"Sometimes in life, my little Zoe, there are people that just get under your skin." Her grandma leaned in closer. "And darling let me tell you, most of the time you never want to get them out."
She'd been having the dream for two weeks now and no idea why. Her grandma, who she now realized was not actually her grandma, had died ten years ago. But somehow the woman kept popping up in her dreams.
Her not-father's mother had been a formidable woman married to a rich doctor after growing up on a farm in rural Kansas. She was out-spoken and brutally honest, the opposite of the typical New York socialite. Zoe's mother had been appalled at what the woman said to her young daughter but Zoe loved her.
She had never understood what her grandma meant, until now. Every time she looked at Wade Kinsella her grandma's voice went through her head.
He was infuriating, rude, and oh-so obnoxious but he was also fun and charming and caring. Wade was someone she would never have seen herself with in a million years, but something about him was drawing her to him. It was more than looks it was something much more complex.
She liked George for his good-ole boy ways, he reminded her of a gentleman and they had so much in common. Judson was polite and educated. But Wade was exciting and passionate and…unexpected.
She was drawn to him and this scared her more than anything else.
Wade wanted to kick Tanzie. Ever since she had told him to get over Zoe Hart all he could think about was Zoe Hart. How infuriating it was that she wore those little shorts with her lean legs. How her shoes were so ridiculous but made her legs look so good. How her hair smelled like strawberries and how her eyes were mesmerizing. How much he liked that she was smart and funny. How much he enjoyed spending time with her.
It was getting seriously distracting.
Plus she'd been spending all that time with Dr. WhatsHisFace, so what if the guy was veterinarian with a fancy degree. He also stuck his arm up cow's asses for a living!
And there they were walking in arm-in-fucking-arm all smiles and giggles. Enough to make a grown man retch, didn't they have somewhere else to eat. Wade slapped the two drinks he was making on the bar and they sloshed over.
"What's eating you?" Shelly asked coming over to get the drinks.
"Nothing. I'm takin' a break." Wade announced and stomped off. He needed some air. He could practically smell Dr. CowAss' hair product from here.
Shelly shook her head that boy was losing it. Wonderwhat'seatinghimthistime. She thought it wasn't the first of the month and he was already acting all cranky and out of sorts. Then she spotted the likely offender of Wade's mood. Shelly smelled to herself and made a beeline for the perky brunette.
"Hi y'all what can I get you tonight?" Shelly asked coming over to the table Zoe and Judson were sitting at.
"I'll just have water with lemon." Zoe said smiling at Shelly.
"Budweiser for me." Judson said barely looking up from his menu. Shelly nodded writing down their orders on her notepad. She turned to go before turning around abruptly.
"Oh Zoe, Wade said he needed to talk to you about something to do with Lavon's birthday surprise. He's out back on break, probably a good time to catch him." Shelly could barely contain the smile threatening to sneak out.
"Right. Judson I'll be right back. Secret birthday plans and all." She gave him a charming smile before running off. Shelly watched her go with a satisfied smirk.
Wade was pacing back in forth behind the Rammer Jammer. He wasn't jealous or anything it was just that Dr. SmellyHair was too charming and smarmy for Zoe. He didn't like the guy that was all.
"Ugh, it smells awful out her." Wade turned swiftly at the sound of Zoe's voice coming from the doorway. Her cute little nose was wrinkled up, making it even more cute not that he'd noticed or anything.
"Well darlin' it is the dumpster right over there. I suppose they don't have those in fancy New York bars." Wade teased wondering what had brought her out here but not really caring once he saw her cute, short dress.
"How can you even stand out here?" She asked.
"Sorry not everything can smell as nice as your boyfriend." Wade shot back.
"He's not my boyfriend we're just spending some time together seeing where things go." Zoe glared at him.
"So I shouldn't expect a weddin' invitation in the mail?" Wade asked.
"As if I would invite you. Do you even own a suit? Or at least one that isn't made of flannel?" Zoe crossed her arms defiantly.
"Good. What do you want anyways? I'm on break here. Dr. Cow not fulfilling all your needs?" Wade gave her one of his smirks.
"His name is Dr. Lyons. Shelly said you wanted to talk to me about Lavon's birthday."
"Well, Shelly said wrong." Wade replied.
"Fine then I'm going back in." Zoe said glaring at him. She was standing on the bottom step leading into the Rammer Jammer's back lot and they were almost eye-to-eye with her added height.
"Good, don't want to keep Dr. Hair Products waiting." Wade shot back meeting her eyes and taking a step closer to her.
"At least Judson does something with his hair. The "I just rolled out of bed look" is so 90s haven't you ever seen Clueless?"
"Thought you were going in?" Wade said matching her glare for glare.
"I am." Zoe retorted.
"Good."
"Good." Then he was kissing her. His arms around her waist pulling her against him, one hand threaded through her hair. Her arms wrapped around his neck without a moments hesitation.
The kiss was hot and Zoe parted her lips to let his tongue explore her mouth. Her tongue battled his as her hands slid down over his strong chest.
Just as suddenly as it began the kiss ended.
"Dr. Wonderful is waiting." Wade said sharply.
"Judson's waiting for me." Zoe said almost in unison with him.
This time she kissed him. Her hands sliding under the hem of his t-shirt to feel the hard muscles underneath. His hands slid under her thighs to lift her up. Her legs wrapped around his waist and his hands cupping her ass.
"Wade." She half-moaned as he traced a line along her jaw. Her heart was racing as he set her down on the step again. She looked at him once last time before bolting back through the door and into the loud Rammer Jammer.
Wade leaned back against the wall and blow out a breath.
That woman'll be the death of me.
Shelly smiled as she saw Zoe coming back in. Her hair was mused and her dress was riding up on one side. Zoe put it to rights and smoothed her hair as she returned to her table. Smiling at Judson Shelly heard her say something about stopping at the bathroom.
A few seconds later Wade came sauntering in. Shelly watched as he glanced over at Zoe and Judson. Zoe caught his eye and blushed before looking quickly back at her date.
Bowchickawowwow.Shelly thought as she took drinks over to one of her tables.
