“No need to wait, I should be okay from here,” she stated, adjusting the plate she held, while fumbling for her keys.
Before she could reach her front door, she bumped into something warm and solid.
Keri’s head snapped up. “Shane! What are you doing here?” She turned around and found that Celeste was scrambling out of the car.
She turned again to Shane as he said, “I think we should talk.” He inched closer. “I’m asking you to just hear me out.” He moistened his lips with a quick swipe of his tongue—a sign Keri recognized.
Why is he so nervous?
“Then if you want me to leave,” he continued. “I’ll walk away for good.”
Her shoulders dipped. The last few months the man had pulled out all the stops—flowers, jewelry, cards, invites to private parties. From the stance of his long frame, she had surmised today would be no different. Shane was concealing something behind his back.
She looked up at him, parting her lips to speak, but Celeste beat her to the punch.
“Woman, just listen to the man.” Celeste demanded, snatching Keri from memory lane. “My love life’s at stake.”
“Yes, what she said,” Shane agreed, then frowned. “What’s her love life got to do with us?”
Keri waved Celeste away.
“I’ll talk to you later, girl,” she said. To Shane, she advised, “Come on.”
Shane slid the plate from her hands so she could unlock the door and inhaled. “There’s a slice of your mom’s apple pie in here. I’d know that scent anywhere!”
Keri shut her eyes. Why did he have to remember that aroma? In the past, Shane had been a vacuum cleaner when it came to her mom’s pies. The man could suck down one so fast, her mom was forced to bake an extra for him alone.
A slight smile lifted the corners of her lips. “I can’t count the number of times you burned your tongue,” she said, reclaiming her plate. You were always so impatient.”
“I know, but it was soooooo good,” Shane playfully whined.
They shared a laugh and it was actually … nice. She slid the plate onto the Chasca end table, dipped onto the sofa and Shane followed. He was close but not uncomfortably close.
“I’m here to claim my rightful place in your life,” he declared.
“Shane,” she said, trying to avoid his gaze because those piercing sable eyes were making it hard to concentrate. “You know I’m seeing Brian King, right?”
Shane hooked a knuckle under her chin and lifted. Avoiding eye contact was evidently not an option.
“What does that have to do with me?” he asked, his gaze intense. “The only reason he’s even in the picture is because you ended our relationship without hearing me out.” His expression became laser focused. “If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t have a chance.”
“It’s been five years!” she said, jerking from his hold and scrambling to her feet.
“And we would be married by now,” he shot back, joining her. “I’ve never stopped loving you.”
Did he just say he still loved me?
Keri’s knees weakened and she quickly put some distance between them by planting herself on the chaise lounge.
“Well, here’s your chance,” she said, crossing one slack-covered leg over the other. “You only get one shot.”
Shane crossed the distance that separated them.
“Keri, I’ve only loved one woman and I’m still in love with that same woman now.”
She shifted in her seat, obviously becoming uncomfortable.
“I cherished the night we first made love.” He lowered to his knees. “Everything that’s happened to me since then might seem perfect, but none of it means as much to me as you do. It’s taken me five years of trying to make myself happy with everything, only to realize that I won’t be complete without you in my life. I’ve even dedicated my life to God. It’s my faith in him that gave me the courage to try and make things right with you.”
Keri was silent, trying to rein in her emotions. The words she had longed to hear for years had finally been said, but something kept her from leaping with uninhibited joy.
Still too many unanswered questions.
“Then how the hell did you end up with your tongue down Michelle’s throat? And why were you wearing a towel like you had …?” She couldn’t even voice the words.
Shane let out a long, slow breath. “I’d just gotten out the shower when I heard a knock at the door. I thought my roommate had locked himself out again.”
“That explains the towel, but not anything else,” she countered, folding her arms across her chest.
“Michelle was there to collect her Biology notes that I borrowed in class. I handed them to her and right as I was walking her out, she latched her hands together behind my head and kissed me.”
“I saw your arms around her, Shane!” she scolded.
“I was startled!” he defended. “What you saw but misinterpreted was me prying her hands apart to escape the death grip she had on me.” He shook his head. “I swear the woman lifted weights or something.” He shuddered as though those hands were still on him. “That’s when you walked up.”
Keri’s mind raced. This new information was a lot to absorb. The image was branded into her brain, but to actually hear him explain it, to hear his side was distorting that image more and more by the second. Shane was fending Michelle off—not greeting a lover with a steamy kiss. Possible. Just possible.
“Do you want me to leave?” he whispered.
“Yes. No,” she sighed. “Stay a while, so I can process this.”
He left her side and took a seat on the sofa.
After what seemed an eternity, he asked, “Tell me this.”
Keri’s head snapped in his direction.
“Do you still love me?”
At that moment, it all came rushing back, the feelings, the comfort, the rightness. “I never stopped loving you, but the pain took over everything else.” She locked a tearful gaze with him. “I made the mistake of gifting you with something that was meant for only one man.”
“I won’t let you feel bad about giving yourself to me, Keri.” His eyes locked with hers. “What we shared was magical—never shameful. Please don’t ever belittle how precious that night was to me—to you.” he said softly, coming to her side. “Just give me a chance to make it right. Just—”
The buzzing of her phone snatched her attention. She reached into her purse and Brian’s avatar was flashing. Her heart sank to her toes.
Shane stood over her and grumbled, “Of course he would call right now.”
If Brian had a signal, and he used it to call her, then it was definitely important.
“I have to take this.”
“Seriously? When I’m pouring my heart out?”
Keri eased to the living room window and accepted the call. “Hey, Brian,” she said.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Brian’s voice was everything that spoke to being curled up by the fire on a wintry night. “What’s going on? Did you get my email?”
She glanced over to Shane and his thunderous look said plenty. “No … I’m sorry. I haven’t had a chance to read it,” Keri admitted.
“What time is it there?”
Keri checked her watch. “It’s half past five in the afternoon.”
“I don’t have that much time so I’ll get right to it. I’ve poured my heart out to you and you know where I stand. Are you going to give us a chance to become more than just friends?”
Shane paced the floor with enough force to remove the ceramic tiles.
“I … I …” was all Keri could muster.
Her heart did a quantum leap out into the street. What the hell was a woman to do? Two wonderful, handsome, and successful men, with so much going on for them—and both wanted her. Women shouldn’t have these types of problems.
“Keri?” Shane said, and she flashed him a warning that silenced him.
“Don’t answer that now,” Brian said, disappoint
ment in his voice. “Take some time to think about it. I’ll be home August sixth. Hopefully you’ll know who you want by then. Goodbye, Keri.”
“Brian!” she cried.
He ended the call and possibly any chance she had with him. There was so much that was wonderful about this sailor, much more than just a man with a nice body. Even in the short amount of time they spent together over the Christmas holiday, she found him to be funny, caring, and warm—a man who reminded her of the stable, quiet strength of her father. But his letters, so beautiful and heart-felt, spoke to everything that was good about him.
Keri pressed her head against the cool glass of the window and let her mind wander. The abrupt slam of her front door made her jump. She turned to find a bright blue gift box on the table.
“Shane!” She ran after him, chiding herself for forgetting he was even there.
Stopping in his tracks, he whipped around and buried her in his massive arms.
“Keri, I love you,” he said. “I know this is a lot for you to take in and judging from that call, it seems you have a decision to make.”
Shane’s embrace was just what the doctor ordered—that closeness, that touch, the feel of him was like a wall of comfort. Something she craved more than anything. How could Brian provide that kind of comfort if he was always gone? She’d already spent enough time on her own. Being in a relationship meant being with someone in the flesh.
“I need some time alone to think things through,” she said, looking up at him. “Can you respect that?”
He lowered his head to her lips, planting a slow heated kiss taking several moments before he extracted himself. Shane pushed her arm’s length and said, “We’ll be playing our first preseason game at Cowboy Stadium August sixth. I’ll have a skybox seat reserved for you and your friend. If I look up from the field and see you there, I’ll know your answer.” He ran his fingers through her hair, teasing the silky strands like he used to. “And if I don’t …”
His mouth swallowed hers again in a kiss filled with such aching, such longing, it took Keri several minutes to realize he was gone.
Chapter 9
Keri looked across a sea of family at the dinner table. Her mother, Darlene, who’d been married to Minister Wade James for nearly thirty-five years. Her two brothers, Ethan and Marco. And Celeste, whom the Jameses had treated like a daughter ever since she and Keri became friends in ninth grade. Celeste had taken up for Keri when a big boulder of a girl tried to take her head off over some boy who had tried to steal a kiss.
The fact that they had ended up in the principal’s office and Celeste was not sorry at all about standing up for Keri caused the little girl with the auburn curls to land on the James family radar. But the truth that Celeste—a foster child who had been passed from home to home and had no real family to speak of—seemed to blossom under their care is what sealed her spot as a daughter and sister.
Sunday dinners were always entertaining and unpredictable. Keri enjoyed them greatly, but even their lively personalities could not lull her from her melancholy.
“Why such a sad face, little girl?” her dad asked, chewing happily on his string beans.
“Aw, dad, I’m all right,” Keri fibbed.
“Girl, please,” Celeste chimed in around a mouth full of mac and cheese. “Who are you trying to fool?”
Keri shot her a baleful look that should have put the woman in check. Celeste grinned and kept right on chewing. But it didn’t escape Darlene James.
“I agree with Celeste,” her mother added. “Normally, we can’t shut you up during Sunday dinner. We’ve hardly heard a peep out of you.”
“Just a lot on my mind’s all,” Keri offered, kicking Celeste to signal she should stay out of it.
“You mean, two options on your mind,” Celeste quipped, throwing her right under the bus and had the nerve to smile while doing it.
“I’m going to stab you with my fork, you keep it up,” she said so only Celeste could hear.
“I thought so,” her dad chimed back in, his clean shaven head nodding. “This is about them boys sniffing at your heels.”
Keri’s jaw dropped.
“By the look on her face,” her mother added. “They’re turning up the heat.”
Everyone roared with laughter.
Keri wanted to slide under the table.
“Well, if we’re taking votes,” her dad announced, lifting his glass of iced tea in salute. “That sailor’s got mine.”
“I could see that,” her mother admitted with a sly wink at Keri. “But I’m leaning towards Shane McCoy.”
“What?!” chorused the rest of the people at the table—including the Pastor.
Keri dropped her napkin in her lap. “Can we change the subject please?”
“Nope,” Marco said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a dating laugh at your expense. We’re not going to let this one slide.”
Everyone fell silent, waiting.
“Both Brian and Shane are wonderful men,” Keri said, placing her fork on the side of her plate. “I just didn’t expect to have both of them vying for my attention like this. Or that I would like both of them. Well, love one of them, and I’m pretty close to feeling the same way about the other.”
“I wish I had your problems,” Celeste said and dabbed the napkin at her lips. “But if we’re casting votes—then I’m with Mama James—Shane, baby. I want some skybox seat action.”
With that statement hanging in the air, her brothers both gave Celeste a high five.
“Oh, good grief,” Keri groaned.
Finally, it was the family pastor who at least voiced something Keri could hang her hat on. “Take some time away from both of them.”
Everyone’s excited chattered trickled to a halt as they focused toward the head of the table.
“That means no visits, calls, or texts,” Pastor James said. “Think long and hard about what to do. Trust me. Your answer will come.”
Keri was out of her seat in a flash, giving her father a grateful hug. The whole table was riveted. She couldn’t resist popping a sloppy kiss on her parents and even her brothers and—Celeste.
The bawdy group teased and chuckled and moved to the next outrageous round of banter.
* * *
The next morning, Shane tried calling Keri to no avail. Shane packed the last of his personal belongings and climbed into his SUV. He was just about to put it in reverse until he received a text message.
“Shane, I don’t want you to think I’m ignoring you. I’ve seen your calls but I’m not prepared to talk to you yet. I need some time and space so that I can make the best decision for me. Thank you for the gifts, but more importantly, I thank you for clearing things up and being honest about what really happened that day.”
“Okay. You’re welcome,” was all the reply he could muster beneath his bruised pride.
Shane had told Keri the truth, showered her with gifts, and pledged his love for her. That was really all that he could do.
He turned the radio to HITS 101.9 and let the classics speak to his heart. “Just My Imagination” by The Temptations caressed his thoughts and produced images of him and Keri.
Keri was playing a dangerous game with him—and with the sailor. Shane had to admit—this was all on her. Neither one of them had an advantage with a woman like Keri.
Shane ticked off the options and as far as he could tell it was any man’s guess. He had history with Keri. Brian King had a clean slate. He’d been the one to introduce her to sensual awakening. Brian would shower her with equal appreciation. They both had feelings for her and there was every indication that she just may love both of them.
Shane floored the pedal and willed his car to approach Interstate 20 West toward Dallas. He planned to put soul into the game, because for some reason Keri still had a good hold on his heart.
Chapter 10
AUGUST 6
Brian quickly collected the last of his personal items from his berthing. Aiden stood
at the door, anxiously waiting for him to finish so they could hit the dock and leave the ship.
“Once again my friend, we’ve survived yet another deployment,” Aiden said from the threshold.
He scanned the room once more, making sure he didn’t leave anything behind.
“Hey, man. What are you doing?” Aiden said, frowning. “It’s time to break out of this camp.”
Brian barely heard his friend over the crush of memories flooding his mind. “When I first started this tour, I thought I’d made a better turn with that one area of my life that keeps coming up short. Keri was with me every day.”
Aiden leaned on the door and grimaced.
“I called her and put my heart on the line and … I haven’t heard from her since.”
“I’m sorry, man,” Aiden conceded. “I’m sure she realized that the distance would be too much. It’s best you know now than later when you’re head over heels in love with her.”
Brian lowered his gaze to the luggage before him.
“Ah, man,” Aiden gasped snatching Brian’s attention. “Please tell me you didn’t fall in love with her already.” Aiden smacked his hand against his forehead. “You can’t do that!”
“Too late.” Brian tossed his garment bag onto the bed. “And now with McCoy in the picture and superstar status …” He shrugged. “The NFL won’t require him to leave her for months at a time.”
“True.” Aiden closed the distance between them. “Look, I know you’re disappointed, but one day you will find that perfect woman who wants nothing more than to love a sailor.” He snatched up one of the suitcases and headed toward the door. “Trust me. In time, Keri James will be a distant memory.”
Brian folded up the last letter he had received from her. “Maybe you’re right.”
As they headed down the hallway, Brian reached in his pocket and retrieved the email with the directions to where his neighbor left the car.
Master Chief Wiley, a wavy-haired man with an extreme expression, approached them. They saluted him simultaneously.
“Do you guys have plans tonight?” Master Chief asked.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered ... I'm Yours Page 11
