Escaping Me (9 page)

After leading me to the back corner of her shop, she slides out a large piece of what looks like the side of the barn we are standing in.  Chips of red and white paint still cling to the rustic wood.  As she steps back, I can see it as a whole.  The wood has been sealed with clear coat, and across the back are three rectangular inlets that contain a mosaic pattern of tin.

“
It's just a headboard,” she shrugs.  “You'll have to get a frame for it, but if you want, it's yours.”

“
Are these old license plates?” I run my finger across the raised metal numbers and letters.

“
Yeah,” she confirms.  “Well bits and pieces of them.  I was going for a patchwork kind of look, so I cut them all apart and nailed them in.”

“
It's bad ass,” I smile.  I’ve never seen a headboard that cool and I know there is no way I have enough money to pay her for it.  “This is really nice, Leanne, but I don't think I can afford it.”  I saw her place a price tag on that bench I helped her carry so I know how much her custom pieces are worth.

“
I'll tell you what. You make sure my daughter has a good summer and we'll call it a trade.”  I consider her offer.  I plan on having a lot of fun with Whitney, but what if I can’t deliver?  And what happens when Whitney realizes we don’t belong in each other's worlds or when I really lose my temper and she sees what kind of monster I can be?  “She needs to loosen up a bit and I think you're just the guy to help her do that,” she adds.  Her vote of confidence in me is a nice change of pace, so I extend my hand to hers.

“
Deal.”

Chapter 11 – Whitney

“
Just wear what you have on.  It looks cute,” Mallory reassures me as I stand in front of the mirror hanging on the back of her door.

“
Okay,” I relent, hoping Cole will notice how well the jeans I am wearing hugs my curves.  They are my favorite pair and I have only worn them a couple times.  Wesley always preferred it when I wore dresses or skirts, and I, being the people-pleaser I am, stocked my closet full of them to appease him.  I shift the open neck of the cut-up Creedence Clearwater t-shirt Mallory insisted Cole would like to my left shoulder and shrug.  “I'm going.”

I know he is waiting for me, and it is hard to tell what my mother is saying to him.  In the short time that I've been here, I’ve quickly learned she doesn’t have much of a filter on anything—sex, drugs, and rock and roll are fair game.  I shouldn't have spent so much time gushing about the amazing make-out session Cole and I shared on his front porch to my sister.  Not to mention that, since my break-up with Wesley, I've totally been lacking in the grooming department and there was quite a bit of shaving and plucking needed. 
You know... just in case.
 

I was still patting myself on the back for finally growing a pair and making a move.  Best decision of the summer—so far.  I'm pretty sure my second best decision was stopped dead in its tracks when Cole stopped me from opening the front door. 

“The house isn't ready,” he told me.  It was cute that he was trying to impress me, but really, it was uncalled for.  He couldn't see that everything about him is impressive to me.  I took my first kiss victory and let the rest slide.  Especially after he walked me back to my car, pressed me up against the driver's side door, and rocked my world with his lips one more time.  I swear that boy's chapstick is laced with whiskey—if his mouth is even close to mine I lose the ability to think straight.  It really didn't help my raging hormones when I gracefully slipped my hand between us and brushed against what he was packing.  Never once in my life have I been so forward in a situation like that, and I really liked it.  Everything about my sexual relationship with Wesley was methodically planned, starting with the night we lost our virginity to each other—Prom night, fancy hotel room, champagne, and a sixty-second “life changing” moment.  At least that's what it was supposed to be.  More like, “Ehh, it was alright.”  From then on it was scheduled missionary sex and a handful of lackluster attempts at an orgasm.  Just from the way Cole kissed me and from what I could feel pressed firmly against my hand, I can tell this summer is going to blow the last three years of boring sex I had with Wesley clean out of the water. 

I skip down the stairs and out the front door with every intention of helping Cole pick out and break in new sheets tonight.

I approach him and my mother as they're loading a piece of furniture into the back of his truck.  “She didn't make you buy something, did she?”  I cast a reprimanding look toward Mom as she tosses her hands back, declaring her innocence.

“
Not exactly,” he smiles, jumping down from the bed of his truck and greeting me with a peck on the cheek.  When he steps back, I notice something different about the way he looks.  No earrings, no hat, no ass-hugging ripped up jeans; what happened to my
backwoods
boy?  And it appeared he went shopping.  I casually remove the “Size 34” sticker off the side of his shorts and toss in on the ground as he thanks my mother for what I now know is a new headboard.  He doesn’t seem to notice and I can’t help but grin. 
Still trying to impress me.

“
Ready to go?” He ushers me around to the passenger side and pulls open the door.  I take his hand and step into the truck.

“
You two have fun,” my mom beams from the driveway as Cole slides behind the wheel and we take off.

“
You can move a little closer.” Cole motions for me to scoot over on the bench seat.  His truck is an older model, and as I slide over and press my leg up against his, I wonder what genius decided to take the open-seat feature out of the newer ones.  It even makes the few rust spots on the outside suddenly become charming.  He slips his hand into mine and settles them on top of his thigh.  “You look really good tonight.”  His eyes rake down my body and I feel a heat wave sweep through the open window of the truck.

“
You too.” I smile.  He does look good, but I can tell he is only dressed the way he is because he thought that's what I want.  “I have to say though, the shorts and Polo are nice, but I really like your regular style.”

“
Noted,” he chuckles.  “I have to say,” he says as he takes his hand out of mine and places it on my thigh, smoothing it across the fabric of my jeans, “these jeans could get you in a lot of trouble.”

“
Noted,” I breathe, trying not to come unglued in the seat next to him.  “That's kind of what I was hoping for.”

The next two hours seem to fly by as we spend dinner casually conversing typical “first date” subjects.  It almost feels a little too normal.  I expected the passion from our first kiss to carry over into this date, but Cole is acting very reserved.  Aside from the coziness of the ride over, he hasn’t really made a move.  Maybe my forwardness before led him to believe that I want to be in charge.  I finally get the nerve to ask him about it as we are perusing the sheet section at the Bed Bath & Beyond.

“Can I ask you something?” I begin.

“
If it's about thread counts, no.”  He laughs and points at the display in front of us.  “I have no idea what in the hell I'm supposed to be looking for.”

“
Well, these are nice,” I say, picking up a set of navy blue 600 thread count sheets.  “But that's not what I was going to ask.”  He takes them from my hands and tosses them into the cart.  “I was going to ask if you were having second thoughts about our whole 'not friends' thing.”

He hesitates before answering. “It's not that I'm having second thoughts.  I just don't want you to be disappointed if this whole thing doesn't go the way you are thinking.”

“I'm not thinking it's going to go any certain way,” I answer. I reach over and grab his hand.  “And judging from our first kiss, I don't think there's any way you are going to disappoint me.”

He laughs again.  “Oh, I'm not worried about disappointing you in that way.  That part isn't going to be a problem.”  I am relieved but not at all surprised by his answer or the confident look in his eyes.  Just looking at him sends me into a tailspin.  I know that when we are finally together it is going to be explosive.  “It's just that I seem to have a long list of people I've pissed off.  I just don't want to add you to it.”

“Well,” I say, placing my hand on his cheek, letting my fingers rub against his five o'clock shadow, “the only thing that is going to piss me off is if you give up on us before we even get started.  I really like you, Cole, and I think you like me.  You're the one who told me I needed to make my own decisions and I've decided that I want to spend my summer with you.”

“
Have you even thought about the fact that when August rolls around you are going to have to go back to school and I'll be…” He pauses. “Shit, it's hard telling.  I may get run out of this town, too.”

“
You won't.” I shake my head, noting to myself that I will be asking him very soon exactly what he did to get “run out” of the last place he called home.  “I'm trying not to think about how everything will turn out, Cole.  I've spent my whole life having things planned out and decided for me.  I just want to live in the moment and see what happens.”

“
Okay.”  He takes my face in his hand and nods.  “I'll try to stop worrying about how this is going to end and focus on the three months we do have.”  He leans in and gently taps his lips against mine.  “I really do want to
not be friends
with you, Whit.”

“
Good.” I push my lips back to his, and for a brief moment, in the middle of a Bed Bath & Beyond, it is just us.  If three months is what I get with him then I am going to spend it exactly like this. I’m not even going to think about that fact that I am already pretty sure that, when our time is up, I am going to be pissed off that it is over—or even worse... heartbroken.

Chapter 12 – Cole

Whitney doesn’t seem too thrilled with the idea of me taking her home after our date.  In fact, she plastered on a pout at the time I turned off the highway and it stayed there until we reached the turn for her road.

“How long are you going to stay mad at me?” I ask, giving her thigh a firm squeeze. Despite the fact that she wasn't happy with me, she didn't move across the seat away from me.  In fact, with each turn, she inched closer and closer to me until we were sitting shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh—the entire side of her body is now pressed into mine and I swear I can feel her heart speed with every clench of my fingers.  “It's not that I don't want to take you back to my place, it's just—”

“
It's fine,” she huffs.

I pull the truck off the side of the road and slip it in park.  “I'm serious.” I turn to face her. “I can't wait until we can be alone and it's not like it's not going to happen.  Believe me...
it will
.  I just don't want to rush it.  I want to make sure it's exactly what you deserve.”

She shakes her head.  I don’t want to tell her that I was quick to jump in the sack with every other girl I've been with and the last one, Megan, screwed me over royally.  Maybe if I hadn’t been so fast to think with my dick, I would have seen that Megan was using me to pass the time until my brother gave her the time of day.

“Look at me,” I plead, but she gives me nothing.  “Look at me, goddamn it.” I raised my voice and immediately regret it until I see the way her eyes snap to mine.  She takes in a heavy breath between her parted cherry-red lips as she leans in, waiting for my next command.  It appears Ms. Vandaveer likes being told what to do.  I can definitely work with this.  I'm sure the devious smile on my face is obvious, but I try to hide it and continue. “Here's the deal.” I place my hand on her cheek and slowly drag the pad of my thumb across her bottom lip.  “You're going to stop pouting because the idea that you're mad is killing me.”

“
Okay,” she nods and puckers her lips, gently kissing my thumb.  “I just don't think you understand the effect you have on me.”

“
The effect I have on you? You don't understand the effect
you
have on
me
,” I counter as she flicks the tip of her tongue against my thumb and grins.  “It's taking everything in me to not just throw you down on the seat of this truck and have my way with you.”  I watch the way she shifts her weight, closing the distance between us, and it only intensifies how badly I want her.  I’m not using lines or trying to coax her into anything. What she is doing is nothing more than reacting to me in the same way I react to her.  There is something so natural about the two of us being together.  It only makes me want to make our first time together as perfect as possible.  “I can't wait to get you alone.”  I move toward her, hoping to steal a kiss before I drop her off.

She stops me by placing her finger across my lips.  The same mischievous smirk I saw her flash me right before she kissed me for the first time has returned. 

“We're alone now,” she whispers as she sits up and moves her right leg over my lap, straddling me.  I am powerless to stop her and I really don’t want to.  As I feel the weight of her body on mine, images of this exact position, minus the clothes, flash in my mind.  She begins peppering kisses on my neck and up my jaw before she finds my mouth.