Dante's Way (16 page)

“I know that he did. Why aren’t you telling me the truth? I’ve seen how he looks at you. I saw it the other night at the bar when he was talking to you. He could barely keep his eyes off of you. I thought his feelings for you would have ended once we got married, but I can see I was wrong. How could he still want another man’s woman, especially his wife?”

She couldn’t believe Jim actually still believed his best friend was interested in her romantically. Why was her husband bringing this up now? Someone had to put these ideas into his head. She loved that he didn’t want other men looking at her, but Dante was one of his closest friends and he would never do anything to ruin up their friendship.

“Who told you that Dante kissed me?” she asked, again wondering who would start such a horrible rumor. Maybe after she found out who told Jim something so stupid, she would be able to fix the problem without it turning into a full blown argument between them.

“Trevor told me about it while I was driving him to soccer practice,” Jim said. “Are you telling me that my buddy didn’t kiss you at the grocery store in front of my sons?”

Keira could barely contain her laughter. Trevor told her that he would tell his father about the kiss, but it had been so insignificant that she had forgotten about it before she left the grocery store and besides it happened literally weeks ago. Why was Trevor only telling his father about it now? She guessed she should have taken her stepson’s promise more seriously since he was so scared of losing his family.

With deliberately casual movements, she got up from her chair and made her way slowly towards her furious husband. “Yes, Dante did kiss me.”

“That bastard...I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him around you. It was my fault as much as it was his. I always felt he still had lingering emotions for you and why wouldn’t he? You are one gorgeous woman, but the second I’m gone he tried acting on them. Well, I’m not going to let him have you. I love my family. It’s mine and it will stay that away.”

Jim’s eyes narrowed as she continued walking towards him. She could already feel the anger rising from his body. He was ready to go into fighting mode to protect his family and she found it so adorable.

She loved he wanted to protect her, but she didn’t need it. Going up to her angry husband, Keira stood on her tiptoes, kissed him on the cheek and then took a step back. She waited for his reaction to her kiss. Jim stopped his tirade and stared at her.

“Why are you kissing me on the cheek when I’m telling you how pissed off I am about another man kissing you in public for everyone else to witness. Especially one I’ve considered my good friend for years..”

Sighing, Keira threw her hands up in the air trying not to laugh at the entire situation. “I was only showing you how Dante kissed me at the grocery store,” she answered. “Are you still mad enough to kick his ass? I need to know now, so I’ll have enough money to bail your sexy ass out of jail.”

“He only kissed you on the cheek?” Jim uttered, some of the passion gone out of his voice.

She nodded at him. “Yes, it was very innocent. Trevor should have told you all of it. Dante and I are
only
friends and nothing more. He has never made a pass at me in all of the time I have known him. Why would he when everyone knows I’m madly in love with my very handsome but a little possessive husband?

A faint light twinkled in the depths of his beautiful eyes...it was almost devilish. “Since you’re
so
in love with me how about we go upstairs and I can show you how much I love you too, Darling,” Jim suggested, yanking her against his warm, hard body.

Placing her hands on his chest, Keira leaned her body away. “Whoa...wait a minute. Aren’t you going to debate me about this? I mean minutes ago you were ready to kick Dante’s ass.”

“I know I was but after hearing your side I see how Trevor misunderstood what happened. He’s a kid and to him a kiss is a kiss. Anyways, why would you want Dante when you have me?”

Jim pulled her back into his strong arms placing his hands on her lower back. He slowly rained kisses down the side of her neck. “Damn, you smell so good. Come on and let’s go upstairs. Drew is taking a nap. I know we can find something to do to entertain ourselves for an hour,” he whispered, slipping the strap of her shirt down her arm.

“Honey, I can’t,” Keira whispered, squirming around in her husband’s arms. “I need to finish the list for Trevor’s birthday next month. I’m still searching for that basketball video game he’s been hinting for.”

“Sweetheart, I’ll help you look for the video game he really doesn’t need later. If we can’t find it, I’ll get Hayward to help out with the search. He’s very good at getting his hands on hard to find items. Right now, all I want to do is make love to my beautiful wife.”

Keira didn’t think it was possible for her to fall in love with Jim any more than she already was but she just did. He knew how to touch her heart without even trying. It’s what made their relationship so special.

“Well, I think I could take a break for a little while to have some fun,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Finally,” he said, swinging her up into his arms.

“Hey, I can walk.” She giggled as he carried her out of the dining room.

He looked at her intently. “Beauty, I know you can but I love any chance I get to have you in my arms.”

A familiar shiver of awareness shot through Keira as she snuggled closer. She cherished her life now and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Even the hard times she experienced with Jim had gotten her here with him and their children. Her body never stopped aching for her husband’s loving touch. She couldn’t believe how she was filled with such an amazing sense of completeness anytime she was with him.

“Sweetheart, what are you thinking about?” Jim whispered against her ear as he carried her past Drew’s nursery to their bedroom.

“I’m thinking about how extremely blessed I am. I wouldn’t trade you and the boys for anything in the world.”

Pausing in front of their bedroom door, Jim eyes tenderly melted into hers and as always her heart skipped a beat. “Keira, you are irreplaceable to me too. I love you baby so damn much.”

“You are the love of my life and the life of my love, but I think we need to help Dante find someone too. All of us are so happy, I feel bad for him especially after he dated a bitch like Bambi. Do you know anyone at work you could fix him up with?” Keira asked, staring at him.

“Sweetheart, I would rather be doing other things than working on my buddy’s love life right now,” Jim answered. “Like what?” Keira said, grinning at her very charming husband.

“Well, it involves me stripping you out of these clothes and tossing your sexy ass down on the bed and maybe working on seeing how many times we can make love before Drew wakes up. What do you think?”

“Why are we still standing out in the hallway wasting time?”

Keira laughed as Jim kicked their bedroom door opened with the toe of his cowboy boot and carried her on the inside.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Six weeks later
...

Sitting in front of the computer at the public library, Amara tapped her ink pen against the notepad as her eyes scanned through the help wanted ads on the screen. She had gotten up early this morning and helped Pastor Allen prepare breakfast for the few homeless people that still came to the shelter, then stayed and helped clean up before grabbing her backpack and coming here to look for a job...any kind of job.

However, nothing was going her way since most of the jobs she had looked at needed a college degree and she was still several credits short of getting hers. Besides, what was she supposed to put down as her work experience for the past eighteen months? She was pretty sure none of the employers cared if she could make a nice living space out of used boxes and trash bags.

She had been given this chance to get herself off of the streets and she was blowing it big time. What in the hell was wrong with her? She seemed to get so far only to get knocked back down again. She never considered herself a quitter, but all of these problems coming up were beginning to wear on her nerves.

Continuously taking handouts wasn’t who she was and never would be. She was more than thankful for the roof over her head that Pastor Allen was giving to her, but she wanted a key to her own place that never would happen unless she landed a steady job.

Amara continued to scroll down the various job listings hoping at least a couple of posts would magically appear that fit her
very
limited qualifications at the moment, but
nothing
was catching her attention.

“God, I really do hate you,” she hissed at the computer flinging her pen down next to the white pad at her side. She had hoped this day would be a good one for her, but it was turning into an endless battle.

Why couldn’t she just get a sign of some kind of good luck coming her way?

“I think you might have better luck if you tried talking to him in a nicer tone,” a male voice teased next to her.

Jumping in her seat, Amara’s gaze swung to her left and her mouth dropped open as she stared at Dante standing there next to her wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and looking super hot in a green t-shirt, tan shorts, and sandals, with his long, black hair pulled back from his handsome face into a ponytail.

“What are you doing here?” she gasped, trying to stay calm as he sat down in the empty chair next to her. “How did you even know where I was this morning?”

Dante pushed his sunglasses on the top of his head and she tried not to get lost in his eyes. It wasn’t fair for one man to be so...
perfect
.

“I went by the shelter to see how you were doing and Pastor Allen told me you had come here to work on your resume, but from the way you were yelling at the poor computer I guess it isn’t going too well for you,” he said, leaning closer to her.

Amara was entranced by the firm set of his jaw, his intense eyes and just the way he drew her in anytime they were within touching distance of each other. When it came to close quarters and the two of them it wasn’t good because less than pure thoughts entered her head. She kept wondering how it would feel if Dante kissed her, but it would probably happen only in her dreams.

“I honestly don’t think I hurt its feelings,” Amara said, pointing towards the screen. “I’m pretty sure it’s not the first time this thing has gotten yelled at by someone. Why are you here?” she asked, again.

“Are you saying that you aren’t pleased to see me?” he questioned, touching her on the knee. “I thought friends checked in on each other.” The comment was tossed out there and he was waiting for her to respond, but what was she supposed to tell him.

Her eyes shot down to Dante’s finger noticing how long it was. Her mind couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like touching other parts of her body not covered by clothing.

Girl...calm down
, she scolded herself
. Don’t lose your mind because of an attractive face and a pair of killer eyes.

I need a job...not a lover!

“I’m happy to see you,” Amara answered, raising her eyes to look at Dante. “It was just that you would be busy with the bar. Pastor Allen had mention the other day how demanding it was on you.”

Dante removed his finger and she instantly wished it was still there touching her. She couldn’t deny she liked how her body felt when she was around him. He made her want to do things that she had never done before.

“It’s Thursday and I close the bar to take care of the up-keep of the place and it gives my employees a day off during the week so they will be refreshed for the weekend.”

“I bet they really appreciate you doing that for them. I know I would. Sometimes working five days straight can take a toll on a person. Not that I have any recent experience since I’ve been more concerned about staying clean and finding food to eat.”

An uncomfortable silence came between Amara and Dante as they both thought back to their first encounter with each other. It was something neither one of them would forget, but it was also what made them be in the here and now.

“Enough thinking about the past,” Dante said, tapping her knee again with his finger. “Are you about finished here?”

“Why?” Amara asked as she shook off the bad memory.

“I want to treat you to breakfast since I haven’t eaten this morning. I hate eating alone,” he told her.

Turning around away from Dante, Amara picked up her items and slid them back into the folder she had brought with her. She had already spent enough time at the library and it was time to head back to the shelter because someone might need her help there.

“Aren’t you going to give me an answer?” Dante touched her arm making her face him again.

She knew what he was trying to do and taking his pity wasn’t something she was going accept. She already had one Mr. Lee in her life and she didn’t need another man always trying to buy her a meal.

“No, I think I’ll just go back to the shelter. Besides, I know what you’re trying to do and I don’t need it. I wish you would just be honest with me.”

Moving closer, Dante placed one hand on the desk and the other one on the back of her chair blocking her in with his larger body. “Amara, what do you think I’m trying to do?” The low tone of his voice sent a heat through her body settling in her pussy.

Amara squirmed in her seat as she tried to keep her thoughts from wandering to places that it shouldn’t, but it was hard to do with Dante being so near her personal space. Usually, she fought to keep men from being within touching distance of her body, but she like--no,
loved--
how it felt to have Dante’s body warmth almost brushing against her breasts.

“You’re trying to erase your past mistake about me, but you don’t have to do it. I’m—”

“Darling, I asked you out to breakfast for a reason and it isn’t the one you are trying to believe, but if you aren’t interested I’m not going to force you into spending the morning with me.” Sliding back, he gave her one final look before getting up and walking away leaving her alone.