by Tamara Black
Tony walked up. “Are you okay? Should you be working?”
He glanced at my baby bump.
“I’m fine, baby. I wanted to see if I could still handle it. Now go so I can slice this one up.”
I bumped my hips against him playfully.
“Let me know if you get…behind.”
“Funny,” I said without laughing.
He smiled before walking away to check on the delivery drivers. We had purchased a brand new computer to come up with the quickest routes. By delivering piping hot pizzas infused with marijuana directly to people’s home, we were about to become the biggest legal marijuana company in America.
Charlie, an employee we’d hired, walked up.
“Hey, the commercial is on,” he said. “Tony told me to take over for you.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Fine. Here. Keep up.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just…”
“It’s okay,” I said.
In the office, Tony say in the chair behind our shared desk.
“It’s coming on in two minutes,” he said.
“I’ve seen it already. Can I sit down?”
Tony jumped up, giving me the comfortable leather seat with plenty of support. I sighed in relief as I sat down. Even with a small baby bump, I felt huge and tired all the time.
“You haven’t seen it on live television before, though.”
“No, I haven’t.” I smiled at him.
He could be so cute sometimes.
The television commercial that had cost us an arm and a leg came onto the screen. We went for the humor element found in early ones for Little Caesar’s Pizza. In ours, a man and woman stood in the doorway, waving as their kids climbed into their grandparents’ car. I watched as they closed the door on the screen and turned to scream “Pizza night!”
A narrator’s voice, Tony, came on. “Are you ready for an adult pizza night? Check out Slices tonight. We delivery marijuana infused pizzas directly to your door along with non-THC munchies to last you a night or two.”
“You sound so funny,” I said, laughing.
Right before the commercial ended, Samantha knocked on the door and peeked in.
“The Mayor is here,” she said.
“Thanks, Samantha,” I said. “We’ll be right out.”
Tony reached down to help me up out of the chair.
“I feel so old and tired,” I complained.
“You look more beautiful than the first day we met.”
“You just like these bigger boobs,” I teased.
He smiled. “They’re not bad.”
“Let’s go, Romeo.”
We had called the local media - television, newspaper, radio and bloggers - letting them know the Mayor of Denver would be stopping by to grab a slice and welcome us to the city. Tony and I walked through the back of our shop side by side.
At the front of the store, I went up to the register. The Mayor stood in front of it with several shooting video and taking photos.
“Welcome to Slices,” I said with a smile. “What can I get for you today?”
“I’d love a slice,” he said awkwardly.
“THC or non-THC?” I asked.
The Mayor glanced around before leaning forward and whispering, “THC, please. I hear it’s the best.”
Customers and reporters in the lobby erupted into laughter and applause. I smiled from behind the counter as I handed him a slice on a paper plate.
He lifted it into the air. The sound of a dozen cameras clicking filled our walk-up lobby.
“You’re going to have to expand soon and have seating for customers,” he said before taking a bite of the floppy slice.
“How is it, Mayor?” someone called out.
“The best slice I’ve ever had in my life.”
I smiled. Tony walked up beside me and put his hand on the small of my back. We both posed for photos with and without the Mayor. By the end of the week, the free publicity would help make our launch a success.
“Let’s get back to work,” I said. “I have a feeling the dinner rush is going to be huge.”
“Here’s hoping.”
After thanking the Mayor and media for showing up, we went back to work, preparing for the evening shift. Not a minute of it felt like work to me with Tony by my side.
THIRTY-FOUR - Tanesha
Tanesha
Tony and I waved as the last guests walked to their car in the front of our house. We went inside, and I shut the door.
“This house is great for dinner parties,” I said. “I love it.”
“Me too.” He looked around the grand formal living room. “It’s taken a lot of work to get here.”
Five years after opening our first shop, we had two others with a dozen investors lined up to open franchises across the Colorado and the rest of the country. After President Obama legalized marijuana federally with an executive order on his way out, the entire country changed for the better.
“Things are going so well,” I said, taking his hand.
We headed into the back living room where our children were waiting. Destiny and Michael sat on the couch. Dray, their new brother, crawled on the floor in front of them. They looked up as we walked in.
“Is the dinner over?” Michael asked.
“It is over,” I said.
“How did it go?” Destiny asked.
“Very well,” he said with his arm snaked around my waist.
They quickly lost interest and began attacking the refrigerator like little Vikings.
“Time for bed, guys,” Tony said.
“Aww, man,” Michael said, his new favorite catchphrase.
Tony looked over at me and smiled before wrangling them toward their bedroom on the other side of the house.
I grabbed a bottle of wine, a couple glasses, and headed to our master bedroom. We had both rented dumps for so long, the moment we had money, we invested in real estate. I could see myself spending the rest of my life in the house.
In our bedroom, while he read them a bedtime story, I lit some candles and incense. He liked his vaporizer, but every once in a while I enjoyed the naturalness of smoking a joint. It was bad for my lungs, but we had both quit smoking cigarettes entirely – without getting hooked on those equally dangerous ecigarettes.
Tony walked in just as I finished rolling a big fatty.
“Perfect timing, babe,” I said, looking up and smiling at him.
“Is that what I think it is?” he asked, walking over.
“It is. Get into something more comfortable and join me.”
He immediately stripped his clothes off and held his arms out.
“You like?”
I giggled.
“Fine with me, but now I’m over-dressed.”
“Whatever shall we do?”
He walked over and sat down next to me on the bed. I turned and kissed him. Even after giving birth to another child and five years of not messing around with anyone else, Tony continued to turn me on with just a simple touch. I still yearned for his body, every chiseled part.
“Light that up,” he said, scooting onto the bed with his back against the pillows and headboard.
“You’re acting like it’s been months since you’ve smoked anything.”
“All of this franchise stuff has had me busy, and I needed to think clearly.”
“I know, babe. I’m so proud of you.”
“Me? You’re the brains behind this operation.”
I smiled, crawling up next to him with the lit joint in my mouth.
After just a few hits of the premium bud, I set the rest of it in a tin box on the nightstand.
“Oh crap,” he said.
“What?”
“I just remembered.”
“Please tell me you don’t have to go back to work.”
“No, I remembered that you have too many clothes on. I feel naked.”
I smiled. “You are naked. And I like it.”
Over the years we’
d been busy growing our business, but had found the time to get to know each other. When we made love, he took me to another world entirely. The entire universe, so vast and open, couldn’t compare with the distance I soared when he made me come.
His wet, pink and soft tongue traveled over from my neck to locations further down my body. I ran my fingers through his silky hair, pushing him toward my magic matrix. He knew my body well, every inch that drove me wild. I curled my toes as his flat, broad tongue brushed against my tender flesh.
Bliss blossomed like a flower in my mind with my physical self not far behind. All the hard work and sacrifices we’d made over the last five years were paying off. I let myself go, my thoughts wandering to and fro. My skin glowed. He stopped and looked up at me with a hungry look in his eyes.
We both agreed without a word it was time to take it to the next level. He crawled up my body, the anticipation building up. I bent my knees and spread my legs. Our union aroused a piece of me I hope never died. The thought of having a strong, thoughtful, and funny man at my side for the rest of my life made the sex that much better.
I watched his face change, knowing he was close to coming. He slowed and allowed me to catch up to him. At the very last moment, we lost ourselves at the exact same time. Time ceased to be for a moment as we peaked, our faces showing the other how happy we were to be together.
“I love you,” he said before kissing me.
“Mmm,” I moaned. “I love you.”
While we did not need to say the words anymore, both of us enjoyed hearing them because our union would last forever and ever.
THIRTY-FIVE - Tony
Tony
The timer on our brand new stainless steel oven went off. I turned and grabbed an oven mitt before opening the door.
“That smells good,” Tanesha said, walking into our brand new kitchen.
“It’s that new recipe I was telling you about.”
“Great. Are Michael and Destiny here yet?”
“Another couple days. They decided to stay on campus to protest something or other. Crazy kids.”
“I’ll pour some wine.”
“Good idea. This needs to cool for a few minutes.”
I pulled the pizza stone out of the oven and admired my handiwork. For the last fifteen years, all my creativity and efforts had gone into Slices, our pizza empire, which continued to grow. We had stores in five states in the West and were about to open up our first franchises in the Midwest. Our professional could get no better.
I smiled as I set the pizza on the ornate table for two in our kitchen.
“I can’t wait to try it,” she said.
“Let’s give it a few more minutes.”
I pulled the jewelry box out of the front pocket of my Dockers.
She shook her head. “You didn’t.”
“We can afford it now, and I know you loved it.”
I opened the lid and presented it to her.
“We had to sacrifice a lot when we first got married, but now that we’ve made it, I want to give you the ring you deserve. Just know that no stone on the entire planet could symbolize the love I have for you, Tanesha.”
Her hands moved to her mouth, covering it as tears came out of her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.
“I love you, Tony,” she said, standing up.
We hugged for a good solid minute. I never wanted to let her go. She made my life worth living.
“Let’s eat,” she said. “I’m starving.”
The pizza didn’t come out as good as I had imagined with tiny chocolate chips and pineapple on it, but she didn’t complain. It was just one of the many reasons I loved her.
LEAVE A REVIEW?
Did you enjoy this book? If so, please take a moment for a review! This holds true even if you thought it could have been better. Let me know what you liked or didn’t like, and it will help me become a better writer. I really appreciate those who take the time to give me a review. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
THANK YOU!
Love always wins in the end!
ABOUT Tamara Black
Tamara Black was born on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio in the 1980s. She has been a writer since a very early age. She loves to read romance as well as write it.