again after so much time that brought back all his emotions about what had happened when they were seniors in high school and thought they had had their entire lives in front of them.
Seeing the man responsible for ruining all his dreams come up and comfort the woman he would always see as his did nothing to soothe Jason’s raging emotions.
Neither of the two people who had betrayed him in the worst way possible had been home in years. Terrill had come back more often than Penny, who hadn’t been home once since she left. He had run into Terrill off and on through the years, but could never bring himself to speak to the man.
Of the two of them, Jason didn’t know whom he blamed more. Thinking of Terrill’s betrayal made the blood run cold in his body. Numbness had come over him when he saw his former best friend, the man he had thought would one day stand with him at his wedding. Any emotion he felt seemed to be layered with ice, and he liked it that way. He didn’t think he would ever thaw when it came to Terrill.
And Penny? Well, seeing her in person again for the first time in fifteen years caused his blood to boil and his body to run hot.
Anger. Hurt. Attraction…?
His conflicting feelings made for one jacked-up combination, as far as he was concerned.
How could he still be attracted to her?
Seeing the two of them together made him run hot and cold at the same time, and Jason wasn’t comfortable with the impact their presence had on him.
It didn’t help that Penny still looked gorgeous. The simple black dress she wore clung to her curves in ways that brought scandalous thoughts—certainly thoughts he shouldn’t have been having at a wake—to his mind. The designer sandals with lots of straps and stiletto heels did things to her calves that caused his pulse to quicken.
But that was nothing compared to what it did to his heart to see that toasted-cinnamon face, those bold copper eyes and that beautiful sandy-brown hair, all in the form of a woman whom had grown up to be just as beautiful as he’d always known she would be. Her hair was styled in those thin sister-locks and hung loose around her face and down her back. The sisterlocks had soft blond and bronze highlights that shimmered and beckoned to him to reach out and caress them.
“I heard Terrill saw the light and got rid of that little slut soon after they left town.” Aunt Sophie had snuck up behind him, and now she tilted her head toward the corner of the crowded funeral home where Terrill sat with Penny.
Jason didn’t know how he felt about the fact that his aunt had probably seen him watching the two of them make their way to a set of folding chairs in the corner. He knew for sure he didn’t like his supposedly saved and sanctified aunt calling Penny a slut, no matter how much the name seemed to fit.
He had even called her that himself, once upon a time.
Now, in spite of how she had hurt him, he regretted lashing out at her. Years and some distance had him rethinking everything that happened back then. Maybe it was his cop’s instincts, or his cold-case training, but something about those past events still nagged at him.
“Is that any way for the president of the Deaconess Board to talk, Aunt Sophie? I swear, your mouth is worse than some of the criminals I arrest.” Jason pinned a disapproving gaze on Sophie, in hopes it would halt her bad talk about Penny.
“I’m just calling it like I see it. I’m just letting you know your friend Terrill had the sense to let her go. You should, too. A girl like that is bad news. Just look at her mama.” Aunt Sophie paused and hissed as she sucked her teeth in disgust.
“And Doreen, God bless the dead, as hard as she tried to make sure that Penny didn’t end up like Carla, look at her. She threw away the best thing that ever happened to her and went off to California, dancing in music videos. It’s a wonder Doreen didn’t drop dead from the shock of it.”
Sophie offered a dramatic pause and threw her head toward the heavens for effect. “Her daughter whoring her body for crack cocaine, and her granddaughter whoring her body for God knows what to the tune of that god-awful rap music. Lord, have mercy!”
Jason counted to ten before saying a word to his aunt. The woman meant well; he knew she did. She had been the one who had comforted him when Penny had broken his heart.
He also knew as well as anyone that Penny had used those few videos she’d modeled in to help pay for college. She was a successful businesswoman now, who didn’t trade in on her looks—her still gut-wrenchingly beautiful looks—to make a living.
He chanced another glance at Penny and found himself lingering again over her soft, cinnamon-toned skin. She had always been shapely, and what had been a knockout body when she was a teenager had turned into a to-die-for body in the woman. Her curves spoke to him from behind her black wrap-style dress, and he silently reminded himself that they were in a place for mourning, not salivating. Captivated, he tried to get past the in-your-face realization that his copper-eyed girl had turned into a gorgeous woman.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to let his aunt know what he thought of her snide remarks, he stopped himself, wondering why he felt so compelled to stand up for Penny. She had no loyalty, and she certainly didn’t deserve his. Shaking his head, he walked away from his aunt.
Deciding he needed some air, he walked outside of Lee’s Funeral Home and took big gulps. Taking in the vibrant street life happening all around him on Rosa Parks Boulevard, he had to wonder why he’d bothered to show up at the wake at all.
Sure, he had loved and respected Doreen “Big Mama” Keys as much as anyone. But he could have just attended the funeral and paid his respects the next day—from a distance. As it was, now he’d be seeing Penny two days in a row.
Glancing across the street, he noticed his brothers—Lawrence, Joel and Patrick—exiting their vehicles. Lawrence stopped to talk to four teenagers hanging on the corner, who immediately hustled to hide their dice and cash. Jason kept his eyes focused on them, in case they gave Lawrence any trouble.
Lawrence, a well-known narcotics detective, actually worked this part of town, so Jason doubted his brother would have any trouble. Lawrence saw a lot more action as a narc than Jason did as a forensics expert and cold-case detective.
The teenagers cleared the corner, and within seconds Jason’s three older brothers were standing in front of him.
All three shared the trademark Hightower rugged good looks. They were tall, had skin in varying shades of mahogany, and their looks had been known to drive women wild. Joel and Patrick were both firemen with the Paterson Fire Department. And he and Lawrence were both detectives with the Paterson Police Department.
“Hey, ’lil bro.” Joel reached out and gave Jason a quick hug.
Lawrence and Patrick followed with the same greeting, and then they all just stood there.
He could tell that they were trying to feel him out, that they wanted to ask if he’d seen Penny yet.
“We came to pay our respects,” Patrick offered, clearly sick of the silence. His older brother normally had little use for small talk or other common niceties. He was a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy whose brash manner normally didn’t go over well with the ladies.
“Yeah. That’s good. You should,” Jason responded.
“She here?”
