Life's Next Chapter (11 page)

I peel out of the parking lot and drive as fast as I can back to Kate’s. I grab her hand and entwine our fingers together. “Baby, please don’t let him ruin our night. I had a great time with you, and I refuse to let that asshole ruin it.” Looking at her, she has her head leaning against the window and I see the tears fall down her face. Taking my thumb I wipe away the tears. “Talk to me sunshine. Help me fix this,” I plead.

“I…I just don’t know who that man is. He has never said anything that vulgar or hateful to me, or about our girls. It’s like he was possessed, or on something. It just hurts he thought those things about me and could say all of it in public. Oh…God…Luke I am so sorry for bringing you into this.” She cries into her hands.

I swear if that stupid fuck wasn’t a cop I would have snapped his arm off and beaten him senseless with it. Who the hell does he think he is? I can’t believe any man would stoop that low and speak such hateful things about the mother of his children. I mean, I can’t stand Danielle for what she did to Danika, but the woman brought my daughter into the world. If it weren’t for Danielle I would never have had my beautiful girl. I just pray Julia and Nicole never find out about the shit their father spewed to the public about their mother.

Looking at Kate is tearing me apart. This is not how I planned this evening. I was having such a great time with her. Then Keith comes out of nowhere, just rambling crap. Why couldn’t he just be man enough to walk away? I get a vibe with pricks like him, and I know this is just the start of the shit he is going to bring to Kate and the girls. Tonight was really special, I haven’t had a date like this in years…hell maybe a decade. I can’t remember having such a great time with a woman I am seriously attracted to. Seeing her in this blue dress that accentuates her bright blue eyes, and every curve of that tight body of hers. I can only hope the little escapade with Keith will blow over by the time we get to her house and we can continue with our evening. Nothing I want more than to feel her sweet body under mine.

“Baby, do me a favor and forget the shit Keith pulled tonight. I’m still here and not going anywhere,” I say as we are approaching her house. She’s still quiet and gives me a forced half smile. Driving up her driveway and pulling close to her house, I notice she has already unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her purse. She’s going to blow me off. I can feel it. Since day one, I could tell how she was feeling without even asking. I put the car in park and she is out of there.
FUCK!

I watch her run into the house while I sit in the car for a few minutes, thinking of what I should do. I know what she wants; she wants me to leave. I’m not about to do that to her. I won’t give up on her. Seeing the kitchen light still on, I walk to the back door and knock. I can see through the sheer curtains on the French door that she is slumping against the counter. I twist the knob—it’s unlocked—I push the door open, and with a sigh of relief, I step inside, shutting the door and locking it. I’ll be damned if she makes me leave tonight. Right now, I just want to hold her all night.

Sniffling and with a hoarse voice she says, “Luke, please just go home. I’m sorry for tonight.” Three easy strides and I’m to her. I pick her up and gently set her on the counter. Putting my fingers under her chin, I tilt her face up so we are looking into each other’s eyes. I bring my other thumb to her eyes and wipe the smudge of black mascara running down her face. “Sunshine, please don’t let him win. You know everything he said was wrong. Don’t cry over unnecessary shit.”

“Please. Luke. I need you to leave…now.” She says with a little more assertion and force. Placing both of my hands on her jaw, I bring her lips to mine and kiss her. Her lips are warm, sweet, and taste so damn good. I pull her bottom lip and nibble on it. I want to taste so much more of her body. She places her palms on my chest and tries to push me away. “GO…Now!” She’s doing her damnedest to fight with me. It’s kind of sexy; I like this spunk in her.

“Baby, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll sleep on the couch if I have to, but I am not leaving you alone tonight. What I’d really like to do is to hold you in my arms while we sleep.”

“No, everything needs to stop, right now. No more dating. After tonight, we will go back to contractor and client. I will NOT drag you down into my shit.” She tries pushing me harder and jumps off the counter. She walks to the back door, unlocks it and opens the door for me. I give her a smile and a small chuckle. I can be just as stubborn as she is being. I won’t let her to bring Keith into this relationship.

Walking to the door, I nudge it closed with my foot, and lean over and lock it. “If you think I’m going to let you push me away over what your ex-husband said, you are sorely mistaken. Whatever is floating in that head of yours, where you believe Keith’s shit, needs to vanish in ten seconds?”

Looking up to me with such confusion Kate asks, “Why ten seconds?” Before she can even finish those three words, I scoop her up in my arms and carry her through her house and upstairs. With her head pressed to my neck she quietly tells me, “Luke, please I’m begging now. Put me down and runaway as fast as you can. You don’t want to deal with my crazy life.”

Once we reach the top of the stairs I ask, “Where’s yours?” She doesn’t say anything. “Fine, I will open every door.” Granted there are only four doors up here, but still. Luckily hers is the first door next to the stairs. I push it open with my foot and set her on the edge of the bed. I kneel down in front of her and we are almost at eye level. “Kate, trust me when I say I want this…I want your crazy life. I refuse to listen to a single word Keith spewed.”

She wipes away the tears away with her fingers and places her hand on my cheek. “I don’t want you to deal with my crazy, lousy life. You can find better than me.” I’m mad now. Once she said lousy I knew exactly what she was thinking. Keith spouted off to the many strangers around us that Kate was lousy in bed and for the sake of her pregnancy and the girls he put up with her bedroom behavior. All I can imagine is that fucker has lousy moves because Kate was pure bliss in my eyes. It might have only been a few minutes, and not the ideal way to be with her for the first time, but once she snaked her hot body on my dick, I was a goner. She brought me out of my darkest moment and gave me light. Just looking into her sapphire eyes, she sparkles with light. This girl could bring me back from darkest hell with just her smile and those eyes.

“Baby, there is nothing lousy about you. Nothing. I have been with you and it was
far
from lousy. If anything, it was so damn good I was hoping to have another go at it tonight. Like I said in the car, nothing that came out of Keith’s mouth had any effect on me.”

She wipes more tears away from her face. I lean down and pull off her strappy heels then stand and pull her up. “I want you to go start a bath, I’ll be in there in a minute.”

Her big blue eyes look up to me in question. “What are you going to do?”

Instead of answering, I place my hand on her lower back, escort her to the bathroom, and turn on the faucet to the tub. Kate is still standing in utter confusion. I slowly unzip her dress, making sure it doesn’t fall to the floor yet. If it does, I will never leave this bathroom and I have to do a couple things first. “Baby, I want to go lock the front gate. I’ll be right back. Get in and make room for me in the tub.” As I turn around and walk out of the bathroom, Kate calls to me.

“Luke, do you think Keith will come back here and cause more problems?”

“No, baby. I think I scared him.” I give her a wink and walk out of the room. I can only hope the punk stays away. Even though I have a gut feeling he will cause problems. If he hurts Kate, or the girls, I will do everything in my power to make him pay. Running down the stairs and out the kitchen door, I have this overwhelming feeling to protect her and her daughters, to keep them safe. I’ve only ever had this urge for one person, Danika. For eighteen years she’s been the only one, and now all these feelings that are stirring inside of me are foreign to me. The feelings I have right now aren’t just sexual. Granted she is sexy as hell, but what I feel for this woman is so much more. I grab my phone and call Brody.

“May I ask why you are calling me this late at night?” Brody’s groggy voice answers the phone.

“Bro, some shit went down tonight, and I just wanted to give you the heads up it might get worse.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Luke?”

“Tonight I took Kate out…”

Brody cuts me off before I can finish, “Dammit, Luke, I told you not to do anything with her until we are done with this project. Is she pulling you off the project because God help me if she is—”

“BRODY, will you fucking listen to me? I took her out on a date, we were having a great time and at the end of the date we ran into Keith…her ex-husband.”

“And?”

“Well, he said some nasty shit towards Kate in front of a crowd of strangers. I said a few words to him thinking he would back off. Then he really said some horrible things to Kate. She got really upset and I got in his face and threatened him.”

“Fuck, Luke. You know he’s a cop, right?”

“That’s why I’m calling you. I know pricks like this. He’s going to want to make a scene. He knows where I work from the logo on my truck. I know he saw us get into it, so I have a feeling he will make a stop here this coming week; either he will arrest me, or cause some kind of shit. This is just how pussies like him work.”

“Shit! All right, well let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. Thanks for giving me the heads up. And, Luke, please don’t do anything to hurt Kate, or make the situation worse. I can’t afford to lose you on this project.”

“I know. It’s because you are a slave driver, and I work for pennies that you can’t lose me.” I sarcastically say to Brody to lighten the conversation. “Seriously, Bro, I like Kate a lot, I won’t do anything to jeopardize what we have. I got to go, but I just wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Thanks for ruining my night, ass hat! Take care.”

“You know it! Bye.”

With the gate closed and locked, I run back into the house. Locking the kitchen door, I walk to the fridge and grab two beers. As I head to the stairs, I notice her fireplace has candles in it. Going back to the kitchen I search her drawers until I come across a lighter then I grab a few candles from the fireplace. I make it to her room without dropping anything, and set the beers on her dresser. I put two candles on her nightstand, two on her dresser, lighting them as I go. Next, I strip down to my boxer briefs and grab the beers. I slowly open the bathroom door and see her lying in her ivory, vintage claw foot tub. She hears me and sits up, turning to face me. She’s been crying again, which breaks my heart even more. I hand her the beer. “Do you want company?” I ask, hoping she says yes.

“Sure.” She quietly replies. Kate takes my beer and places it on a small side table next to the tub. I strip off my boxers and climb in behind her. Sliding into the warm water is liberating. The feel of her warm skin against mine makes my dick jump to attention. Kate leans into me and slowly sips her beer. I take mine and drink. We stare out her huge glass window and look at the acres of grassland she has. I place the beer back on the small table and rub my hands up and down her arms, across her collarbone and along her neck. Leaning down, I slowly kiss her neck.

“Sunshine, please talk to me.”

She places her beer on the small table, and sits up. I think she is going to get out, but when she turns around to straddle me, the panic in my chest subsides. I lean forward so she can wrap her legs around my waist, and with her hips pressing my dick into my lower abdomen, I can only hope she will repeat history.

“I have to tell you something, and I don’t think you’re going to be happy.” Her eyes have turned serious and her voice is subdued.

I guess history won’t repeat itself.

LUKE HAS LEFT me alone in the bathroom, which I needed desperately. His words have sliced through my heart. It was my fault I messed up with Keith, and to know I could have possibly messed this up before it even started is making me sick to my stomach. During the heat of the moment in the truck I didn’t think about anything. Obviously. But the drive back to Ocala made me think. I thought of all the stupid mistakes I made with Keith. However, I learned sometimes a mistake, or a mishap, can be a true blessing. My daughters weren’t planned; nevertheless, they are the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. I can only hope Luke is as accepting of my mistakes.