by Coco Miller
I bring my focus back to my stunning surroundings. I’m sitting a bit secluded, letting the sun beat down on me.
I look across the way when I hear hammering and notice a group of guys working on a cabin. I don’t know how I missed it; I guess I was focusing too much on the scenery around me. Although now that they have gained my attention, I am pulled in to watching them. They are joking with each other and look like they are having a great time working. It makes me a little jealous that I don’t feel that same enjoyment in my job.
They turn some music on, and while I can’t make out the song, the beat carries over to me and I nod my head to the rhythm. One guy yells to another trying to get his attention over the music before he laughs at something inside that I can’t see. I look over and son of a bitch; it’s Wyatt.
He’s shirtless, showing off that incredible upper body of his. Regret that I had pushed aside resurfaces. I don’t know where I get the courage, but I’m on my feet and walking over to the cabin. The need to apologize to him is overwhelming.
The closer I get the louder everything is—the hammering, the shouting, the music, and the laughter. Before I’m even to the cabin, one of the guys notices me and flashes me a flirty grin. I smile back and walk over to him, thinking he seems to be friendly.
“Hi. Is it possible for me to talk to Wyatt real fast? I won’t take up much of his time.”
“Whatever he did to you, I’ll fix it,” he says giving me a wink and I laugh.
“Kendra? What are you doing?” Wyatt says from behind me, shock clear in his voice.
I turn around and take a deep breath. I try to compose myself because seeing him shirtless is screwing with my head. I have no idea how he will react to me walking up on him while he is at work.
“Can I just talk to you for a minute, please?”
He nods his head and hands his hammer to the guy I was talking to. “Jim, I’ll be right back.”
I follow him away from all the noise, taking notice of his muscular back as his walks. I shake my head, trying to focus on my apology. He stops and turns around, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
“You forget to throw in a dig last night?” he says with a mix of hurt and anger in his voice.
“Wyatt, I’m so sorry. I never should have rushed to judge you. I don’t have any memory of what happened the other night, and I should have believed you,” I say in my best attorney voice. “That was wrong of me.”
“You know what it doesn’t matter. I need to get back to work.” He goes to push past me, and I stop him with my hands on his chest. His tight wall of muscles almost renders me speechless.
“I fucked up, all right? I admit it. Everything I did was the complete opposite of what I was taught. You should have been innocent until proven guilty, but I had you guilty without even hearing your case.”
He doesn’t say a word, so I continue. “I wanted a night of fun; that’s what I set out for. I saw you in the bar, and I’ll be honest, I was attracted to you. Then Gail told me your name, and it shocked me. So when you came over, I was so overwhelmed with figuring out if it was the Wyatt I knew, I kept drinking.”
I shake my head and look out at the lake. “I don’t know what else to say. I know you think I’m a bitch and I don’t blame you, I’ve been one. I’m sorry for everything.”
He says nothing, but he doesn’t leave either. I don’t know what I should do at this point. I’ll admit it, I’m attracted to him. I want to make this right.
“I think maybe it was my guilt talking yesterday. I drank too much, I couldn’t remember shit, and the next day I just wanted to believe so badly that someone as sexy as you would be attracted to someone like me, so I hoped we did something.” I admit, shocking even myself.
He closes his eyes for a second before snapping them back open just as quickly. “Kendra, I did right by you that night, but don’t let it fool you. I came over to you at the bar for something else entirely. I didn’t know you were Malik’s sister. I just saw a beautiful woman at the bar.”
My pulse races as I wonder what things he would have done to me if I hadn’t drunk so much. I smile and look back to the cabin he’s working at.
“So, I guess I shouldn’t keep you. But do you think you’d like to come over for dinner tonight?”
He gives me a sexy grin and asks, “Are you asking me on a date, Kendra?”
I laugh, mostly out of embarrassment and shake my head. “No. I thought it would be nice to get to know my brother’s friend, without alcohol.”
“I get off work at five,” is all he says and walks past me to go back to work. I guess that means he’ll be over. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I have butterflies swarming inside of my stomach.
Wow, this is new.
Chapter Seven
WYATT
When I get off of work, I go home and take a shower. Since Kendra left the job site earlier today, I haven’t been able to think about anything else. To say it shocked me to see her there is an understatement. I could tell she’s a woman who isn’t used to giving an apology, and so I let her off easy. I wouldn’t say I’ve gained her respect, but then again I wouldn’t say she has mine.
Once I get myself showered and dressed in a black t-shirt and khaki shorts, I go outside and climb into my golf cart. I’m not expecting anything from tonight. I don’t even know if going to her place is a good idea. Hell, getting involved with her in any form isn’t a good idea. She doesn’t need someone like me in her life, not to mention Malik will beat my ass, but like I said I feel a pull to her. I can at least let her feed me an apology dinner.
When I get to her place, I knock on the door and wait. When she doesn’t answer, I walk around the deck to the back and see her sitting in the chair looking out at the lake. The sun shines on her, giving her an almost angelic appearance. She has sunglasses on blocking my view of her eyes, but the strapless sundress she has on shows off that sexy body that she has no idea that I’ve seen.
I move a step closer and she hears me, turning her head in my direction. I smile and walk over to her. “I knocked first.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear. Would you like something to drink?” she asks, going to stand up.
“No, I’m good right now, thanks,” I say, resting my hand on hers to have her sit back down.
I feel a bit awkward. I’ve been with plenty of women, but never without the intention of getting them in my bed. I don’t exactly know what to discuss if it doesn’t include bedroom talk.
“Wyatt, I really am sorry for the way I treated you. I don’t want you to think that is the kind of person I am,” she says with sadness in her voice.
“Well, what kind of person are you?” I ask, generally interested in her response.
“If you would have asked me that a few months ago, I would have said a lawyer who wants to take the world by storm. Now, I’m not so sure anymore.”
I look at her, but she never turns her attention away from the lake. “What changed?”
I know all too well how she’s feeling because that’s how her arrival to town is starting to make me feel. She has me questioning everything I thought I believed, and I don’t understand any of it. Maybe if she tells me what changed for her, it will give me a little insight into what the hell is going on with me.
“Honestly?” She finally looks at me and I nod my head. “The clock,” she says and smirks.
“The clock? What the hell does that mean?” I ask with a chuckle.
She turns her body to face me and smiles. “The ticking of the clock. It makes you realize time is passing and the longer it ticks, the more time passes. It made me realize that I have all this time passing me by and I wasn’t doing anything with it. I worked, ate, slept, has a few boring relationships, and no life at all. I want to do something with my life, but I’m not sure what it is. I know it sounds ridiculous. I shouldn’t be boring you with this stuff. I should be sitting on some therapist’s couch.”
The more she spoke though, the mo
re intrigued I became. She’s on a quest to find herself and even though I think I’m probably the last thing she needs in her life, I want to help her.
“It’s not ridiculous. Do you not want to be a lawyer anymore?”
“No, I love being a lawyer. I’m just not sure I want it to consume my life anymore.”
“All right, well maybe when you go back home, you should throw that clock away,” I joke hoping to lighten the mood a bit.
She laughs and stands up. “Maybe I will. I’m going to get a drink. Are you sure you don’t want one?”
I tell her I’ll take a water and she goes inside to get it. When she comes back outside, she has a platter with some fruit on it and our drinks. She places it all down before she sits.
“I will make burgers for dinner, but figured we could snack for a bit.”
It’s quiet for a few minutes while we just enjoy the warm evening, but she said something earlier that has me curious. “Kendra, you said you had boring relationships. Why were they boring?”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Wyatt, you don’t want to hear about that.”
Normally, she’s right, I wouldn’t want to hear it. I shouldn’t want to hear it from her, but damn it, I want to know. “Actually, I do.”
“It’s kind of embarrassing,” she says shaking her head.
“Embarrassing? Well now you have to tell me.”
“Well, the guys I’ve been with are boring. They don’t enjoy going out, drinking more than two fingers worth of scotch, or even watching TV. Reading the newest law books, working, and a good cigar were things that held their interest. See, boring. What about you? What have your last relationships been like?” she asks, popping a grape into her mouth.
“Damn you are a lawyer, deflecting off the original question. Good thing for you I pay attention. Nothing you said is embarrassing. Boring as fuck, yes. Embarrassing, no. So what are you leaving out?”
Her eyes divert from mine and she shrugs her shoulders and that’s when it hits me. “The sex. They all sucked in bed. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Maybe.”
“Totally.”
“Ugh. Yes all right, that’s exactly it,” she says, covering the look of embarrassment on her face.
I pull her hands away and hold them while I grin at her. “Nothing embarrassing about that. Sometimes you just don’t connect with a person.”
It’s been the opposite for me. I’ve had sexual satisfaction, but nothing else. No substance. I know it is mainly because of my lack of trust with women, though. I’ve never allowed myself to get close to anyone and I guess kind of like her, I’ve been filling that lonely void too, but with sex. I’m good at keeping my feelings out of any situation. I’ve been doing it most of my life. And up until I met her, I was fine with it.
Now, I’m starting to question everything, too.
Chapter Eight
KENDRA
Is it weird that I let him in? I shouldn’t have. I should have pushed him away. But after hearing his side of the story, I’ve come to enjoy having him around. He’s different from most guys.
Just the simple touch of his hand on mine and I feel my body come to life. Definitely something I haven’t felt in a long time. So long in fact that I forgot what it felt like.
Wyatt carries on a conversation with me like he’s generally interested in what I have to say; if he’s not, he sure as hell plays the part well. It’s things like this that I crave. Things like this that I miss. Things like this that a woman needs. I need.
As much as he wants to hear my story, I want to hear his. I want to hear about his time in Afghanistan. About all the war and things that he probably doesn’t open up about. He hasn’t told me anything and even though I only gave him a little, it’s the biggest part.
“Wyatt, I answered you so now your turn. Tell me about your time overseas.”
He takes a deep breath and lets it out ever so slowly. “I don’t really talk about it much.”
“I’d like for you to talk to me about it.”
He smiles. “Why don’t you ask me anything else, and one day I’ll tell you about my time over there.”
I can see the hurt and pain in his eyes, so I try to lighten the mood. “Okay, so what have your past relationships been like?”
This is truly a question that I want the answer to because my mind is all over the place with it. Wondering if he’s had anything serious or just slept around.
Quirking his lip, he gives me a wink. “I don’t think you really want to hear that.”
Oh, how wrong he is. “Come on, you promised. It’s only fair.” I pout, even going as far as to jut my lip out.
Chuckling, he reaches over and rests his hand on mine and I feel the sparks. “How about you get to know me a little more before we dig into my past relationships?”
Part of me is disappointed, but part of me is relieved. I’d like to know why he has the reputation he does. He likes to sleep around, that much I know for sure. Although I’d like to hear why.
On the other hand, I’m starting to like him, and if I know how many women he’s been with or how he treated them, I may feel differently.
“Fair enough.”
“Would you like to help me with dinner,” he asks as I stand up.
“Okay.” I smile.
For the next forty minutes, we work side by side in the kitchen and at the grill. It feels so natural, so normal, like this is something that couples do every day. Although I feel like it is so much more because I have had no one cook with me probably since my freshman year of college.
I’m enjoying the company, the laughs we are having about our different cooking styles, and the simple touches we share. We aren’t a couple, but this is what I feel like I’ve been missing out on.
The little things.
Wyatt seems to enjoy himself as well. He’s so much more relaxed than I’ve seen him yet. At the bar, he seems to be on edge. Like he’s always “on”. Always performing for or in pursuit of female attention. Our only other interaction was him trying to prove to me that he wasn’t the asshole I was making him out to be.
I like this side of him. It’s carefree, fun, and easygoing. I really want to get to know this Wyatt better.
After we eat, we sit on the deck and enjoy the cool evening breeze. It’s now dark out and for some reason, it feels more intimate to me. I’m sure it’s all in my mind considering the last few hours have made me realize how much I not only want but need a different life. I need a connection.
“Kendra, would you like to take a walk by the lake?” He stands up, holding his hand out to me.
I place my hand in his and he pulls me up. He leads us to a secluded spot on the lake that I’ve never noticed before. He doesn’t let go of my hand as we duck under low-hanging trees through a narrow path that leads into what I can only describe as a grotto.
I let go of his hand and twirl around slowly, taking it all in. We are completely surrounded by a canopy of trees, the low-hanging moon peeking through the branches. The soft breeze whispers across the lake and small ripples lap at the shore.
“Wyatt, this is stunning,” I whisper.
“It definitely is.”
When I turn around to face him, I notice that he’s watching my every move. The way he is looking at me, with the moonlight radiating off his deep brown eyes full of lust, has me squeezing my legs together.
I can’t help but stare at him as he slowly walks toward me. My heart beats rapidly in my chest and my breath hitches in my throat. At this moment, although I’m not exactly sure what will happen, I feel a part of me come back to life.
“When’s the last time you’ve visited here?” he asks me. “How come this is the first time I’ve seen you in years?”
“My career keeps me really busy and the last time I took a pause, three years had flown by.”
“What about your parents? You haven’t seen them in years?”
“They come to the city during Christmas for the Rockettes Show
at Radio City Music Hall. I see them then. I guess Malik doesn’t talk about me much.”
“You know how it is. We only talk about family stuff when there’s a problem. We don’t do a lot of small talk. Men are simple creatures.”
I giggle. “Yes, you are.”
“This is a beautiful place, and your parents have only made it better with their structural improvements. Maybe you should visit more.”
“Yeah,” I say almost breathlessly. “Maybe I should.”
Wyatt runs his knuckles down my cheek, and I involuntarily lean into his touch, my eyes drifting closed at the intimate gesture. He lifts my chin so that I am looking into his eyes.
“Kendra, I’ve never wanted to kiss someone as badly as I want to kiss you right now,” he says, licking his lips.
I feel so desired looking at the moonlight reflecting in his heated eyes. I swallow and poke out my tongue to wet my lips.
“Kiss me,” I whisper.
Chapter Nine
KENDRA
Wyatt leans forward and presses his lips to mine, and I melt into his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck and he licks the seam of my lips, seeking entrance. I open my mouth to him and when our tongues connect; I feel a fire burn throughout my whole body.
Unable to control myself, I moan as he sinks his fingers into my hair. He deepens the kiss, and I can’t believe the reaction my body is having to him. It’s overwhelming, yet I want so much more.
This kiss is not what I expected; it’s slow, sweet and sensual. Almost like he is trying to express himself to me silently, and I am more than happy to listen.
Breaking the kiss, we both try to catch our breaths while searching each other’s eyes. “I’ve wanted to do that since you walked into Gail’s.”
Wyatt leans forward and presses a soft kiss to my lips before pulling me into his arms. I rest my head on his chest as he rubs my back, and I can’t help but smile.