Discovering Pride (Pride Series) (21 page)

“Relax, you’ve just the right amount of everything. Everything will be fine.” she walked over and kissed his cheek. He looked down and noticed her then. He noticed the dress, her hair, the heels, her legs. How could he not notice her? The red dress was skin tight and hit mid thigh with a slit that traveled far enough to get his heart rate speeding to dangerous levels.

“Wow.”

She stopped and smiled at him. “You like?” She did a little turn on the thin three inch silver heels.

He started walking towards her with his mind on one thing. Her. Just her. Just as he reached her, they heard a car drive up.

“
Later.” he warned with a smile.

He hadn’t know there were this many people in town. There must be close to two hundred people in his house. So many, that they had actually opened his back sliding doors and people were spilling out onto his deck despite the weather. The opened doors did help in cooling off the place. Because there were so many bodies crammed in the temperature had risen to almost blistering. The noise level was so high the music that had been playing was barely audible.

He had only seen Lacey three times since the arrival of the majority of his guests. He’d seen both her brother’s several times. Todd and Megan had been sitting in the dining room, both with large plates of food and chatting with another couple. He thought he had seen Iian talking to a tall blonde in the kitchen earlier. But, Lacey was nowhere to be found at the moment.

After his, what seemed like, millionth conversation with one of his new townspeople, he decided to look for her again.

Walking to the hallway he heard her laughter coming from the back bedroom, along with a male voice. A memory long forgotten, surfaced.

It was a loud party, much like the one going on now. He was looking for Jennifer, to tell her… something. He didn’t quite remember what it was, but he knew it had been important. He’d been looking for a few minutes now. The house had been large, the guests were spread out, and it had taken him several minutes to side step his way through the crowd. Finally, he had freed himself so he could search some more and he remembered seeing her head up the large curved staircase, so he headed up it to follow.

Opening one door after another down the long wide hallway, had proven useless. Just as he turned to go back downstairs, he heard her laughter coming from the last door on the left which was left cracked open. Walking down the hall he reached for the door handle just as he heard a male voice.

“
You aren’t really going to go through it are you? Come on Jennifer, don’t you think you’ve strung him along enough?”

“I know what I’m doing, Tom.”

“You have to know, he’ll find out sooner or later.”

“It won’t matter. Once I have the license, there won’t be anything he can do. Besides, he’s been clueless so far. I mean, he stays so busy down at the hospital. Do you honestly think he will notice? Plus, his parents are as blind as he is. They absolutely adore me and have told me I’m the best thing he has ever done.”

She laughed again, but it didn’t sound quite like the Jennifer he knew.

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with us, I could care less who you married. I just want to know that we will still get to do this, after.” It was silent then, he opened the door wider to see his fiance and one of his best friends in a passionate embrace.

Lacey was walking back towards Aaron’s bathroom, just as a large blonde man walked in to the bedroom. She had just taken Cleo out to relieve herself in the backyard and was returning her to the kennel.

“
Well, hello again. Lacey, right?” Ric Derby walked over to the pair and gently stroked the little dog’s head as she held it in her hands. Cleo wiggled with excitement at the new attention, causing Lacey to hold on a little tighter.

“Yes, it’s Mr. Derby?” She remembered, because they had briefly met at Allison’s store a few weeks back. “Are you here with Allison?” she looked around.

“Yes, just looking for a place to set this down.” He held up a woman’s black jacket, no doubt Allison’s.

“
Here, let me take that for you.” She quickly walked into the restroom and placed Cleo back into her kennel. The small dog began whining immediately. “Shh, shh now, settle down girl.” Cleo quickly turned two circles and lay back down on her bed.

“She’s cute. Is she yours?” Turning, she saw that Ric was now leaning against the bathroom door with his arms crossed, much like Aaron did all the time while she did her morning ritual of hair and make-up.

“No, she’s Aaron’s.” she walked over and held out her hands for the coat.

Ric started to hand it to her, but kept a hold of it a while longer.

“Are you here with someone?” he smiled down at her.

“Yes,” she laughed and said. “I’m following her lead,” she nodded towards the puppy.

Ric laughed, “Why is it all the pretty one’s are always taken?”

Lacey laughed again. Just then Aaron walked around the corner.

Standing in the door to his room, the memory took over again. Only this time, he saw Lacey and the man he had just been introduced to, Ric Derby. Only, he didn’t see them standing like they were, with a few feet in between each other. Instead he imagined them embracing. His body shook, his ears rung, and his sight dimmed.

“
Oh, there you are Aaron. I was just letting Cleo out.” Lacey took the coat from Ric, walked over and hung it on a large chair where other coats had accumulated.

Upon Aaron’s silence, Ric jumped in. “You have a lovely home. I drove by the place just before you purchased it. It doesn’t look the same.” Ric noticed the mans look and the tension in the room and decided the best exit was a quick one.

Aaron had yet to say anything. Lacey noticed his hands were fisted by his sides, she noticed the vibration coming from him. Walking over, she took his hand in her own. She waited for him to look at her and just looked into his eyes.

“Ric is here with Allison. Actually, he is the reason she is moving away to California.” Lacey noticed his hands starting to relax in her own.

“Allison is a talented woman. I do believe she is going to make it big in the art world. Well, I better go find her.” Ric quickly left the room.

“What was that all about?” Lacey turned on him the second the bedroom door clicked shut. “You were rude to Mr. Darby.”

“What was that all about? What were you doing back here all alone with that man?” Aaron paced to the door and back again.

“I told you what…” she began to explain, but then she realized what the look on his face meant and where his thoughts had lead him. “Is that what happened?” she walked over and took his hands again. “You’ve yet to open up about it. But, is that what happened before? Did someone cheat on you?” she tried to look into his eyes for the answer.

He pulled his hands away and went over to the outside door and leaned his head against the windowpane feeling the cool from the night beyond. Why was it so hot in here? He took a large cleansing breathe.

She walked over and stood before him, resting her hands on either side of his face. “Aaron, look at me.” she pulled his face up to her own. He opened his eyes. “I’m not cheating on you. I would never do something like that. You are the only one I want to be with. If that ever changes, you will be the first to know. I don’t play games, and I don’t keep secrets.”

Looking into her eyes, he could see the truth. This was Lacey, not Jennifer. Taking another large breath, he pulled her close and enfolded her in his arms breathing in her scent.

“I know. I’m sorry. I overreacted. It’s just. Yeah. That’s how it happened. It was a hard experience to get over. The betrayal.” he hugged her as she stood in front of him. She felt so right in his arms. How could he have doubted her?

“No one should have to go through something like that. I’m sorry.” Just then Cleo let out a loud bark.

“Does she need to go out?” he said, his voice full of panic and concern. Thinking he might have to deal with a puppy mess along with his own emotional ones.

Lacey laughed. “No, she’s just being spoiled. Hearing her daddy’s voice, she of course wants you.”

“I like spoiling her. I like spoiling you.” he reached up and kissed her slowly.

Just then, the bedroom door opened and Iian walked in with a pile of coats in his arms. Seeing them in the embrace, he quickly dropped the coats on the chair, and signed.

“Get a room.”

“This is a room.” Aaron signed back.

Iian laughed and quickly left, making sure to leave the door wide open.

“Back to the party?” Lacey suggested.

“Fine, but later, we are going to have make-up sex.” his smile was full of mischief.

“I don’t think that technically qualified as an argument.” she said side-stepping away from his hold and laughing. He smiled at her back. She had a way of diffusing his moods. He really enjoyed that about her.

Iian was out of his league. He hated, absolutely hated parties. So, why did he find himself at one of the largest ones he’d ever been to? He knew why, and she stood all five foot, four inches of her, just inside the kitchen door. His sister, had a way of making him do things he didn’t want to.

He had to admit, though, he was starting to have a good time and enjoy himself. That was, until she showed up. Allison Adams walked in the front door on the arm of a tall blonde man, and, everything went gray. If he still had his hearing, he was sure his ears would have been buzzing at that point.

What the hell? Was all he thought. Then, when he finally got his mind under control and he graduated to. Who the hell?

When the man had removed her long dark coat and he saw the little blue number she was wearing, he stopped thinking all together.

So, for the past hour, he’d been avoiding the couple. Hiding out in the kitchen seemed childish, but it was better then going home early. His date for the night, Kasey, or was it Kathy, leaned against the counter next to him looking bored. It was hard for him to date, most people in Pride didn’t know sign-language. But, for the most part, the kind of dating he was doing, didn’t call for a lot of talking. Kasey was an old “
friend”
, he honestly didn’t know why he’d texted her and invited her along tonight. Other then, he didn’t want to come to the party alone. Maybe, that’s why Allison had brought tall, blonde, and way too tan. He couldn’t stop searching the crowd for the pair.