“Perfect,” he declared, lifting her wrist to his lips.
She shuddered in his arms. “Are you sure you want me to have it? I’ll have to explain this to Amaka.”
“Tell her, I gave it to you because I love you.”
Smiling, she lifted his wrist to her lips and pressed her mouth to his skin. “And I’ll wear it because I love you, Maxwell Legend.”
He drew in a rough breath.
Sliding back into her seat after she locked lips with him again, she strapped on her belt and carried on with the long drive to the other side of the busy city.
“I love being around your kids. I’ve lived as a bachelor for so long, I didn’t see kids in the picture anytime soon. Now, you’ve given me what I didn’t know I needed, along with a crabby grandaunt I’ve grown fond of. Although she’s very bossy, Grandy makes me feel wanted and loved in a weird way.”
“It’s not me who has done it,” she denied. “My God did it to wipe away my tears and fears. Grandy told me to ask you to see her as a matter of urgency.”
“Then I thank God for leading me to you. I know Grandy wants to make a grand speech about the gift. Pardon the pun. Tell her I know she’s thankful.”
Amused by his response because it was the same as hers, she burst out laughing.
“That’s exactly what I said to her, you know.”
Nodding, he winked. “See? You know me very well. Take the next left turn.”
Indicating left with the trafficator switch, she veered left. “Hold on. Are we going to Banana Island?”
“Seems so,” was all he offered.
Her boyfriend had a cheeky smile on his square features and his eyes glinted a brilliant blue.
“What are we doing there, Maxwell?”
“Time to find out.”
At the entrance gate, she slowed down.
The security staff approached the car door. Maxwell spoke with him briefly. The guard issued a security code before they were directed past the gate. She drove through smoothly-paved roads bordered on both sides with palm trees and flowered shrubs. The breeze in this area felt lush against her skin just like the fancy houses and tall apartment buildings that swept past.
“Just wow! Nice to see how the rich lives,” she sighed, envy thickening her tone.
“I’m moving into one of the properties I bought. I wanted you to be with me when I moved in.”
For some odd reason her eyes filled with salt water. It was the tender way he said it. The kindness in his tone. The love in his eyes. It warmed her heart until it melted. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes with the tip of her fingers. Her chest thundered and she was lost for words. This was a huge step.
“What is it?” he asked, a look of concern on his face.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Don’t brush it off, cupcake. Tell me.”
“I love you, Maxwell.” Her voice trembled a little. “You arrived in Nigeria nearly two months ago and you waited to see your own house for the first time because you wanted me to be with you. That just takes my breath away.”
He grinned. “I’m relieved it’s happy tears. Same as mine.” Squeezing her thigh, he nodded and pointed to the left. “Make a left turn and take the next right.”
Lola did.
Several minutes later, Maxwell opened the front door of a deluxe detached duplex and gave her a tour of the fully-furnished four-bedroom home he now owned in Nigeria.
“This is my first property outside of the US. Have I done good?” He pulled her into his tough arms as they descended the internal stairs.
“No, you haven’t done good.”
When his eyes dimmed, she laughed, running inside the wonder kitchen.
“You’ve done excellent, Maxwell Legend. I love this place. Marble kitchen top. Gleaming appliances. Modern sofas and chairs. Wooden accents and all. Wide window panes to take in the impressive ocean views. What’s there to hate?”
Baring his teeth, he lifted her and sat her on the kitchen marble top. She spread her legs apart and cuddled his face against her boobs.
Maybe Maxwell was lured by her tender boobs and warm thigh because he slipped his hands inside her flared skirt and inched toward her hips.
Shivers raged between her thigh like a tropical storm. She raked her fingers through his silky dark-brown hair and kissed his temple, moaning as she did.
Breathing heavily as his fingers threaded her lace thong, a steamy jolt coursed through her insides. His mouth pasted soft kisses on her boobs.
She cried out as torrent of heat erupted in her cleavage. Wild with desire, she clutched the hem of his tracksuit top and peeled it off his body, gasping at the tattoos inked across his upper chest. The sight of his hardened pink nipples made her shiver with need.
Whimpering, she skimmed his chiselled broad chest with her fingers appreciating each contour like an expensive artwork.
“I just want to stare at your body. You look fit and very sexy.”
He pumped his muscles, so his upper body expanded even more and his breasts shifted up and down in a comical manner.
Giggling, she covered her mouth with both hands. “That’s such a turn on. Stop.”
Winking, he pulled out his hands from her thigh and drew closer, muttering in her hair. “Lacy thongs.”
Heat swelled in her breasts again. “What?”
“You’re wearing lacy thongs. What colour is it?”
Her breath shot out in sporadic bursts.
“You’ve been fantasizing about my underwear?”
Breathing on her face, he traced one finger from her brow to her nose and to one corner of her lip.
“What do you think, my cupcake?”
She darted out her tongue to taste his lips. He dodged, moving his face so she caressed his chin.
“I think you’re turned on by how sexy you imagine my undies are, Maxwell. That in itself is driving me out of my mind right now.”
“What colour of thongs are you wearing?”
“Red.”
He inhaled sharply, rolling his head around her cleavage. She clasped her legs around his butt to draw him closer.
Just then a shrilly sound disrupted their passionate hug.
Lola’s legs froze around Maxwell’s hips.
“Is that my phone or yours?” Feeling unsettled, she did not recognize the ringing tone for a few seconds.
“It’s not mine,” he muttered against her collar bone.
“Get it for me, please,” she insisted, pushing against him. With two kids and an elderly aunt on her tab, she never switched off. It was the biggest reason she hated dating.
Maxwell must have caught the edginess in her words because he lifted his head and backed away.
“Let me find it. I’ll be back.”
Too excited when they had walked inside, she could not remember exactly where she dumped her bag. The phone kept ringing. She slid down from the kitchen top and rushed toward the door.
“I’ve got a bad feeling in my stomach, Maxwell,” she called out. “Where’s my bag?”
Rushing down the stairs with her red designer leather bag in one hand, he handed it to her with a grin. The Marmont matelassé Gucci shoulder bag was a gift from Maxwell.
“Take a deep breath and get out your cell phone,” he advised.
Running her tongue past her lower lip, she dunked her hand inside her bag and retrieved her phone. She stared at the screen as dread ran along her arm.
“It’s Grandy. Six missed calls!” She immediately returned the call. “Grandy?”
“Lola! The house has burned down!” her grandaunt announced sobbing.
Lola’s heart fell out of her chest. Fear tightened her gut. “What? Burn? Grandy? Where are my children?”
Instantly, she felt powerful arms loop around her waist. But her body stiffened.
“They’re fine,” Grandy confirmed.
She puffed out air from her mouth. “I’ll come home. Where are you now?” Oh wait, she had jus
t been told their home was burned.
“Waiting for you down the road. I’m sorry, I only saved one precious box. It happened quickly from the neighbour’s flat above our own.”
Walking toward the door already with Maxwell beside her, Lola groaned inside.
“Grandy, don’t worry. Let me talk to Amaka and Nonso. As long as no one was hurt, everything would work out in Jesus name.” It always did.
“Amen. Hold on.” Grandy sounded a little broken.
“Mummy!” her twins wailed on the other end.
“My sunflower!” Lola sobbed, trembling in her boyfriend’s comforting arms. “My poppy!”
“Where are you?” Amaka screamed. “Come home! Oh, there’s no home for us again, Mummy.”
“I know, baby. Jesus Christ is watching over you, your brother and Grandy.”
“Mummy, there’s fire everywhere!” Nonso added.
Crying harder, Lola nodded. “I’m on my way. Stay beside Grandy, please. God is in control. Everything will be alright.” She needed to stay strong.
While she got inside the car, Maxwell eased the phone from her fingers and continued to speak with her family. His words of reassurance to her children strengthened her hands as she drove as fast as she could through traffic-infested roads. Badagry was on the other side of the city. There were no shortcuts at this time of the day. Frustrated, she ground her teeth.
While he still spoke on the phone to Grandy and her kids, Maxwell ran his long fingers along her neck. The repeated action eased the strain along her shoulders and spine.
“I’m so relieved Amaka, Nonso and Grandy aren’t hurt,” she murmured after a long time. “I would never have forgiven myself.”
“Thank God, they’re all okay,” he agreed, squeezing her knee with his free hand after holding the phone between his head and shoulder.
She glanced at him. “Thank you for carrying on with the conversation. It makes me feel better hearing their voices.”
“Just drive, cupcake.” Maxwell let her knee go, clutched the phone with one hand while he continued kneading her neck.
What was she going to do? All the memories the kids had collected from birth had gone up in smoke.
Her chest tightened with pain.
It was as if she knew this would happen, or how else could she explain why she had always packed a small bag in her bedroom? It contained their birth certificates, school certificates, her credentials and other important documents.
Overwhelmed by sadness, she covered her mouth with her fingers as tears whipped down her cheeks. Grandy must have risked her life to save the box along with herself and the kids. She owed a lot to her elderly relative who had given up everything to be her sole parent. The only way she wanted to repay her loving grandaunt was to move her into her new home. But it was not completed. Right now, she had no savings to house her family until her new project was completed.
Pain doubled the size of her chest. Getting stranded financially scared her to death. It was the reason she worked hard all the time to avoid being homeless. But it seemed that no matter how hard she tried problems flowed her way non-stop.
Feeling broken by her helpless situation before she even faced it, Lola burst into tears. It was the kind of chesty bawling that affected her ability to drive in a straight line.
“Let us call you back, Grandy. Hang in there. We’ll be with you, soon.” she heard him say.
“Park the car, Lola,” Maxwell barked. “Over there.” He pointed at a safe spot along the road.
With her eyes blurry with tears, she managed to swerve and park without killing anyone. Then she covered her face and her head fell forward. She hated for him to see her like this, but there was nothing she could do to stop the downpour of helplessness.
Unbuckling his seatbelt in a snap, Maxwell leaned over and folded her in his arms. “I’m here for you, Lola. Don’t be so heartbroken. The kids can’t wait to see you. Grandy’s hanging in there. Stop crying.”
“You don’t understand,” she sobbed against his chest. “Everything I worked for and owned is lost.”
“Everything isn’t lost, my sweetheart. Your lives are more important to me.”
“We’ve lost our rented home. The mean landlord will want compensation. My family needs a roof over their heads. I never want to feel this way, like a failure and I don’t want my kids to think I can’t provide a roof over their heads.”
“First things first. Let’s go get them. Can you drive without tearing up?”
She sniffed and pulled herself together. “Yes.”
He kissed her hair, wiped her face with his top and squeezed her arm. “You can do this, Lola. How long is the drive from here?”
She checked the time. “Another half an hour at least. I’ll understand if you don’t want to have anything more to do with me. This is a lot to take in.”
“Stop speaking. Drive. Can you do that?”
Wiping her eyes, she swallowed and nodded.
It took nearly two hours in total to reach her family and drive them to a luxury hotel in Badagry at Maxwell’s insistence.
Her boyfriend took the lead and checked her family into a separate suite from his own, on the same floor. The hotel staff treated her family like royalty. Excited by their new surroundings, Amaka and Nonso ran around the spacious rooms and living space as if they were on a playground in mini-Disneyland.
After dinner, Lola threw her hands around Grandy. Both women sat and watched the kids have their moment of freedom and happiness unstopped.
“Maxwell’s a good man,” Grandy stated smiling. “He’ll take great care of you and your children when I’m gone. I can now die in peace.”
“Shish!” Lola whispered, scared by the old woman’s morbid sentiment. “No one is dying. You’ll not die, Grandy. Take a deep breath and let us enjoy this moment. It’s a beautiful ending to a traumatic day. If you decide to die and I get married someday, who’s going to walk down the aisle with me and give me away, ehn? Have you thought about that?”
Laughing now, Grandy wiped her eyes.
“Ow, I want to see you wear a white wedding dress. I want to be there when you get married, Lola. I’ll be there by God’s grace. Maybe I still have some years to go. Today, our God came to our rescue.”
“Like he always does,” Lola added, smiling. “Just when we think it’s over, we find it’s only the beginning.”
Chapter 12 – Expecting Someone
Lola
After her kids and Grandy went to bed an hour later, Lola had a moment to herself.
She took a brisk shower and got dressed in a floral fit and flare knee-length dress. Swirling in front of the full-length mirror, she pinned on a tiny pair of costume earrings and sprayed perfume–the only expensive item she allowed herself.
A long sigh fell out of Lola’s lips. She had not got over the fact she did not have to ask her boyfriend for assistance when disaster struck today. Maxwell did not run away from her cluttered life as she had expected. Instead he had willingly paid for their extravagant accommodation, food and drinks.
Slipping her feet into a pair of flat silver slippers, she exited her suite and walked down the carpeted corridor. Butterflies moved around her stomach. Nervous, she blew out air from her nose and mouth as her feet reached the door to Maxwell’s suite.
For a few seconds, her lips trembled and her chest thundered. She licked her lips and, took in a deep breath. Then she knocked.
Maxwell opened the door and a warm smile lit up his eyes. With his face reddening fast, he launched forward, pulled her into his arms and gave her the warmest hug of all times. While his hands squeezed out every drop of tension from her body, she pressed her face against his chest and cuddled his back through his long-sleeve grey t-shirt.
“Honestly, I was just thinking about you, cupcake.”
“I’ve not stopped thinking about you since we met,” she admitted, blinking slowly. “So, this is what it feels like to be in love and be loved in return.”
; “Yeah. It’s the single most beautiful feeling in the entire world.” He said the exact sentence in her heart.
Standing on the private balcony in his suite later that night, he threaded his hands through her hair.
“Move into my duplex on Banana Island with me along with your kids and Grandy. I can’t live there by myself. I’ll be terribly lonely, cupcake.”
She lifted her head. “Move in with you?” That option had not occurred to her. “As a bachelor, you love to party. You also love your space and quiet. As you know, my kids aren’t quiet.”
Grinning, Maxwell kissed her lips. “Yeah. A bachelor with more money than he needs. I want to wake up next to you every morning, and together, we can watch the sun rise from the large windows in the master bedroom.”
“It sounds like my dream. But that’s not possible, my sausage roll.” She cupped his face. “You know I love you, right?”
Maxwell sighed. “Sure. Then what’s the but? Is the thought unbearable?”
“That’s not it. I know it’s common in the US for unmarried couples to move in together. But Grandy will not have it. Neither will I. My lack of good judgment still stares me in the face. I can’t go off and do something like that even in the face of disaster. Besides, I’ve made serious progress on my new house. I want to move in there with my family.”
He pushed back, dipped his hand in the back pocket of his denim jeans and brought out a small red velvet box. Before her eyes, her boyfriend went on one bended knee, opened the box and gazed up at her.
A hot shudder sped through her spine. Her breath hitched twice in her gut. She gasped and burst into tears, covering her face with both hands. This was not happening. She must be dreaming.
“W-what are y-you d-doing, Maxwell?”
The words struggled out of her clogged throat. Shuddering from her head to her toes, she hit her legs against the metal banister behind her. The tightening in her chest made it impossible to breathe. What a perfect dream!
“Lola Stephanie Lawson, make me the man you want me to be for you and your family. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll give my life to Jesus Christ, go to church with you, love your kids, be a dad they can be proud of and love Grandy. I’ll do it all.”
Irresistible Driver ~ A BWWM Sexy Romance Page 13