Like magic, Natalie turned around in that moment and our eyes kissed over the distance. Had she been reminiscing about one of our passionate moments on the mountain too? I grinned and curled my finger, signaling her to come to me, and she returned my smile and glided gracefully across the room in my direction.
She kissed my lips. “Yes, Mr. Ellis?”
“It’s time to make our escape, Mrs. Ellis.”
“Whatever you say, bae.”
I looked around at my cousins dancing with their husbands and Ravie and Chip locked in each other’s arms, swaying to the music. I laughed when I noticed Big Quad spinning Aunt Gerda around in a corner on the dance floor. My oldest cousin, Ewart, was feeding Mona, his wife, a slice of wedding cake while their little girl stuffed her mouth with icing. My parents and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were talking and laughing while sipping champagne on the loveseat. Granny was close by on another loveseat chatting it up with her sister, Ms. Lula Mae, and her husband, Mr. Will.
“Let’s go while no one is looking.”
Natalie smiled. “Okay.”
I placed my empty beer bottle on the table and took my wife by the hand. I guided her toward the back of the cabin with Selig leading the way. A uniformed chauffeur was standing in front of a black Cadillac Escalade when we got outside.
“Hayden, where are we going and where is my luggage?”
“We’re going to spend two nights in a penthouse suite at the Ritz Carlton where our luggage has already been delivered, thanks to Selig and Ravie. Then Monday morning, we’ll fly to Musha Cay for seven nights and seven days.”
The driver assisted Natalie into the back seat of the vehicle before he and Selig made sure I was able to climb in beside her safely.
As soon as the door closed, Natalie placed her hand on my knee. “You said Musha Cay is a private island in southern Bahamas. Just how private is it?”
“Other than our driver, the service staff, and the physical therapist that will spend an hour helping me exercise every morning, it’ll be just you and me in our beach house, babe. And according to my calculations, you owe me a huge debt for forcing me to wait until our wedding night to make love to you. I’ll let you start paying off your debt tonight , though.” I snaked my arm around Natalie’s waist and pulled her closer to me.
“I don’t mind paying my debt at all.”
“Good because I added fifteen percent interest each day you made me wait.”
“I can handle that, Mr. Ellis.”
“And I’m going to hold you to it, Mrs. Ellis.”
Epilogue
Two weeks later…
Atlanta, Georgia
“So, how exactly is this bi-continent, professional singer-athlete, interracial marriage going to work?” CBS’s morning anchorwoman, Gayle King asked. “You two said it’ll be easy, but I’m sure the millions of people tuning in right now feel like I do. It sounds like a catastrophe waiting to happen.”
“A combination of love and commitment is the key,” Natalie explained. “We’re not worried about the race or ethnicity issues because love has no color or particular origin. It’s strictly a matter of the heart . Hayden is my heart, and I’m his. Plus, our families have accepted our relationship one hundred percent. Everybody else can take it or leave it.”
“What about your jobs? You both are pretty busy. How will you balance the marriage with your singing career and his soccer career?”
“During soccer season, we’ll live on our estate in Munich, and when the season is over, we’ll live here in Atlanta. He calls it the seasonal split.”
Hayden nodded and squeezed his wife’s knee. “The entire lower level of our home in Germany is being converted into a state-of-the-art music studio for her as we speak. So, she’ll be able to create and record music as usual but in a new environment while I play ball.”
“Will she travel with you sometimes during soccer season?”
Hayden and Natalie gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment before they faced the interviewer again. “Yes,” they answered at the same time and giggled like a pair of crazy-in-love teenagers.
“She’s my good luck charm, Gayle. I need her in the stands cheering me on while I’m on the football field. Of course, she won’t be able to travel along with me and my team, but she’ll attend all my games no matter where I’ll be playing.”
“Yeah, so basically, soccer season will be a slow music period for me, so I can support him. I’ll be in the studio, but I won’t be performing or touring. Acting will be on hold as well.”
“And at the end of football season, she’ll resume touring and performing all over the world and acting.”
“Will you travel with her?”
Hayden looked directly into the camera surrounded by lights in their great room. “Hell yeah. We’re a team. If she’ll give me singing lessons, I may become one of her backup singers.”
Natalie laughed and shook her head. “Um, I don’t think that’s going to happen. As long as I can look to my right and see him in the wing behind the curtain while I’m on stage doing my thing, I’ll be just fine.”
“How big a hit is Zyeshia in Germany, Hayden?”
“She’s huge . They love her there.”
“I think my popularity has grown in Germany since I married their beloved Viper ,” Natalie said with a smile. “He’s like a god in his home country. They worship this man.”
“Yes, my countrymen love me, but the entire world loves Zyeshia. Even while we honeymooned on a private island in the Caribbean, the service staff and the few other tourists in the city all knew who she was and they went crazy!”
“And how does that make you feel? Do you foresee a problem with you having to share your very beautiful and talented wife with the rest of the world, Hayden?”
“Nah,” he answered, shaking his head. “I’m very proud and honored to be the husband of such an amazing woman whose voice inspires people from all walks of life around the world. But I’m even prouder and more honored that when she drops the mic and the spotlight dims and the curtains close, I get to take her home with me and have her all to myself.”
Judging by the soft expression on Gayle’s face, she was deeply moved by Hayden’s words.
“That was very sweet coming from a man internationally known as a vicious viper.”
Everyone in the room laughed, even the camera and sound crews.
“He’s a real sweetheart,” Natalie gushed lovingly as she rubbed the back of her husband’s bald head. “Hayden, the man, is so much milder and more easygoing than Viper, the soccer star. Believe me. He has a soft side.”
As if on cue, the camera cut away to a video clip of their wedding. Hayden was wiping away tears as Natalie serenaded him. The couple watched it on the monitor along with viewers world-wide.
“Aw!” Gayle fanned her face with both hands. “What a priceless memory. Tell me what you were thinking in that moment, Hayden. What caused those tears?”
“Joy. I was overjoyed that this dream of a woman had fallen in love with me and wanted us to spend the rest of our lives together. Any man lucky enough to experience the love of Natalie Zyeshia Taylor would’ve cried during that song too, so I’m not ashamed that I shed a few tears.”
“That’s awesome. Is it true that you had no idea who the other was when you first met in the Blue Ridge Mountains?”
Hayden and Natalie looked at each other and laughed out loud.
“I was a basketball fan and I knew nothing about soccer,” Natalie explained. “So, I had no idea who he was. He was just a sexy, mysterious guy living in the cabin above mine.”
“I had heard of Zyeshia and I was familiar with her song, “The Baller’s Creed” and a few others, but I had never seen her before. Imagine how blown away I was when I first saw that beautiful face. We met, spent some time together, and that was a wrap for me. I knew I had to have her in my life, and now she’s mine.”
Gayle folded her hands on her lap. “Tell me about the moment you found out about
each other’s larger-than-life stardom.”
“Hayden had me investigated while we were still in the mountains, but he didn’t let on that he knew who I was.” Natalie punched his shoulder playfully.
“Ouch.” Hayden rubbed his shoulder in mock pain. “Unfortunately, my wife found out about my football career and my life in Germany on the internet before I had a chance to come clean. Things were a tad bit iffy after that, but here we are.”
“Yes, here you are, a power couple in the sports arena and the music world internationally .” Gayle gave the couple a million-dollar smile. “Okay, Natalie and Hayden, I have one last question. Let’s talk about babies ! When are they coming and how many?”
Hayden cast his eyes on Natalie with a half smile on his face as his hand still rested on her knee. Then he looked at Gayle again. “We just want to enjoy being married right now. We’re young, so we’ll have plenty of time to start a family. Right, babe?”
“Yeah, we have lots of time.”
“But we definitely want a family. I’m thinking we’ll have a football team and a few reserve players.” Hayden doubled over in laughter at the horrified look on his wife’s face.
“Pay him no mind, America. We will have babies for sure, but not a doggone soccer team.”
“Well, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, thanks so much for allowing us into your Atlanta home. It is gorgeous from top to bottom. Congratulations on your marriage. We wish you all the best.”
“Thank you,” Hayden and Natalie said in unison.
The End
Check out this Amazon #1 best-selling interracial romance novel by Germaine Solomon!
Pampered
By
Germaine Solomon
SYNOPSIS:
In the blink of an eye, Radiance Alexander is literally picked up and carried away, kicking and screaming from her job at a popular Atlanta gentleman’s club after an interrupted dance performance. Sexy multimillionaire, Eli Jamieson, prefers that she live on the lap of luxury instead of on the laps of strange and horny men. But what began as a goodwill gesture soon evolves into the most flammable romance under the heavens. Lust, love, and passion quickly consume Eli and the young woman who makes him feel born again. In fact, they’re so caught up in the rapture that Eli ignores the fact that a woman from his past still has a loose hold on him, and Radiance fails to prepare for the day of reckoning that she knew would eventually come. Both are forced to deal with persistent outside forces that threaten to tear them apart, but deal with them they must. They overcome every obstacle they face, intensifying the bonding of their souls. But when tragedy strikes, will Radiance’s love and faith be enough to cover Eli and give him the will to fight and live? Or will their happiness together be snatched away by death?
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