OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE

by Lindsey Brookes

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Kelsie pulled up to the address her mother had given her. The place where she was to meet her very last blind date. That alone had her smiling.

  She lowered her window halfway down, looking around. Judging by the number of vehicles parked outside, it had to be the right place. Though there were a few cars in the mix, most of the vehicles that filled the driveway and the road in front of the house were big, shiny trucks.

  The house where the company picnic was being held was a newer split-level home with a privacy fence separating the backyard from the road in front. Woods provided the backdrop for what looked to be a partially fenced in backyard.

  She sat in her car, listening to the radio. A glance at her watch had her frowning. Had her mother gotten the time she was supposed to meet her date at the picnic mixed up? Or had he already arrived and decided to skip taking her in with him? Not that it would break her heart or anything. But then she’d still owe her mother one more blind date. She’d just as soon get it over with.

  Her ‘date’, the one and only Max, was supposed to meet her at her car at one o’clock so they could make their entrance into his company picnic together. It was now a few minutes after one with no date in sight.

  Ten minutes later she was still waiting for her mother’s ‘Mr. Perfect’ to arrive. Kelsie glanced at the clock on the dash again with an irritated frown. She didn’t have all day to sit there and wait for her date to arrive.

  Her pale pink nails tapped the steering wheel impatiently. He had to show up. Otherwise, her mother’s promise never to fix her up again would be null and void.

  Reaching for her purse, she dug inside for her cell phone. She would call her mother and double-check the meeting time. She pulled up her contact list and had just started to scroll down for her mother’s number when it occurred to her she’d be better off not calling. All she had to do was keep quiet about the date not happening and she was home free. Her mother would never know.

  The idea as fleeting. Past experience told her that her mother would be hunting her down in the morning to see how the date had gone. There was no way she’d be able to lie to her.

  “So now what?” she muttered in irritation. Here she was doing the guy a favor and he doesn’t even have the decency to−

  A tap on the partially open driver’s side window startled her from her thoughts. Her head whipped around, a startled gasp leaving her lips. The open phone slipped from her hand, clattering onto the passenger side floor.

  “Cole?”

  He smiled at her through the partially open window. “Hey, doll.”

  Heart racing she reached out with trembling fingers to lower her window the rest of the way down.

  “W…what are you doing here?”

  Had he followed her there? The possibility that he had both angered and excited her.

  He leaned into the open window, flashing that sexy, lone dimpled grin she’d been trying so hard to get out of her thoughts. “I would’ve been here sooner, but I ran into road construction.”

  “You still haven’t answered my question. Why are you here?”

  “As luck would have it, I’m your date.”

  It took a moment, but when his words finally hit her – like a ton of bricks. “You what?”

  He motioned toward the house. “I’m taking you to my company picnic.”

  “Your company picnic?”

  He nodded, grin still intact.

  What was going on here?

  “I’m not sure what you’re up to, but I’m supposed to be meeting a man named…” Her words trailed off as the realization of what her mother had done hit her. Cole Maxwell. Max.

  Shit.

  “You’re Max?”

  “To some of my friends,” he replied with a calmness she certainly didn’t feel at that moment. In her case, every single sensitive part of her body was going haywire. All she could think about was what it had been like to be made love to by this man. A man she’d done everything in her power to force from her thoughts. And now here he was in her life again.

  She forced herself to focus on the present and the situation she’d suddenly found herself in. “My mother was a part of this?” It was more a statement of fact at this point than a question.

  He nodded. “I’ll admit she might have helped me out a little, but it was my idea.”

  “My mother did more than help a little. She lied to me.”

  “There wasn’t any lying,” he argued with a smile.

  “I…you…” She gave a frustrated groan. “How could she have done this to me? Her own flesh and blood!”

  “I think your mother felt guilty about the wedding cake thing, so she agreed to help me out.”

  “The wedding cake thing?”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled. “After your mother found out we had gone out, she brought a tray of wedding cake samples in to the station for me to taste. Apparently one date to her meant you and I were engaged or soon would be.”

  “Oh my God,” she gasped. “I can’t believe she would do something like that.”

  “Trust me, she did. My entire crew witnessed it.”

  Heat rushed to her cheeks. “This is unreal.”

  “If I remember correctly, your mother is rather fond of the cappuccino truffle torte. But you, on the other hand, are more the French vanilla with cream cheese icing kind of girl.”

  She groaned and dropped her head back against the headrest, covering her face with her hands. “I can’t believe she did that.”

  His husky chuckle echoed in the car. “Her grandmother clock is ticking, you know.”

  She lifted her head to look at him. “She actually said that?”

  He nodded with a grin.

  “I am so sorry. I told Nanci something like this would happen if my mother found out I liked you.”

  “So you do like me.”

  How had that slipped out? Luckily, she hadn’t blurted out her need to feel his lips on hers again, to have him make love to her the way only Cole could.

  “I can’t do this,” she said, reaching out to turn the keys in the ignition. “I have to go.”

  His hand covered hers, stopping her. “Don’t leave.” It wasn’t an order. It was more of a determined plea.

  She was angry with both her mother and Cole for deceiving her the way the two of them had. But she was even angrier with herself for wanting him the way she did.

  “Why shouldn’t I?” she asked, her narrowed gaze pinning his down.

  “Because you and I need to talk.”

  “Yeah, well we could have done that over the phone,” she replied and then cringed. Why did she have to go and bring up the phone?

  The widening of his grin told her she had indeed prompted thoughts of their last phone conversation. Thankfully for her, he made no mention of it. In fact, he said nothing at all for several long moments, just stood there grinning.

  “This isn’t going to work,” she said halfheartedly.

  He broke eye contact just long enough to glance over his shoulder toward the house where the picnic was in full swing and then back to her, the expression in his dark eyes tender. “It can work. And for the record, you’re wrong about me.”

  “How so?”

  “I’m not perfect, Kelsie. Not by a long shot. All I ask is that you give me the chance to prove it to you.” He hesitated, his smile widening. “You know, I have to say I never thought I’d find myself trying to convince a woman how ‘not perfect’ I am.”

  “Look, Cole, I’m sure you’re going to make some other woman very happy─”

  “I don’t want some other woman,” he said, effectively cutting her off. “I want you.”

  “What about the other woman?”

  “What other woman?”

  “The one Joe said you had moved on to.”

  “There is no one else. Hasn’t been since I met you.”

  “But I thought…”

  “Why would I want any other woman in my life?” he said no longer
teasing. “Hell, Kelsie, you make life so much more exciting when I’m with you. Always throwing me a curveball when I’m expecting a fastball straight down the center. I want that. I want you.”

  Her heart was in her throat. That was the most romantic thing a guy had ever said to her. And at the same time the most frightening.

  “Damn you, Cole Maxwell. Saying things to me like that is an unfair tactic.”

  “Is it working?” he asked, his expression almost boyishly hopeful.

  “Yes,” she said with a sigh. “It is.”

  He straightened and opened the door, reaching for her hand. “Good. Because I wouldn’t have been the only one who would have been disappointed if you had decided not to stick around for the picnic.”

  She let him pull her out of the car, meeting his gaze as he slid his arms around her waist. “If you’re referring to my mother, it wouldn’t matter because I’m not sure I’m ever going to speak to her again anyway.”

  He chuckled. “Your mother doesn’t seem like the type who can be avoided for very long. But I wasn’t referring to her. I was referring to Nanci.”

  “Nanci?”

  “Yeah. She’s out back with Joe.”

  She put up her hand. “Hold up. Are we talking Nanci, as in my best friend Nanci with an ‘i’ instead of a ‘y’?”

  He nodded.

  She stiffened. Was everyone she knew in on this blind date set up? “Are you telling me my best friend knew you were who I was going to be meeting here today?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “Which is it, Cole? Yes or no?”

  “Both actually.”

  “Do you mind telling me how that’s possible?” she asked, her irritation growing.

  “Joe decided not to tell Nanci you were coming until they arrived at the picnic.” He pointed to the driveway. “That’s his silver Explorer parked next to the mailbox, so I’m assuming she knows now. Joe was afraid she might let it slip if he told her any sooner.”

  At least her friend hadn’t turned traitor on her like her mother had. “I don’t like being lied to.”

  “No one lied.”

  She shot him an accusing glance.

  “Well, not really. I am your blind date. I’m taking you to my crew’s annual picnic, and one of my nicknames is Max. So you see, doll, no lies.”

  As much as she wanted to let him have it for pulling this crazy stunt, she couldn’t. Cole had gone to all this trouble just to see her again. And she had to admit it was the perfect plan to get her to go out with him again. He knew she wouldn’t have accepted if she’d have known it was him she was meeting that afternoon. And, despite all her protests, it felt good to be in his arms again.

  She sighed in surrender and relaxed in his arms. “You are crazier than my mother.”

  “Thanks. I’ll consider that a compliment.”

  “Cole…”

  “Yeah?”

  “Why do you call me that?”

  “What?”

  “Doll.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Because that’s what you remind me of with those big beautiful green eyes. Those incredible lips.” He bent to brush his lips lightly over hers. “And this perfectly petite body.” His hands glided up the sides of her shirt to graze the swells beneath it.

  She shuddered. He made her feel so unbelievably sexy. She whispered his name, pressing into his touch.

  He responded by threading his fingers through her hair and lowering his mouth to hers once more, this time deepening the kiss.

  She clung to him, her body aching for more. But the flow of laughter drifting out over the privacy fence pulled her back into reality.

  She pushed away, trying to catch her breath, trying to think about anything but sex with Cole. “Something smells good.”

  “You mean besides you?” he teased then bent to nibble playfully at the nape of her neck.

  She shuddered as the heat of his mouth eased along her flesh. “I was referring to whatever’s cooking on the grill.” The words came out in a half-whisper as she tried not to recall how that same mouth felt moving over other parts of her body.

  Thankfully, he ended the sweet torture. “Come on, let’s go see if it tastes as good as it smells. Or, then again, if you’d rather we could always go back to your place and have emotionless sex.”

  More heat moved up her already sensitive neck to settle in her cheeks. Kelsie lowered her gaze to the cotton tee stretched across his muscular chest, determined to avoid that sexy grin and the desire he had once again stirred in her.

  Sex with Cole was the last thing she needed to think about. Not when she had been trying so hard to get him out of her system. Unfortunately that wasn’t going to happen as long as she and Cole were in such close proximity.

  He cupped her chin, lifting her face to his. “Come on. I was just teasing you.”

  Oh, he had done more than that. He was making her want. Bad.

  “I know that,” she muttered, trying to ignore the throbbing between her thighs. “But I really do owe you an apology for the other night. I never should have called you when I was somewhat inebriated.”

  He arched a challenging brow. “Somewhat?”

  She laughed softly. “Okay, so maybe I was a lot inebriated.”

  His husky laughter joined hers. “You were adorably inebriated. And I honestly didn’t have a problem with anything you said to me the other night, except the part about you wanting to end things with me. Oh, and maybe the part where you insisted I try wearing your bra to see how it feels.”

  She gasped in embarrassment, the heat in her cheeks rising. “What?” She’d wanted Cole to cross dress in her clothes?

  “Well, not me in particular. Or your bra in particular for that matter. You just seemed to think men don’t appreciate the amount of suffering it takes to wear them.”

  She groaned. “Shoot me now and put me out of my misery. I’m so embarrassed.”

  Cole chuckled and pulled her closer. It felt so damn good to have her in his arms again. Something he might not have had the chance to do without her mother’s help.

  He smiled into her hair. “Has anyone ever told you how sexy you look when you’re blushing?” Hell, she was sexy no matter what she was doing.

  She groaned again. “Stop saying things like that. You’re only making it worse.”

  “Come on,” he said, releasing her. Taking her hand in his, he led her toward the festivities before he gave in to the urge to take her back to his place and make love to her again. “The guys are looking forward to seeing you again.”

  “At least, I won’t be hanging from a tree limb this time,” she muttered. “I can only imagine what they must think of me after that fiasco.”

  “They like your spunk,” he said as he led her across the freshly mowed front yard to the hinged gate at the side of the house. Unlatching the gate, he swung it open. “After you.”

  She stepped past him into the backyard. “You’d better watch it, Cole. Holding a gate open for a girl will put you back into the ‘too perfect’ category.”

  His gaze fell to her shapely backside and the jean shorts hugging it. If she could read his thoughts, she’d know they were anything but gentlemanly. But before he could set her straight, his date was swarmed by every single unattached guy at the picnic.

  Ignoring him, his buddies offered Kelsie chairs, drinks, you name it. It was almost comical. Almost. Having had more than enough of his buddies drooling over Kelsie, he laced his fingers through hers possessively. “You boys will have to find your own woman. This one’s mine.”

  He waited for her to argue that she wasn’t ‘his’ and put him in his place, but surprisingly she didn’t. A promising sign.

  “Finally,” Joe called out as he led Nanci, drink in hand, through the dispersing circle of grumbling males. “We wondered if you two were going to show up.”

  Cole nodded. “Joe. Nanci.”

  “I see the vultures are after your date, too,” his friend said with a wink in Nanci
’s direction.

  “Well, they’re out of luck.” He turned to smile at Kelsie. “I worked damn hard to get this date set up. I have no intention of sharing my woman with any of them.”

  Kelsie looked up at him, pinning him with her green eyes. “Your woman?”

  “I was thinking the exact same thing,” Nanci said, looking his way.

  “Did I say my woman?” Cole teased. “I could have sworn I said my date.”

  “Nope,” Joe assured him. “It was definitely ‘your woman’ I heard come out of your mouth.”

  “Hmm…must be all that smoke I’ve been inhaling on the job lately.”

  Or wishful thinking.

  Joe nodded in agreement. “Yep, that’s got to be it.”

  Nanci stepped up to Kelsie, placing a hand on her arm. “Before you yell at me for Cole’s bringing you here, I want you to know that I’m innocent.”

  “I already know that.” She cast a quick glance his way. “Cole told me you had no idea what they were planning. So, unlike my mother, you’re off the hook.”

  Nanci let her hand fall away. “Well, judging by the smile I saw on your face when you two arrived, I’m assuming Cole’s already been forgiven.”

  “Not quite,” he answered for her.

  “He’s right,” Kelsie said with a stubborn tilt of her chin. “I only stayed because I knew you were going to be here.”

  He pressed a hand to his chest. “Ouch, that hurt.” Then he chuckled. “But don’t you two believe a word of it. She stayed because she wants me - bad.”

  “In your dreams,” she shot right back.

  Joe snorted, choking on his drink.

  “Hey! Whose side are you on?”

  “Sorry,” his friend replied, pointing to the plastic cup in his hand. “It went down the wrong pipe.”

  Nanci laughed. “Well, whatever the reason, I’m glad you stayed.”

  “Yeah,” Joe said, slipping his arm around his date’s waist. “It’ll give Nanci here something else to talk about besides sex. I swear this woman here has a one-track mind.”

  His date looked up at him. “You have a problem with my sex talk? Maybe we’ll just forget that phone sex I promised you later.”