Destined to Change (11 page)

“My baby doesn’t like to go slow. She takes off pretty fast.”

He took off down the road leading to town. It was such a beautiful night tonight. The wind was warm, not at all uncomfortable. The irrigation systems were going off in the field. The moon was shining down on the water, making it look like rainbows sparkling in the field. That mixed with fireflies flashing their lights all around us, was beautiful. I would never get tired of the beauty of this place I was lucky enough to live in.

Jaxon had slowed down after the initial take-off. When we got to town, he pulled into the local diner, Leona’s Place. This place was famous for its pie. People drove from other states just to try a piece of Leona’s pie.

Jaxon shut the bike down and stood up off the bike. He took his helmet off and damn, he looked even sexier than he had before. This was insane. He could not get sexier by the minute, could he?

“I thought we could try some of this famous pie all the guys have been telling me about.”

I took off my helmet and he looked at me funny.

“What?” I asked.

He said, “Uh, you have a bad case of helmet hair. Let me help you with that.” He took the helmet from me. Then he scooted in closer to me and ran his fingers through my hair. His eyes never left mine the entire time.  I could look into those eyes all damn day.

His gaze drifted down to my lips and then back up to my eyes. “Whew, we better get inside. Or we might not ever make it to the pie.” He said as he placed a light kiss on my cheek and lifted me off the bike.

Leona’s Place didn’t have many customers at this time of night. Leona was actually the only one there.

“Loralei Harper. How are ya, gorgeous? You haven’t been in to visit me in ages.”

“Miss Leona, sorry it’s been so long. I’m just so busy. So much to do on the farm, so little time. You know how that goes.”

Leona was such a sweetheart. I had known her since I was a little girl. She was a short, round older lady. She had curly brown hair and a tendency to wear a hairnet and an apron with a weird saying on it.  Tonight’s apron said: Big Girls Don’t Cry – They’re Happy Because They Eat Pie.

“Oh, baby girl, I understand that.”

“What are you getting?” I asked Jaxon.

He responded with a questioning look on his face. “Uh, could I order one of everything? Would that be crazy?”

“They have eight different pies tonight, Jaxon. Can you eat eight pieces of pie?”

“I’d sure be willing to give it a good try,” he said with a little grin.

Leona said, “Son, you’re a man after my own heart. I’m gonna bring you out a little sample of all of the specials today.”

Jaxon stood up and grabbed Leona in a big ole bear hug. “I think you’re a woman after my own heart, Miss Leona.”

She was blushing and smiling from ear to ear. Apparently, Jaxon’s charms were effective on all members of the opposite sex.  Didn’t matter how old they were.

Leona disappeared into the kitchen to fetch our pie. Jaxon took my hand in his and started rubbing the pad of his thumb back and forth. He was smiling at me. The feelings I had for him were getting stronger every day. It was like we were drawn to each other.  He was great with the kids and they were really starting to like him. That scared me and made me really happy at the same time.  Jaxon was so different than Declan.  I never thought I could fall for someone like him, but I was and I wanted more with him.

Leona came out to our table with a cookie sheet covered in pie. I mean covered in pie. I bet we had sixteen slices. So many different kinds: coconut cream, chocolate cream, lemon meringue, raisin cream, apple, blueberry, cherry, peanut butter, gooseberry, and my personal favorite chocolate-peanut butter. I ate at least one bite of each kind. Okay, maybe I also ate three bites of the chocolate-peanut butter pie. But my goodness, it was so delicious. I couldn’t let it go to waste. I was amazed at the amount of pie Jaxon ate. There was barely anything left on the cookie sheet when Leona came out to take it away.

She smiled at Jaxon. “I love to see a man with a healthy appetite. You better hang on tight to this one, Loralei.”

“That sounds like excellent advice to me,” Jaxon said with a grin.

He settled the check with Leona and we got ready for the ride home. On the way home he turned down the lane that leads out to the pond. I was really enjoying the ride and it didn’t hurt that I got to have my arms wrapped around Jaxon, holding on tight.

When we got to the pond, Jaxon cut the engine and climbed off the bike. He took my hand and helped me get my helmet off and get off the bike. Then he climbed back on the bike.
“Come here and sit down in front of me,” he said.

“Um, sure.” I climbed on in front of him. I leaned my back against his chest. My head was resting on his shoulder. This moment was perfect. The weather was perfectly warm. The moonlight shining down on the pond was perfect. The crickets chirping in the distance were making the perfect mood music for us.

I could feel his breath on my neck. Then I felt his tongue on my ear. He kissed my earlobe, whispering, “Thanks for going for a ride with me, Lor. Tonight, has been perfect.”

How did he know what I was thinking? I thought it was perfect too.

He kissed my neck. His hands were resting on my thighs, until they started moving up to my breasts. He cupped them in his hands, and I heard a groan escape his lips as they were caressing my neck. I reached back and placed my arms around his neck and I turned my head to give him easier access to mine.

All of a sudden, he stopped. He moved his hands back to where they had been resting on my thighs and he rested his chin on my neck. He was breathing heavily.

“You don’t have to stop, Jaxon.”

“Oh baby, yes, yes I do. Let’s just enjoy this beautiful night, okay?”

“Um, okay? You don’t want to…do anything?”

“Damn, it woman. You’re going to be the death of me.” He said with a laugh. “Of course, I do, Lor.  But I’m trying really hard to be a good boy.”

We stayed at the pond for a couple of hours just talking and enjoying each other’s company.  I was really getting used to being wrapped up in his arms.  He made me feel so safe and special.  Like that was where I needed to be. This night had been perfect.

We rode home and I decided I really liked his motorcycle.  He drove right up to the steps at my house.  We climbed off the bike, he pulled our helmets off and hung them on the handlebars then he walked me to the door.

“Would you like to come in?” I asked.

“I would absolutely love to, but I think maybe it would be better if I didn’t.   I want us to take it slow, and I’m afraid if I come in I won’t be able to do that.”  He was looking at me with a pained expression.

“Okay, I understand.  But someday, hopefully soon, I want to be with you.  You know that, right?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head.  “Woman, you are gonna be the damn death of me. I am trying so hard to be good.”

He leaned in and very softly pressed his lips to mine.  He kissed me so gently, it was beautiful.  He pulled away and then kissed the corners of my lips and then he ran his nose along my jaw.  I could feel his warm breath on my face.  “Someday soon, Loralei.  Someday very, very soon.”

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It had been a month since Jaxon and I spent that night together in my house. I couldn’t believe how right this all felt. He might be more than just the right guy for right now, he might be my forever. The kids adored him, my parents loved him, and I kinda thought maybe I did too.

I asked Jaxon last week if he would like to go to the cattle sale with me. He jumped at the chance of us spending an entire weekend together away from the kids in a hotel in another town. I was pretty excited about it too. I was nervous too, but mostly excited.

After the kids went to sleep that night, I called Emma to chit-chat. She told me she and Eric were celebrating their six year wedding anniversary with a huge party at the lake this weekend.

“Lor, you have to bring Jaxon with you to the party. I can’t freaking believe you won’t introduce him to me,” Emma whined.

“Ems, you know I love you, but I just don’t know if Jaxon is ready for a party with a bunch of country folks. You know he’s not exactly a cowboy. I don’t want him to feel out of place. And I explained to you that it’s not that I won’t introduce him to you; you’re just so busy all the time with your new catering business. I never get to see you anymore.”

I couldn’t explain it, but I did feel kinda weird introducing Jaxon to Emma and Eric, especially Eric. He and Declan were best friends, and he and I had shared a special bond since the night of the accident. He had always treated the kids like his own. They adored their Uncle Eric, and he adored them. I was really afraid of what his reaction to Jaxon would be.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what you keep saying, but I think you're embarrassed of me. I’m not a total hick, you know. I do have all my teeth, and I don’t wear overalls everyday!” I really hated to make Emma feel that way, but I felt that it was best to keep them away from Jaxon until I figured out my feelings for him.

I relented, “Okay, I’ll bring him to your party, geesh, woman, calm down!” As I was saying this to Emma, I was worrying about Jaxon. I would never want to put him in a situation where he would feel out of place, and I was really afraid this party might do just that. But I decided to hope for the best and invite him anyway.

Once I got off the phone with Emma, I called Jaxon to share the invite with him.

“Hey babe, what’s up?” he asked in a way that made my toes curl. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t pushed for us to have sex so far. I would’ve been concerned that he didn’t want me, but we made out like a couple of teenagers every day.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Oh, no baby. I just got out of the shower.”

“Well, I wanted to ask you something. I was wondering if you would like to go to a party with me on Saturday night?”

“What kinda party?” he asked.

“Emma and Eric are having a party at the lake to celebrate their anniversary. It should be fun and I would love for you to meet them.” I really did want him to meet Eric and Emma. As worried as I was about him fitting in, selfishly, I wanted my friends to get to know him. And I really wanted to hear Ems thoughts on him.

“You really want me to meet your friends? I was starting to think you were ashamed of me. You talk about Emma and Eric all the time, but you haven’t ever said anything about introducing us.” He sounded really sad when he said that last part. Had I made him feel that way? I hadn’t meant to.

“Jaxon, I’m so sorry if I made you feel that way. Of course I want you to meet my friends, please say yes.”

And in the sexiest voice I have ever heard he said, “For you baby, my answer is always yes.” Yes, that man could definitely make my lady parts dance. As I was standing by the bed thinking about my lady parts dancing, Jaxon asked, “So, what are you wearing right now?”

I couldn’t help it. I started giggling. The way he said it was just too funny.

When he didn’t say anything and I noticed he wasn’t giggling, I asked, “Um, are you serious? You really want to know?”

“Baby, I just got out of the shower. I am standing in front of my bed with only a towel wrapped around my waist. And just hearing your voice has made me hard. I miss how it felt when I slept beside you. The way it felt when I held you in my arms all night. I wanted to do so much more. You know that, right Lor?”

I couldn’t believe this was happening. Jaxon wanted to have phone sex with me. Surely, I was misunderstanding this.

I knew I sounded scared. “Yes, yes I know you wanted more. I did too. I was just scared, because it’s been so long.”

“Lor, do you want to have a new experience with me? I mean I just figured - you’ve never, uh, done this before, like on the phone?”

“Of course not Jaxon! You know I haven’t. Have you?”

“I’ve never wanted to before.”

“I would love to share my first time with you. I want you so much Jaxon. I’m about to explode.”

I heard something crash and then I heard Jaxon say, “Holy fuck.”

“Jaxon, are you still there? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, baby I’m here, um, wow, you just surprised me is all. I kind of dropped the phone.” I giggled and he said “Are you laughing at me?”

“Why yes I am Jaxon, now what are you gonna do about it?” I couldn’t believe I said that. But of course it’s a lot easier to say things like that over the phone. I never would have said that had he been standing in front of me.

“You didn’t answer my question, Lor.”

“What did you ask again?” Of course I knew what he asked. I just wanted to hear him say it again.

“What – are – you - wearing?” He really drew that question out, stressing each word.

“Actually, I just got out of the shower also. But I’m not wrapped in a towel. I let it drop to the floor when you dropped the phone.”

“Baby that was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever heard. Are you in bed?”

“No.”

“Get in bed. Naked. Get under the covers and follow my instructions.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh my God - you’re killing me here.”

“You could just come over. We could do this in person. Please.” I was almost begging.

“It pains me to say this, but I am not coming over tonight. We are going to experience this together for the first time. Now do exactly as I say and nobody will get hurt.” I laughed out loud at that.

“You know I don’t like it when you laugh at me, baby. Are you in bed yet?”

“Yes.”

“I want you to pretend that I am lying beside you. Can you do that, Lor?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I want you to play with your breasts for me. Take your hands and start at your stomach and make your way up to your breasts. Cup them in your hands. Now pinch your nipples, squeeze them, close your eyes, Lor, pretend it’s me touching you. Can you feel my mouth on your nipple? Can you feel me squeezing them? Can you feel my teeth as I nip at them?”

“Oh wow, yes Jaxon, I can feel you. Oh, yes!” I could hear Jaxon moving around. It sounded like he was – maybe - I don’t know. Sheepishly I asked, “Jaxon, are you, um, touching yourself too?”