“Did Z fire you?”
She thought she heard a note of hopefulness in his voice, but his face revealed nothing. “No,” she said forcefully. “I got an earful, and I won’t be working any of the better shifts until the scrutiny dies down, but he doesn’t want to let me go.” She took a deep breath. “He’s worried I’m getting played.”
Isaiah switched to her other foot. “By me?”
“Yeah. When I told him we were dating, he looked skeptical. Z’s had a lot of professional athletes come into his club and play around with the dancers. He said I shouldn’t trust you.”
Isaiah stilled and he met her gaze. “Do you?”
She wanted to. She really wanted to believe he was serious and not just having a little bit of fun. Expressing her doubts wouldn’t make them go away. She’d just have to wait and see what he showed her. “I think you’ve been honest with me.”
He chuckled and went back to the massage. “Not the same, but all right. I’ll take that.”
“So, what did your coach say?”
“That this is bad for the team. We don’t need this type of publicity right before the season starts. That I’m the good one and he expected more of me.”
Angela didn’t know if expecting more meant don’t have sex in a strip club or don’t get caught having sex in a strip club. No need to ask, though. The coach’s thoughts didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered were Isaiah’s feelings.
“What did you say to that?”
“I told him we’re dating. I’m not fooling around being wild and crazy with women. When I gave my agent the heads-up, he said I should get ahead of the story.”
“How?”
Isaiah soothed an extra sore spot on her foot and her eyes closed. “That feels fantastic,” she moaned.
“Anything to make my woman happy. I’m hoping to make you moan in other ways in a minute.” His expert hands slowed, traveled up her ankle and calf before he trailed his fingers down to her feet. The whisper of a caress caused a roar of sensation.
Angela squeezed her thighs together. “Finish your story before you start that.”
His dark eyes blazed with desire and his grin was wicked. “Okay. As far as getting ahead of the story, the team has an appearance tomorrow at Disney World. Part of the whole I’m-going-to-Disney thing after winning a championship. A lot of the players bring their wives and girlfriends. I’d like to bring you and Cory. We’ll take pictures, answer a few reporter questions and the world will know you and I are dating. Then when the story hits, if our names are mentioned, the reports won’t be about me sneaking in the back with a random bartender, but me sneaking off with my lady.”
She wouldn’t acknowledge how much him calling her his lady sparked pleasure in her heart. She forced her mind back to the other problem that would come from this story. “If they mention our names, then Mr. Cooper will know I work at Sweethearts.”
He shrugged as if that was a minuscule thing. “You were already going to tell your supervisor that jerk Jerry saw you there.”
“Seeing me is one thing. Finding out that you and I had sex in the back room via the local news is another.” Worry hardened her tone. “I’ll lose my job.”
Her breathing sped up. She’d been so worried about Z, she hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking ahead to Monday or the huge impact this story would potentially have on her main source of income.
“Shh.” Isaiah reached over, placed his hand behind her head and pulled her forward. He kissed her gently. “Don’t worry about that tonight. You can’t do anything to change it. Tomorrow, email your supervisor and tell her you need to talk to her first thing. The sports reporters here are going with the team tomorrow and it’ll hit the news that we’re dating.”
“Cory’s spot in camp,” Angela said. “I’ll get him kicked out.”
Isaiah brushed his hand over her cheek. “No, he won’t. It’s the last week of camp. I’ll let Keri know this was all on me and I doubt she’ll make Cory suffer because I fell for an angel.”
He made everything sound so easy and reasonable. He had one thing right—there was little she could do about any of the problems at 1:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. She leaned into his hand on her cheek and took a calming breath. “I’m glad you’re optimistic. Optimism may not be enough to keep me employed.”
“If it’s not, I’ve got you.”
She shook her head. “I don’t need anyone to have me. I can take care of myself.” She would not become dependent on him.
“Oh, really?” He clasped her waist, leaned back on the couch and pulled her on top of him.
Angela adjusted her legs until she straddled him. The hard press of his erection brushed against her sex and she gasped. “What are you doing?” Dumb question; she had more than an idea of what he was about.
“Taking care of you.” He lifted a hand to the back of her head and pulled her down for a kiss. “One problem at a time. We’ll do damage control. The story won’t be as bad, and you won’t lose your job.”
She wanted to argue. To tell him his ability to give her amazing orgasms wasn’t the same thing as taking care of her, but then his mouth bewitched her. Warmth spread over her as his hands roamed up her thighs until her short skirt bunched around her waist. Angela’s hand dived beneath his shirt to play along the tight muscles of his stomach and chest. He gripped her ass and lifted his hips into the pocket of her thighs.
She let him take care of her, pushed aside everything that didn’t matter this late at night. The only thing that did matter was this moment. His lips on her breasts after he tugged down the front of her tank top. His strong hands gently caressing across the skin of her thighs. Their suppressed moans and silent sighs as their passion grew. And when he covered himself, slid her underwear to the side and filled her completely, she didn’t care about tomorrow, Monday, or any other day.
She bit into his shoulder to keep from screaming when the orgasm tore through her body. Isaiah’s body jerked hard and deep within her with his own release. They remained in each other’s embrace, one of his hands beneath her shirt on her back, the other running over her hair. He’d only pulled his pants down enough to slide into her and the front of his shirt was damp where her cheek lay pressed against his chest. Her sweat or his—who knew? Probably both.
“I know you’re worried, and that you can take care of yourself,” he said softly, his lips brushing against her forehead. “Just know that we’re in this together. I won’t leave you high and dry. I promise.”
Angela’s hands tightened their hold on his shirt. She didn’t want to do this alone. She’d done so much on her own for so long. She didn’t want Isaiah to be another person to disappoint her. “You say that now?” Her voice carried the teasing note she wanted to convey and not a hint of the fear trembling inside. Fear that she’d be left to clean up another mess in her life.
He lifted her chin and met her eye. Not a hint of teasing in his clear eyes. “I promise.” Then he kissed her softly. Maybe it was the kiss, or the truth of his gaze, but she believed him, and that scared her more than him leaving.
Chapter 20
They fired her.
Angela sat in her car outside of the advocacy center. Her hands were clenched on the wheel, the box of personal items from her office on the passenger seat. She didn’t bother to breathe in the lavender scent from her diffuser charm. There wasn’t enough lavender in the world to settle her anger.
They’d made their new relationship official on Sunday. The media had eaten it up like a free all you can eat buffet. She’d given her supervisor the heads-up on Monday. The story had aired Wednesday. They waited until the end of the day on Friday to fire her.
“We don’t need that type of publicity,” Mr. Cooper had said. “The integrity of our advocates is the most important thing. I’m sorry, but working at a strip club a
nd...doing things in the back room doesn’t equal integrity.”
Angela had to fight the urge to toss her stapler at his judgmental face. For him to question her integrity when she’d worked hard for them for years was laughable. Out of everyone there, she had the best record of volunteers actually visiting their assigned children. She’d won advocate of the year from the city last year. All of that down the drain because of one incident.
Angela sighed and hit the steering wheel. Jerry had smiled smugly at her as she’d walked out. She couldn’t prove it, but she’d bet money he was the one who’d told Mr. Cooper that Angel from the story and Angela in the office were the same person.
She turned on the car and drove to pick up Cory. At least basketball camp was over. Keri had even offered to let him volunteer and help with the younger summer camp kids in the last few weeks before school would start. With no more camp, school a few weeks away and him turning fourteen soon, Angela had accepted she’d have to trust him enough to stay home alone in the evenings.
Keri was behind the counter, looking frazzled when Angela arrived.
“Hey, Keri, what’s up?”
Keri sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Our assistant director quit today.” Keri’s disbelieving tone said the resignation hadn’t been expected.
“Why?”
“She got a new job in Miami. I can’t blame her, but it leaves us in a bind. She handled a lot of the programming and budget stuff.”
“That could be a good thing. You might get promoted.” Angela tried for a bright side.
Keri cringed. “No. If I’m being honest, I don’t want the responsibility. I like what I’m doing just fine.”
“I’m sorry she left unexpectedly. Maybe I can catch some of her luck. I got fired today,” Angela said.
“Oh, no! What happened?”
“Some foolishness.” If Keri didn’t automatically tie her and Isaiah to the story that aired, then Angela wasn’t going to make the leap for her. “No worries. I’ve got a part-time job I can get more hours from. I’ll start looking for a new day job tomorrow.”
Keri’s eyes brightened. “Well, maybe you should consider our assistant-director position? I’ve worked with you over the years and I think you can handle it.”
“Really? I’ve always veered toward social work.”
“You’d be helping people here, plus, we need someone with some sense,” Keri added with a laugh.
Cory came from the back then. “Maybe I’ll think about it.” Angela waved and walked over to Cory. She didn’t look for Isaiah. He said he was leaving camp early for preseason stuff. She was glad he wasn’t there. She was still processing that they’d fired her. She didn’t want him to witness her in angry, freak-out mode. Once they were settled in the car, she told Cory about getting fired.
“Why?” he asked.
Thankfully, Cory hadn’t seen the news report. And if he had, he hadn’t mentioned it to her. Which was perfectly fine. “Office politics. Things are going to be tight for a while until I find another job.”
“Are you going to postpone going to school?”
She shook her head. “Not if I can help it. This is my last semester. I really need to finish. If I have to take out a loan, I will.”
“Why?” When Angela gave him a questioning look, Cory laughed. “You’re dating a baller now, Auntie. Just ask Isaiah for the money.” He said it as if the solution was obvious.
“No. I’m not with Isaiah because of his money. I’m not going to ask him to pay my bills.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. He really likes you. When a man likes a woman, he likes to take care of her.”
Angela gripped the steering wheel. The boy was young and this was an opportunity to school him. “If a woman can take care of herself, then her man should respect her decisions and let her handle things on her own.”
“If you say so. I just know he wouldn’t want to see you struggling. If he wants to help out, I don’t see the problem in letting him.”
“When you’re older and have gotten through tough times on your own, then you’ll understand.”
They went back to the apartment. A few teens were outside playing basketball at the complex’s goal. Cory decided to go hang with them and Angela was glad to get a few minutes to decompress after her terrible day. She changed, then powered up her laptop to start the job search. The position Keri’s boss vacated wasn’t listed yet. She’d never considered working at a place like the activity center. If Keri thought it was a good fit, then it wouldn’t hurt to apply. It wasn’t like she had a backup plan for getting fired from the advocacy center.
She’d been on the computer for half an hour when someone knocked on the door. Assuming it was Nate, who’d agreed to sit with Cory while she worked tonight, she yelled for the person to come in.
“Do you always just let people in without checking?” It was Isaiah’s voice.
The very sight of him improved her mood. He wore a pair of gray shorts and a white shirt that complemented his sleek build. She jumped out of the chair and walked over to kiss him. Strong arms wrapped around her. “What are you doing here? I thought you had team stuff.”
“That was earlier. I’m free for the evening. I decided to come over and see you.”
“I’m glad you decided to come over.” She pulled him onto the couch.
His fingers ran over the back of her hand. “I saw Cory outside—he said you were fired today.”
“The director doesn’t believe I have enough integrity to work as a child advocate.” She tried not to sound bitter by mocking Mr. Cooper’s holier-than-thou tone.
Her attempt to lighten the heaviness of their conversation didn’t erase the concern on his face. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“It happened right at the end of the day.” Plus she hadn’t wanted to call Isaiah and complain. This was her problem to solve.
“What are you going to do?”
She sighed. “I was just on the computer looking for jobs. Until I find something, I’ll take on extra shifts at Sweethearts. Z asked me to hold back, but when he hears I was fired, he’ll help out.”
Isaiah’s body tightened. “You don’t need to work extra shifts.”
“Yes, I do. How else am I going to pay the rent, let alone school?”
He took her hand in his. “I can help with—”
She shook her head before he even finished the sentence. They’d just started dating. She wasn’t about to ask him to pay her bills. “No. I am not taking your money. I’ve been through worse. I can handle this.”
“But I want to help.”
“And I appreciate it. Look, if things get really bad then I’ll let you know and maybe—” she lifted a finger “—just maybe you can help with something. But until then, let me at least try to get myself back on my feet.”
He looked ready to argue, stilled, then relaxed and nodded. Apparently her wishes overruled the argument in his head. She appreciated him accepting her wishes instead of pushing the issue. She really liked Isaiah, would probably fall in love with him if things continued to go well and she knew she could trust him.
Angela leaned forward and kissed him. The kiss was meant to be brief, but Isaiah pulled her onto his lap and deepened it. Heat swirled inside her.
“I’ve got to go to work,” she said against his lips.
He groaned and gripped her thighs. “You’re working tonight? I thought we could hang out.”
She’d rather stay here with him, but she really couldn’t afford to skip out of work. “I know, but I really need to go now that it’s my only source of income.”
“What about Cory?”
“Nate is watching him.”
“Look, save your teen-sitter money,” he said with a grin. “At least let me do this for you. Cory can spend the night
at my place.”
“Why spend the night?”
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “Because if he stays, you stay.” His hand slid up her thigh until his fingers brushed the heat of her center. “And I miss you.”
Angela sighed and kissed him harder. She should save the money. Yeah, that’s why you’re going to agree. “I’ll be there before one.”
Chapter 21
Isaiah had just left a team meeting about the upcoming training camp when his mother called. He had been sitting with several members of the team in the locker room talking and stepped out to answer.
“Bridget told me you dumped her for some stripper” were the first words out of her mouth.
Isaiah gritted his teeth to keep from snapping at his mother. He didn’t mind her asking about what had happened with Bridget, but the derisive way she’d said “stripper” set him on edge. She’d already formed an opinion about Angela before she’d even met her. He had no doubt Bridget helped with that.
“Hello to you, too,” he said calmly.
“Isaiah, I didn’t call you to play games,” she answered in an equally calm tone, the one she used when she was mad but tried to use reason to get her way. “What’s going on?”
“For one, I didn’t dump Bridget. She wanted time to figure out if we should get back together. I told her about Angela and that I didn’t think getting back together was a good idea.”
“Why did you invite Bridget to move there if you were interested in another woman?” Her voice was measured and questioning. She sounded every bit the college professor asking a pupil to dig deeper to find the true answer to the equation.
“I hadn’t met Angela when I first suggested moving to Bridget,” he answered just as evenly.
“Aha,” she said slowly. “You’re making a rash decision.”
Isaiah inhaled and exhaled slowly. “You’d rather I continue to keep Bridget in my life while I date Angela?”
“No, but you basically told Bridget you two were done forever after only knowing this woman briefly. You and Bridget have known each other for years. You’ve got a lot in common and want the same things.”
Overtime for Love Page 14