The Perfect Match: A New Adult Erotic Romance (Inseparable Book 2) (16 page)

“I know,” Kurt said. “I wanted to.”

She stepped back to let him inside, then locked the door behind them. Charlotte was snoring softly on the couch with a sheet around her and a pillow under her head. Kurt stood there feeling stupid until Polly took his hand.

“I wanted to tell you upfront, I’m not ready for... anything,” she said.

“I don’t want that from you,” Kurt said, making her flinch with his tone. “That didn’t come out the way I meant.”

“It’s okay,” she said, but it clearly wasn’t.

“I don’t want to wake up Charlotte,” he said. “Can we go sit and talk?”

Wiping her eyes, she led him into her bedroom and shut the door. She had already changed into sweats and a t-shirt, so Kurt kicked off his shoes to sit cross-legged on the bed with her.

“What I meant to say is I want more from you than that,” he said to open things up. “I ain’t afraid to say you got to me.” He put his open hand over his chest. “In here. All I wanted was to get to know you better, and the little bit I know now just makes me want to know more.”

She covered her face and sobbed as he spoke. “God, I’m so stupid,” she growled.

“Look, I ain’t no treasure, I know that, but I love my family and I work hard. If you just give me a chance I could show you—”

“Shut up!” she shouted. “You stupid fucking...
man
, just shut up!” The laughter that followed confused Kurt to silence. She took his hands and whispered, “This isn’t a job interview, but if it was you’ve already got the job. You’ve shown me more kindness than I deserve. Thank you.”

“I just wanted you to know, that’s all,” he said, still confused, but happy she seemed happy.

“Would you do me a favor tonight?” she asked. When Kurt nodded, she said, “I’m so tired, but I don’t want to be alone. Will you hold me? Just hold me?”

Kurt nodded and said, “Sure.”

It took a few minutes to work out the logistics. After brushing his teeth with her toothpaste and his finger, getting a glass of water, and having a little private bathroom time, Kurt turned off the lamp on the nightstand and settled into Polly’s bed with her. She was facing away, so Kurt pulled her close to make her the little spoon.

Her hair smelled of her perfume, cigarette smoke, and some other, undefinable scent. It reminded him of sun warmed clothes or fresh fallen rain. With his eyes shut, he took deep breaths, realizing just before he drifted off to sleep that what it really smelled like was home.

P
olly woke up in a confused tangle of sheets and limbs, but only until Kurt roused and pulled her into a tight embrace. The feeling of his strong arms brought her memory back clearly, making her nuzzle against his chest and purr.

“Good morning,” he whispered. “How’d you sleep?”

“Warm, no bad dreams,” she said. “How about you?”

The bedroom door opened as Charlotte stumbled towards the only bathroom in the apartment. Her hands were shielding her eyes so she couldn’t see the bed. “If y’all are naked in there, don’t tell me.”

“We got our clothes on,” Kurt said with a laugh. “You can come check if you don’t believe me.”

“I gotta pee first,” she said and shut the door.

Polly laughed silently in his arms. “And I gotta go next,” she said.

In the quiet as Charlotte flushed and washed her hands, Kurt whispered, “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever slept with a girl I’ve never kissed before.”

Laughing out loud as she arched her back, Polly sat up to stretch her arms above her head. “You’re a funny man, Kurt Guidry.”

Polly and Charlotte passed in the middle of the room giving each other a high five. Charlotte was still mostly in her dress from the night before, missing only her shoes, hose, and jewelry. “Make room,” she mumbled and climbed into the bed to collapse next to her brother. “You owe me big. That couch sucked.”

Polly closed the door, pushing down her sweats and panties so she could relieve her full bladder. Resting her elbows against her knees, she cleared her head to consider her situation.

She couldn’t remember fucking up this badly before. She had always been careful with her heart because she couldn’t keep the physical side of things separate like Julie and Cathy could. Sex for them was just fun exercise, but Polly had never found that knack.

Just like Kurt had said, Trey gave her what she wanted until he got what he wanted. No amount of reassurance was going to erase the shame she felt falling for his game. He had bruised her deeply, but it wasn’t fair to Kurt to string him along until she could figure out what she wanted to do.

Fair or not, it had been nearly impossible to watch Kurt drive away with Cathy and Camden. Her last words to them had barely made it through her closing throat before Cathy shook her head. Coming down for a hug, Cathy quietly promised to send him back after he dropped them off.
Sisters don’t poach
, she’d whispered,
you saw him first.
Camden didn’t look very happy about it, but he’d come back just like Cathy had promised.

“Are you okay in there?” Kurt whispered through the door, making her jump.

“Sorry, just a second,” she said and finished. After washing her hands, she found they’d left enough room for her to join them on the bed. Kurt pulled her against his chest to snuggle there, making her feel safe and warm. In moments she was drifting back to sleep, surrounded by Kurt’s comforting scent.

* * *

T
he three of them didn’t get back to Julie and Jack’s house until around ten Saturday morning. The mood on the drive over was quiet, but not somber, and Polly was surprised at how normal she felt considering everything that had happened. After Kurt parked the minivan in the driveway, he opened the front door for them with the key Julie had given him.

The house was strangely quiet with the girls off at Sophie’s apartment until Christmas morning. Jack and Jackson were napping together on the couch while breakfast smells wafted from the kitchen. Charlotte went to shower and change while Kurt followed Polly into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Julie said as she flipped the bacon. Only looking a little tired, she had the kind of contented glow that implied Jack had been happy to see her when she got home. She gave Kurt a quizzical expression and said, “You look well rested.”

Polly glanced up at Kurt who was blushing like a school boy. He said, “I... uh... stayed with Polly and Charlotte last night.”

Julie looked between them with knowing smile, then nodded to herself. “Coffee is brewed. You guys can serve yourselves and set the table if you want. Someone was up all night and made me a little sore and tired this morning.”

Kurt chuckled as he got them both mugs from the cabinet and filled them with steaming coffee. Polly put her purse on the counter, then got enough silverware for the five of them and started setting the table. After Kurt brought the plates, Polly helped arrange them on the table until her cell phone rang.

It was Trey, she knew from the ring tone she’d set for him. Steeling herself against the rage she felt, she picked up the phone and accepted the call.

“What do you want?” she growled.

“Can I
please
talk to you outside? I screwed up, I know it, but I can make this right.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she said as Kurt and Julie looked around at her raised voice. “How do you even know where I am? Have you been following me?”

“I’ve never met anyone like you, Polly,” he said. “I’m begging, please, just give me a chance to explain.”

“You need help, Trey,” she said. Saying his name got Kurt moving toward the front door with an angry scowl on his face. “And I’d get a move on if I were you.”

After hanging up and dropping the phone back in her purse, she and Julie rushed after Kurt before he did something foolish. Finding Trey and Kurt facing off in the front yard, Julie ran between them shouting, “Knock this shit off right now.”

“Polly, please, just let me talk to you,” Trey said, holding his hands open to her. “I ended it with Jennifer. After I talked to her, she sent me a bunch of nasty texts to prove it. You can read them! I’ll give you my phone anytime you want to check.”

“God, you’re pathetic,” Kurt muttered, moving between Trey and Polly.

“Shut up,” Trey shouted at him. “Polly is my
girlfriend
. This is none of your business!”

“No, Trey,” Polly said as she crossed her arms over her stomach. “I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“I swear I can change,” he said. “Just come with me so we can talk.”

“You heard her,” Julie said, keeping herself between Trey and Kurt. “You’ve said what you came to say. Now go before I wake up Jack to chase you out of here.”

Trey had a hard, pinched look on his face as he looked around at each of them. Stopping his glare at Kurt he said. “I know what you and Uncle Jack are up to.”

Kurt tensed up at his words. “You don’t know shit.”

“I know you’ve all been poisoning Polly against me,” he shouted as he walked away to his car. He looked like he was going to say something else, but made a dismissive grunt as he got in his car. Polly watched him speed away as Julie and Kurt put their arms around her before going back inside.

* * *

L
ater that day, after the sun went down, Kurt sat in the loveseat next to the fire pit in the backyard with his acoustic guitar in his lap playing softly. Jack pulled a chair next to the fire and sat down with a beer.

Polly watched Kurt from across the fire as he hummed a melody as he played, then when the music slowed Jack sang quietly, “
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime Jamais, jamais je ne t’oublierai.
”

Kurt smiled as he picked up the tempo and sang, “
Chante rossignol, chante, Toi qui as le cœur gai Tu as le cœur à rire, Moi je l’ai à pleurer.
” His voice was deep and clear, but the song sounded wistful and full of longing.

They both sang together in harmony, “
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime Jamais, jamais je ne t’oublierai.
”

Kurt continued to play while Jack opened the cover over the pit and stirred the coals to get the fire going again. After closing it back, Jack pulled a cigar out of his shirt pocket.

Polly shook her head. “Those are so bad for you,” she said.

“I’d rather die happy than live forever,” Jack said as he got his cigar lit with a jet of flame from his lighter.

“What was that song you two were singing?” she asked them.

Jack smiled and said, “Just an old Cajun song about a fountain.”

“It was beautiful. What does it say?” she asked.

“It’s about someone who found a clear fountain and stopped to bathe. Up in a tree, a nightingale was singing. The person tells the bird, your heart feels like laughing while mine feels like weeping. He’d lost his love because he refused to give her the roses from his rosebush.”

“That’s... odd, but beautiful. Why did he refuse?” Polly asked.

“It doesn’t say in the song,” Jack said. “Mama always said it meant you can’t love someone without giving them everything you have. So by holding onto his roses, he lost his love.” Jack took a deep draw on his cigar and blew smoke rings above their heads.

Kurt hummed the theme again by himself as he plucked the chords, then sang an English version. “
I have lost my dear friend without good cause. For a bouquet of roses that I refused her. I have loved you for a long, long time. Never ever will I forget you.
”

“I remember singing it to Julie our first night together in my old apartment. It was the night before Sophie screwed me over in court and I lost my old job, but I already knew I loved her, even then.” He took a sip of his beer, then flicked the ash from the end of his cigar in the ashtray.

“You guys were so lucky to find each other,” she said.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. We might have been lucky at first, but we also made a lot of our own luck,” he said as he watched Kurt play. “We both decided to be together and found a way to make it work. I gave her everything I had and she did the same.”

Polly gave him a long look and nodded. “How did you know you could trust her with your roses?”

Jack grinned. “I didn’t, not really. We proved ourselves a day at a time. Sometimes we fought, but we forgave each other and kept trying.” He blew another cloud of the fragrant smoke into the air. “It’s been hard trying to start over again with a family depending on me, but it helps knowing she’s got my back.”

“That’s what I want,” Kurt whispered, seemingly to himself, but Polly made out the words over his music.

Julie opened the sliding glass door and came out, blowing foggy breath on her hands. “Jackson’s finally down the for the night, and it looks like Charlotte is, too.” She sat in Jack’s lap and gave him a lingering kiss before leaning against his shoulder to look into the fire.

“Don’t tell me she’s asleep on the couch,” Kurt complained. “She’s a bitch to wake up and I’m already getting a little sleepy.”

Julie smiled but didn’t say anything. After a few more minutes of quiet while the fire crackled and smoked, Jack reached over to put his cigar out in the ashtray and said, “I’m going to bed. Wife, you gonna come with me?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “I believe I will. G’night, you two.” She looked over to wink at Polly as she got up.

“Kurt, would you make sure the fire’s out before you go in?” Jack asked

“Sure thing, Uncle Jack. Sleep well.”

After they left, Polly leaned over the fire and pretended to be interested in the flames. Jack’s words swirled around in her head as she considered her confused feelings about Kurt.

She was attracted to him, but didn’t want to make the same mistake she did with Trey. It stung her to admit that as much as she regretted trusting Trey, the sex had been amazing. Now that she knew how good it could be, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be with someone who couldn’t make her feel the same way.

Also, she still wasn’t sure what Kurt’s plans were going forward. A long distance relationship wasn’t an option as far as she was concerned, and Kurt hadn’t mentioned getting a place in town despite getting a job. Agitation grew as the attraction she felt began to war with her expectations.