Longing For You (Never Too Late Book 1) Page 6

“You never lie to me.”

  “Tomorrow’s Monday.” He lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, and she simply smiled before telling him too much. “Mondays are just hectic.”

  He stared at her and she knew he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t push for a better answer.

  “Today was fun,” his hand grabbed hers, their fingers intertwining beautifully. She always liked how her hand fit in his, like two pieces to a puzzle.

  “It was.”

  “Drew asked for permission to marry Chloe,” he shared, tilting his head down, watching her.

  “Yeah, I guessed something like that,” she whispered, feeling suddenly tired. He pulled her hand and walked her toward the Adirondack chairs she had on her front porch, bringing her onto his lap. All without saying a word.

  “He’s a good kid. He came to me two months ago for permission,” she couldn’t help the smile on her face nor could she stop the wetness gathering in her eyes as her fingers moved to her lips.

  “He did?” she asked softly. He nodded his head, smiling. A sense of pride rushed through her. Drew was a great kid.

  Scott

  “Yeah.” Breathing deeply, he reached up, taking her floppy hat off, tossing it to the chair next to them, and played with the tips of her hair. “He’s a good man.”

  “She’s wonderful!” Jess blurted out and he liked that about her. “Seriously. I adore her. Drew…” shaking her head, she looked out to the driveway. “He’s never spoken to me the way he did today, ever. So please excuse him. He’s a great man, but he’s always been serious.” Turning her head, she smiled at him. Something tugged at his chest. “Chloe makes my boy smile.”

  “Good. He makes her smile too.” Scott stroked her face, breathing deeply. They’d had a fantastic day. He fucking loved having her on his lap, but he was about to ruin the mood. They had shit to talk about.

  “Drew’s pretty pissed,” she blurted again. He smiled.

  “He’ll get over it,” he chimed.

  “Scott…” he didn’t like her tone so he stepped up.

  “I want a chance,” the four words slipped out without thought. The same four words he said to her back in high school, when he’d asked her to be his girlfriend. When the wet hit her eyes, he knew she remembered them too,.

  “I don’t think you know what you would be getting into with me, honey,” she told him calmly, but he didn’t care she believed that.

  “Babe….” he started to tell her, but her body sat still as they watched a car drive up and she closed her eyes dread clear on her face.

  “Shit,” she mumbled. Her eyes were on the car.

  “What?” he asked and looked at the newer model silver Lexus, wondering who it could be that would upset her like this.

  She got off his lap, and he immediately stood next to her as they watched a man unfold from the luxury sedan. His hair was grey, and the lines of his face told Scott he was their age. He was tall, an inch or two taller than him, dressed in a red polo and slacks. Scott straightened his back as he watched him walk up the drive, stopping in front of them.

  “Jess,” he said but stared at Scott.

  “What are you doing here?” Jess asked him, obviously aggravated.

  “Drew called me,” the guy clipped, running his hand in his hair. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

  “It might be Drew’s business, but it sure as hell isn’t yours,” she said defensively.

  “It isn’t?” the guy said, his blue eyes wide. Drew’s eyes. Shit.

  “It isn’t, Kevin. How long have we been divorced?”

  Now he knew for sure. The ex.

  “Jesus, Jess,” he shook his head, his hands in his hair.

  “Scott Kostas, this is my ex-husband, Kevin Henderson,” Jess muttered.

  “Hey, man.” He offered his hand, trying to make the best of an awkward situation, but Kevin ignored him.

  “Seriously? Have you two even thought about what you are doing to the kids?” her ex-husband asked, making Scott’s eye twitch. He didn’t like the way he was speaking to them.

  “Kevin…”

  “Look, man, I get it. It’s tough on them. It’s a weird situation…” Scott started to talk but was cut off.

  “Weird?” Kevin said, shaking his head, turning to look at Jess, a scowl on his face.

  “I love you. Even after all these years and the divorce, I still love you. That love might never die and I’m man enough to admit it. Our son might not know who this asshole is to you, but I do. I know exactly who he is,” Kevin laid it out. Jess’ shoulders slumped forward.

  “Kevin…” Her soft voice showed that the fight had left her.

  “We’re friends, Jessie... I love Nancy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what the box hidden in the depths of a closet somewhere inside your house means. It doesn’t mean we didn’t have a past before we met, and I get it. But think really hard before you go further and hurt our son.” Jess wrapped her arms around her waist and looked down. What box was he talking about?

  “Her dad told me about you,” Kevin spoke up, looking right at Scott. He felt his blood start to heat up.

  “I bet he did.” He couldn’t help the coldness in his voice when the topic of her father came up. It made him think of that stupid request, but the anger he felt at himself for allowing it to happen was worse.

  “He told me what he asked of you. I knew going in that I had claim her as mine, because you’d been there for five years. You knew what you’d thrown away, and I knew you sure as hell would come back.” Scott breathed in deep, trying to calm down. The way that asshole was talking to him was really starting to piss him off. The last thing Jess needed was for Scott to kick her ex-husband’s ass.

  “What are you talking about, Kevin?” she asked. They both looked at her. Fuck, she was beautiful. Her green eyes were wide and surprised.

  “Scott, what did Daddy ask you to do?” Her pretty face was now pale, her eyes looking right at him, into him in a way only she could.

  “Babe…” his heart stuttered in his chest.

  “He asked Scott to give you some time, two years, Jess. And he walked away from you,” Kevin shared. Scott couldn’t help but fist his hands tightly, trying to rein in some control.

  “What the fuck are you saying, man? You knew I walked away from her and why I did it, but you stepped in anyways? You knew I’d come back to her, but claimed her for yourself and years later you divorce her and remarry? You are married to someone else now, right? You have kids with someone else, right? So why in the hell are you standing here NOW?” Scott demanded. He couldn’t control his anger any longer.

  “I couldn’t break through,” the asshole blurted, running his fingers through his hair. “Fuck, man…Ten years and she still held on to that fucking box. We moved three times and I watched, each time thinking that box would go in the trash, but it didn’t,” Kevin admitted and as much as it sucked for him, Scott felt his heart lighten a bit. He knew whatever she had in that box meant she had kept him close throughout the years, and as fucked up as that might have been for Kevin, he liked it. He liked it a lot.

  Jess

  Hearing Kevin talk about the box she’d never been able to let go of, she couldn’t stop from flinching. Everything inside of her hurt. She hurt because she’d caused him pain. Kevin was a good man, always had been. She never knew she’d hurt him, that the existence of the box caused him to give up on their marriage. Their marriage had turned into a platonic friendship because of it. After they’d walked away from one another, he found love. Real and passionate love.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered and felt both men’s heads turn to her, but she could only let herself look at Kevin. His soft blue eyes were on hers. “I loved you.”

  “Jess…” he shook his head, but she put her hand out to stop him.

  “I did. I loved you. It was different than what I felt before, but I loved you.” Licking her lips, trying to find the right words, she just let her heart talk. “You stepped away and ou
r marriage turned into what it did. I always thought it was our careers and the kids and not having enough hours in the day to reconnect and have it be about us, but I was wrong. You never talked to me, Kev. You never told me your worries. Maybe it was the guilt you carried, I don’t know…

  “Guilt?”

  “You knew Scott would be back. You stepped in knowing it from the get go. I don’t know what Daddy was thinking, asking Scott to do what he did, and seeing as he’s dead, I’ll never have an answer.” She blinked away her tears and tried hard to ignore the sting at her nose. “I don’t know what the hell Scott was thinking, but you can bet your ass I’ll ask him. I’ll talk to him. You never talked to me, though. If you had, we could have worked things out. Things could have been explained and we would’ve been fine. You were fighting demons that didn’t exist. I had your ring on my finger. You were it for me.”

  She watched as Kevin took in her words, letting them penetrate. He closed his eyes slowly as his head tipped up toward the still sunny sky.

  “You need to go home, Kev,” her voice gave away how tired she was. There were so many things running through her head. She couldn’t look at Scott.

  “Beautiful…” Kevin opened his eyes, pain and regret clear as day, and she shook her head.

  “Don’t do that. You have a great woman at home. A great family. Great kids. So don’t. It’s the past....”

  “I should have…”

  “But you didn’t,” she wasn’t rude or hurt, she was speaking the truth, and by the look in Kevin’s eyes, she knew he understood. He walked toward her, his tall frame bending to give her a hug, and she hugged him back.

  “I’m sorry,” his deep voice whispered into her hair. She nodded against his chest. He let her go and without a second look, walked back to his car and drove away.

  She stood still, her mind muddled with so many thoughts. The loudest one about Scott. He’d walked away because of her father.

  Oh Daddy, what did you do?

  Chapter Twelve

  Scott

  He watched her. Her back was to him, her hair blowing in the breeze. He had no idea how this was going to play out, but he was far from being done fighting. Hell, he’d just started.

  “Jess…”

  “Is it true? About my dad?” The question was clear and her voice strong. He had to lay it out for her. He’d never planned on telling her any of this.

  “When you were gone, he called and we met up. He asked me to give you time.”

  “Why?”

  “He knew I was going to ask you to be my wife.” Something in his chest literally hurt as he watched her shoulders slump forward. He knew she was hurting but couldn’t get himself to touch her for fear of making the pain worse.

  Her head lifted, and he couldn’t be sure what it was Jess was looking at, but he couldn’t see anything but her.

  “You wanted to marry me?” her voice was husky with emotion, but it didn’t hide the surprise she felt.

  “Babe…” he took two steps forward but stopped when she shook her head.

  “Why did he do that?” she turned from him, trying to hide the pain she was clearly feeling. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms, thanking his lucky stars when she didn’t push him away. She cried onto his shoulder. It ate at him.

  “Babe…look at me,” her eyes met his, tears staining her beautiful face. He hated seeing her green eyes sad. He wiped her tears away with his thumbs, holding her face with both hands.

  “It doesn’t matter why he did what he did. I was the one who messed everything up. I was so damn wrong. I should have never stepped away.” He felt her move her face, letting the side of her head rest on his chest, her body still in his arms. He took in a deep breath to calm himself. Her scent and the cool air re-energized him.

  “You shouldn’t have,” her voice was soft, and his hands stroked the small of her back.

  Engraving the sensation of having her so close into his mind, he prepared for her to try and push him away for good, now that she knew the truth. But he wouldn’t let her. Not this fucking time. No way in hell would he let her go this time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jess

  Looking at him, finally knowing why he’d ended them, she couldn’t help but want what she wanted. She leaned back and saw hesitation flash in his eyes, but it disappeared the moment she touched his face. She watched her hands trace his jaw, then moved to trace his nose, where she stopped looking at his skin and looked into his deep, coffee eyes. Her heart skipped a beat.

  She saw the boy she'd fallen in love with all those years ago, the same eyes she saw in the bittersweet dreams that had made her toss and turn so many restless nights these last three decades.

  "I'm not the same girl I was back then."

  "I'm not the same boy who traced his feelings in the palm of your hand, too afraid to say the words that were in his heart." She almost stumbled backwards, but his hands were firm around her. He held her close as she fought the sobs that wracked her chest.

  He remembered. He remembered.

  "You remember?" she whispered, her eyes now wet.

  "Baby, I remember everything." He was frowning. She couldn't help the need to explain.

  "The way it ended, all our drama...I wasn't sure..."

  "Sure about what?"

  "If you had ever felt it. Really felt it. If you ever thought about us. If you remembered the things we did." Her voice was so soft she wasn’t sure he heard them.

  Scott

  He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Over thirty years and this is what she wondered?

  Unable to stop himself, he lifted her dress, ignoring her gasp, and lifted her up. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist as he walked them inside, kicking the door closed behind him. Her laughter floated in the air, a sound he more than enjoyed.

  “You’re going to hurt your back,” she whispered against his lips as his body started to come to life.

  “Hardly,” he growled playfully, taking her mouth tenderly. He enjoyed the taste of her, the feel of her. Kissing Jess had always been like a dance. One the two of them were masters of. It was incredible how after so long apart they were still in sync with one another.

  He took her to the couch, laying her down, her head on the toss pillows, her pale hair fanned out. Fuck, she was a sight to behold, like a bright star in a dark sky. For the second time in his fifty-eight years of living, he was nervous with a woman. The same woman as the first time. His body no longer looked the same nor did it recover between rounds like his twenty-year-old body had. He knew the sight of her naked body would be different too, though no less beautiful. But he didn’t want to rush into anything. He didn’t want to hurt her. Not ever again if he could help it.

  “Where did you go?” she asked, her left hand cupping his cheek gently. He broke and was utterly honest.

  “I don’t want to rush this.” He hardly recognized his own voice. His body wanted to take this further but his mind was yelling at him to slow down. He saw confusion in her eyes, and from the way her hand dropped from his face and fell onto her own chest, he knew she’d misunderstood.

  “Is it because of—” she started to ask, but he cut her off.

  “No,” he didn’t want her to go there. Sighing loudly, he sat up, bringing her onto his lap. She stared at him, her green eyes weary. “Go on a date with me.”

  “A date?” Her green eyes twinkled in awe.

  “Yeah.”

  “Where?” she asked and he smiled.

  “Surprise,” he quickly responded and she lifted an eyebrow.

  “Scott…” he cut her off by kissing her hard, infusing the kiss with all the passion his body held for her at that very moment.

  After a while, he pulled away from her decadent mouth and enjoyed watching the slow way her green eyes opened. Hunger and desire were shining through them. How many times had he seen that look and taken it for granted?

  Youth was wasted on the young.

  “I�
�ll pick you up tomorrow night at seven.” He leaned forward before she could utter a word, giving her a quick kiss, just long enough to get another taste of her before he left.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jess

  “Wait a minute. Are you seriously telling me that that ass is Chloe’s dad?” Shelly, asked and Jess nodded.

  “Yeah,” she shook her head over the crazy coincidence.

  “How is that possible? Chloe is so sweet,” Shelly pondered, bewildered by what she was obviously trying to comprehend.

  “She is, babe, but…”

  “And he is not sweet! He was always bossy and a jerk. A complete asshole.” Shock was clear in her friend’s voice. Jess bit back a smile. “Remember how he would cancel dates last minute and go hang out with his friends?”

  “I do.” Jess had expected this from Shelly, she was not his biggest fan. She’d disliked Scott, hating him since they had officially parted ways.

  “Remember the party our sophomore year in college I took you to because you were all dolled up? He canceled last minute, then we found him there with his idiot friend?” As much as the memory sucked, Jess bit away the smile threatening to play on her face over the mention of this particular ‘idiot’ friend. Morris Drake. The boy Shelly had a crush on back then.

  “Babe…”

  “He’s really Chloe’s dad, huh?” Her face scrunched up in disbelief. Jess couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled and trickled out.

  “Yup, but he’s not an asshole, Shell.”

  “Babe, seriously?” She couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

  It was Monday late morning and they were standing in the back room of Jess' flower shop. Shelly sat on a bar stool across from Jess, her curvy body in a pretty, black and white print wrap dress that made her look more beautiful than usual. Jess momentarily wondered why her usually casually dressed best friend was so dressed up, but before she could ask, Shelly continued.