Love in Play

by Zuri Day

  Before Dominique could get into full backpedal mode, Jake spoke. “I usually like small women.” He felt her stiffen up and hurried on before she could interrupt. “But this,” he ran his hand from her shoulder to her thigh, “all of this, is absolutely incredible.” He leaned in to whisper into her ear. “The best I’ve ever had.”

  Oh, Lord, help save me from myself. Why did he have to go and say that she’d been his best? Now, she knew that he felt the exact same way that she did. What they’d just experienced didn’t happen every day.

  “I loved making love to you, Nick, I mean... Dominique.”

  “All right already. You can call me Nick...”

  Jake smiled as he nuzzled her neck. “Nick, I love the way your body fits with mine, the way your breasts and booty are the perfect size for my hands. I love how when I hold you I’m holding something solid, something thick and meaty, juicy—”

  “Are you talking about me or a steak?” Dominique drawled sarcastically, covering up the fact that his words were making her whole body smile.

  “I love eating steak,” he responded, his hands seeming unable to stay away from Dominique’s lusciousness. “But you’re even more delicious.”

  Dominique shook her head as if to clear the lusty clouds that threatened to once again settle around her. They needed to talk. She needed to explain that as wonderful as tonight had been, they needed to put it behind them. She took a deep breath, unwrapped herself from Jake’s embrace, and sat up against the headboard.

  Jake rolled onto his back, looked up at the ceiling but after a moment, joined Dominique in her seated position against the headboard. “What is it?”

  Dominique sighed.

  “Aw, hell. Is this when you deliver the ‘Dear Jake’ speech?”

  Dominique looked over at the man who’d just made her nana applaud, and didn’t miss how good and right he looked in her bed. “You made me see stars, several times. I’m not going to lie. But I think this is the moment we come back to earth and discuss what can happen in the light of reality.”

  Jake turned to her. “And what’s that?”

  Dominique sighed. “Nothing, Jake.”

  “Woman, what are you so afraid of?”

  “I’m not afraid of anything.”

  “Ha. Yeah, you are. You’re scared.”

  Dominique laughed at the streetwise way Jake pronounced the word, and worked hard not to correct his yeah as she would have done with Justin. Instead she simply repeated, “I am not afraid. I’m realistic.”

  “If that’s the case then let’s go with the flow, for real, and see where it leads us. You’ve made it very clear that one”—Jake counted on the thick, strong fingers that had played a concerto on Dominique’s flesh—“you’re not looking for a serious relationship. Two, you won’t bring a man into your life or the house, tonight being the exception, because of Justin. Three, your career comes first. Four, a man can’t wear the pants in your house because you’ve got them on—”

  “What?” Even sitting in her king-size bed, Dominique’s hand found its way to her hip.

  “You heard me and don’t even act like it isn’t true. You wear the pants in this family. “

  “In this family, I’m the only one who can.”

  “Point taken. But as the chief at your company and the queen of your castle, you’re used to being in control. I get that.” Jake took her hand, began tracing the lifelines on her palm and caused Dominique’s heart to soften... a little, especially when he turned those big, brown eyes on her and looked at her so sincerely. “I’m just saying you can have all that,” Jake brought her hand to his chest, “and this, too. You might find it hard to believe, but it had been a while since I’d been with a woman.”

  “I could tell.”

  “How’s that?” Jake asked, though he knew the answer.

  “The first round lasted less than five minutes.”

  Jake turned until he could lie with his head on her soft thighs. “I didn’t hear you complaining.”

  “Short and sweet worked just as good as long and leisurely.”

  “I’m glad.” Jake tweaked Dominique’s nipple. “I love your breasts,” he said, his voice almost reverent. “You know what I’m ready for now?”

  Dominique felt familiar flutters as she anticipated his answer. “What?” she breathed huskily.

  Jake sat up. “Food, woman. What do you have to eat in this house?”

  Dominique thought of Jake’s stocked kitchen and felt embarrassed. “Nothing you’d like,” she admitted.

  “Well, let’s order in,” Jake said, rising from the bed. “And include some ice cream, so that I can bring those sweet nothings I whispered the other night to life.”

  14

  Brilliant sunlight streamed through the bedroom curtains left open from the night before. Dominique nestled closer to the wide hard back beside her before opening her eyes. Once she did, she sat up with a start. Oh my goodness! What time is it? Her head whipped around to the bedside clock: 9:45. Dominique gasped and then jumped out of bed, waking Jake in the process.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, his eyes barely opened. They’d “exercised” for most of the night, until almost four AM.

  “I can’t believe I’ve overslept!” Dominique hurried over to her sitting area and picked up the phone, thankful that she’d had the presence of mind last night to call Faith, have Justin stay over, and then have her sister drive him directly to school this morning. “Reggie, it’s me,” she said in a rush. “I’ll be in the office in ten minutes.”

  “Whoa, slow your roll, Miss Dom. You didn’t get my message?”

  “No.” Dominique allowed the simple response to stand, not wanting to explain why she’d slept through the Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s Get It Started” that served as her ringtone for Reggie’s calls.

  “Okay,” Reggie responded, drawing out the word. “I’m glad you called because I just got off the phone with Emily. Looks like our fabulous senior writer’s water heater broke and she’s there with the repairman. I looked at your schedule and it was clear so I moved the Monday meeting to this afternoon. You might as well take your time on getting in here with this weather acting all crazy.”

  “What’s up with the weather?” Dominique walked from her closet to the side of her window, carefully shutting the blind against her nakedness before peeking behind it to see outside.

  “You can’t hear all that rain pouring down? The devil is beating his wife.”

  “How do you know about that?”

  “I grew up in the Midwest, Miss Dom, but my granny is as Southern as a mint julep. We all know that’s what happens when it’s raining while the sun is out. I looked at your calendar,” Reggie continued. “That was the only time-sensitive thing on it this morning.” Jake sneezed. Dominique frowned, imagining Reggie’s smile. “If you’d like, I can move the meeting to tomorrow, forward your edits via e-mail and girl you can, you know, work from home. Anything important come up, I’ll call you.”

  Reggie put a certain emphasis on the words work and come up. He’s not slick. That fool knows he heard Jake sneeze. “Don’t worry about the edits. I have work here. I’ll check my e-mails and see you in a couple hours.”

  She hung up the phone and slowly turned to find Jake’s big doe eyes drinking her in. She was so used to sleeping in the nude and walking around her master suite naked that only now, by the heat in his eyes, did she think about her state of undress.

  “What?”

  “You’re beautiful. Do you know that?”

  Dominique suddenly felt shy. She walked over to the settee, picked up the satin robe thrown across it, and covered herself. “I do all right.”

  “I like running my hand through the twists in your hair. How long have you worn it natural?”

  “I cut out my weave about three years ago. Was referred to a woman named Mati who specializes in locs and other natural styles. She changed my life. I’m thinking about letting them grow long.”

  “T
hey’re nice.”

  “Thank you.” Again, that awkwardness, and now Dominique knew why. It was the compliments. She wasn’t used to them, not on a personal level. Because of her position, people were often full of flattery. She always felt that wasn’t as much about her as it was about what she could do for the person giving the compliments.

  Jake sat up on the side of the bed. “Was that work?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, you’re kicking me out?”

  Dominique smiled. “Don’t you have to go to work as well?”

  “I have to be there at noon.”

  “Then I suggest you get moving. I’m going to take a shower.”

  Fifteen minutes later Dominique stepped out of the bathroom, having washed away last night’s pleasures, covered herself in scented cocoa butter, and decided that maybe spending a little more time with Jake wouldn’t be so bad. She stopped upon seeing the empty bed and then sniffed the air. Is that food I smell? Dominique slipped on a silky kimono, placed her feet into the jeweled mules she wore around the house, and followed the scent. She was shocked to enter her kitchen and encounter what smelled like a home-cooked meal.

  She walked over to where Jake stood stirring something on the stove, and looked over his shoulder. “Did you go to the store?”

  “Didn’t know what you had in your house, I take it.”

  “I don’t cook much.”

  Jake simply looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. He placed a cover on the skillet and turned down the heat. “Can you handle watching the toast that’s in the oven? I’m going up to take a quick shower.”

  A short time later, Jake and Dominique were sitting in her rarely used dining room, eating a well-prepared vegetable omelet, toast, jam, and juice.

  “This is delicious,” Dominique said, after finishing a hearty bite of the egg, peppers, and onion concoction. “I would never have come up with it.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Jake replied. “Your kitchen is a haven for processed foods. I was surprised to find the frozen vegetables.”

  Dominique didn’t answer, but rather thoughtfully chewed on her piece of toast. She didn’t feel it necessary to share that her mother had left the frozen onion-pepper mix and a box of frozen Texas toast last month when Dominique had gone out of town and Anita had stayed in the Valley so that Justin wouldn’t miss school.

  “Justin is a growing boy, has a lot of potential in sports. Fresh fruit and vegetables... that’s what he needs.”

  Dominique’s fork stopped in midair. “I don’t need any advice when it comes to raising my son.”

  “Maybe not,” Jake calmly countered, placing the last bit of omelet into his mouth and finishing it before he continued. “But when it comes to raising a healthy teenager who’s not overweight, has a low cholesterol count, and no signs of type 2 diabetes... you might consider making a few changes to your grocery list.”

  “Is that so?”

  Jake nodded.

  “And just how many kids do you have that makes you such an expert?”

  “Right now? About twenty-five.” Jake reached for his juice and leaned back in the chair. “Justin reminds me of me when I was his age, except I was heavier. Thankfully my natural athletic ability kept me from being dogged, and when I got serious about sports, the extra weight fell off.”

  “It will probably be the same for Justin.”

  “When I was twelve,” Jake continued, “my father died from heart disease. He was only forty-nine. My favorite uncle died two years later, same thing. Very few men on my father’s side lived past their sixtieth birthday. My college coach was big on diet being a major component to staying in shape. We had a team nutritionist, which was outside the norm back then. That’s when I made the connection between my father’s health, the stuff in our kitchen, and especially the stuff he’d grown up eating with our grandmother.”

  So that’s why you’re such a health nut. Her stance softened. “It had to have been devastating to lose your father at such a critical age.”

  “Yes.” A shadow came over Jake’s face as he remembered the man he’d worshipped. The day his mother told him that Jake Sr. was not coming home from the hospital remained the saddest one of his life. It also shaped the decision with which he still grappled. And no matter how he wished life were different... it was what it was.

  “Thanks for breakfast, Jake,” Dominique said into the silence. She rose from the table, reached for his dishes, and walked into the kitchen. Jake followed her and while making quick work of putting the kitchen in order, she shared a bit of her childhood—living next door to her grandmother in Alabama until the family settled in Inglewood when she was ten. Like Jake, she’d grown up eating pigs and cows from the rooter to the tooter, fried this and smothered that, and cream-filled, butter-laden desserts that made you want to slap somebody. Almost all of her extended family was fat, or big-boned to put it politely. After wiping up the playground with a girl named Beverly, she hadn’t had to endure any more childhood taunts. She then told him about one of her first life-changing moments—when a teacher had encouraged her love of fashion and words. During a trip to New York, she was tapped to be a plus-size model. The magazine’s circulation was small with the job paying Dominique around a hundred dollars but what that photographer’s words gave her, money couldn’t buy. He told her she was beautiful, and he said it as if he meant it. Her confidence soared. Back in LA, she focused on journalism, working at various newspaper and magazine offices and finally working her way up to senior editor. When the founders of Capricious came to her with their idea about a fashion and informational magazine geared towards plus-size women... she knew she’d been born for this job.

  “You know what else you were born for,” Jake asked, coming up behind Dominique and wrapping his arms around her.

  Her breath caught in her chest at the unexpected gentleness of his touch. “What?” She turned around, wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips just inches from his.

  “Good loving,” Jake answered, brushing her lips with his.

  “You think so?” Dominique murmured.

  “I know so.” With that, Jake swept up Dominique into his arms.

  “Jake!” Dominique hadn’t been picked up and carried anywhere since she was six years old, seven tops, and she couldn’t believe that Jake was now doing so without breaking a sweat. He reached the couch, placed her down, and sat beside her, lazily caressing her back. Dominique nestled her head in the crook of his neck. She was a big girl, but next to Jake’s even bigger frame she felt smaller, coddled. Dominique rubbed Jake’s chest and tried not to think. Soon this little tryst would end and life would go back to normal. But for the next hour, maybe two, she would forget about everything but the man whose massive arms were around her and the evidence of his rekindled desire pressing into her flesh.

  15

  Reggie walked through the outer office of his boss’s suite and stopped short. Was that humming he heard? He crept up to her door, and placed his ear against it. The humming continued until she got to the hook. Then the words spilled out. “You are the reason to love...”

  “Well, somebody sure seems happy.” Reggie waltzed into Dominique’s office with the prerequisite lattes and a box of pastries.

  “Good morning, Reggie.”

  “Don’t stop singing on my account. I love me some Uncle Charlie.” Reggie set Dominique’s coffee on her desk before continuing to the table on the other side of the room. “What kind of donut do you want? I have glazed, chocolate, powdered sugar, or plain cake. Oh, and I threw in some bagels for those heifahs on a lifelong diet.” When she didn’t answer, he turned around. “Girl, you have got to tell me what happened to put that look on your face.”

  “What look?”

  “Miss Dom, don’t even try it. I asked you a question and you didn’t even hear me.”

  “I was engrossed in this interview that Emily did with Kirstie. It’s really good.”

  “Yeah. Right.” Humming and reading at the sa
me time? Really? “What kind of donut do you want before I take the rest to the break room?”

  “Do you have a bagel?” Dominique asked.

  Reggie frowned but said nothing. After handing Dominique a cinnamon-raisin bagel and taking the rest of the goodies to one of two break rooms, he returned to Dominique’s office and plopped down in the chair opposite her desk.

  “I need you to pull up all of the references on the Master Cleanse story,” Dominique began. “Shoot me the abbreviated advertiser contact list and send these on to typesetting.” She handed Reggie a folder. “They’ve been approved.”

  Reggie made notes on his iPad. “Your first meeting is in an hour.”

  “I know. Print out the notes from the last meeting and make sure the entire sales team is in attendance. I knew it wouldn’t be long before a copycat publication reared its ugly head and I just got word that that’s about to happen. We need to step up our game big time and lock in the advertisers that best fit our market.” Dominique scanned her computer screen. “I think that’s it for now.”

  “Uh, not quite, Miss Dom.”

  Dominique looked up. “What did I miss?”

  “The part about what you did yesterday.”

  Dominique paused before admitting, “I took your advice.”

  “You got tackled by the coach?” Reggie asked, a large smile covering his face.

  “Yes. We went into the end zone and now the game is over. Back to work.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Reggie stood, grabbed his coffee, and walked out of the room humming Uncle Charlie’s Top 10 R&B hit.