by Diana W.
“This is how those serial killer reenactments start.” She realized there were fewer people wherever he was taking her.
“Very funny,” Justin responded dryly. “Now, close your eyes.”
“Justin, I swear to God that the ghost version of me will fuck yo shit up if you kill me,” she warned in jest but not really. The alarms in her brain were all firing off at once worried that he had figured out who she really was and who she was working with.
Justin tried to refrain from laughing, but it was pointless. Everything about Harley lifted his spirit from the moment he met her. He hated that she was so guarded and only gave him just enough about herself to let him fill in the blanks. They’d met just over a month ago but lately, she was texting and calling more often, to his delight, and this was the third time he’d seen her this week. He rarely had free time to spare outside of his hectic business schedule but found himself moving mountains to make meet-ups with her happen, even if it was just for a quick cup of coffee. He hoped it was a sign that she was warming up to him because he wanted more from her.
"You’re going to ruin this,” he playfully chastised. “Now, can you please close your eyes for me?” He held her by the waist and poked his lip out.
“You’re too old to be pouting.” Harley stifled her laugh. She didn’t peg him to be a psychopath by his playful gesture, so she complied. “Fine.”
“Just difficult.” Justin held her hand and carefully walked her from the path through the grass. When they stopped, he stood behind her and lowered his lips to her ear. “Open your eyes.”
Harley first peeked with one eye then the other. “What is…all of this?” The genuine shock she felt at seeing the large red blanket with wine glasses and a tray of assorted cheeses and fruit across it threw her completely off her game.
“Our schedules rarely sync so... I want each time to count when I do get a chance to see you.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his head on her shoulder. “If that’s ok with you?”
Harley tried not to feel anything by the gesture, but how could she not? Picnics in southern Louisiana were usually comprised of boiled seafood and snowballs, which were of no complaints to her, but to know that Justin put some thought behind his effort was honestly sweet. She knew he was trying his hardest to spend time with her, always asking about her plans for the day or week, trying to find an open slot in the busy and very fake freelance writing schedule she claimed. He showered her with attention, and they never went beyond kissing. Yet, she could barely get five words out of the man she had actually slept with.
Lately, Cornell relayed directives through Clark, and though she felt slighted by it all, she was learning to let it go. He owed her nothing. The more she talked to Justin, the more it eased her frustrations with Cornell and was why she chose to make herself more available to Justin. She was living a lie, but she could at least feel good while doing it.
“This is so sweet.” Harley spun around in his arms and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
“You know once you start doing that, I can’t stop.” Justin stared at the lips he often went to sleep thinking about.
“You keep doing things like this, and you won’t have to,” Harley smirked and broke their connection to claim her spot on the blanket with Justin right behind her.
With the wine bottle and food trays nearly empty, Harley was on her back, staring up at the sky with Justin by her side.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.” Justin looked over at her.
“Was taking over the family business always in your plans or did you have other things you wanted to pursue?”
“Truthfully,” he looked back up to the sky, “I’ve always wanted to be like my dad. The way he dressed. The way he talked. The way he carried himself. He was like a black business superhero to me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he does have some qualities outside of business that I’m not a fan of, but the older I get, the more I realize that both of my parents are products of their upbringing.”
“What do you mean?” Harley pressed, genuinely curious.
“Take my dating life, for instance.” He turned on his side and propped up on his arm. “Every time they’ve ever tried to set me up or liked a girl I’ve dated, the women tended to all have the same similarities.”
“Like?” She looked up at him expectantly.
“Fair complexion. Family of a certain status. Went to the best private schools and colleges. A part of some social circle, blah… blah… blah. They have a type, and it’s because they were taught to want those qualities in their partners by my grandparents. At one point, I found myself wanting to please them, so I went along with it, but now, I move my own way in that aspect of my life.”
“So, am I the melanated guinea pig?”
“Really?” he scoffed. “As much as I stay blowing your phone up, trying to get next to you, you think it’s because I'm experimenting?”
“Hell, maybe,” she shrugged. “That’s why am I asking and especially after what you just admitted.”
“Well, since I thought it was obvious, let me make it clear.” He lowered his face so he could look her in the eyes. “I like you, Harley. More than I probably should, given how long we’ve known each other, but I can’t help it. You have me sitting in meetings, hoping you’ll randomly text or call me because it changes my day for the better, and it has nothing to do with your melanin ratio. You’re funny. You’re beautiful, and I want to be around you because you make me feel good.” He lowered his lips to hers. “Is that clear enough for you?”
Harley fought to give Justin the smile his words warranted. A wave of emotions, mostly guilt, hit her like a Mack truck. None of it made sense. Justin was reacting exactly the way he should be, faster than she estimated. She could probably get a secret out of him if she wanted to, but she didn’t. Not yet, at least. His transparency was refreshing. There was no uncertainty, nothing left to interpretation, and she wanted to revel in that for as long as she could before it was over.
“Crystal.”
“Good.” He sealed that understanding with a lingering kiss to her lips that deepened when she pulled on the collar of his shirt. It wasn’t the earth-moving tornado she’d felt with Cornell but still good nevertheless.
“Go on a trip with me,” he spurted as he came up for air.
Harley gave him a funny look, thinking he’d made a mistake. “What?”
“I need to go to Miami, well Fort Lauderdale, for business and I want you to come. We can make a weekend out of it.”
Her hesitation made him rush to speak up. “It's ok if you don’t want to. I just thought it’d be fun.”
It didn’t take much deliberation on her part. She was sold on being anywhere away from the Gaines family. Fun and a beach were an added bonus. "I'll go.”
Justin froze believing he heard her incorrectly. “Really?”
"Did I not just say yes?” She raised a brow.
Closed mouths never got fed, and Justin threw the offer out, not expecting to hit the jackpot. He expressed his excitement with another kiss to her lips, shifting his body comfortably between her legs. The move, though welcomed, made Harley giggle.
She calmly whispered in his ear, “I’m not gonna be the cause for somebody’s kid needing therapy for their voyeurism.”
Justin laughed into her neck and placed a kiss there. “C’mon, let’s pack up. We can discuss the flight details in the car.”
That plan may have sounded good at that moment, but he and Harley spent the majority of the ride back to her place continuing what sparked between them in the park. The driver’s hands were probably numb from holding the door open, waiting for her to get out so he could go about his day.
“Text me.” Justin stared at her and decided that she looked too damn good to let go of just yet.
“I will,” she spoke against his lips and placed her hands on his chest to create some space between them. “After I shower.”
“Or during.” H
e stroked his chin, imagining what her body would look like covered in suds.
“Goodbye, Mr. Rowe.” Harley laughed her way out of the car.
On the ride up to the apartment, Harley mentally packed for Miami. She didn’t pack any bathing suits when she was forced to come to the condo, so she needed to buy a couple. Maybe even a nice maxi dress to go with it. She wondered if Cyn could help her out in that department. They had grown incredibly cordial, almost friendly, with each other since the night of the gala. They could make it a day of shopping since Harley hadn’t touched her own money since arriving at the condo.
The doors of the elevator opened, and Harley stilled when she saw both Clark and Cornell sitting on the sofa talking. Privacy was a luxury she couldn’t ask for, but she wished like hell they could give her some semblance of it—or a heads up that they’d be in her space.
Refusing to ruin her good mood, Harley directed her attention to Clark. “Found something?” She took a seat near him.
“Not yet,” he responded slightly irritated. “And that’s a problem.”
“Why?” Hearing that gave her a sense of relief. She’d thrown him a bone by saying she felt like Justin was hiding something, but the truth was outside of his beige family and their better-than-everybody-else ways, Justin was coming across as a decent guy. “What if there’s nothing to find?”
“There’s always something to find,” Cornell’s baritone came alive, only further pissing her off. She would’ve thought he went mute since the night they slept together.
Her eyes cut his way. “Just because you or I may have a shit load of skeletons, doesn’t mean everybody else does.”
“You sound defensive.” His comment was pointed.
“Of?”
“Him.”
Cornell’s disdain for her skeletons remark was immersed in whatever generic department store cologne Justin wore. He could smell it on Harley from his seat the same way he did the night of the gala.
“Oh, I’m just doing my job,” she cooed, sarcasm dripping from her overly exaggerated shrug. “Speaking of,” her attention returned to Clark who was growing increasingly uncomfortable by their awkward exchange, “I’ll be accompanying him to Ft. Lauderdale this weekend.”
“Like hell you will.” Cornell sat forward, snapping both Clark and Harley’s necks his way.
“Cee,” Clark cleared his throat, still unsure about the tension he was in the crosshairs of, “if he asked her to go, I don’t see the problem. Nothing in his history suggests that he’s a security threat, and a getaway might relax him enough to talk.”
“And I’m certain I’m close to getting exactly what I need from him.” Harley made sure to make the implication sound sexual, just to add a little more salt to his bleeding ego.
“I already gave my decision.” Cornell stood to leave, refusing to hear another word.
Harley clapped her hands. “And your decision is wrong, but you’re too busy being an asshole to see that. Stop trying to throw your weight around because you can’t communicate whatever the fuck is really wrong with you.”
Cornell glared her way and she returned the same look. He chose to remain silent, not wanting Clark to witness whatever this would turn into if he stayed there and headed for the elevator.
“That’s right, leave you fucking coward!” Harley got up and stomped her way to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. With her back against it, she covered her mouth with her hand and screamed her frustration into it. She hated wanting his acknowledgment, no matter the form it came in.
“What the hell is going on?” Clark scrambled to his feet to follow his brother.
Cornell ignored him and repeatedly pressed the down button.
“Cee,” he held him by the shoulder, “I stay out of a lot, but that,” he pointed behind him, “I need answers to.”
“It’s…complicated, Clark,” he sighed.
“Well, un-complicate it for me.” Clark raised his brows. “You’re the only one who keeps this family from going completely bat shit. We can’t have you knee-deep in bullshit too.”
The doors of the elevator opened and they both stepped in. With his back against the wall, Cornell looked up at the overhead lights. “We had sex.”
Clark somehow wasn’t surprised by that news. Harley was a gorgeous woman. Fine in every aspect. And the way she went word-for-word with his brother revealed that Cornell would eventually notice her romantically. Well, sexually. Unlike Mo, he and Cornell weren’t really the relationship types. For him, it was hard to find a black woman that didn’t find him strange and wasn’t trying to date him based on his family’s name. He wasn't sure what Cornell’s reasons were.
“Ok,” Clark shrugged. “Sleeping with her still didn’t warrant that type of reaction, although, I wish you would’ve waited until after she completed the job. What aren’t you saying?”
Cornell looked to his shoes. He was never apologetic for how he handled women because he was always upfront about his intentions. Blurred lines tended to cause more drama than the sex was worth, so he avoided creating any. The ones who acted out were those that assumed they could get him to be monogamous, believing their pussies were sprinkled with unicorn dust. Harley, however, was a different mythical creature altogether.
“I haven’t talked to her since.” He left out the part about going in her raw and the unnecessary video she sent to him showing him what he already knew about her. She wasn’t some opportunistic leech trying to come up from a baby. It wasn’t hard to gauge that about her.
“Why not?” Now, Clark was confused. “You knew she’d be around and that it could jeopardize all of this. That doesn't make sense.”
Shit, it didn’t make sense to him either.
Cornell rubbed his fist, still trying to piece it together in his mind. The night they had sex, he tried to treat it like any other situation he’d been in, but that only lasted until he made it to the elevator. There was regret in the pit of his stomach that followed him back home. Not from what they did but of his actions afterward. Harley gave him her body, fed him the very thing his soul ached for since the first time they crossed paths, and then he turned around and treated her like another casual fling. It wasn’t because he wanted to but because he couldn’t verbalize that she’d thrown his entire psyche out of whack.
Though he wasn’t sure about what he was experiencing, his not waking up in a cold sweat from his reoccurring nightmare was another indication. From that day forward, she was in his head, even when was doing everything to keep her out of it. “Something with her is...different. It’s like she’s in my fucking veins. You know how crazy that shit sounds. Hell, how that feels?”
Clark wished he could tell his brother he knew exactly how he felt. He’d left Mia asleep in their newly acquired hotel room to come meet up with him. Mo had access to his condo and the warehouse, so he decided it was best to find a different spot to lay their heads until she figured out her next moves. No scenario could end with them being together. They hadn’t engaged in anything sexual since the night of her arrival, but being able to hold and wake up to her in his arms was becoming his favorite part of each day.
“So, why are you running from that?” Clark envied how good Cornell had it. At least the woman he wanted wasn’t off limits.
“Because each and every person in our family, except for Mom, has an addictive personality, and nothing good has come from it. It doesn’t have to be drugs or alcohol to be dangerous.”
Cornell thought being strung out over a woman was probably the most dangerous of them all. At least with drugs and alcohol, rehab could potentially get you back on your feet, but where could you go after a woman ripped your heart and life to shreds?
The elevator doors opened, and Cornell and Clark stepped out into the quiet lobby.
“But, Cee,” Clark continued to push, “this is the first woman I’ve ever heard you speak about. Against your will, yes, but that says something. You should talk to her, and if you don’t want to do that,
then let her go on this trip. I think Justin Rowe might actually be in love with her, and men in love tend to pillow talk.”
Cornell felt his throat tighten. The thought of Harley sleeping with Justin was enough to make him physically sick. It was why he didn’t want her on the trip. It gave them too much opportunity to develop into something more. He knew they hadn’t crossed that line yet and the selfish part of him didn’t want her to, even if they never spoke again. “She said that?”
“She didn't have to. Did you see all the damn flowers in the dining room?”
He hadn’t because he was too busy trying not to stare at how beautiful she looked though reeking of that shitty cologne.
When they reached the curb to wait on Cornell’s driver, the idea hit him. “You still got that guy with the gadgets.”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’ll agree to the trip, but I want her mic’d.”
Uncomfortable, Clark shook his head. “I don’t know about that one, Cee. Something about it seems...wrong.”
“Wrong? And having her pretend to like him is right?” Cornell patted him on the back, displaying false confidence. He knew Harley liked Justin more than she was leading on, especially if Justin was doing everything in the cornball handbook to win her over. “Don’t forget why we’re here.”
Clark bit his tongue. He still didn’t like it, but how could he refute it?
“I’ll see what he can do,” Clark sighed. “We’re telling her about it, though, right?”
"We’ll see.” He brought Clark in for a quick hug. “Let me sleep on it.” He kissed the top of his head. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” Clark watched him get into his truck and waited for it to pull off before he left.
CHAPTER 19
“Don’t look so sad, baby.” The topless stallion placed her hand on Mo’s cheek and sealed her faux sympathy with a kiss to his forehead. She turned around and proceeded to grind her g-string into his lap, much to his indifference. He took another gulp from his glass and let the burn from the liquid continue to numb his pain.