Perfect Match (10 page)

“Hey, Noelle,” Kayla said.

“Hi.” Noelle looked at Kayla suspiciously.
She didn’t consider the two of them friends, and was wondering what
Kayla was up to.

“I am beat. It’s been one heck of a morning.
Your salad looks good.” Kayla set her cell phone on the table.
“That was quite a night at the bonfire, huh?”

There is was. “Yeah, Kris sure knows how to
throw a party.” Noelle replied knowing very well that was not what
Kayla was getting at.

“He does. So what’s up with you and
Jackson?”

“I told you. He and I grew up together.”

“Yeah, you did. And he did tell me that you
were like a sister to him. I guess that explains why he freaked out
on Alex like that. That’s Jackson for you, though. He is such a
hothead.”

She was really starting to figure Kayla out,
and Noelle knew better than to bite, but she couldn’t help it. “He
told you I was like a sister to him?”

“Yep. Last night on the phone. He has been
calling me a lot lately. He’s been saying how he misses me. I can
assure you that I am not going back to that.”

Noelle suddenly didn’t feel so hungry. Kayla
was starting to get really annoying with her obvious lies. Noelle
was not stupid. She hated that Kayla thought that she was. “He was
on the phone with you last night? We were at that party pretty
late. Besides, he always gave me the impression that he doesn’t
even like you.”

“Really? Well, I think the fact that he has
to kiss me during our promos has him missing what we had. Who can
blame him, really?” Kayla’s phone signaled a text message. She read
it and Noelle saw her type something back. “Anyway, it’s good that
you have so much family around here. Larry and now your
brother…Jackson.”

Noelle didn’t like the way Kayla smirked at
her. She wanted to throw her salad at her. “Yeah, it is.” Noelle
wouldn’t give Kayla the satisfaction of showing her that she got to
her. Another text came in on Kayla’s cell phone.

“Well, looky who it’s from. Good old Jackson
himself.” Kayla said showing Noelle the phone so she could read the
message.

I’ll be there at 6 ~ Jackson

“Looks like he’s coming over.” Kayla said and
got up as quickly as she sat arrived. Noelle was in disbelief. Why
would Jackson send her such a message? She saw it with her own
eyes. Could she really be that clueless when it came to men or were
they all players? Jackson was a player and lied to Noelle about not
having any feelings left for Kayla. She saw it for her own eyes.
Well, she was right about keeping him at a distance when she
realized who he was.

Kayla walked back towards the gym area. She
couldn’t believe her luck! At the very moment she was trying to
convince Noelle that Jackson still wanted her, he answers her text
regarding the baby shower they were going to have for Kevin. Noelle
didn’t need to know that Jackson actually meant he was going to be
at Kevin’s party at 6pm, not her house. Noelle didn’t have to know
that she was the key at getting even with Jackson. She didn’t even
care if that meant hurting Noelle in the process. She didn’t care
at all.

Noelle had one more therapy session for the
day and she was glad. Her conversation with Kayla really unnerved
her. The sooner she could get out of there for the day, the better
she’d be. She got a few texts from Jackson, and she chose not to
return either one of those. It was on impulse that she dug Tim’s
phone number out of her purse. It was time she focused on a
different guy. She plugged it into her phone and sent him a
text.

Hey, it’s Noelle. I’ve been thinking…I’d love
to go to dinner with you.

CHAPTER SIX

Noelle wanted to think that she had a moment
of insanity when she agreed to go out to dinner with Tim from the
gym. In actuality, it was more like a moment of desperation.
Jackson had her mad as hell and she felt like she was getting even
with him for lying to her about him not liking Kayla. Now she was
not only mad at Jackson, but mad at herself. Well, she agreed to go
to dinner with him and maybe Tim will get her mind off of Jackson.
She enjoyed talking to Tim at the gym, so maybe this will be a
pleasant evening. The thing that she liked best about Tim, from the
few times that they did talk was he always gave her his full
attention. That was a good sign she figured. Now, here she was
about to go into Monroe’s, regretting it as he held open the door
for her. He was not her type, this she knew. She couldn’t get out
of it now. Damn that Jackson.

She checked herself in the mirror by the
front entrance of Monroe’s. She was glad that she decided to wear a
simple pair of skinny jeans, her UGG boots and a burgundy short
sleeved sweater with a black long sleeve t-shirt underneath. She
looked nice, like she cared about her appearance, but not like she
wanted to impress him, which she did not. “Oh, Noelle,” she thought
to herself, “Why do you let yourself get into these situations?”
She shook her head, adjusted her purse, and followed Tim towards
the back part of the bar where there were booths.

The crowd seemed to follow them in. She
looked didn’t want to answer questions about her and Tim, so she
looked around the bar and didn’t see anyone she knew. She was glad
for that. She knew that didn’t make much sense especially since she
only went out with him to get her mind off another guy. Maybe if
she was lucky, he’d want to call it an early night. No such luck.
Tim was suddenly beside her reaching for her hand as they walked
towards the last available booth. He was not her type in any way,
shape, or form. He had long curly black hair that he usually pulled
back in a ponytail. His teeth were extremely white, and he wore a
black button down shirt and extremely baggy jeans. It wasn’t that
Tim wasn’t good looking, or a nice guy. She just didn’t feel that
way towards him. That was the trouble. She didn’t feel that way for
anyone, except for one tall, extremely sexy and extremely
infuriating man that she did not trust…Jackson. She decided at that
moment to just smile and see what happened. She got to spend an
evening out, not consumed with her work or reading a book. “I hope
they play good music tonight,” she said as they sat down.

“I hear there is a new deejay who is pretty
good, but just because they know how to play music, doesn’t mean
they are good.”

“Okay.” She hated that he suggested Monroe’s.
She liked to think of it as her and Jackson’s place. She had to
look on the bright side; it was one of her favorite local spots and
she always enjoyed the food. It had tables and booths at the bar
section, but it also had a quieter section for families that wanted
a quiet dinner. It was a Friday night, and Monroe’s always had a
deejay on the weekends. If she found that she didn’t have a lot to
talk to him about, at least she could listen to the music.

Once they were seated and gave the waitress
their drink orders, Tim smiled at her. “I’m so glad that you came.
I think that we are going to have a great time.”

She smiled, “Thanks for inviting me. I love
the food here.”

“Me, too. So you look great tonight. It’s
nice to be able to see you in something other than workout
clothes.”

“Yeah, and mine aren’t that exciting that’s
for sure.”

“Exciting, no. Interesting, very. You wear a
different wrestling T-shirt each time. The funny thing is you don’t
strike me for a fan.”

Noelle tucked a strand of hair behind her
ear. “I don’t look like a wrestling fan?”

“Not at all.”

“Are you a fan?”

“My whole life. I used to envision being the
World Champion when I was a 12- year-old kid. What boy didn’t, I
guess. When I realized that I was never going to make it as a
wrestler, I decided to go into construction. Two total opposite
professions, but at least I’m good at one of them. What about you?
Do you watch it for the guys or do you have dreams about becoming
the next Champion Goddess?”

“Neither, actually I watch it for two
reasons, for my father and I work there.”

“What? You work there? Your father?”

Noelle normally didn’t bring this up on first
dates, but it seemed like an easy conversation to have. Besides,
she’s so proud of who her father is and where she came from. If any
guy really wanted to be with her, he’d need to know about her
family sooner or later. “Yeah. My dad is Larry Reid.”

“Get the hell out of here! Your old man is
Ruckus Larry Reid? That is cool as hell. You have to tell me all
about it! I’m sure you have some crazy stories. Are you a
Goddess?”

“Not quite. I’m a PT for the organization. I
help the guys out after they get banged up.”

Tim seemed to shrug off her profession,
something that she was proud of and went on to probe her for more
information on Larry, trying to get “inside stories.”

Noelle sat there with a fake smile on her
face, as he kept going on and on about how he wants to meet Larry,
she kept thinking about how she wished she wouldn’t have said
anything. She did not see this going anywhere other than dinner.
She hoped that the waitress would come back soon for the orders.
She planned on eating and running.

Jackson was so looking forward to hanging out
tonight with his hometown friends. The guys he grew up with. He has
been feeling like life was moving so fast since his career has
taken a jumpstart on air. His feud with Kevin Donnelly is still
going strong and he has a North American Championship match coming
up. Word was that he was probably going to win it, but he won‘t
know that for certain until the night of the event. And, he was
still fighting his feelings for Noelle. She was definitely under
his skin, so when Chad suggested they go to Monroe’s with some guys
they grew up with, he jumped at the chance. He has been trying to
get a hold of her, and she isn’t returning his calls or text
messages. Honestly, that has him a bit concerned. He also knew he
didn’t want that to ruin his night off, so he was glad when they
decided on Monroe’s. That was always his favorite hang out, whether
it was for catching a football game or dancing on a Friday night.
He smiled as he walked into the bar remembering that the last time
he was here; he had an awesome night with Noelle, and knew he was
going to make himself have a good night tonight.

Jackson and his friends walked up to the bar
and waited for the bartender. He was glad in a way to see Skippy
serving patrons, just as he had that first night. They sat on the
opposite side from where Skippy was, which was fine by him. He was
slow anyway. Jackson looked around and kind of laughed to himself.
He used to hang out here all the time, and even though it wasn’t
the same crowd that he hung with, the people were still the same;
the women that spent hours getting ready in the hopes of finding
Mr. Right, or the men that spent five minutes getting ready in the
hopes of hooking up with Miss Right Now. A pretty red-headed
bartender set cocktail napkins down in front of him and his cousin,
Chad. She seemed to know Chad so she knew right away what they
would be having. Jackson had to wonder if she was one of his
cousin’s girls. Jackson just wanted a regular beer. He didn’t need
anything else. The bartender looked right in his eyes, and nodded
when he told her what he wanted. She showed no signs of
recognition. “Bullet” was on a break, so tonight he was just
Jackson. As he waited for “Red” to come back with his beer, he
looked around some more. He forgot about the couples out on dates,
whether it was a couple in a relationship that wanted to go out for
a night or those couples that were on a first date, it didn’t
matter the years. The types of people were always going to be the
same. He noticed a couple sitting at a booth against the wall
closest to the deejay booth. He took a double take. There was
Noelle…with a guy. What. The. Fuck? “Chad, there’s Noelle.”

“Where?” Chad said as he followed Jackson’s
gaze. Chad knew about all about Noelle, and how he also knew
Jackson still was hung up on her. He heard all about how Jackson
was peeved that he hasn’t heard from her. Normally, Jackson would
run right over to her but who she was with stopped him. “Looks like
she is on a date,” Chad observed.

Jackson took a good look at the guy. He
didn’t recognize him. He disliked him instantly. He especially
didn’t like the way he kept looking at Noelle. He was a guy, so he
knew that look. He was interested in her, that was for sure. He
kept looking at her, gazing down to her chest. Not that she wore
anything that was revealing in the least. He had to admit that he
liked that she didn’t. Jackson also noticed the way “Mr. Evil”
chugged his drink. That bothered him. What if he got so drunk and
tried something with her? Or worse. What if he tried driving Noelle
somewhere? He didn’t know what was bothering him more, the fact
that this guy was a total loser and was spending an evening with
Noelle, or the fact that he hasn’t heard from her and tonight he
sees her here with this jerk. “I don’t like it,” Jackson spit
out.

“That’s she’s not with you? Do you know the
guy?” Chad asked.

Jackson just stared at the couple. He should
be the one sitting across from her. To hell with Larry’s rule. He
couldn’t believe this. So much for having a good night. He didn’t
like it at all and he knew that jealousy had taken over any
reasonable thoughts that he may be having. “No, I don’t, but I know
that I don’t like him. Look at him. He’s practically all over her.”
Mr. Evil looked very sleazy, and not at all the type of guy
that

he’d want to see Noelle with. What the hell
was she doing with someone with long hair? Man, if Larry would see
this guy, he’d be putting his no wrestler rule aside that’s for
sure.

“Let’s go over there,” Chad suggested.

“I can’t just go over there, but I will keep
my eye on them to make sure he doesn’t try anything with her.”
Jackson stood there watching them. Chad laughed and punched him in
the arm. Jackson gave him a funny look. “What?”