But he was leaving anyway. He lived somewhere else.
Maybe he could only break her heart, if she let him. If she could keep herself from falling for his honeyed words, she could enjoy having a guy interested in her.
She turned to look up at him. He was gazing at her. Her body seized and her brain stopped working. Diego smiled and looked away. What had she done wrong? But then his hand slid down her side and settled at her waist. It was a warm weight, both comfortable and disturbing.
He smelled good, not like the heavy musk most of the guys around here wore. He leaned closer to her and told her about his job writing code for an advertising agency. Of course, Diego was white-collar. She was the daughter of a migrant worker who was never home. They didn't match at all.
Diego rubbed her fingers. Her whole body blazed. This wasn't fair. She glared at him. He lowered his face to her. He was going to kiss her. How dare he! They didn't even know each other.
His breath brushed her skin. She could imagine the feeling of his lips on hers, her first real kiss. He leaned back. Was she not good enough to kiss? Not worth the effort?
He touched her cheek. "You aren't ready yet."
Would she ever be more ready than she was right now? She turned her head and brushed her lips against his fingers. She ached to straddle him right here on the park bench and rub their bodies together as she delved into his mouth.
Of course, she never would.
"Are you in college?"
As if she had the money for school. She barely afforded her shots. And she had no desire to show off her real ID with its dreadful M.
But she nodded. Diego would be gone before the little lie mattered. She had a much bigger thing to hide.
"What are you taking?"
She stood. "Let's go somewhere."
"Anywhere with you." He got to his feet and took her hand. "Travis, see you tomorrow."
He passed her right hand to his right and wrapped his left arm around her waist. "Where are we going?"
The boys shouted lewd things, as if Lavender was going to put out after only knowing Diego for an hour. As if she was going to put out at all. Vish and the others gave her shouts of encouragement and sent her texts, but she wouldn't read them where Diego might see.
Diego had a nice car. A very nice car. This wasn't a car a girl like her rode around in. He held the passenger door open. She could either get in or make a scene. She got in. This car looked new, or at least well-taken-care-of. Diego put on his seat belt. "This isn't my car."
Then why was he driving it?
"My dad told me to rent one to save wear and tear on my own car, and if this one breaks down, I can just turn it in for a different model." Diego pulled into traffic. "Dad said to pick a car I might want to buy—I'm still driving Mom's old car—but I thought, why not drive a car I could never afford?"
So, he wasn't some rich guy. Not that that mattered. Distance would keep them apart more than money. "Aren't you worried it'll be stolen?"
"Sure, but if my car was stolen, it would be a lot worse for me."
She gave him a sidelong glance as he merged onto the freeway, so maybe he didn't notice. He was handsome even in profile: very manly, but gentle.
"I'll be careful with it. Where're we going?"
Lavender directed him to a beach. The sun was down, but the parking lot wasn't empty. The rising moon was nearly full. It broke from behind a cloud and its light shone off the water and sand. Lavender loved the ocean. She'd always longed to walk along the beach hand in hand with a handsome guy. Tonight was her chance.
And the change of scenery might keep him from asking more awkward questions.
*~*~*
Diego hadn't brought anything to get wet in, but he did have a beach blanket. Lavender slid out of her sandals. She had beautiful feet, too.
He removed his socks and shoes, and rolled up his pants. He should have worn shorts. The air still had to be seventy. He put his jacket and shoes in the trunk, grabbed the blanket, and asked if she wanted her shoes in the trunk too. She didn't.
They held hands as they walked across the sand. The top stuff was warmer than the sand underneath. They had to walk around a group of people. Diego had never seen so many people at once until this visit. The freeways were clogged, the parking lots were full, and the malls were like Christmas Eve every day. He'd always assumed Portland had a lot of people.
He'd been wrong.
They walked to the water's edge and let the tide cover their feet. The ocean water was warm here. They should return during the day, but the beach would be more crowded.
"Do you ever get used to the crowds?"
Lavender looked around like she had no idea what he meant. Fifty or so people ran or laid or played around. Forty-five more than there would be this late in the day on an Oregon beach.
Or course, the water at home was freezing even during the summer.
Lavender shrugged. "I hardly notice anymore."
So, she was from somewhere else.
"Do you like it here?"
"L.A.?" Lavender's gazed at the ocean. "I guess."
So, she hadn't chosen to move here.
"Do you think you'd like Portland?"
She looked at him, her lips together, and turned to the ocean again.
Not encouraging.
"It's green up there."
She nodded. "All the rain."
"It doesn't rain much during the summer, just enough to keep everything green. Portland has one of the largest in-city parks in the country, and also the smallest park in the world."
Lavender smiled. "The smallest?"
"This big." Diego spread his hands apart.
Lavender laughed. "You're pulling my leg."
Diego shook his head. "I'll show you when you come up to see me."
"I'm coming to see you?"
He hoped so. He'd dated a lot of people, looking for the spark that would last forever. Most sparks were just wishful thinking. Give it a try and see. He'd been open to failure for a chance at success, which was good, because the most he'd ever found were the small sparks of dying embers or the bright and hot sparklers which burned out quickly. With Lavender, the fire was small but growing. She could be the one: the one he grew old with. He had to take this chance.
"You're humming again."
"Do you want to go where we've never went to before?" Diego sang.
"That isn't the same song at all." She stamped her foot. She was adorable.
He found a clear piece of sand above the tide line and spread the blanket then, fell to his knees and held up a hand. "Kiss me, lady, one more time."
"But you haven't kissed me at all." She grinned.
"I can fix that."
Her lips were soft and warm. He tasted every bit of them as he caressed her neck, arms, and back. The first time he got near her breast she stiffened, so he gave her neck a thorough kissing. She didn't mind his hand under the back of her shirt. He slid his hand to the front again and traced the bottom of her bra cup. Underwire. Most were nowadays, except for the girls who weren't well-endowed. Lavender's maker had been generous.
Her breasts were firm and her nipples so big and hard that he could feel them through the padding. She gasped when he rubbed her, a good gasp, followed by her tongue in his mouth for the first time, so he left his hand where it was and brought up the other.
Diego missed breasts. He'd been single for nearly six months, and before that, he'd dated a guy, so Lavender was a feast after famine: a feast of the choicest meats and the best fruits and the tastiest desserts.
For the moment, she was his. He only had to find a way for this moment to last forever.
Chapter Three
Lavender let Diego's hands roam as long as they stayed above her waist. Her body tingled under his caresses. Ariel's tape job was holding, for now. Diego kissed down her chest as far as her neckline would let him, then lifted her shirt. She should tell him to stop. She should have never let him touch her in the first place. He mi
ght discover her secret and leave her at the beach. At least she'd kept her shoes.
But she didn't want him to stop. She ached to feel his big hands and warm tongue on every part of her. He kissed the top of her breast. This warm, not-quite-comfortable feeling would almost be worth risking her secret over. How would having him inside her feel?
That would never happen.
He bit her nipple. She gasped. Her bra had too many layers of fabric. She needed his mouth on her skin.
He sat up and sighed. "That's all I can take if I have to drive."
Then he slid her shirt into place. He wasn't going to keep going? He got her this high and hot and he was going to leave her here?
Had he figured out about her bits somehow and was just being nice about it? Ariel said the nice ones were the worst. She'd rather be yelled at than have the guy get sheepish over her parts. But Lavender wasn't sure she agreed. If she could get home with her dignity, she'd be all right.
Diego pulled her to her feet. Where was the car? Would he be a gentleman and drive her home? If not, she had enough for a bus ticket.
Diego shook out the blanket, tossed it over his shoulder, and took her hand. "Should we see a movie tomorrow?"
Lavender stopped walking and turned to him. "A date?"
Diego looked toward where they'd been sitting. "I don't make out with just anyone. Sorry. I kind of assumed… Lavender… lavender blue, lavender green, when I am king, will you be my queen?"
That was a nursery rhyme with his last name in it. "I'm not Lavender Greene yet."
Diego barked out a laugh and slid his fingers between hers. "Would you like to be? Lavender Greene?"
His puppy-dog eyes pulled at her heart as he asked the impossible. And the improbable. They had just met. "I'm too young to get married."
"Yet," said Diego. "You are too young to get married yet. When you're old enough, I'll be waiting."
For just a little while, Lavender would let herself believe.
*~*~*
Diego walked to the car slowly. This night should never end. One week wouldn't be long enough. She was between him and the ocean. The moonlight off the water silhouetted her. He could be with her forever.
He'd liked people in the past, sometimes liked them a lot, but not like this. Lavender was attractive, both in her looks and the way she pulled him close and pushed him away at the same time. Complex. He'd always liked complex.
Lavender's pretend indifference was cute, too. It was pretend, wasn't it? She wouldn't look at him the way she did if she wasn't interested, right?
He didn't want this to be just a late summer fling. She might not feel the same way, but he had a week to change her mind. Even after he went home, she'd only be a phone call or text away. He wouldn't let this relationship go until he'd tried every way to save it.
Now, he just had to get it started. He took her hand. "When should I pick you up?"
"For a date?"
"Unless you really don't want to go."
Lavender looked away.
Diego's heart sank. Maybe the indifference was real. But then why had she kissed him like she couldn't get enough of him? "Humor me. Please."
"You haven't asked me for my number or address or anything. Doesn't that come first?"
"I was going to walk you to your door tonight. I'll probably be able to find it tomorrow. Plus," He held up his phone. "I have your number and your friends' numbers, too, in case you don't call me back."
Lavender looked at him through her eye lashes. "Insurance?"
She was a Bond girl, a sexy spy, and she was flirting with him.
"You are worth any cost."
She rolled her eyes and tilted her head perfectly to be kissed.
He started tender, then pulled her against his chest with his hips back a bit. No sense scaring her with how hard she made him. Her breasts rubbed his chest. He used all his willpower not to cup them again.
He kissed her until he was at the edge of his self-control. She was even more beautiful with kiss-swollen lips. "Let me take a picture of you."
She backed away. "Why?"
"To tide me over until I see you again." And help out tonight when he went to bed. He wouldn't be able to sleep until he'd eased this ache a bit.
He took her picture. She turned and looked down, her hair covering part of her face. He took another. She glared at him. Click. She pouted. Click. She turned almost all the way around, exposing her beautiful neck. Click. She looked over her shoulder. He could fall in love with her from that look alone. Click. She pulled out her phone and took a picture of him. He lowered his phone so she'd get a good shot. She took another, then closed her phone. "So that's how to get you to stop."
Diego slid his phone into a pocket and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. She stiffened until he moved his hands up to just under her breasts. She was as skittish as a newly-out boyfriend. Most girls let him get a lot farther south before they balked.
Lavender wasn't like the other girls Diego had dated and she certainly wasn't like any of the guys. She outshone the lot.
Chapter Four
Lavender waited in the car for Diego to open her door. Would he be able to find her building tomorrow? If he was really planning to come get her tomorrow.
He walked her to the door and took her hands. "Is five okay? For our date?"
She nodded. She should eat something before he arrived, so she wouldn't gorge on expensive cinema candy.
"After the movie, I'll take you to the restaurant Patrick mentioned."
It better not be one of those fancy places. She'd make a fool of herself. Besides, she had nothing to wear.
He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. "If you don't like the place, you can veto it."
"I might."
He smiled. "You're so beautiful. I want to show you off."
Lavender turned her head. The neighbors were watching through their windows.
He touched her cheek. "Lavender, lovely Lavender."
She met his eye. Fire coursed through her. Despite the audience, she didn't pull away from his kiss. His moan sent a thrill through her. He leaned back with a sigh. "Until tomorrow."
He kissed her hand and walked to his car, but he didn't get in it until she'd gone inside.
Lavender went up to her room and fell back on her bed. She'd done it. She'd been kissed. Her breasts were touched, and enjoyed, if his attention to them was any indication. She'd spent time with a handsome man and she had a date for tomorrow.
Her dream was coming true.
But morning would arrive and spoil it.
She fished out her phone. The girls had filled her inbox with reminders to make Diego wear a condom and other irrelevant things. She sent one to Vish saying she was home.
She took off her clothes in the bathroom and carefully shook them out over an old newspaper. She'd save the sand and maybe glue it to a paper heart with today's date, so she'd always remember the one day in her life a man made her feel loved.
*~*~*
Diego drove back to Patrick's mother's house. Travis and his friends hadn't returned yet, but Mrs. Raleigh told him not to worry. She fed him homemade cookies and asked him all those questions he'd been too tired to answer this morning, like how he liked his job, how his parents were doing, and if he was seeing anyone.
He used that as an opening to ask her which of two flower arrangements might best express that he'd had a great time and looked forward to seeing Lavender again tomorrow. He was pretty sure which one he preferred, but mothers enjoyed being involved in these little things. At least, his mother did.
Mrs. Raleigh studied his phone and handed it back. "I know her name is Lavender, but that doesn't mean she likes the color."
He went with the most purple arrangement with lavender in it. It also had green hydrangea, purple lilacs, and stargazer lilies with some things called stock, lisianthus, and wax flowers in a white basket. He asked it be delivered at nine the next day. "She was all in purple. Pale purple
top, deep purple skirt, purple ribbons on her sandals, purple eye shadow, and a purple silk rose in her hair."
She smiled. "I guess she likes purple, then."
Diego flipped to the pictures of Lavender. "It might be too dark to see."
The pictures had turned out well and the darkness lent a mysterious air. He needed some alone time, maybe a shower, so he could be a noisy as he liked. How waterproof was his phone?
Mrs. Raleigh oohed and aahed over Lavender's pictures, then returned his phone. He bid her goodnight and sent Patrick the two best pictures and one to Jessica, Patrick's girlfriend.
He got a response from her moments later. Jessica agreed Lavender was pretty, but that she might feel out of place at the restaurant Patrick had told Diego about. She gave another suggestion.
Diego wasn't sure. Lavender was beautiful, and no matter what clothes and makeup she wore or how she wore her hair, she would be beautiful, but girls were sensitive to things that Diego was still learning to notice.
He could take her to a different place, only he itched to show off his beautiful woman to his peers. No. He'd let her decide because, ultimately, the most important thing was her comfort.
He stripped and hopped in the shower. Beaches were great, as long as they stayed at the beach. If a few ounces of sand stuck to every person who visited, how was any beach left?
Lavender had looked so beautiful. She did look so beautiful. He closed his eyes and saw her bright eyes, high cheek bones, full lips, her graceful arms, thin waist, long legs, and the way her long, dark curls cascaded around her body. She'd be perfect when he got her bare.
He cleaned himself and the shower wall. He was too polite to dirty Mrs. Raleigh's sheets. At least on purpose. Only this relief might not last him very long if he thought of Lavender tonight.
He hummed all the way to his room.
*~*~*
Lavender woke from her favorite dream of walking hand in hand with a man down a beach or across a meadow. Before the man had always been faceless, but last night, or rather this morning, he had Diego's face, his large hands, his smooth voice, his warm mouth, and his hard body. They'd spread a blanket on the ground and made love. He'd told her she was beautiful and that her body was perfect, so she must have been a normal woman in the dream. Diego was on her and in her and she'd been so close to coming… that she hated Vish more right now than in all the time they'd know each other.
Be My Queen Page 2
