Don't Close Your Eyes (7 page)

After doing my twenty, I let myself dangle there for just a moment.  I held onto my iPod so it wouldn't fall as I looked at the water, watching the pretty reflections of the light against the soft waves, the seagulls flying above them, occasionally diving for fish.  So pretty. 

I saw an arm wave in front of me, so I looked up to see Jase smiling at me.  He had his elbow leaning on the top of the bar.  His now bare torso gleamed with sweat, and his hair was wet.  Hot damn!

I pulled my earbuds and stood again.  "Hey!" I said happily, slightly out of breath.  "Thanks for the help back there.  That was kind of gross," I cringed animatedly like the true dork I am.

He chuckled.  "Agreed!  I wonder what
nasty
jerk left the bar like that!"  He looked over his shoulder.  "I think we should blame Keane," he whispered conspiratorially.  I grinned and agreed.

"Did you guys have fun last night?" I asked him.

"We didn't do too bad.  Especially for an off-season Thursday," he said.  "Although, it just wasn't the same when you left.  I think I watched the fire go out of Keane a little bit when you walked out the door," he winked at me flirtatiously and looked once again over his shoulder.  I guessed the torso I had been watching earlier had actually been Keane's now that I knowingly watched him on the course.  I cringed inwardly, glad not to have been caught on that one.

"Aw, not you, though?" I teased as I looked back up at him.  Impossible not to flirt!  Hello!  Fine-ass body builder, half naked, sweaty, tan, smiling maybe only two feet from me!  "I’m sure you both had ready and willing partners to go home with afterward to cheer you up," I offered. 

"Of course me!  I thought that was an obvious given, Sweet Kins.  I don't like when you work early, because you leave early.  My muse," he sighed with a pretty grin and a look up through his lashes.  "People are
practically
throwing food at me when you aren't there, I just wished they would pick something softer and tastier to throw.  I hate broccoli," he gushed while I laughed.  Ha!  Jase was so talented he had his own local fan base, website, followers, FB fan page, yup.  I guaranteed that he was making a pretty penny to headline at the bar twice a week.  "And by the way, no company but each other's last night," he wagged those eyebrows mischievously.  I laughed and accidentally slapped his sweaty arm as my naturally flirtatious streak presented herself.  I swear, I try to reserve it only for earning higher tips, but sometimes it just happens!

"Oh...  So
that's
why you have never taken me out before," I teased.  Oh, shit, Kinsley!  I noticed that after my workout I was way more confident than normal.  I was heading into dangerous territory, here!  Abort!  Abort!  I didn't want to get my heart broken when he confirmed
any
kind of reason at
all
for never seriously trying to take me out.  Stupid, Kins!!  I watched as his grin faltered just a bit.  Uh, oh.  Here it comes. 

"W-What?" he stammered in surprise.  Great!!  This was probably worse!  He was going to force me to
explain
?!  Way worse!

"Well, you know, you flirt with me all the time, but you have never actually offered anything..." I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.  I held onto my endorphin-induced confidence while I looked down at my iPod and thumbed through my music.  I picked a song and plugged one earbud back into my right ear, attempting to appear casual, as though what I was saying was not that big of a deal.  Even though I was the one panicking on the inside, Jase grabbed his towel at either side of his neck and chewed his lip, appearing as though it were
he
who was actually the nervous one!  Whoa, I don't believe I have ever seen that look on him before.  Keane jogged over and broke the odd moment between us.  Jase looked relieved and disappointed all at the same time.  I am pretty sure my face reflected that as well. 

"Damn, guys, don't look so happy to see me!" Keane said through the breath he was calming.  How had I not recognized him earlier when I was working out right next to him?  "You, Miss James, are one
tough
woman!”  He gave me an impressed smile and gestured with a thumb over his shoulder.  "That normal for you?"

I nodded.

"How come this is my first time running into you here?" Jase piped up.  "I come out here pretty often."

"I haven't come since before Christmas break.  Track season just began, and I will be out here every morning I can make it until the end of May," I told him.  “When I don’t workout here, I am at the campus track and gym.”

He nodded.  "That's right, Chelsea said something about you being a runner.  I will have to remember that in the future, sweet Kins."  He held my gaze.  "We were about to jog down the beach for a bit.  You wanna join?"

Keane nodded beside him, and they both looked hopeful.  Hmmm...?

"Sorry, guys, I have a lot to do today.  Maybe another time?" I asked them.  I didn't have anything to do, but if I had any shot at keeping their attention I needed to leave them hanging for a bit.  Let my memory linger in their minds and hopefully in their conversation.

Neither of them bothered to hide their disappointment which had me doing an inner happy dance.  They expressed their regrets and pleaded with me once more, but I smiled and turned them down.  I reached down to pick up my nasty sweatshirt and put my other earbud in as I turned to leave.  The guy that had forced my pride to try and hang gave me a pretty smile and a polite nod as he made his way off the course toward the beach.  I gave him a sweet smile before jogging back to my car.

CHAPTER 3

Work passed slowly on Friday as I waited for the live band to get arrive.  When Spring Break kicks off tourist season our uniforms will get a bit risqué on the weekends, and we are required to wear a type of heel to complete the look.  Right now it was one of the few reasons I was glad for the few remaining weeks of off-season.  Tonight would still be packed, but it was more laid back, so I was free to chill in my tennis shoes and allowed to wear my earbuds and listen to my own music as I rearranged tables to make more room for dancing.  I couldn't remember who was on the schedule for tonight.  I only knew it
wasn't
Jase.  His flirting kept things light and fun and made time pass quickly. 

I thought about his and Keane's amazing bodies on the beach this morning as I worked and listened to some 90’s pop.  “What is Love” by Haddaway was playing, and I couldn't help but dance to it as I worked.  I grinned to myself as I let Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan unfold in my memory.  I would have to check out a 90’s themed night at one of the boardwalk clubs sometime.  I began working my head the same way, and Kayleigh walked by and smacked my bottom as she laughed at me.  I shrugged and kept going.  I can be rather silly and outgoing from time to time, especially on my workout days.  What can I say?  I'm a damn chameleon.  Sometimes I give myself whiplash with the striking differences in myself from day to day, so I can only imagine how others around me feel.  Right now, I felt great, silly, and ready to make that money.  After all, maybe the guys would come in? 

The night picked up with all the flowing drinks and tips, and I hustled to keep with my stellar reputation of very timely delivery.  I watched hopefully for Keane and Jase, but no such luck.  I bet they were having fun dancing with some warm, scantily clad women in one of those very clubs right now.  I bit my cheek and wished I had taken them up on that offer this morning.  Then I chastised myself inwardly about not being too quick.  I needed to remain patient, and one of them would be dying to make a move.  My momma told me that's how it worked if I wanted to be more than just another notch in a guy's bed post.  I was most certainly not that kind of girl, so I played by the rules she had taught me.  Especially where Jase was concerned.  I had a feeling that if he wanted me, it was going to be hard as hell to resist him.  Perhaps it was better to keep my distance to continue to flee from temptation...

Work dragged by for the next two weeks, in fact.  So did school, with the exception of the dreaded, or eagerly anticipated, Valentine’s Day to break things up, depending upon your relationship status or lack of one.  I fell somewhere in the odd middle.  No relationships, but that didn’t mean it was because I was lacking for options.  It simply meant that I never allowed myself to get involved with anyone for reasons that were painful and my own.  The men who had crushes on me typically fell into categories.  Afraid, Regulars, or Intimidating.  There were the men at school who were adorable and boyish, but completely afraid of me and my reputation as the scary runner with the flattering moniker known as Terminator.  I wasn’t the nicest person on a track.  I’ve been told I come off as a mean bitch, and my temper when I lose can be epic.  There was a reason those men feared me.  During one of my electives, the errand boy from the staff office was busy delivering things like mad and wheeled that cart into my class.  Not like he was interrupting much.  We had a sub.  Only the most awesome professor on campus himself, Mr. Miller.  Teacher of everything artistic under the sun, and star of inappropriate teacher-student fantasies amongst my track team, probably more, but those were the ones I heard of and rolled my eyes to. 

The students all laughed as he animatedly stepped aside for the guy carting the masses of things into the classroom as though it were the biggest pain in his art-teaching, sexy ass.  Every woman eyed that cart full of roses, stuffed animals, chocolate, and balloons in longing they couldn’t conceal.  I was no different.  Who didn’t want to be special enough to someone on this day to receive something?  In the same token, who wanted to be the odd woman out?  I had my nervous fingers crossed that I wouldn’t be one of them simply because I could be a jerk on the track... after all, it’s not like I meant to be...

To be an ass, Mr. Miller brushed his long hair out of his face as he bent to one of the floral arrangements one of the most popular and beautiful cheerleaders in school had gotten.  He plucked the card after asking her permission, then began to read aloud the pathetic love note written on the other side from the even more popular football star boyfriend of hers we all knew and loved.  He delivered it in the most theatrical of ways to make us all laugh, even as the stuff on the cart was dwindling.  Don’t sweat it, Kinsley.  The day isn’t over just because you leave the school empty-handed.  Just means no one at school thinks you’re special this year.  No biggie.  Not that you have given anyone a reason, or have any right-

My fears were silenced when he stopped and set a large bouquet of lavender roses down in front of me.  Tears of happiness rushed to my eyes, even if I had no idea who they were from.  I gasped when he set down another vase filled with orange calla lilies mixed with white roses.  Orange calla lilies were my favorite flower.  Those had to be from someone who knew me well.  He pulled a large bear, and a group of balloons untangled from the bottom of his cart that were anchored to the lily vase.  He set down several envelopes, and one box wrapped in red and silver scrolling paper like a present before he moved on. 
Holy crap!  Look at all this stuff!

Mr. Miller echoed my thoughts when he walked up and told me that he and the entire class were dying to know what was inside the box.  I chuckled and felt a blush steal over my cheeks at his attention, but I set about opening it carefully.  The paper was so pretty!  Foil.  I wanted to save it.  He found that amusing and in the meantime asked to read the card on the lilies.  I nodded.  He didn’t read it aloud. 

“Interesting.  Either a poem or song lyrics.  No name,” he told me.  “Rather than butcher someone’s work with my horrid drama, I will leave this to you, Ms. James.  You save wrapping paper?” he asked me with an amused light in his eyes.  I nodded shyly, and he took it to fold it for me so that I could open the box more quickly.  I opened a large, flat jewelry box and gasped.

“Wow,” I sighed in shock.  I didn’t know what to think of it.  It was beautiful and obviously expensive.  A necklace that didn’t go all the way around my neck, rather it wrapped over the back so that it remained open in the front.  An emerald vine that hooked close to my collarbone on the left, and wrapped around my neck to fall down my chest just before my cleavage.  Small diamonds created flowers in the emeralds, and it was the prettiest necklace I’d ever seen.  I had never had anyone other than my father buy me jewelry before.  Was this from him?  He normally left a card.  No matter what, I was so very humbled by all of these sweet things.  I was sometimes gifted with flowers, a balloon or two.  Nothing like all of this.  I was so very undeserving, considering I’d likely turned everyone of these men down at some point.

Mr. Miller whistled, and I looked up at him in agreement.  “Beautiful color pallet with your eyes, Ms. James.  Good luck with the rest of those cards and gifts.  This one puts the others to shame.  I’d say you have a man in the midst of little boys pining for your affections.  Coach Walton is gonna be so nervous if you have a boyfriend,” he winked and moved on to the next victim, reading Shakespeare like a pro from another card on some flowers.  He was right about Coach Walton.  I’d only had one boyfriend during my college years, and he’d been helpful, not hurtful to my running, but he’d been nervous my entire career that I would fall in love and slack up.  Fortunately, Coach didn’t have anything to worry about, because this person left no indication of who he was.  Hell, maybe my mother sent it?  She was always trying to urge me to act and look like a lady rather than a tomboy anyway.  Made sense.  After reverently putting that back up as though my life depended on it, I went about opening the cards.  Some were positively adorable the likes of which you would receive in grade school, heart candies with corny sayings included.  I read the poem or lyrics from the card Mr. Miller had read, but didn’t recognize the handwriting nor the source for this one.  Without a tune to go off of, I couldn’t be positive it was a song, and I had no idea where to look.  The lavender roses, three dozen, were beautiful and all different depths and shades of the soft hue.  At first, I didn’t see a card, then I spotted that it had fallen deep between the pretty blooms.  My heart caught when I opened it.  Speaking of Shakespeare.