by Stacy-Deanne
“You’re hitting my spot.”
“Oh…” Shad tightened inside her. “I missed you so much, Osana.”
“I missed you too.” She gyrated to his tempo. “Don’t stop.”
****
“So?” Breathless, Osana slid off the desk, twenty minutes later. “How was Italy?” She slipped on her panties.
“Answer my question first.” Shad pulled up his pants and sat in the chair, leaving them unfastened. “What the hell’s going on? Why did you marry Ace?”
“I had to.” She straightened the wild dress.
“Duh.” He wiped the corner of his mouth with his finger. “Why?”
“Leave it alone, Shad.” She took off the veil. “Please.”
“You’ve known me for years.” He propped his hand on the desk. “Since when do I see something strange and let it go?”
She patted his shoulder. “Trust me on this.”
“I love you.” He gripped her waist. “And, if you’re in trouble I wanna help.”
“You can’t help me.” She pulled a tiny lint ball from his shirt. “No one can.”
He guided her head down and kissed her. “I was hoping you’d gotten rid of that wall while I was gone.”
“I answered your question so you answer mine.” She straddled him, feeling him harden again. “How was Italy?”
“After what we just did you have to ask? It was terrible because I missed you so much.”
“Then why did your ass stay gone so long?”
“I needed space.” He pinched the beads on her bodice. “Now I know why you didn’t tell me about Max. You knew I’d stop you from doing this.”
“Listen.” She stroked his firm chest. “Max is irrelevant, and he has nothing to do with us.” She French-kissed him. “Nothing has to change. You’re the only man for me.”
“It’s not that easy. You’re married now, and this is wrong.”
“It’s a fraud.”
“Still you and Max took vows before God.” He scratched his head and patted his hair back in place. “You expect me to keep sleeping with you like this?”
“Yes.” She gave him a forceful kiss, capturing his tongue in her mouth. “Don’t turn your back on me now. I need you more than I ever have.”
“I don’t know why…” He rubbed his forehead against hers. “But, you’re even sexier now that you’re married.”
She laughed.
“But, it hurts seeing you with him when you belong to me.” His face drooped. “I can’t do this.” He let her go. “God knows I want you, but it’s wrong.”
“Shad.” She got off him.
“It’s not because you’re married, you won’t tell me the truth. This is another reason to keep this wall up.”
“I’m sick of hearing about this damn wall.” She walked from the desk, swinging the veil. “You pick at everything I do.”
“You married another man, won’t tell me why, and expect me to accept it?”
“Yes!” She slammed the desk. “Because you say you love me.”
He wiggled his bottom lip. “You say you trust me but you don’t if you can’t tell me the truth.”
“There’s always some ultimatum with you.” She shook the veil. “What do you want from me, Shad? What?”
“I want the truth.” He scooted up to the desk. “Until I get it, then we can’t see each other anymore.”
“Fine.” She went to the door, holding in tears.
“Osana, I’m doing this because I love you.”
“Forget it, Shad.” She didn’t look at him for fear she’d cry. “I won’t bother you again.”
“You gotta let me in.” He stood. “Can’t you see I’m trying to protect you?”
“I don’t need a man to protect me. That’s what you don’t get.”
“You have to let people in sometimes.” His eyebrows furrowed. “Or you’re gonna be alone forever.”
“Yeah?” Her voice cracked. “If love causes this much agony, then I’d rather be alone.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Oh, Max!” a woman shrieked upstairs, followed by the rapid banging of the headboard. “Max, yes!”
“Jesus.” Osana lay in her bed, smashing the pillow over her face.
“Natalie, yes,” Max yelled. “Don’t stop.”
“Oh fuck me, Max!”
“Damn him.” Osana threw the pillow aside.
“Yes, Max,” Natalie shrieked and whined among the high-pitched squeaking of the bed. “Yes! Fuck me. Harder!”
“Son of a bitch.” Osana got her water jug from the side of her bed and threw it at her door. “Shut up!”
Natalie wailed, “Oh…oh…oh!”
“I don’t believe this.” Osana left the bedroom as Leslie came off the elevator at the end of the hall.
“Oh,” Natalie screamed. “Max.”
“Natalie, oh!”
“This is ridiculous.” Leslie straightened her head rag, grumbling. “They’ve been fucking for hours. I could hear them in my apartment.”
“How do you think I feel?” Osana leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. “His room is right above mine.”
Leslie rubbed her eyes. “I’ve never heard such loud, obnoxious sex in my life.”
“I have but usually I’m the recipient and not the bystander.” Osana yawned. “I just wish this bitch would come so she can shut the hell up.”
“Oh!” Natalie howled.
Osana huffed. “Shit, a dead woman could’ve come by now.”
“If it’s taking this long for her to come that means either he’s really good or really bad.”
“Max!”
“Natalie!”
“Max!”
“With the way she’s screaming, trust me he’s good,” Osana said. “I can’t take this anymore. Come on.” She and Leslie rode the elevator upstairs to what Osana now considered “Max’s floor”. “Max!” She banged on his door. “Can you quiet it down, please?”
The moaning and banging grew louder.
“Max!” Osana beat on the door again. “I gotta go to work tomorrow!”
“Is he doing it on purpose?” Leslie asked.
“I don’t know, but I won’t get any sleep with this going on. I’ll sleep in one of the guestrooms on the other side of the property. Maybe then I won’t hear them.”
They rode the elevator back to Osana’s hall.
Natalie and Max performed a symphony of grunts and squeals.
“Shit, I’ll talk to his ass in the morning.” Osana went down the hall.
“I might come with you and sleep in a guestroom too.” Leslie scampered behind her on bare feet. “I’m not gonna get any sleep with them going at it either.”
“Oh, Max!” Natalie screamed. “I’m coming. I’m coming!”
Osana threw up her arms. “Thank you, Jesus.”
“Finally,” Leslie said. “We don’t have to sleep in the guestrooms now.”
The moaning resumed.
“Oh, no.” Osana sighed. “Not again.”
“Damn.” Leslie scratched under her head rag. “What kinda vitamins is Max taking?”
“Natalie,” Max roared. “Oh, yes!”
“God.” Osana laid her head on Leslie’s shoulder. “Three hundred and sixty-four days to go.”
Leslie groaned.
****
“Fuck, this is so cool.” Max strolled into Osana’s home theater the next morning and walked past seven rows of upholstered seats.
Osana watched Kevin Costner throw a baseball in Field of Dreams while eating walnut and honey pancakes. Her butt sinking into the seat as if she were on a cloud.
Max danced in the aisle like a kid in a toy store. “Man, I wanna live in here.” He laughed, covering his mouth. “I can’t get over this place.”
“I take it you’re a movie fan,” Osana stated with sarcasm.
“Baby, I’m a fan of money.” He knocked on the wall. “It’s drywall?”
Osana admired Kevin Costner’s glorious ass in jeans. “M
ax?”
“Yes?”
“Sometimes I like to take a movie in before I go to work.” She sipped apple juice from her cup. “It’s how I prepare for my day.”
“Yeah?” He walked toward the never-ending movie screen and speakers. “Shit, I’m in heaven right now.”
“Can I have my time? You can spend the entire day in here while I’m at work.”
“Awe, come on, honey.” He walked up the steps where she sat. “It’s the first day after we got married. Can’t your new hubby get a courtesy kiss?” He leaned into her with pursed lips.
“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.” She turned her head away, chewing. “And even if I had I’d rather go on a date with Bill Cosby than to kiss you.”
“Ouch.” He straightened himself. “Damn, you keep throwing these daggers and I might have to rethink this arrangement.”
“Good.” She concentrated on the movie.
He sunk into the seat beside her. “These seats are comfortable,” he sang. “Be honest, you ever have sex in here?”
“Speaking of sex.” She sat up, clearing her throat. “Do you ever think about anyone’s feelings but your own?”
“Why?” He shrugged a shoulder.
“Did you forget that Leslie and I live here too? That I had to go to work today? Couldn’t you and your guest have been a little more discreet last night?” She ate more of the pancakes. “Do you have any idea how loud you were?”
“I was in the zone.” He scratched his arm. “When I’m getting pussy that’s all my mind’s concentrating on.”
“Ugh. Were you being as obnoxious as you could on purpose?”
“I have loud sex.” His expression lost any trace of humor. “Deal with it.”
She lay her fork in the plate. “This is my house.”
“Not for long.” He touched her hair. “Soon as you add me to the deed and it better be soon, this is just as much my place as it is yours.”
“I hate you.” She pushed him away. “How do you look yourself in the mirror?”
“I don’t.” He looked at the screen. “And it doesn’t bother me one bit.”
“There has to be some good in you.”
“You keep acting like you’re the only one being tortured.” He propped his feet on the seat in front of him. “How do you think I feel being so close to you and not being able to have you?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” She gawked at him. “We’re getting way off track here.”
“Shouldn’t be a surprise. You know I’m attracted to you. I’ve wanted to tap that sweet, chocolate ass since we met.”
“You’re disgusting. I can’t say it enough.”
“Because I’m honest unlike some men?” Veins protruded from his neck. “It kills me that there’s one woman on this earth I can’t have.”
She laughed. “I’m sure there’s more than one, Max.”
“I want you, Osana.” He laid his head back. “That’s not gonna change until it happens.”
Her stomach turned. “Please stop I’m eating.”
He caressed her wrist. “Maybe we should rethink that part of the agreement.”
“No.” She jerked away from him. “You promised me, Max.”
He sighed, rolling his eyes.
“Look you can fuck all the women you want just take in consideration that Leslie and I are here too. As far as I’m concerned I don’t care who you fuck.”
“Whoa.” A shapely, big-busted brunette woman with Shirley Temple curls, sauntered inside wearing stripper heels. “This is fantastic!” She twisted down the steps to where Osana and Max sat. “Hi.” She giggled, holding her hand out to Osana. “I’m Nat.”
Osana gathered her plate and stood without acknowledging Natalie. “Max, you got five minutes to get your trash out my house.”
Natalie fidgeted, pulling her hand back.
“Whose house?” He put his arms behind his head.
“Get her out.”
“You jealous, baby?” Max cackled. “You can admit it.”
Osana marched out the theater, cursing under her breath.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Hm.” Shad kissed Gloria on her cheek and gestured inside his office. “Come on in. Glad you could make it.”
“No problem, but I’m on my lunch break.” She checked her watch. “I gotta be back in an hour.”
“This won’t take that long.” Shad sat behind his desk. “Would you like anything to eat or drink? I can get my secretary to get you something.”
“No.” She had her long tresses in an elegant bouffant. “I’m fine.”
“How’s life as a paralegal?” He smiled.
“Busy.” She smiled back, dimples poking from her cheeks. “Woodley and Nash is up to its knees in cases since one of the lawyers left to start his own practice.”
“I heard about that.”
“Yeah so that means more work for everyone else.” She crossed her legs. “Paralegals included. You look good. Got a great tan.”
He grinned.
“Bet you spent the bulk of your time in Rome on the beach. How’s your friend doing?”
“Trying to adjust to life without a mother.” He straightened his spine. “You and I’ve been there.”
She nodded.
“I told him it’ll get better but never easier.” He shuffled papers. “I think about my parents every day. Sucks not having them around.”
“That’s why Preston’s death has been so hard for me.” Gloria exhaled, bobbing her foot. “He was all I had left.”
“Any news about the case?”
She shook her head. “Since they cleared his chief accountant the trail’s gone cold. How can this be, Shad? A man as rich as my brother isn’t murdered without someone knowing anything. I thought since the embezzlement’s out in the opening that would bring suspects but it hasn’t.”
“How are you holding up?”
“It’s been hard.” She blinked back tears. “I can’t believe it’s been three months since it happened.”
He handed her tissue from his dispenser. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s okay.” She dabbed around her mascara-heavy eyes. “The police cleared his home so I’ve been going through his stuff here and there. It’s so hard to confront the memories.”
“I understand.”
“I won’t stop until I find out what happened.”
“The good news is it’s a high profile case.” He wiggled his pen. “So the police can’t sweep it under the rug.”
“Why did you want to see me?” She sniffled. “Not that you need an excuse.”
“You never kept up with your brother’s business transactions, right?”
“That’s way over my head.” She laughed. “Preston didn’t share anything about the company with me.”
“A group of Preston’s shareholders contacted me.”
The silver studs in her ears sparkled. “What about?”
He sat to the side, rubbing the hair on his chin. “They want me to buy the company.”
“What?”
“Yes, they approached me with a detailed proposal and asked if I would consider it. They’re looking for a company to bail them out. Despite the embezzlement, the company is too valuable to let it go. They don’t want to pull their money but the company needs a head and the replacement CEO seems overwhelmed at the task.”
“So they approached you?”
“Yes.” He rocked with his hands in his lap. “I haven’t decided yet. On one hand it would expand Swipe Play’s reach and bring in more money—”
“But?”
“It could be a risk for my business if things aren’t handled right.”
“With you in charge everything will work out.” She blushed. “I have the absolute faith in you. Look at what you’ve done with Swipe Play since your dad died.”
“If I do this, then I’m gonna do all I can to make it work.” He sighed. “I’d have to make management changes and structural changes to meet my nee
ds.”
“It sounds great.” She laughed. “I’m confused though. Why are you telling me this? I have nothing to do with the company.”
“Out of respect. I wouldn’t want you to find out from someone else.”
“I appreciate that.” She wiggled her little, pointy nose. “I’m all for it if you were looking for my approval. Preston would approve too.”
“Well.” He looked through papers. “We’ll see how it goes. Nothing’s definite.”
“I missed you when you were gone.” She tilted her head with a glint in her eyes. “A part of me wondered if you’d come back.”
“Why wouldn’t I come back?” He tapped the arm of the chair. “Santa Barbara’s my home.”
“You’re so secretive sometimes, and when you called to check on me I felt it wasn’t my business to ask.”
“I don’t want you to feel you can’t be honest with me, Gloria. We’re still friends, right?”
“Did you meet any women in Italy?” She teased. “A man like you can attract women without even trying.”
“I got my share of attention.” He beamed, pulling his ear. “There was this barista who I’d talk to at the coffee shop in my friend’s village. She advised me of some things.”
“You let a strange woman give you advice?”
“Sometimes strangers help you figure out things better than others.”
She nodded. “Did you and her—”
“No. Trust me hooking up with anyone was the last thing on my mind.”
She half-smiled. “There’s only one woman on your mind.”
He squirmed at the shift in conversation.
“Have you spoken to Osana?”
He picked up the stapler, nodding.
“I’d heard she got engaged to Max Ace.”
“I wish someone had told me.”
“You didn’t know?”
“Hell no. I found out yesterday and crashed the wedding.”
“You mean they got married this fast? Ay-yai-yai.” She smacked her palm against her forehead. “Shad, why in the world did you go to the wedding?”
“Because I wanted her to see me.” He put down the stapler. “I wanted her to see my face while marrying someone else.”
“I can’t read Osana to save my life. How could she marry another man? Doesn’t she love you? What kind of person does what she did?”
“I’m tired of her shit.” He seized the armrests of the chair. “I’m too old to play these games. What is this high school?”
