Remy
There had been a shift in Mikel since the night she’d left their daughter at Bently’s for her date with Aaron. She had spent most of the time distracted.
Being out with Aaron was always fun. He was a great guy and he could make her laugh. But she found herself wishing he was Mikel more than once and that wasn’t fair to Aaron.
She’d tried for a month, juggling a weekly date with Aaron and meeting up with Mikel for playdates with their daughter. Watching him with Lyra was always bittersweet. With so many moments missed, it made her cherish those they shared even more now.
Her whole body reacted like a furnace when he was around. Memories of intimate touches resurfaced with his presence. His gaze always lingered longer than necessary, and she tried to ignore the ache that throbbed in proximity to him. A drawer full of vibrators, courtesy of Jasmine, couldn’t give her the release she craved so much.
She wiped one of the tables clean in the empty café. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. An awareness prickled across her body, gooseflesh rising on her arms. Was she being watched? She glanced out at the busy street beyond the large window. She gasped. Gone were the cold blue eyes she’d seen only for a second. She searched desperately for confirmation that this was just her imagination and not the nightmare that had haunted her since the accident. Joe Canoby is in prison. You’re safe.
It was probably just someone that looked like him. After two minutes of scanning the street, she let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t him.
Remy flipped the sign to closed. The morning rush was done, and Aaron should be arriving soon. He was always on time. One thing she admired about him was his dependability.
The bells above the door rang as he walked in, all six feet of muscled perfection. He had been an athlete in college, and now, thanks to some government grants and his college earnings, he worked with underprivileged kids in the seedy part of the neighboring city as a philanthropist. He could easily be someone she imagined having a future with, or at least she used to think so. It was hard to see your future when your past was blocking your view. Especially when said past was wrapped in such a god-like package, with golden brown eyes and jet-black hair.
“Hey, beautiful. How’s your day going?” Aaron asked, holding his arms out to her, jarring her to the present.
“Hey, Aaron. Good.” She hugged him. “Yours?”
“Pretty good. I was assigned a new kid who just got kicked out of his house after coming out to his parents. So after this, I’m gonna go find him a room at the facility.”
She gestured towards the empty chair as she sat across from him and said, “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you have the room?”
The building he had bought as a shelter for teens was always full—a symptom of the effect of drugs, broken homes, and closed-minded parents.
“Yeah, we just opened the new dorms.”
“Oh, Andre told me he almost had them finished.” She smiled, happy that more kids would get a safe place to stay. Mikel had been working with Andre on Aaron’s project. She’d expected Mikel’s jealousy to ruin everything, but that hadn’t happened. Maybe he was different. Or maybe he doesn’t care about you that way anymore.
Lies. His gaze lingered on her with more than friendly appreciation.
“You didn’t call me here to talk about the Hope Facility though,” Aaron said.
“I’m happy for you and those kids, but you’re right. I just don’t know where to start.” She sighed. A part of her was sad to end the relationship with Aaron. She really liked him, but it was more of a friendship than anything else.
“How about you just be blunt? Don’t bother to sugarcoat it. I think I have a pretty good idea what you’re gonna say anyways,” he said.
“You do?” she asked.
He nodded. “We’ve been seeing each other for three months and you have never tried to move beyond a casual, almost platonic relationship with me. At first I figured you just wanted to go slow, but then Andre’s business partner showed up and you pulled away. You stopped being present with me when we did spend time together.”
She bit her lip. “We have a history.”
“Dre told me he’s Lyra’s father,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I should have mentioned it. I swear I really wanted to try to make this work,” she said.
“I know. I guess we’re better as friends, as clichéd as that sounds.” He chuckled, clearly having expected this.
“I would like that.” She smiled.
He stood as the bells behind them signaling a customer. Aaron leaned and kissed her cheek before giving her a final nod. “I’ll see you around.”
He left as she slipped behind the counter to remind the patron they were closed. “What can I get for—?”
Before her stood the man who’d occupied all her thoughts as of late: Mikel.
His jaw was clenched and his shoulders tense as his golden eyes flamed with jealousy. He shook his head and scowled. “Never mind. I’ve lost my appetite.” Mikel spun around and stalked towards the door.
Remy turned and went to the back room as the bells chimed, announcing his exit. Anger welled inside her. He had no right to behave that way. The ache in her chest throbbed, her heartbreak still as fresh as it had been the day he’d left. It was like everything she had felt for him before came rushing back a hundred times stronger than when he left. Her wounds were still raw and bleeding. Love still tangled and wove between their two souls.
A set of hands roughly grabbed her and she gasped. Remy was spun around. Mikel stared at her, through her, as his chest heaved against her own. Fear was quickly mixed with lust at his nearness. She panted as his eyes raked over her, possessive and hungry. It was like she was eighteen again, and ready to bend to his will. No. She wouldn’t get caught up in him, leaving her own needs by the wayside.
“I know I don’t have the right,” he began, his voice deep and heady. “But you have no idea what it’s like to see you with another man.”
She shivered as his deep voice reverberated through her, igniting every nerve ending with yearning.
“I hate the fact that some other guy has touched you.” He gripped her waist. Mikel’s voice sent shivers through her bones, sinking into her marrow. “It makes it worse that he’s a better man than me. You fucking deserve someone like him.”
Something flickered in his eyes as her heart squeezed. She saw through him, finding the lost boy she’d once loved in the body of the man she worshipped.
“I’m just the selfish bastard who wants another chance,” he finished.
A thousand moths of hope woke from their five-year slumber, fluttering in her belly. She looked at his mouth, licking her lips. Anticipation pricked her skin in a million tiny needles. She wanted to taste him again, feel his lips move against hers. But fear of letting down the walls she had worked so hard to build over the years froze any further action from her. No words would come.
He leaned forward, touching his forehead to hers, nose to nose, as he drew in a ragged breath. How could something that was wrong feel so right? His darkness was alluring. Every cell in her body screamed at her to take what he offered.
“Remy?” His voice pleaded as his exhale danced across her lips, teasing her, tempting her. “Dove.”
The endearment on his mouth cut the last thread of her self-control. Her body moved without her consent, hands gripping his shoulders as her lips hungrily met his—crashing together for the first time since they had been reunited.
Fireworks and explosions of memories assaulted her as her long-held wishes came true. Mikel swiped his tongue into her mouth. She tasted him. His arms wrapped around her, locking her in his embrace. A captive and a willing prisoner, she moaned, a tiny erotic sound betraying her want. Raking her teeth against his bottom lip, she seized control through the onslaught of emotions spinning her from the inside out. Gravity moved, no longer around her, but embodied in a man. Mikel had always been a magnet, and now the force pulling them together made it seem like any resistance on her part would rip her to shreds.
He squeezed her ass as he lifted her onto the counter, stepping between her thighs. It had been so long since she had been held like this, years since she had been satisfied by him.
She pulled at his shirt, ready to strip him bare and let him take her right there in the back room of the bakery. Damn the consequences. Her body was burning alive and she needed release. She craved him inside her. Remy could regret it later, because right now, resisting whatever this was between them was impossible.
His hand grabbed hers, stopping her as he pulled back from their kiss.
She searched his eyes, confused.
He was out of breath, every muscle rigid as he shook his head. “Not like this.”
Hurt and rejection lacerated her heart as she swallowed her tears. She pushed him away and stood on her own. What did I almost do?
“Remy,” he said, as she averted her gaze to the floor and stormed past him. He grabbed her arm, pulling her back against his chest as he locked her in with his embrace. “Remy,” he said, this time with more authority.
“What?” she snapped.
“Dove, I want you more than anything, more than my next breath. But we need to talk first. There’s a lot about me you have to know before we do this again.”
She relaxed in his arms, turning to face him. He’d called her Dove, just like he had the first time they’d made love. Back when he had made sure she was making the decision for herself, assuring her he would wait. Was he doing the same thing now? Ensuring she had all the important information before making such a huge decision?
This was the Mikel she’d fallen in love with. This was the man who’d stolen her heart and starred in her dreams. This was the one she’d wished would return to her. “When?”