“Apologize for what?”
“For my rudeness and jealousy,” he replied as his hand came up and covered the one that held the eraser. His touch made her shiver, but she fought the reaction knowing that she should be aiming for his knees as she had promised to refrain from doing last night when he’d hung up on her.
“Please look at me.”
She didn’t respond, and his grip tightened. “Look at me, Kayla. I have always been told that you can see the truth in a man’s eyes. So I want you to look at me.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Lord, the man had a way with words. Turning around, she looked at him. Up close, he was only more breathtaking. He also smelled good. She was so weak for this man. She was in trouble when she became turned on by his scent.
“I am sorry, and if you give me the chance to explain, I will.”
More importantly, she saw the sincerity in his eyes and felt herself nod, then looked at the clock on the back wall. “Okay, but you have five minutes.”
His eyebrows rose. “Do you have somewhere to be?”
She smiled. He truly was a man. “No I don’t, but neither do I get paid for overtime.”
He laughed. “You have a good point. I will make it quick.”
When Kayla agreed, he sighed in relief. She eased into one of the student chairs, and he sat in another next to her.
“I know that I behaved like an ass last night, but I promise you that it won’t happen again.”
He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what he was going to say. “My ex-wife Nicole had an affair with her best friend.”
He smiled, but it was not one of humor. “Actually it was a good friend of both of ours. Byron and I went to high school and college together. We all hung out in college.” He shrugged in a nonchalant manner that he didn’t feel. “I should have seen it coming, but it didn’t. Because even if I didn’t trust Nicole, I knew that I could Byron.”
His laugh was void of amusement. “Turns out that I couldn’t.”
What he left unsaid was that Byron had been one of the possible candidates when it came to Josh’s parentage. Once he’d found out just how willing Nicole was to share her body with anyone, he hadn’t touched her. He wouldn’t sleep in the same bed with her and allowed her to go about living her life the way she wanted because he didn’t know what else to do at the time. His only rule had been that she not leave the house until after the children were in bed. At least until he’d found out that she was pregnant with Josh. Then he hadn’t let her out of his sight. The last thing that he’d wanted was for a child to be harmed whether it was his or not. Luckily, Josh had turned out to be his son, and he cherished him. He cherished all of his children. Kayla reached out and touched his hand bringing him out of his thoughts.
“I am sorry to hear that, but I’m nothing like Nicole.”
James looked up in alarm and total horror. He realized that was exactly what he’d implied, and he was ashamed. “I know that, and if I have insinuated that then I really do apologize. You could never be anything like her. Nicole lacked the intelligence and class that you have. It was just too late before I realized it.”
She looked at him with an expression full of hesitance. “I am glad that you realize that, and I accept your apology. Just make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
He brought his hand up to cup her cheek. “It won’t happen again. You are too kind and deserve better than that.”
“Thank you,” she murmured.
He dropped his hand. “I don’t know if I can make it up to you because what I did was really stupid, but I hope that you will let me try.”
The corners of her mouth tilted upward. “I’m not the one that you need to make it up to.”
At his look of puzzlement, she continued. “You need to make it up to yourself. I am sure that I don’t have the whole story, but hopefully you will tell me one day.”
He returned her smile. She was better at reading his eyes than he expected. Then again, he shouldn’t be. Kayla was a very intelligent woman. He simply nodded, confirming her statement.
“I will because you deserve to know it, but it won’t be now. This is not really the time or place.”
She gave him a look of understanding. “Well, until you do, try not to beat yourself up too much, or me while you are at it.”
He laughed. “I will work on that.”
She gave him a warning look. “I’d like that, because if it does happen again, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
He leaned closer to her. “It won’t. I like you.”
She chuckled. “Well, I would hope so. I hate to think that I invested all of this time for no reason.”
He grinned. “Well I don’t want to keep you over since you don’t get paid overtime, but I would still love to see you again on Saturday. That is if you have time.”
She studied him for a several moments, then exhaled softly. “That sounds good, and thank you for coming by to apologize. Now I can reserve all of my curse words that I had laid out for you until a later time.”
That statement made him laugh again. “You know I really do like your sense of humor.”
She stood up. “It is my pleasure. We all need a little laughter.”
He stood up. “You are right. What else do people need in their life?”
She shrugged, her expression becoming indecisive. “Whatever else that person wants.”
He stepped closer to her. “And what is it that you want?”
She shivered as she looked up at him. He looked at her intently because he really did expect an answer. She disappointed him when she gave a simple but complex one.
“To be happy.”
He smiled. “And are you happy?”
She paused briefly before responding. “For the most part I am.”
“What part of you is not happy?”
She sighed. “The part of me that wants a wonderful man to spend the rest of my life with.”
One corner of his mouth curved upward. “Do you have any prospective candidates?”
She nodded slowly. “Only one.”
He tried to taper the hope that surged through him. “And who would that be?”
She answered without hesitation. “You.”
He knew that he should be running in the opposite direction at that statement, but for some reason he was excited to hear that. This was the first time that he’d thought about getting serious with another woman. The fact that it was her made the idea a whole lot more appealing. He truly had been hurt when Nicole had gone off and began having affairs. Kayla was nothing like Nicole, and he was starting to realize that she was a woman that he could look forward to spending the rest of his life with. He couldn’t help but to grin at the thought.
“What are you smiling about?”
The expression on his face became lethal, and he felt her shiver. “The fact that every time I am around you, that I am tempted to kiss you senseless.”
She chuckled as she stepped closer to him. Her eyes told him that a kiss from him would be more than welcome. “Well, feel free to do so anytime.”
That was all of the affirmation he needed. He pulled her into his arms and loved the feel of her against him. Lowering his head, he captured her mouth passionately. He swept his tongue in a search of her mouth, and she wilted against him. The thin material of her blouse allowed him to feel her nipples harden as soon as her chest touched his. His hands came down and cupped her bottom as she moaned. He brought her into his growing erection, and she in turn arched her body into his willingly.
His erection became one that was full and throbbing. He lifted her up into his arms and carried her over to her desk. The knee-length skirt was the perfect length for what he had in mind. Her breath caught in her throat as he stepped between her legs. His erection strained against the confines of his pants. He bit back a moan as her hands gripped the hard muscles of his arms. He countered her move by bringing his hands up and cupped a breast in each hand. T
he feel of her body was producing sensations in him that he had never imagined. Her breasts were heavy in his palms. He groaned as she arched against him. The feel of her against him—in his arms was almost too much. She stiffened against him, pulling her mouth away from his, and he had the perfect excuse to turn his attention to her neck. She trembled in his arms again calling his name.
“Yes,” he responded, his lips barely leaving her neck.
She moaned then cleared her throat. “As much as I love what you are doing, we have to stop.”
It took him a moment to realize what she was saying, and another to realize what he was doing. He pulled away from her, groaning in the process. A quick look at her revealed the deep flush of arousal. Her lips were also beautifully swollen from his kiss. He gave her another brief kiss before stepping back. She sighed heavily, and he helped her off the desk. He gave her an apologetic look.
“Forgive me. I got a little carried away.”
Kayla smiled as he tried to straighten up her clothing. Amazingly, she was not as wrinkled as she should be. He turned his back to her and tried readjust himself prior to turning back to her.
She sighed with slight disappointment, and he stifled a chuckle at the sound. At least he wasn’t the only one let down. “There is nothing to forgive. I enjoyed what we were doing a lot. Unfortunately, this is definitely not the place to do it.”
“You know that is another thing that I like about you.”
She sighed as she tried to smooth her hair back then paused when she seemed to realize what she was doing. He chuckled because her hair always looked untamable no matter what she did to it.
She gave him a questioning look. “What is that?”
“Your honesty,” he responded with sincerity.
She laughed. “I need a voice recorder to catch you saying that. I might need that later.”
He chuckled. “I would prefer not to have any incriminating evidence against me.”
She shook her head as she finished straightening up the classroom before picking up her bag. They had stayed a lot longer than five minutes, he soon discovered when she signed out for the day. He walked her out of the building, only to have her turn to look at him, clear astonishment on her face.
“Has Jamie been waiting for you this whole time?”
He nodded, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Once again, thank you for coming by to see me. Give me a call later on tonight if you can.”
He watched her walk away in astonishment. A few steps later, she stopped. “You might want to get a move on. My sister does charge late fees.”
She continued on, and he groaned as he watched the gentle sway of her behind as she made her way to her car. It took him a moment to realize that his daughter was in the car waiting on him and probably watching him drool over Kayla as well. The last thing that he needed to give his teenage daughter was something to bait him on. He also had two children to pick up from Kristen’s daycare. He turned and headed to the car. When he slid inside, Jamie was bobbing her head to the music on one of her CDs. She smiled when he started the car.
“I wondered if I was going to have to come in and get the two of you.”
He shot his daughter a look. “You just keep in mind who gives you your allowance.”
His daughter stared at him in surprise before her expression turned to one of amusement. “You are right, Dad.”
She flipped to the next song, and it happened to be one that he actually liked. “Oh and, Dad?”
He looked over at his eldest daughter not liking the tone in her voice. “What is it?”
“If you plan on going anywhere else, you might want to wipe that lipstick from around your mouth.”
Chapter Eight
“Now tell me why we are doing this again?”
Kayla looked up and laughed, but he didn’t find anything amusing right now. It had been her idea to have a double date with Jonah and Ellie. She had orchestrated the date, and now they were on their way to Sam’s Café to have a nice dinner.
“Because I want for you to meet Jonah and for him to meet you.”
He shook his head as he held the door open for her. Jonah and Ellie were already seated. They walked over to the booth hand in hand. Jonah and Ellie stood up to greet them. She hugged Ellie, then gave Jonah a hug and kiss on the cheek.
James was surprised that he didn’t tense at the action. The truth was he could tell that Jonah and Kayla truly were just friends. He accepted Jonah’s handshake before letting Kayla slide into the booth. She and Ellie were so involved in conversation that he had no choice but to converse with Jonah, especially if he didn’t want to come off as a rude jerk in front of Kayla again.
“How is your dad doing?” Jonah asked.
He nodded. His dad had improved a lot since he and the kids had arrived. In the beginning, he’d been skeptical about the return to Baxley. He’d actually been afraid of the memories that would be drudged up if he did. It was one thing for him to have a long-distance relationship with his dad. It was another for him to live in the same house with him.
Fortunately for him, his experience had been a lot better than he expected. He had a lot of people to thank for that. All of their conversations were halted as the waitress came up to the table to take their order. She started with their drinks and, since everyone was ready, went ahead and took their food order. When Nadia walked away, he looked over at Kayla just in time to catch her laugh at something Ellie had said.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?”
He looked at Jonah with an arched eyebrow. Even though Kayla was beautiful, he didn’t want another man, especially her guy friend, to be looking at her like that.
His eyebrows only rose higher when Jonah grinned. “I was referring to Ellie.”
A second later, the corners of James’s mouth curled upward, and he and Jonah shared a laugh. He realized then that he liked Jonah.
“It is reassuring to me that you haven’t been able to take your eyes off Kayla. I also like the fact that you haven’t bought into the rumor that is flying around town.”
He found himself chuckling knowing first hand just how quickly rumors could get out. It was still a mystery to him at how his past had gotten around town so fast, but it had. He turned his amused glance to Jonah. “Which rumor would that be?”
“The one that Kayla and I are romantically involved.”
He had to laugh again. “Actually, I fell for that one myself but only because I saw the two of you with my own eyes.”
Jonah gave him a puzzled look but didn’t have time to respond because Nadia brought their drinks back to the table. When she left again, Jonah resumed where he’d left off. “What do you mean?”
He gave Jonah a look that only a fellow man would understand. “Let’s just say that I have seen the end of one of your date nights.”
Jonah chuckled. “I can see how someone who isn’t from around here could think that Kayla and I have something going on.”
He found himself shrugging his shoulders. “The thing is I trust Kayla. That helps a lot.”
Jonah smiled. “That is good, but what do you know?”
He shook his head. “Nothing other than the fact that you two have known each other for a long time.”
Jonah leaned back in the booth. Jonah admitted that he’d known of the Smith sisters as soon as they stepped foot in town. He hadn’t really gotten to know them until Randy had started to date Kristen ten years ago but had lost contact with them once Randy and Kristen broke up. He hadn’t met back up with them until Kristen and Randy had thrown a party and invited some of their close friends.
“It was there that I first saw Kayla as a woman, and she will admit that she saw me as a man as well.” Jonah paused briefly. “Yet, the more time that I spent with Kayla, the more I knew that we were better off as friends. But we had to be sure.”
Jonah paused, staring him directly in the eye. “We went on one real date and shared one kiss that I swear to you, if I had a sister, I know that was
what it would feel like.”
James laughed, and he had no idea as to why, but it had a little to do with Jonah’s dry tone and his facial expression. He should be bothered at the fact that the two of them had once wanted to date each other. Yet he wasn’t. He couldn’t be. Both Kayla and Jonah were honest and up front about the whole ordeal.
“And what are the two of you talking about that has you laughing so much?”
He looked over at Kayla then wrapped his arm around her. “Oh, not much. Jonah is just filling me in on the history of you guys’ relationship.”
She shook her head and placed a brief kiss on his lips. “Glad that you find it so funny. I must say that it is a totally different reaction from the last time that this topic came up.”
“Which you can’t hold against me because I apologized for that, and you forgave me,” he teased.
She scooted closer to him. “And I must say that you do apologize very well.”
They both looked up as Jonah cleared his throat. “The two of you might want to head home if you are going to keep that up.”
Kayla rolled her eyes at him. “It looks to me that you and Ellie are sitting pretty close together yourselves.”
Ellie blushed, but before Jonah could respond, their waitress walked up to the table with their food.
After she walked off Jonah reached for his glass. “I would like to make a toast.”
Everyone picked up their glass and waited for Jonah to continue. “To new friends and new relationships.”
James was happy to drink to that. He could think of nothing better to toast to. His stay in Baxley was only getting better with each passing day. He enjoyed the rest of dinner. It had been a while since he’d done this for several reasons, one being that he didn’t trust anyone after he’d caught his best friend in bed with his wife and the second that he had four children who demanded a lot of his time. Or rather three who did. Jamie was only demanding every once in a while. It felt good to be in the presence of good people. Good and trustworthy people. By the time dinner was over, he was stuffed. They paid their checks then made their way to their respective vehicles.
Her Every Fantasy Page 6
