“You’re good on defense,” Marcus, the green-eyed kid he’d identified as the leader, said. “But can you hit?”
Aaron waved a hand and blew air through his lips. “Can I hit? Of course I can hit.”
Marcus tossed the ball from one hand to the other. “Bet you can’t hit my fastball.”
A few of the boys on the team snickered, and the others let out a few “oohs.” Aaron never backed down from a challenge. “All right, kid, let me see your fastball.”
The boys cheered and Aaron strolled over to home plate. Movement at the fence caught his attention. Kacey leaned against the fence, her bike on the ground beside her and a big grin on her face. Something primal stirred in his chest—a mixture of exhilaration and possessiveness—knowing she stood there waiting for him. Her orange top brought out the red undertones of her skin. His gaze slid over her slim curves. How in the world had he ever thought she was too skinny?
“Sorry, fellas,” Aaron called to Marcus but didn’t take his eyes off Kacey. “But I’ve got a date.”
A round of catcalls rang through the team. Kacey shook her head, the ponytail she seemed to prefer wearing swishing back and forth behind her head.
“Don’t use me as an excuse to avoid Marcus’s fastball,” she yelled from the fence. “I’ve seen it, and even I’m not sure you’ll hit it.”
Aaron’s brows rose, and he gently swung the bat back and forth. “Oh, you’re doubting my abilities?”
She shrugged. “You’re the one trying to run away.”
The boys laughed. Marcus pointed at Kacey. “That’s what I think, too, Miss Kacey.”
Aaron got into stance beside the plate and smirked at Marcus. “Throw the ball.”
Marcus’s fastball was good. Aaron would admit that, and to give the boy, and the team, the boost of confidence they needed, he missed the first two pitches on purpose.
Kacey leaned over the fence. “What’s that about your abilities?”
Aaron shook his head and got into stance. This time when Marcus pitched, Aaron hit the ball with strength and precision. A resounding crack as the bat struck the ball silenced the boy’s snickers, and they all watched, openmouthed, as the ball flew over the back fence.
Aaron propped the bat on his shoulder. “I could run the bases, but why waste the energy?”
The stocky kid, Jerry, jumped up and cheered. “That was awesome!”
The team ran over, including Marcus, and raved over Aaron’s home run.
Marcus raised his hands. “Hey, guys, calm down.” He turned to Aaron and crossed his arms. “You’re an all-right player, so I’m going to make you an offer.”
Aaron cocked his head to the side. “Oh, really?”
“Really.” The boy rubbed his chin. “I’m going to let you coach us, seeing as how my dad’s out of the country.”
The boys quickly grew excited. Aaron shook his head. “Today was fun, but I’m only in town for another week.”
“But you’re going into business with Mr. Holmes, right?”
Aaron’s brows drew together. He knew the town was small, and news traveled in small towns, but he hadn’t expected the local kids to know his business. “Yeah.”
Marcus shrugged as if things were settled. “Then you’ve gotta come back. We’ve got another ten days until the season starts with the recreation commission. We can meet here on Tuesdays and Saturdays and get prepared.”
Lenny slapped his hands together. “That’s a great idea!”
Aaron felt the tightening noose of responsibility around his neck. The kids were fun, and he had enjoyed playing ball with them, but he couldn’t commit to coaching. He didn’t live here. He was far from settling permanently in Resilient or anywhere. Hell, his apartment in Columbia basically served as a permanent hotel room, he was in and out of town so briefly.
“I really can’t, boys.”
The disappointment in their faces sucker-punched him. He could practically see the confidence they’d gained in one afternoon drift away.
Aaron sighed. “Look, I’ll help out while I’m in town. I’ll come back on Tuesday and next Saturday. Maybe we’ll throw in Thursday afternoon, too.”
The smiles returned, though not as bright as before. Marcus looked around at the team. The boys nodded. Marcus turned back to Aaron and held out his hand. “Deal.”
Aaron smiled and shook the boy’s hand. “Deal.” He glanced at Kacey, still leaning against the fence watching him. “Now, I’ve really got to go. Here’s another lesson: Never leave a pretty girl waiting.”
The boys laughed and teased as Aaron jogged away from the group and over to Kacey. Her brown eyes sparkled like topaz in the sunlight. Admiration, or something close to it, shone in their depths. The urge to lean over the fence and kiss her senseless struck. He licked his lips in anticipation and leaned in. Her eyes widened and her lips parted. Aaron blinked and looked away. If the kids knew he was working with Reggie, then he was pretty sure word would get back to Reggie if Aaron kissed Kacey in the park.
“Nice hit,” she said. He swore disappointment filled her voice.
“Hey, you doubted my skills.”
“I never said that.”
“You implied.”
Her smile sent heat through his veins. “Maybe I did. Just a little.” She held her thumb and pointer finger a few centimeters apart.
“Just a little, huh. Oh, okay,” he teased.
They stood staring at each other, smiling like two kids who’d just learned Santa Claus was real. Something pulled him, and he placed his hands on the fence beside hers and leaned in closer. Just to be near and feel the heat from her body.
“So, you still want to go to the museum?” she asked, the bright smile still on her face.
“Not really.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Take you home and make love to you.”
Her eyes widened. Aaron leaned back. “Did I say that out loud?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” She looked away, her breasts rising and falling with her rapid breaths. “We agreed we wouldn’t.”
“Yeah. I know. My bad, it just slipped out.” He cleared his throat and ran a hand over his head. “How about some pizza?”
She frowned at him. “Pizza?”
“Sure, there was this pizza place downtown that looked interesting. We can order a pizza and kill some time.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why, are Momma’s Kitchen employees not allowed to eat at other restaurants?” He asked with mock shock.
Her bright grin returned. “No, it’s just the pizza there isn’t that good.”
Aaron waved a hand. “Excuses.”
Her thick lips twisted in a cute way that had him leaning closer again. He imagined them against his…better yet, running along his body.
“Fine. But don’t blame me if you get heartburn,” she said.
“For another date with you, I’d take heartburn.”
Her eyes sparkled again, and the corners of her smile softened in a secret way that caused a pull in his chest. Aaron hopped over the fence. Kacey took a step back and he picked up her bike. Otherwise, he’d say to hell with the field full of kids and kiss Kacey Randal absolutely senseless.
Chapter 14
Aaron eyed the half-eaten pizza on the table and Kacey chuckled. She’d tried to warn him they should have only ordered by the slice instead of an entire pizza. He’d insisted, and because she’d wanted to hang out longer, she’d let him.
Kacey gave Aaron’s shoulder a playful push. “Aren’t you going to eat any more?”
He shook his head and rubbed his stomach. “I’m pretty full.”
“I’ll ask for a box.” She lifted her hand to catch the waiter’s attention.
Aaron quickly lowered her hand. “That’s okay.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to waste all of this pizza?” she asked with mock disbelief.
“Fine, I’ll admit you were right. I should have just ordered a slice.”
“It happens so infrequently that I’m not fazed.”
“Or maybe it happens so much that you’ve gotten used to it.”
Aaron leaned back in the red leather booth and leaned his head to the side. Her fingers itched to dive in to the springy curls on his head. And when he ran a hand over his jaw, her body remembered what it felt like to have the hint of his beard rub against her neck, breasts, and shoulders.
“How does this place stay in business?” Aaron looked around at the fairly full seating area.
Kacey shrugged. “The only other pizza available is a chain delivery place on the outskirts of town or frozen from the grocery store. But the reality is that the owner, Luigi, is a local that everyone loves and he makes the best desserts. You may not order pizza from him, but you will order cakes for every event.”
“Then why isn’t it just a bakery?”
“Luigi loves pizza. Unfortunately, he hasn’t realized that that his gift of cake-making doesn’t translate to fantastic pizza.”
“That explains the crowd.” Aaron looked around the room. “And the lack of pizza in front of most people.”
Kacey grinned and took a sip from her soda. “Yep, appetizers and desserts are what you order when you come to Luigi’s Authentic Italian Pizza Parlor.”
Aaron laughed, the rich sound infusing her senses and making her mouth water more than the rich smell of chocolate and fresh baked pastry of Luigi’s famed cannolis.
Luigi strolled out from the back. He scanned the crowd, and when he spotted Kacey, he grinned and came over. A tall, thin man, with dark, wavy hair and a mustache that was perfectly curled, Luigi looked the part of some great Italian chef with his white chef’s jacket and dark pants. But his look was the only thing authentically Italian about Luigi. He’d grown up in Resilient with Kacey, who’d known him as Larry in grade school, and his family had been there for at least three generations. Luigi was created when Larry returned from culinary school after college.
“How was everything, Kacey?” Luigi asked.
“Everything was good as usual,” she said.
Luigi rubbed his hands together. “Glad to hear it. And what about you, sir?”
Aaron nodded. “It was definitely different from any other pizza I’ve tried. And I’ve tried a lot of pizza.”
Kacey leaned an elbow on the table. “Luigi, meet Aaron Henderson. He owns his own trucking company and is in town working with Reggie.”
Luigi’s dark eyes widened. “Ahh, so you’re the guy Reggie’s bragged about. It’s nice to meet you.” He took Aaron’s hand and briskly pumped it up and down. “Any friend of Reggie and Kacey’s is a friend of mine. Here’s what I’m going to do—I’m going to give you both a free cannoli tonight.”
Aaron’s head jerked back and forth. “That’s okay, really.”
Kacey placed her hand on his arm. “Don’t listen to him. We’ll take them.”
Luigi slapped his hands together. “Great.”
“And bring us a box with the check. Aaron wants to take the rest of our pizza home.”
Luigi grinned on his way to the back. Aaron turned suspicious eyes on Kacey. “Are you trying to punish me?”
“Not this time. I promise you, you’re going to want the cannoli.”
Luigi came back with an empty pizza box, the check, and two wrapped-up cannolis. Aaron insisted on paying for the entire meal at the register, and after waving good-bye to Luigi, they were once again strolling down the sidewalk. Kacey pushed her bike while Aaron carried the leftovers.
“Hey, I meant to tell you earlier, but that was really nice of you to offer to help the boys with their baseball team,” Kacey said as they turned off Main onto Maple Street toward the house.
“They really aren’t that bad. What I show them in a few days should help.”
“I think I remember Reggie saying something about you turning down a baseball contract.”
He shrugged as if turning down the offer to play semi-pro sports was no big deal. “It just wasn’t what I wanted.”
“I thought most guys lived and breathed sports.”
“I don’t live and breathe anything. Baseball was fun, and I played for fun. When they put that contract in front of me, suddenly baseball became a job. I didn’t want to lose the fun.”
“How could you possibly lose the fun?”
“Responsibility kicks the fun out of most things.”
Kacey frowned. “I’m not following you.”
“Once you take the fun out of an activity, the things that made you enjoy that activity takes second place. If you turn a hobby into a career, then it’s all about making that hobby more profitable. If you do the same with a sport, then it’s more about statistics and being at the top of your game.”
Kacey pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and thought about his words. Then she had to ask. “And relationships?”
He glanced at her. “Relationships are the same. When you go from being friends having fun to a relationship, there’s the expectation that things have to become serious.”
She stopped pushing the bike and turned to face him. “You’re afraid of responsibility.”
“I wouldn’t say all that.”
“I would.”
Aaron shifted the pizza box in his hands. His carefree smile was one that easily labeled him as a guy who thoroughly enjoyed being free of all responsibilities. “I just don’t want unnecessary expectations put on me.”
“How did you end up running a business?” She started walking again and he followed.
“Things just worked out. I wanted to travel and get paid, so I figured, ‘What the hell, I’ll drive a big rig for a while,’ thinking it would make an interesting story one day. Turns out I really liked seeing parts of the country that aren’t in tour guides. Then one day this guy said I was just a driver. I was, and never had a problem with that, but the way he said it, he made it sound like being just a truck driver was derogatory. I’m slightly competitive.” He held his thumb and pointer finger close together. “So I bought another truck and hired a guy to drive it for me. Before I knew it, I had a fleet.”
He made his success sound so easy. And for a guy like him, success probably was. He breezed through life with the relaxed and carefree attitude of someone blessed with perpetual good luck. Though she didn’t doubt he also worked hard, she had a feeling that Aaron didn’t have to work hard for much of anything,
“Basically you became successful just to prove someone wrong?”
“You make that sound like a bad thing.”
“What drives you? What are your hopes, your dreams, your ambitions? I get up and do what I do every day because of my drive to make my momma’s legacy into something even bigger than what it is today.”
Aaron placed a hand on the handlebars of the bike to stop her. “Why?”
“Because I’m proud of her and what she accomplished.”
“Or is it because you get to ram it into the noses of the people who looked down on your mother for having four kids by four different men? And because despite all that your family has accomplished, some people still see her past and wonder if you’ll go down the same path?”
Kacey sucked in a breath. “Why would you say that?”
He gave his usual no-big-deal shrug. “Because it’s the truth. I’m not saying anything is wrong with your reasons, but your reasons are not because you have a hope, dream, or ambition tied to some noble cause. Just like I wanted to prove to that guy I’m not just a driver, you’re proving to people that you’re not your mother’s reputation.”
She spun away and marched down the street, too angry to wait to see if he’d stop. Her determination wasn’t driven by revenge or some sense of proving something. She was proud of her momma. Proud of the business. She loved working there and didn’t know what she’d do if she wasn’t there.
You would have left Resilient. And you’d be spending your nights having fun instead of s
tudying.
Kacey shook the thought out of her head. Yes, back in high school she’d wanted out of the small town, but who didn’t want out of a small town when they were in high school? Her momma had needed help at the restaurant, and Kacey did love the place. She loved singing there, seeing the regular customers, the teasing of the staff.
But is that enough?
Of course it was. She was pissed at Aaron for putting stupid thoughts in her head. No one could just leave responsibilities behind and do whatever they wanted. No one but guys like Aaron, who were afraid of being a grown-up.
“Kacey.” Aaron’s voice, followed by his quick footsteps, came up behind her. “Kacey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
She stopped and glared at him. “I love what I do. I’m happy to help my momma’s business. That’s what I do. I support my family. Whether it’s getting a degree so that I can open a second restaurant or staying away from playboys like you so my brother can expand his business.”
She snapped her mouth closed and clenched her teeth. Anger always made her say way too much.
Aaron slid his hand across hers on the bicycle seat. His long, warm fingers wrapped around her wrist, and he stepped forward until the bike pressed into his body.
“If it weren’t just about supporting your family, what would you do, Kacey?” His voice dipped low. The question was more than just a few words, but an invitation to admit that she really hated their agreement to stay away from each other in the best interests of her brother.
I’d go home and make love to you. “But my motivation is about supporting my family. I don’t live off of what-ifs. Just like I don’t shirk responsibility.”
From One Night to Forever Page 11