Unconditional Love (Journey of Love 1)

I made a beeline straight to the bedroom next to mine. Before I walked into the room, she cleared her throat. I stopped and turned around to see her standing outside the bedroom at the end of the hall. She smiled and pointed into the room.

Fuckin’ A.

“Yep, and Lark is being such a gentleman by carrying my suitcase.”

She let out a laugh, and when I walked by, my arm brushed up against hers.

Shit! What in the hell is with the weird feelings every time I touch this girl?

I put her suitcase down on the bed, turned, and ran my hand through my hair. I didn’t like the way I felt when I was around her, and I’d only been around her for about ten minutes. When I looked up, I saw she was staring at me.

“Oh, um…what did you say, Jessie?” She quickly looked away. “Okay, I probably will because I am starving. Okay, see y’all soon.” She hung up and looked at me again. She gave me the sweetest smile. “They’re, um…they’re going to be heading back soon. Have you eaten dinner?”

My heart dropped to my stomach, and I was starting to get pissed off at how my body was betraying me. I just needed to either fuck this girl or completely ignore her.

“Nope,” I said, cursing myself the moment the word came out of my mouth.

She nodded as she set down the two bags she’d carried up with her. Then, she turned and walked out of the bedroom. I followed her out and down the stairs to the kitchen. I sat down as I watched her open the refrigerator. She took a quick look, and then she went to the pantry and looked around. She pulled out powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and the bread. She walked back over to the refrigerator and pulled out some eggs.

“Do you like French toast? I’ve been craving it so bad the last few days.” She pulled out a bowl and began cracking eggs into it.

I had to swallow the lump in my throat before I could talk. “I love French toast.” Nikki used to make me French toast all the time.

“Hey, are you okay?” Azurdee asked as she placed her hand on top of mine.

I instantly pulled it away. “Yeah. Why the fuck wouldn’t I be?” I snapped.

The hurt in her eyes made me instantly regret snapping at her. She took a deep breath and went back to mixing everything in the bowl. She got out a frying pan and put some butter in it.

“Jesus, you sure do know where everything is. Do you come here often?” I asked, trying to make up for being short with her.

She gave me a weak smile and began dipping the bread into the egg mixture.

“I’ve only been here a couple of times. I made Scott and Jessie dinner a few times. I love to cook, and I’ve been told I make a pretty damn good fettuccine alfredo,” she said as she wiggled her eyebrows. “All from scratch, I might add.”

I let out a small laugh as I shook my head. “I think maybe I need to be the judge of that.”

She flipped the toast in the pan. “You got it. I’ll make it while we’re here. When are you leaving? I’m staying until the third and then heading back to Austin.”

The feeling of disappointment washed over me. I wanted both of us to stay longer. I wanted to leave my world behind just for a few days more, so I could get to know this girl better.

“I’ll probably leave on the third.” I got up and took out two glasses from the cabinet. I grabbed the orange juice and poured us each a glass. I glanced over and noticed her watching me.

Yeah, I just need to stay away from her as much as possible.

I sat down and watched her whip out the French toast in record time.

“Will you get out some plates, please?” she asked without even looking at me. She reached and stretched to put the syrup in the microwave.

I stood up, took out two plates, and set them on the island. She put French toast on each plate, and then she took a spoonful of powdered sugar and sprinkled it on top.

She turned and stood on her tippy toes to get the syrup out of the microwave.

I smiled as I looked down at her tight-ass jeans. Motherfucker, she has a nice body. No way is this girl still a virgin.

I made my way over toward her. I leaned against her as I reached up and grabbed the syrup. When I pushed myself into her, she turned around quickly.

“I never understood why they placed that microwave so damn high,” she said as a flush spread across her cheeks.

I couldn’t help myself. I reached up and pushed a piece of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. She quickly touched the side of her face.

“You’re just short,” I said with a wink.

I backed away when I noticed her chest was heaving up and down quickly.

Yep, she felt it, too.

She let out an awkward laugh. “I guess so. Anyway, um…dig in!”

We sat down on the bar stools and ate at the kitchen island.

“Damn girl, this is the best French toast I’ve ever had.” I shoved another bite into my mouth.

She giggled. “Thank you. I’ve always loved to cook. I get to do a lot of baking with my business,” she said before taking a bite.

“What do you do for a living?”

She smiled, and my breath was taken away when her beautiful eyes lit up.

“I own a coffee shop called Rise and Grind. It’s right outside of Austin in Wimberley.”

I laughed. “I like it. Cute name.”

She smiled. “Thank you. It’s been a dream come true…well, at least for me it has. My father, on the other hand, is still upset with me for not coming and working for him. He keeps telling me that my degree was a waste of his money—even though the coffee shop has done so well this last year. This is the first time I’ve left it. My mother has a business degree, so she has been helping me out with it.”

For a moment, she almost looked sad.

What is it about this girl that is getting to me?

“What is your degree in?” I asked.

“Ocean engineering,” she said with a weak smile. “My father is a petroleum engineer, and he owns his own company.”

I let out a small laugh. “Well, hell, why open a coffee shop when you could be building dikes and flood control systems? If you worked for your dad though, I guess you would be exploring offshore gas and oil fields,” I said.

Her mouth dropped open.

“What’s wrong?” I asked with a smirk.

“No one ever knows what an ocean engineer does. I always have to tell them,” she said with a small smile.

I smiled and gave her a wink. “Well, you’ve finally met someone who knows.”

I heard Jessie and Scott come in, and I turned to see Jessie barreling through the door.

She stopped the moment she saw us. She smiled when she saw Azurdee, and Jessie immediately walked over to her. She took Azurdee in her arms and hugged her.

Jessie turned to me and gave me a look. She put her two fingers up to her eyes and then pointed at me as if to say that she’d be watching me. I was just about to take a bite, but I stopped my fork right at my mouth. I couldn’t help but laugh. I shook my head and winked at her.

Scott walked up, hit me on the back, and sat down. “You behaving, Lark?” he asked with a cocky smile.

“Yes, I am. Isn’t that right, Azurdee? I’ve asked her to sleep with me only three times.”

“What?” Jessie yelled out.

Azurdee laughed and shook her head. “He has not. He’s really been a gentleman.”

She looked at me, and I gave her my signature smile that I knew drove all the girls crazy—except it didn’t seem to faze Azurdee at all. Her smile dropped, and then she turned away as Jessie held up her ring finger. They both started screaming and jumping up and down. I threw my hands up to my ears and looked at Scott, who was laughing.

Holy hell, why must girls scream when they’re happy? The only time I want a woman screaming is when I’m giving her an orgasm.

“Jesus, make them stop, Scott,” I said.

I peeked over at Azurdee. She was talking a mile a minute as she kept bouncin

g up and down. Fuck, she has nice breasts. Ugh, I need to get the fuck out of here.

I got up, walked over to the sink, washed off my plate, and put it in the dishwasher. I leaned against the sink and looked at Scott. “Is the Wild Coyote Bar still open?”

He nodded, and I noticed Azurdee look over at me.