Long Road Home

by Stacey Lynn

  She hung up, still laughing before I could repeat that dinner wasn’t going to be like that. Good grief. Between her and Rebecca, it was now all I was thinking about, so while I hurried to the door, opening it before he could ring the doorbell, I thought I had my libido under control.

  Good Lord in Heaven was I wrong.

  “Hi,” I said, my word stretching out. My tongue fell to the floor along with the rest of my words.

  I saw him hours ago. How was it possible he was more attractive?

  “Hey.” He flipped his keys in his hand and his gaze didn’t once drop to mine. He was focused on something over my shoulder. “Ready?”

  It wasn’t exactly the warmest greeting I’d ever had. Not the worst, either.

  Still, disappointment pinged in my chest and I grabbed my purse from the couch. Jordan didn’t enter at all, and by the time I reached him, he was already looking out to the street, door held open like he couldn’t wait to get this dinner over with.

  It was the final hint I needed to slam away all the runaway thoughts I’d had, all the additional ones Rebecca and Allison had given me.

  This was dinner. Two people catching up. Hell, he probably only wanted to take me into town so if anyone was a jerk to me, he could handle it. It was something a friend would do. I should have been thankful. But as he followed me to the truck, holding the door open and barely saying anything, it still felt like I’d stepped in a pile of cow manure. So far, this wasn’t exactly the night I’d hoped for.

  Eighteen

  Jordan

  * * *

  Want to know what hell is? Stepping up to the house of the only woman you’ve ever loved, picking her up for a date like it was high school all over again. Sweaty palms and a racing heart included, only to have her open the door looking like a siren and it was her job to steal my soul, suck me into her web and never let me up for breath.

  Destiny was in my truck. The sweet hint of her perfume invaded my brain and every time she shifted her legs, I caught a glimpse of her trim, tanned thighs. I was almost rock hard and ready to say screw the date.

  Fuck me sideways, I could barely say anything when I first caught sight of Destiny, wearing a bright green short, short dress, a halter top where the front dipped down giving me more than a passing glance at her cleavage, and the back was open, only a tie at the neck keeping her breasts hidden from me. I feared I’d grunt something caveman-like along the lines of “Bed. Woman. Fuck. Mine.” Then we’d never make it to dinner.

  But the awkward levels were growing exponentially as I weaved through town, roads I knew better than the back of my hands, and the music was quiet enough I could still hear her breathing next to me.

  Destiny. Alone with me in my Escalade that was a definite step up from Grandpa’s rusty truck I used to drive. A vortex of memories I thought I’d banished long ago assaulted me, along with the desperate need to know if she still tasted the same.

  “So. Everything go okay at Rebecca’s?” I asked and cringed out the side window. God, I’d barked it like an animal.

  She huffed. “Did you have a bad day? If something happened, we don’t have to do dinner.”

  I was apparently transparent as glass. I was also ruining the first date I’d had with Destiny in a decade, and the first time I’d been able to spend a decent amount of time alone with her since she returned. I had to pull my shit together.

  Once I was sure I would sound marginally normal, I replied, “No. Just things on my mind. Nothing bad though.”

  Like tugging at the tie of her dress so her breasts would spill into my hands…my mouth.

  Nope. No bad thoughts here.

  I adjusted my legs and willed my hard dick to settle.

  “If you’ve got something on your mind, we don’t have to go out. We can go eat at my place.”

  My hand moved before I could stop it, settled right on the heat of her thigh, singeing me. Arrows tipped with a pleasurable pain shot straight to my already hardening dick. Then I did something dumber. I curled my fingers around her, felt her muscles tighten beneath me, heard the hitch in her breath, saw the way she licked her lips as if me touching her was the best fucking thing to ever happen to her.

  “I’ll be good.” I was better just having my hand on her. Strange when a week ago I wanted to throttle her. “I was thrown earlier. I’m good now.”

  “Thrown by what?” She was staring at my hand. Eyes wide. Muscles taut. Barely breathing.

  She was feeling the same damn thing coursing through my system. Could this really be happening? Us? Again? She’d already made the first move by asking me out tonight. If there was a chance in hell we could make something good again, we had to be in this together.

  I threw down the gauntlet. “I was thrown by how beautiful you were. Prettier than you ever were when I used to walk up to that door excited to see you. It all just hit me, and you were there, looking like you look.”

  I turned the corner while keeping my hand on her thigh and pulled into Down Home’s parking lot. It was busy for a Friday night, not packed at barely after seven considering most of the old people came for the senior special that ended at five-thirty, but there was a decent crowd.

  “Des?” I asked when she hadn’t responded at all. I shifted in my seat and turned to face her. “Hey. You okay?”

  “You said—”

  “I know what I said. I know what I felt. But what I’m asking is if you’re really okay going in there?”

  Her eyes slowly lifted from my hand to the front windshield to the row of windows along the side of Down Home. All the booths along the side we could see were taken which meant we’d be at a table in the middle, front and center, for all to see. “We can go somewhere else.”

  “No. I need to do this. And you’re here. Who’d be dumb enough to mess with me?”

  Lots of people. I didn’t tell her the truth. “I’m here.” I squeezed her thigh again and forced myself to pull away from her. “And we’ll be good. Promise.”

  She grabbed her purse, turned to me, and plastered on the bravest and yet fakest smile I’d ever seen. It was so bad I was laughing as I climbed out to get her door. “Let’s do this.”

  “You’re a nut,” I replied.

  * * *

  A pretty little teen greeted us at the hostess stand when we walked in. “Hi Mr. Marx, how are you tonight?”

  “Good, Kylie. Any chance you have a booth for us somewhere?”

  “Um.” Her grin went wonky, which meant no, but I came here a lot and was friends with the owner, so I hoped she could swing something for me.

  “It’s okay,” Destiny said, stepping up to my side. “A table will be fine. Whatever you have.”

  Kylie’s eyes went wide for a moment and she bit her bottom lip. Yeah. I didn’t exactly bring women here. Didn’t exactly date women in town much, either. When I needed an itch scratched, I was more likely to head to Kansas City for a few days. Screwing women who knew I had more money than anyone else in town meant I didn’t trust women easily. Plus, most of them had at one time, been a bitch to Destiny.

  “No. It’s okay. If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes for a booth to be cleared, we have a table leaving.”

  “Perfect. Thanks, Kylie.” She hurried away, and I wrapped my hand gently around Destiny’s bicep, pulling her to the side to the one small bench they had for waiting customers.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Destiny said. “But I bet with the way that girl looks at you, you could get her to do anything.”

  The hell? “What are you talking about?”

  “Please.” She bumped her shoulder into mine. “That girl looks at you like our entire class of high school girls did. And the older ones. And the younger—”

  “I get your point. You’re crazy. She’s a kid.”

  “She’s a kid who looks at you and sees supper and she hasn’t eaten anything since Sunday’s brunch.”

  “Gross.” I laughed. “That’s messed up.”

  “It’s how all
the girls always saw you.” She pressed her lips together and looked away, not sadly, maybe reminiscing.

  I’d only ever cared about one thing back in school. “How did you see me?”

  Her pressed lips lifted into a grin and pink spread so hot and fast on her cheeks it turned the tip of her nose pink.

  “Tell me.”

  Slowly, she turned to me, eyelids fluttering. So damn nervous. Pain flared in my rib cage. “I looked at you like I hadn’t eaten in weeks.” She spoke so quietly, so sweetly, I had to fight against my dick going hard again. “Every time I saw you I felt like the wind was knocked out of me.”

  “That’s messed up and maybe the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” She shrugged, turned toward the restaurant like what she’d said was no big deal, but it was. That’s how I always felt around her. I was also pushing my luck when I asked, “And now? Now what do you see?”

  “Your table is ready now, Mr. Marx.” Kylie was a sweet kid. Good student who wanted to get out of town and head to KU to become a doctor someday. Right then, I wanted to smack her.

  “Saved by the bell,” I groaned and stood from the bench. “Thanks, Kylie.”

  Destiny was slower to move, fidgeting with the strap of her purse as she lifted it to her shoulder. We’d taken two steps when she placed her hand on my forearm and tilted back her head. “The same, Jordan. I still feel the same.”

  Talk about getting the wind knocked out of you. My steps faltered, and it was all I could do to stay standing and head toward the table, and not turn around and shove my mouth to hers. Instead, I grabbed her hand and firmly squeezed her slim fingers. “Good.”

  * * *

  Fortunately, the booth Kylie cleared off for us was tucked into the back corner of the restaurant, away from the windows lining the parking lot. Personally, I didn’t care who saw Destiny and me together. It wouldn’t be the last time. I knew she appreciated it though as she slid into the booth facing away from the restaurant, so the only person she could see was me.

  Her bravery apparently only went so far, which was also fine. Suggesting coming here was a big step for her.

  Conversation was kept light while we placed our drink orders and then food orders by another high school aged waitress, but it was time to actually get to know the woman Destiny had become. There was a lot we’d talked about. A lot we needed to rediscover. As much as I didn’t want to hear it, I needed to. I waited until she’d sipped her water, fiddled with her silverware in a way that showed her nerves.

  “Tell me about your life in Houston.”

  Her hands stilled on her fork and knife. “My life?”

  “Yeah, Destiny. Your life. What’s it like? What do you do? Do you like it?”

  Would you ever consider leaving? I was smart enough not to ask the one question I was dying to know.

  “We live in a suburb called Friendswood. I picked it because it sounded nice.” She flashed me a grin that was shaky at best. “I wanted a good place to raise Toby and he has so many friends, Jordan. He’s really smart. I mean, it’s only fifth grade, but everything comes so easy to him. He taught himself to read before Kindergarten. One day he just picked up a book and read it—”

  “He’s a good kid.” I leaned forward, almost resting my elbows on the edge of the table. “But I wasn’t asking about Toby’s life. I’m asking about yours.”

  “Oh. Um.” Her brows pulled together in that cute way she had, and she reached up, fiddling with her ponytail, twisting it around her hand before letting it drop into her lap. “Well, I’m a mom, and I work. That is my life. I mean, you know about Paul, and I don’t think you want to talk about him, so…”

  I didn’t. I didn’t want to hear a thing about the guy who had her for years and couldn’t seal the deal, but I’d chew nails if she would open up to me for once.

  “Do you like your job? Friends? You have to give me something here, Des.”

  She squeezed her eyes close harshly and when she opened them, fear swirled in her rich hazel eyes so brightly it almost made me want to cry. “I’m trying,” she gritted. “It’s not easy for me.”

  My stomach curled. This was the easy shit. And if we couldn’t talk about this, what hope was there for anything else? For a moment I wondered if I was kidding myself. If the girl I thought I knew had always been a mirage, just a pretty girl I fantasized about and a mold I tried to fit Destiny into.

  At that thought, I reached for my beer and took a long drink.

  She shocked the hell out of me when she started talking.

  “I work for a graphic design firm, which you know. Allison, my boss, is a good friend of mine. She and her husband Drake have a huge sailboat and on the weekends, sometimes all weekend, Toby and I join them, fishing in the Gulf and hanging out. It’s fun, to be out on the water. I never had that here and the first time I got so seasick from the rocking I threw up over the edge of the boat. They still tease me about it even though I got used to it eventually.” I returned her smile, encouraging her to continue when she shrugged again. “I don’t know, Jordan. I work. I like my job, love it. I get to be creative and help people even though I’m not saving lives or anything. Toby’s happy and healthy. I have some mom friends from his sporting teams, but it’s not like we hang out all the time. Toby and I go to Kemah every few months, and I try to take him to a Houston Texans or Rockets game once or twice a year, but that’s really it. I’m a mom, a good one, and that is my life.”

  I didn’t doubt she was a good mom. And she was successful if I could base it on her style of clothes and the Acura MDX she drove. Maybe I was looking for too much. A decade of life condensed into a dinner conversation.

  Trying to settle my stomach, I asked, “What’s Kemah?”

  “Oh.” Her eyes lit up. Finally. “It’s this cute little town, with a little boardwalk—almost a miniature amusement park with roller-coasters and carnival games. It’s right on the Gulf Coast, so when you’re at the top of the rides, all you see is water on both sides. It’s really cool. Nothing fancy, not huge like a Six Flags or anything, but they have this amazing steak and seafood restaurant that Toby loves. It’s sort of expensive, which is why we don’t go there very often, but they have this bacon wrapped lobster…”

  Her eyes glazed over as she kept talking, mostly about the food. This was what I needed, though. It was small, but it told me about her. I was wrapped up in every word she spoke, telling me about the trips they’d taken there, the first time Toby rode a roller-coaster and cried and how horrible she felt afterward.

  And I realized she was right. She was a mom. She had this life completely wrapped up in her son, in the best kind of way. She wasn’t out partying with friends or living some high-life. She was responsible, taking care of our son, taking care of herself in the small ways she could through work and a few close relationships. This was what adulting looked like, like Andrew and Brooke’s life or even Kelly and Ryan’s without the kids. It was settled, comfortable, but good in the most fulfilling way possible.

  I was so wrapped up in her telling me about the last Rockets game she went to, where they got there early for a fan-signing event after warm-ups and Toby was able to get most of the team to sign a jersey that I didn’t notice our food arriving, or who was bringing it until Christa was at the table.

  “Hey there, Jordan. Fancy seeing you here.” She slid my burger in front of me and Destiny’s chicken pot pie to her side.

  “Hey Christa, you remember—”

  Destiny’s face paled. All the laughter and excitement she showed talking about Toby went up in smoke as she recognized Christa.

  “Destiny. Hi,” Christa said, slowly but friendly. Not the least bit shocked she was sitting with me either, which meant people were definitely talking even though I’d forgotten all about other people in the restaurant. “I heard you were in town. I’m really sorry about Tillie, she was a great woman. One of the best.”

  Christa’s smile went soft, but it was genuine which made it hard to understand why Destiny’s
had been wiped clean. “Thank you. Nice to see you, Christa.”

  She sounded like she was spitting nails. What the hell? Christa wouldn’t hurt a fly. Literally. Sometimes when there was a fly in the restaurant while I was eating there, she begged me to take care of it…without injuring the thing. Destiny’s sudden reaction made no sense.

  “You too,” Christa replied, although her own easy smile was gone, too. “Are you going to be in town long?”

  Destiny’s gaze came to me and she shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I have things to finish up here.”

  What the fuck was going on?

  “Oh. Okay.” Christa’s head swung my direction and she asked. “Are you going to Rebecca’s tomorrow? She said they have a surprise. But you have to tell me…are they having a baby?” She clasped her hands together. “Please tell me she’s pregnant.”

  “Not that I know of. And trust me, I don’t even like thinking of my sister and Cooper in that way.”

  “Jordan—”

  Nope. There were things brothers didn’t need to know. “But, I will say the surprise is pretty awesome. I know I love it.” I winked at Destiny, who was watching the interaction so closely it was a wonder her eyes hadn’t popped out of her skull. “We’ll both be there, actually.”

  “Oh.” She grinned back at Destiny, but this time both of their smiles were fake. “Great, then. Maybe we can catch up some more. I’d really love to talk to you, Destiny.” Her voice went soft, almost apologetic which confused me more. But then she clapped her hands together before pressing her palms onto the tabletop for a moment. “I have to get back to the kitchen, but I wanted to say hi. If you need anything, yell for Sammie and she’ll help you, okay?”

  “Got it. Thanks, Christa.”

  “Thank you,” Destiny mumbled. Even from me, I could tell the politeness was killing her.

  Christa walked away with a frown furrowing her brows and looked back once at us. I waited until she was gone before I asked, “What in the fuck was that about?”