Key To My Heart: Stay
Misty Reigenborn
Copyright 2014
By Misty Reigenborn
Smashwords Edition
Cover Image courtesy of photostock freedigitalphotos.net
Chapter 1
Twenty-seven year old Acasia Brown was falling in love. And she didn’t like it one bit. Acasia was the oldest of the Brown sisters and had moved back home after a disastrous attempt at a relationship with a man she had thought she would spend the rest of her life with. But he had cheated, and that was one of the many things Acasia had told herself she would never put up with from a man.
So when she had found out that Colton had been talking to women online and meeting them for sex while he was calling her the love of his life and talking about marriage and babies, she had packed up her things and been gone the next day without bothering to say a word to him. She had left a note on his nightstand that simply said “I know the truth.” Then she had left town without bothering to look back.
Colton’s betrayal had hurt. She had loved him fiercely and fallen for him way too hard and fast. She had always had a bad habit of doing that, putting her everything into a man. First with her high school boyfriend, the heartbreaker Gavin who was the oldest of the three Black brothers, who had left a trail of broken hearts as long as the small town they had grown up in; and then with Colton whom she had met in college.
Gavin was no longer living in Clinton. Jayden, the middle brother was married to Acasia’s younger sister Nakeisha. They had been together since Junior High, and it had always seemed as if nothing existed in the world that could tear the two of them apart. Acasia had always been a little jealous of her sister’s relationship with Jay, but she knew that her sister deserved to be happy. The youngest Brown sister Demi had recently left town to meet the big, wide world. At twenty-four Acasia figured that it was high time that her sheltered sister set out on her own for a while at least, but she missed her dearly. It also seemed a little pathetic to Acasia that she was the oldest and the only one living at home.
Acasia sighed as she got ready for work at the local diner. She was sure that Garett, the youngest of the Black brothers and the unknowing object of her affection; would be in to have dinner that evening, since he had come in every evening for dinner since she had started at the diner.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him. Garett was kind and funny and damned handsome, and she had always looked forward to seeing him before, even when they were growing up and he was a somewhat annoying kid. Acasia didn’t want to fall in love with anyone at the moment, let alone the little brother of the man she had lost her virginity to and had been involved in a relationship with her last two years of high school.
She was sure that Nikki would probably think it was hilarious that she had fallen for Garett, who had trailed after Demi like a lost puppy their Freshman and Sophomore years in high school. Demi had never had any interest in Garett though, and he had finally given up on a relationship with her, though they had remained friends.
Acasia felt a little pathetic all around. She was sure that her irritation level had something to do with her decision to quit smoking, though that had come at the insistence of her mother, who refused to even let her smoke outside the house. She really wanted a cigarette at the moment, and she was dreading seeing Garett. She was sure that the way she felt about him was going to be written all over her face.
She didn’t want to be one step away from falling in love with Garett Black. She didn’t want to be living at home with her mother. Though she loved her mother, Heather Brown still acted like too much of a mother for Acasia’s tastes. She felt like a loser to be living at home, falling in love with a boy from down the block, and in debt with student loans while her college degree went to waste.
She ran a brush through her hair one more time, trying unsuccessfully to tame her wild curls. She had always envied her sisters their straight hair. Her sisters had also both been lucky enough to be built more like their mother than their father. Nikki and Demi were both 5’4 and slim, while Acasia was 5’8 and built more solidly like their father. She wasn’t fat and had never been fat, but she had to work a lot harder at keeping her figure than her sisters ever had and probably ever would.
Acasia met her blue eyes in the mirror, and shook her head at herself. No way am I going to let myself fall for Garett Black she told herself. But the eyes that stared back at her told her that she had already fallen for him. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, and she thought that if she would have had the money to leave town she probably would have.
She let out another sigh as she grabbed her apron. She didn’t mind waitressing, but she had gone to school for business administration and was used to making a lot more money than she was making now. She hadn’t been working for the last six months that she had been with Colton though, and they had lived what he had called comfortably, though when she looked back on it, it seemed more to be spending almost everything that they made on things that they didn’t need.
“I will not fall in love with Garett Black,” she said out loud.
“What did you say Cas?”
Her mother’s voice came from the open doorway of her bedroom. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks, thinking that she really must be distracted if she hadn’t heard her mother come down the stairs.
“Nothing Mom.” She gave her mother a weak smile. “Just talking to myself again.”
“Are you okay honey?”
There was a look of concern on her mother’s face.
She put what she hoped looked like a more genuine smile on her face. “I’m fine Mom.”
“I know that it hasn’t been easy for you Cas. Coming back here, being stuck at home with Mom, especially after Demi left. But it’s gonna get better baby. I promise.”
Heather gave her a reassuring smile.
"Thanks Mom. Bernice made fresh pies today. Do you want me to bring you home a slice of banana cream?"
"No thank you sweetheart. Have you heard from Demi?"
Acasia hid a smile. "I think she's been pretty busy with her job."
"I suppose. I think I have empty nest syndrome. I'm sorry Cas."
"Your nest isn't empty right now Mom, but I'll be out of your hair soon enough."
"You stay as long as you need to. Have you put any thought into going back to school?"
This was a conversation they had had before.
"I'm still thinking Mom. Leaving my options open. I have to get to work."
"Right. Tell Garett I said 'hello'."
Her mother winked at her.
"I will. See you later Mom."
"Have a good night honey."
She wondered why her mother had winked when she'd mentioned Garett, but tried to put it out of her mind as she headed out the door. It was hard enough as it was to try not to think about Garett.
She turned the radio on loud as she drove the short distance to the diner, but even it seemed to betray her. All of the songs seemed to be about love, the betrayal of love, or sex.
The diner was dead, though the daytime waitress that worked most often before her had a bad habit of not refilling the condiments so she set about finding busy work for herself until the usual dinner rush arrived.
Garett arrived right on time, and headed to his usual table. He gave her a wide grin when she approached him. She could smell his cologne and it smelled so good on him that she wanted to lean over and breathe in his scent. A blush rose to her cheeks and she hoped that he didn’t notice as she set his usual glasses of ice water and decaf coffee in front of him.
“What can I get for you tonight Garett?”
He gave her a flirtatious grin. “Have I told you how beautiful you are Aca
sia?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t think you have yet this week Gar.”
He flirted with her quite often, and she supposed that may have added to her attraction to him. But he had been clumsily flirting with her since he was fourteen years old, even when she was going out with Gavin and he was chasing Demi. He was certainly better at it now, but the fact that it was old hat between them made it even harder for her to figure out how he really felt about her. Then again, she wasn’t quite sure how she really wanted him to feel about her anyway. Even with as much as she wanted him, there were so damned many reasons that she knew she shouldn’t.
“Well, I’ll tell you now then. You’re beautiful Acasia Brown.”
She shook her head at him. “So beautiful in a mustard yellow waitress outfit that makes me feel twice my age and fits me about as well as. . . Well, whatever. This thing is hideous.”
Garett chuckled. “And you’re still beautiful. How’s Demi?”
“I don’t know. I’m guessing she’s busy. I’m sure she’s fine. Mom forgets that she’s not a baby anymore. It was time for her to broaden her horizons. Everyone should get out of this town at least for a little while.” She remembered then that he had chosen to stay in their hometown, the only one of the six of them that hadn’t chosen to move on. “Sorry.”
“Hey, I did leave town to go to school remember?” He shrugged. “I’ve always loved this town. I never really found any reason to leave. How long do you think it will be before Demi ends up back here?”
“Hey yourself, that sounded almost like an insult to my baby sister, the same girl that you chased for two years in high school.”
“I mean no offense Cas. I just always thought that Demi felt the same way about this town that I did. Is it wrong to love this place? It’s not such a bad town is it?”
“I suppose not, but I always wanted more you know? This town doesn’t really have a lot to offer.”
“It has me.”
Acasia snorted. “You seem to have taken on Gavin’s ego since you grew up. How is he anyway?”
“The same I suppose. He’s not really the best at keeping in touch. Everyone seems to think that he ran away from something, and I’ve kind of had that feeling myself for a while now too, but he won’t tell anyone what it is. I’ll bet it’s a woman.” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Uh uh. Gavin broke up with me remember? If there’s some mysterious woman that Gavin ran away from, it’s not me.”
“Demi always had a thing for him didn’t she?”
“Leave my sister out of this. Even if Demi did have a crush on Gavin, the last thing that she needs is your brother walking in and screwing up her life. Demi is sensitive and I don’t think she could stand it if a player like your brother got to her.”
“You’re the one that dated him for two years. Gavin really isn’t a bad guy. Dad thinks that he was born too handsome for his own good. It was always way too easy for him to get girls.”
“Like it wasn’t easy for you and Jay to get girls too.”
“Well, Jay never really wanted any girl besides Nikki, and you might remember my failed attempts to catch both Demi’s eye and yours.”
“Give me a break Garett. I don’t know why you bothered to chase after Demi for so long. I knew she liked Gavin and it scared the shit out of me. She’s always seemed so vulnerable. I knew that if he decided to make a move on her that she’d fall right at his feet and that he’d break her heart like he broke mine, except it would have been worse, because she’s not as strong as me. And as for you flirting with me, well Garett, we both know that there was never any chance for us back then.”
“Is there a chance for us now?”
She turned away from him. Her face felt like it was on fire. She wanted to blurt out that she’d love to go out with him, but she knew that she’d never do it. She planned to shove her feelings for Garett as far down as they would go. She didn’t know how easy that was going to be though. This easy flirtation between them had become the norm. If she stopped returning his casual flirtation, she was sure that he would know something was up with her. And the last thing she wanted was for Garett to find out how she really felt about him.
“Did I make you uncomfortable darlin’?”
There was both a teasing and a cocky quality to his voice. He sounded so much like Gavin sometimes that she had to stop herself from calling him Gavin. Falling in love with Garett almost felt like falling in love with Gavin all over again and it made her want to run away from her unwanted emotions even more.
Though physically Gavin had been much more her type than Garett was. He was barely taller than her at 5’11 and more wiry than big like Gavin was. Gavin was 6’3 and 200 pounds of solid muscle. Garett had grown into a handsome man, but she normally preferred her men to be bigger so she didn’t feel so damned big herself.
She turned back to Garett, hoping that the last traces of blush had left her cheeks. She rolled her eyes at him, and then forced herself to look directly into the frank beauty of his hazel eyes. Sometimes he looked at her in a way that made her think he wanted her. But he had spent so many years trying to mimic Gavin that she could never really be sure when Garett was being serious and when he was just putting on the cocky airs that his older brother had worn so well, constantly flirting whether he meant it or not.
“Give me a break Garett. You don’t play the game as well as Gavin does. And why would you want to anyway? We both know that Gavin can be the world’s biggest jerk.”
“He’s my brother Acasia. Maybe he can be an ass, but deep down he’s really a good guy.”
“Okay, so I admit that Gavin does have redeeming qualities, but he made the choice to run away from everything without bothering to tell anyone why. You’re different Garett. You’re more like Jay, steady and reliable.”
Garett sighed. “Steady and reliable is so boring. How am I ever going to catch your eye when the last thing you seem to want is steady and reliable?”
Acasia snorted. “Are you kidding me Gar? I learned the hard way that bad boys aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. I’m almost thirty. I don’t want to have to worry about thinking that I found the right man, getting pregnant and then finding out that my man thinks that he deserves to have his cake and eat it too. Jay is devoted. How did Nikki get so damned lucky?”
“Jay’s pretty damned lucky himself. I don’t think anyone ever argued about who the hottest girls in town were. Stop talking like you’re an old lady Cas. I could be devoted if you wanted me to be.”
He fluttered his long eye lashes at her. He used to do the same thing when he was trying to sweet talk her into something when they were kids, whether it was sharing her candy or snacks with him since his parents were health food nuts and never kept any unhealthy food in the house, or his later attempts to convince her to teach him to French kiss.
She had to turn away from him again when she thought of the day he had talked her into teaching him to kiss with his tongue. It had been right after Gavin had left town, she’d been depressed and had accepted an older friend’s invitation to get drunk. She was still a little hazy on how she had ended up at the Blacks’, but it had led to a make-out session with Garett in the basement.
He had been a quick learner, and had been much better at French kissing by the end of their teaching session than some of her early boyfriends had been. Those had been the only the kisses they had ever shared and she’d been mortified that she had done such a thing afterwards, but the reality had always been that she was even more embarrassed about how kissing Garett had made her feel than she had been that she’d given in and kissed her ex’s youngest brother.
She took a deep breath and let it out before she turned back to him, wondering how much longer she was going to be able to take the agony of being near him. She had had so many dirty thoughts about Garett in the last few weeks that she was sure it had to be written all over her face every time she looked at him.
She didn’t want to feel this way,
but she was beginning to think that the only way she was going to get away from her budding feelings for Garett would be to run away from him. She pondered the idea that Gavin had indeed run away from a woman just to take her mind off of the handsome man in front of her, and quickly banished the unwanted idea that it WAS her little sister that he had run away from.
Garett was giving her an amused grin. “Earth to Acasia. Were you picturing me naked again?”
“Enough. I’m going to start calling you Gavin the second if you don’t start remembering that you have a personality of your own.” She gave him a tight smile. “What can I get for you Mr. Black?”
He faked a wounded look. “You’re cold woman.” Then he brightened. “But it’s the ones that seem so cold that are so hot in bed isn’t it?”
She shook her head at him, hoping her cheeks weren’t red yet again. He was driving her crazy and she could see that he was enjoying it. “Stop it or I’ll have you banned and you’ll have to learn to cook.”
“I know how to cook. I know how to do many things, very well.” He winked.
“Garett Elijah Black, I swear if you don’t stop, I’m going to call your mother and tell her all about the way you’ve been talking to me.”
“Must you forever remind me that our families were so entwined that you not only witnessed practically every awkward teenage drama that I put myself through, but that my mother loves you and all of your sisters like you were her own daughters? If any other woman made that threat to me, it wouldn’t hold water because my Mama doesn’t trust just any woman, especially when it comes to where her sons are concerned. But you Acasia, she would trust every word that came out of your mouth, exaggerated or not.”
“I wouldn’t need to exaggerate now would I Garett? What can I get for you tonight, now that you’ve managed to take up so much of my time that you owe me the tip for two or three tables?”
“I will take my usual beautiful. Pardon me, now that you’ve threatened to tell my mother on me, I suppose I can’t even call you beautiful now can I?”
She rolled her eyes at him and walked away, glad to be away from him. He really did drive her nuts, especially when he was doing his best to hide behind the façade that Gavin had put on so well.
Key To My Heart: Stay Page 1