Chapter 3 - Darren

Ely

 

I prayed that there was an opening for repair as I pulled into the Les Schwab parking lot. As I started to turn off the key, I was alarmed by a loud rap at ear level. I turned to see a large row of pearly white teeth parenthesized by dimples.  After my initial shock wore off,  I rolled down my window to find that the mouth could speak. 

"Hi, ma'am."

"Excuse me?" I asked startled from my longing gaze at beautiful full lips above the white teeth.

"What can I help you with today?"

I snickered not meaning to as naughty thoughts flooded my head while my eyes quickly traversed the length of his long hard body displayed in a company white shirt and well-suited slacks.  He grinned even bigger when he realized what I'd been thinking.

"I can give you my number later, but for now I'm only allowed to offer strictly vehicle servicing."

I felt warmth creeping up into my face as the color began to match the highlights in my hair.  Just as quickly as my blush showed up, I snapped back to business, even though I felt totally humiliated that I'd been so forward and a little whorish.

 "I was rear-ended recently and now it seems like the truck is pulling to the left. It seems like there's a slight shimmy with a high-pitched squeal when I turn too sharply."

"I'd be happy to take a look at that shimmy for you." He winked at me with a smirk on his face.  I stepped out of the cab and tossed him my extra truck key as I walked by.

"Feel free to check out my shimmy" I flirted back shamelessly as I strode off to the waiting room where the stale popcorn awaited me, reminding my stomach that it hadn't been filled recently.  I watched through the large window in the waiting room as the 6'4 dark-haired mechanic hopped into my truck as though he owned it and backed it into one of the waiting repair bays. I sat down to wait.

Just about the time I thought I couldn't stand another piece of stale popcorn or a relentless spiel on the assortment of tires available at Les Schwab, he strolled toward me to relay the damage.  As he began to rattle off a bunch of technical terms that sounded like another language, I stopped him mid-spiel.

"Okay, bottom line.... how much?" I demanded, always direct and to the point.

"Three hundred and fifty-eight." He blurted. I stared at him as though he'd suddenly turned into a lawn gnome.

"Figure out a way to make it two hundred fifty-eight and we have a deal." I flung back at him not expecting a concession.

"Okay...." he paused. "I could get in a lot of trouble for this but I'll offer a special deal this time of two hundred fifty-eight and a date to take you where ever your pretty little heart desires." 

I ignored the pretty, little heart part knowing if I focused on it, my temper would rise.

"Well, you have my contact information." I stated as I held out my hand. He reached out, shook my hand and slid a small piece of paper into it.  We walked to the service counter where he rang up my bill and I begrudgingly wrote the check out for two hundred fifty-eight.  I knew I was probably getting a deal, but my paranoid side prayed that I wasn't still getting ripped off.

 It wasn’t until I was riding home in my truck after 3 hours of errands that I happened to glance at the paper he had slipped to me.

'This Thursday night, Les Schwab, 7 p.m." It was barely legible, but brief and to the point which I admired. I grinned.  I couldn't wait to rush home so I could tell Crys, who was studying at my apartment.  Studying was something that I should have been doing, too, since there was a Spanish test only a few days away.

 

" Crys?  You will never guess what happened to me at Les Schwab today” I yelled as I burst through the door expecting her to be in the office studying. I stopped short as I caught furtive movement out of the corner of my eye.  I looked into the living room to my right as Jason and Crys finished extricating themselves from each other on a yard-sale-special couch.  Crys was blushing a pretty shade of red.

"Looks like you've been having a little fun of your own while I was gone." I commented casually as Crys' blush grew deeper. Jason watched Crys' blush in fascination as he chuckled to himself over my comment.

"All right, vamoose Jason." I said waving him away as though I thought he could magically disappear. "I don't care where you go just as long as you make yourself scarce...." I paused as a thought popped into my head

 "Wait.  You know what? Never mind, you stay here."  I motioned to the couch as though I was talking to a small child, then grabbed Crys' arm. "You are coming with me.  I need company while I smoke."

We stepped out onto our small patio.  I plopped onto the closest white, plastic chair and propped my feet up on the matching table which was equally as cheap looking as the surrounding chairs.  Crys sat down primly in the chair across from me, watching as I pulled out a cigarette from my pack, lit it and took a deep drag.  As I exhaled a stream of white smoke, I looked at Crys with an upraised eyebrow.

 "Okay, spill it!"

Crys tried to look innocently at me as she slightly blushed. "What do you mean? I thought you had something to tell me?"

"No, no, no.  Don't go changing the subject.  You know very well what I'm talking about."

"We didn't do anything.  Just some kissing and some roaming hands."

"Over or Under?"  I abbreviated my question knowing Crys would understand me even considering the short time we had known each other.  We had been doing that more and more lately - finishing each other's sentences or reading each other thoughts quite accurately.  Crys was definitely better than I because there were sometimes I was completely clueless when it came to reading other people.

            "It was probably headed to under right before you burst in.” She blushed more deeply, glancing at Jason through the picture window behind me.

            "Cool." I grinned, "Be careful though.  If you ever need some condoms they are in the teddy bear on my bed.  It has a zipper on it's back and they’re inside."

She laughed, "I wondered about that bear, you didn't seem like the teddy bear type, besides I am not going to do that!" Crys stated emphatically.

"Okay." I held up one hand "I'm just saying in case things get carried away."

"Anyway, let's get back to what you originally interrupted us for..." Crys stated.

"Guess what happened to me at Les Schwab?" I grinned mischievously at her. Crys rolled her eyes at me.  

"You met a guy?"

I felt a little deflated but I didn’t let that stop me from continuing with enthusiasm

 "Yeah and he is so hot!  He's tall with dark hair and blue eyes.  You can just tell that there isn't an ounce of fat on him under that Les Schwab uniform, which happens to make his butt look great!"

Crys shook her head at me "Is that all you think about?  You're worse than a guy, I swear! So is this going to be another one of your one night conquests or is there a possibility for more?"

"I don't know" I shrugged "We'll see.  I'm suppose to pick him up at Les Schwab this Thursday at 7 pm."

Crys wrinkled her nose, "Ewww, unless there are showers there, he's going to stink of grease and sweat. I don't really care for the fact that he is having you pick him up and most important, he could be a serial killer. You don't know this guy at all."

"Okay, first of all," I argued "I think he picked a neutral place so neither one of us would have to worry about stalking and second, he didn't say I was picking him up, we're just meeting there.  Third, if he smells really bad then I'll just bring him back here so we can shower. " I winked at her. After  blushing at my shower comment she added her two cents.

"I still don't feel comfortable with this, I think Jason and I should come with you in case something happens. I mean really, Ely, you don’t know anything about him. Besides, if you have to bring him back here to shower, it kind of eliminates the safety of meeting in a neutral place."

I mulled over her words silently to myself as I finished the last few drags of my cigarette.  Out loud I said "Okay, but don't worry about me later on in the date when we disappear."

"I'm your friend not your mom.  I just care about you and I want you to be safe."

"I know." I said nodding and got up as she did to give her a hug. "Thanks for being such a good friend."

**********

 

When Thursday finally rolled around.  It was not the nicest of days.  I woke up to a smattering of snow on the ground.  I hated Idaho weather. My truck had a flat on the way to school, I got a ticket because I had forgotten to register my truck and it was two days past due and then on top of everything else that had gone wrong, I got a 'C' on the Spanish test I hadn't studied for at all.  Admittedly the last two were my own fault, but they had still contributed to my lousy day.  

I finally got home at 5:30 and panicked when I  realized that my favorite date out-fit; boot-cut wranglers that hugged my butt like a glove, a black, short sleeve low cut shirt, my favorite black lace thong and matching black push-up bra, that made my normal D cleavage look even better; were all missing out of my dresser. That meant only one thing, they were somewhere in the pile of dirty clothes lying next to my bed.  I sifted through the pile and gathered up each item and threw them into the washer while silently thanking God that I had my own washer and dryer.

 Once the the clothing dilemma had been taken care of, I glanced at the clock. I still had an hour and a half until my date. I felt like someone had pushed fast forward on the remote and I was watching everyone run around me wildly while I was still trying to figure out what I was suppose to be doing. I decided I needed some coffee so threw a pot on to brew while I showered. As I dried off after my shower I heard the front door down the hall open and shut.

"Hey Crys?" I yelled. Nobody answered.  I stepped out in the hallway not worrying that I was buck-naked because Crys would normally yell to let me know if Jason was with her. I turned toward the front door expecting to see my best friend.  What I did see there made me scream and dive into the bathroom to retrieve my towel and my composure. 

Once I had started breathing normally and secured the towel around myself, I stormed out into the hallway with my normally latent Irish temper rising quickly to the surface.

 

Les Schwab guy was still standing there  in the hallway with a bouquet of white roses tinged with red.  He was looking hot as usual but this time in a pair of tight, black wranglers and an equally tight, black t-shirt.  Don't get distracted, I told myself as I felt a wave of heat flush down my body. My eyes traveled up to his face where a smug grin sat. The Irish in me flared.

"How dare you just walk into someone's house without knocking!  It could have been my roommate coming out of the shower. Let’s not forget that I just got out of the shower and I look terrible.  Now you've seen me naked already.  If you were ever at one point thinking of getting some by giving me a bunch of f**k-me roses and taking me to dinner, you are so wrong, Mister. nd on top of that how did you know where I lived?  Are you some sort of creepy stalker? And how dare you show up this early!" I said, by this time standing in front of him clutching my towel around me in one hand and stabbing him in the chest with my finger.

"Woooo," he whistled low, "I guess it must be true about redheads and not just the temper but how to tell if they're a natural redhead.  I'd say you're all natural, babe."

"Ugh" I stamped my foot in disgust. "You sit there." I pointed to the living room couch to my left. "I'm going to get dressed."  

Before I had a chance to turn and walk off, his large, muscular hand snaked around my back and drew me tight up against him.  My senses fled as he bent down and begin to probe my mouth with his firm tongue.  The hallway began to feel as hot and steamy as my bathroom. The towel dropped as I reached up to tangle my hands in the dark, wavy hair.  The dropping of the towel caused my senses to snap back to me and I used one of my upraised hands to slap him hard across the face.  I reached down, grabbed my towel and ran down the hallway just as I heard Crys walk in with a gasp of surprise.

Dressed in a t-shirt and jeans while my date clothes tumbled in the dryer a little while later, I headed to the small living room to find the Les Schwab guy and Crys eyeing each other warily with an awkward silence between them.

"Do you smoke?" I queried him.

"Umm...yes?"  He said hesitantly as though he thought I was testing him.

"Good, let's step outside." I said as I helped him off the couch by grabbing his hand and leading him out to the patio, my favorite place.  We sat there smoking, me with my Camels and he with his Marlboro reds. I began to lay it out for him.

"First, you have no right to show up at my house unannounced, let alone walk in.  What are you a serial killer? A stalker?" I asked thinking of my conversation a couple of days ago with Crys. He tried to answer but I didn’t let him finish, 

"Second, how dare you presume that you can just kiss me whenever you want.  Did it ever cross your mind that I might not want to be kissed by you?" 

He leaned forward across the table towards me.  His eyes were intense, locking me in their gaze like a deer in the headlights.

 "Are you done?" He asked in a quiet steely deep voice.

"No....yes" I stammered out in frustration.

"Okay. Well first, I was just trying to give you a nice surprise. Although pleasant, second, I had no idea you were going to run out of the shower naked.  No, I'm not a stalker or a serial killer. I'm just a good ol' country boy looking to have fun on a date with a beautiful woman.  I got your address off your paperwork after you told me that I could have your information.  When I saw your truck outside, I figured you were home.  I knocked but when you didn't answer the door,  I was afraid something might be wrong. That’s when I checked the door and found it unlocked. So I walked in and you know the rest of that story.  Last, but not least, you can't fool me into thinking you haven 't wanted to kiss me from the moment you first met me so I wasn't presuming anything." He concluded his argument with an arrogant tone.

Wow, I thought to myself, this guy knew how to argue even throwing in a compliment. I decided to make a deal.

"Okay, fine! Let's call it a draw and start over, shall we? I'm Elyssa but my friends call me Ely.  I probably need to know your name so I can stop calling you 'Les Schwab guy" I held out my hand expecting him to shake it. 

Instead of shaking my hand, he held it in his stroking the top very slowly with his thumb.

  "It's a pleasure to met you, Ely."  He said with a sexy grin that left tingles running up and down my spine. "I'm Darren Wood and my friends call me Darren. Since we're starting over does this mean I get to kiss you again?" He asked his sky blue eyes twinkling.

"We could try it with my clothes on and see what it's like." I suggested laughing. He leaned forward but I placed my hand on his chest and pushed him back into his chair.

"Hmm, so are you planning on working this date backwards? The longer the date goes on the more clothes you put on and the more talking we do?"

I didn't know whether to be insulted or laugh.

 "I don't know I guess you'll have to find out." I said deciding to challenge him.  We sat, smoked, talked and drank coffee while my clothes dried.  Crys finally stuck her head out the door.

 “Your clothes are dry, hon.”

When I went back inside to get dressed, I noticed that Jason had arrived. I introduced him to Darren so they could have man talk while I got dressed.  Crys followed me back to the dryer as I related the story to her. She lay on my black comforter clutching my teddy bear and laughing until tears came to her eyes. Once I finished dressing, we rounded up the boys and loaded ourselves into our respective rigs to leave.

"So where does your pretty little heart desire to go?" He asked after I had climbed up into the cab of his lifted, beat up, Chevy truck.

I gave him a good glare.

 "You say that ‘pretty little heart’ one more time and this date is over."

"Okay, okay, got it. So where do you want to go?"

"I think we'll go down to Denny's lounge and try out a little karaoke.  I'm a regular down there so they'll be nice to us." I sneaked a look at him while I said it.  A grimace crossed his face and I silently laughed.

"Sure, okay.  If that's what you really want."

"I do."

Karaoke was fun.  I noticed though that Darren would get very quiet every time I flirted with or gave a hug to one of the male regulars at Denny's. I shrugged it off, he didn’t really know me well enough to know that it was all harmless fun.  Darren finally did get into the spirit of things by singing "Indian Outlaw.” 

My favorite part of the evening was when he and Jason sang ‘My ding-a-ling’ per mine and Crys' request.  We laughed so hard that Crys inhaled coffee and coughed it out her nose, which just made me laugh so much harder that I fell off the barstool. We ended up closing down the lounge.

When the waitress came with the tab, Darren realized he had forgotten his checkbook. As I paid for the dinner and drinks,  he profusely apologized promising to pay it back the next day. I silently wondered if he had really forgotten or if this was a pattern and if I should ever see him again. I decided to give him a chance to keep his promise. It was one in the morning by the time Crys and Jason said their goodbyes.  Crys declined to continue on the date with us, so I assumed that her earlier apprehensions had dissipated.

Darren looked at me as we had climbed back into his beat-up truck. "Now it's my turn."

"For what?" I asked curiously with a tinge of fear.

"My turn to pick where we go." Darren grinned big.

"And where would that be?"

In true redneck fashion he said "Muddin' "

I knew then that he was a real country boy, what I didn't realize was what the future would bring for us. I did know that night when he kissed me sparks flew.  When I let my hands wander a little after the kiss, he grabbed them. Looking at me with his intense blue eyes he sighed

 "I really like you, Elly, but I don't sleep with someone until I know I'm in love with them." 

Even though I was a little bit embarrassed, I was happy to know he was like no other guy I had ever met.