The Ugly Girlfriend (The Lonely Heart Series) Page 3

  4. He also never had a house full of people and had not once had a woman over. So, he wasn’t a whore or a poor planner.

  5. He was incredibly handsome.

  6. He was a gentlemen.

  7. He had a package from hell.

  8. He seemed to be a good father.

  9. He was ambitious.

  10. He was easy to talk to.

  11. And he was understanding

  She put the dirty clothes in the hamper in the washroom and hit the dial for cold. Did it really matter how long his list was anyway? Mitch O’Keef was not interested in LaToya Jenkins. That she did know.

  When she was done with the upstairs, she headed back downstairs to find Mitch at the kitchen table asleep.

  Snoring lightly, he cradled his head in his arms with one hand still on his coffee cup. She knew that he had been working hard and felt a twinge of pity for the poor guy. A man of his age should be out enjoying himself, not spending every waken moment working or worrying. A smirk formed on her lips. So should she for that matter. As she moved the coffee cup, so he wouldn’t knock it off the table, he stirred.

  He looked up with tired eyes and smiled. “Thanks,” he said stretching.

  “No problem. Maybe you should go up and get some rest.” Her hand rested on his massive back.

  “I probably would, but I’m starving,” he said, sitting up. He looked at his watch. “Are you finished for the day?” Peering back up at her, he raised his brow.

  “Yep,” she said, putting her gloves in her cleaning basket.

  He eyed her. “Would you like to go and get something to eat?”

  LaToya tilted her head. “I don’t know. I don’t normally...”

  “Oh come on. You mean to tell me that you’re not hungry?”

  “Because I’m fat, I have to be hungry, huh?”

  “Fat? You’re not fat,” he said, shaking his head. “You want to see a fat woman, you should see my grandmother. Now, there’s a woman with a little extra meat on her bones. She’s like 300 pounds and wears red polka dots to church every Sunday.”

  She laughed. So did he.

  “So, will you please have an early dinner with a starving man? I don’t think I’ve eaten in like three days, or will Mr. Jenkins or your boyfriend be terribly put off.”

  “There is neither.”

  “Well, then you can’t possibly say no.”

  LaToya bit her lip. This was not professional, but he did look pitiful and what if he went to sleep at the wheel and killed himself? She could not afford to lose a client.

  “It’s just that I planned to go walking before dark,” she explained. “So...”

  “I’ve got an entire gym upstairs. You can use my treadmill when we get back.”

  “No. No, I can’t,” she shrugged her shoulders. “Okay. I’ll have dinner with you, but it has to be short, and then I have to go workout and not in your gym.”

  “You are wonderful,” he said, standing up. “Give me two minutes to grab my keys and my wallet and then we can go.”

  ***

  Four hours later, LaToya and Mitch were still out. The Tilted Kilt Irish pub was hidden in a thick of a chain of stores not far from Mitch’s house. Evidently, when he did go out, this was his place of choice.

  Covered in green walls, decorated with all things Irish, paneled with dark wood and bubbling over with Guinness beer, his hangout was as close as she imagined he could get to something from home.

  A few people knew him there and a few others wanted to know him. LaToya saw at least five women staring at them from across the room. Every time he’d catch someone’s eye, that person would lean over to their friend and nod their way. However, Mitch just kept talking and laughing. Either he did not care, or he did not care to show that he cared.

  Music played in the background, something that sounded like an Irish jig, and people laughed and whirled about. It was a lot less pensive than the clubs she went to with her girls, but it was still packed.

  In the corner, a group of men threw darts, while a group of women flirted a few feet away from them shooting pool. The bar was full with every seat occupied. Couples sat beside each other talking and drinking, kissing and fighting.

  The barmaids were dressed in red, kilt-like uniforms. Most of them weren’t above a size four but had breasts the size of bowling balls. They brought cold beer fast and plates full of greasy foods to the table every half hour, all the while bending over in front of them so that Mitch might have a better view. But he never looked once.

  This entire thing was extremely out of character for her, and she berated herself silently for it as each hour passed. However, she was having a great time.

  Mitch was funny. He didn’t take himself too seriously, but he was passionate about two things - Zack and work. Zack was his son, mothered by a housewife gone rogue right after moving to Phoenix. Mitch had sworn the heat had driven her mad but inwardly, he knew it was Zach’s pediatrician who had stolen her.

  “Here’s a spin on things,” he said with his Timberland boots up on the booth seat across from him. “Most of the time they say that spending time with your family will keep you together and that’s true, but keeping your son out of the pediatrician’s office is the key.” They both laughed. He shook his head and continued. “Zack’s got chicken pocks, you say? Oh, we’ll give him a little oatmeal cream for his body and send him on his way, but whatever you do, don’t send him to the doctor...he’ll come back with an ointment and the wife comes back pregnant.”

  LaToya stopped laughing. Wow. That was deep. He looked at her and nodded as if to say, yes, that’s what happened. That was my fall from grace. She understood and felt compelled to share as well.

  “I was engaged once,” she said, barely above a whisper. She smiled as she confessed. “He was a great guy, so I thought. We planned this great wedding, and then I found him in the bed with one of my closest friends.” Running her straw around in the nearly empty mug of beer, she looked away from him. It was still painful for her. “They’re happy now. They have three kids and live in San Diego, where I’m from.”

  “Oh, so you’re not from here?”

  “Nope. I left home after that and started my cleaning business.”

  “Well, I can’t blame you. If I didn’t have a child with Elaine, I would quit my job and hightail it out of here, too. Do you know how embarrassing it is for everyone to know that your wife has run off with the pediatrician?”

  “Yeah, trust me, I feel your pain. I’ve been embarrassed on a few occasions.”

  “Like when?” He took another sip and looked at the straw sticking out of her mug. Who drank beer out of a straw?

  “Outside of the engagement thing?”

  “Yeah, purge. Go on. It’s good for me.”

  “Good for you?” she laughed.

  “Yeah, it helps me feel less worthless.”

  She laughed. “The night I met you, I thought...no, not just me, everyone thought that you were coming over to ask me to dance or ask me out or ask me anything other than to clean your house.”

  Mitch bucked his eyes. “Is that why you had that look on your face?”

  “What look?”

  “Like you were repulsed. Like I had a booger in my nose.”

  “I wasn’t repulsed,” she laughed.

  “Well, you sure seemed repulsed. I was glad that Byron made my attentions clear. You seemed relieved afterwards. You were like...” He swallowed and lightened his voice. “Please, please don’t let the white boy ask me out, especially standing there with a huge booger in his nose.” He stuck a fried pickle in his mouth.

  “I wasn’t relieved, and you didn’t have a booger in your nose.”

  “No?” He tilted his head. Licking his fingers, he winked at her. “You seemed relieved.”

  LaToya lied. “Well maybe just a little bit.”

  They both laughed again. The tension broke.

  “I don’t imagine that many women would find me worthy right now. I’ve just rec
eived the final divorcee decree to a woman that I’m now paying child support to for two children.”

  “Two?”

  “She had the other one while we were married. Then I signed the birth certificate, so by law the pediatrician’s kid is mine,” he winced.

  “Oww. It keeps getting worse for you,” LaToya said, raising her finger to get the check.

  “Yes. I’m currently fighting it in court. Do you want another beer?” he asked.

  “No, I’m not Irish. This is bordering on illegal.”

  “We passed illegal about three hours ago, my dear.” He looked at his watch. “You know, if we were back in New York, we could walk home from this place.”

  “Yes, but here it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

  “I know.” He drank the last of his beer and turned to her. “So why did your ex marry that woman? I can’t rightly understand it after hanging out with you.”

  “Because she was prettier and smaller than me. I was always a big girl. I still am for that matter. I’ve always been a little bigger than most of my friends.”

  His green eyes bulged a little. “Big? You’re robust, but you’re not fat. I mean, I like a woman with a little meat on her bones.”

  “Well, I have a lot of meat.” She sucked down on the straw.

  He leaned over and looked at her legs hidden under black tights and a black, long, form-fitting shirt. Sweeping her body once more, he raised his brow and winked at her.

  LaToya was leaning with her hands cupping her chin. She watched him eye her up and down and then rolled her eyes. He had to have a motive for looking at her like that. If he thought that he was going to get free cleaning services because the wife may be taking half of his stuff, he had another thing coming.

  He finally spoke. “You’re weight is in all the right places, LaToya. That’s what matters. Any man who thinks otherwise is an idiot. You have to have something to hold onto at night. I’m sure you make a gentleman feel warm, like there is nowhere else to be in the world but in your arms.”

  “Okay, you’ve had enough to drink,” she said finally. What else was there to say? He’d nearly made her choke on his words. If she stayed, she might do something stupid. Shaking her head, she tried to put it all into perspective. Give the man a break. He’s been drinking, she said to herself.

  “Are you attracted to white men?” he asked abruptly. He swallowed hard after his question and sat his mug on the table. She watched his Adam’s apple bulge. His eyes were bright. Could it be that he was sincere?

  “I’m not attracted to any man on the rebound, Mitch,” she said sympathetically. “Are you cute? Yes. You’re probably everything that a woman needs, but you just came out of a serious relationship, a marriage rather and...”

  “Goodness, woman. I just asked if you were attracted to white men. I didn’t ask you to be my girl,” he said, shaking his head.

  There was complete silence.

  “Are you ready?” she asked, getting out of the booth.

  “Yeah,” he said, under his breath. Standing up, he threw the money down on the table and watched her walk off. “Must have been something I said.”

  When LaToya and Mitch arrived back at his place, she parked the car and turned down the radio. Although it was just a short drive, he had fallen back to sleep with his head tilted back on the seat. Softly, she placed her hand on his and stirred him awake.

  “We’re here,” she smiled.

  “Wow, I went to sleep that quickly?” He sat up and yawned. “Thanks for...everything.”

  “Welcome.”

  He paused for a minute. “Look, if I did anything to make you feel uncomfortable, I do apologize. It was very nice of you to take time out of your day for me. I needed it, and you didn’t have to.”

  She cut him off with the wave of her hand. “You didn’t offend me. I’m a big girl, trust me.”

  Mitch nodded.

  “Look, your home is to the point where we can go to one hour three times a week now,” she explained.

  He frowned. “I did offend you.”

  “No. No. I was going to tell you earlier, but then all this happened, and it really just slipped my mind. Don’t you see the difference in your place?”

  “It looks great. I feel like I can actually think in there. My work productivity has gone up tremendously because of you.”

  She liked that. “Well, I’ll see you Friday...for one hour then.”

  “Alright...goodnight.”

  But the hand he had on the door didn’t move. Instead, he looked at her, as if he was waiting for something. LaToya watched his face, how beautiful he seemed, how different he was becoming in her mind.

  Mitch swallowed hard again. LaToya was an enigma to him. She was strong and silent, direct and professional, but there was a side to her that he was curious to see. Earlier, she had smiled and laughed with him, shared with him. He had forgotten all about Elaine. For one moment, he was just a normal guy out with a beautiful girl grabbing a bite to eat. And now, something deep inside of him wanted to know more about her.

  “Rebound,” she finally said, breaking his concentration on the beautiful curl of her glossy lips.

  “Excuse me?”

  “It’s all a part of the rebound,” she said as she hit the console and unlocked the doors. “Goodnight, Mitch. Get some rest.”

  Chapter Four

  LaToya laid in bed past the alarm’s loud blare on Thursday. Staring at the ceiling, she thought about Mitch again. He was an odd ball. To look at him, she would have sworn that he had it all together. He had a great house, a great job and a great body. But looks where not everything and mostly they were deceiving. He was also funny and warm, very much aware of his shortcomings and amazingly, there wasn’t a conceited bone in his body. He was quite an unusual package.

  The smell of his cologne came to mind, and she trailed her fingers over the comforter and bit her lip. What if she had taken him up on his advances? What if she had moved in just close enough to kiss his lips last night? Would she be alone in her bed right now?

  It had been a long time since she was in a relationship. After the breakup with Troy four years ago, all things sexual had gone out the window, maybe except her toys. Her move from San Diego to Phoenix had been sudden. She followed Angela to this desert oasis in hopes of starting over. When she first bought her little two-bedroom home, she had sworn to lose weight, change her entire outer appearance from her hair to her makeup to her style. But nothing had changed except her view of men.

  Dates had been sparse since she arrived in Phoenix. She’d gone on two, in fact, in the last year. Both were disasters. One man picked his teeth throughout the entire date and the other talked about his Porsche through dinner, which once he walked her to the car, she found out was an ’83 in horrible condition and missing paint spots on the hood.

  After two blind catastrophes, she decided that dating was not her thing and spent all of her time either at home or with her friends.

  Today, she decided to take the day off work. Instead of going to Byron’s place and cleaning, she sent one of her other cleaners. She was going to relax and clean her own place for a change before her friends came over for dinner. While it was not eventful, it would definitely be enjoyable. She hadn’t seen them in a month and was curious to see what new developments had taken place in everyone else’s life.

  Pulling herself out of bed, she went into the bathroom and got on the scale. Looking down at the machine as it populated on the digital reader, she gasped when she saw the number. Quickly, she dropped her robe. Still not happy with the number, she took off her watch and earrings. As she looked down at the number again, she finally gave up.

  ***

  Sitting around the fire pit in LaToya’s perfectly manicured backyard, the women laughed and drank wine while she served them up a quick meal and turned on the lanterns. The night was ending, and now was the time to dish the dirt as customary for their small clan.

  “So, tell us what happened with Byron
,” Deana said to Angela as she crossed her feet Indian style.