Natural Lust (4 page)

Kallie’s face turned a deeper shade of pink.

“Just kidding. I love it when you get all flustered. After all, it’s the way I met you.” Hank kissed her again full of passion.

“Okay, we better go or we are never going to eat again.” Kallie laughed as she reached for his hand.

Hank held onto her, concerned she would slip on the wet rocks and they strolled hand in hand back the way they had both arrived at the magical place. Kallie truly believed in the stories of spirits past who still walked the land of the Smokies. Their presence created a sense of peace she could feel flow through her and Kallie didn’t want it to end. She felt light, almost airy. Maybe it had been the killer sex, but she liked to believe it was much more than that.

“I will see you soon, Kallie. Wear something sexy. Or not. It doesn’t matter what you wear, I plan on removing it anyways. Just know this, tonight will be one unforgettable evening.” Before Hank turned to leave, Kallie gave him a taste of what to expect later.

“Woman, if you can’t keep your lips to yourself, we’ll never get out of here. Not that I mind, but I’d like to take you on a real date. Show you I can indeed be a gentleman. Now, go on inside, get naked and wet. I’ll see you soon.”

“Not soon enough, handsome.”

Hank swatted Kallie on her behind as she sashayed towards the front steps and blew him a kiss before closing the front door of her cabin. Kallie wanted to be absolutely perfect for whatever Hank had planned for their date that evening. “A date! A real date!” Kallie ran up the stairs, eager to see again the man who had melted her heart and put a smile on her face that reached her eyes.

Chapter Three

Kallie took extra care getting ready for her date with Hank. She slipped on a short, yellow sundress that complimented her coloring and dark amber eyes. She saw no need for panties and her breasts were firm and perky making a bra unnecessary.

After she pulled on a pair of strappy sandals to complete her outfit, she busied herself by reading a paperback romance, most likely left behind by a former guest. She tossed the book onto an end table after trying to read it for ten minutes. It held no appeal to her. The characters were unbelievable and flat. How the author thought her hero would appeal to women of any age was incomprehensible. He was nothing like Hank. In fact, Kallie didn’t think anyone would ever come close, fictional or flesh and blood to this man she’d first despised.

Just thinking about him had Kallie all riled up again. When she glanced at her watch, she realized Hank was late. “He’ll be here.” She told herself. An hour later, she was worried. Two hours later, she was beyond scared something had happened to him. Kallie poured herself a glass of wine hoping to calm her nerves as she waited. The cabin had a phone, but who could she call. Hank hadn’t left his number with her.

By midnight, Kallie was drunk and pissed. She had long ago kicked off her sandals and changed her clothes. She’d already resigned herself to the fact that Hank had stood her up. After stewing for another hour, Kallie took two ibuprofen capsules and climbed into bed. In the morning she would pack and head back home to her life and job. Somehow, it no longer held the same appeal. Hank had brought passion back to Kallie’s life and even if it was only a brief moment in time, she knew she would never be the same.

The sun came up, blinding her after a fitful night’s sleep. No, she hadn’t had any dreams about Hank, but the covers were twisted in a way that would put pretzels to shame. By the time she finished her shower, she knew Hank standing her up had been for the best. From the moment they’d met, there were too many fireworks. They were too different, like the milk and liquor used in a White Russian. Yes, they made a fantastic combination for the occasional good time but the end result wasn’t really worth the fuss and headaches were all that came of it. Sure the chemistry had been there and the sex was out of this world. However, she could never see herself with Hank long term. After a few days together, she’d probably want to kick his ass. After the passion they’d shared at the waterfalls, she’d been in denial, living in a lust induced fantasy. That’s what she told herself a million times an hour just to get through the day.

“How could I have been so stupid? As if good sex meant a lifetime together!”

Kallie rambled on as she slammed a few things into her case and made quick work of tidying the cabin. An hour later, she tossed the few pieces of luggage she’d brought into the car, locked up the mountaintop retreat and Kallie was on the road for home by noon. Still no word from Hank, Kallie drove away with a heavy heart. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t deny the facts; Hank had hurt her. It was her own fault. Once again, she’d opened herself up to the possibility of love and once again, her heart was broken. She should have known better.

What had she done wrong this time? Where should she begin? Kallie knew she’d treated him horribly when they met and after their tryst in the park, she worried that Hank had gone back to his cabin and realized what a bitch she truly was. Or maybe he had played her all along? Kallie told herself she didn’t care, she’d had mind-blowing sex and she’d be okay without Hank. Over the miles, her mind and heart battled it out, each more persistent the closer to home she got.

“If I had any sense, I’d just forget him. I don’t need any of this right now.”

When she arrived home, her answering machine was full. Most of the messages were from J.B. about upcoming assignments all with the same ending. “Call me.”

By the twenty-sixth message, he was definitely upset. “Kallie, I hope you’re alright. I’ve been trying to call your cell phone all night but you won’t answer. Please call me.” Concern apparent by the slight tremor in his voice and by the last message, J.B. sounded downright manic.

“I’m fine, boss. Call you later,” Kallie muttered as she hit the delete button. With defeat weighing heavily on her shoulders, Kallie turned her attention to matters at hand. Busy work. Any and every thing to keep her mind occupied.

Kallie unpacked her bags and fired up her ancient desktop computer. She needed to find replacements for her laptop, e-reader and phone as soon as possible. It was easier to research the products before braving the mall. Besides, she wasn’t really up to going out in public just yet. Sure, no one else knew she was heartbroken and who would she tell anyways? Kallie could always call Amber, but who wanted to listen to a whiner? Amber had enough worries and guy problems of her own to deal with. She certainly didn’t need Kallie’s romantic drama. For everyone’s sake, Kallie would work this out on her own. She’d forget about Hank Fogle in no time.

After searching online deals for an hour, she called J.B. back. Of course, he wasn’t in so she left a quick message. “Hey, J.B. It’s Kal, I’m fine so stop worrying. I just got back into town and I’ll be at work tomorrow. I had a few problems with my phone. I, um, I lost it so I need to go out and get a new one and a few other things. Thank you for worrying about me. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at eight. Bye.” Kallie hung up, gathered her purse and headed to the super center that was open twenty-four hours.

After she’d spent three hours purchasing a new phone, listening to the condescending sales lady explain how to use the extravagant phone and throwing a boatload of junk food into her cart, Kallie finally left the store. “So much for worrying about those coupons and deals.” She’d blown her budget out of the water. “I can hear my credit cards weeping. There goes that beautiful pair of pricey heels I’ve been salivating over for the past six months.”

The drive home was uneventful and as soon as she’d put away all of her purchases, she climbed into bed mentally and physically exhausted. Hank hadn’t crossed her mind more than ten times during the past few hours and she considered that a good thing. Praying for a dreamless night, she rolled over and drifted off.

* * * *

Kallie arrived at work fifteen minutes early, as she always did. She made her rounds gathering books and assignments from the other reviewers below her on the totem pole. By the time J.B. came to find her, she had half of the reviews posted to go ‘live’ any moment.

“Kallie, I need to speak with you in my office, please.” His tone was eerily similar to last week when he’d asked her to take a break.

“Sure.” She followed him to his office and J.B. offered her a seat.

Kallie knew there was something weird going on. He usually didn’t care if she sat or stood. She’d never been in his office long enough to sit. Her palms were sweaty as she eased herself onto one of the comfortable arm chairs and she chided herself for never sitting on one before now. Was he firing her? Why?

“How was your weekend? Good, I hope.”

“Aside from a few technical glitches, it was great, J.B. What’s up? You seem awfully serious this morning.” Kallie tried to keep the note of trepidation out of her voice, but a slight quiver slipped through.

J.B. leaned forward, folded his hands on his desk and quietly said; “Kallie, Foley is coming here today. He wants to apologize to you, to us for his actions.”

“What?”

“He should be here any time. The police spoke with him and his attorney. They came to some sort of agreement and I approved their deal. If Foley apologizes, no charges will be filed.”

“Are you serious? That pompous ass is going to get away with this? How the hell could you go along with this, J.B.?”

Kallie was beyond irate. For the second time in less than a week, she paced back and forth on her boss’s carpet. “I can’t believe you would agree to this, J.B.” Tears burned the backs of her eyes as she stared at him. He wasn’t just her boss, she thought they were friends. What the hell was going on? Kallie had been threatened, stood up and now she was being railroaded by an asshat and her boss. Could things get any worse for her?

A knock at the door announced Stanton Foley’s arrival. Kallie stood with her arms tightly crossed over her middle and stared at the wall with her back to the door. The man might be there to apologize, but she didn’t have to look at the jerk. Fuck him and his empty words. With her luck, his apology would be as moving as his last book was and she didn’t trust herself to control her emotions when he started spewing half-assed, generic words of apology.

J.B. opened the door for Foley; “Thank you for coming. I’m glad we can find a way to smooth things out, Mr. Foley.”

The man cleared his throat. “Mr. Blake, this has been my fault. I’m grateful to you and your reviewer for his time.”

Kallie couldn’t believe her ears! She spun around and came face to face with none other than Hank Fogle.

“What are you doing here?” Kallie and Hank spoke simultaneously.

“You two know each other?”

“Yes!” They yelled in unison.

“What? How? Nevermind. Mr. Foley…”

“Mr. Fogle. J.B. this guy’s name is Fogle, Hank Fogle. There’s been some mistake.” She turned to Hank, “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you need to leave. I’m sure you have more important things to do than hang around me all morning.”

“Kallie, this man is none other than Stanton Foley. I met with him yesterday. I met with his lawyer yesterday. He is here to apologize to you.”

“What?” Again, Kallie and Hank yelled at the same time.

“Okay, stop that.” J.B. demanded.

“J.B. this man needs to apologize to me but not for what you think.”

“J.B. how do you know I need to apologize to Kallie? I thought I was here to apologize to Kal…oh, shit.” Hank turned to Kallie. “You’re Kal M.?”

“Duh. Kallie Masters. So, you’re really Stanton Foley?”

“Yeah, that’s my pen name.”

“But the photo on the back of the book…”

“My deceased brother. We were orphans so there wasn’t anyone to complain. After he was killed in a car crash, I wrote my last book in his honor and changed my name and picture.”

“Oh.” As more of the story made sense; “Ohhh. I see.”

“Now that you two are on speaking terms, can we move this apology thing along, there’s work to be done.”

“Kallie, I am truly sorry for sending you threats. Not that it’s any excuse, but I thought you were a man. I certainly never expected a woman to have the balls to cut my book down like you did. I’m sorry and I hope you’ll forgive me for my psychotic outbursts. I never meant to scare anyone. I lost it and flew off the handle. I did a despicable thing.”

He stood there begging her with his eyes, his words. Kallie couldn’t bear to be across from him. Hank, Stanton infuriated her and she wanted to slap him and punch him at the same time.

“Very nice, Mr. Foley, er, Fogle. Whatever. Kal, do you accept his apology?” J.B. stared her down, making it known how important it would be for Kallie and J.B. that she accept Hank’s apology. Without hearing it, Kallie knew her job depended on it.

It took every ounce of nerve she had to accept Hank’s words of remorse, however begrudgingly; Kallie nodded her head in ascent.

“Good. Now that that’s settled, Thank you for coming by, Stanton, er, Hank, whatever.” J.B. shook Hank’s hand and rubbed his palms together. “Okay, Kallie back to work. Good day, sir, I will trust you to contact your lawyer and let him know you were here. If he has any further questions, he can call me anytime. Nice doing business with you.”

“Yes, nice doing business with you, Mr. Foley. Good-bye.” Kallie stormed out of J.B.’s office as if the hounds of hell were on her heels. In a way, they were. She snatched her purse out of her office and ran for the elevators. Once inside, Hank jumped in beside her just before the doors closed.

“Kallie.”

“Shut up.”

“Please let me explain.”

“Explain what Hank? That you’re a pathological liar?”

“That’s not fair, Kallie.”

“Life isn’t fair, Foley.” She glared at him, with eyes full of fury.

“Kallie, please? I’ve explained about the book, my brother and my name, but you haven’t given me a chance to explain about the other night.”

“What makes you think I care? It was no big deal, Hank. There’s no need for you to pour out another
apology
. It was fun but it’s over. Thanks for the great time. Now, kindly get out of this elevator.”