That Unexpected Kiss

by Tamara Ferguson

  Military Fiction Winner

  2016 NEW APPLE ROMANCE SELECTION

  FOR EXCELLENCE IN PUBLISHING

  2016 IAN BOOK OF THE YEAR Finalist

  2016 Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Award Finalist

  PROLOGUE

  His eyes scoped out the beach as he struggled to reach the pathway from the parking lot, steering away from the crowd. Following the trail to the very edge of the sand, Luke stumbled over moss and patchy grass, until he found shelter under a canopy of scrubby pines bordering the park.

  He groaned, when he finally dropped down to the sand. His stepdad had really done a number on him this time–the pain was pretty intense. Resting his shoulder gingerly against the trunk of one of the pines, he sighed. It was such a hassle, having to constantly be on his guard–especially when he was always having to come up with excuses for teachers, explaining why he was missing so much school.

  Luke grimaced. And hiding the welts and bruises? It was becoming nearly impossible–since a couple of the idiots in his class had decided to say something to his counselor, after seeing Luke without a shirt on in the locker room. Everything was beginning to catch up with him, he realized, as his eyes filled with tears.

  But he was way too old to cry, he decided. With a shaking hand, he swiped away his tears.

  He got a whiff of the smell of popcorn, as it drifted through the air from the nearby concession stand–and his stomach growled. Damn, that smelled good. Luke took in a deep ragged breath as he focused his attention on the crowded beach. That little Callahan girl was at it again, making the rounds. With her white-blonde hair and deep-blue eyes, she sure was a pretty little thing. And, man, what a personality–he was guessing she was only about six-years old. Even at thirteen, Luke knew he’d been cursed with a bad reputation. And ever since he’d acquired that tat, not to mention the scar that ripped through the side of his face, most little kids, and nearly all of his classmates, seemed to be scared of him–like he was someone out of a horror flick.

  But not her. She reminded him a little of his younger sister, Cassie. Just remembering Cassie made him cry a little harder.

  For some crazy reason, Luke had always been drawn to this beach. Probably because deep inside he knew—all the stories and superstitions were true—Dragonfly Pointe was magic. It was the only place in this world where he seemed to feel alright. Here, he could forget about the deep, dark problems in his life, and chill out just long enough to recharge before returning home.

  Home? He snorted. He hadn’t had a home for a very long time, he realized, as he began dozing off.

  An hour later, when Luke began to slowly awaken, he felt like something was off. Studying his surroundings, he turned his eyes to the far end of the beach, where sixteen-year old Dan Callahan was standing amidst a group of his friends. Although her twin brother Jeff was playing with some kids in the sand nearby, Kelly Callahan was nowhere in sight.

  Luke gazed across the sand to the lake. Suddenly noticing a pair of arms flailing, far out in the water, he jumped up to his feet, glancing quickly over at the abandoned lifeguard station. Where in the hell was the lifeguard? Racing across the sand, and whipping his shirt off from over his head, Luke cringed as the scabs from the welts crisscrossing his back ripped open. Barely noticing the pain, he slipped off his sneakers and began to plow through the water, until he was deep enough to begin swimming.

  After what seemed like forever, he was finally close enough to Kelly to pull her into his arms. It appeared that he’d reached her just in time.

  “It’s okay–I’ve got you, Princess,” he reassured her, as he began treading water. Luckily, she was light as a feather, because it took a few moments to calm her down, while she coughed and spit out water.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, still sputtering. Clinging more tightly, Kelly wrapped her arms over his shoulders. “I’m never supposed to go swimming by myself,” she said, in a shaky voice.

  “Well, at least you’ll probably never do it again,” Luke said calmly. He was beginning to feel light-headed. He’d already been exhausted after biking five miles just to reach Dragonfly Pointe. Plus, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually had something to eat. “I need to get you back to the shore, Princess.” Prying arms loose, that were wrapped like an octopus over his shoulders, he stared into sapphire blue eyes, filled with fear. “You’re gonna have to trust me.”

  Hesitating, she agreed with a jerky nod of her head. Luke was guessing Kelly was beginning to sense the urgency of the situation, when she peeked around him nervously at the shore.

  “You’ll need to let go of me–so you can lie back in the water.”

  She looked ready to panic again, so pulling her more tightly into his arms, Luke rubbed her shoulders with his hand reassuringly.

  Kelly spoke uncertainly into his ear. “Like doing the backstroke?”

  “That’s right. I’ll be sure to stay underneath you, too, while I’m swimming–so that I’m holding up your head.”

  Although she was obviously terrified, she allowed Luke to flatten his hand against her back while she followed his directives. Wrapping an arm around her neck, and holding up her chin, he propped up her body as her feet floated close to the surface of the water. With smooth, rhythmic kicks, Luke swam through the water effortlessly, until they were closer to the beach.

  Luke felt Kelly being lifted from his arms. When he slowly stood up, and his feet touched the ground, he found himself staring into the eyes of Kelly’s older brother, Dan. “You should’ve been watching her,” Luke muttered reproachfully, expecting resentment.

  But, instead, he saw gratitude. “I know. Thanks, man,” Dan said quietly, before returning his attention to his sister.

  Luke was taken aback–he hadn’t expected Dan to agree with him. So he answered Dan with quiet reassurance, “Shit happens.”

  “Not to me it doesn’t. Just because Jeff was hanging around with me, I shouldn’t have assumed Kelly was nearby too. I’ve been off my game lately.” Dan began searching the faces in the crowd. “And, besides, where’s that damned lifeguard, who’s supposed to be on duty?”

  Luke began to notice the slew of curious onlookers lining up alongside the beach. When Kelly continued to remain quiet, he gazed down anxiously to where she sat in the sand, and realized she was staring hard at the bleeding wounds on his back.

  “Oh, Dan,” she finally moaned. “Look how bad he hurt himself, while he was helping me.”

  “I’m fine, Princess,” Luke muttered, still scoping out the beach nervously. “I didn’t get hurt pulling you out from the water.”

  She continued to plead with her brother, “Dan–please–you need to make him better.”

  Luke squirmed, while Dan stared at him grimly.

  “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’m gonna start making him better soon,” Dan reassured Kelly.

  Luke started. But his legs were getting wobbly, and he found himself sinking to the sand.

  “Princess, huh?” Wearing a half-smile, Dan studied Luke keenly before turning back to Kelly. “Are you sure you’re okay, Kel?”

  She nodded.

  “I think that she just swallowed lots of water,” Luke muttered.

  Dan stared at his sister with obvious concern. “Okay, Princess–we’re gonna have to talk this over with Mom and Dad later. Since you don’t appear to be suffering any side effects from nearly being drowned, why don’t you run over to the park with your friends for a little while? One of the moms took Jeff and the rest of the kids over there, when Luke, here, was pulling you out from the water.”

  Just in case Kelly hadn’t been breathing. Dan didn’t need to complete the sentence when his eyes met Luke’s.

  After glancing over at the park, Kelly hesitated, before stepping towards him, and gazing down to where he sat, hunched over in the sand. “Thank you for saving me,” she said, softly.

  At that moment, the sun broke through the clouds. A beam of light shown down brightly on Kelly, leaving her backlit
by a smoky-blue haze. But the strange thing about it was, Luke wasn’t seeing her as a pretty little six-year old girl anymore. He was envisioning her as the beautiful woman she’d undoubtedly be someday. Her white-blonde hair was dancing over her shoulders, but her fiery-blue eyes were staring accusingly into his.

  Luke blinked, before shaking his head in disbelief. He was exhausted, and most likely delirious. He swallowed uncomfortably. But maybe it had something to do with the magic that he’d sensed here at Dragonfly Pointe?

  Suddenly, he became aware of the soft, light brush of Kelly’s lips on his shoulder; like the touch of a butterfly, as she kissed him gently on one of his wounds. Luke felt a strange sense of longing. Her kiss made him feel like he’d been blessed–like its power could heal all of his wounds.

  And unexpectedly, his eyes began to fill with tears.

  When Kelly scrambled away, and began skipping along the beach, she was totally unaware that she was making Luke question his sanity. Reaching the bench where she’d left her beach bag and sandals earlier, Kelly dug through her bag for her hat, first, and plopped it onto her head, before covering her eyes with a pair of stylish sunglasses.

  Luke raised a brow, turning to Dan.

  Dan rolled his eyes upward and shrugged. “What can I say? Mom calls Kelly a six-year old fashionista.”

  Luke found himself laughing along with Dan. They watched as Kelly strutted along the path, first glancing left and then glancing right, pulling down and peeking through her sunglasses like a celebrity on public display.

  “I have no I idea where she gets that from,” Dan said dryly. “It must have something to do with those charity fashion shows, she and my other sisters participate in.”

  Luke shook his head dazedly. The resilience of kids was kind of amazing. His little sister had behaved exactly the same way, too. “At least she seems okay.”

  Dan silently nodded his agreement.

  Kelly finally reached the park, and joined the other kids on the swing set, where she and Jeff remained clearly in view.

  Dan suddenly turned grim, as he dropped down to the sand beside him. “Alright, Luke Bryant–I’m gonna stick to you like glue. I owe you, and I owe you big. I wanna know who’s responsible for knifing that nasty cut into the side of your face. The first thing you’re gonna do is tell me about yourself. I’ve been hearing some rumors. I wanna know why that scumbag, that you call your father, has been whipping you so hard, you’re probably gonna be disfigured for life...”

  CHAPTER ONE

  Fourteen years later

  It was the magical wedding of Kelly Callahan’s dreams.

  Too bad it actually wasn’t her wedding.

  If the bride had had her way, the wedding would’ve taken place at sunrise–her most favorite time of the day. So she’d settled for dusk, instead. Luckily, the weather had decided to agree with Kelly’s sister and her sister’s fiancé today–the sun had been bright and the temperature warm.

  Kelly stared out at the sunset overlooking the lake–the backdrop for the wedding was absolutely enchanting. As iridescent light spun down from the slowly descending sun, a shimmering purple haze danced across the lake like fire. Glancing down at the rosy-purple gown that she wore, she noticed that the beading sewn into the bodice glistened, as it was struck by the shimmering light from the sun.

  Out where Kelly stood with the wedding party on the gazebo, pine tips were displayed in abundance–not only for their beauty and scent–but to disguise what had to be, literally, millions of tiny white lights, that’d been strung up and around the canopy.

  And the flowers were stunning. Huge concrete urns held massive arrangements of lilies, roses, and greens, and had been positioned along the perimeter of the gazebo, so as not to obstruct the breathtaking view. Not only were there multitudes of lovely flower arrangements displayed both inside and outside of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn–but pots of annuals, planted with impatiens in brilliant shades of purples and pinks, bordered the bridal pathway for impact. Stargazer lilies, roses and ferns had been used in the bridal bouquets.

  This wedding was incredible–like a fantasy–and planned with love to the smallest detail by Kelly’s oldest sister Lucy, who’d coordinated the entire event.

  Kelly sighed, glancing over at the bright smiling face of her sister, Kate, as she stood before the priest with her soon-to-be-husband, Murphy. Her sister looked beautiful, in a shimmering, bridal gown of white, while Murphy looked ruggedly handsome in the traditional black tux that he’d insisted on. And, with its sweetheart neckline and slim fitting style, the gowns that matched Kelly’s looked lovely on the other bridesmaids and the maid of honor, too.

  Kelly blinked, when music filled the air. Because just like that, it was done–Kate and Murphy were married, and introduced to the crowd as man and wife.

  Turning about face, Kelly grinned, and began following the couple down the aisle, as she glanced around her at the smiling faces of the guests.

  And then she saw him.

  Kelly stopped in her tracks. Those cool gray eyes met hers as he gave her that old familiar smile. Why hadn’t anyone in her family warned her that Luke Bryant might be here today?

  How long she stood and stared at him, she couldn’t say. Until she dimly became aware of being gently shoved forward, as a voice squeaked out from over her shoulder, “Kelly?”

  “Oops, sorry, Jules,” Kelly whispered, to the maid-of-honor. Giving her escort a smile of apology, she resumed her stroll beside him down the aisle.

  Once they reached the end of the walkway, the bride and groom were both laughing as they were swept away through the crowd.

  Shaking her head in resignation, Kate turned to the groom’s youngest brother. He’d been coming on strong with her since the moment they’d met. As Kelly nudged Ethan along, so that they could stand beside the remaining members of the wedding party, she peeked over her shoulder nervously. What’d happened to Luke?

  But when Julie began asking her a question, Kelly focused her attention on the maid-of-honor.

  “What was it that they told us, Kelly? An hour–before they want us back at the reception for pictures?”

  Julie’s boyfriend, Dylan, who’d also been a groomsman, glanced down at as his watch, as he stood silently beside Julie.

  “Yep,” Kelly answered. “The photographer wanted thirty to forty-five minutes alone with Kate and Murphy, first.”

  “Well – I know what we can do to waste away the time.” Dylan winked at Kelly, as he began to drag an, obviously, discomfited Julie away. “See ya’all in about an hour.”

  Kelly grinned. After about a year of dragging their feet, apparently, Julie and Dylan had finally admitted their feelings for each other. And it was great to see Julie so happy.

  Kelly glanced over at Ethan and sighed. He was a really nice guy. But his attention was getting to be a little bit stifling.

  With white-blonde hair and deep-blue eyes, Kelly was tall and thin with a shapely figure. She’d always considered herself fortunate in the looks department.

  Fortunate because of the numerous modeling jobs, that were helping her pay for her college education.

  But unfortunate because of the number of men that seemed to be drawn to her only because of her looks. And her looks were deceiving. After graduating with honors as the valedictorian of her high school graduating class at Crystal Rock High, Kelly had enrolled at Wisconsin with a scholarship, and was focusing her studies on business.

  As the remainder of the wedding party began to go their separate ways, Ethan stood waiting, wearing an inquisitive smile.

  She hesitated. “I’ve got a couple of things I need to do first, Ethan. How about I meet back up with you once I’m finished?”

  She could see that he was disappointed.

  “Okay, Kelly.” He sighed. “You are gonna hang around with me later tonight–aren’t ya? Except for a couple of my brother’s friends, I don’t really recognize too many people here.

  “Sure–I’d like that. I’
d be glad to introduce you to a few of my sister’s single friends, too.” Despite their age difference, Kelly knew that there was interest on his side. It was always better to let guys down easily, she’d discovered, and she was getting to be very good at it. “You’re the only one in the wedding party to get stuck with someone who’s a whole, lot younger than you.” Ethan was in his late-twenties and was an eighth-grade science teacher.

  Ethan snorted. “Ouch–talk about letting someone down easily.” He gave her a rueful smile. “Don’t worry–I’ve got the message. It’s just that I can’t help being interested in you, Kelly – and not just because you’re so hot.”

  Startled, Kelly blinked, as she stared at Ethan.

  “You’re one of the most mature college students that I’ve ever met. Although, how you can put aside, what could be, a very lucrative career in modeling, is beyond me.”

  “Well, I’ve set a lot of goals for myself.” Kelly shrugged. “The money I’ve been making is great–and it’s allowed me to do a lot of traveling–I’ve seen a lot of places I wouldn’t have otherwise. But…” She grimaced.

  Ethan grinned. “Your knack with numbers is pretty unusual, too–you know?”

  Kelly smiled. “Yeah. I think Mom and Dad are still in shock about the fact that I’m considering becoming an accountant. But they also understand. It took me less than six months to get Callahan Construction back on track, when they let me take over the books a few years ago.”

  “Yep–like I said–you’re pretty damned amazing.” Ethan sighed, lifting a brow. “’Speaking of parents–I haven’t seen mine for a while. Maybe I’ll go check up on them during our break.” He didn’t appear to be very anxious to leave her side. “Are we meeting back up at the reception for pictures, then?”

  Kelly nodded, as she pointed out the solarium of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn. “Your parents will probably be hanging out in there, along with mine.”

  Reaching out, Ethan gave Kelly’s hand a squeeze. “Alright. I’ll see you back inside–in about an hour, then.”