Her Love Lost (Love Shattered Series Book 1) Read online

  I had made it about a half a mile down the beach when I could feel Dex approaching. I knew it was him because of the electric energy that seemed to pass between our bodies when we were close to each other. I had just picked up a beautiful shell. One that I had never seen before and I made a mental note to look it up when I got back to the hotel later. I like to know what types of shells I had in my collections. This shell was a creamy white coloring with brownish orange spots on it. It fit perfectly in the palm of my hand.

  Dexter walked up behind me while I was admiring my lucky find. He placed his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder and began rubbing just under my belly button with his thumb, sending a tingling sensation throughout my whole body. Goosebumps prickled all over my skin. I hoped he didn’t notice. If he did he didn’t say anything about it.

  “Ahh I see you have found a Junonia Shell. That is one of my favorites to find here. That’s a pretty good size one too. Lucky find.” I peer up at him and with his chin still resting on my shoulder I only had to go about one more inch and my lips would meet his. My face turned red at the thought of kissing him. I cleared my throat.

  “Yeah I was wondering what this was. I was going to look it up when I got back to the hotel later, but it seems I have my very own shell encyclopedia on hand here. I have never found one of these in North Carolina. It’s beautiful.”

  “Not as beautiful as you are.” He turned me around in his arms so I now facing him and grabbed my face with both hands and slowly he leaned down and kissed my lips. This kiss was different than last night. It was deep and sexy. The whole time he kissed me he kept his hands in my hair and he rubbed the nape of my neck. He deepened the kiss running his tongue across my lips and I opened up and let him in. He tasted of coffee and mint. Suddenly remembering where we were I took a step back looking around nervously to see if anyone was paying any attention to us.

  “Wow that was some kiss. I don’t think I have ever felt anything like that before by just kissing.” My face heated up and I stared at Dexter feeling ashamed I just admitted that out loud. I feel like I am betraying Dave when I say things like that.

  “I would have to agree with you on that one Courtney. I am sorry I took advantage of the moment like that. I only meant to turn you around and ask you to come to dinner with me tonight at my place, but you looked so fucking sexy that I couldn’t resist kissing you.” He rubbed his thumb over my cheek. Should I say yes to dinner? Did he mean dinner alone with him? I don’t know if I can be alone with this man. If this is what happens on a beach in public with people around, what would happen if we were alone together at his house?

  “You want me to have dinner with you tonight?” I manage to squeak out.

  “Yes, and before you say no because of Lillian, I already asked her if she was okay with it and she said she was, that she would just hang out at the hotel tonight, and that she would be going to bed early as she is sure to be exhausted after being at the beach.”

  “If Lillian said it was okay then sure. I would love to have dinner with you tonight. What time should I be ready?” I asked.

  “Actually I was kind of hoping we could spend the whole day together. When we are done here we can take Lil back to the hotel and you can grab a change of clothes. Then you can come home with me and grab a shower if you want. I am sure my shower is a hundred times better than the shower at the hotel.”

  Well it seemed like he had it all figured out. Who was I to say no? He is putting so much effort into spending as much time with me as possible this week. Maybe he is just trying to get into my pants? No, no I couldn’t think like that. He really seemed like a nice guy. I just didn’t know how to act around guys anymore. Dave is the only guy I have ever dated. He’s the only man I ever had sex with and I made him wait forever, so even if that was Dexter’s plan that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Okay sure, that sounds like a good plan. However I will not be staying the night with you or having sex with you. So, if either of those things are on your agenda tonight you are going to be a very disappointed guy by the time this night is over buddy.” I had no idea why I just said all that out loud to him. I just feel like I can say anything to him and he won’t judge me. I am very comfortable being myself around him.

  “No Courtney. I do not expect either of those things to happen. I just want to show you where I live and feed you and get to know each other better. I would never do anything you aren’t ready for Courtney. I will wait as long as you need to for all of that other stuff. I just want to spend time with you.”

  After that conversation the rest of the afternoon went along without a hitch. We all had a great time together grilling out for lunch. Dexter did make one killer hamburger as promised and I couldn’t wait to see what he was going to cook for dinner. A guy who can cook and is cooking me two meals in one day, I better not let this one get away. A girl can get used to this.

  Rob even seemed to have cheered up some after he got his coffee in him. He still seemed to keep to his brooding self some, and I still had to wonder if it had anything to do with having to keep Lillian company when Dexter and I got off into our own little world.

  A little after three o’clock, Lillian was starting to look worn out and sleepy so we decided to pack up our beach gear and head back to the hotel to drop her off. I asked her a million times if she was sure she was okay with me leaving her alone for the evening and she assured me over and over again that it was fine. She was just happy to see me enjoying my time with Dexter and that after today all she wanted to do was take a bath, relax, prop her feet up, and head to bed early.

  Once we dropped off Lillian and I grabbed a change of clothes we headed to Dexter’s house. From what he told me today he lives on a farm. I love farms. My grandpa had one when he was still alive, and Lillian and I used to spend all summer long there when we were kids. We loved it. Our younger sisters never got the chance to come with us before he passed away. It makes me sad to think they didn’t get to spend fun summers there like Lil and I did. I think that is why Lillian and I are the closest to each other having had all those fun summers in the mountains.

  We pull up into a gated drive around five thirty that evening. I realize that you can only enter if you have a security code. I find that impressive. We head down a long drive way and once we reach the house I am amazed.

  His house is gorgeous and huge. It has a beautiful wraparound porch with rocking chairs and a porch swing. This is my dream home. Of course I always wanted my dream home to be on the beach but I may have a change of heart after coming here. My mouth is hanging open and then I realized that we have parked and Dexter is at my door opening it for me. He reaches out his hand to help out of the SUV. He grabs my bag out of the back and we head inside.

  “Dexter your house is beautiful. I love it. This is going to sounds crazy but this is exactly how I used to picture my dream home. I am sure the inside is just as amazing as the outside is.”

  “Thank you. I designed it all by myself. Here, let’s put your bag inside. Before you shower and change out of your swim suit I want to show you the lake. It’s spectacular this time of day. It’s just a short walk down this trail over here.” He opens his front door and I am immediately hit with a wonderful aroma of what I assume is dinner.

  “Oh my gosh, it smells wonderful in here. What do you have like a cook or something?” I look up at him with a curious expression.

  “No baby. I put a roast on in the crock pot before I left this morning. I hope you like roast, potatoes and carrots.”

  “Sounds delicious, a little presumptuous of you to assume I’d be joining you. How did you know I would say yes?”

  “I didn’t know you would say yes but I sure as hell hoped you would. If you didn’t, I would have probably asked Rob to come by or just had the leftovers for dinner tomorrow. You said yes though, and I wanted to have dinner prepared already so that we could have more time together tonight without me having to be preoccupied with cooking. Come on, let’s head
down to the lake before the sun starts to set without us.”

  He led me out door and down a small path to the lake. I was once again amazed. This man just kept surprising me at every turn. Yea, I could really get used to this.

  Chapter FIFTEEN

  Dexter

  We reached the lake just as the sun was starting to set. I took Courtney’s hand and lead her over to the pier. We sat down and I pulled her between my legs so she could relax into my chest. We watched the sun set in complete silence. I held her in my arms and no words needed to be said.

  After a while Courtney looked up over her shoulder at me and smiled. I gave her a quick kiss on the lips because she looked like she had something she wanted to say.

  “I love that you live on a farm. Lillian and I used to visit my grandpas farm every summer when we were kids. Those are some of the best memories from my child hood. We used to go rock climbing. Well what we considered rock climbing, we tied this little rope to each other’s waist and climbed this huge cliff that had water from the creek trickling down it. We would climb to the top of the mountain there in front of grandpa’s house and have a picnic. The cliff looked huge when we were little but I am sure if we saw it now days we would probably be taller than it actually is.” She laughed at the thought and it was an amazing sound and I wanted to hear it all the time. I like that she was opening up to me about her past some. It was nice to know things she enjoyed.

  “That sounds like it was a lot of fun. You and Lillian seem to get along really well.”

  “Yes we do. We have two younger sisters as well but they aren’t as close to us. The two of them get along really well. They are closer in age kind of like Lillian and me, so they are close to each other. We all get along really well and I love them to death I just don’t see as much of them as I do Lil. Their names are Sarah and Becky. Becky is the baby and Sarah is under Lillian.”

  “Wow four girls. Your parents must have had their hands full when the four of you were teenagers.” She laughed at that.

  “You have no idea. I was always the good girl. Let’s just say they all didn’t follow in my footsteps and leave it at that.” She smiled at me and then her stomach growled rather loudly she looks embarrassed so I try and save the day.

  “Look at me being a terrible host. I was having such a good time out here with you I forgot all about feeding you. Let’s head back up to the house so we can get you in the shower, and then we can have some dinner.”

  I grabbed her hand to help her up and we headed back to the house. When we reached the porch I saw my trusty little rooster friend Coop waiting for me on the porch. The poor rooster thinks he is a dog I swear. He likes it when you pet him and he even makes a barking sound instead of a cockadoodle doo like a normal rooster.

  I am still holding Courtney’s hand and once we reach the porch she stops dead in her tracks causing my arm to pull back when she stops moving. I look over at her and it looks like she has seen a ghost. She is trembling, I can feel it through her hand that’s still in mine.

  “Courtney, baby what’s wrong?” She is staring at the rooster with a deadly glare.

  “Tha..That’s a rooster. Why is it on your porch don’t you know how dangerous that thing is?” My eyes widen. She is scared of the rooster. What the hell? I start to laugh a full on belly laugh with my head thrown back thinking she is trying to play a joke on me. When I notice she isn’t laughing with me and she looks dead serious my laughter comes to a halt. She is seriously scared of this rooster.

  “Baby this is Coop.” I walk over and pet Coop on the back. “See he is harmless. Why in the world are you scared of a rooster? He wouldn’t hurt a flea. Isn’t that right Coop?” I rub the rooster on the back and he cuddles up to my arm and I show her he is harmless.

  “You promise not to laugh if I tell you? This is serious to me. I had a rooster experience that ruined me for all roosters.”

  “I promise not to laugh sweetheart. Just tell me what happened.” I go over to stand by her and lead her up with side of the porch. By now Coop is pecking his way back over to the chicken house. We take a seat on the porch swing and I wrap my arm around her and gently swing us back and forth with my foot. I listen intently as she tells me her story.

  “Okay, so back when we were kids. Lillian, our cousin Kim, and me were on my grandpa’s farm. We were picking apples off his apple tree for a snack when we saw his rooster coming close to us. We didn’t think anything of it at the time because we had seen him before. Then all the sudden he started running at us flapping his wings like he was ready for a cockfight.” She blushed saying the word cock even though it was nowhere near a sexual reference in this story. I waited for her to continue.

  “When we saw what he was doing we started to run away but he was right on our heels. He was chasing us. He was running backwards. BACKWARDS.” She shouts with her hands gesturing wildly in the air.

  “We were like what in the world has gotten into this rooster. I realized he was chasing us backwards because he was trying to get us with his spurs on the back of his legs. We were a good ways away from the house so all three of us ran towards the barn. Lillian and Kim jumped up onto a tractor and climbed onto the roof while I tried to distract the rooster. Once they were safe I searched for a place to hide with that rooster hot on my heels. The only place I could find to hide was inside of a barrel filled with corn feed. So, I jumped inside the barrel head first and once I got myself turned around I pulled the top closed. The rooster pecked and pecked at the barrel the whole time I was in there. I am not sure how long I stayed inside the corn barrel but I had corn feed up to my chest from where I had sunk down to the bottom. I was getting hungry, but the rooster just wouldn’t give up and just kept pecking and throwing his body at the barrel attacking it. He knew I was in there and he wanted to attack me for some reason.” She stopped to take a breath I couldn’t believe this story I was hearing. I had heard of cockfighting roosters before. I had no idea they could be aggressive to humans. I can’t imagine getting attacked by one especially as a child. The way she tells her story is amazing and she has me completely captivated. She tells the story with such detail, I feel like I was actually there going through it all with her.

  “So what happened? How did you finally get out of the barrel?” I asked.

  “My Grandpa finally got home and he came looking for us. He found Lillian and my cousin still sitting on top of the tractor they were too afraid to come down. Then they told Gramps where I was. He went and got his shot gun and fired a shot into the air warning the rooster. The rooster took off into a field and my grandpa followed it and shot and killed it. Come to find out it wasn’t even his rooster after all. It was one that had escaped a rooster cockfighting ring. That was the last time we went to my grandpas for the summer. My mom was furious that we were left on our own while he had to go to work. My grandma was there but she never really cared what we did. So we weren’t allowed to go back the next summer. He died that fall and then my grandma sold the house. I sure do miss that place.”

  “I do not even know what to say to that story. I am sorry Coop scared you. If it makes you feel any better Coops spurs have been removed and he is pretty tame. He likes to be treated like a real pet. He would probably come inside if I let him. So you really have nothing to worry about where Coop is concerned. Let’s head on in and eat some dinner. Then we could watch a movie if you want.” I opened the front door for her and we headed inside.

  We spent the rest of the evening having dinner and sharing stories about our past. She let me know that most of the time she can laugh about the rooster story and that Lillian would get a kick out of Courtney having a run in with Coop tonight. She even agreed to give Coop a chance to prove himself as a trustworthy rooster. We watch a movie and Courtney fell asleep in my arms. I could get used to this. In just the little bit of time I have known her she worked her way into my heart. I was falling head over heels in love with this woman.

  A short time later, I woke Courtney up so I could
get her back to her hotel. No matter how much I wanted her to stay the night with me a promise is a promise after all. I dropped her off at her hotel room like a perfect gentleman. With a deep passionate kiss goodbye, I was on my way back to my farm with a permanent smile on my face.

  Chapter SIXTEEN

  Courtney

  The rest of the week went by far too quickly and before we knew it Saturday had arrived. It was time for Lillian and me to get back on the road head home to North Carolina. I had the most incredible week with Dexter. We were glued to each other’s sides most of the time. We had gone to the movies, bowling and back to the beach a few times as well. Dexter and Rob took us on set to see where By the Light of the Moon was filmed. As promised we went back to the Italian restaurant we had our first date at so I could try the chicken marsala. It was delicious as I had expected it would be. He even took me back to his farm where I got to see Coop again. He was growing on me but I wasn’t quite ready to make best friends with a rooster just yet.

  Even though a few nights Dexter and I got a little hot in heavy in the bedroom we still hadn’t had sex. I just wasn’t ready for that yet. Dexter was a perfect gentleman and didn’t seem to mind waiting until I was ready. We were just happy to spend as much time together as possible.

  Before we hit the road this morning we were meeting Dex and Rob down at the local diner we went to on our first day in town for some breakfast. We got our bags all packed and headed down to the car to load up. I prayed that it would start since we haven’t driven it anywhere since the day after we arrived. Rob and Dexter were insistent to drive us any where we wanted to go while we were in town.

  We loaded up the car and got in. She fired right on up and we headed to the diner. Dexter and Rob were waiting outside for us when we arrived. Dex walked over and opened my door for me pulling me into a tight embrace. Tears welled up into my eyes. I was going to miss this when we left.