Friends & Lovers Trilogy (25 page)

“
Oh my gosh, Roni. I’m so
sorry that you had to deal with that. I’m happy that you were able
to get out when you did.”

Roni looked down, then shook her head as if
trying to regain her composure. She looked back up and looked
Nicole in the eyes.

“
I’ll never let a man
control me like that again. When we were dating, Hank said all the
right things and I was sure he was the love of my life… I won’t
make the same mistake again.”

Nicole nodded and stood up to walk around
the table and give Roni a hug.

“
You’re amazing,” Nicole
said as she held Roni tightly. “Please, never stop dancing again.
You have a gift.”

“
Thanks,” Roni replied,
looking up over her shoulder with a sheepish smile.

“
What are you thinking of
doing?” Nicole asked as she sat back down across from Roni. “Are
there any dance studios in town?”

“
No, I looked,” Roni
replied. “That’s why I rearranged our living room. I looked online
and was hoping there would be a place nearby that I could join, but
there isn’t anything in town. The closest studio is in
Austin.”

“
Oh, that’s too bad,”
Nicole responded thoughtfully. “Well, feel free to rearrange the
living room however you’d like. We’ll have to be on the lookout and
see if there is a better place in town for you to get back into it
full time, if that’s what you want.”

Roni smiled at that and replied, “Well, I’m
a little old now to have a professional career, but I definitely
want to train again.”

“
Whatever you decide to do,
I’ll help in any way I can.”

Roni smiled, then looked unsure before
asking, “So, what’s up with you and my brother? Please, no details
or anything, because that would be gross, but… are you happy?”

Nicole couldn’t stop the grin that spread
across her face at the mention of Kent.

“
Yes, I’m very happy. Your
brother is wonderful and I can’t believe he hasn’t been scooped up
by someone by now.”

“
Kent has been very wary of
any girl that looked like she wanted something serious, other than
you and Bree, of course.”

When Nicole’s smile fell a bit at the
mention of Kent and Briana’s relationship, Roni bit her lip and
apologized. “Shit, I’m sorry, Nic. I shouldn’t have said anything
about him and Bree. You know their relationship was never
serious.”

Nicole tried to smile back at Roni, but
didn’t quite pull it off. “That’s okay. I was there; I know he
really liked her, even if she didn’t feel the same way. I just have
to believe that our relationship is different. He agreed to go home
with me for my mother’s birthday party next weekend.”

Roni’s feet hit the floor with a thump, and
she leaned across the table, an incredulous look on her face.

“
Seriously??? Kent is going
to meet your parents? This is HUGE!”

“
No, it’s not a big deal. I
don’t want to face everyone alone, and he said he would come with
me as back-up.” Nicole explained, trying to play off the
situation.

“
It’s
a big deal,” Roni argued. “Kent
never meets the parents. Like, ever! Did he really say he would go
with you?”

Nicole laughed at Roni’s expression of
disbelief. “Yes, he did.”

“
Wow,” Roni leaned back
with a baffled smile. “I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that
party.”

Chapter Seventeen

Kent took his time getting ready the morning
of Nicole’s mother’s birthday party.

He laid out his favorite suit and spent
extra time grooming. He paired a pale blue tie with the charcoal
grey suit and white dress shirt.

He hated the nerves that were plaguing him
and wished like hell that he’d never agreed to go with Nicole.

He grimaced at himself in the mirror as he
finished styling his hair, then he recalled how excited Nicole had
been when he’d agreed to go, and how grateful she’d been since, and
he vowed to be on his best behavior.

When he couldn’t delay any further, he
headed out to pick Nicole up at her apartment.

He knew he’d waited too long when he pulled
up and saw her waiting outside.

She was breathtaking.

Her blonde hair flowed freely in waves
around her shoulders, and the form-fitting black dress was
deceptively simple. His body tightened at the way her curves were
showcased in the material.

He hopped out and kissed her on the
cheek.

“
You look
amazing.”

Nicole flushed with pleasure.

“
Thank you. My mother gave
me this dress for graduation, so I figured it would start us off on
the right foot if I wore it.”

“
She has perfect
taste.”

“
That she does,” Nicole
said with a nervous giggle, as she followed him around to the
passenger door. She thanked him again when he opened the door for
her, and waited for her to be settled inside before closing
it.

Kent looked up and saw Roni peering out the
window. They waved at each other, and Kent knew by the look on
Roni’s face, that she understood the turmoil that was building in
him.

As they headed towards Dallas, Nicole placed
her hand softly on Kent’s knee.

“
Are you okay?”

Kent looked briefly at her, then back at the
road. “Yeah, I’m fine. How about you? Nervous? Excited?”

“
I’m a little nervous.”
Nicole admitted. “It’s been a while and they weren’t pleased with
me last time I saw them, so I’m not quite sure what to
expect.”

Kent just nodded as he wondered what her
parents would think of the newest development in her life.

Him.

Nicole pulled him from his thoughts when she
said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, I saw Roni dance the other day.
She’s so amazing.”

Kent couldn’t help the smile that formed at
her words. He’d been hoping that Roni would start dancing
again.

“
She is, isn’t she? She has
loved to dance for as long as I can remember. Becoming a
professional dancer was always the only thing she wanted to do,
then she met that asshole, Hank, and she totally lost her focus.
I’m so happy to hear that she’s getting back into it.”

They rode in silence for a while, as
memories of Roni as a little girl flashed through his mind.

When he was eight years old, he’d started
mowing lawns in the neighborhood to pay for her dance classes. He
remembered the look of pure joy on her face when he’d come home
with a well-worn tutu that he’d found at the Goodwill. She wore
that thing to every lesson.

His heart ached when he thought of the way
she’d always scanned the crowd before a performance, hoping to see
their parents, and smiling bravely at him when she realized that
once again, they hadn’t showed.

He felt the familiar stirrings of anger and
despair, that occurred anytime he thought about his parents, and
knew it stemmed from the impending introduction to Nicole’s.

He tried to shake it off as the city came in
to view, but he couldn’t quite let go of the bitterness in his
gut.

Nicole gave him directions, and his
trepidation grew at the site of the mansion that she led him
to.

He pulled up to the gate and entered the
code Nicole gave him. The gates opened slowly, and the massive
house seemed to grow larger as they inched along the circular
drive.

He parked behind a silver Bentley and
exhaled slowly as he pulled the key out of the ignition.

He turned slightly and noticed that Nicole
was wringing her hands nervously as she looked out the window at
her parents’ house.

“
That’s quite a place,”
Kent said teasingly, trying to ease the tension in the
car.

Nicole turned to him with a small smile, but
her eyes were filled with worry.

“
Are you ready?” He
asked.

She nodded slowly, so he got out of the car
and walked around to let her out.

As he rounded the car, the front door opened
and a tall grey haired gentleman stepped outside and waited on the
top of the stairs, watching Kent but not saying anything.

Nicole took his hand and he helped her up.
She stood and smoothed her dressed, then stilled when she noticed
the man at the door.

Nicole walked slowly to the stairs. When she
got to the base she said, “Hello, Daddy.”

Her father nodded slightly and simply said,
“Nicole.”

She walked up the steps and kissed the side
of each of his cheeks lightly, then stood off to his right and
gestured down to Kent.

“
This is my boyfriend,
Kent.”

Kent climbed the stairs and put his hand out
to shake Nicole’s fathers’.

“
Kent, this is my father,
Gordon.”

“
It’s nice to meet you,
Sir,” Kent said as they clasped hands.

“
Nice to meet you too,
Kent.” Her father said his voice deep and low. He turned to Nicole
and stated, “Your mother is waiting for you in the drawing room,”
then he turned and walked back into the house, leaving Nicole and
Kent no choice but to follow him.

“
We have about a half an
hour before the guests arrive for drinks,” Nicole said in a
whisper. “I’ll take you in to meet my mother, then I will be
expected to greet the guests with her. You can mingle and enjoy a
cocktail, and I will come to you as soon as I’m able. We will have
an hour for drinks, then dinner will be served. Afterwards there
will be drinks and desert and maybe some dancing. Then we can head
back home.”

Kent tried to comprehend everything she was
saying, but it all seemed pretty complicated for a birthday party.
The last birthday he celebrated with his mother was when Roni baked
cupcakes, their father got drunk, and their mother ended up crying
as she blew out her candle.

Now that he thought about it that sounded
like all of his mother’s birthday celebrations.

He tried not to stare at the opulence of her
parent’s home, but he couldn’t help but be impressed.

He heard the high pitched tone of what he
assumed was Nicole’s mother’s voice as she spoke with Nicole’s
father.

“
She brought a date?” The
shrill voice asked in a hushed tone.

Great
, Kent thought when he heard her mother’s question, then he
turned to Nicole who was looking at him sadly.

“
Did you say something
about a drink?” He asked under his breath as they entered the
room.

“
Darling,” Nicole’s mother
cooed as she glided towards her daughter, arms stretched open
wide.

Kent could tell that she had probably been
nearly as beautiful as Nicole when she was younger, but she’d had
so much work done to her face, she could no longer hold a candle to
her daughter’s fresh beauty.

And she resented it.

He knew by the way she looked Nicole over
with hard eyes, before going in for air kisses, that Nicole’s
mother resented her daughter’s effortless beauty.

He hated her on sight.

When she was finished putting on a show for
her own benefit, she turned to Kent with a fake smile.

“
And just who is this
handsome gentleman?”

Nicole smiled at Kent as she spoke to her
mother, as if trying to soften the sharpness of her mother’s
tone.

“
This is Kent, Momma. My
boyfriend.”

Kent took the hand her mother offered and
brought it to his lips, obligingly.

“
It’s nice to meet you,
Ma’am.”

“
Psht. Ma’am? Please, call
me Kitty.” She drawled softly, her hard eyes never stopping their
appraisal of him.

“
It’s nice to meet you,
Kitty,” He amended, thinking it was a ridiculous name for a
ridiculous woman.

“
So, Kent, how did you meet
our little Nicky? Are you from Dallas? Do I know your
family?”

Kent realized the interrogation had begun,
and gratefully accepted the drink that Gordon offered him.

“
I met Nicole at her work.
No and no.” He replied pointedly, hoping Kitty would get the hint
and leave him alone for a moment.

No such luck.

Kitty pulled back a bit, affronted by his
abrupt tone. Kent could tell he wasn’t gaining any points, but he
couldn’t bring himself to kiss her ass.

“
Where are you from?” Kitty
asked, taking a glass of wine from her husband without so much as a
smile of acknowledgement.

“
Detroit.”

Kitty wrinkled her nose slightly, as if she
had just smelled something rotten, and was just about to speak,
when she was distracted by a movement by the door.

“
Jake,” Kitty practically
purred as she turned to greet her new guest, leaving Kent without a
word.

Kent turned to see the man that Nicole had
been engaged to, and was less than thrilled to see a very
good-looking, obviously well-off, young man.

He sipped his drink and watched Kitty fawn
over Jake, who didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. He felt
Nicole’s arm wrap around his waist and she leaned in to whisper to
him.

“
Don’t mind her, she
doesn’t mean anything,” She followed his gaze to the door, and he
felt her arm stiffen.

“
You okay?” He asked,
wondering if she stiffened because it was awkward to see Jake
again, or if she felt something for him.

This party was already making him crazy.

“
Yeah,” Nicole replied
softly. “I mean, I figured he’d be here, but it’s weird seeing him
again.”