Leap of Faith (La Flor #1) (9 page)

“Thank you, girls. Aunt Julia wants to go out and I hope this is what she has in mind. I’m too old to be wearin’ those short dresses that show my underwear, the ones girls wear nowadays, so I decided on shorts.”

“You’re rockin’ those shorts, Momma,” Rylee says. “You and Aunt Julia are gonna have so much fun. Josilyn and I have the peanut and we’ll take care of everything. Just go have fun, dance, and maybe talk to a hot guy or two. And drink safely.”

“Rylee!” I exclaim.

“What?” She asks. “You’re still young and deserve to have fun.”

Before I can say anything else, I hear the front door open.

“Honey! I’m home!” I hear Julia yell.

Julia’s a hoot. She’s been stuck with me from the day we met, and after everything we’ve been through, we’re still together. I love her, craziness and all. She tries her sexy walk as she walks into my room.

“You ready,
chica?
”

She looks me up and down. I figure I pass inspection when she doesn’t send me back into my closet for different clothes.

“Let’s go have some fun. I’m ready to get my shake on. Woohoo!”

She starts to dance, shaking what her mama gave her and grabbing my hand in the process.

Skylar starts to laugh. “You’re funny, Aunt Julia. You and Momma look beautiful.”

“Thank you, Peanut,” she replies as she kisses my girls on their cheeks.

I gather all my belongings, give my hair one last pat-down, and turn to my girls.

“Okay, girlies. Momma’s headin’ out with Aunt Julia now. Be careful and have fun. Skylar, don’t stay up too late and listen to your sister. Rylee, if you have any problems, call my cell phone or Aunt Julia’s, and here is the club’s number just in case.”

I give my girls their goodbye kisses and walk out the door with Julia. We climb into the cab and head towards our night of fun, dancing, and drinking. Well, not too much drinking, I want to feel human in the morning.

We arrive to the club about forty-five minutes later and I feel like a VIP as Julia drags me to the front of the line waiting to get past the bouncer. On the way, I hear some not-very-nice things leaving numerous mouths, and I seriously want to wash some mouths out with soap. I guess I’d be pissed as well, but it isn’t my fault that Julia and I know people and so don’t have to wait hours in line to get into
the
club of the year—TanZen.

We get to the door and Josh, the bouncer, lets us into the club. “Have fun and save me a dance,” he says, more to Julia than me, since he’s looking straight at her. Hmmm, I wonder what
that’s
about.

“Well, well, well,” I say to her. “Did you forget to mention something to me? Do share. You know the only action I get nowadays is livin’ vicariously through you.”

“What? Josh? He’s nice a guy I went out with once. We decided to be friends after I told him there wasn’t going to be a second date; I didn’t have that spark with him. I can’t help that I’m irresistible and guys would rather be my friends than be without me,” she replies jokingly, but there’s truth in her statement. She has so many guy friends that would date her in a heartbeat but she’s so picky—no butterflies, no second dates. I think she’s still in love with
him,
the one who broke her heart and took a piece of her with him after destroying her. But we’re not going to think about him now.

“One day, Julia . . . one day, you’re gonna find a man that’ll make you fall in love again, and he’ll cherish you beyond belief. You won’t be able to wrap him around your little finger so easily,” I say. “That day will come and I’m gonna enjoy watching it happen. Mark my words, babe, when that day happens I’ll have front row seats and I’ll even help him.”

“Well, that might happen but it sure won’t be today,” she replies. “We’re here to have fun and not talk about my love life. You’re gonna have a good time even if I have to ply you with alcohol.”

She takes my hand and leads me to the bar. We both order Tequila Sunrises, our poison of choice, and get to sippin’; they’re so yummy and there’s nothing better than Tequila, orange juice, and grenadine, in my opinion. Well, maybe a frozen margarita. Plus, if made correctly, they can be strong and you barely taste the alcohol. They’re my kind of drinks; I just have to be careful. And drink lots of water along the way.

As we’re slowly sipping on our drinks and checking out the club, we hear “Timber” by Pitbull and Kesha come on. We quickly finish our drinks and head out to the dance floor to get our dance on. We dance and dance, doing every dance move imaginable. We’re probably getting weird looks from the other dancers, but we don’t care. I forgot how much fun it is to just come out and dance. I love dancing; Jake would get a babysitter at least once a month and take me dancing when we were in Germany. The music there wasn’t as modern—there was a lot of eighties music, but it was still fun nonetheless. Even now, I’ll put on music at home and start a dance jam with the girls.

Julia and I are doing all those club moves you see in the YouTube videos. We’re laughing and I’m having the time of my life. “Danza Kuduro” comes on and I go
wild.
This is my jam—I love this song! I’m showing off all of my dance moves and as the Tequila takes effect, I even impress myself.
Damn, I’m freaking awesome.
Suddenly, I see Julia go completely still—her eyes go wide, mouth hanging open. She’s trying to tell me something, but nothing comes out.

“What?” I shout to be heard over the music. I don’t know what her problem is; she probably saw a really hot guy, but I don’t care, I keep on dancing like there’s no tomorrow.

She just points behind me and before I can turn around, I feel a set of arms circle my waist.
What in the world!
I’m about to let loose on someone and give him a piece of my mind. You just don’t go up to someone and put your hands on them. I don’t care that we’re at a club; you don’t do that crap to anyone, much less me. I turn.

Oh my goodness!

It’s Zane!

No wonder Julia’s in shock. I told her about him, but it just can’t do the man justice until you see him in person.

Realizing who it is and that I actually semi-know him, I calm down. I look at him and say, “You’re lucky I know you. I was about to let my deadly weapons loose on you for puttin’ your hands on me and I could’ve seriously hurt you, you know. Next time, let me know it’s you and that you’re gonna to touch me.”

He softly laughs at me and then gives me his sexy grin. “Hello, beautiful. I told you I’d be seein’ you again. No more runnin’. I’ve got you now. Dance with me.”

He doesn’t ask, he tells me, and keeps his hold on me. I decide not to fight it, at least for tonight, and he’s Jackie’s brother so I can tell on him if he gets out of hand. In his arms, I turn to Julia to let her know why this strange man’s hands are on me and I’m not kicking butt.

“It’s Zane, Jackie’s brother,” I tell her and then lean in and whisper loudly, “Remember? Mr. Gorgeous Eyes.”

Julia’s still in shock and wondering why I’m not freaking out that his hands are on me. To be honest, I have no idea why I’m not freaking out. I don’t know him that well aside from the first time I saw him and felt that strong pull to him. Then there are those times I made a fool of myself by running, and you can’t forget the game. Holy cow, when you start to thinking, he must think I’m the biggest dork.

Nonetheless, I relax in his arms. It feels right. Yes, he makes me feel out of control, but at the same time being in his arms feels safe. I feel like I belong. It’s nice and terrifying at the same time, but tonight, I’m not going to worry about it. I’m here to have fun and if he wants to dance with me, I’ll dance with him. No biggie.

Julia finally comes out of shock and smiles. Then, she starts to laugh. She’s laughing so hard, I think she might start rolling around on the floor or wet her pants.

“Seriously, Faith! Seriously,” she says, wiping tears of laughter. “We come here to have a girls’ night and you manage to pick up a man without even tryin.’ I mean we’re here dancin’; you’re doing your ‘famous dance moves,’ which are freakin’ hilarious; and this hot, and I mean seriously HOT specimen of a guy just comes up to you and puts his arms around you. You’re one lucky biatch, babe.”

I turn towards Zane and see a smile on his face. I guess he’s not weirded out by my best friend; that’s good.

“Um, I don’t think I’ve picked up a man, Julia,” I say. “I mean, Zane knows me already and he knows I have two girls, plus he’s seen me do some really dorky things. I really don’t think he wants to pick me up . . . you know, that way.”

“Faith, for being so smart, you can be so clueless at times. He’s lookin’ at you like you’re a big fat juicy steak and he’s a starvin’ man. You have the best luck in men; first Jake and now this yummilicious man. If I didn’t love you so much, I’d be jealous and hate you.”

“You’re wrong. He doesn’t want me that way,” I say and turn to Zane to get his agreement. I see him chuckling and his next words leave me speechless.

“She’s right,” he whispers in my ear sending chills down my spine. “I do want you. I’ve caught you now and I ain’t letting go.”

Oh, dear Lord!

I stop dancing and stand there. I’m in the middle of the dance floor in Zane’s arms, and I’m stunned speechless. Finally, they take pity on me.

“Take her and go talk some sense into her,” Julia tells him. “I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” he asks.

“I’ll be fine. Go explain the situation to my bestie,” she tells him when she sees he’s reluctant to leave her alone on the floor. “Don’t worry about me. Look, here comes Josh—I’ll be fine with him until y’all come back.”

Zane quickly but calmly guides me off the dance floor. He takes me to a booth located in the back but still within sight of the dance floor in case he has to go back for Julia. He sits me down and climbs in next to me, keeping me on the inside so I don’t make a run for it. He’s not taking any chances tonight.

Finally I get some sense back into me and I start talking. “Um . . . I think I might’ve misheard you earlier. What do you mean, Julia’s right and ‘now you’ve caught me’?”

“What part don’t you understand, beautiful? Do I have to spell it out for you?” he asks.

“Apparently,” I inform him. “Zane, you can’t want me. How . . . I mean, look at you and look at
me.
You’re single, attractive, and I know you don’t lack for female attention. I’m . . . well . . . me. At the soccer game, you let me walk away and I haven’t heard from you in three weeks.
Three whole weeks,
Zane! Please, help me understand because I just don’t see why you would even care to try.”

“This is all wrong,” he says with a trace of frustration in his voice. “I asked Jackie for your number, since you have the habit of runnin’ away before I can ask for it. I was going take you out. I wasn’t plannin’ on talkin’ to you in a club. My plan was to take you out on a proper date and tell you I want you and I want to be with you.”

“Well,
why
are you here if you weren’t plannin’ on talkin’ to me at a club?” I’m starting to sound a bit bitchy, but I just can’t help it. I’m confused and don’t like it—that just makes me testy.

“I’m here because you’re here,” he says as if it’s obvious. “I’m not about to let some random guy put his fuckin’ hands on you. Shit, I about flipped the fuck out when Jackie showed me your picture earlier at dinner. You look fuckin’ hot and you’re here alone with Julia. You know the shit that can happen to two lone women? Most of these guys are dicks and can’t understand the meanin’ of ‘no.’ No way in hell was I gonna to let that happen. No fuckin’ way.”

“First, how did Jackie get a picture of me? And second, what I do is none of your concern,” I tell him, refusing to let his high-handedness slide.

“First, Josilyn was at your house and she knows how I feel. I’ve been at their house almost every fuckin’ day hopin’ you’d show up. I ask lots of questions about you, and they’re not fools. Second, you’re my concern. Everything you do is my concern after today. Faith, I want you and I always get what I want. I’ve worked too damn hard and waited too long.” That last part baffles me, but I continue on since I’m already all worked up.