Permanent Lines (8 page)

She was cupping a coffee with both hands and staring out the window. She looked nervous,
like she was waiting for someone. Immediately, I was distracted thinking about who
she could be waiting for—a friend, family member … maybe a husband? No, she didn’t
have a wedding ring, or anything, on that finger actually, though I guess not all
people wear wedding bands now. But she could still have a boyfriend …

I shook my head and turned my focus to the door, where a woman had just walked in.
She was cute, but nothing spectacular. I smiled just in case it was Nova; if it were,
it wouldn’t be a very long lunch. She wasn’t my type, but the girl continued to the
counter, acting unaffected and nothing like she was meeting anyone here.

Not her.

A couple walked in next a few minutes later. I tilted my head down to look at my watch.
It was already a quarter after twelve.
No way was this bitch standing me up!
I was starting to get annoyed, so I pulled my phone from my pocket and texted Kayla.

Me:
I think your friend is standing me up. Stellar choice.

It was only seconds before she replied.

Kayla:
No way-she was all excited. I’m texting her now.

I looked around while I waited. The hot girl was still there, but on her phone. I
watched as she typed away; for some reason it seemed entertaining to watch her thumbs
flying across the screen. A small piece of hair fell to her face as she looked down,
but she brushed it back with her finger, placing it behind her ear. She put her phone
on the table then looked around. I almost fell out of my chair from looking away so
fast.
Did she catch me checking her out?

I decided to make myself useful while I waited for Kayla’s reply, confirming that
her rich bitch friend wasn’t coming, and went over to the counter to order a bottled
water.

Kayla:
Just talked to her-she’s there. Are you at the right café?

I didn’t have time to respond before my phone started ringing. Of course she couldn’t
wait for me to respond. She didn’t even wait for me to say hello.

“Are you at the one near my apartment?”

“Good afternoon to you too, and yes I’m at the one near your apartment, genius.”

“Well, she’s there. I just talked to her.”

I looked around again, making sure I didn’t miss anyone. It was too hot to sit outside,
so if she was here, I would be able to see her.

“That’s a negative. There’s one chick with red hair. That’s it.”

“That’s her!!!”

I looked over to the girl I’ve been getting a half chub over for the last twenty minutes,
not believing it was true. “You said this chick had long dark hair,” I reminded her,
still not believing it.

“It is. It’s like a dark auburn color.”

“No! You
did not
tell me dark auburn. You said dark—there’s a difference!”

“Well, whatever. That’s her. Good luck!” Click.

Shaking my head, I slid my phone back in my pocket and stared a little longer at the
girl in the corner. I still couldn’t believe it; this was too good to be true. I nodded
my head with a pleased grin—
this chick was hot
—before grabbing my water from the counter and walking in her direction.

She looked up as soon as she saw me standing beside her. She had little freckles around
her nose that made her look fucking adorable and her eyelashes were so long that they
had to be fake. But I didn’t care—she was beautiful, sex on a stick.

“Is your name Nova, by any chance?” I asked with a questionable grin and a hint of
interest and amusement.

Her cheeks blushed again, this time more than before. I loved how my words and presence
affected her already.

“It is.” She smiled as she answered, revealing her perfectly straight, white teeth.

The girl was absolutely flawless. I wasn’t usually one for redheads, but this one
took the cake. I didn’t care what shade her hair was, she was solid—hot and mesmerizing.
Rich or not, I wanted to get to know her.

“Well, apparently you were my lunch date,” I looked down at my watch as I took the
seat next to her, “a half hour ago.” I smiled and gave her a wink. “Sorry about that.”

She giggled and pushed her hair behind her ear again, almost seeming embarrassed.
“Well, we kind of had lunch together,” she shrugged her shoulders, “from a distance,
at least. With a coffee and water.”

I chuckled, holding up my water. “That’s true,” I agreed. “Are you down for getting
a real lunch, though? I kinda feel bad that we spent half of our date at separate
tables.”

She smiled, revealing a sparkle in her eye. “What did you have in mind?” she asked,
leaning onto her elbows.

The inquisitive look in her eyes made me already think that she was someone that I
was going to like, possibly want to know even more. The bar didn’t open until nine
on Saturdays, so I had some time.

“How ‘bout a little Langan’s?” I asked with a raised brow. Langan’s was a bar and
restaurant not too far from where we were. It had all the basics—burgers, sandwiches,
and cold beer, plus it was a laid back, chill place where we’d be able to talk.

“One of my faves!” Her eyes lit up as she responded and jumped up from the table.

I stood to join her and got a whiff of her scent, flowery but clean … fresh. I’d smelled
a scent like that before.
Fuck! Not now, Merrick.
Of course she smelled like Amelia, only not as good. I mean, she smelled good, but
not like my Amelia.
My Amelia? Jesus Christ!

I forced a smile, not wanting to look insane as I stood there and stared at her while
I had an internal fight with myself. She caught my eyes quickly glancing down the
length of her body—it was nice … real nice. Her chest was perfect; I wasn’t an expert
on tits, but I’d guess they were at least a C. Her waist was trim, but not too trim;
she had curves, nice ones you could hold onto in the heat of the moment, and I appreciated
that. The twitch of firmness in my cock certainly indicated no opposition. The only
thing that kind of was a negative for her was she was tall, not too much shorter than
I was. I don’t know what it was, but I like girls a little shorter, ones I could bear
hug and make feel secure. Girls close to me in height almost took away from my manhood;
it was like they made me feel smaller. I don’t know … it just wasn’t a turn on for
me, but whatever. Nova was hot and intriguing, so I guess I couldn’t be too picky.
I wasn’t Mr. Perfection. I wasn’t an ugly dude, but I wasn’t anything out of the ordinary
either—I had a brown hair that was buzzed short and regular old brown eyes. Yeah,
I had a strong build that girls seemed to like, and I guess the tattoos tickled girls’
fancy, as well, but that’s it; nothing crazy.

Needing to make a move, I placed my left hand on her lower back. “Ready?” I asked,
my “I’m interested” smirk on my face.

Her cheeks flushed again, this time getting a more of a rise underneath my pants.
Dammit, I loved how I affected this chick. She was a sweet thang, and I fucking loved
it.

She nodded her head before replying, “Yes.”

The restaurant was busy for lunch with no tables available, so we took two stools
at the bar instead. Immediately, she turned in my direction, her legs crossed and
to the left of mine. I guess a perk of tall girls was that their legs went on forever;
hers definitely did and once I noticed, it seemed I couldn’t think of anything else.
I could only imagine how well they would wrap around my waist and lock behind my back.
Dammit!
I had to stop. Nova made me feel like a hormone-pumped teenage boy at the peak of
puberty.

“Can I get you two a drink?” the bartender asked, placing two white, square napkins
in front of us.

I looked at Nova for her to order first.

“Uh, I’ll have a Long Island Iced Tea.” She smiled as she ordered and I nodded my
head slightly, impressed with her drink choice. I took her to be a wine-o like Kayla,
being one of the higher-ups in society, but she mixed it up with a hard-liquor.
Nice
.

“Whatever dark beer you have on tap,” I said. I was a typical guy, after all—hand
me a draft beer and I’m good.

“Were you guys interested in looking at a menu?”

I nodded my head, glancing over at her as I did. She looked to be in agreement. “Yeah,
we’ll take a couple menus,” I answered.

He smiled. “I’ll bring them back with your drinks.”

“Thank you,” Nova replied, her sweet smile visible again, making a spark ignite inside.
“What?” She looked at me in question, a flirtatious tone in her voice. She caught
me staring again, but I didn’t really care. She was easy on the eyes.

I shook my head with a pleased grin. “Nothing,” I responded slyly. “You’re cute.”

Her eyes sparkled, flattered, as her cheeks turned the shade of pink that I was getting
used to. “Thanks.”

“Long Island for you, ma’am, and a Guinness for you, sir,” the bartender interrupted,
placing our drinks on the napkins and then the two menus down next to them.

“Thanks.”

“Just let me know when you’re ready.” He grinned politely before walking away.

Nova already was skimming inside the menu when I looked back over to her. She was
very engaged in choosing her meal, and I opened my menu to do the same. We sat in
a silence a few minutes while we perused the menus.

“I’m just going to stick with a burger,” she said seconds later, closing her menu
and placing it on top of the wooden bar.

“Yeah, I don’t think I can come here and not get one.”

“I don’t think I ever have,” she agreed. “They’re too good to pass up.”

I was thoroughly impressed once again. She wasn’t what I was expecting. Not at all.
She liked big juicy burgers—something you don’t find on many of
those
types of girls’ menus. I fully expected her to get a salad.

“So what’s the day to day life of Nova?” I asked before taking a sip of my beer.

She snickered, placing her drink down as well. “It’s quite fabulous,” she smirked,
“I answer phones at my father’s office and run errands for him when he needs something.”

I gave her an amused grin with my eyebrows raised for extra emphasis. “Sounds like
a good time.”

“Incredibly,” she drawled. Her voice couldn’t get any more sarcastic. “But whatever,
it’s a job.” She shrugged her shoulders with a genuine grin. “I guess I can’t really
complain.”

I nodded, impressed yet again. She had a less than stellar job but was content with
it. Interesting.

The bartender returned, interrupting our conversation and taking our menus. He nodded
and gave me a wink when we both ordered burgers, me a smokehouse burger with New York
cheddar, bacon, and a kick-ass BBQ sauce and Nova a triple prime cheddar burger that
was smothered in New York’s best aged cheddar cheese, too—a fucking delicacy, I tell
ya! He obviously hadn’t pegged her as a burger girl, either.

“So what’s the day to day life of Merrick like?”

I bit my lip and squinted my eyes like I was really thinking about it, but my life
wasn’t anything spectacular, so there wasn’t much to ponder. “It’s quite exciting,
actually,” I said in a hushed voice, holding out my hands like she should prepare
herself. “I’m not sure you’re going to be able to handle it.”

Her cheeks blushed as a sweet giggle escaped her lips. I smiled back, loving the way
she looked—cute as hell.

“I’m a bartender,” I told her like I was giving in, not revealing anything fancy or
out of the ordinary.

“But it’s your own bar, though, right?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Already did your research on me, Ms. Detective?”

She shrugged her shoulders with a devilish grin. “Maybe.”

I was intrigued. “Oh yeah? So what else do you know?”

She sat confidently, shoulders back and straight, and looked at me with a knowing
smile. Even though it bothered me slightly that sitting down she almost matched my
height, it was almost a turn on too, like she was challenging me. It wasn’t something
I was used to, but something I just might like.

“You own McShane’s. You’re a dirt bike racer, and Kayla is like your sister, so I
better not fuck with you or she may kick my ass.”

I laughed at the last part. She probably wasn’t lying, though Kayla was a twig—maybe
a hundred pounds dripping wet—but she had a bite to her attitude, which alone should
be enough warning not to fuck with her, even though, when it came down to it, Kayla
wouldn’t hurt a fly. I was touched by the sentiment regardless. It was nice to know
there was someone in my corner.

“Yeah,” I apologized sincerely, “I didn’t tell you that she’s my bodyguard. Don’t
underestimate her fury, either. She’s a force to be reckoned with.”

She threw her hands up innocently. “No way. She’s one that I don’t intend to piss
off.”

I agreed. “Not to mention Miles would sic his little minions on you too.”

She spit out her drink. “His minions?!” Nova wiped the residual liquid from her lips
and cracked up.

I gave her a serious stare. “You don’t know about them?” I said with all solemnity,
but completely sarcastic. “Scary little fucks that I don’t recommend getting involved
with.”

Her tone of laughter increased, making me lose my serious look and bust out into my
own laugh. “Oh my God, that’s hilarious,” she said, holding her stomach and trying
to regain her composure. “Funny thing is, I wouldn’t doubt it.”

“Right?” I agreed enthusiastically. “The guy may not be GI Joe strong, but he has
an army of a hundred to do his dirty work.”

Though I said it sarcastically, it wasn’t too far-fetched. I had no beef with Miles,
we hashed out our differences a while back and actually get a long for the most part.
He takes good care of Kayla and she’s happy, which is all I really care about it,
but I couldn’t ignore the fact that the dude was one of the wealthiest men in Manhattan.
He had power … control. If he had dirty work that needed taken care of, it wouldn’t
take much to get it done.