From One Night to Forever (27 page)

Kacey glanced at the guys, all in some deep discussion by the grill. The music playing in the background kept her from hearing what they said. Aaron glanced up her way, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. She smiled back. Trust her instincts. Right now her instincts said to hold on to her heart.

The guys finished grilling, and everyone sat around the long glass patio table by the pool to eat. Conversation flowed around baby preparations and wedding plans for Kareem and his fiancée, Neecie. They’d set a wedding date for the following year. The glow on Loretta’s face, along with the hopeful looks she threw Kacey and Aaron’s way, made Kacey uncomfortable. She and Aaron had barely made it a few weeks, no way could she guarantee a full year.

Loretta looked at Aaron. “Are you in town for a while, Aaron, or are you staying in Resilient after you take Kacey back?”

Aaron leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his iced tea. “I’ll stay in Resilient for a few days, but I’ve got to make a delivery to Texas.”

Kacey stopped chewing the grilled zucchini and her stomach knotted.

Roger leaned his head to the side. “Why do you have to deliver? Now that you and Reggie have consolidated, you’ve got plenty of drivers. It’s time to settle down and run the business instead of gallivanting across the country, son.”

Aaron’s answer to his dad’s scolding was his normal carefree grin. “It’s not gallivanting. I’ll still take deliveries every once in a while. But I’m going to check in on a friend in Texas who I haven’t seen in a while.”

Three sets of eyes zeroed in on her: David’s, Kareem’s, and Fred’s. Now she knew what they’d discussed around the grill. Instead of asking if she’d checked his cell phone, he’d gone to the guys in his family. Kacey swallowed the lump of zucchini, grabbed her glass of tea, and gulped the drink down. Fine, they wanted to see if she’d react, she’d give them a reaction.

“Is the friend Denise?” Kacey asked.

Aaron slowly twisted in his chair and stared into her eyes. “How do you know about Denise?” The false surprise in his voice made her grit her teeth.

“You know how I know. I listened to her voice message. I saw you reply that you were going to see her.”

“So you went through my phone?”

“Yes.”

He scoffed and shook his head. “I can’t believe this.”

“Don’t try to turn this on me. Why are you texting Tara?”

“Those texts don’t mean anything.”

“That’s what you keep saying, Aaron. The texts don’t mean anything. You just have friends who invite you to Hawaii for a week. Women come over when they’re upset and
leave underwear at your place.
Everything is no big deal.”

“I’m with you. They’re just friends. Friends I knew for a long time before we got together. I’m supposed to just ignore them?”

Sandra grunted. “Yes.”

Kacey looked to Sandra, who narrowed her eyes at Aaron. David placed a hand on her arm. “Let’s stay out of Aaron’s business.”

Sandra pointed to Aaron. “You should be giving him advice on how not to make mistakes with women.”

David closed his eyes and shook his head. “Sandra, let’s not go there.”

Janiyah sat up. “Well, I’m going there. I stood up for you over what happened with Liz, but I can’t if you’re going to Texas to see someone else.”

Aaron frowned at Janiyah. “Why are you butting in?”

Janiyah’s look said she had every right to butt in. “Because I thought you and Liz were becoming serious. Instead you’re seeing Kacey, and now you’re going off to see that girl you were crazy about a few years ago.”

Kacey turned to Aaron. “You were crazy about her?”

Aaron shook his head. “She’s just a friend.”

Kacey narrowed her eyes. “They’re all just friends.”

Kareem grunted. “Everyone quit giving Aaron a hard time. He’s not engaged to any of these women.” He looked at Kacey. “I mean no harm to you, but my brother doesn’t owe you anything. You’ve been together for what, a few weeks?”

Neecie hit Kareem’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“It’s the truth,” Kareem said.

Janiyah sucked her teeth. “You guys are disgusting.” Fred tried to take her hand, but she shook him off. “You too. I bet you’re all cheering Aaron on to be a big ol’ player.”

The couples started their own arguments around the table. The baby started crying, adding to the various raised voices.

Roger stood. “That’s enough!”

Everyone fell silent. Even the baby stopped crying. He glared at each one of his kids. “Aaron’s fight with Kacey is not a reason to start problems in your own relationships. Janiyah, David, Kareem, you all had your own issues before you worked things out. Aaron’s doing the same now. Stay out of his business.”

Roger’s hard stare landed on Aaron. “Now, you two need to work this thing out between yourselves.”

Aaron watched Kacey and she stared at her plate. She glanced at him. “Why are you going to see her?”

He let out a deep breath; he looked tired of the entire conversation, and that hurt more than the panties at his place. “Because I have to know if this thing I feel for you is real.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? You said you never felt this way before.”

“I lied,” he said. Kacey sucked in a breath, and Aaron rubbed a hand over the coils on his head. “I felt this way about Denise, but then I broke up with her and never went back. I was about to do the same thing with you, but…”

Kacey frowned. “But what?”

He lifted his chin. “I didn’t want Reggie to break the merger.”

The pain in Kacey’s chest was terrible. A Mack truck of pain that slammed into her heart and turned the muscle into roadkill. Tears sliced the backs of her eyes. “You said all of that just to save the deal.”

For once, his good-natured smile was missing. “I meant what I said about my feelings for you. But keeping the deal alive was a part of it.”

Kacey blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears from falling, but one escaped. She hastily wiped it away and slid her chair back from the table. “Well, good thing you finally signed the papers and the merger falling through is not an issue anymore.”

She stood and Aaron jumped up with her. “Kacey, that wasn’t the only reason. I do care about you. I just don’t know if I’m ready to do the wife and family thing.”

“Who’s asking you to do the wife and kid thing, Aaron? I’m not ready for that either. I’ve got school to finish and the second restaurant to open. But I still took the chance on believing we might actually work. Stop using having a family one day as an excuse to avoid a real relationship. You either want to be with someone or you don’t. That’s all there is. No major switch clicks, or force of nature shifts the universe. It’s just that simple, and you’ve proven that you really don’t want to be with me.”

She glanced around at his family. “I’m sorry this happened today. You all have been great.” She looked at Aaron. “If you’ll take me back to your place, I’ll get my stuff and rent a car to take home.”

The anguish on his face almost mirrored what she felt inside. But she couldn’t believe it was anything more than a show put on for his family. “You don’t have to do that. I can take you home.”

Kacey shook her head. “Sorry, but I don’t want to be near you any longer than necessary.”

Aaron took Kacey to his place to get her stuff and then to the car rental office. He didn’t apologize again, because the words seemed too simple for the amount of pain he saw in her eyes. He didn’t say much of anything because he didn’t know what to say. Knowing how much he’d hurt her caused him more agony than he expected. He didn’t want her to leave, didn’t want this to be the end of their relationship. Didn’t want to know that when he saw her in the future, the friendly atmosphere between them wouldn’t be there.

He wanted her in his life, but the discomfort with the idea of one day becoming the old married man kept him from begging her to stay.

“I won’t ruin your and Reggie’s business deal over this,” she’d said after the rental agent put the keys in her hand. “I’ll tell him I broke up with you because I wasn’t in love with you.”

She hadn’t met his eye when she said the last part. Aaron had a sneaking suspicion she might love him, which only made him hurt worse.

“Kacey, we can get through this. We can try.”

She shook her heard. “No, I don’t want to try. And you’re not ready to really try, Aaron. Not yet.”

She turned away, got in the rental car, and drove away. Aaron stood in the lot for several minutes after wondering what his next step would be, only to end up back at his parents’ house.

His mom was sitting in the den reading a magazine. She glanced up at him when he came in and gave him a sympathetic smile. “He’s in the sunroom.”

Aaron walked over and kissed his mom’s cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”

He squeezed her shoulder and then went to the sunroom, where Roger sat staring out at the now empty back porch.

“I kind of ruined brunch, huh?” Aaron said, trying to sound lighthearted.

“I haven’t had a tantrum from one of my kids in a while,” Roger said. “I guess this one was overdue.”

Aaron chuckled and sat in the chair next to Roger. “I wouldn’t call that a tantrum.”

“I would. All my kids arguing with their spouses over nothing. That’s a tantrum.”

They were silent for several minutes. Aaron leaned forward resting his arms on his knees, not sure of the exact question he wanted to ask, but knowing he needed advice. That he needed the epiphany Kacey said didn’t happen. Was she the one, or not?

“I don’t know what to do about Kacey,” Aaron said.

“Go see Denise,” Roger replied.

Aaron sat up and turned to his dad. “I didn’t expect that.”

“What did you expect?”

“That you’d tell me Kacey is great. That I should do right by her and that being with her is the right thing.”

Roger shrugged. “Okay, I can tell you all of that, but then it’s me telling you to settle down with her. You need to decide that for yourself.”

“How is seeing Denise going to help?”

“Because Denise was the first woman you really cared about. You need to know if all of that is gone before you settle down with anyone else.”

“Why can’t I just…I don’t know, see a woman and know that’s who I want to be with? It happened with Fred, David, even Kareem. It should be that simple.”

Roger chuckled and shook his head. “It’s never that simple, Aaron. You haven’t been able to sit still your entire life. You were always looking for the next thing to do. The next toy to play with. I couldn’t understand it, but you found a way to channel that energy into creating a business. And for that I’m proud of you. But you treat women the same.”

“I’m not some womanizer, Dad,” Aaron said.

“You’re not the guy out there looking to take advantage of women, but you’re the guy who won’t settle down and who also won’t let go.” Roger looked at Aaron. “Why do you have all the numbers of your ex-girlfriends in your phone? Why do you still text them?”

Aaron shrugged. “We’re friends.”

“Son, you’re holding on without committing. It was the same way when you were younger. You didn’t want the things you were tired of, but you didn’t want me to throw them away either. Sometimes you have to let go of the old to make room for the new.”

Aaron slumped in the chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was getting a headache. “Were you happy, Dad? I mean, really happy, being married and having kids.”

“Why would you think I wasn’t?”

Aaron dropped his hand and said something he’d never dared to before. “Because of the way you flirted with other women.”

Roger sat up in his chair. Aaron shifted and held up a hand. “Wait, before you get mad, I know you never cheated on Mom. But I saw the way you were with women. I know part of it was being a salesman, but you seemed to turn on a little extra charm with women. And I even saw you check out a few.”

“What are you trying to say, Aaron?” Roger asked, his voice heavy with a warning that Aaron was going too far.

“What I’m saying is that you’re the most straight-and-narrow guy I know. You’re more rigid than I’d like, and the only time that wavered was when you had to deal with beautiful women.”

“Looking and enjoying the attention of a beautiful woman is one thing. I would never be unfaithful to your mother.”

“How did you know that? How did you know that harmless flirting wouldn’t turn into a one-night stand?” Aaron sat up suddenly and tapped his chest. “That’s where flirting goes for me.”

“I love your mother, Aaron. No matter how much I might flirt, those women weren’t worth breaking up my family over. No woman, no matter how long I may have known her, is worth the chance that I might lose your mother.”

Aaron nodded and sat back in his chair. He let his dad’s words sink in. “It sounds like losing a bit of freedom.”

“Maybe it is. That’s why some people are forever single. Marriage isn’t for everyone. Long-term relationships aren’t for some people.”

“I still want to be with Kacey.”

Roger stood and placed a hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “Go see Denise. Then figure out if giving up your ties to the women in your past are worth a lifetime with her.”

“I know that look,” Monique said when Kacey came in to help with the lunch shift.

She’d just met with her professor and spent the rest of the morning in the campus library working on her thesis project. She couldn’t work at home. Being alone gave her too much time to think of Aaron and the debacle of the previous weekend.

“What look?” Kacey dumped her bag on the end of the bar and sat on one of the stools.

“Your ‘
the professor’s ripped me a new one’
look.” Monique poured a shot of tequila and slid it across the bar to Kacey.

“It wasn’t that bad today.” Kacey sipped from the shot.

“Hmm…you sipped instead of telling me to quit wasting the liquor. So that must be your ‘
I’m still hurt over Aaron
’ look.”

Kacey scoffed. “I’m not thinking of him.” She got up, grabbed her bag, and headed for the kitchen.

“Oh yes, you are,” Monique’s voice followed.

Kacey pointed to the door. “You can’t just leave the bar unattended.”