“I gotta pee, baby,” I whispered.
He groaned and let me go, smacking my cellulite-riddled butt when I stood from the bed, making my grown ass giggle. After I did my business and climbed back in beside him, he pulled me to his body and groggily whispered in my ear, “What took you so long?”
“I was only gone for like three minutes.”
“Too long.”
I placed my hand on his arm and smiled. “You’re so spoiled.”
“Yeah. Hey, how long you staying in town?”
“Till Monday, I guess. Why?”
He moved, causing me to roll over onto my back while he opened my legs and lay between them. “I got a break. A whole week. Something happened to the venue in Jersey, a fire or something, so that show’s been rescheduled. I was thinking you could take the week off and you and Nat could stay here with me. We could take Nat to see The Lion King musical. I could take you for some authentic New York food—pizza, gyros, and I know this fire Jamaican place. Plus…John Legend invited me to a private show tomorrow night, so we can go to that. Anything you want. I just need you here with me.”
My heart raced as his face hovered over mine. I was excited and just…happy. So I said, “I’ll need to talk to Ms. Sherry and call Mr. Park, but I’d love to stay here and explore the city with you. Never been here before.”
“For real? Ain’t Bugz from here? Them New York niggas be claiming the shit out of him.”
“Yeah, he was born here, but his family moved to Long Beach when he was like two or three. He claims the city but doesn’t really know anything about it firsthand. And we never traveled outside of LA while we were together.”
His lips met mine for a brief moment before he said, “Well, I’ma show you the world, baby. You want that?”
“I want you and anything that comes along with you.”
He blinked, his dark eyes less drowsy but soft, almost dreamy in appearance as he leaned in to kiss me again. “And I damn sure want you.”
21
I got so loud in my dressing room the night Jo surprised me, Dunn knocked on the door and asked if I was okay. After I lied and said I was, I shoved my sweaty towel in my mouth, dug my hands in Jo’s hair, and blasted off in no time. I swear I was so weak I thought I was gonna have to leave the arena on a stretcher. When we got to the hotel and she actually tried to go to her own room, I looked at her like she’d lost her mind, took her up to mine, and sexed her all over my suite until we passed out in the bed. The next morning, I had her check out of her room, and Tommy brought her luggage up to mine. I didn’t understand why she thought she needed her own room anyway. I also had her check Ms. Sherry out of her regular room and put her and Nat in a suite down the hall from ours, making sure all four of us had breakfast together in my room.
Ms. Sherry was cool as hell, a nice-looking older woman you could tell was probably fine in her day, and maybe Jo was right about her having a crush on me, but I could tell she was fond of Jo and Nat and wouldn’t try anything with me. I was so glad when she agreed to stay for the week after Jo took off work to be with me that I offered to pay her fee plus a bonus. She talked almost nonstop during breakfast, telling me about how she ran a daycare years ago before meeting and marrying a really popular session drummer—Lonny Sykes. Shit, the man was a legend. Anyone who cared about music had heard of him.
“Wow,” I said. “He was one of the best.”
She smiled brightly while at the same time, I could see her eyes filling with tears. “He was an excellent musician and the best husband a woman could ask for. He took such good care of me. I never wanted for anything except children, but that just wasn’t in the cards for us. That’s why I’m so grateful to Jo for letting me watch Nat-Nat for her. She’s just a little dream come true.”
Grinning at her, I glanced at Nat sitting in her mother’s lap inspecting an orange, and nodded. “Yeah, she’s special. Reminds me of my daughter at that age. Smart.”
“Yes! Too smart!” Ms. Sherry gushed. “And she really likes you. Keeps telling me about how Ebbwitt can roar really loud. You’ve impressed her.”
I chuckled. “For real? I like her, too, and I really like her mama.”
I looked over at Jo who blushed up at me, heard Ms. Sherry clap her hands together and say, “Awwwww.”
Little Nat slid out of her mom’s lap, walked the few steps to my chair, and held the orange out to me. “Open it, Ebbwitt.”
I looked down at her face and thought my damn heart was going to explode. I missed Ella being that little and innocent, almost forgot what it felt like to be around a child so young. Giving her a smile, I took the orange from her, pulling her into my lap. After I peeled it for her and handed her a wedge, she turned around and hugged me, then squealed, “Thank you!” as if I’d just wrestled a bear and saved her life or something. That was the moment I knew she had my heart just as much as her mom did.
After breakfast, we split up. I took Jo shopping for something to wear to Legend’s show while Nat and Ms. Sherry went to a children’s museum in Manhattan. We also split up my security with Dunn staying with me and Jo and Tommy accompanying Nat and Ms. Sherry. We met back up for lunch, during which Nat asked to sit next to me and ended up eating more of my food than hers. It was a good day, one of the best I’d had while on tour in a long time. It was so good that I gave Courtney a well-deserved week off.
*****
Legend’s concert was held in the ballroom of The Lyon Hotel, which made me think of Nat. But thoughts of Nat faded into thoughts of Jo every time I glimpsed in her direction and saw how she looked in that little black dress I bought her. She looked so good, all I could think about was getting her back to our suite and out of the dress.
The show was part of a birthday celebration for fashion designer Claude DuMont, and the room was packed with celebrities, many of whom dropped by our table before the show started. We were in the middle of the room, so we had a good view of everything. I was people-watching when I heard Jo say, “Wow.” She was staring at her phone.
With raised eyebrows, I asked, “What?”
Glancing up at me, she said, “Bridgette told me I was all over the Internet, but I had no idea it was like this, because I haven’t been on social media in a while. I’m all over Instagram. They know my full name and that I was married to Sid. They even mentioned my daughter being his. I mean, this is crazy.”
I frowned a little, hoping she wasn’t going to panic and leave my ass. Jo never wanted to be in the spotlight. She’d made that clear from jump, but I thought maybe she was over it since she didn’t seem to mind us being in public together. Hell, we’d been running into the paparazzi all day. “What they saying about you? Something bad?” I asked.
“Um…I don’t know yet. I’m looking at a post on the Tea Steepers page titled, ‘Big South’s new lady is Bugz-NYC’s ex. Looks like sis upgraded in a major way.’”
I shrugged and gave her a grin. “Did they lie?”
She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, folks are commenting in agreement, talking crazy about Bugz, saying he can’t rap and has no talent.”
“Again, did they lie?”
Shaking her head at me, she continued, “A few are calling me a rap-ho’, saying I must be a gold digger to be with two different rappers and have a baby by one. Oh, here’s a comment saying I’m actually on platinum gold digger status and that I must be a stripper since all rappers date are strippers and Kardashian-Jenners. And another says I’ma probably be pregnant by you soon if I’m not already. This one girl said I upgraded but you downgraded and how you gonna go from Esther Reese to me? Below that one, a guy said no doubt you’re gonna cheat on me if you cheated on Esther. I read one comment that said they don’t get it, because I’m not even that cute. One guy said I must give good head and have some bomb puss—”
“Okay,” I said, taking the phone from her. “Let’s turn this off. Ms. Sherry has my number.” I powered it off and placed it on the table.
“You think I’m upset a
bout what they’re saying?” she asked.
“Are you?”
She shrugged. “I thought I would be, but they don’t know me or Sid or you, so…I honestly don’t care.”
“You worried about how Bugz is gonna react?”
Her eyes narrowed. “He’s a fool. He’ll probably always be a fool. Nothing’s gonna change that. So is he gonna act a fool over this? Yeah, but I don’t care. And they didn’t lie. He is talentless as hell compared to you. I can’t believe I ever supported him or his stupid career.”
I nodded. “So you’re fine with the gossip, the blogs, the shit that follows me? You’re not gonna run away from it? From us?”
Looking me in the eye, she softly said, “No, baby.”
I grabbed her chair, pulled her closer to me, kissed her, and said, “Good, but you still not getting this phone back. Maybe I’m spoiled, but I want your undivided attention tonight.”
She grinned at me and leaned against me. “So I can’t pay attention to John Legend?”
“I guess.”
She giggled as she reached up and kissed my cheek. “So I got two babies, now? You and Nat?”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Yep. And Jo?”
“Hmm?”
“They were right about you having some bomb pussy.”
“Really, now? It’s that good?”
“Helllll, yeah…that motherfucker is nuclear. I can’t wait to dive back in it, and your head game? Daaaamn.”
She gave me this look that told me she wanted me as badly as I wanted her, whispered, “You are so nasty,” and was leaning in to kiss me when a piano began playing. John Legend had just kept me from getting busy right at that table.
The night was magical, beautiful, and dang near perfect. Everett looked tasty in his slacks and dress shirt, and if I had any doubt that I looked good in my dress, he quickly cleared that up for me.
And the show? OMG! John Legend sounded so good, and his voice coupled with the intimate atmosphere had me feeling all kinds of things—lust and adoration for Everett and a profound giddiness. I swayed to the music in my chair for the first half of the show, and then Everett stood and offered me his hand, leading me in a dance right there at the table. We were the first to do this with several other couples soon following suit. He held me close and I closed my eyes, relaxing against him as we danced through a couple of songs before reclaiming our seats. I was all up in his face, grinning, kissing on him, and all kinds of horny after John Legend wrapped up his abbreviated performance, when I heard her voice.
“Everett? I thought that was you.” I guess it was no surprise that she was there. After all, it was a birthday party for a fashion designer and she was once a supermodel. Esther Reese towered over our table, her makeup and hair flawless as her slanted eyes inspected me, making me regret not flying Sage out to do my makeup. I’d done a good job of it myself, but still felt common as hell under this woman’s glare. She was absolutely gorgeous, overwhelmingly so.
“Yeah, it’s me,” was Everett’s curt reply.
Esther stood there, mute with her eyes on me, and the shit felt weird, awkward as hell, so I extended my hand to her, and said, “Um, hi. I’m Jo,” since Everett obviously wasn’t going to make any introductions.
She turned her nose up at my hand, said, “Yes, I know,” and shifted her gaze from me to Everett. “A word, please?”
“Why? Something wrong with Ella? Where is she, anyway? She here with you?”
“No, she’s staying with her friend, Jessica, and she’s fine.”
“Then we ain’t got shit to have a word about.”
My eyes shot over to him and widened. Esther looked just as shocked as I did.
“Ev-Everett,” she stammered.
“Did I stutter?” he asked, with raised eyebrows.
“My God, you’re going to behave like this in front of her?”
He leaned forward. “Esther, I know you. You came over here to disrespect her, didn’t even shake her hand when she offered it to you. Now she knows you don’t mean shit to me, because you don’t. That’s something she needed to know anyway, so thanks for expediting it by bringing your thirsty ass over here. Now you can go, or I can tell her why you don’t mean shit to me.”
Her mouth dropped open before she glanced at me and left.
Everett stood from the table and reached for my hand. “Come on. Let’s go before she comes back and I really have to embarrass her ass.”
“Uh…okay,” was all I could say.
“I caught her cheating on me,” he said into the darkness of the suite. We were in bed, and I was exhausted, because he ravished me before we could get in the door good.
“Esther?” I asked, then felt dumb for asking. Who else would he be referring to? I’d never known him to be in a relationship after his marriage other than with me. Yeah, he slept with lots of women. That was common knowledge, but none of them had ever claimed to be his woman, and I was the first one he’d referred to as his girlfriend in public since Esther.
“Yeah. I was on tour. Seems like my ass is always on tour. But anyway, Ella was like four then, and she had a full-time nanny. I was missing my family and decided to fly back home to LA since I had a couple of days between shows. Was gonna surprise them. Got there and found Esther in bed with the damn nanny, some real porn scene shit.”
I gasped and lifted my head from his chest, searching the darkness for his face. “What?! She’s a lesbian?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. I think she’s bi, because her bodyguard was in there with them. A damn threesome. In my fucking bed. In my damn house. And you know what? I don’t care about her sexuality; I care about the fact that she disrespected me like that. I never cheated on her, ever, and believe me, I could’ve.”
“Everett, I…wow.”
“Yeah, and she did that shit after I took care of her. Esther was broke as hell when we got together. She was booking modeling gigs here and there, but she had a spending problem. Still does. So from the second we became a thing, I took care of her, because that’s what being a man is to me. That house was the first one I’d ever bought, and she took it from me, not that I wanted it after catching her into her shit in there. She…she hurt me, Jo, and I still wasn’t over losing my mom at the time. That shit cut deep, and it took a long time for me to get over it. Never thought I’d ever want to be with another woman in that way again until you. And she can see it. She can tell this thing between us is real, and she doesn’t like it. That’s why she came to our table.”
“She still wants you?”
“Yeah.”
“Has she said something to you about me? About us?”
I could feel him nod. “Yeah. Been calling me talking shit.”
“Like what?”
“Nothing important, baby. I just wanted to explain what happened between us so you wouldn’t think I was just being an asshole to her for no reason.”
“Okay…but you’re not like that with her all the time, are you? Like around Ella?”
“No, no. I’m as cordial as I can be. I don’t curse her out around Ella or anything like that, but Ella knows we aren’t best friends or buddies. I’ve honestly spent the last ten or eleven years trying to stay as far away from her as possible. Should’ve known she’d be there tonight. I just hate she ruined the evening for you.”
“She didn’t ruin anything.”
“Good.”
“Everett?”
“Yeah?”
“I know she hurt you, but it was a long time ago.”
“I know. I was more pissed at the shade she was trying to throw at you. I’m not still hung up on her, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just know her. Esther won’t understand me being nice to her. She’ll take that as an opening for us to get back together, and that shit ain’t never happening.”
“I believe you, and thanks for tonight. It was beautiful despite her coming to our table.”
“So are you, baby.”
22
&nb
sp; I quit my job.
Woke up the last morning of that week in New York and realized I didn’t want to be away from this man. So I called Peter Park and resigned, and it felt like the heaviest weight had been lifted from my shoulders. When I gave Everett the news after he returned to our suite from the hotel’s gym that morning, I thought he’d crush me when he grabbed me and lifted me from the floor, hugging me tightly. And Ms. Sherry? She was elated. I think she saw it as an adventure, a good departure from the quiet life she lived in LA. I saw it that way, too. Plus, I was falling hard for Everett “Big South” McClain, but who wouldn’t? Especially after the life I’d lived before him. He was good to me and Nat, and hell, Ms. Sherry, too. He even bought her a whole wardrobe when she agreed to travel with us through the end of the US leg of his tour.
I got the chance to attend his shows in several states. Met tons of his fans and a bunch of celebrities during meet-and-greets, frolicked with him on a private beach in Miami. Made love in countless hotels, met some of his cousins while we were in his hometown of Houston for a show, met Ella when she flew out to Virginia to see him. She was nice, not altogether friendly, but respectful, and I couldn’t ask for much more than that. By the time we made it back to LA for his final US show, I’d been on the road with him for a little over a month, and as exhausting as all the travel was, I knew I’d miss it, but I was also glad to get back to my house and be still for a moment.
Sid had been quiet, no phone calls, no comments on social media about me and Everett, but then again, he was on the road, too. And it honestly wasn’t uncharacteristic of him to go silent on me and Nat, anyway. I guess I just expected him to act a complete fool with me since folks talked so much shit about him—that had finally died down, thank goodness—and because my relationship with Everett was now very public with pictures of us splashed all over social media. We’d even been mentioned on Wendy Williams’ Hot Topics. Of course she was throwing shade, saying we weren’t going to work, because everybody knew he hadn’t had a real relationship since Esther Reese, but she did give me props for holding on to him longer than most. Whatever. When I decided to quit my job and follow him around the country, I made up in my mind that whether what we had was transient or eternal, I wanted it, needed it, and would enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
Let Me Love You (McClain Brothers Book 1) Page 14
