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BY LILA ROSE.
Copyright 2014 by Lila Rose All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any written, electronic, recorded, or photocopied format without the permission from the author as allowed under the terms and conditions with which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution, circulation or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author"s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. Thank you for respecting the work of this author.
Finding Out is a work of fiction. All names, characters, events and places found in this book are either from the author"s imagination or used fict.i.tiously. Any similarity to persons live or dead, actual events, locations, or organizations is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Editor: Hot Tree Editing Cover Designer: LM Creations Cover image: Jessica and Chris Photo taken by: Rachel Morgan Formatting: Angel"s Indie Formatting Finding Out is a Hawks MC Club 2.5 novella
DEDICATION.
To Jani Kay, Nina Levine, Pepper Winters, Ch.e.l.le Bliss, Lyra Parish, Callie Hart, Lilliana Anderson, and Lesley Jones.
It was great working with you all.
Also to Jessica and Chris, the best cover couple, thank you for your help and putting up with me through it all!
FINDING OUT BY LILA ROSE.
1.
Online dating. Some were for it and some against. Me? I was somewhere in the middle. You see, I joined the "Find Your Soul-Mate" dating site six months ago. Although, I"d never been on since filling out the form, until today. The reason being, I had no other choice now. I was desperate. My cousin"s wedding was creeping up slowly and I had a just over a week to find a date to take.
The truth, I had lied and now it was coming back to bite me on my huge a.r.s.e. I"d told my b.i.t.c.hy cousin Leanne I was bringing my long-time hot, successful boyfriend Max. The only problem was he didn"t exist. This left me scrolling through the list of potential victims who could accompany me on this date and pretend we"d been an item for two years.
The door to my office-out the back of the cafe I owned-opened and in strolled Helen, my best friend since we wore diapers. She looked great in her pantsuit. The sight of her had me thinking that I wished I"d have said I was a lesbian. At least then, I could have taken Helen and we would have had a fun night. Instead, it was just going to be awkward. Especially since my parents were flying in from Melbourne to go to the wedding, and they couldn"t wait to meet my serious boyfriend.
Yes, I had lied to them as well. In my defence, my mum kept hounding me about marriage and babies. They thought having a twenty-eight-year-old single daughter was wrong. That was only because my younger brother and sister were both happily married off.
Arguably, the happy part was still debatable.
Dragging the chair in front of my desk around next to me, Helen sat down. She slapped my hand away from my mouth because she hated my habit of chewing my nails, seemingly oblivious to my worrying over my whole life falling apart.
She pulled her long blonde hair up and tied it into a ponytail on the top of her head. She was beautiful, with her s.e.xy hair, bedroom deep-blue eyes and Jessica Rabbit figure. Turning gay was still an option; I could just say that Helen won my heart away from my serious, fake boyfriend.
She cleared her throat before she spoke. "No, I will not take one for the team and become gay for you, even for one night."
"p.o.o.p," I sighed.
"Come on, Ivy. You"ll find someone perfect who will make your she-b.i.t.c.h-from-h.e.l.l who-is-actually-a-guy and sucks-c.o.c.k-like-the-dirty-tramp she is cousin choke on her own tongue."
Did you feel the hate? Not that I could blame her, Leanne did steal Helen"s fella, who she was now marrying. I even hated my cousin for it and I refused to go to her wedding, until my mum rang and threatened that since I was the only cousin living in Sydney, I was to attend no matter the situation or else she was going to post on Facebook that she wished me well on my s.e.x change. Yeah, my mum could be a b.i.t.c.h.
"I can only hope," I muttered and slumped back in my seat as Helen pulled my laptop closer to her.
"Oh, look at this one. He"s got a nice profile picture. It says, "Hi, my name is Nick and I love p.u.s.s.y." Okay, maybe not that one," she giggled. I rolled my eyes. Some men were true idiots. "Look at this. You haven"t even opened your message box. Mr Right could be sitting in there waiting for you. Let"s see."
I didn"t bother looking. Helen lived an orderly life and I hoped she"d help...all right, take control of this and just point me in the right direction. Though, I was actually surprised people had messaged me. My profile picture was not that good. I"d uploaded the one where Helen had just said something funny and I was laughing hard while we were out at a park with my German Sheppard Trixie. My brown eyes were squinty and my long, wavy, mousy-coloured hair was blowing in the breeze, which meant it was everywhere, including over my face and a bit in my mouth. Still, six months ago Helen had insisted on that photo. She"d said it would let a man know that I was fun and full of life. I honestly thought she was full of s.h.i.t. Now I thought she was only half-full of s.h.i.t. I had messages in my box. I wish I had something else in my box...it had been too long since it was last filled.
"Right, you have two potentials out of ten. The other eight are just scary and will not be worth mentioning."
I sat up and adjusted my jeans and tee. Just because I owned a cafe, it didn"t mean I had to dress like the boss. I would hate to wear something like Helen wore every day at her journalism job. My cafe was all about being comfy. If I was happy and comfy, then I hoped it meant my workers would be, as well as my patrons.
"Hit me with the good ones then," I said. She moved the laptop so we could both see the screen. When my eyes landed on the profile picture in front of me, I uttered, "Holy s.h.i.t, I wish I was a virgin again so I could lose it to this guy."
"I know," Helen sighed. She shook her head and continued with, "Here"s what he"s written about himself. My name is Fox Kilpatrick. I"m thirty-eight years old and I work in construction. I"m looking for someone who is fun and lively. I like to go to the movies, cook and clean."
I snorted. "No way would a guy say he likes to clean. Either his sister filled this out or there is something seriously wrong with the man."
Helen shrugged. "Maybe to both, but even if there was something wrong with him, just imagine turning up to her wedding with that on your arm."
This was true. Fox was definitely a fox. His eyes shone blue, and he had shaved head that showed his dark blond colour. To top it off, like frosting on a cake, he had a small smirk upon his full lips that said he had a sense of mischief inside of him.
Me wanty.
"Before you fall for this one, take a look at option two. His name is Jim. He"s a doctor, works long hours but is looking for someone special enough to understand that what he does is important. In his free time, he likes to ride, eat out and also relax in with a good movie, while cuddling."
"Oh," I sighed, "he sounds nice and a doctor is very important, so I already understand he"d be a busy man."
Helen turned to me and asked, "What did you tell your family your mystery guy did for a living?"
Biting my bottom lip, I mumbled, "A cop."
"Ivvvvy," Helen whined. "You shouldn"t have told them anything. Next time, and yes I know there will be a next time, be vague. Say he does a bit of this and that."
"I was under pressure. You know I don"t work well when under pressure. It was the first thing that popped into my head when mum asked. Plus I was watching CSI at the time she called."
"Well, thank G.o.d, you didn"t say pathologists."
Raising my eyebrows, I queried, "Huh?"
Rolling her eyes at me, she smiled and answered, "A person who works on dead people."
"Oooooh, well, I wouldn"t have said that. That"s just gross."
She shook her head and laughed. "You"re an idiot. Now, I suggest having a date with both of them. That way after meeting them, you can pick out which one would be better at lying to your family."
"Good thinking ninety-nine. But for now, I better get back out front before Justine and Manny kill each other." My employees were school dropouts and no one had given them a chance to prove themselves in a job. Therefore, I did. If it wasn"t for the s.e.xual hate/love tension between the two, things would be perfect.
"All right, but you will message them back tonight? You need time to work on them both before doom-day."
"Totally, I will not fly solo to this gig and have all my happiness in life sucked from my body."
"Glad we have an understanding." Helen smiled. We did our usual secret handshake and b.u.t.t slap and she left me to go save my shop.
After I shut down the computer, I walked out of my office and into the front of my cafe just in time to hear Justine hiss at Manny, "I"m going to kill you slowly and painfully if you stuff up another coffee." I didn"t mind the death threats. I was used to them and so were my regular customers. They even got a chuckle out of it and I was sure sometimes they only came to get the free entertainment for the day.
I stood beside them as they glared at each other before I placed a hand on a shoulder each. "Justine, you can"t kill Manny."
She rolled her eyes and snapped, "Why?"
"I"d really hate to train anyone new and I"m sure you would too."
She puffed out her cheeks and sighed, "Fine."
"Miss M, you"re also forgetting that Justine would be lost and lonely without me because she loves me so much, which is why she"s always a raging b.i.t.c.h." Manny smirked at Justine.
Before she could find something to stab him with, I quickly said, "Manny, go and get the cupcakes from the back kitchen that I made earlier and load the sandwiches into the fridge before the lunch time rush. Justine, please go and serve the customers and I"ll make coffees for a while. Sound good?"
"Sure, Miss M." Manny grinned. He patted me on the back and slapped Justine on the b.u.t.t quickly before he ran out the back to safety.
"One day I will murder him," Justine announced.
The waiting customer turned to her friend and whispered, "And one day she will screw him."
"You!" Justine yelled at the blonde businesswoman. "That will never happen, and if you say something like that again, you"ll be on my s.h.i.t list. Now what in the h.e.l.l do you want?"
They laughed because they knew, like Manny and I knew that Justine"s bark was much worse than her bite.
I loved my workers, regulars and even those customers who popped in just for a quick coffee on the run. Most of all, I loved my cafe. I"d bought it five years ago when I was fresh out of university after receiving a business degree. Back then, it had been a corner milk bar, but it just wasn"t busy since a supermarket moved in down the road. I think it also had to do with the fact that the owners were now in jail for selling drugs as a side business from the store.
Now instead of the gloomy look it had, it was all bright and full of life. I had pretty much gutted the inside, thanks to all the money I had saved selling my homemade jewellery online. People were sad when I stopped doing it, but to make my cafe successful, I had to put all my time and money into it. I was so glad I did. I wouldn"t say "Ivy"s Brunch" was booming, but I am now living comfortably and have two great employees, when they weren"t trying to flirt in their own weird way.
The day turned out like it had every other day: we worked our b.u.t.ts off, me especially when Justine caught Manny staring down her top. Let"s just say that Manny may come into work tomorrow with a limp. After cleaning and closing the shop, I walked the block home and relaxed in the bath with Trixie-who was happy because I fed her as soon as I got home-sitting beside me. She waited like the loyal, sweet dog she was.
Later that night, as I sat in bed, I fired up my laptop and sent a quick message to Fox and Jim. They weren"t online, and before they could get back on, I quickly shut it down and then left myself pondering if they had yet replied. I eventually fell asleep in the early hours.
Bleary eyed, the first thing I did when I woke was check the computer. Okay, that was a lie. The first thing I did was pee, and then I made myself a coffee. While I waited for that, I turned on the laptop at my kitchen table.
My heart beat like a maniac. I had two messages. I opened Jim"s first. For some reason, I was more nervous about Fox"s response. Jim had typed back-to my asking him for coffee at my work, not that I said it was my business place, but I just felt safer meeting strangers there. He said that he"d love to meet for a coffee and that he was available this Sat.u.r.day. I replied with "Great, I"ll meet you there at ten am." That would give me time to chat before I helped out with the lunch.
Now my hands shook as I clicked on the next message. Fox replied to my message with a short answer of, "Yes, see you at 2pm Sat.u.r.day." I giggled with glee. Why did I have that reaction with one man and not the other? All I knew was I couldn"t wait until two pm Sat.u.r.day. What I had to do now was keep myself occupied for two days, figure out what to wear and pray that Justine and Manny would behave themselves enough while I had my blind dates.
I was on my way to work when I texted Helen telling her that I was all organised for Sat.u.r.day with Foxy and Jimbo. She asked if she could pretend to be a customer in the background while she checked them out. I told her that was fine because it would also help my nerves. She was also a good judge of character and could help me determine which would be more suitable to put up with my effed up family.
FINDING OUT BY LILA ROSE.
2.
Sat.u.r.day came too soon and I found myself sitting at a table with sweaty palms, dressed in a dark blue sundress and sandals. G.o.d, I hoped to Christ Jim didn"t want to shake my hand. If he did, we may be stuck together from the amount of sweat my hands were producing. I looked over at Helen. She sat three tables away dressed in jeans and a tee. She caught my eye and mouthed, "Relax." I nodded, picked up a napkin and wiped my hands for the fourth time. Jim was late. It was now 10:15. I hated people who couldn"t be on time, but then I had to take into count that he was a doctor and could have been called away on an emergency.
So as I waited, I looked around my cafe to the long front counter that was off to the right of the entrance. It held the coffee machine and the cabinet of cupcakes, cookies, sandwiches and croissants. I loved to bake. Justine and Manny were serving customers; there was a line-up of four people. Still, my eyes took no notice of them and moved on to the seating area. I had managed to fit in four booths along the opposite wall to the counter and had tables and chairs scattered here, there and everywhere in the flooring s.p.a.ce that was left. In the long shop window, to the left of the entrance, I had a bench with chairs, where I sat papers and magazines off at both ends.
I looked back to the clock that sat just behind the register. It was now ten-thirty. It was time to give up; Jim wasn"t coming. Just as I stood, Helen was beside me and said, "I just logged onto the site. He"s sent you a message. It says that he can"t make it, but he"d love to reschedule for Monday at the same time."
Nodding, I said, "I kind of guessed that. Can you send a quick message back saying okay?" She gave me a chin lift and typed something into her phone while I added, "Doesn"t matter. I just hope Fox turns up."
She looked up at me and smiled. "I can tell by your voice that you already have a mild crush on him."
"Oh no, Helen, it"s l.u.s.t. Just from his picture my woman bits are crying to be near him."
She laughed. "I totally understand that. Listen, I"ve got to go and run some errands, but I"ll be back here before your next date."
"Thanks, babe," I said. We did our handshake, and after she left, I spent my time doing what I loved: working.
"Good luck with this one," Justine started as she placed a latte on my table. "The offer still stands. If you wink twice, I"ll come over here and pretend to be your jealous girlfriend to get you out of the date."
Maybe I should just take Justine to the wedding. Then the night could end up with her in jail when she discovers what douches my family members were.
"Thank you, I"ll let you know." I smiled up at her.
"Great." She grinned, turned and went back to work behind the counter-after punching Manny in the arm.
It was five minutes to two and Helen had sent me a text saying she was running late; she"d be there as soon as she could. So when the bell over the door jingled, I looked up from my latte expecting it to be Helen. Instead, in walked a man who made my cooter want to jump from my body to run over and rub up against his leg. It was in heat. He also caused my b.r.e.a.s.t.s to tingle, which has never happened before. I shook my fogged head and realised that the man who walked in, dressed in dark jeans, a black tee-that showed off his wonderful tattooed arms-and motorcycle boots, was the man of my p.o.r.no dreams and Mr Fox Kilpatrick himself. All of a sudden, my mouth went dry. I a.s.sumed it was because all the liquid from my body had travelled south to pool in my panties from the mere sight of the man before me. I watched his eyes scan the shop and then land on me.
I gulped, and with wide eyes, I watched him stalk his way over. He stopped just beside me, and in a deep voice, with a hint of a growl, he said, "Ivy, right?"
And I said, "Huh?"
His serious face stayed serious, only I caught the little lift in the corner of his mouth. I only caught it because I happened to be staring at his mouth-watering lips. He pulled out the chair opposite me, and turned it backwards to straddle it. His hands rested on the top of the chair and he stared a piercing stare straight to my heart.
"So?" he said.
That was when I vomited, not actual spew, but in a sense, only with words. That"s right...I vomited words right in his face.