Second Chances

A/N: Yes, the movie was absolute crap - but Adam Baldwin played my Jimmy, the sexiest bartender in the history of the world, to perfection. He deserves his own smutlet, and this is for Guinny, who requested Jimmy/Holland.


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Being left for dead had its advantages – after the Karpovs and the Reillys had been wiped out by that woman who called herself Brigit, he’d been essentially free to do whatever he wanted after he healed from the gunshot wounds but it hadn’t seemed like a good idea to stick around, not with things the way they were. Sure, he should probably feel bad for playing both sides against the middle…but he didn’t, not really. Both crime families, for all their protestations about how much loyalty meant to them, didn’t give a shit whether or not any of their hired help lived or died. So why should he care that they were gone? Too bad that Brigit was gone; he would have thanked her for solving his problem. The safest thing he could think of to do with the money he’d made from both families was to get the hell out of the country. Most of the well-to-do customers that had frequented The Blue Parrot knew him by name and could possibly identify him to the police who probably would, in turn, try to discover how it was that a bartender had so much money in the bank.

Jimmy laughed as he stepped from the shower and reached for a towel – if anyone had told him that he’d end up living here in Holland tending bar in a club in Utrecht, he’d have told them they were crazy. Yet here he was, in a tiny apartment that seemed almost laughable if he thought about how much money he actually possessed, but he liked it; there was just enough room for him and on the occasions he felt like bringing a woman back to keep him company…well, there was enough room for her too. Club’s owner didn’t like him flirting too much with the customers, but that was fine with him; he’d learned early on that serving a woman at the bar and in bed only lead to trouble and he didn’t need any more of that. He rubbed the slightly puckered scars on his shoulder and side thoughtfully – he’d had enough trouble to last a lifetime.

Pulling on the standard uniform of black dress pants and a white shirt, he laced up his boots and ran his fingers through his hair before sliding his rings on. Jimmy grabbed up his jacket and locked the door behind himself, whistling as he walked down the street towards the busy downtown. Lifting a hand to greet his boss, he took his place behind the bar and smiled at the waitress who gave him a grateful look as she tossed her apron on a nearby hook. “Have fun tonight, James,” she said, dragging her arm across her forehead in a parody of exhaustion.

“You too…what can I get ya?” he asked the first of the customers after scanning their drinks to see what they’d need refilled. He was kept busy filling orders for the waitresses, keeping track of his regulars and watching for drunks who needed to be tossed out on their ear for harassing the ladies. Jimmy was clearing the empty glasses as a group of students left their places at the bar when two young women appeared and slid into the recently vacated seats. “What can I get you ladies?” he asked politely, trying not to stare – both of them were a lot prettier than the girls who usually stopped in. They were both tiny, with dark hair and light green eyes. He wondered briefly if they were sisters or something as they both started nudging each other for some reason.

“How about something fruity?” the taller one asked, plainly trying not to laugh.

Jimmy smiled. “Sure, I can make something special up for you,” he said, looking at the shorter one who was coiling her dark brown hair up in a messy bun and frowning cutely in concentration. She glanced up and blushed faintly when she caught him staring at her, looking away again almost instantly. He smiled as he turned away to make their drinks and he set down the vodka, cranberry and orange juice cocktails in front of them. “I wouldn’t drink through that straw if I were you,” he advised with another smile for the shy one, who blushed and looked down into her glass. God, she was cute.

When she excused herself to head off to the bathroom, her sister beckoned him over even though their glasses weren’t even half empty. “You’re from America, right?” she asked, as if his accent hadn’t given it away. She extended her hand across the bar. “I’m Tineke, and my sister is Maaike – she’s kind of shy,” she grinned.

He took her hand and shook it, smiling back. “But you’re not, are you? I’m James. Almost everyone just calls me Jimmy, though.” Jimmy leaned on the bar, nodding at Maaike’s abandoned glass. “She coming back for that?”

“As long as you’re still on that side of the bar, she is.”

“You speak pretty good English; are you two students at the university?” he asked curiously.

Maaike came back to sit down just as Tineke answered. “No, but we’re thinking about it – we’re from Nieuwe Pekela…do you know where that is? It’s near Veendam,” she said helpfully with a sidelong glance at her sister. “I’m here looking for some more business prospects.”

He excused himself briefly as he filled one of the waitresses’ orders. “Business? What kind?” he asked when he came back.

“She’s a translator; she’s really good at it,” Maaike suddenly blurted, then looked as if she wished she hadn’t said anything at all as he looked at her. Jimmy didn’t usually go for the shy ones, but there was something about her that made him want to know her better; he’d always been a sucker for freckles and she just seemed really quiet and sweet. Maybe she’d come in more often so he’d have a chance to actually talk to her once she’d loosened up. He carefully avoided trying to draw her out directly, instead aiming his questions and comments at her sister who seemed to be on his side for some reason.

“Will you ladies be stopping by again?” he asked when they paid for the drinks and got ready to leave after an hour.

“We’ll see about that,” Tineke teased, and he even got a shy smile from Maaike as they turned to go.

The next few weeks, both sisters came by regularly until one night he was surprised to see Maaike sitting down on her customary barstool by herself. “Hi, Jimmy…Tineke can’t make it; she’s meeting her boyfriend from Los Angeles,” she apologized softly.

“Really? LA?”

She played with her hair self-consciously, ducking her head. “Yeah, he’s a lawyer or something – they met over the internet and he comes to visit sometimes so I’m left to fend for myself.”

Jimmy couldn’t believe his luck – he liked the company of both girls, but now he had Maaike all to himself. “Maybe you can stay a little longer than usual, then,” he suggested, feeling unaccountably shy now that they were having an actual conversation.

“I’d like that,” she said, giving him the first true smile he’d seen from her yet as she slipped her coat off to drape it over the back of her chair. He swallowed, trying not to stare at the way the soft lighting made the pale skin of her shoulders look as if it was glowing. Maaike surprised him by staying his entire shift and actually growing comfortable enough to laugh and talk with him as he walked her back to her friend’s place; the next two days she did the same but on the third when he asked her if she wanted to go to an after-hours club, she finally accepted and didn’t make a fuss when he slipped his arm around her shoulders.

She sat close to him, a small hand slowly creeping its way onto his thigh as he kept his arm around her on the pretense of trying to keep her warm. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked when he felt a shiver go through her tiny frame. “You can have my coat if you’re really cold.” Maaike protested that she was fine, her eyes drifting from his down to his lips and back up again as the tip of her tongue moistened her own lips slightly. Jimmy knew an invitation when he saw one, so leaned in slowly to touch his lips to hers, kissing her softly. Her arms came up around his neck and she surprised him by kissing back hungrily, as if she would devour him if she could. “Do you want to come back to my place with me?” he whispered, and she nodded silently. “Let’s go, then.”

He kept her tucked to his side as they walked, frequently stopping in darkened shop entrances to kiss and touch each other. Jimmy locked the door behind them as they entered his apartment, and she walked around to look curiously, occasionally picking up a book to flip through it or examining a shot glass. “You don’t have much here,” she observed, running her fingertips over the small neon sign he’d taken from The Blue Parrot as a reminder of what he’d left behind and why.

“I don’t need much,” he commented, sliding her coat off her shoulders to hang it up for her before taking off his boots and moving back behind her to run his hands up and down her arms slowly. She leaned into the caress and tilted her neck in an unspoken demand for more contact, so he lowered his mouth to the pale skin, running his tongue over the smattering of freckles he found there. “I’ve thought about this ever since I first saw you,” he confessed as he unwound her long hair from its braid.

Maaike turned to begin unbuttoning his shirt, sliding her hands inside it to caress his bare skin. “You’re not the only one… I’m just not good at talking to anyone I’m attracted to,” she murmured back, slipping one hand up to stroke a fingertip over his goatee. “It actually takes me a while to be comfortable around anyone I don’t know.”

“So you get bolder, is that what you’re saying?” he teased gently, reaching down to unzip his pants and slide them down his hips so he could step out of them.

She made short work of his shirt, eyeing his muscles appreciatively. “How often do you have to work out, to keep looking like that? But to answer your question, yes…I often say ‘to know me is to wish you didn’t’ because once I’m comfortable with someone, I just can’t seem to be quiet,” she laughed.

Jimmy led her into the bedroom and got out his cigarette lighter to light up a few of the candles he’d bought recently in the hopes he’d be able to lure Maaike back to his place and into bed with him; She’d look even more beautiful by candlelight. She sat down on the edge of the bed, slowly taking off her clothes, and he could see that she was still a little shy so he helped her out of her top and jeans. He started breathing hard when she removed her bra and panties, slowly sliding his boxers down and off while she stared at him in turn. Jimmy always loved to see that look in a woman’s eyes when they saw him naked.

Maaike reached for him tentatively and he came to her, kissing her gently as he pushed her back to lay beside her, stroking her body and encouraging her to touch him. He groaned loudly when he felt her small fingers curling around his cock, sliding up between his legs to weigh his balls experimentally and rolling them in her palm. “Do you like that?” she asked curiously, rubbing a finger directly behind his scrotum. He swore, writhing as she pressed harder. “I guess that’s a yes, then.”

He lowered his head to a breast, licking and sucking her nipples until he found the pressure she liked while she continued to drive him nearly out of his mind by rubbing the pad of one finger over the slit of his cock to tease the pre-cum from it while she worked his shaft with her other hand. Maaike moaned loudly when he closed a hand over hers, directing her to rub the head of his cock directly against her folds. She was slick and ready for him, so he set the rhythm for her and thrust over her clit repeatedly until her hand tightened on him and she trembled with her climax. Jimmy kept pumping his hips slowly as he reached for a condom, rolling it on quickly and sheathing himself to the hilt inside her as her muscles had relaxed enough to allow him to seat himself deeply in her hot little pussy. “Fuck, you’re tight,” he grunted, tilting his hips as he started to work his cock in and out of her. “Yeah, feels so good, so wet…”

She gasped his name deliriously, lifting her legs to wrap them around his waist as best she could as he fucked her slowly, shoving in deep and grinding against her before pulling nearly all the way out just to do it all over again. “Jimmy…Jimmy, yes…!” Against the light from the candles, her skin looked like she was glowing from the inside out. Beautiful.

Jimmy managed to work her up to another orgasm before he had his, groaning out God-knew-what as he came in violent spasms, throwing his head back in ecstasy before he came down from his high enough to hold the condom in place as he pulled out. He slid the condom off and threw it in the trash, collapsing back on the bed to pull her into his arms. “You felt amazing,” he panted, stroking her back as she curled against him sleepily.

“Mmm…you weren’t bad, either,” she yawned up at him.

He smiled as her breathing evened out into sleep, and blew out the candles after he pulled the covers over them. If that was her still being shy, he couldn’t wait to see how she’d act when she was feeling bold; for the first time since he’d left America, he felt like he could make a new home here and have a second chance at life.

…the end?
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