Page 23 of Crashing Into Me
KIMBERLY LAYUNDER the blankets on the bed in her room, quite content with herself. She was with her guy’s mom, whom she adored, and she was just hours away from seeing him again. Kayden was her first love and the hottest guy in their circle of friends, and everyone envied them when they were together. Flipping through her worn bridal magazine, she circled a dress by Vivian Westward. It was perfect! She planned to wear Swarovski crystals in her hair that matched his eye color and had even picked out her engagement ring. The wedding was going to be fabulous! Although they hadn’t been together or even seen each other for a while, she wasn’t worried about him fighting the marriage.
Kayden did what his mom wanted anyway, even though she admittedly didn’t always like the way Maureen treated him at times. This time, though, it benefited them all. Their family dynamic had been strained since Joel and his dad died, and Kayden still wasn’t handling it well at all. He partied way too much, and not the fun stuff either, just drinking and street racing at every hole in the wall he could find. It’s like he wanted something bad to happen.
It didn’t matter because all that was going to be behind him, and pretty soon they’d be thenewroyalty of real estate. Kim understood he loved restoring old, stinky buildings. Still, she would help usher him into the twenty-first century and design high-rise condominiums and hotels like Maureen wanted—it was going to be fantastic!I’m so lucky,she thought as she circled another dress by Gucci in the book. Their wedding would be in every magazine and every talk show —just fabulous! Kim rolled over on her back on the bed with a massive smile on her face as she clutched the magazine to her chest.
9
pulse under ice
The sun was up, but the sky was dull and gray as blankets of snow continued to fall. Kayden’s revelation about his new plan yesterday surprised her, to say the least. Lana was embarrassed by how wrong she had been to prejudge him and knew it had a lot to do with her own insecurities.Maybe all men weren’t alike after all.Her cell phone vibrated, and she picked it up from the bedside table and swiped the screen:
CARMEN: Guess who got DUMPED?! Hint...Dragon in heels
She rolled her eyes but finally responded to her friend.
LANA: Don’t even care. Have so much to tell you.
CARMEN: So you don’t care that he dumped her when he saw the pic she posted of u on FB?
LANA: Nope!
CARMEN: Damn girl, what’s going on up there? You need to call me ASAP!
She put the phone back down, climbed out of bed, and walked into Kayden’s bathroom, where she turned the deep whirlpool tub on. Adding her vanilla bean-scented body wash, she removed what little she had on and slipped into the steaming water.
They had made love three times since yesterday, and her muscles ached in all the right places.He was insatiable,she thought as she bathed away the night’s adventures. Lana woke up alone but knew he wasn’t far. He was probably cooking breakfast or chopping wood since the roads were closed. He couldn’t go to the hospital to see Rachel even if he wanted to.
Rachel. How was she going to break that to him? She lay back and rested her head against the cold porcelain of the tub.Perhaps if I did it now, it wouldn’t be so bad. Lana knew that the longer she dragged it out, the worse it would be, and his heart being broken was inevitable anyway. Either the news would come from her or the police, and she couldn’t let them catch him off guard like that. He didn’t deserve that.
Once she was finished in the bathroom, she put on a thick, soft, and fluffy terry cloth robe and slipped on Kayden’s bedroom shoes. They were huge and she could hardly walk in them, but she didn’t have any of her own, since she wasn’t prepared for the snowstorm. Tip-toeing down the stairs to avoid slipping, there weren’t any aromas of breakfast being made, just freshly brewed coffee. He was sitting at the dining room table, intently drawing on the large sheet of paper spread across it. His back was turned to her, and she didn’t want to startle him, so she went into the kitchen, grabbed a mug, and poured herself a cup of his way-too-strong coffee.
“Morning, beautiful,” he called over his shoulder. That made her smile.
“Morning,” she replied, walking towards him now, mug in hand.
He reached his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him as he drew ruler-straight lines with his free hand. It was a masterpiece, she thought, looking at it.
“That’s amazing, Kayden,” she said.
She could hardly believe her eyes. He had sketched the exterior of the building with stained glass, making it look like a home rather than a diner entrance.
“You like it?” he asked while he pulled her onto his lap and looked up at her.
“I love it, and I know Aunt Mae will too,” she said and kissed him on the nose.
“I love it too, but it’s not for the restaurant,” he replied, returning her gesture of a kiss, but on her mouth instead. He tasted the coffee on her mouth and licked his lips.
“Oh yeah? Then what’s it for?” she asked, perplexed.
“It’s a house I want to build here in Hamby. I’ve been working on it for a while, but I’m inspired to finish it now.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. It’s huge,” she said as he flipped the plans so she could see more.
The house was three stories tall, with a covered lanai, six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a media room, a formal dining room, and a private tennis court. It was beyond anything she had ever seen for sure.
“You’re really talented, you know that,” she said, looking at him.
“If only my mother agreed.”
