Playing For Keeps (9 page)

Their kiss ended abruptly because Keirra jumped. Eric growled before saying something in Spanish that sounded really close to a profanity from the little Spanish she did know. She watched him turn to look at his sister and could see Marianne’s smiling face over his shoulder.

“Yes, we are, and do you mind?”

Marianne shook her head. “No, but Mom does. She is ready to cut the cake.”

Eric groaned again before turning back to Keirra. He gave her an apologetic look and placed a quick kiss on her lips before stepping back.

“We will finish this later.”

She allowed Eric to take her hand and lead her outside. She could tell that he had hoped to sneak away a little longer, but that hadn’t gone as planned. Not that she would have minded. Still he seemed to take it all in stride.

Then again he didn’t expect anything else from her nor her from him. She knew that he gave as good as he got. It had been a good idea to come to Atlanta to meet his family. She learned a lot about him. More than she ever thought she would. More than she ever realized that she wanted to, and there was so much more left to discover, and she planned to discover it all.

Kayla muttered to herself as she rushed out of the house. She was late, and she hated being late for anything even if it was just a lunch date between her and Jonah. She always prided herself on her punctuality. A wardrobe malfunction was what caused her to be later. She had chosen a blouse that had a big stain on it. It had gone unnoticed until she had put it on. She had no idea how the stain had gotten there. She had quickly replaced her soiled blouse and jeans with a Delft blue knee-length silk sheath dress.

The only thing that made her feel better about the situation was that blue was her favorite color. It also didn’t hurt that the color looked good on her. She made it to her car and made her way to Sam’s Café as quickly as she could without breaking the speed limit. The last thing she needed was a speeding ticket especially one issued to her by her sister’s boyfriend. She was fortunate enough to find a parking spot directly in front of the restaurant.

Shutting off the engine, she reached over and grabbed her purse before getting out of her car. She closed the door and ran straight into a solid wall. The first thing she noticed was the wall smelled incredibly good. The second thing she noticed was the wall had nice hands. Or rather a nice hand since the other was preoccupied with trying not to spill the contents his bag held.

When she was able to right herself she went to apologize, but the apology struck in her throat once she got a direct look at the wall she had run into. She had run into James Denton or better known as Mike on
Desperate Housewives
. Okay, she was exaggerating slightly. This guy could only be considered a look alike. Although he was tall and ruggedly built with thick wavy black hair that begged for her to run her fingers through it. His green shirt swathed a massive chest, and the well-worn jeans that covered a well-structured butt almost took her breath away as reached to pick up a small bag that he hadn’t managed to save.

Smooth, lightly tanned skin accentuated by straight white teeth, but it was his eyes that captivated her. He had an angular face with expressive light green eyes she could get lost in. She studied his sharp features, high cheekbones, a straight nose, stubborn jaw and full lips. He had a mustache that connected to a goatee, and both were neatly trimmed. When she realized she was near drooling, she pulled back, and this time she was able to get an apology out along with a small smile. She had to admit she wasn’t as embarrassed when she realized he was studying her with as much interest as she had for him.

“Excuse me. I usually don’t have a habit of not looking where I am going.”

He flashed her a grin that made time stop or at least slow down. “That is okay. It was as much my fault as it was yours.”

The smooth baritone of his voice made her knees knock before she could stiffen them. He smiled again, and the effect was worse. She cleared her throat to keep herself from jumping on the man and dragging him into her car so she could have her way with him.

“I didn’t realize people in Baxley moved so fast.”

The reference made her frown slightly. He made it seem like he was familiar with Baxley, and she knew for a fact she had never seen him before. She would have remembered him. He also didn’t seem to know who she was, confirming her assumption.

She gave him another smile. “They normally don’t, but I’m not from Baxley, so I don’t fall under that criteria.”

He laughed. “Well I am from Baxley, but I have been gone a long time.”

That statement made her eyebrows rise. “Oh really? Well, if you don’t mind, may I ask who you are?”

Once again his lips curved upward. The sexy stranger held out his hand. “Excuse me. I must have been out of Baxley too long since my manners seemed to have escaped me.”

Kayla held out her hand and let him engulf it with his larger one.

“My name is James Feldon. I am Dennis Feldman’s son.”

Kayla really did lose all capability of speech after that statement. She was standing in front of Dennis Feldon’s son, and she was drooling over him. What was even stranger was that he was drool worthy.

“And you are?”

She knew Mr. Feldon had a son, but they never met him because he was already gone from Baxley by the time she and her sisters arrived. She frowned when she tried to recall recent pictures of him.

She couldn’t, and she would have remembered if she had. This man was born to be in front of a camera.

She realized that he was speaking, but she hadn’t heard any of it. He tilted his head to the side giving her his breathtaking grin again.

“I am asking what your name is.”

Kayla could feel herself begin to blush as she smiled. “Sorry. I’m usually a lot more organized than this. I guess I didn’t get enough sleep because I’m definitely not with it today.”

She watched James breathe a mock sigh of relief. “Good, I was beginning to wonder if you had a concussion from our collision.”

Kayla couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up from her throat at his sense of humor. “No. I assure you I am fine, and again I apologize for not paying attention. If anything needs to be replaced, I will pay for it. By the way, my name is Kayla Smith. Ask your father, and he can confirm just how organized I normally am.”

He waved the small bag. “You didn’t harm anything. I held onto the food. This is just the condiments and plastic silverware, but I will be sure to confirm that with my father.”

Kayla laughed. He had a sense of humor, and she liked it. She also liked that he was going to ask his father about her. It should prove to be interesting.

“Well, I hate to seem rude, but I have a lunch date with a good friend that I am extremely late to.”

James nodded although he didn’t seem to be in that much of a rush to leave either. If he didn’t have a bag of food in his hand, and she wasn’t meeting Jonah, she would have asked for an impromptu date. Instead, she smiled. “Well, it was nice meeting you.”

He bestowed his devastating smile upon her again. “It was nice meeting you as well. Maybe I will see you around some time.”

Kayla nodded herself as she stepped away from James.

“I definitely hope so,” she murmured before turning and heading into the entrance of Sam’s Café.

She spotted Jonah right away and joined him at the booth. As she did, her mind was still on James Feldon. Jonah greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

“Well, you are fashionably late today, aren’t you?”

She made a face as she sat her purse beside her. “I had an involuntary last-minute outfit change, and then I ran into the man I have been looking for all of my life.”

Jonah choked on his drink while she picked up the one he had ordered for her. He was such a good friend, yet his expression was comical. She could tell he was trying to comprehend the statement she just made.

“What did you say?”

Kayla grinned. “You heard me right.”

She watched as Jonah composed himself before continuing. “I know you aren’t referring to me, so who are you referring to?”

“James Feldon, who happens to be Dennis Feldon’s son.”

Jonah shook his head. “Wait. Hold on a second before you continue. I need time to collect myself.”

Kayla sat back with a smile and watched as Jonah physically prepared himself to hear what she had to say. He was such an attorney. The only thing missing was his yellow note pad and pen.

He gave her a serious look. “Okay, I am ready.”

Kayla laughed at his expression. “You have already heard everything.”

He shook his head. “Well, I need you to repeat that for me because I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

Kayla shook her head. “Exactly what is it that I am repeating?”

Jonah gave her a pointed look. “The part about you meeting the man you have been looking for all of your life.”

Kayla grinned before relaying what had just happened a few moments before. When she finished, the only thing that Jonah could do was laugh.

“Well, I don’t know what to say for the exception that I am happy for you, and I hope that it works out.”

Kayla sighed. “I hope so too considering he doesn’t know he is the one that I have chosen.”

Jonah gave her a huge grin. “Kayla, any man who had a brain would know that he was the one when it comes to you. The real question is does James want to be the one.”

* * * *

James chuckled as he walked into his father’s house. His father appeared around the corner a moment later.

“Where are the kids?”

His dad smiled. “In the backyard checking out your old tree house.”

James found himself frowning. That tree house was old. “Is that old thing safe?”

His dad nodded. “I have kept it up over the years. First out of hope that your mother would come back, and after that out of habit.”

James didn’t reply as he headed to the kitchen with the food from Sam’s Café. His parents’ bitter divorce was something that still weighed heavily on his mind, especially considering his marriage to Nicole had ended the same way. He would prefer to focus on the good things like Sam’s Cafe being exactly how he remembered it, and he couldn’t wait to take his children there.

“I had an interesting run in while I was at Sam’s Café.”

His father gave him an inquisitive look. “You did?”

James chuckled. “I ran into a woman by the name of Kayla Smith.”

A smile automatically appeared on his father’s face, and he knew she had to be of good character as she’d claimed to be.

“She is one of the women I have been telling you about.”

James sat the bags on the counter. “Tell me about her.”

His father shook his head. “I guess you were too busy to hear me the first time I told you.”

James began to pull the food out of the bags feeling a little insulted by his father’s comment. “Dad, you know why that was. I have had a lot on my plate lately.”

His father nodded. James was aware that everyone knew of the turmoil in his life. His life hadn’t been easy the past several months . . . years.

“Yes, I do, but that doesn’t excuse rudeness.”

James chuckled under his breath at his father’s frankness. It was something he had missed, something that he’d taken for granted at one time, but almost losing him changed that. Receiving the call from the hospital saying his father’d had a heart attack had taken years off his life. Fortunately, his father was okay, but he had a lot of lost time to make up for.

“You are right, and I apologize. I promise it won’t happen again. So if you want to tell me about Kayla now, I will listen. I promise.”

His father nodded, a slight smile on his face. “Kayla is one of the women that has been checking on me since my heart attack. Her two identical sisters are the other two women.”

He looked at his father with surprise. “She is a triplet?”

“An identical triplet.”

It only made her more intriguing to him. She was obviously unique in more ways than one. “Is she a nice woman?”

His father’s smile was genuine when he responded. “Very nice. She will give you everything she has if you need it. It’s the way she has always been.”

James paused before continuing with his next question. “Is she single?”

His father shrugged. “I think she is, but I’m not sure. What I can tell you about her is she teaches History at the high school. Her sister Keirra is a math teacher at the middle school, and her other sister Kristen owns a local daycare.”

James nodded. That was good information for him to have. It was his first true day back in Baxley, and it had been a busy one. The first trip had been brief to check on his father and make sure he was okay. He’d set up in-home care until he could pack everything in Austin and prepare them for their move to Baxley. His children were excited about the move, and it made him happy. Still, he knew it was going to get a lot busier. The kids had to get enrolled in school, and he wanted to get it done no later than Monday. His children’s education was important to him.

“Is there anything else I should know about Kayla?”

His father nodded. “She is a good woman, and if you hurt her, a lot of people will come after you, including myself.”

James sighed. He didn’t take his father’s threat lightly. He wasn’t bothered by it either because he had no intention of getting involved with anyone anytime soon.

Keirra opened her eyes as the sunlight hit them and the aroma of bacon found her nose. Her stomach grumbled. There were two things that could wake her. One was the smell of coffee, and the other the smell of bacon. She smiled to herself as she rolled over onto her back. It had been a very interesting weekend. Once everyone had gone, Charlotte and Arthur had retired upstairs, and it had only been Eric and her left, but she hadn’t lasted long. She fell asleep on him, and he had carried her to her room and tucked her in.

The only reason she was awake now was because of the aroma of the bacon. The food she consumed yesterday was gone, and she was starving. After getting out of bed, she freshened up and headed for the kitchen.