Curves in the Road (The Southern Devotion Series Book 2) (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

**Mary Jane**

Tonight is the opening of A Shot in the Dark. For the past two months, I'd barely seen Derrick due to all the last minute details they had to complete. Gracie and I had been put in charge of putting together the invites for opening night. It was a night by invitation only but we'd also arranged for radio stations to give away a number of special invites to the public as well and once those were give out, we'd also allow the first fifty people who showed up inside. 

Tristan and I hadn't spoken since he called me to tell me that Macy's date went perfectly. He said the boy she went out with was a perfect gentleman. He dropped them off at the restaurant and then managed to seat himself in view of them without them noticing he was there. He said he'd never seen Macy smile so much in the last few years. After that day he'd been busy with
Bartending School and helping Derrick and Ashton interview the other potentials. 

Gracie and I had desig
ned the theme for the night around the rock band that Ashton had scheduled. We'd set up several contests for people to win different gift cards and a grand prize of two free drinks for a year for every night they came to the bar.  Gracie had come up with a great game to go with the name of the bar. There'd be a lineup of five shots and the person would be blindfolded as they were poured, then they'd have to guess what is in each shot. Whoever named them all first would win the prize associated with that game.

We'd even arranged business with a company that offers sober rides.
Everything was coming together perfectly.  Ashton, Derrick, Gavin, and Cameron were already at the bar putting the final touches on before tonight. Gracie and I gathered up Autumn, Katelyn, Addison, and Macy to go over to Maria's for the night. We'd offered to pay Macy to help Maria with the other two and she was more than willing.

The doorbell rang and I ran downstairs knowing that it was Angel and Gracie coming over to get ready. They paraded in with garment bags and a box of makeup. "Let's get you two looking hot for your men's big opening night!" Angel exclaimed.

"This is so unreal to me right now," Gracie said. "Ashton and Derrick have been talking about running a club for so long it seemed like a dream was all it would be. I'm so proud of them both."

"Me too," I said. "It's so great that they were able to put it together as a family."

"Alright, enough reminiscing ladies. We only have a couple of hours. Let's figure out which of these dresses you're wearing so we can take the others back tomorrow."

Angel worked at a dress store in Green Hills. Her boss was a childhood friend of her moms so she let her get away with anything she wanted. For this weekend, she allowed her to gather an abundance of dresses in our sizes so we could pick the perfect one for tonight.

It took us over an hour to settle on each of our dresses for the evening. Gracie chose a crimson strapless knee length dress with a black lace overlay and black velvet belt that cinched the waist. She paired this with her cowboy boots that were black with red stitching that Ashton bought her one night when they were out and her heel broke. They were sentimental to their relationship so she was ecstatic that Angel found a dress to match them.

Angel chose a maroon sleeveless dress that hugged her curves and accented her olive skin tone perfectly. Mine was a strapless beaded pink and black tulle cocktail dress. The dress was mostly black with sparkles covering the tulle material. There was a large pink satin bow around the waist and a single strap of pink satin roses that traveled over my left shoulder.

Once the three of us were ready to go, we piled into Angel's car for the evening. She drove because Gracie and I would both ride home with our guys at the end of the night.

The party had already started when we arrived. There were photographers outside taking pictures of the crowd waiting to get in and of the outside of the building. It looked like a scene from the red carpet, something I'd only seen on television.

The bouncer stood at the door checking a guest list. Gracie sauntered up to him, "Hey Bobby," she grinned. He leaned down to hug her and give her a kiss on the cheek.               "Hey Gracie, it's great to see you again. Especially when you aren't kicking and screaming over Ash's shoulder."  Gracie laughed and blushed at the memory Bobby brought up. He'd been a bouncer at a club they attended one night. Ash had to drag her out kicking and screaming after the manager asked Cameron and Gavin to leave because no one wanted to see them dance together. Ashton kept his promise to Bobby that he'd find him a boss that wasn't homophobic. Once they'd decided on when the club would open, Bobby was the first one Ashton called.

"Ladies, you all look
drop dead gorgeous," Bobby said as he opened the rope gate to let us through.

"Thanks, Bobby," we all chimed in as we stepped passed him.

The first one we spotted was Tristan at the bar. He looked and gave us all a wink and a thumbs up. Gracie spotted Ashton so she ran over to greet him. I watched as he noticed her boots and grinned before dipping her in a passionate kiss.

Angel moved to the bar and began to flirt with Tristan while I searched desperately for Derrick. A hot breath against my ear said, "You are the most beautiful woman in this entire room, hands down."

Turning around, I came face to face with the sexiest man I'd ever know, Derrick. His smile made me want to push him into the back room and have my way with him right now. His hand took mine and spun me around in a circle. "What do you think?" I asked.

"I stand by what I said. This dress looks great on you." He pulled me close and whispered, "I bet it'll look even better off."

"You'll have to wait until later to find out."

"Come dance with me."

The dance floor was full of couples slow dancing to the song being played on stage.  "I'm so proud of you. This place is amazing Derrick."

"I couldn't have done it without my brothers. It's still so hard to believe how it all came together. I brought Katelyn here last night to show her what it looked like. She was so excited. She asked if she could have her next birthday party here."

Laughing I said, "I guess if we did it during the day and had it in the private room where we could lock the bar it wouldn’t be too bad."

"I love you, Mary Jane. I couldn’t have done this without you either, you know that?"

"I love you, Derrick."

He twirled me around then spun me back into his arms with my back against his chest so I could see the rest of the room. He nuzzled his head agai
nst my cheek and said, "Did you notice paintings around the room. They're all Ashton's and they all depict an event from each of our lives. The one with the couple standing under the stars represents his life with Gracie. See that one," he pointed to a painting to our right. "The two men standing cradling a baby with a pale rainbow in the background, that represents Cameron and Gavin with their struggles and dreams. Last but not least, this one," he spins me around to see the wall behind us, "The blonde woman on the beach walking toward the man standing in the city with a rose. That represents our journey to each other."

The amount of time and thought that went into these paintings was unbelievable. Gracie had shown me Ashton's work before but it had never touched me in such the way it does at this moment.  It left me filled with hope and love but no words.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

**Derrick**

When Mary Jane walked into the club tonight, it took my breath away. Her short dress showed off those perfectly long legs I love and her hairdo left her neck open for me to explore. The bad boy side of me wanted to lift her up and carry her to the back room where we could be alone.

Tonight was too important to run off on our own, so I held in my lust for her. After showing her Ashton's paintings, she'd grown quiet and I was unsure what that meant. She pulled away from me, "I'll be right back." I watched as she sauntered across the room to Ashton, brought him into her embrace and hugged him tightly. When they broke apart, he swiped his hand across her cheek to wipe tears away.

Next I watched her walk back to me. She took my hand in hers then guided me to the back room
, pushing the door shut behind us. She pressed me against the wall and pressed her lips to mine in a fierce kiss. My hands moved from her waist down her skirt, slipping underneath to lift her leg up to wrap around mine. With her hands around my neck she lifted her body up onto me as I pushed us over to the desk in the room. With a sweep of my hand I cleared it like you see in the movies. Ashton would make me clean that up later but at this moment I didn’t care.

In seconds she was
laid out on the desk and I stood at the edge. Her panties and my pants lay in a pile on the floor as our bodies moved together shaking the desk with every movement. The music outside the room drowns out our moans of ecstasy so that we wouldn’t be disturbed or disturb anyone else.

After reaching our peaks, I helped Mary Jane to a seated position on the desk. She glanced around and said, "I hope this is your desk we christened."

Chuckling I said, "Nope, it's Ash's. I'll pick everything up later."

She slipped her panties back on while I grabbed my pants off the floor. Before we left the room she adjusted her hair in the mirror to make sure it wasn’t obvious what we'd been doing. We snuck out into the bustle of the crowd and bumped into Ashton on the way to the bar. He glanced in the direction we came from and said teasingly, "I hope my office isn’t a wreck."

"Oh no, we stepped in there to talk for a moment is all," I said to reassure him.

Ashton started laughing when Mary Jane looked around the room. She whipped back to see what was funny and he said, "So, how did you get paperclips in your hair?"

Mary Jane's eyes bulged as she reached to the back of her head and pulled three paper clips from her hair. She covered her mouth in embarrassment, "I'm sorry Ash. I promise we'll clean it up before we leave tonight."

Ashton shook his head with a gleaming smile, "Don’t worry about it. Gracie and I christened Derrick's office earlier today."  I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not but couldn’t really say much if he wasn’t.

"Maybe we should trade offices," I suggested.

Opening night went off without any problems which was shocking to all of us. Around four in the morning the last person had left and we were locking up and we all crowded into a large booth. Ashton, Gavin, Cameron, and I were all still pretty stoked about the evening and still riding high on the adrenaline of it all. Gracie and Mary Jane had kicked off their high heels and curled up against Ash and me ready to fall asleep.

"Well guys, I'd say A Shot in the Dark is off to a good start," I said holding up a shot glass to the middle of the table waiting for them to do the same in a toast. We clinked our glasses together and downed the shots.

"Cameron and I booked a speed dating event for two weekends from now. They said if that has a great turnout then they will reserve one night a month for the rest of the year," Gavin informed us. 

"Gracie booked bands for the next two months," Ash said, kissing her forehead as she peacefully napped on his shoulder.

"Wow, I feel like I didn’t do anything tonight." I said, realizing I did no promoting or booking at all.

"I think Mary Jane would disagree," Ash said winking. After a few laughs, Ashton added, "Derrick you've been on top of this from the beginning. You've juggled fatherhood on your own, fighting for the girl you love, and putting together a business. You deserved a night of fun, man."

Glancing down at Mary Jane laying curled under my arm with her head against my chest; I sat back and smiled as I thought of what it took to get here and how it was worth every minute.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

**Mary Jane**

Tonight we were going to a play at Katelyn’s school. For music class they were putting on a performance of The Little Mermaid. Katelyn was excited to be playing Ariel. We’d been working on her costume for weeks. Maria, Derrick’s mother, had sewn a beautiful teal mermaid tail for her with shimmering clear fins at the bottom. I put together a sea-shell bra that I attached to a flesh colored leotard. We’d ordered a wig from the costume shop in Nashville known to be the best place to get authentic cosplay outfits. The wig fit Katelyn perfectly, so much so that she wanted to wear it all the time.

“Katie-cat, it’s time to go. You ready for your play?”  She had her back to me adjusting the vibrant red wig with her hands before turning to show me her face. “Oh…you did your make-up.”  I tried to not show too much shock at the glow on her face from the red lipstick to the circles of rosy pink blush.

Exasperated she said, “I should’ve waited on you. Will you help me redo it?”

“We don’t have to redo it, let’s just tone it down a bit to let your natural beauty through.” Using a cotton ball I removed enough of the pink blush to give her cheeks a subtle tinge of pink. She had chosen the navy blue eye shadow which I removed completely and replaced with a pale blue color that we added a soft white sparkle on top of it. Her red lips were perfect to stand out for the play. “How’s that?” I asked, turning her to look in the mirror at the finished product.

Her eyes lit up with excitement, “Perfect!” She turned to hug me, “Thanks MJ.”
 We ran downstairs to find Derrick patiently waiting for us.

His broad smile as his eyes fell upon Katelyn told me he was impressed with the transformation as well. “You look beautiful, Boo.”
  On the way to the school, Derrick let Katelyn listen to her iPod to practice the songs. We could hear her silently singing along but it kept her from hearing what we talked about.

Derrick took my hand in his bringing it to rest on his thigh. “Lanie will be there. I wanted to make sure you knew that so you weren’t surprised.”
 

“Well she is Katelyn’s teacher so I assumed she would be. Don’t worry about it Derrick, I’ll be fine. You guys only went out once and I can’t blame her for being catty when she met me. I’d fight for your attention too if I was her.”

At the school we spotted Gracie and Ashton’s car with an open space next to it and we parked beside them. Derrick loaded himself down with the costume bags and camera while I escorted Katelyn to the dressing room they’d set up in the music classroom. The classroom was actually on the stage they’d be using. It was in the gym and an accordion door and curtain acted as the wall to close off the classroom from the gym. They’d clear off enough of the desks to allow space for costume changes and created the background to allow for privacy. Lanie was standing at the doorway to greet us. Derrick walked in first and she greeted him as normal and then her face grew shocked as she laid eyes on me. She dropped her gaze and awkwardly greeted me before telling Katelyn she looked amazing and would do great today.

While Derrick helped Katie into her costume, I stepped over to Lanie. “Hi, we haven’t officially met. I’m Mary Jane.”
 

Lanie smiled, “I owe you an apology. I was quite rude to you at Derrick’s father
's funeral.”

I waved my hand to stop her, “Let’s not worry about that now. As far as I’m concerned this is our first meeting and it’s going well.”
  She seemed relieved at my ease with her. Perhaps she was expecting a dramatic moment with a woman taking a stand for her man. That wasn’t my style though. Derrick wanted me, I didn’t need to claim my territory or act like a jealous woman to keep him around.

“Congratulations, by the way. Katelyn told me she’s getting a mom and I see by the beautiful ring that it’s you.” Lanie’s face expressed that she was being sincere and I realized she isn’t the catty woman she appeared to be.

“Thank you.” 

Derrick and I wished Katelyn luck before slipping out to find our seats. Waiting in the front row were Gracie and Ashton waving at us excitedly. Autumn was at their feet in her car seat. Before we sat, I bent to greet Autumn with a smile and a tickle to her adorably chubby tummy. She giggled and flashed me a toothless grin that made me laugh. The lights dimmed, Derrick took the seat next to Ash and I sat next to Derrick. When the first scene started, the mermaids were all singing about their little
sister's debut before they realized she wasn’t there.

When Katelyn appeared for the next scene, she started to sing her lines very softly. She stopped for a moment, glancing around at all the people staring back at her. Patting Derrick’s leg I whispered, “I’ll be right back.” Entering the stage door to the left, I stood out of sight and motioned to Katelyn to get her attention. She was on the brink of tears. I began to softly sing the words to the song for her when she turned to face the crowd again and sang with me. At the end of that song she seemed to have lost her fear, but I stayed next to the stage in case she needed me.

When the play was over, the kids were given a standing ovation by all the parents watching, I could hear Derrick hooting in the front row for his daughter. Katelyn tugged on Lanie and whispered something. Lanie nodded and turned to the crowd, “Katelyn would like you to give a round of applause to her mother, Mary Jane,” she turned to face me, waving me forward. Holding back tears, I stepped out and walked to take a bow. Katelyn was beaming from ear to ear. When I knelt down she ran into my arms to hug me. We turned to take a bow together and my eyes met with Derrick’s. He stood there with his hand over his mouth still calling out cheers louder than anyone.

When we stepped off stage he presented Katelyn with a dozen roses, to which she pulled one out for me and said, “Thanks for saving me up there, MJ.” She peered over at Derrick and motioned him to her level. She whispered something in his ear.

With a brief glance up at me with a smile on his face that could light up a room, he said, “I think she’d like that a lot.” 

Katelyn wrapped her arms around me and said, “I love you….Mom.” And that was all I needed to know I made the best decision of my life by choosing this love. Not only did I gain Prince Charming, but my very own princess to raise as well.

Derrick and I were to be married in a month's time and it would be amazing.
On our wedding night I plan to tell him about my secret
, I thought, as I placed my hand over my belly. Luckily I wouldn’t be showing yet, I’m only two months along; it will be my wedding gift to him.  I’m not sure how I became so lucky to have the life I’ve had, but I won’t take it for granted.