Then I felt his warm hand run down my arm and grasp my hand. The knot on the back of my blindfold loosened, and I blinked in disbelief as the room came into view.
“Surprise,” everyone shouted.
The room was intimately lit. The long table had masses of daisies, my favorite flower, arranged in gorgeous silver vases. Standing in front of me were Kim, Jeff, my aunt Beverly, Keesha, Jerome, Mike, and the rest of Jay’s crew.
I burst into tears at both the overwhelming happiness and complete sense of loss I felt at the same moment. I received a number of concerned gazes right before Jay wrapped me up in a tight hug, burying my face in his now wet button down shirt.
As tears streamed down my face, I wished so badly for my father to be there with me. Knowing he was in the same city as me and there was a huge gulf between us was heartbreaking.
Whenever I allowed myself to think about the gravity of the situation Annabelle had created, I was overcome with grief, anger and most of all hatred. I hated her like I had never hated anything before. I’d even dreamt up evil things I could do to her.
Something dark and ugly began to build inside of me whenever I allowed myself to go to that place. I tried to focus on the here and now—on the good things I had going on in my life—Jay, my job, my friends and my independence. It was hard to do in situations like this when I was reminded that he wasn’t here with the rest of the people I cared about.
Jazzy ran up and gripped me around my waist to give me a tight little girl hug. I sniffled and pulled back from Jay, wiping my tears before looking down at her worried little face. Until then I hadn’t realized she was in the crowd.
“Hi, sweetie!” I attempted to give her a big smile, but I was sure it fell flat.
“Don’t cry, T.” That garnered a real smile that most definitely met my eyes. I loved that she called me that.
“I thought only I could call her that?” Jay teased his daughter.
She turned her big, pleading eyes on him. “Please, Daddy?”
“Okay, baby girl.”
God, it made my ovaries explode to hear his soft, sweet voice with her.
“Why are you sad?” Jazzy turned her attention back to me now that Jay had placated her.
How did I explain to a five year old that my father being absent from an important day in my life thanks to an evil stepmother was the reason I was crying? You didn’t. Little kids should be sheltered from the ugly in the world as long as possible, and I was going to shelter Jazzy if it was the last thing I did. Her bubbly, witty and loving personality needed to stay just that.
“I’m not sad, honey. I’m just really happy that everyone came here today to celebrate my birthday. Especially you.” I kneeled down so we were eye to eye. “Thank you, Jazzy. My birthday is even more special now that you’re here.”
She gifted me with a bright smile and gave me a big hug. “I love you, T.”
My breath caught when she said that and my gaze moved swiftly to Jay’s. His eyes were burning with intensity. I wasn’t sure what was working behind them, but I wasn’t about to disappoint the little girl. He could get mad at me later if what I was about to say was wrong.
“I love you too, sweetie.”
She released her hold on me and I stood up, but took her hand. I looked down at her and saw she was still smiling that beautiful smile.
“Do you want to come with me to greet everyone and thank them for coming?”
“Yes!” She cried enthusiastically.
“Later I’m going to show you just how much that shit meant to me, T,” Jay whispered in my ear as we went to walk away. My steps faltered, but he needn’t say any more. He liked the sweet I just gave his daughter, and in turn I was going to get some sweet of my own later when we were alone. Spectacular.
The two of us made our way through the crowd of people from Rucker Records. Jazzy would repeat my greeting and thanks to each person and I had to fight my laughter at how cute she was.
When we reached my family, I hugged Jeff and Aunt Beverly tightly before stepping back.
“Thanks for coming guys.”
“Thanks for inviting us, sweetheart. It looks like you’re surrounded by a lot of people that care about you,” Beverly noted. I looked around and had to agree. I was indeed.
“I’m blessed,” I concurred with her assessment.
“Do you have a minute?” Jeff asked, and I realized that he had a serious expression on his face.
“Of course.” I looked around the private room in my favorite restaurant of all time, Abacus, and located a quiet place we could go. I gestured there, and he followed me to the coat room.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“What’s up?” He parroted. I couldn’t quite read him. His face was carefully blank, giving nothing away.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“You don’t talk like that,” he noted.
“You’re wrong. I do.” I shook my head in confusion because clearly I did since the words had just come out of my mouth.
“No. The old Tori didn’t, but this new one standing in front of me seems to. What I want to know is what’s going on. Who is this Jay guy? And what is this I hear that you’re living with him? Just a few months ago he didn’t exist and you were asking me for money to start a new life for yourself.”
“I appreciate your concern and I respect the fact that you’re worried about me, but you don’t need to be. Jay’s a wonderful man who is looking out for me. Don’t act like this is the first you’ve heard of him. I told you earlier this week that we needed to set aside some time to discuss the Annabelle situation with him.”
“Is he? Or is he looking to use you? You stand to inherit a lot of money if your father’s will stands. Does he know that?”
“I’m appalled at your accusation!” I took a step back from him, shocked by his judgment of Jay. “First of all, he’s got his own money. He’s a fucking Grammy winner for Christ’s sake. And he owns more businesses than I know what to do with.”
“He’s a thug,” Jeff cut me off.
“No. He. Is. Not.” I drilled my finger into his chest with each word.
“Oh, he’s not? So he doesn’t surround himself with people who wear clothes three sizes too big and clearly carry weapons on them? I’d bet my position with the company that you’ve been around sluts and druggies. Question is, have you turned into one of them?”
“How dare you!” I slapped his face and turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm and swung me around. “You don’t even know what you’re saying! I can’t believe you’d call me either of those things. His world might be different than the one we grew up in, but it’s no less worthy of me being in it. If anything I’d rather be there because it’s real. Everyone in my former life was fake and only cared about me because of who my father was. You know that. I never fit in with them. And yet you stand here and judge!”
“I’m worried about you!” He replied and I could hear the emotion behind his voice, so I softened mine. It was so hard not to be defensive when he was attacking Jay, even though I knew he was only worried about me because he loved me.
“You don’t need to be. Trust me. He’s a good man. He took me to see Dad.”
The look of surprise that crossed his face couldn’t be missed. “He did?”
I nodded. “He did. He and his friends kept Annabelle and Rich away long enough for me to spend some real time with him. That meant everything to me, Jeff. Everything. He put himself on the line to give me what I needed. Doesn’t that count for something?”
He stared at me for several moments while he thought about what I was saying.
“It does, but I’m still worried.”
I gave him a hug and held on tightly, grateful that he cared about me since I didn’t have many blood relatives left, especially ones that cared enough to tell me that. His cheek rested on my head as we embraced.
“Don’t be. Once you get to know him, you’ll understand why I love him.” My body froze when the words left m
y mouth. I hadn’t anticipated saying them. I was relatively positive they were true, but they still caught me off guard.
“Oh, Tori,” Jeff sighed. “Already? How can I not be concerned now?”
I pulled out of his hold and backtracked.
“It isn’t like that. I love him like a friend. I know it’s too soon for the other. Please just trust me.”
“Fine. But I’m going to be watching you two. I can’t not.”
“Okay. I understand. I’m not worried about it because you’ll see,” I assured him.
“Everything alright?” I heard Jay’s voice behind me, and I practically jumped. How much had he heard? I hope not the whole kit and caboodle. Him hearing my premature confession of love would most likely drive a wedge between us.
“Fine,” I muttered. “Jay, I want you to meet my cousin, Jeff. Jeff, this is Jay.”
Jay held his hand out to Jeff, who stared at it for a minute before finally giving in and shaking it.
“We need to talk about that bitch livin’ in T’s house and what your P.I. has found,” Jay said to my cousin.
I loved that Jay shook off Jeff’s hesitation. It said a lot about him as a man.
“I’m not sure what Tori has shared with you, but there hasn’t been much to find. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Annabelle is anything other than a bitch.”
“There has to be something,” I added. “She’s no good. She’s proven that over and over again.”
“I have to agree with her. She was spouting off some twisted shit that day Tori went to see her father. I’ve had my lawyer looking into what we can do to get rid of her, but with them being married it doesn’t seem like we have much without some dirt,” Jay continued.
“Her father doesn’t have a prenuptial agreement so we can’t use her infidelity against her,” Jeff informed him something we already knew.
“Fuck. I hate this. Look, I’ve got a guy. He’s pretty good at finding shit out. We’ll have him hook up with your guy. Maybe then we can get this shit done.”
“Okay. I don’t have a lot of time these days thanks to my jackass brother screwing me over and leaving the company, but I can give you his information,” Jeff agreed.
“You’ve got a guy?” I asked Jay, then promptly shut my trap since this conversation would do nothing to ease Jeff’s worries about Jay and me being together.
“Yeah, baby.”
“Oh, okay,” I murmured and then picked my brain for a change in topic.
“That easy?” Jay’s eyebrows raised, and he looked shocked by my easy capitulation. There was no way I was going to open up a can of worms about Jay’s guy. Not in Jeff’s presence anyway. Later I’d coax it out of him. Maybe when I was wearing nothing but one of Jay’s Rucker Records shirts and his Yankees cap, while riding him like the stallion he was.
I nodded and then Jay wrapped his arm around my chest and pulled me to him. His chest felt good against my back and any unease I was feeling quickly began to melt away.
“Waiters are ready to serve,” he whispered in my ear, and I nodded.
“We good?” I asked Jeff.
“We’re good,” he assured me, which was all I needed for right now. In time, he’d see what I saw in Jay—a man with a loving soul who would lay down his life for me if it came to that.
Well into dinner, as we were all settled around the table enjoying our five star meal, I looked around and realized that even though there was sadness on my periphery, I was still very much blessed to be surrounded by such great people.
After my mom died, my birthdays consisted of dinner at the country club surrounded by people who could give two shits about me. They were all fake and catty. Completely superficial bitches who didn’t know the meaning of truly having each other’s backs.
Now, people from two completely different cultures and worlds were breaking bread together and enjoying each other’s company for me. Never in my life would I have guessed that this would be my life. Even with their roughness and sometimes crude stories, Jay’s friends—strike that, our friends—were sure to include my family in their conversations. And my family treated them in return like they were their contemporaries. Not like they were people to look down your nose at.
Even after his earlier hesitation, Jeff was presently engaged in a conversation with Killer, of all people, about the stock market. I fought back my laughter at the sight of it. And to their right, Keesha was getting tips on anti-aging from Beverly. It was a sight to behold.
Moved by the scene in front of me, I gripped Jay’s hand on the table and squeezed hard. He had done this for me. He constantly brought out the best in me and everyone around us. He was amazing.
“Thank you,” I leaned over and whispered in his ear.
“For what? This?” His free hand gestured around the room.
“Well, yes for this, but also for being you.”
“I’d do anything for you. Never forget that.”
“I won’t.” I brushed my lips against this mouth and squeezed his hand again before sitting back in my chair.
“What do you want for dessert?” I asked Jazzy, who sat to my left.
“Cake, duh!”
“Oh! There’s cake?” I feigned surprise that there would be cake. I mean, it was my birthday after all. What birthday would be complete without a cake?
“Yes,” she said like I was crazy. “Daddy let me pick it out.”
“He did? That was very nice of him. Don’t you think?”
“Yup! Daddy, can we show Tori her cake yet?” Jazzy screamed to Jay like he was across the room rather than sitting at the head of the table on my right.
“Sure thing, baby girl.” He lifted his hand and signaled for the waiter. “We’d like the cake brought out.”
I waited in anticipation as the rest of the plates were cleared before the lights dimmed and a table was wheeled out with the cake.
I laughed out loud when I saw the cake was done in the form of Sleeping Beauty. Jay did say she could pick it out. Of course a five year old girl would choose a Disney Princess.
“Do you like it? It’s Sleeping Beauty!” Jazzy shouted. Her excitement was palpable. I wished I could bottle it up.
“I love it,” I replied. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Want to sing?” Jay asked his daughter.
“Yes! Happy birthday…” she started and everyone followed along.
When the song was done, I closed my eyes tightly and made a wish.
* * *
The bathtub filled with water and the smell of the lavender bath oils began to fill the room.
“Jay?” I called out and turned to face the door when he appeared in it.
“Yeah?” He leaned against the doorjamb and waited.
Instead of telling him my answer, I decided to show him when I unzipped my dress and let it fall down my arms and catch on my hips. I reached down and tugged it the rest of the way to the floor before stepping out of it. Next I reached behind me and unhooked the clasp of my bra. Then I dragged it slowly down my arms and tossed it on my dress.
I watched as his gaze darkened and lust took over the beautiful features of his face when my underwear lowered down my legs, revealing the rest of my body.
I made a show of leaning over and shutting the water off before turning back around to him.
“Bath time?” He asked in a hoarse voice.
“For both of us,” I answered. Walking towards him, I felt my pulse picking up. I was looking forward to trying what I had in mind for tonight. It was a good way to end a perfect birthday evening. “But first, I do believe I owe you.”
I dropped to my knees and undid his belt. Once that joined my clothing on the floor, I opened the button and zipper on his jeans, pushing them down on the floor. His boxers and t-shirt followed, leaving him equally naked in front of me.
My hand wrapped around his rather large erection and brought it to my lips. I ran them teasingly over the head, placing little kisses on it. When I saw his hands cl
ench, I took him deep. Deeper than I had ever done before.
“Damn!” He shouted as I worked him over with a suction that had me rather proud of myself. “That’s it, baby. Shit. Just like that.”
I inwardly smiled and hummed my approval of his praise as I continued my ministrations.
I felt him lengthen and harden in my hand and throat and I knew he was close. Even before he told me, “You don’t want that shit, you best stop now.”
I pulled back with reluctance and stood up, leading him by the hand to the bath. I had other things planned for tonight and him coming down my throat was not one of them.
“You first,” I said and watched as he settled in the garden tub.
I lowered myself down over him so that I was straddling him. I felt his hardness against my belly, and I subtly adjusted my position so that I could grind on him while his mouth claimed mine.
His hands fisted in my hair roughly and angled my head, so he could take the kiss deeper. It began to grow within me. A need so consuming that it clawed at me from the inside and made me feel like I was being boiled out of my skin. I worshiped him and the fact that he could do this to me so easily.
I went up on my knees and gripped him, aiming him as I sank down over his cock. I was so ready, that even though it was a tight fit, he slid right in. I ground down over him and shuddered with how good it felt.
“I’ve wanted to try this since I heard Beyoncé’s song.” I panted as I moved up and down over him. His hands rested on either side of the tub, letting me take what I needed from him.
“What song?”
“Drunk in Love,” I answered and gasped when I began following the lyrics and swerving and graining on his wood.
“Oh yeah? You like surfing?”
“Yes!” I shouted breathlessly as the first wave of my orgasm hit with ferocity.
“Fuck, T. Take it from me, baby.”
My body convulsed. My hands flew to the sides of the tub to hold myself up as it continued to create electricity through me. I was so lost in what I was feeling that I missed him grabbing my waist and pounding me down on him as he came with a growl.
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