pay for it until I got the cash. But then I remembered how easy it was for people to get themselves into credit card debt. I watched Suze Orman on TV religiously; I knew what bad news credit cards could be to someone my age. I already had enough financial issues; I didn’t need to add any more to the mix.
I lay back on my bed and stretched out. It seemed as if nothing was going right in my life. Or at least, nothing that I wanted to go right. I hated being single. I needed to take proactive measures to find a new guy—one that would fit what I was looking for. I turned on my clock radio and sang along to the latest Britney song, and wondered how it was so easy for some people to find a guy to settle down with, and why it was so hard for me. I was starting to feel like a bit of a loser. I knew I was pretty and smart, but that didn’t really seem to be getting me anywhere.
I jumped up as I realized the time. I had to be at work in about 30 minutes, and I wasn’t even nearly ready. I felt like my life was already too monotonous. All I ever seemed to do was work and school. It was starting to feel tedious and boring, and I was glad that I had decided to attend the party with Leeza this evening. I needed something to take me out of my normal routine; I just needed to remember that I wasn’t there to partake in the craziness, but to have a little fun.
***
I was tired when I got out of work and I drove home feeling depressed. I had barely made any money and didn’t feel like going to the party anymore, but I knew Leeza and Shannon would be disappointed if I didn’t show up. Leeza had called me on my break to make sure I was coming. She had sounded so excited that I was finally going to be spending an evening out with them like we had in the past, and I had felt too guilty to say no. I knew that I definitely had to go when I saw an emerald green dress on my bed with a note from Leeza saying she had bought it for me as a gift.
I sighed as I walked into the door at the party. I was overwhelmed at the amount of people and cars and I briefly considered leaving and going back home. The house was packed with a lot of people I didn’t know, and a lot of people I couldn’t afford to know. I had pulled up the driveway in between a Rolls Royce and a Bentley, and I had felt out-of-place before I had even gotten out of my car. I looked around to see if I could spot Leeza and I gasped when I saw Zane Beaumont talking animatedly to a guy who looked very familiar. I continued to stare at them, trying to figure out who the other guy was when Zane turned around. He must have felt my eyes boring into him because he looked directly at me. His expression changed quickly and ran the gamut of surprised, happy, and upset. I turned around when I saw him frown and walked away quickly, with my heart beating fast. What was Zane doing here? I quickly grabbed a Champagne chute from one of the waiters’ trays and gulped the liquid down, hoping it would give me some liquid courage for the night. I couldn’t believe Zane was at the party. My whole body felt alive when we made eye contact and I was glad that it was so dark that he wouldn’t have seen my face flushing.
“Lucky?” I heard his voice and tried not to flinch as he touched me on the shoulder.
“Hi.” I turned around slowly and tried to avoid his eyes as I smiled quickly.
“I thought that was you.” He frowned, as he looked me up and down. “You look different.”
“Yeah. I’m in a dress.” I quipped. “And I have on makeup that hasn’t melted off yet.”
“And your hair is down.” He reached over and touched it. “It’s so soft and silky.”
“Thanks to Chi,” I joked, and cursed myself inwardly. He probably didn’t even know what Chi was. “I have naturally curly hair, so I use it to calm down the frizz and straighten it.” I explained to him, wanting to kick myself at how boring I was being.
“I see.” He nodded, looking as though he had no clue as to what I was talking about.
“You should see it when it’s curly. It’s crazy.”
“Well I can’t tell.”
“I’m like the frizz monster.” I giggled nervously. Play it cool, Lucky. I took a deep breath and tried again.
“You’re lucky. Your hair is always so straight and silky naturally.” I wanted to slap myself as soon as the words were out of my mouth. “I mean, that’s how it looks now, not in the past. I never noticed in the past.”
“Thanks.” He laughed.
“Do you use any special products?” Stop talking about hair care, Lucky.
“No. I use Head and Shoulders shampoo and conditioner and that’s about it.”
“Aw.” I looked around the room with a red face and waved my hands. “This is a really cool party, huh?”
“It’s okay.” He shrugged. “I didn’t know you knew Mike.”
“Who?”
“Mike Vegara. The guy throwing this party.”
“Oh, I don’t.” I bit my lip. “My friend invited me. Don’t tell anyone, but I wasn’t really invited. I’m not really part of this crowd.”