Love Songs (Secret Songbook #1) (15 page)

Chapter 15

Georgie pulled up outside the house and Kaley jumped out of the car with the bear Harvey had won for her at the pier under one arm and Harper attached to the other.

They were still laughing from the joke Harvey had told while they were waiting for the ride. And nobody had thrown up all afternoon, not even once. It was a great day.

As they walked toward the house, Kaley heard her name being called. She turned to Harvey, it was definitely a male voice, but he was lost in a conversation with Georgie about how he won the bear. She slowed her pace and looked around.

There, standing by his car on the curb, was Eli. So much for texting him a final goodbye. She stopped and turned to him. Harper felt her hand drop away and spun around too.

“What’s he doing here?” she whispered in Kaley’s ear. Her voice was a mixture of surprise and contempt. Nobody hurt her best friend and got away with it. He was her arch nemesis number one at that moment.

“I don’t know.”

Eli saw them stop to look at him and started approaching. His face was covered with a smile, the same crooked one with that damn dimple. Kaley considered running, making a break for the door.

If she didn’t talk to him, then she could maintain her resolve. It was only when he was near that she got all confused again. She couldn’t risk having those horrible conflicting thoughts again, she had made up her mind. The last thing she needed was Eli being there and causing that confusion again.

“What should we do?” Harper whispered again, awkwardly standing by her side. Georgie and Harvey had now stopped to look too, they stood like mannequins on the front lawn – there just for decoration.

Kaley’s mind was shutting down, she couldn’t think straight anymore. All she could see was Eli getting nearer and the stuffed bear in her hands getting heavier. She wondered if that’s how it felt to have a stroke. It was probably something similar.

“Kaley?” Georgie asked, as if she had all the answers for them.

Kaley shook her head, trying to make her brain sit right again. She handed the bear to Harper for safekeeping, fearing she would drop it any second. “Can everyone wait inside? I’ll just be a minute.”

“Are you sure?” Harper wasn’t so certain, united they stood together. Alone and she would be left to face him by herself. She didn’t like that idea, they were her support system.

“I’m positive. Just go.”

The trio reluctantly disappeared from her side just as Eli reached her in the middle of the front yard. He had the nerve to give them a friendly wave as they left. Kaley held steadfast, not wanting to let any of his cute little movements sway her. She had to be strong, she just had to be.

“I hope it wasn’t something I said,” Eli joked, gesturing to the quickly retreating others.

Kaley ignored him. “What are you doing here?”

“I haven’t heard from you since our call the other day. I figured you might be having second thoughts so I decided to come over here and convince you to go out with me again.”

He smiled that dimple. That damn dimple. Why did he have to be so cute? She should have texted him earlier and avoided the whole situation. She could be free and clear of him by now, not having to stand there with three sets of eyes drilling into her back.

“I don’t think I can go out with you again,” she finally managed to get out. She looked at the ground between them instead of his beautiful blue eyes. She didn’t want to see them twinkling, that would be the final straw.

She just needed to get through the next few minutes and then it would be all over and done with. As long as she didn’t think ahead to seeing him at school.

Eli’s confidence faltered, he tried to cover it but his quieter voice still betrayed him. “It’s easy to go out with me. I pick you up, we have a good time, and then I drop you home. I don’t understand why you can’t do it.”

“It’s just… not for me.”

Eli stood staring at her, getting frustrated when she wouldn’t meet his gaze. He needed to convince her somehow that he was worth the risk.

Kaley expected him to turn around and walk away, he didn’t need to bother convincing her. He could get another girl easily, probably before he even reached the curb.

She waited. However, Eli did something completely unexpected. He took a step forward, to be within reaching distance of her. Then, he took her hand, the one that had been holding the bear.

“I really care about you, Kaley. I was hoping we might have something great. I know I had a really good time last week. If I’ve done something wrong, or something to offend-”

Kaley cut him off, unable to take his ramblings any more. “It’s not you, okay? I just don’t think I’m ready for this,” she lied, well partly. Perhaps if she was really ready for a guy like Eli, she wouldn’t be afraid to give him the real reason why she was letting him go. She would confront him about Abigail instead of shying away from the whole deal.

He didn’t release her hand. “We can go slow, Kaley. I swear I’m not going to do anything to hurt you. We can take it one date at a time. I like hanging out with you. Just say yes to one more date. Let me convince you I’m worth taking a chance on.”

She finally looked up from the ground and instantly regretted it. His eyes weren’t twinkling like she thought they would be. Instead, they were sad and resembled a puppy dog – even worse. She hated seeing that look on his face and knowing she had caused it.

Suddenly she wanted that sparkle back – and the dimple too. She wanted to turn it all around and the only way to do that was to give in. All of a sudden, all the reasons why she had decided to ditch him didn’t seem logical anymore.

They all seemed silly.

Perhaps the whole thing with Abigail was in her mind, the guy standing in front of her wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t date her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous, he just wouldn’t.

Eli saw her resolve fading and jumped on it. “Come on, Kaley. Just say yes, we’re going to have a great time. I’ll make it really special, something to blow your mind.”

“If I agree to a second date, will you go away? I’m pretty sure there are at least three people watching our every move right now.”

He laughed and nodded. “I’ll go right away. I promise.”

“Then fine, I’ll go out with you again,” she sighed, hoping she wasn’t going to regret it but fearing she already was.

“Okay, I’m going to play it cool because of our audience, but just know that if it was only me here, I would be doing my happy dance right now.” The sparkle struck his eye and it was totally worth it, Kaley couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll call you with the details.”

“Thanks.”

Eli let her hand drop and started backing toward his car. Kaley watched without moving a muscle. She didn’t know how she was going to explain everything to the spies.

They could probably gather most of it through the window, but she was still going to have to give Harper a full explanation about her change of mind. She wasn’t looking forward to it. Perhaps she could lie and say she was blackmailed, maybe that would work.

As Eli reached his car, Kaley heard the front door swing open. She watched in horror as Georgie ran for the car, waving for Eli to stop in his tracks. Kaley’s stomach dropped with the bad feeling she was getting. What was Georgie up to? And, more importantly, how could she stop her?

“Mom!?”

Georgie wasn’t listening. She reached the car and pulled Eli out of the driver’s seat before he could even sit down. She said something to him and before Kaley knew it, she was dragging him back toward her.

She could feel her face burning with embarrassment. Oh well, she did tell him about her crazy mother, he had fair warning and he had turned up anyway. Surely she couldn’t be to blame for his lack of judgment.

“Eli is staying for dinner,” Georgie said proudly, as if she would win the Mother of the Year award for her valiant efforts. “Harper and Harvey are staying too. I’ve made enough for everyone.”

Kaley inwardly groaned. She mouthed an ‘I’m sorry’ to Eli as he was dragged past her. She received a crooked grin in return, he seemed to actually be enjoying it. There was a guy that was a sucker for punishment if ever she saw one.

She trailed after them, slowly dying on the inside. Her parents, her best friends, and her potential boyfriend all in the one room. It was as good as a waking nightmare.

Her mother didn’t hesitate to get them seated around the table in the dining room. Strom and Georgie were at either end, Harper and Harvey were on one side, and her and Eli on the other. The worst thing about the seating was that Harvey and Eli sat opposite each other, able to stare and glare at one another all night.

Kaley hoped for a swift meal, she prayed for no dessert. The plates were passed around, and then the bowls of vegetables and chicken. They were dining family style – helping yourself to whatever passes your way.

Strom started the conversation. “So what did you all get up to today?”

Harper answered quickly. “We went to the beach cinema and then hung out on the pier. We had a fantastic day. The weather was beautiful, you should have seen it.”

“What did you do today, Eli?” Georgie asked, pointedly joining him in on the conversation.

“I trained with a friend. We have a game this Friday so I thought I could use all the help I could get,” Eli answered politely. Kaley never would have thought he was a parent pleaser before.

Harvey spoke up for the first time, directing his comment straight across the table. “I would have thought you trained enough during the week. Don’t you have sessions every day after school?”

Eli didn’t even blink. “We train three times a week, however, we’re going up against Montcrest this week and they’re hard to beat. I don’t want to let the school down.”

“How noble.” Georgie beamed. “I wish I could get Kaley involved in more school activities. I keep telling her it will be good for her.”

“I tried to get her to join the band,” Harper piped up. Kaley shot her a look, she had the decency to look guilty for siding with Mother Barbie. “Sorry, but it’s true.”

Kaley didn’t say anything, she wished she really was invisible at that moment. If the ground underneath her chair would swallow her up, that would be perfect. Perhaps she would die from embarrassment before her second date with Eli, that would solve all her problems. Georgie was well on her way to helping her with that plan.

“You didn’t tell me that, Kaley.” Georgie sounded offended, ashamed at having lost the opportunity to push her into something that would enhance her whole high school experience. “You should join the band, you play that damn guitar enough on your own. You may as well play it for a purpose.”

Eli turned to Kaley, a look of delight on his face. “You play the guitar? Why didn’t you say so? I love playing.”

“You do?” Kaley ran through her database of knowledge, everything she knew about Eli. Never once had she seen him play the guitar or even mention it. They were both learning new fun facts about each other.

“I play electric.”

“Mine’s acoustic.”

“We’ll have to jam sometime,” he said happily. Kaley instantly dismissed the idea but didn’t want to take the crooked smile from his face. She would never play the guitar in front of him, it would be too mortifying.

She would, however, really enjoy hearing him play and seeing what he was made of. He definitely didn’t come across as a music type guy, she wondered what type of music he played. Rock? Pop? Country? He was so full of surprises she couldn’t even guess.

Strom spoke from the end of the table, interrupting their little trivia session. “So Eli, tell me about your family. What do your parents do? I need to know more about you before I can let my only daughter get attached to you.”

Eli took the question in his stride, even though the snicker escaping from Harvey was audible. “My father owns a stock broking firm and my mother supports many charities. You can rest assured they aren’t axe murderers. Or me either, for that matter.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Strom retorted. “Stockbrokers don’t mind hacking at people now and then. Or their bank accounts, at least.”

Harvey was enjoying the grilling, he couldn’t help add to it. “Don’t they say there are more sharks in the office than at the beach?”

“That’s a good one.” Strom chuckled to himself.

“I guess you have to be careful no matter who you deal with,” Eli replied, trying to remain jovial. He shifted in his seat with the discomfort.

“I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Stone are nice people.” Kaley tried to rescue the situation. She could see what her father and Harvey were trying to do – undermine anything Eli said. She made an attempt to change the subject. “Dinner is really good, Mom.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” Georgie said proudly. “What about you, Eli? Is everything okay with your meal?”

“It’s delicious, thank you.”

“Does
your
mother cook, Eli?” Harvey asked. “Or does she just do charity work for other families?”

“No, she cooks.”