Can't Stop Loving You (18 page)

K
endrick thought he was going to pass out. Either that or rip off their clothes and make love to Kaycee right there in the vestibule. He took a step back, surprised and very pleased at the vision before him.

Kaycee looked as delicious as the candy she was known for making. The dress she wore looked as though it had been designed especially for her luscious body. The neckline of the dark-chocolate garment dipped enough to show the right amount of cleavage accentuated by a simple yet elegant diamond necklace. It stopped at the knee, displaying her smooth legs, which he could imagine wrapped around his waist.

He gazed back up to her face; she had fashioned her hair into a sexy, layered Mohawk style and her gorgeous eyes made him weak every time he looked deeply into them.

“Are you just going to stand there or do I get a kiss?” she asked with her hands on her hips.

“You ain't said nothing but a word!” he exclaimed, giving her a big, hearty squeeze. Their mouths connected with tenacious hunger. For a hot second, he thought about skipping the whole evening event and going straight upstairs to his bedroom where they could make love again. The thought brought forth all sorts of positions that he had on reserve.

Kaycee interrupted his fantasizing with a tap on his shoulder. “Kendrick, if we keep it up like this we will never be able to go anywhere.”

“I can't help that you're so fine,” he teased, with a pat on her rear.

She smiled. “Thank you, but I'm excited about this evening. I'm looking forward to finally meeting some of your friends.”

He released his hold with a shrug. “I would call them associates more than anything, but nevertheless, it is an honor to escort such a fine, sexy woman.”

“No, it's an honor to be with such a distinguished and handsome man,” she retorted, slipping her arm through his.

Kendrick glanced down at her hand and the brilliant ring on her finger. It made him both excited and proud that soon they would be husband and wife. Once they had become physically involved, Kendrick had been more determined than ever to make an honest woman out of her. She was a real lady and he didn't want to make light of that by suggesting that she compromise her principles to be with him. The pair decided a two-month engagement was long enough. Both preferred an intimate ceremony with family and close friends. Kaycee had already begun to pore over wedding magazines for gowns. They wanted their day to be very special.

After gathering her purse and the keys to his Jeep, the couple exited the house with nothing more than a promising outlook on their new lives.

 

The pier on the lake was filled with people loading into the large cruise boat. Warm yellow lights were strung along the deck, casting a seductive glow.

From the minute they entered the vehicle, Kendrick and Kaycee could not keep their hands off each other. It started with Kendrick rubbing on Kaycee's knee and continued with her distracting him as he drove, by caressing and stroking him in between stolen kisses.

Kendrick was grateful that they had made it to their destination without causing an accident.

“You are a bad girl!” he told her with a swat on the butt as they exited the Jeep.

Kaycee just laughed, enjoying the sensual teasing of the evening and looking forward to the promise of similar pleasure later in the night.

Kaycee was so drunk from their escapades that she didn't pay attention to any of the signage welcoming the partygoers aboard. All she could see was Kendrick leaning above her, with the look of love in his eyes.

They continued tickling each other here, tapping there, like mischievous little children, as they boarded the vessel and stopped at the table where Kendrick handed over his tickets.

It wasn't until they went inside the ballroom located in the middle of the boat that Kaycee really took in the atmosphere. Although on a smaller scale, the boat's opulence was reminiscent of the Titanic, with ornate light fixtures and rich brass railings and trim.

“Baby, this is nice,” she said in awe.

Before he could reply, Kendrick felt a firm hand on his shoulder and turned around to find two of his high-school buddies.

“If it ain't Mr. Football!” one of the men joked.

“Ronald Pierre!” Kendrick shouted and gave the man a brotherly hug.

“What's up, K?” chuckled the other man, who looked to be about as tall as he was round.

“Is that you, Shrimpy?” Kendrick asked. He couldn't believe that the man standing before him weighed about a buck fifty in high school when he'd played kicker on their football team.

“I can't believe you made it after all these years!” Ronald exclaimed. “I thought you made Cali your home.”

“I did,” Kendrick replied. “But I came back to be closer to my daughter.”

Ronald and Shrimpy's eyes fell on Kaycee.

“Look at you with a daughter,” Ronald began. “Baby girl, your daddy was a trip back in the day.”

Kendrick's eyes widened at Ronald's mistake. He was about to say something when Kaycee sweetly corrected him. “I'm sure my daddy
was
a trip back in his day, but let's not talk about him. I would rather hear the dirt on my fiancé, here,” she said, stroking the lapel of Kendrick's suit jacket. She pretended to dust it off before standing on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his mouth.

Ronald and Shrimpy's eyes bucked. Ronald peered at Kendrick for confirmation, and he nodded, amused at the looks on their faces.

Pulling Kaycee within his embrace, Kendrick proceeded to introduce them.

“Fellas, meet my fiancée, Kaycee Jordan. Kaycee, this is Ronald Pierre and Doug Waters, aka Shrimpy.”

“Nice to meet you, boys,” Kaycee said sweetly.

“I don't mean to sound too forward but—hot damn!” Ronald shouted.

Laughing, he and Shrimpy gave each other high fives.

“Seriously, you got any friends?” Ronald asked.

Sidra immediately came to mind, but went out just as fast. Her soon-to-be-mommy friend would have a fit if she brought Ronald home as a prospect.

“Sorry,” she replied sweetly.

“So, who's all here?” Kendrick asked, looking around.

“Folks you probably don't remember and if you do, you don't want to see,” Shrimpy said, taking a sip of his drink.

“So, Shrimp, where's Loretta?” Kendrick asked. Last he'd heard, Shrimpy and his common-law wife had finally got married after fifteen years of shacking up.

Shrimpy replied with a throat-cutting motion, indicating that they were through.

Kendrick laughed. “I thought you two had finally got it together.”

“I did, too,” Shrimpy answered. “But apparently, she was getting it together with the cable man, as well, because she upped and left with him out of the blue.”

“I keep telling him it was the free cable!” Ronald joked.

The group laughed. At that moment three women approached. One could tell that they had been beautiful, but fast living had aged them beyond their forty-eight years. Even so, they seemed dead set on maintaining looks that did nothing to compliment them.

The one in the tight red dress stepped forward. The clinginess of the material revealed she wasn't wearing a girdle, judging by the bulge protruding around her waist. She wore long micro braids that draped over one shoulder.

She looked around at the group and smiled. “Hey fellas, when did you all get in?”

“Sonji Nelson,” Ronald greeted, looking her over from head to toe. When she turned away he shuddered in disgust.

“Hey, Ronnie, Shrimp,” she replied with a nod then looked over at Kendrick with a gap-toothed smile. “Hey, Kenny.”

“Sonji.”

Sonji was the girl all the football players had gone to for a good time and she had obliged them. She didn't care as long as it meant she could be associated with them. After all these years, it appeared she hadn't changed.

“So, who we got here?” Sonji asked, noticing Kaycee standing there for the first time.

“Hi, I'm Kaycee Jordan,” Kaycee introduced herself with confidence.

“Kaycee is Kendrick's fiancée,” Ronald announced, giving Shrimpy a high five again.

The women collectively gasped.

Sonji studied Kaycee for a few seconds. “Did you say your name is Kaycee Jordan?”

Kaycee nodded.

Sonji shook her head with a slow smile. “Well, I'll be. It is a pleasure to meet you, Kaycee Jordan,” she said, singing her name.

Kaycee didn't understand where Sonji's strange behavior was coming from, but she returned the salutation. The three women walked a short distance before Sonji stopped them and started talking. All three turned to look at the pair and took off cackling like a group of hens.

“What was that all about?” Kaycee asked, perturbed.

“Don't worry about them,” Kendrick replied. “Let's go get something to drink.”

Kendrick announced that he would meet with the men later in the evening as they departed for the bar.

As they walked along, Kaycee leaned into his sturdy torso. She wanted more than anything to feel comfortable in his setting. She knew people would have suspicions about her age, but to actually verbalize them was something different. It lacked the tact and class that she was accustomed to. Now she knew why Kendrick referred to them as associates.

Kaycee knew she could use a drink. When they stopped at the bar, Kendrick ordered a white wine for her and a beer for himself.

They sat on the stools before the bar and he pulled her toward him and began to rub her back soothingly. He was grateful that Kaycee's back was to the crowd because he could see that they were the topic of conversation.

When stares came his way, he boldly returned them, which quickly caused them to be averted. The only reason he regretted attending this event was his desire to protect Kaycee's feelings.

By the time they'd had a second drink, Kendrick was ready to go. He reached over and smoothed Kaycee's bangs.

“This scene is boring me. Are you ready to go?”

“Actually, it's been fun being the center of attention.”

His mouth dropped open in surprise. “You—you recognized that?”

She turned to him and smiled. “Kendrick, I know
hateration
when I see it.”

She gazed around the room without looking at anyone in particular. “Which is why I think we should give them a reason to flap their gums.”

She stood up and wiggled her hips between his knees. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she boldly claimed his mouth with her tongue. Kendrick was thrown off by her outright behavior, yet turned on all the same, and he pulled her tightly to him.

Thoughts ran through his head. Everybody would have to recognize that she was his choice and that she was his, and no one else's opinion mattered.

At least, that's what he thought.

“Kaycee Janae Jordan, what in the world are you doing!”

Kaycee turned around to find a fuming Russell and Katherine Jordan.

K
aycee's face contorted with confusion. “Mama, Daddy, what are you doing here?” she asked, dropping her arms at her sides.

“The question is what are
you
doing here?” her mother asked sharply.

“I thought you had a reunion to go to.”

“This
is
the reunion!” her mother hissed with exasperation.

The blood drained from Kaycee's face, and she squeaked softly. “
This
is?”

Russell stepped forward, his arms crossed before his chest authoritatively. “You better do some explaining and you better do it fast!” he barked.

Kaycee flinched at the harsh tone he used. She had never known her father to talk to her in such a way. As a result of their loud voices, people began to crowd around them, causing Kaycee to grow hot with embarrassment.

“I came with my fiancé, Kendrick,” Kaycee announced.

“Your what!” Russell and Katherine shrieked in unison.

Kaycee held up her hand to display her engagement ring. “We got engaged the other night. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I was planning to surprise you both with it this weekend.”

Kaycee glanced up at Kendrick's face and noticed his blank expression. She took both of his hands in hers and squeezed them with assurance. Despite the fact that they were just now learning about the man she adored, she knew that they would love him just the same. She stepped forward.

“Mommy, Daddy, this is—”

“Get away from my daughter, Kendrick!” Russell warned through gritted teeth.

Kaycee's eyes widened in surprise. A gnawing feeling crept into her stomach and her mind twisted with angst. This meeting wasn't turning out the way she'd hoped.

Kendrick stepped away from Kaycee. “Russell, I know this is hard for you, but—”

“Negro, you don't know
what
it is to me!” her father yelled, rushing Kendrick. “I ought to kick your—”

Before he could get his hands on Kendrick, several of the men around them jumped and grabbed Russell. Shrimpy and Ronald held on to Kendrick.

“Russell, I know you're angry—”

“You don't know how I'm feeling!” Russell charged at Kendrick a second time.

“Daddy, what are you doing?” Kaycee cried. She couldn't believe her eyes. The man she had always known to be calm and together had never acted out with such violence and she felt it was all her fault. Her eyes filled with tears.

“What am I doing?” he shouted incredulously. “I'm trying to protect your honor!”

“My honor!” Kaycee gasped. She didn't know if her father was trying to imply that her honor needed protection because she was in the family way, but he couldn't be further off course. “My honor doesn't need protection. Kendrick hasn't done anything to ruin my reputation.”

Katherine shushed her and snatched her back by the arm.

“Baby girl, you stay out of this,” her father huffed.

“Stay out of it? Stay out of what?” Kaycee screamed in frustration, wrangling herself out of her mother's grip. She hurried over to where Kendrick stood. “Are you upset about his age? Well, don't worry, we covered that. If we're both okay with it then you should be happy for us.”

“Kay, it's more than that,” Katherine spoke up.

Kaycee searched her mother's face for answers. She looked at Kendrick, standing with his head hanging. “More? What is it?”

Kendrick took Kaycee's face in his hands. “Baby, you're going to have to listen to me before you take all this in.”

“Let her alone, Thompson!” Russell started up again and the men began to pull him off the scene to calm him down. He bucked to free himself, but was unsuccessful.

Kendrick ignored him. “Kaycee, you know how we talked about our past and how we wanted to bring everything forth so that there would be no misunderstandings?”

Kaycee nodded. “Go on.”

“Well, there was one thing I did not mention.”

“What's that?” she asked, trying to focus her attention on something to block out her the harsh words her father was shouting, but his words came through loud and clear.

“He killed your Aunt Vickie!”

The whole room collectively gasped from surprise.

“Tell her, Thompson, how you killed my sister!”

The men quickly herded Russell out of the room, and her mother followed. Kendrick pulled a disoriented Kaycee away from the crowd and onto the deck.

Kaycee had never met her aunt because she had died before Kaycee was born, but from what she could remember she'd been killed in an automobile accident, not at some man's hands.

She turned back to Kendrick for confirmation. “What is he talking about?”

Kendrick was looking at the floor, his position revealing that her father's claims were probably true.

He began to explain as if in a trance.

“Back in college, I used to mess around with Vickie. She was a freshman when I was a senior being looked at by NFL teams. I was young and wasn't thinking about being serious, all I was thinking about was playing ball. After a while, Vickie and I kind of fell off. It was about two months later when I was in Alabama at a game that my roommate called saying that Vickie came to our place acting weird. He said she was crying and babbling and wasn't making sense.”

“What was wrong with her?” Kaycee asked.

“He didn't know, but he said I needed to call her. So I called her. She sounded real messed-up on the phone, like she was drunk or something. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was in love with me and didn't want to live if we couldn't get married. I asked her why did she want to get married being that we broke things off, but she was insistent. I told her I couldn't and had to get off the phone and she told me that she was coming to Alabama to talk.”

He paused, a weariness covering him like a blanket as he related the final details of his story. His eyes slowly closed and his head fell into his hands.

“I thought she was bluffing. I didn't think she would try to come but she did. About an hour across the Alabama state line, she…she lost control of her car, crossed the median and ran head-on into a tractor trailer. She died instantly.”

Kaycee didn't know if she should hug him or not. After all, the woman he was talking about was her aunt, her flesh and blood. All her life, she'd heard great things about her Aunt Vickie. She was told that she shared her aunt's enthusiasm for life and her stubborn streak. Her father had obviously been protective of his baby sister. Their relationship was often compared to hers and Kyle's. She knew that her aunt's death had hurt her father deeply. Seeing him so full of rage and out of control for the first time ever was a testament to that fact. She'd always wondered about the woman she'd never known. Hearing that her only love and soul mate was somehow connected to her aunt's death was hard to swallow.

“Kendrick, I don't know what to say.”

His head shot up, revealing tears and he gripped her by the forearms.

“Baby, please let's work through this.”

Kaycee held her hands up and took a few hesitant steps backward. “I don't know.”

He pulled her close to him. “Don't make a decision about us based on this, baby,” he pleaded. “You know we belong together. We can get counseling to deal with this.”

“She was my family, Kendrick,” Kaycee replied, shaking her head.

“I know, I know,” he whispered. Clasping his hands together, he lowered himself before her. “Please don't give up on us because of this. Let's work through it. Please, Kaycee. Please—”

“Kaycee, it's time to go.”

The commanding sound of her mother's voice cut through their discussion.

Kaycee looked up at her mother and then back at Kendrick, submissive before her. Katherine looked at Kendrick and shook her head in pity.

“Let's go,” she said. “We need to get your father back to the hotel.”

Kaycee nodded. She turned to Kendrick and touched his shoulder before announcing that she was leaving. Kendrick remained in his position, hoping and praying that she wasn't going to walk away. After a few minutes, he looked up to find that she was gone.

 

His ride home was silent. Kendrick could not believe that he had held Kaycee in his arms and lost her in the same day.

The last people he'd expected to see were her parents. It had never dawned on him that Kaycee was related to the woman to whom he caused so much pain, and he realized the awkward position that her parents were in.

When he turned his truck into their subdivision, he felt like an empty man. Kaycee was supposed to be with him. They were supposed to decide whose house they were going to stay at for the night. He was supposed to make good on his promise to make love to her, slow and sweet. The ache in his body matched the ache in his heart as he turned onto their street.

Kaycee's house was dark. He stopped the truck beside her mail box and stared at the structure, as if trying to will her to walk out of the front door and into his truck, but he knew it would not happen. Kaycee was probably somewhere with her parents.

It made him cringe to think about all of the things they could be saying to fill her head and turn her against him. He closed his eyes and prayed that the Lord would give him wisdom and peace.