From One Night to Forever

by Synithia Williams

  Aaron shook his head. “I’m not doing anything tomorrow night.”

  Tara’s grin widened. “Great. Take my number and give me a call. I’ll show you a good time.”

  He shook the discomfort that tried to settle in as he put Tara’s number into his cell phone. He and Kacey weren’t together. They wouldn’t be together. They’d shared one night and agreed to move on. Plus, she came with more drama than he needed in a relationship. Being with her meant staying in Resilient. Watching her drive herself into the ground from the responsibility of running the restaurant. Days working with Reggie in an office and nights sitting on the couch with Kacey, watching wrestling before going to bed and making love.

  Which on the surface seemed cool. Except one day he’d realize he was just like his dad. Stagnant, boring, and stuck.

  Marcus ran over to Aaron and Tara. “Hey, Aaron, will you throw some balls for me?” The kid bounced on his feet.

  Aaron chuckled. “Sure, kid.” He looked to Tara. “Excuse me.”

  “I’ll watch,” Tara said.

  They stood and Tara slipped her arm through his. Aaron led her over to where Marcus and a few other kids were tossing a baseball back and forth. He threw a few balls and gave the kids a few pointers before agreeing to join Reggie in a game of corn hole. Marcus flanked his left and Tara glued herself to his right. Tara asked to be his partner and turned out to be pretty good at aiming the beanbags toward the hole.

  Monique kept score, and even though she clearly cheered for her brother and his partner, Julio, she had to concede when Aaron scored the winning shot. Tara jumped up and pumped her fist. “Yes!” Aaron chuckled at her competitive streak. “We did it, Aaron.” She raised her hands for a double high five.

  Aaron slapped her palms, then automatically pulled her in for a hug. She pressed her soft curves hard against his body. She slipped her arm around his waist, and they turned to face Reggie. Aaron didn’t pull away.

  Aaron lifted a shoulder. “How about a rematch?”

  Reggie shook his head. “You’re feeling cocky, I see.”

  Tara’s arm around his waist tightened. “Of course we are.”

  Kacey walked over and Aaron’s laughter died away. He forgot all about Tara’s soft body the second his gaze landed on Kacey. The light blue dress she wore had a halter top and fell in loose folds to her feet. The thin material clung just enough to her shapely legs to make him imagine them without the material covering them. Her long hair was twisted at the back of her head, accenting the graceful lines of her high cheekbones, her slim chin, her plump lips. He smiled at her, until he met her eyes, which narrowed in on him and Tara. His smile drooped.

  Aaron took his arm from around Tara’s shoulders and stepped to the side. Tara gave him a confused look, then glanced at Kacey.

  Kacey turned away from Aaron and smiled at her brother. “Sorry I’m late. Things took a little longer than I expected at Cliff’s.”

  Reggie shrugged. “No big deal. How was the party?”

  Kacey lifted a shoulder. “It was all right.” Her lips tightened and Aaron frowned. She didn’t sound like things had gone all right. “How did the game go?” Kacey pointed to the corn hole sets decorated with University of Tennessee orange and white.

  “We lost,” Reggie said. “Those two beat the crap out of us.”

  Kacey’s cool stare returned to Aaron and Tara. “Really.”

  Tara leaned into Aaron’s side. “Yep. We make a pretty good team.”

  “Looks that way. Sounds like you need a rematch.”

  Tara nodded. “That’s what I said.”

  Reggie picked up the beanbags and separated the orange from the white. “Then let’s do this.”

  Aaron wasn’t in the mood for a rematch. He wanted to talk to Kacey and find out what had happened at the party to cause the tightness around her eyes.

  “You guys have fun,” Kacey said and turned to leave.

  “Hey,” Aaron called. She glanced at him. “You okay?”

  Her lips spread in an overly bright smile. “I’m perfect.” She turned and walked away.

  Perfect, hell. Something had happened. He had an urge to follow her, but he let Tara turn his attention back to the game. Following Kacey would pull him further into her trap. He needed to avoid the trap. But his eyes and brain didn’t want to cooperate, and both strayed to her too much during the course of the next game.

  He didn’t even care when Reggie and Julio won. He tried to pretend as if he wasn’t watching Kacey as she sat with her mom and sister Ashlei on the deck. Or when she went to the grill and only ate half of the hamburger on her plate. Or when she sat with one of Reggie’s friends and spent twenty minutes talking and laughing with him. Aaron ignored the need to interrupt, pull her to the side, and get her attention on him.

  Kacey meant long term. Kacey meant a relationship. He wasn’t good with relationships, but he damn sure didn’t like the way that guy put his hand on Kacey’s knee.

  “You know, we can get out of here,” Tara said from where she sat next to him on the bench.

  He looked into Tara’s big, hopeful eyes. “You know I’m only in town for a short time,” he said.

  She smirked. “I know, and all I’m interested in is a good time while you’re here.”

  All the invitation he needed. The perfect way to ensure Kacey never looked his way again. “That’s good to know.”

  Tara cocked her head to the side and toyed with the end of her ponytail again. This time his gaze didn’t follow the movement. Aaron glanced to where Kacey stood getting a canned drink from one of the coolers on the deck. She looked up and their eyes met. For the briefest second, he swore he saw hurt in her expression before she quickly looked away. She slammed the top of the cooler down and rushed into the house.

  “So, what do you say? Want to get out of here?” Tara asked.

  Aaron frowned and turned back to the woman who could rescue him from the trap. Suddenly leaving with her didn’t feel like a rescue. I’m not ready to settle down. I’m not the guy Kacey needs. But he couldn’t walk away without knowing what had her so upset.

  “Give me a second, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  Aaron stood and followed Kacey into the house. The music and conversation from outdoors became a hum in the background of the cool, quiet interior. Camila and some other ladies sat around the kitchen table, and another group of ladies and kids sat in the attached living area. For a moment Aaron second-guessed following Kacey inside. He had no idea what he wanted to say to her, and he definitely couldn’t say much in front of everyone in here.

  Camila glanced at him. “You need anything, Aaron?”

  Aaron glanced at the gathered people. Kacey wasn’t with any of them. “Yeah, the bathroom.”

  Camila pointed toward the hall. “It’s right down the hall.”

  He nodded. “Thanks.”

  One of the ladies stopped him. “I think someone is in that one. Try the one upstairs.”

  Aaron glanced at the closed bathroom door in the hall. Kacey could be there, but asking for her specifically would only have them wondering why he was so interested in Reggie’s sister.

  “I will, thanks,” he said. The ladies went back to talking and Aaron went down the hall, hesitating before the bathroom door, but then he kept going. He’d go upstairs for a second then come back down. Take off with Tara and forget about getting further involved with Kacey.

  Upstairs he easily found the other bathroom, but since he didn’t have to use it, he decided to check out the upstairs. Not because he wondered if she was up there, but because he hadn’t seen that part of the house yet.

  Yeah, tell yourself that.

  He peeked into the master bedroom, and the two other bedrooms upstairs, one of which was being converted into a nursery. Aaron grinned at the light blue walls and the crib in the corner. Reggie, married with kids. He still couldn’t believe it. Seemed like all the guys he knew were settling down, leaving him as the only bachelor left. He wis
hed them all well, and he knew that one day, way in the future, he wouldn’t rule out the same. Just not right now. He was too restless right now to settle down with one woman. Which was why he should just go down and leave with Tara, no matter how much a relationship with Kacey intrigued him.

  Aaron grunted and quickly backed out of the nursery. He ran a hand across his face. “Don’t even go there,” he said softly. They lived in two different states. He still had to straighten out the confusion over Liz. Hell, he still talked to half of his off-again, on-again hookups frequently. Not the behavior of a guy ready for a relationship. He would be crazy to give up a single man’s dream. Not to mention it had the potential to ruin this merger if things went bad.

  Yet he still checked the last closed door on the second floor. He opened the door to find a washer and dryer and Kacey, sitting on the dryer, sipping from a canned strawberry margarita.

  Aaron froze, forgetting all about his off-again, on-again relationships as memories of his night with Kacey heated his blood.

  She glared at him. “What are you doing in here?”

  She was angry. It couldn’t be because of Tara. She’d spent more time talking to that dude downstairs than paying attention to him and Tara. He came into the laundry room and leaned against the inside of the door frame. “I’m snooping. What are you doing up here?”

  “Getting away from the noise.” Her plump lips twisted into a smirk. “Why are you wasting time snooping? I thought you and Tara would have taken off by now.”

  Aha…so she had paid attention. “I didn’t want to leave with her just yet.”

  Kacey cocked a brow and harrumphed. “Why is that?” She lifted the can to her lips for a sip.

  “I wanted to check on you.”

  The can jerked in her hands and drops of the red margarita spilled on the front of her dress. She swore and wiped them briskly. “You don’t have to check on me.”

  “I know I don’t have to, but that doesn’t change that I want to. How did things go at your dad’s party?”

  Her hand gripped the small can, causing a slight bend in the aluminum. “The same as always. He was glad I was there. His family was cordial. Brenda’s family wasn’t.”

  Aaron’s body tensed. “Were they rude to you?”

  Kacey put the can down and tried to wave it off, but her lips were tight. “Not exactly. Just a little cool with their reception. It’s normal. Not many of them are happy to have Cliff’s bastard around.”

  Anger shot through his body. His hands balled into fists. “Did they call you that?”

  “No. No one’s called me that since I was four and the entire situation first came out.”

  Aaron cursed and ran a hand over his face. “How could someone say that to a child?”

  “It wasn’t exactly to me, just about me. In the middle of a grocery store as Cliff tried to keep my momma and Brenda from fighting.”

  Aaron frowned and his mouth dropped. “You’re kidding.”

  She took a sip from the margarita. “I wish I were. The entire situation with them started out so volatile. Now they all act as if everything is cool and they didn’t once fight over Cliff in the middle of the grocery store.”

  “Maybe they matured.”

  “Or maybe they’re just crazy,” she said with disgust. “I don’t get it.”

  “There’s nothing to get. Your mom and Cliff got together and you were born, which to me is a great thing no matter the circumstances. Things were bound to be bad when the situation got out, but then cooler heads prevailed and they all learned to deal with the situation because regardless of how the adults behaved, the sweet, beautiful girl who came from that had nothing to do with it.”

  Kacey’s wide, dark eyes turned to him, and something tightened in Aaron’s chest. “You don’t have to feel bad for their mistakes. They found a way to make things work and you had the love of your mom and your dad. A lot of people don’t get that.”

  “I know, but is it wrong that a small part of me wanted what you had? Two parents, married, in love.”

  “Boring,” Aaron said, waving his hand. “When you look up ‘perfectly boring married couple,’ you see my parents. They worked, took care of me and my siblings, and worry about us in between family meetings and Sunday dinners. No excitement at all.”

  She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “If you had my family, you’d appreciate boring.”

  Maybe he would. He did appreciate his parents and the stability they provided. But even with all that, he didn’t envy their life. The weight of responsibility that he and his siblings put on them.

  “Always trying to one-up me,” Aaron said. “It’s why I like you.”

  Her dark eyes met his. Something sparked and her sad expression turned into a sweet smile.

  “I like you too, Aaron,” she said, her voice a low, melodic sound that sent another type of heat through his body. Kacey smirked. “Sometimes.”

  Aaron chuckled and her sexy laugh joined his. “Only sometimes, huh?”

  He also liked her sense of humor, and her teasing jabs. They made him want to kiss her. Made him think about how much he’d liked kissing her and how great her slim legs felt when they were wrapped around his waist. How easily he’d lost himself when they’d slept together.

  Kacey shifted on the top of the dryer. She picked up the can and ran a finger across the rim. “Well, you’ve checked on me. You can go back to Tara now.”

  To hell with Tara. “I don’t want to.”

  She sipped from the can and licked those wonderful full lips of hers. “What do you want?”

  No hesitation. “To kiss you.”

  Chapter 18

  Kacey’s already speeding heartbeat jumped another level. She should insist he go back to Tara, finish her drink, and go home. But the second she’d seen her family friend pressed up on Aaron, her brain screamed “mine” and she’d wanted to grab Tara by her long ponytail and jerk her away from Aaron’s side. Especially since Aaron didn’t appear to mind the attention. She was already emotional from Cliff’s party, which she could blame for the extra shot of jealousy coursing through her. Besides, she had walked away, and he followed.

  “Then kiss me,” she said in a soft but confident voice. Though he could still walk away and go back to Tara.

  Aaron closed the door and strolled across the small space to stand before her. A thrill of victory swelled within her. He’d made his choice, and she had no intention to squander her triumph.

  Pulling on her skirt, she slowly lifted the material to gather around her thighs and spread her legs. She motioned with her head for him to come closer.

  “If I kiss you I can promise you, I won’t stop at that.”

  Kacey grabbed the waistband of his dark blue shorts and jerked him forward. “I’m familiar with your lack of self-control.”

  She licked her lips, thinking about how he’d lost the cool façade he carried around right before he climaxed.

  “So you think I have little control?”

  “I’m not complaining.”

  His large hand slid up her thighs and gripped the soft flesh. “Let’s test your self-control.”

  “Mine isn’t the one in question.”

  “Remind me of that when we leave this room.”

  Aaron cupped the back of her head with one hand and kissed her. Kacey clutched his red cotton T-shirt and pulled him in. She didn’t care about anything thanks to the magic of his kiss. The sweet glide of his tongue against hers and the firm pressure of his body had her slanting her head to the side to get closer.

  She breathed deep, and fast, getting drunk off the smell of soap, sweat, and the spicy masculine fragrance that heated her blood. She knew all the reasons why they shouldn’t be here, how easily they could get caught, and she didn’t care. All she wanted was Aaron, who’d called her beautiful and said the situation with her parents wasn’t her fault. Something she knew, but she liked hearing from another person.

  Now she needed him. Wanted him. And based on the ur
gent grip of the hands on her head and thigh, he felt the same. The kiss was full of the same thoroughness that he’d shown that first night, but edged with the pent-up desire they’d tried to ignore.

  Aaron’s hand on her thigh slid up to the throbbing pulse between her legs. Kacey spread farther, and pushed her hips forward. A deep moan rumbled through his chest, and his long fingers massaged her through the damp material of her panties. Pleasure pulsed through her body. She gasped, her head falling back, and she bit her lower lip to hold back her shout. Aaron pressed hot kisses along her neck, alternating between fast brushes of his lips and light nips with his teeth. His body was rigid, tight with desire that she wanted unleashed.

  Had only two weeks passed since they’d had sex? She felt as if she hadn’t been touched in over a year.

  Pushing her panties aside, Aaron’s fingers slowed their quick movements to gently knead her wet folds. Kacey’s mouth fell open. Her nails dug into his shoulders.

  “Oooh, yes.” The words were a loud moan.

  Aaron sucked the sensitive spot at the base of her neck. “Control, Kacey, you don’t want anyone to hear you.”

  The hand on her head dropped to her breast. He squeezed before lifting the flesh and lowering his head to pull at the tip through her dress. She clamped her lower lip between her teeth and stifled a moan. Thoughts of control were irrelevant when he touched her like that. Kacey reached for his erection, but he pulled his hips back.

  “Not yet,” he said in a deep, rumbling voice.

  Aaron straightened. His lids were low over his hypnotic, dark eyes and he stared into hers. He gathered the ends of her dress around her waist and pushed the material further up and around. Kacey’s short, fast breaths sounded ten times louder in the small space. The sound was anxious and urgent, giving away how much she wanted this. He slipped his fingers into the waistband of her panties and pulled. Kacey lifted her hips, and he eased them down her legs. The slow scrape of the material against her legs made her breath come faster, harder.