Derailed (21 page)

He stood her upright, kissed her lips, and said, “You’re so beautiful. I love how you can’t wait to be in my arms.”

Harmony shyly giggled as her father, mother, and brother watched the scene playing out before them.

“The copper brings out the honey in your eyes.” From the periphery, Harmony saw the moment her mother waved her tears away with a Kleenex. Ashton’s words flowed freely, and they could be as sweet as honey.

He retrieved a corsage from the console table. “A cream colored hydrangea with a copper ribbon, a beautiful delicate flower for my beautiful delicate lady.” He stretched the elastic over her wrist—hydrangeas he knew were her favorite flower. “You’re perfection.” He turned her hand and placed a tender kiss on her wrist.

They ran out to the waiting limousine. With a handful of their friends already coupled off space was limited, but the couple didn’t mind. Ashton took the bucket seat he’d previously claimed and pulled her onto his lap. Couples around them had already started to heavily make out, but Ashton wouldn’t touch her like that in public because he wanted no one else to experience her heightened color or her swollen lips or the way her breasts moved when her breathing increased. He’d say that was all for him and for no one else to see, so instead of rounding third base in the limo, he kissed her sweetly on the cheek and laced his fingers in hers.

At the last stop Elizabeth Myers and her boyfriend boarded the limo. Since all of the seating was taken, they sat on the floor below Ashton and Harmony. Liz had worn a strapless dress without a brassiere and the view from above extended all the way to her nipples. Given her triple D breast size, Harmony thought the look was just vulgar.

***

Ashton didn’t mention it, because he didn’t want to upset Harmony on their special night, but Liz was fond of placing her hands on him. Currently her fingers were massaging up his calf. Unfortunately for Liz, Ashton only had eyes for his girl.

At the dance he continued to fight off the eager advances of one Elizabeth Myers, along with the ruler Sister Hawthorne used to measure the distance between the dancers. She’d say to leave room for the Holy Ghost, but whenever she’d turn her back, Ashton pulled Monet close.

His parents kept a villa in the small town of Giverny where the French artist Monet lived. This past summer Harmony had traveled with them and he’d been able to show her the works of the impressionist painter. The artist’s landscape work was beautiful and intricately detailed, like his girl, so he thought it a fitting nickname. Moreover, when her name was uttered slowly the name Monet could be heard.

At the prom’s culmination, their friends piled into the limo to migrate to a rented beach cabin on the Mississippi coast. That was all well and good, but at fifteen, Monet was two years younger than him and that was not the place for her. No way would he ever take her there, even if she were of legal age. As they held one another close the couple waved goodbye to their friends.

“Come on.” He pulled her along and she skipped behind him.

“Where are we going?”

“I parked my truck up here earlier today.” Against the truck he placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Oh? What?”

Her dimpled smile cut through him whenever she flashed it. He’d give his life for her, and anything else she desired. So far he didn’t think she was aware of the power she wielded over him.

He drove them deep into the estate to a little out-of-the-way cottage and killed the engine. “It was the dwelling of the land foreman in the early nineteenth century. I’ve cleaned it up so that we could stay here tonight. I even got a generator to run a VCR and a microwave. I’ve got your favorite movie.” He smiled.

“You bought
Dirty Dancing
? You hate that movie.”

“I just want to spend the evening with you. Your mom gave me a change of clothes and your other girly stuff.” He reached over the seat and pulled her travel bag out.

“Ashton, this is like a fairy tale. I feel like a princess.”

“You are a princess.”

***

“That’s the best ending.” Harmony swiped at a tear that landed on her cheek.

“I’ll take your word for it. I like it because you like it. That’s all.”

He pulled more Bugles from the box and filled them with squirt cheese. They sat on a spread blanket with tons of throw pillows piled high all around.

While she snacked on his offering he put his favorite movie into the VCR.
Don’t You (Forget About Me)
trickled through the television speakers and Ashton’s head bobbed with the beat.

As his back went down toward the blanket he grabbed her, throwing her on top of him. They laughed when they landed in a sea of plush pillows. The mood turned serious when their lips came together.

A certain amount of making out was to be expected; after all, it was prom night, but Ashton always treated her with reverence and honor and expressed a desire for them to wait.

The kiss turned heated and his hands started caressing the peaks and valleys of her body. He broke their connection and sat up. “I need a distraction before I take things too far.”

Standing on her knees behind him she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Are you disappointed you aren’t getting sex tonight?”

“What?” He pulled her by the hand across his lap. “I’m having a blast just being alone with you here tonight. Aren’t you?”

“Yes, I just thought if you were with one of the seventeen-year-olds you’d probably be getting sex.”

His palm caressed her cheek. “I don’t want one of the seventeen-year-olds. I want you. We’ve been best friends since we were kids. I love you, Monet.”

“I love you, Ash,” she smiled sweetly. “This is the best night of my life.”

“Mine too.”

He opened the console doors and pulled out the game of Operation. “Okay, you know I have wicked skill at this game, so let’s see if you can beat me. Winner gets to pick the next movie.”

“Oh, I’ve got this.”

They played games and watched movies all night. Incidentally, Ash let Monet win every time because he loved the little giggle she emitted and the dimples that popped up on her cheeks when she did. They fell asleep tangled together on the blanket, surrounded by pillows and very much in love.

Gina Watson is author of contemporary series romances. She lives in Texas where she leads a double life: university instructor by day, romance writer by night. She loves to be contacted by readers to discuss all things romance.

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