Aloha, Baby (A Short Story Serial - Part 4)

Blue eyes, dimples, and a hot surfer's body means trouble, right? There's only one way for Katie to find out...

Last week Kate & Meli were out for a night on the town Meli's arranged for Katie to have a very blind date, and a certain hot surfer's spinning discs in the DJ booth.  If you want to catch up with where the story's been, here are the links to Part 1 

Part 2

Part 3

 Losing seventy pounds was sure something to celebrate, but at the same time it created problems Katie never expected to deal with. Like, what to do when the hot-bodied surfer, Jack, turned out to be the DJ at her roommate's favorite dance club. Katie was positive he had ‘Trouble’ stamped on his butt. Didn't he?

Part 4

      Right about the time I was about ready to melt from a combination of the humidity and self-pity, when Meli and Dave came back to the table. “Where’s the bathroom in this place?” I asked as soon as Meli was close enough to hear me.
     “Up by the dance floor. You want me to come with you?”
     “That’d be good.”
     Meli gave Dave a kiss, which made Dan look up at me expectantly. My stomach gave a don’t-you-dare warning. I spun on my heel and nearly swan-dived onto the table next to ours. Meli grabbed the back of my dress and pulled me upright. “Hey, lo-lo, watch out.”
     I tried to laugh it off. Composing myself as best I could, I followed Meli to the restroom.
     Meli headed past the bar, in the general direction of the dance floor. I started to hang back when I realized we’d be walking right past the DJ booth. It was glassed-in down to about waist level, with a door on the side closest to the bar. Several women had pulled barstools on either side of the door and were talking to the DJ through the windows. Our present route would take us right past them.
     I quickly analyzed the situation and decided the possibility of seeing Jack was better than the reality of sitting with Dan. Keeping my head down, I cut through the crowd as quickly as I could. I’d almost made it past the door to the DJ booth, when it popped open and a hand grabbed my shoulder.
     “Hey Shave Ice.” It was Jack. I almost fell off my heels. He caught me so I didn’t end up on my butt. “Guess who’s come out to play.”
     “What did you just call me?” In my heels I was close to his eye level, which meant he wasn’t quite six-feet tall. His arm stayed wrapped around my waist though for some reason it didn’t feel like a bad thing.
     Jack grinned, his dimples carving up his cheeks and his light blue eyes glowing. “Shave Ice, ‘cause you’re sweet, but sooo cold.” He faked a shiver as he spoke.
     “Shut up.” I took a swat at his arm, which just made him pull me closer. His shaggy hair fell into his face, and I automatically reached up and brushed it back. What was I thinking? It was all I could do not to melt against him, just so I’d know if his chest was as hard as it looked. I settled for resting my hands on his biceps.
     “Well, you’re in a good mood tonight. I’m not sure I knew you could smile.” He was solid under my hands, and I could imagine the eyes of all the women around us burning holes in my back.
     I had to laugh at myself, embarrassed to have earned the nickname “Shave Ice.”
     His fingers slid across my ribs as he took a step back. “Don’t move. I gotta go catch the next song.”
     There was no way I was going to stand around and let his fan club jump me, so as soon as he left, I made a run for the bathroom.
     Meli was waiting for me when I came out of the stall. “That’s that guy from the beach.”
     I avoided her eyes. “I call him Mr. Trouble.”
     She turned to the mirror with her mouth open wide and started carefully painting on another coat of lipstick. “Did you see the women with their butts parked by the dance floor?” She pressed her lips together. “I bet he does a different one every night.”
     “Gross.” I scrutinized myself in the mirror. My curls were holding up okay, though the muggy air had smudged mascara under my eyes. I grabbed a piece of paper towel and wiped the shadows away, before using it to blot the oil off my nose. As I slicked on more lipstick, I reminded myself I didn’t need any guy, especially one who was such a babe magnet.
     “Anyway, Dan thinks you’re totally sweet. He was all, ‘She looks like Cindy Crawford. She’s so pretty.’” Meli imitated Dan’s gruff voice before heading towards the door.
     “Really?” I dabbed at my lips with some tissue and followed her out. Meli’s comment confirmed that Dan was a creep. Meg Ryan, maybe, but not Cindy Crawford.
     When we got back to the table, a beautiful young woman walked up carrying a basketful of long-stemmed roses. She had perfect almond eyes with long curled lashes, making her look as lovely as an animated porcelain doll. She handed me a rose and leaned close to speak in my ear.
     “Jack sent this over. He said he’d buy you a drink if you come hang out with him in the DJ booth.” She looked doubtfully at Dan. “Maybe I should tell him you have a date.”
     I took the rose and pretended to smell it, stealing a moment to collect my thoughts. I really wanted to roll the red velvet petals across my lips. No, what I really wanted was to get up close and personal with Jack, and for sure I hadn’t expected ever to have the chance. Leaning closer, I talked quiet enough that only she could hear me. “A blind date. A very blind date. Tell him I said thanks.”
     “Jack doesn’t send roses. Ever.” The doll-woman grinned as if she got my joke, giving me a glimpse of the girl under the porcelain.
     “Oh.” Okay then. This put a real different slant on things.
     Meli squealed as doll-woman walked away. “How come you guys didn’t get us roses?” She slapped at Dave’s arm. Dave just laughed while Dan appeared grumpy.
     Janet Jackson rescued me from more awkwardness when the song Rhythm Nation started to play. Meli and I grabbed the guys’ hands and dragged them to the dance floor. Rhythm Nation was replaced by a much slower song, a sappy love ballad by N’Sync. Dan reached over to pull me close for a dance. I tried to back away from him. He wouldn’t let me go.
     “C’mon.” Dan reached for me again.
     I ducked and stumbled a little, barely staying upright. “No.”
     “Hey, come here.” Dan’s voice sounded pissed. I pulled back against his hands until I ran into the wall by the DJ booth. I tried to squirm to the side but didn’t get very far. Another hand gripped my shoulder.
     “What’s up?” Jack spoke mildly, though his eyes were cold as he stared at the taller man.

 

     

Oh oh! Never in a million years would Katie have imagined finding herself on the dance floor between two alpha-dogs like that. Check back next week to see how she gets out of (or into?) even more trouble!
Mahalo,
Liv

For those reading along, here's a jump to Part 5...