Beneath Our Faults (25 page)

“Y
OU LOOK
amazing,” Keegan complimented, handing me a bouquet of daisies. I grabbed the flowers from his hand, lifting them up to my nose and inhaling their fresh, sweet aroma before carefully setting them down on the table behind me. I would put them in my room when I got home. "Thank you for the daisies, they're my favorite flower.”

"Daisies for my Daisy," he answered. "And by the way, don't get mad at me if I don't keep my hands to myself," he added, his eyes going down my body then back up, suggestively.

"Ohhh wow! You guys look so pretty!" Sophia squealed, skipping down the stairs with a Barbie in each hand. "Are you going out on a hot date?"

"Yes we are, Soph," Keegan answered.

She smiled brightly. "Is Keegan your boyfriend?"

"Not yet," Keegan laughed, ruffling his hands in her hair and answering for me. "But I am hoping she will give me the chance. I need you to put in a good word for me, okay?" He gave her a wink.

I smacked him in the stomach. "I'm sorry," I said "but I haven't had my tongue cut out recently so I am still able to speak and answer questions that are directed towards me."

"Sure you can, but your answers will come out wrong and we can't be lying to the poor girl."

"I'm going to have a date with my Barbies and act like it's you two!" Sophia interrupted our argument, jumping up and clapping her hands together giggling. "Have fun," she waved, hopping up the stairs one by one with both feet.

Keegan looked at the stairs then back at me with crinkled eyebrows. "Act like her Barbies are us?" He looked at me questionably.

"Yes," I answered, blowing out a breath. "She has a Barbie that she claims looks exactly like me and I'm positive the little shit has probably conjured up something that resembles you. So you better be nice or I’ll have her start sticking pins into him at night.”

“Voyeurism, voodoo dolls – you guys are into some messed up shit around here, ya know?” He laughed. “Are you going to lure me in here to perform some virginal sacrifice on me when I drop you off later?”

“Considering you’re not a virgin, you wouldn’t do anyways,” I said. “If you don’t use virgins, it’s bad luck.”

He looked at me horrified. “I’m afraid that you even know that. We should probably go before you start scaring the shit out of me.” He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. “I have a hot date to impress you with.”

M
USIC FILLED
the background on the way to dinner and we pulled into a large, packed parking lot. "Is Italian okay with you?" He asked, stopping the car at the front door where two valets stood.

"Mmmm," I replied, "a girl loves her carbs."

He put the car in park and froze, his face turning pale. "Okay, I'm not sure if that is a sarcastic answer or a real one. Help me out here."

"A real one. I love pasta," I assured him, watching the tension slide off his face. "Probably more than I should."

"Carbs are great for that ass of yours I love," he grinned, leaning over and kissing me on the cheek. "Stay here." With that, he shut off the car and disappeared out the driver's side. My eyes trained on him circling around the car, handing the valet his keys, then opening up the door for me and holding his hand out. I grabbed it, his large hands engulfing mine, and let him lead me into the restaurant.

A short brunette and tall blonde were standing at a counter as soon as we walked into the doors. "Reservations for Montgomery," Keegan told their over-eager faces.

"Hi Keegan," the brunette purred, licking her lips and coming from behind the counter.

"Uh hey," he said, uncomfortable, scratching behind his ear. "Can you show us to our table."

"Sure," she said. We followed her, hand in hand, as she suggestively swayed her hips from side to side and making it obvious she was trying too hard. "Here you go," she said, stopping at a table with a candle lit in the middle.

"Thanks," Keegan mumbled, pulling out my chair for me.

"Is there a restaurant in town that doesn't have someone that has either slept with you or wants to rape you on this table?" I asked him, spreading the napkin across my lap.

"Ehh, most likely not," he said, his mouth frowning. "We can go somewhere else if you want?"

"No, it's fine." I looked back at the hostess counter catching the two girls staring our way. The waiter came, who thankfully was a man, and we both ordered our food.

"Tell me more about you," Keegan asked me from across the table.

"There's really not too much to tell, I answered, stabbing a piece of pasta with my fork.

"That's a lie. Tell me what pisses you off."

"You, girls that give me hate me because of you and bees."

He chuckled. "So me, me and bees? Why bees?"

"Bees are bitches," I said.

"Damn, what the hell did the little shits do to you to make you hate a damn bug so bad?"

"When I was eight years old, I had one of those barrel jug drinks. You know, the ones that are filled with knock off Kool-Aid or whatever?" He nodded his head. "Anyways, so I was playing in the sandbox one day and I got thirsty. I went to the picnic table where I had set my drink and chugged it. Instead of a yummy sugar drink, I got a damn stinger to the tongue."

His smile turned into laughter.

"It's not funny. I have been scarred for life from that day."

Our dinner ended perfectly, without any other mean girls feeding me dirty looks to go with my pasta. He clasped out hands together when we walked out the front door and passed the envious eyes.

"Do you have you ticket, sir?" the valet asked Keegan, holding out his hand.

"Yes, but we are going to go on a walk. We'll be back," Keegan answered, walking and leading me toward the busy street.

"We're going for a walk?" I asked, one eyebrow arching.

"Something like that," he smiled, grabbing my shoulders and bringing me in closer to his body. We walked hand in hand for a few minutes before he stopped in front of a carriage with a gorgeous horse in the front.

“He’s beautiful,” I said, petting the horse’s white mane.

"My lady," an older man, dressed in a suit, came from around the opposite side. He held out his hand in front of the carriage for me to grab. I looked back at Keegan with a questionable look and he nodded his head. The man lifted me up into the carriage and Keegan settled in beside me.

“Cora texted me a book of notes and suggestions," he laughed. "That chick is the fucking queen of romance."

“Even if you did get a date manual to make this great for me, thank you. I love it,” I said, snuggling deeper into his side.

"So does this mean you're going to give me a chance? You can't tell me you're scared when you don't even know what you're getting into." His eyes met mine while he waited for my answer.

"Oh, I think I know what I am getting into." And I did.

"Okay Ms. Smarty Pants, what would you be getting into?" He asked, as we passed the cars and people coming down the street.

"Drama," I answered sticking one finger out. "Chaos," I added with another finger. "And probably hurt too." A third finger went up.

"Sounds like you will be living a pretty lame life if you’re afraid to try something new because it will cause drama, chaos or hurt. There are too many things that can cause those emotions, shit, being on this carriage could cause all three right now. Trust me, a little drama, chaos and hurt is good for an eventful life." I looked up at him and felt the slight blush rush up my shoulders. "So are you ready to give me chance? I already told you that you could punch me in the balls if I did anything to hurt you. You can't pass that up," he said, grabbing my chin and kissing me on the tip of my nose.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay," he repeated, grinning. "I think our smiles should touch now." A large hand twisted in my hair, bringing my face closer to meet his lips. He tasted sweet, like peppermint against my cold lips. "So is the best date you've ever had?"

I nodded, and snuggled into him. It was the truth. Time wasn’t healing me but it was replacing memories and I was beginning to be okay with that.

"Y
OU OKAY
over there?" Keegan asked, turning off the car.

"Yep," I answered too quickly, whipping around to face him.

"No one is going to say anything to you if that's what you're afraid of," he said, his eyebrows furrowing. "And if they do, I will beat their ass."

"You don't have to say anything to someone before you murder them," I laughed out. "There are already enough girls in that place that don't like me because of your psycho ex-booty call arrangement girl, now I am taking away their favorite spirit stick. Those are fighting words for them."

He chuckled, cocking his head to the side. "Did you really just refer to my junk as a spirit stick?"

I smiled in confirmation. "I did and don't even try to deny that I'm right."

He chuckled. "We are going to be late if your sexy ass doesn't come on."

"Fine," I groaned, "but if I die, do not let Sophia stick any Barbies in my casket.”

"Okay, I'll just let her fill it with glitter," he laughed, getting out of the car and running over to open my door. I gasped when he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me out of the passenger's seat.

"I seriously want to strangle you sometimes," I grumbled when my feet landed back on the ground and he shut the car door behind me.

"What about the other times?" He asked, pinning me against the door of the car. "What do you want to do with me then?" His voice was hot against my mouth, his lips barely nudging against mine.

I shut my eyes, feeling him rain kisses around my mouth before opening them back up and noticing all of the eyes peeking our way. "Everyone is watching," I whispered, stopping him.

"And?" He asked, landing his last kiss against my lips. Both of his hands ran down each arm, stopping at my hands and clasping them with mine. "Let them stare." He let go of one hand and used the other to pull me through the parking lot towards the front doors. "You want to come over and have dinner with me tonight? I'll make you whatever your sexy little heart desires."

"I would, but I promised to watch Sophia tonight. It's Jamie and Tommy's anniversary.”

"No worries," he said, opening up the door for me. "I can come over to your house and make it there." Who was this guy? He had transformed from playboy to perfect boyfriend in a day.

"Okay," I answered, stopping at my locker and opening it up.

"Sounds good, I'll see you in a bit. Have fun in your classes." He kissed me goodbye before smacking me on my ass.

"He's good, isn't he?" I twisted around to face a dark haired girl beside me who had never said one word to me the entire time I’d been there. "I've had him a few times but be careful with that one. You look like an innocent little kitten and Keegan's a tiger. He will devour you. We got along so well because I knew how he worked."

"I wouldn't count on that happening again," I grumbled, grabbing my books in my arms.

"Awe how cute, you actually believe he is going to stay with you and be faithful," she snickered, twirling a brown strand of hair around her long fingernails. "Honey, you're no different than me or any of these other girl's who have let him have a taste. I just want to pre-warn you because it's easier to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie."