Curves in the Road (The Southern Devotion Series Book 2) (13 page)

"Have you talked to him?"

"Nope. I'm sure Gracie or Ashton has told him I'm moving back." I said.

###

When moving day arrived, Tristan had us packed up in the truck in less than two hours. He was moving back with us and we were going to live in a three bedroom apartment not far from the neighborhood that Gracie lives in. Tristan pulled his car behind the moving van and Angel and I rode in mine. She had decided to sell her car to her brother so she could buy a new one when she got to Nashville.

The ten hour drive went by quicker than I expected. When we pulled up to the apartment complex, we had a welcoming committee. Gracie, Ashton, and Autumn had gotten the keys for our apartment and sat up a nice dinner for us in order to welcome us home. After exchanging hugs and taking a few moments to play with baby Autumn, Ashton and Tristan unloaded the couch so we could have somewhere to sit.

I walked back out to the truck to grab a few things when Ashton pulled me aside. "Hey, I wanted to ask you a favor."

"Sure, Ash. What's up?"

"Katelyn wants to see you. She asked me the other day and I promised I’d find a way. Tomorrow afternoon she'll be coming to our house. I was hoping you could meet me at the park and surprise her?"

"I'd love to, just text me and let me know which park and when."

The next day I went to the park to meet Ashton. It was the same park that I first met Derrick and Katelyn. They hadn't arrived yet so I sat down on the swing to wait. My mind drifted off into memories that started to pull at my heart too much. I wasn’t sure I could do this today. I was about to stand up when I heard, "Would you like a push?"

I turned to see Derrick standing behind me with a grin on his face and a pink carnation in his hand. "What are you doing here?"

Chapter Fifteen

**Derrick**

The day I texted Mary Jane to tell her I was waiting for her at Ashton's, I had to stop myself from dropping
everything and racing after her. I typed out several responses to her expressing my feelings and then deleted them all. Instead, I decided to give her the space and time she asked for by not responding to her goodbye because I didn’t know what I could say other than to beg her to come back to me. Gracie called to tell me MJ was in labor and it took all the strength I had not to go down there with them to see her. They texted me pictures and Ash gave me a play by play of everything he could, so much so that it was almost as good as being there.

When Ashton told me the date that Mary Jane was moving back I asked him to help me speak to her. We hadn’t spoken since the day she left after my father’s funeral, two months ago. Going through him seemed the most logical way to ensure she’d show up. When I arrived at the park, she was there walking toward the swings. She looked beautiful as the sunlight brightened her blonde hair and danced across her skin. She was wearing a light pink t-shirt that gave the illusion of being sheer in the design, her denim shorts hugged her curvy hips and left her long legs exposed, ending with a pair of
summer sandals. She sat on the swing, unaware of my admiration from afar. She didn’t move, only stared ahead in a daze of thought. My hope is that she is remembering our first meeting with fond memories and not heartache. Gathering my courage, I grabbed the pink carnation off the passenger seat of my truck and made my way over to her. She didn’t hear me approach from behind because she never turned around.

“
Would you like a push?” I asked, causing her to turn.

As her eyes met mine,
her mouth dropped open in surprise and she said, "What are you doing here?"

My mind couldn't function enough to find the words to answer her. Holding out the pink carnation, I just smiled at her.
She smiled back, giving me a feeling of ease. “I’d love a push.”  Leaning down I offered her the pink carnation, she accepted it with a note of thanks. For a few moments I pushed her on the swing and we didn’t speak. It was just a moment of peace before the serious talk that I knew would follow.

“I’m assuming this was a set up and Katie isn’t coming?” she asks, letting her feet hit the ground to come to a stop. I
grab her hips to slow her down in a gentler manner.

With my hands on her hips and my face close to hers I inhale the sweet smell of her subtle perfume and gently place a soft kiss atop her shoulder blade. “Are you disappointed to see me?”

“Never.” She said, leaning forward almost into a kiss before pulling away and standing up. “Let’s go sit and talk. Ok?”  I agreed, though my heart was clenched with fear at words that begin conversations that never seem to end well. Maybe it was too late for us after all.

“How have you been?” she asked, as we took a seat at a park table. We sat facing each other on the bench seat, straddling it for comfort.

“Pretty good I suppose. Katelyn’s finished up her year of first grade and is ready for second grade to start. She loves school, which is great but weird. She’s grown quite a bit since you’ve seen her and she really does want to see you.”

“Great, I’d love to see her too.
I hate that I missed her when I was in town before. Your mom needed her company a lot more than I did at the time. Since I don’t start work for a few weeks, maybe I can spend a few days with her?”

“Absolutely! She’d love that.”
  This was going better than I expected so I took a chance and reached for her hand. She tensed and pulled away, maybe I read things wrong. “I’m sorry.” 

“No, don’t be,” she said. “I want to take things slow Derrick.”
 

I laughed, “Two years is pretty slow don’t you think?”
 

Her lips turn up slightly as she attempts to hide her grin, “I know. What I mean is that I want to start from scratch. Erase the past and try again. It seems to be the best way for us to determine if we even still feel the same way.”
 

I reached for her hand again and this time she let me hold it, “I already know I feel the same way.”
 

“A lot can change in two years, Derrick. I had a baby for one thing. I want to do this right. I know the feelings for you are still as strong as ever, but I need to do this. I don’t want to screw up a good thing and if we rush into this we may do that. I al
so don’t want Katelyn to know. It's not fair to confuse her if things don’t work out."

“You want me to lie to my daughter?” I asked, not fond of that idea.

“Not lie, just don’t offer up the information that we’re dating. If she asks you flat out then you can tell her that we are getting to know each other again as friends, which is true. Well, that is if you want to date me. I suppose I shouldn’t have assumed anything.” 

I
press my palm against her cheek, “Don’t be crazy, of course I want to. I wouldn’t be here. Tell me what we do then.”

“Pick me up Friday night for a date? Dinner, movie, maybe a kiss goodnight if you’re lucky,” she says winking at me.

“I’m feeling lucky already,” I said, grinning back at her.

Friday night had arrived and it was time for our first date. When I arrived at her apartment, I knocked twice before the door was opened by Mary Jane who was dressed in a low cut flower print dress that was a pale pink with baby blue flowers. Pink is her favorite color and I absolutely love it on her. My eyes drift over her cleavage, down to her silky smooth legs and finish at her toes in the sexy heels she was wearing.

She held her arms out to the side and spun in a circle giving her skirt a slight billow. "Do I look alright?"
My mouth wanted to answer her without words even if that would go against everything that involves going slow.

"No," I said, making her frown. "You look amazing." Her face lit up and she bit her
bottom lip. Damn she's one sexy woman; this taking it slow was going to be difficult. Bending my elbow, I turn and offer it to her. She slips her arm through mine then follows me to the car.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." She tapped her foot to the music on the radio, humming to the beat and gazing out the window. At one point she crossed her legs and her dress slipped down her thigh, exposing almost her entire leg. I swerved and she gasped, "Are you okay?"

I groaned, "Yeah. Sorry."  We pulled into the parking lot of the empty building on Broadway in downtown Nashville. "We're here."

"Um… A Shot in the Dark? If it's a club, I don’t think it's open."

"It's not yet, I know the owners." I held my hand out to her
, helping her out of the car. "What do you think of the name?"

"It's very cool. What kind of club is it?"

Unlocking the door, I hold it open and press my hand against her back as I ease her inside.

She peers around the room then turns and says, "This isn’t even open for business. Why did you bring me here?"  I stepped behind the counter and brought out a plaque that we had made for the foyer of the club once it opens. She took the plaque from me and read, "A Shot in the Dark. Owners Ashton , Derrick, and Gavin Collins. Designed by Cameron McIntosh. Oh my gosh, Derrick! Is this what you've been up to this whole time?"
I nodded and she sat the plaque down then wrapped her arms around my neck, "This is amazing." She pressed herself against me, bouncing excitedly in my arms. My hands moved down her sides slowly until I pushed her away gently.

"Would you like to see the whole place? We're going to open in a few months."

"Yes. Show me around!" Taking her hand, I guided her to the first room. "This will be a singles and party room. We're going to allow it to be reserved for parties and for gatherings such as speed dating nights."  Spinning her around, I showed her the adjacent room, "This will be the main bar with pool tables, dart boards, loud music. That's why we have the large doors that can be closed to that room, it's sound proof to allow for conversations to be had without screaming."

"Is the music set up yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Dance with me?"  I held up my finger asking for one moment. Running to the back room, I started the music playing. The song that came on was Say Something by A Great Big World.

Her arms went around my neck, mine dropped to her waist. She pressed her head against my chest as I lay my head against hers. We moved slowly to the words of the emotionally charged song. Her head moved and our eyes met. I traced my fingers down her cheek; she closed her eyes then leaned against my hand. Her tongue darted out to subtly wet her lips before I said, "Tell me if you want me to stop." Slowly I moved my lips to hers, before touching them I asked one more time, "Is this ok?"

She pressed her hand against the back of my head closing the distance between us, allowing our lips to crash together. I
hadn’t forgotten how she tasted; strawberry lip gloss. I wanted to remove her dress and make love to her on the floor where we stood. When she moaned against my lips it was too much. I lifted her up; she gasped and wrapped her legs around me in response. When she gasped, I slipped my tongue into her mouth then moved her to the booth style table behind us. My hands moved up her dress and began to tug her on her panties. She pushed me back and came up for air, "Wait, stop."

"I'm sorry," I backed away from her to catch my breath as well.

She came down off the table and said, "Yeah, cause I hated that so much." She winked at me as she delivered the same line that I gave her when she kissed me after the funeral. "I love kissing you, Derrick. I love doing a lot of things with you."

A growl emitted from my chest, "Damn, Mary Jane you're going to be the death of me
, woman." She giggled and my pants tightened at the sweet sound. Moving forward, I press her against the table once more. She leans her head back away from me; I drop my mouth to her neck and let my lips graze her collarbone, then slide up to her ear.

She presses against my chest and whispers, "If you don't stop, I'll be taking this dress off right here."

"Challenge accepted," I say as I nibble on her ear, then suck the lobe into my mouth. She gasps as I run my hand up the inside of her leg. Then I pull away from her, leaving her speechless.

"Why did you stop?" she asks breathless.

"We're supposed to be taking this slow. If you want me to continue, I will."

"No. I mean, I do, but you're right." She stood up, straightening her dress and said, "Let's go somewhere more public where we aren't as tempted. Did you have plans past this?"

"I was going to take us to dinner, your choice." I said, truthfully.

We ended up at a place called Brown's Diner. The front looks like a trailer and then there was an entire restaurant added onto the back. The front trailer was the bar area and the restaurant was
a mom and pop country cooking establishment.

"I was going to take you somewhere a little fancier." I said, looking around at the very low key restaurant with old booths that had rips in the seats and neon signs lining the walls.

"Angel, Gracie, and I discovered this place one day and they have the best catfish dinner. They also have home cooked burgers that are pretty awesome. Give it a shot, you'll love it and so will your wallet." She smiled then added, "Plus it's quiet so we can talk." The waitress came over to take our orders; we both picked something different so we could share.  I want to hear all about the club. Who came up with the name?"

"Gracie. Of course you can imagine the name Cameron came up with." I said, rolling my eyes.

She tapped her index finger against her chin, stared up to the ceiling in thought and guessed, "Club Cameron?"

With my index finger I pointed to my nose then to her. "Tell the lady what she's won, Bob."
She giggles at my game show reference. "Honestly though, Cameron has been great. His interior design degree came in handy. It was nice to be able to do everything we needed and keep it in the family. My dad was…"  It hurt to talk about my dad still after all these months and my voice showed it by sputtering over his name.

Mary Jane placed her hand over mine on the table and lightly stroked the back of my hand with her thumb. "Your dad helped too?" I nodded, unable to speak until I controlled my emotions. "I think that's great. I'm proud of you. I remember you talking about it being a dream of yours and Ash's. It's really amazing that you can make that dream come true." She paused a moment then asked, "How's your mom?"

"She's holding up as best as she can. There are days I go by to check on her or drop Katelyn off for grandma time and you can tell she's been crying. They were together over thirty years. You know it's been two months and I still find myself picking up the phone to call him. In fact, I started to call him yesterday to tell him I was taking you out. He loved you MJ. He scolded me for not running after you when you left. He said, 'You don't let a good woman get away, especially one that is loved by your child. Children don’t accept strangers easily, especially into their parent's lives. My Katie is a smart girl and she loves that MJ as much as you do.'"