Cover Credit goes to Ladysword-- Thank you so much for the gorgeous cover...

Chapter 5

I was sitting at a corner table in the downtown café when the bells over the door tinkled, signifying a new customer has arrived.  Turning around I saw Jay waltzing in, looking GQ fabulous as ever. I couldn't help but to smile at him.

He glowered at me.  Earlier he laid it on thick because I ignored his calls all morning long.  I tried to explain everything that happened last night at Rio’s including the part where I made a total ass of myself. But did that satisfy him, the answer to that would be a big hell no.  He wanted to see me grovel and grovel I would do because Jay, well he’s my best friend.  And that’s what best friends do.  If I’d know he was going to milk this for all its worth then I probably would have thought twice about ignoring his calls in the first place. 

"What?" I asked him innocently.  He took the chair across from while I swirled the straw around in my glass of ice water. I even fluttered my eye lashes to add to the effect. And I never flutter.  This was all just for Jay’s benefit.

"You know exactly what and don't you dare give me that innocent maiden look? It has absolutely no effect on me.  Remember, I perfected that look back in seventh grade." He followed up by demonstrating his own version of what he referred to as the ‘innocent maiden look’. 

I just about died.  Laughing out loud, I smacked the table with the palm of my hand.  "Jay, you are crazy insane.”

“Crazy insane over you.”

“And see; see this right here is why I love you."

Jay stole a strawberry off my plate and popped it in his mouth, basically swallowing it whole.  "How you do anything without me is a wonder, Bailey. Face it babe, you need me."

A truer statement had never been said.  "Jay, Jay, Jay...What am I supposed to do with you?"

This time he stole my glass of ice water and slurped have the glass before I could even begin to protest.  For all the good it would have done. He took his time placing my glass down in front of my plate and looked pointedly at me and said, "I'll tell you what you aren't going to do. You aren't going to ignore your best friend when you’re hurting the way you were last night. That’s what you aren’t going to do again."

My face dropped. This was it.  This was where he was going to lay into me.  I started to protest and he held up his hand to stop me.  "Save your excuses.  I don't want to hear it.  I know you. You were hurting last night.  You should have called me, I should have been there and you know it," he finished softly. 

Looking down at the half eaten croissant on my plate, I knew what Jay was saying was right. I thought I needed to be alone.  No that I deserved to be alone.  What I’d done at Rio’s was unforgivable.  I was selfish.   I’d made unfair assumptions.  And in the end, everything Rio said was nothing but the truth.  And the truth hurt.  But maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if Jay had been there. Hell, I might even still have a phone. Jay was my best friend.  He’s always been there for me in the past so now shouldn’t be any different.

The one thing I did know was that dwelling on the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s wasn’t going to get me anywhere.  What I needed to do was focus on the here and now.  Looking up at Jay, I smiled.  "You're here now and this time, I’m coming to you because you are my best friend and asking for help."

Jay grabbed what was left of my croissant.  "That's what I'm here for, doll.  My time is yours, so break it down for me.  How can I be of service to you," he said in that easy going way of his. Immediately any and all reservations that I’d previously had were gone.  Jay just had a special knack for doing that to me.

Leaning on the table I dropped my elbows down and rested my chin over top of my folded hands. "Okay, here it is.  Rio says that he wants to be friends. What is it exactly that friends do together?" I asked him.

Jay rolled those grassy green peepers of his at me. His blonde hair fell crookedly across his forehead and I couldn't help but to notice how adorable he looked. It really was a shame that he only swung one way and unfortunately it wasn't in my direction, or any other females direction for that matter.  

He scrunched up his nose and made a confused face.  "What do you mean what do friends do? We're friends and we do all kinds of stuff," he replied as if my question was a no brainer.

"Not like me and you friends," I said, waving my hand between the two of us. "I mean like Rio and me friends.  Special friends," I added as a side note.

He raised his right brow at me. "Babe, you lost me. What the hell is supposed to be the difference?"

"Jeesh. Do I have to spell everything out for you? I have no desire to end up in your bed, friend. What I want to do is end up in Rio's bed as his special friend. Do you get what I’m saying now?"

A knowing look flashed across his face. "Ah, now I get it. You want to be pretend friends while you try to secretly seduce him without him necessarily knowing that you are seducing him."

I nodded enthusiastically.  "Now you're getting it."

"Hey, I may be a bit slow but I get there eventually,” he grinned. "But to answer your question I would find out what he likes to do.”

I frowned.  “How am I supposed to answer that?  He likes guy stuff I suppose. You’re a guy.  You tell me what guys like to do.”

“This is your lucky day, girl.  I happen to know that Rio likes to volunteer for charities that raise money for families of fallen soldiers. If it was me I would call the downtown office and find out when the next event is and just kind of show up there.”  He waggled his eyebrows, “I mean purely as a means of friendly support."

I clapped my hands together and had to force myself to refrain from squealing.  "You are good,” I told him.  “Actually, you are so damn good it's scary. This is brilliant."

Jay looked at his fingernails and mockingly brushed them across his shirt. "Yep, that's me doll face. Mr. Brilliant.  I'm just glad I could be of service, again."

I had just raised my glass to take a sip of my water when it occurred to me that because of temper tantrum this morning, I no longer had a working phone. "Damn," I muttered the curse and looked away. How could I have been so stupid?

Jay looked up at me curiously. "What’s the damn for?"

"Oh,” I started, looking anywhere but at Jay. “I kind of threw my phone at the wall this morning and now let’s just say it no longer works."

Jay suddenly erupted in laughter, causing me to turn and stare at him.  “It’s not that funny,” I said.

"Seriously, Bailey. You threw a temper tantrum?" He spit out, holding his stomach. He couldn’t stop laughing. Everyone in the café was staring at us now.

"Chill out,” I told him.  “Me throwing a temper tantrum is really not that funny. I don’t have a phone now."

He paused for a moment and looked me dead in the eye. "Yeah, it is that funny,” he said, lowering his voice and chucking. “Did you stamp your foot too?” he asked.

I refused to dignify that question with a response and just glared at him.

“That would be a yes,” he confirmed.  “Okay,” Jay reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Here you go.  Make the call Bailey."

Begrudgingly, I took the phone from his hand and stared at the blank screen. "I don't have the number," I replied lamely without looking up at him.

He reached over and pulled the phone from my hand. His fingers worked over the touch screen and in seconds he was jotting a number on a napkin. "Problem solved," he said pushing the napkin in my direction and handing me the phone. "No more excuses and you can thank me later."

I’m pretty sure my eyes resembled something like pizza’s right now.  "How the hell did you do that so fast?"

“Remember.  Mr. Brilliant,” he reminded me and then continued, “just dial the number, Bailey. We don’t have all day.”

Who was I to argue?  Jay was brilliant.  Dialing the number, I brought the phone to my ear and grinned at my friend. It wasn’t until the third ring that a man who sounded like he smoked a pack of cigarettes a day answered the phone.  "Hello, Families of Fallen Soldiers."

"Uh, yes sir.  I’m interested in volunteering.  For your organization,” I added as an afterthought.  “Can you tell me when and where the next event is?"

"Yes, ma’am," he rasped. "We are always looking for new volunteers.  Hold one moment and I'll see what we have lined up next."

"Thank you sir," I replied, giving Jay gave two thumbs up.

It wasn’t long at all before he came back on the line.  "Okay, miss.  I’m not sure how soon you were looking at volunteering but there’s a car wash this afternoon at St. Anthony's Church from two to five."

"That is perfect," I told him excitedly. "You can count me in.”

“Sounds great.  We can always use an extra set of hands.”

“I’ll be there,” I confirmed for him.  “You have a good afternoon."

"You have a good afternoon as well," he replied back just before ending the call.

Handing the phone back to Jay, I was already feeling a hundred times better than I had last night.  I was going to get a second chance.  A second chance to prove to Rio that I was in fact, the woman for him.

"So, what did they say?" Jay asked, pocketing his phone.

"There just so happens to be a car wash this afternoon at St . Anthony's Church. I’m going."

Jay held his hand up for a high five. Reaching across the table I slapped it with my own. Settling back down, I let out a loud sigh.  Some of my earlier reservations started to creep back in my head. "This has to work Jay. It just has to."

He caught my gaze and held it. "It will, Bailey. Have some faith.  Rio would be a damned fool to not fall for you."

"I hope your right," I mumbled to myself.

__________________________________________________

I pulled into the parking lot at the church and of course, the first vehicle I see is Rio’s monster sized Dodge Ram.  Hell yeah! That was all the confirmation that I needed.  He was here. Rio was actually here. It looked like the stars were finally starting to align in my favor.

And as if on cue, fireflies started to tap dance around in my stomach leaving me both excited and anxious at the same time.  When I get excited like this I tend to ramble.  What I really needed to do was calm down and dig deep. Confidence. Confidence that Rio and I could have a strong friendship that would eventually bloom into to an even stronger romantic relationship. I had to keep up my confidence because that was the key to everything.

Bracing myself, I carefully stepped out of the car.  Slamming the door closed with the heel of my foot, I held my head high and made my way up to the table where people were already lining up to check in. When it was my turn, I found myself face to face with a younger gentleman wearing glasses.  He was just sitting there and staring up at me expectantly.

"I, eh…I wanted to volunteer," I told him shyly.  Crap.  That vote of confidence only lasted what, half a second?  I laughed to myself.  The things Rio man does to me.  Where the hell did my backbone go when I really needed it? 

He flashed a grin that was all perfect white teeth. "Is this your first time?" He asked knowingly.

It didn’t escape my notice how his eyes unabashedly drifted down to my chest and stayed there.

Really dude? I do have a face.  Well, I guess that’s all I needed to find my backbone.

"Yes, how ever did you guess?" I told him sweetly, the sarcasm just dripping from my words like syrup.

“To tell you the truth, I just get a feel for these type of things.”  His eyes still glued to my chest.

Evidently he didn’t get my hint of sarcasm.  "Hey buddy, my face is up here," I reminded him while snapping my fingers. “I’d appreciate it if you would quit ogling my breasts.”

He blinked and then quickly looked shamefully away, muttering a pitiful excuse of an apology.  “I'm sorry."

"No problem." I replied. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

"Bailey?" An all too familiar voice called out.

I turned around and just like that my heart rate took off at a staccato pace while my stomach somersaulted and took a nose dive. Slowly I raised my head and there he was, standing in all his sexy glory.  Rio.

I turned on my charm and smiled wide.  He immediately returned my smile with an Emmy award winning one of his own.  I stood rooted in place while I watched him close the distance between us taking long strides.  Watching him walk towards me all I could think about was how I refused to give up.  

Rio Mendez, you better watch out because I’m a woman on a mission. And baby, ready or not, here I come.