He missed her. Their brief conversation in the park hadn’t been enough for him and he was tempted to drive by her house to try to catch a glimpse of her. But more and more lately he’d sensed that she wanted to run away from him and he didn’t want to pressure her, afraid that he would lose her. He wondered if he should lay off some with his flirting, but he wanted her to know how beautiful he thought she was and didn’t know any other way to tell her without sounding like a complete idiot.
He sighed as he popped the top of a beer, looking around his house. There was a lot of work that needed to be done, and he supposed that he should put more time and effort into fixing the house up than torturing himself and his brother, wondering how Acasia felt about him. He vowed to try to keep his mind off of her, but he had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be easy. The blue of her eyes haunted his dreams, and he had never forgotten the taste of her lips.
Acasia
Acasia was on edge. She hadn’t smoked again since the day she’d broken down and bought a pack of cigarettes, but it wasn’t the lack of nicotine that was threatening to drive her crazy. It was her unwanted feelings. She wanted them to stop. But she knew that running away from him would do her little to no good anyway. She didn’t believe that Gavin had forgotten her sister by running away, and she knew that running away would no longer be enough to make her forget Garett.
And even worse was the fact that she had begun to suspect that Garett knew how she felt about him. He rarely flirted with her anymore, and when he did he was so damned respectful about it that it was almost laughable. But his sudden change of face had only left Acasia even more confused. She wasn’t sure if he was aware of her feelings and didn’t feel the same way, and had backed off in his flirting, not wanting to encourage her, or if he felt for her what she felt for him and was trying to get the nerve up to ask her out.
She didn’t know what she’d say if he did ask her out. She wanted very much to go out with him, but she was afraid. Afraid that he would hurt her, afraid that she already felt too much for him. And there was no one she felt she could talk to about her dilemma. Her mother seemed convinced that Garett and she would be the next joining of the Brown and Black families and she and Alisa Black had started a quiet campaign to get the two of them together. Acasia had been tempted to mention it to Garett, sure that he had to be aware of their mothers’ conspiring, but she hadn’t.
She felt like a complete coward, afraid to talk to Garett of all people. She had seen him both at his worst and at his best, just as he had seen her since they had grown up together. It seemed more than a little silly for her to be afraid to talk to Garett Black. But she was all the same.
Garett
Garett was well aware that his mother and Acasia’s mother had decided that he and Acasia were meant to be the next joining of the Black and the Brown families. He was just glad that that information had somehow escaped his father. Jed had been disappointed when Gavin had broken up with Acasia, convinced that she was the only one that could settle his rebellious son down, and had seemed to give up on the idea of their families being joined any more than Jay and Nikki had already joined them.
His mother was driving him crazy, asking him when he was going to take Acasia out on a date. He put her off again and again, trying his best to think about something other than her beautiful face. But it wasn’t working. He was distracted all the time, and knew that he was falling in love. Sometimes when he looked at Acasia he was sure that she felt the same, that she remembered their shared kisses just as vividly as he did, but then she would say or do something that left him feeling even more unsure of her feelings than he had been before.
He felt like an idiot all around, and wondered what it was going to take to get his head on straight again. He had a feeling that the only way to get her out of his head would be to ask her out. The worst she could do was say no, though the thought of such a refusal was almost too much for him to bear. So he put it off again, throwing himself into his work, taking on both extra work for his father and working all hours of the night around his house.
He told himself that he needed to feel what it felt like for her not to be in his life, preparing himself for a disappointment he hoped he never had to really feel, and took to eating his meals at another restaurant or at home. It made him feel like even more of a chicken shit to avoid her, but he needed some distance, needed to feel as if some sort of logic was in play. Because if he would have followed his heart completely, he would have asked her out the day she came back to town, and he knew that that definitely would have sent her running in the other direction.
Acasia
She tried not to let the fact that Garett hadn’t come in to the diner in weeks bother her, but it did. It bothered her greatly. And it bothered her even more that their mothers had seemed to have given up on playing match maker. She was afraid that it meant that Garett had told his mother that he wasn’t interested in her.
So Acasia tried to put it all out of her head. She tried to think about what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, but all she knew that she really wanted at the moment was Garett. The realization that he didn’t seem to feel the same only seemed to make her want him more.
She was tempted more and more to run away and never look back as Gavin had. But she knew that she couldn’t walk away without a word to anyone. Her mother would never forgive her if she did, and she was unsure that her sisters would either. So she knew that running away wasn’t an option, not a real one anyway, though the thought that she could was enough to comfort her at times.
She tried to convince her heart to give up on Garett, but not seeing him hurt, and even more so because she knew that he was purposefully avoiding her. She let it slip to Demi one night when they were on the phone that she had fallen for Garett. Her little sister told her to go for it, and ask Garett out herself, sure that he would say yes. But Acasia wasn’t so sure, and she knew that her sister was trying to make her feel better. So she continued to try to ignore her feelings for the youngest Black brother, knowing all the while that she would have to face them eventually.
Garett
When Garett woke up one morning after having had a vivid dream of making love to Acasia, he knew that there was no point in fighting his feelings anymore. It had been almost a month since he’d stepped foot in the diner, but he knew that she was working that night and he knew that he would go to her. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, and the thought of seeing her again and ending his period of careful avoidance was enough to put a more genuine smile on his face than he’d worn all month.
He was so distracted at work that his father made the comment that he looked like his mind was a million miles away, but he was excited too. He was so damned excited that he knew that finally asking Acasia out on a date had to be the right thing to do. He just hoped with all his heart that she would say yes.
He took a shower, and then pulled a pair of jeans and a nice t-shirt out of his closet. He’d originally planned to dress up, or at least dress up more than he normally did, being a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy; but he had decided against it, feeling silly for even considering dressing up not to go out on a date with Acasia, but to ask her out on a date.
He rehearsed over and over again what he was going to say to her, having the uncomfortable feeling that if he didn’t he was going to end up sounding like a fool. But when he walked into the diner, and as if magic Acasia turned and looked right into his eyes, any rational thought flew out of his head. Yep, he thought as he went through the door, to what may well be his destiny, I am most definitely falling in love.
Acasia
When she looked up as the bell above the door at the diner chimed and looked right into Garett’s eyes, Acasia’s face lit up as if it were on fire. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of her as he’d walked to his usual table, and she’d made her way to him as if he was a magnet and she were made of metal, unable to move anywhere but towards him. Her throat went dry. Her palms got sweaty. She couldn’t
say a damned word to him when she reached him. She just stared at him, her face still bright red, feeling like the world’s biggest idiot. Or more likely, a fool in love.
“Acasia.”
The way he said her name sounded different somehow. Something had changed when their gazes had met across the room. She’d felt it and she knew that he had felt it too. She was breathless with anticipation, finally willing to let go and feel what she felt for him. She looked into his eyes and met a lover’s gaze, full of promise. The noisy diner faded around her, and he was all that existed in her world. His hair, his eyes, his lips. She drank in every bit of him with her eyes, memorizing the face that she knew she would grow to love, the face that she was dangerously close to loving already.
He was every bit a man, no trace of the boy that he had been existed. He no longer looked like Gavin to her, only Garett. And he was so damned handsome that he almost took her breath away. She realized that she hadn’t yet responded to his. . . She wasn’t sure what exactly he’d meant when he had said her name, whether it was a question or a promise. She stifled the urge to touch him, suddenly aware again of the public space they were sharing what felt like an all too private moment in, and forced her hand to her side.
“Garett.”
His name felt different on her lips, and she almost didn’t sound like herself, even to her own ears. She knew that whatever his next words to her were, that something had changed between them.
Garett bit his lip, a habit he had carried from childhood. But to Acasia it was suddenly erotic. Every move he made now seemed erotic. She was glad for the first time that they were in a public place, afraid of what she might have done if they hadn’t been. She wanted him.
He smiled slightly then, and she knew that her thoughts had to be written all over her face. She just hoped that he was the only one that could tell that there was nothing more on her mind that moment than making love to him.
He winked at her, bringing the blush back to her cheeks. But then his eyes grew serious. She felt a stab of panic, thinking that he was going to let her down easy.
He said nothing for a moment, just looked at her. She wasn’t sure if he was searching her face for her true feelings, or memorizing her as she’d tried to memorize him. Her heart beat fast as she waited for him to speak.
“Why do you have to be so damned beautiful Acasia Brown?”
“Garett.”
“I’m serious Acasia. If you weren’t so fucking beautiful, this wouldn’t be so hard.” He cleared his throat, and then went on. “Since the day you came back to town, you have been all I’ve been able to think about. The sound of your voice, the way you smile, even the way you rolls your eyes at me. I have never seen a more beautiful woman. You haunt my dreams. I’ve never been able to forget the way it felt to kiss you, the way it made me feel to kiss you. The way it made you feel to kiss me. I know that you felt something that day Cas. It would have been impossible not to.”
“That sounds suspiciously like your ego talking Garett Black.”
“It’s hard to be smooth around someone who makes you feel like a complete idiot.”
Acasia smiled. “I’ve felt like an idiot quite often myself lately.”
“So what do you say that we feel like complete idiots together? Go out with me Acasia. Please. Nothing would make me happier right now than hearing you say that one word.”
She was tempted to tease him, but there was nothing she wanted to say more to him than exactly what he wanted to hear.
“Yes.”
He let out a sigh of almost utter relief. “I was so afraid you were going to say no.” He let out a shaky laugh. “That word has never sounded better in my life.”
Her face got hot again, and she knew that she needed to take his order and take care of the other tables in her section. If she didn’t she was afraid that he was going to say something else that would put dirty thoughts of him right back into her head. He made her feel beautiful. She had never felt more beautiful than when he’d followed her across the room with his eyes.
“I guess I should probably get back to work. Do you want your usual Gar?”
“I want you Acasia. You’re all I want.”
She forced an eye roll, but she could feel him undressing her with his eyes. It was almost like a caress, and she could almost feel his hands following his eyes over her body. The moment became all too intimate again, and she knew without a doubt that she had indeed fallen head over heels in love with Garett. But for the first time it felt like a good thing.
“I remember what it felt like to kiss you too Garret. And I did feel something back then. Yes, I want you. But I’m at work and my boss is going to kill me, or at the very least fire me, if I don’t get back to it.”
Garett chuckled. “And reality sets back in. I will take my usual beautiful. I mean it when I call you beautiful. And I meant every word that I said to you earlier too. I can’t get you out of my head. And I no longer want to.”
She offered him a smile. “I’ll be back with your food in a few minutes.”
“I’ll be counting the seconds.” He winked at her.
The rest of the night passed in a dreamy haze. Garett called her after she got off of work, and they talked late into the night, making plans to go out on Saturday. Acasia couldn’t wait to see him again, and found herself daydreaming of what their first night together might be like.
Garett
Garett felt like a teenager in love. He and Acasia had been talking and texting most of the day, so often that he had actually gotten into trouble with his father at work. But she was all he could think about. He wanted to spend every minute with her. He couldn’t wait until Saturday, but he was half afraid that he was going to make a fool of himself.
He had still felt like an idiot even after she’d agreed to go out with him, because he had wanted to let out a triumphant yell when she had said that one simple word. He’d been so damned happy that he’d almost blurted out right then and there that he loved her. But luckily he had kept his mouth shut, because he knew that he had thrown enough at her already without throwing the ‘l’ word into the mix, and he hoped that he would be able to hold his tongue until she was more comfortable in her feelings for him. He had a feeling that she was half in love with him already too, had seen it in her eyes when she’d looked at him; but he didn’t want to put any pressure on her. There was no way that he was going to let her go now that he actually had a real chance of being with her.
Saturday he took her out to dinner and a movie and then took her back to his house. He hoped that she didn’t think he was being too forward, and trying to talk her into bed on their first date. Making love to her was very much on his mind, but he honestly wanted her to see his house. He was good at what he did, and he was proud of what he had done with the house so far, even though it might not look like much since the house was so big and needed so much work done to really make it a home again.
She seemed to enjoy his tour of the old house though, and he could tell that she was actually listening when he tried to explain his ideas to her, the ways he wanted to not only put the house back together, but to make it his own. He made them a drink, and they ended up making out on the couch, but he made himself pull away after a few minutes of bliss. He wanted her, but he wanted even more for everything to be right between them.
Acasia
Acasia had to take a cold shower after she got home from her date with Garett. Her body felt like it was on fire. She knew that if he had tried to talk her into his bed that she would have willingly followed him. She didn’t think she would have regretted going to bed with him on the first date either, though it certainly wasn’t something that she had done before. Everything with Garett felt different. Everything with Garett just felt so right.
She had felt that way before though, had been so sure that she was meant to be with Gavin, and then later with Colton. She knew that she was feeling too much too fast, and that her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her and co
mpletely cloud her judgment. She felt a little like she was standing on the edge of a cliff. But she wasn’t scared to go over the edge anymore, because she knew that Garett would be there to catch her.
She knew that he’d wanted to make love to her just as much as she had wanted him to. But he had been the one that had broken their kiss, choosing to remain the gentleman that he was. And he was a gentleman. Politeness had been drilled into him by his parents, just as hers had instilled manners in her and her sisters. But he’d taken it a step further. He’d brought her flowers and chocolates and not only held the door and her chair for her, but had followed her home after their date had ended.
She had wanted to kiss him again before he’d left, but had known that her mother was probably watching them, so she had only waved before she’d turned and gone into the house. Her mother wasn’t in sight, so she had slipped down the stairs, wanting to relive the time she had spent with Garett over again. She felt pathetic, but she already missed him.
The shower took some of the heat from her body, but she knew that Garett would be in her dreams that night. His face was in her mind as she fell asleep, and he was the first thing she thought of when she woke up in the morning. She couldn’t wait to see him again.
She called Demi to tell her the good news and almost ended up in a fight with her sister over Gavin. Demi still seemed to have feelings for him, and Acasia was afraid that her sister had been made even more vulnerable with her pregnancy. She was excited to be an aunt again, but more than a little worried about her sister.
She felt like she could talk to Garett about anything, and mentioned to him that her sister wasn’t sure how she felt about the man she was having a child with. She was a little afraid that he would mention something to Gavin since he had mentioned that he did talk to his brother now and again, afraid that Gavin was going to end up chasing Demi again, at a time when she least needed a man like him in her life. But Acasia decided to leave it alone. Her sister was a grown woman anyway, and had proven that she could take care of herself.
Key To My Heart: Stay Page 3