The Trouble With Snowmen (3 page)

Chapter 4

Haley woke with a start, sucking in air like she’d been underwater. She sat straight up and looked straight down to her bare chest. Thank goodness there was a blanket covering her. She snatched it, easing it up to her neck as she laid back down.

The movement caused her head to pound, and she opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to rid it of the dry, nasty staleness. This in turn soured her stomach. She wondered if she would throw up, but realized the nausea was only there to make her miserable, not nice enough to get rid of the cause. She’d have to wait it out. The punishment fit the crime.

She moaned, only getting to feel sorry for herself for a second because she realized she had no idea whose place she was hungover in. She eased her head up and scanned the expensive-looking, large apartment. The couch she occupied sat against the back wall, and she could see a hallway to the right. To her left sat a dining room table with four place settings. She figured the kitchen was behind the wall, which she imagined had granite countertops.

“Oh, boy,” she said, dropping her head back down. Bits and pieces of the night before came back to her, more in emotion than in actual events. She knew she had come home with some strange guy, and by her nakedness, they had become much acquainted.

Remorse, guilt, and pure shame fought to be in front. Why the hell had she listened to Maximilian? What had ever possessed her to think that she could seduce someone? But, wait a minute . . . Apparently, that was exactly what she’d done! She had played the snowman.

She peeked back under the cover. Huge score for a snowman, any man on the prowl, actually. Not even the ultra-sexy Travis had managed to bed her on the first date. Not that she hadn’t wanted to, but she had self-respect. Well, she used to.

Where was this guy anyway, this stranger she had seduced? She sat up and listened for any type of sound. Nothing. The classy décor, the showroom-clean living room in creams, maroons, and dark browns didn’t fit her memory of the unkempt guy. A beard! He had a beard and wore sloppy clothes. She had slept with a guy with a hairy face. Gross.

Haley had to make her escape now, leave before the guy showed his ugly face. She sat up slowly, eyeing her purse, a bottle of
ibuprofen,
and a glass of water on the table next to the couch. She drank some water and got a pill down.

As she finished off the water, she noticed her clothes in a messy pile at the other end of the couch. One last step to complete the snowman experiment—she had to leave something—even though she really didn’t think she’d learned a thing.

The front door handle jangled, and then the door opened, and the guy from the night before entered. Haley’s chance to escape quietly and quickly with dignity, gone.

The man carried a bag and a couple of Styrofoam coffee cups that probably came from a gas station. His hair wasn’t as long as Haley had remembered, but she hadn’t been wrong about the beard. He looked lean, but not too skinny, and carried himself with confidence. “You’re awake,” he said, the tone of his voice faintly bringing back conversations from the night before. “I figured you would sleep till noon.”

“Hi.” Haley forced a smiled.

He shifted the coffee cups and the bag into one hand, held out his right hand and said, “Larry . . . Larry White.”

His eyes caught her off-guard. They were deep and dark and seemed to smile. And his face was the opposite of ugly.

She shook his hand and nodded, remembering. “I’m Haley Monroe.”

“Like the bombshell.”

“Right.” She hadn’t given the Marilyn Monroe spiel since she was, like, fifteen. Super.

He let go of her hand and shifted the cups around. “In case you don’t remember, nothing happened last night. Between us, that is.”

Despite the fact that she hadn’t scored like a gifted snowman, she had the urge to run the back of her hand across her forehead and say
Woo-wee! Holy crap, I’ve never been so relieved in all my life!
Instead, she said, “Oh. But then why . . .” She glanced down at herself and then back up at his smile.

“Last night I went to the kitchen, and by the time I got back, ta-da. Say, are you hungry? I have donuts.”

Haley grimaced over the food and over how he’d said everything in the same tone of voice, like one was no more humiliating than the other. “My stomach is not ready for food.”

“Coffee?” Larry handed her one of the cups.

She removed the lid so she wouldn’t scald her tongue, the aroma already disagreeing with her. She took a sip. The coffee was strong as hell and the bitterness caused her to wince. She set the cup on the table.

Déjà vu. She’d asked for coffee last night. When he’d left to go get it, she’d decided that she could do this. She would snowman this guy. Somehow that had translated into
Take off all your clothes
. The thought of what she must have looked like when he got back, all naked and sprawled out on the couch, made her really sick to her stomach.

“Do you want more water or anything?”

He stood there, not too far away, and Haley suddenly felt so embarrassed she wanted to hide under the blanket.

“No, thanks.” She scratched her head, which itched like crazy. Her hair felt as stiff as the coffee had tasted, and she remembered the insane amount of hairspray she’d used the night before. Why had she done that? She had dressed after she had a drink . . . or four. She wasn’t used to drinking tequila, especially on an empty stomach. But she bought it on her way home from work because she wanted something to jump-start her evening. “Hey, is there any way I could take a shower?”

“Sure, sure,” Larry said. “The bathroom is in the bedroom down the hall. I’ll go eat this in the kitchen.” He began to walk away but then stopped. “Oh, and in case you don’t remember and see all the girly things in there, this isn’t my apartment, it belongs to a friend.”

“Okay.” She didn’t remember but thought how, now, it all made sense. Of course this very expensive, elegant apartment didn’t belong to him.

After Larry left the room, Haley jumped up, wrapped the blanket around herself, grabbed her clothes off of the couch, and hightailed it down the hall.

Chapter 5

After Haley’s shower, she had no choice but to put the same clothes back on but adjusted them as conservative as possible by untucking, buttoning up, and forcing the skirt as far down her hips as it would go.

She walked down the hall to the front area carrying her shoes. She had no idea how she found them in the state she’d been in last night. She hated to think about the state
her closet must be in after digging to the very back to find the heels her sister, Mae, had talked her into buying years before. Mae had said, “Of course you’ll have places to wear them. No, they don’t look slutty. What are you, a nun?”

She decided to call a cab and go on home and sleep and forget the night before had even happened. She’d missed her opportunity to be a snowman. Instead, she’d made a complete fool of herself. She had tried though, so Maximilian should be proud of her.

“Hey,” she said, finding Larry at the small table by the window.

He snapped his attention away from an open laptop on the table and did a double-take. “Hey.”

They were in a high-rise; Haley could see down to the street below. She tried hard to push the strangeness of the ordeal aside, push aside the fact that she didn’t know where she was or anything about this hippy-looking guy. She had to bury the thought that if she hadn’t passed out, she would’ve had sex with him without even considering the consequences. She’d been very lucky that this guy, as far as she knew, had acted like a gentleman. “I’m going to get going.”

“Really? We haven’t had a chance to talk. I thought we could talk. Please, have a seat.”

Haley hadn’t expected this, Larry wanting her to stay. Well, now what should she do? Should she sit down? For some odd reason, it didn’t feel too awkward, even though last night she’d been trashed, undressed like a slut, and passed out, adding ‘tease’ to her portfolio.

He closed the laptop. “Unless you have to go to work or something?”

Did she? Gosh, what day was it? Saturday. She worked at Kickers Saturday nights. “Not until tonight.” She sat down in the chair across from him.

“Of course,” he said.

Maximilian had told her to learn how she acted in relationships to help identify snowmen. She had probably done this before, made small-talk in order to keep Travis around longer. Maybe she hadn’t completely screwed up. Maybe this could still work.

Larry glanced out the window. “Do you work around here?”

Even though right now she felt safe enough with Larry, she still didn’t want to give him too much information about her personal life, especially since she planned on ditching him. Best to stay vague. “Yes, Houston.”

“How long have you been doing what you do?”

“Ever since I moved here.” Haley’s queasiness suddenly returned along with a thudding in her head.

“Do you . . . enjoy what you do?”

She shrugged. “It pays the bills, but sometimes I have to deal with a lot of jerks. Hey, do you think I could bother you for a piece of toast? I think I should eat, but the donuts are too sweet.”

“Sorry about that. I really wish I could buy you a decent breakfast. Unfortunately, I forgot my wallet. I used the last of the coffee last night, so I scraped up what change I could find for the coffee and donuts this morning.”

Forgot his wallet? She wondered if he’d meant for the lie to be, ‘lost’ his wallet. It was obvious to her that he was flat broke. No doubt he’d worn the same clothes for a dozen years or bought them at a thrift shop. He lived with a friend, and his friends included Maximilian. He must be some sort of starving artist, she concluded. “The donut is fine.”

“Or I could hold you to your offer.”

Her heart began to beat faster than her head. “My offer?”

He smiled devilishly from across the table. “You don’t remember?”

Haley caught a of glimpse straight, white teeth. But what the hell had she promised him? She bit her lower lip and slightly shook her head, swearing to herself that she would never drink again.

He leaned in and raised his eyebrows. “You promised to make me breakfast.”

“Ah. Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, I remember that.” After he said it, her behavior at the séance came back to her in waves of
yikes
. Thankful that only breakfast had been promised, her cheeks still heated at the insinuation she had made. She was shocked that she could be so bold, albeit, proud of herself too. Wow, she had actually been forward. Problem was, could she keep up the audacity without the alcohol? “Okay, I can do that.”

Haley stood up, which caused her head to spin. She had to hold on to the table.

Larry grabbed her wrist. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She peeked down at his hand that still held her wrist and then up to his face. His eyes seemed to change from full of concern to smolderingly sexy. What? No. Haley cleared her throat and broke the stare, moving her arm away, she was sure too swiftly. “I, um, I just stood up too fast,” she stammered. What was wrong with her? She had to stay in control. It shouldn’t be this difficult, she thought. Maximilian had told her to pick someone who she wasn’t attracted to so it would be easy to dump him. And that was what she’d done, right? This guy, this long-haired, bearded hippy-dude was definitely not her type. So he was the perfect guy to snowman.

If she was going to do this, she had to start now.

But there was no way she would be able to cook. Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to take charge. Being the buyer of food would mean she had the power. “Why don’t I buy you breakfast instead?”

“Are you sure?” He stood up abruptly, almost knocking over the chair. “I can pay you when I get my wallet. I mean, umm, pay you back.”

The way he had acted all morning made her think maybe he didn’t usually bring women home. That was good, right? And charming. No! She shook her head, telling herself to get her head in the game. Although she felt just as nervous as he acted, she had to pretend like she didn’t. What would Travis had said at that moment?

“Don’t worry about it, babe,” Haley said. “It’s on me."

Chapter 6

They sat in a restaurant designed like an ice cream parlor at a little two-person table in the corner. Haley’s leopard print shirt was buttoned all the way up and untucked in a casual manner. Her little purse was strapped across her body, reminding Larry of how his little niece wore hers. If Larry were to describe the complete opposite of the woman he had taken home last night, she would be the young woman who sat at the table with him now. Her long, red hair was still a little damp from her shower, drying with a natural wave, and her eyes had a brownish-yellowish hue surrounded by long but very light lashes. Makeup free, fresh, and cute.

Last night, Larry had been so relieved that Haley had fallen asleep. If she would have been awake and ready to go, he didn’t know what would’ve happened. One thing was for certain, his willpower would’ve been tested.

He hadn’t realized until this morning that he’d forgotten his wallet at home. Under normal conditions, he wouldn’t have driven without his license, but today was an exception, and at least they only had to go a couple of miles. However, not having any money would have presented a whole other problem if they had sex. No matter, she had been out cold, and he made sure to let her know first thing this morning that nothing had happened. Today he would continue with his plan to get a little insight into her personality and try not to think about her completely naked body—those full breasts and the curve of her sexy hips—on the couch last night. He needed to focus on what kind of woman sold that body for money. He needed to learn how she thought, how she reacted, and how she carried herself. Larry figured it best not to let on that his purpose was to study her, because at best, she would become self-conscience and therefore not act normal. At worst, she would slap him and take off.

Thankfully, Haley hadn’t recognized him. Maximilian had introduced him to everyone except for her, and he wanted it to stay that way. He had showered this morning but only put on clean underwear. The rest of his clothes he put back on so he would look about the same as he had the night before. Even though he detested the beard and mustache, he hadn’t shaved. Just one more day, he told himself.

“Did you just smell your food?” Haley asked.

He set the kolache on his napkin he used as a plate. “Guilty. A silly habit from childhood.”

“Well, I think it’s adorable.”

“You do?”

“I also think you’re a real nice guy.”

“Kiss of death.” He smiled. “Is that your way of telling me you just want to be friends?”

“No! I mean, I just meant you’re a nice guy.” She took a drink of her water.

“In that case, thank you. And you’re nice too.”

“That black shirt really brings out your eyes. They’re really pretty.” Haley stretched across the table—leaning in close to his face. “Are they brown or black?”

He noticed light freckles on her nose that he hadn’t seen before. “Thank you, again. They’re dark brown.”

“I can barely see your pupils.” And then Haley seemed to stop inspecting his eyes and gazed into them, her fair skin reddening suddenly, and she plopped back down in her seat.

He smiled at how quirky and slightly awkward she was, almost to the point of immaturity. He wondered how she could stay so innocent in the world she lived in, but at the same time, she was sexy as hell. She intrigued him. He wanted to know more about her. For the novel, he assured himself.

As she played with her eggs, she asked, “So what do you do?”

There it was. What if she put two and two together and figured out who he was? Better not lie. If she had already figured it out and he lied, she would be out of there faster than he could say “horror.” “I’m a writer.”

“Huh,” she said and smiled. “I knew it!”

“Really? Oh, well then, my secret is out.”

She frowned and shook her head, finally making eye contact again. “No, you shouldn’t keep it a secret. I think it’s a great way to express yourself. I’m sure you’ll make it, or whatever writers strive to do. I can tell.”

He couldn’t hold back the grin. “Really? You think so?”

She nodded. “I do. So what do you write? Poetry?”

“No, I’m working on a novel.”

“The Great American Novel. What’s it about?”

So she didn’t know who he was. This was good, but still, he didn’t want to give her his genre in case she put the name to it. And this was his chance to come clean . . . sort of. “It’s about a girl. She kind of reminds me of you.”

“Is that a good thing?” she asked.

“For her.”

Haley put her elbow on the table and leaned her chin in her hand. She placed her pinky in her mouth as she smiled, a bashful but oh-so-sensual smile that he would try to mimic with words in his book.

Larry inhaled a quick breath. He grabbed his napkin, looked down at the table, and wiped his mouth, trying not to let his mind travel back to the image of her out of those clothes.
Dead smelly fish
, he told himself.
Think of dead smelly fish
.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine. I was just wondering if you are free for the rest of the day. If you are, would you mind showing me around downtown? Maybe we could get to know each other better. For my character’s sake, of course.”

“Don’t you live here? With your friend?”

“No, I’m only staying for the weekend. I’m north of here, The Woodlands area.”

“Oh, okay,” she said. “That sounds like fun, but I do have to work tonight.”

This brought Larry back to reality. “Right.”

“I just wish I had a change of clothes. At least shoes.”

“Do you want to stop by your place?”

“No! I mean, it’s okay.”

Shit. He didn’t mean to say anything that would make her uncomfortable. What if she lived in some rat infested hole-in-the-wall or with friends who shared her profession, or maybe she didn’t want to take the chance of anyone knowing where she lived. “Well then,” he said, “what’s fun to do around here in high heels?”