“Honey, that’s the wrong kind of wax,” Meredith said, then walked over to save me from myself. “The ladies use that for other things.”
“Some men too,” Josh reminded her.
“True,” Meredith agreed.
“Ouch,” I said with a shiver. “I’ll stick with hair wax, thank you.” Then I recalled Chaz’s comment about how he preferred to suck smooth testicles over hairy ones. Luckily for me, there was more than one way to get smooth balls.
Out of the blue, Josh invited me to share Easter dinner with them. I knew he was still playing his hand at matchmaking and I didn’t see the need to stop him. If he thought I was a good match for Chaz, then I thought I should give it serious consideration. The attraction was obviously there between us, and we both liked playing video games. I didn’t commit to the invitation, but it was the best offer I’d had in a long time. Still, I didn’t feel comfortable showing up at Josh’s house if Chaz didn’t know I was coming or didn’t want me there.
I decided to look up his phone number in our computer system once I arrived at the animal hospital. It felt a little sketchy looking up Chaz’s contact information, but I couldn’t exactly ask Josh for it because that would only encourage him. It wouldn’t be right to contact Chaz at the salon either, so I felt like I had no other choice but to take matters into my own hand. I had snickered at the thought because that was all that I had been doing lately.
I was battling my conscience in my small office as I stared at the information in front of me. “It’s not like I’m going to jot down his address and stand outside his window while he undresses or…”
“Why the hell not?” Alyssa had asked, scaring the daylights out of me.
“Damn it, Alyssa,” I said once I dislodged my heart from my throat. “I thought I told you to stop sneaking up on me like that.”
“Sneaking up?” she asked incredulously. “Love, a woman my size doesn’t sneak anywhere.”
“You mean perfect-the-way-you-are size?” I asked. Alyssa, like so many people, had a skewed idea of what beauty was and felt like failures when their reality didn’t live up to that image. I had been there before and even still battled body issues decades later.
“I love you, Kyle,” Alyssa said affectionately. “That’s why I want you to quit moping around here and meet a guy who makes you happy.”
“I’m trying,” I said.
“Not hard enough. It’s clear that you and Chaz are attracted to one another. He practically trips over his tongue when you walk into the room, and it’s equally as obvious that you’re drawn to him.” I would’ve argued with her the day before, but I’d overheard what Chaz said at the salon. Well, unless he used the nickname Dr. Dimples on more than one person. The thought made me jealous, and I knew that I would regret it if I didn’t call him.
“Okay,” I said, holding up my hands in surrender. “I’ll call Chaz tonight. I’m expecting you to keep quiet about this.” I gave her a pointed look that said I meant business. Alyssa had been the town’s biggest gossip until it backfired on her and she found herself as the subject on everyone’s tongues when she and her husband separated.
“I would never discuss your business with anyone,” she said then added, “not your personal business either,” when I didn’t look convinced.
I weighed the pros and cons of calling him for the rest of the day and the one that followed. It was nearly ten o’clock at night by the time I worked up the nerve to call him. I almost hung up the phone like an immature teenager when Chaz answered.
“Hello?”
I said nothing at first. Hell, what the hell was I supposed to say to him? I didn’t want to rat Josh out, but I couldn’t just show up at Easter dinner either.
“I can hear you breathing through the line,” Chaz said irritably into the phone. “Either talk dirty to me or hang up.” I opened my mouth but nothing came out. “Never mind.” I could tell he was about to hang up and knew I had to act fast.
“It’s Dr. Dimples,” I blurted out. “I mean Kyle.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t tell by Chaz’s tone if his surprise was good or bad. “Uh, what’s going on?” he asked hesitantly.
“Well, I’m calling because I was invited to Easter dinner and…”
“Who invited you?” he asked, almost accusingly.
“Does it matter?” I replied. The last thing I wanted to do was start a fight between friends.
“Actually, it matters a lot. Let me guess; he’s about five foot nine, has platinum blond hair, and is shacking up with your ex.” Chaz paused for a second then said, “Scratch the last part because that was just catty and mean.”
His discomfort made me chuckle. I thought his habit of blurting out whatever came to mind was cute and endearing. “It’s okay; you didn’t hurt my feelings. I’m happy for Josh and Gabe.”
“You know what?” Chaz asked. “I already know the answer. I’m curious why you’re calling me. It seems like you’re asking my permission to come to dinner.”
“In a way, I guess that I am. I don’t feel right showing up if it’s going to make you uncomfortable,” I told him.
“Why would I be uncomfortable?” Chaz asked in a high-pitched voice that told me he was extremely nervous. “Josh makes a great ham, and you probably don’t want to miss it.” His words were stilted and made it obvious that he wasn’t at all comfortable with me showing up.
“I’ll give it some thought,” I said noncommittally. “Have a good Easter if I don’t see you.”
“Yeah, you too.” Once again, I couldn’t get a handle on Chaz’s feelings. He had sounded sincere and discouraged at the same damn time. How did someone do that?
I changed my mind about going to Easter every half hour leading up to the day. In fact, I sat outside the house that Josh used for his salon and his residence for a good fifteen minutes before I worked up the nerve to ring the doorbell.
The look on Chaz’s face was a mixture of relief and anxiousness like he wanted me to be there but wasn’t sure he should. I got to meet Josh and Gabe’s new neighbor, Emory Jackson, who was a really good-looking guy, and Jonathon Silver, who owned a club in Cincinnati. I wasn’t expecting to see the new faces, but it wasn’t unwelcome.
I learned that Chaz and I had something else in common besides World of Warcraft and our friends. We both loved Friends and proceeded to quote the show throughout the night. We started watching the show on Netflix after we ate and the next thing I knew it was after ten o’clock. Josh and Gabe had fallen asleep on the couch indicating that we’d more than worn out our welcome.
I walked Chaz to his car once we left, but wasn’t exactly sure what to say or do. I’d never been a suave guy, but he had my tongue tied and guts twisted in a knot. “That was a lot of fun,” Chaz said, leaning against the car so he could look up into my face.
“It was,” I agreed. I should’ve asked Chaz if he wanted to do it again at one of our places, but I didn’t. “Drive carefully,” I said, stepping back.
“You too,” Chaz said softly. There was a host of unspoken things shared between us in a glance, lust and desire were the two predominant ones.
Over the next few months, we circled each other. Showing up for Sunday dinner at Josh and Gabe’s house became my normal thing, and I found myself looking forward to it more and more each week. The dinners turned into barbecues and cornhole tournaments once the weather turned nice. Chaz and I made a formidable team and had a lot of fun playing. I found myself drawn to him more week after week until I thought I would die if I didn’t at least give him a kiss.
I got my chance on Independence Day. Our small town put on one hell of a festival that ended with fireworks behind the high school at the edge of town. I was supposed to go to the fireworks display with my parents, two of my sisters and their husbands, but I didn’t feel like sitting in the bleachers at the high school field with the rest of the town and surrounding county. Instead, I drove my truck to a pull-off in a farmer’s field on the other side. I knew I’d have an
incredible view without the crowd. It turned out that I wasn’t the only one who knew about the pull-off. I smiled when I backed my truck up next to Chaz’s car.
He had been stretched out on the hood of his car looking up at the night sky. “How’d you know to find me here?” he asked when I got out of my truck. The suspicion in his voice made me smile.
“Honestly, it was pure coincidence,” I told him. “I was trying to avoid the crowds.”
“Me too,” he confessed. “Things are getting really hectic at the salon with the expansion and Josh’s upcoming wedding. I just wanted to take in the beauty without all the chaos.”
“Do you want me to leave?” I asked sincerely. He’d told me that his role had increased at the salon with the expansion, and he seemed to be enjoying the new position, but I didn’t want to invade his quiet time.
“No!” Chaz exclaimed.
“Want to sit on the tailgate of my truck with me?” I’d been tiptoeing around my growing atraction for too long, so my invitation held a hint of innuendo in it.
“Um, yeah,” Chaz said, but he didn’t sound excited.
“I’ll share my milkshake with you,” I offered. “Peanut butter chocolate.” I knew it was his favorite and in fact ordered it on my way out to the field because he’d been on my mind. “I have to warn you that it’s made with frozen yogurt and skim milk though.”
“Share the same straw?” he asked incredulously as he slid off the hood of his car and made his way to me. I expected him to scoff about the ingredients, not the method of drinking them.
“Is that a problem for you? You kiss people don’t you?” I asked.
“Not for a while, but yeah,” he said. I liked that he hadn’t kissed anyone recently and decided that both our dry spells would end that night.
“Same for me,” I admitted to Chaz. He snorted like he didn’t believe me. “It’s true.” Chaz hopped up beside me on the tailgate and eyed my milkshake. “I bet I have an extra straw in my glovebox if you don’t want to suck on mine… my straw that is.”
It was getting darker by the minute, but I could see the gleam of his teeth when he smiled. I also caught the twinkle of mischief in his eyes when he made a small “O” with his lips and lowered them slowly to the straw. Chaz hollowed out his cheeks when he sucked the creamy concoction into his mouth. He knew damned well what he was doing and where my mind would go with his little antics. When he pulled back, there was a dribble of the milkshake at the corner of his mouth.
“You gotta little…” I moved to wipe it away with my fingers but changed my mind at the last second. I lowered my head and flicked my tongue over the corner of his mouth to capture the drop of milkshake.
Chaz gasped, and I expected him to pull back, but instead he surprised me by pressing his mouth fully against mine. Even more surprising was the way he fisted my hair in his hands like he was afraid I would try to escape. Fat fucking chance of that.
I set the milkshake beside me and slid both hands into Chaz’s hair. He wasn’t the only one clinging to the moment and praying it would last. Our kiss wasn’t tentative and exploring; it was scorching heat, bumping teeth, and hungry tongues right from the start. I drank from him like a starving man and didn’t let up until the explosion in the sky startled me. At first, I thought it was the sound of my heart bursting in my chest, but I caught the fading flickers of blue, green, and white fire in the sky.
Chaz looked surprised, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of his action or my reaction. Technically, I started it by licking the corner of his mouth, but he was the one who kissed me. Damn, it was the most amazing kiss I’d ever had. I couldn’t tell by his wide-eyed expression if it was something that he wanted to happen again or not.
“That’s been a long time coming,” I said huskily.
Chaz closed his eyes and swallowed hard. When he reopened them, the look of surprise was replaced by regret. “I need to go.”
“What?” I asked. Running from me wasn’t the reaction I wanted from him.
“Um, I just remembered that I need to go. I… uh, forgot something at home. I mean, I think I left my oven on. Yeah, that sounds right.” He was babbling again, which meant I struck a nerve. I just hoped once he calmed down he would realize it was a good nerve.
“Can I call you later?” I asked, not willing to give up too easily.
“Um, yeah,” he said as he slid off my tailgate.
“But will you answer?” My question seemed to penetrate whatever thoughts had sent him into a panic. Chaz almost looked sad, and I worried that I sounded too pathetic or needy. “Never mind, I…”
“I’ll answer.”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight,” he said then offered me a sweet smile before he got into his car and drove away.
I sat on the bed of my truck and watched the rest of the firework display by myself, which was what I had intended all along. Somehow it wasn’t good enough after sharing a few minutes with Chaz. The fireworks weren’t as vibrant, and the silence after they were over was deafening. It was then that I realized just how much trouble Chaz Hamilton could cause me.
I drove home in a daze after Kyle kissed me beneath the stars and fireworks. Okay, technically I kissed him, but he started it when he licked the corner of my mouth. We’d been circling each other for months, both obviously attracted to the other but neither willing to make a move. Well, someone finally made a move, and then I ran for my life. The confusion on Kyle’s face over my reaction and the wariness in his voice when he asked if I would answer his call was a knife to my heart.
I was the one who put doubt in his mind when I, acting as Drew, pulled a disappearing act without any explanation. That was a cruel thing to do, and I didn’t know I had it in me to treat someone like that, especially someone as good as Kyle. At the time, I was too wrapped up in how wrong my behavior had been and worried that Kyle had become an addiction I couldn’t overcome. I thought a clean break was the only way, but I saw the error of my ways when confronted with the results of my actions.
But surely a guy as handsome and confident as Kyle Vaughn wasn’t thrown by one stranger’s rejection. Right? He had everything going for him, so what if one guy didn’t return his affection. What would a guy like me have to offer him? That was if he could get past my deception because there was no way in hell I could start something with Kyle with the truth hanging over my head like an ugly cloud. I wasn’t good at living a lie, just ask my friends.
I felt like a metric ton of guilt had been lifted from my shoulders when I came clean to them about my secret life as a writer and confessed that I had indeed been the one playing games with Kyle. They didn’t understand why I didn’t tell Kyle the truth, but of course, I didn’t give them all the details either. Regardless, they supported my decision, and I knew they’d take my secret to the grave if asked. I just hoped that wasn’t necessary because I couldn’t let go of the idea that Kyle was meant to be mine. I knew it was probably my inner romance writer taking over my brain when those thoughts occurred, but following that guy’s intuition led me to the best thing to ever happen to me in my adult life.
I wasn’t ready for Kyle to know either thing about me. If I told him that I wrote a book the chances were high that he’d want to read it. If he read the book, it was possible he might recognize some of the interactions the characters had. It wasn’t that I included our conversations in the book, but some of the activities might raise a red flag for him. If I told him about my Drew alias, then he’d want to know why the hell I did something like that, and I’d be forced to tell him I wrote the book. If he didn’t want to read the book under the first circumstance then he definitely would with the second. He’d probably want royalty payments for inspiring my character. I felt trapped with no good way out of the situation.
I had so many emotions churning inside my brain when I got home. I knew I’d never sleep in that condition, so I did what always made me feel better. I got into bed, propped myself up on the headboard, and opened my laptop
. Harry curled up into a purring ball on the pillow next to mine, and I lost myself in my latest story. A kissing scene between my two protagonists hadn’t been in my outline for my current chapter, but I decided to go with my gut again. Gideon had a carefully crafted plan for Jamie, but sweet Jamie wasn’t following the plotline. His desire for Gideon was raging out of control and he decided that waiting around wasn’t going to get him what he wanted. So, beneath the fireworks at a lavish Fourth of July party in the Hamptons, the jaded, serial seducer was seduced by the shy, virginal man.
My fingers flew over the keyboard as I channeled everything I had into the scene I wrote for Jamie and Gideon. The intensity of their kiss stole my breath, the way they battled their feelings for one another made my heart ache, but I smiled when I finished because I knew my readers would feel how close the characters were to taking that leap. I knew they’d be as breathless as I was at that moment and no feeling in the world was greater than that one, except maybe an orgasm or the taste of Kyle on my lips.
I closed my laptop and set it on the nightstand beside my bed. I saw that it was almost two o’clock in the morning and knew I’d be dragging ass again the next day. Luckily, the salon was closed, and I could sleep late.
What’s that saying about best-laid plans and things going awry? Someone pounding on my front door woke me hours before I was ready to climb out of my sheets. I didn’t even have to ask who it was because I could hear them arguing through the door when I walked into the living room in the small two bedroom I rented on Maple Lane. I knew that ignoring them wouldn’t do any good because they’d just use a key and let themselves in.
“Good morning, ladies,” I said when I opened the door to my mother, grandmother, and aunt. I stood rubbing the sleep from my eyes while they looked me up and down in judgment.
Unscripted Love (Road to Blissville, #1) Page 3
