When Love Comes Around (Love Conquers All) Page 6

  Kevin chuckled. When he stumbled upon her, she had been teetering on that fine line between being tipsy and smashed. The more she drank the frisker she became. By the time they reached her room, she was tearing at his shirt and then his pants. Again defending himself. “Man, Starr wasn’t drunk, just tipsy when I saw her down at the bar.”

  Losing his patience again, Nick snapped, “Tipsy, drunk, whatever! Dude, all I know is my wife is pissed at me and it’s your fault!”

  “My fault? How?” Kevin shouted, an incredulous scowl masking his handsome features.

  “Yes! All your damn fault!” It wasn’t even seven thirty in the morning yet and Nick had a headache. “Starr’s up there crying, talkin’ ‘bout there’s a man in her room. Summer’s yelling at me, to come down her to check things out because her friend did something stupid like bringing a man back to her room. I ought to punch you dead square in the face! I told you to stay away from her!”

  Although Nick was pissed off, relief rushed through him when Kevin opened the door at his persistent pounding. At least Starr hadn’t ended up with some skuzzy stranger she’d been rolling around with all night,

  Kevin’s jaw clenched. He didn’t care that Nick had just threaten to physically harm him. He could hold his own if they’d ended up scraping. What had him incensed was that Nick had no right to pass judgment on Starr. “Man, don’t call her stupid.”

  The flash of anger and snarling tone took Nick by surprise. He had never seen Kevin so protective over a woman. Maybe, just maybe his friend was interested. And not for just a one night stand.

  “Whoa, dude, didn’t mean to offend you.” Nick said as he held up his hands up in surrender.

  “Yeah…well, you did.” Kevin mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes.

  Staring at his buddy it became difficult to maintain a straight face. Oh snap! My man is sprung after one night! Daaayum!

  With that thought, Nick threw his head back as rumbling laughter began bubbling up from his gut. Releasing his clenched jaw, Kevin roared, “What’s so damn funny?”

  Still laughing, Nick teased, “You man! I mean, you spend one night with the girl and you’re sprung like a mug! Man oh man! That must’ve been some good lovin’. I’ve never seen a woman have your nose so wide open.”

  Nick was so preoccupied with ribbing his buddy he hadn’t paid attention to him stalking over to the dresser snatching a piece of paper from off the top of it. Nick’s laughter came to a halt as the paper was shoved in his face.

  Yanking the paper that was centimeters from his nose, glancing it over, his dark complexion ashen as he looked from the paper to Kevin. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into?”

  Sitting on the foot of the bed, Kevin hung his head and rubbed his hands over the smooth baldness. Finally, after a few seconds he looked up at Nick. Not knowing how to say it any other way, he just calming stated the truth. “Me and Starr got married.”

  “But how…why…I don’t understand.” Nick all but sputtered out confused.

  Shaking his head, Kevin admitted, “I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure it out. We both were pretty lit by the time we stumbled into that little wedding chapel.”

  “You actually don’t remember getting married?” Nick inquired, still perplexed by the whole situation.

  “Man, I remember us coming back here. We started going at it hot and heavy. Next thing I know she was out cold. So I went to sleep.” Taking a deep breath he continued, “When I woke this morning I thought I had dreamed everything until I found Starr curled up next to me sleeping. I didn’t just want to get up and roll out on her. So I took a shower to try and clear my head. You know, figure out what the hell was going on. When I came out of the bathroom, she was gone and that thing in your hand was on the floor.

  Shaking his head, Nick said, “That’s some deep stuff, Dawson.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.” Kevin agreed as he stared emotionless at the piece of paper. A wife…this can’t be happening to me.

  Chapter 10

  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  Two Weeks Later

  I…I…can do this. Yes, I can. Starr counseled herself as she picked up the phone and then put it down again for the fifth time.

  She had been home for two weeks and was practically in hiding since leaving Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Yeah right! As If! More like, what’s done in the dark, will come to light. Starr had a husband to prove it.

  Letting out a deep breath, she plopped down on her bed tucking her left foot beneath her. Staring at the cordless phone in her hand, she dialed the number again. She had no idea what she would say to him when he answered. She had been avoiding his calls all week. When Kevin showed up at Summer and Nick’s suite that dreadful morning, she nearly dropped dead. She started hyperventilating when he produced a marriage certificate. “I don’t want that!” She yelled shoving the document back into his hands. No one was surprised when she stormed out the door mumbling incoherently something about, “A seducing womanizing creep.”

  Embarrassment seeped from her at the memory of how she’d behaved. As angry as she was at him, he wasn’t solely to be blamed. She realized she had to take and accept accountability for the role she played in this mess of a marriage. If she hadn’t gone off by herself to the bar drinking like a lush, none of this would be taking place.

  Every time she thought about how it could’ve been another man, one that got his kicks out of torturing women, and not Kevin she had wandered off with, her blood ran cold. As the old folks say, “God watches over babies and fools.” That night she was a fool. By God’s grace she wasn’t in some morgue tagged a Jane Doe.

  The sexy male voice on the answering machine startled Starr from her musing. “Can’t get to the phone right now so drop me a line and I’ll holla at you later.” Beep.

  “Um…Um…Kevin this is Starr.”

  Before she could continue her shaky message, the call was picked up.

  “Hello, Starr?”

  “What are you doing? Screening your calls?” Starr questioned, irritation lacing her words. She hated when people let you begin to leave a message and then picked up the phone. Why didn’t the idiots just either answer the phone in the first place or just let you leave a message?

  “Well, yeah, something like that,” he answered truthfully. He’d been waiting for her to return his calls.

  “Thought I was one of your little girlfriends?” Starr accused, her voice no longer shaky, but dripping with sarcasm.

  Baby if you only knew the half of it. Over the last few months, a dozen or more past bed buddies were blowing up his home and cell phones. Some claimed to be calling only to say, “Hey, haven’t heard from you in awhile.” While others boldly inquired, “When can we hook up again?”

  None of the calls interested him. His mind was preoccupied with other things. Between putting in long hours at Dawson Investments and now trying to get Starr to talk to him, he had no desire to reconnect with any of his former lady friends.

  Every previous bed buddy graciously accepted the brush off with the exception of Trina. The girl had the tenacity of a bulldog. He tried giving her the brush off several weeks ago with the excuse of working long hours. Being the gentleman he was, he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her there was no hope of them ever hooking back up again. He’d thought if he ignored her, she would go away. That wasn’t the case. The calls kept coming.

  Each call Kevin deleted before she could get into her seductive purring. If he had succumbed and picked up the call, she would’ve start talking dirty working her voodoo. Before he could bat an eye, they’d be in bed rolling around, limbs tangled, and going at it like rabbits in heat.

  Tempting as she may be, the truth was, Kevin was downright bored with Trina. Their relationship had run its course. Sure, in the beginning everything was cool. They had agreed to a no commitment, no strings arrangement. They were friends with benefits and nothing more. This arrangement worked well for the firs
t two years of their on again, off again, three year arrangement. Sometime during the third year, Trina began hinting at a serious relationship, which Kevin always laughed away. “You know I don’t do serious.”

  Trina lacked ambition. In the three years he knew her, she remained an entry-level administrative assistant—aka glorified secretary—at a Center City law firm. For the life of him, he could not understand why she refused to take advantage of the firm’s tuition assistance program. On numerous occasions, her supervisor encouraged her to take courses towards a paralegal degree. He assured her there would be a position waiting for her once the course work was completed. When she shared this information with Kevin, he asked, “Why don’t you take a few classes this coming semester?”

  Instead of taking a golden opportunity, utilizing it, she snapped, “I don’t have time for college courses.”

  Trina’s only interests were looking good and spending other men’s money. Weekly hair, manicure and pedicure appointments were what she lived for. And whatever man she was dealing with at the time contributed to the “Trina Look Good Fund,” including Kevin.

  Kevin thought his ties to her were finally severed when she stepped off to date a professional athlete. Was he a basketball or football player? Who cares? All he cared was that she was out of his life, for good. This however, was short lived. Months later, she came crawling back singing the blues about how insufferable and arrogant the ball player had been.

  This hadn’t been the first time she’d gone off to be with another only to come crawling back. Usually when she did, Kevin would take her back. Not necessarily because he loved her or even deeply cared for her, but rather because she was passive and never really pressured him to make the relationship more than what it was. Even when she would start in with her I want a serious relationship, all he had to do was give her a look that said stop tripping. However, this go around was different. He had no intentions on recycling her as a lover. His Trina days were done. Finished.

  Several seconds ticked by without Kevin uttering a word. “Look, if you’re busy I can talk to you later.”

  Starr’s sharp tone snapped him out of his reverie.“No, I’m not busy.”

  “Good. Now are you going to answer my question?”

  “What question?”

  Starr sucked her teeth. “Did you think I was one of your girlfriends calling?” Starr wasn’t sure why, but she needed to know if there was anyone special in his life. After all, she had the right to know. She was his wife.

  Kevin let out a nervous chuckle. “Nah baby, don’t have any.”

  “Any what?” That’s right I’m playing dumb. I’m gonna make this playa sweat!

  “Girl, what you trying to do to me? Get me to confess to something?” Kevin chuckled. “If you are, then today is not your lucky day because I don’t have a girlfriend. Haven’t had one in a minute.”

  He heard the distinct sound of sucking teeth again as she mumbled, “Yeah, right. Probably have three in the closet and another two under the bed.”

  “What was that? I didn’t hear you.” Kevin couldn’t contain the amusement his voice held. He heard every word she mumbled. I can’t believe she’s jealous. It tickled him that she was jealous of a woman who didn’t exist.

  “Nothing. Nothing at all.” She didn’t call him to play word games over the phone. Getting to the point, she asked, “What’s up Kevin?”

  Laying aside his playful bantering, he’s tone became serious. “I think we need to sit down and talk.”

  Starr fell on her back, rolled over and buried her face into a pillow on her bed. That voice! It did strange things to her. Like make the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention and sent shivers up and down her spine. She liked it better when he wasn’t so serious. At least when he was playful she could come back at him with a quick, witty jab. But when he spoke like he was doing right now, his soft words caressing every inch of her, her brain turned to mush. Stifling a moan, she unintelligently garbled, “We’re talking now.”

  “Not good enough, Starr.”

  He was right. They hadn’t even scratched the surface as to what needed discussing. From the firmness in his tone, a telephone conversation wouldn’t do. He was demanding a face to face.

  “Okay. You’re right. Do you want to meet somewhere so we can do this thing? I’ve made this mess, now I’ve got to clean it up. No use in avoiding the inevitable, she chastised herself as she grounded her eye with the heel of her fist.

  “Name the place and time, I’ll be there.” Not wanting to put any unnecessary pressure on her, he gave her control of the location and when they would meet. He would play by her rules if it meant sorting out their future.

  Wanting to make this as painless as possible, she decided upon the most logical place, her home. If anything went down she didn’t like or wasn’t comfortable with, she could always ask him to leave.

  “You could come over here.” She whispered holding her breath waiting for his response. Even though he told her she could pick the location, what if he didn’t want it to be her home? After all, he might feel like he’s at a disadvantage. So what if he does…tough.

  “Cool. When?” The last place he thought she would agree to meet would be her home. This, however, pleased him. He would take this opportunity to observe how she was on home turf. He wanted to see her in her element. Most people tend to be their authentic selves in a comfortable environment. With what they were about to deal with they both needed to lay their cards on the table and be completely honest with one another. Kevin was ready to be honest. He wondered if Starr was ready to do the same.

  “How about Thursday around seven?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “Great. I’ll see you then.”

  Immediately after ending the call, Starr called an emergency gathering with her posse. What was she thinking? Thursday was the day after tomorrow!

  Chapter 11

  On cue, the posse fell in one by one like dominos as they entered Starr’s home. After exchanging greetings and pleasantries, Karen, Ava, and Summer took a seat at the small table in the kitchen.

  “Anybody want some tea?” Starr offered.

  “Nope. Come on, sit down and tell us what’s going on.” Karen urged, only how a big sister could as she nodded to the empty chair at the table.

  Taking a seat, she felt three pairs of eyes boring into her with interest. They each looked as if they were waiting to hear some top-secret information.

  Nervousness made her giggle. “Y’all stop looking at me like that. I just need to run something by you guys and didn’t feel like having to repeat myself three times.”

  No one mumbled a word. They continued silently gazing waiting for her to get down to the issue at hand. Whatever that might be.

  Taking another sweeping glance, their facial expressions screamed, “Come on already and spit it out!” Starr sometimes had a flair for being on the dramatic side.

  Reading their body language she rushed out, “I have a date with Kevin on Thursday.”

  Back on speaking terms, after coming to a mutual understanding that their friendship wasn’t worth losing over words spoken out of misunderstanding and frustration, Ava was the first to comment.

  “A date?”

  “Uh-uh. Well, not really a date,” she mumbled, checking under her fingernails for dirt that didn’t exist.

  “Baby sis, is it a date or not?”

  Running her fingers through her freshly trimmed hair, she let out a sigh. “We’re getting together to talk about this whole sham of a marriage.”

  “Do you think he wants to get it annulled?” Summer questioned as she got up going to the sink filling the teakettle with water. This was going to be a long night. Cups of nice steaming tea were in order.

  “Hey, I thought you didn’t want tea, Miss Thing.”

  Though Starr had been talking to Summer, it was Karen who teased, “It’s Mrs. Thing to you. Stop stalling and answer the question, Mrs. Dawson.”

&n
bsp; Turning to Ava with a pitiful look, she pleaded, “Don’t let these heifers gang up on me.”

  Ava laughed. “You might as well include me in the number. I’m heifer number three. Now answer the question.”

  She, too, wondered if that’s what Kevin had in mind, an annulment. Why else was he blowing up her phone every day, leaving messages saying they needed to talk? Not realizing how sad she sounded, she truthfully admitted, “I think that’s what he wants to talk about. I just don’t see him as the marrying type anyway.”

  Trying to invite some optimism into the atmosphere, Ava suggested, “Maybe that’s not it at all. You never know, he just might surprise you.”

  “Then what else could it be? Y’all know I love Kevin. He’s Nick’s best friend and godfather to my children. But him, married…I have to agree with you Starr, I don’t think so.” Sucking her teeth, she went further to say, “Shoot, we all know that man changes women quicker than he changes his drawers.”

  Karen felt bad for her sister. She didn’t miss how she cringed from Summer’s blunt, yet truthful assessment of Kevin. But she had never lied to her, and she wasn’t about to now, even if it meant hurting her feelings. “I don’t know him that well, but from what you guys say about him it doesn’t seem like he’s ready to settle down. Men like him rarely, if ever, settle down with one woman.”

  With regret, even Ava had to cosign on what the others were saying. Everything that was said was the cold truth.

  Kevin had had a long chain of women he dealt with over the years throughout the tri-state area. Listening to her sister and best friends comment on his womanizing ways, Starr felt like an idiot. She’d become another link in his chain. Another woman he would carelessly discard.

  “Starr? Starr?” Karen gently called.

  “Huh?”

  “You okay, baby sis?”

  “I’m all right. I was just thinking about something.”

  “About?” Ava asked as she got up taking mugs from the cabinet filling them with water from the whistling teakettle.