Five Minute Man: A Contemporary Love Story (2 page)

“Well, let’s see. One was about five-seven or so, blonde, blue eyes. Dressed nice, like she just came from an office or something. I think her name was Liz.” That was the one he imagined his uncle taking an interest in. Classically pretty, something of a romantic. She’d be perfect for his quiet, too-serious uncle.

“Was she the believer or the non-believer?”

“The believer.” Interesting, Adam thought vaguely, but not surprising. Sounded like many of the women he’d wined and dined. Pleasant. Attractive. Predictable.

“What about the other one? She of little faith?”

“Smaller, darker hair with some kind of streaks, I think.” While Brandon could remember nearly every detail of the blonde’s appearance, he didn’t remember much about the other one, even though she had been the one who had made him laugh so much. He’d been too busy eyeing up the blonde for his uncle.

Adam nodded, but Brandon could tell his uncle was already getting suspicious. He decided to quit while he was ahead. With what he hoped was a believable yawn, he stretched. “Well, I’ve got an early class tomorrow, so I’m going to crash. I’ll catch you in the morning.”

As he went to his room, Brandon was already forming a plan in his mind.

“T
uesday night is Ladies Night,” Adam groaned a week later, annoyed that he’d been had by his conniving nephew. A fact confirmed by reading the laminated card clearly displayed above the trench of sugar packets on the table. “You set me up.”

Brandon’s facial expression was just a bit too innocent to be completely believable. “Relax, will you? Just have a couple of drinks, a nice dinner, and watch the game.” Brandon indicated the huge flat screen mounted on the wall.

Adam narrowed his eyes. He did have a good, unimpeded view of the screen, and the place really wasn’t crowded at all, at least not where he was sitting. Most of the action seemed to be at the fancy bar on the other side of the restaurant where drinks were half price, but his bullshit detector was sounding the alarm loud and clear.

“Do
not
even
think
of sending a woman over to my table or buying one a drink and telling her it came from me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Brandon lied smoothly.

Adam knew for sure he’d been had when two women were seated behind him and Brandon came to take their drink orders. One was a thirty-ish blonde in a stylish gray suit; the other, a petite brunette with cherry colored streaks in her dark chocolate hair dressed more casually in jeans and some kind of loose-fitting top. The blonde caught his eye as they passed, her pretty blues widening with instant interest. The brunette didn’t even glance his way.

“Hello again, ladies,” Adam heard Brandon say behind him. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You’re just saying that because I forgot my bifocals last time and gave you a fifty instead of a five,” one of the women said. Her voice was low and musical, filled with amusement. It was clear she was teasing him.

“You’re not wearing your bifocals now,” Brandon observed.

“No, but Liz is paying tonight, and she’s a notorious cheapskate.” Liz stuck her tongue out and flipped her the bird at the same time.

Brandon laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now, what can I get you ladies to drink?”

***

O
riginally, Adam had planned on eating his meal as quickly as possible and getting the hell out of there. But he found himself taking his time. Not that he was in the habit of eavesdropping, but the two behind him were a hoot and a half.

One of them - Adam thought it was the blonde - was a systems analyst at a software development company. The other, as far as he could tell, was currently a writer, though judging by the way they spoke about people at the office, he guessed they’d both worked together at one time.

The analyst seemed nice enough, but it was the writer that piqued his interest. She had such a pleasant, soothing voice that was completely at odds with her rather pessimistic and jaundiced views. Oh, she laughed and made jokes (she really was quite funny), but he heard the cynicism underneath.

It was ironic, really. The blonde worked at a software company but still believed there was a Prince Charming waiting out there for her; the brunette wrote romance novels for a living and believed the only thing awaiting her was a bunch of frogs.

They didn’t talk about five-minute orgasms, but they did have a quite detailed discussion on female sexual aids that he found both shocking and quite fascinating. By the time they ordered their after dinner coffee, he was reeling. As if romance novels and Disney’s false expectations imprinted upon females shortly after birth weren’t bad enough, now a man had to compete with thrusting, revolving, life-like vibrators with front and back stimulating attachments?

Christ, no wonder modern women were so empowered.

His manhood suffering a mortal blow, he was just about to slide out of the booth and go home to lick his imagined wounds when he heard something that had the blood freezing in his veins.

“Hey, did you catch that guy sitting right behind us when we came in?” Liz asked, lowering her voice slightly.

Holly swirled a piece of broccoli around in the buttery cheese sauce that had pooled beneath the chicken. “No. Why?”

Liz shook her head sadly. “No wonder you can’t get any, Holly. The guy was totally hot.”

Holly leaned over in interest. “Do tell.”

“Around our age. Dark brown hair. Gorgeous icy blue eyes – kind of like Ian Somerhalder’s – but more, I don’t know – intense. And not as pretty – a little rough around the edges, if you know what I mean. Clean shaven, but with a sexy shadow around his jaw. Big broad shoulders, muscular arms and chest. Couldn’t see any lower, though,” Liz said, her disappointment evident. “The table was blocking the good stuff.”

Adam nearly swallowed his tongue. Thank God he hadn’t been drinking or eating anything at the time.

“Damn. Think he’s still here?”

“I doubt it. He was by himself, and we’ve been here for hours.”

Holly sighed deeply. “Figures. If he’s really as good-looking as you say, he might have made a good muse. I’m completely stuck on my latest alpha male. I need some inspiration.”

“Sorry, I should have said something sooner. Hey, I think that cute waiter kid was talking to him earlier. Maybe he knows who he is. I could ask.”

“Nah, don’t bother. He already thinks we’re nuts, and I have no desire to publicly broadcast my patheticism.”

“Is patheticism a real word?”

“It is now. I’m an author. I can do that.” Holly slid out of the booth. “Pay the check while I hit the ladies room. I’ll never make it home without peeing my pants. With my luck I’ll get stuck behind an accident or something and wet myself. And here – “ Holly dropped a couple of bills onto the table. “Add this on to the kid’s tip, will you? He’s the only one besides you who’s smiled at me all week.”

***

A
dam sat back in the corner of his booth seat as the petite brunette walked by, but she didn’t even look his way. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. He couldn’t help but appreciate the sweet curve of her ass, though, or the way her hair hung in loose, natural waves halfway down her back.

“Brandon,” he heard the other woman whisper behind him. For once Adam was profoundly grateful for his acute auditory senses.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“God, do you have to call me ma’am? I’m not that old, you know. Anyway, do you happen to know the guy who was sitting behind us when we came in? You were talking to him before.”

“Yeah. He’s my uncle.” Adam cursed beneath his breath and considered changing the locks to his house before Brandon finished his shift. Emergency locksmith service was expensive, but it would be worth it.

“Does he live around here?”

“He does.”

Adam pulled out his phone and started Googling local locksmiths.

“Is he married?”

“No.” Adam scrolled through his choices.

“Do you see him often?”

“Yeah.”

“Could you, I mean, would you, give him this?” Adam paused, his curiosity getting the better of him for a brief moment. What was she giving him? A card? A number?

“Will you be there?” Not a card or a number, an event of some sort.

“Yes.”

“Then I will definitely pass this along.” Adam stared at his phone, his finger poised over the call icon. Shit, if he called the locksmith now, the woman would hear his voice and realize he was still here. He’d have to wait until he got outside.

When Brandon walked away to ring up their check, Adam left enough to cover his bill and tip on the table and slipped quietly out of the booth, heading for the exit. This evening had been entertaining, but now he felt the urgent need to flee. He did not want to be sitting there when the women left. The blonde might try to talk to him, maybe ask him out, and he’d panic. He never knew what to say when that happened. He didn’t want to be rude, but he just didn’t like when a woman took the initiative. Yeah, it was stupid as all hell, but he was an old-fashioned kind of guy. Flirting was okay – that’s how he knew a woman was interested – but if there was going to be any asking, he wanted to be the one doing it.

Keeping his eyes focused on the Exit signs, he rounded the corner and felt an instant impact from his chest down. He looked down just in time to see the little brunette falling backwards onto her cute little ass.

“Ah, fucking A,” she murmured before she could help herself, wincing as she started to pull herself up.

The words were so shocking coming out of that pretty little mouth that for a moment, Adam was too stunned to say anything. By the time he held out his hand and opened his mouth to apologize, she was already on her feet.

“Sorry about that,” she said. Her voice was back to being low-pitched and musical, but her eyes were calling him all sorts of nasty names.

“Totally my fault,” he managed, his throat suddenly dry. God, she was cute. Big green eyes, pert little nose. Little or no makeup, naturally pretty. “Are you hurt?” He reached out to steady her, but she stepped back in a clear message.

“No, just my pride. And my ass.”

She zipped around him, her cheeks a lovely shade of rose, not looking back and not slowing her pace until she dropped into the booth across from Liz. Then she put her elbows on the table and covered her face with both hands.

“Tell me you did not just have hot bathroom wall sex,” Liz said with equal parts worry and hope, eyeing her friend’s bright red face and look of total mortification.

“No,” Holly mumbled from beneath her hands. “I was zoning out and just face planted in a guy’s chest.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. Was he good looking?”

“Yes,” Holly moaned. “Insanely. At least from my view on the floor.”

Liz covered her mouth with her hand to hide her grin. “Oh, Holly, you didn’t.”

“Yeah,” Holly replied with a rueful grin. “Princess Grace strikes again. The guy was so freaking hard I bounced right off his chest and landed on my ass. Then I went all über-classy on him and uttered a few colorful expletives.”

“Oh, Holly.” Liz was doing her best to be sympathetic, but it was kind of difficult when she was trying so hard not to laugh.

A
dam looked at the half-page flyer on pale blue paper taped to the toilet seat and sighed. It was wrinkled and smudged, probably from the last several times he’d crumpled it up and thrown it away. First when he found it tacked up on the refrigerator, then on the TV, then on the inside of the front door. Brandon must have been pulling it out of the trash. Damn, but the kid was like a dog with a bone.

Cursing, he ripped it off the toilet. He had half a mind to rip the thing into little pieces, drop them into the bowl and piss on them, then leave them there for Brandon to fish out. Let him try to piece
that
back together.

Common sense and a temperamental septic system won out over his irritation, and he simply folded the flyer and stuffed it into his pocket. He was going to have a little talk with his nephew later and explain in a calm and mature manner that he did not need his nephew’s not-so-subtle matchmaking attempts.

It wasn’t like Adam wasn’t interested, but the thought that the blonde had pushed the flyer at the kid bothered him. He’d learned the hard way that the chances of hitting it off with a woman forward enough to do something like that weren’t good. And he was past the go out and have a good time anyway stage, had been for a long time.

Adam sighed, realizing he’d be wasting his breath. When he’d been Brandon’s age, he wouldn’t have understood either. How could you explain to a twenty year old that sex wasn’t enough after a while? That what he wanted most was what he was most unlikely to find – a woman who satisfied his mind and heart as well as his cock (though to be fair, the sex would have to be pretty good, too). Someone who could just as easily sit in comfortable silence as hold a decent conversation. Someone intelligent and thoughtful, independent yet retaining an air of innocence. Someone who could live with his old-fashioned, caveman-like mentality without being a doormat.

Someone who, quite probably, didn’t exist.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t looked. He didn’t have his brother’s movie star looks, but Adam was a good-looking enough guy and had a decent, well-paying job. Had more than his share of dates and hook-ups. And while he had some good times, none of them ever came close to his ideal.

The blonde at the restaurant seemed nice enough, and she had shown interest. If he did go to this book signing thing, she’d probably be amenable to coffee, then dinner, maybe even sex. And it would be pleasant. Enjoyable, even. But he already knew that’s all it would be, because she just didn’t do it for him.

Now that little brunette – she was a different story. She had a voice that stroked him in all the right places, a husky little laugh that made his dick hard and his balls clench. And when she’d run all those soft, lush curves into him and looked up at him with those big green eyes, he’d had the sudden urge to throw her over his shoulder and take her out to his truck like the Neanderthal he was.