“That’s okay,” she said, taking a step back. “They’re just some old jeans.”
“Kyla, I didn’t... I mean... What I’m trying to say is, I didn’t mean to do that. Well, I did, but not like that.” He stumbled over his words, trying to find a tactful way to apologize. He’d embarrassed himself.
He took a deep breath. “Okay, I didn’t mean to let you fall, but I did mean to kiss you. Although I should be staying away from you, instead.”
She was still staring at his chest, heating his body up from the inside out on this seventy-degree evening.
“Kyla?” Miles took a step back and tilted his head as he grinned at her. “You okay?”
She grabbed her elbow and frowned. “I’m fine. I’m just trying to figure out what made you think it was okay to kiss me.”
“I don’t know. Maybe because you kissed me back!” He took a step back and ran a hand across his face. “I don’t have to tell you that I find you very attractive. I’m sure you picked that up over the last few days. And I thought I felt something coming from you, too, but I may have been wrong. Anyway, I apologize.” He walked over and picked up the bike, busted chain and all.
“Apology accepted,” she replied from behind him.
“Well, I think we need to head back. But this bike’s not going anywhere. I’ll leave it here and come back for it tomorrow. The walk back’s going to be much longer than the fast ride down here.” He set her bike against some bushes and went to pick up his.
“Want to ride back on the handlebars?” he asked, holding the bike steady.
She held her T-shirt-wrapped arm up. “No way! The last thing I need is to fall off again. I’ll walk.”
He looked up at the evening sky. “Don’t happen to know any shortcuts to get us back to the house, do you?” he asked.
She shook her head.
As they walked back along the gravel path, Miles asked Kyla what to expect tomorrow during the school visit. She gave him a brief overview of the day. Then she stopped and asked him something he hadn’t expected.
“Miles, what did you mean when you said you should be staying away from me?”
He lowered his gaze and took a deep breath. He shook his head, gazing at Kyla. “Let’s keep walking. I’ll explain.”
The sun had disappeared and twilight was upon them. Miles knew they would be engulfed in darkness pretty soon.
“A couple of days ago we talked about the pretty fast life I used to live. I made a lot of money and had a good time spending it. I went through cash and women in a fashion that would not have made my father proud. One day, I looked in the mirror and I realized I wasn’t the man my father raised. Nor was I the man I wanted my little brother to emulate. It was time to do something about that. So I decided I had to slow down.” He cleared his throat. “I prayed about it before deciding to...well...take a vow of celibacy.”
Kyla pursed her lips and tilted her head slightly. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to disrespect your vow or anything, but earlier this week when you spoke about media perception, I thought you were saying you never lived that life.”
He nodded and kept walking. “I used to live that life. Those days are long gone.”
He glanced over at her and could see the puzzlement on her face. He hadn’t told many women about his vow for that exact reason. He really wanted to know what was going through her mind right now.
“So...how long has it been?”
“A little over a year now. Thirteen months, to be exact.”
“Wow, that’s so long,” she said. “It takes a strong man to do that. I commend you.”
He chuckled. “Thank you.” He’d been strong until tonight.
As twilight turned into night, they finally reached the beginning of the path at the end of the backyard. Kyla let out a deep breath. All the lights in the house were on.
“Well, I’m sure we’re going to have some explaining to do,” Miles said before he walked the bike up to the rack and placed it in. He swatted at his skin as another mosquito took a bite into his flesh.
Kyla unwrapped his T-shirt from her elbow, which was still bleeding. “I was going to give you this back, but I think I’d better keep it on. I’ll wash it and give it back to you tomorrow.”
“Not a problem. But you do need to clean that gash up.”
The back door opened and Tayler stepped out. “Hey! What happened to you guys? I thought we were going to have to come looking for you.” She hurried down the steps. The minute she noticed Miles didn’t have a shirt on, and then saw it wrapped around Kyla’s arm, she stopped. “Oh, my goodness! What happened?”
Miles spoke up. “I’m afraid we had an accident. Kyla cut her arm, and we busted the chain on one of the bikes. That’s what took so long—we walked back.”
“We didn’t bust the chain—I did,” Kyla confessed.
“Well, let’s get in here and take a look at that arm. How bad is the cut?” Tayler asked, walking over to inspect the bloody T-shirt. “Oh, Miles. Rollin’s waiting for you. He said Chris is expecting you guys this evening.”
“Right. Tell him I’m going to jump in the shower and I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” Then he turned to Kyla. “Take care of that arm, and let me know if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll see you first thing in the morning, cool?”
“Bright and early,” she replied, with a half smile.
Miles hurried around to the front of the house, thinking about what a fool he’d made of himself out there. It wasn’t too often that he misjudged a woman—and he still didn’t think he’d misjudged Kyla.
* * *
Tayler helped Kyla clean up the gash in her arm. Then Kayla went to her room, stripped off her T-shirt and slacks and slipped on an oversized nightshirt.
In order to unwind, she turned on the television and sat on the edge of the bed. She wasn’t even watching the program because she had one thing on her mind. Miles Parker had kissed her! Instead of enjoying the moment, she’d questioned him about it.
She’d had a déjà vu moment, only Miles wasn’t the guy kissing her, it was Louis. Her first boyfriend and the guy she’d thought was the one. Cool and confident, Louis had been the star of the basketball team and the guy every girl in school wanted to date. He and Kyla were inseparable throughout the eleventh grade. They’d taken long bike rides together during summer break. Louis had been the first boy Kyla let kiss her. But the first week of their senior year, Louis met a cheerleader and ended their relationship. The hurt and humiliation had stayed with her long after high school. Now the memory reared its ugly little head and made her suspicious of every man she met.
A knock at the door grabbed Kyla’s attention. She sat straight up in bed.
“Kyla?” Tayler’s voice came from the other side of the door.
She jumped off the bed. “Yeah, just a minute.” She walked over to open the door.
With her arms crossed and her head tilted to the side, Tayler smiled at Kyla. “So, how was your ride with Miles? Aside from the fall?”
Kyla shifted from one foot to the other, about to burst from wanting to tell Tayler what had happened tonight. If anybody could keep it to themselves, Tayler could. “It was cool. I think he had a good time.”
“How about you? Did you enjoy yourself?”
Did I! Kyla bit the inside of her mouth to keep her face from exploding with joy. “It was nice. I hadn’t been on a bike in a long time.”
Tayler took a deep breath. “It is fun. Rollin and I used to go riding after we purchased them. It can be romantic, too,” she added with a raised brow.
“Unless it ends like this,” Kyla said, holding up her arm.
Tayler smiled big. “Yeah, well, I don’t mean to pry, I was just thinking—”
“He kissed me!” Kyla blurted out. She pressed her lips together, anxious to see Tayler’s reaction.
Tayler’s mouth fell open before she glanced up and down the hall with wide eyes. Then she hurried into Kyla’s room and closed the door behind her. “You’re kidding!”
Overcome with giddiness, Kyla shook her head and began fanning herself. Then she started at the beginning and told Tayler everything.
Chapter 11
Every Friday, Rooted Beginnings participated in the Summer Food Program, assisting with teaching children eligible for free and reduced-price lunches about healthy eating.
Miles joined Kyla today, which impressed the program volunteers as well as Mrs. Snowden, the school principal. The conversation between Kyla and Miles so far had been brief. After that kiss on the trail yesterday, she was careful about getting too close or touching him. She hadn’t fallen asleep until well into the early hours of the morning, unable to get Miles off her mind. She’d been up when he and Rollin returned from Corra’s house, and she wanted to hear all about the visit. Eventually, Corra would tell her.
Kyla started the day’s program with a brief PowerPoint presentation, displaying the three key facts about food: all food comes from plants or animals; food has to be farmed, caught or grown at home; and food is changed from farm to fork. After that, she threw in a few interactive exercises to keep the kids interested.
“Where does my food come from?” Kyla asked the group of kids, who were mixed ages from several Glenn County elementary schools.
A few looked lost, but most of the twenty or so kids screamed out, “The farm!” Kyla pretended to be knocked over by their words, and Miles followed suit. Giggles and laughter circled the room.
Usually Kyla selected a volunteer to serve as her helper, but today Miles held that position. When she reached for a box of fruit she was going to use in the next exercise, Miles leaned down and placed his hands over hers. Kyla jumped as she released the box.
“I’ll get that. I’m your helper, remember,” he said with a wink and a smile.
She took a step back and glanced around the room to see if any of the adults noticed her reaction. “Yeah, sure, just sit it on the desk in the back.” She had a fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach. After Miles placed the box in the back of the room, he leaned against the windowsill and crossed his arms, staring at her.
She heard the nervous quiver of her own voice. The way Miles looked at her had her thinking about his muscular chest and how he’d held her face in his hands to kiss her yesterday.
She forced herself to get back to the game before the kids took over the room.
They loved the games, but appeared to love Miles more. He’d emerged from the back of the room to walk around, helping a few of them, and in the middle of one game a little boy asked Miles, “Where’s your baseball cap?”
When Miles cut his eyes at Kyla and shrugged, she encouraged him to answer their questions. She figured once the questions were out of the way, they could get back to learning where their food came from. Ten minutes later, Kyla had to cut the questions and exercises short and move on to the outside garden.
At the start of the program, she’d helped the class plant a small raised-bed vegetable garden behind the school. Today they were going to pick tomatoes and lettuce that would be consumed with their lunch. The kids practically tripped over each other running out to the garden. Some of the adult volunteers joined them, while Miles hung back talking to Principal Snowden. Before Kyla left the building, he joined her.
“Kyla, I have to tell you, today was more than I expected,” Miles admitted.
Kyla turned around, but kept her arms crossed. “What were you expecting, cooking classes?” she asked with a smirk.
“Actually, yes. You said lunch was being served. But you have these kids excited about going to pick tomatoes.”
She laughed. “Don’t tell them, but at the end of the program I’m going to give each of them a pot of sugar snap peas to take home. They grow well in this July heat. Hopefully it will be the start of something big. How about you?” she asked.
His eyes widened. “How about me what?”
“After this week, are you ready to go home and plant some vegetables?”
Miles laughed and shook his head. “No disrespect. I love everything you’re doing with your program. I’m just not that guy. It’s been an enlightening experience, and it’s not over yet.” His voice lowered at the end of his sentence. He caressed her face with his eyes as a slow smile spread across his face.
Every time Kyla looked into his eyes, she felt like a schoolgirl who’d developed a crush on the boy who sat next to her in class. Under his intense stare, the hair on her arms rose. Something had happened to her yesterday, and she couldn’t control her emotions today.
“Hey! Are you guys coming out?” One of the volunteers poked his head back inside the building.
Embarrassed, Kyla uncrossed her arms. “We’re right behind you.” She glanced up at Miles, seeing the beauty and charm that oozed out of him.
He held out his hand, gesturing ahead of him. “After you.”
Outside, Kyla observed that in four short days Miles had learned something. He was a pro at helping the kids pick vegetables. When he caught her looking at him, he merely smiled, and she wanted to crawl under a table. Why couldn’t she take her eyes off this man? Her attention needed to be focused on the kids.
Principal Snowden had joined them, helping a few of the rowdy boys pick vegetables. Kyla had worked her way down across from them.
“Kyla, we’ve never had a celebrity join the class before. Thank you so much for bringing him.” Principal Snowden beamed up at Kyla.
“You’re welcome.” Kyla helped the little girl with her pick some lettuce.
“You know, I was surprised to learn that he’s in the food services industry, as well,” Principal Snowden said as she walked alongside Kyla.
“So was I,” Kyla said. “He’s very passionate about ending hunger in third-world countries.”
Principal Snowden tilted her head. “Oh, I didn’t know that. When we spoke, I got the impression he was more of a supplier. Like he could supply our program with all the seeds we need all year round.”
Kyla blinked a few times more than normal. Principal Snowden gave her the oddest look.
“So he asked you about getting into the program?”
“Not exactly, but I don’t see why it isn’t something he could propose. Maybe you could help him, or give him some pointers on how you did it.”
Kyla ran her tongue across her front teeth. Yeah, she could give him some pointers, all right. He wanted to spread his genetically modified seeds into her natural organic beds—no way. And why would he even suggest that when he knew it ran counter to her program? Instead of giving him any advice she wanted to ask him what he was up to by speaking to the principal about his business.
The minute Miles climbed into the truck he started sharing his experience with Kyla.
“Okay, that was more than I expected. One little girl wanted to tell me everything she knows about vegetables. It was cute actually. Then one little guy started telling me everything you can do with some lettuce. I mean, those kids are bright.”
“Of course they are,” Kyla added.
“One little dude even asked me my batting average. I was impressed. What grade did you say they were in?”
“Fifth and sixth,” Kyla said. “The program is for children from low-income families. They sign up for these day camps to get good food that meets federal nutritional guidelines. For some, it may be the only nutritious meal they get all day.”
“How did you learn about the program?”
“During the school year, I work with Principal Snowden. She found out about the program through the county system and asked if I would be a sponsor. I jumped at the chance. The more people I can reach, the better.”
“But you’re one woman. I don’t know how you expect to feed or teach the mas
ses all by yourself. Does your program have a teach-the-teacher component to it?”
Kyla smiled. “Yes, of course, which is how I plan to reach the masses. A couple of times a year I hold a week-long training workshop for teachers, community leaders or anyone who wants to learn the benefits of organic gardening and how sustainability works.”
“I like the way you’ve partnered with the school system. Ms. Snowden said there are other food service projects all over the state.”
“She mentioned you spoke to her. I hope you’re not trying to sell them on genetically modified seeds. I thought you were more interested in third-world countries?”
“Oh, I was just talking to her hypothetically. Like I said before, we’re a small company and I’m always open to new ideas. I’ve had some of the best food I’ve ever put in my mouth this week, and I’ve learned about the labor of love that goes into every meal. Guess you can say you’ve made a believer out of me. I can already tell that Rooted Beginnings is going to be a huge success. You’re amazing, you know that? And watching your work with those kids...it was kind of sexy.”
Kyla narrowed her eyes. “This week has been hard on you, hasn’t it?”
Miles laughed. “No, really. I’m serious. Watching you work does something to me.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve been digging in the dirt too long.”
Miles turned in the passenger seat, facing her. “Thank you for allowing me to tag along to see you in another element.”
Kyla glanced over at him, still a little skeptical. “Sure. I’m just doing my job.”
* * *
When Kyla pulled up to the B and B, Don’s car caught her eye. What did he want? She hadn’t encouraged him or given him any indication that she was eager to see him again.
Standing on the front porch in a shirt and tie, with a pair of black shades on, Don turned at the sound of an approaching car. He’d always been a handsome man who could have just about any woman in the county he wanted. So why was he back here?
Instead of pulling around back, she stopped short in the driveway.
Something About You Page 9
