Trey pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped his lips. “Speaking of bathrooms, I’ll probably disappear in about an hour to check on Ralph.”
“Are you sure you should leave the puppy in your sister’s cottage by himself?”
“Last I checked he was all nice and curled up on one of my old sweatshirts in the bathroom. If he has an accident, I have a gallon of bleach on standby. But he’s a good boy. He’ll go on the puppy pads.”
She smiled. “It almost sounds like you’re fond of him.”
“You can’t help but to like the little guy. He’s got spunk.”
“So you’re going to keep him?”
A negative response sprang to his lips but didn’t come out of his mouth. The truth be told when it came to giving the canine to his future adopted parents, he knew that he’d be reluctant to let Ralph go. Since bringing him home from the clinic, the puppy had been a constant companion. He’d even managed to sneak into his coat pocket and tag along during patient appointments. He liked having the dog, but he had to put Ralph’s needs before his own and with his schedule and living arrangements, it just wouldn’t work. “I can’t keep him.”
“Why not?”
“I keep crazy hours between the clinic and the zoo. Ralph needs a stable environment with a family and kids.”
“All that puppy needs is love and attention and who better than his own personal vet. I bet he’s the healthiest runt you’ve ever seen.”
Trey shrugged his shoulders. “I made sure that he gets his vitamins and an extra serving of formula. But that doesn’t qualify me for pet ownership.”
“You’re going to fight this until the very end, aren’t you?”
“Aren’t you?” he parried back. He didn’t believe that for a moment she was completely settled into her new life in Atlanta. Her parents’ arrival and the heated debate in the car on their drive up that morning had made it all the more evident that Sasha continued to have misgivings.
She shook her head. “Touché. I’m working on my issues, though.”
“Well, I’m keeping mine for a while. So are you ready to get the party started?”
She pulled her hand from his and turned. “Let’s go.”
They reached the end of the hallway and as he moved to descend to the main floor, Sasha paused.
Sighing with irritation, Trey backed up a step. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m nervous.” She looked out over the mass of guests.
“About meeting the rest of my family?”
“No, I don’t deal well in social situations and this place easily has over fifty people and I don’t do so well with people.”
“Stay close to me and it’ll be okay.”
“Trey, what fool went off and let this beautiful lamb in your paws?”
Sasha glanced over to see a handsome man walking in their direction. After meeting Trey’s grandfather, she easily recognized the high cheekbones, light eyes and curly black hair so much like the family patriarch.
“Marius,” Trey growled. “Not tonight.”
He placed an empty glass on a passing waiter’s tray. “What? Tonight’s for family. Now don’t be rude. Introduce me to the lady you must have paid half your trust fund to be your date.”
“Sasha Clayton. This is my brother, Marius.”
“Charmed,” Marius said and took her hand within both of his own.
“Great. Now don’t you have to go and play big shot or something?” Trey asked.
“Nope. Dad’s got everything covered.”
“Didn’t your cell phone just ring? It could be an emergency at the plant.”
Marius deliberately widened his eyes. Sasha covered her mouth to hide a laugh.
“Left my cell phone in the truck, bro. It’s looking like you’re trying to get rid of me,” Marius said.
“I am,” Trey responded pointedly.
“He’s afraid you’ll spill all of his secrets.” Sasha laughed.
Marius crooked his arm. “Let me order you a drink and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Before Trey could open his mouth to protest, Sasha placed her arm on Marius’s biceps and slipped from his side.
“Close your mouth, son. People might think you’ve lost your mind.”
“Dad, did you see that?” His head swung around like the possessed girl in an old exorcist movie.
“Yep. That oldest of mine is smooth. Must have been paying attention when I told all of you how to treat a lady.”
Trey rubbed his brow and concentrated on not staring in the direction Sasha had gone. “What do you think?
“About Sasha or her parents?”
“Both.”
“She’s one-of-a-kind, loyal, classic kind of lady that I hope you don’t mess around and lose. Her parents are good people. Different, but the kind that would fit into our clan. You mother and I could tell that they don’t care for money, and her father and I don’t see eye to eye on politics, but he loves his family so he’s all right by me.”
The knot of tension he hadn’t known he’d possessed unfurled at this father’s implicit blessing. The thing was that he agreed with his father’s assessment of Sasha. She was a special woman. The question was if she was that one women for him. Was she the woman that meant it was time to toss out his black book? He looked down at his fingers and began to count off. The sex was phenomenal, she wasn’t after his money, he enjoyed the hell out of spending time with her, they shared the same interests, his mother loved her, and if that didn’t beat all, she’d never bore him and she could play a mean game of chess.
His brother came along side and leaned up against the wall with a drink in this hand.
“Come on, Trey. She’s sexy as hell, has a thing for animals and isn’t after your wallet. What else do you need?” Caleb paused, then looked over where half of the Blackfox women were standing. “Seriously, little brother. If Sasha isn’t the one for you, then can you step aside and let another brother try to get happily-ever-after?”
“Touch her, Caleb, and you might wake up with a baby python on your pillow.” His brother went pale at the mere mention of a snake. During one of their yearly sojourns to summer camp in Macon, someone forgot to close the cabin door. After coming back from a late night bathroom run, Caleb had sat down on his bunk bed and pulled back his blanket to discover that he had company. A nice-size copperhead snake had taken up residence in his absence. Trey would never forget the shout of terror that had woken him in the middle of the night. He burst out laughing at the image of Caleb running from the room in his Superman undershorts.
Caleb’s nose twitched to the side. “That’s not funny.”
“Oh, yet it is. I’ve seen a lot of things but that’s the only time that I’ve seen a black man turn white. You were practically albino.”
“If you don’t want to talk about your woman, than all you had to say was back off.”
Trey finished off a vodka tonic. “Back off.”
“All right.”
Marius stepped forward and put a hand on Trey’s shoulder. Trey eyed his eldest brother suspiciously. “So who gets to be the best man?”
Trey crossed his eyes and refused to give into the urge to go back to his room and hit the bed. Instead, he singled to the bartender for another glass. When it came he took a deep drink, and the warm liquid gave him a welcome artificial calm. “There isn’t going to be a wedding. And even it I was thinking about getting hitched, you two would be the last people in the world I’d choose.”
“That hurt.” Caleb grabbed his chest and pretended to be wounded. “But it’s okay. You’re my brother so I’ll forgive you.”
Trey inclined his head over to the far right where a statuesque woman appeared to be in deep conversation with his grandparents. “Tell it to Amber because she’s free of husband number one and I heard she’s plans in the works for number two.”
Marius caught Trey’s sly wink and ran with the joke. “Yeah, I heard that she’s looking for an eme
rgency room doctor with unlimited access to Viagra and a black American Express card.”
“Oh, ya’ll want to talk about hearing things, huh? What about our little jailbird here?” Caleb pointed at Trey.
Grinding his teeth at the memory of that night, Trey stared helplessly at his older brother. A minute ago, a police officer would have sworn on a stack of bibles that Marius was legally intoxicated. But the way he drew himself up and narrowed his eyes erased that notion.
“What?” Marius barked.
Caleb looked back and forth between the two brothers and snickered. “Trey didn’t tell you that he got arrested at a strip club?”
Marius’s hand shot up and a small portion of his bourbon on the rocks hit the floor. “You got arrested at a strip club? Damn it, do you have any idea of what could have happened if the media had gotten a hold of that kind of information?”
Trey had barely opened his mouth before the unique scent of Sasha’s perfume reached his nose.
“Strip club?”
The sound of Sasha’s voice congealed the blood in his veins and stopped his heart with guilt. Apparently sometime during their conversation she’d come to stand by his side.
“Trey, you were arrested at a strip club?” Her voice wobbled with disbelief.
“No. Technically I was in the parking lot.”
Trey wanted to shoot Caleb as he watched Sasha’s lips purse and the muscles around her nose wrinkled with disapproval. “Was this before or after ogling naked women?”
“It was at a bachelor party. I couldn’t say no to one of my friend’s last nights of freedom, could I?”
The situation went form bad to worse as his mother joined the group. “Sasha, dear, why are you upset?”
Trey felt another moment of blind panic and instead of reacting by smooth talking his way out the situation, he hurriedly took another drink and prayed for divine intervention. When his mother aimed an expectant glance his way, he spoke up. “Nothing, Mom. Just having a friendly disagreement.”
Her eyebrows shot up. Trey sent a pleading look toward Sasha.
“Is that true?” his mother asked, looking at Sasha for confirmation.
“Yes. Trey thinks that it’s too feminine to join the women’s walk for breast cancer.”
“No…No…Not me. It was Caleb.”
Caleb jumped to attention from his previous snickering. “Not me. Trey thought it was a waste of time.”
Marius took advantage of his mother’s attention being focused on Trey to sneak away from the group.
“No, what we meant was that we would walk and donate, sweetheart.” Trey reached out, took her hand, and drew Sasha next to him. Her back was as unbending as an ironing board.
“That’s my boys. Always willing to help.” His mother smiled and Trey could breathe again. Something about being back in the house he grew up in made him feel like a kid instead of a grown man. On the other hand, maybe it was being in the presence of all his family members. In any case, the look of disappointment in Sasha’s eyes made him feel like an ashamed five-year-old.
His mother patted Trey on the arm. “Sign both your grandmother and I up. Better yet, tell Marius to have the company do a sponsorship.”
She turned toward Caleb. “Go find your aunt Mary. She’s been having problems with her stomach.”
Her attention then moved back to Trey. “You need to see Wilbur before you leave tomorrow. That old German shepard of your uncle’s got bit by something this morning and your uncle refuses to take the dog to the vet.”
“You, young lady, come with me. There are a lot of people I want you to meet.”
“Breast walk for cancer,” Caleb practically spat. “You might as well kiss my reputation bye-bye.”
Trey put his hand on Caleb’s slumped shoulders. “Look on the bright side. At least this will get Amber off your back.”
Damn, he was a first-rate idiot. It was after three o’clock in the morning, but Trey was still awake mulling over the night’s events. He should have grabbed Sasha and taken her to a quiet place and explained exactly what happened at the strip club and that he’d gotten the charges dismissed. But then she’d have been even more mad at him. Women could be so unpredictable. She already thought his morals were shaky because of his privileged childhood. The last thing he needed was to give her even more reasons to despise him.
Even as that thought finished, he thought of what Sasha would look like spitting mad. What she would look like with face flushed and tousled hair as he straddled her. Growling, Trey pushed back the covers and almost tripped on his pants as he got out of bed. His balance unsteady by the countless glasses of whiskey he’d imbibed that night, he managed to pull on a pair of pants, a sweater, socks and shoes. Ten minutes later after making his way to the main house, Trey stood outside his little sister Regan’s bedroom door and gently touched his head to the cool wood. It was humiliating to be sneaking around his parents’ house. But he had little choice since his parents had put him in the guest cottage.
He tapped on the door with his finger twice. “Sasha, sweetheart, wake up.”
Trey pressed his ear to the door and waited a moment for a response. He tapped again and whispered, “Baby, we need to talk. Just open the door.”
He gently tried but found it locked. “It’s not what it sounded like.” His speech slurred slightly. “I went to the strip club for a friend’s bachelor party. Why are you acting like I’m a pervert or something? Yes, I understand it’s degrading for women. Trust me I didn’t go there to degrade anybody. Just to celebrate a friend’s last night of freedom and now I’ve got to pay a fine for brawling in public. So I’ve learned my lesson. What else can I say?”
The door opened and Trey’s sight of the person coming out the room shocked him into instant sobriety. “Mrs. Clayton!”
“Keep your voice down.” She pushed him farther back into the hallway and closed the door. “You better be really happy my husband is a heavy sleeper.”
“I apologize. I thought you were Sasha.”
“Really,” she said dryly. “She’s down the hall. And now I know why my baby barely said a word tonight.”
“It’s just a misunderstanding.”
“Trey, can I be honest with you?”
Standing in the hallway of his family home at four o’clock in the morning, straight busted. He needed some truth. “Please.”
“You’re going to have to make up your mind and you’ll need to do it fast. I like you and I think that you and your family are wonderful for my daughter. My husband, on the other hand, doesn’t feel the same way. Sasha loves her Daddy and will walk off the ends of the earth if that man asks. If you love her, and I do think that you do, get your act together, patch things up and show that stubborn man I married that he’s wrong to think that you’re Don Juan incarnate.”
With that she patted him on the cheek and disappeared back into the bedroom.
For several moments, Trey just stood there looking at the door, then he started toward the first floor.
“If you love her…”
Mrs. Clayton’s words echoed in his head. Did he love her? He looked at where he was and what he’d done and how he felt and there was no other answer than yes. What kind of man does this kind of stuff? Either a fool or a man in love.
Chapter 20
Sasha stepped out of the grocery store and into the parking lot. The temperature had to be in the forties but the cool air felt wonderful against her flushed cheeks. She hadn’t slept well at all last night. Finding out that Trey had been arrested outside a strip club had only served to intensify her misgivings about the relationship. Everything her father had said about the behavior of rich people kept echoing in her mind. Trey’s family seemed to act like normal people even if they did enjoy a grander lifestyle.
After stowing the bag of groceries in the back, Trey opened the passenger-side door. Ignoring the nicety, she climbed in and put on her seat belt.
Trey released a loud sigh. “Look, Sasha, if this
relationship is going to have a future, you can’t just leave and then subject me to the silent treatment whenever we get into a disagreement.”
She really didn’t want to have this conversation and she’d done her best to avoid speaking with Trey altogether after the birthday celebration. Yes, she was angry that he went to a strip club, but she was more upset about the larger implications of his actions. After the events of that weekend, she could no longer ignore the fact that although she had chosen Trey to be the one she wanted for a lifetime, he wasn’t ready.
“I didn’t storm out and we were not having a disagreement,” she snapped once he’d gotten into the car. “We were in the middle of a party and I didn’t want to embarrass either on of us by voicing what I thought about your getting arrested at a strip club.”
“I was outside of the strip club trying to keep the peace.”
“Apparently the police thought otherwise.”
“That was until they heard the whole story. I wasn’t even put into a holding pen. Caleb told me that they took me straight to the hospital for evaluation and that’s where he picked me up. Once my attorney files the papers the charges will be dropped.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes. I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about it. I barely watched the show.”
“Okay, Trey. Let’s flip the situation. How would you feel if I dressed up in sexy lingerie?” She leaned down, and then pretended to draw up a pair of imaginary stocking. “Put on my highest heels and let a group of half naked men dance for me.”
His teeth clenched at the thought of Sasha seeing any man’s body but his own. For one second he wanted to spit nails, but the triumphant look in her eyes stopped him. “You’ve proved your point,” he growled.
“Good.”
“So now what? Where do we go from here?”
“Home. I need you to take me home,” she said slowly.
“And afterwards?”
“You go off to your little cave and think.”
His brows wrinkled. “Think about what?”
A Love to Remember Page 20