Escaping Me (24 page)

“
Don't have to worry about that anymore.  I lost the baby last month.”  I looked back at Megan, expecting to see sadness on her face, but instead I was greeted with a seductive stare and a smile that told me she wasn't too upset about the miscarriage. 

“
I'm sorry,” I offered my condolences.  I wondered if she'd shared that news with my brother.  Surely, if she had, he would have shared that information with me.  Finn was so excited about becoming a dad, and once I'd worked out the math in my head to conclude that there was no way the baby was mine, the prospect of being a doting uncle was nice.

“
I'm not,” she shrugged as she stepped toward me.  “Sometimes things happen for a reason.”  She handed me my cigarette back, letting her hand rest on my arm.  “Sometimes things are not meant to be.”

“
What are trying to do, Meg?” I asked suspiciously, pulling my arm from her as I placed the cigarette between my lips.

“
Nothing,” she said as innocently as she could.  I knew better, but I didn't want to go back inside until Whitney was with me.  I ignored Megan's blatant attempts to get a reaction from me.  “So tell me more about his new job of yours.”

I filled her in on the offer in as few words as possible before I realized she wasn't interested in what I'd be doing for living.  She was more concerned with the amount of money I'd be making.

“That sounds very...” She paused, batting her fake lashes at me.  “Lucrative.”

“
It could be,” I answered, ignoring the way she was eying me like a winning scratch-off ticket. 

“
I should have known you'd make a name for yourself,” she grinned.  “Looks like your stubbornness finally paid off.”

“
Thanks.  I think.”

“
You know, I've always wanted to visit Georgia,” she said, dropping less than subtle hints.

“
I should know in a month or so,”  I answered.  All I could think about was the fact that Whitney still wasn't back.

“
Should know?  I thought it was a done deal.”

“
It's complicated,” I admitted, not really wanting to discuss my love life with her.  “This is not something I want to talk to you about, Meg.  It's not just about the money or the job.”

“
Doesn't seem complicated.  Your new girlfriend appears to have ditched you.”  I gave her a look telling her to go back inside, but she didn't take my advice.  “I say you go to Georgia, forget about what's her name, and give me a good reason to finally see the gorgeous Peach State.”

“
You and Finn planning on coming to visit me, are ya?”

“
Maybe just me,” she purred, stepping closer than I was comfortable with.  Even in a wedding dress, with a shiny new ring on her finger, she had no shame.

“
Don't.” I held up my hand and moved back, running into a pillar that was holding up the awning we found ourselves under.

“
Don't say that.” She continued her advances.  “I think I made a mistake, Cole.  I shouldn't have written you off and I should have called off this wedding after I lost the baby.”  She flung her arms around my neck and pressed her body tightly to mine.  “I still love you,” she whispered in a last ditch effort to hitch her wagon to the most successful Pritchett in the family. 

That was about that time Whitney came strolling up.

“You are even more unbelievable than I imagined you to be,” Whitney scoffs at Megan.  “And you…” She turns her attention to me, pointing her finger.  “What in the hell are you doing out here with her by yourself?”

“
She caught me off guard.  I came out here to look for you.”

“
I bet!” She shakes her head.  “Didn't look to me like you were looking too hard.”

“
You're the one that left,” Megan says, trying to throw gas on an open flame.

“
Don't you have a husband?” Whitney responds.  “And the baby on the way?  You need to butt out of my relationship and worry about your own.”

“
For your information, I'm not pregnant anymore and Cole and I had some things to discuss.  Mainly how I wouldn't ever hold him back from taking a great new job.”  Whitney's jaw drops as if she believed I was out here bitching to Megan about our relationship.

“
I swear to God I didn't tell her that, Whit.” I reach for her again.  “I've never lied to you.  There is nothing going on between me and Megan.”

“
Not yet,” Megan huffs under her breath. 

“
Are you fucking kidding me, Megan!” I fire in her direction, stopping Whitney's lunge at her with my arms, but not before she manages to grab the thin white veil hanging down the back of Megan's head and rip it from its pins.  I have her around the waist as she tries to gain traction in her heels and pull free.  I know if I let her go she is going to rip Megan's head off.  She's already managed to destroy her perfect hair in one swipe.  I officially know what it looks like when I black out and go after someone.  Whitney hisses more cuss words than I've ever heard her say before she finally realizes I’m not going to let her go.  “You need to take your delusional ass back inside before I let this little hellcat loose and go tell my brother exactly what kind of
wife
you are.  And, for your information, even if I wasn't in love with Whitney, you'd be the last person I'd ever let myself get involved with.  I don't make the same mistake twice.” 

“
She's insane!” Megan yells, frantically trying to tame her disheveled hair. “Get her away—”  Megan starts to say something nasty about Whitney, but my brother stepping out of the darkness shuts her up.

“
We need to talk,” he states.  If Megan thinks I am pissed, it has nothing on the fire that is glowing in my brother's eyes.  He must have been lurking in the shadows for far longer than we knew.  He apparently heard the majority of the conversation.  “Now!”

Whitney and I watch Finn and Megan disappear around the building, the sounds of an unavoidable argument filling the air.

“Baby, I'm so sorry.  You know I'd never do anything to jeopardize what we have.”  She finally lets me wrap my arms around her and the relief I feel as I press her body to mine almost makes me cry.

“
I know,” she confesses.  “I'm sorry I left.  I shouldn't have said those things to you in the truck.  I'm just so worried about what is going to happen to us.”  I brush her hair from her face as I pull back to look at her.  She isn’t as good as concealing her tears as I am.  “I was coming back to tell you that and then I saw her out here.  Stupid bitch,” she adds, shaking her head.

“
She's fucking crazy.”  I smile when I see her giggle at my assessment of Megan.  “She was trying to stir shit up.”

“
Oh, I know,” she chuckles. “Why are our exes trying to ruin our relationship?”

“
They're jealous,” I grin as I kiss her lips.  “With good reason,” I add.  “Nobody is ever gonna love you like I do, Whit.”

“
That's what I'm afraid of,” she whispers.  “If this doesn't work between us, I'll be ruined.”

“
It's going to work out,” I promise, knowing that I'll do whatever it takes to make sure of it.  “I think it's time we head back home.  That is, of course, if you are done trying to beat people up,” I joke.

“
I'm good,” she snickers. “I would have beat her ass, you know.”

“
I don't doubt it,” I laugh as we walk over to my truck and get the hell out of Dodge.

Chapter 25 – Whitney

I would have ripped every hair out of her pretty little head. 
I've never wanted to hit anyone as badly as I wanted to hit her.  In fact, I've never actually wanted to hit anyone... period.  She was an idiot and blatantly disrespected me by throwing herself at Cole, but more than that, I was so frustrated over going back to school and Cole moving that I used her as an outlet.

Cole and I are discussing how we are going to make our long distance relationship work on the drive home.

“You only have two years left,” he says as I rest my head in his lap on the long drive home.  “It will fly by.  I could fly back a couple weekends a month and you could come stay with me over breaks.  It's not ideal, but we'll still see each other.”

“
Maybe we could go somewhere together for spring break,” I suggest, knowing I will need a calendar full of penciled-in dates and trips with him to get through the time we won’t be together.  “I'm going to ask my dad if I can transfer.  Maybe he'll still pay for college as long as I'm still going,” I add optimistically.  That is the last thing I remember saying before I drift off. 

I wake up to Cole carrying me from the truck to the house.  I squeeze my arms around his neck, allowing me to raise my head up and press my lips to the spot where his jaw and neck meet.  I love the way his five o'clock shadow feels against my tongue as I circle it over his skin.   A deep groan echoes in his throat as he kicks the front door shut behind us and heads straight for the bedroom.  I've worked his tie and collar loose by the time he lays me down on the bed.  I am still a little groggy from my cat nap on the way home, but it seems to intensify the feeling of his hands down my legs as he pulls my shoes off and tosses them on the floor next to his discarded tie.  I smile as he removes his shirt and leans over me.  His lips start trailing kisses from my ankles to my knees as his hands slide up under the bottom of my dress and then back down with my panties firmly in his grasp.

“These are sexy,” he smirks, tossing the lacy black g-string on the floor.

“
You should have seen them on.”

“
I'll take your word for it,” he says, crawling onto the bed and returning his mouth to my legs, dragging his tongue slowly up the inside of one thigh and down the other.  I shudder under him as he moves one hand between my legs, slicking his fingers against me.

“
Pull your dress up.”  He devilishly grins up at me as two fingers slip inside of me.  “I need to see you.”  I quickly drop my hands to my sides, grabbing the hem of my dress and lifting my butt off the bed to pull it up.  My purposeful movement takes on a whole new meaning as it causes his fingers to deepen within me.  I cry out as he strokes me in just the right spot.  I let my hips fall and repeat the motion, needing to feel it again.

“
Omigod,” I moan as he place his mouth on me, flicking his tongue against my clit.  I hear—and feel—his chuckle of satisfaction vibrate off his lips. 

“
Just as sweet as I imagined.” He licks his lips as I look down at him, completely turned on by his actions and words.

He continues working his fingers and mouth in a perfectly orchestrated, skillful attack on my senses—bringing me almost to the brink of orgasm before retreating to leave me begging for release.  I thought what he did to me on the picnic table all those weeks ago was intense, but when he added his mouth to the equation, it pales in comparison.  I desperately work my hips and am just about to plead for him to let me finish when he looks up at me, his eyes dark with desire.

“Come for me,” he growls out, returning his mouth to my clit.  It takes two flicks of his tongue and a nip of his teeth before I am a completely useless puddle beneath him.  Every nerve in my body has fired in an explosive, simultaneous reaction.  I fight to catch my breath as he rolls me onto my stomach and slowly pulls down the zipper of my dress.

Like a puppet, I let him pull me up to my knees as he settles in behind me on his.  He slips the dress up over my head and kisses each of my shoulders as he removes my strapless bra.  My hands snake up around his neck and my head falls back against his shoulder as he holds each of my breasts in his hands, tweaking my nipples between his nimble fingers.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” he breathes in my ear, causing each tired muscle of my body to spring back to life.  I move my hands down and place them in front of me as he unfastens his pants and positions himself between my legs.  With his hands on my hips, he pulls me onto him until my bottom is resting against his stomach. 

As he slowly circles his hips, I feel my body tense and know that what I just experienced a few minutes ago is coming back with a vengeance.  If I were able to think clearly, I surely would thank my lucky stars for having a guy who knows exactly what he is doing in the bedroom. But instead, I just relish in the fact that I went from a relationship where I had maybe two orgasms the entire time to now having multiple almost every time we make love. 

Maybe that was the kicker.  I love Cole, and not just for what he is doing to me right now, but everything else he does.  He said that nobody is ever going to love me like he does, and I feel the exact same way about him.  I want to tell him just that, but every thought is erased from my mind as he starts to increase his momentum and thrust into me.   His fingers dig into my hips and deepen each glorious movement until my body, literally, can't take anymore and I collapse on the bed.

“
I love you,” I finally manage to say as he pulls me into his arms and drapes the sheet over our bodies.