Just One Night Read online

Just One Night

  Rachel Lenna

  Copyright Rachel Lenna 2014

  All characters, places and stories in this eBook are a work of fiction. Any similarities to any persons living or deceased or actual places inside or outside this book is pure coincidence and not intentional.

  I do not own copyright of the song used in this story. All rights reserved solely to Jason Derulo.

  This author is just a big fan and the song fit beautifully.

  This eBook is interactive with most eBook compatible devices.

  Table of Contents

  About this Book

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Over The Weekend Coming Soon

  About this Book

  “Every Friday night I go down to the club. Every Friday night I am pretending that I am trying to find a guy for Penny’s sake. But every Friday night it’s really to see Jaydan. Jaydan the sexy and awesome bar tender of Touché’s. He is the highlight of my week and he doesn’t even know it.

  The guy is way out of my league. I’m frump and he’s… well he's not. This Friday is no different, or at least it starts off no differently. Penny and I are having our weekly girlie drink but she takes off on me. Nothing unusual there either. Jaydan and I have become friends so I usually just hang out with him until the club picks up and I go home to bed.

  However I have no idea tonight is going to be different. I have no idea that come morning everything I thought I knew would be blown sky high and things would never be the same for me again.

  This is my story. This is my story about love. This is my story about courage, about hope, about faith. This is my story about how just one night can change everything. About how one night can seem to be looking like one thing will happen but end up being completely different with completely unexpected outcomes…

  This is my one night to take a chance...

  All it takes is Just One Night…

  Dedication

  To My children first and foremost, for those moments Mummy is so zoned in on her characters that time flies and you play well… Thank you.

  To Grandpa, today marks two years and so I choose today to publish this… For you.

  Chapter 1

  “Pfft, look at those two will you?” I scoff to my friend Penny Kennard. She follows my gaze and watches the couple making out just to our left with me. “It’s just so sick! They need to get a room!” We are in a nightclub, yes the lights are dimmed and there’s alcohol and music playing but it is 8pm at night! Don’t people like do that later? Shouldn’t now be about getting drunk and turned on with your partners mating ritual of a dance?

  “It’s not sick Tara and you know it.” Penny pats me on the shoulder. It’s that annoying sympathy pat people do when they know more than they are saying out loud. She’s silently telling me she knows I’m lonely and bitter and twisted at the ripe old age of nineteen and hate all the love in the world.

  I’m not that bad, I promise. I admit that I get lonely sometimes. It has been three years since I had a boyfriend and he wasn’t exactly the nicest guy out there. He was a jerk actually and really turned me off men for a while.

  But here I am, in a club, sitting at a bar trying to snag a guy. Geez I sound like I’m forty but I’m not. At nineteen I should be partying and hooking up with lots of guys but that’s just not me. I would like to think I have class and respect for myself.

  I have had a few men approach me all the times we have been here but they all seemed seedy and highly intoxicated and this non-alcoholic would prefer it if her future man would be at least semi upright when he told me his name was “Bo-hiccup-snort-cough-b” or something along those lines.

  After my first and last boyfriend I won’t ever settle for anything less then I deserve again. He was a downright monster and as a teenager already lost in the world it took a while to recover from that and I learnt what to look for so I wouldn’t do it to myself again.

  Penny smiles at me with that sympathetic look she does when she doesn’t know what to say. She’s telling me with her eyes that she knows that I will continue to remain single and be lonely for quite a while yet because I am too stubborn to be anything but.

  “Tara?” She prompts when I don’t reply straight away.

  “I do.” I agree begrudgingly, sparing her one of my sooky la la moments.

  We are sitting at the local bar in my small town of Shimmer River. Touchés, the best night club our little town of twenty thousand has, is quiet at the moment. It’s early but Penny and I are having our weekly girlie drink at our usual time.

  Penny has a husband and a wonderful life at home, but she wants to see me happy to so has designated her early Friday nights to me. We have been best friends since the seventh grade and she was with me through all the drama so she does this for me in hopes that someone will catch my eye.

  Penny forgets that there aren’t a lot of Tom’s, her husband, around. Tom and Penny have been high school sweethearts since forever so he’s like a big brother to me. Penny says that she hasn’t given hop up on me yet, but I just say it’s our lame brain attempt at finding me a boyfriend because the town seriously lacks prospects.

  So far absolutely no luck on the boyfriend front but I have made a bartender friend who is so damn hot he could melt the sun. Bright blue eyes and jet black hair against a deep brown skin tone with muscles so big and bulgy he looks like a cross between a young Brad Pitt and the Hulk I know I’m not the only girl to drool when I see him. Not that he knows I drool about him. Oh dear god no, how embarrassing. He would never go for a girl as plain Jane as me with my plain light brown hair and plain brown eyes.

  The only party of me that is even remotely girly would be my girlie assets. Our family is either blessed or cursed with well-rounded and curvy assets depending on who you talk too. Some of our ladies love all their curves where as others are a little more pessimistic. That would be my category. I feel like a frumpy pear with big boobs most of the time. Whoopee!

  “Um excuse me?” A deep, familiar, voice says and I smile knowingly to myself. Penny’s phone chooses to ring at the same moment and she touches my arm to let me know she's taking it. I nod at her just as the voice says, “How’s my favourite customer?”

  Jaydan.

  “Heya Mr Spunky.” I turn back around to face him, grinning from ear to ear. “She’s good and how’s her favourite bartender?” I wink playfully at him, knowing I can get away with it because it’s something we do. Always play flirt with each other. For most normal people this would be the precursor to a relationship or, at the very least, a hot one night stand. But there is absolutely no way I would even allow myself to even think about thinking about going there.

  I am totally out of his league. He has supermodels throw themselves at him. I get drunken bums often twice my age and way to drunk while being unable to say their own name. He hands me over a red lemonade without having to ask – I am a creature of habit, and always order the same thing – I smile at him in thanks.

  “Great, great favourite customer.” He grins at me as I take a sip, pulling a face at the tang of the red syrup. It’s potent but I love it. “Good?” He asks cockily. He knows it is. He knows what I like.

  “The best. Only you can make ‘em this good.” I rub his ego. He’s fishing for compliments. “I bow down to thee.” I add when his eyes twinkle in delight. I pretend to bow in my seat.

  “And don’t you forget it.” He winks at me. “So
how’s your week been Beautiful one?” Okay so when he says stuff like ‘Beautiful one’ to me I can’t help but dream a little about what it would like to be with him. Something about when he says that particular line to me, ‘beautiful one’ just does it for me, and is my own private little pleasure.

  “The same ole same ole.” I answer noncommittally as I always do. I try very hard not to let my girlie feelings show that I have a crush on him. That would be humiliating on a level I don’t even want to think about. Jaydan always complains that people use bartenders as free therapy too, so I try not to do it and make our encounters as casual but fun as possible.

  “Sounds fun then.” He says frowning. He almost looks disappointed. I’m imagining that right? Why would he look disappointed? I’m only saving him from being a therapist to another sad sob story that also happens to be my life. There is an awkward pause.

  “Yours?” I ask, breaking the silence. Anything is better than hearing metaphorical crickets in a club – anything! I will admit his frowning worries me though.

  “Same ‘ole stuff, day job, night job and in there, somewhere, sleep.” He grins at me and all frowns are gone. I laugh at him as his bright blue eyes sparkle. They almost twinkle and I want to drown in them. God he’s sexy.

  “Tara I have to go,” Penny says randomly appearing next to me again. I jump at her touch, not expecting it.

  “You do? What? Why?” I squawk, my heart in my throat. “We just got here!”

  “Tom rang, he wants to do some date night thing or something.” Penny rolls her eyes but I know deep down she's excited. She absolutely adores her husband, as he does her.

  “But he knows we have girl’s night tonight?”

  “I know honey I’m sorry, I will have to rain check.” She grabs her stuff and drops a twenty on the bar. “He said something about we can only do it tonight or we will miss out or something? I don’t really know sorry. Have a drink on me.” She gestures towards the twenty. “Jaydan keep her company.” She orders and smiles at me as she kisses my cheek. With that she's gone.