Awakening

by Hayes, Olivia

  "You've turned into an amazing man, Luke Johnson. I don't know what I ever did to deserve your attention, but I'm so thankful."

  After dinner we walked down to the beach. Carrying my shoes in one hand, I noticed that the sand was still warm. The sun hadn't fully set, and the last rays stretched out toward the horizon, glistening on the water.

  "Why did you become an architect?" I asked him.

  Luke grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers through mine, and pulled them to his lips, placing a soft kiss there. I felt safe with him, and in that moment I realized there was nowhere else I'd rather be.

  "I was always drawing as a kid. I thought about graphic design for a while, but after taking a few classes, I realized I was more into drawing structures, like old houses. I used to go with my father to Savannah when I was a kid to visit Granny Sara, and he would always drive through the squares and point out the historic buildings, telling me about the unique history of each one. I started loving the idea that I could imagine something in my mind, draw it on paper and then watch it come to life before my eyes. The beauty of knowing that the buildings I created would be there long after I was gone is what ultimately drove me to become an architect. I didn't want to just build things, I wanted to create them."

  I loved how passionate he was about his work. I had seen this same passion in other areas of his life too, like when he talked about his family. I wanted him to feel that way about me too.

  I stopped walking and turned toward him, bringing my arms around his waist.

  "Kiss me," I whispered.

  He slowly lowered his mouth to my ear and began to nibble his way toward my mouth. His lips seared my skin as he crushed my mouth under his. This kiss was different from others we had shared. It was deep and passionate, overwhelming my senses and driving all my worries far from my mind. I pressed against him, chasing his tongue with mine as white hot heat built inside me.

  "Stay with me tonight?" He asked.

  My knees were weak and my body was screaming to say yes, but I knew what would happen if I did. I had already slipped up that morning and I needed to decide what, exactly, I wanted before I allowed anything to happen again.

  "Not tonight, Luke."

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders while exhaling audibly. "Let's get you home then."

  After I got into bed, I couldn't get Luke out of my head. I wanted him bad. I tried to focus on my work week and everything I needed to accomplish, but my thoughts kept circling back to Luke.

  June 30, 2013

  Sunday morning as I was tossing my bag in the backseat of the car I saw Nick's truck barreling down the driveway. When it stopped behind mine Eva jumped out and slammed the door before Nick spun the tires and drove away.

  "What was that all about?" I asked her.

  "He's pissed because I don't want to be exclusive. I seriously met the man a little over a week ago," Eva spit out.

  "Well Eva, you have always had a big impact on people. He's obviously infatuated."

  "Yeah, well, I need some space to think about it. Are you heading out?"

  "Yes, I need to get back to the house and get some things taken care of before tomorrow," I told her, heading back towards the house to tell my mother goodbye.

  "Can I come with you?"

  "Sure. Do you need to stay with me?" Eva's parents had moved away from Savannah after graduation. She was staying with Anne Marie until their apartment was available mid-July.

  "That would be awesome! Can we have a girls night Wednesday like we used to?"

  "Sounds like a great idea!" I smiled at her as we entered the house through the back door into the kitchen.

  "I'll be down in a minute," Eva said, "I just need to grab the rest of my things."

  While I was waiting for Eva and my mother to come downstairs my phone vibrated in my pocket. I smiled when I saw it was Luke.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey beautiful, how'd you sleep?"

  My stomach was doing flip flops just from the sound of his voice. "Pretty well, just getting ready to head out. How about you?"

  "Nick just showed up. He's in a pissy mood so I think we're going to take the boat out and drink a few beers."

  "I think he and Eva had a fall out. She's heading back to Savannah with me."

  "Well, that explains it... So, listen, I have to meet a client in Savannah on Wednesday. Can I interest you in dinner?"

  "Oh, I would love to, but I just told Eva that we could have girls night. Can I get a rain check?"

  "Of course. Friday then? You are coming back up here right?" He asked.

  "I'll be back on Friday," I assured him.

  "It won't be easy, but I think I can wait. I'll be thinking about you though."

  "You will?" My breath caught in my throat.

  "Mmm hmm. I can't wait to hold you in my arms again and feel your skin against mine. I am dying to kiss your soft lips and taste your sweet tongue."

  My pulse was racing and my face felt heated just thinking about being close to him again.

  "That sounds amazing." Wait, what? I didn't mean to say that out loud!

  "Stay right there," Luke growled into my ear and then I heard the phone disconnect.

  I felt a tingling sensation radiating through my body. I knew he was on his way over and I was giddy with excitement.

  "Mom!?" I called just as Eva came back into the kitchen with her bag.

  "I'll be outside okay?" She said to me as she walked out.

  "Hey sweetie, leaving so soon?" My mother asked as she walked into the kitchen.

  "Yeah, Carson is coming home tonight and I need to get a few things done before work tomorrow." I leaned in to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  "Okay, I love you sweetheart, drive safely. I'll see you next weekend."

  "Thanks Mom," I said to her and smiled as I turned to leave.

  As I rounded the side of the house I ran right into Luke's massive chest. He reached out to steady me, and then pulled me into his arms. I sighed and brought my arms around his waist, inhaling his scent. It was useless to resist. And who was I kidding? I didn't want to.

  He looked into my eyes as he lowered his mouth to mine, capturing and invading my mouth. Heat raced through my veins, causing liquid fire to pool in my belly. I moaned as I moved my arms from around his waist and slid them up his chest and around his neck. He lifted me so I was face to face with him and deepened the kiss.

  I could feel Luke's erection against my belly and I instinctively raised my legs to wrap around his waist, trying to get some friction. He turned us so my back was against the side of the house, and kissed a hot trail from my mouth down my neck. There he rested his forehead on my shoulder while taking in deep and ragged breaths. I wondered if we would always feel this intense need for each other, or if it would eventually fade.

  "Jesus woman, you have me all tied up in knots," he breathed against my neck. "I couldn't let you go without kissing you one more time."

  He lowered my feet to the ground, grabbing my left hand and pulling it between us to rest against the bulge in his pants.

  "Feel what you do to me," he said as I brazenly rubbed him through his pants, wanting more. Abruptly he let go of me, walking back towards the front of the house.

  "Luke, wait."

  He stopped, looking up toward the sky and clenching his fists at his sides. I walked around him so I was standing in front of him.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, wanting to touch him, but not knowing if I should.

  "I can't keep doing this with you Savannah. I want you. All the time. You're all I think about anymore."

  "What does that mean?"

  "It means, I can't handle not being able to touch you, hold you, kiss you whenever I want to. The minute I get close to you I want to be inside you. I can't sleep at night because I'm thinking about how good you feel next to me. I can't be this close to you and not have you as mine. I want to be near you every minute of the day. Is that what you want?"

  Oh God! Is that
what I want? Hell yes it is!! My stomach was filled with butterflies and the blood churning through my center was throbbing full force. I swallowed hard. "Yes," I said, looking him in the eye.

  "Yes?"

  "Yes, that's what I want."

  It took him a moment to process my words, but as soon as he heard me he grabbed me up against his chest and turned me in circles, pressing his lips to mine. I smiled and laughed as he twirled me around.

  "Stay with me?" He asked, slowly lowering me to the ground.

  "I need to take Eva back to Savannah, and I have some things to do to get ready for work in the morning. How about I'll come back tomorrow after work, and I'll stay through next weekend? That way I can pick up some of my work clothes."

  "You just made my day, beautiful," he said as he gathered me against him and kissed me senseless.

  We walked around to the front of the house where Eva was waiting in my car.

  "I'll see you tomorrow then," I said to him, rising up on my tip toes to kiss him.

  "I'm looking forward to it," he said.

  As he shut the door behind me Eva looked at me.

  "I thought we were going to spend the week with each other," she pouted.

  "Eva, you can still stay at my house and I'll still go out with you on Wednesday. Carson is coming home tonight. You love him. I'm sure you'll have a blast."

  "Fine," she said with a huff as my low fuel indicator dinged.

  When I stopped for gas Eva went inside the convenience store to grab some coffee and breakfast sandwiches for the both of us. While I was waiting for my tank to fill up a white van pulled up on the other side of the pump and the creepy guy I'd seen around town climbed out. He looked at me and then dragged his eyes down my body, giving me the chills. I wanted to turn the other direction so I didn't have to look at him, but I also didn't want to let him out of my sight.

  "Well, looky here," he drawled, walking around to my side of the pump. "What's a purty girl like you doin' out here all alone?"

  I didn't want to talk to him, but it seemed I would have to. He smelled like beer and cigarettes, and I could see most of his teeth were missing, and the ones still there were black with decay. My stomach turned over as he kept inching closer to me.

  "Uh, my friend is inside," I said looking toward the store and hoping Eva would hurry.

  "Yer new 'round here ain't ya? I seen you in the bar one time dancin'. You got some purty good moves."

  I took a step back from him, something about him did not sit right with me. I was fighting the urge to dive into my car and speed away.

  "How 'bout you 'n me take a li'l ride in my van," he said, reaching toward me and running a dirty finger over my forearm.

  "Hey, what do you think you're doing? Get your hands off her, creep!" Eva yelled as soon as she observed the situation.

  The man stepped back from me and looked Eva up and down.

  "I seen you 'round too, uppity bitch," he sneered at Eva.

  "Don't you ever come near either of us again," I said to him, finally finding my voice now that Eva was there to back me up.

  "We're going to report you to the police," Eva said.

  He stepped back and leaned against the side of the gas pump just as I returned the nozzle to its cradle.

  "Do yer worst. I ain't done nothin' to report." He looked at me. "Be seein' you around sweet stuff," he said, smugly. Then he licked his lips and made a kissing noise before we jumped into the car and sped off.

  "What a dirt bag!" Eva huffed. "He's probably the psycho who's been trying to snatch up girls around here. Someone should get him off the street."

  July 1, 2013

  Monday morning I left Eva sleeping in my room, grabbed my overnight bag and headed to the kitchen.

  "Morning sis!" Carson said, while leaning against the counter, drinking coffee.

  "Shit! You scared me!" I dropped my bag and walked over to give him a hug. "You look really nice for your big first day!" I said, taking in his crisp black pants and bright blue button down. "You smell good too, trying to impress somebody?"

  "Nah, you know that's not how I roll. Just trying to look professional." He smiled, taking me into his arms. "You want to carpool?" He asked, returning my hug.

  "I can't. I'm going back to Bluffton after work."

  I grabbed a travel coffee mug from the cabinet and poured myself a cup.

  "Mom still have a lot left to do?"

  "Well, she has a couple rooms left. I think another week or so and she should have most of it wrapped up."

  "Sounds good," he said as I crossed to the fridge to put some milk in my coffee.

  "Listen, Eva's in my room. She's going to be staying here for a few days. Can you give her a lift to pick up her car from Anne Marie's when you get home tonight?"

  Carson cocked his head in my direction. He used to have a little crush on Eva, but she could never stay put for long, and that never seemed to matter to Carson before that girl disappeared on him. He kept thinking she would walk back into his life one day. I guess I couldn't blame him, considering my current situation.

  "I'll take care of it," he smirked.

  "Thanks. Oh! And Wednesday night Eva and I are going out for drinks. You want to tag along?"

  "I'll be there. Just text me the details."

  "Sounds good. See you at the office!" I snapped the lid on my coffee mug, grabbed my bag and headed out the door.

  I called Luke on my way to the office to tell him I'd be heading to Bluffton around 6:30. I wanted to hit the gym beforehand because the 4th of July holiday was coming up this week and I wanted to feel free to eat and drink whatever I wanted.

  When I finally pulled up to his house, it was close to eight. I had gotten sidetracked at the office by Louise. Louise, or Lou as we affectionately called her, was a couple years younger than me and had just started working in accounting a few months back. She was really cool, but was new to the area and seemed kind of a homebody, so I had kind of taken her under my wing. I didn't have the heart to tell her I had somewhere to be, so I invited her to come out with Eva and me on Wednesday to finish our conversation. That seemed to satisfy her, but it was still almost six before I left the office.

  I knocked on Luke's door, but he didn't answer, so I opened it and went inside. I could hear music coming from the study, so I peeked in the door. He was hunched over his drafting table with a serious look on his face. The light from the overhead lamp made his skin appear golden, and a loose tendril of hair hung in his face, begging me to touch it.

  "Hey," I said, walking over to him. "I'm here." As he turned to look at me I reached up and brushed the errant hair back into place.

  His face softened when he looked at me. "Hey you, how was your day?" He snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me into his chest.

  "It was good. Don't get too close though, I could use a shower. How was your day?"

  He laughed. "Better now that you're here. Let me show you where the bedroom is. Then I'll make us something to eat and tell you about it."

  He lead me to the master bedroom at the end of the upstairs hallway. It looked like he had removed the wall between two rooms in order to create more space. His king size four poster bed stood to the right of the doorway, facing a wall of windows that overlooked the backyard and the river. There was a sitting area near a fireplace, and more built in book shelves, almost identical to the ones in the living room. The decor was very masculine, but again calming, with shades of navy and beige.

  "I put a towel on the bathroom sink for you. I'll see you in a little while." I thanked him as he kissed my head, and closed the door behind himself.

  After I was showered and dressed in some cropped yoga pants and an off the shoulder tee with a sports bra, I headed downstairs to the kitchen. Luke was setting plates at the bar and looked up when I came in.

  "Feel better?" He asked, and smiled as I melted inside. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

  "Much! What's for dinner?" I asked, climbing onto on
e of the bar stools.

  "Grilled ham and cheese. I meant to get by the grocery store today, but didn't have time," he smiled sheepishly.

  "Grilled cheese is my favorite!" I smiled at him as he placed a sandwich, oozing with cheese on my plate and cut it into squares.

  "Shandy?" He asked waving his bottle at me.

  "I'd love one."

  As he opened the bottle and placed it in front of me, I thought about how comfortable this was. I didn't feel tense or worried about what he thought was going to happen between us later, I just felt at peace. It was overwhelming in a sense, because I hadn't felt this carefree in a long time. Since before Mark died. I knew most of it had to do with Luke allowing me to share my feelings about Mark with him, and him still accepting that as part of who I was. I smiled to myself about how much things had changed over the last couple of weeks.

  "What are you smiling about?" He asked me, coming to sit next to me.

  "I was just thinking," I said, trying to change the subject. "So, what are your plans for Independence Day?"

  "I'm not sure yet," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "Usually Nick and my parents come over and we barbeque. Then we watch the fireworks from the back deck. I haven't heard from my parents, but Ben will probably be here since he's moved back. Do you want to join us?"

  "I'm sure that means Anne Marie will be here too. I was planning to spend the night in Savannah on Wednesday since I'm supposed to go out with Eva. I'll probably just drive back up Thursday morning, if that's okay. I can get here early enough to help you get everything set up."

  "Actually, I have to go into Savannah to meet that client on Wednesday, so why don't I just drop you at your office, and then I'll meet you at the bar later and we can ride back together?"

  "Ooh, yeah, that sounds like a great plan!"

  He smiled, before wiping his hands down his face. "I apologize, but I have to get back to my sketches. I'm having a hard time working on this one piece and I need it to be ready for Wednesday. It's a big deal, and if I get this client, it could open a lot of doors for me."