Playing For Keeps (7 page)

As sad as it was to say, they were afraid to go back. She still was. There was no telling what kind of feelings she would have of being in Atlanta would bring up. Yet she was dying to meet Eric’s family, and she had no idea why. She looked up at her sisters.

“You should also keep in mind that I didn’t have to tell you.”

Kristen laughed. “You wouldn’t have been able to keep it secret for long.”

Keirra grinned. She never realized how much fun it could be to torture her sisters. Normally she did it for their own good, but tonight it was for fun.

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Kayla folded her arms. “What I want to know is what your reply was.”

Keirra paused for dramatic flair. “I told him yes.”

The silence that followed was entertaining to Keirra, but no more than her sisters’ expressions. Her sisters knew the significance of her returning to Atlanta after all of these years.

Finally Kristen shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I heard you correctly.”

Keirra took another bite of her food before pushing her plate away. “No, you heard me correctly.

Eric invited me to Atlanta, and I accepted.”

Kristen turned to look at Kayla. “Have you been poisoning her?”

Keirra laughed. She didn’t know what she would do without her sisters’ sense of humor. She didn’t know what she would do without them, period. There were times when she was certain that people thought they had truly lost their minds. The sad thing was that they hadn’t. This came natural for them. Smiling at her sisters, she decided to put them out of their misery. She launched into the events that had occurred between Eric and her that led up to him inviting her to his mother’s birthday party. Her sisters’ mouths were hanging open in disbelief by the time she finished.

Kayla recovered first. She cleared her throat, picking up her fork. “So when are you guys leaving?”

Keirra groaned at the reminder. “Early Saturday morning. Extremely early.”

Kristen shrugged. “Well at least you will be having fun.”

Keirra gave her sister a puzzled look. “How do you figure that?”

Kristen grinned. “Well you have to look at the man that Eric is.”

Kayla nodded. “Besides, most people who don’t think highly of their family tend to hide them.”

Keirra was compelled to agree. Both of her sisters had very good points. Her sisters had also given her the last reassurance that she needed to be completely okay with this trip to Atlanta. She looked over at her sisters with a genuine smile on her face.

“Thank you.”

Neither one of them had to ask why she was thanking them. Because of the bond that they shared, the look in her eyes told them everything that they needed to know.

“Wait . . . I have changed my mind.”

She watched with irritation as Eric smiled as he placed Keirra’s bag in the backseat and closed the door. She was still nervous about the drive to Atlanta to meet his family. The idea of the trip brought up so many memories for her. Ones she wasn’t quite ready to face. Now that they were getting ready to pull off, she was having second thoughts. It was something he must have expected because he put the last bag in the car before looking at her patiently.

“You said you want to get to know me better. What better way than through my family?”

Keirra groaned in agony. “Why does everything I say come back to hunt me?”

He laughed. “Are you afraid my family will attack at the first sight of blood? If so, I could invite Kayla along as well. She could be the distraction you need.”

She growled at him for saying something so ridiculous, and he smiled. “You know I like it when you make that sound.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m going to ignore that statement, and inviting Kayla along won’t help. If anything it would make things worse.”

Even as she said it, she was sure that Eric was aware of that, which was probably why he suggested it. Sighing in defeat, she dropped her shoulders, and his smile widened.

“Well, then I say we should go now.”

He walked around to the passenger side of his car and opened the door. She looked back at the house longingly but knew that there was no reason for her not to go. She slid into the car. Eric closed the door, went around to the driver’s side, and got in.

“This is going to be a lot of fun.”

Keirra wasn’t so sure. Meeting a man’s family wasn’t something that was normally done after the first date. Which in all reality might not have qualified as a date according to her sisters. Either way it seemed that she was getting herself talked into a lot of things that she should think about more carefully before agreeing to them, this trip to Atlanta being one of the prime examples as to why she should.

Sighing she closed her eyes and laid her head back against the headrest. The lack of sleep that she had due to her tossing and turning plus it was four in the morning. She didn’t even wake up this early to go to work. The earliest that she had ever gotten up was six. She taught seventh-and eighth-grade math in middle school. It was interesting on a day-to-day basis. There was never a dull day with her students. She didn’t remember middle school being that interesting or traumatic.

She loved what she did, and she wouldn’t change that for the world. Bringing her hand up to her mouth she hid a yawn but the lull of the car’s motion and her tiredness won, and within minutes she was asleep. What seemed like minutes later Eric was waking her gently.

She raised the chair to its original position and gasped. The house she stared at was massive and in the nice part of Atlanta.

She looked over at him. “You didn’t tell me you were rich. No wonder you gave me that look when I accused you of being spoiled.”

He chuckled. “I figured you didn’t need another reason to tell me no. You already accused me of being spoiled, and besides I’m not rich. My parents are.”

She hit him in the arm playfully. “Well you are very used to getting your way.”

Her gaze went back to the house that could only be described as a mansion. He got out of the car and came around to her side. She stepped out when he opened the door.

He chuckled. “Which has more to do with me being the youngest of four and the only boy versus being rich. Now, let’s get inside. My parents are probably still asleep, and everyone else won’t be here until a few hours from now.”

“What time is it?”

“A little after nine.”

He grabbed their bags, and she followed him to the house. She watched as he shifted the bags to use his key. They stepped inside, and she gasped.

He smiled. “I will give you a tour of the house later. I promise.”

She nodded, and he led the way to one of the guest rooms. “This is where you will sleep tonight.”

He walked into the spacious room and sat her bag on the chair. “If you need me I'll be two doors down the hall on the right.”

She hardly heard him because she was still amazed by the room and the house. “Get some more rest,” she murmured.

He closed the door, and she went to her bag. She was still sleepy, but she was too wired to sleep.

After opening her bag, she began to pull out her clothes. She found the space to put them up. The second thing that she had to decide was if she was going to change or not. It seemed like it was going to be a warm day. She decided to keep her blue jeans on, but she was going to change shirts.

Once she figured which shirt she was going to change into, she pulled out her pajama pants and a matching camisole to sleep in. When she finally climbed into the bed, she moaned. The mattress was firm just like she liked it. Maybe she could go back to sleep after all.

* * * *

Keirra pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She arranged the ponytail into one thick braid and put a ponytail holder around the end of it.

“Are you sure I look okay?”

The corners of his mouth curled upward. “Yes, I am.”

She took a deep breath to relax. It seemed everyone had arrived, and now it was her time to meet and greet. He took her hands in his.

“My family is going to love you, and you are going to love them.”

She exhaled a nervous breath. “Okay.”

He led the way out of the guest room and down the hallway. “Let me know when you are ready for your tour.”

She nodded, and he led her through the foyer and finally to the kitchen. “Where are we going?”

“Everyone is outside in the backyard.”

He continued to a glass door that led out to the backyard. She gasped in amazement again. The backyard was massive. There was a pool and a large covered seating area with several people already under it. She had to turn in a complete circle to take everything in. Suddenly it seemed everyone knew she appeared. All of their gazes fell on her, and she unconsciously took a step back. He held onto her.

“Don’t worry. If they bite you, I will bite them back.”

He tightened his grip on her as he led her toward the covered area. His firm grip was reassuring. So many things about him were. Someone called out to him.

“Hey, Eric, are you going to introduce us to your
girlfriend
, or are you going to keep her to yourself?”

She looked at Eric in surprise as he shot something back in Spanish before finishing in English.

“Wait your turn, Gaia.”

Keirra felt her skin tingle, and her heart rate speed up a little. Eric had a way with words that did something to her. She didn’t know if it was his voice or his accent when he switched over to Spanish, but he sounded so sexy when he spoke that it was sinful. Yet, since deciding to get to know him, she was starting find out there was a lot more to Eric than she would have ever guessed. In some ways it concerned her. She didn’t want to let her guard down too quickly with Eric. He had been right with his assumption in that he had the potential to hurt her in a way no other man had.

The thought was enough to send a sliver of panic through her. It was one of the main reasons why she had avoided him as long as she had. Eric made her nervous. He represented passion, passion that she had yet to experience. She was pulled from her internal rambling when he squeezed her hand again.

He led her in the direction of his parents. They were a lovely couple, and Keirra got a good idea of how Eric was going to look when he was older. His looks were only going to improve. Arthur was a very nice-looking man. Eric had gotten his dark hair and his height from his father. He had gotten his skin complexion and eyes from his mother.

“Mom, Dad, this is Keirra. Keirra, this is my mom and dad, Arthur and Charlotte.”

Keirra shivered as she heard Eric’s mother’s name roll off of his tongue. His accent was coming out, and she decided she needed to warn him about his use of it in front of her. She knew his ego didn’t need the boosting, but it was either she tell him or suffer in silence.

He tugged her forward when his patents stood. They each embraced her warmly. “It is a pleasure to meet you. Our son has told us a lot about you.”

She gave Eric a pointed look. “Hopefully good things.”

Charlotte laughed. “Of course, dear. I hope that my children and grandchildren are on their best behavior and you enjoy yourself.”

She made the statement loud enough for everyone to hear. There were a few groans.

“Darn, there goes our plan,” one of his sisters responded.

Charlotte patted her arm reassuringly. “Don’t worry. They are just kidding.”

Eric took her hand in his. “Come on. Let’s meet the rest of these crazy people that I call family.”

He led her closer to the tent and introduced her to the family. Gaia and her husband Owen were introduced to her first along with their children Yvonne, Bianca, and Daniel. They all greeted her with smiles. She was introduced to Marianne and Wyatt next. Their two daughters Fallyn and Nina were adorable. Irene and Scott and their three boys Howard, Joel, and Lance were the last part of the family she was introduced to. Irene was the one who made the statement earlier.

She thought that they were a beautiful family. With the introductions over Nina ran over to her uncle.

“Is it time for my piggyback ride,” she asked as she bounced back and forth anxiously.

Eric looked over at Keirra. “Will you be okay?”

She nodded. With sisters like hers she should be able to survive his. “I will be fine.”

He knelt down, and his youngest niece jumped onto his back. Eric shot off as soon as he was sure they both had a good grip on each other. Marianne shouted in rapid Spanish at the both of them, and she saw Eric slow down a little. She looked up at Keirra with a smile.

“Have a seat and join us.”

Keirra found a vacant seat at the end of the table and sat down. A few minutes later, she found out that Eric was right. His family wasn’t that bad. They didn’t even interrogate, and she had been sure she was going to receive one. Eric was lucky to have the family that he had. They were funny, outgoing, and witty.

It was fun to sit back and watch them banter with each other. Eric appeared by her side holding his niece. Nina couldn’t have been anymore than six years of age. Eric took a seat beside her with his niece in his lap. Keirra’s heart leaped at the sight. It was the first time that she had ever thought about him with children. Now that she saw him in action, she could picture it clearly. He was very attentive, somehow managing to give his niece, her, and his sisters his attention. She watched Nina become bored and climb down out of her uncle’s lap. The little girl ran off to play with her sister and cousins, and Keirra had to fight the urge to climb into Eric’s lap herself.

“I say that we play a game of Bullshit.”

Keirra looked up a surprise. A deck of cards appeared.

Eric leaned closer to her. “Do you know how to play?”

“I think that I had friends that played it in college.”

He chuckled before explaining it to her. The game was very familiar to what she had seen in college.

Although she couldn’t recall who it was she had seen play it. The game went slow, and it was because no one was really concentrating on it. They were too busy telling jokes and making fun of each other, but it was fun, too much fun. By the time Irene won, Keirra was holding her sides because they hurt so badly from laughing. The Brooks gang was hilarious, and Eric was right. She did feel like she fitted right in with everyone. If there was anyone that had a personality similar to hers it was Irene. Irene exhibited the same dry wit that she did. They seemed to connect the most, and at one time had double-teamed on everyone.