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CALEB was from a simpler time and though he enjoyed some of the modern conveniences, he couldn’t get used to what people called music these days. To him music from the past few decades was a complete setback. Lately it’s gotten infinitely worse.
He pinched the bridge of his nose then moved his index finger and thumb over his closed lids as the music drummed so loudly that he felt it in his chest. Caleb placed the beer to his lips and took a long swig.
As far away from the speakers as he could get, Caleb still wasn’t far enough. He leaned on the fence as he stared out of the yard and ignored the half dozen girls who hovered nearby, waiting for him to notice them. As he looked over the dark alley and viewed another row of townhomes, he laughed to himself.
As a nation, the United States had grown. They classified slave descendants as African Americans now. He liked the new classification better and though the conditions for people of color seemed vastly improved, he knew that the core of the nation was still averse to change. But, some were open.
The party seemed to reflect diversity. Hispanics, Caucasians, Asians, they were all represented here. During the past hour and a half, he was approached by a girl from each of those ethnicities and, dare he say it, they all tried to “get with him”. He hated the slang too.
“Not your scene?”
Her voice drifted effortlessly through the noise and chatter to his ears. Caleb looked over his shoulder to see Kayla standing behind him. “Not really,” he told her.
Having stepped beside him, she said, “You haven’t been in the store since you asked me out.”
A few guys yelling at each other briefly caught her attention. Caleb used that time to really look at her. It was dark but it didn’t matter with his excellent vision. She wore a black lace choker which accentuated her delicate neck and urged her audience to look lower. The keyhole neckline of the long sleeve black bodysuit she wore and the way the fabric clung to her upper body, showing all her curves, teased him. Loose-fitting jeans hung just low enough to see the bodysuit’s beginning descent into a region of her body that his mind should not travel.
Ashamed of his own thoughts, Caleb forced his gaze to travel up to her stunning face only to see dark, smoldering eyes staring back at him.
She raised her sculpted brow and stretched her full glossed lips into an accusing grin.
Caught, he could only smile as he maintained eye contact and raised the beer to his mouth.
***
KAYLA watched him put the bottle to his lips and wondered when a guy swallowing became so damn sexy. Speaking of sexy, even the way he moved, every action regardless of how basic, was remarkable. And the way he checked her out just now, it made her blood boil. She wanted his penetrating gaze all over her and waited patiently for his eyes to find hers.
“Are you here with someone?” She was certain that if his date witnessed how he just caressed her entire body with his eyes, he was leaving alone.
When he pulled the beer away from his mouth his tongue slid out and licked across his bottom lip. Wow. Kayla’s heart sped up. He leaned in, so close that she felt his warm breath on her neck.
“I came here to see you,” he said in her ear. “Can we go somewhere quiet and talk?”
He didn’t move away so there was little space between them when she turned her head and said, “I barely know you. I don’t even know your name. Besides, I’m not here to hook up. I’m here at Claremont to get an education and you would definitely be a distraction.”
Despite her discouraging words, Kayla saw their closeness as an opportunity. She inhaled his cologne, savoring the mixture of his natural scent and the earthy fragrance, before she moved away from him and walked back toward the house.
Her gorgeous customer followed. He wasn’t directly behind her but he was close enough for her to know he was there. She placed the paper cup she was holding in an overflowing waste basket as she made her way up the rusted metal stairs, opened the screen door, and stepped into the full-on Party! Squeezing through the crowded kitchen sort of stalled her sexy exit but hey, he was going to have to navigate through all the people too.
When Kayla reached the dining room, she glanced around to realize she lost him.
Good, I think.
She moved forward again, taking a much-needed breath but it was caught in her throat when fingers wrapped around her wrist. “You really don’t want to be touching me,” she said angrily to the jerk who was brave enough to grab hold of her.
“I do,” her bookstore guy answered.
Damn it all to hell, she blushed.
“And, my name is Turner.” He brushed over the top of her knuckles with his thumb then tightened his grip on her hand.
Kayla felt a warm sensation trail up her fingers and caress her palm, then it shot up her arm until the warmth coursed through her entire body.
What the...?
Her legs almost buckled under her but he was right there to brace her with his own body.
“You alright?” he asked. His face was laced with concern.
Oh, yeah, she felt great. Whatever happened when he touched her was over now but it ROCKED.
Kayla saw his confusion but before she could reply, Danielle grabbed her free hand and pulled her through the crowd. Kayla gripped Turner’s hand and was giddy when she realized he didn’t need encouragement to come with her. They came to a halt at the front door where she and Danielle collided, but Turner was able to stop gracefully with no contact.
“That hooch has gone tribal,” Danielle said as she grabbed Kayla’s shoulders and turned her around. “Now she knows those things need maximum support.”
Kayla gasped when she saw Rochelle wilding out in the center of a dance circle of intoxicated college boys. Her breasts bounced freely with no support under the thin shirt she wore. All Kayla could do was shake her head. She turned to Danielle and said, “I’m bouncing, so you need to babysit.”
Danielle all but drooled when she noticed Turner. Her mouth widened into a toothy grin then she looked over to her drunken roommate, Rochelle, still dancing. “Any room for a third? I’ll make it interesting,” she said to Kayla but her eyes were on Turner.
Kayla turned to Turner. He mouthed the word “no”.
Good boy, Kayla thought as she led the way to the front door. “He’s shy,” she told Danielle over her shoulder.
As Kayla and Turner stepped outside, they heard Danielle call out, “You’ve missed out on a life altering experience.”
“No doubt,” Turner said then laughed but continued to follow.
Kayla giggled as she led Turner down the porch stairs. Out front, people talked and drank but were spread out comfortably. She led him to a couple talking on the steps of another townhouse, two doors down the street.
“Need a quiet place, Ray,” she said with urgency.
Ray waved his hand toward the front door of the stoop where he and a random chick sat. She was apparently his latest conquest, and this one looked extravagant. Knowing Ray, Kayla wondered what he was doing talking to a girl who resembled a walking mannequin. Ray, part white and part Asian, hated label whores with a passion and yet, here he was talking to the likely co-founder of label whores united.
“Thanks,” she said as she led Turner into Ray’s place.
“No problem,” Ray said, not even looking at her.
***
CALEB felt some kind of energy pass from him to her when he slid his hand into hers back at the party. He felt her shiver, and he thought he hurt her, but she didn’t pull away. And to ease his short-lived panic, she tightened her fingers around his hand and just looked at him.
As he followed her through her friend’s house, Caleb half expected to see her Guards waiting for him. No telling what she actually felt from that jolt of power he unintentionally allowed to slip through.
The surge of power was forgotten as Kayla dropped his hand and moved ahead of him, disappearing behind a wall. She flicked the light switch on the wall then looked over her shoulder at him. It wasn’t a seductive look but it called to him in the same way.
Caleb followed her to a small two-seat sofa in a corner of the room. Glancing around, he realized this was some kind of game room or a common room for gaming and entertaining.
“So,” Kayla said. She sat down on the sofa and pulled him down next to her. “This is quiet,” she said as she looked around, “so let’s talk.”
Caleb smiled. “You’ve heard it all, haven’t you?”
“Just about,” she admitted. “Do you have something new?”
Caleb held her gaze. “I don’t think what I say now matters. You already know how far you’re going to let me get.”
He noticed her hand rubbing the stone on her bracelet. Then, without a word, Kayla moved closer to him. She braced her hand on the cushion between them, leaned in, and placed her lips on his.
The kiss was soft, sensual, and sudden. So sudden, initially Caleb pulled back but he moved forward to taste the sweetness of her lips. He palmed the back of her neck and used his thumb to stroke her cheek.
Caleb kissed her until she needed air. As Kayla took deep breaths while staring at him, he chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Kayla cut her eyes at him. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Caleb actually laughed. “A quiet place to talk is what I wanted.”
The truth was, he was laughing at himself. He couldn’t believe how this girl was affecting him. He was older than her mother’s mother. He was most likely older than the city they were in, yet here he was wishing he didn’t pull away. He felt ridiculous for being here with her at all.
“Isn’t that guy talk for ‘let’s go someplace so I can put my hand down your pants’?”
“Is that what you’re used to?” he asked.
Shit. From the look on her face he knew he just embarrassed her.
Kayla stood but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. “That’s a shame because you are such a beautiful, smart, and compassionate young lady who deserves nothing but the most untainted form of love a man can offer.”
“How could you know that?”
“When I first saw you smile, I knew everything I needed to know about you.”
Kayla sat back. “That’s upsetting because I know nothing about you. Well, except for that you’re kind of old fashioned and talk like a senior citizen.”
“My parents were old fashioned, I guess it stuck.” Caleb couldn’t be honest but he didn’t want to lie either.
“Were?”
“They’re gone. It’s just me now.”
“I’m sorry. Do you have other family?” She seemed genuine.
Caleb was flattered by her concern. “I have one or two living relatives but I don’t know them yet.”
Kayla seemed to consider his response but shook her head and frowned. “I don’t usually do this. It’s just that you are so... Anyway, I just thought that we could have, I don’t know, a fling,” she told him.
“A fling?” Caleb repeated. “Have you had many of those?”
“What? No. It’s just, my family is sort of old fashioned too, Turner,” she said. She nibbled on her bottom lip then stood. “I should go.”
Caleb wasn’t sure why but he felt that if he let her leave, he would never see her again. He jumped to his feet. “You don’t want something permanent, so I suggest we start out as friends,” he said as he followed her.
Kayla shook her head. When she reached the door, she pulled it open. As they exited the house, she said, “I have enough friends.”
Caleb didn’t respond right away. He followed a few steps behind her as she walked to her car that was parallel parked across the street. He waited until she was seated before bending inside the open door to kiss her. He kissed her with so much passion that he hoped she felt what could be.
When he pulled back, Kayla touched her chest as she watched him with hooded eyes.
“I don’t plan on being just a friend for too long.” Caleb closed the door to her car.
May
Caleb didn’t know why he wasn’t able to get Kayla or her question out of his head. He hadn’t communicated with anyone in his family for a very long time. He kept track of them but he felt they would be safer if he didn’t engage. Yet, now he stared at his childhood home, knowing he wasn’t alone.
Maiden Hall was newly restored. The mansion remained, but everything else that would suggest that it was once a plantation was replaced with lush greenery and gardens. His cottage was now some kind of large shed.
Throughout the years, not once did he feel the need to visit this place. Caleb kept his distance. The memories were still raw. But as he stood next to his tree looking over the lake where he watched her swim so many times as a boy, he felt a peace he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Can I help you?”
Caleb threw the rock in his hand into the lake. “Just looking at the old place,” he said without turning around.
“I got a call from the grounds keeper, said someone was hanging around the property. I’ll tell you the same thing I tell everyone who comes out here,” the man said. “This place isn’t for sale. There is no amount you can offer so don’t waste your time.” The man stepped closer. “If you want something in the area, the neighboring land, across the lake, is for sale.”
“You sound like him,” Caleb said quietly. “Even look like him a bit.” He turned to face the young man, who looked at him and took a step back. Caleb learned a lot about Richard Scott, a college student who kept Maiden Hall pristine over the past couple of years. The young man loved history, and had a particular interest in a family tale of his ancestor who fell in love with a slave. “I’ve never had a desire to meet any of you, but I made sure that I always knew where all of you were. It wasn’t anything personal. I didn’t think I could bear it, I guess. But you Richard, I find interesting enough to warrant a proper introduction.”
Richard took another step back, still looking confused. Caleb smiled as he came closer. “I am Caleb Scott, the brother of Fredrick Scott and second son of Henry and Catherine Scott. But you’ve figured that out already, haven’t you?”
***
KAYLA didn’t see the exact moment Turner slipped into the bookstore but she had a clear view of him as he took a seat at a table that faced her register. He playfully winked at her then picked up a magazine from a nearby rack and began to aimlessly flip through the pages.
A wink, she thought as she rang up another customer. The nerve. Yeah, he left a message with Rochelle telling her that he was going away for a few days but he was away for more than a week without a word. No, she had no claim on him. Anytime they hung out, they acted like friends. She was the one who said they should be friends and nothing more. But...
Kayla was so busy thinking about Turner that she didn’t see the little girl who was staring at her, waiting for her change. Great, now she couldn’t even do her job. What the heck?
“Do you see this ho?” Rochelle whispered. She stepped in front of Kayla with her lips twisted in a frown.
Kayla leaned to the side to see a woman talking to Turner. It was the same woman who approached her a few weeks ago, after Turner left the store. Kayla never forgot a face and the buxom brunette with her smoky gray eyes and mini, mini skirt was hard to forget. That day, the woman asked if Turner and she were seeing each other. Kayla told her the truth, they weren’t.
So here the woman was, pulling a chair out and sitting down at Turner’s table. And why not, Turner was gorgeous. When the woman extended her long legs out in front of him with those screw me hooker heels on, Kayla bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
Who cares?
Kayla shook her head then focused her attention back on her work. Well, she tried to focus on her work, at least. Only, when she heard laughter coming from the table she bit her lip again.
Rochelle stomped her feet. “Girl, go get your man.”
“He’s not my man,” Kayla said through clenched teeth.
Rochelle rolled her eyes at Kayla then turned back to watch Turner. “Oh, no this hussy didn’t do a laughing hair flip.”
“Get a grip, Roe,” Kayla sneered. “Turner’s a free agent.”
Ray appeared at the counter. Where he came from, Kayla didn’t know. “And it seems like he has a solid offer on the table,” Ray announced as he peered over at the table where Turner sat.
Rochelle smacked Ray on the shoulder hard enough to draw the attention of a few customers who stood nearby.
“Ooh, but I like it when you get all physical and shit,” Ray said to Rochelle as he raised his finger. “Know that I can take it but I also like to dish it out.”
Rochelle cringed. “Gross.”
Kayla laughed as she watched her friends’ playful banter but her smile vanished as she glanced over to Turner and his new friend. The woman was leaning into him now, and his eyes were fixed on her large breasts instead of her eyes.
That. Is. It! She’d seen enough.
Kayla typed in several numbers on her register then went to her supervisor and lied, though she was really feeling sick. Thirty minutes later she was opening her dorm apartment door, armed with some much-needed supplies. Pecan swirls, mint chip ice cream, and a Slurpee were essentials for sulking in the pinnacle of “piss-tivity”.
“What’s wrong?”
Kayla cried out as she whipped around, dropping her shopping bag but holding on to her Slurpee. “How do you know where I lived?” she asked as she watched Turner bend to pick up the bag. She took a few steps back, almost falling through her door that was slightly open, but Turner steadied her. Pulling away from him, she peered down the long empty hallway.
Did they see him?
Flashing a winning smile, Turner asked, “What, is it a secret?”
She had to be careful not to let her Guards find out about Turner. The ones her mother didn’t think she knew about. The ones who drove away any guy she showed any interested in. That was why she didn’t want Turner to know where she lived or have her phone number. He had to call Rochelle and leave her a message.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she almost shouted as she snatched her bag from him. Kayla stepped inside her room and went to close the door, but he placed his foot in the way.
When she reopened the door, he sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. He removed his foot and turned to walk away. “Alright.”
“I guess I won’t see you for another two weeks,” she said venomously.
Turner turned back. He peered at her with such intensity that she backed away as he moved forward until he was inside the apartment with her. The door closed behind him and he locked it, causing her to frown.
“Friends, Kayla. As my friend for the past couple of months, you’re not privy to how I spend my time when I’m not with you. Or who I spend it with.” He moved closer and she move back. “That is the way you want it and I respect that but you can’t have it both ways.”
Her eyes narrowed and her blood heated as he closed in on her. There was nowhere else to go as her back made contact with the small kitchen counter.
***
CALEB was confused. He kept his feelings for her bottled up just to be near her without causing problems for either of them. He only met up with her at her job, parties, or at neutral places where he treated her like he treated the rest of her gang. It was her call.
“Get out!” Kayla yelled at him. “Go call that girl who is aching for your attention.”
Caleb moved closer. Her anger was misplaced and he didn’t like games. At least not the kind she was playing. He saw Kayla reach behind her back but didn’t think she was hostile until something silver flew at him. When he angled his head, the fork missed him and lodged into the door behind him.
She covered her mouth, seeming to realize what she just did.
This was ridiculous. She was a temperamental child and he was a grown ass man.
Caleb turned around and unlocked the door. He was done with it all. His original plan was ruined the moment he laid eyes on her. And with all the time he spent around her over the past month or so, he couldn’t bring himself to hurt her in any way.
That meant that she could never know what or who he really was.
He needed to leave and never lay eyes on her again. That was exactly what he was doing, but before he could open the door, Kayla was holding him around the waist with her head buried in his back.
“Do you like her?” she murmured.
Caleb rested his head on the door. His breaths were short and staggered. His blood bubbled beneath her touch. “You can’t do this,” he hoarsely told her. He gently pulled her arms away and turned to face her. Holding her face in his hands he said, “It’s like a tug of war with you. You want us to only be friends but you look at me in a way that makes me think there might be something more. Or you’ll give me more attention when you see that someone else is interested in me, but not too much. Just enough for you to keep me under your spell. Why the games, Kayla? Do you think this is fun for me? That I am just some idiot you can lead around on a leash?” he asked angrily.
His jaw tightened. Never before did he want so badly to shake some sense into a woman.
Kayla grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands away from her face. The next thing that happened, Caleb wasn’t prepared for.
Kayla pushed up on her toes and kissed him. His strength wavered as she forced him against the door. Her hands found his belt and she quickly unbuckled it. Undoing his jean buttons, she smoothly moved her hand inside his pants.
With a jolt, his entire body awakened. Control, he thought as his desires threatened to overcome him.
“I can’t,” Caleb whispered over her lips. He grudgingly pulled her hand out of his jeans.
Kayla snatched her hand from his then turned her back on him as he buttoned his jeans and buckled his belt. “Why the hell can’t you?” she yelled. “I know you want me in that way.”
“I do but I won’t accept just that part of you. I want all of you, Kayla.” Caleb touched her shoulder but she quickly moved away.
“So, you have to possess every woman you make love to.”
“Yes, I do. But don’t confuse the act of making love with sex. The women I have sex with are not important to me. You are, and what I don’t want right now is for you to have some meaningless night with me so you can satisfy some jealous itch.” Caleb sighed. He walked over to her and laid his hand on her cheek. “I don’t know how I can make you understand that I have no interest in anyone but you. Stop fighting what you know you feel and give us a chance.”
Caleb traced his thumb over her lips. He could smell her blood from her biting them. It made him angry that she would inflict pain on herself, no matter how insignificant the damage. The need to kiss her overwhelmed his senses, so he gave in.
Kayla resisted at first but soon she returned his kiss.
