Page 10 of Running Towards You

Could this get any more humiliating? I felt like a teenage boy who’d been caught with a random, unavoidable boner.

I cleared my throat. "Well, I have some things I need to take care of. Enjoy the dessert and let me know if you need anything," I said over my shoulder, rushing towards the door.

"Um, okay, thank you," she called after me, but I barely heard it as the door slammed behind me and I rushed back to my bungalow. I went inside my house and locked the door behind me as if I could shut out the embarrassment, but no, it was right there, taunting me.

What did you think was going to happen, dumbass?

She’d only been back for a couple of days. After ten years and supposedly maturing into a grown man, I had lost myself in themoment with her again. I knew better than to make a move and yet here I was, having made a colossal jackass out of myself.

I rubbed a frustrated hand over my eyes. "Not again... never again," I vowed to myself, then went to take a cold shower and pray to God I could get the image of her enjoying that first bite of haupia out of my head.

Haley

Iwanted to kiss him so badly I was still aching for it. And when Cooper Barclay stood from my kitchen table, his impressive erection straining against his pants, I felt young and desirable again. Hell, I felt downright giddy, and I couldn't say I'd felt that way since, well, since the last time I'd been with him.

I was coming to the realization that this was a Cooper thing. Apparently, I wasn't meant to have this feeling with anyone else—I certainly hadn't had it with Marcus.

I looked down at the two unfinished bowls of haupia and sighed. As delicious as it was, I washed out the bowls, the knot of remorse having ruined my appetite.

After I washed out our bowls, I headed back towards the coffee table intending to put up more pictures. But instead, I plopped down on the couch and stared at the wall, reliving the last thirty minutes... and then much further back.

For all of our talking about Mahina being eternally eighty years old, Cooper had a little of that himself, not so much in the looks department, but definitely the attitude. He could be a little grumpy and curmudgeonly, like griping about me making too much noise, and then turning around to bring me my favorite dessert, which I'm pretty sure he hasn't made since before we broke up.

I still remember the first time he made it. He had taken me out on our first official date to a fancy restaurant in Princeville. He'd been saving up to take me there, but despite all his savings, we couldn't afford much on the menu. Princeville was for wealthy tourists, not a couple of teenagers sneaking out on their first date, hoping nobody would notice them. Between the two of us, we could only afford one entrée. But I didn’t care. I was on a date with Cooper Barclay, and he was staring at me like I was the only girl on earth and I was eating up every second of it.

As we were waiting for the check to arrive, one of the maître d's rolled by with a dessert cart and I spied several bowls of what I would later discover to be haupia. The little ramekins with the coconut pudding also had toasted coconut sprinkled on top, and as the smell wafted from the cart, I inhaled deeply. "Mmm, that smells good."

Ever the one to take charge, Cooper stopped the maître d' and asked him what it was. When he gave us the name, Cooper looked at me with determination. "We don't need to get that from some fancy restaurant. I can figure out how to make it for you."

I smiled at him, wondering if he would finally kiss me at the end of our date. But ever the gentleman, he'd walk me to the door and thanked me for the evening... and left me standing on the stoop. I was crushed. I thought everything had gone so well and yet no kiss.

I was fairly certain our "relationship" ended before it even started. But the next day, Cooper summoned me outside where my parents couldn't see us and presented me with a chilled bowl, a dish towel covering the top of it.

He whipped that dish towel off the bowl with a flourish and presented me with my first taste of haupia. I still remember the first bite. How sweet it was, and how it melted on my tongue. When I opened my eyes, I found Cooper staring at me intently—hunger in his eyes.

I don't know what I was expecting. I imagined our first kiss a million different ways, but I didn't expect him to grab my face and pull me towards him, slamming his mouth awkwardly across mine. But I didn’t care. That was just Cooper. All surliness and passion rolled into one, his lips demanding and me loving every second of it.

That summer turned into a lot of us kissing, figuring out what worked best for us and developing our own little routine.

My walk down memory lane was interrupted by several chirps from my phone. Reception was spotty on the island, so it wasn't uncommon to get a whole cluster of messages at once when the signal connected. That's also why I was grateful my parents had kept their landline. The old cream-colored corded phone hanging on the kitchen wall was older than I was, but it was handy when cell phones failed.

The last few days had been fairly quiet, and I’d taken that as a blessing. I was sure Marcus would try to get a hold of me eventually, but I didn't know what I wanted to say to him. It seemed obvious to me we were over. What else needed to be said?

There were more than just a few messages that came through on my phone. Once it started chirping, it nearly bounced off the couch cushions with its buzzing.

I picked it up and saw headline after headline. I dared to open one of them and there, plastered across the San Diego newspaper, was a picture of me, with my big poofy dress looped over my arm as I ran down the church steps. Whoever took that shot perfectly captured my speed and look of horror as I ran away. I almost laughed. The headline read "Runaway Bride Leaves Golden Boy at the Altar."

There was headline after headline, all variations painting me out to be an ungrateful, thoughtless bride ditching the heartbroken public servant at the altar.

I rolled my eyes. I knew this was going to happen, but it still stung, especially knowing Marcus was busy screwing his aide minutes before he walked to the altar.

As I closed out the headlines, I couldn’t avoid the myriad of messages that had come through. There were several text messages and missed calls from Marcus.

I sucked in a breath, swallowing past the lump of dread in my throat. Might as well rip off the Band-Aid, so I pressed play on the first message.

"Haley? Haley, where have you gone? I am worried sick about you. Please pick up, please talk to me. I want to know you're safe... I love you," Marcus said tearfully.

I almost believed him, but then the next message came through, and Marcus's voice was calm, as if he was in the middle of negotiations. "Haley," he said, more authoritatively this time. "I understand you're upset, but we went over this. You are making a big deal over nothing. I wish you would calm down and talk to me."

Source: www.allfreenovel.com