Finding Peace (Finding Series Book 1) (32 page)

She stops dead in her tracks and throws the stuff she has in her hands down on the ground. She stomps toward me, she’s mad, really mad. I swallow hard and wait for it, because I know it’s coming.

“Walk away from you!” She says, poking me in the chest. I take a step back. “You are only about twenty eight hours late for our date that was supposed to happen at seven thirty last night! Where were you Blake? I waited all night for you and you never even called.”

Her anger has turned to tears. “I’m so sorry Kayla. I wanted to be here. There’s no where else I’d have rather been.” I reach for her but she backs up shaking her head. She drops her head and won’t look at me.

“Don’t. Just stop! No more lies! I can’t take it!”

I look out to her family. The people who have loved her longer than I have. I look to them for guidance. Each one of them is motioning for me to walk to her. Asher unties the boat and throws the rope inside it. Kayla glances to the boat and then just sits down where she is standing. Mr. Brooks starts the boat and they slowly pull away from the dock. I walk over to her and sit down beside her but not close enough to touch her.

“Kayla will you at least hear me out? Then, if you want me to leave I will, but please give me a chance to explain. I never wanted to hurt you.” She raises her eyes to meet mine for a brief second and the hurt I see there is like a dagger to my heart.

“But you did hurt me, Blake. You have no idea how much.”

I reach out to move a piece of her blonde hair that has fallen from her pony tail, but she jerks out of my reach. I sigh in defeat and bring my hand back down.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I never ever would intentionally hurt you. I stopped by the game room to help out Max, by giving him some money he owed some guys that he lost a few games of pool too. When I got there Jessica, my ex, was there and she was drunk.” She jumps up and starts for the house again. I jump up and follow her. She spins around to face me.

“You were with your ex when you were supposed to be here with me? How is that supposed to help me Blake? How is that supposed to make me feel better? Are you still in love with her?”

I shake my head. “Kayla, I never loved her.”

“So you just slept with her last night because she was convenient and there when I wasn’t? Typical male thing to do, Blake. I thought you were different. Just leave go back home and leave me alone.”

Okay, that’s enough of this crap. She might hate me when I’m finished, but damn it she is going to listen to me. I run up to her and pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. She starts beating me in the back as I turn and head for the dock. She’s screaming her head off and if anyone hears her like this and sees me they will probably call the police on us.

“Put me down, Blake!”

She continues to kick and scream, but I’m not stopping. I’m going to make her listen to me one way or another. I walk to the end of the dock and throw her in the water. I squat down and wait for her to come back up. When she does her eyes are wide and she is choking. Oh no! I reach down to pull her up before she goes under and as I do, she pulls me in with her.

As I resurface, she is treading water waiting on me. Oh, she is so much trouble. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

“Me? You threw me in the water without even knowing if I could swim or not you ass.”

Ass? “Fair enough. Will you please sit with me and just listen until I’m done.”

She swims back to the dock, and so help me, as she lifts herself out of the water I feel myself get light headed.
Keep your thoughts clean McGinnis.
If she does allow me to stay for the weekend, this image of her is going to be hard to get out of my head. Speaking of which, I don’t think I should get out of the water just yet.

She turns looking down at me. “Thought you wanted to talk. I don’t have all day.”

“Give me a minute. Can you grab that towel and wrap it around yourself?” I ask, hoping she’ll have mercy on me.

“Not a chance.” She says putting her hands on her hips and then she takes it up a step. She slides her shorts down her legs. I close my eyes and try to control my breathing.

Okay, I have no shame. I place my hands on the dock and pull myself up flexing my biceps more than needed to do it. She takes in a noticeable breath.
See baby. Two can play at this game.

Chapter 33

Kayla

As he pulls himself up on the dock, in all his hotness, I feel like I’m going to pass out. He stands now towering over me then he reaches behind him and pulls the soaking wet white T-shirt over this head. Sugar, honey ice tea, the man is hot. I’ve had sex with this man, but honestly, it was basically in the dark and seeing him like this, in full daylight, is a sight to behold. He has abs that go on for days and his already olive skin has turned a beautiful bronze color from the sun. Thankfully some time before I pulled him in he had thrown his shoes off, however his shorts are dripping wet and the wet material doesn’t leave much to the imagination. I cover my mouth to hide my laughter.

“Keep laughing. I can always throw you back in.”

“I don’t think so. The clock is ticking so you better get to talking.”

I know I don’t want to hear this. Pretty sure in fact that I’m going to hate it.

“Okay. Let’s sit. Just let me get it all out before you blow up or say anything. Then you can ask all the questions you want.”

I nod my head. “I’m not sure how easy that will be, but I’ll try. That’s all I can promise.”

“That’s fair. As I was saying, she was drunk and turns out Max was drunk too. The owners were getting ready to call both of their parents. Their son asked me if I could take both of them with me. I still had the key to Scott’s apartment so I figured I would take them there and then I would call you and let you know what was going on.”

“What the heck? You took your ex to Scott’s apartment?”

He puts his finger up to my mouth.

“Let me finish.”

I bite my lip to keep from screaming at him.

“Let’s just say, things didn’t go as I had thought they would. Once I got them there, she passed out. I put her in Scott’s room and I had planned on staying in the guest room. The one we shared.”

I blush thinking back to that night. Looking into his eyes, I feel that familiar pull. “Go on. Finish.”

“Anyway. Once I put her in the bed and had Max settled on the couch. I went out to my truck to get my bag I had packed to come here. I went back in and into the kitchen to call Scott. He cussed and fussed, then told me he needed his key back as of yesterday. When I made my way down the hall to the guest room, I opened the door to go in and Max and Jessica were having sex in the bed I had planned to sleep in. From what I could gather through their drunken talking was that Jessica went into the bedroom thinking she could get me to give in and sleep with her, but Max went in to apologize to me, saw Jessica naked on the bed and well, as they say the rest is history.”

I can’t believe this. Am I supposed to believe such an outlandish story? What the hell? “Why didn’t you just take her home? Why did you have to take her to that apartment? Why didn’t you just let anyone else take care of them?” Furious, I get up and walk toward the house. Honestly, I don’t know what to believe or what to think. He could be lying about all of it.

“That’s not the kind of person I am.”

I stop, but I can’t turn around to face him.

“Kayla, if I had left either one of them and something had happened, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself. I wasn’t brought up that way. Listen, I promise you nothing happened between me and Jessica. With you is the only place I wanted to be then and it’s the only place I want to be now. My only crime was trying to be a nice guy and doing the right thing for a couple of friends. You wouldn’t want to be with a man that would have left a girl who was drunk and barely able to stand up alone and vulnerable. Anything could have happened to her Kayla. Please understand. I did nothing wrong except get so mixed up in their mess. And I thought it was too late to call when everything was said and done.”

“How can I believe that?”

I wait for his answer. Every fiber of my being is telling me to run into his arms, but my pride is holding me back. What if he touched her? What if he kissed her with those lips I love so much? I can’t even bear the thought of them being together.

“If you’ll look at me for more than a second you’ll know I’m telling you the truth. Stop fighting this Kayla. Just fall with me. I promise I’ll catch you. I’ve already told you, you left an imprint on my heart. There will never be another girl for me. You’re it.”

I shake my head no. “You hurt me. I never knew anything could hurt as bad as that. There’s only two other times that came close. I can’t risk that kind of pain again.”

“Damn it! Look at me! If you’ll let me, I’ll fix it. I’ll make it better and I’ll never hurt you again. I did nothing wrong, Kayla. I’m here. I’m right here. Please Kayla. Look at me.”

With tears running down my face, I turn and face him. When I see the tears coming from his eyes, I lose it even more.

“I’m so sorry, baby. You have to know that.”

I stand here fighting with everything I have, not to run to him. The pain and need is so overwhelming that I fall to the ground and break down. I look up at him and shake my head.

He takes a deep breath and it looks as if he is struggling with something that he wants to say.
Oh please don’t tell me that you slept with her
. Just walk away now and leave. He throws his arms out to the side as if he is giving up. And then my world comes back into focus with his next words.

“I love you, Kayla. I’ve loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you. I feel incomplete when you aren’t near me. You are the other half of my soul and I can’t live without you. I love you!”

I blink a few times and look at him as if he’s lost his mind. Did I hear that right? He loves me. I’m shaking my head yes and he walks slowly toward me. He sits down beside me and all I can do is continue to shake my head yes. He pulls me onto his lap and I lay my head on his chest. My body is shaking and my heart is overflowing. I feel whole again, I feel complete with him. Everything is okay now.

He whispers as he kisses the top of my head and lets out a breath letting his body relax some. “I love you, Kayla Jameson now and for the rest of my life. I love you.”

I raise my head as he lowers his and our mouths collide in a kiss that ignites me, wakes me up from a life that was stuck in gray tones into a life full of color. He loves me and I love him. Life cannot get any better than this.

Breaking our kiss, he holds my head in his hands, we are so close the tips of our noses are touching.

“I have missed you so much, Kayla.”

A shirtless Blake is a distracting sight, he fogs my brain and causes me to lose all cognitive thought.

Blake laughs, bringing me back to earth. “Where were you beautiful?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Reaching for my pony tail holder he asks, “May I?”

Realizing that he wants to take my hair down, I shake my head yes. He gently removes the band causing my hair to fall down around me, using his hands he separates the wet locks.

“You’re breathtaking.” He says with a sigh.

“Thank you.” I reply shyly. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Oh, I know. I’m a stud. You’re lucky you found me when you did. I’m a hot commodity. Pretty sure girls all over the planet are crying their eyes out right now.”

“Why, what happened?” I ask sarcastically.

He smirks, “Because I’m off the market. Hearts are breaking everywhere.”

Leaning back to make sure he can see me, I look at him with an are you kidding me look, as I say, “I said ‘You’re not so bad.’ Never did I say you were an Adonis. I’ve seen better.”

Taking his plump, kissable bottom lip into his mouth, he gives me that look that I love and hate, then pops his lip free.
Don’t let him see that he is getting to you
. I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Smirking, he abruptly stands with me in his arms, closing his arms around me even tighter. He is making his way back to the dock.

“What are you doing?” I yell.

“After a comment like that you deserve to be thrown in the lake again.”

Oh, no, he’s not.
Wrapping my arms tightly around his neck I say, “Don’t you dare!”

“Oh yes, my love. You are so going back into the water.”

This causes my hold to tighten on him even more. “If I go, you go!”

His laughter increases.
What?
Instead of that stopping him, he begins to run.

Knowing now what he is planning to do, I squeal. As he reaches the end of the dock, he launches both of us into the air. We come down together hitting the surface of the water making a huge splash.

Thankful that I held my breath, I kick my legs furiously to make it to the surface. Blake is already treading water, laughing while waiting on me.

String bikinis are cute and sexy, however, when you don’t get them tied just right, then add the force of the downward motion of your body into water, you risk the chance of losing either your top or your bottoms. In my case, my top is gone, however, in my rush to get back to the surface for air I have failed to realize this.