She stood on her toes and gently pressed her lips to his. “Why weren’t you at school today?”
“It’s nothing to worry about.” He kept hold of her hand.
She’d have to take his word for it—for now, at least. “So do I get a tour?” she asked and tugged him away from the door.
“The place is small, so it’ll be a short one.”
He led her by the hand to the middle of one big room, including the dining area just past the entry, the open kitchen on the left, and the living room to the right. White walls made the house look more spacious. Dark hardwood floors stretched throughout, uniting the spaces.
A nautical-themed rug spread out under a black leather couch and matching love seat set up in an L shape around a glass and wrought-iron coffee table. An entertainment center covered much of the right wall. French doors led to a back deck, and a small desk sat underneath a large, rectangular picture window that offered panoramic views of the coastline.
“Is this your decorating job?” she asked, surprised by how fully furnished the living area was.
“No, it came furnished. The desk’s mine, though.”
Through the window, Cara watched as beams of bright sunlight danced on the water. “The view is amazing.”
“It’s why I rented the place.”
He guided her toward a hall at the right of the living room. His bedroom was to the left. She poked her head in, then stepped inside. He watched her from the doorway.
His bedroom décor consisted of numerous hues of blue. A thick, dark denim-colored comforter covered his queen-size bed, which was topped with two large pillows in light blue pillowcases. One pillow looked flattened by use, the other appeared untouched. The curtains hanging from his window matched the navy carpet and the walls were a bluish white.
She rounded back toward the door and he ushered her to the bathroom, which was white and basic and straight through the hallway entrance. Down the hall were three more doors, but he told her they were only linen and coat closets and a laundry area. He steered her back to the front room and wrapped his arms around her from behind as she gazed out the picture window.
Her whole body tingled at his touch. “It’s cozy. I like it.”
He gave her a final squeeze, then headed for a Scrabble game that sat on the dining table. She followed and he pulled out a chair for her. He went to the fridge and grabbed a diet soda bottle.
So he hadn’t missed the empties in her old Civic. “Thanks,” she said, accepting the bottle. She eyed the game board. “I haven’t been practicing.”
“Good.” His warm breath tickled her ear before he kissed her cheek. “I have.”
She wished she could keep things as light as when she first walked in his door, that they could just play Scrabble and enjoy each other. But her stomach twisted. “I don’t feel like playing.”
He didn’t seem surprised. “Wanna talk?”
She nodded. This conversation wouldn’t be fun, but her conscience wouldn’t let her avoid it.
“We could go for a walk on the beach? Look for the grays?” he asked.
“People might see us.”
“We can stick near the house, in case people walk by, if you’re worried about it.”
“Aren’t you worried about it?”
“No.”
She stood up from the table. “Sure.”
He put a tentative hand on her back and they walked out the back door and down a short set of wooden deck stairs to his small yard. She held tight to his arm as they stepped down the steep grade that led to the sand.
He sat on a large, beached log and squinted up at her where she stood before him.
“I’ve been thinking, like you asked,” she said, stepping closer to him to block the sun from shining in his eyes. “And I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t.” He took her hands, which instantly warmed in his.
“I can’t let you lose your internship over me.”
“I won’t.”
“I told you, my mom plans to talk to the school. I don’t think I can talk her out of it.”
“They can’t get rid of me.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I quit.”
“You quit? When?”
“Today.”
She let out a sound that was part sigh and part groan, then collapsed beside him on the log. “So you quit because of me. That’s almost worse.”
He lifted her chin and ran his thumb across it. “I worried you’d blame yourself. But I seriously didn’t quit because of you. I was wrong to think I wanted to teach high school.”
She studied his face. “You’re not just saying that so I won’t feel bad?”
“Nope. So don’t feel bad.” He flashed her his lopsided grin.
“It always seemed to me like you enjoy teaching.”
“I do. I just hoped for more enthusiasm from the students, I guess.”
“I’m enthusiastic. And so is most of my journalism staff.”
His green eyes brightened. “I know that. I’m talking about students in the English classes.”
She nodded. “I understand what you mean. A lot of kids need to be motivated.”
“And there are a lot of great teachers at Seaside who do a good job of that. But I don’t want to play that role. I’d rather work with kids who are already interested in what I’m teaching.”
“I get it. But what are you going to do instead, for now?” She leaned against him and watched the lurching sea. Her automatic whale radar didn’t pick up on any activity in the water.
“My dad’s still trying to get me to come home.”
Oh, no.
“But I can find a job here for the rest of the year and start a new program for school next fall.”
At least he seemed sincere about wanting to change his focus. And it didn’t sound like he’d be moving out of town before she did. “I take it you haven’t changed your mind, either, then?”
He planted a kiss on her cheek and cradled her close against his side. “Not happening.”
* * *
Cara’s mom didn’t look up from the papers in her lap when Cara leaned against the family room doorframe.
“I heard the news.” Her mom’s lips pursed as she shuffled through her students’ psychology assignments.
It took Cara a second to understand that her mom had called the school.
“You’re glad David quit then, right?” Cara’s voice rose with hope.
Her mom gave her a startled sideways gaze. “I didn’t know he quit, only that he’s no longer student teaching at the school.”
“Well, that’s why. He quit.”
Her mom’s face softened. “It’s sad that he had to drop out of his program.”
Cara shook her head. “He said he was wrong to think he wanted to teach high school.”
“What’s wrong is his involvement with you. He needs to drop that.”
“Why?” Cara’s tone belied a mix of anger and surprise, though she should have realized her mom wouldn’t suddenly be supportive. “There’s no reason for you to disapprove of our relationship now.”
“Not true.” Her mom pointed to the armchair.
“I’d rather not,” Cara said, for the first time disobeying her mom’s instruction.
Exhaling heavily, her mom set her assignments on the love seat and stood. “There’s still an imbalance of power between you. I’m going to need to talk to him.”
No way was she going to let her mom talk to David alone. “I’ll set something up so the three of us can talk together.”
“You need to quit seeing him.”
Cara stood up straight and crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s not going to happen.”
Her mom put a hand on her hip. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was giving you a choice.”
“What are you going to do? Take away my allowance? My car? Kick me out? It won’t do any good if you do.”
Her mom frowned as if Cara
was acting like an immature schoolgirl again. “I’m disappointed in you. You’ve never treated me with this kind of disrespect before.”
Cara sighed and slumped against the doorframe. “I don’t mean to disrespect you. Even though I’m eighteen now, I live in your house, so you’re free to punish me. But I’m not going to let you destroy this relationship before it even has a chance.”
Her mom’s hand fell from her hip as she took a step closer. “I’ll punish you if I have to. But all I’m trying to do is protect you.”
“I’m trying to tell you that you don’t have to.”
“Yes. I do.” A hint of defeat sounded in her mom’s tone as she dropped back down on the love seat.
TWENTY-SIX
“The new owners did a lot of modernizing in here,” Cara said, the next day after school when she and David sat down for a late lunch at the Anchor, an oceanfront restaurant attached to Surfseekers Resort.
She admired the restaurant’s remodeled interior in the daylight that streamed through the wall-to-wall windows. The new décor consisted of sheer sea-blue curtains and color-coordinated cylindrical glass light fixtures that hung over dark wood tables and chairs covering an expansive gray stone floor.
They were seated at a corner table with a view. Their waitress took their drink orders. Cara couldn’t help glancing around to see if anyone they knew might see her and David together. Not that it should matter now, but the situation could be uncomfortable. She was thankful the half dozen diners around them were strangers.
Their waitress brought them their drinks and took their food orders.
When she left, David said, “I brought you here to give you a peek of the bar.”
A blue neon sign above the alcove at the other end of the room read: THE HOLLOW. The view of the lounge area was partially blocked by a wall. Cara leaned closer to the window and caught sight of row after row of glass liquor bottles set in front of a sheet of mirrored glass. Blue lights, like the ones in the dining room, hung from the ceiling. Smaller, taller dark wood tables and chairs filled the area and another row of chairs pulled up close to the bar. A mounted TV broadcast a football game, but no patrons were visible.
“Why do you want me to see the bar?”
The bartender came into view. He was about David’s age, though not as handsome.
“I bartended last summer. They hired me here yesterday when I applied for a position that’s opening after Christmas. It’s just a temporary thing.”
Asking him to define temporary might seem too overbearing. She stirred her soda with her straw and took a sip. “The bar looks nice. I can’t go in, of course.” Which made her feel like a child.
“You aren’t ashamed of me now that I’m a lowly bartender, are you?”
She let out a light laugh, relieved that he didn’t seem to be thinking of her age. “Of course not.”
Their eyes met and the warm, secure connection between them took hold.
“But you’re going to have a lot of free time on your hands for a month or so,” she said. “Are you going to leave, to visit your dad?”
“Yes.”
She stared into her soda.
“On some weekends. And for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
She looked back up to see his lopsided grin.
“But I plan to spend all the free time I can with you.”
The rapid flutter she always felt in her chest when he was near increased.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “My dad still wants me to move back home, though.”
“Doesn’t he know you got a job here?”
His jaw tightened. “He’s not happy about it. He’s paying my way through college, which is great of him. But he hangs it over my head like I owe him.”
“Is he upset that you quit your internship program?”
“He was furious at first. But I explained things to him and he understands now that I need to make a change. He just doesn’t want me staying here for the rest of the year.”
The waitress carried over a tray and set down Cara’s chowder and David’s halibut.
They sampled their food and Cara waited for David to elaborate about his dad. He didn’t.
She set her spoon in her bowl and laid a hand over David’s on the table. “I don’t want to cause problems between you and your dad,” she said, though she also wanted to beg David not to leave.
He flipped his hand over and held hers. “And I don’t want to cause problems between you and your mom.”
“So what are we gonna do?”
“I don’t want you to make any decisions based on me. Or my dad. Or your mom, even. You figure out what’s best for you, and do that.”
He squeezed her hand before he let it go.
A busboy cleared a nearby table. Cara hailed him over. He set his bucket of dishes on an empty table while she pulled her camera from her bag.
She held the camera out to him. “Would you mind taking a picture?”
He took the camera and worked out the right buttons to push while Cara sat close to David, with the view of the water through the windows in the background. The busboy took a few shots and handed the camera back. Cara thanked him and kissed David’s cheek.
“It’s definitely nice not to have to hide,” David said as she returned to her seat.
“Unfortunately, there’s still my mom to deal with,” she said and drained her soda. She hated to have to share bad news, but she couldn’t keep things from him. “She called the school to talk to you yesterday and they told her you weren’t student teaching there anymore.”
“I hope you told her I’d be glad to talk to her.”
“I told her I thought the three of us should talk.”
“I could invite her over.”
“I’m not sure we should tell her where you live.” She was only half joking.
His laugh was short and stilted. “Why? What do you think she’ll do to me?”
“I’d just prefer she not know where to find us.”
He frowned at her. “She is your mom, Cara.”
“I know. I just think she needs more time to get used to our relationship.”
“I say we make dinner for her one night this week. I owe it to her to hear her out. So do you.”
* * *
“I’d think you’d be in better spirits after kicking my behind in Scrabble like that,” David teased that evening as he settled next to her on the couch. He handed her a bottle of soda and they sat back to watch wave after wave of white surf roll from the black sea onto the beach below.
Cara toyed with the cap on her bottle. “I want to ask you something.”
“Ask me anything,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
“Is Amber so crazy about you because you slept with her?”
He pulled back and looked at her, but she kept her eyes on her soda.
“I didn’t sleep with her. I barely know her.”
“Didn’t you want her?”
“No.”
Cara wasn’t so sure about that. Amber was certainly sexy.
“Really, no.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I sensed something was wrong with her from the beginning.
That Cara could believe.
“And I don’t sleep around.”
And that was all she needed to hear.
She set her soda on the coffee table, turned toward him, and placed her hands on his chest. He froze, then let her ease him back until he was lying down on the couch. His eyes grew huge as she straddled him, and when she held his forearms down, they flexed under her hands.
Gazing into his wide green eyes, she bent her head down toward his. Any doubts about the strength of his feelings for her faded away with the warmth that enveloped her. She wanted nothing more than to be with him, to be intimate in a way she was sure would feel right, with someone she trusted to treat her right.
Having little experience, she expected to feel uncomfortable taking the lead. Yet she didn’t. Touching David felt natural.
Her
lips met his and her hair draped over the sides of their faces. Invisible stubble on his cheeks and chin scraped lightly against her face, tickling her as she took in the soft smoothness of his lips. Her hands traveled over his abdomen and chest and her whole body throbbed when she pressed tightly against him.
He barely returned her kisses at first. Soon, though, his mouth moved firmly against hers. She didn’t relent with the intensity of her touch until he throbbed beneath her, too.
Passion rushed at her in waves. Then the small, clear voice in her head warned, “Wait.” She didn’t want to wait. It was as if desire opened its jaws within her and demanded to be fed. Still, this didn’t feel right, like she thought it would. Not right now.
At the same time she heard the warning in her head, David wrapped his fingers around her wrists. He sat up and held her away from him, but continued to hold on to her for a moment before he let her go.
He took in a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “We should wait.”
“Why?” she asked, breathless. She pulled back, grabbed her soda from the coffee table, and worked on slowing her breaths before she took a long swig.
He rubbed his face and raked his fingers through his hair, then motioned for her to come to him. She set her soda back down and moved closer.
He held her lightly, by the shoulders. “This might sound selfish, but I think I’m the one who’s most at risk in this relationship.”
“How so? You can’t lose your job now.”
“What’s between us is special. You can’t have much to compare it to. You might start wondering if there’s something you’re missing.”
Her pulse raced. She shook her head. Nothing could compete with their connection.
He rubbed her upper arms, then dropped his hands to his thighs. “I haven’t been close to a … girl … since my mom died. I don’t think I could take it if I lost you, too. It would be a mistake to rush things.”
She brushed his hair back, then cupped his cheek with her hand. “You won’t.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“But I understand that it could be a mistake to move too fast.”
He rested his forehead against hers.
“Waiting will be hard,” she said, and sighed.
He kissed her lips, then her nose. “Hard, but worth it.”
Save Me Page 15