by Dyanne Davis
Driving down Lake Shore Drive, Toreas joked with him easily, touching him, occasionally laughing when he’d glance in her direction. He wished he’d thought to do this sooner. When he pulled into the red brick entrance of the South Shore Cultural Center, Jared heard Toreas’s sharp intake of breath.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s beautiful.”
“You’ve never been here before?” Jared asked in amazement.
“Yes, I’ve been. It’s just been a long time and I’m always amazed how beautiful it is.” She smiled. “This was a good idea.”
Jared felt as though he’d won a prize. He could feel his chest expanding with pride. She was smiling, she was happy, and it was because of him.
“Will we have time to look around?” Toreas asked as Jared parked. She glanced up at him, looked away, then back. The look he was giving her was so filled with lust that she was embarrassed and happy at the same time.
“Stop that,” she said softly. “If Michael or Billy ever caught you looking at me like that, they’d beat the crap out of you.”
“Who are Michael and Billy?”
“My brothers.”
“Do you really want me to stop looking at you the way that I am and to stop thinking the things that I’m thinking?”
Toreas tilted her head back and stared at Jared.
“Not really, but maybe tone it down a notch in public.”
Jared couldn’t believe her, she really was something. He took her hand and, laughing, walked with her to the entrance. “What kind of look did I have, Toreas?”
“One that was melting the skin off my bones.”
“Did it do anything to melt your resolve?”
“More than you know.” She gave his fingers a squeeze. “This is a first date, Jared, try remembering that.”
“Then you see a second and a third…and a…”
Jared’s arms went around Toreas’s waist and he pulled her close. He couldn’t help feeling protective toward her, she was so damn tiny. But of course if he told her that, she’d probably want to stop snuggling next to him and give him a karate chop or some such nonsense. He heard her sigh of pleasure and laughed softly. They were a couple whether either of them admitted it or not.
Two hours later, after a lavish buffet of grits, fried potatoes with onions, chicken, mac and cheese and the world’s most delicious bread pudding, they were stuffed. They’d both met and talked with Barbara Keaton and Jared had bought them each a copy of her book, Blaze. Now he understood the red boots and the firemen. What a terrific marketing strategy, he thought. He’d have to share that with the other writers. Ideas were coming fast and furiously as he gazed down on Toreas. Now he’d have to think of other things for them to do.
A bit before they were going to leave, Chef Ricky Moore came out and poured complimentary glasses of elder flower water, a sparkling water for those who didn’t drink alcohol. It looked like champagne and was having the same effect. Toreas was giving him the same lustful looks he knew he’d given her.
And he could only sit like a fool across from her and grin, almost unable to talk. She was everything he hadn’t wanted in the beginning. But now she was exactly what he needed. Thank God Gina ran off with a cover model or he would have never found Toreas.
As they left the center, Jared held onto Toreas’s hand and they walked together for a closer view of Lake Michigan. She was trembling. Perfect, he thought. “Are you cold?” he asked.
“A little.”
“Good,” he whispered in her ear. “I was hoping for a chance to keep you warm.” Jared pulled her in close, tilted her chin and kissed her, tasting her sweetness as he sucked on her tongue, wanting so much more than he could have right now in public. A shudder ripped through him. Yep, roped and hogtied. He was down for the count. “I like this,” Jared whispered into her hair. “The two of us dating.” He laughed. “This is so surreal I can’t believe it.”
“Thanks,” Toreas grinned. “This was very nice, the book signing, the launch party, the whole thing. And what better place to have it than here.”
“Yeah, what better use for what was once a restricted club than to host so many African American oriented events,” Jared sighed. “But it’s a shame the place is so underused so much of the time. The programs are really good and a lot of them are free.” He hunched his shoulders. “I’d like to get the word out, get more people to come and take a look.”
“For someone who’s pretty new to Chicago you sound like you’re a part of this place,” Toreas stopped walking and gazed up into Jared’s eyes.
“I am, I’m a member.” He saw pride fill Toreas’s eyes and decided to come clean. “It’s a tax write-off,” Jared said, thinking it would change the glow in her eyes, but it didn’t. She squeezed his hand.
“You’re a contradiction, Jared. You trashed my profession and now you’re a member of our group, though I still don’t believe a serious member, and you have stopped attacking us. Thank you.”
A lump was beginning to form in the pit of Jared’s abdomen. He knew he didn’t deserve Toreas’s thanks, or her pride in him, not yet anyway. He still had to tell her about his job, and he still had to do the story on Barbara Keaton. Derrick was counting on it.
“Toreas, do you believe all publicity is good publicity? I mean, for instance, if someone wrote about this event today and said some maybe not nice things, wouldn’t the publicity still help Barbara? She would probably sell more books.”
Toreas dropped Jared’s hand as though it were hot. “Are you serious? Of course it’s not the same. If you truly had any idea how hard we all work to make our stories good, only to have critics rip us apart, you’d know what it does to us.”
“But, Toreas, it comes with the territory.”
“That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt, Jared.”
“But it hasn’t happened to you. Why are you getting so upset?”
“Listen, it’s happened to my friends. If you think getting rejection letters is bad, just try having your dream come true only to have someone print a nasty review on Amazon for the entire world to see. It hurts.”
“People are allowed their opinions…freedom of speech.”
“Jared, after being with us do you really think it’s that simple? It’s so much more than freedom of speech or opinions. You’ve seen how hard we all work to get better at our craft, you know we’re all nice people. I don’t think one of us could be as mean as the people who take potshots at us.”
“Do you mean me?” Jared asked around the lump that had now risen to his throat.
Toreas looked directly at him. “Yes, Jared, I mean you.” She smiled. “When you were doing it, that is. Thank God you’re no longer working for the station. I don’t think I could date you if you were. I’d be too afraid you’d be dating me to dig up dirt. Even this nice day, this book launch, I’d be afraid you were trying to find an angle to use, something to tear the author apart.”
Toreas gave Jared a smile meant to convey she believed he’d changed. The smile widened into a full grin. “But you’re not working for Derrick, so Barbara is safe.” Toreas looped her hand through Jared’s arms. “In case you’re wondering why I was thanking you, that’s the reason. You’ve changed and so have I. We’re no longer the same people we were a few months ago.”
“No, we’re not,” Jared said, and groaned silently. He was worse than he was a few months ago. He was now deceiving her and now he knew for sure it would not be taken as a prank.
Jared felt Toreas’s soft hand in his and knew he’d have to wait until she was as committed to him as he was to her. It was wrong and he knew it. But he was in love with her. He didn’t want to lose her at this stage of the game. He kissed her again, smiling inwardly when she took control of the kiss and sucked his tongue into her mouth, pulling on his very essence. A band of desire filled him each time she pulled. He groaned, not wanting her to stop, but knowing that here was not the place.
“Want to go?” he asked as his ha
nds circled her waist.
“Yes, but not home. I want to go to Navy Pier.”
Jared attempted to stare her down. “After a kiss like that you want to go to Navy Pier?”
“Yeah, I think we both need to cool down.”
“I thought where we were headed was a good place to be, only to finish we need some privacy.”
“This is a first date, Jared, remember?”
“What were the last two months?”
“Practice.”
Jared couldn’t have prevented the laugh if he’d tried. He’d give her Navy Pier and anything else she might want. He thought of the story he had to do for Derrick. Yes, he’d even do that for her as well. He’d find a way to put a positive slant on the story even if that wasn’t what Derrick wanted, even if he found himself out of a job again.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, meeting the thrust of his tongue with the trust of her own. Liquid heat surged inside her pooling in her womb. Toreas moaned. Oh God! She was so pliable. This man had turned her to butter and she was melting.
Toreas felt the clenching between her thighs, felt the pulse of want bearing down on her. She wanted him but she’d never asked any man to make love to her. How could she now? “Jared.” She found her voice but before she could say more he was kissing her, pulling on her tongue and she was drowning in need.
Jared could feel Toreas’s entire body trembling with need, with desire for him. Her shudders were wreaking havoc with his body, his desire for her increasing moment by moment.
His face was buried in her neck. He breathed in her scent, sending a wave of urgent throbbing to his penis. His arousal was painful; he had to have her. Now. No more imagining the feel of being buried in her wetness. He kissed his way from her neck to her luscious mouth, suckling her tongue, drawing on her essence. God, if he could only hold out until he entered her, until he’d given her pleasure.
“Are you on the pill?”
“Of course not.” Toreas stopped and looked at Jared. “Why should I need them?”
His hand stilled. “Do you have any condoms I could use?”
“Again, should I?”
Jared stopped what was he was doing. “Toreas, how long has it been for you?” He narrowed his eyes as he waited for an answer. She was pulling back but this time he didn’t attempt to stop her. He stared at her. “Toreas, how long?”
“How long has it been for you?” she asked, turning the question around as he’d known she would do.
“A few months, “Jared answered, watching her. “And you?” He could see her calculating the time. He thought of that questionnaire she’d given him months ago and groaned. No way in hell were they having sex tonight. Damn.
If only he’d brought the damn condoms but nooo, he’d wanted to pretend that he’d not come to her home to make love to her, that he’d not taken her out for the day with repayment on his mind. Having a ready condom at his disposal said he’d planned it, didn’t it?
Toreas took a good look at Jared. She was no longer filled with lust. Now it was the way it had been in the courthouse, when she’d stood before the judge to marry Fred. Common sense had returned as she calculated the risks she’d be putting herself in by having unprotected sex.
“Jared, when was your last physical?” Toreas asked, moving farther away.
“Why,” he asked suspiciously, knowing what she was getting at.
“I don’t sleep around, Jared, my relationships have always been serious.”
“And mine weren’t?”
Toreas shrugged her shoulder. “I’m not sleeping with you. I don’t know what I was thinking about, not without…”
He stood and glared at her, daring her to say the words. That damn dictionary, that’s what she was referring to. She wanted his life history on paper. He didn’t believe her.
“I thought we’d passed that. We’ve been dating for over a month now. Making love is a part of dating.”
“But making love isn’t worth dying for,” Toreas retorted.
“Have you ever had unprotected sex, Toreas?”
“Of course not,” she spat indignantly.
“But you believe I have?”
“If you haven’t, it should be easy enough to prove.”
Jared was glaring, the thought of making love to Toreas forgotten. “I think I’ll require proof that should I touch you, I won’t catch anything,” Jared said through clenched teeth, allowing the anger he was feeling to take control.
“I’ve never had unprotected sex.” Toreas returned Jared’s glare, hating that her emotions could so easily be viewed by others. She had no business blushing. But she did… all the time. And now she could feel the heat rushing quickly through her body as the blush colored her entire face and for the billionth time Toreas was happy she wasn’t high yellow, like her cousin Latanya. Still, she was aware that people could tell when she blushed. “I’m not getting checked,” she said, holding Jared’s gaze.
“Are you exempt?” he asked.
“I know what I’ve done.”
“And I know what I’ve done." Jared shook his head. “Toreas, you are without a doubt the most exasperating woman I’ve ever known. Why I keep trying to make love to you is a mystery to me.”
He saw her chin tilt, saw her eyes flash, watched as the flutter stayed at the base of her throat for a moment too long. She was angry and he didn’t give a damn if she were.
“You want to make love to me, Jared, because it’s not easy. If it were, you wouldn’t want to.”
Jared cocked his head and laughed. Pissed wasn’t a strong enough word for how he felt. He decided to throw back a little of her medicine at her. “I don’t think I want to anymore anyway. I just thought you expected it. I mean, all day long you’ve been all over me.”
Jared narrowed his eyes and glared at her. “If you remember, Ms. Rose, you were the one who first propositioned me. If you really want me to make you feel the things you say you do, then you need to tell me. I don’t have the energy to keep trying with you. You’re locked up tighter than Fort Knox. It would take an army to get through your barricades. I just don’t have the patience for it. If you don’t mind, Ms. Rose, I think we can both safely say this date is now officially over.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Jared, you’ve gone way too soft. I should have known your being involved with the Rose woman and the writing group was going to warp your thinking. Come on, Jared, snap out of it, get that old killer instinct back. For the first time we’re making money here at the station, not just covering our budget. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get people to watch and how much harder it is to get them to advertise? They’re buying advertising on your program, Jared, because they love the fighting. Now you want me to back off. I don’t think so. We’ll run the story without you if we have to. We’ll use your pictures from the event and Stella can do the piece.”
“Derrick, as a favor to me, don’t do it. Yes, I owed you, but my debt has been paid. Like you said, you’re actually making money and it’s because of me. So just this one time give me a break.”
Derrick stared for a long moment in disbelief at Jared before he spoke. “You might as well put a ring on that woman’s finger, because she sure as hell has one through your nose.”
Jared laughed. “I plan to do just that.” At Derrick’s snort of disgust, a wide grin graced Jared’s face. “I’ll tell you what. Stop glaring at me and I’ll hook you up with Barbara Keaton. She’s agreed to come on the show, and she’s hot and single. I think the two of you would hit it off.”
“What if she won’t date me?”
“I’m not a pimp. I can only give you an introduction and talk you up to her. The rest is on you.”
“So you say she’s hot?”
“Very.”
“Is she a diva?”
“Nope.”
“Then go ahead, give the writers a break, but after that the next ten shows I want you to go back to your old ways. I’ve already changed the time of the
show for you. Since you’re still dating her I can only assume that your lady love isn’t any the wiser.”
“Knowing Toreas I’m sure she’d have said something if she knew about it.” Jared thought about it for a moment. He was being sneaky and deceitful. He needed just a little more time to get Toreas to stop fighting her feelings for him.
“Derrick, about changing the name of the show, you said you’d consider it. What’s the verdict? Are we going with a new name?”
“Can’t do that, Jared. A lot of the advertisers like the name of the show. Our viewers like it. Look, I’ve already bent over backward because you’re a friend. I should have kept the show in the same time slot instead of changing it. Now that’s it. You keep pushing me and you’re going back in your old time slot. That’s the deal, take it or leave it.”
Jared thought of Toreas’s habits, six P.M. dinner, then she did the dishes and called her parents. She didn’t even turn her television on in the evening until nine to watch the evening news. Sometimes she’d watch a movie at eight but that was rare. He tried not to think about the real possibility of one of the other women from the romance group possibly tuning it.
“Keep it six,” Jared answered at last, sticking his hand out. “As long as you’re not expecting me to go back to trashing the writers we have a deal.”
“Jared, I said I wanted you to do ten shows in your old style.”
“This is my deal. I’ll not push on the name change but I’m not going back to my old format, not even for one show. Now the ball’s in your court. Take it or leave it.”
For a moment Jared wondered if Derrick would hold out. When he grudgingly stuck his hand out Jared smiled and shook it, hoping his luck would hold out a little longer.
A little voice was warning him that he’d get caught but the memory of Toreas’s kisses reminded him that he’d not had enough of her and she had not yet admitted to how she felt. He needed more time.