Free Heartbreaker by J. Dorothy Page A

my thoughts. “All my clothes are in the wash. I had to borrow some of Taliah’s.”
    Taliah is Gerry’s sister, who is the polar opposite to Gerry. She wears conservative, like a uniform of solidarity with the straight laced, goodie goodies of the town. She drives Gerry crazy, always telling her to dress properly and to dye her hair back to its natural color. I often wonder why she still agrees to work at their Hocus Pocus shop. I guess the money’s too good to turn down. And Taliah likes money.
    “Oh, right. I did wonder,” I say, giving her a quick smile.
    Gerry takes up her usual posy and crosses her legs, her head resting against the wall. “Are you ready to keep going?”
    The answer to that question is always no, but I automatically nod then stop, remembering I have something to ask her. “But before I do … what about you and Bennett?”
    Gerry frowns, like I’ve asked her an unanswerable question. “There is no me and Bennett.”
    “You sure. Looked like there might be some silent lust signals the other night. I’ve never seen him make goo goo eyes at anyone.”
    Gerry coughs out a laugh. “Goo, goo eyes, are you serious?”
    I punch her shoulder. “Deadly. He hasn’t even as much as glanced at a girl since I’ve known him, and he was definitely checking you out on Friday.”
    Gerry deepens her frown. “Um … why is that exactly? I mean, look at him. He must have girls lining up behind him in the street.”
    Now it’s my turn to laugh. And I’m not laughing at the ridiculous notion of what Gerry is saying. I’ve actually seen several girls stopping in the street to stare at him.
    “I think when I’ve told you the next bit, you might get Bennett a bit more. There’s a lot more to him than freakish good looks.”
    Gerry inches forward and rests her head on her hands, elbows propped on her knees. Now I have her full attention, not that she wouldn’t have listened before, but the added incentive of finding out more about Bennett, obviously makes my sorry tale a lot more interesting. Not that I blame her.
    I wish I liked Bennett like that. Would have made my life much easier.
    Sucks, that nothing for me is ever easy.

    Twelve months ago ...
     
    It’s the late shift tonight. I’ve been run off my feet. I haven’t even had chance to chat to Bennett, who’s sitting on his usual stool at the end of the bar, waiting for me to finish up.
    Since our coffee six months ago, we’ve been seeing a lot of each other. We always sit together in class and get our cheesecake and coffee fix afterwards, and on the weekend Bennett hangs out at the bar where I work, mostly doing his assignments. Lucky for him it’s a college bar and nobody questions his studiousness, though he’s often interrupted by girls hitting on him.
    Gives me an endless source of entertainment and constant fodder for teasing him. I wonder when he’ll crack. It can only be a matter of time. I mean he is a young human male, and they aren’t known for their stamina in warding off willing females. Well, at least none that I’ve ever known, and none that look like Bennett.
    I decide tonight I’m going to up the ante, and see if he’ll take the bait. There’s a really nice girl I’ve gotten to know. She’s a lot shyer than the average college girl who comes in here. I decide she’d be good for Bennett, and just the right girl to quench his thirst and stop his dry spell.
    Lucy is her name, and she finds me as I’m bringing a box of new glasses from out the back.
    “Hey, Bailey, how you doing? Do you need some help?”
    She’s dressed in her usual vintage. Tonight’s she’s got on a short black tunic dress with high necked white jumper, a long silver pendant chain hanging around her neck. Her lovely blonde curls tied up in a high ponytail. I give her a grin and shake my head. “I got it. What are your plans for tonight?”
    “You know, the usual. Take home a hot, rich guy, have my wicked way with him. Then he falls in love with