Marshall erupted into laughter again. He held his sides as he almost rolled out of his seat. “I knew it. He borrowed that car from his mama and didn’t even have enough gas money to get it back to her. You should have told that fool that walking is free and let him hit Hushpuppy Highway.” After saying this, he shook from the giggles once again.
“I’m glad my misery could bring you such enjoyment.”
He grabbed hold of her arm, and tried unsuccessfully to stop laughing at her. “Don’t be mad, Danetta. Plenty of women have to provide their men with gas money and health insurance.”
She snatched her arm out of his grasp. “Let me go call Veronica and tell her where you’re at, so you can wave your little restraining order in her face.”
He stopped laughing. Frowned. “That’s a low blow, D. You know I didn’t want to get a restraining order on that woman, but she is seriously off her meds.”
They sat in silence for a while, both licking their dating wounds. Danetta’s eyes began to droop. She leaned her head on Marshall’s shoulder and drifted off to sleep. Marshall watched her sleeping form until his own weariness took over and he leaned his head against hers and closed his eyes.
Not long after, the doctor walked out and woke them up. “Are you here for Sarah Davis?”
Stretching and rubbing her eyes, Danetta said, “Yes, I’m her niece.”
“Well your aunt is resting now, but the tests we ran show that she had a heart attack and she has three blocked arteries. We’re getting a room ready for her now.”
“She has to stay...here?” Danetta asked in horror.
He gave her a look that seemed to ask, are you stupid? Then in his most professional-sounding voice he said, “There’s no way that your aunt will be able to leave this hospital. We will most likely need to do surgery, but she isn’t strong enough for that right now.”
Tears filled her eyes. Marshall put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. “Can I see her?” Danetta asked.
“We just gave her a sedative so she can sleep. I’m hoping that she regains some of her strength with a little rest. So, it would be best for her if you could wait until tomorrow.”
She turned to Marshall with fear in her eyes. “They’re not going to let me see her.”
“That’s not what he said, Danetta. The doctor thinks it’s best if you wait until tomorrow so she can get some rest.”
“B-but I want to see her.”
Rubbing her back he softly said, “How about we let her get some rest, D. We can come back first thing in the morning.”
She hesitated, and then nodded.
Marshall turned to the doctor. “Thanks for giving us an update. We will check back with the hospital in case there are any changes.”
“Yes, of course. She should have a room shortly and then you can contact the nurse station on her floor.”
Danetta waited until her aunt had been assigned a room and then Marshall drove her home. As they pulled up in front of her house, she continued to sit in Marshall’s car, looking at her house but making no attempt to go to it.
“Do you want me to come inside with you?” Marshall asked.
Danetta turned to him and admitted, “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
They walked silently to her door, hand in hand.
Chapter 12
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Whatcha got?”
She opened the refrigerator and peeked in. “Iced tea, milk and bottled water.”
He really wanted a nice stiff drink. After the day Danetta had, he thought she needed one too, but he knew she didn’t drink, so he wasn’t about to suggest it. “Iced tea, please.”
She opened a pack of oatmeal cookies with white icing on top, spread them out on a plate, poured their drinks and then took the stuff to the living room. They sat down on the couch and after taking a sip of her tea, Danetta put her feet up on the couch and laid her head on Marshall’s shoulder. This man meant so much to her. She had been in love with him a moment after meeting him in college. But he’d never felt the same way about her, so she had accepted his friendship and tried to let that be enough.
But lately, Marshall had been looking at her differently. She’d seen desire in his eyes several times in the last few weeks. He seemed to try to find reasons to be near her and to touch her. And why did he keep bringing up her dates, if he wasn’t a little bit jealous? That’s when Danetta remembered the ‘husband list’ she’d made years ago. Marshall stood head and shoulders above every man she knew when it came to meeting those requirements. He just didn’t meet the top one...she wanted a man she could trust with her heart. But maybe that kind of trust grows with time, she reasoned.
And if the way he’d been acting lately was any indication, maybe Marshall was willing to give love a try—with her. But there was no way she could ask him. Her wound still hadn’t healed from the time he turned her down in college. She adjusted her head and their eyes locked. He was looking at her that way again...as if she was all that mattered and the heat that blazed in his eyes was for her only. Not knowing what to say or do, she was the first to blink and look away.
He put his hand on her chin and turned her back to face him. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”
She opened her mouth trying to find something glib to say, but before she could get a word out, his mouth covered hers and she felt the heat of his passion as their lips and then tongues met. And just that quick, she didn’t care that this man had turned her away in college or that she had spent a lifetime pining over him while he chased after other women. None of that mattered as she allowed herself to become lost in him.
He deepened the kiss as he lowered her down onto the couch. She took in the smell of him, ran her hands over his strong shoulders and back. She loved the way his muscles rippled and flexed as he explored her curves and planes. She had some major plans for this man tonight! She unlooped his tie and threw it across the room. His hands were everywhere at once, and then he began unbuttoning her blouse. Her pent-up passion had finally been unleashed and Danetta wanted to scream out loud. Marshall was working magic with his mouth and hands. She wanted to be closer to him, skin to skin with sweat dripping from their bodies as they made slow intoxicating love. “Oooh, Marshall,” she cooed as he undid the last button and then planted his hands on her body again.
At the sound of Danetta’s sweet voice, Marshall’s hands stopped moving; he stared down at her. This was his Danetta. His friend and his confidant. He couldn’t just take her to bed and then wake up in the morning and act as if nothing had happened, the way he’d been able to do with most of the women he’d dated through the years. Marshall knew deep in his soul that this act would change them forever. Was he ready for that? He sat up and pulled Danetta with him.
“W-what, what’s wrong?”
“What are we doing, Danetta?”
“I thought we were doing some pretty good stuff,” she said as she put her arms around his neck and tried to pull him back down.
He lightly kissed her lips, but removed her arms. “We need to talk about this, hon. You and I have been friends for a long time and I don’t want to lose you.”
Here he goes with that friend stuff again.
“What are you looking for, Danetta? If we make love tonight, do you want us to be in a relationship? Are you looking for a ’til-death-do-us-part kind of commitment?”
Yes and yes. She knew Marshall desired her right now, but that didn’t mean he wanted a relationship. But she wanted this night, even if it meant that he would break her heart in the morning. So, she tried to look as cavalier as possible as she said, “You think I’ve never had sex just for the purpose of having sex before? Look, the truth is, I need this and I’d rather have sex with you, than one of the men I recently met.” She shrugged her shoulders as
she continued to lie. “But it’s no big deal...no strings attached.”
He jumped off the couch and started buttoning his shirt back up. He’d said the same thing to countless women in his past, but he’d never realized just how much those words stung. And as Danetta basically told him that all she needed was a warm body tonight, he realized that she wasn’t that into him, anybody could be here and she still would have responded the same way.
Confused by the look of hurt on Marshall’s face, Danetta asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you buttoning your shirt?”
“I’m not about to let you use me as your boy toy,” Marshall said angrily. “You can forget that.”
“What’s wrong with you? I thought we both wanted this. I was just letting you know that I’m not trying to tie you down. I just want to spend the night with you, Marshall.” She pleaded with him. “I need you.”
He searched around for his tie, found it and then threw it around his neck. “Call up one of your other men and see if one of them will let you use their body.”
She was so confused by his response that she couldn’t say anything. She stood there with her blouse open and her Victoria’s Secret bra exposed.
He pointed an accusing finger at her as he raged on. “You are the one person I would have never expected something like this from, Danetta. I don’t even think I know you anymore.”
Hot anger slid up her spine. She put her hands on her hips and strutted over to him. “I haven’t changed. I’m the same person I’ve always been on the inside. But it’s mighty funny that you didn’t seem to notice me until I threw on a little more makeup and started wearing clothes that showed off my figure.”
He opened his mouth to deny it, but she shut him down.
“If it’s not true, then explain how come, in all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen lust in your eyes when you looked at me until the last few weeks? Huh?”
“I-I...”
“Cat got your tongue? Or you just can’t think of a good enough lie to tell?”
“I have always cared about you, Danetta!” he screamed at her.
She flailed her arms and screamed back at him, “You didn’t care enough, though, did you?”
His eyes smoldered as he stared at her; he averted his eyes and said, “Button your shirt.”
She looked down and noticed that more of her breasts were exposed than she realized. But instead of feeling embarrassed, she became emboldened. She took her shirt off and flung it onto the floor. She lifted her chest and taunted him. “What’s the matter, Marshall? Am I too much woman for you? Is that why you’ve run around here with all those empty-headed beauties...because you can’t handle a real woman?”
“I’m going to get out of here before we say and do something that will affect our ability to work together.” He grabbed the door handle, jerked open the door and stormed out of the house.
The door slammed behind Marshall as Danetta continued to defiantly stand in the middle of her living room in nothing but her skirt and bra. Tears stung her eyes as humiliation swept over her. She’d thrown herself at Marshall once again, and he’d rejected her, as if what she was offering was worth nothing.
Her phone rang. She wanted to ignore it, but Aunt Sarah was in the hospital and she couldn’t miss a call from the hospital, no matter how much she felt like hiding under a rock. She glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Ryla. Wiping the tears from her face, she picked up the phone. “Hello.”
“Hey girl, I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Monica told me that your aunt is in the hospital.”
Danetta flung herself onto the couch and began crying.
“Oh no, Danetta. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even know that your aunt was ill.”
From Ryla’s response, Danetta figured that her friend thought that Aunt Sarah was dead, so she quickly said, “S-she had a heart attack. She’s weak right now, but still alive.”
“Girl, you were crying so hard, I thought she had passed away. I’m so glad that she’s doing okay. But, what’s going on with you?”
“Oh nothing,” she said sarcastically. “Marshall just humiliated me again.”
“What? How?”
Danetta told Ryla everything that had happened from the hospital visit until he stormed out of her door.
When she finished, Ryla asked, “Girl, you actually told that man that he was just a booty call?”
“I didn’t use those words.”
“He’s sitting there asking if you want a relationship or marriage...men don’t ask those questions for nothing.”
“I thought he wanted me to say that stuff,” Danetta explained. “Men love it when they can have sex with no strings attached.”
Ryla was silent for a moment. “But maybe Marshall was hoping for something more and when he realized that you didn’t feel the same way, his feelings got hurt.”
“Are we talking about the same man? Marshall just had to get a restraining order on a woman because she was tired of his ‘love-’em-and-leave-’em’ hound dog behavior.”
“Yeah, but Danetta, all I’m saying is that I’ve seen you and Marshall together throughout the years. I’ve always thought that he cares very deeply for you. Maybe he’s finally realized that you are the woman for him.”
Danetta shook her head. “And I say he’s mad at himself because he now feels attracted to me, but he still wants to keep me in the friend zone. You know what...I don’t care anymore, Ryla. I’m tired of caring. Matter-of-fact, I’m tired of this whole thing.”
“What whole thing?”
“My Get Love Now plan has backfired in my face. Every last man I’ve gone out with so far has been a loser and I don’t want to do this anymore. Please delete my profile from those dating websites that you posted my information on.”
“But, Danetta, how do you think you’re going to meet the right man if you don’t go through a few duds first?”
“I never should have let you talk me into something like this. Going out with these random men is just not my style. And I really need to get Marshall out of my head before I can think about dating another man.”
“Like my grandmother says, ‘the best way to get over one man is to get under another one.’”
Danetta gasped. “Your granny said that?”
“Let me tell you,” Ryla laughed, “My grandmother is a hot mess. I have seen and heard things from that woman that made me want to puncture my eardrums and pull my eyeballs out of my head. But I think she’s right on this issue.”
“I can’t do that, Ryla. Just cancel my memberships on those sites. I’m going to bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
* * *
Misery was etched across Marshall’s face as he walked into Kevin’s house and said, “She wanted to have her way with me, no strings attached.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Kevin said while popping Marshall in the back of the head. “Are you telling me that you passed up some free love? Dawg, you slippin’?”
“She played me, man.”
“She tried to hook up with you, but you were too busy looking a gift horse in the mouth to appreciate the beauty in her statement.” He shook his head in disgust. “Playa, playa, what has happened to you?”
“Are you listening to me, Kevin? I asked the woman if she wanted a relationship or marriage and she told me that sex between us would be no big deal.” He stood up and paced the room. He was truly stumped by Danetta’s cavalier attitude toward sex. He turned back to Kevin as he remembered another part of the conversation. “And then she had the nerve to say that she’d rather have sex with me than any of the men she’d been out with lately. Like, if I said no, she would just go call one of them.”
Now Kevin had to sit down. “You actually mentioned marriage to her?”
“Like a fool,” Marshall
said. His face contorted as he ran his hands over his face and head. “I really care about Danetta, and I thought she felt the same way about me. But she’s changed.”
Kevin got up, went to his closet and pulled out a jacket. He grabbed his car keys and said, “Come on.”
“What? Where are we going?”
“Look, you’re my boy. And believe it or not, I do understand this little midlife crisis thing you’re going through. But you need to snap out of it. I’m taking you to the club tonight so you can get yo’ drink on and find a woman that will get Danetta off your mind.”
“Sleeping with some woman tonight is not going stop me from thinking about Danetta, because I see the woman every day. We work together, in case you forgot.”
“You’re not working with her right now, are you?”
“Of course not, I’m over here.”
“That’s right,” Kevin said with a sly smile. “And I’m going to take you out so you can snuggle up with some hottie and get your mind back right.”
Marshall shook his head as he laughed. Maybe Kevin was right, maybe he needed to find a warm body and get his mack on. Danetta didn’t want him, but one thing Marshall knew for sure...the ladies loved him.
Chapter 13
Marshall and Kevin stood in the VIP area bobbing their heads to the beat of a Jay-Z song. The drinks were flowing, the music was bumping, the women were fine and the dance floor was packed, but as Marshall glanced around the room, he found himself wondering if everyone there was as bored as he.
As the music changed to a slow song, a woman dressed in a Gucci pantsuit with handbag and eyeglasses to match stepped to Marshall with a flirty look in her eyes. “Hey, Marshall, what’s up?”
“Not much, Shelly. What’s been up with you?”
“Oh a little of this and a little of that,” she countered as she ran her hands through her long silky black hair.
“Is that right?” he said while looking around the room. A yawn escaped his lips and he didn’t even bother to cover it. Glancing at his watch, he wanted nothing more than to go home and get some sleep.
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