Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1 (25 page)

He
takes another step toward me, forcing my back up against the wall. Evan reaches
up and sets his hand on the wall next to my head. I turn to look at it to break
the glare we are currently stuck in to see his muscular forearm is only a few
inches from my face. A shiver runs through me. Evan’s other hand is knotting in
my hair, turning me back to him. He holds me in position. “Would you have
regretted it if I had sex with you last night?” I might have been a tad braver
when writing the extra line of the note than I am right now. I wrote that, even
after sobering up, I still wanted him. Had I thought he’d track me down, I may
have reconsidered. My voice has become stuck in my throat, so I’m only able to
shake my head.

He
must have gotten the answer he’s looking for because his lips crash into mine,
devouring me. I’ve never been this weak over a guy before. After his rejection
last night, I should push him away. He’s only going to leave me wanting him
more, but I’m defenseless against him. I kiss him back, begging for him not to
stop this time, and run my hands up his arms until they reach his hair. Then I
feel the hand that was just on the wall next to my head sliding up my thigh.
Despite my body’s objection, I pull away from him and steady myself by resting
my hands on his chest. My breathing is ragged and my head is blurry. He leans
back slightly, reaches down to grab the bottom of his shirt, then pulls it up
over his head.

“What
the fuck are you doing?” I barely manage to get out as my eyes run down his
body. The muscles this guy has are perfect…from his chest all the way down to
that sexy V-shape that’s sticking out of the top of his worn jeans. Somehow, I
remember those are the same pants he was wearing last night. Did he just pick
them up off the floor and run out the door? Shit! That’s probably exactly what
he did.

“What
I should have done last night,” he says. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out
a condom.

“What?
We are
not
having sex in a dressing room!” I blurt out, panicking. If
this wall wasn’t behind me, I would move away from him.

“Why
not?” Evan gives me his sexy smirk, which screws with my ability to think
straight.

“We
can’t do that. It’s illegal or something.”

“Kacie,
the only way I’m not having sex with you right now is if you tell me you don’t
want it.” My mouth falls open and he raises his eyebrows, challenging me to
tell him no. I
should
tell him no. I should push him out of the door and
slam it in his face for even suggesting we do such a thing. But the problem is,
I can’t. When I don’t deny him, he slams into me again. This is so unlike him.
His hands are all over me. They are on my face, down my back, on my sides, on
my hips. Everywhere. I can’t keep up with him. As I grab the button of his
jeans, he reaches under the dress and slips my panties down. How he gets them
all the way off without actually moving away is beyond me. I’m just glad
they’re appropriate for such a situation. Although, he doesn’t seem to notice
them.

Since
I’m apparently too slow for him, he pushes my hands out of the way and undoes
his jeans without removing his lips from mine. Once they’re down, he pulls away
to open the wrapper. My first glimpse of the guy who has been turning me on for
weeks renders me speechless. This can either be because my body is going to
self-combust in seconds, or he’s going to tear me apart when he enters me. I’m
not sure which, nor do I give a shit.

Evan
must notice my slight hesitation. His hand is under my chin, bringing my head
up so our eyes meet. Seconds ago, he was rushing as if I’d disappear right
before his eyes if he didn’t hurry, but now he’s soft and gentle. “If you don’t
want this, just say the word,” he whispers.

Words
are still escaping me. My hand reaches for the condom he’s holding. I take it
and reach for him. His deep gasp of air tells me that he wasn’t anticipating
that. I smirk, rolling the condom down the length of him. I guess he’s not the
only one who’s full of surprises. He’s holding his breath and his eyes are wide
until it’s all the way on. Evan lifts up the dress and picks me up as soon as I
release him. “Wrap your legs around me,” he demands. I comply instantly. Just
before he fills me, he whispers at my ear, “I dare you to be quiet.” It’s a
dare I can’t win. Between the ache I’ve had for entirely too long finally being
satisfied and seeing the muscles of Evan’s back and ass in the mirror behind
him, there’s no way to keep this inside.

Before
too long, he’s grunting, “Kacie, you need…to hurry…the fuck up.” As if I’m
waiting for his permission, my body submits, falling apart in his arms moments
later. Evan immediately follows, relieving the sexual tension that has been
building between us since the first night we met. He leans us up against the
wall while he gets his breathing under control. Neither one of us speaks for a
few minutes as we calm down and cool off. Was it this hot in the room before he
got here? He quietly places tender kisses on my neck and cheek.

Once
he’s composed, he slowly lowers me to the ground, but doesn’t let me go. His
hands slide up my body to the sides of my face, and he leans his forehead on
mine. “Please tell me I didn’t just fuck up any chance I might have had with
you.”

I
open my eyes to see his are closed. “Evan,” I say, confused. He’s had me and
will move on now, right? He opens his eyes to look into mine. “Why would you
think that?” I brush my hand through his messy hair to distract him from my
sudden sadness. This can’t be the end of us.

“I
just attacked you in a dressing room.”

I
chuckle a little. “You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do.” Relief
floods his face. It sounds as if even Tampa’s biggest lady’s man may even feel
a little insecure every now and then.

After
placing another gentle kiss on my head, Evan brings my lips to his once again.
Eventually, he backs away. “I didn’t think this through very well,” he admits,
running his hand through his hair.

“Why?”

“What
the hell am I going to do with this thing?” He’s holding the condom.

“Here.”
I hold out the bag from my chocolate chip muffin and dig some tissues out of my
purse, which he gratefully takes.

“Did
you save me any?” he has the balls to ask, glancing in the bag.

 “Seriously?”
I say, rolling my eyes.

He laughs.
“What?” He mocks innocence. “In my defense, I just woke up. Some chick left
this note for me and I had to take care of it. I didn’t have time to eat.”

“Defense,
my ass,” I mumble.

Evan
leans over to pull his jeans back up from around his ankles. When he’s standing
upright, he holds out my panties with a wicked grin on his face. “Sorry.
They’re a little damp.”

“Give
me those,” I say, snatching them out of his grasp and turning my back to him.

All
of a sudden, his one arm is wound tightly around my waist while his other hand
is running along my arm. “I can’t wait to do that to you again,” he tells me as
he’s rubbing his lips along my neck.

“Again?”
I swallow the lump in my throat and close my eyes. May as well kick the huge
ass elephant out of the room. There’s not enough space in here as it is. “Don’t
you have a one-time limit?”

Evan
spins me around and holds my face forcing me to do what he wants. His
expression is no longer playful. “Take it back.” I try to pull away, but his
grip is too strong. “Take it back,” he repeats, as if I didn’t hear him the
first time.

“I’m
just stating the obvious. I know how it works with you.”

“Apparently,
you don’t know shit.” He closes his eyes and lays my head against his chest,
holding me close. “If I thought for one second this would have actually
happened, I may have grabbed more than one condom. Then I’d be able to prove
you and I are not a one-time thing.”

Trying
to make light of the situation, my big mouth says, “Like you’d be able to do it
again right now anyway.”

He
holds me tighter so I can feel just how ready he actually is. “Sweetheart, I’ve
been hard since you sat down at my bar. There’s no way one time or one million
times will help alleviate that.” He sighs and continues, leaving me no time to
respond. “I want you to be mine.”

“Yours?”

“Yes,
mine. I’m already yours. You just haven’t realized it yet. You’ve been so stuck
on the shit Jade was feeding you about me at first that you haven’t taken the
time to think for yourself. You’re not seeing how I haven’t even so much as
looked at another girl the way I look at you. If I’m not with you, I’m thinking
about you. You strolled into town and took over my life without even knowing
it. Hell,
I
didn’t even realize it. I’ve lost countless hours of sleep
just lying in bed wondering how to tell you without freaking you out, how I
want to hold you every night as you fall asleep. To be there when you wake up
every morning. To have you all to myself. To tell the entire world that you’re
mine and no one else can have you. I’ve wondered what it would feel like to
have you want the same thing with me.”

I
try to blink away the tears, but they refuse to go away. “I never really
listened to Jade.”

“You
didn’t?”

“No
but, unfortunately, it doesn’t matter. Until this thing with my parents is
behind me, I have no control over my life. I refuse to bring someone else into
this mess. As much as I want to, I can’t give you all of me the way you
deserve.”

“I
don’t give a shit about your parents, their threats, or the dipshit doctor who
thinks he has some kind of claim to you. You and I are going to talk about it
and find a way to fix it. I don’t care if we have to hire a hundred lawyers.”

“I’m
not sure there’s a way to fix it.”

“Kacie,
there’s no way I’m going to live my life without you. You can try to fight me
on this all you want, but you won’t win. I don’t care what it takes. We’re
going to figure it out. Got it?”

“Why
me? You can have anyone. Someone who doesn’t have all this baggage. Why not
pick someone less complicated?” I can’t breathe at the thought of him picking
someone else.

Evan
runs his hand down my arm. “Because I want you.” He kisses my lips. “So please
promise me that we’ll talk about this and figure it out together.”

“I
promise,” I whisper.

Evan
throws his shirt back on and I try to change back into my shorts and t-shirt.
Of course, he makes it as difficult as he can by holding my shirt up so I can’t
reach it. All the while, his hands are all over me and it takes a bit longer
before either one of us are able to leave the privacy of the dressing room.

“What
if there’s someone out there who heard us?”

He
pokes fun at me. “Are you embarrassed? You should be. You were really…” My hand
covers his mouth to prevent him from finishing the sentence. He’s laughing and
trying to pull it off. “I’m just stating the obvious.”

“If
you say it, I will hurt you,” I warn him. When he looks like he’s going to say
it again, I grab his shirt and pull his lips to mine. I’ll do whatever is
necessary to keep him from saying how loud I was.

“Kacie,
if you don’t stop, we aren’t leaving here and it won’t matter if I have another
condom or not.” At least he forgot what he was saying. “Will I be able to see
you before I go to work tonight?”

“I’ll
call you when I get home. Jade wants to grab lunch.”

“Call
me on your way. I’ll meet you there.” I smile, feeling content about him
wanting to see me again so soon. We say goodbye and he leaves the dressing room
before me. Good. This way, he can scare off anyone waiting around. I know he
wouldn’t let anyone say a word to me, though. “Oh. Hey, Jade. Thanks for
telling me where she was.” He was the one who called Jade?! Damn it! Then I
hear him say, “Make sure she gets the black dress. It’s my favorite.” Oh, my
god!

Evan

Kacie
Foster found her way into my life and then, somehow, into my heart. How this
happened is beyond me. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined settling
with one girl. The shit I used to give my friends for claiming they were in
love was absurd. If they could only see me now. I have no idea if this is love
or what, but one thing’s for sure. I want it. Bad. Discovering she isn’t
completely against the notion of being mine only makes me crave her that much
more. However, the fact that she didn’t say it the other day at the mall has
been tugging at me.

Yesterday,
we weren’t able to see each other. I’m aware that will occur from time to time,
but it doesn’t mean I have to be a fan of it. Kacie called when I was getting
ready to head to her house. Someone from the school where she’ll be teaching
wanted to meet her for lunch. The excitement in Kacie’s voice was infectious.
She can’t wait to get in the classroom with the kids. I think she’s only now
starting to realize her goal of doing what she has always wanted is about to be
met. How can I not be happy for her? Later on, Kacie and Jade had plans with
their friends to grab dinner and see a movie. Needless to say, I can’t wait to
get this night over with so I can go pick her up. She promised to go fishing
with me in the morning. I might have forgotten to mention how early that would
actually be.

Things
have gone pretty well tonight. There have been no problems around the club and
none of my friends dropped by to prevent me from getting my shit done. As soon
as the last person leaves this place, I’m running the hell out of here. My
truck is packed and ready for the trip, so I can go straight to Kacie’s. It’s just
after midnight and I’m considering taking a short nap since there will be no
time for sleeping when I get out. When I stand up from the desk, the door flies
open.

“Guess
what?” an overly cheerful Meg says, busting into the office.

“What?”
I try to match her enthusiasm, but fail.

“Mom
and Dad just got home!” she announces. “Mind if I go see them before they go to
bed? Kylie’s at the front desk and everyone else is good. I just checked.”

I
smile at her. Meg and her parents are so close. I’m surprised she survived this
last month. “Not at all.”

“Yay!
Daddy said he’ll come in tomorrow before opening.”

“Tell
him not to worry about it and take the weekend off. I’ll stop by the house
sometime in the next two days to see them.”

She
pauses at the door. “Make sure you bring Kacie when you do. Mom is excited to
meet her.”

“You
told them about her?” Of course she did.

“Evan,”
she says, as if I shouldn’t be surprised. “Mom has been anxiously waiting for
you to find someone who makes you happy. She worries about you.”

“Give
her a kiss for me. Drive carefully, Meg.” Aunt Grace feels obligated to watch
out for me like I’m her own kid because of how things went down with my parents
after we lost Ethan. Sometimes my aunt forgets I’m twenty-six and should be able
to handle my own life.

“Good
night,” Meg says, bouncing out of the room.

Just
when I’m about to lie on the sofa, my phone starts to buzz. “Damn it!” I say
walking back over to the desk to get it. It’s Jade. “Hey.”

“Oh,
good! I got you. Listen, I don’t have much time. Kacie just ran upstairs to
grab me her teal sparkly wedges I told her I needed to borrow. Wednesday night,
I’m having a party for her at my house. It’s not going to be a surprise. I’ll
tell her when it gets closer and there’s not enough time to cancel.”

“Are
you sure that’s a good idea? She said she didn’t want to celebrate it.”

“Do
you really think I give a shit about what she said?” she fires back. “Trust me.
I know my best friend. She’s just upset about having to spend the first
birthday of her life without Gram. That’s all the more reason to make a big
deal of it. She’ll be fine. I promise. Anyway, will you and Meg both be able to
get off?”

I
sigh. There’s no way to beat Jade Quinn when she’s this determined. “I’ll make
it happen. Why do I feel like I’m an accomplice in a murder?”

“You’ll
get over it. Is there any possibility you can get me a DJ on such short notice?
You know a lot more of them than I do.”

“I’ll
get Nick to do it and hire someone else for the club.”

“You’re
the best!” she tells me. “Don’t you dare tell her before I say it’s okay! Gotta
run before I get caught talking to you. See ya!” She’s gone before I can say
another word.

About
twenty minutes later, I feel myself dozing off when I get a text.

G’nite.
Can’t wait to see you in the morning. Miss you!

I
smile in response.
If this isn’t love I’m feeling, it soon will be,
I
think.

***

It’s
amazing what a few hours of sleep can do for a person. I feel completely
energized and ready for the day. Spending all morning and afternoon with Kacie
will be worth the exhaustion I’ll be experiencing twenty-four hours from now.
There may be something to having a nine-to-five kind of job, but I’ll never
know. Working at Skyline is like being home.

When
I walk out into the club, the crowd has already started to disperse. Normally,
I don’t care if the waitresses take their time and relax before cleaning up,
but tonight I make sure they are all on the ball and getting it done. I want to
get out of here as soon as possible. No one gave me a hard time, lucky for
them, and we are all walking out by three-thirty. Hopefully, we can get to the
marina by five. My condo is so much closer to Skyline than Kacie’s house. Shit!
Why didn’t I think of this earlier? She could have slept there and we would have
been able to get on the road earlier. Oh, well. Nothing I can do about it now.

Kacie
gave me a key to her house because she was afraid she wouldn’t hear the
doorbell ringing. I let myself in and take the steps three at a time. Her
bedroom door is open and I can see her light glowing. Is she already up? Before
I call out her name, I walk in to see her sleeping on the chair right inside
her room. The armrest her head is leaning on is so high, her neck is barely
bent to the side. Her legs are draped with a green blanket and an open book is
resting on her lap. How the hell does someone fall asleep reading? I kneel on
the floor in front of her. Does she have any idea how much she means to me? My
finger reaches over to brush a lock of her hair back, then it runs down her
cheek. She truly is beautiful. I pick up the book and place it, open side down,
on the table next to her, careful not to lose her page.

“Kacie,”
I whisper, running my hand along her bare arm. She doesn’t even flinch. I tilt
over to kiss her cheek. Still nothing. Saying her name a little louder and
shaking her leg slightly gets her to shift, but she still doesn’t wake up. Good
thing she thought to give me that key because there’s no way she would have
heard the doorbell. I almost feel bad trying to get her up, but she told me to.
The back of my fingers rub along her cheek and my thumb slides across her
bottom lip. Her eyes start to flutter and eventually open. She smiles as soon
as she sees me.

“Hey,”
she says, still sleepy.

“Hey.
You aren’t so easy to wake up. A little warning would have been nice.”

She
closes her eyes long enough that I think she fell back asleep, but then opens
them again. “I gave you a key. That was me warning you.” Before I forget, I take
the key out of my pocket and place it next to the book on the table.

“Do
you still want to go or do you want to go back to sleep?” I ask.

She
sits up and reaches for me. Without thinking, my body moves to her. Kacie
kisses me with passion every time but, right now, I’m seriously considering
carrying her to the bed in the other room rather than going anywhere. Once she
ends the kiss, she whispers, “Don’t stay away so long next time.” She doesn’t
wait for a reply. She stands up, but stops quickly when she’s facing away from
me. “Evan?”

“Yeah?”
I ask. I’m still kneeling here, unable to move, blown away by her kiss.

“It’s
still dark out,” she says, matter-of-factly. “What time is it?”

Her
reaction snaps me out of the spell she had me under and I stand up, chuckling.
“A little after four.”

“Are
you crazy?” She whips around, glaring at me.

“The
fish are hungry early. We have to get going.”

“Next
time you want to fish, go sit on the damn dock out back and come get me after
the sun comes up,” she mumbles, heading into her closet. She’s even hot when
she’s irritated.

I
follow her and lean my arm against the door. She already has her shirt off,
getting ready to put a bra on. The sight of her bare back pulls me into the
closet with her. I run my fingers over her smooth skin, turning myself on
again. “You are so fucking tempting.”

“Unless
it will get me out of going fishing before daylight breaks, don’t even think
about it.”

I
can’t help but laugh at her. “Too bad. You promised.”

“Remind
me to keep my promises to myself from now on,” she teases. At least, I think
she’s teasing.

Thankfully,
she gets ready faster than any girl I’ve ever met and we are on our way fairly
quickly. When we get in the truck, Kacie curls up on the passenger seat and
lays her head down on the center console. “Your entire body actually fits on
the seat like that,” I say in disbelief.

“What’s
your point?” she asks, not moving.

“I
haven’t been able to do that since I was about eight-years-old.”

“Shut
up,” she grumbles. She holds her hand out for me to take. My fingers interlock
with hers and she stays like that until we get there.

Once
we’re at the marina, Kacie helps get my shit out of the truck and we stroll
through the parking lot. I make a quick stop in the small store to grab some
donuts and juice for breakfast. Since we got out of the truck, Kacie hasn’t
stopped talking about yesterday’s meeting with the other teacher. This could be
why she hasn’t noticed where we’re heading. I stop going forward and walk up
the few steps in front of me. When I turn around to grab Kacie’s hand to steady
her, she’s frozen in place. The lights along the dock shine enough light onto
her face that I can see she looks a tad green.

“What’s
wrong?” I panic.

“T-that’s
a boat,” she stutters.

“Last
time I checked.”

“I
can’t get on a boat.”

“Why
not?”

“I
get seasick.” She takes a step backward.

“What?
How does a swimmer get seasick? You’re from Florida. Isn’t it in your blood or
some shit to like the water?”

“I
like the water just fine, as long as I’m not on a boat.”

Fuck!
Way to think this through, genius. I throw my crap onboard and walk over to
where she’s standing. Holding her, I say, “The water is calm today. I already
checked and I’m good at this. You’ll be fine. If you start to feel sick, I’ll
distract you.”

She
sighs. “I’m feeling sick just thinking about it.”

“Really?”
I ask. My lips run along her jawline until they reach her ear. She’s now
gripping my forearms as if she’s going to fall over. “Still feel sick?”

“Yes,”
she breaths out. The way she talks when she’s turned on should be illegal. Fuck
fishing.

I
lift her up and carry her onboard. She doesn’t protest, only allows her tongue
to roam over my neck. Knowing the steps leading below deck tend to be slippery
even when they aren’t wet, I carefully take them one at a time. I lower her
down to dig the keys out of my pocket. How hard is it to get a fucking door
open? Seeing that I’m having trouble with the lock, she takes the key from me
and easily unlocks it. I push the door open and turn the light on so Kacie can
see where she’s going. She takes in the space and turns back to me. “Did you
only do that to distract me long enough so I’d get on this stupid boat?”

“No.
I did it to get you in that bed.” I nod in the direction where it is.

“I
almost had to kick your ass,” she says, reaching by me to turn the light back
off.

Our
first time did not go how I had imagined it would. Don’t get me wrong. It was
amazing, but my girl deserves better than being held up against a wall. I need
to make up for it. Dawn is starting to break, so it’s not completely dark in
here. The features of her face are just about visible in the soft light.
Gently, I guide her the few feet to the edge of the bed. Her hands run up the
front of my chest along the buttons of my work shirt. She takes her time with
each and every damn one of them until she’s able to slide my shirt off my
shoulders. Then, even slower, she slides my tank top up over my head and drops
it to the floor. Feeling her hands on my skin makes it hard to remember how
this time is supposed to be different.

  I
slip a finger under each side of her shirt and raise it even more slowly than
she did with my buttons. She doesn’t try to rush me, but I didn’t miss her
biting into her bottom lip. My lips find their way down the side of her neck,
causing her head to tilt back. I reach a hand up to support it for her. My lips
continue on down to her shoulder, where my teeth pick up the strap of her bra.
I’m pretty sure she inhales sharply when my other hand unclasps it behind her,
but my attention is suddenly diverted elsewhere.