I seem to have startled her out of her thoughts and she looks at me.
“About what?”
“I’m sorry about the other night. You have to understand that isn’t me. I’m not normally the kind of guy that is so aggressive.”
It’s the truth, yet I don’t regret it. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Adjusting her position, she looks at me briefly before looking out toward the yard. “Maybe you should be aggressive more often.”
This grabs my attention and I jerk my head to look at her. Her cheeks are tinted pink and I grin. “Maybe I should be.”
She looks at me and we both search each other’s eyes. I want so badly to kiss her again. The draw I feel to her is unreal. Something I’ve never experienced, not even with Sarah. Sticking out her tongue a bit she wets her lips, making me suppress a growl. She leans closer to me, begging me with her body for me to taste her again. Fuck, I want to, but I can’t.
“Listen I’m going to be completely honest with you. Since I kissed you the other night, I can’t stop thinking about you. But until you figure out your relationship with Blake, I feel like I need to take a step back. You need to focus on that right now. I just want you to know that it isn’t because I’m not attracted to you.”
She straightens herself and fidgets with her hands. “Oh sure.”
Not saying anything else I feel like a complete asshole. “McKinley?” She looks at me through her long lashes and this time the growl escapes my throat. “Fuck.” I close my eyes for a second trying to regain some kind of control of the situation. When I open them, she is staring at me with pure lust. “How about this, you work on your relationship with Blake, and we will get to know each other?”
She doesn’t seem excited but nods her head. “Alright.” She makes me feel awful, it’s like she took a page out of my girls’ book on how to make me give in. “I understand, I really do.”
I stand up and look down at her with a grin on my face. “I’m going to start this over.” She dips her brow in confusion, and I smile. “Hi, my name is Braden Gregory. I have two beautiful daughters, an amazing sister, and a mom who I would lay my life down for. Even though my life has been flipped upside down the last year, I am loving it.”
She gives me a huge smile and stands up, sticking her hand out for me. “Hi, I’m McKinley Dean. I’m from Louisiana. I’m here because I found out I had a brother and was hoping to form a relationship with him. My mom and I fight a lot because she wants me to settle in life and I refuse.”
The last part has me intrigued. I like a woman who doesn’t want to settle, who goes after her dreams.
I wink and nod toward the door. “You want to help me get the food started?”
She agrees and we spend the next half hour getting everything ready. We don’t talk about anything but the food and I’m hoping to change that before everyone gets here.
She helps carry out the steaks and I put them on the grill before we sit down.
“So, do you have a girlfriend?”
I chuckle and grin at her. “No, I don’t. I know you don’t know me yet, but that’s not me. I’m not the guy that will tell you one thing and mean another. Being honest is key in any relationship you have, friends, parents, siblings, and significant others. So, believe me, my lips would never have touched yours if they belonged to someone else.”
Nodding her head, she looks out to the pool. “I guess I’ve never really had a relationship that needed hundred percent honesty before.”
Out of instinct I reach over and place my hand on hers. Bad mistake because the feel of her skin on mine, even just her hand, has me wanting to pull her to me.
I clear my head of those thoughts and say, “Why would you say that?”
Looking at me with sadness or regret, I’m not really sure, she attempts a weak smile. “It’s just how my life has been.”
“I guess it’s a good thing you came out here then. We are a tight bunch,” I say, earning me a genuine smile.
I get up to flip the steaks and she follows. “So, what happened with you and your wife?”
The question catches me off guard and with my back to her I answer, “We just didn’t work out.” It's a hard question to answer. I’m not ready to delve into that with someone new.
Just as I’m about to change the subject the door opens and my girls come running out, bathing suits on and huge smiles.
My mood shifts to pure joy just watching them. No matter what happened with Sarah, it was ultimately worth it for these two. They make life worth living.
Chapter 5
McKinley
Standing there watching Braden’s face light up when his daughters came barreling through the door is something to behold. I’ve never truly seen what someone’s face looks like when they are completely happy, but his face right now shows me.
He bends down and scoops up both girls laughing as they both talk a mile a minute about their day with Kallie. She walks over and the four of them laugh and talk while I stand here in awe of it. I’m jealous of the connection Braden has with his daughters, I wish I had that with my dad, or I mean step-dad.
The way he is with Kallie, makes my heart ache because I’ve never had that kind of relationship with anyone, never mind family. It’s selfish, I know that. I should be happy that these people have such a TV series kind of life, but I’m not. I deserved that
