Jesse raised his brows. “Coffee?”
“Please.” Could he actually be so kind as to let that ridiculously revealing comment go? She took the steaming cup he offered, mixed with sugar and milk just the way she liked it, and let the heat of the mug mix with the heat of her embarrassment. “I shouldn’t be allowed to speak until I’ve had at least one cup.”
“How long?” he asked.
“How long what?”
“How long has it been since you’ve slept in bed with a man?”
Lita took another sip and considered his arrogant look over the lip of the mug. “Maybe neither one of us should speak before we’ve had a cup.”
Jesse set his own mug down and moved to stand in front of her, his eyes alive with desire. “Maybe we just shouldn’t speak.”
Her first impulse was to object--it was too early, they had to get back, it would make things more complicated than they already were. But when he pulled the mug from her hands and placed it on the counter, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. Foolishly, she felt tears sting her eyes. What was the matter with her? A tiny show of tenderness had her heart squeezing tight? How did he shatter the walls she’d spent years building with a simple embrace?
He didn’t give her time to think. He’d moved his mouth to the sensitive skin of her neck. If not for the counter at her back, she’d have slid to the floor. Powerless, she gave herself to him again. Somewhere in the far recesses of her mind, she felt her conscience tapping her on the shoulder. You know this can’t last, it said. You know you have no future together. But for once, she didn’t listen. Sensible, organized, responsible Angelita Barros gave herself a rare treat. Again.
Chapter 23
Kerri Ann had just finished her latest go-round with the books and come downstairs to the bar for some tea when she heard the clickity-clack of heels on the floor. She looked up into the glow of Lita’s bright smile as her hands gripped the bar like a dog begging for a bone.
“Well, what’s new with you?” Lita asked.
“Hummm,” Kerri Ann let her eyes drift to the ceiling. “The new cutlery I ordered should be in any day now and from my latest calculations we’ve had a profitable winter, despite the drop in tourism.”
Lita slapped her hand against the wood surface. “You know I’m not asking about your business.”
“You’re not? Strange, I thought my love life was my business.”
“It is your business, but where’s the fun in keeping it all to yourself?” She sat on a barstool and flung her parrot yellow hobo bag on the bar. “I want details.”
Kerri Ann rubbed away the knot that doing the books always left in her neck and came around the bar to join her. She’d wondered, earlier in the day, when Lita would come sniffing around. “How about generalities?”
“Whatever. Spill it.”
She drew in a big breath and let it out with a dreamy smile. “We consummated our friendship and plan to do so as often as possible.”
“Aaaahhh!” Lita screamed. “I knew it.” Her eyes roamed over Kerri Ann, from her scuffed tennis shoes and faded jeans to her sauce splattered t-shirt. “You look radiant. I could tell by just looking at you.”
She had to laugh. Only Lita could understand the romance of the act and the significance. She was tempted to share more of the details, like the way Bryce held her after they’d made love and made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. Like the way he called her, without fail, mid-morning before the lunch rush to tell her he’d thought of nothing but her since they’d last parted. Like the way he said her name and pulled her close when he’d see her, cradling her neck in his hand and promising secret things with a kiss. “I don’t know about that, but I do feel good.” She spotted a forgotten fork under a table and got up to retrieve it. She’d always wanted this with Bryce, talking to him every day on the phone and in person, sneaking kisses and touches when they were together, and it was better than she’d ever imagined. But it couldn’t last. Why did everyone act like it would last?
“I hear I’m not the only one who had a date. Cal told me you and Jesse went rafting. Word on the street is you were gone overnight.”
Lita’s expression turned serious. “How on earth did you know that?”
Kerri Ann shrugged. “Small town. Things get around.” She sat at the bar and looked at her friend. She looked troubled. “So what’s the problem?”
“What do you mean?”
“Lita,” Kerri Ann said and reached for her hand. “What’s going on with you and Jesse?”
Lita pulled her hand away and locked her fingers together in her lap. Her eyes bore a hole into the bar. “We rafted.” She shrugged. “He managed not to kill me and I managed not to kill him in return.”
“And?” If Kerri Ann could admit she and Bryce had sex, the least Lita could do was reciprocate.
Lita huffed out a breath and covered her face with her hands. Kerri Ann saw her nails were bitten to the quick. “We…he…we had sex.”
Kerri Ann hadn’t imagined someone like Lita would be embarrassed by sex. But she saw more than embarrassment on Lita’s face. Her friend looked miserable. “I know it’s been awhile since I’ve been with Jess, but was it really that bad?”
“No, of course it wasn’t bad.” She flung her hands in the air. “It was the absolute opposite of bad.”
“Then why do you look so sad?”
Lita hopped off the stool and began to pace. “I’ve only known him for a little over a week. Seven days and I jump into bed with him at the first chance.” She grabbed the sides of her hair in each hand and shook her head. “What in the world was I thinking?”
Amused, and a little bit concerned to see Lita walking the primrose path, she smiled. “I doubt there was much thought involved. Jesse always had a way of sort of…blanking a woman’s mind.”
“You’re laughing at me.” She stopped pacing and turned to face Kerri Ann. “I’m in crisis mode and you think it’s funny.”
“I don’t think it’s funny. Well, maybe a little funny,” she said with a grin. “I’m just kidding. Now, what exactly is the problem? You do like him, don’t you?”
“Yes, I like him. That’s the problem.” She slumped against the bar. “I have to go home at some point and…I care about him. We talked about things, a lot of things, about me and about him. I haven’t felt this close to a man…ever.”
“Lita, it doesn’t have to end when you go home. Atlanta’s not that far. Lord knows, I’ve driven there and back many times.”
Lita slid onto the stool and looked her in the eye. “He told me about living there, his time away from you and Ty.” She twisted the citrine ring on her finger. “God, this is so weird talking to you about this. Do you hate me?”
“Don’t be stupid.” She looked at Lita, her beautiful face etched in worry and something more. She had real feelings for Jesse. Kerri Ann recognized the look of a woman worried about sliding headfirst into trouble. “You know, I was pissed off when he left. We were fighting all the time. He was miserable and I was miserable. We were making Ty miserable. So I told him to go. He wouldn’t do it at first—leave me and Ty and his dad. He needed to. I could see everything building up in him. So I told him, if he didn’t go, I’d divorce him and sue for full custody. He knew I’d do it, so he left.” She fingered the hole in her jeans and picked at the strings coming loose. “It was hard. Hell, it was the hardest thing I’d ever done, letting him go, taking care of Ty all by myself. And I missed him, more than I thought I would. But then I realized I had missed something more than him.”
“What?” Lita asked, her attention riveted.
“Me. Kerri Ann Russell. When he left, it was the first time I’d ever been on my own. It was the first time I thought about me and what I wanted apart from Jesse. I hadn’t been anything other than his since I was thirteen. Can you imagine? Once I got over being mad at him for wanting something different and for having to leave to get it, I realized that I wasn’t in love wit
h him. I’ll always love him, but we aren’t supposed to be together. Even when he came back, I didn’t want him back.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you’re scared of your feelings for him. You’re scared of what he’s got here and of taking a piece of it with you. You taking some of Jesse isn’t any different than Bryce taking some of me. We’re still a family.” She tapped Lita’s knee lightly with her fist. “If you get scared and run back to Atlanta instead of dealing with your feelings, it wouldn’t change a thing that’s going on here. But if you take off, don’t think you’re doing him a favor. I’d be on you.”
“A part of me wants to run back and forget about everything he’s stirred up inside of me. But I know I won’t forget. And there’s my business and my father to deal with.” She’d had six missed calls from him while they’d been away and another conversation where he’d simultaneously pleaded and demanded she return. She knew she was living on borrowed time.
“What does your father have to do with you and Jesse?”
Lita shook her head. “Nothing. Nothing I can explain, anyway. Regardless, I’ve been away from work for over a week.”
“You’ve been working. I’ve seen your sketches. Besides, your business isn’t a person. It can’t love you back.”
She stood up abruptly. “I’ve got to go. I’m thrilled for you and Bryce. I didn’t come here to chew your ear with my problems.”
Kerri Ann gave Lita a quick hug. “What are friends for?”
***
Bryce shifted back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels. The light from the overhead lamps bounced over the glass cases in front of him and made him feel like he stood in a spotlight. He wondered if the jeweler could hear the pounding of his heart over the elevator music that played on a continuous loop in the most exclusive store in Asheville. He’d just come in to look when he’d passed the shop on the way to lunch after a meeting with opposing council. How had he ended up making a purchase and how in the hell did he plan to sit on the hot potato until he felt sure Kerri Ann would be ready to say yes?
“Here you are, Mr. Jenson,” the jeweler said as he returned from the back of the store. “A perfect two and a half carat solitaire. Simple, elegant, and perfectly matched with the band you brought in.” He put the two rings together, his mother’s simple platinum band and the sparkling diamond he’d chosen after much debate.
“I’ll take it.” Bryce passed them back. “Can you box them together?”
“Absolutely, it will be just a moment.”
He moved to the other end of the store and placed the rings on a velvet swatch before arranging them in an ivory box. Bryce had been carting his mother’s band around for weeks, pulling it out, thinking of her and what she’d said to him on her deathbed. “Give it to the woman who has your heart,” she’d said. He’d known then the only woman he’d ever give it to was Kerri Ann. They’d moved forward in a way he’d imagined a million times and yet something deep inside told him baby steps were in order.
As Bryce passed over his charge card and picked up the pretty box, he wondered how he’d managed to turn baby steps into a headlong leap into marriage. The question remained whether he’d be able to push Kerri Ann along to catch up.
Chapter 24
Lita had just come from the storage shed looking for Cal when she heard the rumble of Jesse’s Scout. She hurried back like a lovesick schoolgirl, nearly tripping in her espadrilles. She rushed to the bathroom, pulled her hair from the ponytail she’d absently knotted it in earlier, and cringed at her less than stellar image. Oh well, Jesse had seen her sopping wet and first thing in the morning. She couldn’t be worse than that.
He’d brought Ty and she watched as they hopped out of the vehicle and headed toward the stairs. She met them at the door. “Hi.” She stood back to let them in.
“I heard a rumor you made some pretty good cookies,” Jesse said before placing a quick kiss on her forehead. The smell of him, of the outdoors and man, had her pulse jumping in response.
“I can’t imagine who told you that.” She poked Ty in the belly. To her utter delight, he blushed. “Lucky for both of you, I happen to have made some yesterday.” She walked to the kitchen and retrieved the plastic container from the cabinet. “Who wants milk?”
Both father and son raised their hands. She filled three glasses and led them to the porch. As they sat, the black cat purred and rubbed at Ty’s ankles. “Hey there, beauty,” the boy said and scratched behind his ear. He looked up at Lita. “Have you seen the other cat lately?”
“He’s around here somewhere. I see him lurking in the woods most of the time, but not this one.” She motioned with her cookie to the cat that lay cradled in Ty’s lap. “I think he’s stalking me.”
“With treats like this,” Jesse said, “I can see why. Who knew you were so handy in the kitchen?” The look he gave her could have baked a few cookies of their own. “Ty, why don’t you go see if your granddad wants a cookie?”
“Sure.” Ty gently placed the cat on the porch and grabbed two more cookies. “For the road,” he said when Jesse scowled.
They watched him lope toward Cal’s house. “I don’t think he’s home,” Lita explained. “I tried to find him earlier and he wasn’t around.”
“I don’t really care where Cal is at the moment.” He stood up and pulled Lita to her feet. She felt the ridge of muscle beneath his shirt as he two-stepped her to the corner of the deck where he kissed her behind the cover of the tall bushes. “I’ve missed you.” He changed the angle of the kiss and drew her deeper under his spell.
She let her fingers weave through his hair and surrendered. This, she now understood, was as much the reason for her earlier edginess as her worries about how Cal was feeling about her and Jesse. Now, with his lips on hers, his hands gripping her hips, and their bodies pressed tightly together, she wondered how she’d lasted the twenty-four plus hours she’d gone without touching him. Her sudden epiphany didn’t sit well. “Jesse…”
“Shhhh,” he whispered along the column of her neck. “Just a little more.”
She’d have given him anything if he’d keep touching her like he was. Somehow, the possibility of being discovered by Cal or Ty or both only made their reckless desire more exciting. “Jesse, we can’t.” She pulled his hands away from the tie to her blouse.
He backed up, his eyes unfocused, and ran both his hands through his hair. “Damn, sorry. Got a little carried away for a minute.” He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “We should sit down so I’m not tempted to jump you again.”
They took their seats at the table and grinned like fools at each other. “You’re awfully cute when you’re contrite.” She linked her fingers with his. “So, you’ve got Ty tonight?” She’d wanted to talk to him alone, explain that she needed to go home. Her suitcase lay open in the bedroom.
“Yeah.” He made lazy circles on her palm with his thumb. “But I won’t have him tomorrow. I need to be with you, Angelita.”
“Okay.” He’d said need. Did he mean it the way she felt it, like her skin was stretched too tight, holding the desire and emotion within the confines of her body? Leaving him would be so hard. “Can you come over tomorrow night?”
“I’ll pick you up.” He pulled his hand away and sat up in his chair. “I want to take you to my house. I want you to see where I live; I want to see you there.”
Odd how she didn’t care where he lived or how he lived. He could call a metal trailer along the side of the road his home and she’d just be thrilled to be with him. “I knew I couldn’t be with you once and be done with it.”
He smiled. “You never answered my question the other day.”
Shoe Strings Page 23
