She said hi to Pete as he entered placing his two rolls of quarters on the table in his designated chair.
“You play for quarters?” Peyton asked.
“Yeah and then we dump them all in here,” she explained, opening the cabinet to a big clear plastic tub about a quarter full with quarters. “At the end of the year we donate them to the local Share-A-Christmas.”
Peyton was taken aback again at the generosity and the way people around here cared about other people. The other two guys showed up, and Kevin introduced them to Peyton and of course neither of them could stop gawking at her and couldn’t believe that they were playing poker with Peyton Paxton.
They took their positions and bragged on the food. Peyton had a great time and laughed with her new friends as they went around the table placing their bets. She eyed Kevin every chance she got, and they had their legs wrapped under the table. Every so often he would move his hand down and touch her leg, and she would return the flirt by touching his hand with hers. She still couldn’t figure out how to get Carter Beckett alone to ask him about Don. She just needed five minutes or even his phone number, she thought.
She did get a chance and was glad when her phone rang, and it was Alley.
“Can we take five?” she asked, and Carter Beckett was more than happy to take five. He was a smoker and wanted to step outside, she had never been so happy that someone was a smoker.
Peyton answered her phone and walked out with him as the rest of the group ate her delicious food. She only talked to Alley for a minute and told her, she would call her tomorrow, wanting to talk to Carter before he went back in.
“I can’t believe that we are playing poker with Peyton Paxton,” he spoke when she hung up.
“Carter I came out here because I wanted to ask you about Don. Do you know him?” she asked, knowing she was limited on time and wanting to get to the point.
“Yes, he is my cousin, why?”
“Because I want to get Kay and him in the same place at the same time.”
“No way, I am not having any part in that. I like Kay, and I like our monthly poker games. She doesn’t want to see or talk to him.”
“She doesn’t have to know it was planned. We just have to show up at the same time.”
“It won’t go over good Peyton. He has tried to talk to her. She even had her number changed because she doesn’t want anything to do with him. That is over, and I don’t think we should get in the middle of it.”
“Please Carter,” she begged. “I will take full responsibility for whatever happens.”
“How the hell am I supposed to say no to Peyton Paxton?” he asked, giving in and snuffing out his cigarette.
“Yes… thank you. Sneak me your number and I will call you.”
“Kevin has my number,” he told her.
“Kevin won’t give it to me; he thinks I should mind my own business.”
“And so do I,” he admitted, opening the door for her.
Kevin gave her a look when they returned, and he knew exactly what she was up to and she knew that he knew.
They played poker, having a good time until Pete’s wife called at midnight telling him to get home, and the guys gave him a hard time about being whipped and having a curfew. Kay got up and started cleaning up, and while her back was turned, Carter slid the piece of paper to Peyton and Kevin shook his head at him in disbelief that he was going to get involved in Peyton’s match making scheme, and he shrugged his shoulders back at him.
Peyton and Kevin both helped cleanup, once the party had broken up.
“I’m kidnapping Peyton tonight,” Kevin said as he looked at Peyton with bedroom eyes and spoke to Kay.
“I was hoping I was going to get more sleep tonight,” she joked.
Chapter 18
Kevin and Peyton entered his kitchen through the garage, and that was as far as they made it. Peyton was sliding out of her jeans, kissing him as he removed her shirt and then her bra. He backed her up to the table and told her to lie down.
“Not on the table Kevin, you eat here.”
“Lay down,” he demanded, kissing the valley between her breast.
“We will break the table,” she protested again.
“Lay down now Peyton,” he commanded, and she did with a heavy moan as she felt his fingers overwhelm her entire existence.
Table sex…Are you kidding me?
He stood above her and infiltrated the delicate area between her legs, watching her lose herself as his thumb circled her. He slid two fingers in her and her hips thrust into him, and when she was at her peak he slid himself into her as she called out in pleasure. She thought she was still coming down from the first one, when she felt it building again, and as soon as he started moving with more velocity and power she was spent and let go once again with him.
“Pull me up,” she said softly, and he took both of her hands and pulled her to him. He kissed her, and she didn’t think she loved anything more at that moment than feeling his naked body against hers.
“You know that I could keep you forever, don’t you?” he asked and she scrambled away from him.
What the hell does that mean? She thought, but didn’t dare ask, afraid of the answer she would get. She nervously went to the sink and got a glass of water. Kevin zipped his jeans and picked hers up from the floor and took the folded piece of paper from her pocket.
“What the hell are you doing? Give that to me,” she demanded.
“No Peyton, you are not doing this to Kay.”
“Doing what? Don’t make it your business Kevin,”
“It is my business and you’re not going to do this, leave it alone.”
“Give it to me Kevin,” she demanded again, getting angry with him.
“Peyton, trust me, you don’t want to do this.”
“I didn’t say I was doing anything, maybe I just want to call Carter.”
“What would you want to call Carter for, other than to intrude in something that has been closed for too long to open back up?”
“Maybe I want him to lay me across his table,” she shot at him, and he snorted.
Kevin took the folded paper from his pocket and placed it in her hand. “You’re not lying across anyone’s table, bed, floor, sofa or anything else, but mine as long as you are in Utah. And this is a bad idea, and you really should heed the warning.”
Kevin’s possessiveness rattled her, and she didn’t know how to respond let alone take him telling her that she wasn’t to be in anyone’s bed but his. She didn’t respond, and instead told him she was ready for bed.
Peyton woke to an empty bed and realized she was also in and empty house when she came downstairs and found the note in the kitchen.
“Coffee in the pot and Peyton I meant what I said last night when you ignored me. I would keep you forever if you would let me, went for a run, be back in about an hour.”
Peyton dialed Kay instantly. “Kay, come and get me.”
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong, just come and get me, and hurry.”
“Okay Peyton I’m on my way,” she replied, wondering what happened.
Peyton wrote just below Kevin’s note to her.
“Kay picked me up, talk to you later.”
She sat on Kevin’s front step and willed Kay to get there before he got home. She decided at that moment that she was flying home the next day and getting away from Kevin, and she wasn’t going to meddle in Kay’s love life. Who was she to be telling anyone about love? She had never even believed in love until the last week of her life. She had to get far away from Kevin, and she knew it. There was no future with Kevin. His life was here in Utah where he was normal. Her life was in LA and far from normal, and she missed it, or so she tried to convince herself she did anyway.
Kay pulled in, and she got in, happy that she beat Kevin.
“Is everything okay Peyton?” Kay asked, concerned.
“Yeah, it’s fine” she answered, pulling on her s
eatbelt, “but I think I am going to go home tomorrow.’
“Why? I thought you wanted to wait for Trevas and Alley.”
“Shit, I forgot about them,” she said remembering. “Okay I will wait until Thursday or Friday.”
“He doesn’t have to come around Peyton,” Kay offered, knowing what this was all about.
Peyton rubbed her face with her hands and groaned. “Why does he have to go and ruin everything Kay? Why does he have to go and get serious on me? We were having fun, I mean it’s not like I am going to move to Utah, or he is going to move to LA. What the hell is he thinking?”
“Did you ask him?”
“No, he told me last night that he wanted to keep me forever, and then he leaves me this note saying the same thing. What the hell does that even mean Kay?”
“It scared you Peyton.”
“What?” Peyton asked, astonished.
“I think you are in love with him.”
“Kay, I can’t be in love with Kevin, you know that as well as I do.”
Kay shrugged her shoulders. “I think it’s too late.”
“No…no, it’s not, I can’t be around him anymore as long as I am here.”
“Okay, do you want me to tell him that he needs to stay away?”
“No he will call, or text, I will tell him.”
Kevin wiped the sweat from his eyes and read the note and then crinkled it up in his hand. He knew he was getting too deep, but he also wanted her to know how he felt. He had a strong feeling that she wasn’t going to see him again when he text her.
“Do you want to do something today?” he text, and instantly got a text back.
“No thanks, I’m just going to hang out with Kay today.”
Peyton did just hang out with Kay all day and they spent a lazy day watching movies in there ridiculous flannel pajamas. Peyton made them a nice dinner, and she couldn’t get Kevin out of her head. He would go to work the next day, and if Kay did have to go in, she decided that she wouldn’t go with her and then hoped that she did have to go in so that she could go.
Kevin also spent a lazy day at home watching sports and thinking about her. He wanted to text her again but refrained, deciding that he was going to give her, her space. He wasn’t some twenty year old kid chasing a twenty year old girl. He was a forty one year old man chasing a famous movie star, and he knew that their lives were too different and would collide like volcanic rock, and the explosion would be devastating, for him anyway. Kevin decided to do the next best thing and text Kay instead.
“Hey,” was all he said.
“Hey,” she said back.
“What’s up with Peyton?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I would rather you discuss that with her.”
“I don’t know what I am supposed to discuss with her. What did she say Kay?”
“You just have her freaked out Kevin. I told you this was a bad idea.”
“Where is she?” He wanted to know, and just wanted five minutes with her to tell her that he was sorry for whatever it was he did, and to let her know that he would stay away if that was what she wanted.
“Laying on the couch watching TV,”
“Can I come over?”
“No. For what?”
“I just want to talk to her.”
“Kevin, just leave it alone. She is leaving Thursday, let her go back to her life and stop with all of this.”
“Please let me come over. I just want to talk to her tonight, and that’s it. I promise I will not see her again, and I promise to leave her alone after that.”
“Kevin you make me crazy. I am going to get in the shower. I will wait ten minutes before I get in, and I know nothing about it.”
“Thank you. I will be there in ten.”
Kay waited almost ten minutes and told Peyton she was going to take a shower. Peyton flipped through the television channels, feeling restless. The doorbell rang, and she opened the door.
She didn’t invite him in and stood in the threshold, crossing her arms without a word.
“Hi,” he spoke first.
“Kay’s in the shower,” she told him.
“I didn’t come here to see Kay, Peyton.”
“Oh, well then what can I do for you?”
Kevin snickered at the attitude and stepped the one step up to her. She closed her eyes like that was going to help, and when she opened them he pulled her to him, and wrapped her in his arms. He didn’t kiss her and only held her tight, burying his face in her hair. She tried not to touch him back, but her arms had different plans than her brain and they automatically reached around his neck.
“Kevin I can’t do this,” she pleaded.
“Talk to me Peyton. What are you afraid of?”
“What is this Kevin?” she asked, and pulled away from him to look at him.
“I really do hate those pajamas,” he said, and she had to laugh at him and shook her head.
“I’m being serious Kevin,” she demanded, and he took her hand and pulled her away from the door so that he could close it.
“Let’s go into the kitchen.”
Peyton followed him and sat at the table while he put on a pot of coffee.
“It’s eight o’clock, you’re not going to be able to sleep,” she told him, creating small talk.
“I haven’t been able to sleep since I met you.”
“Kevin what do you think is going to come out of this? If I led you to believe that there is anything between us, I’m sorry. There is not.”
Kevin leaned up against the sink and contemplated her, trying to select the right words running through his scrambled mind. He should tell her that he knows what she is saying is true and let her off the hook, but it wasn’t true and she knew it as well as he did.
“I think you’re wrong Peyton, and I think you’re scared shitless because there is something going on here that you are not used to, and you are so far out of your comfort zone, you don’t know how to handle it.”
She was now the one searching for the right scrambled words, and didn’t know how to respond. She was way out of her comfort zone, and for the first time in her life, she didn’t want to be alone anymore. Her life was crazy, but it was what she had wanted, for as long as she could remember. She kept her personal life safe and didn’t let feelings get in the way of what she wanted out of life, but it didn’t matter. Kevin was totally off limits and they could never have a life together, and he had to know that as much as she did.
“What do you want? Do you want to marry me after knowing me for a week? Do you want to move to LA? Do you want me to move here? I don’t know what you are even asking, and I assure you, your view of me after a week of knowing me is so clouded and unrealistic. If you knew the real meyou would run so fast your head would spin. You don’t want to be a part of my silly life, believe me when I say that.”
“Do you want coffee?”
“Yes.”
Kevin poured them both a cup of coffee and sat with her, staring.
“Say something,” she demanded.
“I don’t think I would run anywhere, and I think you like who you are here.”
Peyton interrupted him. “The where, doesn’t make you, who you are.”
“I never said it did, and I don’t remember asking anything from you. I don’t know what the answers are Peyton. I am not asking you to move anywhere. I am not asking you to change anything that you don’t want to change. I guess all that I am asking is that maybe you should considered all of the angles, and consider that maybe it’s time to walk away from your silly life.”
Peyton snorted. “And do what?”
“I don’t know, but it’s nothing that needs to be decided tonight.”
Kay walked into the kitchen and was dressed. She said hi to Kevin and told Kay that she was going to go over to her friend’s house and sit with her kids while she ran to the store, and asked her if she wanted to go.
“No I wil
l wait here,” she replied, and wondered if she was leaving on the count of her and Kevin.
“Ask tom if he’s still bowling Wednesday,” Kevin told her.
“He just had a vasectomy,” she exclaimed.
“I was kidding Kay,” he said with a frown.
“Oh, okay, well I will see you in a little while.”
Peyton and Kevin were left alone in silence once more, one waiting for the other to say something. Peyton smiled at him and shook her head, trying to figure out what the hell was happening to her, and why this no-body man from nowhere Utah was making her crazy.
“What?” he asked, and that was exactly what she told him.
“You’re making me crazy.”
“I don’t think you can blame me for that.”
She snorted and put her hand out, palm sided up, and he took it in his.
“Let’s just stop with all of this Peyton. It is what it is, and if it’s meant to be then it will happen, if not, it won’t. Let’s just spend the next few days together and be happy.”
Peyton thought his idea was the best idea that he could have come up with, and at least if she was with him for the next few days, she wouldn’t sit around and think about him. She nodded in agreement but didn’t respond.
“Come home with me,” he requested.
“Can I wear my pajamas?” she asked, and knew she would follow him to China if he would have asked at that moment.
“Hell no, you can throw them in the trash for all I care. I will even buy you new ones.”
“I like them. They make me feel warm and cozy.”
“I will make you feel warm and cozy,” he replied, and with that she got up and changed. She wasn’t interested in Kevin making her feel warm and cozy, and again she did what she does and ran.
She left Kay a note, and when she returned and saw it she just shook her head.
“Peyton what the hell are you doing?” she asked, out loud to no one but the dog.
Peyton and Kevin went to bed, and she lay in his arms and talked. She was only wearing her panties with no shirt, and his naked chest on hers was warm and cozy, and she loved the way he felt. They didn’t talk about anything serious, and he told her about his son and explained to her that he was adopted when he was three, and his parents were in Florida. She told him that her dad lived in Florida. She talked about Alley and her starting out in show business. They talked until after midnight, and she wondered why he wasn’t kissing her or trying to have sex. He dozed off not long after and she was left alone with her thoughts, and she didn’t do this either. She had never gone to bed with a man without having sex, and it confused her.
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