Page 7 of Unscripted Love

“What?” I asked. Running from me wasn’t the reaction I wanted from him.

“Um, I just remembered that I need to go. I… uh, forgot something at home. I mean, I think I left my oven on. Yeah, that sounds right.” He was babbling again, which meant I struck a nerve. I just hoped once he calmed down he would realize it was a good nerve.

“Can I call you later?” I asked, not willing to give up too easily.

“Um, yeah,” he said as he slid off my tailgate.

“But will you answer?” My question seemed to penetrate whatever thoughts had sent him into a panic. Chaz almost looked sad, and I worried that I sounded too pathetic or needy. “Never mind, I…”

“I’ll answer.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight,” he said then offered me a sweet smile before he got into his car and drove away.

I sat on the bed of my truck and watched the rest of the firework display by myself, which was what I had intended all along. Somehow it wasn’t good enough after sharing a few minutes with Chaz. The fireworks weren’t as vibrant, and the silence after they were over was deafening. It was then that I realized just how much trouble Chaz Hamilton could cause me.

Idrove home in a daze after Kyle kissed me beneath the stars and fireworks. Okay, technically I kissed him, but he started it when he licked the corner of my mouth. We’d been circling each other for months, both obviously attracted to the other but neither willing to make a move. Well, someone finally made a move, and then I ran for my life. The confusion on Kyle’s face over my reaction and the wariness in his voice when he asked if I would answer his call was a knife to my heart.

I was the one who put doubt in his mind when I, acting as Drew, pulled a disappearing act without any explanation. That was a cruel thing to do, and I didn’t know I had it in me to treat someone like that, especially someone as good as Kyle. At the time, I was too wrapped up in how wrong my behavior had been and worried that Kyle had become an addiction I couldn’t overcome. I thought a clean break was the only way, but I saw the error of my ways when confronted with the results of my actions.

But surely a guy as handsome and confident as Kyle Vaughn wasn’t thrown by one stranger’s rejection. Right? He had everything going for him, so what if one guy didn’t return his affection. What would a guy like me have to offer him? That wasifhe could get past my deception because there was no way in hell I could start something with Kyle with the truth hanging over my head like an ugly cloud. I wasn’t good at living a lie, just ask my friends.

I felt like a metric ton of guilt had been lifted from my shoulders when I came clean to them about my secret life as a writer and confessed that I had indeed been the one playing games with Kyle. They didn’t understand why I didn’t tell Kyle the truth, but of course, I didn’t give them all the details either. Regardless, they supported my decision, and I knew they’d take my secret to the grave if asked. I just hoped that wasn’t necessary because I couldn’t let go of the idea that Kyle was meant to be mine. I knew it was probably my inner romance writer taking over my brain when those thoughts occurred, but following that guy’s intuition led me to the best thing to ever happen to me in my adult life.

I wasn’t ready for Kyle to know either thing about me. If I told him that I wrote a book the chances were high that he’d want to read it. If he read the book, it was possible he might recognize some of the interactions the characters had. It wasn’t that I included our conversations in the book, but some of theactivitiesmight raise a red flag for him. If I told him about my Drew alias, then he’d want to know why the hell I did something like that, and I’d be forced to tell him I wrote the book. If he didn’t want to read the book under the first circumstance then he definitely would with the second. He’d probably want royalty payments for inspiring my character. I felt trapped with no good way out of the situation.

I had so many emotions churning inside my brain when I got home. I knew I’d never sleep in that condition, so I did what always made me feel better. I got into bed, propped myself up on the headboard, and opened my laptop. Harry curled up into a purring ball on the pillow next to mine, and I lost myself in my latest story. A kissing scene between my two protagonists hadn’t been in my outline for my current chapter, but I decided to go with my gut again. Gideon had a carefully crafted plan for Jamie, but sweet Jamie wasn’t following the plotline. His desire for Gideon was raging out of control and he decided that waiting around wasn’t going to get him what he wanted. So, beneath the fireworks at a lavish Fourth of July party in the Hamptons, the jaded, serial seducer was seduced by the shy, virginal man.

My fingers flew over the keyboard as I channeled everything I had into the scene I wrote for Jamie and Gideon. The intensity of their kiss stole my breath, the way they battled their feelings for one another made my heart ache, but I smiled when I finished because I knew my readers would feel how close the characters were to taking that leap. I knew they’d be as breathless as I was at that moment and no feeling in the world was greater than that one, except maybe an orgasm or the taste of Kyle on my lips.

I closed my laptop and set it on the nightstand beside my bed. I saw that it was almost two o’clock in the morning and knew I’d be dragging ass again the next day. Luckily, the salon was closed, and I could sleep late.

What’s that saying about best-laid plans and things going awry? Someone pounding on my front door woke me hours before I was ready to climb out of my sheets. I didn’t even have to ask who it was because I could hear them arguing through the door when I walked into the living room in the small two bedroom I rented on Maple Lane. I knew that ignoring them wouldn’t do any good because they’d just use a key and let themselves in.

“Good morning, ladies,” I said when I opened the door to my mother, grandmother, and aunt. I stood rubbing the sleep from my eyes while they looked me up and down in judgment.

“Charles Bailey,” my mother said irritably, “it’s nearly ten o’clock, and you’re still in bed. I didn’t raise you to be this lazy.”

“It’s not lazy, Mama,” I replied. “I stayed up too late writing.”

“Baby boy, I hope you’re not running yourself too ragged,” Grandma Gertie said.

“The only good reason for staying up until wee hours of the morning is for great sex,” Aunt Sandra said. I tried hard not to shiver at the thought of my aunt tearing it up in the sheets. “But I guess writing about it is almost as good.”

My mother tilted her head to the side and thought for a second before she said, “Writing the sex is probably better than the real thing. At least both parties have orgasms in literature.”

“Mom, please stop!” I covered my ears so I wouldn’t have to listen anymore.

“Step aside, young man,” Grandma Gertie said forcefully. “We’ve brought you a coffee cake that’s fresh out of the oven.”

“Okay,” I agreed then stepped back so they could enter. “Why don’t you start a pot of coffee while I go brush my teeth.”

“And your hair,” my mother said. “If I didn’t know better I’d say someone had been running their fingers through it.”

“His lips look a little puffy too,” Aunt Sandra said. “He looks like he’s done more than write about sexy times.”

I declined to comment because I was certain they were exaggerating, but then I got a look at my reflection in the mirror. “Holy shit!” My lips were a darker pink and puffier than normal. I touched them with a finger and discovered they were tender too. I smiled at my reflection then got busy brushing my teeth and grooming the wayward strands of my hair that had been ruffled by eager fingers. I replayed the encounter from the previous night as I got dressed and noticed that my hands shook and my pulse raced at the memory. Damn, if a single kiss could cause me to shake so bad, then what would happen when Kyle pinned me beneath him?