Deeper Than Love (Brooks Family Book 6) Read online

  She walked over and opened the stall door. Reese had his face upturned into the spray of the shower, water running down his muscular body—biceps, tight thighs, and his firm ass.

  He started when he saw her. “Hey.”

  “Did you spill something on your clothes?” Nina asked.

  He frowned, as if the question confused him. “Er...”

  “Your pants are wet.”

  “Oh, yeah, one of the kids spilled something on me,” Reese replied.

  “Is everything okay?” Nina asked.

  “Yeah. Everything is fine.”

  He didn’t seem to be lying, but he seemed off. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly why.

  “Okay.”

  Reese extended his hand, and she took it, stepping into the shower with him.

  “You know I love you, right?”

  That was unexpected. She swallowed hard. Water pummeled her hair and soaked her camisole and underwear.

  “Yes.” He didn’t ask for reciprocation, and she was afraid to say the words.

  “You don’t have to say it. I already know.” His face broke into a wide grin before he kissed her hard with such passion, he left her breathless. “I want to give you the world, Nina,” he whispered huskily against her lips.

  Maybe she couldn’t say the words yet, but she could show him how much he meant to her. Greedily, Nina tasted his mouth and licked his neck while Reese deftly peeled the wet clothes from her body. They lathered each other’s skin with soap, moving their hands in sensual, circular motions that aroused as much as they cleaned.

  After they dried off from the shower, Reese backed her into the bedroom, and they made love. He lifted her legs onto his shoulders and lapped at the moisture between her legs until she came all over his mouth. Then his hard body pinned her to the mattress from behind, driving steadily into her as her whimpering cries bounced off the walls.

  Chapter 25

  Nina stood in the bathroom mirror, fluffing her hair with her fingers. For this evening’s outing, she wore a black floral-print dress with a hemline landing above her knees. One of her favorite dresses because of the comfy elastic waist and full, long sleeves. Vintage chandelier earrings hung from her earlobes, and she tilted her head to the right, giving her reflection a critical assessment.

  Beside her, Reese leaned back against the counter, looking casually stylish in a form-fitting white shirt, tan vest that hugged his chest, and dark slacks. He looked good, and he smelled good, too—the woodsy scent of his cologne lending its subtle aroma to the air.

  “Does my hair look okay?” she asked.

  Reese glanced up from his phone. “Better than okay. Your hair looks great and you look beautiful.”

  “You’re so full of it. You’re just ready to go.” She pursed her lips.

  “I’m serious. You know you’re beautiful,” he said with a soft smile.

  “You get a kiss for that.” She stood on tiptoe, pressed her lips against his, and slipped in a little tongue.

  Reese’s arm immediately snaked around her waist and he deepened the kiss, pressing his mouth harder against hers and using firm strokes of his tongue.

  Nina pressed a hand to his chest. “We don’t have time for this,” she whispered against the corner of his mouth.

  Reese bit his lip and looked down at her with half-closed eyes. “You sure? I’ll be in and out before you know it.”

  She giggled. “If that’s the case, I’ll be mad, so the answer is definitely no.” He groaned and she pulled away. “We have to go or we’ll be late.”

  “Fine.”

  As she did one final check of her appearance, Reese pinched her butt.

  Nina hopped away and fake glared. “Quit,” she said.

  “Don’t throw it in my face then.” He braced his sturdy arms on either side of her on the counter.

  “I didn’t.” She laughed and threw her arms around his waist. She gazed at his handsome face, eyes traveling over his freckled nose, hard jaw, and his tempting lips before lifting to his eyes. The smile slowly died on her face.

  “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re here. Feel like I’m dreaming,” he whispered.

  She did too, and was afraid to wake up and have to face reality without him. What she felt for him was so new after hiding behind her fears for so long. Their relationship had to last this time. She’d break apart if she lost him again.

  “You’re not. We’re not,” she said quietly.

  Their lips met in a tender, affectionate kiss that shuttled away the fear in her heart and replaced it with possibilities for a bright future. When they broke apart, Reese held her chin between his thumb and forefinger.

  “You don’t get to leave again.”

  “I’m never going anywhere else without you,” Nina promised softly.

  “Good.” He sighed. “Let’s go before I change my mind about going out.”

  Reese had surprised her with tickets to the Alvin Ailey performance at the Fox Theatre downtown. She hadn’t been to a show in years and greatly anticipated seeing their graceful moves on stage.

  When they arrived at his Mercedes in the underground parking lot, Nina expected Reese to open the passenger door and let her in, but instead, he dangled the keys in front of her.

  “You get to drive today,” he said.

  She gasped. “I do?” She reached for the keys, but he snatched them back and closed his fingers around them like a Venus flytrap.

  “There are conditions,” Reese said ominously.

  “Okay,” Nina said slowly.

  “First, you drive the speed limit.”

  She could do that. “No problem.” She anxiously bounced on her toes.

  “Second, no huffing and puffing and no honking the horn because other drivers, in your words, ‘don’t know what they’re doing.’”

  “You’re stifling my ability to express myself!” she exclaimed.

  “And no cursing.”

  “What? Come on, you’re being ridiculous.”

  “Do you want to drive the Mercedes or not?”

  She seriously reconsidered, but then glanced at its shiny golden exterior and remembered the leather seats and wood grain interior, and her obstinance disintegrated.

  “I do,” she muttered.

  “So we have a deal? None of the above?”

  “None of the above,” she grumbled.

  Reese extended the keys and she snatched them away. “You’re a jerk,” she said.

  “Hey, I can still take those back.”

  He took a step toward her and Nina ran around the car. With much laughter, she hopped in the driver’s seat. Reese sent another warning look as he climbed in the passenger side.

  Nina ignored him and adjusted the seat and steering wheel and started the engine. The vehicle purred to life, and she caressed the circumference of the wheel. “She sounds so good,” she moaned.

  Reese bit his lip as he watched her. “Keep doing that and you’ll make me fuck you in this car again.”

  Nina batted her eyelashes at him. “Promises, promises.” She pulled out of the parking space, and he laughed softly.

  She did well most of the way, adhering to the rules under his watchful eye, but as they neared the Fox Theatre and the bottleneck of cars caused by the show, someone abruptly swung into her lane, and Nina slammed on the brakes.

  She hit the steering wheel. “Look at this assho—” She broke off and glanced guiltily at Reese and finished more quietly. “I mean, look at this gentleman who clearly doesn’t know how to drive.”

  Reese burst out laughing. “You were so close to getting through the trip without cursing.”

  “Ugh. It’s so hard.”

  “You get one,” he said, lifting a single finger and showing her mercy.

  “Thank you,” Nina said gratefully. Then she glared at the offending car. “Asshole!”

  Reese cracked up some more.

  Not long after, they took their seats in the crowded theater and settled in for the show. At
least five years had passed since Nina had seen an Alvin Ailey production, and the performance surpassed her memories and made her feel as if she were a first-time attendee.

  Enthralled, she couldn’t take her eyes from the stage. The mostly Black dancers had such grace and style, their muscles rippling as they contorted their backs into tight bows, their hands into twisting arcs, and their bodies into flying vessels as they moved through the air in eye-catching costumes. Decades after Ailey’s death, they continued to express the stories he wanted told about Black pain but also Black celebration, emotional but uplifting tales portrayed through the vehicle of modern dance.

  Reese arranged for her to meet the dancers after the show, and Nina got to chat with them and take pictures. She was still in a sense of euphoria as they strolled out of the venue. Reese took her hand in his and shifted their positions so she was on the inside of the sidewalk, and he walked on the street side.

  “That was wonderful,” she sighed. “I wish I’d taken dance classes so I could understand a little bit of what it means to move like that and tell stories with my body.” She took several steps on her toes.

  “It’s not too late,” Reese said, smiling and twirling her in a circle.

  Nina squeezed his arm and rested her temple against his left biceps. “Nah, it’s too late, but I can dream.”

  “You had a different calling, babe. You’re going to help so many people with the work you and your staff do.”

  “Yeah.”

  People who’d left the show crowded the sidewalk. Walking slowly, Reese and Nina went along with the flow of pedestrian foot traffic. There was no rush because there would be a horrendous gridlock on Peachtree Street for a while. Cars crept by with the occasional one blowing its horn, barely moving, a typical Saturday night in downtown Atlanta with people attending different functions, going to, and leaving from, dinners and shows and whatever else was taking place in the city.

  Nina looked up at Reese and threaded her fingers through his. “I had a great time.”

  His gaze was filled with love. That was the only way to describe his expression and the way his eyes held hers. “Good,” was all he said as they made their way to the car.

  Reese swallowed his vitamins with a mouthful of water and then turned out the light in the kitchen. He entered the bedroom in time to see Nina exiting the bathroom where she’d been twisting her hair. She had secured the plaits with a silk scarf and glanced at him as he came in. While he wore the pajama bottoms, she wore the shirt of the set, which looked much better on her than it had ever looked on him.

  “Did you take your vitamins?” he asked.

  “Oh, shoot. I forgot.”

  He handed her the half full glass of water, and she removed the pills from her purse and swallowed them down. Reese climbed into bed as she placed the empty glass on the nightstand.

  “I’ve gotta do better about remembering to take those things,” Nina said.

  “Set a reminder, like I do,” Reese said.

  Nina turned off the light and climbed into bed, too. She scooted toward him in the middle. “You set a reminder for your vitamins but not your mother’s birthday?”

  “Don’t judge me.”

  “I’m just saying…” She gave him a quick kiss and then turned onto her side. He pulled her closer so they could spoon.

  “You still meeting your mother for brunch tomorrow?”

  Nina groaned. “Yes, unfortunately. I thought about canceling to come see you play, but I promised I’d meet her, so…” She shrugged.

  “You can see me whoop some ass another time.” Reese and some friends were playing football in the park.

  Nina shifted and her soft bottom pushed up against him. He groaned, slipping a knee between her thighs. “Stop trying to seduce me. I gave you some dick before we went to the show. That’s it for the night. I’m cutting you off.”

  She giggled. He loved to make her laugh.

  “I’m not trying to get any more dick, thank you very much.”

  They were quiet for a few minutes, and he thought she might have fallen asleep.

  “I wonder what she wants,” Nina said.

  “Who?”

  “My mother.”

  “What makes you think she wants something?”

  She didn’t answer for a while, and then she said, “She always wants something.”

  He hated to hear the sound of hurt in her voice and squeezed her a little tighter. “I’m sorry, babe.”

  “She’s not all bad, and I know she loves me, it’s just…I don’t know. She’s never satisfied. Did I ever tell you that my dad provided for her in his will?”

  “No, you never mentioned it.” That surprised him since her parents had divorced long before her father died.

  “He did.”

  “And she still asks you for money?”

  “Yeah. Never satisfied,” Nina said with an air of defeat.

  “You need to be strong when you’re dealing with her.”

  “I know.” She played with one of his fingers. “But she’s my mom, and it’s hard, you know?”

  “I know.”

  “And it’s not like I can’t afford her requests, so…you know what, I’m not going to worry about it. Maybe she wants to get together for mother-daughter time, that’s all,” Nina said.

  That sounded like wishful thinking, but Reese didn’t want to say too much because as Nina pointed out, Gloria was her mother, and he was fiercely loyal to his own family. He just didn’t like to see Nina upset, and since Gloria had never liked him, there was no love lost between him and her. As far as he was concerned, he could live his life quite happily without ever seeing Nina’s mother again, but she was Nina’s only living parent, and Nina held on to that relationship tightly and with both hands.

  “I’m sure you’ll have a great brunch. If you don’t, when you come back I’ll give you one of my relaxing massages,” Reese said.

  “Mmm, that sounds good. Promise?”

  “Promise. Go to sleep, babe.” He kissed the back of her neck.

  “Good night.”

  Chapter 26

  “Hi, honey.” Gloria gave Nina a hug and then stepped back to examine her appearance. “You look nice. I like your hair.”

  She’d done another twist-out. “Thanks. You look great, too. Those colors look good on you,” Nina said, referring to the floral print dress her mother wore.

  “Thank you. My face is so dry, though. Summer, fall, and winter are my enemies.” Gloria sat down.

  Nina sat opposite her at the round table. “So spring is the only season that you like?”

  “The only one,” Gloria confirmed with a laugh.

  The waiter came over. “What can I get for you lovely ladies?” he asked.

  “Water and lemon for me, and I’ll take the club sandwich,” Nina said, closing the menu and handing it over.

  “Water and lemon for me, as well, and I’ll have the watercress salad with chicken and the mustard vinaigrette.” Gloria folded her menu and handed it to the waiter.

  He disappeared, and Gloria smiled across the table at her. “How is work? Tell me everything.”

  Nina told her mother all about the Helping Hands Program and that she had taken over as CEO and Chairman of the Board.

  Gloria’s eyebrows pushed higher. “That’s quite a switch from how you felt before when you didn’t think that you could handle the responsibility.”

  “I’ve since decided that I can handle the responsibility,” Nina said.

  “Good for you. I’m very proud of you, and I’m sure your father would be, too, if he were here.”

  The waiter arrived with their waters, and after a brief question to ensure they didn’t need anything, he disappeared again.

  “I see you’re not wearing your engagement ring. Anything you want to tell me?” Gloria folded her hands on the table.

  That question must represent the real reason her mother had asked her to brunch. “I have a feeling you already know why I’m not w
earing my ring. I’m sure Andy told you that he and I are on a break.” Which would become permanent as soon as he returned from New York in a couple of days, and she could tell him face-to-face.

  “You’re right, I do know, but he didn’t tell me. His father did.”

  “I didn’t know you and Corbin were so close.”

  “We talk on occasion. After all, our children are getting married. Don’t give me that look. I’m not in the market for a new husband. Those days are far behind me, and I’ve come to accept that marriage is not for me, and I’m perfectly fine living alone. Corbin called because he was concerned about Andy, who had been acting strangely, and he was finally able to get the truth out of him about your relationship. I don’t pretend to understand the things that you young people do nowadays—breaks and all that. But Corbin did tell me that the break was your idea.”

  “I was upset because Andy lied to me.”

  “He’s a man who was willing to do anything for you. Isn’t that what you want?”

  Nina couldn’t believe her mother was singing the same tired tune. “No, it’s not, but that doesn’t matter. The time apart has been good, and to be honest, has put things into perspective for me.”

  “What things?” Gloria asked.

  Nina squeezed the lemon into her glass of water to buy time. “My relationship with Andy. I’ve been rethinking my expectations about the future.”

  “I see.” Gloria folded her white napkin on the table and pressed down the edges with her hand. “Would your decision have anything to do with Reese Brooks and that hickey?”

  Heat flamed Nina’s cheeks, and she raised a hand to her neck. She’d worn her hair down to cover the bruise, but her mother still saw. At least she couldn’t see the one on the swell of her right breast. “Yes, he and I are seeing each other again—as more than friends.” She leaned forward in earnest. “Mom, I know you don’t like him, but he’s not a bad person. He has a lot of positive qualities, and he’s changed since we were teenagers. I’ve changed, too.”

  Gloria smiled tightly. “That’s quite a ringing endorsement.”

  “He’s not the same selfish, untrustworthy person he was before.” Convincing Gloria of his finer qualities would be a difficult task. Still, Nina wanted her mother to accept him and welcome him into the family the same way the Brooks family had always welcomed her.