Stefano tapped his fingers impatiently on top of the high polished wooden bar as he waited. That moment still flashed in his mind of Jayla sneaking out of his room while his back was turned. His first reaction had been to go after her, but by the time he had yanked open the door she had vanished, and running down the hall naked wouldn’t have been a smart move. Instead Stefano decided to give her time to think, but he had every intention of resuming their conversation on the ride to the airport.
He tipped the waiter, then carried the drinks over to the small round table in the corner. The only way Jayla would see them was if she was hanging out at the bar and he knew since she seldom ever drank, they were safe to talk.
Stefano straddled the chair across from Kat.
“Thanks.” She began and brought the glass to her lips. He took a sip and waited for her to speak.
“Jayla called and asked me to take her to the airport.”
“What?” he said, then scowled. Damn, she really doesn’t want to be around me.
Kat shrugged a slender shoulder and replied, “I told her I would, even though I don’t agree.”
He was thankful that at least he had Kat rooting for them.
“I guess she plans on leaving without saying goodbye.” He reached for his beer and took a long swig hoping to disguise the hurt, but the tightening at his throat made it almost impossible to swallow.
Kat leaned over the table, searching his eyes. “You have to understand my cousin has gone through a lot. She grew up feeling like a social misfit both at home and at school. Jayla was always judged and scrutinized, even by her own parents. I love my aunt, really I do, but she’s truly a piece of work. Nothing was ever good enough for her. I don’t know how Jayla survived living in the same house with a mother who always looked down her nose at you.” She shook her head. “My father and her father are brothers, and they are like day and night. I’m a Daddy’s girl,” she announced with pride. “But Uncle Frank wanted a boy, so he pretty much ignored Jayla. He believed girls were left to their mother to raise. Well, then she started the drinking and it only got worse.”
Stefano’s fingers tightened around the bottle. Jayla had said her home life hadn’t been perfect, but he had no idea it was that bad. No wonder she left for college and never came back. “She told me she doesn’t drink anymore.”
Kat nodded and an emotion flashed on her face so fast, with so much sadness, he was prepared to come around the table, drape an arm around her shoulders and comfort her. “What is it?”
“Please…I feel like I’m betraying my cousin by saying this, but I want so desperately for her to be happy.”
Reaching across the table, he squeezed her hand. “I won’t say a word.”
With a nod, she released a small sigh of relief. “The drinking got worse at college. She ended up in these bad relationships with guys who were just using her.” Her lips tightened with displeasure. “The last guy she was dating drained her bank account. After that she hasn’t trusted a man since.”
Her face was sad, and anyone could tell that she truly cared about Jayla.
“I appreciate you telling me.”
“Thank you. Jayla deserves to be happy. She’s just scared, but you can’t push her because if you do she will run away. She spent so many years with people trying to control and tell her what to do that she doesn’t do well in those situations. I know this is hard, but you gotta let her decide on her own about the two of you.”
“And what if she doesn’t come back?”
She was silent as her fingers trailed along the rim of the glass. “I think she will. You just have to give her space, and let her see for herself how much you mean to her.”
He dragged air into his lungs. All he wanted to do was hold Jayla tight and promise her he would spend the rest of his life loving and protecting her, and yet after what Kat said it would only scare her. But there was no way he was letting her get on the plane before he made sure she knew exactly how he felt about her.
“I’m taking her to the airport.”
A soft smile tipped the corner of Kat’s mouth. “I figured you would say that.”
After Kat left, Stefano headed back to his room, whistling a tune that he had heard on the radio.
“Hi Steph.”
At the sultry sound, he turned around to find Tamara standing in the doorway of one of the rooms, looking like a Christmas present waiting to be unwrapped in a revealing red dress.
“Hi Tammy.” She struck a pose and his traitorous eyes perused all her curves.
“I was hoping we could get a moment to chat,” she said and pushed away from the door and sauntered in his direction.
“I’m really short on time.”
She brought a hand up to caress the side of his face. “That’s too bad.” She purred. “There is so much I want to show you.”
She pushed him back against the wall and pressed her body against his.
He gave a nervous chuckle. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to kiss you.”
He held up his hands in protest but his response wasn’t fast enough. Tamara swooped in and pressed her lips against his. He managed to turn his head and startled at what he saw.
“Jayla,” he said, then cussed under his breath as he pushed Tamara away from him.
There was no disguising the hurt on Jayla’s face. “All you men are the same,” she muttered, then turned and stormed away.
“Hold up!” Stefano called after her. He then turned and glared at Tamara. “I’m not interested.”
With a roll of her eyes, she mumbled, “It’s your loss.”
Stefano had already dashed down the hall.
“Jae, wait up!”
“For what?” she yelled over her shoulder. “You seem to have your hands full.”
As soon as he was close enough, Stefano grabbed her arm and hauled her against him. “Give me a chance to explain.”
She glared while Stefano searched her eyes hoping to see something that told him they had a chance. It was bad enough Jayla had trust issues. Seeing him with Tamara only solidified her belief.
“There’s nothing going on between the two of us,” he said softly.
“Then what would you call what I just saw?” She brought a hand to her waist, waiting impatiently.
Stefano took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I call that a woman who refuses to take no for an answer.”
Jayla took a step back and replied, “Listen, the weekend was wonderful. I was horny…had an itch I needed scratched, and you did just that. It was fun. But now it’s time to say goodbye. Maybe we’ll run into each other at the next reunion,” she added with a shrug.
Stefano continued to search her eyes. She was trying to act tough but he heard the pain in her voice, he had seen her hands shaking. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
She stepped back out of his reach. “You don’t have a choice.”
If she had been looking for a way to hurt him, then that was it. Stefano moved to the side and watched as she walked away.
* * *
After she explained everything over the phone, Jayla was grateful to find Kat waiting to take her to the airport
She put her carry-on suitcase on the backseat then climbed into the passenger’s seat. “Thanks Kat.”
She turned on the seat and glared at her. “You’re ridiculous, you know that.”
Jayla closed her eyes and sank low on the seat. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then you shouldn’t have called me for a ride! Stefano is crazy about you. I spent almost an hour talking to him tonight, and—”
“Tonight?” Jayla whipped around on the seat. “You spoke to him?”
She saw the guilt in her cousin’s eyes. “He asked me to come by the hotel and talk. If that was the case do you really think he would have been with Tamara? Remember, he was supposed to take you to the airport, not me.”
“So the two of you were scheming?” She didn’t know what to believe a
nymore.
Kat shook her head. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound.”
No, but nothing about this week had been normal.
The drive to Newport News was quiet. Thank goodness for 95.7, otherwise the silence in the car would have been unbearable.
This was what she didn’t want to happen—for their relationship to become serious. It was supposed to have been fun, wild, and reckless, not at all about commitments and making something more than it really was. She liked him. Hell, part of her thought that maybe she had made the mistake of falling in love, but now, after seeing him with Tamara, she was certain that what had occurred in the last four days, she could undo in less than a week if she put some distance between them. And she was almost convinced that once she boarded the plane she might even start to believe it.
“You can just drop me off at departures.”
Nodding, Kat pulled up the ramp then maneuvered the car close to the curb. The airport was relatively busy with people and taxis along the road.
As soon as Jayla got out, she blurted, “Cuz, I really appreciate everything.”
“Then prove it.”
Jayla released a long sigh, then removed her suitcase from the back seat. “I’ll call you when I get home.”
“You better,” Kat said then Jayla spotted her looking at something over her shoulder. Swinging around, she stalled when she spotted Stefano standing there.
By the time Jayla swung around, Kat tossed her a wave as she was pulling away from the curb.
She was trying to be a matchmaker again.
Stefano walked over and then reached down for her suitcase, but she resisted. “No, I can carry it myself.”
“Is it so hard for you to let a man be a gentleman?”
His response left her speechless. She didn’t object the second time or when he took her hand and led her into the airport. People were rushing around, lines were long at check-in, and Jayla was grateful she already had her boarding pass in hand and no luggage to check. Stefano led her over to the security gate. Jayla sighed, stopped, turned and hugged his arm. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
He looked down and she gazed up, searching his eyes. “What makes you think I’m mad at you?”
“Oh, I just thought…” her voice trailed off and she stopped.
“If you want to pretend like you don’t care about me, then that’s your problem, not mine.”
She gasped at how observant he was. “How can you tell me how I feel?”
Their eyes locked. “Okay…then I’m going to tell you how I feel.”
“And what is that?” she asked and swallowed.
“I’m crazy about you, querida. These last few days…I feel like I’ve known you forever, and I don’t want it to end.”
Her heart warmed. Stefano felt everything she was feeling, but it wouldn’t last. It never did. Eventually he would change his mind. She shook her head. “I don’t believe in long-distance relationships. They don’t work. Hell, relationships don’t work…at least they don’t for me.”
He stared, making her feel naked and vulnerable. “Maybe you’ve been picking the wrong men.”
Lifting a shoulder, Jayla shrugged. “Maybe…maybe not, but I’m just not interested in finding out.”
“You’re telling me you don’t like me?”
“I’m not saying that. I’m just saying it won’t work. We live too far away to put in the time a relationship needs.”
“We can make it work. I have no problem driving my car to see you.”
“Sure but for how long before you get tired of making that six-hour drive?”
“As long as it takes to make you mine.”
She gasped and felt a flush of emotion, but she wasn’t going to allow it to weaken her stand. “And then what?” she asked, searching his eyes.
“Then, we’ll figure it out together.”
She stared at him a long time and he saw the desire, and yet the uncertainty returned to her eyes. “Stefano, I like you a lot…” her voice trailed off as she suddenly realized what she had said. “But I don’t think—”
“Then don’t think,” he interrupted.
His voice changed, and then there was something in his eyes that she had never seen before.
“Don’t think. Just say yes, Stefano, I want to see you again. And then I’ll smile and we’ll make plans for me to drive down to Utah in a couple of weeks. You’ll show me around your city, I’ll take you to dinner, and then you’ll take me home to your bed where I’ll make love to you all night.”
Bottom lip trembling, Jayla raised on her tiptoes and lost herself in a kiss that intensified everything she had been feeling all weekend, and then she drew away from his arms and warm, comforting touch. “That’s sounds really nice. Really it does, but I can’t.” She swallowed and her heart ached at the disappointment on his face. “Goodbye, Stefano.” She hurried over to the TSA workers and handed them her identification and boarding pass. While she slipped off her shoes and laid them on the conveyor belt along with her bag, she fought back the tears burning at her eyes. How wonderful it would be to share a life with him, but she knew better. There was no way what she was feeling was real. It couldn’t be.
She waited until she had gotten through the body scan before she turned around. Her heart sank. Stefano was gone.
It’s for the best. If he had still been standing there, she might have raced back out into his arms. And then what?
And then without another thought, Jayla turned away, shoulders stiff, knees wobbling. And once again she was alone. What she felt was worse than growing up in a home with parents who practically ignored her. Somehow she felt more alone than she had felt sitting in her dorm room sipping from a vodka bottle, knowing she wasn’t allowed to come home during summer break. She was lonelier than when Nicholas drained her savings and left her in an empty apartment. But the pain of walking away from Stefano was like no pain she had ever felt before, which was why she had done everything she could to avoid feeling this way about a man again. But it was too late. No matter how much she tried to deny it, Jayla had fallen in love with Stefano and the emotion tore at her insides, causing her to buckle over.
Quickly, Jayla hurried to the ladies room and into the stall in time to empty the contents of her stomach. The pain of never seeing him again was so overwhelming. Damn him! She didn’t want this. She hadn’t asked to fall in love, instead she had tried to avoid it. Everyone she’d loved had hurt her. What made him any different? She wiped her mouth angrily with a tissue, then pushed through the door and walked over to the sink and glared at her reflection.
I didn’t ask for this!
She had been just fine before Stefano walked back into her life. Talking about spending time together. Entering into a long-distance relationship. She’d tried that before only to find one of her exes in bed with another woman, because she hadn’t been around to satisfy his needs. Not again.
She splashed water on her face, then rinsed her mouth and reached for a paper towel. It was better this way. She was confident in a few days she would agree, and Stefano would always be a sweet memory.
Tears burned at the backs of her eyes and quickly she shook them off. She had plenty of time to cry once she got home. And once she started, she was afraid she may never stop.
11
Stefano’s heart did a double thump as he walked into the community center for his photo shoot on Wednesday morning as promised. He was anxious to get it over so he could get back to Las Vegas and his unit. He and his team were scheduled to meet in the morning at zero eight hundred. One of the therapists from Psychological Health was dropping in to evaluate the men and ensure they were all fit for duty. He was sure there would be a lot of resistance, but the welfare and mental state of his men was more important to him than their damn pride.
A receptionist at the desk directed him to the rear of the building where Braden Niles was waiting for him. The room was staged with special cameras and lighting.
“Off with the shirt,” he huffed.
His assistant immediately ushered him into a dressing room to change into a pair of stonewash jeans, compliments of one of their sponsors. Stefano stared in the mirror at his navel and the downy trail of hair on his abdomen. He muttered under his breath and the moment he stepped out from behind the curtain, the little assistant was spraying baby oil all over his chest.
“We want to simulate sweat,” she explained, as he held his arms out to the sides.
Just shoot me, why don’t you.
He hated taking pictures. Stefano had felt that way his entire life. And a photography session only intensified his distaste, but it was for a good cause, he kept reminding himself, and he had promised Ms. Phyllis.
“There you are!”
Speak of the devil. The woman came walking into the room and he noticed that she was moving slow. With a frown, he realized her hips were bothering her again. He had spent most of the week at her house, clearing weeds and doing some minor repairs around her property. They spent the time catching up, and Ms. Phyllis mentioned she would possibly need a hip replacement. He insisted that she keep him informed so that he could take leave and come back to see her around her surgery. Her children never understood their relationship, but they never interfered either.
As usual, she had spent the week cooking all his favorite foods and had even baked him a chocolate cake. He had enjoyed spending time with her talking and laughing, and of course, she had asked about Jayla.
Stefano’s heart tightened at the mere thought. He missed her like crazy. He spent the rest of his time in Hampton trying to keep himself busy hanging out with Marquis, friends and doing home improvement. But, it didn’t matter what he was doing, he couldn’t get her off his mind.
He was in love with her. As much as he wanted to, there was no way to deny that he wanted her in his life. The problem was she didn’t want him. Or at least she tried to pretend she didn’t. But he knew better. He had seen it in her eyes and in her body language. He would allow her a little time to get used to the idea that he was in her head and then he was coming. And despite what Kat had told him, next week he was showing up in her city. He had already googled her address and knew where she resided. He wanted her, and she was just going to have to get used to the idea that he wasn’t giving up.
Beg For It Page 10
