Hate at First Sight (5 page)

My eyes bored holes in the guy’s black shirt. I didn’t know him, but apparently he knew Megan. The way he was watching us made me want to shoot him down in flames. His gaze was moving slowly up and down Megan’s body, as if he was trying to undress her with his eyes.

My blood boiled slowly.

“Is that the guy you wanted to tease by asking me for a dance?” I nodded to the jerk behind her.

She turned around slowly, and I could swear I saw excitement flashing in her eyes.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

I cursed mentally. “Yeah, right. So what did you tell him? Huh? That I’m a cousin that you ha
ven’t seen for years? Or better — that I’m your boyfriend that you can’t live without?”

Megan stood still. Score to your brilliant mind, dude, I thought to myself.

“So you said I was your boyfriend, right?” I smirked at my own words. What an irony … who would have thought that such a scenario was possible?

I lowered my face closer to Megan’s. “You should have known better … such games include so much more than just a dance, Sweetie. And I guess now it’s my turn to play.” I smiled leisurely before my lips found Megan’s.

I pressed her closer to my chest, my palm cupped her cheek, and my tongue slid in between the sweetest lips ever. I didn’t rush to deepen the kiss. I was savoring every second of it, and I wanted Megan to kiss me back. Yes, it was a fair price for her small lie.

I ran my palm up and down Megan’s back, biting her lower lip slightly and teasing her tongue with mine. She groaned quietly, and her fingers tangled my hair; her heart was beating fast against my chest.

Her body leaning against mine, our lips kissing, her scent mixing with mine, our tongues playing in the most seductive play I’ve ever been involved in … damn, the girl knew how to kiss.

I broke the kiss unwillingly, whispering, “Come with me.”

Then I looked into Megan’s eyes, and there was not a hint of a protest. She was ready to follow me anywhere.

I swept her in my arms and headed for the car.

“The keys,” I said. “In my back pocket.”

She reached for the keys and unlocked the car. We got into the back seat, and our kissing resumed with new intensity.

I didn’t care about the people in the parking lot, or about my friend who was going to kill me for messing with his sister, or about the guy still waiting for Megan to come back to the party. Sorry, man, not tonight….

She was sitting on my lap, both of her legs over mine. I reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it up to her hips, trailing kisses down her neck and cleavage. I couldn’t get enough of her. The softness of her skin burned my lips. I found her face again and looked into her eyes, running my fingers through the silk of her hair. Right now and there I was ready to die just to make time stand still. I wasn’t ready to let Megan go. And I wasn’t going to….

I wrapped a strand of her hair around my finger and pulled her face closer to mine. “I want you,” I whispered inches from her lips. “Now.”

She looked so damn sexy, with her lips swollen from my kisses and her long hair shielding us from the world outside the car; pure fire was burning in her eyes.

I caressed her arms and shoulders, pulling the straps of her dress and bra down.

“Purple?” I asked, smiling and touching the satin that clung to her breasts. “Last time you were wearing black, and I thought it was the best view ever. But this … makes me want so much more than the embrace we shared on the farm.”

“Are you sure we are ready for this?”

“Can’t you feel how very ready I am?”

She laughed quietly. “This is not what I meant.”

“What do you want me to say, Megs? I’m just a man, and you are one incredibly attractive woman. I want this moment to belong to us, and I don’t want to think about tomorrow. Will you stay with me tonight? It’s up to you to decide. But I want you to know that it’s not just about sex. I’ve never wanted any other woman as much as I want you. And maybe one night won’t be enough to get you out of my system, but I want you to stay. Let yourself be free. At least for once.”

“No promises and no regrets?”

“No.”

Megan looked like she was still hesitating, so I tightened the embrace, saying, “I will accept anything you decide.” Then I ran my tongue over her lips again, and she closed her eyes moaning softly.

“There’s one thing you need to know first,” she said.

“Can we talk about it tomorrow?” I asked, moving my lips to her earlobe.

“No, it’s about…”

“Aiden? Megan?” Owen called.

“Shit,” I swore. “Not now, man!”

“Be quiet,” Megan said, covering my mouth with her palm. “He doesn’t know we are here.”

Thank God, the windows of my car were blacked-out, and in the darkness of the night hardly anyone was able to see what was going on inside the car.

“He’s leaving.” Megan breathed a sigh of relief. “We were seconds from being caught.”

When she mentioned the time, I looked at my watch.

“Crap, I forgot about the meeting I’m having early in the morning.” I caressed her cheek. “Come with me to Bristol. We will come back in a day or two.”

She shook her head. “No, Aiden. I can’t. Owen will kill me if I go with you.”

I inhaled deeply and pressed her forehead to mine. “It looks like fate doesn’t like our games. It keeps making new obstacles for us to go through.”

Megan readjusted her dress, and sat next to me. “Maybe she’s right, and we shouldn’t do this.…”

Definitely the magic of the moment was gone. Thanks, Owen, I said mentally to my friend. You’ve just screwed up everything.

“I think we should go back to the party,” Megan said uneasily.

“Yeah, I think we shouldn’t upset your brother.”

And just like that everything was over.

We came back to the beach pretending, as if nothing had ever happened. Megan joined her family, and I … well, I kept wandering from one group of people to another, talking about nonsense and watching her out of the corner of my eye.

She looked lost. As if her body was still there, but her thoughts were somewhere else … and I guess I knew exactly where they were.

Something was seriously wrong with me. It was the first time that I failed to get what I wanted. Twice. And I never lost when it came to women.

But this time everything was different. Megan was different. I knew that we felt something for each other, and though we both refused to admit it, it wasn’t just about sex.

I doubted that one night spent with her would be enough. I didn’t know where that thought came from, but it was true. I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. And I needed to leave in a few hours….

I shook my head, frustrated.

I needed to talk to Megan. I waited for the party to end, but when I thought I would give her a lift back home, I didn’t find her. One of the guests said she left with her brother and his fiancé. Disappointed, I went back to Owen’s hoping to get a chance to talk to his sister.

It was almost midnight when I knocked at the door of her bedroom.

“One second!” Megan replied from behind the door.

When she opened it, she was wearing a short ivory nightgown, and she had a towel wrapped around her head.

“Aiden? I thought you left.”

“I couldn’t leave without saying good-bye. May I come in?”

She looked cautiously into the empty hall. “Sure.”

“I thought you were old enough not to be afraid of your parents, seeing a guy sneaking into your room.”

“Ha-ha, very funny.” She grimaced at my comment. “And I thought you wouldn’t dare sneak into my room after what happened tonight.” She took off the towel and dropped it on her bed. Then she went to the mirror and started combing her hair.

“That’s exactly why I’m here,” I said, standing behind her.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said, looking at me through the mirror.

“Ever?” I smiled slightly, as I put my arms around her waist.

“Not now and not here.”

“Okay. When and where?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wrong answer,” I said, kissing her shoulder, my eyes never left hers. “Stop pretending, Megan. You want it as much as I do.”

“So what?” She turned around to look at me.

“Wait for a few more days. I will come back and do anything you ask me to.”

“What if I changed my mind?”

“You did?” I asked in a whisper. But I never let her reply, because when my lips found hers there was no time for talking. There was only pure desire that she was sending through my veins. The mere thought of my palms sliding under the thin fabric of her nightgown made me lose my mind. I was about to forget about the contract I needed to sign, about the morning meeting and everything else, but her.

Her hands traced down my back gently, making every muscle of my body tense. Her hair was still wet, and I wanted to tangle it with my fingers. The kiss was very slow and sensual, as if neither of us wanted to deepen it, teasing each other with the sensations it made us feel. She tugged at my shoulders, pulling me closer to herself.

I smiled down at her. “This is not fair, you know?”

“What?” she asked softly.

“You know what. First you are pushing me away, and now you seem to be really glad to have me for yourself. And you know that I can’t stay, but you keep responding to my kisses, knowing that it’s not making it easy to leave.”

“Really? I didn’t notice. But you are right. You need to go,” she said, taking a step away from me.

“Would you let me stay in your bed if I didn’t have to go?” I asked, taking a step closer to her.

“No.”

“No?”

“I’m a decent girl, you know?”

“Oh, really? So how shall we solve this small problem? Will you join me in my bed?”

“I will think about it when you actually ask me to.”

“Deal,” I said. Then I leaned closer to give her one more kiss, and she never stopped me. “I’ll be back in a few days. Will you wait for me?”

“No promises, remember?”

Yeah, well, somehow I didn’t like the sound of it anymore….

What the hell do you think you are doing? My inner voice kept asking me that question, and I didn’t know what to say in response. I had been pacing the room for about an hour already, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Aiden. I could still feel his presence, and every inch of my body still remembered his touches.

Oh, God … this is so not good! I groaned, sitting at the edge of my bed. How am I supposed to concentrate on the wedding when all I can think about is running to Bristol, and straight into Aiden’s embrace?

Every time I closed my eyes I could feel him creeping beneath my skin, and making his way into the sensuous veins to reach the point where my heart met my mind ... and oh, Lord, I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted him to make my heart beat faster, I wanted to lose my mind with him; I wanted him to make me run wild, demanding for more….

And I never thought I could actually think about a man in such a way, with the images of him making love to me again and again. Maybe my mother was right after all, and I needed to forget about Economics at least for some time, because it looked like I was turning into one sex-obsessed disaster.

I almost jumped out of my shoes when my cell phone rang. The message I got was sent from an unknown number, but the words made me smile. It was the first line of one of my favorite songs by
The Lost.

“Give me some sunshine, give me some rain

Give me a chance to see you again.”

I didn’t know how Aiden knew about my love for the band, but I was sure the message was sent by him. I remembered the next line and typed back,

“So all you need is just one chance?

Why don’t we start with a slow dance?”

The response made me laugh. “And here comes my favorite part,” Aiden wrote. “And I can’t wait for it to come true….”

“One word and the game begins,

Enwrapping our thoughts and emotions in sins.”

“Shameless you are,” I typed, still smiling. I didn’t dare to type the rest of the song. Nothing was wrong about the words, if it wasn’t for Aiden and me sharing them. I opened my laptop and found the song in my playlist.

“Don’t you feel the nightingale's tweet?

When we commit even the sins are sweet.

Even the world stops spinning

Watching us, creating a new beginning.

Roll on me, and set me free

Love me, love me, love me,

O, my lady queen!

Let my fingertips run across your lips,

As my palm makes its way to your hips,

Say that you agree

To whatever I want us to be.

Roll on me, and set me free

Love me, love me, love me,

O, my lady queen!

Put your lips down on my chest,

And feel the world coming to rest,

Let us feel that we are blessed

No more protests, what do you suggest?

Roll on me, and set me free

Love me, love me, love me,

O, my lady queen!”

“Are you listening to the song?” the next message said.

“How did you know?”

“Just like that … sweet dreams, Megs.”

I sank back against the pillows, still staring at the text of the message. Yes, being with Aiden felt good, unbearably good.

Even though our first meeting was one hell of a moment, a pleasant sensation in my belly diminished my anger and hate for the guy. I was trapped … I didn’t feel like running away anymore. Instead I wanted to follow Aiden’s advice and enjoy my life at least for once.

The next morning started with a loud noise coming from outside my closed door. I rubbed my eyes, tossed the blanket aside and headed for the door, cursing everyone on the way.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Morning, Sis. Sorry about the noise. Mom wanted us to move this sofa into the guest room.”

Owen and my father smiled apologetically and got back to their noisy work. We all knew that fighting with our mom was a lost cause. Her orders were sacred.

“Good luck,” I said, before I went back to my room.

The day was going to be hard. I hated being woken up. My alarm clock didn’t count. It was just a mechanism, and no matter how many times I cursed it, it would never change.

I took a shower, put on a pair of jeans, combined with a white shirt and went to the kitchen to have breakfast. My blisters were healing, thank God, which meant that I would be able to wear my new, turquoise shoes for the wedding — at least something positive about the whole thing.

Mary was the only person I found in the kitchen. And she looked like she was about to start crying.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, taking a seat next to her.

“My wedding’s going to be a disaster!” she said, hiding her face in her palms.

“What happened?”

“My maid of honor is not coming. She twisted her ankle, and she can barely walk. What am I supposed to do now?”

“I’m so sorry, Dear. Why don’t you ask someone else to be your maid of honor?”

“None of the other bridesmaids knows me well enough to replace her.”

“Do you need a bridesmaid?” the voice behind us said.

Mary and I turned to the door and saw Aiden’s boopsy friend. The Barbie was still staying at our house.

My grip on Mary’s arm tightened. “Not anymore,” I said, smiling at the guest. “She has already found one.”

“Have I?” Mary looked at me, puzzled.

“I will be your maid of honor.”

“Really? Oh, thank you so much, Megan!” She hugged me tightly. “You and Aiden will make a great couple.”

Um … what?

“The best man and the maid of honor are the main couple at the wedding. Well, after the bride and the groom of course.”

“Oh…” I immediately regretted my stupid proposition. Did home atmosphere do something to my brain? I said and did the stupidest things ever!

The Barbie behind me smirked and left the kitchen.

“What is her problem?” Mary asked.

“Men,” I replied angrily. “Do you know who she is?”

“Owen says she’s Aiden’s ex or something of the sort. Their relationship is quite complicated. I don’t know the details.”

So she’s his ex … well, that explains a lot. The only thing I still couldn’t understand was the reason for her coming to the wedding? Was she trying to restore what she and Aiden shared? Or was she after something I didn’t see?...

“Do you need me today?” I asked Mary. “I wanted to see some of my school friends.”

“Sure, no problem. Almost everything has already been done, so I will need you mostly on my wedding day.”

“Okay, just call me if you need any help.”

“Thanks again, Megan. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“You are welcome.”

My mother
joined us a few minutes later, and she was extremely happy to hear the news about my new role at the wedding. We had coffee and discussed a few things about the mini-golf game that was supposed to take place in the afternoon.

I asked Owen if I could borrow his car for a while, and when I was about to leave the house, the doorbell rang.

I was sure my mouth hit the floor the moment I saw our guest. “Jeff?”

“Morning, Megan. I … um … wanted to see you.”

Wow, who would have thought?...

“What for?” I asked, frowning. I didn’t have the slightest desire to talk to him. And I thought I made it clear last time we met. Apparently I didn’t sound convincing.

“Would you have a cup of coffee with me?

“I already had mine.”

“Okay, then how about a walk?”

I looked at my watch. I was going to meet with Jessie and Angeline in about half an hour. And it looked like Jeff wanted more than just thirty minutes of walk.

“I’m going to the town actually. Why don’t we meet later today. Around three o’clock?”

“Perfect!” He smiled at me. “See you later, Megs.”

Megs? Have I missed the moment when we became best friends?

“Yeah, see you.” I waved good-bye and went to the garage, still feeling Jeff’s gaze on my back.

Two years back I would gladly die for a chance to go out with him, but today it felt like a total waste of my time. Even though the guy still made my heart flutter.

Jessie, Angeline and I had been best friends for ages. We did everything together: homework, shopping, partying. They didn’t like me living in London. We still talked from time to time, but now everyone of us had our own lives. Unlike me, they also had what was called
a personal life
, and I knew that Jessie was engaged, and Angeline dated one of our classmates.

I was a little disappointed not to receive any messages from Aiden. I knew that he had an early morning meeting, but I still hoped to hear from him. And it wasn’t anything like me. Did it mean that I missed him? No freaking way….

I left Owen’s car in the parking lot and went to the café.

I immediately recognized Jessie. She was a red-headed girl with big, blue eyes. Angeline was a blond, and people always called us
An Undivided Trinity
.

I smiled, waving at them.

“Holy Moly! Just look at you!” Jessie said, hugging me. “You look fantabulous!”

“Good to hear that from someone who has always been a Queen of style and fashion.”

“Shut up.” She giggled in response.

“We missed you like hell!” Angeline said.

“Same here, ladies.” I was truly happy to see my old friends.

“We want to know every single detail of your life in London.” Jessie hadn’t changed. And neither had her curiosity.

“And especially those details that involve guys,” Angie added.

I rolled my eyes. “Nothing to talk about. I’m not dating anyone. I don’t have time for men.”

My friends shared a puzzled glance.

“How do you feel, Dear?” Jessie asked, squinting. “You sure it doesn’t have anything to do with some big-city-life virus or anything? ‘Cause I’m sure no sane woman your age can stay without a man for so long.”

I laughed. “I’m fine, really. And everything is okay about my big-city life.”

“You need a good brain wash, Honey. Thank God, you have us to help you with that.” Angeline winked at me. “Don’t make any plans for tonight. We are going to the club.”

“But….”

“No buts!” she said strictly. “There’s no way we will let you die a virgin.”