Dream Date

by Ivan Kendrick

  KINDLE EDITION

  Published by: Ivan Kendrick

  Dream Date, 3rd Edition

  Copyright © 2014 Ivan Kendrick. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical—apart from excerpts in reviews or articles—without express written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, events, or locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual people, whether living or deceased, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover photo by prochkailo.

  To beautiful women everywhere.

  And to Lydia and Patty.

  You two are unforgettable.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BONUS SNEAK PEEK

  ABOUT KASSY

  “The beauty of a woman

  must be seen from in her eyes,

  because that is the doorway to her heart,

  the place where love resides.”

  Audrey Hepburn

  Is it truly possible to love one woman so much that you never desire any other one again? Nathan asked himself the question in his mind as he performed lateral flys at the gym. He was there with Ashton, his friend and roommate who was—as usual—checking out the women. Nathan was looking to see which he found attractive, but Ashton’s expression meant business.

  The guy was what most women called a “manwhore.” Ashton went through dates so fast that he’d likely already dated as many women as there had been in half their high school yearbook. Nathan thought of himself as a bit of a ladies’ man as well, although he wasn’t that promiscuous.

  Nathan also pondered over the question because, although he was currently dating a very beautiful woman, thoughts of his lost love from years ago still plagued him. He had all but lost faith that he would forget about her.

  The thing Nathan wanted the most in life was to meet a woman so beautiful that she’d make him forget the one who stole his heart. He wasn’t looking for the most beautiful woman in the world; just the woman he thought was the most beautiful. The difference was that love’s involved in the latter. Nathan thought he had already found the right woman, but he still had doubts.

  Will Kayla be able to do what no woman has been able to do? Nathan thought to himself as he continued to work out while admiring some of the women. A glance to his side told him that Ashton was doing the same. Unlike him, though, Nathan wasn’t looking for his next lay. He pictured Kayla’s face in his mind and smiled. He felt almost sure that he had made the right decision.

  “That brunette over there’s hot,” Ashton whispered to Nathan, who glanced in the direction his friend was looking at. There was a young woman working out near the edge of the gym. The wall next to her was as clear as glass, letting some sunlight strike her. “And she has red in her hair,” Ashton continued. “I dig redheads.”

  Nathan was already aware of that. Ashton had once let it slip that he dreamed of meeting Mary Jane Watson in the flesh. She was the reason Spider-Man comics were Ashton’s favorite when he was younger. He wasn’t thrilled that MJ didn’t make it into the latest Spidey film.

  “Wanna bet how fast I can get her number?”

  “That’s unfair. We both know I’ll end up losing X number of dollars to you,” Nathan replied with a scoff.

  Ashton laughed and then put his dumbbells back where they belonged. He then walked towards the bench-press area and grabbed a barbell.

  Here he goes, Nathan thought, watching Ashton go into full show-off mode for the brunette. He chuckled, and set down his dumbbells. After putting them away, he walked towards the chest-press machine.

  Sure enough, in less than five minutes, Ashton got the brunette stealing glances in his direction.

  “How do you do it?” Nathan asked. “Are you the Girl Whisperer or something?”

  Ashton guffawed.

  “You don’t flirt much, do you?”

  “I never needed to turn the charm on high with the women I’ve dated. They all just happened.”

  Ashton thought for a moment, and then he set down his barbell.

  “I still don’t know how you got to date that babe. She’s lovely, and has that girl next door look.”

  “I know. Kayla’s gorgeous.”

  “You know what? We should hang out this weekend. Why don’t you ask her to come with us?”

  “Ashton, we’ve got someplace to be.”

  “Oh, yeah!” said Ashton. Their best friend, Marissa, had asked her friends to go with her to the New York Fashion Week. She used to attend Cornell University with them, but had moved to Parsons to pursue her dream: a career in fashion design. Among their friends, only the two of them accepted to go. As a fellow student, Kayla not only had homework to do, she was also a writer. And she was very passionate about her work.

  “I’ve always wanted to attend the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show live,” Ashton reckoned.

  “Er, as far as I know, this won’t be an underwear fashion show,” Nathan said.

  “We’ll still get to see beautiful women. What do you think our chances are of scoring one?”

  “Don’t even go there. You’ve got more chances of becoming President.”

  “Buzz kill,” Ashton said, striding off towards the brunette. “Never be afraid to dream big.”

  After taking a quick shower, Nathan stepped out of his dorm. He had twenty minutes to go before his first class started. Nathan headed down the stairs to the first floor of the building.

  As he walked away from the dorms, Nathan heard a voice behind him. He turned to see who it was.

  “Nathan!” Kayla Delaney called to him. She was walking from the direction of the parking lot.

  “Hi, Kayla!” Nathan greeted, walking towards his girlfriend. The two embraced each other, and then he kissed her in the lips. Nathan never missed a chance to do so. Kayla drove him crazy.

  “Let’s go get some breakfast,” Kayla said when they pulled apart. Nathan caressed the side of her face. She was so beautiful.

  “All right. What place do you have in mind?”

  “The Shortstop Deli,” Kayla replied, walking hand in hand with Nathan. “I thought variety was in order. And Claire told me they’ve got the best sandwiches.”

  As the two walked, Nathan remembered how he and Kayla had met. They’d been dating for almost six months now. It was Nathan’s longest relationship so far. He had first laid eyes on her when he had traveled to Miami for spring break with his friends.

  ***

  The first day of spring break, Nathan and his friends spent most of the morning at the beach. They enjoyed the warmth and the water so much. Although they didn’t mind winter, they had longed for spring. After having fun in the waves, Nathan walked back to the hotel. He took a quick shower before coming back down to have lunch at a nearby restaurant.

  While he was eating with Ashton and their three other friends, Nathan noticed a woman sitting at a table alone. He lost track of the conversation, ent
hralled by the woman and her beauty. She seemed to be around the same age as Nathan. She was busy working with a stack of printed pages. Nathan hadn’t known it then, but she had been working on the last revisions to her new novel before it was fit for publication.

  Upon seeing that thick stack of pages, Nathan jumped to a couple of conclusions. Either the woman was working on a science project, or a college thesis. She did look the part of a smart, geeky-in-a-good-way kind of student.

  The woman first noticed Nathan when she looked up as he walked past her table, pretending that he needed to get some napkins. She smiled at him, appearing confident. Nathan smiled back.

  The next time they’d seen each other was at the beach, a couple of days later. Nathan was relaxing at the shore while Ashton and their friend Claire rode the waves on surfboards. It was three past noon. Without a thought, Nathan looked to the side and spotted the same woman with the stack of pages. Only, she had a Kindle e-reader this time.

  It was all Nathan could do to not let his jaw drop. The woman was only wearing a canary yellow bikini. While it wasn’t tiny enough to be outrageous, it still made her look smoldering. She had combed her hair in a bun at the back, and was wearing sunglasses that rested above her forehead. She seemed too occupied with her Kindle.

  Nathan walked up to the woman, deciding to break the ice with her. He’d almost declined to speak to her while she was so scantily clad. Nathan hadn’t felt he had enough luck to run into the woman again later.

  “Hi.”

  The woman looked up at Nathan, shielding her face from the sun. He smiled at her.

  “Isn’t that device, um, sensitive to sand?”

  A look of recognition crossed the woman’s face.

  “You’re the guy from the restaurant, right?” she asked, her expression thoughtful.

  “Yeah, that’s me. I saw you just right now, and I, I wanted to say hi.”

  “Hi,” the woman said, and he let out a soft laugh. “Are you a student?”

  “Yes, but I’m not from around here.”

  “Really? Where are you from?”

  “Would you believe me if I said I am from Ithaca? Up there in the state of New York?”

  The woman’s mouth opened wide in surprise.

  “No kidding? You must have gotten tired of the cold.”

  “It’s not that. I just looked forward to the beach, and the sun.”

  The woman nodded. Right then, Nathan noticed her eyes. They were a beautiful steel-gray shade.

  “Oops, we skipped introductions, didn’t we?”

  “We did,” the woman admitted, laughing.

  “I’m Nathan,” he said, offering a hand to her. “Nathan Ferland.”

  “Hello, Nathan Ferland of Ithaca,” the woman said, shaking his hand. Nathan tried not to let his gaze drop to her chest. He went red. “My name’s Kayla Delaney.”

  “Kayla,” Nathan repeated, liking the name. “Nice to meet you, Kayla Delaney of…?”

  “You’re thinking Miami. No, this isn’t my hometown. I’m from Tulsa, in Oklahoma.”

  Nathan raised his eyebrows.

  That was the start of a great love story. From that day onward, Kayla spent the rest of the spring break with Nathan and his friends. The whole thing had seemed like a summer romance. Only, it had been in the spring, and shorter. Nathan and Kayla grew close enough to each other during those short days that they agreed to stay in touch with each other. He’d even beta-read the novel that Kayla self-published in April.

  Nathan communicated with Kayla via Skype and e-mail for the next two months. Even then, the attraction they felt for each other was clear. They’d finally met again in person the following summer. To Nathan’s surprise (and elation) Kayla had announced that she was moving to Ithaca to be closer to him.

  “You may want to buy new, thicker coats,” Nathan told Kayla over the phone. “You’re from the south, so you might not be used to the cold.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” Kayla replied. “I may be small, but I’m not prone to getting chilled.”

  Nathan wanted to say “You won’t be chilled here, you’ll freeze,” but decided to stay quiet. He didn’t want to sound rude.

  The next time Nathan met Kayla was at the airport. She was wearing a pink turtleneck over a couple of blouses (she’d told him so), tight-fitting blue jeans, black winter boots, and a black jacket. She’d also worn black leather gloves and a pink knit winter hat that, in Nathan’s opinion, made her look cute.

  “Welcome to the state of New York, Kayla,” Nathan greeted, standing in front of her. She let go of the suitcases that she’d been pushing and embraced him.

  “Nathan, I missed you so much,” she said to him. “It’s been two really long months.”

  “Tell me about it,” Nathan replied. “Even though we pushed spring break a bit.”

  “You did. Of course, I didn’t stop you,” she laughed, breaking apart from the hug.

  “A couple of days of absence don’t hurt me. Some of my courses were online.”

  Kayla smiled, and then she looked behind her.

  “Oops, I haven’t introduced my friend,” she said. Nathan looked towards a redhead standing behind Kayla. The girl walked forward, pushing her own suitcase. “She’s Grecia Nichols.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Nathan said.

  “It sure is a relief to finally meet the object of Kayla’s affections,” Grecia remarked, shaking his hand. “She just wouldn’t stop ranting about you.”

  Kayla went red.

  “Until I saw you right now, I had no idea you missed each other so much. It was love at first sight.”

  “You’re right. I was drawn to Kayla from the first time I saw her,” Nathan agreed, holding Kayla’s hand and squeezing it softly. Grecia didn’t waste the chance to pull out her phone and snap a candid of them both.

  “Hey!” Kayla said, laughing. “Where did you learn to move that fast?”

  “I didn’t move that fast. Time just slows when you two look at each other like that. It’s so cute.”

  “She has a point,” Nathan said.

  “Okay, we’ve done enough talking, don’t you think? I’ve been waiting for this,” Kayla said, kissing him on the lips right then and there. The sudden kiss took Grecia and Nathan by surprise. He’d looked forward to it for long. The only other time they’d kissed was on the last day they’d seen each other. It was a short kiss, but meaningful. From then on, Nathan often thought about Kayla’s lips. They were so kissable.

  Now, Nathan and Kayla held nothing back. They kissed with fervor, not caring that a hundred people could see them. They’d waited long for that moment.

  ***

  Kayla pulled Nathan back from his reverie.

  “What are you ordering?” she asked him. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that they were standing near the entrance to the restaurant, inside.

  “You choose. Tell me what you want, and I’ll go order it while you find us a table. All right?”

  Kayla nodded, and told him what she wanted. He then went to stand in line.

  After their food arrived, Nathan and Kayla started to eat. They were in a little hurry to get to class, so they didn’t order anything too large.

  “What were you thinking about when we were on our way here?” Kayla asked.

  “I was remembering the day that we met,” Nathan replied. “And how irresistible you looked in that yellow bikini. I’ll never forget that.”

  Kayla giggled, going red.

  “You’re bold.”

  “Why, thank you,” Nathan told her, joining in her laughter. “No, I’m serious. I wish I could hook up my brain to a computer and print that particular photo of you.”

  “To do what with it, if I may know?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps it’d look great on my wall.”

  Kayla shook her head in amusement.

  “Do you still have it?”

  “The bikini? Yes, but I’m not lending it, if that’s what you were hoping.” />
  Nathan snorted, narrowing his eyes in mock disdain. Kayla laughed heartily.

  As they sat, Nathan thought about how much he liked Kayla. A year ago, he didn’t think he could find a woman to whom he could be so attracted to. Nathan hoped Kayla would be able to earn a definitive place in his heart.

  “How’s your new novel coming along?” Nathan asked. She was currently revising her latest work, which she started writing after they met.

  “Speaking humbly, it’s turning out awesome. Thank you. I’m almost finished with the last revisions. I’ve even kind of settled on a release date already.”

  “You have?”

  “Yes. I’m aiming for quarter one of next year.”

  “That long?”

  “It’s not that long. I have to get it ready to publish in e-book form, produce a book trailer, and have a front cover done.”

  “A trailer? You mean, like the ones for movies?”

  “Uh-huh. It’s exactly the same concept, although book trailers usually aren’t that…impressive.”

  “Is it expensive?”

  “Frankly, I’m not sure. I’ve never done a trailer. I’m doing it this time because it will promote the first novel in a series that I’m publishing.”

  “And you’re hiring actors?”

  “I’m going to have someone help me. The trailer will be short, just around a minute.”

  Kayla looked up at Nathan’s expression.

  “Not Hollywood actors. I’m having a casting call to find suitable candidates among everyday people.”

  “Where?”

  “In New York. That’s where the guy who’s offered to direct the book trailer lives at.”

  “Do I know him?”

  “Marissa does. She recommended him.”