Restore Me (Book 2.5 Kin Series) (25 page)

“Really? Are you stayin’ or goin’ back?”

“I’m home for good. That’s why I’m callin’ you. Look, I don’t know if you’ve got plans tonight, but I’m havin’ a party.”

“I’ll bring the booze.” I laughed when he’d offered to bring beer.

“I sort of need you to bring somethin’ else.”

“Name it.”

“I need you and Sky to get Lacey there, without tellin’ her I’m home. She can’t find out, Ford.”

The line got quiet for a second. “I was right, wasn’t I? She’s got you by the balls?”

“Yeah, somethin’ like that. Listen, can I count on you to get her there?”

“Sure. We’ll get her there.”

“See you when I get home, cuz.”

When we hung up I felt excited. She was probably going to play hard to get and fight me worse than ever before, but by nightfall I was going to have Lacey in my arms and I wasn’t planning on letting her go.

My brother took forever, but he finally arrived with Peyton in tote. She got out and went to move from the front seat, but I offered it to her so I could rest. Before I could close my eyes, my brother started off with the questions. “So, what happened? Do I need to move out? Can me and Pey stay in your guest room?”

“I’m home because it’s where I belong. As far as you crashin’ in my apartment, you’re goin’ to have to wait on that. I may already have a roommate lined up.”

“What? Why would you do that behind my back, man? You suck. I was just gettin’ used to havin’ some privacy.”

“I didn’t do shit behind your back. It’s my fuckin’ apartment. Get off your ass and get your own place.
”

Peyton punched Jamey on the arm. “Shut up. He’s talkin’ about a girl
roommate.”

I leaned forward. “How would you know that?”

“It’s Lacey, right? I saw her when we gave her that box. She’s in love with you isn’t she? That’s why you came home?”

I was
reluctant to say anything to her because she was Shayne’s sister. Then I wanted her to know, so she could tell him I was back for my woman. “Yeah, it’s Lacey. I’m hopin’ you’re right about her lovin’ me.”

“Does she know you’re back?”

“No! Don’t tell anyone either, especially that brother of yours. This had to be a surprise. I’ve got it all planned out in my head.”

She pretended to shut her mouth and throw away the key. “Your secret is safe with me.”

I finally pulled my hat over my face and went to sleep.

Our first stop was the diner. When my mother saw me climbing out of my brother’s car, she came running outside. “Oh my God, what are you doin’ here?”

I pulled her into my arms. “It was time to come home.”

She smacked me on my arm as she pulled away. “Why
haven’t you called me? Don’t tell me that you’ve been locked up with Lacey this whole time.”

My mom didn’t know. “She didn’t stay, mom. She left me there.”

“What? She came to me and told me she had to find you. I know love when I see it. That girl was crazy about you.” She pulled us away from Peyton and Jamey. “Is it because of Shayne?”

My brow tightened. “No. It was about me not wantin’ to come home. I hurt her and she left me. It’s why I
’m home.”

My mother’s face brightened. “You finally fell didn’t you?”

I smiled back. “I reckon I did. Now I just have to figure out how to get her back.”

“I think that when she sees you gave up everything for her, you’ll get her back.”

I didn’t know how the night was going to go, but I needed my mother’s help to make it happen. We went inside and ate while discussing a welcome home get together. My mom and I could make all the food, while my brother cleaned the shit out of my apartment, since it was spotless when I’d left. Ford and Sky were bringing Lacey and the rest was up to me.

I was tired, but determined and I only had a couple of hours to prepare. By the end of the night, I wanted Lacey in my bed and to do that I’d have to finally make the commitment she wanted. I have to be the guy that she could depend on and mostly trust.

For some reason, I knew it would be easy, because nothing meant more to me than having her in my life.

Chapter 29

The waiting was killing me, especially after I saw her pull into the driveway and walk over to Ford and Sky’s house. The plan had been set into motion and in no time at all, she was going to get the surprise of her life.

Ford sent me a text message letting me know that Sky was getting her all dolled up for a “party they were taking her to”. I made sure everything was set and changed my clothes. Everything had to be perfect for when she saw me.

I got a message a little bit af
ter telling me to go outside and hide behind my car. He must have waited for me to get into position before opening the door and them walking outside. I could hear them talking as their voices got closer.

Out of nowhere, Sky said she’d forgotten something and asked Ford to go with her to get it. I knew that was my cue.

I peered through the car windows to see her walking toward their car. Lacey was wearing a tight, short dress that came up very high above her knees. Her legs looked sexy as hell and I didn’t even want to take my eyes off of how low the dress was in the front. Her titties were bouncing around when she walked and without even speaking to her, my cock was already showing signs of being close to her.

“Can I get the keys? It’s freezing out here.” Lacey covered her chest with her hands. I started taking off my leather jacket and placed it over her shoulders before she could turn around. When she did, I think the whole world stopped moving.

She stared at me and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

“Joey?”

I put my hands on her cheeks to warm them and looked right into her beautiful eyes
. “Just so we’re clear, I don’t deal well with breakup letters.”

I could tell she was a little shocked that I was actually standing there with her.
“When did you get back?”

“This mornin’.”

“Are you visiting?”

I shook my head, but continued rubbing her cheeks with my thumbs. I was afraid to let go of her, because it felt like a dream
. “I came all this way to chase this girl. You see, I don’t chase women, but this one slipped away from me. She thought she was doin’ the right thing, I suppose. She didn’t get that I would have done anything to keep her with me. She didn’t understand that my future was nothin’ without her in it.”

“She sounds like an asshole,”
Lacey said under her breath.

“Well, maybe I wasn’t clear enough about my intentions.”

“Maybe you should tell her now.” My heart was racing a mile a minute, especially because I could tell she was happy that I’d come back for her.

“That’s what I’m standin’ here tryin’ to do.”
I leaned in close and let our lips touch for the first time. God I’d missed her so much. “You hurt me, Lacey.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to stand in the way of your career.”

Then I felt like she needed to know how she’d done me wrong. She needed to know that her coming to Italy broke me in two. “You wouldn’t talk to me. You completely shut me out, like I meant nothin’ to you.”

“It hurt too much. I’ve been miserable without you.”

“You have a terrible way of showin’ it,” I added.

“So what happens now?”
Did she really have to ask me that question?

“You see, you didn’t count on me comin’ back so soon did you? You thought I’d move on and
pretend this never happened?” I motioned between us.

She
shrugged. “Something like that.”

I grabbed her arms and tightened my face up, trying to find the right words to say to her
. “I don’t give up that easily, woman. I told you before, I always get what I want. If you’d stayed long enough, you would have realized that I wasn’t goin’ to let you walk out of my life. I’d fight for this, because it’s all I want. I’m a grown man, who knows what he wants in life, but I don’t want any of it, if I can’t share it with you. I’m sorry it took me so long to get back. I had to tie up loose ends and make sure I had a job to come back to.”

“You’re not going back to Italy?”
She seemed stunned.

“Lacey, I came home to be with you. I chose you over everything else. It’s time to change and leave my old life behind me. I want more.
” I paused for a second and then reiterated. “I want you.”

She started crying and smiling at the same time. It was somewhat confusing watching her emotion going awry.

I leaned into her lips. “I love you,”

Our kiss
was anything but boring. We stood there making out like we were naked and in private. Her tongue was letting me know what she wanted and we needed to be inside for it to happen.

For months we’d fought our feelings and it was finally time to admit that being together was the only way for us to both be happy.
.

Lacey pulled away from our kiss and then wrapped her arms tightly around, pressing her head against my chest
. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you love me back. Tell me that comin’ home wasn’t a mistake. Say somethin’.”

“I love you back.”

We both smiled.

I knew my family was probably staring out the window, watching our every move. Not that it mattered. At some point Sky and Ford had come back outside and went to my place and neither of us even noticed. We were too caught up in each other, and honestly, I didn’t care if they all went home and left us alone. The only thing I wanted more than holding Lacey in my arms, was holding her while she was naked in my arms.

We started walking toward the party
hand in hand. “I thought you liked Italy.”

I shrugged and thought of something funny to say to avoid talking about all of the negative shit that went down with Gia and being miserable. “I can’t get a decent cup of coffee and croissants are over rated. Who wants to eat pasta with a spoon, when they could be comin’ home to you every night? I missed you, woman.”

Lacey laughed and leaned her head against my arm. I knew then that coming home was the best decision that I’d ever made in my life
. I’d always lived for my future and stuck to my goals. It was funny how I’d never known what I was missing until I had it.

When we reached the door, Ford opened it up for us. His smile was the first thing I noticed. I
placed my hand on his shoulder and gave him a half hug. “Thanks for bringin’ her to me.”

“Hey, Sky’s so happy, I might get some extra booty tonight.”

I shook my head. “Considering that you get it practically every night already, I’m not even going to ask what you mean.” My cousin was a perfect example of how I wanted to change. He’d messed around with women, but once he’d met Sky, everything changed. They’d be engaged soon, and surprisingly, I’d be happy for him.

Lacey didn’t let go of my hand as we walked inside. My mother looked so happy when she came up and pulled Lacey into her arms. “I knew you’d bring him home to me.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Lacey argued.

I squeezed her hand. “Yeah you did.”

Once everyone settled down, we sat around talking about my trip and how much I’d missed being home. The whole time all I wanted was for everyone to leave so I could carry her to my bed and make up for all of the time we’d lost.

We’d have plenty of time to make-up, so I bit my tongue and pretended to be enjoying the house full of people.

I don’t know whose idea it was, but a little while later, Ford stood up and made an announcement. “Yo, listen up! I say we take this party to our place and let Joey get some rest.”

Lots of comments were shouted out.

“He ain’t goin’ to be restin’.” Jamey yelled.

“Lacey isn’t tired!” Sky added.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” my mother said while laughing.

I threw my arms. “Okay, enough of the jokes. I’m just goin’ to throw it out there. I’m takin’ Lacey to my bedroom in five minutes. If ya’ll want to stick around listenin’, it’s your business, but don’t expect us to come out and keep you company. We’ve got a lot of makin’ up to do.”

Her face was red and I knew she was embarrassed. It didn’t matter though, my family started gathering up their belongings and kissing us goodbye as they headed over to Ford and Sky’s place.

Then finally, we were alone.

It was still hard to believe that she was in my arms.

Once everyone finally had gone over to Ford’s it took us only seconds to retreat to my bedroom. “As much as I like seein’ you in this, I think we need to get you out of this dress.”

I pulled her into the room, while keeping my lips somewhere on her skin at all times. I’d missed everything about her. The way her hair and skin smelled and the way her hands fit perfectly inside of mine. Not to mention the fact that she was the only woman I’d ever made love to.