by C. Sunrise
I let out another sharp breath while shaking my head. I needed adult supervision last night, turning twenty-five clearly does not qualify me as one.
“Growled, Bel,” I repeat. “What kind of grown-ass woman does that?” I question my sanity, wondering if I belong in a zoo.
She lets out another chuckle, still getting way too much enjoyment from my inner torment.
“As entertaining as your little meltdown is,” she says and waves her hand up and down in front of my body. “I would go upstairs and do something about that hair. Maybe your clothes too... Kitten.” She emphasises the word kitten, followed by a miserable attempt at stifling her laughter.
I stand there glaring at her for a few seconds, letting her enjoy her moment.
“Why are we even friends?” I question while crossing my arms in front of me. “You suck.”
She looks at me with a gleam in her eyes before replying confidently. “You know you love me.” She shrugs. “Now go. They’ll be here any second.”
Her simple statement sends me into a full out sprint to my bedroom. I need to hurry and make myself somewhat presentable. I wouldn’t want to come across as a total disaster two days in a row—at least last night I could blame the alcohol. I throw on my favourite dark peach coloured pants and a short white crop sweater, hoping that drawing attention to my exposed midriff will draw attention away from my serious case of hangover face. I brush my teeth and splash some water on my face to bring some life back into my complexion. I pull my hair out of my messy bun and give it a quick brush, using the indentations left by my hair tie to my advantage. With little time left, I quickly throw on some mascara and lip balm.
The doorbell rings causing me to jump and dab lip balm on my cheek.
“You’ve got this girl,” I say encouragingly to myself in the mirror as I wipe my cheek and then make my way towards the living room.
I come bounding into the room, perhaps a little overzealous in my attempts at covering up my hangover, and my eyes catch sight of him. Maybe it was the alcohol last night, but I don’t remember him being this gorgeous.
My heart stops as I take in the sight before me.
He stands there in front of the door with his thick black hair shining in the light and gorgeous blue eyes looking straight at me. He is wearing dark jeans paired with a leather jacket and a tight shirt underneath, neither of which are doing a very good job at hiding his very muscular frame that I remember fondly from last night. As I walk towards them, mesmerised by Kace’s good looks, my toe catches on the rug and I plummet to the floor. I land on the ground in front of them with a thunderous thud.
Well shit. Looks like my mission has failed and I’m going to continue looking like a disaster.
I pop up off the floor almost as fast as I fell, greeted by everyone’s laughter.
“Fudge it all to heck!” I say while adjusting my shirt and relieved that I didn’t add a wardrobe malfunction to my graceful entrance. With how often I fall and do other embarrassing things, I have learned that there are two ways to deal with it: you can blush and be completely awkward or you can do what I prefer to do, own it.
“Hey everyone, it’s me, Whoopsie,” I say with jazz hands fluttering at my sides, which causes the boys to smile, showing off two sets of perfect teeth.
“That’s my girl!” Bel quips with pride. “Always making a grand entrance. Talent and beauty right, Mr. Hot Man-Candy?” She says as more of a statement than a question and winks at Kace who slightly blushes while Jay looks confused.
Jay looks back and forth between the two of us, me and Kace, our eyes deadlocked on each other since I stood back up. Jay rolls his eyes before turning back to Bel.
“Hey Bel, why don’t we go look at that thing?” He suggests, nudging his head to the side.
“What thing?” Bel replies with a shrug.
“You know, that thing,” he continues. “In the other room. That you wanted to show me.” He nudges his head more aggressively while raising his eyebrows.
“I don’t understand what you are talking about,” Bel says with a straight face, and Jay lowers his head in frustration.
Unable to hold it in any longer, Bel lets out a giggle before winking at Jay.
“Just kidding, hotness,” she says. “I know exactly what you’re talking about. Let’s go.” She grabs his hand and leads him out of the room, shouting over her shoulder as they exit the room, “You kids be good now, no hanky-panky in the living room!”
“Shut it, Blueberry!” I shout back at her with a giggle, my eyes still fixed on Kace.
“Sorry about her, Kace,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Bel likes to say whatever is on her mind.”
Kace clears his throat before agreeing, “Yeah, I noticed. She’s a good match for Jay; they’ll keep each other on their toes.”
We both laugh. Even his laugh is sexy. I have never felt such a pull towards someone before. Usually, I would have found something by now that would annoy me. Especially with hot guys—there’s always something wrong with the hot ones.
“I’m glad you remembered my real name,” Kace says with a smirk. “For a second there I thought I would forever be known as Mr. Hot Man-Candy.”
“Hey, you’re the one who wrote it in the note,” I remind him. “I’m sure you’ve figured out that Bel isn’t the type of person to let something like that slide.” We laugh, knowing that Kace has now adopted that nickname for the rest of his life.
“And you’re the one who called me that, repeatedly,” he replies, with a cocky look on his face. “Not that I am complaining or anything. You can call me that any time you want.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head.
Good to see I’m not the only one with cheesy lines.
“Watch out!” I exclaim waving my hands above my head. “Your ego is getting so big it’s going to squish us!”
He glares at me and we both laugh.
“Seriously though, I am glad I met you, Sie,” he says, sincerity showing in his eyes. “I had a lot of fun with you last night.”
“Me too,” I reply, my cheeks getting hot. “You are a pretty cool dude to hang around with.” My head jerks back and my nose scrunches with my last comment. “Ugh, did I just say dude?”
Kace nods slowly while raising an eyebrow, his cheeks puffing out as he smiles broadly.
“Lew-who za-her.” I giggle. “Really, I swear I am cool too... in my own special way.” I shrug and we both laugh.
Our eyes make contact again, and I cannot avert my gaze. There’s something that’s just so captivating and serene about his eyes. Maybe it’s the way the different shades of blues, greys, and whites swirl around and catch the light. Whatever it is, I could spend hours just staring into them. Admiring them.
“Sie, your eyes,” he says, finally breaking our silence. “They’re an amazing icy blue colour—almost white.”
What the hell?! I think followed by a string of curse words. If I keep this up, I will have to wash my own mouth out with soap.
“Not again.” I groan while rubbing my forehead. “I don’t know what’s happening.”
“What do you mean?” He crosses his arms with a concerned look on his face.
“My eyes have been changing colour since last night,” I explain. “I thought maybe it had something to do with what I was drinking. Some sort of strange chemical or allergic reaction or something. Or maybe some weird delayed genetic change in colour.”
Kace looks deep in thought as he listens.
“I’m going to have to start wearing sunglasses, so people quit pointing out my eyes,” I state, only partially kidding.
“Are you going to wear them at night?” He asks while tapping his finger on his lower lip.
“Yes? I guess so,” I reply, confused by where he’s going with his question.
“So, what you’re saying is…” He pauses and curls his upper lip into a smirk. “You’ll wear your suuuun glasses at night...,” he sings to the tune of the classic Corey Hart song.
&n
bsp; I break out in laughter at his mini performance. He has the pretend microphone and is swinging his hips and shoulders to the imaginary beat. It may have been a simple act, but it showed me that this man is comfortable around me. Or maybe he just isn’t concerned about appearances. Either way, it makes me genuinely happy and distracts me from my issue.
“Thank you for making me feel like I’m officially the coolest person in this room,” I say teasingly as he bows and blows kisses around the room to his imaginary audience.
“Anything for you, milady,” he says, while curtseying.
This man is too much, in a good way. I could have a lot of fun with him.
Suddenly I whimper. Yes, whimper. It was the strangest sound and caught me off guard. I cough before apologising for the random noise, which, much to my surprise, is met by a similar sound coming from Kace. We stand there, awkwardly staring at each other, both trying to process what is going on.
“Did you just…? Did I just…?” I ask aloud, not sure if my questions were directed at myself, Kace, or the universe in general. “What was that?”
“Yeah, we just...” he replies, tilting his head and looking at me quizzically. “Whined? Whimpered? At each other.”
“I guess there are worse sounds we could make at each other,” I offer, deciding that it was a random, onetime thing that my hungover brain didn’t want to spend energy worrying about.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Kace replies, not pressing the matter any further, and we both chuckle.
Kace zones out, similar to Bel earlier. Turns out he was also aware of what was going on but took my lack of understanding as a sign that I didn’t trust him. Instead of being concerned for me, he was intrigued and wanted to learn more.
“Earth to Kace!” I shout while waving my hand in front of his face. “Are you there, Kace?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry, Sie. I was deep in thought for a second there.” He shakes his head and then smiles.
“Score another cooler-than-you point for Whoopsie,” I reply with a snicker.
We hang out in the living room and talk for what felt like hours. I really enjoy spending time with Kace, everything feels right with him around. So natural.
He asks about my family, and how long we have lived here. He’s surprised to hear that aside from my parents, I had spent no time with any other family members. I explain that the males in Papa’s family, his brothers and father, were killed in a hunting accident and his mother died while giving birth to him. My parents met while on vacation when they were kids and kept in contact, which eventually turned into a romantic relationship. Momma’s family disowned her when she refused to end her relationship with Papa. Then Momma ended up pregnant with me. I clearly wasn’t planned, which is why my name is Whoopsie Daisy. The name suits me a little too well.
I explain that, although their story is sad, Momma has no regrets and is happily married to her best friend and the man of her dreams. So, they moved far away to this little town and haven’t spoken to Momma’s family since. If they could go back and do it all again, they would make the same choices every single time.
I admire my parents and their love and devotion for each other is something that I aspire to find in my life. Don’t get me wrong, they have arguments, or differences of opinions as they call it, and Papa spent several nights sleeping in the pool house, but they prioritise their relationship and their family. The thought of allowing any disagreement to come between them or their family has never even crossed their minds. They’re the embodiment of a strong, respectful, loving relationship. I hope to have a relationship exactly like theirs one day.
“Well, Kitten, as much as I am enjoying this, I think it is time for you to go to bed,” he says after I let out a yawn I had been trying to hold in.
“I think so too,” I admit, unable to hide my exhaustion anymore.
“Aren’t you going to ask me to sleep with you again tonight?” He asks with a wink.
“Oh no. Please say I did not ask you to sleep with me last night.” I bring my hands up to cover my nose and mouth.
He laughs and replies with a smirk, “Oh you definitely did. You’re lucky I’m such a gentleman.”
I shake my head, disappointed again by my inability to restrain myself last night.
“But I don’t know how many times I can refuse that offer,” he cautions, adding a raised eyebrow to the sexy smile I’m growing to enjoy more and more as time passes.
“Alrighty then,” I reply with my last bit of energy. “Note to self, careful what you ask for when Kace is around.” I chuckle, and he replies with a wink.
“So, when will I see you again, Kitten?”
I think about my schedule for a few seconds, tapping on my chin, before replying, “I have to go away for a work conference this week, but I’m free next weekend.”
He thinks for a second before nodding. A realisation hits me as we walk towards the front door.
“We spent all night talking about my family,” I point out. “I didn’t get a chance to learn much about you and your family at all.”
He smiles and replies, “Next time, Kitten. It’s a date. Me, you, next Saturday. We can spend the whole day getting to know each other and I can answer any questions you have. I’ll pick you up here just before lunch. How does that sound?”
“Yes, I would love that,” I reply, perhaps a little too excitedly. “Thank you again for a great night, Kace.”
I don’t know what made me do it, but I wrap Kace in a big, friendly hug. He seems a bit surprised at first before he wraps his arms around me returning the hug. I stand there in his arms, soaking in his smell and feeling his muscles flex and relax around me. I look up and our eyes meet again.
Those eyes. Those damn eyes could make me do anything.
Suddenly, a disturbing sound bellows from the other room. It breaks me from my trance, and I reluctantly take a step back from Kace, removing myself from his arms.
“Yikes. You sure you don’t want to come sleep at my place tonight?” He asks jokingly while nodding towards the moans and groans emanating from Bel’s room.
“This is exactly why I have a pair of earplugs in my nightstand,” I say while rolling my eyes, avoiding a direct response to his question. “Goodnight, Mr. Hot Man-Candy. See you soon.”
“Goodnight, Kitten,” he replies with a heart-melting smile. “Sweet dreams.”
I wait until he is well down the walkway before I break out into a happy dance. Tonight went well, and for once I’m looking forward to going on a date.
I have a few hours before I need to be at the airport, so I grab a quick bite to eat and go to bed.
The flight to my conference is a very long one. Fortunately, I had downloaded a couple of movies to my iPhone. Once we hit the flight cruising altitude, I take off my shoes, curl my feet up under me, stick in my headphones, and hit play. I was lucky enough to not have anyone sitting in the seat beside me, allowing me to lean back against the window, using my sweater as a pillow, and stretch my legs across the seats once in a while. I guess that’s the silver lining to taking flights at ridiculous hours.
I bonded with one of the flight attendants early in the flight when she saw me watching Ace Ventura and told me she is also a fan. Later in the flight when she asked if I would like any snack I replied, “Penis? Yes, I have one right here. It’s bulky but I consider it a carry on.” Fortunately, she got the movie reference and laughed every time she came near me after that and brought me a few extra snacks. I even caught the other attendance smirking as they went by. Always make friends with the flight attendants—it’s a golden rule of flying.
I arrive at the hotel feeling and looking like a zombie. There was a mix-up with my luggage, and I arrived at my hotel late at night and starving. I open the door to my room and toss my travel bag onto the chair in the corner of the room. I’m pleased to find a room service menu sitting beside the phone. I order a BLT wrap with yam fries and then take a shower while I wait for my food; I’m pretty sure it was
the best shower I’ve ever had.
The room service arrives just as I walk out of the bathroom. I hand the server some money, too tired to see how much, but it seems to be enough as she smiles politely, thanks me, and wishes me a good evening before walking away. I sit on the bed to eat my food and end up falling asleep in the middle of my dinner.
The rest of the week was essentially the same every day. My alarm clock goes off at an ungodly hour. I sit up trying to figure out where I am. My brain finally wakes up and I get myself dressed and ready for the conference; happy to discover they offer breakfast and lunch at the conference. At the end of each conference day, I stop somewhere and grab some dinner to take back to my room. Then its pyjamas and pig-out time. I end each night watching tv before falling asleep.
My last night at the hotel comes with a special surprise—a strange dream ...
I’m on the beach with Kace. It’s night, but the moon is bright, making it easy to see each other.
“Well hello, Mr. Hot Man-Candy,” I greet him with a surprisingly seductive tone.
To which he replies, “Hello there, my sexy Kitten,” before he grabs me and pulls me into a deep passionate kiss.
I feel the blood rushing through my body. My entire body quivers at his touch. I rub my hands up his muscular arms, and over his broad shoulders—heat building up within me more and more every second.
My God, this man could be a fitness model.
I let out a whimper as he nibbles on my lip and I he whimpers back in reply.
“You need to stop making those noises, Kitten,” he growls, his eyes full of passion. “Or I will take you right here, right now, on this beach. You’ll be making sounds you’ve never made before as I show you pleasure you’ve never dreamed of.”
I can’t help myself. His voice is a low growl when he speaks, vibrating through his body and into mine—it’s utterly irresistible and I can’t get enough. I can hear his restraint battling with his passion. Hell, I can feel his passion in the way he holds me tight against his rock-hard body. And I literally mean rock-hard. Every, single inch of him is hard as rock. And I want it all—every inch.