Loving True (8 page)

* * * *

Falling against the counter,
True
gasped for breath. What in the hell was she doing? From underneath her lashes, she watched
Hayward
place the lasagna on the table beside a basket for the garlic bread. The tempting aroma momentarily made her forget her stupid mistake. Had
Hayward
placed a spell on her? What else could it be?

She never thought when she agreed to this date earlier that tonight she would be on top of an island going at like a raunchy teenager. Shit, if he could get her hot like that in a matter of minutes. What would happen if she let him go further? She had to get out of as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Maybe we should cancel this dinner. I don’t think we can keep this at a friendship level.” She turned to leave the kitchen.

“Please don’t leave.”
Hayward
pleaded as he rushed over to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, spinning her around. “I’m the one who kissed you. I take full responsibility for it.”
 
He ran his fingers down her bare arm. “It has been a very long time since I had a gorgeous woman companion for dinner.” He shrugged. “I guess I moved a little too fast, but I promise it won’t happen again.”
 

“Will you stay?” He turned her hand and caught her fingers in his. “I can’t eat all this food by myself.”

At that moment, her stomach growled and she laughed, “I would love to stay.”
 
The food did look good. She couldn’t wait until the first forkful of pasta touched her lips.

“What can I take to the dining room?” True asked trying to break up the tension in the room.

“Grab the salad and I’ll get the garlic bread,”
Hayward
said letting go of her hand.

“Okay, I can do that.” She lifted the salad off the table and carried it out of the room.

Inside the dining room, True placed the clear bowl in the middle of the white tablecloth. Pulling out a chair, she sat down at the table.
Hayward
was turning out to be more than she expected. God, he was the first man to ever make kissing a crime in her book. This dinner wasn’t going the way she hoped it would. She had to prove to herself that she was immune to this softer side of him. The arrogant cocky
Hayward
from the grocery store, she could handle, but man inside the kitchen would be hard to deny.

The swish from the kitchen door rung in her ears, it drew her attention across the room. She peeked at
Hayward
from the corner of her eye and watched him bring their dinner into the dining room. She tried to smother the emotions that raced through her, as he got closer.
 
How in the world can I fight my attraction to him, when all I want is for him to kiss me again?
 
She couldn’t let his charm win her over. She had to stay strong. “The food looks delicious,” she whispered, as
Hayward
placed their dinner on the table.

* * * *

Hayward
sat down in his seat and spooned pasta onto
True’s
plate and then he helped himself to huge amount of pasta. “T
hank
you. I hope it taste as good as it looks.” He let his eyes drank in the sight of her. He dropped his eyes down to her full lips and noticed they were still swollen from his kisses. It was a definite turn-on that made him want to kiss her again.

“Don’t sit there take a bite and tell me what you think.” He waved his fork toward
True’s
plate.

Lifting the fork off the plate, she shoved a small bite of food into her mouth. “Yummy, you did a superb job with this.” Swallowing the first bite, she shoved another forkful in.

He looked at True across the table. Her gaze connected with his, His body responded instantaneously. He wanted to see those rich brown eyes, filled with desire again.
 
He couldn’t deny the spark of excitement at the possibility of those perfect lips pressed against his again, before the night was over.

“Do you have a big family?” True asked.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin and placed it next to his plate. “I’ve an older brother named
Clinton
. He’s very much a playboy. I don’t think he will ever settle down and get married.” Crossing one leg over the other, he leaned back in his chair. “Both of my parents are still alive and happily married. A love like theirs is so rare most people never find it. Hopefully one day I hope to find it,” he muttered under his breath.

“Have you ever been married?”

“No, I haven’t been married.” Why would he tell her about Brooke and Tyler when she wasn’t offering him a lot of information about her past?
 

“I’m surprised.” True confessed.

“Why?” Getting up from his seat
Hayward
sat in the empty seat next to True and stretched his arm across the back of her seat. If he moved his head a little to the left, her breath would blow against his ear. Using the tips of his fingers, he ran them down her smooth bare arm. He felt her body shiver under his light touch.

True gasped. Her eyes flew down to his hand and then back up to his face. “You’re a good-looking, intelligent man I thought you might have been married,” she shrugged.

“What about you? Has there been anyone special in your life?”
Hayward
asked. His fingers played with a strand of her silky hair. He was amazed she could pull it into such a complicated twist. When he first saw her standing by the red mustang her black hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders.
 
Today when she found him in the woods, it was pulled back in a tight high ponytail. Now it was twisted into tight curls. The sweet smell of coconut drifted toward his nose as his fingers toyed with a coil.

In the past, he never paid much attention to his date’s hair, but True black glossy hair captivated him. Moving his fingers an inch he stroked her shoulder, “Do you have a boyfriend waiting to come for visit?”

True’s
gaze dropped down to his hand. “No, I don’t.”

Did she know how that smoky voice of hers was affecting his body?
“I find that very hard to believe. You’re the complete package. The girl next door with a little sexiness added in to the mix,” he continued. “I can’t believe there isn’t some guy out there dying to date you.” Removing his hand from
True’s
chair,
Hayward
grabbed his glass of ice tea and took a long sip, as he needed something to cool down his body.

“I’ve already told you a little about myself,” True sighed. “I’m the only child. My parents died in a plane crash when I was young. My aunt adopted me.”

Hayward
watched True closed her hand and dig her nails into the middle of her palm. As he reached over, he unclenched her small hand with his. He noticed the small crescent marks she had made in the middle of her palm. His fingers automatically rubbed the bruises. “Is your aunt still alive,” he asked his thumb stroking the inside of her wrist. The warmth of her skin soaked into his cool hand. He wanted to take the pain out of her beautiful eyes.

“Unfortunately, she died three years ago in her sleep,” True replied.

He noticed with each brush of his thumb some of the tension leaving
True’s
body.
 
Her tongue darted out of her mouth and ran across her full bottom lip.
 
He longed to be her tongue right now.

It felt good to have these emotions coursing through his body again. If True could make him feel like this, what else could this petite goddess do for him?
 

“Has anyone died in your family?”
 

Dragging his eyes away from her wet mouth,
Hayward
stared into
True’s
eyes. “No, all my family is still alive,” he lied.
 

“You’re very lucky
Hayward
.” True muttered slipping her hand from his grasp. “I wouldn’t want anyone to go through the pain I experienced. Losing a loved one takes a very long time to get over.”

He didn’t want to continue this conversation with her. He wasn’t ready to talk about his loss with anyone outside his family. “Hey, would you like a slice of cake,” he asked changing the subject.

Examining her watch, True gave her head a small shake. “No. I think I better leave. I’ve stayed a lot longer than I should have. Do you need me to help you with the dishes before I leave?”

Hayward
sighed. “No, I can get those. Let me walk you to the door.” He stood up, and then pulled out
True’s
chair. He inhaled the warm light fragrance that still clung to her skin. Tonight while he was alone in his bed this scent would taunt his dreams.

“I had a wonderful time.”
Hayward
admitted walking True to the front door. “I’m sorry you decided to leave before we ate some of your cake.”

“
Me
too,” True confessed, “but I still had a good time.”

Hayward
had to fight his need to be closer to
True
. Hell, he hadn’t felt this alive in years; he couldn’t let her leave until he secured another date. “Would you like to come over tomorrow night and watch a movie?”

Her face clouded with uncertainty. “Do you really think you could put up with me two nights in a row?”

“Yes, I want another date with you,”
Hayward
confessed. He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “How about you come over at the same time?” He asked moving back.

True’s
freshness added a light to the darkness that surrounded him and he wanted to explore it more. He tried not to be shaken by the light kiss, but his lips still tingled from the gentle contact. Was there something else he could do to make her say yes?

“I’ll be here at
seven o’clock
.”

“Wonderful, I’ll see you then.” He couldn’t keep his smile from spreading across his face.

True opened the front door, walked out and hurried across the thick rich grass toward her home. He kept his eyes on her small figure every step of the way until her front door closed behind her.

* * * *

The cool night air blew the black shirt across his body as he stood in the doorway after True had walked into her house. The clean night air filled his lungs tickling his ribs.
God, I haven’t felt this free in a long time
.
Hayward
moved back into the house, and he shut the door behind him. Standing in the dining room entranceway, he stared at the piles of dirty plates that covered the white antique tablecloth. For the first time in years his house looked lived in.
 
He remembered how
True’s
deep laughter rung out in his house, as he gathered the plates and carried them to the kitchen.
Who knew he would find her company so pleasurable?
 
She was so cute!
Her eyes lit up at the slightest flirtatious comment on his part. He liked that. He rinsed the dinner plates twice before he shoved them into the dishwasher. Then he worked for the next ten minutes cleaning up the kitchen and securing the house before he went upstairs.

Fifteen minutes later,
Hayward
laid his showered body on the old-silhouette big black bed. He brought it six months ago off the Internet for the padded leather headboard. The instant it pulled up in front of his eyes he knew without a doubt, it would be in this room. He reached across the nightstand for his black cell phone. He punched in the long distance number and waited for
Clinton
to answer.

“Hello.”

“Hey, I’m surprised I didn’t get your answering machine. I can’t remember the last time I called and got you home this early on a Friday night.”

“
Hayward
, what’s wrong?
 
I can count on one hand how many times you’ve called me at home,”
Clinton
asked.

“Can’t I call my brother?”
Hayward
questioned, smiling into the dark room. He looked out of his bedroom window. From his position on the bed he could see a light shining from
True’s
house next door.

“You only called me in the past to talk about work.”
Clinton
pointed out. “What’s going on
Hayward
?”

“Clint, I had a date tonight.”
 
His body still tingled from the rush of his dinner date with True.
Hayward
sat up in bed and shoved a pillow behind his back. “Are you still there?”

“Repeat what you said to me.”

“You heard what I said.”

“With whom?”
Clinton
questioned.

“True Williams, my next door neighbor,”
Hayward
muttered. “Clint, you should see her. She’s absolutely gorgeous.”
 

“How did you get a date with her? I know she had to ask you.”