Page 7 of Imperfections Seduced
I have a little more life experience now, and if I don’t like something, I’m free to say I don’t like that and I don’t want it, without feeling as if I’m going to offend or make anyone angry. And the thing about freedom and independence is, sometimes when you get it, it’s not all you thought it would be. Sometimes you just want someone to hold you and take care of you and make the hard decisions for you.
I’m the last to finish eating breakfast, and I’m stuffed. Sasha is still sitting on my lap. Sophie comes in to clear the table. As soon as she sees me, she comes over and gives me a hug, and kisses me on the cheek. Sophie has worked for my family since I was four years old. She treated me like Iwas one of her kids. She would let me help her cook when I was a little girl, and I always enjoyed spending time with her. She was our housekeeper-slash-nanny.
“Oh, my sweet girl, it’s so nice to see your face. I missed you!”
“And I missed you too, Sophie. No one could make a strawberry cheesecake like you. I missed your cooking.”
“Sweetie, as long as you promise to stay in New York, I’ll make you a hundred cheesecakes.”
She looks down at Sasha, drinking her orange juice in my lap, and kisses her on the forehead. “I said good morning to this little one already, but I can’t get enough of her. She is so precious.”
We smile at each other as she starts to clear the table. “Let me help you clean up.”
She waves her hand at me.
“No, it’s your first day home; besides, now that you live here, you’ll have plenty of time to help me, if you want.”
Sophie is the best. She sent me a cheesecake every week the first month I left home. I give Sasha a kiss on her cheek and hand her back to my brother, who takes her upstairs to get cleaned up. He’s spending the morning with her before he goes to work. The doorbell rings, and my mother starts to get up.
“Don’t get up. I’ll get it, Mom.” I walk to the door and ask, “Who is it?” I hear an unmistakable Southern drawl, making me smile from ear to ear.
“Honey, do you really have to ask?”
Barely containing the excitement inside of me, I fling the door open to see Ava Alexander and Nick. Ava is Nick’s cousin and one of my best girlfriends. We used to have so much fun together in the summer and holidays; she would come up from Nashville every year. I throw my hands up in the air over my head and let out a squeal andshe does the same . “What are you doing here?” I hustle her in the house and we throw our arms around each other like we haven’t seen each other in years, bouncing up and down. The last time we saw each other was the last time I came to visit my family.
We have the kind of friendship where even if we don’t see each other for ten years, I can pick up the phone at any time, day or night, and she will answer and we just pick up right where we left off.
“Girl, wild dragons couldn’t keep me away from welcoming you home!”
In my best imitation of a Southern accent—which isn’t very good—I say, “I sure am happy that you came, dragons and all.” But there was only one dragon, and he was standing behind her looking at us like we’ve lost our minds.
“How long are the two of you going to stay out here jumping up and down? Even though I do like what I see. Very much.”
I stop bouncing and glare at him. Ava turns and gives him an “ew” face. He keeps looking at me with amusement in his eyes, but his face is serious. It reminds me of when we were teenagers, and I thought he was the cutest boy I had ever seen. God, those eyes could be like gray steel if he was angry, but oh God, they could mesmerize you like a clear blue ocean on a sandy white beach, too. And more than anything, I wanted to strip down and swim in them. I had hopes that one day he would see me as more than Chris’s little sister, but I guess that ship has sailed.
He lifts his hand and gently brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. I blink and look down so he can’t see what’s in my eyes. The feeling of his skin against mine sends a shiver across my body. I feel like I’m breathing through straws.
I step back, and his hand comes down. I throw an armback around Ava and turn her toward the kitchen. “Come on, everyone’s inside.”
She looks at me strangely, almost tripping over her feet while turning back to look at Nick. “What’s going on with the two of you?” she whispers.
“Nothing, apparently. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“Now, you know I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Oh, believe me, I know.”
I walk into the dining room as Chris is standing up. Hmm… I don’t see Kate, but Mom and Dad are still there. “Look who’s here!”
Ava puts on her biggest and brightest smile, the one that won her Miss Teen Nashville, and the sweetest Southern accent you’ve ever heard. Between that and the smoking hot body , paired with long black hair, dark blue eyes, and a Shirley Temple dimple in her left cheek, she is every man’s wet dream—unless he’s gay; her charms aren’t that good.
“Morning, everyone, sure is nice to see y’all again. Mr. and Mrs. Reed, it’s been quite some time since I’ve been here in your lovely home.”
She gives my mother and father a kiss on their cheeks.
“It’s nice to see you too, Ava, we haven’t seen you in ages. What have you been up to, and how is your mother?”
“My mother is doing fine, Mrs. Reed. As a matter of fact, she’s doing so well she’s thinking about buying another house. Something to keep her busy when my father’s away on business.”
