Southern Desire (Southern Heart 2)

“Aaron?” she whispers.

I nod. “Yeah, nice to meet you, finally. Thanks for coming this weekend.” I offer her my hand to shake.

She accepts it with a nod. “She’s my best friend. I’ve been worrying about her, knowing this day was really hard for her last year too. Thank you for caring about her, for organizing this.”

“Don’t ever thank me for caring about her. It’s an honor.” I grab her bag. “So she’s in the living room with my family. They all know you’re coming, but she has no idea. She does know that I have something special planned for tomorrow, but I’ve been holding out on her, which is driving her crazy.”

She laughs. “Sounds like her.”

“Come on in.” I hold the door open for her. Once we’re inside, I set her bag in the entryway and lead her to the living room. “Hey, Whit, can you help me with something?” I ask her. She nods, kisses Walker on the forehead, and hands him off to my sister before standing. When she finally does, she looks up and screams.

“Jamie!” She rushes her best friend and crushes her in a hug. They are both laughing and crying, their embrace tight. “Holy sh—crap! What are you doing here?” She looks over her shoulder and flashes an apologetic glance at my sister, who waves her off.

“This guy”—Jamie points at me—“called and said I was part of some special weekend plans.”

“You.” Whitney releases her friend and comes to me. Her arms wrap around my waist and she rests her head against my chest. I, in turn, wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. This is where she belongs. “Thank you, Aaron. How did you? No, you know what? I don’t even care. You are . . . everything, Aaron Mills.” Up on tiptoe, she kisses the corner of my mouth. Her face flushes when she realizes my family is watching us.

“I know this is a hard weekend for you. Thought you might need your best friend.” Running my finger down her jawline, I smile at her. “Right,” I say when Evan clears his throat. I introduce Jamie to my family. They are all saying hello, shaking hands and all that, so I take a minute to just enjoy holding Whit in my arms.

Raising her head, she looks up at me, eyes shimmering with tears. “Come here.” She motions for me to lean down. She cups my face and her lips land next to my ear. “You’re my best friend, Aaron.”

Lifting to my full height, I study her as her words sink in. “It’s different, but yeah,” she confirms my unspoken question. I kiss her forehead.

“So, the two of you will be staying here tonight. We already have Kinley’s old room made up for you.”

“Oh, we can’t do that,” she tries to argue.

“Nonsense. I’m taking my wife out for the night. You kids have the house to yourselves. Then tomorrow night we get to have a slumber party,” Dad tells her. Lexi cheers; she knows that means she’s spending the night.

“So it’s settled.”

Whitney smiles. It’s one of those smiles that lights your life on fire. The one that will have you moving heaven and earth to see it. She’s happy, and considering what this weekend is for her, I’ll take it. I finally relax. I was a little worried that maybe she wouldn’t want Jamie here. Lucky for me, things turned out.

“Right, Mom, we about ready to go? We have reservations.” Dad wags his eyebrows at Mom and she laughs.

“If we must.” She sighs. She acts like it’s a hardship, but we all know better. She loves that he still whisks her away.

“We better head home too. This one needs to n-a-p,” Evan says, nodding toward Lexi.

Whitney releases me and goes to my parents, hugging each of them tight. “Thank you so much for this. I can’t—” Her voice cracks.

“Enjoy your time, sweetheart.” Mom hugs her again.

“You guys can stay,” Whit says to Evan and Kinley.

“We’ll see you tomorrow.” Kinley immediately covers her mouth and I laugh.

“You didn’t spoil it,” I tell her.

“Good, we better go before I do.” They quickly say good-bye, and it’s just the three of us.

“So, you ladies make yourselves at home. I’m going to run and get some pizza and something fruity.” I wink at Whitney. “Any special requests?” They both shake their heads. “I’ll be back in a little bit.” I kiss her lips softly and make myself walk out the door. She needs time with her other best friend. Her squeal of excitement as soon as the door shuts tells me I’m right. I smile all the way to my truck.

I wait until Aaron is out the front door before I squeal and pull Jamie into another hug. “I can’t believe you’re here,” I say, releasing her.

“It was all Aaron’s idea. I guess he stole my number from your phone.”

“Sneaky bastard.” I laugh. I can’t be mad at him. Not for this.

“You look great, Whit, and Aaron. . . .” She fans herself. “You said he was good-looking, but damn, girl, you didn’t do him justice.”

“Well. . . .”

She smacks my arm as she laughs. “He’s hot as hell and a nice guy too. How did you manage that?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I mean, he’s not my boyfriend or anything. I don’t really know what we are. We’re just hanging out.”

“Does he kiss you?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Does he give you orgasms?”

My face heats. “Jamie!”

“What? It’s an honest question. Does he?”

“Yeah, I mean, no.”

She laughs. “Which is it?”

“Yes, he does, but we haven’t actually, you know, slept together.”

“Interesting,” she says, tapping her finger against her chin.

“Interesting? What do you mean? How is that interesting?”

“What are you waiting for?”

“What makes you think it’s all me?”

She gives me a look that says Come on, Whitney.

“Really. It’s like he’s afraid I’m going to break or something,” I admit.

“Sounds like you need to seduce him.”

I laugh. “I’ve missed you.”

“Back at ya, toots. Now, I want to hear it all. What’s been going on with you? Some of the pictures you’ve sent me are incredible, not that I would expect less from you, but the ones of the farm are fabulous.”