Escaping Me (13 page)

“
What?” I excitedly ask as I hang on the side of the Ford.

“
The house is finished.”

“
Best morning ever!” I giddily exclaim, bouncing on my toes.  “Ever!”  Leveraging my weight on the window frame, I press my lips to his, hoping to convey exactly how excited I am about what 'the house is finished' means to me.  It means we can finally be together.  Like
be
together.

“
That's exactly the response I was hoping for.” He laughs as he turned the engine over.  “I'll pick you up at seven.”

“
You bet your ass you will!” I squeal as I hop down on the side of the truck.

He shifts into gear, but before he drives off, he calls back to me. “Oh, and Whit... Pack a bag.  You're staying all weekend.”

Chapter 16 – Cole

She comes bouncing down her front porch steps with a smile ten miles wide and a pair of worn leather cowboy boots she must have been saving for a special country occasion like the Farmers' Picnic.  Her tan skin is shimmering in this last bit of the day's sunlight. 

I managed to make it through my day without completely losing my mind.  Work dragged on and I know it was because I was as anxious as a one-eyed cat watching two rat holes.

As she climbs into the truck and scoots over next to me, I make sure I take a mental picture of exactly how pretty she looks.  She pulled her hair to one side and it hangs in a loose braid.  I know she did it for me, and maybe a little bit for herself, because she damn near melts when I'd put my lips on her neck.  I lean over and place a kiss on her bare shoulder.  The thin straps of the yellow sundress she is wearing are just itching to be slid down.

“
You look incredible,” I hum against her skin as her scent washes over me.  She always smells like summer peaches and that damn bubble gum she is always popping between her teeth.  I teased that her incessant gum popping was annoying, but it was really just the fact that she constantly pulls my attention to her perfectly pink lips.  Every pop only makes me think about the things she can do with her mouth—more importantly the things I want her to do with it. 

“
Thanks,” she grins.  “You don't look half bad yourself.” 

“
I know,” I shrug as she casually shakes off my usual cocky response.  I’m not going to admit to the fact that I tried on three different shirts before I settled on the short-sleeved blue plaid pearl snap-button I had on.  I remembered her telling me one time that she thought it made my eyes look good—the blues of the shirt contrasted with their brown.  Once I had it on, I told myself to quit acting like a goddamned chick and get over to her house.  Never in my life have I worried so much about what a girl thinks of me.  I finally accepted the fact that Whitney is way more important than any girl I've ever been around, but it still doesn’t help the fact that I never want her to look at me like everyone else does.  Like the poor kid with shitty parents and nothing to show for his crummy life.

“
You sure you don't want to skip this thing and take me back to your place for the big reveal?” She pats the small overnight bag she brought with her.

“
Big reveal?” I chuckle.  “Is that what we are calling sex now?  You gonna give me a 'big reveal', Whit?”

“
Omigod, no!” She lets out an embarrassed laugh.  “I meant the reveal of the house.  You know,
revealing
all your hard work.  Jesus, get your mind out of the gutter.”  She bumps her shoulder against mine.

As we laugh, I take her hand in mine.  Her lighthearted smile fades as she sits looking straight ahead.  She takes in a deep breath and swallows hard.  It isn’t the same heated reaction I’ve become accustomed to when I touch her.  It is different.  I start to worry that she is having second thoughts about our weekend plans.  I squeeze her hand tight and give her a smile.

“You alright?” I ask.

“
Me?” She smiles nervously.  “Yeah, I'm fine.”  She wraps her arm across her body and curls her fingers around my bicep.  As she rests her head on my shoulder, I can tell she is holding something back.  It does ease my mind a little to see how fiercely she is hanging on to me.  Like she is scared I may slip right through her fingers.  If she is having second thoughts, surely she wouldn’t be hugged up next to me the way she is.

“
Are you sure?”  I park the truck in the parking lot behind the grocery store.  The lights from the festival light up the town square a block over.  Turning off the engine, I shift in my seat and take her face in my hands.  “You wanna skip this thing?  Just say the word.  I'll take you wherever you want to go.”

“
No,” she says as she places her hands on mine and leans in to brush her lips across mine.  “I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed.  I feel like we've been waiting for this night and now it's finally here.  I just don't want... I haven't been with many...”  Her eyes fall from my face and she inhales a deep breath. 

I know what she is trying to tell me—she doesn’t have much experience.  I figured as much when she told me that the douchebag who cheated on her was her high school boyfriend.  As much as I want to tell her that I don’t give a shit whether she's been with one or one hundred guys, I let her babble on because she looks so fucking cute when she is nervous, and it makes me fall for her even more.  All I care about is her being with me tonight and not just in a sexual way.  I want this entire town to know that Whitney Vandaveer is my girl.  Like I said before, I don’t have much to show for myself, but I have her.

“I... I'm just nervous about...” She stutters and pauses. “The big reveal.”  She looks up at me, her teeth anxiously tugging her lips.  “I just want things to be perfect.”

“
Don't worry about things being perfect,” I comfort her.  “I'll take care of everything. It's going to work out just the way we want it to.”

“
You think?”

“
I do.” I hold her gaze.  “I'm a little nervous too if it makes you feel any better.”  I am nervous about how much I want to be with her.  I thought I loved Megan, but now that I've met Whitney, I'm not sure exactly what we had.  I know, deep down in my soul, that after Whitney and I sleep together, things are only going to get more intense.

Her eyes squint in disbelief.  “Really?  You're nervous?”

“Hard to believe, right?” I chuckle, and the apprehension starts to fade as she laughs too.  “I'm not doubting my abilities or anything like that.”

“
Of course not,” she giggles.  “I'm just being silly or stupid or whatever you want to call it.  I need to just go with the flow.  Enjoy our summer like we said.”

“
It's not silly.  Or stupid.  It's normal.” I try to ease her mind.  “Let's not even think about the rest of the night.  Let's just go have fun at the Picnic and see what happens.  Okay?”

“
Okay,” she agrees.  Her smile returns as she leans in and pushes her lips to mine.

“
You know there's no pressure, right?  I'd never want you to do something you didn't feel comfortable with.”

“
Oh, I know,” she notes.  “I do... want to.”

“
Me too,” I blurt out with a little more enthusiasm than I intended.  “I really...” I hesitate, thinking carefully about the next words to come out of my mouth. “I really care about you, Whit.”  I try to recover by letting her know that sex isn’t all I want from her.

“
I know.  I care about you, too.”  We sit for a moment, eyes locked on one another's, and I wonder if she can tell that I almost told her I love her.   My brain won my internal debate.  Is it really possible to love someone this quickly?  We have only known each other a short time.  God, I am acting like such a girl.

“
Well,” I say and scratch my head.  “You ready?”  I nod toward the bright lights.  “I think there's some beer to be drunk.”

“
Yes,” she says confidently.  “I'm ready.”

She slides out of the driver's side behind me and I turn to catch her waist in my hands as she places her feet on the ground.  I take the opportunity to embrace her before we walk over to the crowd of people.  I want to say so many things to her but decide we've had enough serious conversations for a little while.  We are here to have fun.  I push the truck door closed behind us, and as I back her up to it, I take her mouth with mine.  I start slow, nipping her bottom lip and then sucking on the same spot.  Her lips vibrate against mine as she hums with excitement.  This is the reaction I was looking for.  Her hands find their way to my neck and she parts her lips, allowing me to slip my tongue in.  The way she opens up for me and reacts to each push of my tongue has my cock straining against my pants.  To make things even more impossible for me to resist, she drops her hands from my neck before she trails them down my chest and around my waist to slip them into the back pockets of my jeans.

“You don't seem nervous anymore,” I whisper against her lips.

“
You make me not nervous,” she replies, pulling her hands against my ass and pressing my body into hers.  A rumbling growl escapes my lips as my body connects with hers in just the right spot.  My mouth finds the skin above the top of her dress as I slip my hand under its hem.  A quick glance around to make sure we are alone—or at least hidden from onlookers.  Her head falls back against the truck as my hands move up her thighs and around to her ass.  My curiosity is definitely piqued when they find smooth, bare skin. I rock away from her just enough to slip my fingers to the front and find only a small scrap of material barely covering the one spot I want to completely bury myself in.

“
Like my new panties?” she sighs, shifting her hips forward, silently asking me to remove them.

“
You have no fucking idea.” I press one finger into the fabric, and even through it I can feel how warm and wet she is for me.  I quickly kiss her, stifling the cry from her lips.  I love how I can set her off with the slightest touch.  I can only imagine how amazing it will be to get her alone.  I remove my hands from under her dress, much to her protest, and pull her against my body.

“
Why'd you stop?” she pouts.

I give her one last kiss and turn, taking her hand in mine. “If I don't stop right now, I'm never going to,” I tell her as I start walking toward the Picnic, pulling her behind me.  I reach down and adjust my jeans to hide the massive hard-on that will have to wait until later.  “Don't worry,” I smile back at her. “I never leave a job unfinished.”

“Well, let's get this show on the road then,” she laughs and quickly steps up to my side.  We walk to the town square, and I watch her face as it lights up at the scene.  Strings of white lights cover the trees in the small park in the center.  The streets that enclose the square have been blocked off and people are scattered around, enjoying the food, games, and the handful of carnival rides.  She is mesmerized, and so am I, but for two very different reasons.  We stroll toward the sounds of the band playing on a small stage.

“
'Bout time you two showed up!” Mallory yells from her spot on Zeke's lap. Judging from her very public displays of affection and the throw-caution-to-the-wind look in her eyes, Mallory was one of the first people to arrive in the designated drinking area.  Whitney and I take a seat at the opposite side of the table.

“
We thought you got lost,” Zeke says as he shifts Mallory on his lap enough to hand us each a beer.

“
Doesn't look like you missed us too much,” Whitney chuckles.  “Besides, we weren't lost.  Cole knew exactly where he was.  Didn't you, babe?” she adds as she takes a sip of her beer and casts a sexy little stare directly at me.  It appears my confident girl is back and she is giving me a hard time about stopping our little parking lot romp.  I watch her lips wrap around that bottle and have to immediately turn my attention back to Zeke in order to keep myself from dragging her right back to my truck.

“
How long have you two been here anyway?” I ask as I squeeze Whitney's thigh under the table, warning her that I am onto her.

“
Not long,” Zeke answers.  “We took a little country cruise to prepare for the festivities.”

“
What's that?” Whitney questions, never alerting her sister and Zeke to the fact that she's purposely slid her legs apart and hitched her dress up just enough to totally fuck with my self-control.

“
Oh, come on!” Mallory mumbles, not wanting to pull the drink from her lips.  After she gulps down another big drink, she continues.  “You know, a country cruise. A road trip.”   Whitney shakes her head, still oblivious. “You need to get out more, sis.  We drank beer and drove around on the country roads.”

“
That sounds dangerous.  Weren't you scared you’d get pulled over?” Whitney’s concern only exaggerates the fact that she was not raised in a small town.

“
Pulled over?” Zeke laughs.  “By who? Boss Hog over there?”  He nods toward the town's police chief, who, judging by his rotund frame, was enjoying his second or third corn dog of the night. “Even if that fat bastard did his job, he'd still never catch me.”

“
Besides that,” Mallory pipes up.  “You're a minor and you're out here drinking in front of the whole damn town.  Aren't you afraid you're going to get caught?”