Negotiating for Love

by Sharon C. Cooper

  A smile lifted the corners of Martina’s mouth as she folded the newspaper. It wasn’t funny that Christina, the flower child of the family was sick, but then again, it was a little funny. Martina didn’t know what her cousin was thinking. Christina had been a vegetarian for the past year and suddenly decided she wanted a burger. Martina might’ve taunted her some, but she didn’t think her cousin would fall off the wagon the way she had.

  “MJ, you know you’re going to have to give us something.” Peyton strolled into the kitchen stuffing her cell phone into the side pocket of her skirt and accepted a bottle of juice Martina offered. “I don’t know why you’ve kept this a secret anyway. And I can’t help but wonder how you were able to date him without any of us finding out.”

  That surprised Martina too. Though the majority of her and Paul’s times together were behind closed doors, they did go out periodically. What they enjoyed most, besides sex, was cooking together. They both were excellent cooks, but Paul was the best. He had once admitted that if he could do anything, he’d open a small bistro in Cincinnati and be a guest chef occasionally.

  “So what happened? Why’d you guys stop seeing each other?”

  “He was getting too serious, and he wanted to go public.”

  Peyton’s hand stilled. The bottle of juice less than an inch from her lips.

  “So let me get this right. You broke things off with the Senator because he wanted to tell people you two were in a relationship?”

  Martina sighed dramatically. “PJ, I don’t want to talk about this.”

  Martina left the kitchen and strolled into the living room, hoping to catch a football game. Since she didn’t have to work that weekend, she’d planned to attend the breakfast and then spend the rest of the day camped out in front of her television.

  “I’m not leaving until I get some details.” Peyton sat next to her on the sofa and kicked off her navy blue, pointy-toe pumps. “So give me something.”

  “You’re starting to become as irritating as Toni and Jada.” Those two cousins were the gossipers in the family. Always in everyone’s business. “What happened between Paul and me is none of your business.”

  Peyton rolled her eyes and sipped the juice before setting it on one of the football coasters on top of the cocktail table.

  “I’m waiting. How long did you two date?”

  “We … we didn’t really date. We just hung out. Nothing more.”

  “So for how long?”

  Martina glared at her.

  “How long, MJ?”

  “Six months.” Six glorious months. The best months of her life. Paul had treated her like a precious gift. Their times together were like scenes from a romance novel.

  “That has to be a record for you. You have never been with any man that long.”

  “I wasn’t with him! We were just…we were just hanging out. Nothing serious. But then he had to go and ruin things by trying to turn our relationship into more than it was.”

  “So you admit that it was a relationship?”

  Martina dropped her head against the back of the sofa and groaned. Her cousin was like a pesky mosquito, buzzing around trying to draw blood.

  “We were friends, PJ.”

  “Friends with benefits?”

  Martina hesitated, staring up at the new Inca bronze light fixture before finally saying, “Yes.”

  A flashback of their last time together clouded her mind. Heat rose to her cheeks as a memory of their sweat-slicked bodies, intertwined limbs and breathing so heavy it was as if she could still hear them panting after a round of mind-blowing sex.

  Normally after a lovemaking session, they’d either pass out or shower together, but that night had been different. He had been different. His body had hovered above her, his intense eyes stared down into hers, and she knew. She knew that his feelings for her had changed. Hell her feelings had changed too, but she had no intention of ruining what they had by voicing what was swirling around in her heart.

  “MJ,” Peyton called out several times, waving her hand in front of Martina’s face. “MJ!”

  Martina sat up straighter. “What?”

  A knowing smile spread across her cousin’s face. “So Senator Kendricks must have some serious game if he has you zoning out like this. Why’d you guys break up? I mean, why did you two stop hanging out?”

  “I just told you. The jerk ruined our agreement!” She sat forward and shoved her hands through her hair, mentally shaking off the memory that had invaded her brain. “He started getting too serious. Before we hooked up, we both agreed to keep things light. We were supposed to be just having a little fun and then all of a sudden, bam! He wanted more.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?

  “He changed the rules.”

  “Were you guys exclusive?”

  “Well … kinda, but—”

  “No buts. You were technically a couple. Why wouldn’t he want more? Most normal people would want more.”

  “Well, I didn’t!” Martina shot out of her seat and paced in front of the sofa.

  “Like I said, most normal people would want more.”

  “Whatever.” Why was she letting Peyton get inside of her head? She and Paul were over. She didn’t have to answer questions or remember. Hell, she didn’t want to remember that time in her life.

  Paul is my past. I have moved on.

  “Oh. My. God. You’re in love with him!”

  “What?” Martina jammed her hands onto her hips. “What is wrong with you? How the heck did you get that out of anything I just said? I am not in love with Paul Kendricks or anyone for that matter.”

  “Yeah, tell it to someone who didn’t see you two together today.” Peyton stood, her arms folded across her chest. “When you weren’t scowling at him, it was written all over your face. Like it is now. You can lie to me, but you might as well stop lying to yourself. You fell in love with that man.”

  “You know good and damn well I don’t do the whole falling in love crap! Never will I allow myself to be subject to something that only ends in heartbreak.”

  “I’d bet my next paycheck that you’re still in love with Senator Kendricks,” Peyton continued as if Martina hadn’t said anything. “Does any of this have to do with your mother?”

  “Peyton,” she said in a threatening tone, willing her not to bring Carolyn Jenkins into the conversation.

  “MJ, you are nothing like Aunt Carolyn if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Martina threw up her arms and let them fall to her sides. “I don’t have time for this nonsense. I’m done talking to you.” She headed for the hall that led to the three bedrooms. “Oh and when the girls get here, don’t bother bringing up Paul’s name or my mother for that matter. I’m done talking!”

  I am not my mother, and I’m done thinking about Paul.

  Chapter Four

  The next day, Paul sat in the back of the coffee shop in what was once his favorite booth, sipping a cup of black coffee. Leaving home that morning, he had no intention of stopping, but before he knew it, he was pulling into the parking lot of Java Café.

  He took another sip of the super-hot coffee, his attention on the entrance. He didn’t know why he looked up every time the door chimed. Then again, who was he kidding? He knew why. This was where he and Martina had first met.

  He set his cup down and rubbed his eyes. Why was he even there? After he and Martina had broken up, he hadn’t stepped foot in the place for fear of running into her. It wasn’t hard at first because he had poured himself into his work, even spending time in D.C. whether the Senate was in session or not. Cincinnati wasn’t the same once he and Martina parted ways. Besides that, Martina had walked out on him. Bitterness didn’t begin to describe his feelings regarding her behavior back then.

  The door chimed again, and his head jerked up. No Martina.

  “I haven’t seen you in here for a while Senator Kendricks,” one of the shop’s longtime employees said. “Welcome back. Can
I top off that coffee for you?”

  Paul smiled at the cheerful, grandmotherly woman who always had a kind word for anyone who entered Java Café. The coffee shop didn’t have a wait staff, but she floated around the space greeting customers and offering refills as if they did.

  “No thanks. I’m good.”

  “All right. Just let me know if I can get you anything.”

  Paul’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket just as the woman walked away. He glanced at the screen and grimaced seeing that it was Davion.

  Paul was still kicking himself for agreeing to go on a double date with Davion and his girlfriend. He should have known better. Not only couldn’t Paul bring himself to call the woman by her name, but talking to her was like talking to a bowl of grits.

  “You have the nerve to call me after that mess you pulled last night.” Paul greeted. He ignored his cousin’s burst of laughter through the phone line.

  “I’m sorry, man.” Davion finally said between chuckles. “I had no idea she had the intelligence of a two-year-old. You get big props for not just walking out of the restaurant when she asked if your job had anything to do with approving new perfume scents.”

  On that, Paul had to laugh. He’d had his share of bad dates, but never had he experienced anything like that before.

  “Spending time with Peppermint last night makes me want to propose a bill to quadruple the amount of money allocated to education. How did she make it through grade school, let alone graduate from high school talking like that?”

  “I know. It would have served you right for me to intentionally hook you up with an airhead after your behavior yesterday morning, but I honestly had no idea she had the intelligence of a dodo bird.”

  “No harm done.”

  The mention of yesterday morning immediately brought with it thoughts of Martina. Paul hadn’t slept well the night before thanks to dreams of her only proving what he now knew for sure. He wasn’t over Martina Jenkins.

  “So where are you? Normally, when you’re in town on a Sunday morning, I smell bacon and eggs when I’m standing outside of your apartment door. Yet, here I am in the hallway and the smell of breakfast is nonexistent.”

  “I had to take care of something this morning and decided to just grab a quick bite at a coffee shop.”

  “Well the next time you decide to change the routine, tell somebody,” Davion grumbled.

  “Hey, it’s not my fault you didn’t call first. I do have other activities going on in my life besides making you breakfast.”

  “Yeah, whatever. You haven’t had a life in a long time. I don’t know why you suddenly…. Wait a minute. Does your missing in action have anything to do with the cutie pie carpenter?”

  Paul groaned and sat back in his seat. He had hoped his cousin had forgotten about Martina. He should have known better.

  “Tell me more about this carpenter. She must be pretty special.”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I’ve got time, especially since I have to find me some breakfast.”

  *

  Martina sat in the parking lot of her once favorite coffee shop, staring out the front window of her truck. She had survived the interrogation from Peyton and the others the night before, barely, but trying not to think about Paul had been a lost cause. Seeing him yesterday, had conjured up memories. Like how they used to meet at the coffee shop whenever he was in Cincinnati and she was on her way to work. Those first few weeks of getting to know him had been fun and exciting. And their relationship had taken off quicker than she had expected or wanted.

  So much for expectations.

  Paul had ruined her for any other man. She had gone out a few times with different guys since him, but rarely did she allow a second or third date. No one held her interest like Paul, and she knew none of them would have been able to please her sexually … not like Paul.

  Heat rushed through her body as she recalled some of their sexual escapades. In the closet, on the kitchen counter and on the balcony of his apartment were a few of their most memorable times together.

  Martina shook her head to free the thoughts.

  This has to stop. She couldn’t keep dwelling on the past.

  She climbed out of the white pickup truck, slamming the door shut. The dilapidated vehicle shook, and she cringed. Soon she would have to break down and invest in another mode of transportation.

  Martina stood outside the glass door of the coffee shop, still debating on whether or not to go in. This was where she and Paul first met one chilly fall morning. She remembered the day as if it were yesterday.

  Martina and two other carpenters had been working on a duplex in the area and stopped in during their afternoon break. That’s when the most gorgeous specimen, with smooth chocolate skin, adorable freckles across his nose and cheeks, with lips so tempting she had almost made a complete fool of herself and kissed him. Thankfully, her coworker called her name, making her realize that she’d been staring at the man who she later learned was Senator Paul Kendricks.

  Apparently, she hadn’t been the only one looking. Paul waited near the entrance, stopping her on her way out to introduce himself. They did the typical small talk, and before she left the coffee shop, he asked for her telephone number.

  Not only hadn’t she given him hers, but she didn’t accept his either. Not that she wasn’t interested. On the contrary. The erotic feelings he stirred within her with his smile, hypnotic voice and interesting conversation, had her ready to drop her panties for him. Even his arrogance, claiming they would meet again, was a turn on.

  “Here, let me get that for you, beautiful.” A deep voice from behind startled Martina out of her reverie.

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  She stepped in when the man pulled the door open, his overpowering cologne made her gasp, literally. It wasn’t that he smelled bad, but it was as if he’d gone swimming in the stuff ... with his clothes on.

  Martina thanked him again and entered the cozy café, doing a quick glance around. Why was she thinking she might see Paul? It had been a long time since she had visited Java Café on a Sunday morning.

  This is a bad idea. What was I thinking coming here?

  Martina knew exactly what she was thinking. She’d been thinking that just maybe the man who owned the most dazzling brown eyes and plumped lips that she missed kissing would be there.

  You can keep lying to me if you want, but why are you lying to yourself? Peyton’s words taunted her.

  Martina stepped into the shortest line. She was accustomed to men approaching her, especially working construction, but today there was only one man she wouldn’t mind running into.

  She shook her head. No, the last person she needed to see was Paul Kendricks.

  Martina surveyed the items in the glass display case, hoping they still carried the cranberry walnut muffins. Maybe she would get it to go. Eating there was bound to have her remembering a past that she really should leave buried.

  *

  Paul thought he might be seeing things. His heart lurched in his chest when he saw Martina enter the coffee shop with a tall, built man. Relief flooded through him like a warm breeze when he realized they weren’t together. The idea of her with another man made him want to rip something apart.

  She glanced around as if looking for someone and he wondered if maybe, just maybe, she was hoping to see him.

  “Davion, let me call you back.” Paul disconnected the call without giving his cousin a chance to respond. Leaving his jacket and magazine at the table, he headed her way just as she stepped up to the counter.

  “Good morning. What can I get for you?” the perky brunette behind the counter asked Martina.

  Before Martina could give her order, Paul jumped in. “She’ll have a cranberry walnut muffin, steel cut oatmeal with brown sugar on the side, a fruit cup, and a venti caramel macchiato.”

  “I can place my own or—”

  “And I’ll have another black coffee and why don’t you throw in a slic
e of the coffee cake.”

  Martina mumbled, but Paul couldn’t make out what she was saying. That was probably for the best. He had been on the receiving end of enough of her rants.

  The brunette’s amused gaze darted between him and Martina. “Will there be anything else?”

  “No that’s it.” Paul paid for the order and gently gripped Martina’s elbow to guide her to where they would pick up breakfast. Surprisingly she didn’t jerk out of his grasp when he didn’t release her right away.

  “I hate when you do that,” she finally spoke. “I’m capable of ordering for myself. Besides, for all you know I might not have wanted what you ordered.”

  “Hello, Martina.” Paul couldn’t stop the smile that found its way to his mouth. “So, were you going to order something different?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s beside the point!”

  He chuckled. God, he missed this woman. Davion had asked the day before, why if Martina had such a big mouth, he’d want to get with her again. Paul knew that behind that big mouth of hers was a kind, generous, loving woman who would give her last dollar to someone in need.

  “Number fifty-four,” the server called out.

  Paul glanced at the receipt. Fifty-six.

  “Why are you here anyway?” Martina pushed a long, wayward curl from her face only to have it return to the same spot.

  He reached out before thinking and tucked it behind her ear, letting the back of his fingers glide down the softness of her cheek.

  Interesting. She didn’t push his hand away. Maybe this was a new and gentler Martina Jenkins. He could get used to this calmer side of her.

  She pulled away as if suddenly remembering that she had dubbed him the enemy.

  “You no longer have the right to touch me.” She spoke through gritted teeth as she jabbed a finger into his chest.

  This time, he laughed out loud.

  Okay, so much for being gentler and kinder.

  He grabbed hold of her finger and brought it to his lips.

  “Ah, my sweet Martina. I was hoping you’d be here.”