Just One Wish (The Kingston Family #4.5)(6)

His very real desire to see her again tugged at her, causing a heavy pain in her chest. Because she did want to have dinner with him. Catch up. Learn about his life. She just didn’t want to open herself up to heartbreak.

“Actually, I do want to go out with you.”

He released the tension he’d been holding and relaxed, straightening his shoulders, a wide smile on his handsome face. “Great.”

She snatched the card from her mom’s hand and passed it over.

Axel accepted it this time. “I’ll pick you up at seven.” He glanced at the dog, who had been so good while sitting at his side. “It’ll just be us. Bella has a seven p.m. curfew,” he said with a grin. “Come on,” he said, and the dog, as if she belonged to him, followed him out.

Tara waited until the door shut behind him before turning on her mother. “What is wrong with you?” She’d never seen her mother act so pushy, so insistent … so over the top!

Marsha looked at Tara, disappointment in her gaze. “You were always such a bright girl. So smart. Yet here you are, turning down a date with the only man you’ve ever loved. Why?”

Oh, for God’s sake. She did not want to have this conversation. “Because Axel and I don’t make sense, that’s why!”

“What doesn’t? Dating? Relationships? Good sex? Giving me grandchildren?”

“Mom!” Tara was as horrified as she was grateful they were alone and nobody was in the waiting room. She had no doubt the vet techs in the back were having a field day with this entire conversation.

“What? Somebody has to tell it like it is! Now please explain to me why you and that handsome man don’t make sense in that bright mind of yours?” Her mother sounded both concerned and exasperated.

Tara didn’t like this talk any more than her mom did. “When you take away emotions and feelings, everything else about us has always been wrong. Geography, for starters.”

“He lives in town, Tara.”

“When he’s in the studio and making music, maybe. Afterwards he spends eight months or more on tour. Sometimes in the US and other times around the world.” And that wasn’t the kind of relationship she wanted.

She wanted what she’d had growing up. A husband at home with her and their kids. A normal life. The kind she’d lost when her dad died. But she wouldn’t say that to her mother. Marsha had tried so hard to blend the family, and it wasn’t her fault Tara always felt separated from them all. They tried, but it was like she had this wall around herself she couldn’t let them get beyond. And if she allowed herself to fall for Axel again, she feared she’d always be the outsider in his lifestyle, ultimately left behind.

“Honey, you’re so afraid of being hurt and abandoned, like you were when your dad died, that you’ve closed yourself off completely.”

Read my mind, why don’t you, Tara thought. Her mom had always known her well.

Her mother put a hand on top of Tara’s. “No man will ever meet whatever criteria you’re holding out for, and the one you really want is back, yet you’re too afraid to give him a chance.”

A lump rose in Tara’s throat, making her unable to speak.

“Just promise me you’ll give Axel a chance?” her mother asked, her eyes damp.

Tara sighed. “Okay. Anything to get you to take a step back and let me think things through.” She smiled to take away the sting of her words, and it worked.

Her mom grinned, then pulled her into a hug, happy with Tara’s agreement to try. And since she’d agreed to a date with Axel, clearly she was going to do just that.





Axel strode out of the vet offices, whistling as he walked, Bella trotting by his side.

“Good job,” he said to the pup as he loaded her into the passenger seat and took his place behind the wheel. “You deserve a treat for being so perfect,” he told her.

After starting up the car, he headed for the coffee shop in town, all the while thinking about his first glimpse of Tara. As a man surrounded by women whenever he traveled, he was familiar with beautiful females. Not to lump them into one category, but those he saw in the concert arena tried too hard to make themselves noticeable. Pushed up breasts, brightly colored hair, skimpy clothes, too-high heels.

Had he screwed around with them? Yeah, of course. He’d had needs. But had he ever been interested in any of them long-term? That would be a big hell no. Because none of them were real.

Tara was a breath of fresh air. She always had been. From her natural wavy hair that fell like silk over her shoulders to her nearly makeup-free face and those lips he wanted to kiss again, she was exactly what he’d been missing. Even if her mother had twisted her arm to go out with him, Axel was pleased with their first meeting in years.

After giving Bella her treat, he returned to Xander’s and let himself in the side door of the pool gate and took a seat outside.

A few minutes later, the sliding glass door opened, and his host stepped outside.

“Dog returned before her curfew,” Axel said, gesturing to the golden lying by his side on the grass.

“And you stayed?” Xander stepped over and glanced down at the dog. “What’s on Bella’s nose?”

“I got her a pup cup as a reward for being such a good girl.” He lowered his hand to pet her soft head.