The Perfect Emotion (Book Two of The Perfect Series)

by Rolka, Melissa

  “I wish you were here,” I say, interrupting his rant knowing that I can distract him from thoughts about beating the shit out of Kyle.

  “Me too, Kate, more than anything. Actually, I want to come down tomorrow night if that’s okay. Could you ask your dad if I could take a rain check on dinner with your family? I need to take you out on a date… and I have plans for us.”

  “Really!” I squeal out more of an excitement than a question. “Yes, I’ll talk to him tonight. What do you have planned?”

  “It’s a surprise. What are you doing to me, Kate? I can’t stand the thought of waiting until tomorrow to see you.” I laugh and tell him I feel the same way. We say goodbye and I drive home a little faster to tell my mom about Reed coming down tomorrow. He’ll come down tomorrow and then the next day I’ll be back up at school.

  Glancing at my phone I see Reed’s text that he just finished up stuff with his dad and should be here in a couple hours. That gives me plenty of time to jump in the shower and fix myself. Mom took me shopping to get something new to wear today. We spent the afternoon talking, shopping and I found myself enjoying my time with her again. The dress is a classic black dress and my mom even talked me into a cute pair of heels to go with it. I never wear heels, but these are comfortable and cute. It made it hard to resist getting them. The nude heels lengthen my legs even more and are a nice contrast to the black dress.

  The hot water of the shower runs over my skin causing it to flush from the heat. I take my time washing my body, shaving and letting the conditioner settle in my hair for more than a couple minutes. Anticipation for the evening makes me jittery. As I think about Reed’s arms wrapping me up and the smell of his masculine scent a flutter fills my belly. When I think about his lips on mine and his tongue tasting me I become light headed. I wonder if I will always feel this way about him and hope that I do. It’s hard to remember if I had these feelings with Kyle. Then again there were always a lot of nerves in general when it came to Kyle.

  After my longer than usual shower I take my time to fix my hair using some of the techniques that Quinn taught me. I highlight my eyes in a shimmer shadow that make them pop a little more, especially after I coat my lashes in mascara. I spritz some of my perfume on and stand to look at myself in the full-length mirror. Slipping on my heels I’m grateful they are only two and half inches instead of one of the many others that were three plus inches.

  When I open my bedroom door to head down my dad is coming out of his bedroom and stops in his tracks to take me in. He smiles brightly and walks towards me.

  “Wow, Katherine, you look beautiful sweetheart. So grown up.”

  “Thanks, dad,” I say as I hug him. “I hope Reed thinks so.”

  “Oh, I’m positive Reed will think you look beautiful.” We continue down the hallway to the stairs and start our decent. “I wish we could be here when he came to pick you up, but make sure to have him come in when he brings you back. We’ll wait up.”

  “It’s okay. I hope Daniel has a good game though.”

  When we get into the family room and kitchen my mom stops to look up from the sink and when our eyes meet we both smile. She dries her hands off on a towel and comes over to me giving my dad a glance.

  “I know, Karen. I probably shouldn’t let her out of the house… until she’s thirty,” my dad says to my mom.

  “Oh Kate, you are stunning. What a beautiful daughter we have and not just on the outside. Sweetie, Reed is going to be speechless when he sees you.”

  “Thank you, mom. Thank you for getting me the dress and shoes. I love them.” She kisses me and then hugs me carefully to not mess my dress. When Daniel turns around and sees me he laughs and then tells me I look nice after my dad shakes his shoulder. They head out and I sit at a stool along the breakfast bar going through my purse.

  Reed should be here any minute now. The excitement I feel makes me a little giddy. He is not even here yet and I already feel like the luckiest girl. I head over to the hall bathroom to check myself one more time and apply my lip-gloss. Running my fingers through the ends of my long hair I take in my reflection. It’s now past the time that Reed said he’d be here and I start to pace around the kitchen. I end up in the family room and turn on the TV to distract myself from staring at the clock. This only works for a short time. After about twenty minutes, I text Reed because I’m starting to get worried. I don’t get a response and I hesitate to call him afraid that I’m just overreacting. Finally, after about thirty minutes from when he was suppose to be here the doorbell rings. I jump from my seat and practically trip over my heel adorned feet.

  When I open the door the smile I have plastered to my face quickly fades. Shock fills me and I gasp with a wince at the same time. Reed is dressed in a suit that fits him perfectly. He looks above averagely handsome… except that there is blood dripping from his mouth. His eyes hover downward avoiding mine and I practically fall to my knees when I see his face more closely. His bottom lip is split open and blood covers his hand that wipes at it. I grasp the doorframe to keep myself upright. Before I can get any words out Reed grabs onto my elbow and moves me closer to him.

  “Hey, I’m okay… it looks worse than it is, I promise,” he whispers.

  “Oh my God, Reed! Are you okay? Where were you? I’ve been so worried,” I say through my quivering lip trying to keep my tears at bay. I bring my hands up to cup his face and examine his face more closely.

  “I’ll be fine, but you should see the other guy,” his lips turn up in a slight smile, but he winces with pain making them straight lined again.

  “What do you mean?” His eyes hit mine and I instantly know. “No, please tell me … no, no, no…” I trail off holding his face tighter than I want to. He scrunches his face from my pressure and I release my hold.

  “Are your parents home? I don’t want them to see this.”

  “No. Come in and let me fix your lip up. You might need stitches though.” I grab onto his hand pulling him inside and then shutting the door. His fingers trace mine and latch onto my pinky, which calms my racing pulse. I stop at the half bath in the hallway and turn around and throw my arms around his midsection hugging him as tight as I can. “I was so worried about y-you,” I mutter. He hugs me back with his one clean hand and then pulls me back to look into my eyes.

  “I’m sorry, beautiful. I’m fine I promise. God, you look gorgeous in this dress. You look perfect.” His hand lets go of me and slides down until it touches the bare skin of my leg and then starts to travel back up lifting my dress up along the way. “And these legs go on forever.” He stops before my dress lifts inappropriately high. Not exactly the right time to be thinking this, but I am glad that I got these heels. I tell him to go into the bathroom and wash his hands. I head upstairs to grab stuff to clean his lip up and examine it better. Shock and fear grip me, but I force myself to not shut down.

  We make our way into the kitchen and I sit him on stool. Lucky for the heels I can examine his face at perfect level. I notice that he is swelling slightly around his left eye. Running my fingers over the bump his head pulls back. With my hands on his thighs I push up on the balls of my feet and kiss him lightly on the swollen bump. Carefully, he circles me with his arms causing me to lean in firmly to him. The side of his face that is not beaten is pressed against my chest. I let him hug me and I do the same. We have to talk, but right now I just need to feel him in my arms. I’m scared to ask the questions and hear the answers. Deep down I know what has happened and it frightens me, but I don’t want to run from it or avoid it.

  “You’re mine?” Reed says questioningly. His breathing is roughly coming out against my chest and I can feel him shaking ever so slightly.

  “Yes… yes, no one else’s,” I assure him. We stay embraced in each other’s arms for countless minutes shifting our arms over and around each other. I trail kisses across his face while his hands caress me over and under my little black dress. Tears of sadness, fear, and the unknown stream out of the corners
of my eyes, but mostly they are tears of … emotional bliss.

  CHAPTER 18

  I don’t want to take my hands off her. Ever, for that matter. I know we need to talk and I have to tell her what happened, but the thought of seeing her upset will crush me. This date I had planned is ruined. I hadn’t completely thought through how wrong things could go before I came here. I’m just praying that things don’t back fire on me and make things worse for Kate. God, she’s breathtaking in this dress and the heels just about do me in. This isn’t how things were supposed to happen for tonight. I need to make it up to her. She deserves so much more than this. I cringe at the thought of her sitting here waiting her for me to take her on the date she deserves and then when I finally show up I’m a mess.

  I rake my hands up the sides of her narrow hips up to her slender shoulders and run my knuckles across her cheeks wiping the moisture from her tears. Kissing her isn’t an option right now and I think that it was maybe his plan when he sucker punched me.

  “Please don’t cry, beautiful.” Seeing her tears because of me hurts. At the same time it reminds me that she feels something for me and that she is mine. She pulls away and I step off the stool to follow her afraid she’s turning away from me. She stops at the end of the counter and pulls out a first aid kit. She blots some rubbing alcohol onto a clean white washcloth.

  “This is going to sting,” she says and then bites at the bottom corner of her lip. It’s wrong, but it turns me on. “Sit back down and let me clean you up. You may need stitches,” she says, in the sweetest softest voice.

  “Okay, but I’m not getting stitches. I’ve had worse and it will heal.” She raises an eyebrow at me and I know I’ll have to explain my past to her later. “I’m just pissed I can’t kiss these lips,” I say, as I run my thumb across her lips and pull her bottom lip loose of her bite.

  “Me too,” she whispers, and then the cloth hits my lip and the alcohol seeps right into the open cut.

  “SHIT,” I yell out. That stings horribly and I can feel tears prick my eyes. I squeeze them tightly and pull back from her.

  “You could probably use a stitch or two, but I could make butterfly stitches if you want. I’m sorry I know that stings, but it’s the best way to clean it up.” I stand firm on not getting any stitches and let her finish up with butterfly stitches. It’s almost damn near impossible to have her this close to my face and not kiss her. I try to keep still while she works on my lip. Her face is serious and intense as she tries to be as gentle as possible.

  Thinking about the look on my fathers face when he sees this almost makes me smile. Part of me loves to give him a reason to push me away even more. I walk a fine line with him, I always have, well since I was eleven. He ensured that in our relationship. Yet, I know how much appearances mean to him, his firm and all his political connections. He already knows about Kate because Larkin told him, just like I thought he would.

  “Grant, you need to forget about her. She’s obviously no good and is causing more trouble than you need. Got it.” His stance stayed domineering and powerful like it always had when he talked to me. Except it doesn’t work on me like it used to. Now I’m taller than him and stronger. He’s never hit me, but I think he still likes to put that fear in me. The control he is used to enforcing on me never lightened up as I got older and more responsible. Even as I strayed away from my fighting stage he never let up on me. Things just became more strained and difficult in a different way.

  Larkin had told him everything about what happened with Kyle. Of course, he told him about Kate and that I appeared to be in a relationship with her and defended her. Dad wouldn’t hear any of that though. Now it’s spring break and I caught him looking through my phone. He could see the texts with Kate. As pissed, as I was that he was going through my phone I was glad he knew that I was with Kate.

  “This is not up for debate, dad,” I said calmly, but didn’t waver. I didn’t let him see my nerves, not about Kate especially.

  “Grant, don’t make me remind you.” Oh yeah, here we go again… “You have a place in this firm, but you know your expectations,” he paused before he continued with the stipulations for my life to continue in his world. “And as for your trust fund don’t think I can’t change that.” It was always the same things. I knew where things stood with him. It made him feel he had a better handle on me and kept me in his control. The thing is, as I got older I cared less and less about these things.

  “No need to remind me. I know where I stand, but it doesn’t change the fact that I am with Kate.” His face had started to get red and the lines multiplied on his forehead. He rarely ever got like this with my half-sisters, but they never pushed back with him like I did … and still do. And now they were on their own and married. They had their own families. Even still he tries to control them in different ways.

  “I’m not going to let you throw your life away over some middle-class girl who has gotten you in trouble with the law. I can tell you right now she is not worth it.” My anger began to get the best of me, but I knew I needed to ignore him. This is what he wanted.

  “I’m this close to walking out of here. She’s worth it, trust me. Don’t make me pick between you two. You’ll lose.” I could see the shock hit him and instead of waiting for the backlash I turned to walk away, but just like always he had to get the last word in.

  “Well, don’t forget Grant, this week will be very busy and you’ll be spending lots of time with Jessica. I’m sure she can remind you of your place.”

  After Kate finishes up with my lip she gets me an ice pack for the bump above my eye. Then she tells me to take off my dress shirt. I eye her suspiciously, but she takes it and heads into the laundry room. I follow behind her and tell her not to bother as she reaches for the stain stick in hopes of getting the blood off. While she is busy with that I run out to my car to grab my gym bag to get a change of clothes.

  When I come back in I head straight into the bathroom to change. Nothing is awkward between us, but we need to talk. I know she has questions. I want her to ask them though because I know how hard it is for her to face things. I don’t want to force her to deal with any of this. Rounding the corner back to the kitchen and family room area I stop in my tracks when I see her walking towards me. She’s beautiful and I have to catch my breath. It instantly reminds me that I really messed this up for tonight.

  “You still look beautiful. I’m not exactly date material looking like this now though. I’m sorry, I had a really nice night planned, but it’s going to have to wait. How mad are you?” She stops in front of me placing her hands on my cheeks and pulls me down closer to her so that she can examine my lip again. Placing a kiss to the side of my cut on my lip I lean in and loathe the punch that got in preventing me from kissing my girl.

  “I’m not mad, but I don’t know what happened yet. We need to talk about what happened.” I can tell she’s scared to hear what I’ll have to say, but I’m proud of her for addressing it. I know this isn’t going to be easy for her.

  “I was just waiting for you to ask … I knew you weren’t ready right away.” I break the distance between us and pull her into my chest. Running my hands up and down her back I restrain myself from pulling her dress up and wrapping her legs around me

  “Can you drive?” She asks.

  “Yes, why?”

  “Come on, I have an idea for a different date tonight. My parents will be back soon anyway.” Her hands run down over the lower part of my back and settle on my ass. She gives me a squeeze and giggles while pulling away moving us towards the door. I wink and give her my best smile considering the state of my lip.

  Pulling up to a small parking lot along the lake I shift into gear and pull into a spot facing the lake. The moon is almost full and it reflects off the waves of the lake creating a long bright light. The nearby tree branches rustle with the light breeze blowing. Now that I’m in park my hands can find Katherine again. Before I can reach over to hold her hand she beats me to it. I
love how her hand fits into mine and that when I rub her pinky I can visually see a spike in her breathing. It’s in these little moments that I know I affect her like she does me.

  When I turn to face her my eyes hit hers and I wish more than anything I could press my lips against hers. She smiles at me and then she bites that bottom corner of her lip. “This is where I come to run. I love to be along the lake… it’s where I get most of my thinking done. I thought since we couldn’t do the date you had planned I’d show you this place because it’s a big part of me,” she pauses and runs her finger over my bump above my eyebrow. “I thought we could talk and you could tell me what happened.”

  “Okay,” I give her a second before I roll into it. “I called Kyle and asked him to meet me today,” I say bluntly and straightforward. She doesn’t cringe or flinch and her hand remains in mine, but her eyes are pressed closed tightly. When she opens them she keeps them down. Shit. I brace myself for her reaction and do the only thing I can think of that might remind her that she is mine… I latch onto her pinky. Her breathing hitches for a split second before she talks.

  “You shouldn’t have done that. I don’t want you starting fights because of me. It wasn’t your place, Reed.” Damn it. “I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.” Even though we are as close as we can get in my small car it’s not enough. I get up and out of my car. When I get to her side I open her door and practically lift her up out of the car. I take her to the front of the car and place her on the hood. My dad would have a heart attack if he saw this, but I honestly don’t give a fuck. Luckily, she has her wool coat on and it’s not too cold out. Her dress hikes up exposing more of her thighs. I grab onto the bottom of her knees forcing her legs to spread open. She gasps and when I pull her closer to me wrapping her thighs around my hips. I boldly run my hands under her dress over her now goose bumped thighs and graze my fingers along the fringe of her panties.