Unforgettable (8 page)

Krista moaned as she got inside her
vehicle. Looking over at Neil, she watched as he backed up first
and drove toward the entrance of the park. All the while, she found
herself green with envy. If this was her one date with him, why was
she passing up the chance to ride in that car?

Ten minutes later, Krista pulled her
car up next to his. He leaned against the side of it, looking sexy
as hell, waiting on her. She got out of her vehicle and walked
toward him.

“
Ready?” he asked as he
offered his arm.

She stared at the invitation to touch
him a moment, took a deep breath, and wrapped her hand in the crook
of his arm. “Ready.”

They were silent as they made their way
to the ticket booth. It was pretty quiet for a Saturday. She was
surprised.

“
What did you decide?” he
asked. “New or old?”

“
Uh.” She hadn’t yet. This
was the moment she had to make the decision. Did she want to pass
up the chance to kiss him again the way she did the ride in his
car? Or did she want to continue to play it safe? “Let’s see the
oldest movie out.”

Neil stepped up to the booth. “Two
tickets to whatever movie’s been out the longest and will have the
least amount of people inside.”

The person behind the counter grinned
and let their eyes look back and forth between them. Did they look
like an odd pair? Did they think he was her father?

She’d never thought about that before.
Certainly not.

“
Here you go.” The lady slid
two tickets under the Plexiglas. “Enjoy the show.”

“
Oh, we will.” Neil smirked
at Krista and once again offered his arm.

As soon as they were inside the cool
theatre, Neil handed her the tickets. “Go get us a seat. I’ll get
the food. Any preferences?”

Krista released his arm. “Popcorn and
soda makes me happy.”

“
I aim to please.” He
winked.

Her heart raced from the way he made
her feel as she searched for theater room ten. Go figure, it was in
the very back of the place. As she walked down the corridor to the
stadium seating, she began to feel nervous.

It had been so silly of her to make
this decision. She wasn’t sixteen. If she wanted to make out with
Neil, she could just take him back to her place. But then again,
the thrill of being in public also piqued her interest. What was
wrong with her? Did she like the idea of being caught? Or of
someone watching?

Pushing the thoughts aside, Krista
marched all the way to the back of the theatre and took a seat on
the very back row in the middle. She’d already gotten this far,
might as well go all the way—not literally—she hoped!

It didn’t take long before Neil was in
the theatre as well, carrying a tray of drinks and a big bucket of
popcorn.

He sat next to her. “The middle. Love
it.”

She took a drink from the cardboard
tray and placed it in her cup holder. “Best spot in the
place.”

“
Any spot next to you is the
best.”

She giggled, hating that his comment
had given her the butterflies. “Does that line usually work on your
dates?”

He shrugged. “I only care if it works
on you.”

Reaching over, she scooped up some of
the popcorn. He was totally making her swoon. “You make it hard to
resist you, you know that?”

“
I don’t want you to resist
me. I want you to accept the attraction between us.”

She couldn’t fight it anymore. The more
time she spent with him, the more she liked him. “Do you really
think this can work? We want different things in life.”

Neil rubbed a finger along her cheek.
“Maybe what we want is the same. Happiness is something you’re
after, right? I can provide that.”

“
Kids—”

“
Let’s not worry about that,
okay?” he interrupted. “Let’s just live in the now and see where
this takes us.”

He leaned forward, taking her lips just
as the lights dimmed slightly and the previews started. Live in the
now, she could do that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and
pulled herself into him.

A thud echoed and she realized that the
popcorn had fallen to the floor. Chances were they weren’t going to
eat much of that anyway.

Neil broke the kiss. “We’re all alone
in here. Perhaps we should thank the lady behind the desk when we
leave.”

“
Neil. Shut up and kiss me
before I change my mind.”

With a force, he wrapped his arms
around her waist and thrust her into his lap. She laughed, but was
soon silenced by his kiss. She placed both hands on either side of
his face to deepen and control the kiss. But it wasn’t easy as his
fingers danced under her dress, going higher and higher, until they
finally he cupped her breasts.

It had been so long since a man had
touched her that she felt herself silently praying for him to pull
the material back and pinch her nipples. Finally, he did. He didn’t
pinch though; instead he rolled the point between his two fingers.
Oh God, it felt much better than she remembered. She squirmed in
his lap and found his erection pressing into her.

His mouth left hers and kissed down her
neck. She flung her head back and slightly grinded into his
hardness. If only they were somewhere more private, she’d let him
have his way with her. Just to have him inside of her. After this
movie was over, she was inviting him home. There was no way she
couldn’t have sex with him. It was as though something primal had
been set off inside of her.

Pulling herself back from the arched
position, she lifted his face to kiss him. Only it wasn’t a sweet
kiss; it was greedy. One hand slid down his chest, past his belly
button, and finally circled around his shaft. Through his pants
alone, he felt huge. Not only did she want him inside her, she
wanted to taste him. Have him fill her mouth as she pleasured him.
That was a secret infatuation of hers.

Ring, ring, ring. Ring,
ring, ring.

Was that someone’s phone? How freaking
rude!

But as it continued to ring, she
realized it was hers. Breaking away from him, she stared into his
eyes. To answer the damn thing or not. The ringing stopped and just
as she was about to lean forward to kiss him again, it started
again.

Krista groaned and climbed
off his lap. She picked up her purse and dug out her phone. The
caller ID displayed
Todd
. She quickly answered it,
casting an apologetic glance in her date’s direction.

“
Hello.”

“
Krista, listen, don’t freak
out.” Todd’s voice quivered.

“
Okay.” A feeling of unease
swept over her.

“
EJ and I were in a car
accident.”

She clenched her fists and took a deep
breath. “A what? Is EJ okay?”

“
Yes. But we are at the
hospital because I wanted to make sure. He’s asking for
you.”

Her heart sped up and a cool shiver
swept through her. “Tell him I’ll be there right away.” She ended
the call. “I’ve got to go. My son was in a car
accident.”

As she got up, Neil reached out,
grabbing her arm. “Wait, your son?” He stood. “Let me go with you.
You don’t need to go alone.”

“
No, you can’t,” she
snapped. “I’ve got to go, Neil. I’m sorry.”

Without another thought, she put her
purse over her shoulder and stormed out of the theatre.

Krista shoved the heavy door open that led into the ER. She
stopped long enough for her gaze to dart across the room to the
welcome desk and then ran to it.

“
My son is here. EJ
Michaels. He’s a kid.”

The lady smiled. “Okay. Just a moment
as I look him up.”

Krista took a deep breath and glanced
around at the waiting room, seeing many ill and hurt people. She
hated this place. It was so cold and unwelcoming. Couldn’t they
spruce it up? Make it feel a little more happy as people
waited.

Finally the lady spoke. “If you go
through that door,” she pointed, “and then turn left, you’ll look
for room 918. Hurry, he’s about to be discharged, from my
understanding.”

That was a relief. Krista thanked her
and made her way to her son. As soon as room 918 was in sight, she
could hear EJ laughing.

“
EJ.” She burst into the
room.

“
Mom.” He hopped off the
table, looking the same as she’d seen him last.

She ran her hands all over his body,
feeling for anything out of place. “Are you okay? Sit back
down.”

“
He’s fine, ma’am. Good to
go actually.” An older gentleman, whom she assumed was the doctor,
approached her.

“
What was wrong? Why was he
here?” she asked.

“
Just a precaution to make
sure he didn’t have whiplash or anything,” the doctor
said.

“
Did you hear me on the
phone?” Todd asked.

Bits and pieces. She’d been too shocked
by the phone call for it to really register. “Well, yeah, but I
wasn’t sure since he was here and all.”

EJ laid his head against Krista’s arm.
“I’m fine, Mom. Ready to get out of here. Dad and I are getting ice
cream.”

Glaring at Todd, she asked, “What about
the car? How are you going to drive?”

Todd reached out and touched her
shoulder. “Relax. It wasn’t totaled.”

The doctor cleared his throat. “If you
don’t mind, can we get you fully discharged so we can get someone
else in the room?”

She nodded and helped EJ down from the
table. She wrapped her arms around him as they left the room. She
wasn’t going to let him go for anything. As soon as Todd was
finished with the paperwork, they made their way out to the
lobby.

“
I think I should take EJ
home with me,” she said firmly.

“
Why? It’s my weekend.” Todd
stared at her with a confused expression.

She ran a hand through her hair. “In
light of what happened, I’d like to take him home so I can watch
him.”

Todd crossed his arms. “I can do that
too.”

“
Yes, but I’m his
mother.”

“
And I’m his
father.”

“
He’s coming home with me
and that’s final.” She hated having to act the way she was, but
didn’t he understand? She had to have EJ. Hold him, baby him, and
so on. Surely he wanted to be with her as well.

“
Why don’t we leave it up to
EJ?”

“
Oh, sure. Let’s put that
kinda pressure on him.” She rolled her eyes.

“
You were obviously in the
middle of something by the way you’re dressed.” His gaze traveled
the length of her body. “Go finish up whatever it was. I promise to
take care of him. And if he needs you, I’ll call.”

EJ chimed in. “It’s fine, Mom. Really.
Dad and I are going to get ice cream and watch a movie. We already
got the movie. It’s in the car.”

The car they got in an accident with.
She sighed. Obviously if he was still able to drive it, the
accident wasn’t bad. Todd had been the good father he always was
and brought EJ in for precaution. She could argue until she was
blue in the face, but the truth was, EJ was fine and he wanted to
go with his dad.

“
Okay, but I’ll be calling
you in a few hours to check on you. Understand?”

EJ hugged her. “Love you.”

“
I love you too.”

EJ released her and went to stand next
to his dad. “I’ll keep you updated,” Todd said.

She nodded. It was all she could really
do. This was one of those times she hated being divorced. Hated
that things hadn’t workout out between Todd and her. But he’d
walked away from her. In the long run, she knew it had been for the
better. He didn’t love her anymore and thought they both deserved
happiness.

As she watched EJ leave with Todd, she
wondered when she was going to find the happiness she so
desired.

Neil.

Why had he crossed her mind?