Her Every Fantasy (8 page)

“Yes,” he responded, his lips barely leaving her neck.

She moaned then cleared her throat. “As much as I love what you are doing, we have to stop.”

It took him a moment to realize what she was saying, and another to realize what he was doing. He pulled away from her, groaning in the process. A quick look at her revealed the deep flush of arousal. Her lips were also beautifully swollen from his kiss. He gave her another brief kiss before stepping back. She sighed heavily, and he helped her off the desk. He gave her an apologetic look.

“Forgive me. I got a little carried away.”

Kayla smiled as he tried to straighten up her clothing. Amazingly, she was not as wrinkled as she should be. He turned his back to her and tried readjust himself prior to turning back to her.

She sighed with slight disappointment, and he stifled a chuckle at the sound. At least he wasn’t the only one let down. “There is nothing to forgive. I enjoyed what we were doing a lot. Unfortunately, this is definitely not the place to do it.”

 
“You know that is another thing that I like about you.”

She sighed as she tried to smooth her hair back then paused when she seemed to realize what she was doing. He chuckled because her hair always looked untamable no matter what she did to it.

She gave him a questioning look. “What is that?”

“Your honesty,” he responded with sincerity.

She laughed. “I need a voice recorder to catch you saying that. I might need that later.”

He chuckled. “I would prefer not to have any incriminating evidence against me.”

She shook her head as she finished straightening up the classroom before picking up her bag. They had stayed a lot longer than five
minutes,
he soon discovered when she signed out for the day. He walked her out of the building, only to have her turn to look at him, clear astonishment on her face.

“Has Jamie been waiting for you this whole time?”

He nodded, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Once again, thank you for coming by to see me. Give me a call later on tonight if you can.”

He watched her walk away in astonishment. A few steps later, she stopped. “You might want to get a move on. My sister does charge late fees.”

She continued on, and he groaned as he watched the gentle sway of her behind as she made her way to her car. It took him a moment to realize that his daughter was in the car waiting on him and probably watching him drool over Kayla as well. The last thing that he needed to give his teenage daughter was something to bait him on. He also had two children to pick up from Kristen’s daycare. He turned and headed to the car. When he slid inside, Jamie was bobbing her head to the music on one of her CDs. She smiled when he started the car.

“I wondered if I was going to have to come in and get the two of you.”

He shot his daughter a look. “You just keep in mind who gives you your allowance.”

His daughter stared at him in surprise before her expression turned to one of amusement. “You are right, Dad.”

She flipped to the next song, and it happened to be one that he actually liked.
“Oh and, Dad?”

He looked over at his eldest daughter not liking the tone in her voice. “What is it?”

“If you plan on going anywhere else, you might want to wipe that lipstick from around your mouth.”

“Now tell me why we are doing this again?”

Kayla looked up and laughed, but he didn’t find anything amusing right now. It had been her idea to have a double date with Jonah and Ellie. She had orchestrated the date, and now they were on their way to Sam’s Café to have a nice dinner.

“Because I want for you to meet Jonah and for him to meet you.”

He shook his head as he held the door open for her. Jonah and Ellie were already seated. They walked over to the booth hand in hand. Jonah and Ellie stood up to greet them. She hugged Ellie,
then
gave Jonah a hug and kiss on the cheek.

James was surprised that he didn’t tense at the action. The truth was he could tell that Jonah and Kayla truly were just friends. He accepted Jonah’s handshake before letting Kayla slide into the booth. She and Ellie were so involved in conversation that he had no choice but to converse with Jonah, especially if he didn’t want to come off as a rude jerk in front of Kayla again.

“How is your dad doing?” Jonah asked.

He nodded. His dad had improved a lot since he and the kids had arrived. In the beginning, he’d been skeptical about the return to Baxley. He’d actually been afraid of the memories that would be drudged up if he did. It was one thing for him to have a long-distance relationship with his dad. It was another for him to live in the same house with him.

Fortunately for him, his experience had been a lot better than he expected. He had a lot of people to thank for that. All of their conversations were halted as the waitress came up to the table to take their order. She started with their drinks and, since everyone was ready, went ahead and took their food order. When Nadia walked away, he looked over at Kayla just in time to catch her laugh at something Ellie had said.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?”

He looked at Jonah with an arched eyebrow. Even though Kayla was beautiful, he didn’t want another man, especially her guy friend, to be looking at her like that.

His eyebrows only rose higher when Jonah grinned. “I was referring to Ellie.”

A second later, the corners of James’s mouth curled upward, and he and Jonah shared a laugh. He realized then that he liked Jonah.

“It is reassuring to me that you haven’t been able to take your eyes off Kayla. I also like the fact that you haven’t bought into the rumor that is flying around town.”

He found himself chuckling knowing first hand just how quickly rumors could get out. It was still a mystery to him at how his past had gotten around town so fast, but it had. He turned his amused glance to Jonah. “Which rumor would that be?”

“The one that Kayla and I are romantically involved.”

He had to laugh again. “Actually, I fell for that one myself but only because I saw the two of you with my own eyes.”

Jonah gave him a puzzled look but didn’t have time to respond because Nadia brought their drinks back to the table. When she left again, Jonah resumed where he’d left off. “What do you mean?”

He gave Jonah a look that only a fellow man would understand. “Let’s just say that I have seen the end of one of your date nights.”

Jonah chuckled. “I can see how someone who isn’t from around here could think that Kayla and I have something going on.”

He found himself shrugging his shoulders. “The thing is I trust Kayla. That helps a lot.”

Jonah smiled. “That is good, but what do you know?”

He shook his head.
“Nothing other than the fact that you two have known each other for a long time.”

Jonah leaned back in the booth. Jonah admitted that he’d known of the Smith sisters as soon as they stepped foot in town. He hadn’t really gotten to know them until Randy had started to date Kristen ten years ago but had lost contact with them once Randy and Kristen broke up. He hadn’t met back up with them until Kristen and Randy had thrown a party and invited some of their close friends.

“It was there that I first saw Kayla as a woman, and she will admit that she saw me as a man as well.” Jonah paused briefly. “Yet, the more time that I spent with Kayla, the more I knew that we were better off as friends. But we had to be sure.”

Jonah paused, staring him directly in the eye. “We went on one real date and shared one kiss that I swear to you, if I had a sister, I know that was what it would feel like.”

James laughed, and he had no idea as to why, but it had a little to do with Jonah’s dry tone and his facial expression. He should be bothered at the fact that the two of them had once wanted to date each other. Yet he wasn’t. He couldn’t be. Both Kayla and Jonah were honest and up front about the whole ordeal.

“And what are the two of you talking about that has you laughing so much?”

He looked over at Kayla then wrapped his arm around her.
“Oh, not much.
Jonah is just filling me in on the history of you guys’ relationship.”

She shook her head and placed a brief kiss on his lips.
“Glad that you find it so funny.
I must say that it is a totally different reaction from the last time that this topic came up.”

“Which you can’t hold against me because I apologized for that, and you forgave me,” he teased.

She scooted closer to him. “And I must say that you do apologize very well.”

They both looked up as Jonah cleared his throat. “The two of you might want to head home if you are going to keep that up.”

Kayla rolled her eyes at him. “It looks to me that you and Ellie are sitting pretty close together yourselves.”

Ellie blushed, but before Jonah could respond, their waitress walked up to the table with their food.

After she walked off Jonah reached for his glass. “I would like to make a toast.”

Everyone picked up their glass and waited for Jonah to continue.
“To new friends and new relationships.”

James was happy to drink to that. He could think of nothing better to toast to. His stay in Baxley was only getting better with each passing day. He enjoyed the rest of dinner. It had been a while since he’d done this for several reasons, one being that he didn’t trust anyone after he’d caught his best friend in bed with his wife and the second that he had four children who demanded a lot of his time. Or rather three who
did.
Jamie was only demanding every once in a while. It felt good to be in the presence of good people. Good and trustworthy people. By the time dinner was over, he was stuffed. They paid their checks then made their way to their respective vehicles.

Jonah was parked closer. Ellie embraced both of them prior to into Jonah’s SUV. James held his hand out to Jonah.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, and I look forward to all of us getting together again.”

Jonah nodded.
“Same here.”

He turned to Kayla and gave her a hug. “Have a good night, and give me a call later on in the week.”

She smiled. “I will. Have a good night.”

Jonah slid behind the wheel, and James pulled her in the direction of his own SUV.

“Did you have a good time?”

He looked down at her. “Yes, I did. And I am glad that you made me come tonight.”

She looked at him in shock. “Made you come?”

He nodded, unable to hold back his chuckle of amusement as he opened the door for her, and she shook her head.

“Oh yeah, I really twisted your arm.”

“I know, and you were so subtle about it.”

He closed the door before she could respond. By the time he got in on the other side, there was a grin on her face. “You know you should have been an actor.”

He shot her a dry look. “I wouldn’t last more than a month.”

She laughed as he drove her home. “You are probably right.”

He didn’t bother to hide his amusement.
“Hey now.
You don’t have to agree so readily, especially with it being your suggestion and all.”

He pulled into her driveway, and she glanced over at him. “Of course I do.”

He turned off the ignition,
then
got out of the SUV. After going around the other side, he opened the door, and she slid into his arms.

“All of that aside, thank you for coming tonight.”

His response was interrupted as a cold gust of wind hit them, causing her to gasp. “I think that we need to get inside.”

She led the way up her walkway, pulling out her keys as she went. She opened the door and let both of them into a warm house. She closed the door before turning to face him.
“As I was saying, thank you for coming tonight.
I know that it took a lot for you to do that.”

He smiled. “You are right. It did. But I am glad that I did it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

She went up on tiptoe and gave him a brief kiss. He caught the back of her head and deepened the kiss. A moment later, she drew away and groaned. She quickly put distance between them, and he gave her a puzzled look.

“What is it?”

The corners her mouth tilted upward. “Now is not a good time to go any further.”

Having a wife who had given him four children and two developing daughters, it didn’t take him long to figure out why that was. He grinned and pulled her back into his arms. “That’s okay.”

She rested her forehead against his chest. “No, it isn’t. As crazy as it may seem, I do want you.”

He pulled back and looked at her with a frown on his face. “I’m not sure if that was a compliment or an insult.”

She laughed. “You know what I mean.”

He nodded. “Yes, I do. So that is why I think that we should do something just as meaningful.”

Before she could ask him what he meant he helped her out of her jacket and then slipped out of his own. He led her to the couch and sat down, pulling her down next to him.

“Find anything that you want to watch.”

She turned on the television, and came across
Blood Diamond
. He settled in to watch the movie. When she laid her head on his shoulder and fell asleep, he studied her. He didn’t want to leave her but it was inevitable. He woke her gently, telling her that he had to get home. She murmured incoherently, and he chuckled. He touched his lips to hers briefly before he covered her with the quilt on the back of the sofa. As he drove home, he could only think about how bad he wanted to bring Kayla home and place her in bed with him, but it was too soon. He could honestly say that he was looking forward to that.