Chapter 1
Emma Tyler, a petite, spunky, sweet, firey, little red head. Emma lived in a classic home with both her parents and two siblings, just on the corner of their street. She had a group of friends, but only one good friend. She had a rough time and hated school. Kids teased and picked on her throughout her school career; which is why she's only ever worked minimum waged jobs. It's lead to her fear of failing college, but she's not looking into that right now. She's living her life and seeing where it takes her, and when she's comfortable and letting loose, she loves to have a good time. Loves to drink at the club with a few girls, maybe find a couple guys to flirt with. Nothing serious.
Emma had been using phone apps for dating again because it was easiest for her and not to mention the most comfortable setting. She had been on this particular dating app for a few weeks when she decided she was maybe going to work on herself and getting on her own two feet. So she logged in to delete the app. Seeing the amount of notifications and messages intrigued her to peek and see if she saw anything that caught her attention. She quickly skimmed through her notifications then moved on to her messages, which was about twenty of them.
In the middle of reading a message, she received a new notification. She clicked on it and saw that Kane Williams had viewed her profile. She glanced at his profile, but then went back to clearing out her messages. “Ping”, another notification. “Kane Williams has viewed your profile”. Emma raised an eyebrow and clicked on his name to go back to his profile. She skimmed through his information and a few of his posts when “ping”, “Kane Williams commented on your photo” and it showed which photo. She clicked on the photo to see what he’d commented and “liked” his comment before going back to her messages yet again.
Another “ping” and Emma chuckled slightly. “Same guy” she mumbled to herself as she went to now look through his photos. She was on the third photo when another “ping” sounded, but it was a new message rather than another notification. She clicked over. It was from him!
Kane Williams; “You think we’ve looked at each other's profiles long enough?”, Emma read. She laughed aloud, shaking her head before clicking reply to respond. “I don’t know. I might need to look at yours again.” she sent. They only talked for a few minutes because he was at work, but he gave her his phone number and she sent him a text shortly after so he would know her phone number.
Emma went to work herself, and even though she wasn’t supposed to, she text back and forth with Kane as she was able. She was definitely thankful for being placed on the self check out because she wasn’t constantly busy ringing up customer's items, as she would on an actual register. So she had quite a bit of down time and could sneak a few texts here and there. When her shift ended, she finally got home close to midnight and was going to call him once she got comfy and settled into her room. She sat at the head of her bed and leaned against the wall about to tap the phone icon next to his name when she suddenly realized how late it was. She decided to quietly step outside and sit on the hill near the street so she wouldn’t wake her parents and brother whom were sleeping.
When she finally sat comfortably, she tapped on his name and waited. When he answered and Emma heard his voice for the first time, she instantly got chills and had a smile from ear to ear plastered across her face. His voice was deep and, to her, sexy. He asked how her day was and asked if she cared that he had her on speaker phone while being with a friend. She told him she didn’t mind and Kane introduced his friend, who he was staying with while they were out of town on a job. Emma greeted him and he immediately began asking her questions. Although they were crazy to her and seemed like maybe “third date” kinda questions, she answered most of them without hesitation. She had to think about her answers before responding, but she did answer all of his questions.
She had to laugh though and asked, “so which of you did I actually talk to earlier?”. She then asked Kane’s friend if he was Kane’s wing-man. Both of them laughed and Kane replied “no”, then Kane started asking his own questions. He and Emma talked until his friend had to get to bed and it was just the two of them. Emma asked about his work and Kane asked her about hers. Kane also asked Emma about her schedule and plans for the upcoming week. Wanting to know if they could get together soon. Emma told him her schedule and they set a date for that Sunday, which was only four days away. They planned to meet at the zoo and just go from there since she worked the morning shift that day, but wouldn’t get out until almost closing time for the zoo. It was just a meeting point then they would travel from there.
Once they had that all set up, they still talked for hours when Emma saw someone walk to the kitchen. She looked at the time and gasped, surprised at what time it was, and told him they should both get to sleep. “Especially you, being in construction. I’d feel bad if an accident happened because you were tired.” she explained. She then asked if they’d talk the next day and he asked why wouldn’t they. She laughed softly and replied with an “I don’t know” then they said their goodnight and hung up.
Emma, as quietly as she could, walked inside and locking the door behind her was met with John coming from the kitchen. “Morning, Daddy” she spoke softly with a grin on her face and placed a kiss on his cheek. John asked her what she was doing outside and up so early. Emma blushed some and grinned. “You mean late” she told him quietly. He frowned confused and she laughed a little. “I haven’t been to sleep yet” she explained. He nodded then shook his head with a chuckle as he sat down and turned on the news. Emma smiled to herself at his little morning routine. She knew he did this every morning, no matter what day, nor what time it was.
John then asked again what she was doing outside and Emma blushed a second time. She told him about meeting someone online and that they were going to meet at the zoo on Sunday. “His name’s Kane Williams. We’re just talking” she continued almost in defense of her past relationships and the mistakes that came with them, but she felt good about this guy. She didn’t know how or why because she didn’t even know him, but she just knew he was good. She could sense it. She gave John another kiss on the cheek, told him she loves him, to have a good day and stay safe while out at work, then went to bed.
The next three days were sort of a blur, but that fourth day after their first phone call, was “date day” and Emma couldn’t stop talking about Kane and how it was their first date and how nervous she was. Although completely nervous, she was excited to see him in person and hang out. She hadn’t been to the zoo in years, so she was excited that he chose the zoo to meet. Her work day seemed to go by fast and she was definitely happy about that. A friend of hers from work offered to do her hair and she accepted.
After her shift, Emma went straight home, jumped in the shower, dressed in her favorite halter top, and hurriedly left to meet her co-worker to get her hair styled. She was running a little later than she wanted, but Kane wasn’t worried about it because he knew there were other things within a short driving distance that they could do. Following Google Maps, Emma finally pulled into the parking lot and found a space pretty close to the entrance. Emma parked the truck and as she cut the engine, she called Kane so they could be in continuous communication until they were face to face. She told him she was already parked and he informed her that he was now out front waiting for her.
Emma inhaled deeply as she came around the other vehicle next to her and looked for him to see if she’d recognize him from the pictures she’d seen. Walking towards the platform for the establishment of the zoo, Emma saw a male who she suspected was Kane. Seeing him for the first time, a voice in her head whispered “he’s it, he’s The One”. Almost made her knees buckle. He asked if that was her in the halter top and she took another deep breath. Now that they knew who the other was, they hung up their phones.
Everything in her body was going haywire. Her heart was racing, she got butterflies in her stomach, and she felt like she was smiling like a dork. As they finally came within talking distance, Kane introduced himself and greeted her before asking how her day was. They chit chatted for a few minutes before he told her that he got his hand stamped so they could just walk in through the exit. Emma got her hand stamped before passing through and they began walking to the very back of the zoo so they could still see everything if they were to be ushered out by the employees.
They stopped and viewed the animals of the exhibits on the right side so when they reached the very back, on their way to exit they would view the animals to the left and just walk out. They talked about the animals and swapped stories about themselves. Telling each other likes and dislikes as well as desires and hopes for the future. After they exited the zoo, Kane suggested they walk the canal and said they can stop at this little cafe type place to get a snack and something to drink. Emma liked the sound of the idea and agreed, telling him that he would have to tell her how to get there or where to park. He followed her to the truck and hopped into the passenger seat while she buckled her seat belt. “You’re so fucking beautiful” he spoke to her genuinely in almost a hushed tone. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and looked at him with a grin. “Thank you” she replied almost as if in question. Kane was every bit of Emma’s type and what she’s attracted to, but having so many insecurities and self esteem issues she never fathomed a guy that looked like him would even consider her. She didn’t know what he saw in her. Although she carried herself well, she was still overweight and could never get past it herself.
Kane directed Emma to a spot within driving distance and it was the easiest to get to the canal as well. She hadn’t had that much fun and hadn’t felt like herself for a long, long time. Kane made her feel like she was a kid again and made her comfortable enough where she didn’t feel like she had to hide anything. He made her feel safe; he just made her feel. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out, after only meeting him once, how he could make her feel all that. It was breathtaking.
While walking the canal, Kane took Emma down to the little cafe he’s been to many times before. Entering, Kane followed Emma inside and told her she could order whatever she wanted, but that he wanted to take her to dinner. Emma ordered a drink, Kane did the same, and they took a seat. Sitting at one of their small tables, Kane and Emma spoke more of their lives and past experiences. Emma spoke of how she was a brat as a child and spoke on more recent things like her job and how much she loves animals and kids. Kane spoke on his past a little bit before doing the same and talking of how he's working with a friend in construction; that he hates heights and working in the heat, but it pays the bills.
