Our Kind of Love (11 page)

“You sure?”
I
confirm, stifling my childish excitement as I take the bottle from her.

She nods. I waste no time in finishing what’s
left in the bottle. I do taste her lips; its sugary sweet, like candy
chapstick
or something. I love it.

When my breathing becomes more stabilized, Reign
steps up to the fence and peers out at sea. The sun’s starting to rise. I
control my raging hormones and walk up next to her, never taking my eyes off
her as she admires the sky.

I don’t understand how one person can appear so
divine whenever the sunlight catches her face. It leaves me breathless every
time.

“Wanna start back now?” she asks, turning to
face me. I don’t drop my eyes from her, even though she’s probably aware that I
must have been staring.

“You’re really beautiful, you know that?” I say,
holding her gaze.

Smiling shyly, she looks at the ground and wipes
her forehead with the back of her hand. I don’t know why though, she barely
broke a sweat. As if dismissing my compliment, Reign gazes up and nods over my
shoulder. “Let’s head back.”

She steps past me.
I pace
behind, feeling like I shouldn’t have said anything.
But what’s wrong
with telling her she’s beautiful even if I’m not her boyfriend? Is that a
crime?

Reign doesn’t utter a word until we reach our
starting point. She gestures me toward a huge brick building where her car’s
parked.  

“I’ll drive you back,” she offers as we approach
the car.

“Thanks,” I say, happy to get off my feet, and
even more ecstatic to stay in her presence longer in spite of her reacting in a
weird way to my compliment.

Backing out of the parking lot, she pulls onto
the main road and takes off for my house. I keep my mouth shut. No more
compliments, for now.

FOURTEEN

Reign

I READ ONCE, that even if you look at another
guy longer than you stare at your own boyfriend, then something’s wrong. And
while I know this, I can’t stop myself from looking at Micah. His compliment
from this morning keeps playing over and over in my head. The genuine way he
said it, and the way his eyes pierced me like steel made me feel desired in a
way I’ve never been before.

“Close your mouth,” Aislin whispers at my back.

I whip around fast and eye her innocently.
“Excuse me?”

“You were so drooling over Micah,” she teases.
“You’ve been staring at him ever since he walked in the door.”

That’s true. All I think about are his muscular
legs in those running shorts and the stimulating way sweat dripped down his
face. He looked like one of those buffed guys from a workout commercial.

“Hello, Reign?” She snaps her fingers before my
eyes. “Focus here.”

I roll my eyes and walk out to the deck, draping
over the railing. Aislin comes up next to me. “If it makes a difference, I’ve
noticed him staring at you, too.”

“Stop it,” I tell her.

“Come on, he’s a cutie. No harm in checking him
out.”

“You sound like Claudia.”

She bumps my arm lightly and looks over at the
water. I use the opportunity to ask her about her issue with Nate. “Why have
you been acting annoyed when it comes to Nate?”

Aislin shrugs then meets my gaze. “Let’s just
say, if you’re looking at another guy like that, then he’s obviously not doing
something right.”

She walks off without saying anything else. I
can’t help ponder on her words. Maybe because Nate keeps initiating sex with me
in more ways than just asking is pushing me away. If that’s the case, then my
attraction to Micah is only a phase.

Nothing more.

“Why are you always contemplating so hard?”

My whole body shudders at his husky voice. I
tighten my grip on the railing and keep staring ahead.

Micah stands beside me, looking out at the
sailboats. This time I allow myself to consume his earthy scent. It’s
intoxicating to my nerves, stirring up an intense feeling in my chest.

Frick! This phase needs to hurry up and past.

I turn my head just as he glances at me. When
our eyes lock, my heart takes off on a race. Uncontrollably, I move closer, as
if I’m trying to graze his hand like that night.

What the hell am I doing? I have a boyfriend.

Placing his hands on the railing, Micah carries
his eyes down to my lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he slowly lowers his head,
coming in closer than the appropriate feet that should be between us. But I
can’t move away. I really can’t.

He inches even closer to my mouth. I gasp,
parting my lips to inhale him. He’s almost there when a burst of laughter
interrupts the moment.

I spin away and see Aislin leading a group out
on the deck. Collecting myself, I hurry away from the railing and back inside
the restaurant. I can’t believe I almost let Micah kiss me. I have to maintain
distance between us. I can’t allow him to make me question my feelings for Nate
like that.

For the rest of the day, I avoid looking at
Micah much less exchange any word with him or end up in a situation where we’re
alone like by the railing. Later that evening, I wait outside at my car and
watch for him to step out of the restaurant. When he does, I stroll up to him.

“I have to say something to you.”

He nods. “Okay.”

“Micah, you seem like a really cool guy and I’d
like for us to be friends, so…” I take a moment to settle the heat before it
rises again. Looking in his eyes is messing with my senses. “Um…”

“I get it,” he says with a grin. “You think I’m
feeling you and you don’t want me to ruin your relationship.”

“I…guess.”

He laughs. “Seriously, Reign, you need to relax.
I’m not trying to mess up what you have with Nate. I want to be friends too,
only that.”

A part of me is relieved, and a part of me is
upset. I’m not even sure which part I’m leaning more to. And I can’t help
notice the impression in his eyes. Like he doesn’t really mean what he said.

“Good,” I say. “I just wanted to make things
clear.”

“There’s nothing to clarify. We’re friends. It’s
not like I want you to drive me home so I can seduce you into coming into my
apartment where I can spend the night making hot love to you.”

“Uh,” I breathe and back up a few steps.

A broad grin spreads across his face and he
moves forward. “Again, kidding.”

I’m not appalled at his audacious remark, only
surprised at myself for considering it when I’ve never even slept with my own
boyfriend.

He peers over my shoulder and says, “I gotta
catch the trolley, definitely don’t want a ride tonight with you looking at me
like that.”

“What do you mean? How am I looking at you?” I
ask, composing myself.

“Like you’re afraid of what I’ll do to you.”

His eyes penetrate me hard, searching for
something. I shake my head and tilt up my chin. “I’m not afraid. We’re just
friends.”

“Cool. Still, I’d rather catch the trolley.” He
steps past me. I let him go because he’s right; I don’t think I can drive him
home tonight with these thoughts running through my head, thoughts of wanting
him to touch me, to kiss me.

“Oh,” he says in an afterthought and spin
around.

“What?”

“Are we still on for my tour in the morning?”

I nod.

He flashes that sexy smile that prickles my
tummy and swirls around, hurrying to the trolley.
Jeez
. This guy is
turning me into a very bad girl.

FIFTEEN

Micah

IT’S ALMOST seven thirty now. I’m wondering if
we’ll have enough time to hang out before going to work at ten. I pace around
the apartment until I hear a knock at the door; my stomach starts to do that
thing again because I’m expecting it to be Reign.

 “Hi,” Claudia waves when I open the door.

Her smile dwindles as she observes the reaction
on my face. It’s too hard to hide my disappointment.

“Hey,” I say, trying to sound nice.

She peeks inside. “Mind if I come in?”

“Why?” I ask, “Aren’t we taking off now?”

“Jeez, Micah, I just want to see your crib, is
that so bad?” She has a mischievous grin on her bright red lips. I know I
shouldn’t, but I figure why not get it over with so we can leave.

I open the door wider and invite her in. Claudia
sashays past me in her blue, thigh-high
cami
dress
with a cut-out back and wedge sandals. Her legs are pretty toned. I can’t help
not look at them as she peers around the place.

Glancing back at me, she smiles and says, “It’s
really open. I like it.”

“Cool.
Ready to go?”

“What’s the rush?” She walks back to me at the
door.

I nudge over my shoulder. “Reign and I have to
be at work soon so it’s better to get going.”

She edges closer and places her hand at my neck,
caressing it. “Micah, I’ve been thinking about you, a lot.”

Claudia eyes my chest as she speaks. Then she
bites down on her bottom lip and rests both hands on my stomach, feeling my
abs.

“God, you’re hot!” she squeals.

“Okay, stop it.” I remove her hands from my body
and back into the doorway. “Let’s go.”

Her smile fades. “Go? But I just got here.” She
slants and looks over at my bed, nodding towards it as she says playfully,
“Let’s go have some fun before the tour.”

She’s either really bold, or really desperate,
none too far from the other. It only means that like me, she believes in no
strings attached. But I’m not so sure I’m looking for flings anymore, and even
though she’s throwing herself at me, I’m not the least bit interested.

I want Reign.

“Claudia, I…um…I think you should go. We’ll do
the tour another time.” I step forward and position myself by the door,
motioning for her to leave.

Wrinkling her brows, she sweeps her long red
hair off her shoulders and scoffs as she struts past me into the hallway.

Claudia lingers there, appearing surprised that
a guy actually rejected her. “Is there something wrong?” she asks. “I thought
you weren’t looking for commitment.”

I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but I have to
make it clear so she no longer has any hope of us hooking up. “Listen, you’re a
beautiful girl, and any guy would be lucky to have you. I’m just not interested
in being anything other than your friend, without benefits.”

Shifting her weight from one leg to the other,
Claudia twitches her face. Her eyes gaze all over the place, deliberating hard.
“Is there someone else that you’re interested in hooking up with?” she finally
asks me.

“No,” I answer fast. “I’m not looking to hook up
with anyone.”