“There’s nothing left to say.” She picked up her glass and took a sip of her drink.
“I think there is. I have to confess something. I can understand you a lot more than you think,” he said as he turned to face her. “I didn’t tell you everything about my breakup with Lauryn.” Maurice inched closer to Kenya, forcing her to give him her full attention.
“You called my name out during sex, or something corny like that?” She laughed coldly. Her eyes didn’t sparkle, as they had when he’d tickled her earlier.
“No,” he replied, taking her free hand in his. “Lauryn left me at the altar for her friend Mya Brown.”
Kenya cocked her head to the side as if she was deciding if Maurice was telling the truth or not. “Mya Brown? The same Mya who was her roommate in college?”
Maurice nodded. “One and the same. As it turned out, they’d been carrying on an affair for a number of years. Even when we were in college, I’m guessing. While I was shut up in my house, I thought back to all of the nights she had stayed over at Mya’s, and to their shopping trips to Vegas, New York, and wherever else they’d gone together. I realized that I had been played for a fool. And she made it so that when she left me, we had a huge audience and a media following. I don’t know if she and Mya planned this as some sort of lesbian revolt against men, or if Mya was bewitched by her, like I had been. But now I understand how you felt finding out that I was with another woman. Mya must have given Lauryn something that I couldn’t.”
The sardonic smile on Kenya’s face made him regret his words. Was she mocking him? Had he overestimated how she felt for him?
“Let me get this straight,” Kenya began. “Because Lauryn turned gay or whatever, you understand how I felt knowing that you had cheated on me? You’re an asshole. Oh, was I supposed to feel sorry for you because she left you for a woman? What was the point of your story? Was that supposed to change something?” Rising to her feet quickly, Kenya knocked her stool over and attempted to storm out of the bar.
Maurice impeded her exit. “Is it possible to love someone and hate them at the same time? How can you run so hot and cold with me when I know you love me?”
“You know no such thing,” she snapped.
“I have two ears, Kenya. I can hear and I heard you earlier. You said you loved me twice, and then you kicked me out of bed like I was a gigolo.” He held her arm to keep her from bolting. “What is it, sweetheart? Do you love me or hate me? I wish you’d tell me, because I need to know what I have to do to make you see that this is fate. We’re supposed to be.”
“I’m sorry Lauryn left you for a woman. But I won’t be the validation of your manhood. You won’t dump your insecurities and shortcomings on me because of what she did. Deal with it. Learn to live with it. I did.” Snatching her arm away from him, Kenya stalked out of the bar.
So much for a relaxing vacation, she thought. She was more tired now than she had been when she’d arrived on the island. There was no need to prolong this, she decided. She was going to Charlotte and back to her old ways of being buried in work.
The move to Charlotte wasn’t as taxing as Kenya had expected. Maybe it was because she had seen Maurice already and didn’t expect to see him again. The way they’d left things in the Bahamas had given her the closure that she’d needed all of these years. But it had also stirred something inside her, which she refused to acknowledge. At night she dreamed of his touch and smelled his scent when she would inhale deeply, and that made her crave his kiss. Vivid memories of their lovemaking often woke her in the middle of the night or broke into her quiet moments in the office, when she was the only one there, drafting briefs. But there was no way that she was going to seek him out. She had too much work to do, and Maurice was more than a distraction. He was poison.
Kenya might not have seen Maurice in person, but his face haunted her. On the way to work, she saw his half-naked body on a billboard advertising Calvin Klein underwear. Then there was the Carolina Panthers’ season tickets billboard with Maurice in his uniform, making his clutch catch in the Super Bowl. Those were all over the city. And the irony of all ironies was the fact that her law office was in a new development across the street from Bank of America Stadium, where the Panthers played. At least football season was over, and she didn’t have to see Maurice going over there to practice every day.
Catching herself staring at the stadium, Kenya twisted her chair away from the window and faced her closed office door. Why can’t I just forgive him? Why can’t I stop thinking about him? He said he’s done with Lauryn, and God help me, I love him. And he knows it.
“Ms. Taylor,” her assistant, Talisha, called over the intercom. “Your three o’clock is here.”
“Thank you,” Kenya said as she straightened her coat. It was time for business. According to her calendar, she was meeting with Brothers Reality, a company that was negotiating with the city to purchase land in a few of the city’s distressed neighborhoods and to create housing for low-income families as well as a community center, which would provide after-school activities for the neighborhood kids and computer training for the adults who needed it. Kenya was excited about the project and couldn’t wait to meet the “brothers” behind Brothers Reality.
What she didn’t expect was for Maurice to walk into her office. Momentarily, she was rendered speechless. Was she imagining things?
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Is that how you greet all of your clients or just me?” he asked, with a huge smile on his face.
“I have an appointment with—”
“Brothers Reality. That’s my company. James runs it, but I lend my name and face when necessary,” he said, taking a seat across from her desk without an invitation. “So, how have you been? Are you enjoying Charlotte?”
Did he really walk in here? Is he really talking to me as if we’re old friends? Kenya thought as she stared at him in disbelief.
“I’ve looked over the contracts that were messengered over here,” she said, ignoring his attempts at small talk. “The asking price for the land is way too high. Especially when the houses there are scheduled to be condemned by the city. I’m going to recommend that one of our other attorneys works with you on this contract.”
Maurice shook his head, then said, “I want the best, and from what I know about you, the only person at this firm that I want handling my business is you.”
Kenya rose to her feet and smoothed her skirt, wishing that she’s worn her Prada pants suit instead of her knee-skimming Donna Karan outfit. “I have nothing but the highest level of confidence in everyone on my staff. If you can’t work with someone else, maybe you need to find another firm to assist you.”
Crossing his long legs and running his index finger down the crease of his pants, Maurice watched Kenya like a hawk. Her legs looked delectable, and he wanted to reach out and touch them, just to see if she was wearing nylons or not.
She turned and looked at him, catching the lustful look in his eyes. “What?”
“Listen, you know I came here because you work here. I wanted to give you some space between what happened in the—”
“Don’t,” she said in a whisper. “Don’t say anything about what happened in the past, no matter how recent.”
He stood and closed the space between them. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he said, his lips so close to her ear that his breath sent shivers up and down her spine. “I know you feel the same way. I can see it when you look at me.”
Kenya was powerless to move away from him. She didn’t have her wits about her, because his lips were just too close to her and his scent of patchouli overwhelmed her. “What about your contracts? This is highly inappro—”
He cut off her protest with a sharp kiss, catching her off guard and causing her knees to buckle. Maurice swooped Kenya off her feet and sat her on the edge of her desk. She didn’t resist his kiss. Instead, she plunged her tongue into his mouth, drawing him deeper into hers. Sucking on his tongu
e, she forgot where she was, what she was supposed to be doing, and the fact that her assistant could walk in the door at any moment with a tray of coffee.
Maurice slipped his hands underneath her skirt, stroking her thighs, and they were just as smooth as they’d looked when he’d seen her standing by the window. She didn’t have on any stockings, and that made his manhood harder than he thought it could get. He wanted to rip his pants off and bury himself inside her, because when he fingered the crotch of her silky panties, it was hot and wet. She did want him, and he had to have her.
Before they became too heady with desire, Talisha buzzed Kenya, and they broke off the kiss. “Ms. Taylor, there’s a Mr. James Goings here. He said he’s a part of the meeting.”
“Yes, yes,” Kenya said as she wiped her mouth. “Send him in.” She dashed behind her desk, straightening her skirt as she sat down.
Maurice licked his lips and raised his eyebrows at Kenya, as if to tell her that they were not finished.
“Sorry, I’m late,” James said, looking from Kenya to Maurice. “What did I miss?”
Maurice smiled at his brother. “Kenya was trying to assign us to another attorney.”
Shaking his head, James said, “I wonder why. Kenya, how are you, hon?”
She extended her hand to James. “Good, thanks. I was telling Maurice that the city is asking too much for this tract of land that you all want to purchase. I believe condemned property shouldn’t cost this much.”
“And to think you wanted to just sign,” Maurice said to his brother.
“But do we want to get into a bidding war with some larger company? I mean, Maurice is a star and all, but the only thing that matters around these parts is money,” James replied.
Kenya folded her hands underneath her chin and crossed her legs, hoping to stop the throbbing in her panties. “Well,” she said, gaining her composure, “sounds just like home. But even if you all get into a bidding war, I know that there are minority-business provisions in dealing with the city, which should work to your company’s advantage. You all are black owned, correct?”
“I think so,” James replied sarcastically. “At least we were this morning.”
Kenya pouted, then quickly smiled at him. “I have to ask,” she said. “A lot of professional athletes lend their names and likenesses to companies that they have no ownership in. I don’t want anything we take to the city to be questioned unduly.”
Watching Kenya in her element made Maurice think that she was even sexier. He’d always known that she was smart, but as she explained the law and the potential negotiations that they would need to enter in with the city, he saw that she was brilliant. Still, the dominating thought in his mind was pushing all of those papers off her desk and making love to her. They were on the fifteenth floor. No one would see them, despite the fact that she had huge bare windows in her office.
“Mo, are you listening?” James asked.
“Yeah, I’m listening,” Maurice lied. “How long before we take a new offer to the city?”
Kenya smirked at him. “Thought you were listening. I said I’ll call the city attorney and set up a meeting next week.”
“You’re handling it, right?” Maurice asked.
Reluctantly, she agreed. “I’ll give you a call, James, when the meeting is set.”
James rose to his feet and thumped Maurice on the shoulder. “Thank you, Kenya.” He handed her a business card. “I look forward to it.”
Slowly, Maurice stood up. “Kenya, it was a pleasure. Why don’t you let me buy you dinner tonight as a welcome to the city type of thing?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to be working pretty late,” replied Kenya. She wasn’t going to be alone with this man, not feeling the way she was feeling. They’d never eat, because she would be his main course. “A rain check, maybe.”
“I’m going to take you up on that, definitely,” said Maurice. With that, he and James headed out the door.
Seconds later, Talisha walked into the office and faced Kenya, with a huge smile on her face. “Was that Mo Goings?”
Kenya shrugged her shoulders. “Yes.”
“Oh my God! Is he a client?”
“I don’t have to remind you that our client list is confidential,” Kenya said sternly.
Talisha nodded and headed out the door, muttering that Maurice was much finer in person than he was on those billboards.
You don’t know the half of it, Kenya thought as she dropped her head on her desk.
Chapter 14
When James and Maurice made it outside to the parking lot, James lit into his brother. “I know you’re trying to woo Kenya, trying to get her back in your life, bed, or whatever. But this is my business, our business, and that was not cool in there.”
“What?” Maurice snapped. “Look, I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’m not blind. I know something was going on before I got there. And what’s up with telling me that the meeting was at three thirty?” James said. “I’ve been heading up this company for years, and now, all of a sudden, you take an interest in it, because Kenya’s in town and working with our company. You need to stop it.”
“James, I swear to God, you act like a jealous boyfriend when it comes to her. Is there something I should know about you and Kenya?” Maurice started for his car.
James glared at his brother’s back. “You know what? I don’t have time for you and your BS, Mo. You think that you can have anything you want, and you’ve been like that since you were a child. The first moment that someone put a football in your hand, you just thought you were all of that. That’s why you played with Kenya’s emotions and ended up with that whore, and now you think that because you got embarrassed, you can turn around and suck Kenya into the Mo Show again. When we were on vacation and you were doing your thing, that was one thing, but this is real life and business. We’ve got too much riding on this deal with the city for you to let your hormones get in the way.”
Maurice turned around and looked at James. “All right? You feel better now? Have you been holding that in since we were kids? Listen, I’ve never acted the way you described. I’ve never been that cat who thought playing football made me better than other people. You and everybody around me thought that. Everybody except Kenya. You want to tell me that I’m ruining our business? It’s really my business, which I allow you to run. I know how important it is for us to build these houses, and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt this project, but I’m not going to let you make me feel guilty for wanting Kenya.”
“Even though you had her and threw her away? What happens, now that she’s our lawyer, when you mess up again?” James snapped.
“Nothing. Because I’m not going to mess up, and that woman is going to be mine. You just stay out of my way,” Maurice snapped, then got into his car and sped off.
Kenya sat at her desk, allegedly going over a few case files. But her mind was on Maurice and what had nearly happened on her desk. What the hell was I thinking? she thought. I should’ve never taken Maurice and James on as clients. Anyone could negotiate their contracts with the city. She flung her reading glasses off and dropped her head on her desk.
When her cell phone rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Hello?” she said.
“Kenya, it’s Imani. How’s everything going?” her friend asked.
“I wish I could say great,” Kenya said and sighed. “But Maurice was in my office today.”
Imani groaned. “Why are you taking up with that jerk again?”
“I didn’t say that I was,” she said, though the words were hollow. “He’s famous here, I’m a contract attorney, and we’re going to cross paths.”
“How was your vacation?” Imani asked. “I haven’t heard from you since you up and left Georgia.”
“It was a whirlwind,” Kenya said breathlessly. “Maurice was there, too.”
“You two are going to get back together, aren’t you? You’re letting him off the hook, and you don’t even k
now what he did to Lauryn to make her leave him at the altar. Kenya, don’t let him hurt you again.”
Rising to her feet, Kenya headed for the window and looked out at the twinkling lights of the city. “Maybe he didn’t do anything to Lauryn. What if he’s changed?”
“Do you believe that he can change?” she asked. “You ran away from him because you found him in bed with Lauryn. Now this man is an NFL star, and women will be throwing themselves at him. What are you going to do when that happens? Run away again? Are you going to nurse a broken heart for the rest of your life?”
“I don’t know,” Kenya said. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”
Imani sighed. “It really doesn’t matter what I think. It’s your life. Just be careful. I’d hate to see you let Maurice ruin your life again.”
Kenya fingered her hair. “Did he ruin my life? I mean, look at me. I’m successful, financially stable, and . . .”
“Does he know?” Imani asked ominously.
“Don’t go there,” Kenya said, pushing the memory to the back of her psyche. “It’s been so long ago. There’s no need to tell him.”
“Why not? He has a right to know, and if you’re thinking of starting a future with this man, you’re going to have to clear up everything in your past,” Imani said wisely.
“And that would accomplish what?”
“Maurice can’t be so vain as to think that the only reason you left school was because of him and Lauryn,” Imani said.
“It really doesn’t matter why I left,” Kenya said. “All that matters is that . . . nothing. Imani, I don’t want to think about that stuff now.”
“How can you not? How can you look at him and not think about what could have been? You two would have a family now if you hadn’t—”
“I have to go,” Kenya said, abruptly snapping her phone shut.
Walking over to her desk, she fell into her seat and thought back to her first week back in Atlanta nine years ago.
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