The Promise Pact (Promise to Love Book 1)
Read The Promise Pact (Promise to Love Book 1) Online
Authors: J. A. Fraser
Contents
The Promise Pact
J.A. Fraser
Peephole Press
New York
The Promise Pact
Copyright © 2015
EPUB Edition
Peephole Press 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher or author, excepting brief quotes used in reviews. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or person, living or deal, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1-943311-01-9
Dedicated to my sister for encouraging me every step of the way! I love you!
PROLOGUE
Fifteen years earlier…
“May I have this dance?”
Kaya ripped her hands away from Max King’s warm sensual touch. She quickly jerked her head around to see how many people were laughing and involved in this cruel joke. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach the moment she realized not a soul stood behind her. Could Max King, the most popular guy in their high school, actually be asking her to dance? The answer was simple, no way! A tinge of anger immediately shot through Kaya’s body followed by a steady stream of regret. Why in the hell had she agreed to attend Lakewood High’s Senior Dance with her favorite teacher Ms. Roy? She had managed to stay away from these social disasters her entire four years and now here she was standing in the middle of hell! Sure, Ms. Roy had supported her both emotionally and sometimes financially since her freshman year but this favor was too much, even for Ms. Roy to ask. Without a second thought, Kaya brushed off the question and headed towards the punch table, hoping Max’s eyes would adjust to the dimly lit room. Soon he would realize he asked the wrong girl and he and his friends would be off to some corner gawking over one of the many
well-endowed
girls in the room.
“Aren’t you a little old to be ignoring people?” he questioned. Kaya’s smoky midnight eyes widened when she realized that Max was actually speaking to her.
Had he followed her to the other side of the room?
***
Max King had never spoken or acknowledged her in public so why was he speaking to her now? Earlier that year, they had been assigned Chemistry study partners, but that wasn’t information he readily shared with anyone. Even during those sessions, they rarely spoke to one another, except when they were drilling each other prior to an exam. So why was he standing so incredibly close to her now? Why was his simple request to dance driving her mad and at the same time making her palms sweaty and her legs weak? Kaya wasn’t going to allow him to hypnotize her with sweet nothings like he did with every girl in their senior class. She was much smarter than that. Plus, by all accounts she was a socially awkward nerd, way out of Max’s league, and she planned to remain that way until graduation.
Grabbing a cup of tart punch from the overly decorated table she gulped the cool liquid down, hoping it would bring her back to her senses. For a moment it had, but that quickly ended when he moved closer to her, so close she could feel his heavy breathe against her ear.
God he smelled good.
The sweet scent of oak and a hint of peppermint gum drifted into her nostrils and made her mind spin.
“Kaya Hanson, I asked you if you wanted to dance.” Why was he taunting her? Why would he play such a painful joke on a person who had been nothing but cordial to him all these years?
Enough!
It was time to put her foot down.
Kaya stiffened her shoulders, straightened her back and stuck out her lip, all clear signs that she refused to participate in his silly high school games. She didn’t care what his social status was he needed to get out of her space and allow her to enjoy the rest of this miserable affair.
But, Max stood there, relentless, in her space, determined.
He stepped closer.
Then closer.
His warm breath against her neck caused flashes of heat to pulsate down her lower thigh. The feeling was warm and intoxicating.
What was it?
“Just one dance, please,” he stated with a deep urgency in his voice.
Why me?
She thought as she stood there frozen, helplessly drinking in his appearance. Max was tall, he towered over her with a strong lean frame and muscular physique. His crew cut hair was dark, with a slight shimmer of bronze around the edges that danced around his forehead highlighting his olive complexion. His oval face was slender and sturdy which defined his strong model like cheekbones. But it was his lips,
those lips
, which defined his perfection, like Michelangelo had painted them on himself. You couldn’t miss his scrumptious lips even if you tried. They were full, bursting with wetness and plump as a ripe juicy cherry.
Just one taste
, Kaya thought as she shifted her weight trying to regain her composure. At seventeen years old she had never longed to be touched or kissed by a man but something had changed with his simple agonizing question. She tried to look away but his dark sultry glare left her weak and desperate.
Breath deep. Focus. It will all be okay.
But, Kaya knew everything was wrong. Dead wrong.
Forced into reality, with the DJ’s next slow tune. Kaya seized the opportunity to make her exit.
“Thanks, but I was just about to leave!”
“Leave before I get one dance Kaya. Before I get one goodbye kiss?” He stated with those tempting puffy lips.
“A kiss?”
“A kiss!”
Kaya’s head was spinning, why was Max playing such a torturous game with her mind? His audaciousness and ego had hit her faster than a moving train. Did he really want to wrap his strong masculine hands around her tight body, then commence into some gyrating grind? And what about his request to press those tantalizing lips against her own? She was in trouble.
“Are you ready Kaya?”
She didn’t acknowledge him verbally, but every nerve in her body perked up and responded to his request.
He saw.
She launched in.
“Max, you are a spoiled rich kid who thinks he deserves anything that wants. Well, I hate to be the one to break the news to you but you don’t always get what you want. I don’t care who you are or
how good you look
.”
“W-What did you just say?”
Shit, oh no! It was too late to take back, the words had already drifted from her quick tempered lips. She looked away, but she could feel his eyes glued on her, and she knew he was completely and absolutely
pleased
with himself.
“So, you find me attractive?”
“Not really,” she uttered. Damn, everything was coming out wrong.
“So you
do
want a kiss?”
Kaya could feel the space closing in on them. A few seconds later, blood quickly rushed to her face, flushing her with embarrassment. What the hell was he doing to her?
Get control Kaya, don’t let him see you sweat
.
So she did the only thing she could do.
She ran.
She bolted quickly towards the exit door, bumping, dashing, and sprinting between random well-dressed folks trying to make the perfect getaway. Kaya wasn’t about to stick around for another minute, knowing she could possibly put her foot back in her mouth. She flung the massive gym door open and scurried down the long hallway until the thunderous music was nothing more than a faint whisper.
How had Max King caused her to unravel right before him?
Did the most beautiful man in the world really want to dance with her and kiss virgin wet lips?
Now outdoors, she breathed in a hefty gulp of clean crisp night air, then she let out a deep sigh. Maybe it was the loud music or the tart punch that had caused all the sudden confusion. Whatever the reason, she was glad she was out there,
or was she
?
Kaya immediately dismissed her random thoughts. She rushed back into the building, retrieved her coat from the coat check and asked Mr. Molten, the janitor, to inform Ms. Roy she had to leave early because she wasn’t feeling well. Then she headed to the bus stop, destined for home.
The cool, calm Philadelphia air quickly comforted her senses as she tried to get her average life back to normal. The 11:30 pm bus seemed to be running late but Kaya didn’t mind because she was at peace, and more importantly, she was away from Max.
With all her finals completed Kaya could now put high school in her rearview mirror and focus on her future. A future that included obtaining a Bachelor’s in Nursing degree. Of course, Ms. Roy had tried to convince her to attend graduation but she had refused, citing her elderly grandmother’s failing health as the primary reason. Deep down, Ms. Roy knew Kaya’s constant struggle to fit in with Lakewood High’s elite had been the main reason.
Glancing at her simple reflection in the glass of the bus stop shelter, she gazed over her hideous oversized outfit.
One day things would be different. One day I will fit in!
Her thoughts were interrupted when a cherry red BMW 328i screeched in front of the bus stop. Moments later, a concerned familiar face emerged from the car. It was Max!
“Why did you bolt out of the party so fast?”
“Please Max, just go back to the party and leave me alone,” Kaya stated sarcastically with a hint of loneliness and fear in her eyes.
***
Max stood there in the cool air feeling like a fool. Why was it so hard for him to speak to her? Why did Kaya always make him feel unworthy of her time?
Kaya Hanson wasn’t like any of the girls he dated. She didn’t don the latest designer bag, prance around in Prada heels or tell the world what she ate or who she saw via the internet. By all accounts, she was a simple looking girl but his primal and raw urges told him she was anything but plain under those frocks. She stood tall at five-feet-nine-inches, with a curvy slender build. She had silky, dark hair, which she only wore in a ponytail, and mesmerizing midnight coal eyes.
Gazing now, Max could clearly make out the perkiness and roundness of her breast underneath her oversized dress. He could only imagine how full and tender they would feel in his massive hands. Would she succumb to his every desire with one sweet flick of the tongue across her ripe nipples? He quickly shrugged off his erotic thoughts and moved in closer to her.
“Congratulations! I heard you got into New York University,” Max stated with a small smile on his face. “I also heard you got into Columbia, Temple, Harvard, Yale and Princeton.”
Kaya nodded in appreciation, but was careful not to utter a sound.
Her expression ripped through him. Anxiety bubbled in his core. But he knew he deserved her coldness. For four years, Max knew Kaya traveled nearly two hours one way, each day, to attend their exclusive private high school on a full academic scholarship. She was invisible to most students at the school, but not him. So, why hadn’t he said a word to her for nearly three years? Why did he waste an entire year in Chemistry study sessions rattling off scientific terms when he wanted to take a magnifying glass and see what was below? Shit, Kaya frustrated him mentally, emotionally and absolutely physically. It was time he confessed.
“I wish I had taken the time to get to know you better this year, well, every year you were here at Lakewood.” He sincerely stated as he sat down on the bench.
Kaya remained quiet.
“Have you narrowed down your choices yet for college? Any idea what you will major in?” He uttered sounding genuinely interested in her future. The night was taking her on an emotional roller coaster ride and she was ready to get off, or was she?
“I-I’m not sure yet. College is extremely expensive and I don’t have the money most people around here do.” Max felt uncomfortable listening to her story but he let her continue. “I’m waiting to see how much financial aid and scholarship money I receive from each school. That’s how I’ll make my final decision. Unfortunately Max, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I have to work for everything I have.” Her words weren’t meant to hurt him but he somehow felt the sting so he stood and walked slowly towards her.