The Proposal & Solid Soul - Brenda Jackson [137]
As if it was the most natural thing to do, he leaned over and kissed her lips. “You okay?” he asked quietly, after taking the cup from her hand and following her into her living room, where he sat down on the leather sofa beside her.
“Yes, I’m okay. But I’m still worried about them, Chance. I didn’t think to ask how they were getting around. I assumed Marcus took his car.”
Chance nodded after taking a sip of his coffee. “Yes, he has it. Boy, he’s going to be grounded for life.”
“So is Tiffany and she hasn’t started driving yet. And just to think I had considered surprising her with a car for her sixteenth birthday. She might as well kiss that surprise goodbye.”
“And they pulled this just to make a statement that they didn’t like the way we acted on Sunday. If that doesn’t beat all,” Chance said.
“Yeah, I guess it means a lot to them for us to get along.”
“But it’s not like we argued or anything, Kylie.”
She inhaled deeply. “I know, but I guess they were watching us more closely then we thought. You have to admit we were rather distant to each other.”
“Yes, we were,” he readily admitted. “And I didn’t like it.”
She met his gaze and said, “Neither did I.”
After a few moments of silence she added, “Do you think we’re doing the right thing by not calling the police?”
“Yes. But I did contact my brothers. There was no way I could not let them know. At least I was able to reach Bas and Morgan. Evidently Donovan is still somewhere out on the town and he isn’t answering his cell. But I’ll talk to him tomorrow. And I notified my cousins, as well, in case Marcus contacts them.”
Kylie nodded. “I forgot about your basketball game in the morning.”
Chance shook his head. “Yeah, but there’s no way I’m going to go anyplace until the kids come home.”
“They will come home, won’t they, Chance?”
When he heard the trembling in her voice, he set his cup on the table and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. It felt good to hold her again. “Yes, they’ll come home. When they get hungry, they’ll be back.”
His words made Kylie smile. “Yeah, Tiffany definitely likes to eat.”
“And so does Marcus.”
Kylie cuddled deeper into Chance’s warm embrace. It felt good to be held by a man who cared about her. A man who’d told her he loved her. A man she knew she could depend on. “Where do you think they’ll sleep tonight?”
Chance shrugged. “Either in the car or at a hotel.”
Kylie pulled back and looked at Chance. “Are they old enough to get a hotel room on their own?”
“It depends on where they go. To some hotel owners, money and not age is the determining factor.”
Kylie really hadn’t wanted to hear that. More than anything she had to remember that Tiffany said she and Marcus wouldn’t do anything. She had promised.
“Come here and lay beside me. You must be tired.”
She automatically did what he suggested without thinking twice about it. He stretched out his legs on the sofa to accommodate her and gently held her as they lay side by side. Before he had arrived, she had changed out of her nightgown into a pair of silk lounging pants and top. Heat curled through her when he wrapped his arms around her. It felt good knowing she wasn’t alone now.
“Try to get some sleep.”
“I don’t think I can, Chance. I want my baby home.” A few moments later, sleepily she said, “Did I ever tell you about the first time I let Tiffany sleep somewhere other than her own bed?”
“No, I don’t think that you did.”
“She was two and my parents had finally acknowledged that they had a grandchild and wanted some bonding time. At first I wasn’t going to let her go but then Lena convinced me that I should. I barely slept that entire night knowing she wasn’t in the house. I finally was able to sleep only after going into her room and stretching out on the floor beside her little bed. Now isn’t that pathetic?”
“No, it sounds to me like you were a mother who had missed her child and needed the connection.” After a few moments he added, “It works like that for adults, too, you know.”
She lifted her head and met his gaze. “Does it?”
“Yes.