Common Sense Doesn't Become Me (28 page)

Mrs. Coralline Champ was a retired beauty
queen and my momma's best friend, as long as I could remember. She
was also very good at being a buffer between my momma and me. She
was sad when I choose to leave Alabama. She only told me once that
she had hoped that things between Bubba and I had worked out.

I let out a huge breath of air from all this
hard thinking and was brought back by the twins giggling. Someone
had sprayed colored soap on the other side of the glass at the
girls and that someone was Hooch Turner, a bad boy and troublemaker
whom I knew from back in high school.

He was having fun with the girls, but he was
looking at me with those waggling eyebrows like a man on the prowl.
Hooch was the last man I wanted to be with, but he was always good
for a laugh.

A few minutes later, Hooch was out giving the
girls a sucker of their choice and thanking me for visiting his
business. I was a bit impressed that he owned the place. He asked a
few questions, about how long I was staying, and if I would be
interested in going out while I was here. I darted my eyes to the
girls several times and brought up the fact that I was here
strictly on aunt visitation and that hanging out with old friends
would have to wait.

Lil seemed to think that Hooch was such a
great guy, that she invited him to Claire's Sunday BBQ. I did the
southern hospitality thing and said 'why yes; we would love it if
you could stop by, bout two I believe and don't need to bring
anything, you know Claire', which was very true. My sister loved to
throw Sunday barbeques. Ron loved to grill, smoke or simply hold a
beer and hang with the guys. Claire loved to catch up on gossip,
show off a new recipe and usually all the women brought the
sides.

Just as I was hoping that Hooch didn't think
the open invitation meant I was interested, the hairs on the back
of my neck began to tingle. Before I could turn, I heard the squeal
of two six-year olds voices sound out in delight. "Uncle Bubba!
Uncle Bubba!"

I turned with a sultry smile on my face and
put my hands on my hips. "Uncle Bubba! Why I do declare. Funny
running into you here." He acknowledged me with a soft word of my
name and a tip of his hat then he turned to Hooch.

"Hooch."

"Bubba. The usual."

"Yep."

"Got a date tonight?" Hooch had to add that.
He knew our history.

"Something like that."

Hooch tipped his ratty old baseball hat at me
and told me it was a pleasure, and he would see me on Sunday. Then
he mentioned to the girls that he couldn't wait to see them. They
giggled, and I squirmed as Bubba stood there before me looking like
a sinful cowboy. His worn jeans held legs of muscle and buns of
steel. His navy blue tee shirt was worn thin and soft looking with
an old faded printing about something on trackers. I had a hard
time reading it past his chest muscles that seemed extra pumped up
right now. Then his arms crossed his chest, his head tilted and his
cowboy hat tilted down and up as he was checking me out.

"Uncle Bubba! You coming to the barbeque?"
Lil was dancing a circle around him, and May was pulling on his
shirt. "You coming Uncle Bubba? You coming?"

Then I had to ask in my sexiest of voices
with emphasis on the Uncle part. "Yeah 'Uncle' Bubba, you
coming?"

That last word out of my mouth got a look of
lust and chagrin out of his face. In one fair swoop he picked up
both girls and tucked them under his arms and swung them around,
then put them on the ground and handed them a dollar bill and asked
them to go get him a surprise out of the vending machine.

I watched the girls run to the bank of
vending machines and begin to argue over what to get their 'uncle'
Bubba.

I turned toward the man, once a boy, I was in
love with, and smiled with a sexy smile and a tilt of my hips
leaning in towards him to practically whisper to his lips. "Clever.
Uncle Bubba."

His body language went on guard, and he took
a step back but had that dimpled smile upon his face stayed right
there. I wondered if he was fighting with feeling as much as I was,
or if he wanted to steer clear of Jules Hone aka his high school
sweetheart Julie Marie Howland. Then he cleared his throat. "Yeah.
Well, I wasn't sure if those innocent ears should hear what I am
about to say."

An instant defense went up faster than I had
time to realize how sensitive I was to Bubba telling me something I
didn't want to hear. "Then save it. Don't say it. I'm sure it's
something mean about me. And when did they start calling you
Uncle?"

"Ever since Claire's been bringing them by
for my momma to see. My momma watches those girls more than yours
does. Not to mention that every time your momma has them, she
brings them by. So Uncle Bubba just sounded nice." His words
sounded like southern drawl sexuality on the last sentence. Like he
wanted to make nice with me, maybe kiss me.

I took a step back and shied away from the
possibility. "I see." It made sense. My mom was the world's worst
grandma when it came to babysitting, and my dad wasn't exactly
babysitting material. Which brought me back to thinking, about
having my own baby here in 'Bama' and who would actually be
helpful. Claire for sure. Probably, Mrs. Champ, but really, who
else would want to be my village.

"It's not like that Julie. Listen, I saw
Claire's minivan out in the lot being dried and was on my way to
the grain and feed. There is some new stuff out..." He hesitated.
"On you. I just thought you might want to be prepared."

Now what could be worse than what was already
out there? I raised my head high and tilted my shoulders back,
which caused Bubba's eyes to wander to my newly purchased LA
plastic surgeon special D cups. "I can handle it." But his eyes
didn't leave my chest for a second until the girls came running
back with a bag of peanut M&Ms.

"My favorite!" He chimed in, and the girls
giggled something about 'you always say that'.

Hooch came back in with my keys, a tip of his
hat and a, I'll see you Sunday Jules. Which no one from these parts
usually called me that name, and I didn't want them to start. I
would casually mention that to Hooch on Sunday.

"Well gotta run. I promised the girls an Aunt
Gone Wild visit, and I think I saw a little girl's fashion shop
just two blocks down."

Bubba walked us out to the parking lot, made
sure the girls were buckled and then came around to the driver-side
door and leaned in on the window within inches of my face. He
handed me his business card, which I didn't look at until later. He
tilted his hat with his hand and told me to 'drive careful now ya
hear'.

That was virtually impossible because when
Bubba leaned in the window, I wanted nothing more than for him to
kiss me. Even in front of the girls. My heart pounded, my hands
sweated on the steering wheel, and his business card was now
sitting between my thighs while I drove like a mad woman to the
little girl fashion store two blocks away.

Pulling up to Fashion Hut4Girls gave way to
squeals of delight. They were out of their own seats and making a
mad dash for the door screaming something about momma hasn't taken
us here yet. Well, momma didn't have the platinum credit I had or
at least have for a bit longer. So charge away my little
sweeties.

Then I looked at the business card in my
hand. Bubba owned a farming equipment business. Not sure what that
was all about, but what I was sure of was the scribbled hand
writing on the side. "Call Me! We need to talk." Problem was, Bubba
and I together, for more than two minutes and no public; we didn't
talk. We made out. Now that we were adults, I think it would just
go that much farther. In fact, after seeing Bubba once again at the
car wash, there was not a single bone in my body that did not want
that man naked and coming to my rescue. No bones about it at all.
Problem was; Bubba seemed a bit reluctant to give me the type of
passionate attention he did so well back in high school. I had a
seductive way with men that I picked up back in LA. Maybe it was
time I put that into motion with Bubba. Or maybe, I needed to get
my life back on track and not be worrying about jumping in the sack
with my old high school sweetheart. Either way, I'd call him if I
was darn good and ready to call him.

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Time
To Put Your Boots On Girl

Katy Beck is Caribbean
bound with her best friend until a sip of bad luck makes everything
go foggy and dark. Next thing Katy Beck knows is either her best
friend is playing a bad joke, or she just stole her husband, her
money and her looks. To make things worse that soon to be ex-best
friend, Sabrina, just left her on the porch of an old run down
shack, in the middle of a mountain, with only her beach bound
attire.

Katy had a way of making the worse seem
better and maybe a good guardian angel or two. As luck would have
it, she was plopped right in the lap of one very hot war hero and
famous journalist. However, life isn’t always as easy as it seems
and Katy wants to make sure she offers more back in her life then a
set of DDs and a pretty smile.

With every trick of the trade, Sabrina left a
trail of misery for Katy. However, that is nothing a good sense of
humor and new great friends can’t take care of. Plus, a little
shiny thing called gold doesn’t hurt either.

Chapter One

In a dreamy state of mind, I settled into my
husband’s limousine. I snuggled up alongside my best friend,
Sabrina. We sipped our mimosas and began watching the sunrise, on
the cool crisp fall morning. The empty road toward the airport
seemed to go on forever. We were destiny bound for a long week in
the Caribbean, for a girlfriend’s getaway, while my husband
acquired yet another company.

I looked off into the horizon, watching the
sun that was just starting to peak up and crest its rays upon the
golden fields of farmland, lining the way to the airport for
several miles. It felt like heaven was reaching out with fingertips
on those golden fields of grain.

I felt Sabrina’s hand grab mine as she
whispered into my ear. “Drink up girlfriend. This is going to be
the best trip yet.” A childish giggle exited her recently plumped
up lips, and her hand guided my mimosa into my mouth. I took a very
large gulp and watched from the corner of my eye as my husband’s
driver, Haus, had a suspicious look in his eyes from the view of
the rearview mirror. I passed it off quickly as I was very tired
from not sleeping the night before, since I was always anxious
before flying. This time, I was a nervous wreck.

I glanced back over to Sabrina and smiled as
I took another sip of my mimosa. I let the cool feel of the drink
wash down my throat. I looked into her blue eyes and saw a twinkle
to them as her lips smiled wide. My voice sounded slightly slurred
to my ears. I passed if off as being tired. “We are going to have
the best time.”

Something was different about Sabrina this
morning. She spent the last few months getting more work done on
her body, face and hair, then what was considered normal. I was
suspecting a new boyfriend was within reach. I took a long look at
her beautiful features and thought to myself that since we had
become best friends she had begun to look more like me every day.
The blue eyes were natural. However, the long blonde hair, same
hairstyle and fake boobs, practically matched my natural blonde
hair and God-given curves men found so enticing I passed if off as
a compliment. Who wouldn’t want their best friend to look, dress or
even act like them after the three years they had been friends?
Best friends at that.

The last thing I remembered was the heavy
feeling of my eyelids, as I rested my head against the back of the
leather seat, facing towards the rising sun. I drifted off into
sleep thinking of the ocean, the beach and the wonderful trip that
was ahead of us. That was the last thing I remembered before my
reality became a nightmare.

I woke up to the sound of slamming doors. I
pried my eyes open, then squeezed them closed and slowly opened
them as I sat myself up from the far backseat of the limousine.
Sabrina was nowhere around inside, nor was Haus. The limo sat
parked, and I had a sudden state of confusion pounding inside my
head.

I rubbed my eyes and my forehead with the
palms of my hands, trying to relieve some of the pounding. I was
having a hard time adjusting my eyesight. Everything seemed hazy
and out of proportion. I heard Sabrina shout something from outside
to Haus and I felt the quick rush of air as the limousine door
opened and bright full daylight blinded my eyes. I quickly shielded
my eyes from the sun. Confused, I wondered how I could have fallen
asleep so fast and hard. Wondering why the sun was so bright and
why we should have been on a plane and landed about now, and we
weren't in the Caribbean.

“Miss.” It was a demand from Haus to take his
extended hand and step out of the limousine. Trying to look around,
I only saw the bright harsh sunlight dancing through the mountain
aspen leaves, a rundown shack of a cottage on a single-lane dirt
road and nobody else but us in sight.

I looked into his eyes as I stood next to
him, still holding my hand as if I was a princess. His name left my
lips in a whisper, and his eyes seemed apologetic. He guided me
towards the steps of the run-down cottage and sat me down. He
quickly turned away and proceeded to get my purse out of the
limousine seat I just left.

It felt like lightning had crackled in the
air, as Sabrina turned and looked at me in a very devilish grin and
let out the most evil laughter. “I have waited, patiently mind you,
for this very day. You, my dear, are out. I am in where I belong.
Mathew was mine from the beginning, but you stole him from me. Now
I have him back. You will no longer be Mrs. Mathew Rhinholt. You
are now just plain Katy Beck, or you can still go by Klarissa, if
you choose.” The evil laughter left her lips again.