Fighting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2)
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Authors: Heather Guimond
Fighting Perfection
Heather R. Guimond
Fighting Perfection
Copyright © 2016 by Heather R. Guimond
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
ISBN 13:978152342 10:1523428910
Dedication
For Hotfingers. You are a joy to me every day, and I couldn’t be more grateful to you for all of your kindness, compassion and unfailing support. You’ve made me laugh, helped my wipe my tears and have been one of the best friends I’ve ever had. Thank you for just being you.
Table of Contents
“So when will you be back?” Justin asked as he lifted my small suitcase into the trunk of my SUV.
“We’re only going for the weekend. I’ll be back before you know it. You won’t even miss me at all.” I teased. The girls and I were going to Lake Havasu for Memorial Day weekend on a much needed girls’ trip. We were meeting up with some friends of Jessica’s who had rented a house boat and planned on spending our time sunbathing, drinking, and flirting with any handsome men we might find among the frat boys who would be descending upon the lake for the holiday. I was up for the sunbathing and drinking, but not so sure about the men. In the nearly three years that had passed since Vance died, I hadn’t really done any dating. I had gone on a few blind dates the girls had set up for me in the last six months but never felt any kind of connection to anyone. Honestly, that was fine with me. I no longer lived in my memories of the past, but I wasn’t in any hurry to change my life as it had come to be. Justin satisfied any need for male companionship that I had—well, most needs. I’ll just say any “special” needs that I may have had were fulfilled with the assistance of B.O.B. It was far and away less satisfying than the real thing, but again I was in no hurry. I guess in that respect, Vance had spoiled me. It was going to take a certain type of person to meet my expectations in the romance and sex department, and I doubted his existence. Vance was one of a kind and although I had healed, I didn’t think anyone would be able to compare either. That said, I did feel a certain “itch” so to speak. Wait, that sounds really bad when talking about things down there. Forget I said anything.
“Aww Peaches, you know that’s not true,” Justin said while grabbing my hand and holding it over his heart. “I ache right here whenever you’re away.”
I slapped his chest teasingly. “When do I ever go away?”
“Just last month, you left me to go see your mother.”
“For the afternoon! I was back in time for pizza, beer, and movies just like we’d planned.”
“Yes, well I missed you anyway,” he said with a smirk.
I just shook my head before leaning forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. At the last minute he turned his head slightly, and my lips landed at the corner of his mouth. A strange thrill that I certainly didn’t expect ran through me. Justin? Since when did I feel anything like that for him? He’d been my friend for nearly five years, had helped me through the most devastating time of my life, and had become one of the most important people in my life. I’d always thought him attractive, but was I attracted to him?
I hesitantly stepped back and looked up at him with new eyes. He smiled at me warmly, and I suddenly felt bashful. Something unusual was definitely going on. I felt flustered and awkward, and… ah hell. I felt like I always used to around a good looking guy I found myself attracted to. I didn’t quite know what to do so I did the only logical thing I could think of.
“Well… I guess I’ll be seeing you on Tuesday. Or maybe Wednesday. Or…um…whenever.” I said as I quickly rounded the back of my car and headed toward the driver’s side door in full-on retreat.
Justin chuckled under his breath and slowly followed. I hopped in, shut the door, and rolled down the window after starting the engine as fast as I could. He bent down and leaned in my window.
“You take care of yourself and have a good time, Peaches. I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back,” he said as he leaned forward a little more and planted a soft kiss directly on my lips. I sat there slack-jawed as he straightened with the cockiest smile on his face. He tapped on the roof of the car before turning and starting toward his motorcycle which was parked at the curb.
After a few stunned seconds, I called after him “Uh, yeah. I will. I’ll call you when I get back!”
He raised his arm over his head waving in acknowledgment before throwing his leg over the bike and strapping on his helmet. I simply sat there watching as he started the engine and drove off down the street without a glance back.
I looked at myself in the rear-view mirror and saw my eyes were bright and there was a pink tinge to my cheeks. I immediately scrubbed my hands over my face, shook my head to clear it of the daze that had settled over me, and put the car in reverse to back out of the driveway.
It was a very good thing that there were a number of alcoholic beverages in my near future. I had a feeling I was going to need each and every one of them.
I pulled up in front of Grace’s house about twenty minutes later having done my best to put the kiss (kisses?) behind me. I didn’t want to think about that just yet. You know, the implications of suddenly having new feelings for my best friend. What did this mean for us? Why was he smirking and looking so cocky while I was so ruffled and flustered? Wasn’t this a surprise for him, too? He was way too sure of himself, I thought. While Justin never suffered from a lack of confidence, at least not since he’d become an adult, I’d have liked to have thought that maybe he would be just as affected as I was. Oh God! He was amused by me! It was an accident, and I got all wound up and he thought it was funny. But if that were the case, then why did he kiss me like he did again? I scrubbed my hands over my face again and resolved to put it out of my mind. I’d just let this pass over, pretend it never happened, and nothing would change. Yes, that was the perfect thing to do, I thought. As if nothing ever happened. Good plan.
As I went through my mental gymnastics routine, Grace came bounding down the walkway with only a small bag over her shoulder. As she opened the passenger door, she tossed the bag over the seat, then hopped in with a dazzling smile.
“Are you ready to get this show on the road?” she asked enthusiastically.
I nodded, then tipped my head toward the back seat. “I sure am, and I know we’re only going for the weekend, but isn’t that packing just a little light?”
“What do I need other than a bikini, a toothbrush, and a douche?” she asked.
I held up a hand as I restarted the car and looked over my shoulder before pulling away from the curb. “Say no more. I will simply trust that you are prepared for any position we may find ourselves in.”
“Oh, there are some positions I plan on being in. Most of them involve my feet in the air.”
“Grace!”
“What? I am not going to lie. I have every intention of finding Mr. Right Now on this trip and screwing him and his brother. I have been working too hard lately, and I need some major stress relief. I know no better way to achieve this than with a few cocktails and several orgasms.”
“Then I hope you added condoms to your little preparedness kit,” I said as I rolled my eyes. Grace wasn’t what I would call wild, but she certainly was the most independent and uninhibited of our group. Clearly, she had a mission this weekend. I had all faith that she would achieve her objective even if it meant grabbing a frat boy if no other suitable option presented itself.
“Oh, shit. I better call Jessica and make sure she has some packed.”
“Don’t tell me you forgot all about being safe during this sex bonanza you have planned!” I exclaimed.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Of course not. I only have a box of twelve. That may not be enough for what I have in mind.”
I simply shook my head as I merged onto Highway 101 heading toward Interstate 10.
“I think that although your plans might be lofty, twelve will still be enough for three days.”
“I’m not taking any chances,” she said as she scrolled through her phone for Jessica’s number. Lifting the device to her ear, she said, “Better to have a few left over than to be a few short.”
After she completed her call confirming that we all had enough condoms to last us to the next ice age, we settled in for the five-hour drive to the lake. We chatted a little bit about work, with her catching me up on how everyone was doing at the firm. I never went back to work as a paralegal after Vance had died. I had been living off of his life insurance policy since then, and while it was more than enough to keep me comfortable for a long time, I had reached the point where I was becoming restless during the days and needed to find some kind of job.
“Please tell everyone at the firm that I miss them and that I’ll drop by soon to visit.” I said once she’d finished bringing me up-to-date on all the current office gossip.
“You know you can always come back, Mimi. Bob would love to have you back, and I’ve heard Steve isn’t very happy with his current paralegal.”
“I’ve considered it. While I always liked the work and consider everyone there almost like family, I think I want to try something new,” I said.
“Any idea what? Are you thinking about going back to school?”
I lifted one shoulder in a shrug as I checked over my right shoulder in order to switch lanes. “I really don’t know. I haven’t come up with an idea that makes me think ‘Yeah, that’s definitely what I want to do.’ All I know is I need to do something.”
Grace nodded. “I understand. In some ways, you’re still rebuilding your life.”
“Yes I am, I suppose. One thing I have realized is that I don’t want to go back to any part of my old life. It may seem crazy that I would feel that way about a job I enjoyed too, but I do. That was part of my identity of my life with Vance. I started over fresh after I laid him to rest in Atlantic City. This is just the last step on that path to a new future without him.”
“Mimi, you didn’t sprinkle the ashes of your own life on the Atlantic along with him.”
I thought about what she said for a moment before beginning, “Yes, Grace, in a way I did. I can’t explain how cathartic, how right the whole experience was, but I let it all go. That was our life together. I don’t have him to share that with anymore. I’m not saying I reject it all because I no longer have him, I’m saying I no longer want that all because I can’t share it with him. Does that make sense?”
“I think so. You and Vance had so much in common, including your professions. Losing him made you feel like you’d lost everything, so even though you didn’t really lose your career, you lost your enthusiasm for it.”
“Yes, that’s exactly it. Now that I’ve moved forward, I want to go in a new direction,” I said resolutely. “I just have to figure out which way that is.”
“That’s always the hardest part of any new plan. What to do first.” She smiled at me. “The very first thing we need to do though is have a great time this weekend!”
I laughed and echoed my agreement. We drove on chatting about mostly nothing for the rest of the trip, occasionally singing along with the radio or lapsing into a comfortable silence. As far as long drives go, it was one of the most pleasant I’d ever had.
We finally met up with Jessica and Liz that evening at a local motel where we had reservations for the night. Our plan was to find the houseboat the next morning, as everything pretty well shuts down on the lake once the sun sets. Jessica and I were a little road weary, but Grace was raring to go. Since very little was going on, Grace insisted we freshen up and get back on the road and drive over to Laughlin, Nevada. After a round of protests and cajoling, Jessica and I finally caved in. Liz, as always, was fine with whatever the group wanted to do.
Two showers and a dozen outfit changes later (none of them Grace’s considering she’d brought only one other outfit with her), we all piled into my Lexus since it had more room than Jessica’s little convertible. Within an hour and a half, we arrived at the Golden Nugget and made our way inside. The girls were itching to play blackjack, but I still had my aversion to table games. I begged off and wandered around for a while, feeling only slightly wistful being in a casino again. I did wander by the craps tables, stopping to watch the action for just a few minutes in remembrance of Vance. I smiled to myself as the crowd cheered at some lucky roll before moving on.
I initially planned on parking myself in front of a draw poker machine, but instead found myself drifting into a slightly dim lounge for a drink. I sat down at the bar and ordered a Dirty Martini before changing my mind and deciding to try something new. I was discussing with the bartender just what might be the right drink when I heard a very deep, husky voice drift across the bar to me.
“Why don’t you try ‘Sex on the Beach’ with me? Then when we’re done, you can order a ‘Screaming Orgasm’.”
As sexy as the voice sounded, I couldn’t help thinking the guy must be some kind of asshole. I looked over to see a tall, somewhat rugged-looking man, probably in his mid-to-late thirties. He had dark blond hair, intense brown eyes and was leaning at the end of the bar while sipping from a highball. He was very sexy in a rough sort of way, nothing like Vance’s model-like looks. He wasn’t dressed like a cowboy or anything, but for some reason I could definitely see him working on a ranch.
Attractive though he was, I immediately wrote him off. His opening line was hardly the kind of statement designed to sweep a girl off her feet. It might get some bimbo to giggle and perhaps take him up on his offer, but I was far from impressed. I simply gave him ‘The Look’ and went back to my conversation with the bartender. Just as I finally decided on a Greyhound, I felt a presence at my shoulder.