When Love Comes Around (Love Conquers All) Page 17

  Swinging around in his chair his gaze collided with hers. His heart sunk as she stood in the doorway her hand covering her mouth, tears sliding down her face. “Nick, man I gotta go.”

  Abruptly hanging up the phone, he stood quickly crossing the room. “Starr, baby let me explain.”

  Shaking her head, Starr slowly backed away. What could he say to her? Hadn’t she asked him more than once what was bothering him? And he’d come up with some excuse about being tired and having a hard day.

  Quickening his step, he reached out to take her hand. His action was halted by anger and hurt flashing in her dark eyes. The look she shot him screamed, You better not touch me.

  Rubbing his hand down his face and then over his clean head he hissed out a curse. I should’ve just told her when I started to.

  Putting her hands on her hips, she yelled, “I know you ain’t cussing! I should be the one cussing you out!” She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to be cussing because he got caught up in some mess.

  “I’m not cussing at you.”

  She let out a short brittle laugh as she dashed away her tears. Crying time was over. He had made a commitment to her. And if he wanted to weasel out of it, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. He was going to face her like a man. “Oh, I know you’re not cussing at me. But what I want to know is why you didn’t tell me about Trina showing up at your job yesterday? What? You wanna be with her now?”

  “Come on baby, let’s go sit down in the living room,” he coaxed as he gently put his hand at her waist leading her into the other room. The way she was stabbing him with piercing eyes, he wanted to get her as far away from the kitchen as possible. Kevin wasn’t a punk; however, he wanted a safe distance between them and the knives. He’d watched enough episodes of Snapped to know when a woman was pushed to the edge she was capable of doing some strange, deadly things. All her life Starr had been disappointed and hurt by the men who were supposed to love and care for her.

  He had to make her understand that Trina was a huge mistake, one he wished he could permanently erase. He had to make her see that if Trina was the last woman on earth and humanity depended on them to survive, the human race would become extinct.

  She was so angry with Kevin; she knocked his hand from her waist as she stomped into the living room plopping down on the sofa in a huff. All she knew is that he had better hurry up and explain why this chick kept popping up out of thin air. Furthermore, he’d better recognize she could do without another cheater in her life and in her bed. Husband or not, it didn’t matter. She loved Kevin, however, she would be damned if she sat back while he ran around on her. Been there, done that. Wasn’t doing it again.

  Kevin sat on the opposite side of the sofa. Suddenly the collar of his tee shirt felt like it was choking him. Reaching at the collar with his index finger, Kevin pulled the cotton fabric away from his neck before he spoke. “Baby, I just want to apologize to you for having to overhear about Trina. I know I should’ve told you she came by the office.”

  You damn right you should’ve told me. “Why didn’t you?” Arms folded over her chest, her legs were crossed, an angry foot madly swung back and forth, as she waited for his response.

  “Baby, I wanted to. I even picked up the phone several times to call you but I didn’t want to upset you. I had to vent to somebody so I called Nick.”

  “You didn’t think my finding out this way would upset me? Trust me I understand you and Nick are tight, but I’m your wife. You should have come to me.” Irritation laced her words as she spoke in a leveled tone. She was his wife and he should have trusted her enough to come to her with this information. But instead, he decided to go to his best friend with his problems. If he wanted her to trust him then he had to be upfront with her about everything. “Even if you thought it was going to upset me, you still should have followed your first mind and told me.”

  Letting out a deep breath, he agreed with her. “You’re right, I should have told you. I just thought you were still a little uptight about the phone incident. Honestly, baby I didn’t think it was necessary getting you all worked up over a woman I wish would disappear from the face of the earth.” His facial features scowled into a tight mask. “I should have left her alone years ago. Believe me when I tell you if we weren’t married Trina still wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.”

  Starr’s gaze slipped from his. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks as she thought about her behavior that night Trina called taunting her and now tonight. In both cases, she had over reacted not giving Kevin a chance to explain himself. Immediately in her mind, she had thought the worse and accused him of being a cheater like Marcus. If she hadn’t been so wrapped up in comparing him to her ex, she would have given him half a chance. Though she promised herself she wouldn’t compare the two men, she miserably fell short. Why do I keep doing this to him? It’s so unfair.

  If she had really paid attention she would have known he wasn’t the least bit interested in that woman. Goodness gracious, the way he yelled and cussed at her a few weeks ago should have told her that he really didn’t want any parts of Trina. And when he shared with her how Trina had totally humiliated him outside his place of business, she felt awful.

  Breaking into her musing, he whispered, “Besides, being all riled up can’t be good for you if we’re trying to have a baby.” Scooting over he pulled her onto his lap. Tracing her bottom lip with his thumb, he again apologized. “Baby, I’m really sorry. I promise from this point on I won’t hold anything back from you. Okay.”

  “Okay. But I just have to know something.”

  Caressing the back of her neck with the pad of his thumb, he said, “Ask away.”

  “Why did you stay with her so long?” What she really wanted to ask him was why he gotten involved with her in the first place? She’d often wondered how did a hoochie momma end up dating a Wharton Business School graduate and Investment Banker? It wasn’t that Starr looked down on people or where they’d come from. Heck, her family was as dysfunctional as you could get. For all she knew Trina could have come from a really good, solid family and went buck wild once she became an adult.

  Shrugging massive shoulders, he simply said, “Convenience.”

  “Convenience?” Who did he think he was kidding? “You mean it was the sex,” she dryly snorted.

  Kevin chuckled. “That too.” He wouldn’t deny Trina had skills. The girl could sho’ ‘nuff make a brotha holla.

  Playfully punching him in the chest, she warned, “Boy stop playing with me. I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you.”

  He rubbed his chest as if wounded. “No, you’re just trying to be nosy.”

  When she went to hit him, again he caught her small fist in his hand. Laughing he said, “All right, I’ll tell you.”

  She listened as he told her about his and Trina’s on again, off again relationship they’d had for years. The relationship was convenient for him because he had never had any intentions of settling down with her or anyone else. Whenever she wanted to take a break and see someone else, he never objected since he was doing his own thing anyway. However, around the last time she went off to date her football player was also around the time he began to notice Starr. This also was the period he was knee deep in getting Dawson Investments off the ground and had taken a hiatus from dating. When she came back crying and all upset wanting to crawl back into his bed, he refused her.

  Patiently she waited until he stopped talking. Twisting her mouth to the side as if in deep thought Starr stared at him for a few seconds. “Okay, that explains a lot. But why are you so angry with her?”

  Dropping his head on Starr’s shoulder, he mumbled, “You sure you want to hear this?”

  Stroking the side of his face, she nodded her head. “Yep.”

  Lifting his head, he let out a harsh breath. “I think she’s the one who flattened your tires and tore up your yard.”

  Starr shot up off his lap like a rocket. “What?”

>   Kevin nodded his head. “And the nut was harassing Momma.”

  Starr stomp her foot. “What? No!” That no good hussy harassed Momma! Starr didn’t care about the tires or the garden. That stuff was replaceable. But harassing an eighty-three-year old woman was different. Starr loved the ground Beverly Dawson walked on. The witch had crossed the line. I gonna get her. As sure as my name is Starr Avery Dawson, I gonna get her.

  “And she put her funky thong in my Sunday morning newspaper.”

  Starr stopped pacing as she swung around staring bug eyed at him like another head sprouted from the side of his neck. Her voice came out in high pitch squeal. “That nasty, stank, heifer put her thong in your newspaper!”

  He couldn’t help it. Couldn’t contain it. Kevin’s massive body fell over on the sofa as he roared with laughter. He had never seen his baby so mad. She was a hilarious sight.

  Marching over to the sofa, she pulled on his arm trying to upright his huge body. This was no laughing matter. Girlie had trespassed. Big time.

  “Come on boy and sit up!” She popped him upside the head to get him moving. “This ain’t funny. Where does that trick live?”

  “Ouch!” Sitting up, rubbing the back of his head, he reminded her, “You know I ain’t got hair to cushion your blows.”

  Covering her mouth with her hands, she glanced at Kevin’s baldhead and cringed. She hadn’t realized she’d popped him so hard. She had left a red mark on his head. “Oops, I’m sorry sweetie. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.” Bending down she kissed the red mark before pulling his head to rest against her breasts. “Feel better?”

  Kevin wrapped his arms around her waist and grinned nodding his head like a five-year-old little boy. “Huh-uh.”

  After petting the top of head like he was a puppy, she disengaged the embrace. “Good. Now tell me where she lives.”

  Lifting a brow, he asked, “Why?”

  Huffing, throwing her hands on her hips and rolling her neck, she snapped, “Why do you think? So I can go kick her butt.”

  “You know Kevin,” Starr ranted ticking off each offense on a perfectly manicured finger. “It’s one thing slashing my tires, sending two vicious demons from hell to tear up my beautiful garden I worked hard at bringing to life, and I’ll even give her showing up at your office. Because I really now know that you don’t want her stank, raggedy tail. But messing with Momma and leaving her nasty drawers in my man’s newspaper is a horse of a whole different color.” Pointing her finger at Kevin, she threatened, “You’re gonna tell me where she’s at…because she’s going down…Big time.”

  Beaming from ear to ear, he wanted to jump up, grab her and give her the biggest, sloppiest kiss. She finally got it. It had to take her to get furious to realize that he was over Trina. Now on second thought, he was glad things had worked out the way they had. Well, with the exception of his wife threatening to beat his ex to a bloody pulp. No way in the world would he tell her where Trina lived. He could just see it; he and Nick would have to bail the terrible three out of prison. Ava, Summer and Starr were thick as thieves. Anyone that was foolish enough to come up against one of them had it coming. Although they were grown professional women, they weren’t above rolling on Trina.

  Noticing his grin, Starr quieted her squawking. “What?”

  Standing he sauntered over to where she stood. Looking down at her, he lifted her chin and tenderly kissed her lips. “I’m not telling you where Trina lives because I don’t want you to get yourself along with your crazy friends in trouble.” Kissing the tip of her nose, pulling her to his chest, he said, “I’m just glad you finally realize I don’t want her. It’s you I want forever. Understand?”

  “Yes, I understand. But the next time I see her I’m going to bust her in the mouth.”

  Kevin chuckled. “Let’s hope you don’t see her anytime soon.”

  “Humph, how about never.”

  Taking a small step back, she looked up into his face. “One more question.”

  “Yes, nosy box.”

  “Shut up and just answer the darn question.”

  “You haven’t asked it yet.”

  Starr rolled her eyes. “Keep playing with me and no more loving for you for a week.”

  Grabbing his chest staggering backwards, he gasped, “No, please not that.”

  Shaking her head, she laughed at her crazy husband. “Did Nick ever try to convince you to break up with her?”

  Kevin gave her cocky smirk. “You mean how you and the other pit bull tried to do my man and his woman?” Starr swatted at Kevin like a cat at its catch, but missed her target when he jumped back laughing at her.

  She and Ava were highly offended when Summer told them of Nick’s pet name for them. Although they were on good terms with him by then, that hadn’t stopped them from giving Nick a piece of their minds the next time they saw him.

  “Where the hell do you get off calling us some damn dogs?” Ava pounced, her hands on her hips ready for a verbal sparring.

  “Yeah! Nick, you are so wrong.” Starr cosigned. The entire time Summer sat in the background snickering. Her girls had blindsided Nick and she was enjoying every minute of it. Ava had been so riled up she hadn’t waited for him to put Autumn down, who was an infant, before she pounced. They became even more outraged when he roared with laughter in their faces.

  Handing the sleeping infant to his wife, Nick made his way to the twisted face twins. Throwing a massive arm around each of their necks, he drew them into a tight brotherly embrace.

  Kissing each on the forehead, “Y’all know I was only joking.”

  Starr chuckled as she remembered that day. “Well, Nick was a mess back then. We didn’t want him to hurt our girl any more than he had already done.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. Nick is my brother, but he was straight up trippin’.”

  “I agree. But now that I know the whole story, I understand where he was coming from.” Starr shook her head. “I can’t tell you how many times we begged that girl to tell Nick she was pregnant.”

  “The poor girl was terrified. Nick can be one beast you don’t want to go up against if he thinks you’ve crossed him.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.” She said covering her mouth letting out a yawn. She was suddenly drained from all the events of the night. A small sigh escaped her lips as she remembered how the evening began.

  Mimicking her, he too, covered his mouth letting out a yawn. Kevin took Starr by the hand. “Come on baby, it’s been a long night.”

  Finishing their talk as they walked hand in hand up the stairs to their bedroom, Starr pointed out, “We got off track and you never answered my question. Did he try to talk you out of dating her?”

  “Nah, not really. But I knew he wasn’t crazy about her. He would just say, ‘Dude you like living dangerously, don’t you?’”

  Each pulled down the spread on their side of the bed and climbed in. “It didn’t bother you that he didn’t like her?”

  “Nope. Just like it didn’t bother Nick that you and Ava didn’t like him.”

  Sucking her teeth, Starr argued, “That was different. We liked him until he started acting a fool.”

  Groping for his wife in the dark as she talked, Kevin pulled her hips to his groin. His muscular arm snaked around her waist. Without hesitation, Starr snuggled against him until she was comfortable.

  “Starr?”

  “Huh?”

  “Go to sleep. I’m tired of talking about Trina, Nick and Summer.” Nudging her bottom with his male hardness, he told her, “If you’re not sleepy I got other things you can do besides talk.”

  Starr nudged him back with her bottom. “Boy, in the last two nights you got enough to last you for the rest of the week.”

  Chuckling, he kissed the side of neck. “Night, baby.”

  “Night, my love.” Starr whispered.

  Hearing his wife’s soft snores brought a smile to his lips as he held her close. It felt good knowing he had won her trust. Getting he
r to love him had come easy. Getting her to not compare him or their relationship to what she had had with her ex had was difficult, almost impossible. Kevin had learned a very valuable lesson tonight. Never would he hide anything from her again. He never wanted to see doubt in her eyes again. Even if he feared her worst reaction, he would be honest and tell her the truth. More than anything, he wanted her trust. Whatever challenges were in their future, they would face them head on together. No more secrets.

  Chapter 29

  “Girl, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” Ava lazily mumbled as she and her friend lounged in massage pedicure chairs.

  Opening an eye peeping at Ava, she miserably agreed. “I know…I know. I acted like a brat.”

  Ava switched the massage setting to high on the kneed mode. Her back was killing her. She didn’t know if she needed a new mattress or if it were the restless nights she was having.

  “I’m not talking about that. But humph, you did better than me. I would’ve started throwing things and breaking stuff.”

  Starr laughed. If it had been Ava, everything breakable would’ve been broken. “I know that’s right.” Settling back into the soft leather vibrating chair closing her eyes, Starr asked, “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, just the fact that you didn’t come clean with your man.”

  Cringing, Starr couldn’t deny her friend’s rebuke. Here she had gotten all bent out of shape, throwing a temper tantrum because Kevin had withheld information, while she wasn’t completely honest herself. Well, she hadn’t actually lied. She just hadn’t told him that her father had all of a sudden dropped back on planet earth from who knows where and had called her.

  Starr had thought about changing her cell number because the man had the nerve to contact her again. He gave some lame excuse about needing to talk to her and Karen about something “very important." He was babbling some mess about family business they needed to discuss. As far as she was concerned, she didn’t care if he’d hit the lottery and wanted to give her millions, she wanted nothing to do with him. After the third call, she vehemently told him, “I will have you arrested for stalking if you don’t stop calling me.” He pleaded, “Sweetheart, just let me explain─”