“Layne, I don’t know what to do.”
“Tell me what’s wrong, Zoe. Maybe I can help you.”
“I started seeing this guy, Jeremy, a while back. He was so gorgeous and so nice, you know? He came by the store to see me when I worked. He walked me to my classes at school, waited for me after school, and drove me home.” Her voice drops to just above a whisper when she continues. “He told me he loved me. Everything was so perfect, nothing like the rest of my life.”
“Then what happened?”
She won’t look at me when she speaks, the shame eating her alive. “He wanted to have sex. So I finally gave in.” She shrugs her shoulders. “It was great at first. Jeremy wanted to be around me all the time, like he was proud that I was his girlfriend. Made me feel special, important.
“When I first told him I’m pregnant, he said we’d handle everything together. I didn’t notice a pattern at first, but he started being ‘busy’ all of a sudden. Stopped walking me to class. Stopped waiting for me after school. Stopped calling. He claims he’s not the father. Now he’s telling people we broke up because I cheated on him and got pregnant with some other guy’s baby.”
Her whole body shakes as she weeps inconsolably. “I thought we’d be together when I tell my parents. They’ll kick me out of the house. They’ve always wanted a reason to get rid of me anyway, but this will just push them over the edge. I have no one else, Layne.”
“You have me, Zoe,” I promise her. “You have me, sweet girl.”
Chapter Eleven
ACE
When Layne opens the door, my eyes trail down her body, soaking in the way her simple summer dress hugs the luscious curves of her body. I’ve been a gentleman, the good guy who waits patiently until she’s ready. But I’m so far beyond ready to bury myself as deeply inside her as humanly possible. To hear my name repeatedly fall from her lips when her body yields to me and my touch. And to make her forget that any other man has ever or will ever exist—because she knows no other has a snowball’s chance in hell of pleasing her the way I do.
As an added bonus, I’ll leave her unable to walk normally for a couple of days afterward, just to let every other Joe Blow know she’s well taken care of. She’s given me a few clues that she’s ready for this step, too. Even though tonight is our first official date, I’ve spent enough time with her over the last month to know her well enough.
“Hello, beautiful. You look good enough to eat.” I’m every bit the big, bad wolf that I sound like. I could feast on her all night long.
The twinge of pink embarrassment that colors her cheeks amuses me. She’s not used to my kind of flirting. Makes me even more eager to see how she reacts to the things I’ll say to her when she’s naked and writhing underneath me. Her ex-boyfriend must’ve been a real loser.
“You look very handsome yourself, Ace,” she replies and steps aside to let me in.
Taking her hand, I pull it above her head and motion for her to turn around for me. The slinky pink material caresses her skin in all the places my hands itch to touch. “I’m torn. I don’t know if I should take you to the fair, show you off, and make all the other guys jealous…” I hesitate for a second. “Or if I should keep you here under lock and key so I can have you all to myself tonight.”
Layne smiles sweetly at me, but I immediately know better than to trust that kind of smile. “Ace, you promised me a good time at the county fair. So, you’re going to take me out and show me a good time. Your word is a verbal contract and I plan to hold you to it.”
“You can hold me to it all night.” I wink and her whole face burns bright red. She wears it so beautifully. “You’re right, I did promise you a night of pure sugar, thrilling rides, and prize farm animals. So when we’re finished here, we can top the night off with a trip to the county fairgrounds.”
Her responding laugh is music to my ears. Her eyes sparkle and dance with mirth, her smile covers her face, and her skin glows radiantly. So many things about her take my breath away when I look at her and make me forget why I was ever so intent to keep her at arm’s length.
“That was a good one, Ace.” She wipes a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye. “It feels so good to laugh like that. You always keep me on my toes.”
“Layne, there’s something about me I think you should know,” I say with all seriousness. “One of my many skills is being able to take anything you say and completely change the meaning to one that I like better.”
“Like?” She scrunches her brow and slightly tilts her head, deep in thought, and I nearly burst out laughing. But I manage to maintain my composure and finish explaining.
My lascivious grin will no doubt give me away. “Like, when you said I keep you on your toes. My mind automatically went to you touching your toes, which means I pictured you bent—”