“I don’t think they’ll have a problem with the idea of you and me together.”
“It will be too confusing for them,” she murmured. “Normally two people who consider themselves cousins don’t suddenly become boyfriend and girlfriend.” Taye paused. She studied him, realizing that she might be getting ahead of herself, since she had no idea what Michael wanted or where this attraction between them could be headed. “Maybe I’m reading more into this than what’s really there. What do you want from me, Michael? A one-night stand? A week fling? A secret affair?”
Michael quickly covered the distance between them. “The first thing I want is for you to have no regrets. Then the next thing is for you to believe that I wouldn’t use you that way, Taye.”
She shrugged. “But you said…you told me that you’d had a lover, a secret lover, for four years and that Kennedy hadn’t known about her.”
“That’s the way Stephanie and I wanted it for our own personal reasons. But with you I’d want things to be different. And I see no reason why they can’t be.”
Taye chuckled. “Oh, they’ll be different all right. I can just see the family hauling us before Reverend Overstreet to talk some sense into us, if they don’t try knocking it into us first themselves.”
“Do you think we’re crazy, Taye?”
She held his gaze. “Do you?”
“No. I think we’re two people who’re attracted to each other, who have been attracted to each other for a while, and who finally decided to take the first step tonight.”
Taye lowered her head in thought. She could just see her mother pointing an accusing finger at her and saying, “Once again you’ve shamed this family, Octavia.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know what to do. I need time to think.”
“Take your time. I don’t plan to go anywhere. And while you’re thinking, think about the fact that tonight, for the first time in nearly six years, I felt something, Taye. I felt something with you in my arms, and I want to explore just what that something is. It shocked the hell out of me and it made me think. It seems we aren’t thinking along the same wavelength, but that’s OK. You continue to do your thinking and I’ll continue to do mine. But sooner or later we’re going to have to admit there is something between us, something deep. And it’s going to take more than the family’s disapproval to destroy it. Think about that.”
With those final words, he turned and left her alone on the patio.
Even after she heard Michael’s bedroom door closing behind him, Taye continued to stand on the patio. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt breathless. Kissing Michael the way she had, had rocked her world. It had been over ten years since she had been kissed. Ten years since she had been held in a man’s arms and made to feel soft and womanly, desired.
She took a deep breath. She then searched her mind for an answer as to what she should do. Michael wasn’t just any man she was attracted to; he was someone she had known all her life, and he’d always been a hero figure to her—her hero. And most important, he was her cousin. There was no way the two of them could ever let anything develop between them. It wouldn’t work. She would have to act responsibly and make sure nothing did develop. It would be better for everyone in the long run.
Taye felt a heavy weight settle in her stomach with that decision. How was she supposed to be around him for the rest of the week and act like nothing had happened between them tonight? Now that she had gotten a taste of him, how was she supposed to put that taste out of her mind and forget about it? And how could she forget that for the first time in over ten years, she wanted a man? A man who was definitely forbidden fruit of the most delicious kind.
It wouldn’t be easy. But the fact was—she had to do it. She turned to look at the lake and suddenly realized just how lonely she felt.
A little after 2:00 A.M., Michael found himself still awake, unable to sleep. He’d heard Taye go to her room and close the door hours ago and wondered if she was doing a better job of getting some rest than he was.
With a sigh he pulled his body up in bed and levered himself on his elbows. He was still not believing what had happened between him and Taye on the patio. Talk about spontaneous combustion. Once she had reached out to him, to hug him, that had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Her touch had made immediate heat race through his solar plexus. His reaching for her had been automatic, elemental. And their kiss had been everything he’d known it could be and more.
Tonight he had fulfilled part of his fantasy. It was a fantasy he’d tucked away in the back of his mind and had only allowed to surface at night while he slept. The fantasy had extended to his kissing Taye in every way a man could kiss a woman, his touching her breasts and seeing them become responsive to his touch and then having those long, gorgeous legs of hers wrapped around him in the heat of passion while he made love to her.
Then there had been another fantasy that had recently taken shape in his mind, one he couldn’t get rid of. And that was the one of Taye’s body rounded and ripe with a baby. His baby.
Michael ran his hand across his face, trying to remember just when that particular fantasy had begun. Maybe it had been that day the two of them had taken the girls out for pizza and the couple sitting at the booth across from them had their three-month-old baby with them. Taye, being the ever friendly person that she was, had struck up a conversation with the couple and had asked if she could hold their little boy, whose name, coincidentally, was Taye. The baby’s mother was a big Taye Diggs fan and had named the child after the popular actor. Michael had watched while Taye had cuddled the baby to her, smiling and cooing down at him. The happiness on her face had been priceless. It had touched Michael deeply, resurfacing longings he’d always had for another child.
He released a deep sigh. All those feelings he’d been experiencing for Taye over the past two months no longer perplexed him. He suddenly remembered the promise he had made to Stephanie and the words she had spoken: I believe there is a special woman out there for you. And although she won’t ever take Lynda’s place, I think she’ll be able to carve her own special place in your heart if you let her. Promise me that when you do meet her you’ll give her a chance and that you won’t let anything come between you. You will need her and Kennedy will, too.
Michael’s gut twisted and he swallowed hard as emotions suddenly came over him, swamped him, and consumed him. When he made Stephanie that promise he had no idea that six months later he would find such a person.
But he had.
And to take it a step further, he would admit to himself now, tonight, that he had fallen in love with her. What he felt for Taye didn’t tarnish Lynda’s memory or the love they had shared. They’d had a good life together; they’d made a beautiful child. Lynda would always hold a special place in his heart. But he knew she would have wanted him to get on with his life and remarry. But he’d never given that any thought, because for the past six years he’d felt that he would never get lucky enough to find love that strong, that pure, a second time.
But he had.
And the woman he loved was trying to put roadblocks in the way of their ever sharing a life together. He couldn’t let her do that. He wouldn’t let her do that.
Michael gave himself a long, determined smile. He’d promised Stephanie that once he found that special person he wouldn’t let anything come between them. Now it seemed the thing that could keep them apart was something he held dear to his heart.
His family. Their family.
Michael lay there in the dark, his face illuminated by the moon’s glow reflecting off the lake that shone through his window. As much as he loved his family, he would not let them come between him and Taye. But first things first. He couldn’t tackle the family by himself. He would need Taye by his side. He would have to convince her that he loved her and that together they could handle anything. Including their family.
Chapter 32
“How long are you going to try and ignore me, Taye?”
Taye glanced up sharply from studying her wineglass. Her gaze held Michael’s. They were sitting together at a table at Motown Café. The small flickering flame of a candle that sat on their table illuminated his features while a song by Boyz II Men played in the background. “I’m not trying to ignore you, Michael,” she said finally.
He reached across the table and took her hand, “I think that you are.”
Taye felt a trembling deep inside her from his touch. She tried tugging her hand away, but his grip tightened its hold. “You don’t have to hold my hand, Michael.”
“And what if I said I wanted to?”
“I’d prefer that you didn’t.” She gave one more tug and this time he released her hand.
Michael leaned back in his chair. “How about cutting me some slack here, Taye? If you want to go on a guilt trip, that’s fine, but don’t try taking me there with you.”
“I am not on a guilt trip.”
“Aren’t you? You seem to have been on one all day. You got up this morning barely saying anything to anyone. Even the girls noticed. I heard Sebrina whisper to Kennedy that you were probably PMSing.”
Taye’s shoulders slumped. “I was hoping that they wouldn’t notice.”
“Notice what? That you really are PMSing?” he asked, smiling at her.
Taye couldn’t help but return his smile. Michael had always managed to get her out of whatever funk she was in, and it seemed that he still could. Even if he was the reason for her funk. “I’ll be all right.”
“Not as long as you deny what’s between us you won’t.”
She frowned. “There’s nothing between us, Michael.”
“Only because you won’t let there be anything between us.”
She stared at him for a moment and then she wished she hadn’t when she felt a deep stirring in the pit of her stomach. “Last night was just overactive hormones out of control,” she said before taking another sip of wine.
“I don’t have a hormone problem, Taye.”
Her frown deepened. “Then maybe I do. It just so happens that I haven’t been as sexually active over the last few years as you have.” She hadn’t meant to tell him that, but then maybe it would be best if he thought her attraction to him was only physical. It was a lie, of course, but she was desperate right now.
Michael looked at her with much speculation. “I know you mentioned that you hadn’t dated anyone in a while. Just how long has it been since you’ve been intimate with a man?” he asked, arching his eyebrows back so far they almost became part of his forehead.
Taye shifted in her chair under his direct, intense gaze. “A long time.”
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
He inclined his head. His gaze intensified. “How long is long enough, Taye?”
She hesitated before answering. Then she looked elsewhere and not at him. “Over ten years.”
He gaped at her before exclaiming, “Over ten years!”
“You don’t have to shout, Michael,” she said flatly, noticing others in the café had turned their attention to them.
“Sorry.” After a moment he said, “Don’t you think that’s a rather long time?”
“For some people it might be, but not for me. After two pregnancies I decided to bail out of the lovemaking scene, since it appeared I was a walking baby maker. I was on the pill when I got pregnant with Monica. For some reason birth control doesn’t work for me, so I decided not to take another chance. A third pregnancy would get me kicked out of the family for sure.”
Michael’s fantasy returned. It was the one of her pregnant with his child. In his mind he could see her and could see himself as well, gently stroking her stomach knowing his baby rested inside.
“And since I’m not married,” Taye went on, “celibacy is a surefire way not to have another baby out of wedlock.” She took a sip of her wine before saying, “I responded to you the way I did last night because of overactive hormones.”
Michael looked at her thoughtfully. If she hadn’t had sex for over ten years, then he could probably believe that. Jeez, it’s a wonder she wasn’t climbing the walls. He had found out firsthand just how strong sexual needs could get. After Lynda had died he couldn’t bear the thought of ever making love to another woman. But then within two years he’d had to rethink that idea. It was either that or become an alcoholic when those strong sexual needs began to take effect. He had stayed celibate for two years and seriously doubted he could have made it to ten. Not too many people could. Leave it to Taye to be one of the few. But still he refused to believe what they’d shared last night had been only physical on her part. A part of him believed she had been touched emotionally as well, just like he’d been.
“Don’t look at me that way, Michael.”
“What way am I looking at you?” he asked, matching her light tone.
“The same way Alexia looked when she found out.”
“And what way was that?”
“Like I needed to have my head examined.”
A smile touched his lips. “I don’t think you need to have your head examined, Taye, but I am concerned that you’re refusing to have a healthy, normal relationship with a man because of your fear of getting pregnant. There are other methods of birth control than condoms and pills.”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass on anything that’s not one hundred percent foolproof. Besides, the fear of getting pregnant isn’t the only thing keeping me celibate.”
“What’s the other thing?”
“Men who are liars and cheaters.”
He thought about her past experience with men. “All men aren’t that way, Taye.”
“But enough of them are.”
He studied her before carefully asking, “Do you think I’m that way?” His voice was relaxed, quiet.
She lowered her head, suddenly interested in the pattern of the tablecloth. “No.”
“Look at me, Taye,” he commanded gently, softly. “I want to see the truth in your eyes when you answer.”
She slowly lifted her eyes to his. Their gazes locked. The air surrounding them nearly crackled with charged intensity. “No, Michael. I don’t think you’re a liar or a cheater.”
He gave her a smile that she thought was utterly charming. “Good. Then you won’t have anything to worry about in regards to me, will you?”
Taye swallowed hard, wishing she could somehow keep up with Michael’s conversation. Somewhere along the way he had lost her. “What do you mean, I don’t have anything to worry about with regards to you?”
“You just admitted you don’t think I’m a liar and a cheater, right?”
“Right.”
“And with me you don’t have to concern yourself with getting pregnant. If you got pregnant from making love with me, it would be OK. I’d like another child anyway.”
Taye frowned as she wondered what that had to do with the cost of tea in China. “This conversation with you is confusing. Why are you telling me that? You and I won’t ever get together that way.”
“Won’t we?”
She tilted her head up. Her eyes were determined. “No, because I won’t let it happen.”
He took a sip of his wine before asking, “Because of the family?”
“Yes.”
Michael nodded, deciding to let the subject rest for now. He then checked his watch. “It’s getting late and I’d like to get at least one dance in before we leave if you don’t mind.”
Taye swallowed hard. She did mind. She didn’t know how she could manage being in his arms. Frantically she tried thinking of an excuse she could give, but nothing would come to mind. “Do we have to dance?”
“I’d think you would want to. You used to enjoy dancing. Besides, tonight is our night for fun, remember?”
Taye sighed and decided not to waste her breath trying to get out of dancing with him since he seemed hell-bent on getting her on the dance floor. When he stood and reached out his hand to her, she took it. In the background
she could hear the sound of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” starting to play.
Moments later when Michael took her into his arms on the dance floor the turmoil she’d felt all day returned tenfold. She took a deep breath and tried relaxing in his arms as she forced herself to concentrate on the music and not on him. And definitely not the feel of the palm of his hand stroking the center of her back. His caress was soft and gentle and was stirring her senses.
“Say what you want to say, Taye, but there is more between us than overactive hormones. You know it as well as I do. Admit it,” he murmured softly in her ear.
“Michael…I…I can’t. We can’t.”
He reached up and lifted a hand to her neck and slid it down the slender column of her spine with a feather-light stroke. “You can. We will.” He leaned closer and kissed an area under her ear. “Trust me when I say that things will turn out all right,” he added in a soothing voice.
Taye became dazed with the want of him, with the need of him, but still a part of her held back. “It’s not about trust, Michael. It’s about reality and what makes sense.”
She felt the essence of his smile against her cheek. “That’s good to know, sweetheart, because right now you’re my reality and us being together makes perfect sense. But I’ll give you time to digest what I’m saying, Taye. I don’t want you all uptight for the rest of the week because of me. But I won’t give up on you, Octavia Louise Bennett. So don’t think that I will.”
He slowed their movements on the floor to almost a standstill. She shivered as his fingers reached up and touched her cheek. His gaze held hers. It was dark, compelling, intense. Then he slowly bent his head and brushed his lips lightly, affectionately, over hers.
Taye held on to him as she felt her senses spinning out of control. The mere taste of him was hot, sensuous, and male.
He lifted his lips from hers and pulled her closer into his arms as they continued dancing while he trailed small kisses along her neck. “I need you, Taye,” he whispered in her ear. “Kennedy needs you, too. We need both you and the girls.”
A Family Reunion Page 28