Crashing Into Me (Crashing Into Me #1)

by R. L. Jackson

  The space was landscaped to the nines and still mostly green despite the weather change. Flowers still clinging to what little life they had left, lined the lawn edge and manicured hedges made up the rest of the greenery. A beautiful sculptured bird bath was in the middle of it all, although no bird in his right mind would use it this time of year. She stomped towards him in her flip flops, the cold blades of grass stabbing at her toes, making it very uncomfortable and reminding her she needed to go shoe shopping soon. Besides the black boots that pinched her toes, the flip flops were her only other pair. He swung the axe once more, and the large chunks of wood fell into even piles to the grass.

  “Hey!” She yelled and nudged him on the shoulder.

  He spun around, his wet hair cascading his face. The sun shone behind his head so he looked like some angelic portrait you’d buy in an art gallery, or some cheesy perfume commercial actor.

  “What’s up?” he asked, breathless and smiling.

  He dropped the axe on the stump again, and she watched as the sweat beaded down his neck and traveled to his chest. She forced herself to look at his forehead and dared not look in his eyes again. Lana was not in the mood for another “episode.”

  “Why are you still here? Aren’t you leaving town?” she asked focusing on his forehead. He frowned.

  “No, I told you I was staying. Besides, I intend on keeping my promise to Rachel.”

  At least he was trying to keep his word, but did he have to do it here? Kayden was moving his head around trying to lock eyes with her, and she avoided his attempts, by looking everywhere but at him.

  “You OK?” he asked concerned, “Is there something wrong?”

  He wiped his forehead and she glanced up at him for a quick second.

  “No nothing’s wrong. Just stay in your corner and I’ll stay in mine alright? I came up here for peace and quiet and I intend on getting it.” She turned to walk away and the wind ripped through her sweater, causing goose bumps to appear on her neck. At least she hoped it was the wind. He grabbed her by the arm gently as she started walking away.

  “Hey,” he held her for a second and she froze, her stomach twitching in anticipation. She looked up at him this time and her legs grew weak.

  “I’m chopping the wood for a fire, because it’s gonna be one of the coldest nights we’ve had in a while. Perhaps we can get to know one another, instead of avoid each other the entire time?” he asked.

  Here we go again. He looked so sincere, no smugness or arrogance detected, so she nodded her head in agreement.

  “Will it get you to leave me alone for the rest of my vacation?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Then I’ll be there,” she replied and turned to walk away, but he still held on and she looked at his hand then back up to him. “May I have my arm back?”

  He smiled and loosened his grip and she headed for the house. She wondered if he was watching her leave but fought the urge to turn around to see. Once she was back inside, she closed the patio doors and looked over her shoulder at him. He stood there, still watching with his hands on his hips, and their eyes locked again. He gave her another wink and she turned away from him focusing her eyes on the couch and couldn’t wait for the fire. The loud crack of the axe resonated through the house, signifying he had returned to his task at hand.

  She quickly stole another glimpse of him while he wasn’t looking. A faint smile crept onto the corners of her mouth, as she walked back up the staircase and was very interested in learning what he would reveal about himself—if anything at all. It would definitely be an interesting night one way or another, but her expectations weren’t very high.

  ***

  After eating the delicious chicken pot pie from the night before in her room, Lana decided it was time to go downstairs and face the music. She’d spent most of the day up there since their earlier encounter in the garden and was ready for some human interaction. The hallway connecting the two rooms on the second floor was dimly lit and she could see that the door to Kayden’s was cracked a bit. She slowly walked down the hall, and couldn’t help sneaking a peek as she passed, when he opened it.

  She could see his bathroom door was opened behind him and the warmth from the shower steam and aroma of his cologne slapped her firmly in the face.

  “Ready?” he asked, drying his hair with a towel and her stomach tightened that familiar way again.

  She nodded and quickly moved down the stairs ahead of him. Every step her feet took, one of his would follow, his smell engulfing the small corridor of the stairway. Once she reached the bottom, the entire house was beautifully lit by the fireplace. The recessed lights throughout the house were also dimmed very low, creating a warm and sensual atmosphere. Through the windows the sun was just beginning to disappear under the tree tops, with dark purples and pinks of sunset drenching the sky.

  The scene before her looked like a romantic diamond ring commercial where the guy eventually dropped to his knee and asked the giggly overly happy girl to marry him. Lana reached over to the wall, and turned the dimmer bright, changing the illusion to the way the house normally looked. Feeling the heat from his body up against her back, she felt tingly all over and went into the kitchen where breathing would be a little easier. She no longer trusted herself around him, not since the elevator incident earlier that morning.

  “Why’d you turn the lights on?” he asked, “What’s the point of lighting the fireplace?”

  He reached over to the dimmer switch and lowered them completely. The shadows and flickering from the fireplace illuminated the house instantly. At least he’s wearing pants this time. No shirt though, of course. Only pajama bottoms which were sitting low on his hips, exposing the band of his Calvin Klein’s. She averted her eyes to the cold slab of granite on the kitchen counter, feeling herself get distracted already.

  Kayden walked into the kitchen and reached for the double doors of the refrigerator and she instinctively took a step away. Smirking at her unease, he pulled out a bottle of wine and she rolled her eyes.

  “Are you serious?” she asked.

  “This is just a gift. My apology for ruining your vacation.”

  He sat the bottle on the counter and she eyed the bottle’s label. It was a 2007 Tenuta dell’Ornellaia. She knew her wines and this one was about nineteen hundred dollars a bottle.

  “You can open it or not, it’s your choice.”

  “How do you even know I like wine?”

  “I called my sister and asked,” he said with that grin.

  Damn it, Paula. I forgot to call her and kill her. Arms crossed, Lana walked over to the living room and sat on the couch next to the fireplace. It was so grand you could almost walk into it. It also was beautifully designed in a light stack stone that spanned all the way to the ceiling. It was really spectacular even when not lit. Kayden came in now, holding the bottle in one hand and an opener and a single wine glass in the next. He sat them on the coffee table in front of her and winked at her.

  What is his deal? Is that just something he does, or does he think it’s charming enough to get me in bed? She fought the urge to roll her eyes, sure they’d fall out of her head, she was so annoyed. The uncertainty of a person’s intentions bothered her more now as an adult than it ever had in the past. He moved to the other side of the table and sat on the cream colored love seat, across from her. After a minute, he spoke.

  “You’re not sure whether you like me not,” he stated, as he leaned back on the couch, and folded his arms behind his head.

  Now she was getting pissed off. If he thinks this whole “look at me I’m sexy” routine is getting him anywhere he has another thing coming. Yes, she was attracted to him, she already admitted it to herself, but the more he acted that way, the less she liked him.

  “Whatever gave you that impression?” she asked sarcastically and rolled her eyes. He smiled.

  “I can also tell you’re intimidated by me.”

  He knew exactly what he was doing if he’s t
hought that this whole time.

  “I just don’t know you. You don’t intimidate me one bit,” she lied.

  “Well we’re both here and we’ve established that neither of us are leaving, so get to know me. I promise I won’t bite.”

  “Promises are a comfort to a fool,” she reached for the bottle and began to open it.

  From the way things were starting, it was going to be a long night and she could stomach it better if she were tipsy. As she struggled with the cork, he reached over the table, placed his hand over hers, and took it from her. His eyes glowed in the darkness and the warmth of his huge but gentle hand touching hers sent a bolt of electricity through her. She felt herself reeling reluctantly and quickly removed her hand before she forgot that she couldn’t stand him—again. He took the bottle, keeping his eyes locked to hers but she turned her focus to the blazing fireplace.

  A gentle tug from his muscular arm and the cork popped open with no effort. He poured her a glass and pushed it across the table to her.

  “You’re really beautiful, you know that?” he asked as she reached for it. She paused, surprised as she wasn’t expecting that to come from his mouth. She picked up the glass and drank half of it in one sitting.

  “Not sure what to say to that,” she forced out finally, the wine burning her stomach.

  “You could start with thanks.”

  Lana downed the remainder of the wine and refilled her glass. She took a small sip this time and looked him in the eyes.

  “So you wanted to get to know one another? You start.”

  The wine was making her brave already and she didn’t feel half as intimidated anymore. She was a lightweight, and drinking alcohol fast wasn’t a brilliant idea, but she needed to numb her very raw feelings.

  “What do you want to know?” he asked.

  “Let’s start with, where do you live? Where did you go to school?”

  This would be interesting. She twirled the crimson liquid around her glass letting the wine aerate more. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her intently. A defensive position already.

  “I live in Atlanta and before that, New York where I went to Cornell and majored in Architecture.”

  Wow. She took another sip of her wine.

  “A Cornell graduate?”

  “Yes. Now you.”

  “I live in Florida, where I went to the University of Florida, and majored in Nursing. Why architecture?” she continued.

  Lana was sure the decision had to do with his family’s business, but was interested to hear it anyway. Not everyone chose to follow their parent’s footsteps and something about them intrigued her. He poured himself a drink from the decanter on the end table and took a sip. As he leaned forward, holding his short glass tumbler, he seemed to struggle with what to say.

  “My parents, naturally. They started a small company here when we were just kids. It expanded and eventually so did we.”

  “And now you’re in charge of the company?” she asked and he smiled.

  “No. Not yet anyway. My mother is still seated as the CEO and when she’s ready to step down, I’ll take over.”

  He took another sip of his drink and stared into the glass.

  “Why were you driving like a maniac on the way up here?”

  “I’d had a shitty day and as you know, because of my flask, I had a few drinks. I wasn’t thinking clearly and I’m truly sorry for the entire ordeal,” he picked up his drink again and she couldn’t help but look at it as he raised it to his mouth.

  “Do you have a drinking problem?” she continued.

  “Perhaps,” he sat the empty glass down.

  “Why were you in such a rush to get here?”

  He looked at her expressionless and she locked eyes with him now. Searching for truth, she wasn’t nervous, or looking away this time and he looked caught off guard and uneasy. He took a deep breath and turned to the fireplace.

  “My brother Joel. He died five years ago yesterday and his ashes are here. I come every year to pay my respects and this year I was hoping to do that with Paula, but you know the rest of the story.”

  His eyes grew dark as he said this, never looking at her, only the fire. He picked the glass up and poured another drink.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had a brother that died,” she rested her wine glass down on the table.

  He took another sip of his drink, pain trapped behind his eyes. He was good at guarding his feelings she could tell, but she was better at spotting them in the most reluctant of people—a gift she acquired in her nursing profession.

  “Of course not. I’m not surprised Paula didn’t fill you in about it. It’s our family’s dirty laundry. Best kept under the rug.”

  “Do you mind me asking how it happened?” Lana sat closer to the edge of the couch, her eyes intense and sincere.

  He could sense that she was genuinely interested in his story, so he rubbed his stubbly chin, and took a deep breath before speaking.

  “It was a car accident,” he looked down at the glass in his hands, staring at the amber liquid. “It was after our annual Capshaw Realty Gala in Shelby and we had both been drinking. I thought I was the soberest of the two of us and decided to drive instead of calling a cab like I should have. We were blasting music and singing, so I was distracted, wasn’t paying attention. With the road being black ice that night, I lost control of the car doing around eighty miles per hour and crashed into a pole. He died on impact. I survived and…” he couldn’t finish. He twirled the drink around in his hand a few times, then gulped the last of it.

  He reached for the decanter again and Lana got up, walked over and sat next to him as he poured another.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” she whispered.

  She didn’t realize how close she was sitting to him until he turned his head to her and they were almost nose to nose for the second time that day. This didn’t cause the usual reaction in her though. This confession was way deeper for him and she got the feeling he didn’t get to express what he’d been dealing with since it happened. He obviously had a lot of guilt and hadn’t forgiven himself either although he was looking for it from his family. He smiled weakly at her, his eyes glassy. She thought about holding his hand for a moment, feeling awful about coercing him to talk, but decided not to. She didn’t want to give him the wrong idea about her intention.

  “It’s okay,” he replied.

  He stood from the couch and walked towards the panoramic windows. Watching him, Lana realized she had judged him too quickly. There was more to him than good looks and arrogance but that begged the question. If he felt this badly about his actions, why not be more cautious? Why continue to behave the same way that caused the tragedy in the first place? It didn’t make any sense to her.

  “The accident is the reason I’m not the CEO right now. My mother blames me for losing her son and husband, and she doesn’t want me ruining everything they’ve built. Can’t say I blame her.”

  Husband? Lana didn’t understand that, but wouldn’t ask. She felt bad enough and didn’t want to make him feel worse.

  He kept his back to her staring out into the empty garden and Lana had no idea what to say to him. This was deeper than what she anticipated for the night. A few more moments of silence passed by before he continued.

  “Joel was the favorite son and I was always the screw up. Sometimes a part of me thinks she wished it were me instead of him. It would have been fair anyway. He didn’t deserve to pay for what I did.”

  He blinked back his tears, surprised at himself for exposing those dark feelings to her. She raised from the couch, walked over to him and held his hand the way she did with her patients. As a Nurse, she heard things like this all the time and understood that a person needed an ear, someone to show compassion even when they didn’t realize it was what they needed.

  “Don’t say that. Your family may be pissed but I doubt any parent would have those kinds of wishes for their children. No matter
what the circumstance.”

  He smiled and turned his head to her, eyes watery and she was caught off guard.

  “That’s nice of you to say, but I know them better than you. Why do you think, you had no idea who I even was?”

  He looked back over the darkened sky as the first of the snow flurries began to blow in.

  “I don’t mean to be insensitive, but if you feel this way why would you contin—” she started, but she instantly couldn’t finish her thought. She didn’t have to.

  He turned fully to her now, eyebrows furrowed, pain beneath the surface of his eyes, raw and exposed. He looked broken. It was a new expression and one Lana already didn’t like to see him have.

  “I wish I knew why. I ask myself that every day and I still don’t have an answer.”

  He gave her hand a slight squeeze then let it go. He went over to the fireplace, grabbed the poker and stoked at the embers, the fire flaming bright orange. He sat back down on the couch and motioned for her to sit next to him. She followed, but sat on the opposite side as they were before.

  “So tell me, why is a woman as hot as you, up in a mountain house all alone?” he winked at her.

  Any trace of his previous vulnerability had evaporated and she was surprised by the question. It took her a moment to answer.

  “Because I didn’t think I needed an escort?”

  “In other words, no boyfriend?”

  And now we’re back. She picked up her glass and took another sip. Regardless of his turn in direction, he had opened up to her and she felt it was only fair she did the same.

  “Last year around this time, I was left at the alter by my fiancé and boyfriend of four years,” she replied in one breath and it stung.

  She worried admitting this made others think something had to be wrong with her, and that maybe she deserved what she got. He frowned.

  “I’m sorry. It truly was his loss,” he replied.