I Need a Hero *Hayden*

Zoe was finally starting to get into the groove of things. She was memorizing drinks, and working on her customer service. She was normally great with people, but when they were rude, or severely drunk, she sometimes let her temper get away from her. She supposed she learned it from her father. He was a wonderful man. He was her favorite person in the world, in fact. But he did know how to lose his temper. In fact, if he knew she was bartending, he would have had her ass out of there in a second.

It wasn't that he didn't want her to be happy. He was just overly overprotective. And he had high dreams for his baby girl. She knew he wouldn't want her in a club serving alcohol to a bunch of strangers. But that didn't mean she would quit, just to make him happy. She would just keep the secret from him.

But there was another reason she was working here, other than the money, and it had nothing to do with her family. She was absolutely head over heels in love with Hayden, one of the owners of the club. And she felt completely invisible, for the first time in her life. She wasn't the type to stay quiet. But around Hayden, she got all tongue-tied and flustered. In school, she could kick ass! If any guy tried to get her to do too much, she could put him in his place. But around Hayden...she became a twelve year old with a crush again.

She shook herself from all of the thoughts that didn't have to do with serving liquor to strangers. If she wanted time to be around Hayden, she needed to focus on working here. She smiled at her customers and poured their drinks. But one man was being very pushy, and he had definitely had one too many. He kept using derogatory terms for her and trying to grab her. When his hand moved to her chest and grasped her, she took his wrist in her vice-like grip.

"Alright, douche bag, that's enough. You touch me one more time, I will kick your balls so hard they will come out of your ass!"

And that was when she noticed someone behind her. Oh God, if Hayden had seen any of this, she would be mortified beyond all reason. Not only that, but her rant had seemed to make the drunk stranger angry. He stood and looked as if he was going to hit her. She gripped the bar in front of her and stood her ground, hoping that he would not strike her.

Zoe

Zoe felt her heart jump into her throat when she heard Hayden's voice. She didn't know whether to be embarrassed about what she had said, or turned on that he had come to her rescue. Well...she was turned on, regardless. But she was also mortified that he had heard her threaten someone. He was supposed to think she was a perfect little doll. If he found out she was an outspoken spitfire, he might lose interest all together. She turned to him slightly, easily becoming intoxicated with the scent of his cologne.

"Oh, no problem. Well, except for the fact that this man seems to think that my breasts are his personal property."

She turned her glare on the man that had grabbed her, and she wanted nothing more than to throw a drink in his big, fat face. But that most likely would have been frowned upon. So she would leave it to Hayden to deal with this loser. She looked up at the object of her affection and got lost in his eyes again. He was absolutely perfect and she wondered what it would feel like to brush her lips against his. She licked her lips without even thinking about it and she suddenly realized how close she was to him.

"I, uh...I'm sorry if I was out of line," she said, soft enough for only him to hear. "It won't happen again."

Zoe shivered and nearly collapsed against him. God, he was so bloody sexy! Hayden Valentine was Zoe's idea of perfection, and if she didn't try to control herself, her mind would turn to dirty things. Like taking him to her apartment and keeping him in her bed for a few days. Yes, that would be fantastic. There were just a few problems with that scenario. One, he didn't even know that she wanted him. Two, he was still her boss. And three...she had absolutely no experience in the bedroom. The only guys she had ever gotten physical with, had tried to make her go too far before she was ready. And she wanted to be in love first. She could see that happening with Hayden, but she didn't want to get too far ahead of herself.

"Thank you," she said softly. Then she smiled at herself and shook her head. Why was she being so ridiculous?

"You know, I don't know why I'm doing this to myself. Normally I wouldn't have hesitated to beat the shit out of a scum bag like that. But for some reason, here I...well, I'm not sure. I suppose I've been trying to be on my best behavior."

She thought about the conversation she had the other night with her mum. She had said that if Zoe wanted something, or someone, then she should go for it. That was who Zoe was naturally, it shouldn't take a guy to pull her away from who she really was. And if he wasn't interested in her for herself, then it probably wasn't meant to be. She looked at the clock across the room. Ten minutes until her shift was over.

"Hayden," she said with a smile, and a little more Zoe Spencer courage. "Would you like to have a drink with me when my shift is over? I want to thank you for being my hero."

Zoe nodded, but though she tried desperately, she could not keep the blush out of her cheeks. Hayden just did these things to her. She nodded at him and looked directly into his eyes.

"I'll be looking forward to it," she said with a gentle smile.

As she finished giving out the last call for alcohol, she continued to smile about what he had said. She might have been the first person to come to a bar and try to be on their best behavior. That was probably true, but she had more than one reason to do so. One, was because she liked Hayden so much that she wanted to try to be perfect. She realized now that she needed to be herself. But the other reason to be on her best behavior, was the fact that she had never worked for anything a day in her life, outside of school.

She wanted to prove to her father, and to herself, that she could stick with a job and earn her own living. She wasn't living under daddy's roof anymore, and she wanted to show that she was strong enough to survive on her own. But now that her true colors were starting to show through, she felt even better about being here. And now she was going to have drinks with Hayden. This night was swiftly turning into the best night of her life.

Once all of the drink orders were finished and she was able to officially end her shift, she went off to the loo and made sure her clothes and make-up still looked alright. But her hair was too boring. She quickly took it down from the bun it had been in, and let it fall past her shoulders and down her back in soft, dark curls. She reapplied her lip gloss, and then she was out the bathroom door and moving toward the now empty bar, ready to prepare a drink for herself and one for Hayden.

Hayden smiled kindly noticing the blush but not thinking anything of it. He was completely oblivious when it came to the opposite sex. He was an idiot and it was hard for him to talk about his feelings or recognize anyone else’s.

“Umm, me too,” he said his tone a bit awkward but with a grin.

He went back to the office and started on the books for tonight not wanting to leave anything undone before he went and had that drink with Zoe. Zoe, just the thought of her brought a smile to his face for some unknown reason. She was a pretty girl but it was more than that. He couldn’t quit put his finger on it. There was something about her that just grabbed his attention and kept it.

Hayden hadn’t anyone keep his attention since his last girlfriend, a name that Chace had forbidden him to mention in the bar or any other part of his life. Still, there was something about her that screamed for his attention but not in the same way. Zoe felt different, she was different but he wasn’t sure if that would be enough to get him over his fear of it all.

Finally, Hayden noticed the empty bar just as he finished the last of the books. The timing was almost perfect and it made him smile. Like there was something else that was rooting for them. He didn’t know what he was expecting from this drink, or what she was expecting but whatever it was it gave him a little bit of hope. He sighed and straightened his shirt taking a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He fixed his hair and walked out into the bar.

Zoe finished pouring a drink for herself, and one for Hayden. She smiled when she saw him coming, and she felt her stomach flip again. How could anyone be so incredibly handsome? He took her breath away, and she couldn't remember the last time she had felt this way about anyone. Well, maybe she could. She thought at one point she had been in love with her best friend, Sebastian, but they just weren't meant to be. And she knew she loved him as a friend, but when they had kissed, it felt more like kissing a brother. And it had also been three years since anything remotely romantic had happened between them. She knew they weren't good together. He would just be her best friend, and that would be enough. She sighed and shook thoughts of Bastian out of her head. She would call him tomorrow and tell him about her night tonight. And hopefully he would be happy for her.

She climbed up on a barstool and sipped her martini, just watching him and trying to figure out how to speak without embarrassing the hell out of herself. She lifted her face to look at him and brushed her hair behind her back.

"Thank you for helping me with that guy. I was pretty close to kicking him in the balls, but I think it was better coming verbally from you. I tend to act before I think...so thank you for saving me from him, and from myself."

Zoe might have been seen as a princess by her father, but she knew she was not a pushover. She was not a dainty little flower unless she wanted to be. And of course, she had those moments. But she would not be pushed around, by her father, by her uncle Aiden...no, not by anyone. But if the right guy came around and she chose to be sweet to them, it would make it all worth it. And Hayden was definitely a contender. He didn't know that necessarily, but she was keeping track. And so far, she liked what she saw. The best part was...he was nothing like her father. She scooted a bit closer to him as she twirled her glass around in her hand a bit. He even smelled incredible. He was going to make her go into shock from wanting him so badly.

"So tell me more about yourself, Hayden Valentine," she said softly, with a small small gracing her lips. "You are here a lot, from what I've gathered. You always seem to be working so hard. Don't you get to do anything for fun?"

Oh my God, he is even more sexy than I first imagined.

Zoe couldn't help those kinds of thoughts from running chaotically through her head. The more he said of himself, the more turned on she was. He liked being outdoors, and he was athletic. Zoe was not necessarily the best at any of the things he had mentioned, but she enjoyed putting herself out there and trying new things. And she loved watching a strong, sexy man like Hayden in his element. She needed to get him out onto the field or something so she could watch those muscles in action.

"That sounds fantastic, Hayden. I'd like to see you play sometime. Or maybe we could even find something to do, just you and me. I've always been a fan of beach volleyball, myself. Although, I'm sure you could beat the pants off of me. I'm not very good," she smiled.

She blushed a bit when he reminded her about her run-in with the earlier asshole, but then she remembered that she didn't need to worry about being herself around him. So she sat up straight and pushed her long hair behind her back as she looked into his eyes.

"What do I do for fun? Hmm...that's a hard one. Usually, I'm either reading or shopping. I'm a bit of a shopaholic, actually. My father isn't very happy about that, hence my own personal job," she smiled.

"But I also love water. Anything to do with water, and I'm there. I'm in my hot tub with a glass of wine most evenings, when I'm not here of course. But I love the beach, or the lake. And of course, I love threatening people, as you so delicately put it. In fact, after I save up some money, that's what I'd really like to do with my time. I want to be an auror someday. I'm not sure if I'll be any good, but I think it would be fun to legally kick ass," she said with a soft laugh.