Chapter 2
Chapter Two
D rew couldn’t stop his heart from racing.
Karlie had come home for her sister’s wedding.
The last time he asked Jake about Karlie; Jake told him that there was no way in hell that Karlie would show her face around town again.
Jake had been so smug about Karlie not coming to the wedding that he even laughed about it.
“She won’t want to watch the love of her life marry her baby sister.
She’s still heartbroken over losing me. That’s why she ran off—all the way to Georgia.
The poor girl knows what she’s lost.” Drew had wanted to punch Jake in the mouth for the disgusting things he’d said about Karlie, but he’d made a promise to his brother to be Jake’s best man.
So, for now, he’d put up with the asshole.
With the way Karlie kissed him and responded to him touching her, she sure didn’t seem to be hung up on Jake.
God, he’d kissed Karlie, and it felt so good.
He was still hard from what they’d started on the street before her parents showed up.
He didn’t have any plans for stopping, and Karlie seemed to be on the same page.
Sex on the trunk of her car would have been good, but he wanted to take his time, lay her out on his bed, and make a feast of her.
He’d dreamed about his chance for over seven years now.
When Karlie and Jake broke up, Drew thought that he was finally going to get his chance to ask Karlie out.
But he wanted to give her a little time to get over Jake and Jenna’s betrayal.
He would see Karlie at the local diner or at the movies, but she just seemed so upset he couldn’t bring himself to make a move.
Maybe he was afraid she’d reject him, or maybe he just didn’t want to hurt her any more than she already seemed to be hurting.
He’d decided to give her a month to get over the breakup, then he was going to make his move.
But after two weeks, Karlie was gone. He asked around, trying to find out where she went or if she was coming back.
When he spoke to her mom, Mrs. Angel told him that Karlie had moved to Georgia.
He thought about finding out where she was living and just “running” into her one day, but there never seemed to be a good time for that trip.
His auto shop was finally taking off, and he was the only mechanic on staff.
Until he hired another guy, he would have to pick up all the slack.
He was damn proud of Jackson Auto. He bought the old shop off his Uncle Jed when he wanted to retire.
Jed had all but run the business into the ground with bad bookkeeping.
When Drew took over the business, he didn’t have the money for an office manager or bookkeeper, so he did it all.
Long days and even longer nights became the norm for him.
There was no time to go to Atlanta, and hope to run into Karlie.
And, even if he had, would she have cared?
Now, as he pulled up to his house, he felt oddly worried that she wouldn’t like it.
He’d never worried about what other people thought of him or anything that belonged to him.
But he wanted Karlie to like his space. “This is me,” he almost whispered.
What the hell was wrong with him? He cleared his throat and waited for some response from her.
“You own the old Gain’s house?” She seemed surprised by this.
He bought the house last year after his business was finally in the black.
He wanted a place to call his own. For three years prior, he lived above his shop.
It wasn’t that bad since he was there working anyway, and he had all the conveniences of home—a bathroom, a shower, a small kitchen area, and a bed.
Last year, all he could think about was putting down roots.
Drew had such a crush on her that when he first looked at the house, he was picturing Karlie in every damn room.
That was when he knew he wanted to buy the place.
He put in an offer, and a month and a half later, he was moving in.
When Karlie ended it with Jake, a small part of Drew wished that his dream of her living in his home would happen. And now, she was here.
“I love this house.” She was just staring at it, and God, she was beautiful.
She looked like a kid who had just gotten what she wanted for Christmas.
She liked his house, and that gave him some strange satisfaction.
“When I was a kid,” she said, “I used to tell Jenna that someday I would live in this house. I’d imagine being here with my family, kids, a husband—” Her voice trailed off, not finishing her thought.
Karlie barked out her laugh, “Maybe even a dog and cat. They’d always be fighting.
” She looked at Drew, and his heart just about jumped out of his damn chest. She didn’t just like the house—she loved it.
Karlie undid her seatbelt and started to get out.
“Stay put,” he told her as he slipped from his side of the truck and ran around to get her.
He opened the door for her and took her hand to help her out.
She smiled, the first smile he’d seen on her face since he spotted her on the side of the road.
Her smile transformed her into the beautiful teenage girl that he secretly crushed on, and she took his breath away.
No, keep it together, stupid. You don’t want to scare her off.
The last thing Drew wanted was to see Karlie running back to Atlanta.
Now that she was here, he wanted his chance with her.
He needed to show her that they could be good together.
He had waited this long; he could take his time to make sure she wouldn’t run off again. Seven years was a long time to wait.
Sure, he didn’t spend all that time alone.
There had been other women. He liked to have a good time and always made sure that the women knew where he stood with a relationship—he didn’t want one.
He’d go on dates, and there was usually sex, but he never really dated the same woman more than once.
He didn’t want to get tangled up and have to deal with messy relationship feelings.
In all those seven years, he only really slipped up with one woman, Lisa Hastings.
He took her to dinner a few times, and they had sex so often that he even left a toothbrush and a change of clothes at her place, out of convenience.
It wasn’t like he could take her back to his apartment above his shop.
When he realized that she had other ideas about where their relationship was going, it was too late.
He had to break it off with her. It wasn’t fair that he thought of their time together as just sex, and she was picking out China patterns.
He wanted to have fun, and he wanted Karlie.
Karlie was the only woman that he ever thought of for the long term.
He just had to make sure not to spook her.
Karlie jumped down out of his truck. She was so tiny he’d had to help lift her down from the cab, not that he minded that.
“Let me grab my bags,” she stuttered. Was she nervous?
He pulled her around and kissed her, trying to help steady her nerves.
He lingered for just a moment, not wanting to give the neighbors too much to talk about.
“Hi,” he whispered against her lips, pushing her hair from her eyes.
“I love your new haircut. Did you do it after you left?
Your hair was long when you were with—" He stopped talking when he realized what he was about to say.
How could he be so stupid as to bring up Jake?
Drew closed his eyes, trying to regroup.
“It’s okay, you can say his name, Drew. As of tomorrow, Jake is going to be my brother-in-law. I am okay with it all. I have moved on.” Hearing Karlie say that she had moved on without Jake gave Drew hope.
“How about I grab your bags, and we get you inside for a quick shower?” he asked. She shyly nodded.
“My dad just texted me to get my caboose over there so that I can catch the tail end of the rehearsal. Although, I’m not sure why.
I’m not in the wedding party.” She gasped, putting her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide.
“Oh my God, but you are! You’re the best man, and you need to be there.
I’ve distracted you with my problems. I’m so sorry, Drew.
You promised your brother that—” He couldn’t stand it anymore.
He stopped her worried rambling by kissing her, this time giving the neighbors something to talk about.
He crushed her mouth with his and licked his way inside her parted lips.
She moaned then wrapped her arms around his neck, running her fingers into his hair.
Every damn time. She responded to him kissing her like she was starving, and he was her last meal.
She moaned, and he couldn’t take it. Drew lifted her against his body.
She seemed to fit him perfectly, especially when she wrapped her legs around him.
He walked with her like that to the house, kissing her senseless.
He punched in the code and opened his side door.
He slammed the door behind them and set her on the landing.
Drew reluctantly pulled away from her, ending their kiss, and she groaned in protest.
He chuckled. “Honey, I don’t want to stop any more than you do. I need to get you in the shower.” She turned bright pink, and he found her blush beyond adorable. Karlie started stammering incoherently, and he stopped her rambling with one more quick, hard kiss.