CHAPTER ONE
One year earlier
The summer had been a long one in anticipation for her senior year to begin. She'd spent the summer in Lake Tahoe with her parents as she always did even though she'd fought with her parents to take her somewhere better. Staying in a log cabin for 8 weeks with bugs and snakes wasn't her idea of fun in the summer. About a week after she'd arrived to her family's cabin she found her way to a secluded area of beach to sunbathe.
She had her beach towel laid out on the sand along with her favorite Jane Austen novel and was applying oil to her legs when the most horrifying monstrous creature she'd ever seen in her life leaped on her drooling.
"Get off!" she screamed as she tried to push the animal's paws off her Tommy Hilfiger designer bikini.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." A deep voice said as the animal was miraculously lifted off of her.
Looking into the sun she could only see the outline of the man. The curve of his arms from the toned muscles, the trim abdominal muscles, and muscular calves stood in comparison to the work of Michelangelo's David. Pulling her stare from him to an enormous ball of fur at his feet she reared back.
"What the hell is that thing?" she asked in disgust.
"It's a dog." He answered with sarcasm.
"No shit Sherlock. I knew that. Does he always do that?" she asked dusting the sand off her oily legs as she stood up to get a better look at the man.
He was beautiful. His green eyes reminded her of the emerald's her mother had in the safe and his black hair was short in style but if one looked right they could see the waves of what would be curls if he grew it out. Even when he didn't smile there were dimples on either side of his gorgeous mouth of perfectly white teeth.
"Not really… he got away from me on the path back there. Are you hurt?" he asked smiling. There… that smile made her knees shake and almost give out on her causing her to lose her balance. He reached out to grab her arm and slid his other arm around her waist.
"Are you okay? It's pretty hot out here today." He said steadying her.
"I'm… I'm okay. Sorry I… I don't know what happened." She lied. She knew exactly what happened. He was sweeping her off her feet without even trying. What a pathetic lump of mush she was being.
"Hammond. Justin Hammond." He said putting his hand out shake hers.
"Lauren Snyder." She said putting hers in his. What was surely just static cling shocked her fingers causing her to jerk her hand back.
He eyed her suspiciously before replying, "Well, Lauren let me make it up to you. How about we head over to the Lake House on the eastside for a light lunch?"
A date? He was asking her on a date. He had to be at least twenty-five she was sure. Her mother would kill her but, she thought with a smile, what Barbie didn't know wouldn't hurt her.
"Sure. Let me get these all together." She said turning to put her belongings back into her beach bag.
Justin took the bag from her as they began their walk to the Lake House.
"Where are you from?" he asked as the "dog" ran ahead of them.
Her toes sunk into the hot sand as the wrap around white skirt clung to her legs.
"Orange County." She replied.
"You know that narrow's it down really well." He replied rolling his eyes.
Laughing she said, "You didn't ask for specifics. Dana Beach if you must know."
"A hole in the wall town. I should know I just got a job there." He said tossing a stick for the "dog" to fetch.
"Really where?" she asked as she watched his arms flex with the minimal effort of throwing the stick.
"Sacred Heart Catholic School. I'm going to be teaching the shop class there starting next semester. I just finished getting my bachelor's in mechanics at UCLA. It took me awhile to realize that a college education is what's really important. I hope to help those kids realize that one day." He said.
Sacred Heart!? No, no, no, no… this wouldn't be happening to her. The most gorgeous man she'd ever met was a teacher at her school!? There's no way she'd tell him she was a student there. He could find that out if he ever saw her at the school in September.
"I know the school, but I thought they only allowed priests and nuns to teach the classes?" she asked curiously trying to find out why he was an exception to the rule.
"Normally they do, but Father McLaughlin was my parish priest when I was younger. He actually owed my dad a favor." He replied with a wink. "What about you? What do you do?" he asked turning to look at her.
"I… um…", She stuttered as she thought of something he couldn't possibly know anything about. Then it hit her, "I'm a youth coach for Dana Beach's Rec. Center." Okay so it wasn't the absolute truth. She was the volunteer assistant youth coach for the fourth and fifth grade soccer classes.
"Really? That's pretty cool. You know working with young kids. That's one of the reason's I applied to Sacred Heart. To help young kids learn how to do something I love at a grade school I used to go to. What grade school did you go to?" he asked as they walked up the sun warmed sidewalk to the Lake House.
"Oh, I was home schooled." She lied. Somehow it was getting easier to lie to him but it hurt a little more. "Now I'm doing online classes. I kind of have to work right now and I didn't really want to leave my parents." She said as she pulled her sunglasses off in the air conditioned building after he'd given the dog to animal attendant outside.
From the outside it looked like a regular, albeit a large log cabin, while inside was an interior designer's dream. The rustic charm of the Lake House was accustomed to fur carpets and deer head's on the wall while still remaining soft and even feminine. He guided her by putting his hand on the small of her back sending heat sizzling throughout her body. They sat at a small café table on a portico overlooking a breathtakingly beautiful view of the lake.
"Can I take your order?" a waitress asked eyeing Justin hungrily.
Lauren put her hand over Justin's as she looked at the waitress, "How about some Iced Tea?"
"I'll be right back." She replied as she gave Lauren an evil glare.
"That was low." He said laughing.
"What?" she asked horrified that he might have caught her rearing her claws at the waitress.
"That… that brazen and bold way of saying 'Back off bitch, he's mine." He answered.
She was sure her cheeks were bright red as she put her head in her hands, "Oh my God. This is so embarrassing."
He was laughing at her. Not just a 'ha ha' laugh but a gut busting laugh. The kind where you're in pain from laughing too hard.
"Stop!" she replied grinning. Slowly she began laughing too. Something in her snapped and she let out her worst habit. She snorted.
He paused and stared at her as she covered her mouth in shock. Then he began to laugh again even harder which caused her to laugh harder and snort again. It became a cycle. She'd snort and they'd laugh harder. After they'd attracted every single person's attention they were actually almost finished laughing when an older woman walked up to their table.
"Lauren Delaney Snyder." She said calmly. "Care to introduce me to your friend here?"
Lauren looked up to find her mother, Barbara Jocelyn Delaney-Snyder, standing before her. She brought herself erect and stood before her mother.
"Mother, this is Justin Hammond. Justin this is my mother, Barbie." She replied using the name her mother hated hoping she'd go away.
"Nice to meet you." Justin said bending to kiss Barbie's hand.
"And you young man. How'd you find such a gentleman, Laurie?" Barbie asked using the nickname she'd given her daughter to annoy her. They'd always been at each other's throats. Barbie had wanted a boy the whole time she was pregnant with Lauren while her husband Daniel "Jack" Snyder would think nothing of it.
"A girl, Barb. That's what we want. Someone I can spoil along with you, my dear." He'd say and Barbie should have known that Jack Snyder always got what he wanted. He'd even gone so far as to have a vasectomy just to make sure Lauren was his only child.
"I didn't find him mother. His dog found me. Please go away." She replied sitting down in a huff in her chair.
"Now, now Laurie… don't let young Justin see what a rude little girl you are. He'd have to move on to someone older and wiser." She said eyeing the eye candy that was Justin Hammond.
"Now Mother." Lauren snapped.
"Oh fine. Be home at a decent hour please." Barbie said as she walked away from the table wiggling her rear as she did so.
"You have a curfew?" Justin asked.
"No!" she practically shouted. "I mean, of course not. I'm an adult. She just doesn't want me to disturb her beauty sleep when I come home tonight that's all."
"I can understand that. Why do you call her Barbie?" he asked.
"She's a bitch and she hates the name. It pisses her off to hear it so I call her that. Same reason she calls me Laurie." She replied.
"Seems logical." He said as the waitress came back to the table smiling brightly at Justin.
Giving in to the fantasy she'd created earlier he winked at Lauren and took her hand.
"Babe, I think we should get some chocolate syrup and whipped cream… to go." He said looking at her with sultry eyes.
Finding it hard to breathe, she replied rather huskily, "Whatever you say."
He turned to the waitress, "You heard my woman."
The waitress turned towards the bar and returned with two full containers of chocolate syrup and whipped cream along with their check.
Justin stood pulling Lauren up with him and wrapping his arm around her waist. He pulled out a fifty dollar bill and flung it on the table. He stuffed the bottle of chocolate syrup and the container of whipped cream in her beach bag, smacked Lauren on her rear before pulling her into one of the most incredible kisses she'd ever felt.