She hummed. It was a faint intermittent hum, but a bona fide hum nonetheless. At first, Haley mistook the sound for a fly or bee that had decided to crash the Goodies Magazine yacht party, but within a half minute she realized it was emanating from the dining companion seated across from her at a table perfectly built for two.
The first thing Brooke did after they took their time visiting each buffet station was to neatly cut her filet mignon into bite-sized pieces, making sure that a sliver of mushroom was on top of each piece of tender meat. Selecting a squared bite, she pierced it with her fork and delivered it to her mouth. The low humming began as she chewed. Haley released an amused chuckle while dunking a bit of lobster in the small cup of melted butter next to her plate.
I wonder what else might cause her to hum so much. "You're not enjoying that filet mignon at all are you? Just forcing yourself to eat it." Grinning, the young editor brought a special three-pronged fork to her lips, the lobster quickly disappearing. Mmm, she felt like humming right along with the other woman.
Had it not been for the spoonful of baked potato in her mouth, Brooke might have laughed. She swallowed before replying, "Yep, every bite is torture. I'm only eating it because I hate wasting food. This is so far from the best filet mignon I've ever had."
"I'm contemplating the nickname Hummer Girl for you."
"Why is that?"
"'Cause you hum."
A curious dark brow rose. "Hum? I don't hum."
Haley eagerly nodded. "Oh, yeah you do. At least you hum when you eat beef tenderloin." She paused while reaching for her glass of raspberry iced tea. "I must admit that it's kinda sexy."
The other brow joined its twin as Brooke cued into the flirty comment. "Really?" Somehow she made that one word sound like it had twice the syllables it truly did. "I'm willing to wager that I'd hum while eating something else at this table."
Haley promptly choked on her beverage. Jumping out of her chair, Brooke hurried over to slap her on the back. The coughing woman shrieked when a pair of strong arms effortlessly pulled her from the chair. With those arms wrapped around her middle, a fist pressed against her abdomen started quick thrusting motions as an anxious male voice she recognized begged for her to breathe.
"Lucas!" She wriggled against him. "Lucas I am breathing!" They had garnered the attention of nearby diners when Haley's would be rescuer let her go. When they realized that the drama was for naught, they returned to their conversations and meals.
As Haley turned to face the man, Brooke touched her shoulder, delivering a gentle squeeze. "Baby, are you okay?" After she nodded, the fashion designer switched her attention to Lucas. "Haley didn't require the Heimlich dude. Some of her drink just traveled down the wrong pipe and you materialize out of nowhere squeezing her like a python." Noticing her abrasive tone, she sighed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I know you were just trying to help, but I think you scared her which in turn riles me up." She was surprised when the blond man gave her a somewhat embarrassed smile and offered them both his own apology.
"I'm sorry too. I happened to see you two sitting here and wanted to visit for a sec to talk with Haley and then she started choking and you ran around to her…I thought she was in real trouble and just reacted."
"It's okay Luke. Really. I'm fine and I thank you." Haley managed a slight grin. "You would have saved my life if it had truly been in jeopardy."
He winked a blue eye at her. "You know I've got your back like a bra strap Hales."
She chuckled. "Have you two met?" When they simultaneously shook their heads no she progressed with the introductions. "Brooke this is one of my closest friends and co-worker Lucas Scott, an awesome sports columnist at Goodies and Luke this is the luminous Brooke Davis owner and founder of Clothes Over Bro's."
Lucas and Brooke greeted one another and shook hands. "You're C | B huh? My girlfriend and her sister love your clothing." A soft laugh escaped him. "They hang on to your catalogs like avid churchgoers with bibles. Especially Rachel-- she's my girlfriend's sister."
"Rachel? By any chance is your girlfriend's name Peyton?" The redhead's name sounded much like a hiss coming from the fashion designer's mouth. Her twin's name didn't sound too much better.
"Yeah! Did you already meet them?"
"In a manner of speaking." Brooke smirked when she noticed that Haley had to bite back an abrupt chortle, no doubt thinking about the sex on the grass dripping from Rachel's face earlier. What an adorable little sadist. Fortunately, Lucas failed to detect his friend's mirth.
"Hales, before I attacked you I had an important question to ask."
Picking up her glass, the petite woman took a careful sip. "Shoot."
"Tonight I'm going to ask Peyton to marry me and if she says yes--and I'm pretty sure she will--would you do me the honors of being my best woman?"
She pointed toward herself. "Me?"
The blond man smiled while nodding. "I realize it's unconventional, but I can't think of a better person to stand by my side on that alter. Will you love?"
As much as she couldn't stand Peyton she adored her boyfriend and soon to be fiancé, so the answer was simple. "Of course Luke. I'd be happy to."
Wearing the broadest smile known to man, Lucas enveloped Haley in a hug, littering her cheeks with kisses, which had her giggling. She felt thoroughly thanked as he turned to Brooke, still smiling.
"Brooke we'd be delighted to have you as Haley's date."
Struck speechless, Brooke looked toward Haley to gauge her reaction. She was elated to witness the hopeful expression gracing the other woman's countenance. "Thank you Lucas. I'd love to accompany this gorgeous enchanting lady." There Haley's cheeks went generating more warmth than the mushroom heaters scattered around the yacht. Hmm, how many blushes were they up to now? Fifty-one? Fifty-two?
"Terrific." Lucas began snickering, also noticing his friend's crimson stained cheeks. "I'm gonna let you ladies get back to your meal. Again, I'm sorry for my python like behavior." He glanced toward Brooke and winked.
"Have a good evening Lucas. It was nice meeting you."
"Same to you and ditto." He startled her by pulling her into an embrace. Brooke discovered the main reason for the hug when the man began whispering in her ear. "If whatever you two have is more than a casual thing, please be good for her. She's one of the few truly special people I've been privileged enough to know."
Brooke returned the hug with such ferocity onlookers might guess them to be a couple or at least dear friends. "I have every intention of it Lucas," she whispered back. "We're new but I've already realized that Haley is the most special person I've ever known."
**********
"Were you and Luke whispering to each other during that super long embrace?" Haley inquired as she dipped her spoon into the impressive hot fudge sundae she and Brooke were sharing. Having created the dessert together, it probably contained a minimum of two thousand calories, but it was so delicious they managed to ignore the globs of fats, carbs and sugars within.
The fashion designer softly laughed. "Super long? Since when was a few seconds super long? We jealous?"
Yes! "Nope, 'we' not."
"Just in case that's a factitious nope, allow me to provide you with some proof of why you don't need to be. One, Lucas for some strange reason is head over heels in love with Peyton. Two, where penises are concerned, I as a steadfast lesbian prefer the manufactured type and three I'm head over heels in deep… seriously deep like with this remarkable chick named Haley James." Whoo-hoo! Blush number fifty-three! If she kept this up, she could possibly reach the one hundredth mark by midnight.
"Er, umm…" While her companion patiently waited, Haley opened and closed her mouth several times before she could reboot her brain in order to come up with a response. "Well uh, one, I agree that is strange. Two, that's um, good to know. And again, I totally agree. Uh, three--"
"Ooh, ooh. I know!" Brooke quickly thrust her arm into the air like a student attempting to gain the attention of their teacher because they figured out the answer. "You agree with that one too? You like that chick?" Arm lowered, she grinned and resumed partaking of their dessert.
"Cute."
"I know you are but what am I?"
Haley shook her head, chuckling. "Are you twelve now?" Her chuckling grew louder when the other woman stuck her tongue out at her, wiggling it for good measure. "Back to number three, I did agree although I am in seriously deep like with this ϋber alluring and fantastic chick named Brooke Davis."
Hazel eyes merrily twinkled. "Is that so? Tell me about her?"
"Well we just recently started truly communicating so I haven't learned too much yet. However, I do know that she's intelligent, witty, compassionate and incredibly undeniably sexy. Intelligent because how many twenty four year olds do you know who are in charge of a successful multi million dollar business? She's witty because she constantly makes me smile and laugh and because of that I have a feeling if I were to spend an entire week with her my cheeks would be achy.
"Brooke is compassionate because she stood up for me when she barely knew me and later on offered me comfort. First, she held me in such a tender embrace as I wept and then dried my tears, somehow within seconds causing me to smile again. She's incredibly sexy because…well you'd just have to see her for yourself. She's stacked. Curves for miles, the cutest set of dimples, beautiful eyes…soft skin…the sweetest lips…" Shyly ducking her head, Haley was responsible for her fifty-fourth blush. She heard the spoon clink against the ice cream dish, Brooke eating another teaspoonful without an immediate comment. When she did reply, she further proved her wittiness by earning another laugh from the junior editor.
"That all sounds marvelous but how is this incredibly undeniably sexy Brooke Davis in bed? Does she know how to correctly push all of your buttons or should she take a trip to the nearest Barnes & Noble to purchase a Sex for Dummies instructional book?"
"We haven't slept together, but I doubt that she would need an instructional book. In fact, I bet Brooke could push all the right buttons with her hands tied behind her back." Grinning although another blush threatened to erupt Haley added, "That reminds me, I think she'd be at least a little freaky 'cause she owns handcuffs and practically admitted that she enjoys the company of dildos," pausing, Haley pinched the stem of a maraschino cherry between her thumb and forefinger, bringing it to her lips. "And wow. I dig that about her!" Her face and the cherry vied for being the brightest red as the young woman dreamily swirled her tongue around the fruit before she used her teeth to pluck it from its stem.
It took Brooke about five hours to figure out how to pick up her mouth from the floor. Once achieved, she could then speak. "I think I'm beginning to understand. On the surface you're a sweet kitten. Within lies a salacious tiger just pleading to be released."
"You know too much. Now you must be eliminated."
"Oh, no." Clutching her chest, Brooke feigned apprehension. "Could I at least have a last meal?"
"Of course. I'm not completely heartless. What might you be interested in eating?" The resulting roguish grin told her all she needed to know without Brooke having to utter a single word. A groan rumbled up from her throat. "I just walked right into that one."
"Oh, yeah. You betcha did baby!"
Thanks again for all of your inspiring reviews! If you check out my profile page you'll find my responses to the latest ones. Thought I'd go on and use that page for those ;-) I'm steadily working on chapter six and it shall be out within the next few days. Thanks again and hope you enjoy.