by Tina Martin
“I’ll do the same with Sherita, but that still doesn’t solve her problem. I—I want my wife to be happy. If she’s not happy, how can I be happy? She’s happy when she’s with me and the kids, and she’s happy knowing she’s working and has a purpose, you know. I need to combine all those things for her somehow.”
“I got it,” Dante said, sitting straight up in his chair. “We’re starting renovations on this building in the summer.”
“Yeah…adding the fitness center, cafeteria and daycare facility,” Desmond said. “How does that help me?”
“What if you took one of those extra rooms in her studio and made it a little daycare room? You could put a couple of cribs in there, a couch, TV, mini-fridge, microwave and make it a cozy little home for Celeste and Nolan. Your sitter or Sherita’s mother could come right there and watch the kids while she’s working, and when she’s on break, she can see them. You think she might like that?”
“I think she would.” Desmond grinned. “As long as the kids don’t disturb her clients.”
“That’s a simple fix. Just soundproof the room.”
Desmond nodded. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Sometimes you’re too close to a situation to see a viable solution to a problem.”
“You’re right,” Desmond said. “I’m going to run it by her…see what she says.”
“Good. Now, let’s talk a little business,” Dante said. “I had time to think about GHC while I was in Jacksonville. After talking it over with Emily, I realize that I can’t go through with it.”
“What?” Dimitrius asked.
“I can’t, no—let me rephrase—I will not go through with the name change. GHC means something to me. I opened it to help people. It’s not bringing in as much money as the other businesses, true enough, but GHC was never about the money. Des, I appreciate all the work you and Kurt did behind the scenes. Dimitrius, I know you’ve invested time in testing and I thank you for that. But let’s drop further discussions on GHC. I’ll explain to Steven what’s going on. Questions? Concerns?”
“Nah. I’m good,” Dimitrius said.
“Me, too,” Desmond added.
“So,” Dante said, standing up, sliding his hands inside of his pockets. “Let’s talk new business. Des, have you heard anything regarding Blackstone Financial?”
“No, but that very well could change being that they’re doing some research on us. Harding said he received a call from Garrison Blackstone, so something is moving on their end.”
“All right. Stay on top of that.”
“Victor Westwood has referred several clients our way. I’m going to have Phyllis book meetings, so you’ll see those meeting request invites within a few days. Just be sure to add them to your calendars.”
“Yep,” Desmond said.
“All right. Then that’s all I had,” Dante said, taking his hands from his pockets and bringing them to a clap. “If there’s nothing else, this meeting is adjourned.”
“Cool,” Desmond said. “If you need me, call me on my cell. I’ll be out of the office for the next hour.”
“Okay, Desmond,” Dante said.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sherita walked into Emily’s boutique, waved at Carly and continued on back to Emily’s office. She peeped around the door and said, “Knock, knock.”
“Hey, Rita!” Emily said. She stood up and hurried around her desk. Enveloping her in a hug, she said, “It’s so good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too,” Sherita replied.
“Where are the babies?” Emily asked.
“I dropped them off with mom since I’m heading to the studio this morning. I figured I’d stop by here to speak to you since my first client is not due until 10:30 a.m. So what’s been going on? The store looks nice.”
“Thanks. Carly has been helping me out tremendously, but I do miss you working here.”
“Aw…you’re too sweet.”
Emily smiled.
“Anyway, nothing’s going on. I feel better. My blood pressure is normal again. I think Des and I finally figured out a way for me to relax and spend more time with Celeste and Nolan.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yep. I’m only working three days a week. Wish I could work a five-day work week but hey, I’ll take whatever’s not going to stress me out.”
“Girl, I hear ya. I changed my schedule, too. I work from eight to noon at the store, then finish up the workday at my home office. That way, I can be home with Ezra.”
“Nice. Now let’s talk about the new baby!” Sherita said, glancing at Emily’s stomach. “Do you know what you’re having yet?”
“Not yet. We find out on Friday.”
“I bet Dante wants another boy, huh? So he can have his own little Champion tribe around there.”
Emily giggled. “Actually, he wants a daughter. And I do, too, but we’ll be happy either way.”
“That’s awesome. Anywho, I don’t want to hold you up,” Sherita said, checking her watch.
“It’s no problem, Sherita.”
“I better get going, anyway, though. I still need to set up. Hey, what about dinner on Friday? We haven’t had a family dinner at our place in quite some time.”
“Sounds good to me,” Emily said.
“Cool, that way, you and Dante can tell us the gender of that bun in your oven.” Sherita giggled.
“All right. I’ll let Dante know.”
“And I’ll call Melanie.”
“Oh, and please make some of that banana pudding. Dante won’t stop talking about it. He wants you to show me how to make it.”
Sherita laughed. “Okay. I’ll make some.”
The women hugged again before Sherita exited the office.
* * *
Sherita turned into the driveway of her studio to see Desmond’s car parked in the space where she normally parked. She smiled. What was he up to?
Desmond got out of the Mercedes holding his cell phone at his left ear.
Sherita got out of her jeep and walked near him as he wrapped up a call.
When he slid his phone into his pocket, she asked, “Hey, what are you doing here?”
A playful smile touched his lips. “I came to see my hot, baby mama.”
Sherita’s cheeks reddened.
“Where are you coming from?” he asked.
“I stopped by the boutique to catch up with Emily.”
“Oh. Okay, well, come on. I’ll walk you in.”
Sherita headed to the door with Desmond walking beside her, tall and built like her personal protector. She remembered when Desmond surprised her with this place. When he had blindfolded her, drove here and told her that the building was hers. Once a flower shop, he had the building renovated to a top-of-the-line portrait studio.
She walked into the back office, sat at her desk and set her purse on the floor. Desmond hatched up a leg to sit partially on her desk while he looked at her.
Mildly amused, she asked, “So are you going to tell me why you’re here, or do you want me to guess?”
He smiled wide, big and bright. “Just had a team meeting with my brothers not too long ago and the topic of Sherita came up.”
Smiling, she asked, “Really?”
“You asked. I told them you were cutting your workdays back to three days a week, but I didn’t think you were happy with that. Am I right?”
“I’m not happy about it, but if the doctor thinks that’s what I need to do then so be it.”
“But that’s not what you want to do. You goal was to work and be able to keep Celeste and Nolan.”
Sherita nodded.
“So, Dante offered up an idea and I think you’ll like it. That’s why I’m here, princess.”
“And what might that be?”
“Well, he suggested we use one of the extra rooms here to make something similar to a hotel room. We can put a fridge, TV, microwave, bed, couch, cribs, toys and whatever else we need in it to make the room as comfortable
as possible for the twins.”
“So I’m supposed to bring the babies to work with me?”
“Yes. That’s the idea. And you can get your mother to watch them here or have Sharon come by on days your mother isn’t available. That’s the beauty of having your own business. You can do whatever you like when it comes to your schedule. You have the ultimate flexibility.”
Sherita smiled. “You’re right. If the twins were here with me, I don’t think I would feel so anxious and guilty all the time.”
“Exactly. That’s the idea, and don’t worry about the setup of the room. I’ll take care of everything.”
“You always do,” Sherita said, her eyes glazed over with happy tears that she managed to hold inside. And then she stood up, leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, taking a small kiss. “I love you, Desmond.”
“I know you do. I mean, what’s there not to love?” he asked smiling.
On her tiptoes, Sherita wrapped her hands around his neck, squeezed and felt a calmness settle over her.
“I love you, too, Sherita,” Desmond said, encircling his arms around her. “I know you have to set up, so I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Okay.” Sherita took his hand inside of her grasp as they walked to the front entrance.
“We’ll do something later on. In fact, be thinking about what you want for dinner. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“And I’ll swing by your mother’s after work to pick up the kids.”
“No,” Sherita said. “I got it under control. I only have this one appointment today and after that, I’m free.”
“All right,” Desmond said, looking at her with concern in his eyes. Framing her face with his hands, he said, “If you need me for anything, call me.”
“I will.”
With that, he left a kiss at her temple and sauntered to the door with that sexy walk of his – one that had Sherita nibbling at her bottom lip. He was a man that had amazed her, well after she’d gotten to know him. Before, she saw him as a motorcycle-riding, bad boy – a man with abs of steel who had everything anyone could ever want in life. She doubted she could get his attention until that infamous day at the coffee shop when he took over her order and stared her down with his intense eyes. Back then, she hated him. Now, she didn’t know what she would do without him.
She sat down at her desk. After dealing with postpartum issues and witnessing how Desmond was there for her every step of the way, consistently looking for ways to make her life better and more comfortable, she decided it was time to do something nice for him for a change, like maybe show him that the old Sherita was back. When was the last time he had a chance to take a ride on his motorcycle? How long had it been since he felt the wind on his face? She had only ridden with him once and that was before the babies. It would be nice to sit on the back of his bike with her arms around him while they went for a long, adventurous ride.
She smiled. That gave her an idea.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Desmond stepped into a quiet home at approximately 6:30 p.m. There were no babbling baby noises. No sounds from the family room TV. Just silence. Sherita’s jeep was out front, so where were she and the kids?
Well, they could’ve been upstairs in the master. With such a huge home, he wouldn’t necessarily hear them if they were upstairs, so he jogged up the stairs but there was no sign of them. No noise.
“Sherita, you up here?”
Silence.
He frowned, glanced around the room briefly before removing his cell phone from his pocket. He was just about to dial Sherita’s number when he spotted a note on his nightstand. He walked over near the bed, picked it up and read it:
Am I here or am I not?
Find your next clue where I keep my socks.
He smiled big. “Seriously Sherita,” he said out loud, and couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his mouth. “All right. I’m game.”
Desmond took off his suit jacket, tossed it over to the bed and sauntered over to her dresser. She kept her socks in the second drawer so he opened it and sure enough, there was another note, or as she called it, a clue.
You’re the best husband in the whole world.
Thanks for giving me an adorable, little girl.
“Celeste,” he said, walking down the hallway to Celeste’s room and saw another clue taped to her crib. “I know where the next clue’s going to be,” he said, heading for Nolan’s room while reading the clue he just took from Celeste’s crib:
Stop walking, you’re moving too soon.
The next clue is not in Nolan’s room.
Desmond stopped reading to laugh at himself. “Okay. You got me.” He continued reading:
Why don’t you head back to our room?
Put on those jeans and I’ll see you soon.
“Those jeans?” he said, thinking out loud. “What jeans?” Walking back into the master bedroom, he went to the closet and saw that she had already laid out an outfit for him to wear – dark stonewash, distressed jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt.
So, taking off his suit pants, necktie and shirt, he pulled the jeans up his legs, then quickly put on the shirt and a pair of Nikes. “Okay, so where’s the next clue?” he asked out loud, patting the pockets of the jeans and feeling a piece of paper in the back pocket. “There’s the next clue,” he said, smiling. He pulled out the paper and read:
Now that you’re dressed, Mr. Champion, it’s finally time to go.
I’ll sit behind you and hold on tight while we speed down the road.
His lips curved into a smile. She couldn’t be talking about a motorcycle ride, could she? He jogged downstairs, exited out the garage door and there she was, sitting on his Ducati with a helmet in her hand. When did she buy a helmet and motorcycle jacket for herself? He wanted to get those items for her, but with life happening so soon, it got pushed to the backburner. And he hadn’t ridden his bike not once after the babies were born.
“You found me,” she said. “Grab your jacket, gloves and helmet. Let’s go.”
He didn’t move. Just stared. Sherita looked like herself again. Like the woman he’d fallen in love with. The woman he flirted with. The woman who was and would forever be his kryptonite. His coffee shop girl. His everything.
“Des?”
“Okay. You have to forgive me. I’m somewhat in a state of shock,” he said while taking his jacket where she had left it for him – on a hook by the back door. He put it on, zipped it up. He threaded his fingers into gloves and walked towards her with the helmet in his hand. Goodness, she was hot. She’d had her hair flat-ironed, silky straight, wore makeup and that red, smudge-proof lipstick she liked to wear occasionally. They made her lips look juicier, more delicious than they already were.
Standing next to the motorcycle, he lowered his mouth to hers, taking a kiss, then he looked at her and smiled. “You are something else.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You just are…playing this little game with me, sitting on the back of my motorcycle…”
“You haven’t ridden it in a while…thought it would be nice if we went for a drive.”
“Your mother has the kids?” he asked, peeling off his gloves so he could run his fingers through her hair and along the side of her delicate face.
“Yes. All night,” Sherita said. “And we have each other. All night.”
Desmond smirked, but a small disturbance flashed in his forehead that Sherita hadn’t expected to see.
“What’s wrong, Des?”
“Nothing.”
“No, tell me. Do you not want to go anywhere?”
“I do. Did you have somewhere in mind?”
“Not really. I’ll go anywhere you want to take me.”
“Anywhere?” he asked, his eyes flooded with desire.
“Yes. Anywhere.”
“In that case, let me help you get off of the motorcycle.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to take
you upstairs and make love to you until we’ve made up for the last six months. That’s where I want to go.”
Sherita swallowed hard. After all, it had been over six months since she and Desmond had made love. Now he wanted six month’s worth of her? The thought made her shiver.
“Are you okay with that?” he asked, unzipping his motorcycle jacket.
She nibbled on her lip.
“Sherita?”
She blinked, looked at him, seeing desire ripen in his eyes. “I told you I’d go anywhere you wanted to take me,” she said.
Without notice, Desmond sealed her mouth with his, plunging into the warmness of her with rapid fire, in expectation to connect their bodies in another way – in a way that they hadn’t connected in months. She moaned when he effortlessly lifted her from the motorcycle while still claiming her mouth. Her trembling hands released the motorcycle helmet to the concrete garage floor. He walked to the door with her legs wrapped around his waist, opened it and wasted no time climbing the stairs.
In their bedroom, he hurriedly unzipped her jacket and nearly ripped her blouse trying to get it off. Once successful, he tossed it across the room. Then, he stuck his index finger in the waistband of her jeans.
“Des, wait.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, breathing heavily.
“I—um, can you let me get underneath the covers first?” she asked, worried about him seeing her post-baby body. She’d kept it hidden for a reason.
“Sherita, are you serious?” he asked, studying her.
“Yes. I am, actually.”
“Then the answer is, no. I love you, I love your body, and I don’t see a thing wrong with it.” He lowered himself to his knees, felt her legs tremble as he lowered her pants. He kissed her stomach, right above the scar left by the incision of the C-section cut and said, “You carried my children inside of you for nine months and you think I would be turned off by the fact that you’ve gained a little weight?” He cupped her backside with his large hands and nuzzled into her flesh. Then he stood up, wrapped his arms around her and said, “I want to devour you, princess.”