From One Night to Forever (21 page)

He tugged on her elbow, but she resisted. Aaron tugged harder. “Come on over here.”

She tried to glare at him, but he gave her the smile that usually got him what he wanted. She rolled her eyes and shook her head but let him tug her over against his side. Aaron kissed her forehead and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He was going to miss her. A lot more than he’d missed any other woman. The thought was petrifying and not because he’d never felt that way before, but because he didn’t know if she’d miss him just as much as he’d miss her.

“How are things going with your thesis?” he asked.

Kacey stiffened against him. “Coming along.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m just a little behind, but I’ll get caught up this weekend.”

When he was out of town. He knew he’d pulled her away from her studies and sometimes her work at Momma’s Kitchen. Selfish of him, yes, but honestly he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could before this thing ended.

“Are you ready to go home?” she asked.

“I always look forward to being back home, but this time I’m not too anxious.”

“Why?”

Getting Janiyah straight about Liz topped the list. That wasn’t going to be fun, but Kacey didn’t need to hear that. “Baby fever is running rampant in my family. My youngest sister texted me today to say I had to be in town for the gender reveal party she’s having in two weeks.”

Kacey chuckled. “That’ll be fun.”

“I am very happy for my sister, but going to a gender reveal party is only going to serve as a platform for my family to ask when I’ll settle down and start to make babies. My mom hoped all four of her kids would fall in love and settle down. Now that three of the four have, and two of the four are providing the next generation, I’m the only one left to pressure.”

“What’s so bad about finding someone and having a family?”

“Nothing, in theory. I’m just not ready for that much. My dad loves us, but he never seemed to relax. Even on vacation. He was always worried about the welfare of his family. Food, clothing, and providing things we needed. And if it wasn’t us, then there were the pressures to keep his business successful. Marriage and family comes with an automatic increase in a man’s stress. I haven’t found a reason to add more stress to my life. I’ll love my wife and kids. They’ll be all that I can think about. Right now, I’d like to only think of myself and Bertha.”

Kacey sat up. She clasped her hands in her lap and looked at the water. “I can’t fault you for that.”

Aaron’s eyes widened, and his head tilted to the side. “Really? I thought you’d use that in your
you’re afraid of responsibility
arsenal.”

“Being honest about what you really want in a relationship is responsible,” she said. “It’s easier to lie and act like getting married one day is your ultimate goal. It’s harder to say that you don’t want that. Don’t believe in that.”

“You don’t?”

She leaned back against him, and Aaron wrapped his arm around her waist and breathed in the clean scent of her hair, feeling more content that he could ever remember.

“I know some people are happily married. But marriage is a lot of hard work and a lot of compromise for things that shouldn’t be compromised on. I keep saying that when I’m finished with school, and get the second restaurant open, I’ll be ready to settle down. But if I achieve that, then I’ll have to work harder to manage two places instead of one. The Chattanooga restaurant will become my number-one priority…even more than the home restaurant is now. Throw in a husband and kids that will require me to put them first, and it seems like that’s even more stress in my life.”

“You can find a balance. Lots of people do. And having a guy compromise some of his time with you to build a successful franchise isn’t too much to ask.”

“But me compromising when he finds someone else to give him that attention, I can’t do.”

This wasn’t about her, but her mom, Cliff, and Brenda. “Not every guy is like that.”

“I know,” she said. “I just don’t want to possibly pick the one who is like that and find myself in that situation.”

“No matter who you pick, I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that.”

She tilted her head back to look up at him. “How could you possibly know that?”

“Because you’re fiercely loyal and dedicated. You stick beside your parents regardless of the awkward situation they put you in. I know you’re not comfortable keeping us from Reggie, but you don’t want him to hurt his business because of his protectiveness over you. You’re busting your ass in school, but you still feel guilty if you can’t relieve Monique or Ashlei at the restaurant. If you had a husband, you’d be just as dedicated and loyal to him. Any man who earned that from you would be crazy to throw it all away.”

If she picked someone who appreciated those qualities in her. She’d make the perfect spouse for someone equally as ambitious as she was. The quiet backbone of support any man would need. The kind of support he never considered would make handling the pressure of being a provider easier for a man.

They were quiet for several minutes. Aaron wrestled with the feeling of sinking further into the trap. He was a guy who could appreciate all those qualities in her. Would even be able to handle her close-knit family. But how long before he got bored? Sure, he loved Resilient, coaching Marcus’s baseball team, going to Momma’s Kitchen for lunch in the middle of a workday to see Kacey and her family, and spending time with her after a long day. But did he love that more than he loved his current lifestyle? He couldn’t answer that with a strong yes, so that question was best left alone.

He nudged her side with his elbow and pulled a handful of Laffy Taffy out of his side pocket. “Want one?”

Her eyes lit up and she grinned. “Where did you get this?”

“Don’t worry about that.” He pulled back the wrapper on the candy to read the joke. “What did the egg say to the frying pan?”

She frowned as if considering the answer while stuffing a piece of candy in her mouth. “What?”

“You crack me up.”

They both chuckled, and Aaron pulled her against him again. He kissed her forehead and when he pulled back, her eyes sparkled in the waning sunlight. He lowered his head and kissed her, reveling in the way her body completely went soft against him. She tasted like the strawberry candy, and he could eat strawberries until the end of eternity. He probed and deepened the kiss, pulling her closer against him until she twisted and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted a hand to take one of her small breasts in the palm of his hand. Her hardened nipple was prominent beneath the material of her blouse.

He didn’t want to leave her tomorrow, but he had to get home. And he didn’t want to go back to Resilient and spend the night separate from her or trying to sneak into her place late at night when there was little chance of Reggie or someone else seeing.

He leaned back. “Let’s get a room.”

Her desire-filled eyes cleared and focused on him. “Seriously?”

“Yes. I don’t want to spend the night without you by my side. Please, spend the night with me.”

The next morning Kacey suppressed a heavy sigh and trudged up the steps to her front door. Staying the night in in Chattanooga with Aaron hadn’t been a smart idea. She’d talked a good game about not being sure if she could marry or compromise, but at the end of the night that’s all it was, talk.

Maybe if they’d joked around, or talked about seeing who could lose control first, she could have walked away without her feelings becoming so jumbled and tangled. Instead he’d made love to her, slowly and sweetly, as if he too wanted to savor their last night together. By the time the sun rose, she’d been wishing Aaron could be the guy worth marrying. She’d even whispered that question to his sleeping face. Like an idiotic fool in love.

She would not get mopey and sad just because Aaron was leaving today. She would not acknowledge that her heart wanted to shatter into bite-sized pieces because their fling was coming to an end. She would not succumb to the urge to text him and see how he was doing later today or ask how his ride home had been. Doing any of that would only prove that Monique was right and she couldn’t handle the quick fling that was their relationship.

She took a deep breath and shook off the melancholy that hovered over her, waiting to latch on and turn her into some sad, brokenhearted ninny. Last night was the end. They’d both known that was the end, and when she’d dropped him off about two blocks away so they wouldn’t arrive home at the same time, he’d kissed her cheek and jumped out of the car without a backward glance. No way was she going to let that bother her. She knew the deal when she’d gotten into this.

She slid the key into the lock, but when she turned it to the left there was no telltale
clunk
of the dead bolt opening. Frowning, Kacey tested the knob and pushed. The door opened easily. Her heart thundered in her chest, and she sucked in a shallow breath. She slowly pushed the door forward and leaned to the side to peek through the door. Tension vibrated through her body, and she was ready to bolt down the stairs screaming at the top of her lungs if someone was still there.

“You can come in, Kacey,” Reggie’s voice boomed.

Kacey let out a heavy breath and pressed a hand against her pounding heart. She stalked through the door and glared around the room until her gaze landed on her brother sitting on the couch.

“What are you doing in here? I thought someone had broken in.” Kacey slammed the door behind her.

He slowly rose from the couch and crossed his thick arms over his chest. “I was worried about you.”

“Why?”

“Because you didn’t come home last night. Everyone in the family was worried.”

Kacey waved a hand and pushed aside the guilt for not letting anyone know that she planned to spend the night in Chattanooga. “There’s no reason to worry. I’m a grown woman and can take care of myself.”

“No one is doubting your abilities, Kacey. But when you text to tell Monique and Momma that you can’t work because you have to get things done for your thesis, and then we can’t find you here, at the library, or at school, we start to worry.”

Kacey blew out a breath and pressed her hand against her forehead. She should have known they would come looking for her. “Can I just have one night to myself without it being a state of emergency?”

“Yes, but you still should check in,” he said with all the authority of a father.

She dropped her hand and glared. “I don’t have to check in with you or anyone else. How I spend my time is my business.”

She marched past him into the kitchen.

“Are you spending your time sleeping with Aaron?”

Kacey froze. She gritted her teeth and mentally cursed Monique, the only person who could have put that thought into her brother’s head. She slowly spun to face Reggie.

“Why would you even think that? It took longer than I expected to get all the interviews done, and since I was there I decided to check out some other restaurants downtown.” Not quite a lie; she and Aaron had eaten downtown. “It got late and I decided to stay in town instead of drive back.”

Reggie narrowed his eyes. “You see, I’d believe you. Because I know you typically never lie to me. Out of everyone you’re the one I could always trust to tell me the truth.”

“Why don’t you trust me now?”

“Because when I texted Aaron last night to see where he was, he texted back that he was with Tara—but I saw Tara at Luigi’s right before.” Reggie took a step forward. “Just tell me the truth, Kacey.” He stared into her eyes. “Are you sleeping with Aaron?”

She wanted to lie. To tell her brother to mind his own business, but she couldn’t. Not when his gaze burned into hers. “Fine. Yes, I was with Aaron last night.”

Reggie rose to his full height. “Are you sleeping together?”

Kacey sighed. “Yes.”

“For how long?”

Might as well go all-in. “Since before I knew he was your partner. I met him on his first night in town, when he came into Momma’s Kitchen. We hooked up that night.”

Reggie clenched his hands into fists at his side. “You’re telling me he’s lied to me this entire time?”

“We didn’t want to upset you.”

“So lying makes the situation better. I even gave him my blessing when I suspected and he still lied.”

Kacey slapped her chest. “That’s my fault. I told him to keep it from you because I knew you’d overreact.”

“You’re my sister.”

“Yes, but you look at me as if I’m some kind of virgin saint. I’m not, Reggie. Aaron came in, I wanted to get laid, and he was willing.”

“Stop it, you sound like—”

“Like who, Reggie? Like Momma or Monique? Guess what. We’re all from the same family.”

“But you’re not a whore!” he shouted.

Kacey sucked in a breath. Her eyes widened, and anger flashed up her spine. “Neither are they, Reggie.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it? I know Momma made mistakes when she was younger. I don’t like having my dad’s wife smile in my face when I know seeing me causes her pain every moment I’m around. Just like you don’t like hearing that Momma can’t even remember what your dad’s name is. Or that Monique’s dad was a traveling preacher, and that Ashlei’s dad was some trucker who came through town. But that’s the way things are. I don’t hate or begrudge her for her mistakes, because she’s done everything in her power to make a better life for us.”

“I know that.”

“Do you, really? Because you spent a lot of time trying to protect and defend our honor while simultaneously sleeping around with every woman you met on the road. Just like the only-wants-one-thing guys you warn us about.”

He wiped his brow, looking flustered. “That’s why I care, Kacey. I know what men think about easy women. You all are special.”

“So were the women you left behind before you met Camila.”

Reggie’s shoulders went rigid. “Those women aren’t my family. I don’t want men to think that they can just take advantage of you,” he said through clenched teeth. “Look what happened when you were still in high school.”

“I knew exactly what I was doing, and the entire time I knew it was wrong. A mistake I learned from.”