“Can I watch the game?” Mikey asked while Kasey stumbled towards the bathroom, terrifying thoughts of the night ahead racing through her head as Sara shoved a towel in her arms.
“Sure,” Sara said, following Kasey into the bathroom.
“I-I don’t know if I can do this,” she mumbled as she stood there, terrified, because she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do.
“Yes, you can,” Sara said, starting a bath for her before she rummaged through the rest of the bathroom and found a new razor, shaving gel, lotion, and about a dozen other things that she was going to need to get ready for this date.
“I-”
“Look,” Sara said, suddenly cupping her face and forcing her to meet her eyes, “it’s just a date, Kasey. Nothing is going to happen that you don’t want to happen. You’re just going out and having dinner with one of your best friends, okay?”
“But-”
“You love him, Kasey. I know you do and I also know that if you don’t do this that you’ll regret it, because I will kick your ass,” Sara promised, making her smile.
“Tell me that you don’t love him and that you really don’t want to do this and I’ll go tell Reese that it’s not happening and everything will be fine,” Sara said with a shrug as though it was no big deal.
She opened her mouth to do just that only to close her eyes in defeat and admit, “I can’t.”
“Then I suggest that you get your ass in that tub and shave those legs before your prince charming arrives,” Sara said before she turned her around and gave her a gentle push towards the bathtub. “And don’t skimp on the lotion!”
“Fine, Mom,” she said dryly even as she had to smile.
As soon as Sara closed the door behind her, Kasey busied herself by adding a few drops of lemongrass to the tub, some bath salts, and broke out the good body wash. By the time she’d settled in the tub, she was nervous again, but she was also smiling.
She was going on a date and she was actually excited, nervous, but excited. She’d never been on a real date where a guy picked her up, brought her out to dinner, a movie, drinks, or whatever Reese had planned for them. She’d never really cared how the night ended, but tonight was going to be different.
She was ready.
She would always love Michael, nothing was ever going to change that, but she was ready to do this.
She was ready.
She kept telling herself that as she shaved, washed her body, and when the water had cooled off and she ran out of excuses, she reluctantly climbed out of the tub. Keeping herself busy so that she wouldn’t talk herself out of this, she took her time drying off, applying lotion, body spray, and perfume. She kept herself busy by brushing her teeth, carefully putting on her makeup, and by the time she’d moved onto her hair, she regretted cutting it for the first time in years.
Knowing that it was pointless to dwell on things that she couldn’t change, she quickly styled her hair, wrapped a towel back around herself and stepped out of the bathroom just as Sara and Mikey were walking out the front door. Telling herself that she was fine, she walked into her bedroom and ignored the outfits that Sara had laid out.
Deciding that tonight was all about possibilities and taking chances, she opened her closet and searched until she found the dress that she’d bought years ago, the one that she’d bought on a whim and never had a chance to wear. She took her time dressing, selecting a pair of white panties trimmed with lace, dainty sandals, her grandmother’s diamond bracelet, and by the time that she pulled on that beautiful sundress, she was ready.
But, as it turned out, Reese wasn’t.
He wasn’t ready by seven o’clock.
Or eight o’clock.
And by the time that nine o’clock rolled around, she’d decided that she was more than ready to share a few things with him.
Chapter 35
“Oh, come on!” he yelled in disbelief as he stared down at the remains of the midnight picnic that he’d set up on the beach, wondering what else could possibly go wrong tonight.
That’s when the sky opened up and poured down on him.
He stood there for another minute, letting the rain drench him before he slowly turned around and limped back towards the house in the new shoes that he’d been forced to run the last five miles home in. He couldn’t fucking believe this was happening. He’d planned the perfect night down to the smallest detail and nothing, absolutely fucking nothing, had gone his way today.
When he went for his haircut the barber had misheard him and decided to give him a military cut instead of a trim, which hadn’t been the end of the world. He’d been able to shrug it off and move on, which had resulted in him being forced to buy shoes that were a size too small. Again, he’d been able to move on, because it hadn’t really mattered. Then he came back to the cottage where he’d discovered Jason and Trevor settling in to stay for the week to help with final touches with the kitchen, which he’d appreciated.
He really did.
He also appreciated it when the two bastards packed up their shit and headed to the nearest hotel until they were forced to turn around and come back with the news that all the hotels and motels within fifty miles were filled to capacity. Of course, they’d broken the news to him while devouring the romantic dinner that he’d planned on having with Kasey.
After he’d shoved both of the large bastards into the broom closet and shoved a chair beneath the knob, he’d taken a shower, grabbed his keys, and headed to town, prepared to somehow salvage this evening. That had ended with him in a store with a grocery cart full of flowers, chocolates, pastries, and a very large box of condoms that he’d hoped to put to good use tonight only to discover that in his rush to get everything done in time, he’d forgotten his wallet.
When he went to call his cousins and ask one of them to bring him his wallet, he’d discovered that he’d also forgotten his cellphone. That was also around the time that he’d realized that he was already thirty minutes late for their date. Deciding that he was going to have to figure out the details later, he’d got back in his truck and headed home only to break down after three miles.
After two hours, he’d finally managed to flag down a tow truck. The driver had refused to give him a ride or let him use his cellphone, which had left him with no other choice but to move his ass. Five miles later, he was back home, trying to salvage this date only to discover that it had all gone to hell and there was absolutely nothing that he could do to salvage it.
He limped over to the front steps of his cottage, sat down, pulled off his shoes and chucked them before dropping his head in his hands with a groan, laughing without humor, because he’d honestly never been this pissed before. He’d planned the perfect fucking night and here he was sitting by himself, drenched, pissed, and still a fucking virgin.
After all these years, all the women that had come and gone from his life and he finally met the one and he was sitting out here on his ass, in the pouring rain instead of with her, holding her in his arms and letting her know how much she meant to him, how much he wanted her.
And god, did he fucking want her.
All day he’d been thinking about her, thinking about the way she felt in his arms, the way her ass had felt in his hands earlier, all the things that he wanted to do to her, and how it would feel to finally slide deep inside her. It had been the only thing that had gotten him through all the bullshit today, the promise of finally losing himself inside her.
She’d probably be in his arms right now, running her fingers through his hair, letting him kiss her, touch her, and fu-
“Oh, look! You’re alive!” came the heavily sarcastic announcement that had him slowly lowering his hands and taking in the incredibly beautiful woman standing in front of him, not really looking like she cared that it was pouring out.
“That’s great! Because, I was over there for the past three…hours…Yummy?” she started to trail off nervously and it was then that he decided that he wanted to hear her
scream that nickname in his ear.
Tonight.
“Ummm, Yummy?” she asked, backing away nervously as he stood up, devouring her with his eyes from her short spikey hair to the cute little sandals on her feet, deciding that he was going to kiss, lick and nibble on everything in between.
“Umm,” she mumbled, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she took a step back.
Licking his lips, he followed her, smiling when the adorable woman took another step back and gestured weakly towards her house. “I-I’m gonna go home now. So, umm, yeah,” she said, swallowing noticeably as he took another step and then another.
She opened her mouth, shut it, opened it again, only to abruptly turn around and walk as fast as those tiny little sandals and that incredibly sexy dress would let her. Smiling, he went after her, deciding that he’d waited long enough.
*-*-*-*
“Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Oh, crap!” she mumbled over and over again as she rushed back to her house only to end up stopping with a pathetic groan and pulling off her sandals so that she wouldn’t scratch the new floor before she made a run for it.