Page 47 of A Secret Chance
“Beats me,” Charlotte said. “But the man is now a local hero.”
“Great,” Lauren said. “Win over the people by getting them drunk.”
“It’s a pretty smart move,” Charlotte said.
“Maybe I underestimated him,” Lauren said. She watched as people lined up to thank Baxter for the free beer, and he worked the crowd like a celebrity.
“Looks like the bachelor,” Charlotte leaned in and whispered. The line to meet Baxter consisted of mostly women, smiling and giggling, waiting for their chance to meet the infamous, but single and fabulously rich developer.
Lauren turned away from the spectacle. “Ugh,” she muttered but sneaked another look over her shoulder at the giggle parade. Her stomach clenched when she saw Carrie’s mascara caked eyelashes glare at her over Baxter’s shoulder. Jealousy was an emotion Lauren had only previously felt for competitive classmates at law school, today the churning in her gut was over a man.
The band started playing again, and the atmosphere inside the beer garden grew louder and rowdier as the night went on. Lauren tried not to turn around again, but when she stole another glance, Carrie was still lurking around Baxter.
Charlotte leaned in, “Are you going to let that happen?”
Charlotte had a long-standing feud with Carrie’s older sister, Stacy and so did Serena.
“He’s a big boy,” Lauren said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Maybe that’s what he deserves,” she whispered.
“I don’t think that anyone deserves that.” Charlotte’s eyes were following the action over Lauren’s shoulder. “She’s wasted and he’s too polite to tell her to take a hike.”
Carrie was hanging off of Baxter’s shoulder, a cigarette smoldering in her free hand. Lauren could see Baxter leaning away as Carrie scream-whispered in his ear.
“I have to rescue him,” she said. She pivoted on her ass and pulled her boots out from under the picnic table. She strode over and tapped Baxter on his free shoulder. He turned and when their eyes met, he smiled.
“Mr. Caldwell, I have a few business questions for you.” She put on a very serious tone.
“Can’t you see he’s busy,” Carrie said.
“They’re urgent,” Lauren said.
“Well, if that’s the case,” Baxter said, sidestepping and extricating himself from Carrie’s half nelson. “Ladies,” he tipped his hat to his group of bleached blond fans.
“Aw,” one of Carrie’s sidekicks moaned. If Carrie could’ve shot fire from her eyes, Lauren would’ve been charred like Texas barbecue. “I’ll see you later,” Carrie winked and playfully patted Baxter.
“Thank you,” he whispered as Lauren led him back to the picnic table.
“For what?” She smiled.
“Oh, did you actually have some important business questions?” He seemed surprised.
“I do,” Lauren said. “But they can wait for Monday.”
“A-ha, you were rescuing me then?”
Lauren sat down at the table, but instead of taking his former seat across the table, Baxter slid in beside her. Charlotte and Logan had disappeared into the crowd. “Did you need it?” she asked. As he settled in, her knee knocked against his. She inhaled sharply and jerked it away.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” Baxter said. “Those women are aggressive.”
In all of Lauren’s research, there had been very few photos of Baxter with girlfriends. Somehow, she doubted he’d ever been approached by a group of trailer trash townies sporting supermodel confidence.
“There aren’t a lot of single men in town,” Lauren explained. “You’re like a steak that was just tossed to a pack of starving...” she stopped before she finished the sentence.
Baxter’s eyes sparkled, he leaned in close to her. “Rabid dogs.”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” Lauren took a sip of her beer. As much as she disliked Carrie, she hated falling into the small-town habit of talking behind someone’s back.
“Which part?” Baxter somehow managed to take a sip of his beer through a smile. “The steak or the dogs? If I didn’t know any better, I think that you just paid me a compliment.”
