“It’s okay honey, you’re still my favorite son. So tell me, what’s been going on with you since I last saw you.”
“I’m your only son, hell I’m your only child, but thanks for letting me off the hook. Things are actually going pretty great. Today dad told me about a promotion I’m up for, Cooper is back in town, and a very beautiful woman agreed to go out with me finally. Life is good.”
Thinking about his upcoming date with Lindsay made him smile. He still hadn’t thought about movies to take, but maybe his mom would help with that.
“No offense honey, but the women you date are always beautiful. They just aren’t that bright. I wish you could find a good woman like Alex did.” Here we go again. Only this time he would be able to shut down his mom’s rant about the women he dated.
“As a matter of fact, she is a good woman and you’ve met her before.” The skeptical look his mother gave him made him laugh. “You remember Lindsay Pierce from Alex and Stella’s engagement party?”
His mom was barely containing her excitement as he told her who it was. “That gorgeous redhead, oh she was an absolute sweetheart. How the hell did you pull that off?”
Kyle was getting no love from either of his parents today, but it was his own fault for their poor opinion of his love life. “I bribed her.” He said dryly.
“Sorry, she’s not normally your type. Not that that’s a bad thing. You could stand to change the type of women you date.”
“Well I’m trying. Tomorrow night is our first date, but I’m hoping it won’t be our last. I really like her, but she’s been hurt before and is a little gun shy about relationships.”
“Hurt how?” Kyle knew it wasn’t his place to say anything, but his mom could keep a secret and he wanted someone not close to the situation to confide in.
“Her ex abused her.” Her hand went to her mouth and tears were already pooling in her eyes. “It happened a few years ago, and I don’t know any of the details, but she hasn’t dated anyone since.”
“Oh that poor girl, how could a person hurt someone so precious?” Kyle wondered the same thing. Lindsay was one of those people that you just wanted to shower with affection, not abuse.
“I don’t know. All I know is I practically had to beg her to give me a chance and I’m not going to blow it. We are having dinner at her place tomorrow and watching some movies.”
“That’s a good idea. Taking things slow will probably make it easier on her. Does anyone know what happened?”
“Not until recently. She told Stella and Vicki the other night, but they wouldn’t tell me what she said.” Every time he thought about it, it drove him crazy. How could he protect her, or know the right things to do or say, without knowing what she went through.
“Let her tell you in her own time. The day she does, is the day you’ll know she trusts you. Just have patience.”
“Thanks mom. I know I don’t have to tell you this, but can we keep this between us. I don’t think she would want everyone to know.”
“Of course I won’t say anything, you have my word. I am curious as to why you’ve done such an about face on the whole relationship thing; not that I’m complaining.” This was his mom’s nice way of asking why he finally decided to grow up.
“Honestly, I don’t know. Seeing Alex happy is part of it, but the way I feel when I’m around Lindsay…I’ve never felt that way before. Like I would do anything to bring a smile to her face or make her laugh.” No other woman had ever made him forget his reasons for not getting too close to someone, just Lindsay.
“That’s as good a reason as any.” They each dipped a bowl of food and sat back down to chat a while longer. By the time Kyle left it was after ten and his mom was ready for bed. On his way home, he thought about everything his mom told him. It might not be easy, but with a little patience he and Lindsay could make this work.
****
Chapter 10
Standing in the bathroom brushing her hair with one hand and holding the phone with the other, Lindsay was overwhelmed with worry. “This is going to be a disaster, I can feel it.”
“Well if you go into it with that attitude it will be. Now calm down and breathe. You’ve been around Kyle before, even been alone with him, you will be fine.” Vicki always did give it to a person straight and today was no different. Lindsay took a breath and tried to relax.
“I’ll try. He isn’t supposed to be here for another fifteen minutes, so why don’t you distract me and tell me how work is going. How’s the Superstar behaving?”
“He still won’t listen to a damn thing I say, but I’m handling it. I have no idea how I got roped into this new role, but the contract I could get from it is incentive enough to stay.” All of Vicki’s big talk did little to hide the attraction Lindsay knew was simmering below the surface.
“You sure he isn’t the tiniest bit cute?” She heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the line and laughed. “Alright, I’ll leave you alone…for now.”
“Thank you. So how are you liking your new hairdo? Gotten used to it yet?” Lindsay ran her hand over the silky locks that were cupping her face and smiled.
“I love it. Yesterday was weird, but today it has grown on me.”
“Good, I’m glad.” Vicki started to say something else when there was a knock at the door and she started babbling into the phone.
“Oh my God, he’s here. What do I do? I’m not ready for this.”
“Lindsay! Snap out of it. You are going to answer the door, let Kyle in, eat dinner and watch a movie. It’s not that serious.” Another knock and it was time to say goodbye to Vicki.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, thanks for the pep talk. Bye.” Lindsay ended the call and set her phone on the dresser on the way to answer the door. With a quick check through the peephole, she opened the door.
“Hi, come on in.” She moved to the side to let him in, but Kyle seemed to be frozen to the walkway. “Is something wrong?”
“You look fucking hot.” His unfiltered response made her laugh and forget some of her nervousness.
“Thank you, you’re looking pretty good yourself. Are we going to stand here all night or are you coming in?” She raised an eyebrow at him and he shook his head as if to clear it.
“Sorry about that, I was in shock for a minute over your hair.”
“I take it you like it then?” She didn’t need his approval, but his response did interest her.
“I liked how it was before, but I’ll be damned if you don’t look even more beautiful now. I didn’t think it was possible.” She closed the door and locked it.
“It’s just hair, but thank you.” She noticed the stack of DVD’s in one of his hands and in the other was a white bakery box. Lindsay could already smell the delicious confection that was waiting inside. He must have seen her glance at the box because he handed it to her with a smile.
“I brought dessert.” Sure enough when she lifted the lid there were two apple turnovers. If she didn’t close the lid right then the pastry wouldn’t last until after dinner, so she shut the box and sat it on the counter in the kitchen.
“You found my weakness. Those are the best.” Kyle was standing on the other side of the island watching her and she was beginning to think apple turnovers weren’t her only weakness.
Tonight he wore a navy blue polo with all but one button undone and his sunglasses were hanging from the opening. The shirt hugged every well-defined muscle in his arms and chest so well that Lindsay thought a shirt was unnecessary at this point. His short black hair was gelled lightly and he was wearing the most intoxicating cologne. It was masculine and sexy; just like the man who wore it.
“I’m glad I got what you like.” Lindsay had been so lost in her perusal of Kyle that she forgot what they were talking about.
“Huh?”
“The turnovers” Oh yeah. Get it together, he wasn’t talking about himself. She walked over to where the menus were laid out to focus on something other than the sexy man in her apartme
nt.
“Are you ready to order dinner, or do you want to wait?” He looked as hungry as she did, but it wasn’t for food. They stared at each other for what felt like hours when Kyle finally broke the spell.
“We can order now. You pick since I chose the movies.”
“Anything you don’t like?”
“Not a huge fan of Mexican, but I’ll eat just about anything else.” Lindsay smiled. She didn’t like Mexican food either. This was off to a good start. Grabbing the menu for Giovanni’s, Lindsay held it up for Kyle to see.
“How about Italian? I know we ate pasta the other day, but they have the best lasagna and breadsticks.” Kyle agreed and took out his phone to dial the number. After placing their order, Kyle hung up and turned to Lindsay.
“Delivery time is thirty minutes.”
“That’s not bad; do you want something to drink while we wait? I have water, pop, juice and red wine.” She had grabbed a bottle of Sweet Red on her way home from the salon last night on a whim.
“Wine sounds good. Point me in the direction of the corkscrew and I’ll open it up.” Lindsay opened the drawer next to the stove and pulled it out. Kyle already had the bottle from the fridge, so she handed him the corkscrew.
She found her wine glasses and set them on the counter as Kyle efficiently opened the wine and poured each of them a glass; he held his up in a toasting salute.
“To a sweet, sexy, beautiful woman. Thank you for making me a very happy man and giving me a chance.” Lindsay clinked her glass to Kyle’s.
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you convinced me to.” They each took a sip of their wine and headed to the living room. “So what movies did you bring?”
Kyle looked down at the movies in his hand almost sheepishly. “I brought four because I couldn’t decide. I have two comedies, a drama, and an action.”
Lindsay moved closer to him so she could see them and each title she read made her laugh. “Either we have the same taste in movies, or that same little birdie told you my favorites.”
“She’s a very talkative bird. I wanted to pick something you would like, but had no idea what that would be.” It was kind of funny to see smooth confident Kyle all flustered.
“Why didn’t you call me? It’s not like I wouldn’t have told you my favorite movie.”
“I thought it was a test when you told me to pick the movie; like you wanted to see if I would choose a bunch of guy ones.” Pink dotted both of his gorgeously sculpted cheeks and Lindsay was glad she wasn’t the only one nervous. Taking pity on him, she grabbed her favorite of all four and showed him.
“Anything with Jason Segel or Paul Rudd gets my vote. Now you won’t have to call Stella next time you have a movie question about me.” Kyle’s eyes brightened and all traces of nerves disappeared.
“So you’re saying there will be a next time?” Not wanting to answer a question like that until later in the night, Lindsay handed him the DVD and gave him a shove toward the TV.
“Shut up and go put the movie in.” Kyle was still laughing as he opened up the DVD player and put in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and then came to sit on the couch.
“Do you want me to start it now?”
Lindsay took a seat on the far end of the couch and folded one leg under her. “Why don’t we wait for the food? I hate stopping a movie in the middle.”
Kyle sat down at the other end of the couch, and mirrored her position. He was turned towards her with his elbow propped up on the back of the couch, and his head resting on his hand. Neither one of them said anything for several moments and Lindsay couldn’t take the silence anymore, so she went for something generic.
“How’s work?” Kyle’s sinfully gorgeous lips pulled up into a heart stopping smile.
“Good. I got some pretty great news yesterday, actually. I was told I was in line for a promotion. It just has to be voted on sometime this month.”
“That is great news. What would you be doing differently?” Lindsay liked the fact that Kyle actually talked. Most men only gave short one word answers or grunts.
“I would be a Lieutenant. Basically, I’d be the boss of my shift. I’d train new guys and have to deal with discipline issues; the Chief is the only one higher. But I don’t want to jinx it. There’s still a chance I could lose out on it. How about you? How’s work at the studio going?”
Lindsay loved her job. “It’s been good. I’m glad we brought Frank in. It’s made Stella slow down, and it gives me someone to talk to when she’s away on a shoot.”
“What is your favorite kind of photo shoot?” Lindsay thought about that for a few seconds. She already knew the answer, but her reasons were bittersweet and she hoped Kyle wouldn’t ask for a why.
“When parents bring in babies every so many months to get new pictures done; I love watching them progress from shoot to shoot.” She could leave off the part where it also made the ache inside her grow a little more with each one.
“That would be a great perk of the job. Does it make you think about having kids of your own one day?” Lindsay should have known better than to bring the subject of babies up. All it did was depress her.
Thankfully there was a knock on the door that saved her from having to answer. Kyle stood and walked toward the door, pulling his wallet out on the way. While he paid for the food, Lindsay tried to pull herself back together as she went to the kitchen to get plates and silverware out.
Kyle came in and put the bag of food on the island, and started opening the foil containers. “This smells so good.”
“Have you ever had Giovanni’s?”
“It’s been a long time. They don’t deliver to my area, and Alex and I always seem to order pizza or Chinese food when I’m over.” Lindsay handed him a plate and a fork, as they worked around each other getting food.
Making their way to the living room, Lindsay grabbed a pillow and sat it on the floor in front of the coffee table, and Kyle did the same. He reached for the remote and pushed play as they began eating and watching the movie in silence.
****
“I’m so full.” Kyle rubbed his hands over his stomach and moaned. “You weren’t kidding about the lasagna, it was really good.”
“I told you.” Lindsay stood and tried to pick up his plate but he moved it out of her reach, and then got up and took her plate. “Hey!”
“You said you don’t like being interrupted during a movie. I’ll take the plates in the kitchen and rinse them off while you sit back down and watch the movie.”
Lindsay made one more attempt to snatch the plates back, but their height difference made it easy for him to hold them high above her. With a cute little scowl, Lindsay plopped down on the couch and resumed watching the movie.
While Kyle was in the kitchen, he thought about how the evening had gone so far. They both were nervous in the beginning, but that was to be expected. Now that they were done eating, Kyle wanted nothing more than to sit on the couch, with Lindsay curled up next to him, and watch the movie.
He went back to the living room and she was once again on the opposite end of the couch. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable in anyway, so Kyle sat where he was before and watched the movie all by his lonesome.
When the credits started rolling, he hoped Lindsay would agree to watch another one. Kyle was trying to think of a clever way to ask her when Lindsay surprised him. “Do you want to watch one of the other ones?”
Pure happiness coursed through him. “I’d love to, which one?”
“How much would you hate me if I said The Notebook? I haven’t seen it in years.” Kyle groaned on the inside, but thought it was the perfect opportunity to bargain for what he wanted.
“Okay, but on one condition.”
Lindsay eyed him suspiciously. “And what would that be?”
“You have to come snuggle with me during the movie. I may need you to hold my hand so I don’t cry.” Lindsay didn’t say a word. She stood staring at him, and then walked out of the room.
Shit, him and his big mouth. He should have just been happy she wanted to spend more time with him instead of pushing for more. Kyle put his head in his hands and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. The sound of footsteps coming from the hallway made him tense up. Lindsay was probably coming back to throw him out.
“Are you okay?” There was clear confusion in her voice, and he slowly removed his face from behind his hands. Lindsay was standing in front of him holding a big blanket and relief made him sag back into the couch.
“Is something wrong?” Lindsay’s eyebrows were drawn together and Kyle wanted to erase that expression from her face.
“I’m just an idiot. I thought I had scared you off with my request. I’m relieved you just went to get a blanket.”
Lindsay’s expression changed from a frown to downright pissed off. “Is this how it’s going to be all the time? You walking on egg shells and expecting me to fall to pieces at any moment; because if that’s the case, we don’t need to watch another movie.”
Kyle got to his feet and tried to control his own temper. “You’re pissed because I’m not sure how to act? Pardon me for being a little gun shy. I don’t want to say or do the wrong thing and have another repeat of the other night at the bar. It’s like I’m walking through a mine field blindfolded, but since I don’t know anything about your past it makes it a little difficult to know how to act.”
“If that’s how you feel, then why are you here? Why not just find a normal girl to date, instead of one that is so clearly damaged.” A small sob escaped Lindsay and any anger Kyle felt vanished. He didn’t think this time as he wrapped his arms around her.
She was still holding the blanket, so Kyle let go of her with one hand and threw the blanket on the floor beside them. Small hiccups and sniffles were vibrating against his chest, and Kyle held on tighter.
“You’re not damaged Lindsay, and I’m sorry for being an ass. It’s just hard for me to know the right thing to say or do.” She had stopped crying, but still hadn’t said anything. Kyle pulled back a little and placed a finger under her chin to tilt her head back. He wiped a tear off her damp cheek and kissed the tip of her nose.