Delicate Promises

by Kelly Elliott

  Before I had a chance to ask what we were doing, Rowdy, my Plymouth Rocks rooster, came running around the corner to check out the new visitor.

  “Oh, no,” I said as I watched him get a lock on Miles. As far as Rowdy was concerned, Miles was a stranger, and he didn’t take well to strangers.

  “Rowdy, no sir! No!” I called out.

  Miles saw the rooster making a beeline toward him. I figured he would put his boot out and show the rooster who was boss. Instead, a high-pitched scream came from his mouth, and he took off running. Rowdy smelled the fear instantly and picked up his pace.

  “Miles!” I called out. “Why are you running?”

  “Help! Get him away! Mom!”

  My hand came up to my mouth as I attempted not to laugh at this super-brave Marine running from a rooster…needless to say, I failed big time and was doubled-over in laughter. It only took me a moment to get my shit together and pull out my phone to record the whole scene, though. This was a golden opportunity and could be used as a negotiating tool.

  “Kynslee! Get your demon-possessed chicken away from me!” Miles yelled as he ran by, Rowdy hot on his tail. I stepped off the porch and walked into the yard. I needed a better shot since they had both run out of sight.

  “Mom! Mom!” Miles screamed.

  “Your mommy isn’t here!” I yelled at him as I laughed. “Are you sure you were in the Marines? You big chicken!”

  Miles shot me the finger and then headed toward the fenced-in area for the chickens. Miles dove over the small fence, rolled on the landing, then jumped up and kept running. I had to admit it was a turn on to see him in action. A big turn on, even if it was because he was running from a rooster. Some things could be overlooked, after all, when you witness a fine specimen of a man in action.

  “Impressive roll!” I cried out as Rowdy came to a stop at the fence. Turning, he started to walk away, clearly bored with the whole game now.

  “Is the bastard gone?” Miles called out from around the back of the chicken coop.

  “Seriously, you’re afraid of a rooster, Miles? You’ve been shot multiple times, but a feathered friend sends you running and screaming?” I asked as I waited for him to stop looking around for Rowdy.

  Miles pointed to the retreating Rowdy. “That isn’t a feathered friend. He had the look of the devil in his eyes.”

  I laughed.

  Miles opened the gate and looked around before rushing to my side. He took my elbow and led us to his truck.

  “Stop laughing, Kynslee.”

  I tried to stop. Honestly, I did, but I laughed harder, especially when I started watching it replay on video.

  “You filmed that?” he said, shocked.

  Nodding, I really tried to stop laughing. “I can’t…believe…you’re afraid…of a rooster!”

  “Ha ha. You clearly don’t remember the goose incident.”

  I stopped walking and looked up at him. “The goose incident?”

  He frowned and looked around again. When he spotted Rowdy, he picked up the pace, practically dragging me to his truck.

  “Yeah, that fucking goose my father had. The damn thing used to terrorize the hell out of me when I was like five. That scars a person, Kynslee. For life.”

  Placing my hand over my mouth, I couldn’t hold back the snort laugh. Miles opened the door for me, and I stepped up into his truck.

  “Did you grab your purse?” Miles asked.

  “Do you need a purse after what I just witnessed?” I couldn’t hold back the laughter but the scowl on his face told me I needed to rein it in. “No, I have everything on my phone case,” I said, holding up my phone.

  “Then let’s get out of here.”

  The moment he shut my door, Rowdy went on the attack again. He made a beeline straight toward Miles. Another scream and Miles was in the truck. Panting. Hard.

  I chewed on my lip, trying oh-so-hard not to start laughing all over again.

  Miles gripped the steering wheel like his life depended on it.

  “Did the goose ever catch you?” I asked, trying to keep my tone serious.

  “Fuck yes, he caught me! Little bastard nearly killed me when he knocked me down and gripped me like an eagle picking up a fish out of a lake. All I saw was his wings beating down on me over and over again. Shit went on for like five minutes before I was rescued.”

  A laugh-snort almost slipped out, but I quickly contained it when Miles glared at me.

  I cleared my throat. “Sorry. So a goose nearly killed you. When you were five? I don’t remember hearing that story.”

  “That’s because I blocked it from my memory until your damn rooster came charging after me. Oh, yeah. A few times he nearly got me. I had to hide up in my father’s deer stand once for two hours. I was crying the entire time. I could hear my mom calling, and I was scared to call back for fear the goose would find me. My mother was pissed and was ready to call the cops, thinking I had been kidnapped or something.”

  I blinked a few times as I stared at him. “Wow. Okay, well, clearly you grew out of that.”

  He shot me another dirty look. I focused on my folded hands in my lap.

  “Your rooster looked like he wanted to kill me. He’s probably a reincarnation of that goose and has been waiting patiently for me to come back home so he could have another chance at me.”

  I was positive my jaw was in my lap as I stared at him. This man was trusted with a gun and assigned to serious, very dangerous missions. Go figure.

  “You’re serious right now, aren’t you?” I asked.

  “Hell yes! He had the same eyes.”

  Opening the truck door, I went to get out when Miles grabbed my arm. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m getting out of your truck. You’ve lost your damn mind!”

  He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Just get back in. We’re running late now.”

  I shut the door. “Where are we going?”

  Miles simply smiled. “You’ll see.”

  “Since when did you get into surprises?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve always loved surprises. Don’t you remember?”

  I chewed on my lip. Yes, I most certainly remembered. His last big surprise when he showed up five years ago and ruined me for all men.

  “Fine, you like surprises,” I snapped.

  I could feel his eyes on me. “What?”

  “Are you okay? You seem like you’re mad now.”

  I swallowed hard and forced myself to smile. How could he forget all the things he said to me that night? The way he made me feel so…loved and wanted. No man had ever made me feel like that, not even Jack. Truth be told, I had always wanted it to be Miles asking me to marry him. Instead, he showed back up five years later with an arrogant chip on his shoulder and demanded I marry him because we promised when we were young.

  “Kyns? You okay?”

  I jumped at the sound of his voice, drawing me out of the memory. “Yes, sorry!” I said with a chuckle. “I guess I was thinking about something.”

  He raised a brow. “Something good or bad?”

  “Both,” I said softly.

  He gave me a small smile, and I’m pretty sure he was reading my mind. “Let’s head on out.”

  I returned his smile, then glanced out the window as I tried to get my racing heart back under control.

  Miles

  MY HANDS GRIPPED the steering wheel as I tried to get my damn heart rate under control. We were in San Antonio, and my pulse was still racing.

  Stupid, fucking rooster.

  Kynslee still stared out the window. We were almost there, and she had remained silent nearly the entire drive.

  “Penny for your thoughts, Kyns.”

  She shrugged, and I felt her eyes on me before she spoke. “What did you mean the other day at our picnic when you told that mom you were taken?”

  Smiling, I replied, “Just that. I’m taken.”

  “By whom?”

  I glanced her way before focusing on the r
oad. “By you, Kynslee.” I gave her a wink and added just to piss her off, “We’re gonna get married, remember?”

  She sighed. “That’s right. The whole cash in on the stupid promise.”

  “It wasn’t a stupid promise. And, honestly, I really need to talk to you about it.”

  “I’m not talking about marrying you, Miles. No.”

  “No, you won’t marry me or…”

  Interrupting him, I said, “Why now? Why come back now? Why didn’t you just stay in the CIA or the Marines or whatever you were doing, Miles?”

  My stomach fell. “Would you rather I hadn’t come home at all?”

  When she didn’t speak, I felt like I had my answer, and it made me sick to my stomach.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, her voice sounding cold.

  “Maybe I should turn around. “If you didn’t want to go with me today, Kynslee, you should have just said so.”

  “I…” Her voice trailed off for a moment before she said, “I wanted to come.”

  I glanced her way. She was looking at me, and I couldn’t read her face at all. It was void of emotion.

  “Okay, well then I guess you’ll see where we are going when we get there. The whole surprise thing.”

  She folded her arms across her chest as she tried to be annoyed. I knew deep down, though, she wasn’t.

  I pulled into the parking lot and looked up at the building with huge smile.

  Kynslee leaned forward and read the sign. “Great Room Escape.” Then she looked at me. “Miles, no, this is not where you are taking me on a date.”

  Laughing, I replied, “Yeah, it is. How fun will this be?”

  “Fun? You think this will be fun? Trapped in a room with a bunch of strangers all trying to figure out how we are going to get out? How in the hell do you call that a date?”

  I shrugged as I looked back to the building. A group of people about our age were walking toward the entrance. “It’s just the first part of our date. I’ve got plans for after.”

  “What, are we going to go shoot paint guns or something?”

  Facing her, I said, “That’s a great idea! I’ll keep that in mind for our next date.”

  Shaking her head, Kynslee sighed. “This is all a joke to you, isn’t it?”

  “What?”

  She got out, then slammed the door and headed to the entrance. I couldn’t help but chuckle. I loved a pissed-off Kynslee.

  I followed her in. Fifteen minutes later, we were in a room where they were giving us the rules of the escape room.

  “Does anyone need to use the restroom before we get started?” The guy who worked there asked.

  “Do you have a window in the women’s bathroom?” Kynslee asked with a sweet smile.

  With a frown, the guy replied, “I don’t think so. Why?”

  “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you’re on a terrible date? Sneak out a bathroom window?”

  Everyone laughed, including me. “You can’t escape me that easily, princess,” I said, giving her a wink. She snarled and looked away.

  One of the women in the group looked at Kynslee, “Girl, if you don’t want that fine-looking man, I’ll take him.”

  Kynslee smiled politely and took a step closer to me. I think I just witnessed the female version of a pissing contest.

  “Okay, watch this short video on the background of the story, and once it ends, your adventure begins.”

  A younger girl standing next to Kynslee squealed in excitement while she clapped her hands. Soon we were guided into a dark room.

  “Okay, no one move until the lights come on!” the same excited girl said.

  The lights came on, more instructions were given, and the timer started. As we searched for the clues, the same girl announced, “We need to use math! Is anyone good at math?”

  Kynslee grabbed me by the arm and whispered, “I’m going to hit the emergency button and end this before I hit her!”

  I laughed. “You’ll ruin it for all of them. I will admit, though, that being locked in the room with the chick who said she’d take your place is sort of scaring me. I feel her undressing me with her eyes.”

  Kynslee chuckled.

  After ten minutes of no one getting anywhere, I finally saw Kynslee break. I knew she would be into this. She was the one who always won Clue. I’m not even kidding, the woman won every single time. She was the Clue master.

  “For fuck’s sake, people. You’re not paying attention to the notes. They are in order! They are clues that have to be read in order.”

  A chorus of oh yeah went through the room. Thirty-two minutes and seven seconds later, we were walking out of the escape room. A new record for that particular game. Kynslee relished all the praise, and the same girl who had gotten on Kynslee’s nerves was now her new best friend. They had even exchanged phone numbers so they could come back and do some of the other rooms together.

  I placed my hand on Kynslee’s lower back and guided her away from her new group of friends and over toward my truck.

  “We have dinner plans,” I whispered against her ear.

  “Have to run!” Kynslee called back over her shoulder.

  “Don’t forget, Sephora shopping trip!” One of the girls called out to Kynslee.

  “What is Sephora?” I asked as I opened the truck door.

  “It’s a makeup store,” Kynslee said with a smile.

  “Why in the world would you need to go on a shopping trip there?” I asked.

  Her brows drew in. “For makeup, Miles. Duh.”

  “Do you even wear makeup?” I asked as I studied her beautiful face. Sure, I could tell she had a bit of makeup on but nothing like what some women wore. Kynslee had natural beauty. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on.

  “Yes! I don’t go anywhere without wearing makeup, Miles.”

  Leaning in, I smiled. “You’re too beautiful to cover your face with that shit.”

  She sucked in a quick breath and stared at my mouth before her eyes lifted to mine. “You do realize that I have it on now, right?”

  “Of course, but not very much.”

  “No, not much.”

  Leaning closer, I brushed my lips against hers. “You’re perfect, Kyns, exactly how you are.”

  She pulled back and stared at me for a moment or two before she laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Is this the game you’re going to play now, Miles? Sweet talk me?”

  I stared at her, shocked for a moment before anger raced over my body. “I’m not sweet talking you, Kynslee. Why can’t you let me give you a compliment, for fuck’s sake? Why won’t you let me do what a guy is supposed to do on a date?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Let’s see, because you want me to marry you for reasons that I have yet to figure out. You’re taking me on pretend dates, and now you’re kissing me and whispering sweet things to me.”

  “They are not pretend dates, for crying out loud. Do you really think I would feed you a bunch of bullshit?”

  “Yes! You clearly need to be married for some reason, and I’m pretty damn sure it’s not because you’ve always dreamed of marrying me.”

  I stared at her. My fists now clenched at my side. “Well, that’s where you’re dead fucking wrong, Kynslee.”

  Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at me. “Wh-what?”

  Pushing my fingers through my hair, I sighed. “Nothing. Let’s just go to dinner so we can end this date you clearly do not want to be on.”

  I was at a fucking loss. She had wanted me to date her, to do things the right way. I was trying, and every chance Kynslee got, she threw it back in my face. I had no idea if I was coming or going, and it was getting old, very quickly.

  Kynslee

  I STARED AT Miles as he looked at the menu. He had hardly said two words since he climbed into his truck. I had been so stunned by what he’d said that I simply stared out the window and replayed everything that had happened over and o
ver in my head. I analyzed his expression when he spoke those words. The tone of his voice. The way he softly kissed me. It was really rather pathetic.

  “You clearly need to be married for some reason, and I’m pretty damn sure it’s not because you’ve always dreamed of marrying me.”

  “Well, that’s where you’re dead fucking wrong, Kynslee.”

  My hands wrung together under the table as I looked at the menu. I hadn’t read one word on it. My mind was too busy spinning around, not sure if it should be celebrating or worrying.

  “Have y’all been to Tycoon Flats before?”

  The waitress’s voice pulled me back to reality. I glanced up her.

  “Um, no, I haven’t.”

  She smiled at Miles who looked up from the menu. “Nope, never been here, but a buddy of mine I served with in the Marines has nothing but good things to say about this place.”

  “That’s wonderful. As you can see, we have our famous burgers, as well as the rest of the menu. If you would like a recommendation on something, just let me know.”

  “Which burger is your favorite?” Miles asked, smiling that smile that could melt the panties off of women in an old folks’ home.

  “I like the feta, cranberry, and candied bacon burger.”

  With a raise of his eyebrows and an even sexier smile, he replied, “That does sound good, doesn’t it, Kynslee?”

  I snarled and shook my head. “No, it doesn’t.”

  The poor waitress let her smile slip away. Why was I being such a bitch to this stranger?

  She offered another suggestion. “Well, the fried avocado burger is amazing.”

  Miles pulled his gaze away from me and focused on the waitress again. “I think I’m going to get the feta, cranberry burger. Well done, please.”

  She wrote down his order. “Chips or fries?”

  “Fries,” Miles replied.

  Then they both looked at me, and I realized I had been watching Miles and not reading the menu…again.

  I looked down and said the first thing that I saw. “I’ll take the pineapple bacon burger, well done.”

  The waitress nodded. “Chips or fries?”

  “Chips, please.”