Summer Kisses (153 page)

Nothing she had tried on seemed quite right for her date with Cole. It was either too businesslike, and she wasn’t about to close any deals with Cole that night, too laid-back, and she wasn’t about to lay anywhere on this date, or too sexy, and sexy was definitely out of the question. That is, with the exception of the lingerie she was wearing, something she had no intention of letting her hunky date see her in.

Maybe if she had the body to show them off...

She quickly shoved that thought aside. Cole Maxwell was too perfect. She couldn’t allow herself to lose sight of that. No matter how tempting it was to give in to her attraction to him.

She glanced at her reflection in the dresser mirror with a frown. Maybe she ought to have taken her mother’s advice and gotten a boob job. At least then she wouldn’t have had to worry about what she chose to wear on her date. Cole would be too busy staring at her medically enhanced D cups to really care.

But D cups were way out of her league. She was too petite to carry anything around that size. Not without becoming a walking circus attraction.

“Good things come in small packages,” she said, mimicking her mother. It was a phrase Melinda Collins had used often during Kelsie’s teen years. When all of her friends’ breasts were straining at the buttons of their too small, midriff baring tops and she was scarcely out of her training bra. Thank God she’d made it to a small ‘B’.

It was only after her divorce that her mother started rethinking the ‘small package’ theory. No doubt, her mother’s change in how she looked at her daughter’s lesser endowments was brought about by Kelsie’s own whining. The woman Kyle had been screwing around with behind her back had centerfold-sized boobs and left Kelsie feeling like her failed marriage was her fault. That her less than womanly attributes had Kyle looking elsewhere.

The phone rang, drawing her from her thoughts.

“Not again,” she muttered with an eye roll. Her mother had already called three times that day to make sure she wasn’t thinking about backing out of her date.

Sighing, she crossed the room to answer it, stepping over scattered heels as she went. A sudden thought gave her pause. What if it wasn’t her mother at all, but Cole calling to say something had come up and he needed to cancel their date? Or, even worse, what if he was calling to tell her that he was coming early?

Oh, that would be great. She was nowhere near ready to go out. And she certainly couldn’t greet him dressed as she was. Not in only her newly purchased Victoria’s Secret bra and panty set.

Stepping up to the nightstand, she glanced down at the caller ID. Nanci’s cell phone flashed across the screen. She grabbed for the cordless, bringing it up to her ear. “Hey.”

“Hey back at you. I was just calling to see how things are going.”

She knew better. She could read her friend like a book. Like her mother, Nanci was calling to make sure she hadn’t gotten cold feet and backed out of her date with Cole. As if anything about her could be cold when Cole Maxwell was involved.

“Admit it, Nanci. My mother asked you to check up on me, didn’t she?”

“Now why would you think...? Oh, hell. Yes, I admit your mother suggested I call to see how things are going with you when she called me five minutes ago.”

At least, her mother was bothering someone else beside her. She’d already had to deal with her mother’s pre-date pep talk. One she had come to know by heart.
Show a lot of leg. Wear something sexy that accentuates your figure. And smile a lot.
Her mother obviously had her confused with one of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy bunnies. Something she was not.

“The date’s still on if that’s what you two are worried about.”

“Don’t be silly. We’re not worried,” her friend replied, but she didn’t sound very confident. “I mean what woman in her right mind would cancel a dinner date with a hottie like Cole Maxwell?”

Kelsie made her way around the bed.
If she were in her right mind, she would.

“So are you really going to do it?” Nanci asked.

“Do what?” she asked as she stepped over to the dresser. Knowing her friend, ‘do it’ could have a whole lot of connotations to it. Phone perched between her cheek and shoulder, she began gathering up all her discarded purses.

“You know,” Nanci said. “Wear that lace thong you bought at Victoria’s Secret.”

“If you’re referring to this thing I have hiked halfway up my butt crack, then yes, I’m wearing it.”

“Ooh, I didn’t think you’d do it. The calendar stud is going to love it!”

She carried the armful of purses back into the walk-in closet and returned them to their storage box. “Well, that would make one of us.”

“Oh, come on. They’re not that bad. And guys love them.”

“Then let the men wear them.”

“Actually, there was this one guy I dated who was fascinated by my underwear. Not the ones on me, but the ones in my drawer. It seems he was into wearing women’s thongs.”

“Eeew,” Kelsie said with a shudder.

“My thoughts exactly. Needless to say, I dumped his ass. I mean I don’t mind sharing my dessert with a guy. Or even my deodorant. But my panties are off limits.”

“I don’t think I have to worry about Cole wanting to wear my thong.”

“Just wanting to get into it?”

“He can want all he wants. But he isn’t getting in or even getting a peek at my underwear.” Of course, he might if she didn’t hurry up and decide on something to wear on their date.

“You never know,” Nanci argued with a giggle. “Just wait until you’re all alone with Mr. Nice Ass in Tight Jeans and see if you’re not dying to have the guy peel all your clothes off.”

Kelsie frowned. She was already dying to have him peel her clothes off. And it was all Cole’s fault for looking at her the way he did. For kissing her the way he had.

Help!

“I hate to cut you off,” she told her friend, “but I really need to finish getting ready.”

“Okay. Just promise me you aren’t going to wear that awful ‘nun’ blouse you bought last month.” Nanci clicked her tongue. “Can you say major fashion faux pa?”

She was referring to the white silk blouse Kelsie had picked up from the clearance rack a few weeks before. According to Nanci, it ranked right up there with a nun’s habit because it was virginal white and didn’t show off any cleavage. As if she had that much to show.

“I’m not,” she assured her. Although it was lying in the pile of things she’d already tried on. Red bra, white blouse, not a good combination.

“Thank God. Oh, and before I let you go, I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor.”

“Sure.”

“Do you think you and Cole could swing by the office and pick up a bag I left on the counter by the phone when I went in last night to confirm patients for Monday? I’d go myself, but John picked up my car this morning to work on the transmission and I’m without back up wheels.”

John was an auto-mechanic from Reynoldsburg Nanci used to date. Kelsie glanced at the clock. Cole was going to be there in twenty minutes. She had to get a move on.

“Can’t you pick it up tonight when you and Joe go out?”

“I would, but we’re headed the other way. And it’s not something I want to leave lying around for anyone to find. But if it’s too much trouble...”

She wasn’t even going to ask. Knowing Nanci, it was probably sexually oriented pictures of her and one of her many boyfriends. Maybe even a home video.

“I’ll do it,” she replied as she grabbed up a pair of indigo blue bootleg jeans from the bed.

“Thanks. Have fun tonight and call me tomorrow. I want all the juicy details.”

“Bye, Nanci.” She hung up and returned the phone to its cradle. Nanci was going to be sorely disappointed because there wasn’t going to be anything juicy to tell about her date with Cole. Not if she could help it.

Cole finished the last of the coffee he’d been drinking and then carried the emptied cup over to the sink. It was his third cup within an hour. He figured he was going to need all the caffeine he could get to keep up with Kelsie. Especially, if she decided to run during their date.

He made his way out to the living room to turn off the television. Then he checked his watch again. Just a little bit longer...

His cell phone rang and Cole debated answering it. Odds were pretty high that it was Kelsie calling to cancel their date. One she hadn’t wanted to go out on to begin with.

Relief swept through him when he saw Joe’s number on the screen. He hit
Talk
and brought the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, buddy. You still at home?”

“Getting ready to leave.”

“What time’s your big date with Kelsie?”

Cole smiled into the phone. “Six.”

“As in ten minutes ago?” his friend exclaimed. “What the hell are you still doing home?”

“Talking to you.”

“You know what I mean. Why aren’t you with Kelsie? Oh, man. She backed out of your date. Didn’t she? Nanci was afraid she’d do that.”

“She didn’t back out of anything,” Cole said in her defense. At least, not yet she hadn’t.

“I don’t understand,” his friend said.

“I’m trying to prove to her that I’m not as perfect as she thinks I am. And being on time for our date would have been the ‘perfect’ thing for me to do. Therefore, I’m going to be late.”

Joe’s laughter rumbled out of the receiver. “Good point, my man. I can’t say that I would have ever thought of doing that, but it makes sense.”

“You wouldn’t have to have thought of doing something like this. Nanci
wants
to go out with you.”

“I suppose you have a point.”

“So where did you two decide to go for your date?”

“We’re going to hit Charlie’s for drinks and appetizers.”

“Good luck tonight.”

“Thanks. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”

“Just keep her away from second story windows and you’ll be fine.”

“You’re a real comedian, Joe.”

“Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”

“Catch you later.”

“Not if things go the way I hope they will tonight. This man’s going to be busy getting lucky with one sexy female. You’re on your own.”

Cole snapped his phone shut with a grin. If Kelsie managed to slip away from their date as she was known to do, he would be on his own. Literally.

~~~

Kelsie glanced at her watch for about the hundredth time since she’d started getting ready for her date with Cole. Only this time she wasn’t counting down the minutes until he arrived. She was counting down the minutes he was late.

To think that she’d been racing around her apartment like a madwoman, determined to be ready when he arrived. Now here he was twenty-five minutes late. Maybe it wasn’t her backing out of the date that her mother and Nanci should have been worried about. It was Cole doing so.

Despite all her protests and conflicting emotions when it came to going out with him, now that she’d been stood up Kelsie couldn’t suppress her disappointment.

She plopped down onto the edge of the overstuffed sofa with a sigh. Why had Cole gone through all the trouble of blackmailing her to go out with him if he had no real intention of taking her out? Maybe he’d finally realized they weren’t compatible. Whatever the reason, she was off the hook. It was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it?

No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that Cole’s blowing her off was for the best, she couldn’t ignore the deep disappointment she felt because of it. She bent to remove her shoes just as the doorbell rang.

She straightened with a gasp and then shot to her feet, her heart thumping wildly against the new red satin push-up bra. He’d come.

The doorbell sounded again.

“Coming,” she called out, trying to sound as if his being late hadn’t bothered her one bit. She hopped on one foot as she made her way to the door, tugging her tennis shoe back on as she went.

It no longer mattered that Cole was late for their date, just that he hadn’t stood her up like she’d thought he had. Knowing that he was waiting for her on the other side of that door made her knees weak.

When she reached the door, she paused to take a deep, calming breath in an attempt to compose herself. She refused to appear as desperate as she really was for the sight of him.

She reached out and unlocked the door and swung it open to greet him. A startled squeak left her mouth at the sight of him. That incredibly sexy grin she’d waited all week to see again had been replaced by what could only be described as Bugs Bunny teeth with a bad case of periodontal disease.

Without waiting for an invite, Cole stepped past her into the apartment entryway. “Sorry I’m late, doll. I would have called to let you know I was running behind, but only guys who are perfect do that kind of thing.”

Guys who are perfect? It took a moment for his words to penetrate her stunned mind. Then, she caught on. Cole’s arriving late. The ugly teeth. His barging into her apartment the way he had.

She crossed her arms and smiled up at him. “Nice try.”

He looked at her, his expression one of boyish innocence. “What?”

“You could’ve shown up with your head shaved and your face painted green and still be classified under ‘too perfect’ in my book.”
Literally.
There was a chapter in Operation: Date Escape entitled - Beware of Perfect Men.

With a chuckle, Cole popped the fake ‘hillbilly’ teeth out of his mouth. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He circled her with an appraising glance. “You look great.”

“Thanks.” His compliment brought warmth to her cheeks. “So do you.” They had both dressed casual. Her in her newly purchased jeans and comfy, off-the-shoulder style light blue gauzy top.

Cole had chosen to wear jeans, too, along with a navy blue, button-down, short sleeve shirt worn open at the neck. A single gold chain rested against his tan skin, just above the sprinkling of dark curls that peeked out from the vee of his open shirt. She could tell he had shaved, but a hint of dark stubble was already returning to that firm jaw. And he smelled great, too. Kind of a musk and citrus mix. The man just flat out oozed sexiness and not in the overkill way her last date, Jack the Strip Club Stud, had.