Chapter 10

Kensington

Dad and Mom were in the dining room when I came downstairs. Mom had spent the last week trying to convince Dad to take her on a river cruise in Europe, but she was having a tough time of it. Which was unusual because she could normally talk him into anything.

Dad was sitting in front of a half eaten steak and potato, shaking antacid tablets out of a bottle and onto his palm.

“Is that a trendy new dessert, Dad?”

He looked up and did a double take of my outfit. My dress was admittedly a little short, ending just above mid thigh, but I was feeling especially flirtatious. I’d even pulled on my cowboy boots.

“You mom is giving me indigestion,” he complained.

“Oh, John, you do like to exaggerate. The reason you keep getting indigestion is because you never take a break from work.”

Dad grumbled in agreement and chewed his tablet like a cow with cud. “That’s an interesting outfit for a first date. Now, who did you say this man was?”

I plucked a dinner roll from the basket and pulled up a chair. “I really didn’t say. He’s living on the property next door.”

“What?” Mom placed her hand against her chest to punctuate her shock. “Those motorcycle hoodlums from next door?”

I laughed. “You know between dad’s hooligans and curmudgeon and your hoodlums, you two could really revive the old fifties family sitcoms. And, Cole is not a hoodlum. He rides motorcycles for sport. His dad owns the property. Cole runs the family construction business, Kingston Construction.”

Dad’s look of worry turned to interest. “Really? The company that’s building the casino? Well then, that’s better.”

“Oh, so now that he’s not a hoodlum and he works for a big company, he’s on your approved date list?” I bit off a piece of roll.

“Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a little shallow, but yes.” He popped another chalky disc into his mouth and pressed his fist against his chest.

“Dad, you need to go to a doctor and make sure you’re not getting an ulcer.”

He waved off my concern. “I wonder who owns that property now.” He laughed. “You’ll never guess who used to own it. In fact, he even tried to start a vineyard.”

“Nicky King?” I asked.

“Yes. How did you know?” Dad asked.

“Nicky King,” Mom said, suddenly looking a little starry-eyed. “He always had the most wonderful British accent. His tight leather pants were rather wonderful too.”

Dad cast an annoyed brow lift her direction. “I’m sure he still has the accent . . . and the pants, no doubt. I never did hear who bought the property from him.”

I got up from the chair and kissed Dad’s forehead. “That’s because he never sold it.”

I walked around the table to give Mom a kiss and allow Dad time to absorb everything.

Mom turned her cream covered cheek toward me and I kissed her.

“Kensington Rae, are you telling me you are going out with Nicky King’s son?” It always made me smile when he felt the need to use my middle name. Something told me images of the hoodlum were floating back into his head.

“Yes I am.”

He reached for the antacid bottle.

“Dad, don’t worry. You know how short-lived my relationships are. It probably won’t go past this first date.”

Chapter 11

Kensington

Cole turned the truck and headed along the onramp. He’d put on a nice blue shirt and jeans. Even though my dad’s eyes had nearly popped from his skull at the tattoos running along Cole’s neck and forearms, he was quickly calmed by Cole’s affable personality. Cole had my mom blushing like a schoolgirl as well.

“I guess I should have warned you that the parents were around. But you did good. You’ve got that confidence thing going on, and my dad likes that.”

“He seems like a cool guy,” Cole said.

“Yep, if you like the sweater wearing, golf cart driving, one scotch in the evening type, then my dad’s the guy.”

“See, I could use the same sentence for my dad . . . with a few tweaks, of course. If you like the skin tight leather pants, Lamborghini driving, one scotch in the morning with eggs and the rest throughout the day type, then my dad’s your man.”

“See, they are almost two peas in a pod. I can’t complain though. My dad’s always been one of my closest friends.”

“For as little as I saw my dad growing up, we’re really close too.” Cole reached forward and turned up the music. “This truck is kind of noisy when it gets going faster than fifty.”

We were heading south toward San Diego. “Exactly where are we going?” I asked. “I just threw on this dress and my boots because I wasn’t sure,” I said it casually as if I hadn’t agonized over what to wear for an hour. Suddenly, I was back at sixteen when I’d first started dating, and everything, including the flavor of lip gloss, had to be carefully thought out. Cole had brought that excitement out again, and I hoped it would last. At least for awhile.

“I can’t tell you yet,” Cole answered. “But I think you’ll like it. Or, at least I hope you will.” He glanced briefly my direction. “And the dress, like the princess dress, is fucking perfect. I have to admit, I’ve been kind of nervous about this date.”

“Nervous? You? With the way you handled meeting my parents, you must be an impenetrable steel wall when you’re feeling confident.”

“I wasn’t nervous about meeting your parents. It’s you who I want to impress.”

He pulled off the freeway. The night sky was just turning from slate gray to black and a light fog had covered Pacific Coast Highway. “Are we heading to the beach?”

“We are. Is that all right?”

I looked down at my mostly bare legs. “Might be a little cold, but I guess I’m tough enough to handle it.”

“Well, we’re going to the beach, but we won’t be directly on the sand. My Uncle Nolan has a place down here. It’s a little bungalow right on the beach.”

“Nolan? Isn’t that the name of Black Thunder’s drummer?”

“Yeah, that’s him. We call him Uncle Nolan even though he’s not really related. Dad’s band has always been more family to us than any of our real relatives.” He turned on one of the many small streets that led down to the beach.

Damp, salty air crept in through the vents on the truck, and I wrapped my arms around myself.

“Are you cold?” Cole asked.

I shook my head. “Not really. Just rendered completely wimpy by the constant high temperatures at home. I always forget it’s way cooler down here.”

Cole pulled up behind a garage that was attached to a beach cottage. It was small and the paint and wood siding were weathered, but in this location it was worth a lot of money.

We climbed out of the car. Cole walked around to my side and offered me his arm.

“And they say chivalry is dead,” I quipped. We were both a little stiff and nervous and it made me want to laugh. We walked up to the door which had been painted forest green. Cole unlocked it, and we stepped inside.

A small, round table had been set in front of the picture window overlooking the beach. Pink and yellow flowers flowed from a blue vase in the center of the table, surrounded by sparkling white china and polished silver. There was a bottle of wine in a cooler.

I stood there shell shocked, trying to decide if anyone had ever gone to this kind of trouble for me before. The closest I could come up with was a boy named Trevor, who I’d dated in my senior year of high school. He’d had a bouquet of red metallic balloons delivered to my homeroom class on Valentine’s Day.

Cole walked over and lit two candles. He smiled my direction. “Well?”

“You, sir, are totally getting that kiss tonight.”

Chapter 12

Cole

We’d finished dinner and taken our glasses of wine and a blanket out to the small yard that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. We’d talked and laughed through the entire meal, and all I could think was that I didn’t want to blow it with this girl. I’d dated a lot of women, too many to count, following, not necessarily so proudly, in my dad’s footsteps. But Kensington was different. I wondered if this was how Jude had felt when he’d met Eden. I could remember him stomping around in an even darker mood than usual after Eden had moved in to be Finley’s companion. I hadn’t understood it right away, but it didn’t take me too long to figure out that my brother had been trying futilely to fight his feelings for Eden. I wasn’t going to fight my feelings for Kensington, but I was going to fight like hell to keep her interested.