Margaret waved her hands. “I know you think I’m meddling, but you’re my son and I love you. The last thing I want is to stand by and watch another woman play loose and fast with your heart.”
“Jill and I are just getting to know each other. She’s not…You want to meet her, don’t you?”
“I’m so glad you offered, because I wouldn’t want to overstep,” Margaret said demurely.
Darren looked at his brother, whose face had turned red from the laughter he was holding back. He’d been set up and had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker. Margaret caught the look between her sons.
“Have you met her, Cleveland?”
He nodded and mumbled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You don’t say. Well, obviously, Darren, you plan to get serious with her because your brother has met her. This is looking like Rita all over again. And it’s not you I don’t trust, it’s the new millennium women I have a problem with. Their career first, family whenever attitude is appalling. ‘You can have it all if you know how to balance things.’ I worked, but I was also able to cook dinner for the two of you almost every day, be home before you arrived home from school and…”
“We’re just friends, I have not asked her to marry me,” he said, deciding not to reveal too much to his mother. But he had every intention of getting serious with Jill. Of course he would need time to get to know her better. He wanted to know everything about her, especially all of the areas that she tried to shade from the light.
At first Darren thought she might have been married or living with her boyfriend. But last night she’d proved that wasn’t true when she allowed him to take her home.
She could still be lying, his mother’s voice screamed in his head. But Jill wouldn’t lie to him. She has no reason to do that, he surmised. Still, too many questions nagged at him.
“I’ll call her and we can have lunch. Then Ma, I don’t want to hear anything else about it.”
Margaret smiled but didn’t reply.
“I’ve got to see this,” Cleveland said. “Where are we going for lunch?”
“Did I invite you?” Darren asked as he tossed a napkin at him.
Margaret stood up and cleared the empty plates. “You boys aren’t going to grow up, are you?” she said. “Cleveland, of course you are welcome to come to lunch. We’re going to my favorite place too.”
“Houston’s,” Darren and Cleveland said in unison.
“That’s right; I want a Biltmore so badly I can taste it and those delicious red cabbages.” She closed her eyes and clasped her hands.
Darren knew exactly where they had gotten their love of food from. Their mother. She loved to cook and eat. Growing up, Darren and Cleveland had felt like going to McDonald’s was a punishment. Processed food was not their friend when Margaret made the best hamburgers and fresh cut fries a little boy could want. She even made vegetables taste good.
Rita had been a good cook, too. That was one of the reasons Darren had made her his wife. These days men didn’t run across too many women who cook.
If Jill can cook, I just might be in trouble, he thought.
“Anyway,” Cleveland said. “Why don’t we go to a downtown Houston’s? The one on Lenox Road has much better service than the one out in the burbs.”
“I’ll call Jill and find out what she wants to do,” Darren said as he took the dishes from his mother’s hands and kissed her on the cheek. He placed the dishes in the sink, and then called Jill.
“Hello,” she sang into the phone.
“Good morning, gorgeous.”
“Darren. How are you?”
“A lot better now that I’ve heard your voice. I went to sleep a very happy man last night and had some great dreams.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. You mind hanging out with me again this afternoon?”
“Not at all. I was going to go into the office for a few, so what time are you looking to hook up?”
“On a Saturday? You must want employee of the month or something.”
She laughed.
“Listen,” Darren said. “My mother is here and we’re going to Houston’s for lunch. I think Cleveland is driving her crazy and she doesn’t want to admit it. She overheard me talking about you and now she’s curious. So, she wants to meet you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We’re going to Houston’s on Lenox Road around one-thirty. After lunch, you and I can go catch a movie. That is, if you want to. You are under no obligation to let my mother meddle in my life,” he said.
“No. I mean, you have to love a man that wants to make his momma happy,” Jill said.
“See you then,” Darren said.
When he hung up, he knew his mother would like Jill and if she didn’t, too bad, because he did.
Chapter Eight
Jill couldn’t remember the last time she’d met a man’s mother. Maybe that’s why she felt as if she was going to toss her cookies when she hung up with Darren. What if his mother didn’t like her? Worse yet, what if his mother recognized her?
She’d heard people talk about the bond between mother and son being like a lifelong umbilical cord. She’d seen friends’ marriages end because of a meddlesome mother-in-law. She’d seen guys walk out on their girlfriends because Momma didn’t approve. Maybe it was a southern thing. But she knew today she was going to have to impress Mrs. Alexander.
She stood in front of her closet trying to figure out what to wear. She didn’t want to be too dressy nor did she want to be too casual. But she had to make a good impression on Darren’s mother. She knew from previous conversations with Darren that they were close.
Please don’t let her be an Essence reader, Jill thought.
Maybe it would serve her right for lying to Darren if his mother knew her true identity.
Finally, Jill decided to wear a pair of black slacks and a lime green turtleneck. She livened up her turtleneck with a rose-colored starburst pendant, pulled her hair back in a ponytail and glossed her lips with a neutral tone lipstick, trying to look like the kind of girlfriend a mother would like. Inside, though, she felt like a fraud.
She didn’t know what to expect when she walked into Houston’s. What would the implications be if Darren’s mother didn’t like her? Would that nip her budding relationship? Maybe his mother’s approval was that important to him and he needed her to rubber stamp their relationship.
This isn’t high school, she thought. No grown man is going to ask his mother for permission to have a girlfriend.
Jill sighed as she fumbled with her broach. “Just walk in there and close the deal. How bad can his mother be?” she mumbled as she placed her hand on the restaurant’s door knob.
The door swung open. “Welcome to Houston’s. Party of one?” the hostess asked.
“I’m meeting someone here, a gentleman and a woman.”
“Are you Jill?” she asked.
“H-how did you know?”
The hostess smiled. “Mr. Alexander left your name up here with us. I’ll take you to the table.”
Jill followed her to a booth near the window, overlooking Lenox Road. When she saw Darren and his mother and brother, she smiled at them warmly, but inside she was screaming. This was a family lunch and her lying ass had no right to be here. Whatever Darren had told his mother about her wasn’t true. She wasn’t the woman that he’d said she was.
“Jill,” Darren said as he rose from his seat and took her hand. “How are you?”
“Good, hello Mrs. Alexander, Cleveland.”
Darren and Jill sat across from his mother and brother. “Jill, this is my mother, Margaret. Ma, this is Jill.”
Margaret extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m glad Darren talked you into joining us.”
“I was happy to come. This is one of my favorite restaurants.”
Cleveland snickered, and then said, “Jill, you look stunning as ever. I still can’t figure out why you’re hanging out with this clown.”
/> Darren glared at his brother while Margaret smiled at Jill and shook her head.
“These boys have always acted like this, in case you’re wondering.”
Underneath the table, Darren held Jill’s hand, gently stroking it with his thumb.
Margaret leaned back. “So, Darren tells me you’re from Macon. I have people down there. Sure we’re not related?”
Jill inhaled sharply. “I hope not.” Her face flushed and her heart skipped a beat at the thought of being remotely related to Darren. The things she wanted to do to him, with him and to certain parts of his body weren’t familial thoughts at all.
“Who are your people?” Margaret asked.
“Ma,” Darren said. “This isn’t the time to dig up people’s family trees.”
“Well, if you want to know how good the fruit is, you have to look at the roots,” she said so sweetly that it made Jill shiver. Margaret’s comment was telling. This woman didn’t play and she hid her tenacity behind a candy shell like an M&M.
“My mother was an Adams before she married my father,” Jill said.
“Adams? Do you know Flozzie Mae?”
Uh oh, Jill thought.
“Yes ma’am, she was my grandmother. I guess it’s true, everybody in Macon knows the Adamses.”
“She and my mother were good friends before I was born and my father moved us to Atlanta. She must have been pregnant with your mother when we left. How is she?”
Jill dropped her head slightly. “She passed away three years ago.”
Margaret placed her hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry to hear that. What about your crazy uncle Stewart? Girl, back in the day all of the young girls in Macon wanted him. Every time I would go visit for the summer, he would look better and better.”
“But not as good as my dad, right?” Cleveland interjected.
Margaret shot him a silencing glance.
Jill smiled at the thought of her uncle, whom the family called Sweets. The legend was that Sweets could talk a drowning woman into buying a glass of water if he wanted to.
“Uncle Sweets is just fine. He retired to Florida and I don’t know how many times he’s been married.”
Margaret and Jill laughed and talked as if they were old friends, but the question came.
“So, what do you do for a living?”
Darren, who had been silent while the conversation had been benign, cleared his throat. Margaret ignored her son and leaned into Jill as if she wanted to capture her answer like the first flakes of a southern snowstorm.
“Marketing research. Nothing quite as exciting as what your sons do. You must be so proud.”
“Oh, I am. They’re just like their dad. Everybody’s hero.”
Jill glanced at Darren. “Darren is certainly mine.” She squeezed his hand underneath the table as if to tell him he was a hero in more ways than one.
“How did the two of you meet?” Margaret asked.
“My building caught fire New Year’s Eve and Darren saved me and my laptop.”
“All right, enough talking,” Cleveland said. “Let’s order so that we can eat.” He waved for the waitress while Darren slowly fingered Jill’s inner thigh, drawing his awe and affection with his digit.
Jill struggled to keep a straight face, but somehow she didn’t let on as to what was going on.
After lunch, Darren and Jill headed to Phipps Plaza to see a movie. As they walked up the block to the theater, he spun her around. “I’ve never seen anyone win my mother over like that. She usually hates every woman with the audacity to date one of her boys.”
“Overprotective?”
“Understatement. But her heart is in the right place and I should have listened to her about my first wife.”
Jill shuttered inwardly. In a sense, she was no better than his first wife, telling him half truths and lies. And it was only going to build and build until the initial lie become unrecognizable.
“Darren, do you think you could forgive someone if they were dishonest with you about something trivial? I mean, if I said this was my natural hair color, would you consider that a lie?”
Darren looked at her deep brown tresses. “No, besides, I see dark roots. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the morality police. I’m not going to say I’ve never told a lie, but one lie leads to another and before you know it, you have no idea who the person is you’re looking at.”
Jill forced herself to smile and pretend everything was all right.
“I have a little confession to make,” she said not knowing what would come out of her mouth next. “I don’t want to mess this up,” Jill said. “I like you.”
“I like you too,” he said. “We sound like some school children. So, Miss Atkinson, now that we know we like each other, what’s next?”
She wrapped her arm around his waist. “I say we pick the longest movie up here, sit in the way, way back and make out like we’re high school students cutting class.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I think I like the sound of that.”
And they were in luck; there was a three and a half hour epic that was just about to start.
* * *
The darkness of the theater seemed to embolden Darren as he held Jill against him. Her body was so soft and she smelled like a slice of heaven. His hands followed her curves as if they were on an expedition. And what a topography her body was, round hips, long legs and smooth feet. She had slipped out of her shoes and in the glow of the light from the screen; he could tell she believed in getting pedicures regularly. Immediately he wanted to take them into his mouth. He had a foot fetish and Jill was fueling it.
She moaned softly as he slipped his hand underneath her turtleneck, gliding across her taut stomach. Darren felt her shiver as his hand danced up to her breasts. Through her thin lace bra, he felt her nipples spring forth, rock hard and begging to be kissed. Of course, he couldn’t do that.
But those lips. He feasted on them as he massaged her nipples. He took her bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling gently as if her lip were a delicate pastry. Jill ran her tongue across his top lip, sending chills down his spine. He reached between her thighs, resting his hand on her crotch. He could feel the heat radiating from her body. Was she wet? He couldn’t help wondering as he rubbed his hand up and down. Jill moaned in delight as his hand moved faster and faster.
“Excuse me?” a voice said before a bright light shone on them.
Darren and Jill looked up at the usher and broke apart. The fresh-faced teenager looked as if he had just walked in on his parents making love.
“Um, we’ve gotten a few complaints about the two of you. Can you stop what you’re, uh, doing?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Darren said.
“Sorry,” Jill said.
When the usher walked away, the couple burst out laughing. “My goodness,” Jill said. “Were we that bad?”
“Yeah, I guess we need to watch the movie.”
Jill smoothed her ponytail. “What’s this movie about again?”
Darren draped his arm across her shoulder, stroking her breast back and forth as they attempted to watch the film about a Roman emperor and the wars he waged.
“What do you say we get out of here?” she whispered.
Darren turned to her and smiled. “Where do you want to go?”
“Wherever you want to take me.”
He wanted to take her back to his place and straight to bed. He wanted to take her clothes off, unhook her bra and give those nipples the kisses that they so deserved. He wanted to kiss every inch of her body, starting with those toes.
“Do you really want me to decide that?”
One of the movie patrons in front of them turned around. “I hope you two find a hotel room so the rest of us can watch the movie in peace.”
Jill and Darren stood up, but they weren’t embarrassed by their passionate display. But was it too soon for sex? Would that change everything between them?
When they made it to the lobby, Jil
l turned to Darren. “So, Mr. Alexander, where are you taking me?”
“My place.” His voice was low and seductive. “I want to make love to you. If you’ll let me.”
“I want you to make love to me.”
They nearly ran to his car. The anticipation of making love hung in the air like the sweet stickiness of a humid Georgia summer. Darren sped to his townhouse, disregarding the speed limit and the work zones.
“We’re not rushing into anything, are we?” Darren asked, glancing over at Jill.
“No,” she said.
“Because I don’t want you to have any regrets about what…”
Jill placed her hand on his thigh. “Darren. We’re going to be fine. Do you have any doubts?”
He glanced at her hand. “Not at all. But I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing something that…”
“This isn’t high school and you’re not forcing me into something that I’m not ready for. I want you just as much as you want me.”
He turned into his driveway and put the car in park. His libido was in overdrive, and his heart pounded like a marching band’s drum line. Darren hadn’t felt this nervous about being with a woman since his prom night. His palms were sweaty, but he had to play it cool. He walked over to the passenger side and opened Jill’s door. When she looked up at him, he didn’t feel anxious. He felt amorous. Her eyes seemed to be filled with the same desire that he felt. Darren clasped his hand around hers and led her inside.
“Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home,” he said as held the front door open.
Jill looked around his living room, which was decorated in a classic style, with mahogany wood and burgundy leather. The only thing on his wall was a family portrait that showed a young Darren, a younger Cleveland and his parents.
“That’s a lovely picture,” she said.
“Thanks.”
They stood in the middle of the living room looking at each other, each waiting for someone to make the first move. Darren wiped his sweaty palms on his pants legs before taking her hands, bringing them to his lips and kissing them.
“You are so beautiful.”
She cast her eyes down. Darren pulled her closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He could feel her heart racing. Jill was a take charge woman, but this time, he was going to be in control. He was going to take charge of giving her pleasure and showing her that he was her rock, that she could lean on him because he wanted to take care of her. He’d never hurt her, betray her or do anything that some other guy had done to scar her heart.
Business of Love Page 8