Watching Over Her
Page 23
“Yeah, but what if what’s inside is 300 pounds of fat?”
“You’re impossible, man.”
Corey looked at him, his expression grim. “No, you’re insane. Don’t come complaining to me when Dogface starts stalking you.” He downed the remainder of his beer and grabbed a second from the coffee table, pulling open the tab.
Reed laughed. “You’re such a dick. No wonder you can’t keep a girlfriend.”
Corey snorted. “I don’t want a girlfriend. I’m not tying myself down until I’m old and flaccid.”
“No woman will want you once you’re old and flaccid.”
Corey shrugged. Losing interest in the conversation, he redirected his attention to the football game.
~*~*~*~
Oh my god, what if Abagail is right? What if this guy is some sort of perv or… Okay, no. I’m not going to think like this. It’s going to be all right. Chloe looked at the coffee shop from the driver’s seat of her car. She was supposed to meet her mystery man at 1pm. She’d been sitting there for over half an hour watching for a single man to enter wearing a red scarf. With each minute that grew closer to the time they were to meet her nervousness increased.
What if he’s standing me up? Maybe he’s doing the same thing as I am, waiting to see the girl with the red scarf. If he doesn’t like what he sees he’ll just stand me up. The thought didn’t help her nervousness, not one iota.
She looked down at her watch. It was currently 12:55pm. Chloe looked back up in time to see the back of a tall, lean, blonde-haired man entering the coffee shop, the tail end of the red scarf he was wearing flying behind him. The coffee shop had tinted windows so the patrons could see out, but you couldn’t see in. It wouldn’t be until she actually walked into the coffee shop that she’d get a full view of her date for the day.
With a sigh, Chloe slumped back into the car seat. She wasn’t stood up. But a new terror struck her; now that he was in the coffee shop he’d be able to watch every step she took until she got into the shop, scrutinizing every inch of her in her dark blue jeans and black turtleneck, and of course the red scarf.
You’re overthinking this. Just fucking do it, she coached herself, grabbing open the car door and stepping out. It’s a date. No big deal. Not even a date really, more like a meet and greet.
Squaring her shoulders, she kept her chin high, attempting to display much more confidence than she felt as she strode across the parking lot and in the coffee shop front door. As soon as she opened the door, the aroma of coffee and pastries drifted to her nose, causing her stomach to grumble. Skipping breakfast hadn’t been a great idea, but she’d been too nervous to eat, spending most of the morning ensuring every last detail of her appearance was perfection – from ensuring each strand of her long black hair shone to scrutinizing her outfit, making sure it emphasized her breasts while taking focus off the areas of her body that could use some serious time in the gym.
Upon entering the coffee shop she stood at the entrance and scanned the dining area, spotting him immediately. His head was down and he was frantically texting a message into his phone, so her entire performance had been for nothing.
Taking a deep breath in, she slowly released it, gathering the last bit of courage she had in her, and walked over to the two-person table at the far corner of the coffee shop. “Excuse me, are you Passionate Romeo?”
He laughed, tucking his phone away into the inner pocket of his grey wool jacket. “It didn’t sound so ridiculous when I picked it as a screen name, honest.” As he stood, his gaze slowly lifted from her feet, moving up her body and after what Chloe felt was an awkwardly long time, to finally meet her nervous stare.
They stared at one another for a minute. But it was Chloe who made the discovery before he did. “Reed? Ohmygod… Is that you?”
~*~*~*~
Reed was beyond shocked as he stared into the green eyes of the young woman who had once been his stepsister. Even after she made the connection and spoke his name, it still took a second to fully register.
“Chloe?” He chuckled and gave his head a little shake. He’d been jittery most of the morning, anxious to meet the mystery girl who had called herself ShyGirl19 and now that she was standing before him he realized just how silly it had been to be so worked up.
She shrugged, her cheeks growing warm and hesitation in her eyes. “Guilty. Small world, huh?” She’d been a shy kid growing up; apparently the past seven years hadn’t changed that.
“So does your former stepbro get a hug, or what?”
She laughed and stepped into him, slipping her arms around his neck and hugging tight to him. “This is unbelievable.”
“Very. I wish we’d stayed in touch.” Which was true, he’d wondered about her from time to time, but never went through the effort of hunting her up on Facebook or one of the other social networking sites, mostly because their parents’ divorce was extremely nasty and bitter. So he stayed out of touch, out of respect for his father and her mother. Just the mention of her mother’s name sent his father into an hour-long rant listing all the faults of Susan.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, Reed pulled her a little tighter. Her perfume, which smelt of roses, tempted his nose, urging him to bury his face into her neck. As her soft, curvy body rubbed against his, an all too familiar stirring began in his jeans. A part of him felt that on some level this was wrong, but rationally he knew that was nonsense. In fact, the part of him that felt it was wrong fuelled the desire he was feeling, that little hint of it may be inappropriate made her all the more appealing. When his eyes took in the curve of her hips and the way her sweater stretched across her breasts, he’d been immediately turned on. It wasn’t until the realization of who she was that it got weird.
Scared she might feel the rapidly growing erection forming in his pants, he stepped back, holding her at arm’s length, to get one more look at the fully grown Chloe Bennett. “You look…”
Shit, is there a way to tell her she looks fucking hot without it being weird? His brow creased as he considered it.
“What?” Her smile widened as she looked up at him.
“Huh?”
“You’re getting that look that you used to get when we were kids when you were deciding on whether you should do something or not.”
“Yeah, I – I was about to say you look…” He put his hands out to the side palms up. “You look hot. I mean… Shit.” He raked a hand through his short dirty blonde hair and sighed. “You’ve really grown up.”
She laughed again. “Seven years can do that.” She jerked her thumb toward the exit. “Do you wanna, maybe, go for a walk? I was warned not to go anywhere alone with Passionate Romeo, but I think I can make an exception.”
Placing a hand at the small of her back, Reed led her toward the exit. “Funny thing is, I was warned the same thing about ShyGirl19.” As they reached the door, he held it open for her to exit before him.
Looking over her shoulder at him, Chloe shot him a devious smile. “So you were told I may be some old pervert or a rapist preying on naive young men?”
He laughed. “No, no. Not exactly. I was told you’d be either some cougar looking to take some stallion for a wild ride, or some dog-faced stalker. I think it’s safe to assume you’re neither of those things.”
They turned left and began walking along the edge of the duck pond. “Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. You know the 12-year-old little girl from seven years ago feels like a lifetime ago. I’m not that girl anymore.”
“Is that so?” Reed looked down, his blue eyes catching her green ones, a hint of a grin on his face.
“It’s a fact. As a matter of fact, I could just possibly be that sex-crazed stalker type that you’ve been warned about.”
The declaration, while he sensed was complete bullshit, sent another rumble of desire through him. She was right though; she wasn’t that little girl anymore. That realization quieted his conscience, giving his desire free rein.
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