Sizzling Seduction Read online

  Courtney’s eyes widened when she looked at Carla, and Aisha didn’t blame her. The smal woman looked like she could kick butts and take names al day long.

  “I don’t want to fight anyone….” Courtney started looking around the table and backing away.

  “Then you’d best leave,” Celia said in the same low, hard and angry voice she’d been using since Sophie and Courtney arrived. “Anybody who has been told to leave my house had better leave if they don’t want to be hurt.”

  This time Sophie started backing up, too.

  “You can’t ride with me, Sophie. I’m through with you fil ing my head up with nonsense. I had a good thing going in Trenton and ruined it with this bul .” Courtney glared at Aisha and Patrick before leaving. “He ain’t hardly worth al this drama anyway.” Courtney made a production of stomping out of the dining room and soon they heard the front door slam.

  Sophie tried to move away from Celia, but Celia had latched onto her arm.

  “James, can you take me home now?”

  “I didn’t bring you here, Sophie. And I told you if you couldn’t come here and act civil then you shouldn’t have come. You came here knowing you were going to be starting this mess.” James made motions as if he were washing his hands of his sister.

  “Come with me, Sophie. Let me talk to you for a minute.”

  Celia started walking off and pul ing Sophie along with her.

  “Not if you’re going to hit me again,” Sophie screeched and tried to drag her feet. “James, please! Your wife has obviously lost her mind. Patrick! Lawrence! Jason! Joel!

  Please.”

  Nobody made a move to help the woman as Celia dragged her away.

  “Whew! Now that was some drama! And y’al Hightowers think our family has drama. I’l tel you, I get my fil of drama when I come over here. You watch, new girl…

  whatever you name is…Mark my words—they have some drama up in this piece every time Sophie brings her old crusty hateful behind around.”

  “Carla, hush!” Gerald seemed a little embarrassed by his wife’s running mouth.

  “What? Ain’t no shame in my game. That ain’t even how I rol . And as much drama as they got going, it ought not be no shame in they game, either.”

  Patrick cleared his throat. “I apologize for any drama brought on by my ex-wife. I don’t know what Aunt Sophie has been fil ing her head with, but she needs to stop it.”

  “And what is this about Aunt Sophie being scared that Mama is going to hit her? Mama wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Jason piped in.

  “Mama used to be in a gang, so she might just give Sophie something to be afraid of after al these years,”

  Lawrence offered. “And I’m going on record now, letting y’al know that if Mama does bring it to Sophie, I. Am. Not.

  Arresting. My. Mama!”

  “I’m not arresting Mama, either,” Jason added.

  “Nobody’s arresting my wife!” James looked at them al so that they were al clear. “It’l be fine. Just eat your food and change the subject.”

  Dil on glanced up at Aisha and she shrugged at him.

  She had been an only child and so was her son. Neither one of them had had any experience with this kind of large-family dynamics. But she certainly found it entertaining.

  “A house, Sophie? You have treated me like crap al these years because you didn’t want me in this house? Do you real y want to know what you can do with this house?”

  Celia couldn’t believe her sister-in-law and former friend.

  Sophie sat down on the bed. Tired and a little bit worn.

  “It wasn’t just the house…It was more than the house.”

  She had made her sister-in-law come upstairs with her to one of the boys’ old bedrooms that she had turned into a guest bedroom and sewing room. If they were going to have it out once and for al , she didn’t want any interruptions this time.

  “What was it then?” She sat down on the sewing bench in front of the bed, waiting for Sophie’s answer and feeling a little tired herself.

  Sophie paused and for a minute it seemed as if she wasn’t going to say anything. Final y, she sighed, opened her mouth and closed it again.

  “Al of the sudden you have nothing to say? Al these years you wouldn’t shut up and now you’re silent?”

  Sophie glared at her. “First it was my mother thinking you weren’t good enough and she convinced me that you had used me to nab my brother. And for years I held on to that, even after Mom died. And then you moved into this house and it became about the house and more. It was about you being too happy, and me being miserable. It was about you having a wonderful, handsome family and me having nothing. It was about al of that. And now, now I don’t know what it is about.”

  “Do you hate me?” Celia folded her arms across her chest and waited for the answer.

  “I don’t hate you. But I’m sure you hate me after al this…

  Al these years…”

  “I never hated you, Sophie. I always thought that, one day, we would even be friends again. I thought, ‘Once she sees how happy James is, how happy the boys are, how fine they grew up…’ I’ve wasted al these years, al owed you to basical y wreak havoc in my life because I wanted you to like me again. I wanted you to see me as worthy of your brother’s love.” A tear fel from her eye as she al owed herself to final y mourn the friendship she had lost with Sophie.

  Celia wiped the tear away angrily. Too much had happened, too much hurt had been down for her to cry.

  Sophie didn’t deserve her tears now. She straightened herself up and composed herself. Sophie’s bringing Courtney back into Patrick’s life for a house was the last straw.

  “Courtney was a vile, selfish woman who nearly broke my son’s heart. He’s luckily found a woman who al ows him to experience joy again. She’s a nice woman, a schoolteacher—”

  “That woman has a child. How could you want him to step into a ready-made family? He deserves better than that.” Sophie gave a bitter laugh and that was when Celia knew there was no hope for the woman.

  If she couldn’t see that beautiful little boy as a benefit, as an added bonus to any relationship, then she was just hopeless.

  “He deserves a woman who loves him enough not to cheat on him. He deserves love. And he’s found it. If I hear that you have been up to your tricks trying to break them up the way you did with Jason and Joel and Lawrence…I wil beat your ass.” Celia stood there and let her words sink in.

  “I’m going to cal you a cab. I don’t know what happened to you. What happened to my friend and mentor? I don’t know why you became so bitter and miserable. But I can’t al ow you to hurt me or the ones I love—”

  “I would never hurt any of your children. I love them. They are a part of my brother and a part of you…” Sophie’s voice trailed off. “I poured every ounce of love I had into my nephews. You have to know that, Celia.”

  “Yes, I know that, Sophie. I know you love my sons. And I know that you love your brother. But you have to learn to love people without conditions, even when they love people you don’t.” Celia got up from the bench and walked toward the door. “I hope one day you realize that we al love you.

  You were my friend, Sophie.”

  Celia walked out of the room feeling several pounds lighter, as if a weight had been lifted off her chest. She no longer held out hope that she and her sister-in-law would regain their closeness. But she also no longer carried the burden of their failed friendship. That burden was Sophie’s now.

  Sophie rode home in the cab feeling as if the weight of the world had been placed on her shoulders. Nothing had gone as planned and that insipid Courtney had caused her to lose everything.

  She had truly lost everything—everything and everyone that ever real y mattered to her. She doubted that Patrick would have any time for her anymore. He hadn’t even told her about his new love interest. A schoolteacher, just like Celia. It was funny that al four boys had found women who, each in her own way, sha
red similarities with Celia. Her Celia…

  What would Celia have said if Sophie had told her the truth? That al those years ago, she had been jealous because Celia chose James over their friendship. She could never have acted on what she felt for Celia, not back then, and certainly not now…She hadn’t lied when she said that she didn’t hate Celia.

  She had never hated Celia.

  She probably never would.

  Celia did know that Sophie could no longer be Celia’s friend. If Sophie had tried to continue to be Celia’s friend after she picked her brother over their friendship, she would have been even more miserable than she had been al these years. She knew that with certainty.

  She had made peace with the Lord many years ago when she decided that she wouldn’t act on her desires. But she had never made peace with herself. And for that reason, happiness was never destined to be hers.

  Chapter 12

  Patrick couldn’t believe that he had finaly found the one.

  He certainly never knew or believed that a woman like Aisha Mil er could have possibly existed. Just being around her soothed al the cold and hardened parts of his life. And he was so in love with her son that he couldn’t wait until the day when he could make it official and become a real father to the young boy.

  The only problem was that Patrick wasn’t sure if Aisha felt the same way he did. He was wil ing to lay it al on the line and stick around to find out, though. After months of getting to know her and her son, he had fal en madly in love with both mother and child.

  He had a special lineup planned for her Valentine’s Day weekend that he hoped she would enjoy. She was spending the weekend at his place. The first night he would wow her by preparing a fancy dinner, and on Saturday night

  —Valentine’s Day—he was going to take her out for dinner and dancing at a fancy nuevo soul supper club. It was going to be a group outing with his brothers and their wives.

  Luckily for him, he prepared meals al the time at the fire station. But this meal was special. It was his first weekend off in a while and he wanted to make it extraordinary for Aisha. She had been holding up rather wel , letting Dil on go with his father for the weekends. And Patrick knew it was extremely difficult when he had to work or when she didn’t have the book club to keep her busy. But she kept an upbeat attitude and she had at least stopped talking about taking Dil on and moving away.

  “It smel s wonderful in here.” Aisha sniffed the air and pouted. “If I weren’t about to enjoy this wonderful meal, I would be jealous of you in here cooking like this.”

  “Don’t be jealous, love. As Dil on says, you make the best baked chicken and rice in the world.” He chuckled when he noticed her eyes narrow. “Here, taste this.” He held the wooden spoon, fil ed with sauce from his chicken Marsala, to her lips and she sipped.

  “Mmm…You are awesome. That was so-oo good. I’m starving. Feed me. Feed me.”

  “Patience, love, patience.”

  “You need any help? I can do something or make something. I can do the salad.”

  “Okay…the veggies and stuff are in the crisper and—”

  “Cool! I’ve been dying to try this thing I saw Pat and Gina do with a salad on ‘Down Home with the Neelys’—”

  “You know what? This is my treat for you and we can’t have you in here working when it’s supposed to be my treat to you now, can we? How about you go and pick out some music instead?”

  She stopped by the refrigerator door and frowned. “But I want to help you.”

  “I know, and you can help by relaxing, turning on some music, having a glass of wine and letting me spoil you this evening.”

  “Mmm-hmm…How about if I just made a plain old boring salad and didn’t try to create anything I’d seen on TV?

  Would you want me to help then?”

  “If that’s possible for you to do. If you can take out and use only the ingredients I have set aside for the salad, then yes, I’d love for you to help me.”

  “Fine, I’l make your old boring salad.”

  “Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, croutons and Italian dressing. It’s al in the fridge.”

  “Mmm-hmm…” She opened the fridge and took out the ingredients. She washed them and sliced and diced them into a perfect salad.

  “Now wasn’t that easy?” He teased.

  “Too, easy…Hey how about I boil up some eg—”

  “Nah, that’s fine.”

  She poked out her lips and scrunched up her eyes for a minute before brightening. “That bottle dressing is so pedestrian. If you have some EVOO and some mustard and some vinegar, either red wine vinegar or apple cider, although I’m sure I could improvise and use regular vinegar.

  I don’t see why not.” She got up and started looking through the cabinets.

  “Um…EVOO? What’s that? And more important, what’re you doing?”

  “I’m going to make a wonderful homemade salad dressing for your regular, plain, boring salad. EVOO is what Rachael Ray cal s extra virgin olive oil. Cute, huh?”

  “Yeah, cute, but unfortunately, we don’t have time for a homemade dressing today. Dinner is ready and I can’t wait for you to taste it. So just have a seat and I wil serve you, my sweet.”

  “Oooo…I like that. Okay, but next time, I’m cooking for you. I’ve got a bunch of new recipes I want to try out.”

  “And I can’t wait to try them. But tonight, it’s al about me serving you. So go sit down.” He gave her a gentle pat on the behind and she giggled.

  Once the food was served and they were both seated, he poured her a glass of sauvignon blanc and then poured himself a glass. He held up his glass for a toast and she fol owed.

  “To us.”

  “To us,” she repeated.

  “So, tel me, love, what is it about trying new things in the kitchen that moves you so much? You’re a good cook.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I make the best baked chicken and rice…

  Boring…”

  “Have you thought of maybe not improvising with the new recipes until you’ve been cooking them for a while first? Or maybe you can improvise with the so-cal ed boring dishes you already make wel …throw a different seasoning on the baked chicken, you know?”

  She shot him a look and twisted up her lips. “I suppose.”

  She took a bite of her food. “This is real y good. The chicken is so tender and juicy. And the sauce…Mmm…

  This sauce is to die for. I think I official y can’t stand you now. Where did you learn to cook like this?”

  “The firehouse. We are each responsible for meals on different days and where most of the guys would have their wives make something and bring it in, as a single guy, I had to prepare my own dishes. And ordering out for that bunch would have burned a hole in my pocket after a while.”

  She nodded and then she got a devilish look on her face. “So have you had any more scantily clad women breaking into your home lately? Whatever happened to Crazy Courtney? We haven’t heard from her in a while.”

  “Thank goodness! I went to visit Aunt Sophie the other day and she said that Courtney hightailed it back to Trenton and is no longer talking to her.”

  “How’s your aunt?”

  “She’s fine. She was surprised to see that I stil stopped by to see her. I think my brother, Jason, my dad and I are the only ones who do. But as crazy as she is, she is stil my aunt. She’s always tried to look out for me. Plus, she knows better than to try and do anything to mess up my relationship with you. I think Aunt Sophie has final y calmed down.”

  “I don’t know if I’d count her out yet. From what I heard from Minerva and Samantha at the book club, Aunt Sophie is a mess. She gave Penny and Samantha hel . And she tried to give Minerva hel , too.”

  Patrick laughed. “Minerva is a tough cookie. She has to be to put up with Lawrence.”

  “Your brother is a big ol’ softie, just like you.”

  “Don’t let him hear you say that. He has a reputation to uphold. And so
do I. I’m gruff and grumpy Patrick.”

  “With a smile like that? I don’t think so. And I know Cee Cee, Dil on, Joel Jr. and Jason Jr. would disagree. No, let’s face it, you’re a big ol’ teddy bear.”

  He winced before chuckling. “Speaking of my partner in crime, how’s Dil on adjusting to his weekend visits with his dad? How are you adjusting?”

  “I think we’re both adjusting as wel as we can. I’l tel you what made me feel a little better about it is today before he came for Dil on, I was having a hard time getting Dil on to get ready. And Dil on said his dad hardly spent time with him anyway. He spent most of his time with Grandmother and Grandfather.”

  Disgusted, he snapped, “So he’s pawning Dil on off on his parents?”

  “No, my parents! Can you believe that? My mother can’t cal me or come see her grandson at my house because her husband, my father, forbids it. But she can babysit her grandson during the weekend for her trifling, abusive, lowlife ex-son-in-law. Does that make any sense to you?”

  Patrick had to lean back and scratch his head on that one. He couldn’t imagine anyone being able to keep his mother away from her grandbabies. Also, the thought of Bil taking Dil on away from his loving mother over the weekends only to leave him in someone else’s care both baffled and angered Patrick. He couldn’t understand it. If he were lucky enough to have a son like Dil on one day, he’d gladly spend every moment he could with the kid.

  “The man is an idiot. And, sorry to say it, but your parents are idiots, too.”

  But their loss is my gain, because I don’t ever intend to let you go.

  “Yes. I know. The thing is, even though I’m glad my mom is getting to spend time with Dil on, and I know she real y wants to, she’s too afraid of my dad to just come to my house and see her grandson. I don’t want Dil on picking up any bad habits from them, either. My dad can be real y harsh and some of the things he says to my mom…The way he speaks to her…his tone…” She shuddered.

  “Dil on wil know better, Aisha. We’l teach him better.”

  “Dil on wil know better, Aisha. We’l teach him better.”