Can't Stop Loving You (12 page)

The lake was surrounded by trees and meadows that were scattered with colorful wildflowers. At its edge was a wooden pier. A tire swing hanging from one of the trees brought Norman Rockwell paintings to mind.

“Kendrick, this is beautiful!” Kaycee breathed.

He turned with a thoughtful smile. “I thought you would like it.” He reached for her hand and led her down the rest of the path and onto the pier.

Kendrick handed Kaycee the fishing rods as he set up everything. Kaycee was too awestruck to help. The clean air filled her nose and she inhaled deeply, cleansing her lungs.

The sound of birds singing and crickets chirping was beautiful music to her ears.

“This is so amazing,” she said in awe. “You know, all my life, I thought I was a city girl, but I seriously think I could live out here.”

“Could you really?” Kendrick asked with his head cocked to the side in disbelief.

She nodded, gazing around. “It's so beautiful.”

As they both stood taking in the sights and sounds, a pair of deer broke through the brush on the opposite side of the lake. Kaycee held her breath as they timidly stepped down to the edge of the lake for a drink.

“Oh, look,” she cooed softly.

“Shh,” he whispered, leading her over to the chairs that he'd set up.

Kaycee eased down in the chair and removed her jacket. Kendrick did the same. As they watched the life around them awaken, they totally forgot about fishing.

About an hour later, the darkness gave way to the light and it was time to do what they came for. Kendrick took Kaycee's rod to prepare the line, but she took it from his hands.

“Kendrick, I'm not a wimpy girl. I know how to do this,” she scolded him.

He let it go without a word and watched as she swung the rod back and whipped it quickly forward, sending it deep into the center of the lake.

“Good job!” he exhorted.

She did a little shoulder dance, picked up her soda and eased back into her seat.

Simultaneously, they both lowered their hats onto their heads and waited.

 

In a matter of hours, the temperatures had climbed to a sweltering ninety degrees. Kendrick leaned over the bucket between them and looked down at the dozen or so fish flopping in the shallow water.

“It's getting kind of hot,” he announced peering up into the sky. “I think we should call it quits. We did pretty good, don't you think?”

“We?” Kaycee asked. “Most of those are mine.”

Kendrick laughed. “Okay, I'll give it to you. You know what you're doing.”

“Thank you,” she replied. “That's all I needed to hear.” She sat up and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She picked up the bucket and started for the edge of the pier.

He jumped up and grabbed her by the wrist.

“Where are you going with those?”

“Tossing them back in,” she casually replied. She lifted the bucket only to be stopped by his hand once more.

“Why would you do that?”

“Didn't I tell you that I don't eat the fish that I catch?”

He frowned. “You don't eat the fish you catch? What kind of mess is that?”

She shrugged. “I can't make myself do it.”

“Well, you're fine to throw your fish back, but I will be eating mine,” he said taking the bucket from her.

“You talking about those three little trout?” she teased. “Because you know the majority of them are mine.”

“Ha, ha. I bet you'll be begging for some of that trout tonight when I fry it up.”

“Let's hope that's all I'll be begging for,” she mumbled.

“What did you say?” he asked with a raised brow.

Kaycee stilled as heat radiated up her neck and onto her face. She hoped he hadn't heard her comment. “Nothing.”

Kendrick shrugged and picked up the bucket and fishing poles.

“I'll show you around before we go back to the cabin.”

“Cool,” she said, liking the idea of exploring her surroundings.

It didn't take them long to cover the premises. As they walked along, Kendrick explained how the trees and brush were strategically placed to give the cabin more of a private, out-of-the-way feel.

There was a storage barn where he kept ATVs and yard equipment, and a man-made gravel trail took them all the way around the lake and up a hill where there was a combination hunting stand and treehouse complete with a step ladder and rope.

“Would you like to go up and see the view?” he asked.

“Sure,” she replied.

Kendrick allowed her to climb first. When she got a third of the way up he followed. Once Kaycee got to the top, Kendrick had to shimmy up behind her to push open the trapdoor. He was so close to her that he could smell the fresh scent of her hair lotion and feel her shiver from his closeness. Although his position was innocent, it was intimate all the same.

The platform of the treehouse provided a gorgeous view of the mountains to the north.

“I wish I had a camera,” Kaycee said in a breathless voice.

“Every time I come up here it always seems different,” he said.

They stood there for a little while, enjoying the sounds of nature and the comfortable silence between them. Kaycee felt as though she could have stayed up there forever, and it was Kendrick who made the first move to go back. This time, however, he took the rope on the way down and challenged Kaycee to do the same, which she did like a champ.

By the time they returned from their walk it was almost noon and both of them were starving.

The first place Kaycee headed was the shower. As she washed the grime off her body, she thought about how amazing the day had been. Although it could be classified a date, it wasn't like any other time she'd ever had with a man. Closing her eyes, she wiped the soapy washcloth over her breasts and imagined that it was Kendrick's hand. The fleeting thought sent her imagination soaring.

Although she shouldn't have gone there, Kaycee imagined Kendrick would be a skillful lover—a man with a slow hand like the Pointer Sisters sang about.

Like any other red-blooded, American, twenty-something woman, Kaycee loved a good man. She might be celibate, but she wasn't blind. However, she had standards, high standards, and she didn't even entertain the thought of being with a man unless they were in a strong, committed relationship. What messed her up was that those standards she set had gone right out the window the day she'd met Kendrick. She'd been trying to get back on that wagon ever since.

She was grateful for the cool water pelting her skin, keeping the heat on her flesh at bay. After she was scrubbed clean, Kaycee slathered on her lotion and slipped into a white tank top, denim shorts and a pair of flip-flops. She finger-combed her hair with some moisturizer and left it to air-dry.

When she exited the bathroom, Kendrick was sitting in the chair facing the door. He nodded with appreciation.

“What's that supposed to mean?” she asked with a raised brow.

“You look nice,” he stated directly.

His straightforward response made Kaycee blush, and she quickly made a beeline for the kitchen.

While Kendrick took his turn in the shower, Kaycee got their lunch together. She pulled out her cooler and began to remove different kinds of deli meats and cheeses, rye and sourdough bread, a container of deviled eggs, a small fruit tray containing strawberries, raspberries, mango and green grapes and a vegetable tray with pickles, green olives, carrots and celery. Add in the items Kendrick had brought and Kaycee was sure they would have a feast.

When the shower turned off, Kaycee turned to the sink to wash the dishes she'd found in the cupboard. After a few minutes, the door creaked open.

“What kind of meat would you like?” she called out without turning around.

Kendrick leaned his back against the door, his eyes watching Kaycee's bottom wiggling back and forth from the action of washing the dishes. Seeing Kaycee in his kitchen made him realize that it had been a long time since he'd desired female companionship.

“Kendrick?” she repeated and peered over her shoulder. Her mouth gaped open at him standing there wearing nothing more than a pair of jogging pants. Like the first day she met him, Kaycee was mesmerized by his bare beauty. In her eyes, God had created the perfect form when he made man, especially Kendrick.

Their eyes locked for a moment as if sending lewd mental text messages. It was Kendrick who broke the silence.

“Did you say something?”

She paused and looked to the sky for the answer. The heat she'd felt brewing in her abdomen earlier had returned in full force and she was getting weak.

“I—I—I'm making sandwiches,” she stuttered. “Wh-what kind of meat would you like?”

“I'll take turkey,” he answered as he sauntered across the room and picked up his duffel. If she only knew.

He pulled out a T-shirt and slipped it over his head, then joined her at the island in the middle of the room. His eyes brightened at the spread before him.

“Looks good,” he commented and plopped down on a nearby stool.

Kaycee doled a little of everything onto both of their plates. She watched as Kendrick bit into his man-sized sandwich and rolled his eyes back in his head.

“This is good!” he groaned with satisfaction.

She smiled from behind her glass. She was glad to be able to do something special for him, even something as simple as preparing his lunch.

“Oh, I forgot something,” he said, picking up his plate and soda. He beckoned for her to follow him.

Setting his food on the wooden trunk that doubled as a coffee table, Kendrick reached for his bag again. He fumbled around inside for a moment before producing his prize.

“Ta-da!” he said, holding up two James Bond DVDs.

“Now you're talking!” she blurted out and joined him on the sofa. He put in Kaycee's favorite,
Goldfinger
.

They settled down on the comfortable sofa, and no more than an hour into the movie they both fell fast asleep.

T
he James Bond theme song repeated itself again and again, and Kaycee heard it in her subconscious, but it didn't register until it had played almost a dozen times.

Without opening her eyes, she stretched and shivered in the cool room; her body felt heat generating nearby. She gravitated toward it and snuggled against the warm solid mass.

A heavy arm fell over her waist with a hand that cupped her rear and her eyes quickly blinked awake. In the dimly lit room, she made out Kendrick's sleeping features.

“Kendrick,” she whispered.

He stirred but did not wake.

She reached up and tapped him lightly on the chest, but all he did in response was inhale deeply, then exhale while pulling her closer in his embrace.

Kaycee smiled. She liked the feel of being in his arms. Their bodies lined up in every way, complementing and fitting.

Everything was right—the two of them, the setting—right for her to do what she'd had in her heart to do since their meeting. Kaycee stretched up so that she was face-to-face with Kendrick, and in slow motion she moved closer until their lips met. She gently brushed her mouth against his. The flames of need that she had been suppressing swelled into an outright inferno.

Kendrick's eyes sprang open, shocking her. The look in his eyes was more one of expectation than of surprise. He placed his hand on the back of Kaycee's neck and stroked her soft curls before pulling her back to his waiting mouth. His tongue parted her lips and plunged into her sweet recesses with fervor. He groaned through hungry kisses.

It wasn't enough to have her lying there beside him. Kendrick knew he needed her—desired her to be closer to him. He caught her off guard when he pulled her on top of him so that their bodies lined up perfectly. Where she curved he fit her like a glove, confirming again that they were meant to be.

They shared deep, passionate and ravenous kisses full of need, moving quickly from one motion to the next, stroking and tasting—fulfilling the fantasies that had played in their minds since that fateful day they'd met.

With a groan, Kendrick smoothed his hands down her back before sliding them lower onto the swell of her bottom and squeezing.

Kaycee moaned in response and swiveled her hips provocatively against him, causing his flesh to harden beneath her.

Her action stepped up the inferno to an explosion. Kendrick knew if he didn't stop, there would be no turning back. He gently took Kaycee's arms and pulled her up so that they were both in a seated position.

He cupped his hand lovingly against her cheek and gazed at her with admiring eyes. Kaycee's lashes fluttered under his intimate inspection.

Kendrick looked at her kiss-swollen lips and heaving breasts; he wanted to lay her down and make love—good love—to her all night long, but that wasn't his style. He wasn't a careless lover, nor was he thoughtless. He wanted to make sure that it was right.

“I want you,” he admitted in a low, raspy whisper, stroking the softness of her cheek.

“I want you, too,” she echoed. She turned her head slightly and kissed the center of his hand.

He cleared his throat. “But I want it to be right. I'm not the kind of man who goes into these situations without a clear head.”

“Okay,” she breathed softly. She didn't know where he was going with this line, but she knew that she wanted him to ease the throbbing within her.

“I think we both need to think about what we are getting into and how we are going to handle this.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. All he had to do was say the word and she would be all over him like white on rice, but the way he paused told her it wouldn't be that kind of evening.

“Kaycee, we have a lot to consider before we go there.”

“What do we need to consider, Kendrick?” she purred.

He stood from his place on the sofa and walked across the room before turning around. “For starters, we work together, then there's the difference in our ages. I want to lay things out on the table upfront.”

Kaycee smiled and said, “I'm aware of all that, Kendrick, and I still want to be with you. We're good together.”

“Is that enough?” he asked.

She paused, then murmured, “I don't know, but I guess I'm willing to find out.”

“Kaycee, I think we need to take things slow.”

With a disappointed groan she moved away from him.

“Whoa, hear me out,” he said, gently pulling her back. “There's no doubt that we are attracted to one another, and we are definitely compatible, but I think we need to really consider whether this is something that we want.”

His announcement came as a disappointment.

“So, what are you suggesting?”

He paused. “I say we give each other space to think and look at the larger picture before we move on to the next level.”

Kaycee couldn't believe her ears. Here she was alone with the man who had occupied her dreams, and he was talking about space.

“You don't want to see me anymore?” she squeaked.

Sensing her sadness, he pulled her into another embrace. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but he knew that the right thing was to stop what they were doing before she got hurt further down the line. He brushed his lips against hers.

“I'm not saying that I don't want to see you, I—we need to make sure that this is a step that we both want to take.”

Enveloped in the safety net of his embrace, Kaycee closed her eyes and nodded against his sturdy chest. She didn't know why he was doing this; she only hoped that this wasn't what would hurt them.