Chapter Eleven
K ERRIE
“Hal, where are you?” I practically yelled into the phone receiver. “Sophie and I need to leave for the concert. You said you’d be able to watch the younger two tonight.”
Christ. I should’ve made other arrangements. He never followed through with anything.
Sophie stared at me, her eyes darting to the clock again. We still had plenty of time, but we needed to get checked into the hotel, then walk over to the United Center.
“That’s tonight? Crap, I forgot.” I heard the clink of silverware hitting a plate. “I stopped to get dinner.”
An exasperated sigh escaped my lips. “Well, if you’d like, I can call your parents and ask if I can drop the kids off with them.”
“No. I...I’ll get home. I’m getting the bill now. I’ll be there in fifteen,” he said.
Was he afraid I would blurt out details of our divorce to his parents?
“Mom?” Sophie said.
“He’s on his way. Fifteen minutes, tops. If he’s not here by then, I’ll get ahold of Grandma and Grandpa.”
“I swear, he’s such a jerk. He’s probably eating dinner with his new girlfriend.”
“Who’s got a new girlfriend?” Tommy asked, hopping over to us with his hat pulled down over his eyes. He nearly collided with the kitchen counter.
“Hey, let’s take the hat off before you get hurt. And no one has a girlfriend,” I said.
Sophie shrugged, then took a small mirror from her crossover purse. She reapplied lip gloss, smacking her lips together. She wore a black t-shirt with a large green seven in the middle, which according to her was part of the band’s logo. It was a K-pop group she’d come across two years ago, and had since become obsessed with. Not that I blamed her. The music was pretty good, and the band members were admittedly adorable.
I’d spent the last week watching videos of them with Sophie to prepare for the concert. I even learned their fan-chant. The things I did for my kids, I tell you.
“I can’t believe we’re actually going.” Sophie smiled. “I’m going to take so many pictures and videos. Oh, and Mya said they got the room next to ours, so maybe we can all hang out after the show.”
“I doubt you’re going to have a voice left after the concert.” I laughed.
“Does my makeup look okay?” She peered over at me, her dark hair hung straight to the middle of her back, her brown eyes sparkling and big beneath the glittering green shades of eye shadow she used to coordinate with the group’s color.
“Yes, it looks perfect!”
Soon, Hal came barging into the house. “I’m home. Sorry about that.”
“Since you forgot it was my birthday, can you at least give me some spending money to get a t-shirt while I’m at the show?’ Sophie held out her hand, eyes narrowed.
Dang. I needed to take a page out of the Sophie Holloway book of nasty expressions. The girl had it down pat. Too bad I wasn’t more assertive like her, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this predicament.
“Sure. Be good and have fun tonight.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out some cash. He then gave her a quick hug.
“Daddy, you’re home tonight.” Tommy latched onto his leg. “Let’s play Legos.”
“Yeah, let’s play Legos.” Nella joined him, clinging to his other leg.
I smiled. Finally, he could play Dad for one night. He’d be the one to stop all the fights, figure out food, and make sure they got to bed.
“Be good, guys, see you tomorrow.”
Sophie and I hurried out the door, our overnight bags already loaded into the van. It took us a while to get across town. The traffic closer to the arena was already backed up, even though the show didn’t start for a couple of hours yet.
I found a spot to park in the hotel lot, then we went inside to get our room situated.
“Mya said they’re already here.” Sophie peered at her phone. “They’re in room 127. I wonder if the adjoining door between our rooms opens.”
I snickered. “I guess we’ll find out.”
It’d been a long time since I’d stayed in a hotel. It’d be nice to be able to sleep in and to have breakfast prepared for me. And for once, someone else could fold the towels and make the bed.
When we got to the room, I immediately dropped my bag on the floor and threw myself back on one of the two queen beds, which were covered in matching blue, red, and gold comforters. A large screen TV hung on the wall while a small couch sat in front of the window overlooking the city. I hopped up and went to check out the large bathroom.
“I love this tub and shower. It has jets on the tub.” Maybe after a long night of standing up and screaming, I could come back and bask in the Jacuzzi. Order some wine from room service... That’d be the life.
A knock sounded on the door, and then squeeing commenced.
I came out to find Mya hugging Sophie. Mya’s brown skin glistened with the same green glitter eyeshadow my daughter’s did. Her long braids were pulled back with green ribbon.
“Okay, so I know you said no birthday present, but I couldn’t resist.” Mya held up a box for her.
“What is it?”
“Open it and find out.” She held her hands together in anticipation as she waited for Sophie.
“Oh. My. God. You got me a light stick! I love you.” Sophie pulled out a flashlight looking thing with the shape of a bird on top of it. When she turned it on, the light glowed green.
“So, I guess the light sticks are popular with K-pop groups,” a new voice said from behind Mya.
I glanced up to see the very same police officer who’d pulled us over during Dildo-Divorce-Gate. “Um, Mr. ...Officer Walker. I...well, hi,” I stammered. Dear God. Why? Maybe he’d forgotten about the incident.
He grinned. “Ms. Holloway, I thought we established last time we talked that I’m Demarcus.”
“Yes, Demarcus. Right.”
Holy hell. My cheeks flushed. Phew, if I thought he looked good in his uniform, he looked even hotter in his tight black shirt, which showed some massive guns, if I do say so myself. And I don’t mean the carrying kind. His jeans sat snug against his waist, his muscular thighs evident beneath the fabric.
I swallowed hard. Biting my lip, I quickly brought my gaze back to his face where I found his beautiful smile waiting for me. Seeing him here like this made me all too aware I hadn’t been touched by a man in a long time. Wow, it’d taken like two seconds for my mind to jump down that rabbit hole.
“And I’m Kerrie, not Ms. Holloway.”
“I’ll remember that. Sorry if I startled you. Mya’s mom, my ex, Cheyenne, was supposed to come with her, but our son Mackai got sick. He only wants his mom when he doesn’t feel good. So, we decided to switch duties tonight. I’m on concert watch with Mya, and she’s taking care of Mackai.”
“I hope he feels better.”
“Just a flu bug. So, what exactly do you think we’ve gotten ourselves into?” He turned to take in the scene of our girls freaking out.
“I have no idea, but I think it’ll involve lots of screaming, swooning, and possibly some ear damage.” I laughed.
He held up a pair of earplugs. “I’ll at least try to save my ears. I have an extra pair if you find yourself in need of them.”
Smiling, I nodded. “And I might take you up on that. So, did you also learn the fan chant for tonight?”
He sighed. “Do I get extra cool dad points if I say yes?”
“Of course.”
“Mom, Mya said they’re selling t-shirts outside the venue right now. Can we go and try to get one before the concert starts?”
“Sure. Let me grab my wallet,” I said, hurrying to find my purse.
“Dad gave me money. I should be fine.”
“I know, but you might get thirsty or hungry or something.” I’d set aside a small amount to spend for tonight. “Besides, it’s your seventeenth birthday, it’s supposed to be special.”
“It already is. The fact that we’re here.”
“Dad, can we go down with them? I want to see what other kind of merch they have.” Mya looped her arm through Sophie’s.
“Yeah, might as well. We can get in line for the concert when you two are done.”
We traipsed after the girls. Demarcus’s hand brushed against mine and my pulse nearly exploded my veins like a grenade.
“Sorry,” I said, shifting a step away.
“No problem. It’s hard not to bump into each other with the amount of people out here tonight.” He glanced around, side-stepping a teen girl who was running to her friends. “Have you stayed away from trouble since last I saw you? No more traffic stops?”
I nearly choked on the piece of gum I was chewing. “Um, yeah, no more trouble. Also, that is hands-down the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me.”
He chuckled, peering at me. “Like I said before, I’ve seen much worse things fall out of glove box.”
Of course, I couldn’t get lucky and have him forget. I rubbed a hand across my burning cheeks. “Yeah, like what?”
“One time, I pulled over a serial killer. Only at the time, I didn’t know he was. At least, not until a severed hand toppled from beneath his registration and insurance papers.”
“You’re kidding?” My nose wrinkled.
“I wish I was. Another time, we had to search a kid’s car, and he had a bunch of used condoms stashed in there so his mom wouldn’t know he was having sex. So, that was another fun one.”
This time, I giggled. “Alright, so I’m definitely not the worst one. But for me, knowing you’re Mya’s dad made it worse. Because there’s the potential of bumping into you since our daughters are friends.”
“And I’ll probably never let you live it down.” His grin widened. Was there no end to his perfect smiles?
We waited in line for t-shirts for forty-five minutes, then, once the girls had what they wanted, we headed to the venue, where we had another thirty-minute wait in the late afternoon heat.
“I’m thinking I should’ve brought an umbrella to shield me from the sun.” I wiped the sweat beading on my brow.
“No joke.” He dabbed at his own forehead. “The things we do for our kids. Speaking of kids, Mya mentioned you and your husband got divorced.”
Ah hell, Demarcus sure had a way of getting straight to the point. Hopefully, this didn’t get out to too many people or Hal would be ticked. “Yes. We did, earlier this year. I still live at the house with him until I can save up to move out on my own. Which, I know sounds strange, but Hal’s on the road a lot so I don’t see him a ton.” Other than when he was sneaking scantily clad women into our house, whom my children mistook for peeping toms.
“So, you guys get along?”
“Eh, depends on the day.” I laughed. “He’s kind of a pain when it comes to actually parenting.”
“Sophie let on about that. Sorry if it seems like I’m prying.” His brow furrowed.
“No, it’s fine. Very few people actually know we’re divorced. It’s nice to be able to talk about it.”
“If you ever need anything, and he’s not around, give me a call. I’m pretty handy around the house or if you need someone to talk to. I have the kids, week on, week off, so there are times when I’m not working that it can get too quiet.” He took out his cell. “Do you have your phone on you? We can exchange numbers now if you’d like.”
“Of course.” I reached into my back pocket and slid my phone from my jeans. I brought up my contact page and handed it to him, and he did the same, handing me his phone. Once I typed in my info, I gave it back to him, noticing his screensaver was a picture of him with his kids. They all looked so happy. I wondered if he had a girlfriend. Not that dating ranked high on my priority list at this point.
“There, now you can get a hold of me anytime you want.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. Are you and your ex on good terms?”
“Mostly. We want to co-parent our kids and make sure they know we both love them. We try not to step on one another’s toes. I think we get along better now than we ever did when we were married. After we had our youngest, we realized we were in very different places. She’s an architect and would have meetings all the time with clients, while I was working all kinds of crazy hours doing patrols. We talk at least every other day to keep one another up to date on the kids’ activities.”
“I wish Hal was like that. Sometimes, I wonder if he remembers we have kids.” A sharp edge entered my voice.
“It’s his loss, and one day, he’s going to look back and realize how stupid he was.”
I hoped Demarcus was right, and I also hoped that time would come sooner rather than later.
The line started moving and we entered the venue. We found our seats about ten rows up from the floor, giving us a great view of the center stage.
“Mom, can you swap seats so Mya and I can sit next to one another?” Sophie asked.
“Sure.”
Mya climbed around my legs, and I slid in next to Demarcus.
“I guess you and I are on our own now.”
We glanced at the girls who were already snapping pictures of the stage and each other.
“Dad, move closer to Kerrie so I can get your pics.” Mya held up her phone in our direction.
“Oh, I want one, too. Don’t move,” Sophie said, grabbing her cell.
Demarcus and I leaned in. He bent down so his face was level with mine, his cologne nearly undoing me. He not only looked good, but the man smelled damn good, too. His hand rested lightly on my shoulder, and I swallowed hard.
Just when they finished with the picture taking, the arena went dark and low music started. Screaming erupted all round us as glow sticks turned on. The heavy thump of a bass drum made me jump as, one by one, green laser lights turned on around the stage.
For almost two hours, music and screams pounded. Fans did different chants along with the songs. Sophie seemed so happy. The smile never leaving her face until a sad song came on. Seeing her like this made me happy, too. She deserved tonight. To let loose. To be normal and not have to worry about me and Hal. And for the first time in a long time, I felt at ease also.
When the concert ended, we poured onto the street with the steady stream of people and headed to the hotel.
“Oh, my gosh, did you see Youngjae’s dance at the end? Holy hotness.” Sophie gripped tight to Mya’s arm.
“Girl, all I saw were Jackson’s abs. That boy is ripped.”
“I think this is where I put my earplugs back in,” Demarcus said beside me.
“Aw, c’mon, you’re no fun.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Be glad this is all they’re talking about.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “The first thing I do when she brings up a boy is take out my badge and ask where he lives.”
“No, you don’t!”
“I do.”
“Damn. Count me glad you weren’t my dad growing up.”
“I’m glad, too.” His gaze met mine.
Was he flirting? My teeth grazed my bottom lip, legs trembling beneath me. Damn, this man was giving me fanny flutters.
When we got back inside and up to our hall, Sophie turned to me.
“Mom, can Mya come hang with me in our room for a while?”
“Sure, are you okay with that?” I asked Demarcus.
“Yeah. Tell you what, Kerrie, if you want to come watch TV in our room, we can let the girls have some time to themselves.”
“Sure, just let me drop my wallet off.” Phew, I had no idea what to think. “Make sure you girls stay in the room, okay?”
“We will, Mom.” Sophie turned to whisper something to Mya, and they giggled.
I had no idea what they were up to, but hopefully they listened and stayed put. Shutting the door behind me, I did a quick breath check in my hand before knocking on Demarcus’s room. He answered and ushered me inside.
“There isn’t much on TV, but I figured we could give the girls a chance to do their thing. Maybe they’ll get all the guy talk and giggling out of their system before we go to bed.”
I followed him over to the couch, where I found a late-night talk show on. I plopped down, and he sat beside me.
We were quiet for a second, until he turned to me.
“I don’t want to come on strong or anything, but I had fun tonight and wondered if you might be interested in going out sometime?”
I wet my lips, hearting thudding like a car on a speedbump. “I had fun tonight, too, and I’d love to get together.”
“The girls will be thrilled to hear that,” he said.
“Wait, did they know you were going to ask me out?” My eyes widened.
“No, but I overheard them talking about how good we got along, then Mya said something like ‘maybe they’ll date.’ So, I couldn’t disappointment them.”
I laughed. “Hopefully that’s not the only reason you’re asking me out.”
“It’s not. I promise. You’re very beautiful, funny, and kind. And I can tell you’re a good mom. Sophie talks about you a lot when she’s over.”
“And here I thought I was the uncool, mean Mom,” I said.
“I assure you, you’re not.”
Our gazes met, his coffee-colored eyes nearly burning me on the spot. His fingers swiped a stray curl from my cheek, and leaned in. A moment later, his lips met mine. Heat raced through me like molten lava flowing from a volcano. Slow, steady, and incinerating everything in contact.
My mouth moved against his, the taste of spearmint fresh on his breath. A soft moan escaped my lips as my fingers slid up his muscled chest and circled his neck.
Oh God. His kisses were amazing. And all I could think was I wanted more.
Then, I remembered my Spanx, and my stretch marks covering belly. I definitely wasn’t young anymore. Would he still be attracted to me if he saw what was underneath the clothes? Hal certainly didn’t think I was perky anymore.
But the worries quickly drifted away as we reclined on the couch, until he laid on top of me. Through our clothing, I felt his desire for me. He eased away from my lips, trailing stray kisses down my neck while his hand cupped my breast.
At least I’d remembered to wear my nice black lace bra. One of only a few pieces of sexy clothing I owned. I made a mental note to take a trip to the mall to update my lingerie. Not that I expected to be taking my clothes off a lot. I just wanted to look okay if I did.
Giggling came from outside our door, then the beep from the room key unlocking the door.
We leapt a part, and Demarcus quickly sat up, grabbing one of the throw pillows and set it in his lap while I adjusted my shirt and hair. I didn’t need a mirror to know I was blushing.
“Why do I feel like my parents just walked in on me having sex?” Demarcus whispered.
I smirked. “It kind of does, only is it worse if it’s our kids?”
“One hundred percent, yes.” He chuckled.
The girls came in carrying junk food.
“We brought snacks,” Sophie said.
“Good, I’m hungry.” Demarcus caught my eye. And I couldn’t help but wonder if he meant what I thought he did.
He and I weren’t left alone for the rest of the night, which I wasn’t sure if I was grateful for or bummed. It’d been a long time since I’d been with anyone.
When Sophie and I finally got back to our room, it was two in the morning. I changed into my pajamas, and before I flipped off my light, I noticed I had a text from Demarcus.
Demarcus: I was serious about what I said. I want to see you again. Maybe dinner soon?
Me: I’d love that. Sweet dreams, and thank you for a great night.
Demarcus: Sweet dreams to you, too. See you tomorrow.
I hoped so. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. After all, Hal said I was boring. What if Demarcus thought so, too?