His Sexy Bad Habit

by Cheris Hodges

  Serena rolled her eyes. “Okay, Antonio and I are together and we’re very happy.”

  “What about his son?” Jade asked.

  “He’s a sweet little boy. He even offered me a juice box this morning. For a little kid, that says a lot.”

  Kandace turned to Serena and asked, “Wedding bells?”

  “See, I knew you guys were going to take things too far. Antonio and I are not close to getting married. We’re just enjoying being around each other.”

  “I never thought I’d see the day,” Alicia said, beaming. “The Ice Queen has melted.”

  Serena tossed a pencil at her friend. “I was never the Ice Queen,” she snapped.

  There was a knock at the door and Devon peeked his head in. “You ladies decent?” he asked as he walked in with a tray of desserts.

  “Well, if we weren’t, you’re in here now,” Alicia joked.

  “When I heard your voices all the way down the hall, I thought I’d bring you some samples for the dessert party we’re having on the show next week.”

  “Really?” Serena grabbed a red velvet cupcake. “You know, we should tie some of your shows to our menu.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Kandace said as she grabbed a chocolate bar. “Antonio has your brain working, too.”

  “Somebody needs to work around here,” Serena said. “Our general manager is slack since she’s a mom now, the PR guru is still on her honeymoon, and I don’t know what Alicia has going on.”

  “And you’ve just been working so hard seducing our contractor,” Alicia quipped.

  Devon cleared his throat and set the desserts on the center of the desk. “I got to go,” he said. “Y’all are crazy.”

  “Did you just meet us?” Serena called out as Devon left.

  “Is that weird for you?” Jade whispered to Kandace.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Devon still being here.”

  Kandace shook her head and took another bite of her chocolate. “That’s over and done with,” she said dismissively. “Maybe it would be hard if I wasn’t married to the love of my life.”

  Serena nodded. “I’m proud of you, Kandace. You’ve handled working with Devon like a real woman.”

  “Was there ever any doubt that I wouldn’t?” Kandace asked, then burst out laughing.

  “Plenty,” Jade and Alicia said in concert. The women broke into laughter and sampled more of Devon’s desserts.

  “So, Serena,” Alicia said. “Since you and Antonio have been spending all this time together, what have you done about the man from California?”

  Pouting, Serena shook her head. “Nothing. He came in here last night.”

  “What?” the other women exclaimed.

  “And you didn’t beat him down?” Kandace asked.

  “Or at least toss a drink in his face?” Alicia inquired.

  Serena shook her head. “I wanted to but I couldn’t for two big reasons. One, we just reopened and the last thing we need is more bad press, and two, he was with Antonio’s sister-in-law.”

  “Sister-in-law? Antonio’s married?” Alicia asked.

  “He’s a widower,” Serena said. “Come on, I’m not that woman. If his wife were alive, I hope he wouldn’t be bringing me into his home, bed, and around his son. I can’t believe you’d think I’d be a part of something like that.”

  “Just had to check. I’d hate to find out this guy is Tiger Woods,” Alicia joked. “But seriously, what does Emerson Bradford want? Are you going to find out?”

  Serena took another bite of her red velvet cupcake and shook her head. “I don’t care what Emerson wants. He can kiss my ass.”

  “Serena,” Devon called out. “Someone is here to see you.”

  The four women stood up at the same time. “Do you think it’s Antonio?” Jade asked with a smile.

  “What if it’s Emerson?” Kandace asked.

  Serena looked at the door and shook her head. “Why are we acting like children?”

  “Because if it’s Emerson, we’re going to kick his ass,” Alicia said.

  Serena opened the office door and Devon pointed her to the dining room. Her friends followed her closely and stood behind her like sentinels. When he turned around, decked out in an Italian suit holding a dozen yellow roses, Serena wanted to slap Emerson until his face turned beet red.

  “I had no idea we’d have an audience,” Emerson said with a slick smile. “Serena, you and I need to talk.”

  Glaring at him, Serena was glad the restaurant was closed so Devon could film his show. The last thing she needed was for customers to hear what she was about to say. “I don’t have a damned thing to say to you,” she snapped as she took the flowers from his outstretched hands and tossed them in his face.

  “That’s the Serena I know and love,” Alicia whispered.

  Emerson stepped closer to Serena as he brushed away rose petals. She didn’t move. Anger kept her rooted in place.

  “Serena, is there some place where we can speak in private?” he asked.

  “Hell no,” Kandace exclaimed. “Why don’t you just get out of here?”

  Emerson glanced at Kandace and smiled. “Ladies, I don’t mean your friend any harm, but we have some private matters to discuss.”

  “Maybe you should’ve had this conversation five years ago, jerk,” Alicia snapped. “Your movies suck.”

  A flash of anger crossed Emerson’s face, then he masked it with a false Hollywood smile. “I’m sorry you feel that way. But I want to talk to Serena about a movie.”

  Serena bristled. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me. You came all this way about that damned movie?”

  “That’s one reason,” he said. “But I had to see you, Serena.”

  Jade touched Serena’s shoulder. “Do you want me to call the police?”

  Emerson held up his hands, “Ladies, I didn’t come here to cause problems, but I want to talk business with you, Serena. If you and your friends will calm down and hear me out, this could benefit all of us.”

  “Where was this concern when you left Serena at the altar?” Alicia asked.

  Serena turned to her friends and mouthed, I can handle this. Then she turned to face Emerson. “Get out, Emerson. You can take that movie and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”

  “Serena,” he murmured in a voice that used to send her heart into overdrive. “Please. Do you remember what it was like when we made the movie?”

  “Yeah, I do,” she said. “We wrapped, I went to the church the next day and you never showed up.”

  “I regret that and I—”

  Serena closed the space between them and slapped him as hard as she could. “Get out of here and don’t come back. I don’t give a damn about your movie.”

  “You’re telling me this is enough for you? Working in a restaurant?” Emerson said with sarcastic laugh.

  “I don’t simply work here, you jackass. I own this place with my friends,” Serena’s friends grumbled in the background about him belittling their investment.

  “Fine,” Emerson said. “But the movie is art and I’m going to release it.”

  “Over my dead body! Let’s be real. That movie wouldn’t be spit had I not rewritten the script. But those days are behind me and I will not have you putting that movie on the big screen so you can make a profit.”

  “Serena, maybe when you calm down, we can talk about this,” he said. “I understand you have to put on your little show for your girlfriends.”

  “I’m not putting on a show, Emerson. When I first met you, I told you that I was not an actress and I’m not acting now, you slimy bastard.”

  “You should reconsider,” Emerson said. “I know what happened here. This movie would give you all some needed good publicity.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks. Now get the hell out of here!”

  Emerson nodded and smiled. “It was good to see you again.” He turned and walked out the door.

  “I should’ve known,” Serena groaned
once she and her girls were alone. “He’s trying to revive his dying career with the movie he claimed would make me a star.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Alicia asked. “How are you going to stop him?”

  “You should call Kenya,” Jade suggested.

  Serena nodded as she thought about the movie. It was very sexy, damned near pornographic, and nothing that she wanted to see on the big screen. Five years ago when she thought her life was going to be in Hollywood, that would’ve been fine. But she was a business woman and it was not the kind of attention she wanted.

  What would Antonio think if he saw her on screen doing those things? “Yeah, I’d better do that,” Serena said. “I really don’t need this right now.”

  Jade pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called Kenya, then handed the phone to Serena.

  When Emerson slammed into his hotel room, he knew what he had to do. He pulled out his MacBook Pro, jammed in the DVD of De Chocolat, and forwarded the movie to one of the hotter love scenes where Serena was prominently featured. He’d always loved the scene where she’d been in bed with the police detective investigating the string of murders her character had committed. Every inch of her supple body was highlighted. Looking at her breasts on the screen made his mouth water. Then, she turned from sexy to dangerous as she slipped her hand underneath the pillow, grabbed a knife, and jabbed it into the man’s chest as she continued to ride him.

  “Well,” she said, her voice husky and seductive. “You can say you got fucked to death, Detective.”

  Emerson edited the clip and prepared to leak it on YouTube and some other sites. But first, he had to set up a false account. I tried to work with you, Serena. You brought this on yourself, he thought as he uploaded the scene and called his assistant in L.A.

  “Emerson Bradford’s office, how may I help you?”

  “Annette, I need you to draft a press release about scenes from my upcoming movie being leaked on the Internet.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said. “Is this the De Chocolat movie?”

  “You got it. Make sure you include some information about Serena Jacobs, the star of the movie who is now a restaurant owner in North Carolina.”

  “All right.”

  “And include something about the violence that happened at her restaurant last year, and Solomon Crawford.”

  “Got it.”

  “E-mail me a copy when you’re done.”

  “Yes, sir,” Annette said.

  Emerson hung up the phone and kicked back on the bed. He was going to build a buzz for this movie and his career was going to be on the upswing again.

  Antonio watched A.J. as he flipped turkey burgers on the grill. “I’m a chef, Daddy,” the little boy said.

  “You’re on your way,” Antonio replied. “But be careful. You don’t want to burn yourself.”

  “Is Miss Serena going to come over and eat with us?”

  “She’s at work. Maybe tomorrow we’ll go eat at her restaurant. I think those burgers are done now,” Antonio said as he took the spatula from A.J. and loaded the burgers on a tray. “Ready to eat?”

  “Yes. May I call Aunt Casey and invite her over?”

  “If you want to, go ahead. Make sure you wash your hands before you get the phone,” Antonio said. He really didn’t feel like dealing with Casey, but he wasn’t going to keep A.J. away from his aunt.

  He walked into the house and placed the burgers on the stovetop. A.J. turned to him and said, “Aunt Casey wants to speak to you.”

  “Thanks,” Antonio said as he took the phone. “Hello?”

  “I was just making sure you’re all right with me coming over there,” Casey said.

  “It’s fine, Case.”

  “I wanted to check, because you haven’t been wanting me around lately.”

  “Casey, can we table this for another time? A.J. is looking forward to seeing you,” Antonio said.

  “Is that woman going to be there or is this just a family meal?” Casey asked.

  Antonio gritted his teeth and groaned inwardly. “All right, Case, we’ll see you when you get here.” He hung up the phone and turned to A.J. “Ready to make that cole slaw you’re so famous for?”

  “Yeah,” the little boy said. “Daddy, what’s a derelict?”

  “Where did you hear that word? It’s not a nice thing to say about someone,” Antonio said, sure that Casey was the culprit.

  “Well, Aunt Casey asked if you were still hanging out with a derelict.”

  “Derelict is a fancy way of saying someone is bad news, but we don’t know any derelicts. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Antonio seethed with anger as they chopped cabbage, carrots, and onions. Casey had some nerve. He didn’t care how she felt about Serena, but she was not going to draw A.J. into her battle. A battle that she had no footing in. It wasn’t as if Antonio was having an affair with Serena while Marian was alive. No, he’d been the one to keep his marriage vows and Antonio was not going to allow Casey to make him feel guilty about moving on with his life.

  As Antonio watched A.J. mix the slaw, the doorbell rang. “Be careful with the mixing and I’ll go get the door,” Antonio told his son. He looked out the window and saw Casey standing on the porch with a box of cupcakes. Antonio opened the door and stepped out.

  “Am I uninvited?” Casey asked, noting the look of disgust on his face.

  “Casey, I don’t appreciate you bad-mouthing Serena to A.J. He’s a child and doesn’t need to be drawn into your beef with her. I’m still trying to understand why you can’t respect the fact that I’m moving on with my life.”

  “Because that woman is not good enough for you,” Casey snapped.

  Antonio laughed. “It wasn’t too long ago your parents felt that way about me. But guess what—that’s not your call to make. What I do and who I do it with is none of your concern. I care about Serena and she is going to be a part of my life.”

  “She’s not good enough for you. I-I love you, Tonio.” Casey sighed and dropped her head. “There, I said it.”

  Antonio shook his head. Casey placed her hand on his shoulder. “I know what was going on with you and Marian before she died and how she was going to leave you for Brandon.”

  Antonio shrugged her off. “And you thought what? After she died that I’d be so devastated I’d turn to you? Is that why you tried to move in here? Casey, I don’t see you as anything more than a sister.”

  “That’s because you didn’t give me a chance,” she said. “We could be good together and we could raise A.J.”

  “No, we’re not. Now, you can go inside and have dinner with your nephew, but you need to get it out of your head that you and I will ever have that kind of relationship.”

  Tears welled up in Casey’s eyes. “So, you want to be with that slut? A whore who sits around your house naked so you can have your way with her? That’s what you want? What is it, you can’t handle a real woman? Maybe that’s why my sister cheated on you.”

  Antonio balled his hands into fists and shook his head. All of Casey’s talk about her sister’s memory had been nothing but bull. He glared at her. “How can you disrespect your sister’s memory like this? You claimed you loved Marian. If she had lived, we’d probably be divorced. Do you think you and I would be dating then? As far as your sister cheating, that speaks to her character—not mine.”

  “But … but …”

  Antonio pointed to the door. “A.J. is waiting for you and I don’t want to have this conversation again—ever.”

  “Fine, Antonio. But I thought you should know.”

  I wish you didn’t feel that way, he thought as he watched Casey walk into the house.

  Chapter 20

  Serena woke up after a restless night of sleep. She’d never thought that movie would come back to bite her after all these years

  As a business woman, that sexy movie wouldn’t play well in Charlotte or with the people in her life. Antonio popped into her mind. What would he think
if he saw that movie?

  Shaking her head, she looked at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was five after seven. She needed to get out of the bed and get ready for her meeting with Kenya. Serena was thankful that Jade’s sister-in-law had agreed to meet with her, and hoped Kenya would be able to make the movie disappear. Slowly rising from the bed, Serena lumbered to the shower and hopped underneath the warm spray. She closed her eyes and thought about what her life had been like when she made that movie with Emerson.

  She’d been ready to make a name for herself with the sexy thriller. That movie had been poised to launch her, and especially Emerson, into the upper echelon of Hollywood royalty. At the time she hadn’t minded being his arm candy. She hadn’t cared that people were going to look at her and pay more attention to her body than her brain.

  Serena wasn’t that woman anymore. She wanted people to take her seriously. They’d just gotten through bad press at Hometown Delight and the movie was going to make things worse.

  Or is it? she thought. You wanted to write a movie. You basically rewrote the screenplay. Maybe you should just make him reshoot it and take the money. No, I’m not going to have my hard work put Emerson back on the map. Why would he do this? Why now?

  Serena shut the shower off and hopped out. As she toweled herself dry, she heard her phone ring. Dashing into the bedroom, she grabbed her cell phone without looking at the CALLER ID. “Hello?”

  “Good morning, Serena. Have you thought about my offer?” Emerson asked.

  “Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me? That movie is not going to be released, so why don’t you go back to Hollywood and find another student to lie to and leave at the altar.”

  “I’ve regretted that day for the longest time, but you don’t understand what I was dealing with,” he said.

  “Emerson, I don’t give a damn. When I made that movie, I thought I was going to be your wife and we were going to be players in Hollywood. That part of my life is behind me. You’re behind me and I wish you would just disappear.”

  “Maybe I could do that if I thought this was the life you really wanted. Serena, are you happy in this small town with no passion?” Emerson asked.

  She laughed sardonically, realizing Emerson never knew who she really was. “You don’t know a damned thing about my life. If you did, you’d know that I don’t need the Hollyweird spotlight to be happy.”