Just One Kiss: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 1) (16 page)

“Here,” I say, but she just stares at me.
Her hand touches my chest and she curls her fingers against it.
Then she pulls me in and kisses me.

I kiss her back, grabbing her hips and
moving her between me and the counter. I pin her there as I bring
our bodies closer together. Her tongue slips into my mouth and she
deepens the kiss. At this rate, we’ll never make it to dinner.

“We should probably get going,” she says
between kisses, and I regrettably step away. She puts the flowers
in water and I take her hand, pulling her next to me as we walk to
my bike. “We’re not seriously riding that, are we?” she asks with a
panicked look on her face.

“We are. Is this okay?”

“Yeah, I just – I’ve never been on the back
of one of these before,” she says and I catch the small blush that
fills her cheeks. I hand her a helmet and then help her put it on
before doing the same for myself.

“Just hold on tight,” I say as I back the
bike out of her driveway.

I made plans for us to go to Italios Pasta
House for dinner and then walk downtown and talk. I’m following
Sara’s advice to get to know her. It’s a little late, but we’re
going to have plenty of time together to make up for that. I
haven’t told Kelsey any of this, but I have a feeling she will
enjoy it.

“Don’t you want to know where I’m taking you
for our date?” I ask.

“Nope. I trust you.” She says it like it’s
that simple. If she only knew what I came here to do for my father.
I would lose her trust the moment I earned it.

I start the bike, its engine roaring as we
pull out of the driveway. The last girl I had on my bike tried to
talk the entire time. It was hard to hear her, and by the time we
got off she was mad and claimed I was ignoring her. With Kelsey
it’s nothing but peaceful. Her arms are wrapped around me and I can
feel her chest against my back as she rests against me. Everything
with Kelsey is easy and feels perfect.

I pull into the parking lot and hear her
clapping behind me. When I glance back she has a giant grin on her
face.

“How did you know this was my favorite
place?”

I shrug and turn off the engine. “When I
would visit in the summers, we always came here for your
birthday.”

“You remember that?”

“I remember everything. Even the part where
I was only invited because Sara’s mom made her invite me.” I laugh.
“But I was happy either way. I got to see you. That was the only
reason I kept coming back.”

“Oh,” she says and looks away as her cheeks
turn a light shade of pink. She blushes more than anyone I know,
but she looks damn adorable every time.

I hold the bike steady as she gets off and
then I hold her hand as we walk inside. The smell of pasta and
fresh bread fill the restaurant and my stomach growls.

“Two?” the young boy behind the wooden stand
asks.

“Yes. It should be under Connelly.” He scans
the paper in front of him with his index finger and then taps it
against the stand.

“Yep. Please follow me.”

I place my hand at the small of Kelsey’s
back as we follow the kid. He shows us to a corner booth and sets
the menus down, leaving us alone. Kelsey scoots inside the booth
and I scoot in right next to her.

“It’s smells so good in here,” she says.

“Yeah, I’m starving,” I reply, opening a
menu. “Are you going to order the four cheese stuffed ravioli in
Alfredo sauce?”

She smiles at me, nods, and
looks back to her menu.
“I can’t believe
you remember that. I was impressed enough that you remembered my
favorite restaurant.”

“I probably remember a lot more than you
think.”

“Hmm, okay, name three things,” she
challenges me in a flirty tone.

“Only three?”

“Yep.” She wiggles three fingers in the
air.

“Alright, I remember how every Fourth of
July you were crazy into those red, white, blue firecracker
popsicles. I swear you ate one every day for a month every
summer.”

She laughs but nods.

“When Sara’s parents would throw her
birthday barbeque, you spent more time helping her mother make sure
everything was ready than hanging out with your girlfriends. Making
other people happy made you happy. You’ve always been selfless like
that and it’s a beautiful trait to have.”

Her eyes meet mine, but she doesn’t say
anything.

“And I also remember when I kissed you
behind Sara’s house that day—from that moment on I knew you would
always be special to me.”

A gloss takes over her golden eyes, causing
them to shine bright. She leans over and gently presses her lips to
mine.

The waiter clears his throat and Kelsey
pulls away. She blushes but doesn’t try to hide it the way she does
every other time it happens. He takes our drink order, leaving us
alone again, and like love-struck fools, we just smile at each
other.

I’m nailing this date thing. Being with
Kelsey is so easy and if I can get her to smile that way every time
she sees me, I’ll be one happy man.

Kelsey

Our date is going amazingly. The food was
great, but the company is the best I could’ve asked for. We
finished eating about an hour ago, but we’ve been sitting here
talking about the things we’ve missed over the years.

I told him about my parents and their dream
to travel. I told him about my little brother who left the day
after he graduated and who I’ve only spoken with on the phone since
that day. I told him about school and all the pointless details
that got me to where I am now. I don’t tell him about my ex,
because during those summers Ethan visited, Tyler was his friend. I
don’t want to ruin things if they still are. Still, I feel as
though we’re far enough into the conversation I can ask him the one
question I’ve been dying to know.

“Your dad owns a lot of his own businesses,
so why did you come to the BA instead of working for him?”

Ethan plays with the fork still left on the
table as he debates his answer.

“He never offered me a spot to work with
him.” His voice is low, and from the way his face wrinkles as he
says it, I can tell it’s something that bothers him. “I thought if
I could come here and things went…as planned, he would be proud and
maybe change his mind.”

His last words hit close to home. I know I’m
an accounting major only to get my father’s attention, but I’m not
letting that take over. I’m still writing and I’m applying for jobs
that involve writing. But something in his voice alarms me. Like
he’s letting his father decide how things will turn out for him
instead of making that decision on his own.

“Have you talked to him about it?” I ask,
hesitantly.

“No. Have you talked to your dad about what
bothers you?”

I shake my head. “We may not see eye to eye
and he isn’t very active in my life, but I know he loves me and one
day things will be different.”

“Yeah, I don’t think my dad will ever
change. My mom’s been trying to change him for years and the man
won’t budge. He’s got a one-track mind. His way or no way.”

My heart breaks a little seeing this
vulnerable side to Ethan. I want to change the subject because I
don’t like him being upset, but I want him to know he can talk to
me about these sort of things.

“Maybe—”

“How about we talk about something else?” he
says in a much cheerier tone. “My family drama isn’t going to ruin
the rest of the night.”

“Okay, but you can always—”

“I know,” he cuts me off and kisses my
temple. “And thank you, but another night would be better.”

After Ethan pays the bill, he slowly laces
his fingers with mine as I rise from my seat and in that moment the
very person I wanted to avoid tonight walks past our table. Tyler.
He stops in front of us, shock written all over his face. His eyes
bounce back and forth between us.

“Ethan, I thought you were going to hit me
up when you had a night off.” Tyler offers his hand and Ethan
accepts it with a quick, firm shake that makes Tyler cringe. “We
could grab a drink now; my dad would probably enjoy catching up
with you too.”

“I’d love that,” Officer Maron says, walking
up behind Tyler. “Kelsey, it’s great to see you again.”

“Whoa, man, strong grip,”
Tyler says, prying his hand away from Ethan. I hadn’t even realized
they were still shaking hands.
Weird.

“We were just leaving,” Ethan says. “Maybe
next time.”

He rushes us to his bike, giving me my
helmet before putting his on, too, and quickly pulls out the
parking lot heading for home. Our date just went from good to bad
in seconds, and now Tyler’s responsible for ruining something else
that I wanted.

Ethan pulls the bike into his driveway and
just sits there. The September air is growing colder and Ethan
probably won’t be able to ride his bike much longer. His mood has
taken a complete 180 since we left the restaurant, and after Logan
told me how much this bike means to Ethan, I sit on the back, not
rushing him.

“I’m sorry about that. I wanted to beat his
face in, no questions asked.” He lets out a breath. “Logan told me
what Tyler did and with who … I swear I didn’t know, and if I had I
would have never shown up with her. I swear.”

“Ethan, stop, everything is fine.” I lift my
leg over the bike, handing him my helmet so I can stand and face
him. “Everyone makes mistakes—it’s how you handle them that defines
who you are. Besides, we weren’t dating then, so I don’t really
have a reason to be mad.”

“Still, I should have just asked why you
couldn’t be with me before you caved and told me. It was a dick
move.”

“Yeah, but at least you know it, and if
Tyler hadn’t cheated on me, I wouldn’t be here right now, with
you,” I flirt with him, noting the exact moment he relaxes. “So
technically, we should thank Tyler for getting us here.”

He kicks the stand on the bike as he gets
up. The look in his eyes twists my stomach as I lean forward over
the bike. His lips press against mine.

“Did you say we were dating now?” he asks,
pulling away only until the words are out. He kisses me again, but
before I can answer, the sound of screeching tires skidding to a
stop makes me jump back.

A truck the exact image of Ethan’s, only
black, parks in front of his house. The dome light comes on at the
same time Ethan whispers “fuck” behind me. I watch as the light
fades and the driver’s door closes after someone gets out. Then a
man, probably a few years older than Ethan, steps around the
truck.

“Baby brother.” The man smiles coyly. “Looks
like I’m crashing with you for a few days.”

Ethan groans and rubs his hands over his
face. That’s not the reaction I would have if my brother showed up.
I’d be thrilled and even hug him. Ethan might not be a hugging
person, but he sure doesn’t look happy.

“Hey there,” the blonde man says to me. He
reaches his hand out. “I’m Lance.”

I shake his hand. “Hi.”

He chuckles. “And you are?”

“I’m—”

“Leaving.” Ethan cuts in, walking around his
bike to nudge me toward my house. “I’ll call you tomorrow. We can
talk about that shift change then.”

What the—?

“Please,” he whispers so only I can hear
him. His eyes are pleading as he darts them between me and his
brother.

I get that he might not want his family to
know he has something going on with me just yet, but it still
stings that he is referring to me as just an employee right now. At
least he could have told his brother I was a friend or a neighbor.
Either way, this reaction is bullshit.

“Yeah, sure thing.” The sentence is nothing
but sarcasm, and from the worried expression Ethan just gave me, he
knows he just ruined our first date.

I walk away hearing a faint “she’s feisty”
from his brother. I’d really like to turn around and flip him the
bird, but I can be more mature about this. Instead, with all this
run of new emotion I have, I think I’ll work on my essay. The life
of a twenty-something girl and her failed attempts to make a
relationship work with the same guy might make for interesting
story. In fact, since this is going to be a column about my
personal life, this would be a great opening piece and might just
be the one to win me this job.

Kelsey

I wrote the entire essay in two hours last
night. Edited it first thing this morning and now I’m confidently
handing it in.

“You’re really going to enter that? I didn’t
realize you wanted to be a writer that badly,” Logan comments once
I’ve returned to my seat. Professor Frank announced today was an
in-class writing day, so everyone is sitting quietly at their
seats, scribbling notes. Everyone except Logan because he doesn’t
like to write. I glance at his paper, Hangman is all it shows. I
laugh to myself, shaking my head.

“Like most of the other people in this
class, I happen to enjoy writing.”

“But to do it every day?” He sounds
doubtful.

“Twenty-four hours a day,” I assure him.
“I’d love it.”

“Okay, why writing? Why not art?”

“Because I suck at art and writing just
comes to me. I can have all these conversations in my head and
assign them to different characters. I can give them lives I’ll
never live. Fancier or maybe more exciting lives. It’s nothing
different than a movie. I just leave mine on paper instead of
making it into a film.” Not very many people ask me why I write
anymore. It’s nice to know some people don’t just think I’m
weird.

“So you write about the life you want?”

“No, that would be crazy and in some cases
really disturbing.”

“Interesting,” he says, drawing up another
hangman game. “So what’s up with you and Ethan?” Now I know why he
was acting overly interested—he was building to this.