by Tracy Reed
“Thank you, Mr. Adair.” I stopped in front of the closed door.
“May I come in?” Capping his question off with a soft kiss on my lips.
“No, you may not.”
He looked a little surprised by my answer. “But we’re married.” He gently grazed my breast with the tip of his finger and a surge of heat traveled the length of my body. I shifted a little and he repeated the move. He lowered his mouth to my ear and the smell of his cologne drew me closer into his space. “Are you sure I can’t come, inside?”
I looked at him, and I wasn’t sure which inside he was referring to. I cleared my throat and answered his question. “This is a single girl’s room.”
He gently grabbed my earlobe between his teeth and my body started to react. I felt hot and tingly. He followed up my response with a simple question. “A single girl’s room?”
As the words floated off his lips and landed in my ear, I was done. I was ready to pull him inside the room and beg him to do that finger thing. I splayed my hand against his chest, and pushed him back. I quickly remembered we weren’t alone. This wasn’t our cottage, where we were free to do whatever, wherever we wanted to.
He lowered my hands, completely ignoring my weak attempt to push him away. He gently stroked my arm and grazed the side of my breast again. I bit my lower lip and tried not to give in to my body. He pulled me close caressing my behind as he kissed me hard. Trading soft moans, my excitement level began to rise.
He moved his mouth across my cheek down my neck before resting in the damp spot between my breasts. I tossed my head back enjoying every second of this passionate exchange. “Ba…baby…,” I managed to get a word out of my mouth. I tried again. “Baby…” His mouth moved lower into my bosom and I envisioned his lips kissing every inch of my naked body. He blew warm air into the damp space and suddenly my bra felt tight and my breasts wanted attention. I reached for his hand and placed it on my breast. “Please, baby,” I begged.
“Changed your mind?” He gently caressed my breast until it was so swollen, I could barely stand to have anything touching it, but his hand. I leaned up against the door to keep from falling. He seductively whispered, “Let’s go inside.”
My eyes were closed and my head was full of all the decadent things we’d done over the past few days, and all I could think about was how good he’d feel guiding us into ecstasy. I covered his hand as it made love to my breast. It was becoming more difficult to breath. His hand glided down my stomach to the button on my pants and I grabbed it.
“No, baby. This is a good single girl’s room.”
“And what are you?” he whispered.
I swallowed hard and slowly opened my eyes. “I’m a good bad girl married to a good bad boy.”
“That’s right and don’t you forget it.” He kissed me again and we pulled apart. He opened the door, I turned and walked inside, and he patted me on the behind.
“Watch it.”
“I am.”
I walked inside, closed the door and leaned against the door, collecting myself. I looked around the room and noticed a small black box with a bright pink ribbon sitting on the bed. I picked it up and there was a simple white card with my name on it. I opened the box and inside was a key. I knew it was from Moses. I went into the closet, but it was empty. Upon a closer look, I noticed all of my things were gone.
I walked back into the hall, but Moses was gone. I walked down the hall and rode the elevator up to the top floor. When the elevator stopped, I got out and walked down the hall to Moses’ room. I knocked on the open door and waited for him to notice me. A few moments later he looked up and smiled.
“Hey, Beautiful. Why are you knocking?” I walked in and looked around the room.
“My things are gone.”
“What are you talking about?”
“All of my things are gone and this was on the bed.” I showed him the box.
“What’s that?”
“A key.”
“To what?”
“You tell me.”
“Honey, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I followed him into his closet, looked around and thought, we are going to need a bigger house to store both our wardrobes.
“Uhm…my things appear to be missing and my suitcase and wedding gown aren’t downstairs?” I asked.
“Did you look in your closet,” he replied nonchalantly. He walked back into the bedroom with an armful of clothes.
“Honey, your little joke is cute, but there was nothing in the closet.” Then it occurred to me that was what the key was for. I followed him back into his closet. “Baby, where are my clothes?”
He turned and faced me. “I told you, they’re in your closet.”
I know we’re not about to fight over something so trivial. I stood blocking the door way with my arms folded in front of me. “This isn’t funny.”
“Did you try looking in another room?”
“What?”
“Okay, here’s a clue. Your things are in your closet. You just need to find the closet.”
“Are you serious?”
He kissed me. “Yes.”
“Fine, I’ll ask Grams.” I walked out and went downstairs. Grams and Mama were still in the parlor. “Excuse me, Grams. Do you know what room this belongs to?” I handed her the key.
She looked at it, then at Mama and back at me. “Yes.”
“Please tell me. Because Moses says that’s where he put my things.”
She stood up. “Come with me.” We walked down the hall, past Moses’ office and the kitchen.
“Grams, where are we going? He said the key belongs to the room where my things are.”
“That’s where we’re going.”
I looked at Mama and she had a blank look on her face. We continued the short walk outside and next door. We stopped at the black antique arched wood and glass door. Grams inserted the key in the lock, turned the knob and walked inside. She turned the light switch on and Moses was standing in the middle of the room with a sign that read, Welcome Home. I covered my mouth with my hands. “Baby, what did you do?”
“I see you found out what door the key opens.” I felt tears starting to come as I nodded my head. He put the sign down and took my hand. “Let’s see if we can find your things.”
I followed him to the elevator and rode up to the top floor. We exited and he took my hand and led me down the hall to a closed door. He pushed the door open and we walked inside. I walked around admiring the space, and in the closet were my other clothes and my wedding gown. I turned around and he was standing in the doorway. I looked to his left and saw another familiar item. “My suitcase.”
“I told you it was in your closet.” He smiled.
“I don’t understand?”
“We needed a place to live.”
“But…I thought…what about…,” I couldn’t formulate a sentence. I ran over and threw my arms around his neck and kissed him.
“May we come in?” Grams asked.
We pulled apart. “Yes.”
“Surprise,” Mama said. “Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful.” My head was spinning.
Moses took my hand and gave me a tour. It was so much to take in. The house was identical to Grams’. I stood at the kitchen counter thinking about our life here, and the meals we would eat, and the conversations we would have. It felt like home…our home.
“We’re going to leave you two alone,” Grams announced.
I walked over and hugged her and Mama. “Thank you both for everything.”
“You’re welcome, baby.” Mama brushed the side of my face. “He loves you, a lot.”
“I know.” She kissed me on the forehead.
They walked out the back door, and I turned to Moses. He walked toward me, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me like he did a few minutes ago. I broke the kiss. “When did you…”
“I bought this place right after I bought the ring.”
&nb
sp; I stroked the side of his face. “You were that sure we’d be together?”
“Yes. You like it?”
“I love it.” He picked me up and spun me around.
* * *
Taylor
* * *
“WE HAVEN’T HAD A CHANCE to talk.” I looked at my cousin as we walked down the quiet Upper Eastside street.
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
“When…how…I didn’t think you two hit it off. What happened?”
Her smile covered her face. She looked the happiest I’d seen her in years. “I was on my way to Atlanta and I bumped into him at the airport.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No. I was on my way to check on the store. There was this annoying woman who wanted me to sit next to her. He walked up and said he was my fiancé. He tricked me into coming to New York and here we are.”
“That story has more holes than fine Swiss cheese.” We laughed. “I don’t want the story you’re telling everyone. I want the real story.”
“That is the real story, except for the part where he kissed me and I ran away.”
“Was the kiss that bad, that you had to run away?” I teased.
“No. It was that good.” She tucked a loose hair behind her ear. “When we met at the party, he had me. Then he mentioned Natalie.”
“Ah, the first Mrs. Adair.” I nodded.
“The way he talked about her, I thought she was alive and that he was a cheating husband.”
“He didn’t tell you about her?”
“Not until the airport. I couldn’t get him out of my mind the entire weekend of the opening.”
“You had it bad.” I smiled.
“We talked and he explained everything and I was ruined for any other man.”
“So why did you run?”
“It was something his grandmother said.”
“Grams is a piece of work, but she loves Moses and is very protective.”
“Exactly. She said she didn’t know what I’d done to him, but if I wanted this relationship, I needed to leave and wait for him. She told me to take some time, think and be prepared for him to come after me.”
“She did?” I was surprised at her statement.
“When I got home, he was there.”
“Wait a minute. That’s why she called me.”
“Who?”
“Miss Emma.”
“She called you. When?”
“It was probably a couple of months or so after the opening. She wanted to know about you.”
“That’s interesting.” We walked in the park and sat down on a bench.
“That’s why you didn’t want to go out with Levi…you were seeing Moses.”
She smiled. “He stayed over a month.”
“And the girls didn’t know? How did you pull that off?”
“We had a lot of secret dates. Bas and Mama covered for me at the store.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I was going to tell everyone after the holidays, but we had a huge fight and…” She dropped her head. “He left me.”
“What?”
“He had been helping me with all that Terrence drama. Then Terrence sent my wedding ring back begging me to take him back. Moses saw it, got angry and told me to call him once I’d made a decision.”
“You had better be glad I didn’t know about this, because I would have walked to California and slapped you. Alex, why didn’t you call me?”
“I don’t know.” She got quiet and I saw a tear escape the corner of her eye. “I…uhm…I tried to be mad with Moses, but I couldn’t. He was right to leave me.” She looked at me and I saw the tears waiting to fall.
“So, what happened?”
She sniffled. “I got yours and Chloe’s letters…and one from Terrence.”
“What?”
“He finally let me go and said Moses was very blessed to have me, and he hoped to find someone that would love him, like Moses loved me.”
“Wow,” I started crying. “When was this?”
“The Tuesday before we were married.”
“What?”
“After I read his letter, I got on the first plane here and begged Moses to take me back and he didn’t.”
I wiped my eyes. “Wait a minute. I was just at your wedding. What happened?”
“We had a huge fight and this time I left. When I got to the airport, he was there. Girl, we stood in the middle of the lounge arguing and then I left him. I didn’t realize the plane my uncle booked to take me home, belonged to me.”
“You just lost me.”
Her smile was back. “Moses bought the plane as an engagement gift.”
“Wait a minute! Are you telling me the plane that picked Jason and me up belongs to you?” She nodded. “And you didn’t know…I’m confused.”
“Turns out he bought the plane after we got serious. When I got on the plane, there was a note from him apologizing and begging me to take him back. I ran off the plane, went inside and we stood in the terminal making up. When we were in the air a little while, he proposed and we came back here.”
“That’s some story.” I leaned back against the bench with my mouth open. “You can’t tell anyone that story, they’ll never believe you.”
“I know. It happened to me and I still have a hard time believing it, but it’s the truth.”
I sat up and looked around. “Okay, between you and me, how was it the other night?” I smiled.
A huge smile appeared on her face and I swear she was blushing. She cleared her throat. “I’m not tellin’.”
“Chick, I introduced you. I want details.”
“I’ll say this. The first time I was married for three and a half weeks and it took my ex all that time to get near my joy spot and that was with me giving him directions.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything.”
“Let’s just say, Moses didn’t need a GPS the first time to find the Promised Land.” We laughed.
Chapter Twelve
Alex
* * *
WHAT THE CRAP! WE HAVE a lot to do when we get back. I need a new driver’s license; and we need to convert the guest room into an office for Moses. I sleep in a queen size bed, and my husband is definitely king size. And, I’m pretty sure he won’t fit in my car. Come to think of it, every time we went out, it was in his rental car. I need to call a car service to pick us up. And Mama, what am I going to do about her? How could I be so selfish and forget about her?
In all of our hurrying and planning we forgot about what to do next. What was I thinking? I knew there was a reason we needed more time before getting married.
I went upstairs looking for Moses. “Honey,” I called out. “Honey, where are you?” I stood in the middle of the bedroom waiting for him to respond.
He walked out of his closet with a handful of socks. “What’s up Beautiful?”
How can he be so calm…just standing there counting socks like he’s doing inventory at one of my stores. Doesn’t he realize we just got married and our lives have changed dramatically? “Honey, it just occurred to me, we’ve got a lot to do when we get back.”
“Okay, what’s the problem?” He looked up.
“Can we have a mattress shipped?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I sleep in a queen sized bed and I’m pretty sure you won’t fit. And what about Mama…I drove my car to the airport and I know…and you need an office at the house.” The stress of these and other thoughts were overwhelming me. “I can’t put my mother out on the street.”
He put the socks down, walked over and rubbed my shoulders. “Calm down and take a deep breath. First, I already had Bas book a car to pick us up. Second, Mom Connie told me she rented a place not too far from us. And if things go well, she’s going to buy it. She didn’t tell you before the wedding because she didn’t want you to worry about her. I wanted to talk to you about us buying the house for her. As far as a bed, we’ll ge
t one when we get back. But I think for a couple of nights I’ll be okay.”
“But I want you to be comfortable. I don’t want you to think you’re…”
“I’ll be fine as long as you’re there. And I’m going to rent a car until I decide what kind I want. I think for the first few weeks we’ll need an SUV because of all the stuff we’ll be picking up to set up house. Did I forget anything?”
I felt myself relaxing. “See, that’s why you’re our team captain.” I kissed him.“Thank you.”
After dinner, I left Moses to finish packing and I went to our house. A couple of hours later, I sent Moses a text telling him to come home. I stood at the window looking down into the garden, watching for Moses. My heart started racing. The quiet of the house allowed me to hear every little creek and settling noise. I heard the door open and close, followed by the beeping of the alarm and familiar footsteps. The steps grew louder as they got closer to the top floor and then all of a sudden they stopped and a few minutes later they started again.
I walked over to the doorway and stood waiting for him. Then out of the darkness, walking up the stairs was the very tall, beautiful, dark chocolate man I married. As he stepped closer, his smile and eyes met mine. I felt my skin heat up along with a now familiar sensation deep in my core. I could barely stand up. My body was trembling, anticipating all the things I wanted him to do to me.
I bit my bottom lip and tried to suppress my smile. I really wanted to be his sexy wife, not his virgin bride. Okay, so technically I wasn’t a virgin when we got married. Considering how long it had been since my last time, I think I qualified to be called a born again virgin.
“Welcome home, Baby.” He stopped at the top step, looked me up and down, and cocked his head to the side. “I see you got my note.” Referring to his pajamas.
He walked over and stopped in front of me and held up the pink card. “Seems I’ve been invited to a sleepover.”
“Is that a fact?” I smiled.
He stepped closer, and the smell of his cologne traveled up my nose, making me a little weak. Thank God I was leaning in the doorway. Otherwise, I would have fallen down. He stepped closer, and the heat from his body surrounded me.