Darius (Starkis Family #5) (16 page)

***

I was so nervous about brunch with his family I barely managed to stomach the coffee Darius made and brought to me in bed. A full hour later, I looked at my reflection in his full-length mirror, trying to decide whether the knee-length turquoise halter dress was appropriate. I’d paired it with a cute pair of flip-flops and a strapless white bikini underneath, just in case we’d be expected to swim, but I still wasn’t sure I’d made the right choice. I had shown my selections to Daphne before I left, and she assured me they were perfect, but our standards were probably a lot lower than the Starkis family’s.

“You look gorgeous,” he said, coming up behind me as his arms circled my waist. “I can’t wait for you to meet everyone.”

I offered him a tight smile in the mirror, but I knew I wasn’t fooling anyone. “I hope they’re okay with you bringing me. You told your parents, right? You’re not just going to show up with me and surprise them, are you? Because that would be—”

“I told them I was bringing a friend,” he said, silencing me with a kiss. “I wanted to tell them I was bringing my new girlfriend, but I thought that might put too much pressure on you.”

He was right. Meeting them was scary enough. Being introduced as his girlfriend would have sent me over the edge for sure. “Daphne and I have a motto.”

He smiled. “Oh yeah? This I gotta hear.”

“It’s none of our business what anyone thinks of us.”

“I like that.”

“Yeah, it usually works too. But today, your family… I’m having a hard time convincing myself it doesn’t matter what they think of me. I want them to like me.” It wasn’t easy for me to admit that, especially since I’d thought I’d long ago buried the need for acceptance and approval.

“They’ll love you,” he said, his large hands curling around my face.

I got the feeling he was about to say something else, but I silently prayed he wouldn’t. Things between us were already moving at breakneck speed, at least for me.

“You didn’t say how things went with my sister the other day. Was Kara nice to you?”

“Sure.” I slipped out of his arms and crossed the room to toss my lip gloss in my bag along with a tube of sunscreen and my cell phone. “It’s obvious she’s very protective of you. Not that I blame her.” I was protective of Daphne, and she wasn’t even my sister.

He scowled. “I’ve already put my sisters on notice where you’re concerned. If they or anyone else, including my parents, give you a hard time, I want to hear about it.”

I didn’t need him to rescue me, but it was sweet that he wanted to. “Let’s go.” I grabbed his hand as I tossed my bag over the other shoulder. “If we talk about this anymore, I’m going to talk myself out of going.”

Darius

Chelsea had agreed to a beach volleyball game with Dustin, Catia, Chase, Mia, Deacon, Damon, and Eleni while Kara and my mother watched the kids, insisting my Uncle Demi and Teta Vaso enjoy a walk on the beach. That gave me a chance to talk to my father and get his take on Chelsea. Nothing anyone said about her would deter me, but I valued my old man’s opinion.

“So what do you think?” I asked, reaching into the cooler for my first beer of the day.

“Of your friend?” my father asked, looking amused. “She seems like a very nice girl.”

“She is.” I sounded a bit defensive, but I could read between the lines with my father. I knew there was more to come. “But?”

“I just worry that you may be in over your head with this one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Are you sure she feels the same way about you as you do about her?” When I attempted to respond, he raised his hand. “I can tell you’re very fond of her, but she seems to be keeping you at arm’s length.”

That was because she didn’t want my family to question the nature of our relationship just yet. Anyone could tell we were more than friends, but Chelsea wasn’t ready to apply a label to our relationship, at least not in front of my family, and I had to respect that.

“We haven’t been seeing each other long, and she hasn’t had very many serious relationships. Only one, in fact. So it’ll take her some time to get used to the idea of being part of a couple.” I was saying more than I should, but I didn’t need my father planting doubts in my head about Chelsea’s feelings for me. Not after last night, when she’d finally started to let go of her past.

“You say she’s only had one relationship?” my father asked, reaching for his bottled water on the table. “What happened?”

I knew her past would come up eventually, but I needed Chelsea to tell me how she wanted me to field my family’s questions before I told them anything about Shaun. “He’s no longer in the picture. Hasn’t been for almost two years.”

“Is she over him?”

I believed she was over Shaun, but she would never get over the way she’d lost him. That would always be a part of her. “I think so.”

“You’d better be sure before you decide whether you want to take this any further.”

I already knew last night had just been the beginning for us whether my parents liked it or not. “I know all I need to know about her previous relationship. Suffice it to say it’s over.”

“And how does she feel about the things that matter to you, son? Marriage, kids, family? Have you talked about that yet?”

“It’s too soon.” She’d told me she didn’t think she was cut out to be a mom, but who could blame her for being apprehensive given her upbringing?

“It’s never too soon to make sure you’re compatible when it comes to the big things.” My father took a sip of his water before replacing the cap. “I mean, really, what’s the point of taking it any further if you don’t want the same things out of life?”

He had a point, but it was way too soon to start pressuring her about the future. We’d just started dating.

“Hey,” Kara said, coming up behind me and gripping my shoulders. “Does it look like they’re almost finished down there? I’d like to call everyone together for a minute.”

I put my fingers between my lips and whistled to get everyone’s attention. Dustin held up a finger to let me know it was game point. After they finished, everyone headed up the stairs leading to the deck. Dustin and Kara exchanged a few words in private before my mother stepped out on the deck to let us know the babies were down for their naps.

“So,” Dustin said, linking his hand with Kara’s. “I know y’all think we invited you here to celebrate the house being finished.” He smiled at his wife. “But there’s a little more to it than that.”

I’d had a feeling there was. They’d been speaking in hushed tones at the office all week, and whenever I walked into the room, they got quiet. I’d asked Kara what was going on, but she insisted I was just being paranoid.

“Well? Don’t keep us in suspense,” my mother said, smiling. “What is it?”

“We’re going to have a baby,” Kara squealed, giggling when her husband gave her a wry smile. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. I’ve been dying to tell them ever since we found out!”

Wow.
I was going to be an uncle. Given the fact Kara had endometriosis, they hadn’t even been sure they could get pregnant when they got married, so this was a really big deal for them. I glanced at Chelsea, who appeared uncomfortable, almost as though she was looking for an escape route. She probably thought she was intruding on a family moment, but there was no one I’d have rather shared it with. While the rest of my family gathered around Kara and Dustin to congratulate them, I grabbed Chelsea’s hand and led her away from the group.

“You okay?” I whispered, setting my hand on her hip.

“Of course.” She smiled. “This is obviously a very special moment for your family though. I can’t help but feel—”

I set my finger against her lips before she could voice her concerns. “You do belong here, so don’t even try to tell me you don’t.”

“I saw the look on your face when they made their announcement,” she said, her eyes drifting down my chest. “You’re obviously excited for them, but I saw something else. A touch of envy, maybe?”

Given the conversation I’d just had with my father, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever get to make an announcement like that if I stayed with Chelsea. “Cat and I are the only ones still single. My cousins are all married with babies and now my sister. I guess I’m starting to feel like I might like my turn.”

Chelsea bit her lip, seeming to weigh her words carefully. “That’s understandable. Family is obviously very important to you. I was watching you with your cousins’ kids earlier. It’s obvious how much you adore them.”

“I do.”

She, on the other hand, had kept her distance, never asking to hold the babies or help feed them or play with them.

“I don’t have to be a mind reader to know what you’re thinking,” she said, resting her hand on my chest. “You’re thinking maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all, you and me.”

“That’s not what I was thinking.”

She touched my face. “You’re a terrible liar, you know that?”

“Chels, I—”

“Chase said he has to go soon. I think I’ll head back to the city with him.”

“But I thought you were going to spend the night.” I didn’t want her to leave, not like this.

“It’s pretty obvious we both have a lot to think about, Darius.” She stood on her toes to kiss me. “I had a great time last night. Thank you.”

***

After the party broke up, Chase and Chelsea headed back to the city, leaving Catia and me to commiserate.

“What a mess,” I said, covering my face with my hands.

She was sitting on the Adirondack chair next to mine on my back deck. After she heard Chelsea wasn’t spending the night, she’d asked to crash at my place, assuming I could use the company. In this case, she was right. I didn’t feel like being alone tonight.

“I finally meet a girl I’m crazy about, and it can’t go anywhere ‘cause she’s too fuc—”

“Messed up?” Cat asked, reaching for my hand. “Yeah, I kind of got the impression Chelsea had one foot out the door all day today.”

“I should have known better than to invite her to a family thing. It was too soon. She wasn’t ready. We weren’t ready.” Maybe if I’d waited a few months, if we’d been on more solid ground, she wouldn’t have gotten so freaked out.

“I understand how she feels,” Catia said. “The prospect of kids scared me away after Chase and I…” She shrugged. “You know. Knowing his kids are the most important thing in the world to him and that he wanted to be a full-time dad made me question whether there would be any room for me in his life even if I was willing to give it a try.”

Catia had always been reluctant to talk to me about Chase, so I was glad she was finally opening up. The fact that she and Chelsea seemed to have something in common could also provide me with some much-needed perspective because right now, I felt as if everything was falling apart.

“How do you feel about Chase now? I mean, did you guys get a chance to talk at all today?”

“I tried, but he didn’t seem too receptive. I think I really hurt him, leaving the way I did after we slept together.”

“That’s understandable.” I felt the same way. After last night, I’d expected Chelsea and me to be closer by the end of the weekend, not further apart. “I know Chase was really into you when we all worked together. It had to have been a blow for you to leave the way you did.”

“I just didn’t know if I could do it, Darius,” she said, reaching for the hoodie she’d brought outside with her. She slipped it on before reaching for her glass of wine. “The thought of settling down with just one man still scares the hell out of me, but I’m not going to lie—I really miss seeing Chase every day.”

“It must have been hard for you, seeing him again today,” I said, looking at her out of the corner of my eye.

“That’s the hardest part.” She sighed. “We have this connection now. He’s like family to you and Kara and Dustin, so of course you guys want to include him on days like today, but it’s hard for me to see him and not be able to tell him how I feel about him.”

“You could tell him.” Not that I’d done the best job of expressing myself to Chelsea. There were things I should have said to her, things she needed to know before she made her final decision about us.

“Not unless I’m ready to move back here and start a real relationship with him, one that involves his girls.”

“They really are the sweetest little things,” I said, smiling at her. “Blond curls, big blue eyes, and they have their daddy wrapped around their little fingers.”

“I know. I’ve seen their pictures. I think that’s what I’m most afraid of—falling in love with them too. If it didn’t work out between Chase and me, I’d not only lose him but them too.”

I was stunned by my sister’s admission. I’d thought she’d want to keep her interactions with Chase’s girls to a minimum. “You know you can’t live your life fearing risk,” I said, nudging her elbow with mine. “Isn’t that what you always tell Mom when a friend asks you to go rock climbing or sky diving?”

“Yeah, but that’s different.” She tipped her head back, looking at the stars blanketing the sky. “The risk of a broken heart scares me the most. I guess that’s why I’ve always kept men at arm’s length. I didn’t want to go through what Kara went through with Dustin the first time around. It almost destroyed her. I guess that’s when I realized how destructive love can be.”

I’d had no idea watching our sister go through that had had such a profound impact on Cat. “Yeah, but Kara and Dustin got their happy ending. You and Chase could too.”

“I don’t know about that.” She took a sip of her wine. “It may be too late for us. How about you and Chelsea? You think it’s too late for you guys?”

“I sure as hell hope not. Everything in me is telling me not to let this one go, Cat.”

Chelsea

I was surprised to find Daphne watching TV when I got home. “No hot date tonight?” I asked, dropping my overnight bag in the foyer.

She shook her head. “What are you doing home? I wasn’t expecting you back ‘til late tomorrow.”