The Perfect Present

by Rochelle Alers

  “I don’t want to bore you with that.”

  “That’s what I did in California, so it’s not boring. If I can help, I’d love to.”

  “Kayla, I’m going to take you up on that offer. I hope you don’t regret it.”

  She smiled. “I won’t.”

  When they arrived at DeShawn’s ranch-style house in South Charlotte, Kayla marveled at the manicured lawn and the sparkling Christmas lights decorating the porch and the shrubs. Then there was the inflatable snow globe in the middle of the yard.

  “Someone is in the holiday spirit,” she said as they climbed out of the car.

  “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” He pulled Kayla into his arms and spun her around as if music was playing. She went along with it, laughing the entire time.

  “All that’s missing is snow,” Kayla said. He spun her around one more time.

  “When’s the last time it snowed in Charlotte at Christmas?”

  “That’s a good question.”

  “Let’s go inside before Mrs. Grant comes out here with her fruitcake.”

  “What’s wrong with a good piece of fruitcake?”

  “It’s not good.”

  “Then let’s go,” she said.

  As soon as they walked up the steps, the door next to DeShawn’s house opened. “Mr. Carter, have you forgotten about your fruitcake?”

  “Hey, Mrs. Grant. I’ve been busy. Just haven’t had time to stop by.”

  “Umm-huh. So, who’s this lovely lady? She doesn’t look like that uppity one who was here earlier.”

  Kayla raised her right eyebrow but didn’t say a word. She couldn’t be jealous that he had someone else at his house. The man is single and fine. Besides, we’re just friends.

  “This is Kayla Matthews. We went to high school together, then she disappeared on me and went to Hollywood.”

  “Oh, you’re an actress? I thought you were a model.”

  “That’s really nice, but I’m not an actress.”

  “You sure look like one. Baby, you want some fruitcake?”

  “Say no,” DeShawn whispered. “Tell her you’re on a diet.”

  “I’d love some.” Kayla nudged DeShawn in the stomach. Mrs. Carter’s face lit up.

  “Hold on right there.”

  DeShawn shook his head. “You don’t know what you just did.”

  “She seems so sweet. Stop being mean.”

  “You’ll see.”

  A few minutes later, Mrs. Grant, dressed in a flower-print housedress, hobbled across the yard with a covered dish in her hand. “I bake about three of these every week until Christmas. Everyone loves them.” She smiled and handed Kayla the dish. “Go on, open it. This one has nuts in it.”

  DeShawn covered his mouth to hide his laugh as Kayla opened the dish. The little cake was shaped like a brick, and when she touched it, it felt like one as well.

  “This looks great, I’m sure we’re going to enjoy it.”

  “Go ahead and break a piece off now.”

  DeShawn shook his head. Don’t do it, he mouthed. Kayla winked at him and attempted to break off a piece of the cake.

  “You know what,” Kayla said with a smile, “I want to enjoy this with a cup of coffee.” She licked her finger.

  Mrs. Grant nodded. “That’s going to be good. And you know you can stand to put a little meat on your bones, so have a big piece for breakfast.”

  “Will do.”

  DeShawn couldn’t take his eyes off Kayla’s lips as she licked her finger. Did she realize how sexy she was? His body was filled with want, and at that moment, he wanted to be that finger.

  “DeShawn, are you going to open the door?”

  “Huh? Yes.” He turned to Mrs. Grant. “Thanks for the cake.”

  “Oh, that’s for her. I’ll bring you yours tomorrow.” The older woman smiled at him. “You know, I will never be able to thank you for all that you did for my grandson. He’s going to be playing in one of those bowl games on TV. And that’s all because of you.”

  “You don’t have to thank me for doing my job. Let Marquis know that I’m going to be rooting for him.”

  The older woman waved at the duo as she crossed over into her yard. When Mrs. Grant was out of earshot, Kayla turned to DeShawn. “That was the nastiest thing I’ve ever tasted.”

  “I tried to tell you, but you didn’t want to listen. Come on, let me get you a brandy to wash that taste out of your mouth.” What he wanted to do was lavish her sexy mouth with kisses until she didn’t think about fruitcake ever again.

  “Brandy? Aren’t you fancy and old now?”

  DeShawn opened the door and held it for Kayla. “You’re going to be just as old as I am in a few months.”

  “Ooh, you remembered.”

  “Your birthday is Valentine’s Day, it’s kind of hard to forget. Grab a seat on the sofa and I’ll be right back with the popcorn and drinks.” Before leaving the room, he flipped a switch and turned the Christmas tree lights on. The twinkling white lights cast a glow over the room that made Kayla shine. He thought about making love to her underneath the tree and what a great gift that would be.

  She walked over to the tree and stood there looking as if she was right at home. As if she belonged in that spot.

  “DeShawn, you know what’s missing from your tree?”

  “Let me guess—popcorn and cranberries?”

  She turned back and looked at him. “Yep.”

  He held up a finger. “Be right back.”

  DeShawn grabbed the tray with the kettle corn, caramel corn, the plain popcorn, and dried cranberries. Then he slipped a bottle of wine underneath his arm.

  “Look what I got,” he said as he set the tray on the table. “Kettle corn and popcorn to string.”

  Kayla clasped her hands together and crossed over to the sofa. “You remembered.”

  “How could I forget? We did this for three years because you wanted to make the banquets look better.”

  “And it worked. You got pretty good at stringing popcorn. Let’s see if you still got it.” Kayla grabbed a handful of kettle corn. DeShawn laughed as she stuffed a few kernels in her mouth.

  “They don’t have kettle corn in Hollywood?”

  She tossed a few kernels at him. “Shut up. You know it’s just something about Carolina corn that’s sweeter.”

  “There’s something I’ve always wondered,” he said as he closed the space between them.

  “What’s that?”

  “How sweet are you?” DeShawn captured her mouth, slipping his tongue between her lips. It seemed as if she melted in his arms like butter on hot grits. He couldn’t believe Kayla was in his arms and he’d finally gotten his kiss. When their lips parted and he looked into her eyes, one thing was certain: This was not going to be enough.

  “DeShawn,” she murmured as she ran her fingers up and down his neck. The waves of desire that she sent through his body felt like a forest fire.

  “Kayla, I—” She cut him off when she leaned in for another kiss. Her lips were like sugar, her tongue was like nectar, and he was ready to taste every inch of her delectable body.

  She pulled back from him, pressing her hand against his chest. “We’re going to watch this movie, right?”

  “We can do anything you want. But I’ve been waiting ten years for that.”

  “Was it worth it?”

  DeShawn nodded. “And I tell you something else, I’m not going to wait another ten years for another kiss, Hollywood.”

  “Is that so?”

  DeShawn nodded and brushed his lips across hers again. “But right now, we got popcorn to string.” As hard as it was for DeShawn to let her go, he was encouraged to know that it wouldn’t take another decade for him to have his chance with Kayla.

  Chapter 6

  The movie credits were rolling by the time Kayla and DeShawn had strung the last of their garlands.

  “Now, let’s put them on the tree,” she said.

  DeShawn looked a
t the ten strings of garland and his six-foot tree. “I think we have more than enough for the tree. You might need to take some to your mother.”

  “Good idea. We’re getting our tree on Christmas Eve. You should come over and join us.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Kayla nodded as she picked up a string of garland. “It’s food and a lot of fun, especially since Autumn and I have called a truce.”

  “That’s good. I know your mother is happy.”

  “Well, as long as we can make it last. This might be the only Christmas present I can afford to give them.” Kayla pulled a kernel of popcorn off the end of the garland.

  “I’m sure they understand your situation.”

  “I’m glad someone does, because I don’t. If I could get my hands on Raul. This isn’t where I thought I’d be in my life right now.”

  DeShawn pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug. “It’s going to work out just fine. You’re smart and there are some great jobs in education around here.”

  Kayla pulled out of his arms. “Speaking of that, where are those reports that you wanted me to look over?”

  “Do you still want to do that?”

  She nodded. “It will give us a reason to polish off this wine.”

  “All right,” he said, then kissed her on the cheek. “Be right back.”

  * * *

  Kayla exhaled slowly as she took a seat on the sofa. That kiss. She couldn’t forget that kiss. Even when she and DeShawn were stringing the garland, she was thinking about that kiss, his lips, and those hot hands.

  Ten years had been a long time for her to fantasize about what could’ve been. She was happy that the reality lived up to everything she’d built up in her head. He was tender, gentle, and delicious. Now she wanted more, but how was she going to bring that up?

  Kayla always had a problem telling DeShawn what she wanted. Her reasoning had been that she wanted to always have him in her life as a friend. Now she knew the friendship wasn’t going to be enough. Not when he had her thighs quivering every time he smiled at her.

  DeShawn returned to the living room with two binders, his laptop, and an iPad. “Just remember, you volunteered for this.” He handed Kayla the iPad. “Click on the Numbers app and there’s a list of donors and their contributions this year and what they contributed last year.”

  Kayla looked up at him. “Question: Do you guys hit up the same donors every year, and have you all set up an endowment?”

  “Yes and no. Our board hasn’t been the most creative in fund-raising. Too many of them are on the board to pad their résumés. They don’t care about my kids, they just want to move forward with their political ambitions. Everyone believes exploiting kids will help more than taking care of them and making them the next generation of leaders. But let me get off my soapbox,” he said.

  “No, you should make that case with the board when you present this proposal. Shake things up and don’t be afraid to call in the media.”

  “You’re pretty hardcore,” he said with a smile.

  “I had to do something similar at Long Beach Community College when it became a political hotbed and the students suffered. The thing about people with political ambitions, they don’t want the media to see their flaws.”

  “Why did you stay away so long?” DeShawn ran his finger across Kayla’s cheek.

  “I was trying to build a life in Hollywood. I thought that was my dream, but it turned into a nightmare.”

  “Maybe it’s because everything you needed was right here all along?”

  “Been watching The Wiz ? You got a chance to do your thing, and I needed my chance as well.”

  “I know. And as selfish as this may sound, part of me wanted you to stay so that we could—”

  She placed her finger to his lips. “We can’t change the past and we have to finish this report.”

  “Now, that is a blast from the past.” DeShawn chuckled. “I remember when I wanted to ask you to the prom and you stopped me so that we could finish a social studies project.”

  “DeShawn, I already knew that you’d asked Daphne the sex fiend.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s mean, and I haven’t heard that in a long time. You know she’s a minister now and her son is a volunteer at Millwood with the basketball team.”

  “Wow. How old is her son?”

  “Seven, and not mine, because I got kicked out of the prom before I could find out if the rumors were true.”

  Kayla slapped him on the back of his head. “And who told you to go all Rambo in the middle of the ballroom?”

  “I wasn’t going to let anyone, especially that dude, disrespect you. I was glad to see you waited for me, though.”

  Heat rushed to Kayla’s cheeks and she turned away from him. That night would’ve been their first kiss, would’ve changed everything. What if she had stayed in North Carolina?

  DeShawn took her face into his hands and stared into her eyes.

  “Kayla, I should’ve told you this a long time ago. I love you.”

  “What?” Shivers of desire ran up her spine. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I am, and what I thought was a simple high school crush is way more than that.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.

  “DeShawn,” she breathed. “I always thought our friendship one of the most important relationships in my life, and when things started to change, I didn’t want to lose you and what we had. But I feel like we still can’t rush things.”

  “I don’t want to rush anything, but I don’t want to waste any more time either.” He ran his thumbs across her cheeks. “The best Christmas gift I could ever get is a real chance to love you.”

  She wanted to say yes, wanted to tell him she could open up to him and fall in love. But she didn’t trust herself after marrying a fool like Raul. Not that she believed DeShawn would be the train wreck that her ex-husband was. It wasn’t as if DeShawn was a selfish prick like Raul.

  “I-I . . .”

  “You don’t have to answer right now. I just wanted to let you know where I stand.”

  “And what about the uppity girl who was here earlier?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  “That was her last time being here. Taylor and I are officially over, and that was before you came back into my life. You know I’ve never been that guy with all the women. I just need one woman to love, and I want that woman to be you.”

  DeShawn captured her lips in a hot kiss, causing her to melt in his arms. Maybe it was the soulful voice of Donny Hathaway and the twinkling lights of the tree that made her believe in this gift. Kayla pressed her body against DeShawn’s, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

  As his fingers danced around her collarbone, Kayla knew if she didn’t stop this kiss, things were going to go farther than she was ready to go. She pressed her hand against his chest and pulled away from him.

  “Whew,” she breathed. “DeShawn.”

  “I know. Slow down. And we will. I think we should go grab something to eat other than popcorn.”

  “IHOP,” she said excitedly.

  DeShawn laughed. “You still eat those silver-dollar pancakes with whipped cream and powdered sugar, don’t you?”

  “Do I hear judgment in your voice?” She laughed. “Those are the best pancakes ever. And you have a nerve, Mr. Chocolate Chip Pancakes.”

  “I’ve upped my game to banana-nut pancakes with chocolate chips, thank you very much.”

  Kayla slipped her shoes on. “Let’s roll, darling.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  As they headed out the door, Kayla glanced over at Mrs. Grant’s house. “I’d better send her a thank-you note for that cake.”

  DeShawn shook his head. “She will bake you three more before Christmas and another one for New Year’s Day.”

  “Point taken. She is a sweet little lady, though.”

  DeShawn placed his hand on the small of her back. “Yes, but if you say her name
three times, she will appear like Beetlejuice. Come on, let’s go.”

  * * *

  By the time DeShawn drove Kayla home, it was after two a.m. They’d spent the evening in IHOP reliving old times and eating each other’s food. She’d threatened him with her fork when he’d reached for her last silver-dollar pancake.

  “You’re selfish,” he’d said before swiping it anyway. Kayla had taken a piece of his banana-nut pancake, which he’d drizzled with chocolate sauce.

  “Whatever. We’re going to have to run five miles in the morning to burn this off.”

  Though DeShawn had several ways he could think of to burn off the massive amount of calories they’d taken in, he kept silent. “You want to hook up and run in the morning?”

  “Yes. Eight too early for you?”

  He looked at his watch. “Yes. How about ten, and then we can have brunch afterwards? And maybe a little Christmas shopping.”

  “You want to go shopping?” She raised her right eyebrow. “The man who believed the purpose of the mall was to meet girls and eat Cinnabons?”

  “Yeah, and who said anything about the mall? But now that you mentioned Cinnabons . . .”

  She pointed her index finger at him. “That would defeat the whole purpose of running.”

  “So you say. I think it’s a reward.”

  When Kayla had started yawning, DeShawn knew it was time for him to take her home. While he’d wanted her to spend the night, he knew it was best to take her home. They were going to take things slow, but all he wanted to do was make slow love to her all night long.

  Pulling up to her mother’s house, DeShawn stopped the car and turned to Kayla. “Hope your mom doesn’t think I kept you out too late.”

  “I’m sure she’s asleep,” Kayla replied as she looked at the dark house.

  “I had a lot of fun with you tonight, and thank you for your help with the school.”

  “No problem.”

  DeShawn leaned in and kissed her gently. “See you in the morning,” he said when they broke the kiss.

  “Looking forward to it.” She opened the door and climbed out of the car. Kayla wasn’t surprised that DeShawn also exited the car and walked her to the front door.

  “I’m sure I would’ve made it here safely,” she quipped as she pulled her keys from her purse.