Can't Stop Loving You (17 page)

S
ince their first night together, Kendrick and Kaycee had been inseparable. In both of their eyes it was only natural to want to be with each other 24/7. Therefore, their days started wrapped in each other's arms and their nights the same.

It wasn't a sex thing, either. Although their physical attraction to each other was high, their desire included companionship, friendship and shared interests.

If they were not holding each other as they slept, they were sitting on the edge of the bed watching Thursday—and Sunday—night football. Other nights were spent reading to each other. Kaycee, who claimed she never had time to read, looked forward to listening to Kendrick's deep voice as he read from his latest novel of choice. It was like a book on tape but in real time.

Neither could believe that happiness on such a level existed. To find “the one” who was your match totally and completely was the greatest blessing of all.

Following breakfast, they gathered their things to leave for work. They thought it was best to continue to drive in separate cars so that the staff would not get suspicious about their relationship. It wasn't that they were hiding it, but they wanted to tell them at the right time.

Like a gentleman, Kendrick pulled Kaycee's Toyota out of the garage and had it warmed and ready for her when she exited the house through the open garage door.

He opened the driver's door for her and held her hand as she stepped up in her heels to get inside.

“Thanks, baby,” she said, giving him a kiss.

“No, thank you,” he replied.

She looked at him curiously, “For what?”

“For wearing that skirt,” he said, smoothing his hand up the smooth plane of her calf and thigh. “I've been watching you all morning. If I didn't have a ten o'clock meeting, I would march you back in that house and let you have it.”

She giggled at the thought of being made to go in the house and undress. She wouldn't mind it, either. The thought actually made her heart race.

“Don't make promises that you can't keep,” she warned. “You're not going to do anything but be on fire all day. It would be embarrassing for you to walk around in front of your colleagues in that condition.”

He grunted. “I have more control than that.”

“Do you now?” she challenged, sliding her arms around his neck. She met his lips with her own. Her kiss was deep, passionate and as needy as if they had all the time in the world.

It was amazing how something as simple as her kiss made him weak. Kissing Kaycee was more than just a show of emotion. It was a prelude to something more than just sex. It was communication on a whole different level, an understanding and a branding of some sort all rolled in one. Kendrick was claiming her and she was a marked woman.

Finally, after a few minutes, he pulled back. Kaycee sat there looking as if she was spinning but trying to regain control by fanning herself.

Kendrick chuckled as he reached up to finger one of the curls on her head. “Are you okay?”

With her eyes still closed she nodded without a word.

“Are you sure?”

Kaycee's eyes slowly opened. “We need to stop.”

“You started something now,” he said, playfully trying to reach for her again.

“And you have a very important meeting. We will continue this later,” she said with a tug on his shirt.

Kendrick reached inside the vehicle and attached her seat belt.

“Thank you.”

He kissed her on the cheek. “I just want to make sure my woman is safe.”

They kissed once more and departed in separate vehicles.

As she backed out of the driveway, Kaycee thought about how much her life had changed in the last few months. She thought about how their paths had crossed and she hadn't been able to look away since. She couldn't imagine her life before Kendrick had come into her world. He was so much the perfect fit that it sometimes scared her.

The ringing of the telephone disrupted her thoughts. She reached for it and immediately recognized her parents' home number.

“Hello,” she sang into the phone.

“Hey, baby girl.” It was her mother.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Are you busy?”

“Just on my way to work.”

“I was just calling to let you know that your dad and I will be in town next week.”

“You will?” she exclaimed. “When are you coming?” She hoped it didn't clash with an affair that Kendrick had invited her to attend. It would be their first time out as a couple and she was looking forward to meeting his colleagues.

“On the twenty-third, but most of our time will be spent at a hotel.”

Kaycee gasped in disappointment. “Why?”

“It's sort of like a class reunion. A bunch of us from our old high school are getting together for a dinner cruise on Lake Lanier. We got a weekend package deal at a resort there, too.”

“Will I see you guys?”

“Of course,” her mother exclaimed. “We're going to extend our trip to hang out with you for a few extra days.”

“Good, I would hate for you to come all this way and then not see you.”

“I'll call you when we get to Atlanta, okay?”

“Okay,” she replied. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they hung up.

Kaycee was excited about her parents coming, but she was also nervous. She didn't know how they would react to Kendrick. He was only a few years younger than they were.

For the most part, they were fair and even-tempered, which was why she admired and respected them so much. She was sure that after they got past the age difference with Kendrick, they would zero in on the one thing that all parents wished and hoped for for their child and that was that he loved her unconditionally and made her happy. She'd found that in Kendrick Thompson, and she was sure they would see that, also.

 

After the lunch crowd had tapered off, Kaycee took the time to go out into the dining area to place table tents announcing a book signing for a local author.

Along the way she greeted the customers and even stopped to chat with some. She had just finished the last table and gone back to the counter when Sidra entered the café.

“Sid, hey,” she greeted her friend with a hug.

“Hey, girl, you got a minute?”

“Sure,” Kaycee assured her. “Would you like something to eat?”

Sidra peered into the dessert case. “That red velvet cake with some sweet tea sounds good.”

Kaycee's brow raised. “It will be good after you eat your salad.”

Sidra was such a junk-food junkie, and Kaycee wanted her to change her habits now that she was eating for two. It had been three weeks since she'd told Kaycee of her condition.

Since then, however, Kaycee had been so wrapped up in being with Kendrick that she hadn't had a chance to talk to her friend to find out if she'd told Hampton that he was going to be a daddy.

She put in an order for two Asian sesame chicken salads and a small basket of whole-grain baguettes before joining Sidra in the dining area.

“So what's been happening with you, girlfriend?” Kaycee asked sitting across from her friend. “Are you feeling good? Because you are sure looking good.”

Sidra, attractive before, was now outright glowing as a result of the pregnancy. Her hair appeared to be shinier and her eyes brighter.

Sidra blushed. “I'm doing well, considering.”

“So, have you told Hampton about the baby yet?”

She nodded. “Yep.”

“And? What did he say?”

Sidra smiled half-heartedly. “He said he wasn't trying to be a daddy, especially to the child of some ho that he had a one-night stand with.”

Kaycee's face fell and she seized her friend's hand in an effort to comfort her. “I'm sorry.”

A lone tear rolled down Sidra's cheek, and she quickly wiped it away as she fought to keep from crying. “It's okay. It let me know what kind of person I was dealing with. Hampton Barnes is a jerk!”

“Sid, I'm sorry. I really am.”

“It's my own fault. I am a sucker for fine men with money.” She laughed.

“Don't worry, we will get through this together. You have my support all the way.”

Sidra smiled. “Thanks, girlfriend, I'm going to need all the help I can get.” She patted her flat stomach. “I know that I'm still in my first trimester, but this baby is already kicking my butt. I get so tired.”

Kaycee laughed as she heard Sidra's tales of her pregnancy. By then, their food arrived and they dug in.

“So, how are things going between you and your man?” Sidra asked out the blue.

Kaycee's fork stopped en route to her mouth. She hadn't had the chance to talk to Sidra about how things had developed between her and Kendrick.

“Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about,” Sidra said. “I know you're seeing him.”

“And if I was?”

Sidra shrugged. “I guess it would be your business.”

Kaycee proceeded to fill Sidra in on the details of their relationship up until the present time.

“I knew you were going to be with him when you went on that fishing trip with him.”

“How so?”

“Because you were focused on nothing else but being there with him. I envied that. When you turned down Grant I knew that you were already in love.”

“I am,” Kaycee confessed.

“That's cool,” Sidra said. “My motto now is do what makes you happy. Since Kendrick's been in the picture I don't think I've seen you happier. I'm excited for you, Kaycee.”

“Thanks, girl.”

“Are you two talking marriage yet?”

“Not yet, but I have a feeling that it's going to happen.”

She remembered Kendrick's question about her relationship with Paul ruining her belief in relationships.

“Does he want any children?”

Kaycee shrugged. “Actually, we haven't discussed that yet.”

“Have you done it yet?”

“Sidra!”

“What?” Sidra groaned. “You know me. Sex is always on my brain.”

“That's your problem.”

“I know, literally, right?”

Kaycee reached for Sidra's hand. “I didn't mean it like that.”

Sidra waved off Kaycee's comment with an airy gesture. “It's okay, it's the truth. But anyway, you were talking about the sex.”

“No, you were,” Kaycee shot back.

Sidra's brow raised. “You're not telling, are you?”

Kaycee sank back against the comfortable booth and looked to the ceiling. “All I can say is—whew!” She began fanning herself. While Sidra might have thought it was an action for the moment in their conversation, Kaycee really had to fan the flames.

“Better than Paul?”

All Kaycee did was roll her eyes in response. She and Paul had not been the most compatible in the bedroom. Where she was adventurous, Paul was conventional. Kaycee had resolved to conform to his style if they got married and the thought had unnerved her.

“Sounds like you got the whole package. Just make sure that he accepts you all the way. You don't want to be where I am. If I could turn back the hand, I would.”

Sidra's words reverberated in Kaycee's mind long after she left. She needed somehow to get Kendrick's perspective on their life together.

T
elling the staff at Jireh came sooner than they had planned. Kendrick had totally forgotten about their hope to play it low-key when he arrived at work following his meeting.

Kaycee was helping Jaylen to bus tables while she talked to a guest and hadn't noticed him enter the building. Upon seeing her, he forgot everything.

As she made her way to the front, she spotted him and a warm smile lit up her face. All he could see was the love glowing on her face.

Without thinking, he sauntered right over and hugged her up tight and kissed her. It was like something out of an old Western movie.

La Jetta, who was standing behind the front counter, popped her eyes open in surprise. At first, Kaycee tensed up, but it wasn't long before she gave in and wrapped her arms around his neck, receiving him completely.

Diners in the area began to clap and howl, bringing the rest of the staff from the back. Realizing that they had let the cat out of the bag, Kendrick released Kaycee, allowing her to slide down the length of his body.

“I guess our secret is out now,” she said with a smile, hiding her blushing face in the crook of his neck.

“I'm sorry, I know we said we wouldn't, but I wasn't thinking about anyone or anything except being closer to you,” he murmured against her ear.

The staff surrounded them with questions. “It's about time!” Otis barked. “I could have told you there was something between them.”

“Oh, shut up, old man!” Charlotte hollered. “You wouldn't know love if it came up and bit you on the butt!”

Everyone laughed.

“Is that right?” he asked with a wicked grin and shook his head. “Remember those words.”

Kaycee noticed Charlotte pause before shooing him off with a wave of her hand.

The story of Kendrick and Kaycee's newfound love was repeated throughout the day to customers and second-shift staff members who had not been fortunate enough to have witnessed it firsthand.

Later, after they closed down, Kaycee decided to leave her car parked and ride home with Kendrick. Kaycee was grateful that he was driving his pickup truck with the bench seat, which meant that she could snuggle against him as they drove home.

Kendrick turned on the jazz station. Kaycee couldn't think of a better way to end the evening than to be listening to some soothing music while wrapped in her lover's arms on their way home.

That night they decided to stay at his house. He pressed the garage-door opener and parked the truck beside his Jeep.

Like a gentleman, he got out and walked around, opening Kaycee's door. Arm in arm, they entered the house. Once inside, he turned on the television in the family room then went into the kitchen to find something to drink.

Kaycee slipped out of her shoes and curled up on the sofa underneath a chenille throw.

Kendrick returned with two glasses of champagne with strawberries floating it. He handed one to Kaycee.

“Hmm, what's this?” she asked, taking a sip.

“Just relax,” he replied, sitting down beside her. He pulled her against his chest and sighed thoughtfully.

“I wish it could be like this all of the time,” Kaycee said, as if reading his mind.

“It can be.”

She turned to look up at him with question in her eyes.

“How?” she dared to ask.

“We can move in together,” he replied.

Kendrick's words were not what Kaycee wanted to hear and she moved away from him. She was seeking something more permanent. Kendrick's words made the joy and contentment that she had been feeling moments earlier dissolve.

“You don't want to live together?” he asked.

She shook her head in confirmation. “I can't do that. Moving in with you would be like taking steps backwards.”

“Did you live with Paul?”

“No we did not, thank goodness,” she exhaled with relief. Their breakup would have been much worse if that had been the case. “He was too conservative for that.”

“What are you?” he challenged.

She stood from her spot on the couch and paced the floor. How could she tell him what she was truly thinking without starting an argument? However, she could not and would not compromise her beliefs for a man again. She'd done that once before and had ended up wasting years of her life.

“Kendrick, I love you, but I can't live with you. I have too much respect for myself to live with a man without a commitment.”

Kendrick stood up beside her. “So you don't think we are committed?”

“Not in the way that it should be if we were to live together.”

“And how is that?” he asked.

“Well, I think that when a man and woman come together to make a home, they should be joined in a committed legal relationship like marriage.”

He walked closer to her. “So, you're telling me that you think the only way a man and woman should live together is if they are married?”

Kaycee bit her bottom lip nervously. The man standing before her was everything she wanted, and her words could possibly end the soul connection that they shared. The thought frightened her, bringing her close to tears. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for whatever he had to say, and nodded. When she opened her eyes, Kendrick was kneeling on the floor before her.

“I feel the same way, too.” He held up an emerald-cut, icy-white diamond in a platinum setting. “Kaycee Jordan, will you make me the happiest man on earth and be my wife?”

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Her breathing speeded up as tears surfaced in her eyes. One after the other, they began to roll down her cheeks.

Kendrick took Kaycee's left hand and slipped the ring on her finger.

“So, what do you say?” he asked.

“Oh, my God!” she cried. “Are you for real?”

“Very.”

She began to sob.

Kendrick pulled her down on his lap and kissed away her tears. “Kaycee, I know it's only been a few months, but it seems like years. At first, when Amanda passed, I couldn't see being married again, sharing my intimate thoughts with another woman.

“But, when I met you, I knew God was giving me a second chance at love, and none of the obstacles—our age difference, work relationship—made me change my mind.

“We are so good together. You are the missing piece to my puzzle. I can't see my life without you in it.”

Kaycee's head fell forward against his shoulder and she wept for joy.

“Hey,” he lifted her chin with his forefinger, “are you going to tell me yes or what?”

Through tear-streaked eyes she nodded emphatically. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”

She put all of her weight against him and they stumbled to the floor where she proceeded to confirm her response.