She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You know what, you can go to hell and whatever happens to you, you deserve it. You’re no better than Ruby. You use people just like she does and I’m sick of the two of you using me. Both of you can kiss my ass!”
Jason shook his head pressed the up button as Debony dashed off the elevator. “To hell with you too,” he mumbled as the doors closed. When he got into his room, Jason flung himself across the bed and closed his eyes. All he wanted was for this day to end.
The next morning, the phone in his room rang at 6:30 a.m. “Yeah?” he said as he scrambled to answer the phone.
“Jay Slade, I know you said I had to run things by you, but I did set up these interviews and the photographer from Vibe will be here at eight. Should I cancel?” Ruby asked, her voice was saccharine sweet.
Jason cleared his throat. “Whatever, Ruby. And just so you know, I’m doing this for the sake of my contest and not because you think you’re still pulling my strings.”
“Sure, Jason. By the way, what do you say to Debony to force her out of here? You know she was supposed to be a part of the contest. I’m sure the higher ups aren’t going to be happy about that.”
“Go to hell, Ruby,” Jason said then slammed the phone down. He sat up in the bed and decided the only way he was going to make it through the day would be for him to take a run and wrap his mind around the task at hand.
Chapter Twenty
Ingrid kissed DeShawn’s cheek as she headed out of the house for the breakfast shift at the restaurant. She was glad Christina had spent the night and agreed to watch DeShawn until lunch time.
As she walked out the door, Ingrid saw that the grey skies and rain mirrored her mood. She had called Jason before she went to bed and her call went straight to voicemail. When she called the hotel, the desk clerk said Jason didn’t want to be disturbed. Her mind went immediately to three years ago. Had she pushed him back in to Debony’s arms, giving Ruby just what she wanted?
And why? Louis wasn’t the real issue and neither was Jason’s desire to buy a house for her and DeShawn. She was allowing her fears to take over when she should’ve just trusted that the love she and Jason shared was enough.
She pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant surprised to see about fifteen cars in the lot. The restaurant wasn’t scheduled to open for an hour and Ingrid knew she hadn’t ran any specials in the morning paper that would cause people to line up at the front door. When Ingrid got out of the car, a few of the people sitting in their cars hopped out. “Is Ingrid Russell here yet?” they asked. She realized that these people weren’t her customers, but reporters.
“No,” she said then dashed inside the restaurant. As soon as she walked in, Felix and Dina stopped talking and looked up at her.
“What’s going on?” Ingrid asked.
“It’s all over the papers,” Dina said quietly.
Ingrid furrowed her brows. “What’s all over the papers?” she asked as she took the paper from Felix. The front page of The State newspaper had a picture of Jason and DeShawn below a headline that read, “Father and Son reunited in Elmore.”
“That bitch!” Ingrid growled. “I know Ruby is behind this and I don’t need this right now.” She balled the paper up and tossed it on the floor.
“So, it’s true, Miss Ingrid?” Dina asked timidly.
“Chile, shut up,” Felix said. “This ain’t nobody’s business but Miss Ingrid’s and God’s. Now, the whole town is going to be in here being nosey and asking questions they don’t need answers to.”
Ingrid sat down at a booth and dropped her head on the table. “How am I going to face all of these people today?”
“You don’t have to,” Felix said. “Go home, we can run the place.”
Ingrid shook her head. “I’m not running again. That’s how I got here in the first place.”
“You know the whole town reads this paper,” Dina said. “They’re going to be in here trying to ask you questions.”
Ingrid stood up, wiped her eyes and headed for the kitchen. “Then we’re charging them double for the food that they order,” she said. Outside, Ingrid seemed poised, but inside, she was nervous and not ready to face the prying questions of Elmore’s gossips.
“What?” Jason snapped as he looked at the reporter. She smiled and crossed her legs.
“I asked, did you know that you had a son before you arrived in town to do this contest?”
“That has nothing to do with this interview.”
“So, you were aware that you had a child, but you didn’t do anything to reach out to him?”
Jason rose to his feet and thought about choosing his words carefully, but he blurted out, “This interview is over and you can kiss my ass. My son isn’t up for discussion.”
The reporter stood as well. “But what about his mother? Is she a gold digger trying to take advantage of you?”
Jason stormed out of the hotel lobby. As he got to his car, he realized exactly what was going on. Ruby had set him up.
No matter what he said in the press, either he or Ingrid would look bad. And then there was DeShawn. He didn’t need this, not in a town like Elmore. The gossips were going to have a field day with this story.
“I’ve got to get to Ingrid,” he muttered as he started the car and peeled out of the parking lot and headed for Soul To The Bone. He wasn’t surprised to find the parking lot filled and seeing a couple of T.V. satellite trucks.
He wished that he could’ve gotten to the back door of the restaurant and walked in without being seen by the reporters. Since he’d been in Elmore, Jason hadn’t felt the need to hide underneath his baseball cap and aviator sunglasses. He now wished that he had his disguise in the back seat. Sitting in the parking lot, he realized that facing the music in Elmore or New York was going to be hell, with or without a hat. Jason hopped out of the car and sprinted for the door.
“Jay Slade, have you been a deadbeat father?” a reporter shouted out.
“Is this an attempt to extort you?” another reporter yelled.
He ignored all of the questions lobbed at him as he walked into the restaurant. As soon as he entered the restaurant, all conversation stopped and he knew what the topic had been.
Dina, who had been his ally in winning Ingrid back, turned her back to him. Jason was beginning to think that the reporters outside were looking a lot better than the people inside the restaurant. Ingrid spotted him as she set a plate of eggs, toast and bacon in front of a patron at the counter. She nodded for him to enter the kitchen and Jason was happy to be out of the spotlight.
He ducked into the kitchen and did his best to ignore the whispers from the people sitting at the tables. Moments later, Ingrid burst into the kitchen. “What in the hell is going on?” she snapped as she shoved a copy of The State newspaper under his nose. “How could you let this happen?”
“Do you seriously think I had something to do with this? Like I would want to put my son in the glare of a spotlight?”
She shook her head. “No, but Ruby did. This story makes all of us look like fools. Either you’re a deadbeat dad or I’m some gold digger trying to get money from you. The only person who’s going to be hurt is DeShawn. How are we going to stop this? I have reporters out in my parking lot and the town gossips have been sitting in here all morning.”
Jason took the paper from her hands and tossed it to the floor. “There’s really only one way to handle this.” He smoothed his hand across his locs and closed his eyes.
“How’s that? By killing Ruby?” Ingrid groaned.
Jason took her into his arms and kissed her cheek, hoping to calm her down. But she trembled in his arms with anger. “As much as we’d like to do that, we can’t,” he said. “Babe, I’ve been through stuff like this and the only thing we can do is meet it head on. We have to stop running from the media and . . .”
“Are you crazy?” she demanded, cutting him off. “I didn’t ask for this and I will not have my so
n plastered across newspapers so that people can read about my dirty laundry.”
“We can protect DeShawn if we do this the right way. We can tell the reporters our side and demand that they stay away from our son. Think about it, our story is what Hollywood movies are made of. We’re getting married and. . .”
“Stop right there,” Ingrid snapped. “This isn’t a Hollywood movie, this is my life. This isn’t a story or a way for you to sell records. I want this madness to end.”
“You think I like this? Do you think I came back to Elmore for this? I wanted you. I had no idea you’d been hiding my son from me,” he bellowed.
“All of this is my fault?” she snapped.
Jason threw his hands up. “I’m tired, Ingrid. Either we’re going to . . .”
“Don’t you dare try and give me a damned ultimatum.” She banged her hand against the door. “Did I make a mistake, yes, but DeShawn isn’t going to pay for it.”
Shaking his head, Jason stalked out of the kitchen. Ingrid started to follow him, but when she saw all of the eyes of her patrons on her, she slammed back into the kitchen and knelled down near a stack of pickle jars and cried silently.
“Jay Slade, Jay Slade,” a female reporter called as she ran after him in the parking lot. “Do you have a statement about your secret love child?”
He looked her in the eyes and fought back a string of profanity. “No, and I’d appreciate it if you guys would clear out of here. She’s not in there.”
“Where is she? Is she in town? When did you find out you had a son?”
“I told you, I didn’t have anything to say. But, if you all want a statement from me, you’re going to have to leave this parking lot. There’s nothing to see here,” he said then sprinted to his car. Jason wasn’t surprised to see many of the reporters followed him. He silently prayed that none of them would hear the harsh words he was about to have with Ruby.
He arrived at the hotel and wasn’t surprised to see another group of reporters camped out there. Jason shook his head as he hopped out of the car and the reporters descended on him like a pack of vultures.
“Jay Slade, have you seen your son today?”
“Do you plan to pay back child support?”
Jason waved his hands. “Look, I’ll have a statement in a few hours,” he said. “Just give me a minute.”
“Is that what you told your child’s mother?” a reporter shouted out.
“You can just go to hell,” Jason replied as he dashed inside the hotel. When he saw Ruby standing next to the front desk, he wanted to slap her down to the floor.
“Jay Slade, you’re the talk of the town,” Ruby said snidely.
“You fed the reporters the story about my son, you bi. . . If I were you, I’d just stay the hell away from me,” he snapped.
She stood inches away from him and smirked. “I told you, I made your career and I’m on the verge of ruining it. How do you want to play this? I can make these people disappear and spin this story so that you’re the freaking father of the year. Or, keep pushing me and I’ll make you look like a shallow deadbeat.”
Jason inhaled deeply. “You just don’t get it, do you? I don’t give a damn about my career right now and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to protect my family. So, continue feeding lies to those reporters. I’ve fulfilled my contract with Def Jam and I can walk away and be a happy man. But what do you think will happen to you? Debony’s tired of your bullshit, the executives at the label are tired of your bullshit too. So, who are you hurting right now?”
Jason stomped away from her, leaving Ruby standing by the desk with a befuddle look on her face. When he got into his room, he remembered that he’d smashed his cell phone and he couldn’t call New York to tell them either Ruby went or he was out of there. He picked up the hotel phone and started to dial New York, instead, he called Ingrid’s cell phone.
“Hello?” she said in an exasperated voice.
“Ingrid, it’s me,” Jason said. “I’ve figured out how we can make this all go away.”
“How?”
“I’m going to have a press conference and take full responsibility for the last three years. I’m going to ask the press to respect our privacy and I’m calling off the contest. My focus will be on you and DeShawn.”
“Jason,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry. This is a choice that I never wanted you to have to make. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Is this the best thing for my son? Because that’s all that matters. If I end up as a ‘where are they now’, then so be it.”
“Will you regret this later?”
Jason sighed and glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He’d wanted nothing more than to be a singer since he could remember, but there was no way he’d let anything else come in between him and his son again. “I’ve had a lifetime of regrets and not being with you and my son is the only thing I’d regret if we let this spiral out of control.”
“Then I’m going to stand up with you. This isn’t your fault. Since you found out that DeShawn is your son, you’ve been wonderful and people need to know that,” she said.
“What made you change your mind?” he asked, thinking about the blow up they’d had moments ago.
“I love you and I don’t want people to think that you did anything wrong. I ran out on you because of lies that were told to me and I let too many years pass without trying to contact you. I took the easy way out.”
“I’m coming over there.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just really want to kiss you right now,” he said with a smile on his lips.
“Well, I’m at home,” she said. “I couldn’t take another minute in that fish bowl.”
“All right, I’m on my way.” Jason hung up the phone then dashed out of his room. When he made it to the lobby, he ignored all of the reporters and Ruby en route to his car and his woman.
Ingrid waved goodbye to Christina and DeShawn and silently thanked her friend for taking her son to the lake for swimming and a picnic. As small as Elmore was, she knew it was only going to be a matter of time before the reporters found her house. Until she and Jason made their statement, she didn’t want them showing up at her house while her son was there.
Ten minutes later, Jason was knocking on the door. Ingrid had hoped she’d have time to change out of her tank top and grey yoga pants before he arrived, but she opened the door anyway. Jason stepped across the threshold and pulled Ingrid into his arms and kissed her with an ardent passion that made her knees shiver. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his. Jason’s body sprang to attention and his erection rested against Ingrid’s thighs and she wanted to remove every piece of clothing she had on so that she could feel his rigid thickness inside her.
Jason pushed her inside and kicked the door closed. Breaking the kiss, he held Ingrid’s face between his hands. “We should talk first,” he said breathlessly.
“No, we can talk later,” she said as she tugged at his tee shirt.
Jason smiled happily. “Good, because I really, really need you.” He led her to the sofa and spread her across the soft cushions. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her yoga pants off and smiled when he saw that Ingrid wasn’t wearing any panties.
“Umm,” he said as he slipped his hand between her thighs. “You were waiting for me, huh?”
“You or Denzel,” she joked as she arched her back to his hand. “Glad you knocked on my door instead.”
“Denzel, huh?” he said as his finger probed her wetness. “Betcha he can’t make you feel like this.” Jason leaned into her and kissed her neck, slowly, allowing his tongue to dance across the column of her neck. She wrapped one leg around his waist and pressed his finger deeper inside her. “Umm,” she moaned as he touched her throbbing bud.
“You’re so wet, so hot.”
“You’re doing this to me,” she moaned as he made circles inside her with his finger. Ingrid’s juices were flow
ing like a river. Jason pulled his finger out and brought it to his lips. He licked her essence from his finger and smiled at her.
“I need more,” he said then dove between her legs. Jason lapped at her juices, wrapping his tongue around her erect bud. Ingrid cried out in pleasure as her body heated up like a summer afternoon. Her legs shook and every nerve in her body stood on end. Jason reached up and slipped his hands underneath her tank top. Her skin felt smoother than silk underneath his fingertips. His fingers danced up her torso and stopped at her heaving breasts. When Ingrid felt Jason’s fingers brush across her nipples, she shivered and moaned. The more he stroked and massaged her breasts, the harder her nipples became. Pulling back from her mound of sexuality, Jason traversed her body with his tongue until his mouth hovered over her nipples, which reminded him of the finest Godiva chocolate. He licked her as if she was a sweet piece of candy that he couldn’t stop eating.
Ingrid whispered his name as his tongue circled one nipple then the other. “Need you, so bad,” she moaned. “Please.”
“Right here?” he asked, knowing that there was no way he could make it upstairs to her bedroom.
“Yes.”
Jason ripped her shirt off and tossed it aside while Ingrid reached down and unzipped his jeans. His erection nearly sprang from his boxers as she reached down and stroked him. Jason kicked out of his pants, moaning in delight as Ingrid continued to rub his most sensitive muscle. He moaned when she brought her lips down on his neck while she guided him to the spot where she needed him most. Jason felt her heat and wetness at the tip of his erection and couldn’t control himself. He pressed into her, moaning as her heat and wetness enveloped his hardness. She thrust her hips into his, their bodies pounding together like the rhythm of a marching band. She felt so good, so hot and so tight that Jason knew if they didn’t slow down he wouldn’t last much longer. Gripping her hips, Jason slowed the pace of their lovemaking, as he rotated his body, touching every sensitive spot inside her, Ingrid dug her nails into his shoulder.
If It Isn't Love Page 19
