“No, no,” Rashad said to defend himself. “She’s directionally challenged. Challenged, I tell you.”
Derrick began to wag a finger at him, and Rashad knew a brotherly lecture was coming. Michelle and his other brothers were already chuckling.
“Rashad, you need to respect this young woman, or I’ll whoop your behind. I—”
Rashad protested heartily. “You’re not hearing me. Challenged, I say.”
Michelle pointed toward Derrick. “I like you already. You,” she said, looking back at him, “you need to mind.” Then she laughed.
“Don’t gang up on me with them,” Rashad warned. “They do it all the time. It’s just pure jealousy.”
“You might need some ganging up on. You know—” Michelle turned to his brothers “—I think I need to get some info from you guys.”
“Oh, no. No, no, no.” Rashad shook his head, but he knew he was up against a losing battle.
“We’ll be happy to fill you in,” Marcus said.
“Whatever you want to know,” Keith added.
“Well, let’s start with why this one—”
“No, no. Look at the time.” Rashad tapped on his watch. “We better go find our parents and your wives before we really are late.”
Michelle pouted for a second and then conceded.
“Rain check,” Keith said. “But soon.”
“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Michelle said to the guys.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re here.” Rashad touched her back as they ambled toward the gift stand.
“Look at this place,” Michelle said. “It’s amazing. Look at how high the ceiling is.”
“There’s a promenade outside, as well,” Rashad said. “I’m sorry we won’t have a chance to walk it this time.”
“I saw masqueraders on the way here,” Michelle said. “People are in costumes already.”
“I know,” Marcus said. “Halloween may be tomorrow, but the festivities are starting tonight.”
“So will the sirens downtown,” Keith added.
“What are we going to see?” Michelle asked.
“The Dance Theatre of Harlem,” Trevor said.
They found Rashad’s parents and sisters-in-law at the gift stand outside their theater, looking at posters and art.
“Oh, I love those.” Michelle was looking at the posters of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. “I love art that captures the human body in such beautiful motion.”
“Composition and design,” Rashad said.
He noticed Michelle go quiet as they approached his parents.
He rubbed her shoulder and pulled her closer to whisper in her ear. “It’s okay. I won’t tell them about your wild younger days.”
She whispered back, “You better not, or I’ll tell Derrick.”
Rashad chuckled as they stepped up to his parents, but Michelle didn’t. She put on a pensive smile.
“Mom, Dad, this is Michelle. Michelle, these are my parents, down from Baltimore.”
“Good evening. I’m so sorry I’m late. I left on time, but—”
Rashad started to laugh, and Derrick gave him a light clap on the back of the head from behind.
“I’m sorry,” Michelle repeated.
“No problem. Glad you’re here,” his father said, shaking Michelle’s hand.
His mother approached Michelle, held Michelle’s face in both of her hands and looked at her closely.
“You’re a darling. Come meet the girls.”
His mother tugged Michelle away from him and drew her toward his two sisters-in-law. Rashad couldn’t hear what they were saying, but in a few moments the women’s laughter reached his ears.
Rashad’s father put a hand on his shoulder.
“She’s a pretty woman, but mind you, looks don’t do it all.”
“I know, Dad. She’s more than a pretty picture.”
Derrick heard that and gave his younger brother a long, firm stare.
“You might be settling down after all.”
Rashad, who always balked at his older brothers’ mandate to settle down, looked over at Michelle, who beamed like an angel in her shiny wrap, and he considered it.
“You never know,” he replied. “You never know.”
Derrick raised an eyebrow.
The lights dimmed and then came back up, their signal to head inside. Rashad took Michelle’s hand when she approached and gave her a ticket for the seat next to his.
“Do I have time to call and check on Andre? I need to.”
They hung back as Michelle made a brief call, and then they joined the others at their seats.
Michelle seemed enamored with the performances. They did one piece in which they used long bands of blue cloth to represent water, raising them and lowering them as the action called for it. They did pieces to spirituals, blues, funk—some of everything.
Rashad, in contrast, found that he was enamored with Michelle—the way she moved with the music, the way the images seemed to inspire her, the way she looked in that purple gown.
He was wondering about his prior aspirations and assumptions. This woman wasn’t a high-powered lawyer in a tight-fitting skirt, but she was gorgeous and fun and sweet. And if he had thought she didn’t fit the sleek image of his ideal mate that he carried around in his mind, she had corrected him tonight. She had shown him that she was that beautiful, too, and she had shown him that his image could be put on and taken off. It was that superficial. There had to be heart underneath it to make it count for anything.
Rashad was startled when the lights went up for intermission. He hadn’t been paying attention to the show.
Michelle leaned toward him.
“I’m going to call home again before it gets too late.”
“Is everything all right? Is Andre okay?”
“Yes, yes. I just want to check.”
Rashad stood and sidled with Michelle to the aisle, then waited while she climbed the steps. She seemed to be checking in a lot. Maybe she’d been watching too many Halloween specials. He lingered in the aisle and caught Derrick staring at him. Rashad nodded and smiled.
You never know, he thought. You never know.
He took two steps at a time when he saw her at the top on her way back, and he gave her his arm so that she could steady herself in her heels, but she didn’t really need it.
Back in their seats, she stretched her shoulders and let her head fall back for a moment.
“Tired?”
“No. Well, a little. But I’m loving this. And your family is great.”
“They are.”
“Are we doing anything after this? I have to be home before I turn into a pumpkin.”
Rashad chuckled.
“I think it was the coach that turned into a pumpkin.”
Michelle nodded.
“My parents are staying over with Derrick. We meet up again tomorrow for brunch. Can you come? Maybe bring Andre so he can meet my nieces and nephews?”
“That would be great, but I have to work, and then I have to study. If I had known sooner—”
“No, I know. I should have thought about it earlier, but I didn’t know about the brunch myself until yesterday. As for tonight, we’re on our own. I don’t know what time the show ends, but maybe you want to get something to eat, or I can fix us something simple at home.”
“Home sounds good.”
They smiled at one another and joined hands, and like magic, the lights dimmed.
After the second half of the show, Rashad’s family lingered briefly in the main atrium of the Kennedy Center so that all could say their good-nights. Then Michelle followed Rashad home to his house, where he put Shaka in the spare room and started on their late-night snack.
They heard a rumble from the street, and Michelle hopped down from her stool.
“What was that?”
“It sounded like a trash can. Maybe a dog or a deer. We get those here sometimes.”
“Could you check it?”
“It’s probably nothing, and my alarm is set.”
“I’ll check it.”
Michelle bounded toward the door leading from the kitchen to the backyard.
“Whoa. Hold up. Let me check it.”
Rashad went out back and found a large dog rummaging through an overturned garbage can belonging to his next-door neighbor. The dog had a tag, so he drew it into his backyard and shut the gate. He could call the animal people in the morning. When he returned to the kitchen, Michelle had her back to him. She was on the phone with her sitter. All seemed to be well on the other end, so he went back to their meal.
When Michelle turned around, she jumped.
“I didn’t hear you come back in. You startled me.”
“I’m sorry—you were on the phone. I didn’t want to disturb you. It was just a dog in my neighbor’s garbage can. I put it out back. I’ll make a call or two in the morning.”
She let out a deep breath and went back to the stool.
She seemed just a little jumpy. Yes, too many Halloween specials. Rashad thought he knew what would relax her, but he wanted to feed her first.
They had their sandwiches in the living room, and then Michelle asked for some music.
“What do you feel like hearing?”
“Teddy Pendergrass or Barry White or—”
“Luther Vandross?”
“Yes,” she said. And when he had put the CD in the changer, she held out her arms to him. “Dance with me.”
Rashad went to her and wrapped his arms around her waist as they began swaying to the music. She murmured when he rubbed her back, so he took her hair down and spread his fingers over her scalp.
When he was finished, he held her again, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, folding herself along his body and resting her head against his.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
It was peaceful between them for a long while.
When she stirred, it was to take off her cover-up and run her hands along his arms and shoulders. Then she tilted her head up to claim his lips. In two-inch heels, she was almost his height, and she angled toward him, grazing herself against his manhood until he had to suck in his breath.
Rashad possessed her mouth with his and ran his hands over the silky fabric of her gown everywhere he could reach. When he reached her breasts, she made a small sound, and then she pressed her palm between them until it covered his sex. The fire was building in both of them.
As beautiful as her dress looked on her, Rashad wanted it off. He felt along the crisscrossed ribbon at the back and stopped.
“You’re going to have to help me with your dress,” he said.
Michelle turned around and pressed her buttocks back against his groin until his hips rocked forward. Then she stepped away from him and lifted her hair.
“Pull the bow and then loosen the lacing.”
He did.
“Now part the ruffle and undo the little zipper in the back.”
He did, and she slid the gown from her shoulders and shimmied out of it. It fell to her ankles, and she stepped out of it. She was left in a black lace bra and panties, garters holding up her thigh-high stockings, and black heels. And the image of Michelle this way was one of the most erotic things Rashad had ever seen.
He opened her bra and stooped to lick the cusps of her breasts, and her hips angled closer. He moved his hand between her legs to knead the thin black strip that separated him from her sex. It was already wet. She moaned as he aroused her. When he dropped to one knee and ran his tongue over the slick mesh of her panties, Michelle arched her back, threw her head back and cried out.
Frustrated with the obstacle, he pulled aside the moist black patch and sucked her womanhood into his mouth. She cried out again, thrusting along his mouth, and began to gasp for air. Then he joined his suckling with a hand upon her breast. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she tried to steady herself, and soon she cried out again and again, her body going taut with climax. How he loved pleasing this woman.
Rashad held Michelle’s thighs to keep her from toppling backward. When she was steady, he stood, pushed the hair back from her face and kissed her gently on the lips.
“That was so beautiful,” he said. “You’re beautiful.”
“I don’t know how you do that to me. Thank you.”
“Are we finished?”
“Not by a long shot,” she said, tugging him upstairs.
In his bedroom he pulled out a condom. She pulled off his clothes, backed him onto the bed and put the condom on him. She undid her garter and pulled off her panties.
Then without a word, she climbed onto the bed, straddled his thighs and lowered herself onto him.
Rashad moaned as she settled on his hips, and then he moaned as she bent forward and began to rake her breasts along his chest, riding him.
He was getting lost in sensations, but he wasn’t completely lost yet. He was wishing that she could make it to the brunch tomorrow. He couldn’t stop thinking about this woman.
Chapter 9
Michelle took Sharon from Regina’s arms.
“Aw. She’s fast asleep. I got her.”
“Are you sure?” Regina asked.
“I’m sure,” Michelle whispered. “You go get ready.”
“You don’t have to whisper. Once she goes down like this, it would take an earthquake to wake her. And when she’s ready to wake up, hold your hat down.”
“Don’t worry,” Michelle said. “That will change.”
“I’ll be back soon,” Regina said.
It was Friday night, and Nigel and Regina were going to a business opening for one of Nigel’s clients at the accounting and investing firm where he worked. Regina and Nigel had been married for a year and a half now, and Sharon was only twelve months. Michelle would be sitting for them, and she and Andre were staying the night at their house in Maryland.
The next day, she had to work, and then she had a date with Rashad—her second in as many weeks, though there was no way to top the Kennedy Center or what had come afterward. Andre would be spending the day with Nigel and Regina until she came to pick him up.
In a little while, Regina came out wearing a red gown.
“How does this look?” she asked.
“It looks fabulous. What kind of business is opening?”
“It’s a produce market up on Connecticut Avenue. This is the second business opening this month, and this is not Nigel’s major work. I’m glad he’s doing so well, but he’s keeping me busy.”
“You have a life,” Michelle said. “Enjoy it.”
“I know, but now that the studio has started to catch on, I have lots of my own work to do.”
“Your studio is taking off. Enjoy that, too. But two pieces of advice. One, hire help—you deserve it. Two, intern art students. The city’s full of universities with students who could learn from you and take a load off your shoulders.”
Regina’s jaw dropped. “I never thought of that. They’re both good ideas. Are you sure you shouldn’t be a business major?”
“No, I’m more art than administration. I’m in the right place.”
“I know you are,” Regina said. “And since we’re on you, how are things going with that handsome man you’re seeing?”
Michelle felt her cheeks flush and couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
“Uh-huh. I see.” Regina had come to sit next to Michelle and now nudged her with a shoulder.
“It’s going okay.”
“Just okay?”
“Better than okay.”
Regina stood. “You know you’re going to tell me more before you leave here. But right now, I should go do my hair before Nigel gets home.”
Not long after Regina went upstairs, Nigel came in from work in a three-piece tailored suit, already ready to go out for the evening.
“Hey, cousin,” Michelle said.
“Hey,” he returned and then came to hug her. He went to Sharon’s crib and lightly fingered her hair. “Where’s Reggie?”
“Finishing her hair.”
Regina came down, putting on her earrings. Nigel went to her and wrapped her in his arms for a long, sensuous kiss. The love and affection they shared was enviable, and it made Michelle wistful.
Andre came down from the guestroom with a book in his hand.
“Mommy,” he called.
“Shh,” Michelle cautioned. “Come, honey. We can’t yell when your cousin Sharon is asleep.”
Michelle had her books and notes spread open on the coffee table in front of her, and she put the book she was reading aside to take Andre up on her lap. She squeezed him to her chest and kissed the top of his head.
“Can we watch a movie before we read?”
“Mommy’s going to read, but if you go get the movie you want to see, we can put it on down here where I can see you, and you can watch with the volume real low. Okay?”
Andre nodded and scooted off her lap to run upstairs.
“I’ll put it in before we go,” said Nigel, taking up Regina’s wrap.
Regina came over to give her some instructions on Sharon, but Michelle beat her to it.
“The bottles are in the fridge. I know where the diapers are. You’ll set the alarm before you go. Numbers are on the fridge.”
Regina put a hand on her hip. “Well, okay, Miss I Got It Going On.”
In His Arms Page 8