Chapter 3
The drive to Lake Adger is a pleasant one, especially once I get into the mountains.
Beretta, of course, sleeps the whole way stretched across the back seat on the blanket I laid down for her.
An audiobook keeps me company as I drive in the increasing darkness.
I’m really looking forward to getting to Megan’s.
I am tired mentally and physically, and I just really need to sit back, relax with my best friend, and uncork a bottle of wine.
I only have about an hour left, but my gas tank is getting low, and I spy a gas station up ahead with decently priced gas.
Pulling up to the first open pump, I roll down the back window before getting out of the car.
You can never be too careful these days, and I know that if something shady goes down, Beretta will protect me in an instant.
Beretta lifts her head, notices that we aren’t anywhere of interest, plops her head back down and goes right back to sleeping. She is definitely less scary when she is snoring.
Shivering slightly as the cool air brushes across my exposed skin, I skirt around to the other side of my car trying to avoid the questionable puddles.
My nose wrinkles in disgust when I see the state of the pump handle.
Gross, good thing I have napkins in the car.
A large, rumbling truck pulls up at the pump next to mine, but that is all the attention I pay to it until I hear a whistle behind me a few minutes later.
Definitely not in the mood for that, I square my shoulders and choose to ignore whoever is attempting to get my attention, really hoping they will lose interest when I don’t pay them any mind.
Of course, it can never be that simple; the whistler just has to make himself known.
I’m only halfway done pumping gas when he leans up against my car.
These old gas stations always have the slowest pumps.
If this had been a newer one, I would have been done already, and could have avoided what I‘m sure is going to be an awkward encounter.
I wished for a man, and this is what I get; a booty call, a fucking creeper, and a whistler. Never again…maybe I should let a lesbian sway me to their side. I’ve heard the orgasms are better.
My skin prickles in awareness. He’s totally staring at me. So much for hoping he would go away. S lowly, I turn towards him, looking him up and down.
It’s a shame he is such an idiot—he is cute, just my luck.
“Is there a reason you’re leaning against my car?” I give him a pointed look, raising my eyebrow.
“Oops, my bad, just wanted to come over and talk to your fine self.”
Slurring his words slightly as he sways, he does manage to straighten enough so he isn’t leaning on my car. My nose scrunches as his scent wafts towards me; he reeks of alcohol. That makes me a little wary, but he isn’t being aggressive so I continue filling my tank.
“Do women really respond to that?” I huff.
“Ummmm, maybe?” He slurs.
Rolling my eyes, I give him my best disappointed teacher scowl. I don’t have time to deal with a drunk guy, no matter how pretty he is.
I’m about to tell him off when Beretta makes her grand entrance. Lunging her head out the window, her bellowing bark echoes in the night air. The man startles hard and falls flat on his ass.
I snort as I reach over, cupping her squishy jowls as I coo at her, “You’re such a good girl, Beretta!
Protecting mommy from unwanted attention!
” I give her a kiss on her nose as her wagging tail begins beating against the seats.
The pretty drunk man giggles, he straight up giggles, and then he hiccups.
He struggles to get off the ground, but his level of intoxication causes that to be near impossible.
The commotion must have alerted his buddies to the fact that he slipped away, because the next moment I’m surrounded by three more men.
I’m in beef cake heaven; all three of the men that walk around the car are the epitome of the male species.
They are all fucking hot, like pulled straight out of any woman’s wet fantasy.
I immediately stop smirking and concentrate on keeping my jaw clamped shut, since all it wants to do is drop in awe.
All three of them tower over me. They are all well over six feet, broad shouldered, and I see hints of dark ink on their skin.
I would have loved nothing better than to jump any of them.
But sadly, I’m not that type of girl. I might talk a big game in my head, but there’s no way I will ever do anything that bold.
The tallest one looks from his friend on the ground, then to me and just shakes his head.
Turning back to his friends, who are not holding back their laughter, he gestures for them to help pick up their buddy.
I can tell right away that these three are not drunk like the wannabe Casanova . Thank goodness.
The tall one speaks up first, still eyeing me.
“I’m sorry about my friend ma’am; he isn’t normally like this.To be honest he just had a difficult break up, and unfortunately he downed a bottle of Jack before we picked him up.”His brow furrows with a hint of disappointment as he shifts his focus to his friend.
The drunken friend is now being carried off by the other two. A small smile crosses my lips at the spectacle.
“No harm done; I think my dog scared him more than he scared me.”
That causes him to smile and I have to seriously resist the urge to clench my thighs together. Kinley, get a grip, you just met this man…even if he is a heartthrob…and makes other things on my body throb. Jesus I need to get laid. Or maybe I need a better vibrator.
Before that train of thought can continue and I make a fool of myself, Beretta comes to my rescue again.
She lets out another loud, deep bark, baring her teeth at the man.
That gleam in her eyes makes me realize that she is on the verge of jumping out the window.
The man turns to look at Beretta as I move to open the car door to secure her leash before I let her hop out.
I know she won’t attack him, but I’m not going to take that chance of my dog getting hurt.
“Well, I’m going to let her out to stretch her legs.”
That sounds lame, but I don’t know what else to say.
This man is making me dumb, and all the sensible words have left my brain.
Beretta hops out of the car and sits down next to me, putting herself directly in between me and the man.
There is a glint in his eyes, as if he approves of her standing guard.
“She is a beautiful dog…Dane mix?”
“Actually, she is a Boxer mix.” Beretta looks up at me, as if she knows that we are talking about her.
“Not quite sure how she got so big though, or why she looks like a Dane, but I guess you never know with mixes.”
She leans up against me, getting my attention.I move my hand so it rests on top of her head, rubbing her ear. The man’s smile brightens.
“I can see the boxer…either way she is lovely.”
“Thank you, I think so too.” Her tongue lolls out of her mouth. “You hear that Beretta? He thinks you’re beautiful.”
That gets her tail wagging. I really have the best dog in the world.
“That’s an unusual name for a dog,” he says curiously.
Taking my gaze off of her, it lands back on him.
“Yeah, it’s a long story, but it suits her.”
As if Beretta is finished assessing the situation, she gets up, walks over, and sits right in front of him, looking up at him expectantly. He chuckles and crouches down in front of her. Which is exactly what she’s waiting for. She licks his face from chin to forehead.
“Oh my god, Beretta! Get off of him.” I gasp with embarrassment. I grab her leash, dragging her away from him. “I’m so sorry.”
I glare down at her, but she is, of course, oblivious to my embarrassment. He’s wiping his face with his hand and when I look back up at him, he’s chuckling.
“It’s fine, no harm done. I’m Donovan by the way; I feel like we should be on a first name basis after that.”
He holds out his hand while he says it, gazing at me with obvious interest.I automatically put my hand in his, and instantly feel a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach as he wraps his hand around mine.
I’m so engrossed in the feel of his hand engulfing mine that it takes me a few seconds to realize he’s waiting for me to say my name. “Oh, my name is Kinley.”
“Well Kinley, it was a pleasure to meet you, but I gotta get going if we want to reach Lake Adger before dark.”
He gives my hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go and turns to walk away. This moment feels big, like a turning point. I’m not sure how, but I’m not going to waste it. I force myself to snap out of la la land and answer him before he gets too far away.
“It was really nice meeting you too. Hope your friend starts feeling better. Maybe I will see you around, since I’m headed that way myself.”
The warm smile that spreads across his face stops my heart.
He nods and proceeds back to his truck. Not wanting to seem too desperate, and hoping I have redeemed myself enough, I turn to walk towards the grass with Beretta trotting by my side.
I might have also put a little extra swing in my step, making my hips sway in the hopes he was looking.
I can’t help myself.
I turn back and watch her walk away, my eyes tracking the movement of her hips, internally kicking myself for not getting her number.
But she’s human.
Her intoxicating scent held no trace of my people, and I’m not in the habit of leading a woman on that I can’t have. I shake my head, open the truck door, and get behind the wheel.
“So, you have a nice chat, Don?”
I glance over at Brent, and the big-ass grin on his face.“Yeah, Don, did you have a nice chat?” Aiden seconds.
“None of your damn business, so shut your mouths.” I glare at them both and start the truck.
“Come on Don, we’re just messing with you. Did you at least get her number? She had some rockin’ curves. I would so tap that.”
That makes me reach over and smack Brent across the back of his head hard. “Hey!” Brent rubs the pain away. “Damn, Don, that stings.”
In the backseat, Aiden can’t help it and starts laughing; he, unlike Brent, knows when to shut his mouth.I have always had a thing about not talking disrespectfully about women, and they know it. It probably has something to do with the women I grew up with, but Brent just never quite gets that.
“Maybe if you weren’t such a slap dick, he wouldn’t hit you,” Aiden says when he stops laughing. Brent glares at him and grumbles under his breath, as Aiden just grins.
“I hope you guys took a piss, because I’m not stopping again until we get to the cabin,” I tell them sternly.
I’m in a mood. My beast is stirring, putting me on edge.
“Yep, we did, that’s how Cam got out. But if he hadn’t you wouldn’t have met that girl. So, maybe it was a good thing that he woke up from his drunken stupor and tried to hit on the closest female.”
That makes me glance at Aiden in the rear view mirror; shaking my head I put the truck in drive and pull out of the gas station onto the highway. I can’t help but look in my side mirror at the woman walking with her dog, and I silently hope I will run into her again, even if she is human.
I watch the big truck pull onto the highway and speed away as I’m walking back to my car with Beretta trotting along by my side. I really hope I haven’t made a fool of myself and that luck will be on my side, and I will see him again.
I can’t be that unlucky, right?
But then, I’m unlucky enough to have a coworker beginning to develop stalker-ish tendencies, so there’s that.
I can’t help but think longingly about that tall, muscular, gorgeous man.
His name’s even sexy—Donovan. Just when I resolve myself to swear off men, a man like that slides into sight, and I can’t help but pant.
Icatch myself sighing over the thought of him sliding over me—naked—and give myself a little shake.
Jesus Kinley, snap out of it, you only talked with him less than five minutes. A girl can dream though right?
I resign myself that he’s probably a magical unicorn of a man, and I will never see him again; I smile down at Beretta.
“Ok baby girl, let’s get on the road again. We are almost there, and then you can play with Travis, if he isn’t in one of his grumpy moods.”
I open up the back door, and Beretta jumps in. I quickly jump into the driver’s seat and turn the car on. I’m so ready to be at Megan’s lake house and crack open that bottle of wine that she promised is chilling and waiting for us to drink.