From One Night to Forever (16 page)

“What? I’m not professional. I turned down the contract.”

Reggie gave Aaron a
what can I say?
look. “Again, kids tend to only hear parts of the story. His grandmother is happy someone stepped in to help. Marcus’s mother passed away a few years ago, and with his dad in the military now, she’s the one who’s raising the kid. Baseball is his life, and his dad supports him. But with his constant tours overseas there’s only so much he can do, ya know?”

“I get it, but I’m not here permanently. I’m happy to help the kids, but coaching them…”

“Don’t look so panicked.” Reggie’s smile returned. “The kids like you and they’re proud of your help. Don’t worry, they won’t get too attached.” Reggie glanced at his watch. “Let’s go to Momma’s Kitchen for lunch.”

Aaron perked up at the thought of going there. Not just because he’d see Kacey, the food was good too. “You don’t get tired of eating there?”

“Nah, I don’t mind during the lunch hour. It’s the dinner crowd that annoys me. The girls aren’t singing during lunch, so there are less guys hanging around trying to hit on every female relative I have.”

Aaron hadn’t heard Kacey sing since that night, and he wondered if she missed being onstage. He’d figured out that she didn’t work nights when school was in session. Maybe he’d ask her, if she was still speaking to him after the other day. “Let’s go.”

Kacey wiped down the bar, then asked the two guys in business suits sitting on the end if they needed anything else. After refilling their drinks, she went back to rolling butter knives and forks in napkins for the evening shift. Her fingers flew in a quick, efficient rhythm, and she tossed the tightly rolled utensils into the basket next to her.

She glanced around the place, at her momma making her rounds in the seating area, greeting diners at the tables, making sure to smile and rub the backs of the men. Flirting never hurt your tips—a favorite phrase of Sabrina’s. Kacey’s gaze went back to the vacant stage. There was no music during lunch, only dinner, when she didn’t work. Singing onstage was part of her outlet when she was stressed about the long hours working at the restaurant. Even that was unavailable to her because she didn’t work nights while in school. She worked hard all of the time and barely had time to enjoy herself.

Kacey threw another rolled set of silverware toward the basket. It missed and landed on the floor. Mumbling a curse, she bent and snatched up the fork and knife, now unwrapped and dirty after sliding across the floor. She’d never been this irritated at work before. She always looked around and found comfort, pride, a sense that this was where she belonged even though she gave up so much of her free time to make the place grow.

There was only one place to land her irritation: squarely at Aaron Henderson’s doorstep. She loved her job here. Loved the fact that she’d be able to confidently handle opening a second restaurant and maybe even one day a third. She was not here out of some crazy need to pay for her momma’s mistakes. And who was he to say they were mistakes anyway? Neither she nor her siblings would be around if her momma had been some old-school virgin. Working here was a way to thank her momma for all of her hard work and her sacrifice. For doing whatever was necessary to make this place successful.

But is it your dream?

Kacey gripped the utensils in her hand, wishing she could sink the fork directly into Aaron’s wonderfully muscled thigh. Forget Aaron Henderson and his insistence on putting his nose where it didn’t belong. She didn’t want to be rich or famous. Didn’t want to go to Hollywood and become a singing star. So what if the only dream she had was to help at the family restaurant? Was it wrong to have stayed in Resilient instead of moving somewhere else? Wrong to dedicate her life to her momma’s business? Wrong to be committed to her family?

Hands slapped the bar. “Hey, can I get some service?”

Kacey rolled her eyes and sighed. “No, Reggie, you can’t.” She turned to grin at her brother, but her gaze glued to Aaron beside him and her smile withered away.

He looked good. Relaxed and happy with that sexy
I don’t have a care in the world
smile that seemed to always stick to his perfect lips. He leaned on the bar, his light blue T-shirt draping his slim form perfectly. Dark eyes sparked with enough mischief to make her want to ditch work and run off into whatever adventure he’d cooked up for the day.

Her eyes narrowed. The man shouldn’t look so sexy when she was still pissed at him.

“What brings you two in here?”

Aaron grinned. “I would say the stellar service, but I’m thinking you’re not feeling the customer service today.”

“Just depends on the customer.” She looked at Reggie and gave him a smile. “What can I do for you, Reggie?”

Reggie glanced from her to Aaron. “What did I miss? Are you mad at Aaron?”

“Why in the world would I be mad at Aaron?” Kacey asked, eyes wide and a hand to her chest. “It’s not as if he’s swept into town, knew me for one day, and then decided to make broad assumptions about my life.”

The smirk on Aaron’s face diminished. “I made no assumptions. I just pointed out how hard you work.”

Kacey stalked over to the bar and gripped the edge. “I work hard because I want to work hard. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

Reggie shook his head. “Hold up, Kacey. Aaron does work hard. I can vouch for that.”

Her customers at the end of the bar waved a hand for the check. “I’ve got to get back to work. Reggie, just tell the guys in back what you want.” She went to check on the two customers.

She didn’t look at Aaron or Reggie as she closed out their tab. Reggie got up and walked into the kitchen. She knew Aaron was watching her, and pretending as if his intense stare wasn’t making her want to squirm took everything she had. Lashing out at him in front of Reggie had given her only a second of satisfaction.

Spinning away before she felt the least bit guilty for taking out her own frustration on him, Kacey took the dirty dishes into the back. Reggie came over to her immediately.

“What was that about?” He pointed to the door in the direction of the bar.

“What was what?”

He crossed his huge arms and drew his brows together. “Don’t play dumb with me, Kacey. You’re mad at Aaron and I want to know why.”

She carefully placed the dishes in the pile near the dishwasher and smiled at the guy working the machine. “He’s just annoying sometimes,” she said, turning back to Reggie.

“I know you—when someone is annoying, you usually find a way to avoid them. You don’t lash out at people unless…” Reggie’s arms fell to his side and his frown became murderous. “Did you two hook up? He said there was nothing going on—”

Kacey held up her hands and shook her head. “Whoa, wait a second. No, we didn’t hook up. And don’t you think I’d be happy if I’d had sex with him?”

Reggie scowled and stepped back. “Dang, Kacey, really. You’d be happy if Aaron was serious about a relationship, but you’d be angry if he acted like Dewayne and just got his kicks with you and then tossed you aside.”

Not flinching was a monumental task. They’d be a hundred years old and Reggie would still think Kacey was the same foolish girl who’d fallen for the okey-doke from some player. Seeing the pulse in his temple explode by telling him things were the other way around, that she’d used Aaron for her own pleasure then tried to walk away without a second glance, would almost be worth him getting the poor stupid “Peanut” image of her out of his head.

“It’s nothing like that,” she said. “He just said something that struck a nerve. He wasn’t even trying to be mean, not really.”

“You’re just taking out your bruised feelings on him.”

She shrugged. “Something like that.”

Reggie sighed and crossed his arms again. “And it has nothing to do with him hitting on you or stepping over the line.”

“No. He’s really a decent guy…when he’s not making commentary on how hard I work.”

“You do work hard. Honestly, I think a guy like Aaron would be good for you.” When Kacey raised a brow, Reggie chuckled. “Okay, not
exactly
like him. But you do need someone who’ll help you relax and enjoy yourself every once in a while.”

“Really, you want me to relax and have fun. Is that before or after you rip the arms off of any guy who looks my way?”

“That’s because most guys who look the way of this family expect every woman in it to be loose. You know, for a second I thought Aaron was really feeling you. If I knew he would stick around and do right by you, I’d be okay with you two together.”

She shouldn’t ask, shouldn’t want to know. “What made you think that?”

“The last time I warned him off, he said if he had you he’d treasure you. Silly me, I thought it meant he could get serious, but he’s still talking about leaving. And when I’m not around, he does his own thing, so I’m thinking he’s hooking up with that woman he first met when he came into town.”

Her mind spun. First with the “treasure” comment, then with Reggie’s thought that Aaron was hooking up with someone. “He’s sleeping with someone?”

“I don’t know for sure, but knowing Aaron, he’s got some woman he’s interested in.”

The cook called over to tell Reggie his food was ready. Reggie nodded. “Just be nice to Aaron for a few more days. He’s not that bad.”

Kacey grunted a kind of agreement. Aaron wasn’t bad; she just wasn’t in the mood to be friendly to him. Her momma came into the kitchen.

“Hey, Momma, can you watch the bar for a few minutes?”

Sabrina shrugged. “Sure. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just going to take a quick break.”

Kacey slipped off her apron and then went out the back door. A pile of crates was stacked against the building, and she sat on one of those. She pulled a handful of Laffy Taffy out of her pocket. After opening one and shoving the sour apple–flavored candy into her mouth, she flipped over the wrapper to read the joke.

“What did one casket say to the other?” she read aloud. “Is that you coffin?” Kacey chuckled and shook her head.

The back door opened, and Aaron came out. He glanced to the right then to the left, where she sat. When he saw her, his eyes lit up. He grinned and Kacey’s heart flipped.

“What’s got you smiling?” He strolled over and stood next to her.

Kacey stopped smiling and shifted anxiously on the crate. “Why are you back here?”

“Reggie said I needed to apologize for upsetting you, so I came to do that.”

“Is that the only reason you’ll apologize, if my brother demands it?”

He ran his hands over the thick curls on his head. “Actually, I figured I’d come and demand an apology from you.”

“Excuse me? Why would I owe you an apology?”

“Because you’ve put me in an awkward situation. Normally, if I state my opinion and someone doesn’t like it, I move on. People not liking what I have to say isn’t that big of a deal. But see, you’re different. I didn’t say what I said to hurt your feelings. But apparently I did, and because of that I kind of care.”

Kacey smirked, but only to keep from grinning at his declaration. “Kind of care?”

“Yeah, can you believe it?” He shook his head, but humor filled his eyes. “Which means, since I
kind of
care, I should do something to make up for upsetting you.”

Kacey leaned her elbow on her knee then rested her chin in her hand. “I’m still not getting why I owe you an apology?”

“How can you not get it? You’ve caused me emotional strife. People get sued for much less than this.”

Kacey sat up. “Are you planning on suing me?”

“That depends.”

He leaned his arms on either side of her on the crate. The breeze brought over the scent of the Dove soap she’d put in his apartment and his underlying scent. Spicy, enticing, masculine. His chocolate brown eyes, dancing with his constant sense of humor, stared into hers. Kacey wanted nothing more than to kiss him.

“On what?” she whispered.

“On you allowing me to throw a party in your honor.”

Kacey raised a brow. “A party?”

“Well, more like a cookout. I know you really don’t want to go to your dad’s birthday party on Saturday even though you promised. I’m not saying you should ditch, but maybe if your brother is hosting a cookout on the same day, you’ll have a reason to skip out early.”

“Reggie isn’t having a cookout.”

“Reggie isn’t having one yet. I’ll put the idea into his head, he’ll fire up the grill, and you’ll have a reason to leave your dad’s place early. But I’ll leave out the part about it being for you.”

She leaned back, needing space, distance, between her and his warm body. “Why is that?”

“Because I don’t want to give him any ideas about us.” Aaron leaned in closer. “He thinks there’s something going on. He even gave me the okay to date you.”

Kacey drew in a shaky breath. “No, he didn’t.”

“He did.” Time froze as his dark gaze glided over her face, pausing at her lips. She didn’t lick them, but man, if she didn’t want to kiss him. Aaron suddenly straightened. “Until he realized that I’m not looking to settle down anytime soon. We both know that you’re the kind of woman a guy settles down with.”

She hid her disappointment with a blasé look. She hoped that was how she looked, anyway. “Too much of a commitment for you?”

“It is,” he said with no preamble. “As you pointed out, responsibility isn’t my strongest trait.”

“I shouldn’t have said that. Your business proves you’re responsible.”

“And I shouldn’t have questioned your hard work for your momma’s business.”

“No. You shouldn’t have.” He flinched and she lifted a shoulder. “But I can see how it might look like I’ve forsaken my own dreams for my mother’s. Maybe I did let her dream become my own, but I don’t regret that. I want nothing more than to open a second restaurant, start a franchise. And, yeah, maybe a tiny bit is to prove that what my momma started turned out better than expected.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to prove the people who doubted you wrong. That need to do better drives all competition. Recognize that, embrace it, and before you know it you’ll have four restaurants open. I think you can do it, Kacey.”