Page 58 of Candy

“No, you have two partners. I’m the other one. I had a long talk with my brothers yesterday and told them to back off. What I do is none of their business. Even my father thinks the investment is a good idea, and I trust what my father says.”

“Wait, you’re back in the deal?”

She nodded. “In the deal, yes.”

“Just the deal?”

“Are you asking me if I want more? Because I told you before that I didn’t.”

“Maybe not now, but you will eventually.”

She stepped closer to me. “Mike, can’t we deal witheventuallywhen it eventually occurs?”

“What are you saying?” I asked her, afraid to hope.

She took another step, and this one brought her into my personal space. “I’m saying, I miss you. I miss seeing you and don’t want to pretend I don’t. If you don’t want anything to do with me, that’s fine. You can still stay here, and I will keep my distance, but—”

I didn’t let her finish that sentence. I speared my hand through her hair and pulled her body to mine. The taste of her lips was like a drug I had been craving, and I wanted to sigh in relief. She clung to my biceps, whimpering slightly as she leaned into my body and tilted her head further.

My arms wrapped around her. I suddenly felt like a man who had been trapped in the desert without water, and she was an endless fountain of refreshment.

A loud noise from the television program jolted us back to reality, and we slowed the kiss and pulled back.

“I thought you said she wasn’t your girlfriend.” Harley’s small voice had us both snapping our heads toward him.

Candy’s body vibrated with silent laughter as she stepped out of my arms.

“Harley, that’s complicated.”

There was a knock at the door, and she grinned at me. “That’s my sister. I’ll let you finish this conversation.”

“Why is it complicated?” he asked as Candy left the room. “Don’t you like her?”

“I do like her very much.”

“Does she like you?”

“I think she does.”

“Then she should be your girlfriend.”

I snickered and brushed his hair back. He needed a good haircut. “How did you get so smart?”

“I listened to a lot of television. They were always talking about loving each other, kissing, and doing other things.”

“You listened to that, but you didn’t watch it?”

He shook his head. “No, we didn’t have a television, but the person next to us did, and they played it loud enough that I could hear if I put my ear to the wall or lay close and listened hard.”

I frowned and tried to think of how to explain it. “Well, sometimes people kiss each other, even when they aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“But if you like each other, why can’t you be boyfriend and girlfriend? My mom had lots of boyfriends. She said one day she would get married, and I’d have a dad, but I already have a dad. Does that mean I would have a mom again if you get married? Cuz if it does, I really like Candy. She could be my mom.”

I lifted my head to see Candy and her sister standing there listening. “How about we finish this conversation later. Candy wants you to meet her sister.”

He turned toward the ladies and shifted back slightly. Surprisingly, he put his hand up and waved as he said softly, “Hi.”

“Harley, this is my big sister, Carmen.”

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