Sweet Reflection (5 page)

“Oh, we had a parent-teachers’ meeting tonight and my class put on a show for them, it was so cute.”

“She’s getting broody!” Jen squeals and we all laugh when Em shakes her head quickly.

“Girls I love my kids but I couldn’t be around them all day then all night too. Not yet anyway. I need some good old adult conversation for part of the day.”

Cassie laughs and leans forward, “Adult conversation, huh? I like the sound of that. What’s it to be girls?” She wiggles her eyebrows, and I match her laughter too. She’s different now, much more confident since she’s been with Blake.

“Oh God Laurel,” Jen groans, “you’ve corrupted her too. No sex talk tonight, please.” She looks at me and shakes her head. She’s such a sweet girl, nothing like me at all. And I’m glad about that.

“Okay, so how about we make some wedding decisions tonight then?” I ask everyone.

Cassie shrugs it off but I can see the flash of excitement in her eyes. “Aren’t you all bored of that yet? We don’t have to do that. Laur you talk about it all day with your customers.”

“That is true. But it actually means something to me now. And we’re all here.” Jen and Emma are bridesmaids too. I glance around the table at the empty glasses in front of me then hop up from the chair, “Hold that thought, let me just get some drinks, then we can get down to business.”

We’re predictable in the drinks department so I know exactly what to order. I sit on the stool and wait to be served, daydreaming the seconds away while staring hard at the bottles lined up on the wall.

“Hey beautiful.” The voice echoes straight into my ear. It makes me jump because I’m not expecting it, but I turn my body round on the stool and see Ryan. He’s tall with short dark hair that’s soft and smooth; I know because I’ve run my hands through it. Ever since we had one moment of madness months ago, and kissed, we’ve been great friends. He winks at me and my heart skips a beat…interesting, that’s never happened before. Don’t get me wrong, Ryan’s cute. His body is lean, well-toned and he’s got that boy-next-door charm and dimpled smile but we’ve just never taken things further.

“Hi Ryan,” I reply and smile up at him as he grazes his hand against my shoulder. He makes his way round the side of the bar and leans against it with his elbow so that he’s not far from me at all.

“Having a night with the girls?” He asks and nods to the back where they’re sitting.

“Yeah, the guys will be along later. How have you been?”

“Good, thanks. Just work, work, work. The usual?”

“Yes, please.”

He sets about making all the drinks and he’s humming away as he does it.

“Haven’t seen you around in a while.” He glances at me whilst he uses the pump to pour the coke. He sounds disappointed. Although I think of him as a friend, we don’t talk much outside of the bar, it just so happens I’m usually here quite a lot. It’s not like he has any reason to come into my store and he’s always working anyway. But I should make more of an effort because he’s never been anything but good to me.

I don’t tell him I was here last night. “I know. Same as you really. Busy with work.” Although he works with Blake’s construction company during the day, he runs the bar most nights. It’s family-owned, but the Masons are away for a lot of the year at their house in Spain and rely on Ryan to run the place. He books in the gigs and live music and recruits and trains the staff he needs.

“Yeah, I don’t have time for much else. I’m glad things are going well with your store though. You deserve it.” He says, and puts the glasses down in front of me. “On the house.” He winks as he gets called away by a young employee who looks like she’s about to cry because she’s made a mistake with an order.

I take the drinks back over to the table and place them all down carefully.

“He just text me, him and Adam are nearly here.” I hear Cassie say as she looks at Jen. “Blake says they’ve all landed a huge deal so they’re going to be celebrating. I bet they’re going to need a little help to get home tonight. I’ll be the driver so you ladies don’t have to worry. ‘Cause I’m sure it will be my fiancé egging everyone on.” She rolls her eyes but I can see the love shining in them. I wonder if James is coming but obviously I don’t voice the question. If I voiced it, it would be real and I can’t believe it’s actually something I am thinking about. But the guys in here tonight are nothing special so I tell myself it’s because I need something easy on the eye; a bit of man-candy to look at never hurt anyone. After a while my eyes roam around and pass Ryan whose collecting a few glasses from empty tables; they move on to a guy by the jukebox in the corner but he’s not enough to hold my attention so my gaze goes straight back to Ryan who’s now wiping glasses and putting them back on the hooks hanging over the bar. He’s laughing with an old man sat on his own and chatting with a few older women that look like they’re going to eat him up for dinner. I’ve never looked at him in this way before but he’s really quite sexy. He has a confidence when he moves, he’s commanding with the staff but you can tell they respect him. He’s wearing a black shirt with his sleeves rolled up and as he picks up a crate of glasses the muscles in his forearms flex and I bite my lip remembering his arms around me. I hadn’t given much thought to him and that night until now. Dangerous thoughts though. Ryan’s too good of a guy to use as a way of forgetting about someone else for a night. He deserves a girl’s full attention.

“Well ladies, I have to say you all look amazing tonight.” The deep voice reaches us over the music and Jen and Emma both snap their heads up to look at Blake. I hold back my laughter, I’m used to it now but if I wasn’t, he would definitely get my blood pumping. His eyes are on Cassie instantly, “But you, my gorgeous fiancée, are the epitome of stunning.” She smiles and swipes him playfully on the arm but he cups her face and presses his lips to hers. After a few seconds they still haven’t come up for air so I chuck a peanut at his head.

“Hey Richards,” I shout across the table, “put that tongue back in your mouth and buy us some more drinks.” He growls quietly as he ends the kiss and turns to glare at me.

I smile sweetly and pout, “Please?”

He shakes his head in defeat, and mumbles to Adam. “Women.”

“Tell me about it.” Adam replies as he takes a quick glance at Emma. He’s twenty-three, younger than Blake and James by a couple of years, but is just as tall. His mum’s Italian so he has a darker olive complexion. He and Emma used to date, and something in his gaze tells me he’s not quite over it. He looks defeated as he follows Blake over to the bar.

I lean in to Emma and put my hand on her arm to grab her attention, “Have you and Adam really put it all behind you?” I ask. She looks over at him. It’s a fleeting look but I see the flicker of something that says it’s definitely unfinished.

“I guess,” She shrugs, “We haven’t really spoken that much. I try not to be alone with him now. It’s just awkward. But nothing’s happened since we broke up.” She never told us why, just said they had differences. I find it hard to believe because he worshipped her and she always seemed so happy, then just like that things between them changed. I’m definitely getting the feeling they both still like each other though.

“So what’s this deal about then?” Cassie asks the guys as they sit back down.

“Oh, James sorted it. It’s huge. And I mean
huge
! He did some work for this woman, Alex, at her London flat and now she wants some work done to her property around here. If you ask me she has more money than sense but I’m not going to complain. I’m doing the exterior, garage and barn conversion, and James is doing all the design. His plans are amazing so it’s going to keep our companies occupied for a while.” He talks animatedly to Cassie about the details and Adam’s chatting to Jen and Emma. I suddenly feel detached and my thoughts float to the only man I wish they didn’t. Lately I’ve been wanting him more and more and it’s starting to piss me off. I don’t know why, maybe because of wedding and future talk with Cassie but feelings of jealousy have been stirring up which is ridiculous because we are never going to happen. He made it pretty clear when he let Shannon drape herself all over him and I’ve seen them together plenty of times since. And not just her. Every time we are out there’s some new trophy he has his arm around.

The sound of his name snaps my head over to Cassie, “So where is James then?” She asks innocently, not expecting me to be listening. In my peripheral I see Blake glance at me then lower his voice, “He’s err…occupied at the moment. But he’s around somewhere.” That’s code for he’s probably fucking some girl in the toilets. My stomach clenches and I wish I hadn’t heard. I need something to take my mind off this. Before I get the chance to do anything about it, they appear in front of the table. Someone’s definitely up there having a laugh at my expense. Before I can even take him in, my eyes are on her. The flavour of the night is definitely slag mixed with a hint of skank. I’m all for short skirts but hers is ridiculous, it’s only Thursday. And her crop top shows off most of her midriff. I’ve worn more to go swimming. She’s looking at him through those fake eyelashes and hooded eyes and I instantly want to bitch slap her. Her long brown hair reaches down to her waist, and the push up bra makes her boobs spill out over the neckline. I tear my eyes away from her and look at him when he speaks.

“Hey,” he says casually, and I feel anything but casual as his eyes pass over everyone at the table and linger on mine.

I’m either being really paranoid or everyone’s waiting for a reaction from me. I won’t give them or him the satisfaction. I just need to put on my big girl knickers and suck it up.

“We’ve just been hearing about how amazing you are from Blake. He’s obviously a bit more into your bro-mance than you are.” My eyes flick to his latest conquest and back again and he lifts the corners of his mouth up in a smirk.

“Well what can I say? Everyone knows how amazing I am. Isn’t that what you just screamed out, Chrissy?” He winks his eye at her and she pushes herself into him even more and giggles. “You bet, baby.”

There are chuckles from the guys and a slight titter from the girls. My stomach coils, I can’t handle it anymore, and I wish I hadn’t been the first to say anything. Everyone’s going to know if I get up and leave but I can feel my legs itching to move. To run. I’m going to make a fool of myself if I stay.

“Here, you two have my seat. I need something stronger.” I get up as confidently as I can even though I feel my whole body shaking, and sway my hips as I walk to the bar, hoping he’s watching me walk away.

James

I can’t help but watch her butt in that skirt as she walks away. She looks fucking fantastic tonight. She always looks hot, but never like she’s trying too hard. I can’t say the same for Chrissy though. Don’t get me wrong, she’s like sex on legs but that’s all. There’s no comparison. Laurel has it all. And it kills me a little bit more every time I see her. Sometimes when we’re out I swear she gets jealous and then, just like that, her guard goes back up and she ignores me or makes some little dig that puts me in defence mode. I’ve tried so many times to get her to open up to me. To feel what I feel. And I think she does, she’s just afraid of it.

I’d tried the nice approach. It hadn’t worked. I’d tried the asshole approach and that seemed to at least affect her in some way. I knew exactly what she felt towards me, and to watch her fighting it was some sadistic game I loved to play. When I pushed, she pushed back and it kept me on my toes. I’d wear her down eventually. The beach was my next opportunity. Cassie had arranged it and I didn’t know she was coming until I saw her long tanned legs swing out of Blake’s SUV.

An hour of sunbathing later and giggles caught my attention down by the shore. I lifted my sunglasses and smiled at the two bikini clad women looking over at me. If I could make Laurel jealous maybe she’d realise what she’d been missing out on. I hopped off the lounger and sauntered across the beach towards them. The girls were flirty, forward, in fact I’d go as far to say as they were downright dirty, and by the time our little conversation was over I was hard as nails and in need of some serious relief. I made my way back to the group, frantically rubbing at the lipstick on my cheek, who the hell wears lipstick to the beach? Blake was rubbing Cassie down with sunscreen and loving every second. I looked over at Laurel and she had turned over onto her stomach with her eyes closed tightly. She had been on her back facing the shore just before I left. I grabbed the bottle and walked over to her, towering over her body.

“Excuse me, you’re in my sun,” her sweet voice bit out.

“You need more sunscreen.”

“What are you, the sun police? I’m fine.”

“No, your back’s getting red. You need to put some more on.” She lifted her head off the lounger and twisted it slightly to look at me. Then her eyes flicked to the bottle.

“And you’re offering?” She asked dubiously.

“Looks like it, doesn’t it?”

She hesitated, and it was that hesitation I took advantage of.

“Scoot.” I said to her as I sat on the side next to her. She moved over slightly, still leaning up on her forearms. I waited for her to give me the go ahead. I’d only put my hands on her if she wanted me to.

She nodded and moved her hair to the side so I had full reign on her back. I squirted the cream into my hands and she blanched from my cool touch. Her skin was so smooth, it was torture. But I made sure there was no part of her back I hadn’t rubbed down. She was strung tight to start with, but gradually she lowered her head and rested it on her hands.

This was the moment, she was softening under my fingers. Her body was relaxing as I massaged each knot I came across. A soft moan left her lips and I immediately stilled my hands near her hips, watching the blush on her cheeks deepen. I made her moan. She moaned because she enjoyed what I was doing. Shit. It caught me completely off guard. I was searching for something to say when she turned and smiled at me like nothing had happened.