Chapter One
“Come on, Kate, just one more shot!” Jill had been relentless tonight with her need to celebrate my move away from Georgia to the sandy beaches of Florida. She’d been trying, and failing, for years to get me down to Pensacola. Turns out, all it would take for me to leave the place I had built my life for the last nineteen years was a cheating husband and a high school grad who wanted to move across state borders for college.
If anyone would have told me when I had Lindsey that I’d be starting over just after watching my baby get her diploma, I would have laughed in their faces. If I was being honest with myself, I probably should have started over a lot sooner than I had.
I thought my marriage to Tom had been just fine, if not a little boring. I assumed that was normal. You never hear of married couples keeping the same passion they had when they were young and fumbling around in the backseat of a car. I thought Tom and I had just grown up and didn’t require all the frills we used to have. As it happened, he was finding his frills somewhere else—mainly he found them in his much younger blonde bimbo of an assistant.
I was shocked to find out about his unfaithfulness, but if I was being completely honest, it didn’t hurt as much as it probably should’ve. I’d been feeling trapped for years and just couldn’t admit it.
So, here I was, sitting at The Sand Dollar with my best friend since third grade, trying to not seem as miserable as I felt. After all, a recently divorced mother following her daughter to a college town didn’t exactly screamwinning.
“I really shouldn’t. I have my job interview in the morning, and I don’t think it would make the best first impression to show up with a hangover.”
Jill stared at me like I had a third eye. “Kathrine Hart, what part ofyou already have the jobdo you not understand? Samantha works under me, and I get the final say in who gets the job. You don’t even have to show up to get it,” she said with a smirk.
Ever since we were kids, Jill Brookes knew how to get what she wanted. She was beautiful with her long copper hair and stunning blue eyes you could just fall into. She was what every girl wished they could be. Obviously a walking bombshell with soft curves most would kill for, but she was also one of the smartest people I knew. She also had confidence in droves.
She owned the publishing firm where my interview was. I wasn’t allowed to work when I was married, so my résumé wasn’t exactly stellar. Tom preferred to be the sole provider. All that accomplished was making sure I had no skills to fall back on when shit hit the fan.
I tried to make her see reason. “I still have to do the interview, Jill. How little would people think of me if they knew I only got the job because I’m best friends with the owner?”
Jill rolled her eyes, brushing me off. “Come on, Kate. Please? You know as well as I do that a divorce from Tommy boy is more than enough to celebrate. Especially now that you can find some hot young thing to give you all the orgasms you’ve been missing out on all these years,” she said behind a playful smile.
My cheeks flared. “Jill! You don’t have to announce it to the whole bar!”
She giggled, then said in a sing-song voice, “Do some more shots with me and I promise I won’t embarrass you anymore.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled. “All right, but only one more and I have to go!” I hopped down from my stool at our high-top, leaving Jill grinning while happily clapping her hands together as I walked my way to the main bar.
We were seated at the back of the upscale bar. There wasn’t anything nearly as nice as this place in our small hometown. Looking around, I took in the swanky establishment. To the left of us were all the VIP booths with rich black leather seating and maroon-colored clothed tables. The dim lighting offered a certain feeling of intimacy to those who occupied them. They had their own private bar with bottle service and an assigned waitress. We regular folk had to wait for one of the other waitresses buzzing around or walk across the dance floor to the front of the building to get our drinks.
I supposed it was set up this way to get people on the dance floor. Right now, it served as an annoyance. Trying to avoid all the gyrating bodies was a feat in itself. I had no choice but to shove my way through them as best as I could.
“Hey, what’s your name?” The question pressed right against my ear.
I swiftly turned around to tell him I wasn’t interested. He took that as an invitation to start grinding on me like if he showed me how much he could hump me now, it would somehow get me into his bed later. I didn’t understand how most men’s minds worked.
I pushed his chest to get away from the smell of beer and cigarettes assaulting my nose. Using my best authoritative voice, I said, “I am not interested in being used as a stripper pole tonight, thank you.”
He wasn’t letting go. “What about a blow-up doll? I can make you feel real good,” he slurred as he ran his hands down my hips.
Just the thought of this man touching my body made my skin crawl. I finally got a good look at him. His hair was greasy, and he wore a tropical button-down in desperate need of a wash. “I said no, and I meant it. Now stop touching me!” I yelled over the roaring music.
He rolled his heavily glazed eyes but finally dropped his hands. “Fucking cock tease!” He spat his volatile words at me.
I didn’t care what he called me, I was just happy that he stalked away. What was it with most men? When they didn’t get their way with a woman, they immediately had to act like women were the ones who led them to the path of temptation?
I turned away from Creepy Charlie and headed to the bar again. The bar was way busier than I thought it should be for a Tuesday night. A lot of it probably had to do with it being close to finals week at the college. Students were flooding the bars trying to blow off some steam.
While this place let minors in, they had to wear a bright yellow wristband so the staff knew not to serve them alcohol. It was nice that they allowed them entry, offering a place for all to come and escape from reality for a bit. I was surprised Lindsey and her friends weren’t here as well. Last time I talked to her, she said her classes were getting brutal.
I never had a college experience. Yet another one of Tom’s ways of keeping me at home and under his thumb. He convinced me that I didn’t need to be educated in order to raise our daughter, especially since he was going to be our provider. He was convinced he would inherit his dad’s car dealership and I wouldn’t be required to make my own income.
That plan worked out fine until he started fucking Vivian in the showroom cars after hours. Maybe one day I would check out the local community college and look into some classes. For now, I needed to focus on getting my shit together.
I finally pushed through the crowd and made it to the bar. Getting the bartender’s attention was going to be another story altogether. I tried to wait patiently, but he kept moving around to other customers, completely ignoring me. A waitress brought out some food from the kitchen and walked right past me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Whatever she was carrying smelled amazing, and my mouth watered.
I needed to calm down my inner fat girl and figure out how to get this bartender’s attention. I laughed at myself. Who was I kidding, I didn’t have an inner fat girl, Iwasthe inner fat girl. Sighing to myself, I turned back to face the bar.