Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Jack was driving to his appointment when the receptionist called and cancelled it.
The woman apologized profusely, but Jack was relieved since he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate, anyway.
He wanted to return home and speak to Kayla, but she’d practically pushed him out the door this morning. Why does she keep pushing me away?
Feeling the need to talk to someone, he called Ryan.
“Hey, Jack. What’s up?” Ryan was a contractor, and Jack heard pounding in the background.
“Hey. Do you have time to meet for coffee?”
“No can do. I’m waiting for an electrician to show up, but I have a few minutes to talk.” Ryan must have moved off because the noise receded.
“I need some advice.”
“Is this about Kayla?”
“Good guess.”
“What’d you do now?”
Usually, Jack didn’t kiss and tell, but he was desperate. “We did it,” he blurted out.
“It’s about damn time!”
Jack was unsurprised at his friend’s reaction.
“Why don’t you sound happier?” Ryan asked.
“She practically kicked me out of the house this morning.”
“I’m going to need a few more details.”
“Last night, everything was great, but this morning she barely looked at me and was anxious for me to leave. It was like last night never happened.”
“Ouch. Are you sure it was as good as you claimed?”
Jack had a flashback of Kayla on top of him, sliding up and down his length, her breasts filling his hands. “Pretty sure.”
“Did she give you any clues as to what might be bothering her?”
One thing stood out. “After we—you know—she said she was going to sleep in the guest room. I had to convince her to stay with me.”
“Why? Do you snore?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “She knows I don’t usually do sleepovers, and she thought that applied to her, too.”
“There’s your answer,” Ryan said. “She doesn’t want to be lumped into the same category as your other … conquests.”
Jack squirmed. “Kayla isn’t a conquest.”
“You need to convince her of that, not me.”
“How?”
“You’re a smart guy. You’ll figure it out.” The pounding started up again. “Sorry, buddy, but I have to go.”
After they hung up, Jack realized he’d automatically started driving home.
Kayla might not be happy to see him, but it was still his house.
He had every right to be there. When he opened the garage, her car was parked inside.
Funny how he’d gotten used to seeing it there.
Jack went inside, expecting Kayla to be working in the living room or at the kitchen table.
Instead, he heard the whir of a blow dryer.
Taking a deep breath, Jack went down the hallway and entered his bedroom.
The bathroom door was open, and the blow dryer was loud, so she obviously hadn’t heard him come in.
He didn’t want to scare her, but he wanted her to know he was home.
Jack poked his head into the bathroom, and his eyes widened.
Kayla stood in front of the mirror, drying her hair naked.
Suddenly, she spotted him and screamed like she’d seen a ghost.
Jack held up his hands. “It’s okay. It’s just me.”
Kayla switched off the dryer and reached for a towel at the same time. In her haste, the towel fell onto the floor, and she looked down at it with dismay. Jack quickly picked up the towel and handed it to her. Kayla hurriedly wrapped it around herself and tucked it in over her breasts.
“What the hell, Jack? You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry.” It was all he could manage at the moment.
“What are you doing home? Did you get my message?” Kayla asked.
“What message?”
She scowled. “You didn’t see it? Where’s your phone?”
Jack pulled it out of his pocket and opened the messaging app. He read her text and sighed. “I must have been on the phone with Ryan when you sent this.”
“Ryan? I thought you had a meeting.”
“It got cancelled.”
“Oh.”
She sounded disappointed. Was it because he’d come home, hadn’t answered her text, or both? “I would have come home sooner, but I got the impression you didn’t want me here,” Jack said.
“I’m sorry about how I acted earlier. I was feeling—I don’t know— discombobulated.”
“Let’s sit down and talk,” Jack suggested.
She glanced down at the towel.
“You can get dressed first, if you want to,” he added.
“Like you said before, it’s nothing you haven’t already seen.”
Jack’s lips twitched, but he couldn’t smile fully until he knew she was okay. He walked over to the bed. “Is here okay, or do you want to go into the living room?”
She shook her head. “With our luck, your parents will pop over, and they don’t need to see me in a towel.”
Jack remembered the last time his mom had interrupted them. “They’d probably take it as a good sign that our relationship is flourishing.”
Kayla gave him a brief smile as she went and sat on the edge of the bed.
Jack joined her, keeping some space between them. “I think I know what’s bothering you.”
Kayla raised her eyebrows but didn’t speak.
“What we did last night wasn’t just sex to me,” he began.
“Jack.”
“Please, hear me out.”
She slowly nodded.
“The sex was great, but it was so much more than that. I haven’t felt that close to someone in a long time.” Maybe ever.
“We were both in a dry spell,” she said lightly.
He shook his head. “If that’s all it was, I should feel content right now, but I don’t.”
Kayla furrowed her eyebrows as he continued.
“I won’t feel satisfied until I make you understand …”
“Understand what?” she prompted him.
“How I feel about you. It’s unlike anything I’ve felt before.” Jack searched her face, looking for signs she understood what he was getting at.
“Jack. You don’t have to—”
“I’m falling in love with you, Kayla,” he blurted out.
She gaped at him, but there was no stopping him now.
“I’m serious. I’m not pretending … Oof!”
Suddenly, Kayla flung herself at him, momentarily taking his breath away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him so tightly it almost hurt. Then she eased back and grinned, though she still hadn’t spoken.
“What are you thinking?” he ventured.
Kayla took a deep breath, her chest heaving under the towel.
Jack waited and tried not to peek at her cleavage.
“I’m falling in love with you too,” she finally said.
Jack hadn’t realized how tense he was until now. His shoulders instantly relaxed, and relief pulsed through his veins. Not to mention desire, since she was wearing only a towel and smelled like coconuts.
“This calls for a celebration,” Kayla announced.
“I agree. Where do you want to go for lunch?”
Kayla chuckled. “Who said anything about lunch?”
“You did. In your text.”
“That was before.”
“So you’re not hungry?” He eyed her quizzically.
“I’m hungry, but not for lunch.” Kayla placed her hands on the towel above her breasts.
Jack tracked her every move as she slowly loosened the towel and bared herself to his hungry gaze.
He took a moment to soak in her beauty and that she was in love with him.
Then he felt a flicker of panic. Would he be enough for her?
Would he live up to her expectations? He’d been a good friend and lover, based on her reaction last night, but could he be both at once?
Thankfully, Kayla seemed oblivious to his inner turmoil.
She moved closer and began unbuttoning his shirt.
Before long, he was naked and buried deep inside her, surrounded by the scent of coconuts.
Their lovemaking was fast and furious, fueled by their newly unleashed emotions.
Afterward, he held her close while she traced random patterns on his chest.
“I talked to my mom this morning,” Kayla said conversationally.
“Oh, yeah? What about?” Jack wondered how much she’d confided in her mom.
“My parents want to meet you. I was thinking we could have lunch with them this weekend.”
“Sure.” He’d planned on meeting them, but suddenly, he felt nervous.
“What’s your schedule like?”
Kayla was still caressing his chest, and he was getting aroused again. “I’ll have to check with my girlfriend,” he teased.
Kayla chuckled. “I think she’ll be okay with it.”
“I don’t know. She can be pretty demanding.”
“Demanding, huh?” Kayla’s hand drifted down, and she stroked his erection.
“Yeah. She has an insatiable appetite for sex.”
She smiled. “Sounds like a terrible problem to have.”
“I know, right?” Jack gazed at her pretty face. “Are we officially dating now?”
“That depends,” she replied.
“On what?”
“On whether you can handle my insatiable sexual appetite.”
Chuckling, he pulled her down on top of him. “I’ll try my best.”
“You’re off to a good start,” she said.
With that, Jack shut up and made love to his girlfriend.