What I didn’t like was when her forehead creased in worry, like she couldn’t believe she’d said it. I wouldn’t let her regret it, though.
“You don’t have to keep thanking me, Kinley. I want to go with you.”
Her face softened and she looked relieved that I hadn’t needled the subject. I smiled and began to back out of the room. “I’ll let you get ready. Towels are under the bathroom sink. If you need anything else, just let me know.”
“Thank you.”
“Stop thanking me.”
She didn’t respond but when I looked back at her, she was smiling to herself. I got out of there before I could act on my instincts to tackle her to the bed and finally have her the way I’d wanted to all these years.
She’d only been in my house a total of twenty minutes and already I wanted to get her naked.
I’d lasted longer than I thought I would.
##
My body demanded that I exert some of the pent-up energy I had thanks to Kinley’s arrival. And since I couldn’t exert it the way I wanted—with Kinley’s body underneath mine—I decided to build a shelf for my hall closet and start on replacing those doorknobs.
After an hour, I figured it was time to go take a shower and get ready to be Kinley’s date.
Date.
Date for Valentine’s Day, not that I took much notice to the holiday, but it’s not like I wasn’t aware that it was today. Which was why I’d snuck out of the house briefly while she was in the shower, ran to the florist shop down the street, and bought her a bouquet of red roses. I didn’t care if the gesture seemed too intimate. It was Valentine’s Day and every woman needed flowers today. Even if they came from a mere “friend.”
When she’d asked me to be her date tonight, I thought I’d hallucinated it at first. Then, when it registered that she had not only said it, but was also serious about it, I’d felt like I was on top of the world. I’d probably sounded pathetically eager to her when I’d agreed to it, but I didn’t care. She was lucky I hadn’t screamed it at her and told her I’d do any damn thing she wanted of me.
I climbed the stairs and passed her bedroom on the way to mine. I heard some music coming from inside—Fallout Boy?—along with her out-of-tune singing. I smiled and kept walking, loving so much that she was in my home.
Then, I passed by the bathroom and stopped dead in my tracks. Ah, hell. It was her scent. The smell that was so distinctly Kinley that my dick immediately stood at attention when I got a whiff of it. I didn’t even know what it was—flowers and sweetness that reminded me of summertime—but I’d grown up smelling that fragrance wafting out of the bathroom at Clay’s house. Even before I realized I had feelings for Kinley, I loved that smell.
Now, it was in my house.
And I never wanted it to leave.
Get ahold of yourself, man.
I was so lost for this woman, it was ridiculous. Thank God I’d had an in-suite bathroom built on to my bedroom shortly after I bought the place because there was no way I’d have been able to handle taking a shower in the same one Kinley had just used. I was already going to be furiously jacking off in my own shower as it was.
Just like when I was a teenager, lusting like crazy after her.
Funny how some things in life come full circle.
Ten minutes later, I was putting on my suit and tie and trying not to think about Kinley being naked in the next room. I’d known it was going to be like this when I invited her to stay with me and yet I’d still said it. I must be a masochist.
Her voice suddenly broke me out of my testosterone-infused fantasies. “Hey…Parker?”
It was coming from down the hall, so I opened my door and stepped out. She was peaking her head through the crack in her bedroom door, her shiny dark curtain of hair framing her face, her lips pursed in question.
“What’s up?”
“Could you…um…zip me up?” Her voice was small and meek, her anxiety clear.
I won’t lie, all the blood in my head instantly rushed to my dick at her words. I was a guy and dealing with any part of Kinley’s clothes—zipping or unzipping them—was going to catch my attention in a big way.
“Sure.”
She stepped back into the room and opened the door wider with my entrance. My eyes flicked over the clothes strewn out on the bed, her three pairs of heels on the floor, and the makeup or whatever she had scattered across the dresser. Kinley’s feminine presence was taking over my house and I couldn’t have been more pleased.
But then my eyes caught on her back and all thoughts in my head ceased to exist.
Her tanned, naked back was facing me, the deep red lace material of her dress split down the center, waiting to be zipped. My fingers itched to pull the zipper down further, though. I wanted to see more of that back, wanted know what else she had on underneath, or if she didn’t have anything on at all. And yes, I was painfully aware that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Every part of her was breathtaking.
Her dress was hugging her ass, my hands longing to hold it and pull it up against me. Her legs were on display in her sexy as fuck heels. Her hair reached halfway down her back, making me want to grab onto it as I bent her over that bed, shove her dress up, and show her what it was like to be taken by me. Show her the things I could do to that body.
“Parker?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at me.
I shook my head. Right. Zip her up and stop staring.
“Sorry,” I muttered, stepping forward and gently taking ahold of the small zipper.
Her scent surrounded me as I held the material together, slowly closing it and covering her beautiful, flawless skin. I could feel the air changing, the sexual tension thickening as we both became more aware of our bodies’ reaction to the other. I felt goosebumps pop up over her skin and her breathing changed. My fingertips were burning with the heat radiating between us, my touch scorching her skin just as assuredly as hers was doing to mine.
I was disappointed when I had her zipped all the way up too quickly. I started to step back when she spoke. “Wait.” Her voice was low and husky and at that moment, I had never wanted another woman more in my life. Didn’t even know this kind of want was possible. “The top clasp, too,” she whispered.
She gathered her hair together and pulled it over her shoulder, exposing her neck and the top of her dress to me. The dress had a big hole in the back, leaving most of her upper back bare, and was held together at the very top by three delicate little hooks.
My fingers ghosted across the skin of her neck, subtly caressing her hairline and tracing the curve of her shoulder. I knew she could feel what I was doing, but neither of us were about to stop it. We both wanted it more than we could stand. I knew that much.
I slowly grasped the hooks and pulled the material together, doing my best to focus on fastening the damn things instead of how her hair smelled. My mouth was right at her ear, my breath tickling her skin, as I went to the next hook. The room was silent, nothing but the sound of our mingled breaths filling the void. Every second that passed was another test of our self-control, our will to not screw things up again between us before they had a chance to be fixed.
I hadn’t exercised this kind of strength since I was a college kid, forcing myself to suppress my need for my best friend’s high schooler sister. I’d only ever been infatuated with one girl. Only ever had to hold myself back from one girl because I cared about her too much to hurt her.
All of that self-righteousness was now rearing its ugly head.
And I don’t mean the head on top of my shoulders.
“All set,” I breathed when all three hooks were fastened. I couldn’t step away from her, though. Couldn’t force my feet to move.
“Thanks,” she breathed.
I smirked into her hair, closing my eyes tightly as the smell permeated my senses. “What did I say about thanking me?”
She blew out a breath. “To stop?”
I just hummed in agreement, wan
ting to take pleasure in this moment for just a few more seconds before I had to pull away.
Her voice was so soft, I almost didn’t hear what she said next. “What if I don’t want to stop?”
Fuck.
I was one deep breath away from insisting that we never stop and stripping her of all her clothes and her defenses right here.
Dammit to hell, but we couldn’t. Not yet.
Something inside told me that her emotions were still too raw when it came to me. I just had to give it a little more time, continue to wear her down. Even when she was practically instigating something like this, I had to stay strong. Things would go smoother in the long run if I did.
Ever since I left her all those years ago, I felt like I was constantly being punished with the memory of her, the “what ifs.” Punished for listening to my head instead of my heart. Stepping away from her in that bedroom was further penance for my misguided decisions when I was a naïve, twenty-two-year-old kid.
“We should probably head out,” I told her, widening the distance between our electrified bodies. “We don’t want to be late.”
She nodded her head and straightened her shoulders, which I hated. I didn’t want her feeling like she had to hold up some sort of act around me. I guess she had reason to put up her guards after what I’d done in the past, but things were different now. We were both older, more mature, and I was here now. I wanted to be one hundred percent committed to making us work.
I would have to show her that she didn’t have to hold back anymore.
##
I had never really cared for weddings. I guess I had known so many couples who ended up divorcing—whose weddings I attended—that I had to wonder what the point of it all was. And the fact that this particular wedding was on Valentine’s Day, a holiday I never truly saw the value of, was like a double dose of clichéd romance.
But with Kinley on my arm, I didn’t give a damn where we were.
As soon as we’d arrived and people started to notice me, Kinley had panicked a little. “Oh, shit. I don’t want your being here to take away from Marcy. I hadn’t even thought of that. Should we leave?”
I just looped her arm through mine—feeling like it belonged there—and patted her hand comfortingly. “It’ll be fine. We’ll sit in the back and I’ll keep my head down.”
She nodded, biting her lip, and followed me to the back of the room. She sat close to me throughout the entire ceremony, something I relished. It didn’t matter that we weren’t officially together. My male instincts were making me feel territorial with Kinley, urging me to shoot death glares at any man who dared look at her and kick the ass of any of them stupid enough to actually touch her.
Yeah, I sounded psychotic but whatever.
Not to mention the fact that it was probably the first time in my life that I’d really listened to the vows as the bride and groom spoke them to each other. I’d never given much thought to my own wedding, unsure of whether or not I’d even have one. But I was hanging on to every word the pastor spoke, every promise the couple made to each other.
Those were the same promises I wanted to make to Kinley. The ones I’d already silently vowed to her in my head. The ones I so desperately wanted to hear her say to me.
Growing up the way I did, with the parents I was given, I never knew much about love. I’d never had a serious girlfriend in my life, never felt anything earth-shattering for anyone except for Kinley. But I’d seen what love should be like in the form of Sam and Diane and now Clay and Gwen. And sitting there in that wedding ceremony only confirmed what I’d known for a long time now.
I wanted love like that. Someday I wanted to be married. And I definitely wanted a family.
And Kinley was the only woman who I could picture having any of that with. The only one who made sense because she was the only woman who had ever made me happy, who could make me happy for the rest of my life.
We made our way into the banquet hall across the way for the reception after the ceremony ended with a rendition of “I’m Walkin’ On Sunshine,” a choice I would have thought was unacceptably corny but somehow worked for the happy-looking couple.
“I’m starving,” Kinley groaned out as we made our way to our table. My arm quickly shot out to grab a handful of mints on one of the refreshment tables as we passed by it.
“Here,” I said, handing her some.
She looked down at my hand and back at the table. Then she laughed, her smiling making her whole face light up like a Christmas tree. “Oh my God. I can’t believe you just did that.” She still popped a couple of mints into her mouth, once again dragging my attention to her luscious lips.
I shrugged. “No one saw. Can’t let you starve now, can we?”
She playfully rolled her eyes, shaking her head at me. We found our seats and Kinley began to greet everyone around the table. She turned back to me and with her hand lightly touching my arm, pointed to everyone as she introduced them.
“Parker, this is Beth and her husband Mark, Cal and his wife Ramona, and John and Lisa. We all went to Boston College together, except for Ramona and John. Everyone, this is my friend, Parker.”
I would have loved for her to introduce me as her boyfriend, but I knew that clearly wouldn’t have been accurate. But I also loved the fact that she’d introduced me like any other normal guy and not as a famous athlete, one she assumed everyone would recognize.
I smiled and stuck my hand up in a wave. “Nice to meet everyone.”
One of the guys—Mark, I think?—stood up to shake my head. “Honor to meet you, Mr. Cruz. My father and I are big fans.”
The guy may have screamed “old money,” but he sounded genuine. “Parker is fine. And thank you very much. I appreciate that.”
Throughout dinner, I listened to Kinley and her friends catch up and share college stories, delighting in her smiles and laughter, re-familiarizing myself with this side of her. The laidback, bubbly side that had been so prominent in her younger years.
Before she got involved with you.
The guilt was excruciating. It was true, after all. Kinley changed after I ended things with her. She became more closed off, less outgoing, and just altered her once-positive outlook on life. Not that she was super negative now or anything, but I still hated myself for what I’d done to her. I was thankful that she’d had friends in college who she seemed to like and had fun times with. I’d wanted her to have a good experience in school, break out and meet lots of people, see the world.
That had been the whole reason I ended things in the first place.
Listening to her and her friends made me think that I hadn’t totally ruined all of that for her.
“Could I get you any more wine?” I leaned over and asked her, not wanting to interrupt her conversation.
She looked at her empty glass and then up at me, her face glowing in a way that made me want to kiss the hell out of her. “Sure.”
Her eyes flickered to something behind me and her smile was suddenly wiped from her face. Surprise turned to nervousness as she quickly glanced back to me, eyes wide. I started to turn to see what had caught her attention, but her hand flew out to snag my arm, pulling me back to face her.
“What?” I asked, my senses on alert.
Shaking her head, she replied, “Just saw someone I didn’t want to see. Didn’t think he would be here.”
He? “Who?”
She sighed and closed her eyes. “An ex.”
Chapter Seventeen
Parker
If there was one thing that I hadn’t been expecting to deal with tonight, it was meeting one of Kinley’s exes. I hadn’t even thought about it, though I wasn’t sure why. A lot of her friends from college were here, so there was a considerable chance that I was going to run into some guys she used to date.
And although the last thing in the world I wanted to do was meet this guy, I was also incredibly grateful that I’d agreed to come to this wedding with her. Because if she had been by herself,
who knows how many men would have been throwing themselves at her.
In my opinion, it would have been every sane, single man in the room.
When I saw Kinley force a tight smile on her face, I knew the ex was coming over.
Breathe. He could be a nice guy. You never know, you might like him.
Yeah, right. I was pre-disposed to hate any man who had ever touched Kinley, ever held her. It was an inevitability, no matter how nice the guy was.
“Hi, Kinley,” the male voice behind me said. “It’s good to see you again.” I’m sure it is. “You look great.”
Not going to get you any play, asshole. Not while I’m sitting here.
“It’s nice to see you too, Ethan. This is my good friend Parker,” she said, gesturing to me, at which point I stood up to face the guy that I might have to kill. “Parker, this is Ethan, one of my former classmates.”
I held back my smirk. I may not have been her boyfriend yet, but even I knew that good friend was a hell of a lot better than former classmate.
Ethan’s face froze in shock when he saw me and this time I did smirk, unconcerned if it made me look like an ass. I was never a jerk about my wealth and fame, and I never used it to take advantage of anyone or any situation.
But as I shook hands with the man who had once called Kinley his girlfriend, I relished in the fact that I was Parker Cruz and I had a woman like Kinley Masterson by my side.
“Wow, it’s awesome to meet you, man,” Ethan said, his face still registering bewilderment. He looked over to Kinley. “I didn’t realize you followed baseball, Kinley.”
Why would he know that or care now anyway? They weren’t in contact anymore, were they? My gut tightened at the thought, so much so that I answered for her. “We’ve known each other for years. Her brother and I are close.”
Ethan nodded his head, his eyes narrowing just slightly at me, like he was re-assessing me as unexpected competition. “I see,” he responded. “Well, I better go offer my congratulations to the bride and groom. We’ll catch up later,” he said to Kinley before leaning down and giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
Playing for Kinley (Cruz Brothers Book 1) Page 16
