“Trina. What are you doing here?” He gripped the hands that reached for his neck and she pouted. Lips he’d once thought were sexy now looked over glossed and plumped up, the lipstick smeared.
“I missed you, Drew. You said you’d call and you haven’t.”
“I never said I would. You misheard me.” That was one date too many if she had that idea. He’d never ever gotten serious with any of the women he’d dated and made it very clear from the outset. He wasn’t after forever. Not with anyone but April.
She huffed and pulled her hands away, quickly winding them around his neck before he could stop her. “No, baby. You promised to call me. Remember that night we snuck back to my place and got all cozy? I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you, promise. How about we revisit and try that evening again? You know you want to.”
She looked in the window and brightened when she saw the family seated at the table looking her way. Drew didn’t have time to stop her before she knocked on the glass and waved. “Hello everyone. Drew, take me in so I can say hello. Your father is the most adorable thing. I just want to sit and listen to him talk all night.” A hysterical giggle rose in her throat.
“No. I’m sorry, Trina but I’m busy. I’d like you to leave.”
She tilted her head and stared at him, shocked at his words. “No. No, I’m not leaving. I missed you, Drew baby. Didn’t you hear me? It’s been too long since we got together and you know, got cuddly. But”—she held up her hand—“I can share you with your family if that’s how it has to be. After dinner we can sneak off on our own if you like.”
“Trina, listen to me. We are not sneaking off anywhere together. There is no us, never was.”
She huffed out a big sigh and the hint of whiskey hung on the air between them. He should have noticed the heightened excitement and the glaze in her eyes earlier. He’d have to get her home. She was in no fit state to drive. How she’d made it here without causing an accident surprised him. “Let me take you home. Hand over your keys please?”
Trina gave him a saucy wink and his stomach lurched. “You wanna take them from me, baby?”
He ducked into the house and grabbed his car keys. “Dad, April, I’ll be back shortly. Sorry about this. Explain when I get back.” He raced out without acknowledging the pain in April’s eyes.
He took the keys from Trina and pocketed them. “We’ll go in my car.” He helped her down the stairs to his car and put her inside, then buckled up the seatbelt for her. If he was lucky, he’d get there and back before April had after dinner coffee.
It seemed that luck wasn’t on his side. When he got home it was to his father and Gigi cleaning up the dishes. April and the children were nowhere in sight. “Damn. She’s gone.”
“Sorry, son. She didn’t seem inclined to stay after that little display of romance. Can’t say I blame her.”
Drew threw his keys on the table. “It wasn’t what it looked like.”
Atticus stood with hands on hips. “Why don’t you tell me what it was then, Drew. From where I sat, it looked like you had a woman offering herself to you on a plate because last time she fell asleep when you were together aiming to get all cozy. Seemed like she thought you had something to make up for and from where I was sitting, you didn’t seem to be trying to discourage her all that much.”
“I know it might have sounded bad, but there wasn’t anything between us. A casual affair is not a serious relationship. She knew that when we started dating.”
“Well, it would seem that she forgot that little stipulation.” Atticus turned away, shaking his head. “April is coming down from a terrible episode in her life and doesn’t need this kind of crap dropped in her lap. Not after you’ve apparently professed your love for her. What is the poor girl supposed to think, Drew?”
“I’ve told her the truth, okay? I haven’t been with anyone for months no matter what Trina says.”
“Perhaps you should be telling that to April, not me. I don’t like your chances of fixing it this time. Don’t like them at all.”
Chapter 14
April hugged her pillow, tears wetting her cheeks. For a brief moment she’d had a thread of hope. Stupid when she thought about it. Her initial instinct had been right. They needed to keep their relationship on a friendly professional basis and leave it at that. The love they shared as teens was long gone and too much water had passed under the bridge for them to pick up where they’d left off.
Footsteps sounded on the front porch. She tensed. A tap sounded on her bedroom window and someone called her name in a loud whisper. “April. April, please, let me in. I need to talk to you, to explain.”
Her heart pounded and she remained silent, her fist in her mouth to stop from crying out.
“April, please.”
She turned her face into the pillow so he couldn’t hear the sobs she couldn’t hold back. Eventually, the footsteps receded and she was left to cry in peace. How could she have been so stupid? Did she want to be another notch on his belt? Not a hope in hell!
Drew was a grown man with needs, she understood that. He’d told her he wasn’t a blushing virgin while she was away and she believed him. What she hadn’t expected was to have his conquests rock up at the door ready for another round the same day she’d admitted how much he still meant to her.
April had
