Page 85 of Meant to Be

“My mother’s going to be pissed as hell at you for causing us to miss her dinner tonight,” I growled, moving closer.

“You stay your ass right there!” she chided. “Mrs. Townsend will not blame me for being the scallywag that kept her son from visiting.”

Her cautioning fell on deaf ears as I moved closer, wrapping my arms around her anyway. “Scallywag?” I repeated, nipping at her earlobe.

“You heard me.” She slapped my hands but that didn’t stop me from planting a kiss on her neck.

“Do you know what I want to do to you right now?”

She turned to face me, now wearing a black bra and panty lace set. The dark fabric against the brownness of her skin had my vision blurring for a second.

“Stop,” she yelped, swatting my hands again. “I’m serious, Joshua.”

I growled, taking a step back.

Kayla went over to the chair that sat across my bedroom where her dress for the evening was laid out. At least, she was going to wear the shimmery dark blue dress I’d picked out for her.

“I still can’t believe you went into my closet and picked this for me to wear tonight.”

I grinned as I watched her step into the dress, shaking her hips a little to help pull the dress up. I’d finally moved all of her clothing in from the guest room and even made room in my walk-in closet for her dresses and pants suits. As soon as I saw that dress hanging in the closet, I knew I wanted to see her in it as soon as possible. Mother’s dinner was the perfect event for such an occasion.

“It’ll be even better the moment it’s pooled on my bedroom floor.”

Her eyes lifted to mine, a smile apparent in them. “Can you help me with this?” She turned, exposing her back to me.

I let my eyes trail down her naked back but I frowned at the thought of helping with the zipper, thereby obstructing my view.

“If I must.” Begrudgingly, I sauntered closer and slowly raised the zipper, securing the dress to her body. I kissed the nape of her neck and inhaled deeply to ingest the scent of coconut and lavender that was in her hair.

“The sooner we get this over with the sooner I can have that dress on my floor. Let’s go,” I growled, taking her by the hand.

Kayla sucked her teeth. “Such impatience. How do I look?”

“Good enough to eat,” I stated without turning back to look at her. If I did, we weren’t going to be leaving the house. “Which I plan on doing, over and over again once we return home,” I finished saying as I held the door open for her.

Another grin was cast on her pink tinted lips and I had to remind myself of how much I loved my mother.

It took approximately ten minutes to arrive at Townsend Manor. While my parents’ home wasn’t in the same community as my brothers and I, we were close enough that we could reach their place in no time.

“God, I forgot how big this place is.”

Kayla’s voice pulled at my insides. I shut off the car in the semi-round driveway and turned to face her. I viewed her profile as she stared up at the house, taking in its expansiveness.

“It’s just a house, Kay.”

“Pssh.” She looked at me as if I were crazy.

To others, it wastheTownsend Manor. Many a business deal, gala, and high society event had been hosted at this place.

“You spent plenty of time here when we were teens,” I reminded her. “You’re no stranger around here.” I opened the car door and exited, quickly moving around to hold the door open for her. I was satisfied when she took my hand.

As we got to the door, it opened before I was able to ring the bell.

“Joshua,” my mother greeted, her eyes glinting with pride.

“Hello, Mother.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek, wrapping my arms around her waist for a hug. She clung on, as usual, which I always allowed.

“I missed you.”