Starburst (38 page)

“I
will make you feel warm and cozy,” he replied, and with that she got up and
changed. She wasn’t interested in Kevin making her feel warm and cozy, and
again she did what she does and ran.

She
left Kay a note, and when she returned and saw it she just shook her head.

“Peyton
what the hell are you doing?” she asked, out loud to no one but the dog.

Peyton
and Kevin went to bed, and she lay in his arms and talked. She was only wearing
her panties with no shirt, and his naked chest on hers
was
warm and cozy,
and she loved the way he felt. They didn’t talk about anything serious, and he
told her about his son and explained to her that he was adopted when he was
three, and his parents were in Florida. She told him that her dad lived in
Florida. She talked about Alley and her starting out in show business. They
talked until after midnight, and she wondered why he wasn’t kissing her or
trying to have sex. He dozed off not long after and she was left alone with her
thoughts, and she didn’t do this either. She had never gone to bed with a man
without having sex, and it confused her.

Kevin
was going to leave her a note and tell her to call Kay to come and get her when
she woke because he didn’t want to wake her. She woke on her own when she heard
his alarm, and he tried to move her quietly out of his arms.

“Why
didn’t we have sex last night?” was the first words out of her mouth. It was
what she had gone to bed thinking about, and it was the first thing on her mind
when her eyes opened.

Kevin
laughed and propped himself up on one elbow to look at her.

“Did
you want to?”

“Isn’t
that why you wanted me to come home with you?”

“No,
I don’t need to have sex with you. You sleeping in my arms gives me just as
much satisfaction.”

“I
thought we were done with the serious crap.”

“I
didn’t mean that to be serious, I mean I’m serious, but not in the same context
that you’re talking about. I will make love to you right now,” he added and
kissed her lightly, just once.

“Sex,”
she corrected, and he smiled down at her.

Kevin
did make love to her before they got up, and she knew they were not just having
sex. Sex didn’t cause the feeling in her chest the way this did. Sex didn’t
make her stare into his dark eyes the way this did. Sex didn’t take over her
entire existence the way this did.

Kevin
showered, and while he was in the shower she took her own toothbrush out of her
bag and washed her face and got dressed. He left the bathroom and came back to
her pulling her hair into a pony tail. He was buttoning his shirt and tucked it
into his dress pants, and they watched each other through their reflections in
the mirror. He pulled the collar up on his shirt and placed the tie in its
designated position. She turned to him and held both ends of the tie in her
hands and pulled him to her and kissed him.

“You
taste like mouthwash,” he teased.

“I
thought it was you,” she replied, with a smile.

“Are
you going to tie it or just hold onto it?” he asked.

“I
have no clue how to tie a tie,” she admitted.

“You
can’t shoot pool, you can’t play basketball, you can’t play poker and you can’t
tie a tie,” he joked.

“I
kicked your ass in poker, and I ‘m a pretty good cook. Teach me how to tie it,”

He
smiled down at her. “Start with the wide end and pull it to the just below the
belt,” he explained.

“Here?”
she asked, touching his crotch as she did.

“No.
Not there, about right here,” he said, moving it himself. “Cross the wide end
over the narrow end and bring the wide end behind the narrow end,” he explained,
holding his hands over hers to show her. Once he was done with all of the steps
he took it and tightened, putting it in place.

“There,
you just learned how to tie a Windsor knot,” he said with a kiss. “Are you
ready, I have to get going?”

“Do
you mind if I hang around here for a little while, and I will call Kay to come
and get me. I need to make some calls and use your laptop if you don’t mind.”

“I
don’t mind a bit, and there’s plenty of coffee left.”

Kevin
kissed her in the kitchen before leaving. “Am I going to see you tonight?” he
asked, hoping that she said yes.

“Maybe,
let me see what Kay has planned.”

“Kay
is very boring, she has nothing planned,” he teased.

That
was one of the calls she was planning on making with her alone time. She was
going to call Carter and set up an arrangement for them to get Don and Kay
together. Kevin left her at the table with his laptop, and she Googled Alley’s
name to read up on all of the gossip, and that was exactly what it was. They
had her pregnant wondering if the baby belonged to the hot bodyguard or Jerrod
Jackson. The tattoo was speculated to be a cult symbol, and her drug habit was
out of control, and she was checking into rehab once the premier was over.

She
tried to call Alley, and didn’t get an answer, and she tried Trevas.

“Hey
Peyton,” he answered.

“Hey
Trevas, where’s Alley?”

“She
is upstairs throwing an Alley tantrum.”

“Why
now?”

“Her
stylist is making her wear a beautiful dress that looks amazing on her.”

Peyton
laughed. “Are you guys still flying out here Wednesday?”

“We
are still coming, but we are driving. We’ve had enough flying and people for a
while.”

“What
time will you be here?”

“I
am not sure, but it will probably be late. We will more than likely just go
straight to the cabin and see you guys Thursday.”

Kay
hesitated on the next call and dialed the number on the little piece of paper.

“Hey
Carter, its Peyton Paxton.”

“I
was hoping you had come to your senses,” he replied.

“Not
a chance. Do you think Don would go to the Warehouse tomorrow night?”

“I
don’t know if he would go there. That is kind of her place.”

“Well
you know more about this place than I do. You tell me where.”

“I
will try and get him to go to the Warehouse, but I am not making any promises,
and I think this is a mistake.”

“Okay,
that sounds like a plan,” she told him, ignoring the mistake remark. “What
time?”

“I
work till eight tomorrow so it can’t be till like nine.”

“That
is perfect, see you tomorrow,” she told him, and thought that it was indeed
perfect. They would get there around seven, and she would make sure she had
enough alcohol in her before nine, or was her being drunk when she saw him a
bad idea?

Peyton
of course had to explore Kevin’s home before she called Kay. It was a normal
cul-de-sac home, one that you would expect to see in a neighborhood like that.
The dining room had a beautiful oak table with six chairs and a matching china
cabinet with a very elegant set of china displayed inside. She looked at the
tiny yellow roses around the plates and cups with a gold etching and wondered
if they were a family heirloom or if they had been something that his wife had
left behind.

She
opened the door beside of the dining room, and it was a small home office. She
sat at the desk and noticed the picture of the middle school on the corner of
the desk, and it puzzled her as to why he would have a picture of the old school
displayed on his desk. It was a normal school, small with only one story, but
Kevin had told her that was why they had built the new one and closed this one
seven years prior. They had grown out of it, and it was old.

Next
to that picture was a picture of a handsome young man that she was sure was
Jonathon, his son, because he looked so much like him.

She
nosily opened the desk drawer and pulled out a thick folder that read, ‘Project
in Progress.’ She opened it to find photo shopped pictures of the middle
school. The rooms had been converted into boy’s dorm rooms with beds and desks.
There was another room with three sofas, a huge flat screen T.V. and videos.
What was all of this? She wondered as she turned and saw the books that read,
‘How to get government grants’ and ‘Running a nonprofit organization.’ Was he
planning on opening a home for boys with the old school? She was going to ask
Kay about it and see if she knew anything about it.

Peyton
called Kay to come and get her around nine.

“What
happened to staying away from him?” Kay asked as soon as she was in the car.

“I’m
an idiot. I don’t know what happened, he showed up at your house, and I was
consumed. I can’t say no to that the man,” she replied, light heartily.

“Does
that mean you won’t mind if I run to my office really quick?”

“No,
I don’t mind,” she said, trying to contain the excitement of seeing him.

“I
really didn’t think so,” she told her honestly.

“Kay,
I found something at Kevin’s this morning that I don’t understand.”

“Let
me guess, something that is probably none of your business?”

“Exactly,”
she smiled. “It was a bunch of stuff on the school.”

Peyton
didn’t have to explain any more, Kay knew exactly what it was.

“Yeah
he has talked about it for years. He wanted to open up a boy’s home for boys
that get into trouble or are headed down the wrong road. He thinks he can be
superman and help them turn their lives around or something like that. I don’t
think he has mentioned it for a while though, there’s a lot of red tape, plus
he doesn’t have the funds to convert it anyway.

“Why
would he want to do that?” Peyton asked, not understanding.

Kay
looked at her and smiled. “He was really there for Trevas when he got into
drugs and almost went to prison. His son Jonathon also got into drugs when he
was a senior in high school, and his mother sent him here with his dad when she
couldn’t do anything with him. I don’t know where either of those boys would be
right now if Kevin hadn’t intervened.”

“Why
must you make this man sound so perfect?” Peyton asked, and was out of her
comfort zone again with him. She was used to men who cared about themselves and
expected other people to bow down to their arrogant egos.

“I
have to go out on the floor for a little bit,” Kay explained to Peyton as they
walked through the office doors. “You can come with me if you want or you can
go see Kevin,” she gave her the choice but already knew she was going to choose
Kevin over the loud factory.

Peyton
didn’t answer and stopped at his door, and Kay shook her head and continued on
her way.

Peyton
knocked on his door, and he opened it with a smile and as soon as it was closed
he had her in his arms kissing her. “What are you doing here?” he finally
asked.

“I
don’t know. Kay needed to come in for something.”

“She
did a lot better taking vacation in California than she does here,” he told her
aggravated at his friend who couldn’t go a day without knowing what was
happening there.

Kevin
looked down at his watch. “I have a conference call in five minutes,” he told
her, letting her know that he didn’t have time for her right now.

“That’s
okay, I just wanted to stop and say hi,” she said letting him off the hook.

Kevin
kissed her, and it was enough to cause her arms and legs to go limp and want
more. “Am I going to see you tonight?” he asked, hoping she said yes.

“Sure,
what do you want to do?” she asked, with an idea already in mind.

“Besides,
making love to you?”

“Stop
saying that,” she demanded.

“I
am not going to call it sex, Peyton,” he assured her.

“Why?
That’s what it is. You don’t have to be Mr. freaking Goodbar, I don’t need it
sugar coated.”

“And
I am not going to make it sound cheap either,” he replied.

Peyton
had no clue how to respond to that. Did it make it sound cheap? Did that make
her cheap? Because, if so than her whole adult life had been cheap and if she
didn’t feel that way before she did now.
Thanks Kevin.

She
kissed him and told him he needed get on his call.

“I
will pick you up after work,” he told her kissing her back.

“Can
we go shoot hoops in the gym?”

He
looked baffled. “Um…yeah if that’s what you want to do.”

“Yes,
it is,” she replied with another kiss, before leaving him.

*****

Kevin
picked her up from Kay’s around six, after running home and grabbing a shower
and getting rid of the business clothes first and replacing them with jeans and
sneakers.

They
messed around with the ball for a little bit and then Peyton asked him if they
could walk through the school. He unlocked the hall door and let her go in
front of him.

“It’s
kind of spooky,” she said, looking down the dark hall.

He
walked her to a custodian’s closet and unlocked that door as well and flipped
on lights in the breaker box.

“Better?”
he asked with no reply.

They
looked in the abandoned classrooms and she noticed the paint peeling off of
walls, the tiled floors cracked and missing pieces, left over desks, and
unwanted school supplies strung about.

“How
many classrooms are here?” she asked.

“Twenty
four, why the sudden interest Peyton?” he asked, wondering if Kay had told her
what he wanted to do with this place.

She
shrugged her shoulders. “Curious, I never went to a normal school.”

“Where
did you go to school?” he asked as he continued to follow her through the halls
of the uninhibited school.

“I
was home schooled.”

“Why?”

She
snorted and looked up at him as she slid her hands into her jean pockets.

“My
dad is a Baptist preacher. He thought public school would be a bad influence.”

“I
hope he hasn’t seen any of your movies,” he joked.