“That’s what I’m talking about, baby. You rocking those shoes, but that ass sitting real pretty in that tight dress.”
“Thanks. It’s not tight, but fitted. And just for the record, you look pretty awesome too. Now, on another note, how did your little adventure go? Did you make time to meet new women?”
He nodded. “Yes, plenty of them. One at a club, several at hotels, one I already knew, and another I ran into at the beach. All very interesting women, but I’m not going to tell you specific details because yo ass will start writing another book.”
I laughed. There was no secret that Jaylin knew me all too well.
We made our way to the Busch Stadium. I assumed it would be jam-packed and it was. The Cardinals fans were always out in full effect, and the second we hit Downtown St. Louis, that was pretty obvious. Traffic was at a standstill. Jaylin was always impatient, so he managed to maneuver in and out of traffic, trying to make his way to the reserved parking garage.
“Before we go inside,” he said. “You already know what’s up when dealing with the one percent in America who are uppity, but are always looking for ways to invest their money. Stay away from the ladies, I’ll handle them. Besides, when they see you with me, they’re not going to like you. Remember to flirt with your eyes, not with your mouth. Show interest in what they’re doing and let them know that you got it going on too. They’ll probably be Googling you when you walk away. Smile at the arrogance, and don’t get caught rolling your eyes. Remember that the sloppiest dressed man is, most likely, a billionaire, so don’t ignore him. And don’t waste time conversing with the brothers in there, because many of them are too full of themselves, too cocky and too arrogant. We both already know that some black people ain’t gon’ do a damn thing for another. Lastly, when you shake hands with anyone, remember to tell them your name. It’s how you brand yourself, and most people will remember that they met you.”
“I get it, and I’ve heard it all before from you. I won’t disagree with anything you’ve said, but please do not be peeking over shoulders tonight, watching me work my magic.”
Jaylin swerved into a parking spot and shielded his eyes with the shades again. “I won’t if you don’t. Now, let’s go increase our financial statuses.”
We got out of the car and made our way inside to the elevator. Already, Jaylin was working it. He strutted through Busch Stadium like he’d paid for it in full. Everybody stopped to look at him as he walked by, and he shook hands with what seemed like some important people. The elevator took us up to the suite, and when the doors opened, he extended his hand to let me go first. Almost immediately, many heads turned in our direction. There was a mixture of people in business suits, to women who were scantily dressed. Some people had on Cardinals gear, while many others looked like they were about to sit at a boardroom table. I certainly didn’t feel out of place, and neither did Jaylin. Even though we were in the minority, it didn’t matter. The second several of the white men saw Jaylin, they were all over him. One brother sat on the couch with a “hater” look washed across his face. I could only shake my head and kept it moving in another direction. It wasn’t long before I joined in on a conversation between two Caucasian men who were casually dressed.
“So, you’re a writer,” one of them asked.
“Yes. A national bestselling author, screenplay writer, producer . . .”
I went on to talk about the international work I was involved in, and both men appeared tuned in and impressed. They continued to question me about my credentials, and I also showed interests in their line of work as well. One man was the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, and the other was a retired multi-millionaire who used to work for Ford Motor Company. We talked about everything from cars to the CEO assisting me with moving some of his products overseas. Book publishing came up during the conversation, as well as ghostwriting. Everybody had a story to tell, even the wealthy property developer and film producer who had also joined in on the conversation. Somebody was definitely looking out for me, and it was no coincidence that these people had come into my life at the right time.
“Would you like something else to drink?” One of the men asked me.
“I do, but since I want to get another hotdog, I’ll also get a refill. Thanks for asking, and can I get you something while I’m away?”
“No,” he said, patting his belly. “I’m pretty full.”
I nodded and excused myself from the gentlemen who included me in a very positive conversation. The moment I stepped away, I saw Jaylin talking to the same two men, but looking over one’s shoulder. A grin was on his face and he delivered a slow nod toward me. He then lifted his glass and turned it up to his lips. Brown liquid was inside; I assumed it was Remy. To his left were three white chicks, one black. They were definitely seeking his attention, but the one thing I loved about Jaylin was he didn’t get off into the groupie thing. He could sense a gold digger a mile away, but it never stopped them from trying. As he moved, they moved. One of the white chicks who could have been a professional cheerleader reached out to him. I watched as he leaned in close to listen to what she was saying. She held on tight to his bicep and flung her long hair aside to show her pretty face. It almost resembled Kim Kardashian’s, but Kim had more curves on her hips. Jaylin smiled and seemed tuned in to the conversation, but the look on his face said it all. He was all about business, something that didn’t appear to be included in her conversation. I saw him walk away and move on to converse with a man who looked slouchy. When I walked up to introduce myself, sure enough, he was the billionaire of the bunch. Surprisingly, he was down to earth and very knowledgeable about business. He tossed out plenty of advice to Jaylin on some of the property deals he had been pursuing in Detroit, Chicago, as well as in Miami. As for me, he gave me his business card so that we could further discuss my involvement in building up ports in third world countries. He confirmed that he was willing to invest.
I walked away from that conversation feeling good. Even stopped to converse with a few brothers who all had smiles on their faces. Jaylin had warned me, and after five minutes, all I listened to was a bunch of insults regarding our own people and bragging. “I got this . . . I own that. I drive a Mercedes, and my house is by the ocean. My kids are in private school, and these low-life niggas will never amount to nothing.” All of that was followed by one of them trying to get some pussy. As he whispered close to my ear, Jaylin walked up and tugged at my arm.
“Aye,” he said with a stern look on his face. “I want you to meet somebody over here.” He looked at the man standing next to me and extended his hand. “Jaylin Rogers. Sorry to interrupt, but this is kind of important.”
The man didn’t bother to shake Jaylin’s hand. All he did was shrug and walk away. I regretted that some of the more elite African Americans acted this way, and it was one of the reasons why the crabs-in-a-barrel effect was alive and going strong.
Jaylin leaned against the bar with his elbow on top of it, looking at me. “I thought I told you not to waste your time. You could have spent that thirty minutes talking to the gentlemen over there who I saw Googling your name.”
I just shook my head, thinking about the one percent who were always in Jaylin’s company. It made me appreciate my simple life even more. “I was just trying to be nice, even though he was attempting to do other things. As for the Googling thing, great. Nothing but positivity, and I don’t mind them thinking that I’m the writer and producer who is actually worth forty-million dollars.”
I laughed and walked away from Jaylin to go to the restroom. Right at the exit door stood those groupies who displayed fake smiles. I smiled back and kept it moving.
When I got to the restroom, I tinkled and washed my hands. The marble countertop was beautiful, as was the gold-like faucets. The whole place was spotless, it smelled like strawberries, and soft white towels were neatly folded on a shelf. As I reached for one to wipe my hands, I heard the door open. I couldn’t see who it was, but my heart dropped
to my stomach when the lights went out.
“Candyman, candyman,” Jaylin softly whispered. He knew how afraid I was to watch that movie, but I couldn’t help but to laugh.
“Stop playing and turn the lights back on. Now, Jaylin, I’m not playing.”
He flicked the lights back on then walked up to me with his hands in his pockets. A smile was on his face and we stood face-to-face in front of the marble countertop and mirror.
“Scary ass,” he said. “I can’t believe you’re still scared of that mess.”
“Well, believe it because I am. Now, what are you doing in the women’s restroom?”
“I saw you come in here, and I wanted to tell you how sexy you look out there, working your so-called magic. Like always, I’m impressed. That kind of shit really turns me on.”
“You should be impressed, and that’s what you get for, sometimes, underestimating me. In case you forgot, I learned from the best.”
I winked. Jaylin’s smile grew because he knew I was referencing him. I turned to look in the mirror again, and as I started to slide more gloss across my lips, he stood behind me, watching.
“Candyman—”
I swung around and covered his mouth with my hand. “Please, stop. I’m serious, Jaylin. Do not say that shit while we’re standing in front of this mirror.”
He removed my hand and laughed. I seriously didn’t see a damn thing funny, and I was ready to get the hell out of that restroom. But before I made a move, Jaylin walked over to the door and locked it. He turned off the lights again and came up to me.
“I’m done playing,” he said. “It’s time to get serious. Where in the hell is my birthday present at?”
“You mean your belated birthday present, don’t you? Wherever it’s at, it’s definitely not in this restroom.”
“I think it is, and as a matter of fact, I know so.”
Jaylin backed me up to the marble countertop and pressed himself against me. I felt his package swell, inch by inch. A part of me wanted to rip off his clothes and have at it. Then there was something that told my ass to run! For the moment, I couldn’t. My feet felt like concrete had been poured over them. I stood, inhaling Jaylin’s cologne and allowing him to plant a trail of delicate kisses along the side of my neck.
“Mmm,” he moaned in a soft whisper. “You smell good. So good that I want you on this counter, right now, so I can taste you.”
I sucked in a deep breath then slowly released it into the air. My eyes fluttered from his soft kisses against my neck, but when his lips touched mine, I backed away.
“Let’s not go there, Jaylin. I . . . we are wrong for trying to travel down this road again, and I don’t think it would be in our best interest.”
“I don’t quite understand what is wrong with two people who care about each other, deciding to have sex. And only I know what is in my best interest, not you. All I’m asking for is ten minutes. That’s it.”
“Ten minutes that—”
Jaylin silenced me when he reached up and held the sides of my face. Even in darkness, I could see those eyes staring into mine. “Stop talking about what we shouldn’t be doing and let’s just do it. If you don’t have ten minutes, then give me five. I know I’m good for that, aren’t I?”
I stood silent for a few seconds, thinking that maybe it was time for us to stop playing these games and just do it, like he’d said. Resisting him was getting me nowhere, and all it did was make me one horny bitch. In response to him, I leaned in to attack his lips. As the kiss intensified, so did our breathing. Jaylin lowered his hands to reach underneath my dress and massage my ass. We grinded against each other, leaving no breathing room in between us. I could feel pressure from his dick that had grown to full capacity. Wanting to see it, feel it and possibly taste it, I quickly reached for his belt buckle. Within seconds, his pants were unzipped too. His muscle plopped out long, rock hard and pretty as ever.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” he said. “Now, face the mirror and bend over for me.”
I faced the mirror and felt his hands comforting my hips. My dress gathered at my waist, as he raised it over my curves. Since we were only working with five . . . ten minutes, I suspected that he would slide my panties to the side, and then glide his way inside. But as he eased them down to my ankles, I stepped out of them. Jaylin strapped up and returned to his position behind me. I was ready for action and was bent over the counter with my legs spread wide. My eyes shut when I felt the smooth tip of his head brush at the entrance of my moist hole, but when a hard knock came at the door, my eyes shot wide open.
“Fuck,” Jaylin said. “Ignore it.”
I definitely wanted to, but I couldn’t. The knocks got louder and louder, and the person who was anxious to come inside started speaking out.
“Please open the door!” she shouted. “I can’t hold it!”
I stood and hurried to lower my dress. Jaylin fussed as he backed away from me and tucked his hardness away.
“See, that’s what you get for talking so damn much. Time wasted, no doubt.”
I didn’t bother to reply to his comment, because the last thing I wanted was for the woman to go get security to unlock the door.
“I’m going to open the door,” I whispered. “Go in one of the stalls . . .”
Jaylin walked right by me and turned on the lights. He turned to me, before unlocking the door. “I hide from no one. Let’s get this night over with, so we can go back to the condo and finish what we started.” The direction of his eyes shifted to the floor. “Don’t forget to pick up your panties.”
My eyes shifted to my panties on the floor, and as soon as I snatched them up, the woman came inside. Her face fell flat when she saw Jaylin, but a smirk appeared as she rushed by me to use the toilet. I left the restroom, hoping that I wouldn’t see her again.
The remainder of the evening was a little awkward. Jaylin and I didn’t say much else to each other, yet we kept eyeing each other and smiling from afar, as if our little incident in the restroom had never happened. On the drive back to the condo, he spent most of his time on the phone following up with some of the potential investors he’d spoken to tonight. All within one week, he made plans to travel to Atlanta, New York, the Bahamas and then back to Detroit. I asked if he ever intended to slow down.
“Maybe one day I will, but for now there are too many opportunities being sent my way that I can’t resist. Be sure to follow up on your leads too. And if they don’t call you, call them.”
I was sure to do so. When we got back to the condo, he headed for the spare room and I went into mine. He was back on the phone, doing his thing. I showered and changed into a comfortable cotton gown that felt soothing against my skin. I lay across my bed, picked up my notebook and started writing again. Minutes later, my eyelids got heavy so I laid my head on the notebook and closed my eyes.
I was knocked out, until I felt the mattress move. When I looked up, I saw Jaylin lying next to me in bed. He was without a shirt and a gray, plush towel was wrapped around his waist.
“Wake up,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind.”
I sat up, groggy as ever. “Well, call somebody to talk to. I’ve been doing a lot of writing and haven’t gotten much sleep. I was finally able to shut it down.”
Jaylin held my notebook in his hand and flipped through several pages. “I read some of this already. You know I’m going to change some things around, but for the most part, you had me hooked.”
He moved around me and sat with his back against the padded, wingback headboard that damn near touched the ceiling. I crawled between his legs and laid my head against his solid abs. From underneath the towel, I felt his dick on my upper chest, but it wasn’t hard.
“You’re hooked because, when I’m writing, I always have some good characters to work with. Now, what’s on your mind and why are you up so late?”
Jaylin started to ramble on about all of his business deals. He had so much money that it was cr
azy—made it seem like all he had to do was snap his finger and money would fall like rain. It still didn’t seem like enough for him, and I knew that one of the things he appreciated about me was, I never asked him for one dime. Whatever he gave me, he gave on his own free will. Besides, he didn’t believe in giving handouts or loans to people he considered friends. He’d been burned too many times, so what he did was offer encouragement, advice and connections to business-minded people who could help his friends prosper in their field. That, to me, was more than enough.
“Are you falling asleep?” he asked. “I know I don’t hear yo ass snoring, do I?”
“Probably,” I whispered in a soft tone. “All of this talk about business and money, sometimes, gets boring. But it’s nice to mix business with a little pleasure. You think?”
I lifted my head and pecked at Jaylin’s abs. “One. Two. Three,” I said, counting his six-pack as I kissed each muscle. “Four, Five . . .”
When I reached six, I moved a few inches down and peeled the towel away from his waist. His dick stood at great heights. I moved it toward my mouth, but he stopped me by grabbing and holding his steel.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said.” He released his goods, and with a smirk on his face, he placed his hands behind his head. “Maybe we shouldn’t go there. I love the way our friendship has evolved, and the last thing I would want is for you to fall in love with me again. That, as we both know, could mean serious trouble for me.”
I had to laugh at Jaylin. He definitely knew how I reacted to his shenanigans in the past, but this was certainly a new day. “Yeah, you wouldn’t want me to do all of those horrible things that I did to you in the past for screwing me over, but then again, some of the chicks you dated did way more crazy stuff to you than I did. The worst thing I ever did was put sugar in your gas tank.”
Jaylin laughed, as he must’ve briefly reflected on our dispute that day. “That was not the worst thing you did. I guess you forgot about the time when you bleached my suits. Now, that really pissed me off.”
If Only for Another Night Page 15