The Perfect Match: A New Adult Erotic Romance (Inseparable Book 2) Read online

  “Me?” Trey asked, looking wounded and innocent.

  “Bringing up Kendall? Calling me a fucking bus driver? Do you want me to kick your ass?”

  “Like you could,” Trey growled as he leaned back in the folding chair. “Did you think you have a chance with a hot girl like that? You live with your parents and smell like old fish.”

  “Just because your daddy buys you a car and pays for your school doesn’t make you any better than me.”

  “No, but the job I’m gonna get when I graduate in a few months will.”

  The words stung Kurt more than he would admit to Trey. “There’s no shame in working for a living.”

  “Let me paint you a picture of your future.” Trey leaned forward to count his points off on his fingers. “You’re twenty-five and live at home. You’re going to marry Kendall someday because she’s the only one who’ll take you around here. And mark my words, she’s gonna start her baby machine the day after you’re married. It’s inevitable, Kurt. I like you, man, but that is going to be your life if you stay in Morgan City and drive a water bus.”

  Kurt shook his head and looked away. “I can play that game, too. We both know you’re headed down the same road Uncle Jack took. You’re going to end up a meal ticket for some high-maintenance college girl, hoping you can pay off the bills faster than she can rack them up.” He looked up with raised eyebrows and said, “And I doubt you’ll be lucky enough to land someone like Aunt Julie to save your ass.”

  “This is stupid,” Trey sat back with a sigh. “I’m sorry I was an asshole.”

  “You are an asshole,” Kurt said as he picked up his nearly empty plastic cup and drained the beer. The two men looked at each other and nodded, letting the wound between them close in silence.

  Trey finally said, “The truth is I can’t even find an internship right now and it’s fucking me up.”

  “Why don’t you ask Uncle Jack? I heard he’s rockin’ his new sales job.”

  Kurt smiled sadly and shook his head. “He hates Mom, and sometimes I get the feeling he don’t like me that much either.”

  “Well, she did call Aunt Julie his baby momma at the wedding.”

  “Oh, I never said she didn’t deserve it,” he said with a chuckle, then said almost to himself, “Maybe I should hit him up for some help.”

  “It couldn’t hurt,” Kurt said. After finishing off their food, they both stood up. “Let’s help Charlotte clean up so she won’t bad mouth us to Polly.”

  “Good idea. I got some dancin’ to do later and I’d prefer it to be with someone I ain’t related to.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Kurt said as he stacked the dirty plates up.

  * * *

  By the time the tables were clear, the late afternoon was cooling towards dusk when Pawpaw Garson called the musicians back to the flat bed truck to play. Kurt swung up, grabbed his guitar, and tuned up to the long note from the accordion. With a shout of pleasure, Pawpaw started in with a fast introduction to La Pointe aux Pins, leaving the other musicians to catch up as they could.

  Soon the whole crowd was dancing, even the little ones, while Kurt strummed and swayed. Polly and Charlotte were dancing at the edges of the crowd while Trey and Landon tried to coax them out into the crowd. Charlotte was a good sport and danced with her cousin so she could show Polly the steps as she tried to dance with Trey.

  Uncle Jack was twirling around his older girl, Jen, who looked to be about seven or eight now. The littler one, Lisa, was dancing around his legs waiting for her turn. Aunt Julie was swaying with little Jackson who was looking in wonder at the spectacle going on around him.

  About halfway through their set, he saw some of the Arsenault clan coming up the road to join the fais do-do. His mother Noëlle went out to meet them and hugged her best friend, Kendall’s mother, Mandy. Kendall did look pretty, but he was relieved when his cousin Michael approached her to dance.

  Kurt let his mind wander, poking around the sore spot Trey had left. Kendall was cute, but dumb. She talked big about becoming an attorney someday, but after dating her for a year it was clear she was all talk.

  The only thing they ever had going for them was great sex, but that came to a screeching halt right after her older sister got pregnant in the spring. One day Kurt found a piece of paper with Kendall Arsenault Guidry signed a bunch of times. Below that was a list that looked suspiciously like baby names.

  He started bringing his own condoms after she slipped and admitted she wasn't on the pill anymore. Then he stopped leaving the condoms at her place when he saw pin holes in one. After catching her in the bathroom digging one of his used condoms out of the trash, he called it off with her completely.

  Shaking his head at the memory, Kurt saw that Trey had lost Polly at some point and now she was dancing with Uncle Jack instead. The two of them were laughing hard about something, then Polly looked around at Trey with a sly grin. Kurt grit his teeth and played on, ignoring them both for a while.

  After a while, he noticed his younger cousin, Jean, was trying to get his attention from the ground next to the truck.

  “You want me to play a spell?” Jean asked over the music. He was just seventeen, but still a passable guitarist.

  “Yeah, you mind? I’d like to swing out a little before it gets dark.”

  “Happy to. Gimme a hand up,” he said, then Kurt pulled him up. Taking the guitar, Jean jumped right in with the band as Kurt hopped off the back of the truck.

  Heading towards the last place he saw Polly, he arrived to find her dancing around with little Jackson while Julie and Jack danced into the crowd. She looked relieved to see him, which made Kurt smile.

  “Would you take the baby for a minute?” she asked looking desperate.

  “Sure, gimme the little slobber machine,” Kurt said, happy to hold the smiling baby boy. The wide grin showed bare gums with two teeth poking through on the top and bottom. He had the family’s nearly black eyes and a wild patch of soft brown hair.

  Before he could say anything, Polly was dashing toward the back door, obviously heading to the bathroom. He watched her wiggling walk up the back stairs with a sigh, trying to decide what kind of panties she had on under her jeans.

  Jackson grabbed his nose with a happy squeal, so Kurt made gobbling sounds on along his cheek and neck until he let go with a giggle. That became the game they played until Polly came back looking relieved.

  “Thank you so much, you have no idea how bad I needed that.”

  “Well, since you emptied the tank, you want me to get you another beer?”

  “No, I’m fine for now,” she said as she took the baby back. “You really do play well!”

  “Aw, it ain’t nothin,” he said, warmed by her compliment. “Playing this stuff is pretty easy. Just chords and strumming. I been listening to them play these same songs since I was little like Jackson.” He tickled the baby’s belly and made him laugh. “Uncle Peter taught me and got me my first guitar to practice. That’s his boy, Jean, playing up there now.”

  “What does your dad do?” she asked as she led them towards the chairs nearby.

  “He drives a truck for a big transport company. What about yours?”

  “He’s got an importexport business between here and Botswana. That’s where he’s from.”

  “Were you born there?”

  “No, Mom’s from Houston and wanted me to be born in the states. Dad got his US citizenship around then, but now they spend about half the year in each place. That’s where they are now. What about your mom?”

  “My mom works at a meat market and makes the best andouille sausage in the world. It was in the red beans and rice at dinner.”

  “Oh my god, that was so good!” she exclaimed and grabbed his arm. “I told Julie we’re bringing some of this food back or I’m staying.”

  I wish you would, Kurt thought as he stared at her beautiful smile.

  “What?” she asked, wrinkling her brow at him.

  “Nothing,�
�� he said. Just before he was going to ask her to dance, Kendall came up, dragging Trey along with her. He shot an apologetic look at Kurt.

  “Hey, Kurt,” she said, ignoring Polly completely.

  “Kendall,” he said in a low monotone.

  “Trey won’t shut up about someone named Polly, so I figured I’d swap him for you.”

  “Hi, I’m someone named Polly.” There was an unreadable expression on her face as she extended her free hand to Kendall.

  “Oh,” Kendall said, feigning surprise badly as she shook hands. “I’m Kendall. I’m sure Kurt told you all about me.”

  “Actually, you never came up,” Kurt said.

  She ignored his comment and extended both hands to the baby, inviting him into her arms. Jackson jumped happily and reached for her, so Polly let him go. “Is this the baby Jackson I’ve heard so much about?”

  “Yes,” Polly said. “Don’t let him jump too much. He’s full.”

  “You don’t mind if I hold him a while, do you? I love babies. Trey, maybe Polly would like to dance?”

  Kurt had to admit that while Kendall might not be smart, she had a low cunning that more than made up for it on occasion.

  “Uh... sure,” Trey said, pulling Polly to her feet. Polly looked back with a worried expression, but allowed Trey to drag her off to dance anyway.

  “Kendall,” Kurt growled.

  “You looked so cute holding him, I couldn’t resist.” She hadn’t looked at Kurt in the face, but when she finally did there was a defiant glare in her eyes. “I bet ours would be cuter.”

  “Give it up,” he said and rolled his head around to relieve the tension he felt in his neck. “We’re not getting back together.”

  “Maybe not,” she whispered with angry tears in her eyes. “But you’re not getting with her either.”

  Chapter 3: Polly

  Polly was sitting at the kitchen table helping Lisa cut her pancakes while Garson and Claire’s other overnight guests ate breakfast. The large oak table had stains and burns from decades of preparing food and feeding people. Polly wished it could talk to tell the stories told across its surface over the years.

  The other guests around the table included Julie, Jack, Jen, Jackson, and the members of the Meyer family. Bella Brousard Meyer was Jack’s next older sister. Her husband, Stephen, and their three children, Peter, Svetlana, and Jordan, were laughing and talking about the fais do-do the night before. It made for a very loud morning after a late night of drinking and dancing.

  When Polly looked up, Julie was grinning. “What?” Polly growled as she took another sip of her hot black coffee.

  “You look like you had fun last night,” Julie said as she spooned another bite of oatmeal into Jackson’s open mouth.

  “I did,” she said. “It was just so... different than I imagined.”

  Bella laughed from across the table. “I take it you don’t have a big family?”

  “Not here in the states. It was just me and my older brother growing up. When I go visiting relatives in Botswana they throw a nice party, but trust me, they don’t party like y’all do.”

  That made all the adults in the room laugh. Claire came around to add more pancakes to the platter in the middle of the table and said, “We're happy you came to visit.”

  “Oh, I’m happy I came, too!” Polly chuckled. “It was just so much more fun than I expected.”

  Lisa pointed at the pile of pancakes and looked at Polly. “More!”

  “More, please,” Polly corrected.

  “More, please,” repeated the fouryear-old girl.

  “Julie,” Bella said to get her attention. “I hear you’re doing interior decorating now.”

  Julie made a face at Jackson to get him to open his mouth, then spooned in another spoonful of oatmeal. “It sounds like bigger deal than it really is.”

  Jack shook his head at Julie, then said to his sister, “It is a big deal. The lady she works for is basically training Julie to take over the business someday. One of her designs got written up on the Houston Homes website with a big spread of pictures.”

  Julie blushed and chuckled. “Seriously, it’s just a website. Bonnie’s always putting pictures up on the web.”

  “Don’t believe her, Bella. She’s going to end up making more than me,” Jack said as he beamed at his wife. “Just you wait and see.”

  Polly let out an exaggerated sigh and Julie kicked her in the leg. “Ow! What was that for?” Polly asked with a chuckle.

  “You know what that was for,” Julie growled, then turned to the room. “Polly does that every time she thinks we start acting too cute.”

  Bella had a broad grin when she leaned towards Polly to whisper, “Newlyweds! I swear they give love a bad name.”

  “I know, right?” Polly said as she finished cutting Lisa’s second pancake and slid her plate over.

  Stephen took the quiet moment to ask, “So Jack, how’s work going?”

  “Really well. I’ve nearly doubled Deep Drilling’s business over last year’s.”

  “How’d you manage that?” Stephen asked.

  “Well, I’d love to say it’s my winning personality, but my old company has been dropping the ball pretty bad. I’ve had a half-dozen old clients call me at home to find out where I’m working now. It’s sad, really.” Jack didn’t look very sad to Polly.

  “And how’s Sophie doing?” Bella asked over her cup of coffee.

  Jack glanced at the girls and pinched his lips. “She’s working at a department store in the Galleria selling high-end clothing.”

  Jen looked up at her Aunt Bella and said, “I don’t like her new boyfriend.”

  “Why not, sweetie?” Bella asked with exaggerated innocence.

  “We used to do fun stuff on the weekends, but now we go sit at his creepy art gallery. It’s boring. There are these naked mannequins there with paint all over them. Mom says they’re important works of art, but they just look stupid to me.” Jen ate the last bite of her pancakes and looked at Jack. “Can I go see the chickens?”

  The back door opened before Jack could answer and Kurt walked in. Polly noticed he had shaved the goofy looking scruff off his face and was wearing clean jeans and a t-shirt. His eyes scanned the room and stopped on her face with a smile, then he quickly looked away to give his grandmother a kiss.

  “Mornin’ Meemee,” he said as he hugged her tight.

  “Good mornin’, sha,” she said, using the familiar Cajun term of endearment. “You want some breakfast? We got plenty.”

  “No, I was coming over to see if the kids might want to go on a boat ride. Last night Uncle Charlie said I could use one of the small supply ships to go down the Atchafalaya to look at the wildlife.”

  “Yay!” Lisa said as she clapped her hands. “I want to go!”

  “Dad, can we?” Jen asked with her hands clasped in front of her body. “Please?”

  Julie chuckled at their excitement. “I don’t have a problem with you going, but I don’t want Jackson out in the wind all day.”

  “I’ll take the girls,” Polly said. “It sounds like fun!”

  “Just make sure they keep their life vests on the whole time,” Jack said. “I want a good report from Aunt Polly when you come back.”

  * * *

  The news of the boat ride spread quickly as the parents called and texted each other about the opportunity. The chance of spending the day without worrying about the kids proved too tempting, and by the time Polly arrived at the dock there were close to twenty children and teens boarding the boat.

  Jack dropped them off with a kiss for the girls while Polly gathered their jackets and hats. “I’ll call you when we’re on our way back. Do you have the sunscreen?” she asked Jack through the open door.

  “Here,” he said as he passed her the pink bottle. “Have fun!”

  “We will,” Polly said as she took the girls by their hands to lead them to the boat. Charlotte was helping some of the younger kids get their life vests on
.

  “Hey, Charlotte,” Polly called as they got close.

  “Oh, great! I was hoping you’d come with the girls. I had so much fun hanging out with you last night.”

  “Me, too,” she said as the girls picked out their orange vests from the pile near the dock. “It’s sweet of Kurt to do this for the kids.”

  “It was all his idea, too,” she said as reached over to help Lisa snap her vest closed. The two girls ran off to join their cousins getting on the boat while Charlotte and Polly put on their own life vests.

  “So what’s up with that Kendall chick?” Polly asked. She felt bad about leaving Kurt to go dancing with Trey, but there had clearly been something going on.

  “She’s a piece of work. Kurt dated her for a while last year, but then he caught her trying to trap him by getting pregnant. He wasn’t ready for that, and I sure ain’t ready to be Aunt Charlotte yet.”

  “Oh my god, seriously?”

  “Yeah, I’ll spare you the gory details, but it got ugly at the end. Of course, she’s the daughter of Mom’s best friend, so everyone started planning their wedding right after they started dating. Kurt never led her on. She just went out of her mind.”

  “Damn,” Polly said as they approached the ship. It was called the St. Marie according to the name on the bow and was easily sixty feet long. The back was one large open area surrounded by a waist high wall, with the pilot house situated at the very front. Kurt was yelling to a couple of guys near the ropes that tied the boat to the wharf.

  “Would you mind helping me with the lunch later?” Charlotte asked. “I’ve got a couple of coolers full of sandwiches and juice pouches for the kids.”

  “We’ll be out that long?”

  “Most of the day, yeah,” Charlotte said as she gathered her long brown hair back in a ponytail and slipped it through a scrunchy.

  It didn’t take long before they were underway. Seeing Kurt in his element gave Polly a little flutter in her stomach. He appeared strong and decisive as he stood at the helm yelling for the men to cast off. The rumbling engine under her feet roared to life, roiling a white wake in the water at the stern of the boat.