Mistaken Identities (12 page)

Tonya moved to the cabinet and retrieved a glass. She pressed the glass to the refrigerator water dispenser and waited as it filled.

“So.”

She jumped at the voice behind her and turned. Letreece stood in the doorway, arms folded under her chest and glaring. Tonya eyed her up and down, an eyebrow raised. “Did you want something?”

“You messed up with Roman, and now you’re trying to get Gray?”

“What did you say to me?” Tonya set the glass on the counter and approached Letreece. Her ex-friend didn’t back down. In fact, she moved closer, her chin high.

“You heard me.”

Tonya stopped walking inches from her. “You think I cheated just like everyone else? No wonder you didn’t really support me. You knew I had nowhere to go, but you let me leave anyway.”

Letreece sneered. “You were doing it for all of us, marrying a man like Roman.”

“Whatever I was doing, you’re doing what you want to do now, aren’t you?”

She waited for Letreece to deny she chased after Roman, but the woman rolled her eyes, sucked her teeth, and turned her back as she headed out of the kitchen. “You’re some piece of work, Tonya. This is not the time nor the place.”

Tonya’s mouth dropped open. She looked beyond Letreece to see Grayson, and she didn’t know how long he’d been standing there. His expression remained closed, so she had no idea what he thought. For all she knew, he might still be running their earlier conversation through his mind and hating her. Well, she wasn’t the only one wrong, and she wouldn’t let everyone come down on her. She walked over and squeezed by him, saying nothing. Let them all think what they wanted. She would add her voice to convincing Aunt Linn the best place for her was the hospital.

Chapter Twelve

“Why don’t we just take her anyway?” Tonya suggested from a corner of the room. Too many people crowded the space where Aunt Linn laid pale and spent on the bed. Her breaths were so shallow sometimes Tonya wondered if she breathed at all, but then she moved and opened her eyes. They were the same, alert and defiant. Tonya had to hand it to the old woman. She gave the cancer a run for its money.

“Because the last time we did that, she got worse,” Roman answered. He looked over at Tonya and smiled despite the pain in his gaze. Her heart stirred for him as a human being. “Thanks for coming. I meant to tell you that.”

She directed a fleeting glance at Grayson and then focused on Roman. “Of course. Aunt Linn means a lot to me too. I think standing around like this isn’t helping. Maybe we should all take turns.”

“Good idea,” Grayson interjected. “I’ll take you back to the hotel if you like.”

“No, I want to stay a little longer.”

Her words seemed to irritate him, but she didn’t care. She bent over Aunt Linn and kissed her cheek, then left the room. After some time, the men stepped into the hallway as well, speaking in low tones. Tonya moved farther away and headed toward the front of the house. When she peered outside, she noted two cars had gone. Grayson’s parents were nowhere in sight, and neither was Letreece. Before she could feel relief, Letreece returned with several bags. She moved past Tonya, headed toward the kitchen. The aroma of takeout wafted behind her, and Lukas whooped. “Food!”

Tonya had to hand it to the woman. She’d done good. Eating hadn’t crossed Tonya’s mind. Although she still wasn’t hungry, feeding Lukas and whoever else might want something was a good idea. She moved aside while the family headed to the kitchen, and took a seat on the couch.

“You aren’t eating?” Grayson asked.

“Not hungry.”

He frowned and checked his watch. “We didn’t get a chance to have lunch.”

“I’m fine. Thanks.”

Time passed slowly. Grayson arranged for Aunt Linn’s doctor to make a house call, and when he did, he had nothing to add to the situation. Aunt Linn remained as well as could be expected. If she came through this particular bout of weakness, she might last another week. If not, they could lose her before tomorrow morning.

Grayson thanked the doctor along with Roman, who seemed about to break, and then Grayson disappeared inside Aunt Linn’s room for his turn at watching her.

“I’m putting Lukas down for a nap,” Abby announced, and Roman nodded, following her down the hall to the room that had been his growing up. Letreece went outside, and Tonya hoped she was leaving. Not once had she entered Aunt Linn’s bedroom to see the older woman, unless she’d done so before Tonya had arrived, but that had been hours ago.

Tonya rubbed her eyes. She didn’t care to speculate on Letreece’s activities any longer. If the others let her stay, that was their deal. She rose from the couch and headed to the kitchen. If nothing else, she could contribute by washing dishes and getting Aunt Linn’s home back in order.

Under the button-down blouse she’d worn for her lunch date with Grayson, she’d worn a stretchy tank that could double as a blouse alone. She removed the top layer and left the tank, then filled the sink with water and dish detergent. She hadn’t been working long when Roman appeared beside her and took up the dishtowel to dry as she washed.

She studied the strain around his eyes. “How are you, Roman?”

He shrugged and smiled. “I’m here.”

“I understand, and I’m so sorry.” She paused and touched a hand to his sleeve then jerked back when water soaked the material. “Oh crap. I’m sorry.” He grinned, and she was reminded of how her heart used to skip a beat every time he entered the room. Now it continued on its merry way, uninterrupted.

“It’s fine. Just a shirt. Like I said, I appreciate you coming back for me.”

She blinked at him. “I came back for Aunt Linn.”

“Right, right. That’s what I mean.” He set the towel down, half of it falling into the soapy water unheeded. Tonya pulled it out and wrung it. Roman didn’t seem to notice. “I’ve missed you, Tonya.”

Her eyes widened, and she held up her hands. “Whoa, Roman, that’s inappropriate. You’re married and—”

“And we could have been, all this time. I’m not going to pretend I don’t remember how strong our love was. I know you do too. You acted like I was your entire world.”

“Roman…”

He grabbed her shoulders and dragged her to him before she could respond. In seconds, his lips crushed hers, forcing them apart, and when the tip of his tongue met hers, the only reaction that rose inside was revulsion. Tonya shoved out of his hold and smacked him as hard as she could. She turned to storm out and froze in place. Both Abby and Letreece stood just inside the kitchen doorway staring at them. If Tonya had eaten anything all day, it would have come shooting up with the way her stomach churned. Hurt and betrayal lit Abby’s eyes, and rage fired Letreece’s.

The ability to move returned, and she rushed past all of them and kept going straight out the front door. Common sense said go back and get her purse, but her feet never faltered. She needed as much distance between herself and all of them. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She swiped at them because it was hard enough seeing in the dark with so few streetlights in this suburb neighborhood.
Oh, who cares anyway? I’m sick of all the lies and deception!

“Tonya!”

At the sound of Grayson’s voice, she clenched her hands into fists and picked up her pace. She considered running, but that was ridiculous. Besides, she couldn’t outrun him with his long legs. She didn’t look back, hoping he’d lose interest, but his hand dropped on her shoulder, wrenching a cry from her. He jerked her around to face him, but she shook free of his hold.

“What do you want, Grayson?”

He frowned at her. She couldn’t tell in the dim lighting if he was pissed or confused. “You’re crying—”

“It was a mistake coming back here.”

“So you’re going without saying anything?”

She poked him in the chest. “You want me to say something? Here it is, so listen good! Yes, I went with Nola for her to get that abortion, and you want to know why I went? Because that bitch told me the baby wasn’t yours.”

She almost stopped speaking when his eyes registered hurt and shock, but she forged ahead.

“She said she made a mistake and if she had the baby, it might cost her the relationship with you. I thought she sounded sorry. She was crying and begging me. I wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth, but I genuinely thought you loved her, and I didn’t want to mess up the good thing you had. I guess I was naïve because I messed it up anyway.

“In case you’re also wondering, and because I’m confessing all, Roman tried to kiss me just now. I slapped him. His wife saw, and so did Letreece. You can ask Abby if I slapped Roman. I realized seven years ago he wasn’t the man for me, and I’m damn sure not going back!”

He stood immobile, so still he could have been a statue. She spun on the ball of her foot and started to walk away, but then stopped to look back at him. “Oh yeah, one more thing. I saw him outside Letreece’s house. He said he’d never been there, but he was tempted, and that was his first time about to go in. I told him not to do it. Cheating isn’t worth losing the one you love. I know firsthand, right? Since I did it?” She headed back toward the house to get her purse, shaking from head to toe.

“No…you didn’t.”

She stopped. Her throat constricted, but she forced herself to face him. “What?”

He closed the space between them, and even in the limited lighting, she saw the emotion in his gaze, a tenderness directed at her. He raised his hands as if he would touch her, but he hesitated. “I honestly believed I saw you, Tonya. But…it wasn’t you. You weren’t the one.”

Tonya broke down, and she couldn’t stop. The tears fell until she hiccupped, and Grayson crushed her in his embrace, stroking her back and whispering soothing words. His gentle care made it worse. He believed her. After all this time and after so much pain and loneliness, he believed her. There were times she wondered if she could make it with no one in her corner, times when she doubted her sanity. Hell, on one dark night, she thought she had cheated, which was crazy. She should keep hating Grayson, but the honest truth was, she didn’t want to. He said what she’d known deep down all along. After time passed and the pain and anger had eased, she remembered the devastation in his eyes that night, how pale he’d been. Grayson telling Roman what he thought he’d seen had cost him, and it couldn’t have been an easy decision to make.

Then again, maybe she was making it too easy for him, falling into bed and now accepting what he said.

Grayson tangled fingers in her hair and encouraged her to look up at him. He brushed wetness from her cheeks, and at last the tears subsided. When he kissed her lips, in an instant, he swept away Roman’s unwelcome touch. “I came out to tell you Aunt Linn is finally resting more comfortably. She seems to be over the hump.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

“Come with me to my house.”

He tightened his hold when she tried to pull away, and she curled her fingers on his arms, wanting to keep touching him but trying her best to do the right thing. Not that she knew what the right thing was at this point. “Shouldn’t you talk to Roman?”

“For once, Roman has to take care of himself.” He grinned. “Besides, if I go back, I might break his nose for kissing you.”

“Oh.” A warm rush of feeling washed over her, and she ducked her head. “Okay, let’s go. I have to get my purse.”

“Quickly,” he warned.

They hurried to the house, and after she retrieved her purse, Tonya checked for herself that Aunt Linn rested easy. Letreece was nowhere in sight, and she heard low voices coming from one of the bedrooms and assumed it was Roman and Abby. She hoped they could work things out for Lukas’ sake, but she had no wish to run into either of them. Back outside, Grayson held the car door for her, and she stepped into his Porsche to spend the night with him.

* * * *

Tonya kicked off her shoes while she sat on Grayson’s couch. The beautiful place still looked the same, so masculine yet tasteful, and it reflected the man himself. In fact, breathing in, she inhaled his scent and let out a little moan.

“If you do that, I will forget the food and eat you.”

She squeaked and sat forward. “You scared me. I thought you went to get plates.”

He sat beside her and drew her onto his lap. She didn’t resist. He pointed behind her to the coffee table, and she looked over to see that he’d set the dishes down.

“You were too busy having an orgasm on my couch.”

She rolled her eyes and slapped his chest. “I was not having an orgasm.”

“Not yet.”

When he smiled, her heart skipped a beat. She cleared her throat and looked away from his gaze. Falling for him wasn’t in her plan, but she’d have to be stupid not to see it happening. So much lay between them despite her confession.

“Gray.”

“Yes?” His hand smoothed over her hip, and she laid one on top of his to still it.

“You didn’t say anything about what I told you. I know I hurt you.”

“And I hurt you.”

She met his gaze. “But yours was a mistake.”

“You meant to hurt me?”

“Of course not, but—”

He touched a finger to her lips. She longed to lie on his chest and forget she started this conversation.

“I can’t pretend it doesn’t hurt me, Tonya. To have a son or daughter, it’s crazy, but it’s what I’ve dreamed of. You know my family wasn’t very close. My parents are distant, and they’ve always been that way. The warmest relationship I’ve had in the form of a parent figure was from Aunt Linn. I guess I always wanted to prove that I could be different with my own child. At least I hoped I could.”

“You don’t have to wonder. Just look at how you are with Lukas. You’d make a great dad.”

He smiled, and joy lit his gaze, but as quickly as it appeared, it dimmed. “Nola didn’t tell me the baby wasn’t mine. For all I knew, she’d destroyed my baby. It killed me. There was no way I would stay with her after that. The insane part of it is that I would have forgiven her for cheating.”

Tonya stared. “But me…”

“I’m not perfect, Tonya. Please don’t think for a minute I was completely unselfish when I told Roman what I thought was true. I wrestled over it, but a part of me was glad that it happened. I wanted you for myself from the first day I met you.”