Ready for Love

by Gwyneth Bolton

  Maybe one day…

  For now he would just take his time and play things the way Maritza wanted to—as long as they ultimately ended up where he wanted them to be.

  “So I’m coming over to meet with your A&R people about my plans for Da Stunnas today. Please tell me you have had some luck getting them to see that my plans are really the only viable way to salvage this group’s reputation.”

  He shook his head. There went the wonderful afterglow he had been basking in after spending the night making love to her in just about every position and hearing her cry out his name in passion rather than anger.

  “Please tell me you took my advice and came up with some alternate ideas that will coincide with the plans my A&R team have for this group. You had days to come up with something else. I spoke to you about this when I was still in Jersey.” He smiled at her and waited for the chill blast that he knew would be coming.

  She laughed, but it wasn’t the sound of a woman in a fit of humor—more like a woman on the verge of a fit.

  “How about I just let you work this out with Da Stunnas and my A&R people and I just stay out unless you guys can’t work something out. I’m sure you all will be able to come to a workable solution for all.” The last thing he wanted to do was get into a big argument with her about this foolishness.

  “That’s fair.” She seemed to be mulling something over in her head. “Okay, so how are we going to play this?”

  “Play what?” he asked.

  “Play the two of us being together and not letting any of our friends and family know about it. I think we need to continue pretending not to get along. And I definitely can’t spend the night at your mansion anymore…I suppose you could come to my loft, but it might be best if we hooked up elsewhere—”

  “I’m not going to have some seedy secret affair with you, Maritza. That—”

  “Not a seedy secret affair! Just a secret affair, something that is just special between the two of us and not shared with the world.”

  “Yet?” He meant it as a statement but it came out more as a question because he really wasn’t sure where he stood with her.

  “Huh?” A perplexed expression crossed her face.

  “Not shared with the world yet? Eventually we will tell people about us, right?”

  “Yeah, I mean eventually… Ye—ah…once we know it’s going to last and we’re going to be together. Yeah.” She didn’t sound very certain to him, and he didn’t know if he should worry about that or not.

  He mulled it over. It wasn’t what he wanted at all. The main question was, would playing it this way eventually get him what he wanted? “Fine.”

  “This could actually be kind of fun, you know. No one will know but us. It’ll be our secret.” Her beautiful dimpled smile lit up her face and he realized he could never say no to her when looking at that smile.

  Still, he had to get clarification on a few of the details. “For how long?”

  “What do you mean for how long?”

  “How long are we going to keep this a secret?” he probed.

  “Until we know for sure,” she hedged.

  “And how long will that take?”

  “How long will what take?”

  “How long will it take for you to know for sure?” he asked her point blank.

  “I don’t know. Let’s just see how it goes. That’s the beauty of it. Now that we have decided to stop fighting it, we can take our time and explore every facet of our attraction and see where it takes us. I’m excited about the ride. Aren’t you?”

  “I’m excited, too. I just don’t know why it has to be a secret from the people we love and who love us. But I am willing to do this for a little while, waiting for you to get on the same page as me.”

  They finished up their breakfast in silence and Terrill tried to talk himself into believing that he was doing the right thing and it wasn’t about to blow up in his face.

  Maritza took a deep breath and bit back the words that were threatening to come bubbling forth from her mouth. Words like, “maybe we don’t have to keep this a secret,” and “maybe we can tell all our friends and family about us” were on the tip of her tongue. But she knew better than to say them.

  Even though Terrill was a cooler guy than she would ever willingly give him credit for being, she knew that high-level VIPs like him had reputations to think of. She had dated plenty of record label executives during her days as a video dancer.

  Some might even say she effectively dated herself right out of the pool. As one guy she had really cared for told her many years ago, men don’t want to marry the girl that has dated too many of the other men in the room. She was a pretty girl, but she would never be more than the flavor of the month for any important man who allowed what others thought of him to inform his marriage decisions. Most men would have a problem if their future wife had dated more men in the room than he could count. Even if she hadn’t had sex with them all, he would still have a problem with it. And it would crush her heart to have Terrill give her that kind of speech or give her the sorry-you-can’t-turn-a-hooker-into-a-housewife speech.

  She hadn’t been a hooker.

  But she had dated freely and loved freely and had thought for the briefest moment that she was invincible and in control of everything in her life. Until something really horrible had happened, and life showed her that she couldn’t be in control of everything. That she couldn’t always trust those around her to respect her boundaries or even have her best interests in mind.

  And now she had to live with the knowledge that she wasn’t untouchable or invincible after all. And even though she had long since turned her life around, she had to live with the repercussions forever. Repercussions that meant no matter what she’d just said to Terrill, ultimately their time together had an expiration date and she needed to enjoy it while she could.

  “Terrill Carter, is that you?”

  The masculine voice that spoke those words as she and Terrill were leaving the café sent a cold chill of dread down her spine.

  It couldn’t be.

  He couldn’t be back.

  She turned around and looked dead into the face of her worst nightmare, a nightmare that she had by the grace of God lived through, but apparently was coming back to haunt her.

  She watched the scene play out as if in slow motion.

  Terrill stopped and spoke with Herbert Jackson, big-time record company executive and star of her recurring nightmares.

  “Hey, Herbert. When did you get back into the area?” Terrill didn’t seem like he was really close friends with Herbert. She could tell by the sort of standoffish way that Terrill talked to Herbert that he probably didn’t like him.

  “I got back a couple of weeks ago. New York couldn’t hold me forever. I had to come back to Los Angeles eventually.”

  Please don’t let him be back for good, she thought as she willed herself just to disappear. She started walking away, all the while wishing she could break into a run without causing a scene.

  Terrill’s hand reached out and caught her before she could get far. “Pardon me for being so rude. This is Maritza—”

  “Maritza Morales. I know her well.” Herbert cut Terrill off and held out his hand to Maritza as if daring her not to take it and make a scene.

  Maritza stared at his hand for a second and wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, Rapist! Low-down dirty pimp disguised as a businessman! But instead she took a calming breath and ignored the hand in front of her.

  “You really don’t know me that well, Herbert, if you think for one minute I would shake your hand.” Her ice smile firmly in place, she turned to Terrill. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

  When she got back to Terrill’s Maybach and got in she found that Terrill wasn’t that far behind her. He got in just after she did.

  “What was that about, Maritza? I only introduced you because I thought the connection with the other large record company in town would be good for New Images by Keys and
Morales. I didn’t know you knew him already. But that still doesn’t explain why you clearly dislike him so much that you don’t even want his business. That doesn’t seem like you at all.”

  “Trust me when I say that dislike is too mild a word to describe what I feel for that man. And know that I will never work for him or deal with him in any capacity.”

  “What happened? Did you date him in the past or something? Did the relationship end badly?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this now, Terrill. I can’t talk about it. I don’t know if I will ever be able to talk about it. So I’m asking you to just leave it.” She wrapped her arms around herself and cursed the weak and pathetic picture she must have represented.

  “That’s fine for now. I don’t want to upset you any more than you are. But eventually I need to know, Maritza. Because if he did anything to harm you, I will have to hurt him.” Terrill’s normally upbeat personality and smiling face turned dark and bleak.

  “It was years ago. Let’s just leave the past in the past.” She took a deep breath and put on her game face. “So remember, we are going to have our secret between us but with friends and family it will be the same as always. I can’t stand you.” She wrapped her arms around him, relishing the comfort of his strength and letting it make her feel safe if only for a few minutes. After seeing Herbert, she needed to feel Terrill’s strength and warmth.

  She kissed him deeply, taking in all the comfort she could gather.

  Their tongues twirled around in each other’s mouths until she got lost in the delight of it all. The thing that was developing between her and Terrill was clean and fresh and sweet. She didn’t want anything from her past sullying it, especially not Herbert Jackson.

  When she finally managed to pull away from the intoxicating kiss, she smiled. She was going to hold on to this small piece of joy and keep it away from everything and everyone else for as long as she could.

  After her meeting with Da Stunnas and the A&R people at Terrill’s record company, Maritza wanted to hurt someone. The last thing she wanted to do was to stop by Terrill’s office and take it out on him, even though she was more than a little irritated with him for having such idiots on his payroll. But she had made up her mind that any disagreements or arguments between her and Terrill would be for show, to keep everyone unaware of how things had changed between them.

  Since Penny was still in New Jersey, Maritza decided to give her a call in order to complain about Terrill, his employees and the crappy meeting. It would even help to keep Penny thinking that nothing had changed.

  As soon as Penny picked up the phone, Maritza started. “You need to get back here before I kill your boy.”

  “Well, hello to you, too, chica.”

  She could feel Penny’s smile from across the airwaves and it was already doing wonders to help her mood.

  “When are you coming back? Because if your boy doesn’t stay away from me, I’m going to have to cut him.” Maritza giggled in her head because even though that’s how she would have complained to Penny about Terrill in the past, it sounded a little over the top to her ears now.

  “Now, now, Maritza, you don’t have to resort to violence. I’ll be back soon. There have been some recent events that might keep me here a little longer. My mother was attacked and I’m going to hang around just a tad bit longer to make sure the person responsible is caught.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your mom. Dang, you just lost your grandmother and now this. Well, I guess I can deal with el stupido a little while longer. Business is going well, with the exception of our silent partner el stupido feeling like your absence suddenly grants him a voice.”

  Penny laughed. “I’m sure he’s only trying to help. You should cut him some slack.”

  “Oh, I’ll cut him all right. Don’t give me any ideas.” Maritza couldn’t hold her laughter in on that one.

  “Girl, stop. Hey, listen, I’ve been thinking since I’ve been out here in Jersey. We should think about expanding and opening up an office in NYC. We need an East Coast presence for New Images by Keys and Morales.”

  Maritza let the idea marinate for a half a second before deciding that she absolutely loved it. There were even more high-profile clients to get in New York and it was time for them to spread their wings and expand.

  “We should look into it,” Maritza said, getting more excited by the minute.

  “Yeah, I’m thinking I’ll start running the cost and risk factors when I get back. How did the meeting with Da Stunnas go today?”

  “Oh, yeah! You reminded me why I called you. Terrill makes me sick. I prepared the perfect image package for Da Stunnas, and his A&R idiots are going to ruin everything I’m trying to accomplish. You know how I work. I know what’s best when it comes to these things. That’s why they pay me, you know…hold on, Penny.” Maritza clicked over.

  “Maritza Morales.”

  “Hi, Maritza. This is Andrew. Did I catch you at a bad time? I wanted to go over some of the plans you sent me.”

  “No, this isn’t a bad time. I was just talking to my business partner. Hold on, let me tell her I’ll call her back.” She clicked back over to Penny. “I’ve got to take this call, chica. Listen, take as much time as you need in Jersey. I have things here. Just call your boy and remind him of the silent in silent partner. Smooches.”

  “All right, later, chica.”

  Maritza smiled when she clicked back over. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as hard as she thought to keep up appearances and make everyone think that she and Terrill still didn’t get along.

  “You know I’m not there to protect you, so I don’t know why you’re getting Maritza started?”

  Terrill chuckled at the way Penny answered the phone. He knew she had a special ringtone for him, Run DMC’s “Together Forever,” and between that and caller ID she always knew when he was calling.

  “How did I know she would have called you complaining already? All I did was make a few tiny suggestions and she blew up. You would have thought I’d asked her for blood or her firstborn. I don’t know how you put up with her.” Terrill laughed again. Maritza had blown up at his suggestions and then he’d quelled her with more sweet lovemaking. “So when will you be back here? And should I start looking for a place for Carla in the wonderful condo area where I have my mother?”

  “Ha, ha, ha. Please do not bring up my mother. I don’t know what is getting into that woman. Anyway, someone attacked her the other day—”

  “Oh my God. Is she okay? Do you need me to come back out there?”

  “No, I don’t need you to come back out here. But thanks for offering.” Penny paused and he could tell she was really shaken up. “Carla’s banged up pretty bad. But she’s out of the hospital now. Do you believe she won’t tell who did it to her? But Jason and I came up with the person we think is responsible. And my father thinks it’s the same person. Do you remember that lowlife she used to mess with, C-Money?”

  “Okay, slow down, Penny. You have dropped too many things in one breath for me to just let go without at least a say what? But I’m going to start with the most shocking one. Jason? As in Jason Hightower? Y’all playing Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew over there?” Terrill started laughing again. If Jason and Penny were on speaking terms and trying to solve crimes, then maybe there was still hope for them. “Or is there something else you want to share?”

  “Yes, Jason Hightower. He is a cop, you know. And he’s been working the case and offering his help and protection. Because Carla won’t just come clean and tell us who—”

  Terrill cut her off, full of glee. “So have you talked with him about what happened in the past? Is that why he’s offering his help? I knew he’d under—”

  She sighed and cut him right back off. “I haven’t told him anything. I don’t plan on telling him any—” She stopped midsentence and cleared her throat. “I’ve gotta go, Terrill. Jason’s here. I’ll call you later.”

  She just smooth hung up on me and
she’s going to leave me hanging like that? I can’t believe her. He waited and waited, and when she didn’t call him back in an hour, he called her back.

  “Yes?” Penny answered her phone in her business voice and he knew that she knew it was him calling.

  Jason must still be around.

  “Girl, you know you can’t just leave a brother hanging like that.” Terrill tried not to laugh but did it anyway.

  “Right, you’ll have to deal with my partner on this. I’m out of town due to a death in the family. Please call the office during business hours and someone will be able to respond to your inquiry.”

  Terrill really busted a gut then. “Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow and by then I want full disclosure.”

  “Right. Call during business hours. Goodbye.” Penny hung up very quickly and all he could do was laugh. Yes, he had to find out what was going on with those two. And he might not be able to wait until the next day.

  He decided to ring up Maritza instead.

  “So I’m working your nerves, babe?”

  She laughed that cute sexy laugh of hers. “You know I had to keep up appearances, especially with our Penny. She would sniff us out right away if we changed up in the slightest way. And then there is the fact that after meeting with your A&R people I really wanted to strangle you—and them.”

  He laughed even though he still wasn’t sure why they had to be such a big secret.

  Second Interlude

  Ready, Willing and Able…

  “Da—mn! I knew we were about to hear a story. But this is beyond crazy! How in the world did you get Terrill to agree to keep you all’s relationship a secret for so long? I can’t believe none of us even knew it. I just knew I was going to have to fight you for Lawrence when we first met, and it turns out you weren’t even checking for Lawrence at all.” Minerva Hightower was sitting next to Carla, snacking on popcorn as if they were watching a movie or something instead of listening to the story of how Maritza found the man of her dreams and lost him.