Alex brought his left hand up to the back of his neck and rubbed.
“Alex, are you okay?” Renee asked.
He sighed, still massaging his neck. “Eli thinks my mom has a boyfriend, and I’m starting to suspect it may be true.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“Well, yeah,” Alex answered.
“Why?”
Alex just stared at her, partly because the answer was obvious, and partly because he couldn’t pinpoint his exact problem. He just knew there was something wrong with his mother dating.
“Because she’s my mother,” he said.
“Oh, come on, Alex. She’s a grown woman who’s raised three sons. What’s wrong with her dating?”
“I’m just concerned about her,” Alex said. “Somebody has to take care of her.”
“Even though she’s a grown woman?” Renee reiterated.
He was quiet for a moment, but only a moment. Alex shook his head. “You don’t understand.”
“I do,” Renee answered. “More than you can imagine. I took on the job of taking care of my mom when I was still a kid. I thought it was my job to protect her.” She shrugged. “Sometimes, you have to let go. Especially if your mom is starting to assert her independence.”
Alex didn’t want to hear this, particularly because Renee was making total sense.
They pulled up to her aunt’s home. Alex noticed Lorna Davis’s car was no longer parked beside the trailer.
“Your aunt’s gone.” He pointed out the obvious.
“She probably just ran to the grocery store,” Renee said. “Come on, we only have a few minutes before kickoff.”
There was a note taped to the front of the trailer door. Gone to Baton Rouge.
“Your aunt reminds me of my mom,” Alex said. “Since she bought her car, she’s always on the road.”
“Aunt Lorna never stays put for long. She’s into everything,” Renee said. She led the way into the trailer.
“She was true to her word,” Alex said, looking over the food laid out on a narrow table that sat next to the sofa. Tortilla chips and salsa, Buffalo style chicken wings with celery sticks and a dipping sauce, and a bowl of mixed nuts. “This is a lot more than I would have had at my house,” Alex said.
“Well, it’s a good thing I convinced you to join me, isn’t it?” Renee called from inside the refrigerator. She returned with two cans of soda in her hands. “Is this okay?”
“That’s fine,” Alex said.
“And now for the pièce de la résistance,” Renee said as she came into the living room and set a platter of marshmallow squares on the narrow table. She looked over at him. “What? Rice Krispies treats are the quintessential football watching snack,” she explained.
“Of course they are,” Alex agreed with a chuckle.
She reached across to grab a handful of mixed nuts and her breast brushed against his arm. Alex sucked in a breath.
“Excuse me,” Renee said.
“Not a problem,” he assured her. His heart was pounding within his chest so hard Alex was convinced she could hear it.
On the small television, the opposing players lined up for the kickoff.
Renee’s face was intense as she watched the kick returner run the ball to midfield. “Good job.” She clapped. “I’ve got ten bucks on this game.”
“You’re a gambling woman,” Alex laughed.
“When it comes to Florida Gator football, I sure am. I always take the bets I know I can win. So, you played ball in college?”
Alex nodded. “I had a scholarship.”
“What position did you play? No, wait, let me guess. Linebacker, right?”
He shook his head.
“Offensive tackle?”
He shook his head again.
“Okay, I give up.”
“Center,” Alex answered.
“Really?” Her eyes were just as beautiful with a look of surprise. “That’s a tall order.”
“You think so?”
“Of course,” she answered. She paused to watch the play unfold, cursing as the Gators failed to convert on third down. “Not good to start the game with a three and out on the first possession,” she commented. “Anyway.” She turned her attention back to Alex. “People usually think of the quarterback as controlling the game, but I think the center position is the most important.”
He lifted an inquiring brow.
“If the quarterback doesn’t have a reliable center to snap the ball to him, the quarterback can’t do his job,” she explained.
Alex chuckled, impressed with her assessment of the game. “You know your football,” he said.
“I’ve always loved football. I wanted to play so bad when I was little.”
“What position would you have played?”
“Definitely not center.” She grinned. “I would have been a good wide receiver,” she mused. “I’ve always had good hand/eye coordination, and back in high school, I could run a four eight.”
“Whoa, that’s almost unheard of.”
The roar of the crowd interrupted their conversation. Renee’s eyes darted back to the television. “Interception! Go! Go,” she yelled so loud Alex figured the player racing down the football field could surely hear her.
“Touchdown!” She shot her fist in the air and wiggled her hips in a silly, sexy little victory dance.
“I have a feeling this isn’t just for show,” Alex laughed. “You would have had the same reaction even if you were by yourself, wouldn’t you?”
“Heck no. I’m toning it down because you’re here. If I was alone, I would be jumping on the sofa cushions and high fiving myself.”
Alex laughed again. He was doing that a lot today.
Eli’s words rang in his mind. With a face like that and a mind for football, Renee was possibly the perfect woman. She didn’t even have to know how to cook. His mama had taught him how to find his way around the kitchen.
For the next hour, they watched in relative relaxation as the Florida Gators made three more touchdowns in the first half.
“Can you breathe easier with a twenty eight to zero score?” Alex asked.
“Not really. Tennessee is a second half team. We can’t get too comfortable,” she warned. The Tennessee Marching Band took to the field; then the programing switched to a panel of four sports commentators giving a rundown of other game highlights and previewing upcoming matchups.
“Did you have prospects of going pro?” Renee asked. She stuffed a cheese slathered nacho chip in her mouth and followed it with a swig of Coke.
“There was some talk early on, but I quit school at the beginning of my senior year,” he answered.
“I still don’t understand why you had to quit altogether. You were right there in Baton Rouge. You weren’t that far away from your family.”
“My mom needed someone here with her all the time,” Alex answered.
“Did she ask you to quit?”
He shook his head. “Mama never would have done that. She raised enough hell when I told her I was dropping out.”
“Then why did you?”
“I told you, Mama needed me.”
She gave him an assessing look that did nothing for his comfort level. “You know what I’ve discovered about you?”
Alex raised his brow, waiting.
“You like being in charge.”
Not what he’d expected to hear. “What makes you say that?”
“Maybe being in charge isn’t the right way to say it. It’s more that you’re a caretaker.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Alex said.
“How could you not? From the little I know about you so far, I can tell that you take it upon yourself to care for your family. Plus, you own your own business,” she continued. “But, unlike most people, you put the needs of others above profit. Heck, you played at the center position on your football squad, which is essentially like carrying the entire team on your back. You thrive at taking care of people.”
“I never thought about it that way,” Alex said.
“Those people who do it automatically never think about what they’re doing, they just do it.”
“Just the other day, my mom told me that I don’t take care of myself because I’m too busy taking care of everyone else,” he admitted. “I always thought the same thing about her.”
“It’s sweet that you look out for your family. The fact that you’re so involved in Jasmine’s life is just amazing.”
He shook his head. “I haven’t been as involved as I should have been. If so, she wouldn’t have been acting up in school.”
“Jasmine was misbehaving?”
“Yeah, in Mrs. Overland’s class. That’s one of the reasons I’m volunteering at the school. Mr. Powell, the psychologist …” He waited until Renee nodded. “He thinks Jasmine may be going through abandonment issues. Sort of a delayed reaction to Chantal’s death.”
“I’m not sure how long it would take a child Jasmine’s age to grieve over the lost of a parent. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for her.”
“I haven’t been paying attention,” Alex said softly. He was too busy feeling guilty over his own lack of grief.
He would never have wished death on the mother of his child, but in a way Alex had felt vindicated after Chantal’s fatal accident. She had flaunted her lovers in his face, hell bent on hurting him. When he’d stared down at her body lying on the cold metal table in the morgue, Alex had not been able to summon even an ounce of love for his wife.
“Are things getting better?” Renee asked.
Alex shook his head. “I’m not sure. She hasn’t been disruptive with me in the classroom, of course.”
“At least you’ve taken a step forward in helping her cope. Eventually, things will work themselves out,” Renee reassured him.
Halftime ended and they settled back in to watch the rest of the game. Tennessee scored two quick touchdowns, slicing the Gator’s lead in half. When Tennessee intercepted the ball, halting Florida’s march to the end zone, Renee started to pace.
“Are you going to be okay?” Alex asked, trying to hide his amusement. He enjoyed football as much as the next red blooded American, but Renee took it to a whole new level. She was on the verge of a conniption.
“I told you Tennessee is a second half team,” she said, still pacing.
“There’s still a lot of game left to play,” Alex said. “Why don’t you sit down?” He patted the seat next to him and she sat.
Renee buried her face in her hands and growled when Florida failed to stop Tennessee on third down, but a Gator interception that was run back for a touchdown had her off the sofa in an instant, jumping up and down and causing the flimsy trailer to shake.
“Yes, yes, yes!” she said, plopping to her seat once again. “You have got to love this game,” she said.
“More than life itself,” Alex laughed.
“You are not making fun of me, are you?”
“Never,” he said, his chuckle belying his answer.
“You can laugh all you want, all I know is my Gators are up by three touchdowns and we’re about to reach the two minute warning. There is no coming back for those Volunteers.”
“I’ll bet you were the most obnoxious fan in the stadium when you were in college,” Alex said.
“You’d win that bet, buddy. I was put out of the student section twice for disorderly conduct. I yelled cusswords at the refs,” she explained.
“You, Ms. Moore, are my kind of woman,” Alex said. The instant the words left his mouth, Alex wished he could take them back. The atmosphere in the trailer changed; the playful camaraderie of just a few moments ago morphing into an undisputable mutual desire. The air in Alex’s lungs seemed to solidify, making his next breath an uncertainty.
A smile curled up the corner of Renee’s lips. “That’s encouraging,” she said, her seductive gaze drawing him in like a siren. Alex tried to break eye contact, but her eyes held him captive.
She leaned in an inch. He followed.
“Alex—” His name came out of her mouth on a breathy sigh.
“How’s Richards?” Alex asked, jerking back, breaking the spell. Thank God.
The momentary shock that flashed across Renee’s face was quickly replaced with resignation. “Rashad is fine,” she answered. “You know, Alex, you can be straight with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just tell me, ‘Renee, I’m not interested’ and that would be the end of it. You don’t have to bring Rashad—who, by the way, isn’t my boyfriend, in case you were wondering— into the picture. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
Eli was right, he was out of practice. It had been so long since he’d dealt with all of this, he wasn’t sure how to act around a woman he wanted to get to know better. Alex wished they could just skip all of this “getting to know you” crap and go straight to being comfortable around each other.
But he was already comfortable with Renee. They’d just spent the past few hours watching football. She knew the game just as well as he did. Hell, she’d had to explain some of the new officiating rules that had been implemented last season.
Chantal had hated anything to do with sports, and wouldn’t have known a wing-T formation from a chicken wing. Renee was different, and that’s what drew him in. And scared the hell out of him.
“Can I be honest with you?” Alex asked.
“As opposed to lying to my face?”
“As opposed to handing you a load of bull instead of explaining what my hang up is,” Alex answered.
“Okay,” she said, “be honest with me.”
Alex stalled for a moment, debating whether he should tell the truth. He had to be honest with her; she deserved that much. “I haven’t been out with a woman since my wife died,” he said.
She was silent for several long moments. Alex could see her mind working through that. “She’s been dead for two years, right?”
He nodded.
She took a long, deep breath. “Wow. So, you, um, haven’t been… out with a woman for about two years?”
Actually, he hadn’t been out with a woman in about six years, if out was the current euphemism for sex.
“If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to be a little more honest,” Alex said.
“Go for it,” Renee answered.
He settled his elbows on his thighs and rubbed his hands together, feeling the sting in his right shoulder. “You’re the first woman I’ve wanted to go out with in the past two years,” Alex revealed.
Her eyes widened a fraction and her chest heaved as she took another deep breath. “Um, okay.”
“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, or pressured in any way,” Alex said. “We don’t have to go out.”
She straightened and placed her feet flat on the floor. She spread her palms out flat and tapped her fingers on her jean clad thighs. “Well, since we’re being honest here, you should know that I’ve been thinking about going out with you, too.”
“You have.” It was more statement than question.
“Yes,” Renee admitted.
“Oh God,” Alex said under his breath. The arousal clenching his gut had the blood thrumming through his body on a direct route to his groin.
“Alex.” Renee’s soft voice pierced through the haze of desire clouding his brain. “If it’s okay, I’m going to kiss you right now,” she said.
Alex turned toward her voice and opened his eyes, finding her mere inches from his face.
“Is that okay with you?” she asked.
Alex gave a short nod.
Renee captured his jaw in her palm and pulled his face inches closer. She leaned forward and Alex feared his heart would hammer completely out of his chest. That’s just how hard it was beating.
With her eyes locked with his, Renee touched her sweet, succulent lips to his. The moment their mouths connected, an indescribable tightness grabbed hold of Alex’s body. She was so soft, like
a pillow sent down from heaven.
Alex tried to heed Eli’s warning about being aggressive, but the urge to invade her mouth was too hard to resist. He prodded her lips open, gently at first, but when they willingly parted, he plunged, slipping his hand in her hair and finding a firm grip. He didn’t want to let her go; knew he couldn’t any time soon.
Alex lost it. Slow and steady became fast and furious. He turned, bracketing her between his body and the sofa. He needed to touch her.
But she touched him first; placing her delicate fingers against his chest and squeezing. The sensation burned through his shirt, through his skin, straight to his soul.
She pushed him. Alex cursed in frustration as he realize she must want to stop, but when he pulled away, she went with him, pushing him down on the sofa and flattening herself against his chest. She settled her body in the V of his legs, fitting herself against the massive erection raging out of control behind his zipper.
He was close to losing it. Thoughts of what he had been denying himself all these years flooded Alex’s brain. Sensations he had forgotten about; how good it felt to have a woman’s breasts cushioning his chest. How soft a woman felt cradled against his body. It was all coming back to him, but the remembered sensations were heightened now that he was here with Renee.
“Alex, are you ready to start going out again?” Renee asked.
“Yes,” he answered on a ragged breath.
“Are you prepared to go out right now?”
“Oh yeah,” he growled. Wait. No. “Are you asking if I have a condom?”
She nodded.
“I don’t,” Alex said, disappointment assaulting him. And how strange was that? He was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to sleep with a woman he’d known less than two weeks, his daughter’s teacher?
“I guess that would have been asking too much,” Renee said. “Condoms probably aren’t high on your shopping list.” Renee looked up at him from where her head lay on his chest. “You’re doubting this, aren’t you?”
“Just a little,” Alex admitted.
She pushed up from him and settled back on the sofa. Her lips were a delicate crimson after their kissing. “So which this are you doubting?” she asked. “That we couldn’t continue or that we started this in the first place?”
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