Breathless (17 page)

“I didn’t think
you were ready for that kind of commitment.” She scanned his face.
“You’ve always been so carefree, like having an exclusive
relationship was last on your list of priorities.”

“I guess it
was.” He buried his face in her hair. Baring his soul felt as
though it was tearing his chest open for her inspection. “It’s not
anymore.”

“This is going
too fast,” she said, trying to shift under his weight.

“How can you
say that?” He knew he should let her get up, but that would make
leaving too easy for her. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—let her go. “We were
friends back in college. There was always something between us. You
can’t deny that.”

Bracing her
hands on his shoulders, she said, “Yeah, there was something
between us: friendship. I didn’t want to date you then for the same
reason I don’t want to date you now. You’re a player, Keith. Plain
and simple.”

He couldn’t
respond because the truth hurt too much. She had every right to
convict him based on the stupid mistakes he’d made, but he’d held
out hope she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps she would
have if she only had to consider her feelings, but she was thinking
about how their decision would affect Brent and Ava. She loved
them. Keith only wished she could say the same about him.

“I hear you,”
he said, getting up. “I understand.”

“Please don’t
be upset with me.” She tugged on his shirt tail as he stood over
her. “You know I think you’re a great guy.” Her eyes traveled over
the powerful body hidden beneath his clothes. “And sexy as hell,
but that still doesn’t make this a good idea.”

“Right.” He
raked his hands through his cropped dark hair. He didn’t care about
restoring order, but he was one bad idea away from begging her to
reconsider. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. It’s all good.”
It wasn’t. Her decision hurt like hell, but he wouldn’t make her
feel guilty. She was doing what she thought was right, even if he
knew it was dead wrong.

“I think I
should leave,” she said, reaching for his hand. “I can go upstairs
and—”

“No, I want you
to stay.” His heart was in serious danger of being shredded if he
spent more time with her, but he couldn’t let her go. “It’s not a
big deal. I’m a big boy. I can handle rejection.” He knew he wasn’t
fooling her, but feigned nonchalance seemed better than
begging.

“If you’re
sure?” she asked, sitting up.

“Yeah, I’m
sure.” He cursed himself for being a liar. The only thing he was
sure about was how he felt about Tara sleeping down the hall when
he wanted her in his bed.

Tara tossed and turned
all night from thinking about her talk with Keith. When she finally
abandoned her attempts to sleep, she threw herself into making
breakfast for the object of her distraction.

She was
standing at the stove, flipping blueberry pancakes, when he walked
into the kitchen. “Good morning,” she said and nodded toward the
coffeemaker. “I hope you like it strong. That’s the only way I can
drink it.”

He rubbed his
eyes and stumbled toward his salvation. “Yeah, strong is good. I
need strong today.”

“You didn’t
sleep well?” She cast a glance over her shoulder. He’d given her
one of his shirts to sleep in because she hadn’t had time to do a
load of laundry. She was suddenly very aware of the fact it landed
mid-thigh and she was wearing nothing underneath.

“No, I didn’t.”
He climbed up on a stool at the breakfast bar, coffee mug in hand.
“How about you?”

“The bed is
comfortable.” She didn’t want him to know she’d lost sleep over
him. That would only make standing her ground and honoring their
promise to keep their friendship platonic more difficult.

“I’m glad.”

She plated a
stack of pancakes and handed it to him before reaching into the
fridge for butter and syrup. “I hope you don’t mind pancakes?”

“No, this is
great.” He looked at her when their hands touched around the glass
syrup bottle. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.”
She cleared her throat and turned her attention back to the
skillet. “What do you have planned today?”

“I was going to
let you decide.” He closed his eyes when he bit into the pancakes.
“Hmm, these are amazing.”

“Thanks, it’s
my mama’s recipe.”

Keith smiled
around a mouthful of pancakes. “In that case, remind me to thank
her.”

She was glad
the awkward tension they’d experienced when he showed her to the
guest room last night had receded. They were back to being friends.
That should make her happy, not disappointed and tense. He was
backing off, which she’d claimed to want, so why did she miss the
flirtation and innuendo?

“You don’t have
to babysit me.” She stacked two small pancakes on a plate and
turned the burner off before joining him at the breakfast bar.

When his
T-shirt hiked up her leg, he paused with the fork halfway to his
mouth. “Damn, girl, I should’ve given you a pair of shorts. Or
sweats…” He stuck the fork in his mouth on a deep breath. “Long
pants and a sweatshirt to cover you from neck to ankles.”

Tara was glad
he wasn’t immune to her appearance, because he looked positively
mouth-watering with bedhead and stubble covering his jaw. Thinking
of a neutral topic was difficult when they were both thinking about
wasting the day away in his king-sized bed. Before she could make
the mistake of suggesting they do just that, a knock on the door
saved her. “I’ll get it.” She jumped off the stool, anxious to
escape.

“Check the
peephole,” he warned. “You’re practically naked.”

Tara had been
so determined to put some distance between them she hadn’t
considered her state of dress. She was relieved to see Ava through
the peephole. “Hey,” she said, pulling the door open. “What brings
you by so early?”

Ava’s mouth
fell open as her eyes traveled over Tara’s bare legs under Keith’s
shirt. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

Tara hadn’t
explained why she’d left the party early. She simply said she was
tired, and Ava accepted the excuse without question. “We didn’t,”
Tara said.

Keith came up
behind her. “But not because I didn’t want to.”

“Of course you
wanted to,” Ava said, rolling her eyes. “You’ll sleep with anything
that—”

Keith waved to
the old man who lived across the hall. “Good morning, Mr.
Thomas.”

Mr. Thomas, who
was well into his eighties, was bending over to pick up his
newspaper when he caught sight of Tara’s bare legs. “Boy, I don’t
know where you find ‘em. It seems like every one of ‘em is prettier
than the last.” He chuckled.

Keith tugged on
Tara’s elbow, moving her behind him as he gestured for Ava to step
inside. “Pervert,” he muttered, closing the door on his nosy
neighbor.

Tara tried to
pretend Mr. Thomas’s comment didn’t bother her, but it was a
reminder she didn’t need. Keith entertained gorgeous women on a
regular basis. Many of them probably spent the night. It should be
a moot point, but when she caught Keith’s eye, she knew he wanted
to say something.

Before he had a
chance, Ava said, “Why do I get the feeling I missed
something?”

“Biagio crashed
Brent’s bachelor party,” Keith said, leaning against the closed
door and crossing his arms. He spoke to Ava but looked directly at
Tara.

Ava spun around
to face him. “What? Brent didn’t say anything to me about
that.”

“He didn’t
know. I didn’t see any reason to spoil his night by telling him. I
handled it.”

“What did he
say?” Ava asked. “Why was he there? Did he threaten you?” She
looked at Tara. “Or you?”

Keith pushed
off the door and walked toward Ava. Looping his arm around her
neck, he walked them into the living room. “Everything’s fine. Like
I said, I handled it.”

“I want to know
what he said.” Ava looked at Keith. “Tell me right now!”

Keith sighed
and sank down on one of the armchairs flanking the fireplace. “He
tried to convince me he and Tara were still sleeping together.”
Looking up at Tara, he said, “He also told me intended to marry
her.”

Tara gasped.
“God, he’s living in a fantasy world if he really thinks I’d have
anything more to do with him.”

“That’s what
worries me,” Keith said. “Your ex has lost touch with reality.”

Ava crossed her
arms and stared at Tara. “If you ask me, he never had a firm grasp
on it to begin with.”

“Can we not
rehash this? I know I was a fool to ever get involved with him. We
all make mistakes. Can we just leave it at that?”

Ava looked at
Keith. “You don’t think she’s in serious danger, do you?”

“As long as
she’s with me, you have nothing to worry about,” Keith said,
looking up at Tara. “I’m not going to let anything happen to her. I
promise.”

Their eyes
locked, and Tara had to tear her gaze away when she felt Ava
glaring at her.

Ava reached for
Tara’s hand. “Maybe you should get a restraining order. It couldn’t
hurt.”

“Honey, I don’t
want you to worry about me.” Tara hugged her friend. She hated that
her lousy taste in men was causing Ava distress. Ava didn’t need
more to worry about with the stress of building a house, planning a
wedding, and running a business. “I know Biagio. He’ll get tired of
the chase and move on to the next pretty girl.”

“But what if he
doesn’t?” Ava’s voice broke. “What if he tries to hurt you? You’re
like my sister. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to
you.”

“Nothing’s
going to happen to me. I promise.” She smiled, hoping to reassure
Ava.

Ava looked at
Keith. “Can you give me your word you’ll look out for her?
Especially while we’re on our honeymoon. I don’t want her to be
alone.”

Keith and Tara
shared a glance. She silently pleaded with him to put Ava’s mind at
ease, and his slight nod told her he got the message.

“I’ll watch her
back. You have my word.” Keith stood up and stretched. “I’m going
to grab a shower.” He was halfway down the hall before he turned
around. “Hey, you didn’t say. Why’d you stop by so early, Ava?”

“We’re out of
milk. I was hoping to borrow some.”

“Oh sure,”
Keith said, gesturing toward the kitchen. “Help yourself.”

Ava waited
until the bathroom door closed before she asked Tara, “Are you sure
there’s nothing going on between you two? I saw that look on his
face when Thomas talked about the other women in his life. He
seemed really uncomfortable.”

“Did he?” Tara
straightened a stack of magazines on the coffee table. “I didn’t
notice.”

“Don’t do that.
We’ve known each other too long for you to think you can get away
with lying to me.”

Tara knew she
was right. It was time to come clean. “We’ve kissed a couple of
times. That’s it.” They were two of the most intense kisses of her
life, but Ava didn’t need to know that.

“That’s it?”
Ava narrowed her eyes. “You honestly expect me to believe that?
When is a kiss ever just a kiss with a guy like Keith, Tara? He
practically sweats sex.”

Ava was right.
Keith couldn’t curb his sexual urges for much longer. If it wasn’t
with her, it would be with someone else. The question was whether
she was content to let him go find satisfaction in someone else’s
arms.

“Oh my God,”
Ava said quietly. “You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”

Telling Ava she
had already taken that leap didn’t seem prudent. Tara said, “Come
on, your future brother-in-law is hot. A woman would have to be
blind not to notice.”

“There’s a
difference between feeling something and acting on it. Do you…
intend to act on it?”

“I promised you
I wouldn’t, and I won’t.” Tara just wanted to escape to the safety
of a hot shower.

“I asked you to
make that promise for your benefit, not for mine. I watched what
happened to you after Biagio did that number on you. I don’t want
to see you get hurt again.”

“I know.” Ava
was the most selfless person Tara knew. She knew Ava’s concern came
from a place of love, not self-interest. “You don’t have to
worry.”

“Yes, I do.”
Ava sighed. “I love Keith. He’s one of the funniest, sweetest guys
I know, and I’m so excited to be a part of his family.”

“But?”

“Let’s face it.
He’s always been a train wreck when it comes to relationships.
According to Brent, nothing’s changed since college.”

“Brent would
know,” Tara said, trying to ignore the niggling of disappointment.
She would be damned before she got sucked into the impossible feat
of trying to change Keith. “I’ve heard everything you said. Trust
me, I’m not gonna go there with Keith.”

***

Keith was
trying to enjoy the day. It was sunny and beautiful. They were
driving with the top down and the tunes cranked, but he couldn’t
shake the feeling the easy rapport he and Tara had always shared
had vanished. He felt the urge to do or say something to get it
back. “Did you and Ava have a nice chat?”

“We did.” Tara
tipped her head back against the leather headrest and closed her
eyes. “I just wish she’d stop worrying about me so much. She has
enough to deal with.”

Keith stole a
glance at her when they pulled up to a four-way stop on a country
road. His thoughts created a vicious circle of fear and negativity.
His feelings for Tara were growing stronger every day, yet the
closer he tried to get, the more she pulled back. He was
frustrated, but he didn’t know what to do about it.

She frowned as
the narrow road became craggier. “Where are we going?”

He was taking
her to a little spot one of his high school friends’ families
owned. He and his buddies used to hop in their pickups and go there
when they wanted to drink and party without getting caught. They’d
pack up some tents and sleeping bags, a few cases of beer, and
invite their girls. One of them would build a fire, and they’d fall
asleep under the stars. They had been eighteen with their whole
lives ahead of them and big dreams.