by Zuri Day
I want more.
The next morning, Aliyah’s phone rang at 7:00 a.m. Given her family lived on the east coast, this was not an unusual occurrence. She reached over, eyes still closed, and answered.
“Hello?”
“Good morning, Ms. Robinson.”
Her eyes flew open. “Terrell?”
“I wish I could say I’m sorry for waking you up, but what I really feel bad about is that I’m not there with you.”
“You’re such a playboy,” she said with a chuckle, rolling over and getting out of bed. She left the room in search of tea.
“Is that what I am?”
“Absolutely.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Where do I start? It could be that woman-magnet sports car you drive. Or the daggers shot at me by every woman who saw us together in the Cove Café. Or better yet, what about the woman who invited herself to our table?”
“Hey...”
“No, wait, I’m not done. Let’s not leave out the lover’s lair you own in San Francisco and perhaps in other major cities as well. Lastly, add a handsome face, a killer bod and skills in the bedroom and you have all the attributes of the perfect player.”
A pause and then, “Are you done now?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“Good. Because your reasoning is skewed.”
“How so?”
“Just because a man takes care of himself and has nice things doesn’t mean he’s a playboy. As for what happened in the café, that’s just small-town nosiness and Cindy being Cindy.
“Yours was a new, unrecognized face in a town where everyone knows everybody, and everyone wants to know my business. Your being with me made you my business. I’m sure the grapevine is still buzzing with questions about who you are.”
“Hmm.”
“And for the record, the house in San Francisco is not my lair. It is a family property. We all stay there when in town, as do some of our friends and colleagues. However, I do not apologize for being particularly fond of the opposite sex, and especially interested in the one I’m talking to right now, the one who didn’t return my call from yesterday.”
“Terrell, it’s early in the morning. You hardly gave me a chance.”
“Whenever you see my number on the screen, you are to call me back immediately.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’m going to come over and spank you just right, and love you ’til you holler and throw up both your hands.”
She laughed. “Don’t you have to be at work or something?”
“I’m already here. What about you? Are your hours as erratic as I hear they can be for medical doctors?”
“Right now, even more so. Tuesday through Thursday I’m in residency at UC Davis Medical Center, then I intern at a local hospital, Living Medical, on Monday and Friday. And there’s still studying to do on top of all that. Which is why this past weekend was so appreciated.”
“Wow. No wonder you’re not interested in a relationship. You don’t have time for one.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, guess what?”
“What?”
“You need to make some time for yours truly. I need to finish what I started in San Francisco.”
“Which was?”
“Satisfying you.”
“Oh, trust me, you did that.”
“Baby, that was just the appetizer. I want the whole meal.”
“Well, unless you’re up for a midnight rendezvous in a hotel near the hospital, your dining will to have to wait.”
“Until when?”
“Um...next Sunday?”
“All right.”
“All right, fine. I’ve got to run and wake the kid but I’ll call you toward the end of the week, make sure we’re still on.”
“See you soon.”
Aliyah got Kyle dressed and took him out for his favorite pancake breakfast. While they ate, however, it was Terrell’s appetite that was on her mind. He was successful, an expert lover and could charm the panties off most women. She’d love to pursue something with him. But the timing was all wrong. She was at the beginning of at least two and a half years of intense residency training. At the most, she’d have time for a little tune-up every once and again, but real dates? Like the one they’d just had? Unlikely. Something told her Terrell wouldn’t be happy with that. To her, he seemed like a man who wanted lots of attention. And lots of sex.
At least they had one thing in common.
Chapter 7
Terrell leaned against the doorjamb, watching his friend since high school, Luther, playfully interacting with a group of five-and six-year-old boys. They used to wreak havoc in the clubs, engaging ladies who wanted to be with them and angering men who wanted to be them. Since getting married and having children, Luther had gone from tough guy to teddy bear. Terrell was proud of his friends and business partners who’d stepped up to the plate and agreed to be mentors and role models for the young men who came to the center, many of whose fathers were absent, deployed or incarcerated. Luther was the perfect one to handle the little ones. Terrell mentored the teens.
All except one young boy, whom he looked for now. Kyle was seated on a mat, surrounded by Legos, using his imagination to create something grand.
Terrell stepped into the room and after a brief chat with Luther walked over to where Kyle was playing and kneeled down.
“Hey, little man.”
“I’m not little.” This said while remaining focused on the task at hand. “I’m big.”
“Oh, all right. Excuse my error.” In this moment, Terrell realized just how infrequent he interacted with people under the age of ten and, thinking of his nieces and nephews, over the age of two. Terrell found himself in the rare position of being at a loss for words. But he’d told Aliyah that he’d take special interest in, and mentor, her son. He was a man of his word. So he placed down the deck of math flash cards he’d used earlier with the teens, sat beside Kyle and picked up a bright red block.
“What are you building?”
“A trajectory.”
“A what?”
Kyle repeated what he said.
“A trajectory is a direction, Kyle, not an object.” To this Kyle remained silent. “Although I am impressed that you know the word.” He took the red block he was holding. “May I?” Kyle nodded. Terrell added the block to Kyle’s “trajectory.”
Kyle looked over at the flash cards Terrell had put down. “What are these?”
“Math quizzes.”
“Let me see!”
“Naw, these are for teenagers—a little too much for someone your age. Can you count, though?”
“Of course.” Kyle gave him a look that reminded him so much of Aliyah that Terrell laughed. He reached for one of the flash cards Terrell set down and watched Kyle pretend to add the numbers, silently mouthing figures as his fingers tapped the floor. Terrell reached for his vibrating phone. Meeting reminder. Time to go.
“Good talking to you, Kyle. May I have my cards back?”
“Can I keep them?”
“No, those are for the big, I mean older, boys.” Kyle returned the flash cards. “Take care, little man.”
“’Bye.”
The day passed quickly and the next two were a blur. Between work at Drake Realty, mentoring at Drake Center, board meetings and social networking, Terrell barely managed to squeeze in time to sleep. And he hadn’t talked to Aliyah. He’d gotten voice mail when he called yesterday and missed her call last night. But he knew she got off work tonight at eleven. And that was why at nine thirty he was in his car and headed to Davis. He would be waiting by her car when she got
off work, ready to help her relax.
When it was something or someone he wanted, Terrell was a persistent man.
He surfed the web to pass the time. Unlike the rest of the week, tonight time seemed to pass slowly. Finally at eleven fifteen he saw her, looking tired but lovely. A pair of scrubs had never looked so good. His heart flip-flopped. He ignored it. This wasn’t the first gorgeous woman he’d dated. Nor the most successful. The newness of their being together was why he was so excited to see her. That was his story and he was sticking to it.
He quietly got out of his car. She didn’t see him. He began walking toward her. She didn’t even look up. When he was about three feet away, he spoke to her. “Hey, Ms. Robinson.”
She jumped, eyes wide, her hand to her throat. “Terrell?! Oh, my gosh! You scared me to death.”
“I didn’t mean to.” He opened his arms. She stepped into his embrace. “It’s a good thing I wasn’t the bad guy. You would have been caught totally off guard.”
“I just did seventeen hours,” she said with a yawn, stepping away from him to look in his face. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t get you on the phone so I came over.”
“‘Over,’” she said, using air quotes for emphasis, “is thirty miles away.”
“You know what they say. Ain’t no mountain high enough.”
She stepped around him and continued to her car. He fell into step beside her. “I wish you’d called first. I’m exhausted. The only thing in my immediate future is a bed and a pillow.”
“That’s fine. I just want to share it with you.”
She looked at her watch. “At this time of night, Kyle is the only male allowed in my home.”
“That’s no problem. We can do what you suggested earlier and get a hotel room. With a king-size bed.”
“Terrell...” She reached for her door handle. He placed his hand on top of hers.
“You don’t have to do anything but go to sleep.”
“You came all this way to watch me sleep.”
“No, but—”
“Exactly. And that’s all I’m going to do and even that for only four or five hours. My three days here are always intense. I’m back on the clock at six thirty.”
“Dang. That’s hard work.”
“Sorry.”
“Since I’m here, though, I might as well stay—right? We can do your apartment or a hotel. All you have to do is sleep, unless—” he took a step toward her, massaged the nape of her neck “—you get a spurt of energy and want to do something else.”
“You forget I have a son to pick up from Lauren’s house.”
“Didn’t you tell me her son was Kyle’s age? Ask if he can spend the night.”
She eyed him a minute and shrugged. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Where are we going?”
“There’s a Westin right down the street. Let’s go there. Follow me.”
He did and within fifteen minutes they were in the room and in the shower, Aliyah allowing the water to cascade down her hair and face.
“My baby’s so tired.” Terrell poured a generous amount of liquid soap on the washcloth, rubbing it in a circular motion across her skin. The result was bubbles all over her body, which he began to wash off. When she yawned again, he finished the work quickly, turned off the shower and wrapped her in a towel. “Let’s go to bed.”
They lay down. Aliyah rolled to her side, adjusting the pillow as she did. “Thank you for coming, Terrell. Good night.”
“Good night,” he said, spooning behind her, his mind swimming with ideas of how good the night was going to get.
He placed his hand on her naked hip, massaging gently. Her skin was warm and velvety soft. His semi-erection hardened as he rubbed his hand down her thigh, around to her luscious booty and up to her waist.
Aliyah murmured something, reached for his hand to pull his arm tighter around her and nestled deeper under the cover.
Terrell smiled. Yeah, I’ve still got it. Sleepy? I’ll take care of that.
He moved in with kisses—neck, back, arm. Rolled her over. She didn’t resist. “Um, Terrell...”
“Shh, just lay back and enjoy, baby.”
More kisses—tender, feathery, a purposeful trail from her breasts to her navel and continuing on to her hips and thighs. He repositioned himself, spread her legs and French-kissed her pleasure lips. He heard a whimper. Felt he would have her screaming his name in five minutes or less. He licked, kissed and tantalized her with her fingers.
There it was again. That sound.
He stopped. Listened. Looked.
What he thought was a whimper was in fact a soft snore. Aliyah was sound asleep.
Terrell fell back on the bed, stunned. Here he was pulling out all the stops, being Mr. Player, Terrell the Torrential Lover, and she goes to sleep? In answer, another soft snore and then quiet, as she turned back on her side.
If his friends ever found out about this they’d never let him forget it, and that was why no one save he and Aliyah would ever know. He’d have to pull his player card for real.
Aliyah wasn’t the only one who got a surprise tonight.
Chapter 8
Seemed her head had just hit the pillow when the soft chimes of her alarm announced that sleep time was over. Aliyah gently removed Terrell’s arm from around her waist, scooted out of bed and headed to the shower. If she hurried, she could get coffee and food, both sorely needed, before her shift started.
The spray of cold water blasted away sleep. She turned it to warm and began a quick shower. Halfway through, her hand stopped in midair. A dream, fuzzy and incomplete, came to mind. An image of Terrell, kissing, teasing, loving her orally. The mere thought caused her nipples to pebble and her core to clench. She shook away the mental picture and turned off the water. A day in bed with her skillful lover wasn’t going to happen, no matter how much she wished it could.
“Good morning.” Terrell came in and hugged Aliyah from behind.
“Morning.” Aliyah wriggled out of his embrace, gave Terrell’s lips a quick peck and hurried out of the bathroom. “I hate to rush you but can we leave in five? I’d like to grab breakfast before my shift starts.”
“Right away, Doctor.”
“Said with a hint of sarcasm.” She pulled on her scrubs, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she stepped into the bathroom doorway. “I’m sorry it’s so busy. If given the option, I’d much rather spend the day with you and that weapon poking me in the back last night.”
“Please, girl.” He left the bathroom and began dressing. “You didn’t feel a thing.”
“That’s because we didn’t do anything, even though I dreamed otherwise.”
“What did you dream?”
“That you were...never mind. I’ve got to go.”
“Call me from your car. I want to hear about this dream you had.”
“Okay.” She headed for the door.
“If you don’t, I’m coming back to the hospital.”
“You’re a brat.”
“Call me.”
Once out of the parking lot, Aliyah called him.
“Okay...back to the dream,” he said, instead of hello.
“I’m a little embarrassed. I dreamed that we were having oral sex...well, you were doing it to me and—”
“That wasn’t a dream.”
“Huh?”
“I came to bed, all prepared to get you relaxed, make you feel good, make long and slow love to you.”
“And?”
“And you fell asleep with my tongue in your—”
“No!”
“Passed out. Zonked. It was a wrap.”
“Stop playing!”
“I
was serious, too, down there getting it in!” Aliyah laughed, not believing him for a minute. “I heard you moaning and I was like, ‘yeah, I’m going to tear this up.’ Then I listened. I think you’re all into it. But I stop, listen again. You weren’t moaning. You were snoring.”
“Ha!”
Terrell tried to remain quiet but soon he laughed, too. “Good thing I’m a confident man because a woman falling asleep in the middle of the act is quite the ego deflator.”
“Babe, I was exhausted! I told you!”
“I know, but...”
“Oh, gosh! I can just about imagine your face...” Laughter swallowed up the rest of her sentence.
“Gee. Thanks a lot.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t sound sorry.”
“But I am.” She tried to hold it in but imagining the look on his face when he discovered she was snoring instead of moaning made her burst out laughing again.
“That’s alright. Payback will come later. Hey, are you off on Halloween?”
“Yes, why?”
“An event in PC. I’ll call you later about it.”
After a quick date with a drive-thru, Aliyah returned to the UC Davis Medical Center. At the nurses’ station, she checked the charts to confirm what was scheduled, then went to see her first patient of the day.
“Good morning, Mr. Robinson!”
“There’s my beautiful wife!”
Said with blue eyes twinkling. Ever since eighty-two-year-old widower Dale Robinson had learned they shared the same last name, he’d insisted she was the one he’d searched for all his life. He was dealing with a debilitating back injury in a place too risky for surgery. The doctor’s recommendation had been a positive attitude and pain medication. Dale had loads of the former. The latter was where Aliyah’s knowledge of pain management kicked in. If it made this nice old man feel better for a few moments, then she’d gladly be his wifey through every treatment.
“Sounds like someone is feeling better this morning!”
“Always feel better when you’re here, hon.”
“Aww, that’s nice.” She reached for his wrist, checked his pulse and body temperature.
“Am I alive?”