Another Chance to Love

by Cheris Hodges

  She wanted to make love to him, badly, but not now. Paige bit her bottom lip as she walked away.

  Brian sat on the porch, staring wistfully at Paige’s retreating figure. What was he thinking, making a move like that on her? It wasn’t as if he could have acted on those impulses anyway. He had to set a positive image for his son and sleeping with a woman he barely knew wouldn’t be a good example. And he couldn’t have gone over to her house, leaving his son alone while he acted like a horny teenager. Brian knew his priority was Mickey. He stole one last glance at Paige’s behind and then shook his head. He had to let that go. She would be too much of a distraction. Walking inside, he released a frustrated sigh. Distraction or not, he was hard as a brick and he wanted to bury himself deep inside Paige Grayson.

  Sleep didn’t come easy for Brian that night; his mind was filled with erotic thoughts of Paige. He couldn’t get the taste of her mouth out of his mind. Her kiss had stirred his soul. Her lips were like silk. He imagined her in his arms, her firm breasts pressed against his chest. Brian reached down and stroked his throbbing shaft, imagining it was Paige’s supple body tightening around him as she bounced up and down.

  He stopped once he realized what he was doing. This is crazy, he thought as he closed his eyes and attempted to go to sleep.

  The next morning, Brian woke up before the sun rose over the horizon. Shake it off, Jackson, he told himself as he climbed out of bed. That wasn’t going to happen, though, because Brian was yearning for Paige, a fact that scared him. What if one taste wasn’t enough? From the way she’d kissed him, he knew he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he tasted every inch of her.

  For a change, Mickey was sleeping late. Brian dashed into the bathroom and took an ice cold shower, hoping he wouldn’t think about the taste of Paige’s lips or her supple skin. As the water beat down on him, Brian imagined Paige stepping in behind him, her breasts pressed against his back, her hands roaming his body and gently stroking his hard dick. He shut off the water. The shower wasn’t helping.

  Brian knew the only thing to do was to have her. Then he could get those thoughts out of his mind.

  “Daddy!”

  Brian threw his robe on and dashed down the hall to Mickey’s room. “Little man, what’s wrong?”

  “I don’t feel too good,” he moaned.

  Brian looked at his son with concern clouding his vision. “What’s the matter?”

  “I want Mommy. She knows what to do.”

  Brian practically stopped breathing. “Champ, she’s not here.”

  “Why? Was I bad? Did she leave because of me?”

  Brian inhaled sharply. Each breath was like a knife jabbing into his heart, no matter how many times he’d heard his son ask these questions. “Your mother left because she wanted to. It didn’t have anything to do with you.”

  “But why didn’t she take me?”

  Brian wanted to tell him that he wouldn’t let her take him with her, but he had to calm him down. “Mickey, why don’t we go do something fun?”

  The little boy shook his head. “I want Mommy.” Brian ran his hand over Mickey’s head.

  “I’ll call her for you.”

  Mickey grabbed his pillow and hugged it tightly. Brian felt bile rushing to his throat as he dialed Olivia’s number.

  “The number you have reached has been disconnected,” a recording played back.

  Brian hung up and dialed the number again. He got the same recording. What in the hell is going on?

  Brian called again. Now he was worried. He and Mickey hadn’t heard from Olivia in about a week and that was odd. She had been making regular calls to her son, though Brian wished she had visited Mickey at least once since she left. Mickey was probably acting out because he hadn’t heard from his mother. Brian couldn’t imagine her moving and not leaving a number where Mickey could reach her.

  The only thing he could think to do was call his former mother- in-law. Brian hadn’t talked to Davina Watson since Olivia walked out on him and he wasn’t looking forward to the call. Nonetheless, he dialed the number. Brian had never been Davina’s favorite person, nor was she his. They tolerated each other because of Mickey and Olivia. He was sure she wouldn’t be much help to him. With bated breath, he waited for his former mother-in-law to pick up.

  “Y’ello.”

  “Davina, it’s Brian.” He cradled the phone against his ear and shoulder.

  “What do you want?”

  “I need to get in touch with Olivia.”

  “Why? She left you, get over it.”

  Brian sighed and folded his arms across his chest. “When she left, she also left our son. Mickey needs to speak with his mother.” You old battle-ax.

  “Hrump. She told me you wouldn’t let her take the boy or bring him to me.”

  “That isn’t the point of my call. Just tell Olivia to call her son today.”

  “You can’t handle it, can you?”

  “I’m not the one who walked out. It was your daughter who couldn’t handle it. Davina, Mickey isn’t going to suffer because Olivia didn’t want to be my wife anymore.”

  “She shouldn’t have married you in the first place.” The dial tone sounded in his ear.

  “That bitch,” he muttered. Brian turned around and saw his son standing behind him.

  “Is Mommy going to call?”

  “She will, son.”

  “When?”

  “I don’t know, but why don’t you go take a bath?”

  “No,” Mickey shouted, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m waiting for Mommy.”

  “Come on, Mickey, go wash up.”

  “No!”

  Brian grabbed Mickey’s arm and turned him toward the bathroom. “Brian Jr., I’m not playing with you. Go wash up and get dressed!”

  The little boy wouldn’t bulge. Brian let him go, took a deep breath and spoke softly. “Mick, when she calls, I’ll come get you.”

  “No. I want to be right here!” Tears welled up in Mickey’s eyes. Brian was at his wit’s end. His son was disobeying him, but how could he punish him for missing his mother? Brian turned his eyes upward and said a prayer that Olivia would call.

  “Mickey,” Brian began, “your mother is working and she’s going to call soon, okay.”

  The boy began to cry. Brian wrapped his arms around his son. “I know you miss her,” he cooed as Mickey sobbed.

  The phone seemed to ring at the right time. Brian grabbed the receiver, nearly ripping the phone out of the wall. “Hello?”

  “Brian, I’m sorry I didn’t give you my new number. Things have just been crazy since I started my apprenticeship. My mother said something is wrong with Mickey.”

  “That was really irresponsible of you. Here I am burning vacation time until I can find a work schedule that will benefit both Mickey and me, you’re too busy to pass on a phone number? There’s nothing wrong with Mickey other than the fact that he needs to see his mother.”

  She sighed heavily in the phone. “Then save the lecture and put him on the phone, please. I’m not arguing with you, today.”

  Brian handed the phone to Mickey and watched as his gloomy son brightened like a lantern. His heart fell to the pit of stomach. He wished there was something he could do to keep that smile on Mickey’s face. Brian needed Mickey in his life but he didn’t want his son to suffer because Olivia had decided she didn’t want to be a full time mother anymore. Was he making Mickey suffer because he couldn’t make his mother happy?

  He wanted be a good father to him, just as his father had been to him. Marvin Jackson had kept his family together, through thick and thin. There were times when Brian saw his parents fighting, but no one ever left. His father had been there for him at every football game, every parent teacher conference and the day he graduated from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Academy. Up until the day Marvin died, he had been there for his family. Brian had wanted to be like his father and keep his family together as well. It was too bad that Olivia had othe
r ideas.

  When Mickey hung up the phone, he walked over to Brian and gave him a hug. “Mommy told me to give you a hug.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet,” Brian replied, swallowing the bitter taste in his mouth.

  “Can I go to Atlanta and see her?”

  Brian’s heart screamed, No, she walked away from you. “Sure, the next time your mother calls, we’ll talk about it.”

  Mickey pouted. “I want to go now.”

  “Son, we have to wait for your mother to tell us where she lives and invite us to her house,” he said calmly. He didn’t want to get frustrated, but the situation was giving him a headache. While Brian could understand how Mickey was feeling, if the little boy didn’t watch his tone of voice, he was going to get a spanking.

  “She lives in Atlanta, so we can just go there,” he said.

  “Go get washed up and dressed. We will discuss this the next time your mother calls!”

  Brian’s patience was at its end. Mickey walked down the hall with tears in his eyes.

  In the six months that Olivia had been gone, Brian had tried to figure out how he could have thought they were going to stay together when they were barely speaking to each other. The dullness of being lonely had subsided, but his son still needed his mother to be closer to him more than a voice on the end of the phone.

  Suddenly a terrible thought struck him. What would happen if the day came when Olivia decided that she wanted to take Mickey to Georgia with her? He couldn’t let that happen.

  Brian vowed that he would not lose his son. He was going to do whatever he had to do to make that happen.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Paige woke up with Brian’s kiss on her mind. His lips were everything she’d expected them to be, soft and sweet. She closed her eyes and licked her bottom lip as if reliving the moment. What would have happened if she had followed him inside? Would making love to Brian be as intense as that kiss? She opened her eyes. Did she want to make love to Brian? Of course she did. One touch of his hand set her body on fire. The feel of his lips turned her insides to jelly. She yearned for his touch. Pull it together, she thought as she tossed the covers back. She turned on the TV in her bedroom to check the morning temperature. It was already 80 degrees. It was too hot to run and seeing Brian this morning would put her head in a tailspin. She decided the best thing for her to do this morning would be to take a long, cold shower to stop her hormones from jumping out of her body.

  After her shower, Paige dressed in a pair of white cotton shorts and a matching tank top. She sat on the sofa and willed her eyes not to look across the street at Brian’s house. Maybe she shouldn’t go to the park with him. Maybe she should go back to avoiding him. But what would that accomplish? A lot more sleepless nights, she surmised.

  Paige swallowed her reservations and walked out the front door. She could at least pretend to do some yard work and maybe Brian would come outside and bless her with another kiss or at least give her another memory. At least she might see Mickey outside playing. She thought he was a sweet little boy and just like his father, adorable. He had an innocence about him that reminded her of her students in Nashville. Paige loved children and longed to have one of her own. But the way she pushed men away, it probably wouldn’t happen. She plopped down on the porch, closing her eyes as the morning sun beat down on her.

  “Paige, are you okay?” She opened her eyes and saw Brian standing over her.

  “I’m fine. Just working on my tan,” she said with a smile.

  “Mickey said you looked like you had passed out. Actually, he thought you were dead.”

  Paige looked past Brian and saw Mickey zooming by on his bicycle. She smiled brighter. “Robocop in training, huh?”

  “Just trying to raise him right.”

  “That must be pretty hard to do alone.”

  He sighed thoughtfully. “Especially on a day like today. He misses his mom.”

  “Where is she?” Paige asked timidly.

  “Atlanta, finding herself,” Brian snorted. “Our marriage had been over for awhile, but I was willing to stick it out for our son. I guess she wanted more and the only way she saw to do it was to divorce me and abandon her son. I guess saying she abandoned him isn’t fair, though. She calls, sends him gifts but nothing can make up for the time he’s missing with her.”

  Paige shook her head.

  Brian closed his eyes. “I don’t need to lay all of this on you,” he said. “And I hope I don’t sound too pitiful.”

  “Brian, if you need to talk, I’ll listen.”

  He smirked. “All right, Oprah.”

  “Ha.” She playfully slapped him on the shoulder. “We did attend the same college, though.”

  A blue sedan slowly crept down the street. Paige looked at the driver. Their eyes locked and the woman stopped the car.

  “Brian,” the driver said.

  He looked up and smiled at the woman. “Whose car did you steal?”

  “This is my new car,” she replied.

  “Pull in across the street.”

  The woman did. Paige furrowed her brows. I guess Brian isn’t a lonely single father after all. Men are such jerks. I should have known Brian wasn’t any different, she thought as she stood up. Paige couldn’t help looking at the other woman as she got out of the car. She was beautiful, like a model with her long legs, jet-black hair and smooth skin. Obviously Mickey knew her because he jumped off his bike, ran over to her and hugged her tightly. So, I guess he’s a player and he brings all of his women around his son. To think I was ready to hop into bed with him. Paige started for the front door, muttering a string of curse words about Brian and her stupidity for thinking he was any different from any other man she had ever dealt with.

  “Paige,” Brian called out. “Come here.”

  She started to roll her eyes or flip him off. What did he want—a ménage a trois? But a calming voice in the back of her head told her to see what he wanted. She headed across the street with a fake smile plastered on her face. “What’s up?” she asked.

  “I want to introduce you to my sister, Gabrielle,” he said.

  The woman extended her hand to Paige.

  As Paige shook hands with Gabrielle, she started to see the family resemblance. She was glad she’d thought before saying anything. I was about to make a big fool of myself.

  “Hi,” Paige said.

  “So, you put that smile back on my brother’s face,” Gabrielle said. “I like you already.”

  Paige couldn’t say anything. She was shocked that Gabrielle was so brash. She was nothing like her brother.

  “Are you going to the jazz concert in the park today with my brother?”

  “Gabrielle,” Brian snapped.

  She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, what? “I know you guys aren’t taking my nephew to this boring concert. Why don’t I take Mickey with me?”

  “That’s real smooth,” Brian said through clenched teeth.

  Gabrielle smiled brightly then called her nephew over to them. “Mickey, do you want to go to a boring jazz concert or do you want to hang out with me?” Gabrielle asked him when he rolled into the yard.

  “I want to go with you,” he said excitedly. “Can I go with Auntie, Daddy?”

  Brian sighed and nodded. Gabrielle took Mickey by the hand and they disappeared inside.

  “She’s funny,” Paige said.

  Brian shrugged his shoulder. “She’s something. But that’s my little sister.”

  “I’m supposed to believe you didn’t set this up.”

  “Of course not. If I wanted to be alone with you, I would just come outside with a handful of cookies.”

  Paige pushed him in the chest and pretended to be offended. “You don’t need cookies to get next to me.”

  Brian leaned in and kissed Paige on the forehead, making her shiver. “I’ll come get you at five,” he said.

  “You know where I live.”

  Neither one of them made an effort to move. She wanted another ki
ss, a deep kiss like they’d shared on this same porch last night. His hesitancy told her that it wasn’t going to happen.

  “Um, okay, I’ll see you later,” Paige said as she headed across the street. She looked over her shoulder and saw Brian was watching her walk away. She waved at him, wishing he had followed her. It was as if his kiss had given her a taste of his essence. She needed more. No man had ever touched her so deeply and so quickly. Paige would never say it out loud, but she was falling hard for Brian Jackson. But would he open up to her?

  She knew his divorce was new and maybe the only thing he was looking for was something with no strings attached—unless it was a G- string. Paige wondered what she was getting into, if she was going to end getting hurt. Once inside, she plopped down on the sofa, her mind clouded with thoughts of Brian’s kiss.

  Brian looked at his sister as she packed a bag for Mickey. “I could choke you right now,” he said.

  “Brian, you obviously like her. Mickey likes her too because he has been talking about her since we walked into the house. I’m just playing Cupid.”

  Brian looked down the hall to make sure his son was still in the bathroom.

  Gabrielle continued. “I just hope that she isn’t like that ex-wife of yours. At least she seems to have a personality.”

  Mickey burst into the room. “Can we go now? I want some ice cream!” he said excitedly.

  Brian reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed his sister a twenty. “Please buy my son a nutritious dinner,” he said.

  “Sounds like pizza to me,” she said as she squeezed Mickey’s cheek.

  “Get out,” Brian said.

  Gabrielle shook her head. “Not yet. What are you wearing to the park?”

  Brian looked down at his faded blue jeans and white tee shirt.

  “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

  Gabrielle turned to Mickey and handed him his black and white Mickey Mouse overnight bag. “Babe, will you wait for me in the living room, please?”