Dealmaker, Heartbreaker

by Rochelle Alers

  A gorgeous black man with a shaved head extended his hand. “I’m Brandon Benson, but everyone calls me BB.”

  His equally beautiful wife gave him a warning look before she flashed a facetious smile. “You’ll have to excuse my husband.” She offered Viviana her hand. “I’m Alicia.”

  Viviana shook the proffered hand. “It’s nice meeting you, Alicia.” One by one, the men and women introduced themselves as she attempted to commit to memory the name for each face, then gave up all together. Noah was right. She had time to learn their names before the weekend was over.

  A petite curvy blonde took her hand. “Come and sit with us. Let her go, Noah,” she said when he continued to hold on to Viviana’s hand. “Don’t worry. We’re not going to kidnap her.”

  Viviana blew Noah an air kiss. “Don’t worry, darling. I’m not going to run away.” She knew she had shocked him when his mouth opened but didn’t say anything. The endearment was as much for him as the others in his group. She had announced they were a couple.

  She slid onto a bench in the gazebo, her eyes measuring the four women staring back at her. “I suppose you’re a little curious about me,” Viviana said, taking the initiative.

  Alicia tossed a profusion of braided extensions over her shoulder. “I’m more than curious, but before we begin our inquisition, I think it’s only polite if we introduce ourselves more fully. I’m Alicia, and Brandon and I own several fast-food franchises in St. Louis, Missouri.”

  “And I’m Michelle,” the blonde said in introduction. “I’m married to Trace Brown. We live in Dallas. He’s a DA, and I’m currently a homemaker with three little ones.” She closed her eyes and waved a hand. “I love my mama-in-law for looking after them so Trace and I could have a little R & R for a few days.”

  Viviana smiled. “There are truly angels here on earth.”

  “Amen,” Michelle drawled.

  An attractive brunette with red-gold highlights turned on a hundred-watt smile. She’d pushed her sunglasses up on her head to reveal sparkling hazel eyes. “I’m Lynette. And the dude over there with the bulging muscles and tank top is my husband. Phil and I own a sports-therapy clinic in Miami. Now, tell us how you hooked up with Noah.”

  “Hold up, Lynn. Let me introduce myself before you get into the woman’s business,” said a tall, thin black woman with cropped silver hair. Viviana laughed along with Alicia and Michelle.

  “Sorry about that,” Lynette said.

  “I’m Sandra Daniels, Richard’s better half. And I’m proud to say I’ve been cancer-free for more than a year.”

  Viviana leaned over and hugged Sandra. “Good for you.”

  Sandra had survived when Viviana’s mother hadn’t. After complaining of headaches and a number of unexplainable falls, Annette Remington had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain cancer which had led to her death before her thirtieth birthday.

  Sandra ran a hand over her shorn head. “Thank you. Once I began chemo and started to lose my hair, I decided to cut it off, and because I’m graying prematurely, I dye it.”

  “You have the head and face for short hair,” Viviana said.

  Alicia draped an arm around Sandra’s shoulders. “That’s because my beautiful sister girl used to be a model. I’ve been after her to start modeling again, but she claims she’s done.”

  Sandra glared at Alicia. “You’re worse than a dog with a bone. We’re not here to talk about me modeling again but to get to know Viviana.”

  “Before we begin interrogating Noah’s girlfriend, would you like something to drink?” Lynette asked. She pointed to three carafes. “We have margaritas, rum punch and mai tais. Pick your poison.”

  Viviana turned over a glass on the tablecloth and handed it to Lynette. “I’ll have a little of the rum punch. I usually don’t drink on an empty stomach.”

  Sandra laughed. “Not to worry, girlfriend. We’ve already ordered everything on the appetizer menu. It should be here at any moment.”

  The words were barely off her lips when two waiters carrying trays on their shoulders appeared. One stopped at the table with Noah and his friends and the other at Viviana’s. Although she had eaten breakfast, the aromas wafting from the appetizers retriggered her appetite.

  She filled her plate with pot stickers, sesame sushi rolls, crispy fried calamari, mint-marinated lamb kebabs with tahini and honey dip, and ginger-orange pork skewers. Sandra had been truthful about ordering everything on the menu. There were small plates of curried-coconut chicken sticks, prosciutto-wrapped figs, cheese balls, miniature empanadas with a chunky avocado relish, and filo tartlets with shrimp.

  Viviana raised her glass of punch along with the other four women as they toasted old and new friendship. She took a sip of the delicious icy cocktail, wondering if they were welcoming her as a friend only because of her association with Noah and how many of his other girlfriends they had also welcomed.

  The rum punch, although potent, was delicious and the appetizers yummy. Everything she ate had been perfectly prepared. She touched the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “What do you want to know about me?” Viviana knew she had caught the other women off guard when she decided to reintroduce the subject.

  Sandra angled her head as she stared at Viviana under lowered lids. “How long have you known Noah?”

  “Four months.”

  “How did you meet?” Lynette asked.

  “His cousin introduced us.”

  She had no intention of revealing it was a business deal that had brought the two of them together. And she hadn’t lied about Giles introducing her and Leland to Noah when they’d mentioned to Giles about selling off a parcel of undeveloped land they had no intention of using.

  Michelle narrowed her eyes. “Do I detect a trace of the South in your voice?”

  “Guilty as charged. I’m from West Virginia.” Viviana wanted to remind Michelle that although her state was below the Mason-Dixon Line, West Virginians had fought alongside the Union Army during the Civil War.

  Alicia sat straight. “Where in West Virginia are you from?”

  “Wickham Falls. It’s in the southern part of the state. It’s not far from Beckley.”

  “I know Beckley well because I grew up in White Sulphur Springs.” Alicia reached over and fist-bumped Viviana. “I knew we were sisters. I go back home at least twice a year to visit family.”

  Lynette popped a tiny shrimp into her mouth. “What do you do when you’re not hanging out with your gorgeous boyfriend?”

  “I own and operate a bed-and-breakfast in my hometown. Right now I’m closed for the season and plan to reopen in the spring.”

  Lynette pressed her palms together. “My grandparents owned a B and B in Tennessee, and I’d always wanted to run it, but that dream died when I fell in love with Phil and moved to Florida.”

  “What happened to the B and B?” Viviana asked.

  “They sold it to some folks who tore it down to build a mega church.”

  Viviana shook her head. “I have no intention of ever selling my home.” She’d gotten her brother to agree that the house and the property were to remain in their family for perpetuity.

  Lynette rested her elbows on the table. “The four of us usually get together for a girls’ weekend at least once a year. Maybe we’ll call you and make arrangements to come to your B and B, and you can show us a little Mountain State hospitality.”

  “I’d truly love that. I’ll give y’all my number before we leave.”

  Michelle pointed at Viviana. “Now I know you’re a true Southern sister since you said y’all.”

  There was something about the four women Viviana liked. It was apparent they were close friends and seemingly had welcomed her into their cloistered circle. “How do you know Noah?” It was her turn to ask questions.

  Sandra decided to answer for the quartet when she said, �
��Our husbands met Noah when they were at Yale. They weren’t in what you would call an official fraternity, but they had formed their own circle where they refused to let anyone else in. We’ve all been to his family’s resort on Emerald Cove, and if you haven’t been, then you have to ask him to take you there.”

  He has invited me, Viviana thought. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said instead.

  “Are you and Noah serious?” Michelle questioned.

  “Why would you ask me that?”

  Michelle glanced at the others around the table. “Because it has been at least two years since we’ve seen Noah with a woman. Before that, he was quite the playboy. Every time we got together, he’d introduce us to a different woman. After a while, it was impossible to remember all their names.”

  Lynette frowned. “Viviana doesn’t need to hear you talk about her boyfriend’s past.”

  “How do you know that she hasn’t already heard it?” Michelle retorted, her voice rising slightly.

  “Lynn’s right,” Sandra said. “I’m certain Phil hasn’t given you a play-by-play about all of the women he’s slept with.”

  Viviana held up her hands. “Ladies, please stop. Noah and I don’t have any secrets between us,” she lied smoothly. “I know that if I hadn’t agreed to be his date for this wedding, he would’ve come alone.”

  “Which makes you very, very special,” Sandra stated firmly. “I’m not ashamed to say that if Noah had given me a second look, I would’ve scooped him up like a spoonful of my grandmama’s famous mac and cheese.”

  Michelle smiled. “And her grandmother makes the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever eaten.”

  Viviana breathed a sigh of relief when the spotlight shifted from her and Noah to family recipes. Along with the other women, she ate and drank too much when the waiters returned to bring out more carafes of libations. They laughed incessantly at anything and everything, and Viviana could not remember when she had felt so free and uninhibited. Even when she’d accompanied her college friends on the birthday cruise, there’d still been the lingering cloud of her financial problems. Now that she had declared bankruptcy and was not responsible for the debts incurred during the theft of her identity, she looked forward to starting over.

  Viviana thought of having to shut down her business temporarily as just that: temporary. She was positive that the zoning board would approve converting her property from business to residential, and subsequently she’d be back to business once Noah received the approval to build.

  “I’m sorry, my friends, but I’m going to have to go for a walk before I embarrass myself and fall asleep right here,” Sandra said.

  Lynette stood up. “You’re not the only one who has eaten and imbibed too much. I’m going inside to take a nap. I’ll see you ladies later on tonight at dinner.”

  One by one, they left the table, and Noah approached Viviana as she headed toward their villa. “Are you all right?”

  Her eyes caressed his face. He was gorgeous. “I’m going inside to get my sunglasses. I need to walk, or I’m going to fall asleep.”

  “Would you like company?”

  She rested a hand on his arm. “Yes.”

  “I’ll get my glasses, too, and we’ll walk together.”

  * * *

  Noah threaded their fingers together as they walked barefoot along the near-white sand. He’d watched her interact with the wives of his friends who’d attended Yale with him. He didn’t know what they were talking about but had to smile to himself when hearing their outbursts of laughter.

  He’d met Philip, Brandon, Trace and Richard during their first year at the Ivy League college, and they had become fast friends. He’d invited them to stay with him during school holiday. His friends appeared unaffected by his mother’s snobbishness and truly were amazed when their wants and needs were met by the Wainwright household staff.

  Noah and his friends invited the prospective groom into what they considered their exclusive circle during their last year. Jerome Tucker had been injured during a hit-and-run in which he’d broken an arm and a leg and was in danger of not completing his senior year. Brandon, who was a business major and in some of the same classes as Jerome, suggested that Noah, who had a car, pick up his classmate from his apartment and drive him to the campus every day.

  “Did my friends’ wives try to get into your business?”

  Viviana smiled. “The only thing I’m going to say is they were very curious about us dating especially since they haven’t seen you with a woman in almost two years.”

  Noah stared at a sand crab making its way into the water as a bird swooped down to have it for a meal. “That’s because I haven’t dated exclusively for a while.”

  She glanced up at him. “Why?”

  “Because the last woman I dated issued an ultimatum—it was her or my work.”

  “And you chose work.”

  He nodded. “It wasn’t only work. She felt that because we had been seeing each other for almost six months, she wanted an engagement ring.”

  “That’s rather demanding.”

  “I felt the same,” Noah said in agreement. He stopped and pulled Viviana against his body. “Do you have a time limit for dating or a period of engagement?”

  “I’ve never really thought about it,” she said. “But if I were ever to become engaged, I’d prefer a long rather than a short engagement.”

  “Why?”

  She eased back, staring up at him through the lenses of her dark glasses. A breeze off the ocean had stirred the curls falling over her forehead and around her face. “I’d need that length of time to discover if I truly wanted to commit my future to a man who would become my husband and perhaps the father of my children. I’ve had friends who dated someone, and it was all nice and good because the guys were on their best behavior. But once married, they changed into strangers. It was as if the marriage license had become a sign of ownership. They’d complain to me they felt more like chattel than a partner.”

  “The signs were probably there before they were married, and they chose to ignore them.”

  “Maybe you’re right, but women tend to love with their hearts rather than their heads. We liken ourselves to the girls in fairy tales, where the prince is going to come along and take us away and we will live happily ever after.”

  Noah smiled. “Now that sounds like a romance novel.”

  Viviana made a fist and punched him softly in the chest. “What’s wrong with romance novels? I read them all of the time.”

  “That’s probably why you’ve been so unlucky in love.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Romance novels are based on fantasy, not the real world.”

  “It’s fantasy within the realm of reality, Noah. You can’t say some of the situations don’t exist.”

  “I’m not saying that, sweetheart, but the books always end with a happily-ever-after.”

  “Why are you so cynical?” she asked, frowning. “How long have your parents been married?”

  “Forty-two years.”

  “People don’t stay together if they don’t love each other. I’m certain your parents may have had their ups and downs, but it has to be more ups because they’re still married.”

  Noah buried his face in Viviana’s hair. He knew she was right. The first ten years of his parents’ marriage had been tenuous, yet somehow they had decided to stay together. Viviana had accused him of being cynical when he wasn’t. It was just that he’d found himself falling in love with her, and he believed it was all for the wrong reason. Not only did he want to take care of her, he also wanted to right all of the wrongs she had experienced with the other men in her life, beginning with her father.

  “You’re right,” Noah said after a pregnant pause. “In the beginning of the marriage, my mother was the stronger of the two and called the shots,
but then things changed when she became a grandmother. Now she’s a mush, and Dad occasionally will roar like a lion.”

  He smothered a groan when Viviana pressed her breasts to his chest. Anchoring his hands on the sides of her head, he eased back and covered her mouth with his, ignoring her soft moans as she kissed him back. One minute they were standing upright and the next they were on the sand, his body half-on and half-off hers as he communicated without words how much he wanted her. Not only did he want her in his bed but also in his life. He’d asked her to let him in, and she’d admitted that he was in, but that still was not enough.

  Noah did not want Viviana. He craved her. She had become his drug of choice, which he never wanted to give up. Whenever she looked at him, he felt as if she could see what he was thinking, and that alone made him uncomfortable and put him at risk of losing control. All his life, he had prided himself on his iron-willed self-control.

  He reversed their position, pulling Viviana atop his body as he continued to devour her mouth like a man deprived of food needed for survival. Noah knew he had lied to himself the first time he saw Viviana and he couldn’t pull his gaze away because she unknowingly had bewitched him. He’d known and seen his share of beautiful women all over the world, yet there was something about her that held him spellbound.

  * * *

  Viviana felt Noah’s erection pulsing against her middle, and she knew she had to stop him before she begged him to make love to her on the beach where anyone could come along and see them.

  “Please stop, Noah!” She must have gotten through to him because he raised his head. Both were still wearing sunglasses so she couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt the strong beating of his heart against her breasts. “We can’t do this here.”

  Breathing heavily, he buried his face between her chin and shoulder. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  Viviana pressed her fingertips to his mouth. “Don’t apologize, darling.”

  His pale eyebrows lifted. “That’s the second time you called me darling. Am I your darling?”