Friends & Lovers Trilogy (18 page)

“
Um, Thursday,” She
replied, licking her lips to moisten them. Her mouth had gone dry
under his perusal.

Kent stood upright, pausing to brush a
disheveled lock of hair behind her ear before he turned to walk out
of her room.

He paused at the door and turned to her
before exiting.

“
I’ll pick you up at six.”
Kent promised with a smile, then he walked out, leaving Nicole
sitting at her desk, smiling softly at the empty
doorway.

Chapter Six

Nicole was so nervous, she felt like she
might be sick. Her clothes were strewn across her bed, chair, and
desk. She couldn’t find anything to wear on her date with Kent.

Roni stood in the doorway, watching Nicole
search frantically through her belongings, and couldn’t stop the
laugh that escaped her.

Nicole turned quickly at the sound; the look
on her face betrayed her nerves.

“
It’s just Kent,” Roni
assured her. “He won’t care what you’re wearing.”

Nicole threw her hands up in the air in
frustration.

“
I’ve seen the way he
dresses, I know he cares… And besides, I care,” Nicole argued. “I
want to look nice for our first real date.”

“
Nic, you
look great in sweats. Plus, you have
amazing
clothes. I would kill for
your wardrobe.” Roni walked in and started going through the
clothes on the bed. “What are you thinking? A dress? Or maybe jeans
and a cute top?”

“
I don’t know,” Nicole
wailed as she threw herself atop her clothes and covered her eyes
with her hands.

Roni picked a pretty navy blue dress off of
the pile and held it up. “This.”

Nicole uncovered her eyes and peaked out at
Roni.

“
You think?” She
asked.

“
Yes. I love the tiny
flowers and the neckline. I bet it looks great on you.” Roni held
it out to her and nodded, encouraging Nicole to put it
on.

Once she put the dress on, it was easy to
accessorize and finish getting ready. She just finished putting her
makeup on when she heard Roni letting Kent in the apartment.

Her stomach started to jump and dance at the
sound of his voice on the other side of the wall.

Nicole took one last look in the mirror and
smiled. She couldn’t believe she was actually going on a date with
Kent.

She took a deep breath and opened her door.
Kent and Roni were talking in the kitchen; he turned at the sound
of her approach, and smiled broadly at her.

“
Wow,” he exclaimed,
looking her up and down with appreciation. “You look
beautiful.”

He walked out of the kitchen to take her
hand. She couldn’t help but melt a bit when he brought it to his
lips.

“
Thank you,” Nicole replied
softly.

“
Oh, Lordy.” Roni
stated.

They both ignored her as Kent guided Nicole
to the door, by placing his hand at the small of her back.

“
See you later,” Kent said
to his sister as they left.

“
Don’t stay out too late,”
Roni called after them with a chuckle.

As they slid into Kent’s truck he said, “I
hope you like barbecue.”

Nicole turned to look at his handsome
profile with a smile.

“
I
am
from
Texas.”

Kent chuckled at that and pulled away from
the apartment.

Nicole realized that neither Roni nor Kent
had ever mentioned where they were from, so she figured it was the
perfect time to ask.

“
I grew up in Dallas, where
are you from?” She prompted.

Kent didn’t reply right away, but debated
with himself about how much he was willing to reveal. He didn’t
usually talk to people about his family. Not even Bree knew about
his upbringing that was knowledge shared by him and Roni alone.

“
Detroit,” he said
finally.

“
Really?” She asked,
surprised. “I never would have guessed. I’ve never been, do you
miss it?”

Kent bit back a bitter laugh, instead
shaking his head.

“
No.” He realized how
abrupt he must sound, so he tried to shift the conversation to
Nicole. “How about you? Do you miss Dallas?”

Nicole looked out the window, realizing that
Kent didn’t know anything about her. She had discussed her past
with Briana and with Roni, but this was her first real conversation
with Kent. She knew she would have to tell him everything
eventually, if she hoped to have any sort of a real relationship,
but she wanted to keep it light tonight.

“
No, I’m happy here,” she
replied.

“
Me too,” he admitted. “I
never planned to settle down here, and have been putting my resume
out, but I have to admit this town is growing on me.”

“
Are you applying at
newspapers, or are you looking for a different line of
work?”

“
Newspapers. I ‘ve applied
to all of the big city papers, but it’s a rough time to get hired
in journalism right now.”

Nicole’s stomach dropped at the thought of
Kent getting hired on somewhere else and moving away, but she
didn’t say anything

Kent pulled into a parking spot and turned
to her. “Have you ever been here?”

Nicole looked at the barbecue joint and
shook her head. “I’ve heard its good, though.”

“
Let’s go find out,” Kent
said, and they got out of the car.

Once they had ordered and picked up their
food, Kent led her out the back door, and Nicole was surprised at
the set up outside.

A stage took up the entire backside of the
property, with a dance floor in front of it, and picnic tables
filling in the rest of the space. There was another bar outside,
and the place was decorated with old signs and bar
paraphernalia.

There was a band warming up onstage.

Nicole couldn’t help the pleasure that
coursed through her, and smiled widely at Kent as she joined him at
a table.

“
This is amazing.” She
exclaimed.

“
Yeah,” he replied. “I’ve
heard it was great and always wanted to come, but never had a
chance to before tonight.”

They sat down and began to tear into the
meals before them: pulled pork, brisket, creamed corn, corn bread,
and macaroni and cheese.

“
So, you never said what
you went to school for. Are you applying for jobs?” Kent asked her
in between bites.

She didn’t want to go into her whole
backstory on their first date, so she just said, “I majored in
English. I haven’t been applying anywhere yet.”

Kent nodded as he worked on his corn on the
cob. “Do you know what you want to do next?”

Nicole looked at him shyly
as she picked up her corn bread. “Actually, I’m a writer.” She
looked down at her hands. This was the first time she’d ever told
anyone what
her
dream was and was afraid of what reaction she would see on his
face.

“
Really?” He asked simply,
a small smile on his face. “Well, it looks like we have something
in common.”

Nicole looked up at him quickly, took in his
smile, and returned a brilliant one of her own.

They sat in a comfortable silence as they
ate, then Kent looked down and Nicole’s plate and realized that she
was keeping up with his gusto.

He used a wet nap to clean his fingers and
gazed at her with appreciation in his eyes. “I love that you
actually eat.”

Nicole stopped savoring her corn bread long
enough to look up at him with a puzzled smile. “What do you
mean?”

“
Well, I love to eat, and
it makes me happy to see that you do too. I was worried that you
would want to just order a salad or something.”

Nicole laughed and admitted, “Sometimes I
like to eat salad, but I love to eat too, and there is nothing I
enjoy more than Texas barbecue.”

They grinned at each other, then Kent
reached over to get some sauce off of Nicole’s face, and her grin
disappeared, her eyes glazing over at his touch. When he put the
same finger into his mouth and licked the sauce off of his finger,
her mouth closed and she found it hard to breath.

Kent looked at her intently as he tasted the
sauce, then smiled seductively at her, “Dance with me.”

Nicole smiled absently and took the hand he
offered.

When they got on the dance floor, they fell
easily into the two-step, Kent leading Nicole around the dance
floor as if they had been dancing together forever.

Nicole allowed herself to just enjoy dancing
with Kent. They looked into each other’s eyes as they moved, and
she felt her body warm under Kent’s gaze.

He was one sexy man.

When the band began to play a slower song,
Kent gathered her into his arms and they swayed to the music.

Nicole’s head rested against his strong
chest, and she enjoyed the feel of being in Kent’s arms.

They danced for hours, and didn’t end up
leaving until the band started to pack up at the end of their
set.

They rode back to Nicole’s apartment in a
comfortable silence, and Nicole replayed the evening they’d just
spent together, over in her mind.

Nicole came back to reality when they pulled
into her place and Kent said softly, “We’re here.”

He walked her to her door, and they both
paused before she went inside.

“
I had a wonderful time.
Thank you so much for everything,” Nicole said as she looked up at
him.

“
It was my pleasure,” Kent
replied as he reached a hand up and gently touched her hair.
“You’re so beautiful.”

Nicole felt her face grow warm with pleasure
and started to deny his claim, but stopped when he reached his
other hand out to touch the side of her face. He leaned in slowly
to taste her lips with his.

Nicole felt like she’d been waiting for this
moment for months. Without thinking, she reached her hands up to
pull his head in closer, moaning softly as she opened her mouth and
greedily invited him in.

Kent paused for a moment, shocked at her
response, then his instincts took over and he pushed her up against
the door. His hands moved lower to explore her body, and they both
got swept away in the moment.

When his hand brushed the underside of her
breast, she turned her head to catch her breath, causing him to
stop and back up a step.

“
Sorry,” Kent said quietly.
He ran his hands over his face in an effort to gain a semblance of
control. “I didn’t mean to move so fast.”

Nicole smoothed out her dressed, then looked
up at him with a smile. “You don’t have to apologize; I enjoyed
every bit of that kiss.” With that said, she gave him an
embarrassed smile, then leaned in to give him one more quick kiss
on the lips, before opening her door and going inside.
“Goodnight.”

“
Night,” Kent replied as
she shut the door.

He stood there for a minute, his body
screaming out at the loss. Taking it slow with Nicole was going to
be harder than he thought.

He was going to have to go home and take a
cold shower.

Chapter Seven

Nicole and Roni decided to have a small
housewarming party, and invited everyone over after work. They
didn’t want anything big, just a small gathering with drinks and
appetizers.

They cleaned up and prepped everything
before work, so they would just have to come home and get
changed.

Nicole finished getting ready first, so she
was setting the food out on the counter when the first knock
sounded on their door.

She tucked a stray stand of golden hair
behind her hair, and opened the door. She was caught off guard when
Kent swept her up and kissed her until she was breathless.

When he put her down she was laughing.

“
What was that for?” She
asked.

“
I missed you today,” Kent
said softly, as he bent to plant a kiss right below her
ear.

Nicole shivered slightly and admitted, “I
missed you too.”

He pulled away and smiled into her eyes.
“Good.”

“
Really?” Roni asked
incredulously as she walked out of her room. “We’re about to have
our first party, Kent, it’s not make out time.”

Kent wiggled his eyebrows at his sister.

“
Oh, it’s always make out
time.”

He grabbed her by the waist and started to
pepper her face with kisses. Roni broke out in laughter, and
yelled, “Uncle.”

Nicole smiled and felt a moment of envy at
how close the twins were. Her family seemed so cold in
comparison.

Kent released Roni when there was another
knock on the door. Roni tried to smooth out her hair and clothes
before she opened it.

“
Hey,” Kara said, giving
Roni a quick hug as she and Pete came inside. She held out a bottle
of wine and said, “This is for you guys.”

“
Thanks,” Nicole said, as
she walked over to hug both Kara and Pete. “Thanks for
coming.”

She was showing them to the kitchen when
some more people from work showed up at the door. Roni greeted
their guests, and Nicole began to make sure everyone had a
drink.

Kent came up behind her in the kitchen and
thanked her when she handed him a glass of crown and coke.

“
How’d you know this is my
drink?” He asked her when he took his first sip.

“
I pay attention,” She
responded with a sly smile.

Kent leaned over and nuzzled her neck.

“
You’re a good
hostess.”