Playing For Keeps (6 page)

Keirra looked up from her plate. “I am thinking about all of the reasons why I shouldn’t date you,”

she replied honestly.

Eric laughed. “I like that about you. Your honesty is a turn on to me.”

Keirra rolled her eyes at the comment, and he chuckled. “I am serious.”

“I know,” she replied dryly.

He chuckled. “Tell me about your family.”

Keirra shrugged. “You know most of them. The only people you haven’t met are my paternal grandparents.”

Keirra told him about them. The smile on his face had widened by the time she was finished. “What about your parents?”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew that he had made a mistake. Keirra’s body language changed completely. “Maybe some other time.”

Her tone spoke of finality, and he didn’t press the subject. Yet, there was something about the Smith sisters’ past that had caused them a lot of pain. He knew that was a part of the reason as to why Keirra had avoided him up until this point. Until he discovered what the devastating secret was, he knew he wouldn’t get to know the real Keirra. That bothered him because he really did care a lot about Keirra. Most of their relationship had consisted of him chasing her and her avoiding him at all costs.

He laughed at the thought of some of the interactions that occurred between the two of them and frowned at others. One of the things that he liked about her was she had a mouth on her, and she wasn’t afraid to use it. Keirra had either cursed at him or cursed because of him so many times it was downright humorous. He liked a woman who could stand her ground and demand what she wanted.

Keirra was the woman he wanted in his life. Now he had to convince her that was what he wanted.

* * * *

Eric dialed his parents’ phone number and smiled. He loved them for everything that they had done for him. Everything that they had given him, and everything that they had made him work hard for.

His mother answered the phone on the second ring.

“Hello Mom—”

He was interrupted by his mother’s rapid secession of Spanish. She scolded him for going so long without calling.

Eric laughed. “Well, Mom, I have been a little busy.”

“When have you ever been too busy to call your parents?” his mother questioned him with puzzlement.

Eric chuckled. “Since I have been busy pursuing a woman who I am really interested in.”

His mother was silent for a moment before speaking. “Well don’t keep me waiting. Tell me about her.”

He launched into the story of his first meeting with Keirra and of everything that had happened since. By the time he finished, his mother was laughing.

“Well, son, it seems as if you have met your match.”

He had to smile himself as he thought about Keirra. “I know. That is a part of the reason that I am attracted to her. She isn’t a doormat. She wouldn’t be a woman who does something just because I say do it or to keep me. And she isn’t worried about impressing me. She is comfortable in her skin.

Secure in who she is as a person.”

“Well from what you have told me, she sounds like a nice woman.”

Eric’s smile grew. “She is, and that is why I want you guys to meet her.”

Eric sat back and listened to his mother as she shot off another round of rapid Spanish. When his mother finished, he shook his head.

“Well, don’t get too excited. I still have to ask her if she would like to come.”

His mother sighed with impatience. “Make sure you use every ounce of persuasion you have in your body.”

Eric laughed. “Okay, Mom. I will.”

“Make sure that you do, and give me a call back to let me know what her answer is as soon as you have it.”

“How late are you going to be up?”

“At least another hour.”

He grinned. “That should be enough time to convince her.”

“Well, hurry up and call her.”

Eric said bye to his mother with the promise to call her back in an hour either way it turned out. He took a deep breath before dialing Keirra’s number.

In the short time he had the number he had memorized it. Keirra answered the phone on the third ring. She sounded a bit winded.

He smiled. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

He heard her take a deep breath before continuing. “No I just couldn’t find the phone. I think Kayla hid it again.”

Eric laughed as Keirra grumbled about Kayla having a bad habit of doing that. He would bet everything he had that growing up with the Smith sisters had been a blast. They were so full of life.

He knew many people thought highly of them around Baxley.

“Well, I called you for good reason.”

Keirra laughed. “I would hope so. I have never been a fan of bad news.”

“Well, the reason that I called you is that this weekend is my mother’s birthday, and I would really like it if you could join me in Atlanta for her party.”

Her silence told him he shocked her, and when her voice came out in a croak, it was confirmed. She cleared her throat. “Are you sure that you want me to go? I mean we hardly know each other.”

He chuckled. “We know each other well enough. I am very sure I want you to come to Atlanta with me.”

Keirra paused. “Who else is going to be there?”

He smiled before reclining back on the couch. “My parents as well as my sisters and their families.”

“So in other words, your
entire
family,” she said on a groan.

Eric laughed. “Oh no. Not my entire family by any means. Just in case I didn’t tell you. My mother is one of twelve, and my father is one of six.”

Her gasp of surprise traveled across the phone line, and he could tell he shocked her with the information. From his conversations with Randy, he knew Keirra and her sisters craved the closeness of a family. He hoped she would say yes to meeting his family. She would fit in well, and his mother would love her. He waited anxiously for her to give him an answer. She was taking longer than he would like to say yes and he wasn’t certain she would. He had to figure out something he could say or do to convince her.

Just as he went to speak, she took a deep breath, and his heart rate slowed in disappointment as he realized she was going to turn him down.

“As crazy as I think this idea is, and as nervous as I am about meeting your family, I would love to go with you to Atlanta.”

He couldn’t express the happiness he felt at her words, but he should have known she would accept.

He’d issued a challenge. He wasn’t surprised that she was willing to face the challenge head on. He was willing to admit that he didn’t think it would be this easy. Nothing with her ever was. It was one of the things that attracted him to her. Maybe Kristen had been right in stating that all he had to do was challenge Keirra to capture her interest. Now he had to figure out what to do to keep it.

Keirra took another sip of her coffee as she turned off the engine and grabbed her bag before climbing out. Unfortunately, the weekend had flown by, entirely too quickly. It was another Monday, and that meant it was the beginning of another workweek. She walked into the building with her best smile in place. She signed in then went to her classroom. The first bell of the day rang, and the rest of the day flew by. Before she knew it the day was over. She straightened up her classroom before heading to the front office to sign out.

Thankfully, the drive home was a short one. She pulled into the driveway before heading into the house. Kayla hadn’t made it home yet, so she would have the house to herself for a few minutes.

That gave her time to go upstairs and relax for a little while. She and her sisters would all be meeting at Sam’s Café in an hour or two. Their routine was to meet at Sam’s Café every Monday for dinner.

So far, that routine hadn’t been broken. There had been a time when they vowed not to eat at the restaurant, but that vow had gone out the window the next week. They were addicted to Sam’s Café, and there wasn’t anything that would keep them away from weekly Monday dinner. Sure they could meet at the house and have dinner there, but it wasn’t Sam’s Café. Sam’s Café held memories for them that could never be replaced.

She walked into her room and sat her bag down by the dresser. Right now, she had no idea of what she was going to wear, but she would figure it out before it was time to leave. She slipped out of her shoes before walking over to her closet. Her style was definitely one of comfort and casual. She wasn’t one who wanted to walk around uncomfortable all day long just to keep up with modern fashion. Fashion was something that she could create on her own. After opening the door to her closet, she began to flip through her clothes. She chose her favorite relaxed fit denim jeans and paired it up with a blue print pointelle V-neck shirt. Satisfied with the outfit she laid it aside before sitting on the edge of her bed. A quick glance at the clock told her that she had made good time in picking out her outfit.

A yawn escaped her, and she made the decision to take a power nap. She set the alarm for thirty minutes before lying down. When it went off, she wished she had set it for longer. She turned it off before getting out of bed. Thankfully it didn’t take her long to get ready because she was starving. By the time she made it downstairs, Kayla was already in the living room waiting for her.

“Did you have a good nap?”

Kayla nodded. “Yes I did, only it wasn’t long enough.”

She was tired from getting up so early this morning. It had been her workout morning, so she had to get up in time enough to work out, take a shower, and eat breakfast. It was a routine that she followed at least three days a week as well as four before and after the holidays. She and her sisters took pleasure in their food. Even though that was the case, they tried to eat as healthy as possible as well as work out. Since she had been back in Baxley she had done very well.

“Hopefully, I won’t be this tired tomorrow,” she murmured as she followed Kayla to the front door.

Kayla groaned. “Well I am sure I will be since tomorrow is my day to work out.”

Keirra smiled as they walked to Kayla’s car. If she had to run two miles, there was no question she would be tired.

As athletic as she was, she despised running. She would do it if she had to, but only if her life was in danger. If she had a choice, she wasn’t running anywhere. She got into the car, and Kayla drove them to Sam’s Café. Kristen pulled up at the same time that they did. Keirra couldn’t stop the grin that appeared on her face. She embraced her younger sister before locking arms with her. They headed into the restaurant together. Once they were seated and their drink orders were taken, their normal conversation resumed.

“So how was everyone’s Monday?”

Keirra laughed at her younger sister’s question. “You know we always ask each other that question every Monday, and so far I don’t think that the answer has ever changed.”

Kristen shrugged. “It is habit, but I also ask because you never know when the answer might change.”

Nadia came up to their table and sat their drinks down. They all gave their orders after a quick glance at the menu. When Nadia left, Kristen turned her attention back to Keirra.

“Besides I wanted to talk to you about your dinner date with Eric.”

Keirra found herself rolling her eyes. “I just bet you do, but you don’t get an explanation since you abandoned me here with him.”

Kayla looked back and forth between both of her sisters. “Where was I?”

Keirra arched a dark brow in Kayla’s direction. “Out with your boyfriend Lucas.”

Kayla frowned. “It’s not like that. Lucas and I have only been out a few times, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, so it was probably the last time.”

Kristen reached for her drink. “Well just look at it this way. I owed you one since you were bold enough to hang up on me.”

Keirra had known that was coming. She was surprised that Kristen hadn’t mentioned it before.

“Well maybe if the two of you weren’t so insensitive about the situation. At the time I—”

Keirra paused as Kayla choked on her soda. Kristen patted her on the back, and Kayla recovered slowly.

“You have to excuse me. I didn’t know that you knew the meaning of the word.”

Keirra felt irritation surge through her. “Don’t forget that you haven’t had your turn yet.”

Kayla shrugged. “I welcome your meddling when it is my turn.”

Keirra rolled her eyes. “You say that now, but we will see.”

Kayla sighed heavily. “Yes. Hopefully we will.”

Keirra heard the longing in her sister’s voice. She gave Kayla’s hand a reassuring pat. “If there is someone out there for me, there has to be someone out therefore you.”

“You have got that right,” Kristen added.

That earned her a nasty look from Keirra, and Kristen held her hands up. “I was just agreeing with you.”

“With a little too much enthusiasm if you ask me.”

They were interrupted as Nadia brought their food to the table. As soon as they were alone again, Kayla began to laugh. Keirra looked at oldest sister certain she had lost her mind.

“What is so funny?”

Kayla shook her head. “I miss this. It is so fun to have us together again and arguing like we used to do.”

Keirra smiled. “You have no idea how strange that sounded, but I know exactly what you mean.”

When they were able to stop laughing, they began eating. They were halfway through with their meal before anyone spoke again.

Keirra took a drink of her soda before speaking. She might as well bring up what she had agreed to with Eric. Her sisters were going to get her for not mentioning it right away as it was.

“I thought you guys might be interested in knowing that Eric invited me to Atlanta for his mother’s birthday party.”

This time, it was Kristen’s turn to choke. Kayla patted Kristen on the back while giving Keirra a flabbergasted look.

“I knew there was something you were keeping from me.”

Keirra shrugged and resumed eating. Kristen was finally able to stop choking.

“Oh no, ma’am. You don’t say something like that then pretend like it isn’t anything.”

Keirra smiled. She had held off on telling them because she was still torn about the trip. Going back to Atlanta would bring up a lot of feelings for her. Neither she nor her sisters had ever been back.