Reggie sat in the chair behind his desk and leaned back. “It just happened. We were just fooling around. I made it clear that was all I wanted. Camila was cool with that. It worked for a few months, then one day while I was out on a date with someone else, I saw her out on a date. Right then it hit me, I didn’t want to be out with that other woman, and I didn’t want Camila to be out with that guy. I called the next day and told her I wanted us to be exclusive. Two months later I proposed.” He shrugged. “Love snuck up on me.”
“I’m happy for you.” Aaron meant it. Though he had no immediate plans, wants, or desire to get married and have kids, he was truly happy to see other people in love.
“One day it’ll hit you too.”
“I doubt it. I haven’t met a woman yet who made me want her bed to be the only one I sleep in forever.”
“Liar,” Reggie said. He leaned forward and pointed at Aaron. “You thought about it with Denise.”
Aaron shrugged, when he really wanted to flinch. He’d wondered what would have happened if he’d followed up on what he’d felt for Denise back then. Then he’d see some post online from a friend who’d married young announcing a divorce and got his answer. “Thought about it, then broke things off. I liked her, a lot, but I wasn’t ready to marry her.”
Denise was the one woman he didn’t regularly keep in contact with. Most of the women he hooked up with he’d call and check in on when he was in town. After hurting Denise when he’d walked away with a “Sorry, I can’t do this” excuse, he couldn’t toy with her like that. They were connected via social media, but he didn’t check her updates, and if she checked his he had no clue because he never got a like, comment, or anything. Often he’d wondered why they’d even bothered with that.
“You were young. When you’re older that feeling is harder to ignore.”
Aaron smirked and scratched the back of his head. “It’s hard to ignore other beautiful women.”
“It’s not just about the sex. It’s more than that.”
Aaron chuckled. “Spoken like a married man.”
“Maybe if you saw Denise again you’d feel differently. Or maybe it’ll be someone new.”
He thought of Kacey. Definitely the best one-night stand of his life. No matter that her walking away without giving him her number was for the best. He knew he’d be right back at Momma’s Kitchen tonight to try to bring her back to the hotel again. And Reggie’s words were very close to what Aaron was thinking: Seeing her was about more than just the sex. He wanted the sex, but he’d also enjoyed her company, the conversation, the sound of her laugh, those eyes. But forever? Eventually the early infatuation would wear off the way it always did.
“Who are you thinking about?”
Aaron blinked and focused on Reggie. “What?”
“That look, you’re thinking about a woman. One I’d say is likely to snare you based on the smile on your face.”
Aaron shook his head. “Not likely. It’s just this woman I hooked up with last night.”
Reggie’s eyes went wide. “You hooked up with someone already? Damn, Aaron, you’ve still got the touch.”
“It wasn’t even like that. I wasn’t trying to hook up with someone. It just happened.”
“Funny how sex with beautiful women always just happens with you.” Reggie leaned in. “How was it?”
“I thought it wasn’t about the sex, married man.”
Reggie frowned and waved a hand. “Don’t give me that. Every man I hang out with now is married. You’re my only single friend, so indulge me a little.”
“Fine, I went to the restaurant across from the hotel. Momma’s Kitchen. You been there?”
Reggie’s eager smile quickly hardened into an angry scowl. “My momma owns that place, and my sisters and my wife work there, along with half of my female cousins.”
Motherfu— Aaron worked to keep the easy smile on his face. If there was anything that fired up his otherwise gentle friend, it was the thought of someone screwing around with the females in his family. All through college Reggie had told Aaron stories about the men who’d played his mom and tried to seduce his sisters. He vaguely remembered Reggie going home to confront some older guy who’d slept with his baby sister. Having a little sister of his own, Aaron understood Reggie’s protectiveness. But sometimes Reggie was nearly medieval when it came to the women in his family.
A sinking feeling started in Aaron’s midsection. The bartender, Monique, and Kacey were sisters. What would be the chances that he’d come into town and slept with his friend’s sister? Son of a bitch! This partnership would be over before it started if that was the case.
Aaron straightened. “No one working there. I’m just saying, I started out there.”
Reggie relaxed. “Good. Sorry, Aaron, it’s just that truckers always go through and try to get in the pants of every woman in my family. As if my momma’s reputation belongs to all of them.”
Aaron looked away from Reggie’s tight expression. Aaron knew Reggie loved his mom, but he also knew her reputation was a sore spot. Four kids by four different men in less than five years. Aaron knew it embarrassed Reggie more than he’d admit. And it was the reason Reggie was so medieval when it came to his sisters.
“But, hey, finish your story,” Reggie said, with renewed enthusiasm. “What happened last night?”
“I don’t want to get into all the details.” And he wouldn’t until he verified that there was still some slim chance he hadn’t spent the night having sex with one of Reggie’s sisters.
“Just give me the good details.”
“The good details are all the details. Nothing about this woman wasn’t good.”
Reggie rubbed his hands together. “Aww, damn. Now I really want to hear the details.”
Aaron’s laughter caught and his throat constricted. He covered it with a cough and tight chuckle. He always gave Reggie every single dirty detail. Usually with precise clarity. But he couldn’t this time, not if he was talking about the guy’s sister.
Reggie’s eager eyes met Aaron’s. The desperate look of a married guy waiting to hear about the type of wild one-night stands he could no longer have. “What did she look like?”
“Umm, she was cute.”
Reggie frowned. “Cute?”
“Yeah…and sexy.” Aaron thought about Kacey’s slim figure with its perfect curves. “Definitely sexy.”
“Was she wild? I mean, did she do everything or did she hold back?”
She’d made him come twice before he was ready to, and ridden him like an expert. Aaron’s dick twitched at the memory.
Reggie chuckled. “You’re grinning again. She must have been good.”
Aaron rubbed his chest and nodded. “She was great.”
“Whoa, wait, hey!” A frantic female voice came from the door. “Umm, my bad, didn’t know you had company.”
Aaron recognized the voice and inwardly cursed. Why, fate, why! He and Reggie both turned, and Aaron’s heart plummeted to his feet. Kacey stood at the door, looking even more beautiful and desirable—in a green tank top and black shorts that stopped mid-thigh—than she had naked and in the bed with him that morning.
She smiled at Reggie. A stiff, brittle smile that meant she’d probably overheard some of their conversation. Damn! Now she’d think he’d spilled all her sexual secrets to her brother.
She held up a white plastic bag. “I brought you lunch.”
“Just in time.” Reggie stood and crossed the room.
Aaron coughed again and her dark eyes turned to him. Her eyes were cold. Ah, damn, why does this shit happen to me?
“Kacey, come in and meet my friend Aaron Henderson.” Reggie pulled her into the office.
“Aaron, this is my sister, Peanut.”
“This is Peanut?” Aaron pointed to Kacey.
“Yep, all grown up, and she doesn’t like to go by Peanut anymore.”
Kacey grunted. “I never liked that nickname.”
“Kacey, this is my
homeboy, Aaron.”
Aaron met her gaze. Her eyes widened slightly. A clear indication to keep his mouth shut. No problem there. Kacey is Peanut? The little sister Reggie was so proud of. The one in college, the one who was the polar opposite of his momma, the one Reggie bragged about constantly. Reggie’s favorite. The sister Reggie would break Aaron’s arms and legs over if he learned Aaron had spent the night before making love to her over and over again.
Chapter 8
With a quick flip of her wrist, Kacey snapped the blue cotton sheet over the bed in the above garage apartment. The force of the snap caused a notepad to fly off the nightstand on the opposite side. If only she could snap the sheet and make her brother fly away. Somewhere far, far away. How could he offer up the apartment without saying anything to her? And to his panties-collecting, got-a-girl-in-every-city, eyes-are-too-sexy-for-words college friend! Oh, she’d heard the stories of Aaron Henderson, in all their debauched details.
This was why she didn’t do one-night stands. Reckless behavior always came with a price.
She snapped the sheet again, and a low whistle followed the crisp snap. Swinging around, her body went into overdrive when her eyes met Casanova’s...er, Aaron’s.
“Are you trying to knock the lamp off the table too?” he asked, a cocky grin on his full lips.
“How long have you been watching me?”
“Long enough to tell something’s got you pissed.” He pushed away from the door and strolled over to the other side of the bed. “I’m curious to know what.”
She scoffed. “As if you didn’t know.”
He straightened the other end of the sheet. “Let me guess, you forgot to set the DVR and missed the season finale of your favorite show.” He tucked the sheet at the bottom of the bed.
Kacey cocked her head to the side and pulled on her end of the sheet. “No.”
“Okay, then maybe it’s because you finally came to terms with the fact that I was right about my calls on the best wrestlers of all time and you don’t want to admit it.”
“Hardly.” She tucked the end of the sheet. “And FYI, you’re still wrong on that.”
“Hmm, neither of those. Then it must be…” He hopped onto the bed and lay on his side facing her. Leaning his head on his hand, he grinned at her. “You’ve realized that a handsome, irresistible man is now living in the apartment right above you, and you have to keep your hands off of him.”
“Excuse me?”
“Am I getting closer?”
She crossed her arms and glared. “No, you’re way off base.”
“So you’re not upset that I’ll be your neighbor for the next few weeks?”
“Yes…but not because I have to keep my hands off of you.”
“Then your brother won’t mind if we continue what we started last night.”
“Are you crazy? Reggie will go ballistic if we continue what we started. Starting by removing your arms and legs.”
He sat up and flipped his legs around to her side. “Good, we’re in agreement.”
Kacey stumbled back and frowned. “On what?”
“That your very large brother will remove my arms and legs if he knows what happened. So we can’t have sex again. Even though we both really want to.”
She narrowed her eyes and smirked. “Yes to the first part, no to the second. I told you this morning we weren’t having sex again.”
He wiggled his brows. “But you want to.”
His dark eyes sparked with amusement and desire. His lips slanted up in a jump-your-bones smile. Hell yes, her body wanted him again. That was the problem with bad-for-you men, they were always so damn tempting.
She cocked her head to the side. “Shouldn’t you be worrying about the soon-to-be mother of your child instead of flirting with me?”
Aaron’s brows drew together. “What are you talking about?”
“The woman on the phone this morning. Janiyah I think is her name. The pregnant woman?”
His face cleared up before he broke into a laugh. “Janiyah is my baby sister. She and her husband, who happens to be my best friend, are expecting. As far as I know, I haven’t gotten any woman pregnant.” His face became all seriousness. “If I had gotten someone pregnant, I wouldn’t walk away from her or my child. I don’t see kids in my future, but that doesn’t mean I’d abandon a child or its mother if the situation arose. I’m not that kind of guy.”
“Your sister.” He nodded, and relief relaxed her shoulders. What the hell? She shouldn’t be relieved. So he hadn’t gotten a woman pregnant; it didn’t mean her eggs needed to celebrate. “Oh, well, congratulations.”
He cocked a brow. “Is that why you bolted?”
“I didn’t bolt.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Well, last night was supposed to be a one-night stand. Now you’re living in the apartment above the garage. This type of stuff only happens to me.” She rolled her eyes.
He leaned his arms on his knees and narrowed his eyes. “Your one-night stands always end up living next door?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “No, but impulsive decisions always blow up in my face. Going to your hotel room was a mistake.”
“It sure didn’t feel like a mistake.”
Not at all. Kacey crossed her arms again. “But you’re right, we can’t do that again. You’re working with Reggie, and I don’t have time for distractions.”
“Because of school. It’s your last semester, right?”
“How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “Reggie talks about you. He’s proud of you. So much so that I think that, along with removing my arms and legs, he’d burn Bertha to the ground if I so much as touched you.”
She stepped away from the bed. “Then we’ll be adults and move on. Like we were supposed to do anyway. Reggie is the official landlord, so if you need anything, get with him. I’m in classes during the day and I work at Momma’s Kitchen at night, so we probably won’t see each other much. That’ll make things easier.”
“Sounds like a very solid, smart, adult plan.” His voice gave her the feeling he found the situation humorous.
She gave a stiff nod. “Good. Well, I’ll leave you to it then.”
“To what?”
“Unpacking.”
He ran his hand over the sheets. “You don’t want to help me with the bed?”
Oh, she’d love to help him with the bed. Stop it, Kacey, this is exactly the type of distraction you don’t need.
“Good-bye.” She spun on her heel and hurried out of the bedroom and the apartment.
By the time she ran down the stairs to the main part of the house, she was out of breath and her heart raced. Not entirely because of the brief stint of physical activity. Last night had been good. Too good. If she didn’t have a crazy-busy workload at school this final semester, she’d be truly fearful of falling down the Aaron Henderson rabbit hole.
She entered the house from the side door that opened directly to the kitchen. Her momma sat at the kitchen table, flipping through the latest Essence magazine. Kacey suppressed a sigh. She’d gone straight to her professor this morning instead of to her momma’s house, like she’d said she would.
Sabrina slowly flipped a page in the magazine with one long manicured nail. Kacey’s momma always looked good, and this morning wasn’t any different. She wore a black tank top with Momma’s Kitchen set in sequins across her ample breasts. Breasts Kacey hadn’t inherited. And a short jean skirt with heels way too high for daylight hours. Sabrina tapped the side of her head with the pads of her fingers, Kacey guessed to avoid scratching. Tomorrow was Sabrina’s relaxer day.
Sabrina looked up at Kacey. “What happened to you this morning?”
“Sorry, I overslept. I had a meeting with my professor.”
Sabrina closed the magazine on the table. She leaned back in the chair and eyed Kacey with interest. “Really? Because I got up early and decided to come see you instead. But you weren’t here.”
&nb
sp; Damn small towns and her momma’s ability to pop in unexpected. “We met at nine. I forgot about that when I said I’d come over this morning.”
“Mmm-hmmm. You must have left really early.”
Kacey shrugged but avoided eye contact. “I was hungry, so I left early enough to grab something to eat.”
“But you overslept.”
Kacey crossed the kitchen and leaned against the counter. She crossed her arms and met her momma’s stare. “Oversleeping doesn’t eliminate hunger.”
Sabrina smirked. “’Fess up, Kacey, you hooked up with that guy from the bar last night.”
Kacey had never had a problem talking to her momma about sex. If anything, Sabrina was a little too open with her kids. She said it was to help them avoid making the same mistakes she had. Which was why Kacey got “tell him you’re pregnant” when she’d found out about Dewayne instead of “I forbid you to see him.”
Normally, she would have confessed to her momma that, yes, she had behaved irrationally and taken home the hottie from the bar. If only the hottie had turned out to be any other guy in America.
“I did not go home with him,” Kacey said.
Sabrina held up a hand and shook her head. “I’m not judging, honey. You work hard during school and at the restaurant. It’s okay if you decided to walk on the wild side for a night.”
“I didn’t walk on the wild side, Momma. I didn’t do anything.”
“Honey, women have needs just as much as men do. We just don’t brag about it to everyone who’ll listen. It’s okay. One night doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person.”
Kacey raised a brow. “So it takes two nights to be terrible.”
Sabrina lifted a slim shoulder and smirked. “Even more than that. Believe me, I know.”
Kacey shook her head. “You’re not terrible and you know it.”
Sabrina pushed herself up from the table. “Okay, okay, you don’t have to tell me again how great of a mother I am.” Sabrina grinned, and Kacey shook her head and chuckled.
“Always digging for a compliment.”
“They come so few and far between with you kids.”
“Ugh, I swear, when I have kids I won’t do the guilt trip. But, yes, you were a great mother.”
From One Night to Forever Page 6