Test Drive (The Bachelor #1) (13 page)

She smashed my face into her neck, pulling me tighter and directing me to the spots she wanted me to kiss. I ran my hand up her thigh and around the hem of her skirt. Her skin felt so smooth underneath the rough fabric. I tried out the whole biting craze, sinking my teeth in little by little. I had to pull away because it felt so good I worried it might hurt her. When I pulled back, she looked directly in my eyes and screeched, "Don’t stop!"

Diving back in, I made a trail of kisses from her collarbone down to her breasts, which were spilling out of the corset top. Holy shit, she was hot. She wrapped one leg around my hip and lifted herself to me. I slid my arm underneath her back and closed the gap between us.

In the state I was in, I was completely ready to untie the constricting clothing she was wearing and let her take me to a place I hadn’t gone before.

"Lola! You in here?" A deep voice shouted through the hallways. I could hear footsteps walking back to where we were. I pulled her up to a sitting position as the footsteps got closer. I could hear squeals from the adjacent rooms as the bouncer checked room to room for the missing DJ. We both looked dazed and confused when the bouncer rounded the corner.

The giant bouncer, Jax, was barreling towards the room saying, "Hey Lola, you're up." She nodded and he left as quickly as he entered, and I let out the breath I had been holding.

Lola burst out laughing, and I joined her. She grabbed my hand, and I pulled her to me. She landed one more mind-blowing kiss on me before she walked away. I sat there on the sofa for a moment trying to push back the overwhelming need that threatened to escape.

I walked back out to the dance floor and over to the DJ booth. Jax let me up with a smile this time, and I worried about whether I had lipstick somewhere. My hair was all over the place, and I shuttered thinking about how she pushed her fingers in my hair scratching her way through.

When I got up the narrow stairs, I saw Lola waiting at the top. She was sitting with her legs spread on the stool and, she was staring straight into my eyes with a sexy come-hither look. I walked briskly to her and slid in between those milky white thighs. People were still going bananas on the dance floor below, but I only had eyes for her.

"Damn, Lola! You are making me crazy." I was trying to catch my breath, but she just kept pulling me in deeper.

The song ended and she threw her hand back to start another. "Drew, right?" The fact that she wasn't sure what my name was, definitely set off red flags, but I nodded anyway. Maybe it was the kiss that wiped her memory. "You are an amazing kisser, Drew. I'd love to do this all night, but I have to get back to it."

Stunned. Confused. What was the word I was looking for?
Hmmm. Ah, yes! Blue balls.
Isn’t that what you get when a woman drops you cold turkey after getting you all worked up.
Thanks a lot.

"Yeah, me too. Work, I mean. I have an early flight to catch, but I'd like to see you again."
Yeah, I’d like to see you back in that room in about five minutes.
I tried to act cool like what she was doing wasn’t completely blowing my mind. Was she trying to play hard to get?

"Oh cool, well enjoy your trip." She turned back to her table, dismissing my question to meet again. I walked up behind her and rubbed my hands down her arms. She had to be as torn up as I was. "Drew, I'll text you or something, okay?"

Just like that, the trance was broken. I stood there like a chump.

I thought about confronting her and pleading my case. I wanted to tell her how much I liked her poems and how much fun I was having, but pride and confusion held me in my place. I turned around on my heel, possibly a bit too fast as the thoughts in my head were spinning at warp speed. Heading out of the booth, I paid my tab at the counter and made my way to the door. What was her deal? I mean, she kissed me and I knew she liked it, so why the ice cold act?

I checked my watch on my way out, and it was one-thirty; not too bad. I hopped in my car and drove straight to the airport. Any remnants of a buzz had been stripped away by Lola in there so I felt comfortable driving. Hell, the confusion was more of a distraction as I replayed the events over and over again. I couldn't find one single thing I didn't like about the night, and I hadn't pushed it farther than she wanted me to go. I decided it was best to put it behind me. I had found with other break-ups that the best way to do that is to convince myself it would have never worked. Her lifestyle choices in no way mirrored my own, and I wanted to believe that one day I would be running a company, and I doubted she would fit in well at company parties. It wouldn't have worked. I was still disappointed, but then I thought about Victoria. She was still a very promising candidate; one that I had very much enjoyed getting to know. Life was not over, but the rejection was a bitch.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE HE IS
doing this!" I woke up in a haze on the airplane. I had gotten in about two fifteen and laid there with my mind reeling until around three. Now I could barely see the light streaming through the windows, but I could hear someone, who was very angry, yelling in the other room.

"No, sir. I told him to meet me here at eight a.m. sharp, and he didn't show . . . What? He didn't come home last night? Uh! This is just like him!"

I was starting to take offense at her tone and frustration. I rolled out of bed in my boxers, and I didn't take the time to put pants on. I strode into the other room, my bare feet stomping against the hollow floor, to where I could see Beth pacing on the phone, and I could hear my father yelling out of the speaker.

"Who are we waiting for?" I said, resting my forearm on the wall. I squinted through the headache forming at my temples. Beth spun around gaping at my, err . . . wardrobe.

"You’re here!" she squeaked. She gave me one long look up and down before her cheeks flushed a deep crimson red. I realized that my appearance could be a little startling, but the way she was berating me on the phone had pushed me past the thought of decency.

I could hear the voice on the phone asking, "What’s going on, Beth?"

"Umm, I am sorry, sir. Drew is already here. I will let you know when we land. Okay. Yes, sir." She hung the phone up and pushed her long hair out of her face. "I didn’t see you board the plane. Did you stay here last night?"

I nodded my head. She looked so embarrassed and I thought about trying to make it better, but then I remembered what she had so vehemently said, "
This is just like him!
" So I let her stutter and stammer trying to collect her words. I bit the inside of my cheek and said, "I guess I will head back to the bedroom and get dressed. Don’t worry, I can find my way. I will just follow the stickers." I hoped she could hear the frustration in my voice. How dare she assume that she knew anything about me? I went back to the room and searched through my suitcase for the clothes I had packed for today. I went to slide one leg into my pants, and she appeared at the doorway. Hiding behind the doorframe, she didn’t say anything at first. She stood watching me put each leg into my pants, looking away only when I stood to button them.

"What is it, Beth?" I gruffly said.

"I’m sorry, Drew. I am just really stressed out about this trip. Usually your father is here, and he handles it. His standards are so high that I am just . . . stressed."

I put on my shirt and was rearranging my tie for the third time when she walked over to me. "Here, let me." I let her. I had tied a tie a few million times, but my pride was wounded, and I could no longer focus on the mindless task.

Afterwards, she placed her hand on my face and rubbed my cheek. My first thought was that some of the cotton candy lip-gloss lingered on my cheek. My second thought was how soft her thumb felt caressing my rough cheek. "I promise not to underestimate you again . . . today." She winked. I smirked hoping that this wouldn’t be an issue going forward. I had enough women putting me in my place here recently.

Beth left the room, and I went into the bathroom to comb my hair and brush my teeth. Beth hollered that we would be taking off soon, as if my hangover wasn’t enough to deal with. I could still taste the fruity drinks from the night before, which at this moment were enough to make me sick. Putting on the darkest pair of sunglasses I owned, I sat down in the comfortable reclining chairs in the plane’s living area. Beth plopped down in the chair next to me with a whole to do list for when we landed.

"Do you want to go over these now or?" she said. I held my hand up to stop her. I could already feel the plane easing into motion on the runway. I hated this part. The plane was turning around to line up on the runway. The stewardess passed by us after making the bed and readying the plane for takeoff. She buckled up in another room, and the plane sped down the runway before lifting off in the air. Beth could see the pure terror written across my face, and she reached her hand over and took mine.

She raked her thumb gently across the top of my knuckles, which actually seemed to help take my mind off it. I kept my hold on the armrest until the plane leveled out at probably a billion feet over the clouds. Beth was looking out the window, but I didn’t dare to see what she was staring at.

"Okay, we can get started now." I had my hand covering my eyes so I didn’t chance seeing the clouds rushing by the window.

She picked up on that and offered to close the shade which I happily agreed to. She stacked the papers in her lap, and we went over the itinerary for the weekend. The hours were long during the day, and there was one dinner on Saturday night we had to attend, but two of the days let out at six, which left us the evening to ourselves.

Beth’s hair continued to fall down into her face and my hand ached to tuck it behind her ear. Until this moment I hadn’t even glanced at what she was wearing. She had on a gray dress suit complete with a white button up collared shirt and those awesomely sexy black pumps. Her blonde hair was so straight it looked like she had taken an iron to it.

"I got a confirmation on the hotel reservations, so we should be good to go when we get there. They only had a suite left, but you will have your own room and bathroom." Beth winced as she waited for me to confirm it was okay. I had no problems with sharing a suite. In fact that was perfect.

The stewardess approached us about breakfast. She offered an array of juices, which induced the gag reflex in me. "Uhh, no thanks. Can you just bring us two bottles of water and some bagels?" I was in no shape to eat. I felt my stomach was traveling at a different speed than the rest of my body, but when she came back with the water, I heartily gulped it down. The assortment of bagels looked awesome; every flavor from sweet to savory.

Beth grabbed a blueberry bagel and smeared a huge dollop of cream cheese over it. She took a monstrous bite out of it, and I watched her wipe the cream cheese off the side of her lips. Her eyes almost crossed with ecstasy as she moved the sweet tasting bagel around in her mouth.

"Oh my gosh," she moaned. "You have got to try this." She held the bagel to my mouth, and I was a bit taken back that she wanted to share her food with me. I bit off a small corner, and she shoved the rest in her mouth.

"Mmm!" I responded. "That is delicious." It wasn’t, but I enjoyed watching her eat and lick the remaining cream off her fingers.

"I know, right! I could eat these all day." She laughed. And what a beautiful laugh that was. I used this as my invite to ask some more personal questions. The flight would be over soon, and the rush of the day’s events would make this trip a distant memory. I asked about her favorite foods and places to eat. I asked about her hobbies and things she has always wanted to do. Surprisingly our interests lined up more than we both realized.

We both loved history and museums and art. Neither of us liked heights, snakes, or any other life threatening hobbies. She was really into pool, which I found odd for many reasons. Her favorite food was seafood, and her favorite color was yellow. She responded in such depth that our conversation walked me all the way through the landing.

"All right, guys, I hope you have enjoyed your flight. I have been instructed to have this place looking immaculate for the "show and tell" tomorrow night. Please let me know if there is anything else I can get you." She was very pleasing. My mother had personally selected and trained our stewardess to ensure a pleasant experience.

We grabbed our things and loaded them up in the rented SUV. I let her drive as she was more familiar with the area. When we approached the conference center I was in awe. The traffic was backed up for blocks, but through the trees and stoplights I could see the modern metal building towering above. The rounded roof and the straight lines of the building were masterful. It was perfect for the convention, and I was excited to see the set up inside.

It was not disappointing.

Inside there were a variety of model aircrafts and sculptures of other travel devices like cars and trains lining the entryway. Planes hung from the ceiling on long metal cables, while mock set ups of a tank and fire trucks were strategically placed throughout the corridor. I was carrying a huge case containing the information for our table. We showed our badges to the deskman and followed the large crowd heading inside.