Tell Me No Secrets: Secret Baby Romance Collection

by Jamie Knight

  “Who is it?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Bradley,” came the muffled reply. “I was wondering if you were ready for your car repair lesson?”

  I paused, trying to decide if that was a good idea. I thought that it would be a good way to pick his brain and get a feel for what might have been running through his mind after the kiss.

  “I’ll be right out,” I called out.

  I ran over to the dresser and stood in front of the mirror. I ran a hand over my hair, trying to get it to lay down. I pulled on a new t-shirt, then took a deep breath and headed out the door, toward the garage.

  When I got to the garage, Bradley was already standing in front of the car with the hood up. He was fumbling around with the battery when I got there and didn’t look up once. So I walked up to the car and stood next to him.

  “Alright, I’m ready,” I said, in my best Spongebob imitation.

  I laughed at my joke. He didn’t. He shrugged his shoulders, making me realize that he probably had no idea who Spongebob even was. I cleared my throat and leaned over to get a better look of the engine.

  “Okay, let’s go ahead and get started. So, this part here is where you attach the battery…”

  I could hear him talking and see his lips moving, but I really wasn’t paying much attention to what he was saying. I just kept thinking about how sexy he was and how good it felt kissing him. In fact, the more that I watched his lips move, the more I kept being drawn back to that moment when our lips touched.

  The way he moved his body, I honestly couldn’t tell he was injured. It was like his every move had strength, certainty and know-how woven into his muscles. That turned me on like crazy.

  None of the guys my age had that kind of power and appeal. I wanted a king, a pirate captain of a man, not one of his little boy foot soldiers. The thought of putting myself in Bradley’s hands, naked, open, all his and at his mercy to work me like he worked this car engine— this was beyond distracting.

  “Okay, your turn,” he said, thrusting a screwdriver in my direction, smiling at me.

  I took the screwdriver reluctantly. I felt embarrassed that I had no idea what he had been talking about, so I didn’t know what he was expecting me to do.

  I leaned over and looked underneath the hood, hoping that seeing it would give me some sort of clue as to what I should be doing. After staring at the engine for what must have been an uncomfortably long time, Bradley asked me if everything was okay.

  “Um…yeah, it’s fine. It’s just that… Crap, I’m sorry. I have no clue what I’m supposed to be doing here,” I admitted, hanging my head shamefully.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I know that it can be a lot to digest right now. I’ll go over it again.”

  He started talking and I tried hard to listen to him, but again found myself struggling. I hoped that he would think that maybe I was having a blonde moment and that’s why I was struggling.

  I also hoped that he wouldn’t suspect the real reason why I was having a hard time focusing: being so close to him was turning me on, all over again. I could smell his manly scent and it made me want to be closer, dangerously closer, close enough to where we could have another go at kissing.

  Maybe even more.

  Chapter 12 - Natalia

  I couldn’t help but go over the moment that Bradley and I had first kissed, over and over again in my mind. His delicious mouth, his warm, teasing tongue. I wanted to figure out exactly how he might be feeling and what he might be thinking about the kiss, especially since he was acting like it didn’t happen. I watched him talk on like nothing just went down—just talking about the car and focusing on giving me a lesson.

  When I had leaned in to kiss him, I saw his eyes open wide in shock. I went in hot, and kissed him passionately, more to give the guy behind the counter a show than anything else. I didn’t expect that he would respond at all.

  But, he did. Maybe not at first, but after a few moments, he started to kiss me back. A few moments after that, he was devouring my mouth, kissing me back so passionately that it made me lose all track of why the kiss even started.

  I kissed him in hopes to shock the guy behind the desk. I wanted that jerk to feel really embarrassed about making that assumption, calling Bradley my dad. But, I hadn’t even seen his reaction, so I don’t even know if it served the purpose that I had started with.

  Instead, it did something else. It gave me the chance to have my first kiss with Bradley. He probably knew that my kissing him was to get a reaction out of the counter guy, but I couldn’t help but think that his response to the kiss was a real one.

  He had his eyes closed and he kissed me back so genuinely, I almost lost track of everything that was going on. I felt a little off center as I tried to navigate our way out of the store. It was a wonder that I had managed to make my way back to the car and got us home safely because my mind definitely wasn’t on the road or driving.

  In fact, my mind started thinking about how I could orchestrate things so that I could be alone with Bradley again. But, as he ran out of the car when we first pulled up to the house, I wondered if I had been off-base in thinking that the kiss was something that he wanted.

  I started to think about things further. He hadn’t gone out of his way to avoid me. He could have easily found some excuse not to have the car repair lesson, yet there he was, patiently showing me how to fix the car and even repeating things when my scattered brain refused to stay focused on what was going on.

  Everything in me told me that he liked the kiss and might even be open for more.

  “Alright, time to get this show on the road,” he said, grabbing a set of pliers and putting the new battery in the car. “Here, I’ll go ahead and do the heavy lifting here. If you can just hand me the tools as I need them, that would be a huge help.”

  He went to work, fixing the wires onto the battery. Then, he lay on his back on the floor of the garage and started tinkering with something underneath the car.

  Every once in a while, he would emerge or he would just stick out his hand asking for a tool. I would search for it, sweating bullets, hoping that I wouldn’t embarrass myself even further by not knowing what he was asking for, or taking too long. Things went on like this for about thirty minutes before he shimmied from underneath the car, stood up, and dusted his clothes and hands off.

  “All done,” he said, smiling a smile that showed his satisfaction. “You want to turn the car on?”

  I found myself distracted, very distracted by that smile. “Sure,” I managed to say. “Let me go grab the key.”

  I ran into the house and grabbed it, then ran back out to the garage. I didn’t want to miss a second of time with his delicious hunk of manliness. I opened the driver’s side door and slid behind the wheel. I put the key in the engine and she roared to life.

  “Give her a little gas,” he yelled over the engine noise.

  When I did, she purred like a kitten. I couldn’t remember the last time that she sounded so good. I was really impressed.

  “She hasn’t purred like this since I first got her. You’re a miracle worker, Bradley! Thank you so much.” I really meant it. It was nice having such handsome, sure hands helping me.

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “I’m just glad that I could help.”

  “Yeah, me too,” I said, trying to decide if I should make my next statement. “You know, we did do some really good, hard work today. What do you say to going for a little dip in the pool?”

  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, giving my suggestion real consideration.

  “That might be a good idea,” he said. “But, first, I think that it might be good for us to eat something. I didn’t eat anything today and I didn’t see you eat anything, either. How about it? Are you hungry?”

  It was almost as if my belly had heard his words because it seemed to growl on demand. It was so loud, we both heard it, as if on cue. We cracked up, laughing toget
her in that way we already seemed to do so often.

  “Well, I guess that’s our answer,” I said. “I can make us some salads.”

  “Okay,” he said, hesitantly. “Is there any… man food that could go along with your rabbit food?”

  I already loved his sense of humor.

  “Sure,” I said. “I can grab some animal carcasses out of the freezer to throw on the grill. Only thing is, I’ve never used the grill, so I couldn’t be much help in that area.”

  “No problem,” said Bradley assuredly, waving at me dismissively. “You can work on the salads and I’ll work the grill. I’ve been told that I’m basically… kind of… a total grill master. So I’ll be happy to whip something up for us.”

  I went to the kitchen and rummaged through the refrigerator, trying to find the things that I needed for the salad. To be honest, I wasn’t even quite sure what I would find in there, since I rarely even ate many meals at home. Most of the time, I was either eating fast food somewhere or I ate when I was at one of my friends’ house.

  With my dad being gone all the time, I didn’t really want to spend a lot of time at home by myself. But, I remembered that my dad had asked me to pick up a few things to eat as he prepared the house to have a guest. I figured that I couldn’t go wrong with salad. I chuckled thinking about Bradley’s comment involving rabbit food. I guess I had been off the mark.

  I took some frozen meat out of the freezer and plunked it into the sink and filled the sink with warm water. The label said that it was chicken, but frozen in the pack, it just looked like a block of yellow blob.

  I walked back to the garage where Bradley was still cleaning up.

  “Hey, I’m going to set everything up in the back yard where the grill is. You can meet me out there when you’re ready,” I told him.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, saluting in my direction.

  I grabbed an armful of salad-making supplies and headed outside. The grass was freshly cut the day before and still had cut clippings strewn all across the lawn. It gave the yard a fresh, earthy smell that was warm and inviting. It was pretty much a perfect day.

  I pulled the grill out from its place where it normally leaned against the house. It still had ashes in it from the last time that it was used. It had been years since I remembered barbecuing in the backyard. Could it have been sitting back there unused for all these years?

  “What can I do to help?” asked Bradley, stepping out into the yard and looking around. He had this focused, manly, lets-do-this expression on his face that made me hungrier in a different way than the thought of barbecue had.

  “Well, there's this,” I said, motioning toward the grill. “I'm not sure how to set it up or anything. But, feel free to try figuring it out.”

  He walked toward me, his body so close to mine I could feel his warmth.

  “Where do you keep charcoal and lighter fluid?” he asked.

  I had no clue.

  “Let me go look,” I said, walking back into the house.

  I looked underneath the sink in the kitchen. It wasn't there. Searching the pantry was another dead end. I finally found half a bag of charcoal and lighter fluid in my dad’s bedroom, of all places. Men, I guess.

  I grabbed it and brought it back to Bradley. I sat and watched as he carefully stacked the charcoal into a pyramid, sprayed the charcoal with lighter fluid, and lit a match. He threw the match on top of the coal and a small fire started to blaze. He doused the flames with more lighter fluid until it was a roaring fire.

  We sat there watching it in silence as the flames licked toward the sky. Once it died down, Bradley turned and asked me where the meat was.

  “It's in the kitchen sink,” I told him.

  “I'll go and get it ready to go on the grill,” he said, getting up.

  “I'll help,” I said, eager to be near him.

  We walked into the kitchen and he pulled the meat out of the sink. It had thawed out and now resembled chicken. He opened the package and laid the meat out on the counter. He found the seasoning in the cabinet and started shaking it over the meat.

  After he had seasoned it, he put it in a large roasting pan and carried it back outside. He put a piece of chicken on the grill one at a time, making it sizzle over the hot flames.

  “While you're doing that, I'll go ahead and get the salad prepared,” I said.

  I went over to the outdoor table and started chopping vegetables. It felt good to be out there preparing a meal with him. It almost gave me the feeling like we were a couple, just enjoying a relaxing day at home together. I smiled happily at the thought.

  “Looks like your rabbit food is starting to shape up,” he said, teasingly.

  I laughed, putting the last few tomatoes that I had finished chopping into the bowl. He was such an incredibly sexy man. I got so caught up in the moment that, before I knew it, I was reaching around him, getting ready to hug him.

  Right before my arms made contact with him, I stopped. But it was too late for him not to notice my arms so close to him. So, I pretended to be reaching for the pitcher of iced tea that I had brought out. I grabbed it clumsily, almost spilling the entire pitcher all over him.

  I poured some into a glass, my hands shaking nervously. I gulped it down, moaning as if I was quenching a howling thirst.

  “Wow,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “I guess I didn't realize how thirsty I was.”

  I hoped that he wouldn't be clued in to the fact that I was indeed so thirsty that I almost threw myself at my dad’s house guest who is probably like twice my age.

  When I leaned over to put my glass back on the table, my body brushed against his. I saw him shift away from me, but not in a way that said that he didn't like the feeling. In fact, I got the strong feeling that he really liked having my body so close to him. That thought definitely sent chills up my spine.

  Something deep in my heart told me that he wanted me just as badly as I wanted him. But, something else told me that he was too much of a gentleman to make the first move.

  I knew that I had a lot to think about. And some big decisions to make if I had any hopes of getting what I wanted.

  Chapter 13 - Bradley

  “Oh my God, you're so hilarious,” said Natalia, collapsing in a fit of giggles at the table at something I had just said.

  Dinner had been amazing, not so much because of the food. The food was okay, but nothing spectacular. But it was refreshing to have dinner with Natalia—and just talk to her. We talked like we had known each other forever.

  I told her about my life while in the Air Force and what it was like before going into the service. She told me about how nervous she was, deciding on what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. It was interesting, watching her. I noticed that the color had drained from her face as she started talking about what her father expected of her.

  While we talked, I kept thinking about how strong of a connection that we had, how easy it was to talk to her. I knew that it wasn't something that I was imagining. I was sure that she felt the same thing that I was. Or maybe that's just what I told myself, so that I wouldn't feel so disgusting about entertaining taboo thoughts about my best friend's daughter.

  “Sorry to have talked your ear off,” she said, leaning away from her plate. “But, it's nice to finally be able to talk to someone who can give me an unbiased opinion. Or, at the very least, someone that I can vent to. So, thanks for that.”

  “No problem at all,” I said. “It's been nice, sitting here and talking to you. You're a great conversationalist.”

  “Thanks,” she said, putting her hand on mine. I felt a surge like electricity course through my body just from feeling her touch.

  She stood up from the table and stripped off her sundress, revealing a low cut string bikini. My mouth fell open before I had the chance to stop it. My mind was blown by how good she looked.

  She looked like she could have been a center-fold for Sports Illustrated.
I tried my best not to stare so that I wouldn't creep her out, but I was really impressed by her form. Her tight, milky skin was so smooth, almost shimmering under the light of the setting sun.

  “You up for a swim?” she asked, turning toward me, her hands on her hips.

  “I, uh, I don't think that I'll be swimming just yet,” I said. “I need to wait until my food settles a bit.”

  She frowned, her nose scrunching up. She looked cute even when she was displeased.

  “Boo, you're no fun,” she said. “Well, maybe you can join me in a little bit.”

  I lied, telling her that I would think about it, but went and sat in a chair that was closer to the pool. She shrugged and walked up to the stairs leading into the pool. She put a foot in the water, yelping as the cold water touched her skin. She eased her way into the water and soon had gotten used to it and was floating through the water effortlessly.

  “Are you a good swimmer?” she asked.

  “Not particularly,” I said. “I've always been better in the air than in the water. That's why I decided to go with the Air Force and not the Navy.”

  “Wow, really?” she asked.

  “No,” I admitted. “If a Navy recruiter had found me first, I totally would’ve been a sea dog.”

  We both laughed at that. Even though it was a joke, it was one that had a lot of truth to it. I had taken the first opportunity that I could, to get out of my home and small town. And I was grateful that things had worked out the way that they did because it had all lead to me meeting James and now here I was, enjoying time with Natalia.

  “Well, I've been swimming my whole life,” she said, leaning back so that she could float in the water. “My mom put me in swimming classes when I was little. She said that she wanted to make sure that I was prepared in case I ever needed to know how to swim. A lot of the things she did was to prepare me for all types of situations. Even though I haven't needed to swim to safety or anything, I have had lots of fun on Spring Break and at pool parties. Although, I'm not sure that she put me in swimming lessons for those purposes.”