Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) (42 page)

He paused at the open car door. She walked over and kissed him full on the lips. Then she kissed him again with a little tongue, breaking away when it became more. “I need to trust you, Aiden.” She touched his face. “I want for us to figure it out, our feelings. But I have to trust you. No more games and manipulations. We’re done with that. Right?”

“
Done,” he nodded.

“
Good. Perfect,” she said, relieved. “Because if you do… if I can’t trust you, then this thing between us won’t happen again. It won’t.” She stepped back. He looked at her hard, as if he wanted to say something. She waited.

"You can trust me, Daisy.” He winked and got inside the car. Daisy hugged herself, watching him drive out. She turned back up the sidewalk with a smile on her face.

Chapter Sixteen

Daisy smiled a secretive smile. Having spent so much time in the shower, her skin was wrinkled as a raisin.
Sex on the Beach is highly overrated
. But sex with Aiden Keane, well, yes it was good. Aiden was so dreamy at times, especially and mostly when they were together––spontaneously hot. She could admit that now, which felt strangely liberating. Being honest with her self was new. Silently, she vowed to continue to try.

Daisy lightly touched her cheek. Her face flushed and her lips were swollen from the hard kisses. She examined herself and wondered again about destiny, fate and all those words she would use so loosely before. Was this it? It felt like it was. Her hand dropped away and so did her eyes. Daisy had mastered the art of running, hiding, lying and living in a self-imposed bubble where her heart remained unaccountable and relatively safe from future heartbreak. Now she was free, no matter what the outcome of the paternity or her budding feelings for
him
.

The night with him had left her feeling glorious. She licked her lips and her eyes lowered to her sex. There, she ached, throbbed, and shivered for him. It was a feeling so powerful she closed her eyes and embraced each vibration, allowing the phantom sensations to lull her under his spell once more.

Who could blame her? Seriously? Especially after their first kiss. He had brushed her lips and followed with a slow trail of kisses to her neck. Oh, yes, she felt it: a sudden rush of heat from Aiden's exploring tongue and then the gentle graze as her flesh was sucked in through his teeth. The thrill was equal to being struck by a lightening bolt. Phantom pleasure ricocheted through her, causing her to dip her spine and drag her nails over the countertop as she clenched her hands to fists. She couldn’t get enough air. He was behind her, hitting her spot, running his slick tongue over the center of her spine then giving enough sweet kisses to make her pliable. The gentle bites to her shoulder stung when it got good to him.

A burn like fire ringed her engorged clitoris as she lifted on her toes, dipped her back further and anticipated the slam. But there was none. The reality of it all had her spiraling out of the fantasy––it felt as if she was going mad.

Was it sex or love?

She panted, catching hold of herself and trying to understand how her mind could or would go there. Daisy lifted her gaze to the mirror, now clear of the steam. The glass ran streams of sweat like the sheen that covered her from whatever it was that gripped her. She missed Aiden. He was only gone for a few minutes, and she wanted him. How sweet it would be to have him in her bed right now––waiting for her, wanting to punish her, love her, and do all those things he did so masterfully. He'd give her the opportunity to experiment and indulge in those things she secretly wanted to explore.

“
Daisy?”

She jumped, standing upright. Janette was outside of her door, tapping softly with her knuckles. She wrapped the towel around herself, snug in the tucking above the swell of her breasts. “I thought you were sleep,” she answered as she drew the door inward to find her sister on the other end, waiting.

Janette looked her over, her gaze critical in its examination. Daisy felt flutters of nervous energy in her stomach.
She’s worse than momma sometimes. I swear
.

“
You gonna shrivel up girl if you keep bathing like that. Come out of that bathroom. Let’s talk, Ms. Lady.” Janette backed away, tugging her cotton pink robe shut and heading through her room in fluffy matching slippers.

Daisy left the fragrant warmth and the naughty thoughts of the bathroom to the cool inquisition awaiting her in her bedroom. She kept an eye on Janette as she closed her door behind her. She knew that look. It was the one she’d get when her sister caught her showering after sneaking out with Pete through her bedroom window.

“
Am I in trouble?” she sneezed. Daisy blinked to the itchy feeling in her throat from a night of too much air and water.

“
Are you?” Janette asked.

Daisy sat at the edge of the bed curling her toes on the shaggy carpet. Her hands lifted the wet strands from her neck and shoulders, to drop them once more. “You want to talk about Aiden?”

Janette smiled. “I want to talk about you, sweetie.”

“
Me? Okay.”

“
This morning you breezed up out of here stomping on clouds, right after going a mile a minute about Pete and how you was meeting him and all. You carried on about how you two were working things out.”

“
I didn’t say that.”

“
Then you come home and Mr. Intense is here. I swear you liked to jump out of your skin when you saw him. And my baby? She think Aiden Keane is her daddy?”

“
It’s complicated,” Daisy mumbled, sensing where the line of questioning was going. Damn it all to hell. She just got into understanding her own feelings. Must she break them open and bleed all over her sister with these buried truths now?

“
Yeah, it’s complicated all right, cause one minute you looking at him like he the devil himself and the next minute you up against the house pawing and kissing on him.”

Daisy sighed.

Janette walked over to the bed. She sat, causing the mattress to dip. Daisy moved over to make room. Her sister’s hand went down her back, softly. “I spoke with him, Daze. Have mercy! That man is larger than life. I’ll give you that,” she said rubbing her forehead. “Very determined to have his way.” Janette dropped her hand away and covered Daisy’s. “He's determined to have you. In fact, he's a little too determined based off what you told me. Does the man even understand the word,
no
?”

“
He says he loves me,” Daisy mumbled. She couldn’t look her sister in the eye, but she tried. After all, she was a woman now, a mother. She built a company on her own, and she had a life she made from nothing. Still, this thing with Aiden Keane had so many tangled roots that she fought to not become strangled by them. Add to that the fact that she needed time to understand why her heart and body took over when it was just them. Time was needed before she explained it to someone else. But Janette wasn’t going to let it drop. This she knew, so she tried. “Aiden says that he has loved me for years. That’s why he’s been trying so hard to find me.”

“
Love?”

“
I know what you thinking. It’s not possible for him to be in love with me, right?”

“
I’m not thinking that,” Janette interrupted. “Folk always preaching the time table, the secret recipe to how you find love and who you should love, but I’ll tell you this. Love can find you all on its own. Living, Daisy. That’s what it takes. You get out of life what you put in it, and you have to live with what comes back.”

“
Janette, I really don’t want to get into this tonight.”

“
No mam, we gonna have this talk. I love you, Daisy, but you are dense, girl. Dense.”

“
You don’t know what’s going on!”

“
I gots eyes. I can see,” Janette quickly replied.

“
What you see? Me and a man falling in love? Huh? Cause that’s all it is. Aiden and I are falling in love. Why is that so terrible?”

“
I never said it was.” Janette drew back smiling. “Whoa… I struck a nerve with you.”

“
You called me dense.”

“
Okay. I’m sorry. Hey, you know I didn’t mean it that way.” She kissed her shoulder and rubbed her back. “Honey, if I had to pick love instead of it picking me, I woulda gotten it wrong. I woulda married Mason Evers.”

“
Who? Mason from Evers Funeral Home?”

“
Mmhmm,” Janette laughed. “He was perfect. My first… well never mind that. I just knew he was the one. Besides, all the girls in school wanted him.”

“
Ugh, Janette. The man is bowlegged with buck teeth.”

Janette laughed. “Fine huh?”

Daisy's laughter drained tension from her bones. “So how did you end up with Charles? I only remember Charles being around. You know he was there after church and stuff… always wanting to buy us candy and things.”

“
Charles chose me and I didn’t even see him that way. Definitely wasn’t what I thought I wanted, but I seen his heart and sometimes when you see a man’s heart…you just can’t help but show him yours.”

Daisy’s eyes went to her feet. She picked at the bed sheet, chewing on the inside of her jaw, considering things. She’d seen Pete’s heart and Aiden’s heart. What made one man's love for her greater than the other?

Janette put a hand to her back. “Aiden’s feelings could be real, but they really don’t matter to me. I want you to tell me how you feel.”

“
I like him. I hate him. I want him mostly to be… I don’t know… to be like he is when he’s with me, but I kind of like it when he… when he isn’t. I mean I can’t tell him what to do, but I can sense that he wants to do the right thing for Amy and me. It’s confusing, Janette. I really did try to ignore him and stay away from him. He’s so draining, and he just overpowers me.”

Janette frowned. Daisy realized her words weren’t as she meant, but the words to describe the emotions in her over Aiden just didn’t exist. “It’s hard to explain. He’s so different from Pete. At least with Pete I know his feelings are a hundred percent genuine for me. I feel so guilty for not… for not being able to love him back like he needs.”

“
Wait. Pete?”

Daisy rose. “Yeah, I think he wants to reconcile. I could tell at the park today. It was like old times, and I could feel it too. He wants me back. He never got over me.”

Janette’s brow rose. “He told you this?”

“
No.” Daisy went to her dresser. She pulled out a drawer and dug through her panties and thongs for a pair and her nightgown. “He’s still scared I’ll hurt him. Pete really took it hard, Janette. Now, feeling the way I do for Aiden, I can’t blame him, I don’t want to hurt him again.” She slammed the drawer shut. “Part of me loves him still. He and I just fit. You know, we always did. We get each other.”

“
Chile you aren’t dense, you’re just plain ole confused,” Janette said laughing.

Daisy’s head snapped back. She gave her sister a hard look. “No, I’m not. Not anymore. Tonight, I realized the difference between my feelings for Pete and for Aiden. I’m not as confused as I was before.”

“
Can you tell me the difference between Aiden and Pete?” Janette asked.

“
What do you mean?”

“
You said they both looked for you and both want you now. So tell me. I haven’t spoken to Pete but I got an earful from Mr. Clean. You tell me what the difference is.”

Daisy shrugged. She let her towel drop and pulled up her panties. “Pete was really hurt like I said over what I’d done. I broke his heart. I broke my heart too. He didn’t deserve that. He trusted me, and it wasn’t the first time that I abused his trust. Then he got home and he couldn’t stop thinking about me, about what happened. So he tried to find me. He felt bad about leaving me, and he missed me too. I guess. He just couldn’t move on and still can’t.”

“
Really?”

Daisy pulled down her nightgown. “Yeah, so when he saw Amy and Aiden, it just hurt him all over again. He never even thought she was Aiden’s for a moment. He wanted my baby to be his. He wanted us both so bad, he got angry, even physical and it’s like all this stuff between us just ripped him apart again.”

“
Mmmm, okay. And Aiden? What is Aiden about?”

Daisy picked up the towel from the floor, blotting at her face and trying to dry her frizzing hair. “Aiden thought that after he got rid of Pete he’d have me as some kind of prize. But when I left, I think he got a taste of his own medicine, of not getting his way. He’s so scared inside; scared of his feelings. He doesn’t trust people. He trusts me though. That’s why he wanted to find me. Then as the years went on, he just became obsessed. It's like I’m the only one that can get him over himself. And then he fell in love too. I know it doesn’t make sense, Janette, but the difference is that Aiden sees me as more than Daisy Johnson out of Hollow Creek; I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to be anything but what I want. Pete, he wants his old girlfriend back. He wants his pride back. He wants the family I didn’t give him when I had the abort—”