Test Drive (The Bachelor #1) (6 page)

I was starving so I quickly downed the first few mussels. They were fantastic, served with a side of potato gnocchi in a delicious mushroom sauce. I sipped the wine which paired nicely with the hearty broth. The warm liquid felt good going down my parched throat.

By the time I finished my plate, another dish was brought out, this time carried by another female staff member. This woman was older, and her sly grin clued me in on the chatter going on inside the kitchen.

"The chef should be done soon, but there are a few courses left for you to taste."

"Please give my regards to the chef, the dishes are fantastic." I tried to boost my voice, which sparked a giggle from behind the door. The older chef smiled and gave a slight bow before reentering through those mysterious kitchen doors.

The second course was a roasted duck breast sliced thinly over a bed of wild rice served with steamed green beans, which were seasoned nicely with garlic and sea salt. I couldn't remember the last time I had duck, but I was almost certain it had not been this good. A man could get use to this kind of cooking.

I didn't mind sitting alone in this hallway table. The bustle from the kitchen was quite relaxing and being able to enjoy my food without the prying eyes of other patrons gave me a chance to savor the dishes.

I leaned back in my chair and sipped the remaining wine from my glass. A few of the other kitchen staff were beginning to leave and the door opened and shut a million times before I saw her. And I can honestly say it was worth the wait. She entered through the doors still wearing her apron over a light pink long sleeved blouse and a pair of jeans. Her chocolate brown hair was up in a tight bun, and she was void of any makeup. She was lovely.

In her hands were two bowls of chocolate mousse with a strawberry glaze and a few sugared strawberries with a mint leaf for garnish. Top notch from what I could see. I was very impressed with her menu tonight. I stood as she approached the table. She set down the dishes and removed her apron. I saw a quick flash of blonde hair cover the circle window in the door, but she flitted away.

"Hi, I'm Drew. It is so nice to meet you. And you're food is amazing. Really, just spectacular." I was rambling. I reached to shake her hand, and she graciously reached for mine.

"I am so sorry about tonight! My chef got sick, and the manager begged me to come back. It was a mess, and Fridays are our biggest night." She flipped a stray piece of hair off her forehead.

"No, really, it is totally fine," I said. "I have sincerely enjoyed my time just interacting with your staff and tasting your delicious food. May I?" I said motioning towards the chocolaty dish in front of me.

"Of course," she said. She reached for her bowl as well, and we both dug in.

"Mmmm! That is insane." I meant it. That shit was amazing.

"Ya know, after cooking all night you would think I would get tired of the food, but I try to put things on the menu that you can't resist." She dug her spoon deeper into the fluffy mousse and brought it to her mouth. She slowly licked the spoon, which I found incredibly sexy.

We finished the dessert, and I offered to walk her out. It was almost eleven by the time we made our way to the parking lot. I was exhausted from the day's work, and she was yawning the whole way out the door.

"I want to make it up to you. I know this was a lousy first date," she said.

"Not at all. In fact I actually enjoyed myself, but I would be interested in seeing you again soon. Is your schedule pretty flexible?"

"Umm, I work a lot on the weekends, but I am off most mornings. I am technically off on Sundays, but something always seems to happen. I haven't had much need for a social life, so I put a lot of hours in at work. What about Sunday though? I am sure I can work something out." She sounded like she was trying. It did bother me that she would have to change around her life just to spend time with me, but from what I could tell she was a nice person.

I agreed to dinner on Sunday night, not in her hotel, and we parted ways with a quick hug. I had noticed that she smelled my shirt when we embraced; when she stepped back, she looked slightly intoxicated. Silently thanking the makers of Axe Body Spray I held out a steadying hand. "It was so nice to meet you, Claire." I wondered how long it had been since she was close to a man.

She got in a modest sedan, a Toyota maybe, and drove out of sight. The valet attendant drove up and thanked me again for bringing such a cool car.

I wasn't sad that the night was ending. The date had gone well, and I was eager to get some sleep. Jenna had texted confirming we were to meet at ten the next morning, and to quote her text I needed to "bring something I could get wet in."

The beach maybe?

I had no idea what this girl was thinking, and I was so tired at the moment, I didn't care. I stripped down to my boxers and passed out in between the silk sheets as soon as my head touched the pillow.

MORNING CAME TOO
early as I had predicted the night before. I woke up around eight thirty, and I rushed to quickly shower and shave before slipping on some cargo shorts and a tight, blue T-shirt. I threw some swimming trunks and a tank top in a bag and headed out the door. I didn't want her to come here, so we were meeting at her fitness studio before heading to our destination.

When I pulled up a few minutes early, I could see right into the room where Jenna was teaching a yoga seminar. I had to turn my head sideways to figure out where her legs began and ended. I doubted my eyes could get any bigger looking at the toned muscles and shapely flesh.

The day was already steaming hot and watching her was about to fog up the windows. I didn't have to wait long for her to come jogging out of the building.

"Hey there, handsome! You ’bout ready to join me for an adventure?" She was so vibrant and full of life, that her energy was contagious.

"Well yes, ma'am. Where are we headed this fine summer day?" I said in my best cowboy impression. She laughed and put her bag in the car. I was happy that she hadn't changed her outfit because she was scorching hot in the tight black ensemble.

"You will just have to wait and see." She smiled, laying her phone on the dashboard. I heard the mysterious female voice telling me to exit the parking lot and turn right. How cool was it that she came prepared with preprogrammed directions. The mystery behind her date was equally exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Who knew where we were headed? I turned the car around and headed down the road. The system said that we were about an hour and a half away from our destination. The conversation flowed until a song came on that I hadn't heard in forever. It was an older song from that movie
Grease
called
Summer Days
or
Summer Nights.

"May I?" she said.

I motioned to the radio and said, "Feel free." She cranked it up and started dancing with her hands in the air and singing with a less than
American Idol
voice, but she was hilarious. She had me cracking up the whole way there—wherever there was.

I began to see some signs as we got off the interstate for a water park. I had never been there, but the commercials were all over the TV during the summer. They boasted mile high water slides and a million gallon wave pool. I was excited about trying something new, but I had an eerie feeling that I was about to face some kind of fear.

I looked over at Jenna right after we passed the umpteenth sign, and she sucked in her lips like she was hiding a secret and tried to turn away from me. I reached over and rubbed the side of her chin, and she busted out laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

She just shook her head smiling and said, "You'll see!"

As we approached the water park, the smile got bigger, and I started to get excited about playing in the water with Jenna. We parked about a mile from the entrance in the only parking spot left and grabbed our stuff to head inside. The line to enter the park was long as well, but we made light of the time by talking and joking about the slides that we could see. Jenna was challenging me to ride every ride in the park, and had I had any idea what they were like, I wouldn't have accepted.

As soon as we were through the gates, we went to the bathrooms to change. I popped out first wearing my navy blue Ralph Lauren trunks, and I was anxious to see what she was wearing. It didn't disappoint.

"Holy shit," I mumbled when she came bounding out of the dressing room wearing a red polka dot itty-bitty bikini.

"What's that?" she said.

I had to recover, but it wasn't easy. I struggled to find a way to tell her how bad I'd like to take her home instead of down an above the clouds water slide. "I said holy shit, you look amazing."
Nice, Drew. Nice recovery.
Thank God she didn't slap me; instead she did a little pose showing off the smooth, tanned, toned . . . well, you get the picture.

What happened next was a blur of chlorinated water and scorching hot sun. I was having a great time. A few rides required we sit together on an inner tube. I won't lie that when she slid into my lap and we headed down the slope, I had to think of everything but the way her body felt so close to mine.

She knew it too. She would snuggle deeply back into my arms and scream like she was scared even when I knew she wasn't. I didn't mind though. She felt good there.

It wasn't until we reached the towering slope of the tallest slide on the East Coast that I realized this is why she brought me. I watched from the bottom as someone risked their life for an eight second thrill. I could hear the plastic creaking to support the weight of the gallons of water, and I could see the water pouring out of the leaks, which led any sane man to believe the structure was not sound. "Nah, I don't think so, Jenna. How about I catch you?" She shook her head no, which sent her long hair slinging in different directions. "I mean look at that thing, it’s practically falling apart."

"Come on, Drew. It will be great, and if you don't like it, there is another slide half way up that is covered. At least walk me up." That sounded reasonable. She took my hand and dragged me to the thirteen-story staircase.

I reluctantly followed her stair by stair enjoying the view on the way. She kept a tight grip on my hand like she was trying to keep me from running away. But that kept her tight body right in front of my face the whole way. For a moment, I forgot what we were doing. In hindsight, I bet that was what she wanted. I know I'm a sucker.

I didn't even notice I was a million miles off the ground until we hit the line at the top. Only three people stood between me and death. I wasn't about to dive to my doom today.

"Okay, well, have a good time. I'll see you at the bottom." I waved and started back down the stairs.

"Oh don't be such a baby, Drew! Even little girls go down this slide. Are you wimpier than a little girl, Drew?" I heard giggles from all the people hanging around the rails getting ready to go down. A line was forming behind us, and a girl that was maybe eleven years old pushed past me to get to the slide.

"See!" she said. "Don't be a little girl, Drew." I didn't appreciate the taunts, but with loads of people watching our interaction, I had no choice.

I sat down on the slide and closed my eyes. The lifeguard started to say something, and I grasped onto the rails stalling every second I could. The water was freezing cold and even though the heat was sweltering today, the cold water only exasperated the chills running up my spine.

"Okay, so you want to lie completely back and . . .” The lifeguard was cut off by Jenna approaching me quickly from behind. I wasn't exactly ready when she gave me a push, if you could call sending me airborne off a thirteen-story death trap a push. I went flying off the edge and down the rushing waters all the way down to the heaping pool of water at the bottom. I felt sharp pain rushing through my body as I came to a stop. My stomach churned sharply, and I felt my heart rise up in my throat. I could barely breathe, much less stand. No longer was I worried about dying, but I was pretty sure I broke something from the pain swirling in my stomach. I heard shouts coming from the tower, which was surely Jenna.

"Hey man, are you okay?" It was a lifeguard, but I could only hear the ringing in my ears. I pushed myself up and out of the splash zone, limping to the bench across the way. I heard the rushing water and the splash as another rider came flying through. The lifeguard had followed me over to make sure I was okay. "You are supposed to cross your legs and arms before you go down, if not the rush at the bottom hits you right in the nads, man."

"Yeah, thanks for the advice, after I came down." I was none too pleased with the lack of information.

"Yikes, dude! They are supposed to tell you up top . . .” his words traveled off as Jenna crossed the sidewalk to get to me.

"Yeah, maybe if I hadn't been pushed early then I could have heard the instructions." I smoothed out my shorts trying to adjust some of the pressure and pain.

"Aww, did you get hurt?" she said in a baby voice. She reached her arm around my shoulder and kissed my cheek.