“8 p.m., dude.”

“I’ll be there.” I got the party information from him and hung up. I was going to get laid. I’d choose some hot blonde and eradicate Lucky from my mind. By the end of the night, Lucky would be but a mere thought, and everything in my life would be back on track.

***

I knew as soon as I walked into the house that the party wasn’t happening. There was no music to dance to, no crowds of people to get lost in, and I was about to turn around and go back home when Evan saw me.

“Yo Beaumont, you made it.” He walked towards me looking as cool as ever.

“I thought you said this was going to be a party?”

“It is a party. Just low-key.”

“This is not a party.” I shook my head.

“Come dude, I want you to meet this girl Leeza.”

“Leeza?” I followed him up the stairs reluctantly, not really sure why I hadn’t left yet. But the name Leeza seemed so familiar to me, and I wasn’t sure why.

“Guys, Zane is here.” Evan opened a door, and we walked into the room. There were about four other guys, and three girls, and they all looked up at me eagerly. I was pretty sure they thought I was delivering dope or something, because I didn’t recognize any of them for them to be so happy that I arrived.

“Hi,” I nodded as I walked into the room. I was already disinterested and wondered if I should just walk out and go home.

“So Zane, you coming to Mike Vegara’s party next week?” Evan handed me a beer. “It’s going to be f**king awesome.”

“I doubt it.” I shook my head.

“Leeza will be there.” He pointed at a cute blonde who was sitting on the bed, eyeing me up and down. She was the sort of girl I would have hooked up with in a minute before I had met Lucky.

“Yeah, and I’ll try and bring my girls. Though, I doubt Lucky will be able to make it.”

“It’s going to be awesome, Zane. I heard he’s getting…”

“What did you say?” I looked over at Leeza with narrowed eyes as I cut Evan off. “You don’t think Lucky can come? Who’s that?”

“Lucky’s my roommate.” She straightened her shoulders and flung her hair to the side. “And one of my best friends. We used to party a lot together but now she works a lot, so I’m not sure if she can come.”

“Oh, that sucks.” I looked away from her, my heart beating fast. She couldn’t be talking about the same Lucky, could she?

“But I’m definitely coming, and I think my friend Shannon can come as well. She works, but in retail, so she can play in the evening. Lucky works as a waitress, so she has to work nights.”

“That sucks for her.” I licked my lips and turned to Evan. “I’ll try and make the party. It seems like it’ll be fun.”

“Awesome!” Evan’s eyes lit up and I almost laughed at how eager he looked. Poor sucker really thought he was going to get something out of me.

“I’m actually feeling pretty hungry. Maybe we can order some takeout? Where does your friend work again, Leeza? Maybe she can hook us up?” I turned to her casually and held my breath as I waited for her answer.

“Oh, Lucky works at some tacky burger joint on the beach. I doubt they do delivery.” She laughed. “It’s called Luke’s or Lou’s or something. Trust me, we don’t want to order delivery from there. But I do have the number to a sushi place.”

“I could go for sushi.” I sat down on the edge of the bed, and took a chug of beer, feeling happier than I had in a long time. It was all coming together now. I just needed to fit one more piece of the puzzle together and then I would get to spend some real one-on-one time with Lucky.

“Shall I call?” Leeza leaned in towards me, and I felt her br**sts brush against my arm.

“Yeah, you do that.” I jumped up. “I’ll be right back. Hey Evan, can we talk?” I gestured to him to follow me out of the room.

“Uh, sure.” He followed me out of the room, and paused. “You want some blow?”

“What?” I took a step back.

“I know a guy, he can hook us up.” Evan nodded eagerly. “I just gotta call. Whatever we want, he can get.”

“Yeah.” I stared into his eyes, and realized that he was most probably talking about Braydon. This was my moment. I could most probably find out exactly what I wanted to know from Evan, right here and now. But what if I did? Would he still be at the party next weekend? Would there still be a party next weekend? And if there wasn’t, what would that mean for me and Lucky? Not that there was a me and Lucky. But I’d come this far, and everything was falling into place. I was so close to having my first real date—well, quasi-date—with her. It wasn’t a date if she didn’t know I was going to be there.

“So, should I make the call?”

“I want you to make sure Leeza brings her friends to the party.” I paused, not believing that I hadn’t questioned him about the drugs. “Both of them.”

“I’m sure she’ll do what she can.” Evan looked confused and shrugged.

“I need you to make sure that both of them show up. Even the one that works at the diner.”

“What one that works at the diner?”

“Weren’t you listening?”

He gave me a blank stare, and it was all I could do to stop from shaking him. “Just make sure that she brings both friends with her to the party next week. Work your magic, however you can. And if you do, I’ll talk to my dad about getting you a role.”

“You’d do that?” His eyes widened.

“You scratch my back, I scratch yours.”

“Why do you care if she brings her friends?”

“Let’s just say I like to see hardworking people having fun.” I leaned towards him. “You make sure her friend Lucky makes it to the party, and do not let her know that I’m requesting it, and I’ll make sure you become the new it guy in Hollywood.”

“Ok, but…”

“I have to go now.” I looked at Leeza standing in the doorway staring at us, and I turned my face away from her quickly. I didn’t want her thinking she had a chance with me. She seemed like the sort of girl who went after what she wanted, and I had a feeling I was the person she wanted to be under tonight. I walked down the stairs quickly, holding my smile in until I got into my car.

Chapter 7

It was finally happening. Everything was coming together as planned. Evan had called me and told me that he had convinced Leeza to get Lucky to the party. He’d worked his magic and given her some money to buy Lucky a new dress to wear. He said it was a foolproof idea and that he could almost guarantee that Lucky would show up, and I agreed. What new girl would say no to a party if someone bought her a new dress to wear? I couldn’t think of many women who would turn that down. I was almost giddy with excitement as I walked to the diner. But I was also slightly sad. This was to be my last trip to Lou’s Burger joint. Special Agent Waldron was furious when I told him what Evan had said, and not because I didn’t pursue a line of questioning either. He thought Evan had brought it up as a trap to see if I was onto his friend Braydon. He said asking about something else, and pretending I wasn’t interested in the information about the drugs, was the best thing I could have done. Thank God, he didn’t ask me why I hadn’t asked, though. I think he knew. He was almost apologetic when he told me I had to leave Miami within a few days.

I walked into the diner ahead of Lila. I hadn’t even wanted to bring a date with me tonight, but I knew that it would have looked too suspicious if I hadn’t. I wished now that I had been more open and engaging with Lucky. Yes, we’d had a conversation here and there, but nothing that would warrant me asking her to come to Los Angeles with me. I knew that the best shot I had was to convince her to come work on the documentary with me, but I wasn’t even sure how to bring it up. She didn’t even know that I knew she studied history. That was why I had to get her to that party. If I had some one-on-one time with her, like a whole night, I could go into full-on Zane Beaumont seduction mode, and then I might just be able to convince her. There weren’t many women that could say no to my blue eyes.

Lila played with her long brown hair and sipped her drink before making a face at me. “This tastes disgusting.”

“Oh?” I sighed as I realized that she was going to make this a pretty long night.

“I think that waitress gave me the wrong drink.”

“I doubt it very much, Lila.” I tried not to roll my eyes at her condescending tone. I stilled in anticipation as I smelled Lucky’s perfume. I could sense that she was on the way back to our table.

“Is this Diet Coke?” Lila snapped at Lucky with an attitude the size of Florida. “I asked for Diet Coke and this tastes like regular Coke.” She made a face as she looked at her glass.

“I can assure you that this is Diet Coke, ma’am.” Lucky made a face that almost made me laugh. “I personally filled your drink order, and I made sure to hit the Diet Coke button.”

“Well, are you sure? Because it doesn’t taste like Diet Coke.” Lila glared, and I thought World War III was going to start over a soft drink.

Lucky took a deep breath and turned towards me. “Is there anything else you need, Mr. Beaumont?”

“I told you to call me Zane.” I laughed. “And no, we’re good here. Thank you, Lucky.”

“My pleasure.” She beamed at me before turning away and I watched her as she walked in her graceful way. It took everything in me to not run after her and beg her to come to the party tomorrow. I was becoming so uncool in my head that it wasn’t even funny. I nibbled on my fries absentmindedly, listening to Lila ramble on as I watched Lucky greet a new couple that were canoodling in their booth. There were lines on Lucky’s face I hadn’t noticed before. She looked like she was stressing over something, and I wondered if she were still worried about her car. I hated seeing her look like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“Everything okay, Lucky?” I called out to her as she walked past the booth. She looked at me in surprise, and I realized that she didn’t know that I knew she had personal worries. “I hope nothing’s burning in the kitchen.” I added on for good measure.

“Oh no. It’s all good.” She smiled at me and turned away quickly. I could see her face flushing red. “Do you guys need anything else?” She looked back at me quickly, and as our eyes connected, I realized I was way more connected to this woman than I wanted to be. I could feel my heart aching for her unknown pain and worry. I’d never had this type of empathy before, and it scared the shit out of me.

“Just the check.” The smile left my face, and I looked away from her warm brown eyes feeling panicky. “And quickly, please.”

“Sure.” She turned away, and frowned. I was sure she was wondering why I had suddenly gone cold, but I couldn’t help myself. “I’ll get it right now.” She walked away in haste and I regretted my sharp tone immediately. I didn’t want to hurt Lucky or make her think I was some sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde character, but I was scared by the depth of my feelings. What if I couldn’t convince her to come to Los Angeles with me? What would I do then?

“So, Zane, where are we going now?” Lila leaned towards me and grabbed my hand. I looked back at her and realized she could be the perfect way to get my mind off of Lucky.

“I thought we could go get some cocktails on the beach.” I smiled at her and turned on the charm as best as I could.

“South Beach?”

“Yeah, we can go to Washington. I know a cool place.”

“We can go to my place.” She was straightforward in her invitation, and I watched as she pushed her chest out and licked her lips slowly.

“Yeah, we can do that.” I caressed her hand. It had been too long since I had gotten laid, and I was tired of waking up every morning to images of Lucky riding me. I need more than a teenage fantasy in my bed.

“Here you go.” Lucky dropped the check in front of Lila and snapped. “You can pay at the front.” She walked away quickly, and my heart started beating rapidly. I couldn’t let our last encounter in the diner go down like this. I didn’t want her to hate me. I wanted to slap myself for being an idiot.

“I’m ready to go now, Zane.” Lila slid out of the booth. “Let’s go and have some fun.”

“I’m coming.” I got out and walked with her to the front. “I’ll meet you outside in a minute.” I looked around for Lucky but I didn’t see her. “Excuse me,” I tapped the other waitress on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Shayla.” I read the name on her tag, “Do you think you can go and get Lucky for me, please?”

“Sure, just a moment.” She grinned and me and almost ran to the kitchen. “Lucky, your young man wants to talk to you.” I heard her hissing and I smiled to myself. Maybe Lucky was a little fond of me after all. I waited for Lucky to come out, and watched as she walked over to me, with a question in her eyes.

“Hey, Lucky, thanks for coming over to talk before I left.” I stared at her hard, willing her to understand why my emotions were all over the place. I gave her a small smile, but she didn’t smile back.

“Sure.”

“I have to go in a second because she’s waiting in the car.” I nodded towards the door. Come to the party tomorrow was all I could think of, but I couldn’t seem to voice the words in my head.