by Sher Dillard
A strong aroma of garlic, fennel, and some unknown spice caught me as I stepped inside. Jake had made reservations. The hostess glanced up at him and smiled, obviously liking what she saw. I wanted to lean over and rip her eyes out. Okay, maybe I was being a little overdramatic. But that didn’t mean the thought didn’t cross my mind.
As we were seated, I sighed internally. First part done, we had gotten there. My heart was still fluttering and the smell wafting in from the kitchen made my mouth salivate. This was going to be so much better than Top-Ramen.
While we studied the menus, that awkward feeling descended over me again. How do you have a first date with a man who has been inside of you? Taken your virginity no less. How do you sit there and pretend that there wasn’t this huge issue between you?
What did he think of me? Had he been satisfied with me? Or had I been an inept amateur in bed? Questions I could never ask. Questions that would scare the crap out of him.
“So, I have a question,” Jake said as he looked over the top of his menu. Those eyes of his penetrating my very soul
Here it comes. How does a girl get to be my age and is still a virgin? He is going to attack the issue head-on. Bringing it out in the open where it could be examined in fine detail. Gritting my teeth, I nodded slightly for him to go on.
“What is your favorite book?”
“Ha,” I barked before I could stop myself. He frowned back at me, obviously wondering why his question had elicited such a funny response.
I smiled weakly, letting him know it wasn’t him as my mind shifted to a different spot in my brain.
“I’ve always liked fantasy.” Realizing how that might sound. I felt my cheeks grow warm, but Jake just nodded, waiting for more. My favorite is Dragon Fire. It’s a fairy tale at heart but still …“
“What?”
“It’s really romantic,” I sighed, wondering what he might think of my dragon-shifter fetish? But he just smiled, taking in my words. “How about you?” I asked, desperate to turn the conversation onto him.
“Enders Game,” he said firmly. “Both most read, and favorite.”
I nodded as once again a silence fell between the two of us. It was my turn to ask a question, but I couldn’t ask the question I wanted to ask. Why had he asked me out? No, that would make me sound like a foolish school girl who couldn’t believe the great Jake Dawson had asked her out.
Instead, I copped out and asked about his favorite music. And that was how we moved the evening into a safe zone. Where neither of us would address the fact that we had already slept together.
The meal was perfect, of course, nothing about that evening would be anything less than perfect. We spent it discussing our lives, friends, school, families. I told him about the first time my dad took me to a Royal’s game in Kansas City. How he taught me to keep the scorebook and how I fell in love with baseball and all its complexities.
His eyes lit up even more. “Be careful,” he said. “If you get me talking about baseball we will never get to anything else.”
My inside’s softened, I loved how we had that in common.
Slowly we drifted into talking about the future, our dreams, our hopes. All of it perfect first date material. But, still, that question ate at the back of my mind. Why had he asked me out?
After the most perfect Crème Brule’, Jake paid the bill and escorted me to the front. Once again putting his hand on my lower back. Okay, I could get used to that feeling of specialness. When we got there, he quickly slipped out of his jacket and put it on my shoulders before even opening the door.
This time I didn’t wait until he was not looking before I pulled it up to take a deep sniff. God, my insides dissolved into a puddle. It was so Jake. So perfect.
He took my hand, as we walked home. Each step, the tension grew. What would he expect? Was I someone he just assumed would sleep with him again. After all, we already had, and this had been a pretty great date. And oh, by the way, he was Jake Dawson after all.
Was that how he looked at me? Just another girl in a long line of girls.
As we drew closer, I felt as if I was walking to the gallows. I knew that if Jake assumed we would sleep together I would be hurt. That this hadn’t been special. Of course, he was a guy, so I knew that he wanted to. Or at least I hoped he did. But it was the assumption part that bothered me.
It would mean I wasn’t special. It would mean that he didn’t feel towards me the way I felt towards him.
I know, silly girl logic. But that was what I felt deep in my stomach.
As we walked up the path to the house. I glanced up at him and realized that I was in love. Deep, no doubt about it IN LOVE.
That stomach churning, hopeful happiness that was hemmed in by doubt and worry. That silly feeling in the bottom of my soul that I had met the one man I would ever love. The one man I was meant to be with.
And yet, I had absolutely no idea how he felt about me. Oh, I’d seen the hungry look in his eyes. But that was the wolf inside of him. The male animal. No, what did he think about me? The real me.
When we got to my door of the sorority house, he stopped and turned, smiling down at me. Turning my insides to mush. Oh, who was I kidding? I wanted him to come in. I wanted to sneak him into my room and have him to make love to me all night long. I wanted to wake up sore and happy.
My own stupid self-doubt was the only thing stopping me from pulling him into my room and having my way with him, over and over. What would he think of me?
Without thinking, the question that had been eating at me all night burst free.
“Why did you ask me out?”
There I had said it. The one thing I desperately needed to know.
His brow furrowed for a moment, then he smiled and gave me a shrug. I could have killed him. The most important question of my life and he dismissed it with a silent ‘I don’t know.’
He sighed heavily then stared into my eyes. Suddenly my nervous tongue took over and I began to babble. “I mean, why? You already had what a guy wants. Why the fancy dinner. Why that fluffy stuffed wolf. Why go to all this trouble?”
Again, he shrugged. “Because,” he began. “When a man finds a girl that he might potentially fall in love with. He sort of wants to get to know her. I figured if …”
“What,” I interrupted.
He took a deep breath. “Listen, Sadie. You are special. But then you know that.”
“No, I don’t” I corrected him before I could stop myself.
Jake smiled again and slowly shook his head. “Sadie Elizabeth Winters, you are one of the most special girls I have ever met. Gorgeous, intelligent, funny, you love baseball. I mean, what more could a guy ask for. And I want us to become more than a fast hook-up. A lot more, for a long time.”
My world slammed to a quick halt. Had I heard him correctly?
But, before I could confirm anything, he bent down and took my lips with his. Shoving aside any doubt. This was the man I loved and would always love.
After a long breathless kiss, he pulled back and said, “It is important what you think about me. I don’t want you thinking I just want sex from you. I want so much more. So, I will say goodnight and hopefully, you will agree to go out with me again. Maybe next Friday?” he said with a hopeful smile.
I stood there, my arms draped around his neck and stared up into his eyes. How had this happened? How had this wonderful man come to care for me?
“Jake Dawson,” I said as I opened the door to my room, finally finding my confidence now that I know he wants me. “If you think you are leaving me alone tonight, you are insane. Get your beautiful butt in there. Be quiet and we might make it to my room without anyone knowing.”
He smiled that big boy smile of his. The one where he knows what he is going to get. The one that makes me want him immediately.
“Okay,” he said as he pulled the door open. “But only because you are too damn sexy to resist.”
My heart melted as I fell into his arms. My man
, Jake Dawson was my man and always would be. A girl can’t ask for anything more.
Epilogue
Six years later
I was writing the homework assignment on the board when one of my students called out.
“Mrs. Dawson?”
My mind froze. It always did when I heard that name. Six months and I still wasn’t used to it.
“Yes, Mary,” I said as I turned back to her.
“Is your husband a doctor?”
Okay, that was a different question. I’d only been teaching for a few years. But I thought I’d heard it all.
“Yes, he is a surgical resident at City General. Why?” I asked.
Mary smiled. “I met him this weekend. I was visiting my Grandmother. He was one of her doctors.” Her eyebrows wiggled. “He’s a hottie.”
I blushed. “Yes, he is,” I answered. The class laughed.
My stomach turned over when I thought about the coming evening. I would tell him tonight. I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer.
I’d been praying for this miracle. We both had. And tonight I would finally be able to let Jake know that he would be a father later this year.
My heart jumped thinking of Jake holding my baby. Yes, my wolf would make an excellent father.
The End
Author Notes
Thank you for reading my story. I would enjoy hearing from you. What did you think, would you like to see more of these type of stories. I can be contacted at [email protected]. Or feel free to visit my facebook page.
A special thanks to my critique partners. Kim Loraine, Eryn Carpenter, and Frankie Love. This story would not exist without their wonderful insights and support. They are the greatest.
Please continue to read on and explore the first chapter to my book My Brother's Best Friend A steamy romance.
I hope you enjoy it.
My Brother’s Best Friend
Chapter One
Karla
There he was, Dean Parker. My secret fantasy. And so far out of bounds I couldn’t even see the boundary from here.
He walked across the quad like he owned the campus. Not for the first time, I secretly congratulated myself for choosing the same college. Sometimes I can be halfway smart.
Tall, lean, and mean. Or at least tough looking. He had that whole bad boy thing down pat. Dark hair, a little too long. Piercing blue eyes, a little too sharp. And wide shoulders that looked like they could carry the weight of the world.
The scar over his right eye and the bump from a formerly broken nose were the only blemishes on an overly handsome face. The kind of face that made a girl’s knees go weak.
I’m sure most of the women around here believed he’d gotten those scars in a nasty barroom fight.
Only I knew the truth.
He’d received those badges of honor at the ripe old age of twelve. He and my brother Jack were jumping their bikes over a ramp. I still like to believe he had been showing off to try and impress me. Okay, Okay, we can all have our own fantasy world.
Dean caught his front wheel and went over the handlebars like he was shot out of a cannon.
I still cringe, thinking about it. Face first into the asphalt. There was so much blood that it took half a Seattle winter for it to all wash away. Dean bounced up, blood flowing out of him like a punctured fire hose, and said, “I’m okay,”
Me, being the strong, independent eleven-year-old girl. Fainted dead away.
When I came to, Dean was bent over me with a look of concern that melted my heart. The boy was still bleeding and he was more worried about me.
I fell for him at that exact moment. I mean head over heals full on love. Not a silly school girl crush. Oh, I’d always had a crush on Dean, what girl wouldn’t. The guy was so … so … boy.
The first time I heard that poem, I thought it was written about Dean, you know the - Snips and snails and puppy dog tails. That was Dean as a boy.
And here he was walking right towards me. My heart skipped a beat and what I called the Dean butterflies took flight. They only flew and fluttered when he was around. I bit the inside of my lip and waited.
“Hey, Kid,” he said as he sat down on the bench next to me. He knew full well I hated being called, Kid, but then that was why he did it.
God, how I wished he’d call me Karla. Just once.
I swallowed hard and pushed back at the nervousness rushing through me. My one goal in life was to never let him know how I felt about him. I would have died a thousand deaths if he ever found out. Unless my brother Jack found out first. In which case he would kill me before I had a chance to die.
“Hey,” I answered. As always, my skill at conversation seemed to disappear whenever he was around.
“Jack asked me to check in on you. He said you won’t answer his calls.”
I snorted. “I’m not talking to the idiot.”
He laughed and shook his head. He had learned long ago not to get in the middle of our family squabbles.
“What did he do this time?”
I shook my head, “The traitor told Mom about my grade in Economics.”
He laughed. “Yeah, that will do it.”
“I thought that by going to a different school I could avoid the whole big brother thing. He’s all the way across town and he still found out.”
He laughed again and shook his head. “That won’t ever go away. It doesn’t matter where you are, he’s still going to keep an eye on you.”
How well I knew it. My big brother made it a point to ruin my life on a quarterly basis.
“So, what are you up to.” I began, desperate to change the subject. I hated talking about my brother with Dean. It just emphasized the fact that I could never have what I truly wanted. Even if somehow the scrumptious Dean became interested in me, Jack would make sure nothing happened. Like I said, out of bounds.
He shrugged his wide shoulders, “Nothing much.”
“What? No girls waiting by the phone for you to call. From what I hear if you crook a finger a dozen rather willing and able young females will appear as if by magic.”
He laughed. “You keeping tabs on me?”
“Why not? You tell Jack what I do.”
He shook his head, “No I don’t. I promise. I wouldn’t do that. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m not here if you need me. But you’re twenty. You’re old enough to make your own mistakes.”
I looked at him, unable to believe what I had just heard. Did he really think of me as a grown up?
“Besides, a pretty girl like you. You’ve probably got a dozen guys chasing you. If I told Jack about them all, he’d have me spending all my time scaring them off.”
My heart stopped. Full halt. Dean Parker thought I was pretty. Never, in a thousand years would I have thought he thought that way. Grown up and pretty.
Suddenly I felt my cheeks grow warm and knew I was blushing. Great, now he was going to go back to thinking of me as a little girl again.
He smiled at me and then leaned back on the bench as he spread his arms across the back and tilted his head up to the sun, catching the last rays of the fall before winter set it.
My eyes couldn’t help themselves as I studied his profile. The man was just too good looking for his own good. A hard chin with a four days growth of beard. High cheekbones and lips that begged to be kissed. My heart skipped a beat just looking at him.
Sighing internally, I let my eyes roam down over his body. The open flannel shirt over a tight T-shirt was his normal look. A good look for him, simple yet male, very male. At least the way he wore them.
As my eyes traveled lower, I couldn’t stop myself from glancing down at his crotch. The three-year-old memory of me walking in on him as he came out of the shower flashed into the forefront of my brain and refused to leave.
Even now, my cheeks grew warm thinking about it. The man was hung. Big enough to make a girl wonder if he was too big.
I swallowed hard and tried to look away. Instead, I licked my lips a
s I remembered how hot he had looked coming out of that shower. Hard muscles dripping with water.
When he saw me there, staring, he’s simply smiled and shook his head. I, of course, being the idiot I am, screamed and rushed from the room to spend the next three hours frightened to death that he would say something to my parents. Or worse, Jack.
I knew my brother, he’d blame me. Say I’d walked in on Dean intentionally.
But Dean hadn’t said a word. That was him, despite the bad boy looks, deep down he was a gentleman at heart.
“You said earlier that you’d help me if I need it,” I said before I could stop myself. Suddenly a plan had jumped fully formed into my brain. I was twenty, why couldn’t I have what I wanted at least once. To hell with my brother. Besides what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
Now it was only a matter of pulling my plan off without crumbling into a blithering idiot in front of him.
Dean opened one eye and squinted at me through the bright sun.
“Do I need to beat up someone? If so, who and when?”
I laughed, that was Dean. I think deep down he wanted to be a knight in shining armor. And who could blame him? The man was born for the role.
“No,” I told him as my stomach clenched up into a tight ball. If this went wrong, so many things would be ruined. My secret hopes most of all.
“I need a date,” I said as I held my breath.
Both eyes opened fully as he twisted towards me.
“A pretend date,” I added quickly.
His shoulders relaxed as he studied me closely, giving me a chance to explain.
“My English teacher is having a party.”
His brow furrowed in confusion.
“It’s all the students that have been picked to help with his research project. And their dates. A couple of dozen people at the most.”
“You got selected as a research assistant, that’s pretty cool. I get it.”
I quickly looked down at my hands in my lap. A compliment from Dean always did that to me. He didn’t hand them out easily, but when he did, you knew he meant it.
