Almost Doesn't Count

by Angela Winters

  Sherise pointed at Erica. “You just make sure that Jonah stays out of our lives.”

  “I can’t promise that,” Erica said. “Things are different between us. He’s done me a lot of favors.”

  “That’s what he wants you to think,” Sherise warned. “They are not real favors.”

  “We’ll see.” Erica shrugged.

  “If he’s hooking people up for you,” Billie said, “I might need him for a job soon.”

  “You’re not gonna get fired or disbarred,” Erica said, even though she had no idea what she was talking about. She was just trying to be a supportive friend.

  “I can’t believe you told them,” Sherise said. “That indiscretion could have gone to jail with Ricky. No one would have believed his good-for-nothing ass.”

  “That’s not the point,” Billie said even though she had thought of that a million times before deciding to come clean about the situation to her bosses.

  She was still waiting to hear what their decision was, and she didn’t know if she’d have a job come Monday, but she had searched her soul and knew that she had to tell the truth. She had some integrity left, and getting the rest back started with her telling the truth. She was already feeling better.

  “But what about Tara?” Erica asked.

  Billie rolled her eyes. She was still trying to figure out a solution to this, but one problem at a time.

  Porter was glad she’d been able to help connect Reedy to Ricky, which would allow the district attorney to add conspiracy to their charges. She was able to convince him to let her talk to Tara. She would have to be satisfied with that for now.

  “Small steps,” she said. “Small steps. Just like you.”

  Erica felt sad. “I’m trying to look at it this way. I’m still young and I have a lot of life ahead of me. I believe in my heart I’ll meet someone else. I just don’t . . . I just don’t see myself ever getting over him.”

  “You will,” Billie said as she placed her hand over Erica’s.

  “We’ll see to it that you do.” Reaching across the table, Sherise placed her hand over Billie’s.

  “We’ll all be fine,” Billie said. “Together, we got this.”

  “I say we make another pact,” Sherise said. “It’s been, what . . . fifteen years since our last one?”

  “That long?” Erica asked. “Damn.”

  “How much time are we giving ourselves?” Billie asked.

  “Six months,” Sherise said. “In six months, all three of us will have our shit together, be in love, and happy.”

  “Oooh,” Erica said. “That is one damn tight schedule.”

  “Compared with everything else we’ve done?” Billie asked. “Sounds doable.”

  “Deal?” Sherise asked.

  “Deal,” Erica said.

  “Deal,” Billie added.

  “Now.” Sherise removed her hand and raised it in the air. “Let’s get that waiter over here so we can get some drinks! We’re gonna need ’em.”

  A READING GROUP GUIDE

  ALMOST DOESN’T COUNT

  Angela Winters

  www.angelawinters.com

  About this Guide

  The following questions are intended

  to enhance your group’s

  reading of this book.

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Do you think Billie was right to get herself involved in Tara’s life despite Porter’s insisting she stay out? How would you have handled the situation differently?

  2. Do you think it was better that Sherise not tell Justin about her affair with Jonah, or should she have spilled the beans when they were putting it all out on the table?

  3. Was Erica too harsh on Terrell for Nate’s drug issues? Is Terrell to blame or should Nate be the only one to answer for his choices?

  4. Was Billie correct in thinking that she will have to cut Tara out of her life completely if she ever wants to be rid of Porter?

  5. Was it okay for Justin to walk out on Sherise after finding out about Cady even though he had been cheating on her?

  6. Should Erica ever take Terrell back or should she just move on?

  7. Why do you think Billie made the decision to sleep with Ricky even though she knew it could get her disbarred?

  8. Sherise slept with Jennifer’s husband and Jennifer slept with Sherise’s husband. Was Sherise right in going after Jennifer and ruining her life, even after she was out of Justin’s life, or should she have just left it alone and focused on fixing things between her and Justin?

  9. Do you think it’s a good idea that Erica let Jonah more and more into her life or should she heed Terrell’s and Sherise’s warning and stay as far away as possible?

  10. If it had turned out that Ryan was Cady’s father, instead of Justin, do you think things would have ended differently for Sherise and Justin?

  11. In the end, Billie decided to tell her bosses about her indiscretion with Ricky. Was she right to do that even though it could cost her her job or should she have kept it to herself?

  12. Do you think Sherise and Justin will make it? Should they?

  Want more? Don’t miss Angela Winters’s

  Back on Top

  Available now wherever books are sold

  1

  Sherise Robinson couldn’t believe she had let herself run behind today of all days. Her first day back at work from maternity leave and she was going to show up late if she didn’t speed things up. That was not the message she wanted to send.

  As she rushed around the master bedroom of her elegant Georgetown town house in Washington DC’s Northwest side, Sherise felt panic start to set in. A lot was riding on how today went, no matter how much her husband, Justin, tried to tell her otherwise. The power-hungry, manipulative bitch, as her coworkers had secretly named her, was coming back, and if she showed any signs of softening, weakening, she was dead. The barracuda was now a mama and she could just imagine what they were all thinking: She’s vulnerable.

  As she stopped to look in the full-length mirror that covered her walk-in closet door, her confidence was lifted. She was going to show them they were wrong. Finally she found her missing Missoni stacked pumps and her outfit was complete. She looked sharp and sexy, and at twenty-seven, Sherise felt certain she showed no signs of having given birth six months ago. That was thanks to very expensive underwear that tucked everything in, but also to the fact that she made sure not to gain more than the twenty-five pounds her doctor told her was the minimum amount to be healthy during her pregnancy. While there was still a stubborn pound or two hanging around, everything was tightening up nicely.

  From head to toe, Sherise checked every inch. Her shoulder-length hair, just done yesterday, was styled nicely in a sharp “don’t fuck with me” bun with just a few “I might be flirting with you” dark brown tendrils falling down. She liked to keep the men confused. It gave her an advantage and Sherise was all about getting the advantage. Her makeup was flawless, highlighting her high cheekbones and dark green eyes. It was spring, so her lipstick was a soft, flirtatious pink. Her golden caramel skin was glowing and it would wow when she took off the jacket of her black and white striped Nipon wide-legged pantsuit to reveal her white sleeveless Marc Jacobs business shirt. No one who saw her at the Executive Office Building today would forget.

  “I’m back,” she said in that sexy, raspy voice of hers. “Bitches better step aside.”

  “You’re late,” were the first words Justin Robinson said to his wife only seconds later as she entered the contemporary European-style kitchen.

  “I’m fine,” Sherise answered as she rushed for the refrigerator. “I’m taking a cab.”

  “Ah! Ah!”

  Sherise quickly closed the refrigerator door and rushed over to the little monster emitting those sounds. Her six-month-old baby girl, Cady, was the love of her life. She sat in her baby chair, her hands reaching out for her mommy with evidence of her breakfast all over her face, not to mention her bib. She was an adorable bab
y with soft, chocolate skin, nice and chunky with fat cheeks that Sherise couldn’t get enough of.

  “Sorry, baby!” Sherise leaned in for a quick kiss, but didn’t trust herself for more. She knew leaving Cady today would be hard enough. “Mama has to go.”

  “You should eat something.” Justin put down the baby spoon and leaned back in his chair. He was looking at his wife with concern. “You don’t want to go in there without your fuel.”

  “I’m grabbing something on the way.” Sherise appreciated her husband’s concern, but there was a part of her that was still a little angry with him for trying to pressure her to stay home for good.

  Justin, thirty, was old fashioned and his upbringing had been very different from hers. Because Sherise grew up poor as dirt on the hard streets in Southeast DC with no father to be found and a mother who couldn’t give a damn, she only knew how to fight. Justin was a lover, not a fighter. From Chicago, he grew up in a traditional middle-class black family with a stay-at-home mother, a doctor for a father, and all the safety cushions that came with such an upbringing. He was stable and reliable and represented what Sherise wanted to be, which was why she decided the night she met him four years ago, when he was just a recent Georgetown Law grad, that she wanted to marry him. A reliable wage earner who was hot enough to be attractive, but not so hot that every other woman would want him too. He was the kind of guy who would come home every night. Most of all, Justin, a six-figure lobbyist on Capitol Hill, had the connections that Sherise’s never-ending ambition could use to get ahead.

  But Justin put a wrench in her ambitious game when he suggested Sherise be a stay-at-home mom after Cady was born. They had at first agreed to a regular twelve-week maternity leave, knowing that Sherise had plans of moving beyond her position as assistant director of communications for the White House’s Domestic Policy Council. She was hungry for power and her ultimate dream was to make it from the Executive Office Building across the street to the West Wing of the White House. After endless fighting, Sherise went the route that had always served her well—refusing affection until she got her way. While she loved Justin, he did not overwhelm her, which made him a good husband candidate for her. She could control the way her body reacted to him, thus control the power he had over her.

  It wasn’t as if he wasn’t attractive. He was six feet tall and, while he had an extra ten pounds, he wore it well. He was a sexy dark brown with beautiful light brown eyes and a sturdy face. He wore preppie boardroom glasses that made him look distinguished and was always looking sharp in his expensive business suits. The point was, while she found him perfect husband and father material, Justin had never gotten Sherise to lose control of herself. She could resist him, but he couldn’t resist her. She played her games and made certain he couldn’t resist, which resulted in a quick marriage proposal. This control over him was why her compromise of a six-month leave was quickly accepted and rewarded with access to affection again.

  Sherise felt a pull in her gut as Cady called for her again, but she fought it and went to check her briefcase. It made her want to cry, but she wasn’t a stay-at-home mom type. She was too ambitious, too greedy. Did that make her a bad mother? She didn’t know. She only knew that she would be miserable without the challenge of a career. It made her feel strong, safe, and allowed her to do what she did best—power play and win.

  “I filled up her bag.” Sherise’s back was to her husband and child as she organized the items in her briefcase on the French-villa style dining room table. “So all you have to do is grab it and walk her over to the day-care center.”

  Sherise almost jumped when she felt Justin’s hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him and was comforted by the compassion in his eyes.

  “I know this is hard for you, baby.” He leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead. “You don’t have to pretend.”

  “Please,” she begged. “Don’t do that. You’ll make me cry. I can’t walk in there with red eyes.”

  “You know that you’ll be back in the swing of things before noon,” he said. “Don’t sweat it, baby. Cady will be fine at day care. I’ll drop her off on my way to work and you can pick her up on your way home.”

  “And you don’t hate me?” she asked.

  Justin smiled his usual charming smile. “I couldn’t if I tried.”

  She knew that. She could always rely on Justin to be a supportive husband and a fully involved father. Which made her feel all the worse knowing that Cady might not even be his child.

  Billie Hass felt her stomach getting tighter and tighter as every second passed. Her petite fingers gripped the coffee cup in her hand as she stood at the counter and looked out the window facing the street. The building where she was starting her new job on K Street was right in front of her. She didn’t look much different than any of the expensively suited lawyers who walked inside, but she knew she was different.

  Growing up in Southeast DC, Billie had witnessed the injustices against the poor firsthand. Having a father she watched accused of a crime he didn’t commit and railroaded by the legal system, and a mother who died trying to fight the corruption of health insurance companies, had molded her opinion of power. Billie knew two things. She had to get out of poverty and she had to fight for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. This motivated her to get through law school, always with the objective of fighting for justice.

  She graduated four years ago, at age twenty-five, and began her career as a public defender in DC. She was chided for not shooting for Big Law and six-figure salaries, but was planning for something better. Billie intended to run for office one day and use her power to fight for legislation that spoke for the voiceless. The young men who were guilty until proven guilty and poor women who the system shepherded toward dependency. She had met with a lot of obstacles but was winning more than losing. That was until Porter Hass happened.

  Billie met Porter at Georgetown Law School. He was four years older than her, having spent time in the navy before going to school, so she found him a bit more knowledgeable than the average brother she dealt with every day. They had so much in common. While Billie had grown up on the tough streets of Southeast DC, Porter had struggled to survive in the dangerous Highland Park neighborhood of Detroit. Seeing cops shoot and kill his brother at the age of ten and get away with it, Porter had many of the same plans to fight injustice when he started law school.

  But something changed. Another thing Porter and Billie had in common was a desire to live a better life than they had known as kids, to escape the ghetto mentality of “bad is good and there is no way to succeed so why bother.” They wanted to escape always being on the wrong end of... well, everything. But unlike Billie, who only wanted to get rid of the bad, Porter began to desire an escape from all of it. Billie didn’t want to forget everything about the hood, but Porter did, and at some point during law school, he decided he wanted to be the power that they were supposed to want to fight.

  Despite their differences, she married him because she loved him and he had a lot of good qualities. He was smart and sexy and he was a great father to his now fourteen-year-old daughter, Tara. While he was still in law school, Porter fought for custody of Tara when her mother, Shawn, got too deep into drugs to care for her. Porter and Shawn were teenagers when she got pregnant and, while Porter fought his way out of it all, Shawn never bothered. He never turned his back on Tara, and for that Billie loved him. That, and the fact that he set her body on fire every time he touched her. She had never felt the passion for a man that she had for Porter. Their sexual chemistry blew her mind.

  But while it blew her mind, it wasn’t enough to save their marriage. Billie could handle Porter’s negative comments about the people she defended and even his digs at what he called her “ghetto tendencies,” but if it wasn’t clear they were moving in different directions, his affair with the blond, perky twenty-three-year-old clerk at his law firm, Claire Flannigan, was as clear as rain. The heartbreak was followed by a divorce in whi
ch Porter’s expertise and connections gave him the upper hand over Billie. It all put her in a position where, financially, she could no longer afford to work for a pittance. She had six-figure student loans, new bills, and Porter had taken everything in the divorce.

  Now, here she was on the corner of K Street and Eighteenth in Northwest DC, barely visible above the morning crowd with her petite five-foot-three frame. She had the skills to get a high-paying job in Big Law white-collar criminal defense. Her money problems were taken care of, but starting her life over, divorced and single at twenty-nine, was not what she had imagined.

  Feeling her phone vibrate in her pants pocket gave Billie an excuse to wait just a few more minutes before entering the building and leaving the career she loved behind. The fact that it was Tara was just icing on the cake.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” Billie said, holding her finger to her free ear to drown out the crowd noise. “What’s up?”

  “I hate that bitch!”

  “Whoa, Tara. What is going on?” Billie knew her stepdaughter had a short temper just like her father; she angered easily. “What’s wrong?”

  “Claire,” Tara said with a voice that sounded a lot younger than fourteen. “Billie, you just don’t know what I deal with.”

  “What did she do now?” While Claire was the last person Billie wanted to talk about, she would never turn Tara away. Porter was making it hard enough for her to spend time with the girl now that they were divorced. She loved Tara and missed her terribly, which Porter knew.

  “She’s moving in,” Tara answered.

  Billie felt her chest tighten at the words. She tried to control her emotions. Their divorce had only been final three months. “Well, she is your father’s girlfriend.”

  “She’s his jump-off,” Tara corrected. “You don’t marry the side piece.”