Lovely (21 page)

“I guess so.” I suddenly realize how quiet it is and I pause, listening for the sound of my big-headed brother and my baby sister. “Where is everyone?”

Mom stacks all of the swatches and puts them in a folder. “Honey, it’s eleven o’clock. Delilah and Colt are already out and about.”

I jump up off the chair, nearly falling over. “Oh shit,” I mutter, forgetting she’s standing there.

“Ash,” she replies, a sternness lacing her voice.

I walk to the living room and she follows behind me. “Sorry, Mom, but I’m picking Cara up at one. I didn’t intend to sleep this late.”

A happy grin lifts her cheeks. “Must’ve been some date.”

I come back with a smile twice as big. “It was, Mom. It was the best freaking date I’ve ever had. I didn’t want it to end.”

“So, she’s still lovely then?”

A sigh escapes my chest as I fly up the stairs. “She defines the word.”

“Hmmm,” she says, with an approving smile. “So do you want a bite to eat before you go?”

I pause halfway up the stairs. “No, I’m good. I need to get ready. Hey, do you still have that picnic basket we used to take to the park?”

“I think so, why?”

“I’m taking Cara on a picnic at the reservoir.”

Mom opens the door and snags the mail, sorting through the letters. “I’ll take a look in the basement while you get ready.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

I run upstairs and shower, brush my hair, and get dressed quickly. I grab some cologne and spray it on before I head downstairs. Mom’s sitting on the couch, the picnic basket set in front of her on the coffee table. She’s wearing a giving smile that shows me this is one of the things she loves about being a mom.

“All set. You’ve got two turkey sandwiches, strawberries, chocolate, seltzer, and grapes. Am I missing anything?”

That’s my mom
. “That’s perfect. Thanks, Mom.”

“Well, have fun, and don’t forget to invite Cara for dinner. I’d really like to meet her.”

“I will.” I give her a kiss and head out to see my girl.

When I arrive at Cara’s house and she opens the door, my breath is taken away from me, just like it is every time I see her. Her hair is drawn into a ponytail, soft strands framing her porcelain skin. I can see the outline of her breasts perfectly through her fitted cotton tank, and a pair of sexy cutoff jean shorts bare her long, slender legs. My pain is increasing tenfold.

“Ash, are you okay?”

A huge burst of air leaves my chest and blows in her direction. “Yeah. You look … breathtaking.”

She looks down at herself and then back up at me. “Ash, I’m wearing shorts and a tank top.”

I grin. “Like I said … breathtaking.”

A blush the color of red wine stretches across her cheeks and she smiles, a smile that lights up my entire world.

She steps closer to me, the scent of her strawberry shampoo drifting in the air between us. “So, where are we going?” she asks excitedly.

I place my hands on her hips, running my thumbs over the cotton fabric. “I was thinking we’d go down to Glendale Reservoir and have a picnic there.”
Or we could just stay here and I could keep touching you
.

She circles her arms around my neck and looks up at me with those enchanting brown eyes. “What’s that?”

Her tongue skates along the curve of her bottom lip and my eyes are instantly drawn there. My pulse starts to race because I know what she tastes like now … and I want another taste. Cara’s nearness causes every nerve ending to come alive and it’s like sensory overload. I can hear her rapid heartbeats vibrating in my ears, feel her warm, sweet breath tickling my neck, the heat from her body receding into mine.

“Ash?”

I guess that’s my cue to drop out of this daze and speak. “Oh, it’s the area surrounding the lake. It’s huge and you can hike, picnic, or swim if you want.”

“Do I need to put sneakers or a bathing suit on?” she asks, and she’s so close now that I need her lips.

I cinch the fabric of her shirt in my hands and tug her closer. “You don’t need sneakers or a suit but you do need to kiss me.”

She smiles and pushes up on her tippy toes, her soft, moist lips brushing mine. I grin against her mouth, feeling the flutter of her eyelashes on my cheeks, her sweet breath luring me into her mouth. I cradle her head and hold her to me as the tips of our tongues touch and I shiver, wrapping myself around her, tasting her, before I break the kiss and try and remember where the hell I am … because she makes me forget everything when I kiss her. Nothing else exists but us and the tangling of our lips and the pounding of my heart.

“Where am I?” I joke.

Her cheeks blush pink and she drops another kiss on my lips. “Let me just grab my bag and we can go.” She turns around and heads back in, and I admit that I look at her ass a wee bit too long, but I just can’t help myself. The smile that it causes hasn’t removed itself by the time she comes out and that makes her curious.

She squints her eyes and appraises me tentatively. “You know that old saying, you look like the cat that swallowed the canary? Well, you do. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I reply, grinning widely. “Just looking forward to the lake.”

“Yeah, okay,” she responds with a crooked eyebrow, not believing a word I’ve said.

By the time we get to the reservoir, we’re both starving. We find a spot under a beautiful weeping willow tree and I spread out the red blanket I always keep in the back of my car.

“It’s different than our oak tree, but I like it,” she says.

I cross over the blanket and enfold her in my arms. “I like that you called it
our
oak tree.”

She leans forward and glides her lips across mine.

I melt instantly against her, inhaling her familiar scent lingering in the air. When we pull back, I whisper against her lips, “You hungry?”

“Not for food,” she breathes seductively.

And just like that I’m hard
.

“What are you hungry for?” I manage to choke out.

She reaches out for me, her hands finding my cheeks, running her fingers over my skin in a rhythmic motion, her eyes seeking out mine. When they lock, I feel that familiar pull and the force of it is so strong that I can hardly breathe.

“Tell me you feel it, Cara?” I ask, my heart trying to find a beat.

“Yes,” she breathes and her eyes move to my mouth before pulling my lips to hers, tangling her fingers in my hair, tugging me close. She sucks on my upper lip before sliding inside and twining her tongue around mine, exploring my mouth, until her kiss becomes lighter and I feel her breath once again on my lips. “Now I worked up an appetite,” she says flustered.

“And now the last thing I want to do is eat,” I joke, giving her a chaste kiss. “So I hope you like turkey sandwiches. This whole picnic is courtesy of my mom.”

“That’s so sweet. Your mom seems pretty amazing.”

I smile when I think about Mom. “Yeah, she really is. And like I told you before, she wants to meet you. Can you come over for dinner this week?”

She takes both of the sandwiches out of the plastic wrap and hands me one. “I suppose,” she says with a lighthearted grin.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I shoot back, taking a bite of the sandwich and trying not to focus on her lips.

“Great, because it’s a definite yes.”

I take one of the seltzers and twist the cap off. “Good.” I look towards the lake. The sun is glistening off the water. “My dad and I used to come here fishing.”

She scoots nearer to me and I drape my arm over her shoulder. “Tell me more about your dad.”

I sigh. “My dad … I miss all the little things, you know? The way he’d push his glasses up on his nose and his deep, husky laugh. The way he’d pat my back when he was proud of me and the way he’d always check in with me at the end of the day, regardless of how busy he was. I miss his jokes, too. He always used to tell these corny jokes that he found funny but no one else did. We’d be in the garage that he’d converted to a tool room and he’d tell me jokes while he was fixing things. That’s when I developed a love for taking things apart … it was my dad who showed me the ropes.”

Cara lays her head on my shoulder, strands of her hair dangling against my cheek.

“When he got sick, he tried to hold it together for all of us, even though he was falling apart. I’ve never seen anyone fight as hard as my dad did when he got cancer. He wanted to live so desperately for all of us, but in the end, his body just couldn’t handle it.”

Cara reaches over and laces her fingers through mine and a calm settles over me.

“He used to play football with me in the backyard and help me with my piano. Music was really important to him. He played guitar, and he had this garage band with a group of his friends that used to come over every Saturday. I’d sit there and watch them play for hours, my air guitar proudly in my hand, pretending I was him.” I pause. “I remember wanting to be just like him when I grew up.”

She strokes her fingers up and down the inside of my arm. “I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like for your mom. Loving someone for that long, and then having to sit and watch them fight and still lose the battle. It sounds like your dad fought really hard.”

My limbs feel heavy with my next breath. “Yeah, he did. He loved my mom with everything he had, too. He gave her the world, and in the end, all she wanted was for him to live. She didn’t need anything else, yet that was the one thing he couldn’t give her.”

She reaches her hand up to gently touch my cheek. “I bet he would’ve been so proud of you … of the man you’ve become. I wish I could’ve met him.”

“Me, too. He would’ve really liked you.”

She stretches her legs out, and I lie my head down on her lap, letting the feel of her fingers in my hair carry me away. She gazes down at me, a faraway look in her eyes. “We’re just blessed to have the people we care about and who care about us, for whatever time we’re allowed,” she says quietly. “There are never any guarantees on time. You just never know what’s going to happen from one minute to the next.”

I lean my head back so I can meet her eyes. “Cara, are you okay?”

“Yes … yes,” she answers a little too quickly, her voice cracking.

“Tell me about
your
dad. I haven’t heard you talk about him that much.”

“My dad,” she smiles proudly, “was … kind, soft-spoken, and very gentle. It’s funny because he was a really big man in stature. He was well over six feet with a large frame; when people saw him they were immediately intimidated. To me, he was like a gentle giant.” She shakes her head and I feel a puff of air leave her mouth. “He wasn’t around much, you know that already. He was in sales, so he traveled all the time. I remember whenever he came home after a trip, the door would open and I’d run up to him, those big strong arms engulfing me in his warm embrace. I never wanted him to let go. I wanted him to take me wherever he was going … I would’ve done anything if he’d taken me with him instead of leaving me with her.”

I twirl one of her curls around my finger. “Did he know what was happening while he was gone?”

Her eyes glaze over with sadness. “I don’t know. I never told him. I do know that when he came home, my mother was on her best behavior. She hid all the alcohol and pretended everything was normal … boy, she was quite the actress, too. I just … sometimes I wonder what he ever saw in her. Wait, I shouldn’t say that. I know what he saw in her in the beginning. She was a beautiful woman physically, and it was hard not to look at her. Chestnut hair, big, beautiful eyes, and a stunning figure … But beyond that, she was empty.”

I feel her whole body stiffen and watch the light in her eyes grow dark.

“You know, I remember when I was younger my father always joked that I had ‘too much personality for my own good,’ but I never understood it until much later because my mom always said I had none.” She laughs, but it’s filled with sadness. “I think he’s the only one who saw me before I disappeared.”

Sitting up instantly, I push her hair away from her face, holding her gently between my hands. “
I
see you, Cara … and you’re lovely.” I press my forehead against hers, her breath whispering to my lips, her scent dizzying. I assume my position back on her lap as I think about her words. “I’m not sure how you got through all that and turned out so special.”

She lets out a sarcastic chuckle. “Yeah, okay.”

I take her hand and place it over my heart, settling it against the steady beat. She has no idea how she’s taken it over so completely. She makes me feel a million different emotions at once and I can’t make sense out of any of them. But I don’t need to.

The sun, mixed with Cara, blankets me in a layer of warmth and I doze off for I don’t know how long. I taste something sweet and open my eyes to find Cara dangling a strawberry over my mouth.

A devious smile passes over my lips. “First you’re reading poetry to me and now you’re feeding me strawberries. A guy could get used to this.”

“Hmmm …” She leans down and her tongue darts out to lick some of the strawberry from my lips.

I coil my hand around her ponytail, pull her close, and slip my tongue inside, tasting strawberry and Cara.
Delicious
.

I hear rustling and tilt my head back to see her fishing around in the picnic basket.

“Hey, there’s chocolate in here!” she exclaims, her face beaming.

My lips turn up in a wicked grin. “Well, you can’t very well have a picnic without chocolate.”

“It’s melted chocolate.”

“Yes,” I reply, “for dipping the strawberries.”

“I kind of figured that out,” she says with a giggle.

She opens up the plastic container and sticks her finger in, covering it entirely in chocolate. My eyes are glued to her mouth as her tongue darts out to slowly lick the chocolate off.
Jesus
. She’s so freaking sexy, wisps of hair falling in her face as her finger slides in and out of her mouth. It’s a slow torture. She’s making me hard. She takes her finger and dips it once again in the chocolate, moving it toward my mouth, and I open willingly so she can slip it inside. The sensation of her touch prickles the skin all over my body. I’m praying like hell she doesn’t look down and see the giant hard-on I’m sporting right now. I grab her and our tongues and lips mingle with the taste of chocolate until I hear a tiny moan escape and deepen the kiss.