Let Me Love You (McClain Brothers Book 1)

by Alexandria House

  “And that’s the best part about her.”

  “Yeah, so hurry with your call to Ella. Meeting’s in twenty minutes.”

  “Yes, ma’am, cap’n.”

  19

  “What are you doing?” Bridgette’s voice filled the interior of my car.

  “Headed back to work with Mr. Park’s lunch,” I replied, as I navigated my way from Koreatown with some dish I couldn’t pronounce sitting in a sack on my passenger seat.

  “You’re at work?!”

  “Yeah, it’s Monday, right? I work Monday through Friday, which reminds me. I thought I had it bad being Mr. Park’s assistant, but Everett’s assistant works twenty-four-seven!”

  “Yeah, but South isn’t an ass cookie like your boss, letting his wife punk him and acting a fool with you.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Because of South. And I’m tryna figure out how you get your coochie filleted by a fucking billionaire over the weekend and report to work on Monday? You’re all over the internet and stuff. Girl, I woulda hopped my ass on a plane with him with Nat strapped to my back.”

  “I don’t think he’s a billionaire, is he?”

  “Damn near. And how you don’t know for sure? I did the research the moment he started trying to get with you. Didn’t you?”

  I knew he was wealthy, as that was more than obvious. He’d maintained a highly successful career for his entire adult life, wrote all his own songs, and owned his masters. While he’d never started his own label or produced other artists, he had a ton of endorsement deals. So yeah, he was rich, but I, more than anyone, knew money didn’t make a man a man, so I said, “No! I’m not looking up the man’s net worth. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is he’s good to me, kind to Nat, and—”

  “Got your short ass walking sideways.”

  “Yep. That, too.”

  Bridgette sighed wistfully into the phone. “He’s like my dream man. Rich with a big dick.”

  “Wow.”

  “He is!”

  “Well, stay your ass away from him.”

  “Hell, if I was the type to betray my friends and try to break folks up, I’d have no chance with him anyway. His eyes never leave you when you’re in the room. It’s actually really beautiful.”

  That made my heart beat faster. “Really? You think he’s that crazy about me?”

  “I know he is! Anyway, I’ma try to get that sexy-ass Leland.”

  “Girl, I think he likes older women.”

  “I’m older. He’s like twenty-six, and I’m twenty-eight.”

  “Much older.”

  “Damn, I can’t win.”

  “Maybe Neil will work for you. He’s one of the twins.”

  “Shit, I’ll take him.”

  I laughed. “Okay, I’ll figure out a way to get you two in the same room. Oh, he’s shorter than Leland and Everett, though.”

  “Hell, I don’t care.”

  I shook my head. “Bye, Bridgette. Let me get off this phone before your silly ass makes me have a wreck.”

  “Bye!”

  Fifteen minutes later, I’d made it back to work and was about to climb out of my car when my text alert buzzed.

  Everett: I miss u and TBPITW.

  I had a big goofy smile on my face as I replied: What’s TBPITW?

  Everett: The best pussy in the world.

  Now I was giggling.

  Me: Wow. That’s a long name.

  Everett: It was either that or wet-wet because u stay wet as hell.

  Me: You make me wet. It’s not like I walk around like that all the time.

  Everett: Jo?

  Me: Yeah?

  Everett: Come see me in NYC this weekend.

  Me: You really miss me that much?

  Everett: Yeah. Come see me, baby.

  Speaking of being wet. Damn! He was turning me on in a text message.

  I was tapping out my response when a loud thud almost made me drop my phone. Looking up, I saw Sid with his fist pressed against the driver side window.

  Shit.

  I closed my eyes, rolled them to the back of my head, and sighed. Here we go. “Go away!” I shouted through the closed window. I had half-expected him to be waiting at my house after the benefit. When I didn’t hear from him all weekend, I thought maybe he’d grown some sense. I thought wrong.

  “I need to talk to you!” he shouted back. “Get out the damn car!”

  “No! Leave!”

  “Talk to me and I will!”

  I slapped my hand against the steering wheel. “Fuck!” I snatched the door open, hitting him with it as I got out of the car and in his face. “What the hell do you want?!”

  He rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head dramatically. Sid was handsome in a rugged way. Tall, medium brown skin, decent body. Not as chiseled as Everett, but he was fine with hooded eyes and thick hair he almost always wore in cornrows. The full, dark lips he possessed as a result of his marijuana habit made him even more alluring. It was a shame he was a damn loon.

  “I’m tryna figure out how you thought it was okay to start fucking Big South? How you gonna mess with his old ass when I’m sitting over here waiting for you? If you wanted to fuck, all you had to do was say the word, Jo.”

  I threw up my hands. “I don’t even know what to say at this point. I mean, you cheated, left…there was a divorce with a settlement and a custody agreement. You are married to another woman whom you obviously screw, because she is now pregnant with another one of those kids you told me you didn’t want when you left me. Remember that? And you got the nerve to be upset about who I’m fucking?”

  His mouth dropped open. “So you are fucking him?! Y’all ain’t just dating? For real, Jo?! You screwing Big South?!”

  Evil Jo, a part of me I fought hard to keep at bay, reared her ugly head, and said, “Well, actually, he’s screwing me. Screwing the shit out of me. Got me all sore. And you know what? I can’t wait for him to screw me again.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I’ma kill him. I’ma kill that mother—”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I reached into my car, grabbing my purse and Mr. Park’s food. “I gotta get back to work. Go home to your ugly-ass wife and leave me alone. Shit, I didn’t even know they made ugly Puerto Ricans until I met her.”

  As I slammed my car door shut, he said, “You can’t dismiss me, Jo. We got a kid together.”

  “Mm-hmm, and that reminds me. You need to call ahead instead of just showing up when you wanna see her. Never know when I might be screwing.”

  “You better not be fucking that nigga in my house while my baby’s in there! I’m not playing!”

  He was still yelling when I entered the building. After delivering Mr. Park’s food to him, I finally replied to Everett’s last text: I’ll think about it.

  “Gullfriend? She’s your gullfriend? Why was I not aware of this, Everett? Why did I have to see it on the Internet and hear if from our daughter? I saw those pictures of you out with her, and was that a child I saw her carrying?” Esther’s ass had been living in the states for over thirty years, since she was a teenager, and sounded like she’d just arrived that day. She was holding onto that British accent for dear life.

  “Why you calling me from Ella’s phone?” I asked, ignoring her stupid interrogation.

  “Because you won’t answer when I call you from mine, haven’t in years.”

  “Then that should show your ass I don’t want to talk to you.” It never failed. I’d had a good show in Toronto, was high off of that despite the fact that I missed Jo, and here comes Esther ruining what was left of my night.

  “Well, we need to talk if you plan on having this woman around our daughter.”

  I sighed. “Esther, Ella is fifteen, a second from being grown. When it’s time for her to meet Jo, I’ll discuss it with her.”

  “Jo? That’s her name? What is she, one of those new-age models? She’s odd-looking to me. Not at all your type.”

  “And what’s my type, chea
ting-ass British models?”

  She huffed into the phone. “I can’t believe you still haven’t forgiven me after all these years.”

  “When did you ask for my forgiveness, Esther?”

  “I’m asking now. Forgive me, Everett, and stop this charade with that little homely woman.”

  “And do what? Get back with you? Hell. Fucking. No.”

  “Everett—”

  “And I don’t care what you think of my woman. She’s mine, not yours. Or is that it? You want her for yourself?”

  “That was low even for you.”

  “How? Did I not catch you with your head between Ella’s nanny’s legs while your bodyguard had his head between yours? Was that not why I left you?”

  “You are such an ass.”

  “It’s hard to hear the truth, huh? Don’t worry, I’ll keep up my end of our agreement. I won’t tell Ella or anyone else the truth about your nasty ass, and I’ll keep letting folks think I was the one who messed us up, but you better keep your mouth off of Jo—literally and figuratively. What I do and who I do it with is not, never has been, and never will be your business. Stay in your damn place.”

  “And what place is that? The ex-wife you love to hate and disrespect?”

  “I’ma try not to laugh at you talking about disrespect. And no, your place is out of my life and as far away from me as possible. You fucked our marriage up, so you gonna have to keep dealing with it. You got no right to say anything about what I do, and I don’t care what you do. Don’t call me with anymore bullshit, Esther.” I ended the call before she could respond, glanced at the clock, and seeing it was too late to call or text Jo, rolled over in the bed in my hotel room and clicked on the TV, hoping it would lull me to sleep. Damn, I missed my woman.

  20

  Taking full advantage of the fact that Peter Park was scared of Everett, or at least scared of losing his business, I took that Friday off to have my hair braided. Yeah, I know taking off work to get your hair done is ratchet as hell, but I was tired of dealing with my hair, and as I did once or twice a year, paid someone else to tame it. I bought hair that came close to mine in color, and after five hours of my butt being numb from sitting on Hera Carter’s floor while she worked her magic, I was looking too cute with my waist-length box braids. I grabbed a bite to eat, picked Nat up from Ms. Sherry’s, and was about to give her a bath when a knock came at the door. My stomach instantly dropped, because I knew it was Sidney. I was sure of it. Could feel it. I was in such a good mood when I made it home, and here he came to ruin it.

  No, he won’t.

  I made up in my mind that no matter that he was Nat’s father, I wasn’t going to let him keep badgering me about Everett.

  With Nat on my hip, I opened the door, and before he could speak, I said, “Sidney, I thought I told you to call before you come over here. I’m telling the guys at the guard shack not to let you in the gate without notifying me first. I have a right not to be harassed.”

  “My bad. Look, I’m about to go on the road. Just wanted to see my baby first.”

  I lifted a brow. “That’s it? That’s all you’re here for? No threats? Yelling? Cursing?”

  He licked his lips and shook his head. “I just wanna see my little girl.”

  I hesitated, then backed out of the doorway, allowing him inside. “You wanna hold her?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, I know she don’t know me like that. She always looks…uncomfortable when I hold her.” Wow, he noticed?

  “Wanna have a seat then?” I asked. Nat was sleepy and heavy. I needed to sit down even if he didn’t want to.

  “Uh, yeah.”

  So we sat in silence. It was almost eerie being in his presence without him saying something dumb or offensive to me. That thought led me to think about Peter Park. Why did I keep gravitating to such asshole men and holding on to them even when I knew it was bad for me? Sid was Nat’s father, so that kept me connected to him, but Peter Park? Why was I refusing to quit that job? Everett was the exception in all this, but because he was so kind to me, I had no idea what to do with him or how to handle being with him. Being respected by a man, any man, was foreign as hell to me. I missed him but couldn’t make myself go to his show in NYC. I thought about it, decided against it, gave him a lame excuse that he probably didn’t believe, and I had no idea why. Maybe I had a hard time believing I deserved someone as good and normal as him. Or maybe I was just batshit crazy like my mother.

  I tore myself from my thoughts and looked up to see Sid staring at me. With a frown on my face, I asked, “You okay, Sid?”

  “Yeah. Uh, I should go. Thanks.”

  And just like that, he was gone. It was the weirdest encounter I’d ever had with my ex-husband.

  The NYC show was a good show, one of my best for this tour. I gave it my all, laid out nearly twenty years of music for the crowd, ending with my biggest hit, Stop and Frisk. Felt their energy, gave them mine, and was sweaty and exhausted when it was over, two hours after the first beat dropped. The last thing I wanted to do was meet and greet a passel of motherfuckers, but I took the black towel from Courtney and followed her to the little reception area backstage, took pictures with a few fans who had VIP access, was actually glad to see a few industry friends, especially John Legend who was there with his wife. He invited me to a private show he was doing the next night and I told him I’d be there, although I wasn’t in the mood and probably wouldn’t show up.

  I was pissed at Jo. She said she couldn’t come to this show because she didn’t what to disrupt Nat’s schedule or something like that. It was bullshit. I felt that in my damn soul. I also felt her pushing me away. And that bothered the hell out of me. She had me feeling like some regular nigga off the streets.

  It was almost an hour after the end of the show by the time I made it to the dressing room where I could be alone to decompress for a minute. That was all I needed, time to come down from the high of the concert and maybe clear my head of thoughts of Jo.

  Courtney and Dunn followed me to the door, but I entered the room by myself, wondered who turned the lights off and if that meant my damn stuff had been removed, especially my water. I’d sipped some during the meet and greet, but I was still thirsty. I fumbled until I hit the light switch, and jumped when I saw movement. My mouth flew open and my heart jumped in my chest. She looked different with her hair like that, sexier in a tight pair of jeans and one of my new Mic Drop tour t-shirts.

  “Jo?” I said, as if I was making sure she was real. Damn, I was crazy about her. I don’t think I realized how much until that moment. My heart was about to bust out my chest just because she was there.

  Those thick lips spread into a smile. She had on some dark lipstick, kind of purple. She looked so good. “You don’t recognize me with this new hair, Big South? You like it?” Moving from the wall she was leaning on, she stepped closer to me.

  I grabbed the ends of the towel that was hanging around my neck with both hands. “Yeah. Looks good. Uh, what you doing here?”

  She lifted her eyebrows, finally reaching me, smelling just as sweet as I knew she tasted. “Damn, I thought you missed me.”

  “I did, but you said—”

  “I know what I said. Changed my mind.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I missed you, too.” She lifted her head and kissed me, making my head spin and shit. I was too old to be feeling what I was feeling, but I was feeling it nonetheless. I kissed her back, pulling her closer to me and forgetting I was tired, thirsty, and irritable. The world disappeared when I was with this woman.

  “Where’s Nat?” I asked, when we finally broke apart.

  “At the hotel with Ms. Sherry,” she answered, as she kissed my neck.

  “You brought Ms. Sherry, too?”

  She nodded. “I didn’t feel right leaving Nat behind, and when I told Ms. Sherry I was coming to see you, she quickly agreed to come with us to watch Nat because she has a crush on you. That, and I’m paying her a grip.”r />
  I gave her a smirk. “That lady ain’t got no crush on me.”

  “Shiiiiiddd. Yes, she does.”

  I grinned down at her. “You crazy.”

  Her hand slid down my chest to my crotch. “I know. You glad to see me?”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Does that feel like I’m glad to see you?”

  She answered me by squatting in front of me and unfastening my pants.

  I fell against the door, fumbling behind myself to lock it. “What you doing, baby?”

  “About to put South in my mouth, if that’s all right with you.”

  “Hell yeah it is.”

  I could get used to this, lying in bed with him spooned behind me, his heavy, corded arm flung across me, his heart beating against my back. I was so nervous when I made the decision to surprise him, afraid he’d be with another woman even though Courtney, who helped me coordinate the trip and got me into his dressing room, assured me he had been spending all his nights during this tour alone. But as soon as he stepped into that dressing room and gave me that look only he had ever given me, all my fears fled from my mind. There was a peace attached to me being with this man that I couldn’t adequately describe and didn’t really understand. I just knew I’d never felt it before, not with Sidney or the handful of guys I dated before him. Not even as a child did I feel this kind of peace and comfort and security. It was a foreign but welcoming feeling.

  My mother was never emotionally stable enough to make me feel secure, and Sid wasn’t mature enough even though we were the same age, but Everett? It was in the way he looked at me, the things he said to me, the way he made me feel needed; all of that just saturated me with warmth and goodness.

  I had to pee, but hated to move, not wanting to be away from him for even a moment. When I did attempt to ease out of the bed, he pulled my naked body closer to him and basically whined, “Nooooo.”