Mariah just smiled and sauntered back toward the sliding door leading into the kitchen to bring out more side dishes.
Before long the six of them were seated at the outdoor table, enjoying the warm summer day, and the spread of food. Jade got her share of good-natured ribbing about being over-the-hill, and her father regaled Kyle with amusing, and sometimes embarrassing, tales of when she and Mariah were growing up. They talked about Kyle’s new restaurant, and the time he’d spent in the marines.
The only topic Kyle didn’t seem willing to elaborate on when asked by her father was his family. Knowing a little about the dissension between him and his father and brother, she understood his reluctance. He kept his comments light and superficial, though she could see how uncomfortable he was with the subject.
Everybody liked Kyle, which didn’t really surprise Jade. He was so easy to get along with.
It was too bad he wasn’t going to be around in the future.
And why did that thought bother her so much?
* * *
“I had a great time today,” Kyle said as they drove back to their complex. Since it was only a little after six, Kyle planned on using the rest of the evening for their own private, birthday party. “Thanks for inviting me.”
Taking her gaze off the road for a few seconds, she gave him a dubious smile, though she looked totally relaxed. “If I remember correctly, I think it was my sister who invited you, but I’m glad you came along.”
“You’ve got a great family.” And he had to admit he was a little envious of the closeness they all shared, something he’d never experienced with his own family. Much to his pleasure, everyone today had made him feel a part of the fold, accepting him unconditionally. It had been wonderful to be in a family setting without having to face the issues of what a rough and rebellious kid he’d been, and what a disappointment he was to his family.
There had been no one’s expectations to live up to today. He’d set his own standards, and had been accepted for who and what he was: a bartender and restaurant owner. He liked that. A whole lot.
“Yeah, they’re not so bad,” Jade said as she switched lanes on the freeway to exit. “Did my father grill you too much?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle. He was just concerned that I didn’t hurt his little girl.”
She cringed. “I’m not so little anymore.”
“No, but since I’m the first guy you’ve brought home since Adam, I suppose he was a little concerned about who his daughter was getting involved with.”
Her head snapped around as she coasted down the off-ramp. “My father told you about Adam?”
The combination of incredulity and anger in her voice was enough to tell him he was treading on very sensitive territory. He’d finally been given a few clues to Jade’s reserve, her apprehension toward him and their developing relationship, and he wasn’t above exploiting them. “Actually, Grey mentioned him. From what Mariah has told him, he said the guy was a real bastard.”
Her face flushed. “What else did he say?” she asked tightly.
“That the details of the relationship should probably come from you.”
She applied the brakes at the stoplight with enough force to make his seat belt tighten against his chest “He was a jerk,” she said succinctly, as if that were the only detail he needed to know.
He’d gathered as much, but he wanted, suddenly needed, to know how this man had had such a detrimental effect on Jade, to the point that she would avoid any involvement with a man for nearly three years. “Want to tell me about it?”
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel, and when her teal blue gaze met his, he saw a glimpse of pain and apprehension that grabbed at something elemental in him. She’d been hurt very badly.
“There’s not much to tell.” Her tone was brusque, tinged with a lingering bitterness. “We dated. He had a thing about control. I fell into the trap. A humiliating experience made me see the light. End of relationship. End of story.”
He gathered it had also been the end to her trust in men. She’d created a fantasy lover whom she had complete control over. She dictated the level of intimacy, and played it safe by stopping short of going all the way.
The light turned green, and she pressed on the accelerator, continuing steadily down the street. She blew out a long breath, and her tense shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “Getting through my thirtieth birthday is bad enough. I don’t want to ruin the rest of the evening talking about my relationship with Adam.”
He guessed she didn’t want to talk about Adam at all. He’d give her a reprieve for now. “Fair enough. I haven’t given you your birthday present yet. It’s at my place.”
She turned into the driveway leading to their complex and parked her car in her spot. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
He smiled. After sharing her with her family today, and not spending much time with her during the week, he was anxious to be alone with her. “I wanted to.”
They got out of the car, and he tucked her hand in his, gratified when she curled her fingers around his. Once they were inside his condo, he left her in the living room and went into the bedroom to get her gift. The phone rang just as he reached his dresser, where he’d put her present, wrapped in pink paper and topped with a frilly bow.
He only had one phone, a cordless unit with a built-in answering machine, which he kept in the living room. “Would you mind grabbing that?” he called to Jade, since she was closer. “I’ll be there in a sec.”
“Sure.” Before the next ring he heard a beep as she connected the line, and her soft answer, “Hello?”
He rounded the corner from the bedroom back into the living room, her gift in hand, just as she said, “No, you’ve got the right number.” She paused for a second, listening, then said, “Hold on, he’s right here.”
A slight smile curved her mouth as she handed over the cordless phone. “It’s your daughter.”
Setting the flat, square wrapped box on the coffee table, he took the phone from Jade, thinking his offspring had impeccable timing, though he never minded hearing from her. “Hi, sweetheart. How are you?”
“Dad!” she exclaimed excitedly. “I can’t believe a woman answered your phone. Does that mean you actually have a girlfriend?”
He’d consider Jade at least that. He was seeing her exclusively. “Yes, is that okay with you?”
“It’s more than okay.” Her spirited teenage voice sounded almost giddy. “Is it serious?”
He glanced at Jade, who’d settled herself at the far end of the couch. He’d dated many women through the years, but none of them had ever stimulated or excited him the way Jade did, to the extent that he wanted no one but her. “Yes, I believe it is.”
“It’s about time, Dad! God, I never thought you’d settle down. When are you getting married? I want to be there when you tie the knot.”
He grimaced over his daughter’s enthusiasm. “Whoa, Christy, who said anything about marriage?”
Jade met his gaze, her brows raised in question. He gave a helpless shrug that hopefully conveyed he had nothing to do with his daughter’s meddling.
“Dad, you need to settle down and get married. Mom even thinks so, too.”
“She does, does she?” he asked, though he’d heard a subtle lecture or two from Jamie Ann about the benefits of marriage.
More quietly, Christy added, “I worry about you, and I hate the thought of you being all alone, with no family around.”
His daughter was way too wise for her years. He’d been without a family for so long, he’d sworn he was better off without one. After spending time with Jade’s family today, he was beginning to realize what he’d never had with his own family—the support, the laughter, the love—and what he’d given up when he and Jamie Ann had made the decision not to get married—the chance to have a family of his own. The regret hit harder than usual, surprising him.
“You know I always love to hear from you, C
hristy,” he said, steering their conversation back to neutral territory. “But I’m assuming you didn’t call to exult my love life.”
“Well, no,” she said a bit sheepishly. “Actually, I told you a couple of months ago that I was looking around for a car to buy. Well, I found one. It’s a used Camaro, and it’s really cool.”
“I’ll bet it is,” he muttered, imagining the guys that would be eyeing the sporty car and the beautiful young woman behind the wheel. It was enough to give him an ulcer, because he knew exactly what those young idiots would be thinking.
He shook off those unsettling thoughts. “I told you I’d help you buy a car as soon as you found one your mother and Tony approved of,” he agreed, “but do you think we can discuss this later? Like maybe tomorrow?”
“Oh, absolutely,” she said, giving in too easily. “I totally understand that you’re busy right now.”
That worried him. What did his daughter know of his kind of busy?
They said goodbye, and he shook his head as he disconnected the line and slipped the phone back in the unit He walked to the sliding door leading to the balcony, opened it, and stood there, staring out at the evening shadows darkening the courtyard.
“I swear that child is growing up way too fast,” he said, more to himself than Jade. Seventeen years—from her first tooth, through ballet recitals, and now, to her first car—gone. All without him being there to share in the most important years of her life. That fact troubled him the most, but it had been the right and only choice during such a tumultuous time in his life. Some days, though, it didn’t feel so right.
Some days, it hurt like hell.
“You miss her, don’t you?” Jade asked softly from behind him.
He dragged his hand through his hair, suddenly feeling much older than his thirty-five years. “Yeah, I do. Sporadic visits and phone calls aren’t nearly enough.” They never had been, but he’d always told himself that it was better this way. That his daughter was better off with Jamie Ann and Tony. And when she’d been a toddler, that was probably the truth. He’d been such a rebel, so determined not to be what his father expected of him, that he was certain he wouldn’t have been the kind of father Christy needed. One she could have depended on. One who’d put her needs before his own.
He couldn’t help wondering if things wouldn’t have turned out differently had Christy been born later, when he hadn’t been so hardheaded and such a wild hellion out to defy his father. If maybe he’d be living in a suburb somewhere with a wife and 2.5 children, instead of convincing himself he was cut out to be a bachelor and didn’t need anyone.
It was a sobering thought.
Jade leaned against the wall next to him. “How come you never married Christy’s mother?”
He met her gaze, seeing the mild curiosity there. She wasn’t judging him, wasn’t condemning him for a decision that everyone else had construed as irresponsible.
He’d like to believe that not marrying Jamie Ann had been one of the more responsible decisions he’d made.
“Because we both realized it would never work between us. Not in the long run, anyway.” He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jean shorts and transferred his gaze back out to the courtyard, his thoughts going back seventeen years. “We were both so young, and I was so wild and defiant I would have grown to resent the situation, and we probably would have ended up hating one another. We were both smart enough to take that into consideration, and responsible enough to know the odds were against us. Marriage would have only made matters worse.”
Unfortunately, neither of their parents had seen their choice as a responsible one, and had been furious at him for deserting Jamie Ann to join the marines. Though Jamie Ann’s parents had long ago forgiven him, his own family hadn’t been so benevolent.
“Despite how rough those first few years were for Jamie Ann, things worked out for the best,” he said, giving Jade a smile. “She’s found a great husband who treats her like a queen, and Christy has a decent father. They both deserve that.”
She touched his arm, her fingers a light caress. “You’re a good man, Kyle.”
He raised a brow. “What makes you say that?”
“Because you care. Because Jamie Ann and Christy are two of the most important people in your life, and you put their happiness above your own.”
Her observation stunned him. Did she really understand how difficult it was some days to accept the sacrifice he’d made when he’d left Jamie Ann and Christy? How hard it was to watch his daughter grow up through letters, phone calls and photographs?
“Don’t make me into some kind of hero, Jade,” he said, more gruffly than he intended. “I’m just fortunate that everything turned out amicably.”
“Except with your family.”
“That won’t change.”
“But don’t you deserve to be happy, too?”
“Who says I’m not?” he countered, feeling as though she was backing him into an emotional corner.
“I guess you’d know better than anyone,” she said.
He frowned. He was satisfied with his life, but he’d be lying if he said there wasn’t a certain void he experienced every now and then. An emptiness he’d managed to ignore for more years than he cared to recall.
More and more lately he found himself analyzing where he was in his life, and missing things he wished he had. Things he’d convinced himself he didn’t need. He’d believed the bar was enough to be his mistress, the employees and patrons a part of his family, and the new restaurant his baby.
When had that started not being enough?
He looked at the woman beside him, and realized she filled that void in him, and enhanced his life in a way no other woman ever had. She made him feel worthy. She accepted who he was and the mistakes he’d made. He’d always steered clear of commitment and ties. So why did he find himself wondering what it would be like to come home to Jade on a daily basis, and have her in his bed every night?
“What about you, Jade?” he asked, turning the tables on her. “Are you happy?”
Her expression turned cautious. “In certain areas of my life, yes.”
“And other areas?”
She knew what he was asking; he could see the reserve in her gaze, the struggle to keep him from prying the truth from her. He was digging past the surface, to emotional wants, needs and desires. Things past the tangible and superficial, to something deeply rooted.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
It was as honest as answers got, because he didn’t know anymore either.
“You know,” he drawled, reaching for her hand and hoping to dispel the serious mood between them, “this isn’t the way I’d intended to spend the evening.”
“Me, either,” she admitted, her voice husky, and her eyes darkening with awareness.
Pulling her back to the couch, he made her sit on the cushion, and settled himself next to her. Then he handed her the small gift. “Open your present.”
She hesitated for a moment, then pulled off the bow and tore open the paper. She lifted the flat lid and gasped. Her gaze shot to his, wide with apprehension, and shimmering with a delight she tried to suppress.
Her finger traced the rose pattern on the gold anklet. “Kyle, this is too much.”
It was beginning to be not enough. In so many ways. “Do you like it?”
“Of course, but—”
He pressed his fingers over her soft lips, not wanting to hear her protests. “Then I expect you to wear it and enjoy it. Will you do that for me?”
She pulled his hand away, an incredibly soft and sensual smile touching her mouth. “Yes. Will you put it on me?”
He grinned, not about to decline the task. “It would be my pleasure.”
And it was. Kneeling in front of her while she sat on the couch, he braced her sandaled foot on his thigh and retrieved the exquisite anklet from the velvet lining. He secured the clasp around her slender ankle, and glanced up as he smoothed a hand over
her calf. “It suits you. It goes with your free spirit, and compliments your sassy, sexy personality.”
Her face flushed, and she ducked her head to admire her gift, which glinted in the light. “Thank you. I love it.”
And I’m falling in love with you. The realization slammed into him from out of left field, causing his heart to thud heavily in his chest. Oh, man…he didn’t know if he was ready for this. Didn’t know if he could be everything she needed him to be.
Their gazes connected, held suspended on a timeless, sensual moment. Finally he released a long, low breath. “Happy birthday, Jade.”
“Oh, Kyle.” There was so much emotion in her voice, enough to tell him she was just as affected as he by whatever it was happening between them. She leaned down and brushed her soft, incredibly sexy mouth across his, lightly at first, then pressing deeper. He let his lips part, let her tongue slip inside to stroke along his. The kiss quickly flared out of control, grew demanding and avaricious. She wrapped her fists in his shirt and slowly drew him up between her parted knees.
Groaning deep in his throat, he followed her lead, willing to go anywhere with her. Willing to do anything for her. She only needed to ask, with her mouth, with her hands, with her body.
And she did. Her sweet, hot mouth talked to him as he’d never been talked to before, asking for things he wanted just as much as she. The hands gliding up his shoulders, then tangling in his hair begged for closeness, and her arching body spoke a language as old as time. It was enough to make him spontaneously combust.
She felt the same way, judging by the hot feel of her skin beneath the hands he slowly slid up her thighs. She shuddered and moaned, and broke their kiss to look into his eyes. Her own were a deep, dark shade of green-blue, and he had the sudden, annoying thought that he still didn’t know what her real eye color was.
But he would, of that he was certain.
Her trembling fingers tightened in his hair. “What are you doing to me?” she whispered.
He knew her question went beyond physical stimulation to more emotional sensations, because he was feeling a little shook up himself. “I’m trying to seduce you.” He pressed her back on the couch, moved his body over hers, and caught the dizzying scent of peaches that clung to her. “Is it working yet?”
Her Sexiest Fantasy (The Sexiest Series Book 2) Page 12