by Sindee Lynn
She stretched her tired body and winced a little as her muscles reacted to the movement. Maybe a hot shower would help. Pushing the covers back, she made herself get up. Despite her Women’s Studies professor being kind enough to give them the morning off, she still needed to get to campus. She had a study group at ten, and it was now. … Glancing at the clock, she was shocked to see it was later than she thought. She was heading for the bathroom when the phone rang. Thinking it might be Kenny, she ran back for it before voice mail picked up. All of her roommates would have been long gone to work.
“Hello?”
“Good morning,” Brenda said on the other end.
“Oh, hey,” Connie said, trying not to allow her disappointment to show.
“Who did you think it was going to be? Kenny?” Brenda asked on a short laugh.
She was in no mood for this today. She was still flying high from the time she had spent with Kenny last night, and she refused to allow a few petty comments from her sister spoil that.
“What do you want, Brenda? I have to get ready for my study group,” she said, heading to her closet to pull out clothes for the day.
“I was just calling to make sure your feet remain on the ground.”
Connie paused and glanced down at her feet. She gave her toes a wiggle for good measure. Yeah, they were definitely still on the ground, she thought, fighting back a giggle. She knew what her sister was talking about but refused to get into it this morning with her.
“Excuse me,” she finally replied.
“I mean I want to make sure you don’t get your hopes up only to have them dashed to the ground again. You know how you like to get worked up, Constance. I’m your sister, and it’s my job to protect you.”
Connie rolled her eyes. If Brenda thought she was buying the whole “I just want to protect you” act, she needed to think again. In truth, she couldn't fathom the idea of her sister caring one way or the other if she got hurt again. In fact, she would probably prefer it so they could spend some more quality time with Brenda telling her how much of a failure she was at dating and choosing the right man. Then, there would come the not so subtle hints about her weight and the way she dressed being one of the many reasons why she couldn't get a guy and keep him.
“Brenda, I really appreciate your concern, but there’s no need for it. I’m okay. My feet are firmly planted on the ground.”
Now had she asked her last night, her answer may have been a little different. She’d definitely been floating several feet above ground level after making out with Kenny for an hour outside at her curb, but then she didn’t see any reason to share that bit of information with Brenda.
She headed out of her closet, a pair of jeans in her hand she had all but forgotten about along with a t-shirt. She tossed them on the bed. Walking into the bathroom, Connie glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She turned her head to the left and leaned closer. Oh, my gosh. Was that what she thought it was? Her eyes shined brightly as she recalled how she’d acquired that particular love bite. Her lids slid closed as the memory of Kenny's warm lips nuzzling her neck came back to her. When his teeth had first nicked her skin, she had felt a shiver of excitement move through her. Connie placed her hand to her stomach as that same feeling came back again.
“Constance, you are so far out of your element here. Have you ever been out with a guy who falls in Kenny's category of man? Let me answer for you,” Brenda continued before she could. “No, you have not. You are not equipped to handle this situation without my help.”
“Brenda, I will readily admit to you I have never dated a guy like Kenny before. He’s older than any of the guys I’ve dated, and he’s probably got tons more experience than all of them put together.”
“Then, as long as we both agree,” Brenda interrupted.
“However,” Connie continued, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her brown eyes sparkled brighter than they had yesterday. Her cute as a button face looked a little pretty today. And there was no mistaking the sexiness of the grin slanted across her face. She peered closer at the image staring back at her. Was that really her?
“However,” she said again, smiling back at her reflection in the mirror. “I believe I will do just fine on my own.”
“There’s no way you can hope to handle this situation on your own. Why you’re likely to make a fool of yourself by admitting you're not on his level. And goodness knows what other nonsensical things you might say.”
Connie couldn't help but laugh at how flustered and upset Brenda sounded. As if Kenny couldn't have figured it out on his own they were from two different worlds. Hell, she had realized it when she had gotten her first look at him in the store.
“No, I will not stand by and allow you to make such amateur mistakes. If you are determined to go after this man, then I can do nothing more than offer my assistance. It’s the sisterly thing to do.”
Connie was sure she should be offended, but she had to be honest with herself if no one else. She didn’t know if she could handle it. The temptation to get carried away in her growing feelings for him was getting increasingly harder to push back. The more time she spent with him and the more things she learned about him only made it worse. She could only imagine it would be more difficult to keep her feet on the ground as time went on. Maybe she could talk to her roommates. They’d had more than their fair share of men experience between them. Of course none of their men had been as hot as Kenny, she thought, feeling the crazy urge to laugh out loud again.
Beep … Beep …
“Brenda, let me call you back. I have to get ready for study group and another call is coming in.”
Connie clicked over before her sister could put up a protest.
“Hello?”
“Hey there.”
She almost lost her grip on the phone as Kenny's voice came across the phone line.
“Hi,” she said again.
“I was prepared to leave you a message. I hope I’m not the reason you're late. I know I kept you out later than planned.”
“No, not at all. My professor canceled today’s class because our final is next week,” she said, moving to sit on the closed toilet seat.
“Oh, okay. I would have felt guilty if I had been the cause of you being late for class. I called to see if you have any plans for tonight? And if you do, if I can possibly convince you to cancel them?”
The uncertainty in his voice caused her heart to flutter and a soft smile broke out on her face. The thought that he wasn’t sure if she’d want to see him was nothing short of amazing to her. What woman wouldn't want to spend time with this man?
“No, I don’t have any plans,” she began before a frown puckered her brow. “Oh, wait. I forgot. One of my study groups is meeting tonight to begin our review for finals.”
“How late? I thought perhaps you’d like to go out to dinner. You know on a real date.”
It never ceased to amaze her how much he seemed to want to spend time with her. If he kept this up, he might just have her thinking something between them could actually work.
“I’d like that a lot, but I don’t get out of my study group until ten, and then I have an early class tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
She was feeling the same disappointment she could hear in his voice.
“Okay, well, how about tomorrow night instead? That should be enough time for me to make reservations at the jazz club,” he suggested.
A smile brightened her face until she realized tomorrow wouldn't work out either.
“No, that’s no good either. Another study group til ten. I’m sorry,” she said, running her fingers through her hair.
Her plans had been made when she didn’t have anyone in her life. Slow down, she told herself. You still technically don’t have anyone in your life. Don’t go putting the cart before the horse. That’s how you get in trouble.
“There’s no need to apologize. I remember what it was like when I was in school. Though, it has been a whil
e ago.”
“It wasn’t that long ago,” she muttered.
She’d learned on their first date Kenny hadn’t dated anyone her age since he’d been in college himself. The question of why he was bothering with her surfaced again, but she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind. She didn’t want to think about that now.
“Yeah, long enough, though.”
A deep sigh came across the phone lines, and she got a sinking feeling. Was now when he realized this wouldn't work after all because she didn’t have time for him. Connie would bet her life he’d never had a woman not rearrange her schedule to accommodate his, and if she weren’t trying so hard not to get ahead of herself, she might have offered to cancel one of her study groups, if not both of them.
“So, it looks like we have a situation here. I want to see you, and you're all booked up for the next how many days?”
Connie tried to decipher if there was any anger or annoyance in his voice. All she could hear was a little frustration, and she could definitely relate to that. She wanted to see him too. Badly. But more than that, she wanted to feel his arms around her again. She wanted to feel his lips on her skin. Oh, hell, she just wanted him.
“Umm, I have study groups tonight and tomorrow night. Both of them are until ten. I don’t have any classes or study groups on Friday, but I do have to work.”
The sound of Kenny’s intercom buzzed through the phone.
“Hang on a second, sweetheart,” he said before he began talking to his secretary.
The giddiness she felt over a simple pet name was ridiculous, and she tried to tell herself that, but her body refused to listen to reason.
“Hey, I have to go, but I want to see you. Where’s your study group tonight?
“At the library on campus.”
“Great. Look, I really gotta run.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you later,” he said and hung up.
Connie turned off the phone and sat hugging herself on the toilet seat a few moments longer. A small frown marred her brow. What had he meant when he said he’d see her later? She shook it off as nothing. He had been rushing. The bottom line was he wanted to see her. And that’s all that was important. Getting up, she caught her reflection in the mirror again and stopped to stare. A smile took shape. Nope, cute wouldn't cut it today. She had definitely upgraded to pretty.
Chapter 14
Oh, thank goodness that’s over, Connie thought, packing her books inside her satchel.
“See ya later, Connie,” Brad said, waving at her.
She turned to give him a smile and waved goodbye in return. She checked to make sure she had everything before closing her bag and throwing it over her shoulder.
“Hey, Connie, you want me to wait for you,” he asked, heading in her direction. “Everybody else has already left.”
A soft sigh left her. She would rather he just go ahead, but good manners prevented her from telling him so. Brad had on several occasions asked her out, and she had declined each of them, explaining she believed them to be better as friends. Though at the time he had appeared to have been okay with her decision, it still hadn’t prevented him from continuing to ask every so many weeks. She pasted a smile on her face and moved in his direction.
“That’s nice of you. Thanks.”
“No problem,” he said, moving in step beside her as they headed towards the doors.
“So do you have plans for Friday night,” he asked, glancing at her sideways as he held the door open for her to exit.
Connie barely held onto the sigh of frustration. Brad really was a nice guy, and to be honest there was no reason in the world she shouldn’t have said yes by now. They had been friends for over a year, and he was not a bad looking guy. He came from a good family and for all intents and purposes appeared to be a decent person. But there was just no spark there when she was with him. In the beginning, she had given it serious thought and had almost accepted merely based on all the good things, but he just didn’t do it for her. No, decent guys didn’t do it for her. She got turned on by guys who looked like they came off the cover of GQ magazine. She forced a smile to her face and was about to give Brad another run down on why it was best if they remained friends when her attention was caught by the sight of a guy who looked a lot like Kenny climbing the library steps in their direction. No way, her rational mind told her. But as the man got closer, her heart stopped because it was him. He was dressed simply in a pair of faded jeans and t-shirt, but she didn’t think a guy could look so good.
“Connie, are you okay,” Brad asked from beside her.
All she could do was nod because she couldn't tear her gaze away from the man coming towards her with a smile on his face.
“Hey, sweetheart. For a minute I thought I had missed you. It’s almost ten-thirty,” Kenny said when he reached the top of the stairs.
She saw him glance briefly to where Brad stood beside her. His eyebrow raised in question.
“Our study group ran a little later than we thought it would,” she said, finally finding her voice.
At the continued question in his gaze and the confusion on Brad’s face, Connie made the required introductions.
“Kenny Jamison, this is Brad Thompson. Brad is in my Mythology class. He was kind enough to wait for me when everyone else had left.”
Odd she felt the need to explain Brad’s presence beside her.
“What’s up, man? Thanks for hanging around and waiting for Connie so she wouldn’t have to walk out by herself,” Kenny said, his hand outstretched towards Brad.
For a moment, Connie thought Brad was going to refuse the offered hand before he reluctantly took it. He mumbled something about seeing her later. At least, that’s what she thought he said before he bounded down the stairs leaving them alone.
“That guy has got it bad for you,” Kenny said, his gaze following Brad’s retreat.
Connie glanced up at him. There was something in his voice she couldn’t quite decipher.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, deciding not to respond to his statement.
His eyes sparkled in the overhanging light of the library.
“I wanted to surprise you,” he said, a sheepish expression on his face. “Surprise.”
His arms were wide open, offering her what she had been thinking about all evening. She stared at him for a few moments before walking into his open arms.
“For a minute there, I was beginning to wonder if I had done the right thing. You didn’t look too happy to see me.” Kenny’s deep voice rumbled against her ear.
There was something wrong. It was in his voice. Pulling away enough to see his face, her eyes widened in shock and disbelief at what they reflected.
“I didn’t know if it was really you when I first saw you coming up the steps.”
“Yeah, well, when I saw you come out with lover boy and you didn’t look happy to see me, I thought maybe you and he were …. Well, you know.”
What was he saying? Her gaze automatically moved to search his, but she found his lids lowered.
“Kenny, surely you aren’t jealous of Brad?”
*****
Jealous? Him? Of a guy who was still trying to get what he had already obtained? The thought was ludicrous. Absolutely ridiculous to even consider. Not to mention he had never been jealous of anyone in his life. Men were jealous of him. It had been reflected in Brad’s gaze before he had walked off. That’s what he was used to. Not the foreign emotions he felt seeing Connie at the library doors with some guy who was looking at her as if he wanted to eat her up. The thought caused him to pause. Could it be possible? Him jealous. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, he grabbed Connie’s hand without saying a word. He pulled her behind him down the steps towards the parking lot, but his thoughts refused to allow him any peace. Jealous. There was no way. His mind quickly ran back over the odd feeling that had run through him when he had gotten his first look at Connie, only to see her standing with Brad. Anger and be
trayal mixed with hurt and …. He stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned towards the woman who was causing him to question things about himself and making him feel things he had never felt before. The woman who was causing him to second guess everything about the type of woman he was looking for and the qualities he wanted her to have. Kenny placed both hands on her shoulders and really looked at her. So different from anyone he had ever been interested in before but who surprisingly had more in common with him than the last three women he had dated. There was warmth inside of her that made him melt inside. Her eyes were always open and told him things he bet she didn’t even know were being said. It was so refreshing from the cold and calculating women he dated. Women, who in order to get ahead in their careers, had seemed to lose something along the way. Something Connie had. Something that was drawing him in like a moth to flame. Vulnerability. She didn’t have all the answers to everything that was going on between them. In fact, she openly admitted to be as confused as he felt. It put them on the same page in this. It made him not feel so bad about the confused state he found himself in lately. He moved his hand to cup her soft cheek. The smile she graced him with made his heart stutter and suddenly it was important for him to make her understand what he was feeling.
“I have been sitting in my car debating on whether or not I should get out for the last twenty minutes. The whole way across the parking lot I ran through all the many reasons why I should turn around and go back home. Then I look up and see you standing outside with a guy who’s got his heart in his eyes, and I start to think I might have really made a mistake by coming, yet I tell myself I’m just seeing things. But when you finally see me, the expression on your face is far from the one I had told myself would be there.”