by Aliyah Burke
He bit his bottom lip as he matched his thrusts to hers. Tanned pecs flexed and he groaned, “Darling.”
Her name from his mouth sparked a flame buried deep within her; she flexed her hips while eliciting one last moan from him and herself. The nerves of her body tingled from her toes to her nipples.
As the ripples of her orgasm seized, all she could think about was jumping on top of him again. But, with the stillness of her body, came sanity. Months had passed since she’d had sex. No matter how many men she’d given her number to since moving to Memphis, she never bothered to return any of their calls. What would she do when they came to pick her up for their date? Sure, she could meet them for a while and go to their place, but eventually, they’d want to come to her home or spend the night. That wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. So, if she couldn’t go on a date, that meant she definitely couldn’t take any of them up on their offers or promises of being the best she’d ever had. She didn’t think anyone could make that promise again, because the man beside her now had that honor.
Her ex always needed a little assistance from her favorite vibrator to get her to where this man got her with just a touch and a kiss. She slammed her eyes closed, and tried to will her senses back to normal. What was she doing? No matter how lonely she’d been, picking up a strange man on Beale Street wasn’t going to fix any of her problems. She rose from the bed, and inside of minutes, she’d gathered her clothing and dressed, then sprinted toward Jaxon’s hotel door.
“Wait.” He trailed behind her, naked. “Can I see you again?”
She stood with her hand on his hotel door. They never should’ve had sex and it definitely wouldn’t happen again. What did she have to offer him? She stared at the naked man in the middle of the room. She didn’t want to, but couldn’t resist another opportunity to commit Jaxon to memory. Damn, expensive clothes or a paper bag, he would look gorgeous. Although, they’d just left his bed, the thickness and length of his rod didn’t seem to know that. “What for?”
Jaxon took a step back as he stared over at the bedroom they’d just left. “I don’t know—dinner.” He snatched a pad from the nearby desk and scribbled something on it, then handed it to her.
His number. “Maybe.”
The whole night had been a huge mistake. Fun—but a mistake. Her body quivered at the freaking thought of what he’d just done to it. There was too much she had to do and screwing around with some rich guy who wouldn’t know where the poor neighborhoods of South Memphis was if she circled it on a map, wasn’t going to help her any. Darling tossed the piece of paper into the trash before she stepped onto the elevator. She didn’t need anything to remind her of how pathetic she’d become.
Chapter One
Damn. Darling sprang up from her sleep, instantly awake and annoyed. The train rumbling over the tracks nearby rattled her bedroom windows as it passed. Why did the engineer drag out the loud horn? Weren’t the lights and big freaking automatic arms enough? As the horn faded into the distance, she snuggled back under the covers her mother had layered onto her bed. It wouldn’t matter, but maybe, this time, she’d be able to fall back to sleep. Every night it was the same thing. How was she supposed to be prepared for the next day, when she could never get enough sleep?
Her eyes were open long before the chime of her cell phone sang at her. She heaved one leg after the other and dragged herself out of bed toward the bathroom. The closed door and scent of cigarette smoke told her it was occupied. Dad. She turned around and headed back to her bedroom. Three grown people. One bathroom!
Her head fell into her hands. Tears filled the palms of her hands. The plan had been to move back in with her parents until she could get things back together. But, she’d been living with them for four months now, because she wasn’t making enough money to cover her debts. She also fought every day with her ex over the divorce. The longer he dragged it out, the more her accounts dwindled. Leaving Charlotte had made sense when she did it, but now, it just seemed plain dumb.
Stupid! Why did she quit her job and walk away from everything?
“It’s all yours,” her father yelled.
###
Starbucks thermos in hand, filled with coffee from home, Darling sped around 240 east. Driving from South Memphis to Bartlett—forty-five minutes—everyday was not exactly fun, but a job was a job. She swung her car into the first spot she saw, prepped for a quick sec, and then strolled into the offices of Slater Enterprises.
She pasted one of her biggest smiles on her face, waved and nodded at everyone she passed in the halls on the way to her office. She’d almost made it when one of her Customer Service Reps caught her.
“Excuse me, Ms. Darling, but has my leave request been approved?”
“Sam, I’m sorry it took so long, but yes…yes of course, there should be no problem. I’ll email you the official approval today.”
“Thank you.” With that, Sam disappeared back into the call center.
Darling sank into her office chair, and scanned the beige room with its beige computer and brown furniture. God, was this really going to be her new life?
###
Remote control in hand, Darling stretched out on the couch in her parents’ den. Wine and television had become her two closest friends. How sad. But, what else was there to do in Memphis? Especially, when you had absolutely no money in the bank to do it with.
“Darling, what’re ya gonna cook?” her father asked.
Traditional to a fault. Her father expected women to cook, iron his clothes and if she were to be honest, not ask too many questions of the man. But, he also respected his woman, her mother and would never do anything to betray her, his home or his children. He could definitely teach her ex a few things. As 1950’s as it was, she would love to find a man that believed in traditions as long as it didn’t mean she’d have to wear a set of pearl handcuffs. “Cook? Nothing. I ate a bowl of cereal.”
“Cereal.” Her father turned and walked back toward the kitchen. “I guess I’ll fry some pork steak for ya mama and me. She’ll be hungry when she gets back from church.”
That was her pop. He could cook, but he didn’t because he thought it was a woman’s role. “Sounds good, pop.” She kept flipping through the channels.
He paused and stared at her for a minute longer than necessary. “Sure you don’t want some.”
“Positive. Thanks pop.” All she really wanted, selfishly, was a little privacy.
While her father banged around pots and pans, she focused, or tried to focus on the images on the screen as they began to blur. She gave up and let the hazy pictures lull her off to sleep.
If felt as if hours had passed, when Darling woke and pressed the menu button on the remote control. According to the time displayed, she’d only been asleep for about twenty minutes. She went back to flipping channels. The channel for women. Love stories. She pressed the info button. What? Two people meet on an elevator and find true love. Oh, God, please. She’d met her almost ex-husband through a friend, and they’d dated for three years before they married. As clichéd as it sounds, the seven year itch exists. Nothing she tried, saved her marriage.
Love at first sight was make believe.
The more she thought of her ex, the angrier she became, and the dumber the show on television seemed. She rose from the couch, clicked the TV off and stomped toward her bedroom passing the computer room that had once been another bedroom like hers, only much pinker with yellow stars on every wall. She stared at her hands as she remembered the way she and Charity spent more time painting each other than the walls. Her mother had to throw them both into the tub and scrub them within an inch of their lives to remove all the paint. She shut the door to the room and kept walking.
She stood in the middle of her bedroom which seemed so big when she was a child, staring. The room barely seemed large enough for the full sized bed centered below a window on a far wall. She walked to the door and closed it, leaning her back against it.
Why?
Th
ere wasn’t space to breathe or think. She paced back and forth, stubbing her toe on a box of clothes she’d tucked into a corner because there was no closet to put them in. Damn it! She flung the wine glass she held at the furthest wall. The glass splintered into tiny shards of light. The chocolate scent of the red wine perfumed the room as the liquid left an ominous trail on the wall.
The door to her bedroom flung open banging against the wall to demand her attention. She looked to find her parents’ concerned eyes glued to her. “What’s wrong?” they asked.
One look at the wall and her father whispered something to her mother, then turned and walked away. But her mother, still dressed in her Sunday best because she’d just come from bible study, walked right in with her bible in hand and sat on the bed.
Darling sat beside her unable to look into her eyes. Instead, she watched the wine drizzle down the wall to the carpeted floor beneath. She would have to paint the wall and shampoo that carpet before the stain became permanent.
Her mother wrapped her arms around her. “I know you don’t think we can understand what you’re going through, but maybe we can still help.”
The comfort of her mother’s arms calmed the angry voice inside of her head.
“Baby, tell me what’s wrong?” Her mother asked in an unsteady voice.
Really? Cry on her mother’s shoulder? Was this it? Once again living in the room, she slept in as a child discussing her problems with her mother.
This has to be a crazy dream.
She pinched herself as she pulled away from her mother’s embrace.
Wake up! Wake up, now!
It was painfully obvious her mother wasn’t leaving and she had no way to escape. She leaned against the cold wall that butted up against the bed in place of a headboard. “Mom, how did this happen?” She rubbed the fingers of one hand against her temple at the stinging that throbbed angrily.
“What?” Her mother’s blank expression supported her question.
“Me…this…” Darling gestured with one hand at the room. “I should be helping you, not living off you.”
“You’re not living off us. We’ve wanted you back home for so long.”
“Mom, why did I allow this to happen? I can’t stop the divorce, but quitting my job. Stupid!” She paused. “I just wanted to get away from everything.”
“I wish that I had the answers you need,” she responded. “My Darling, some people don’t treasure marriage for what it is.” Her mom glanced toward her own bedroom. “Your father and I didn’t have an easy marriage, but we loved each other and we fought for it. Hard.” She reached for Darling’s hand and squeezed it softly. “Steve wasn’t the right man for you. But, I’m confident your special someone is still looking for you.”
“Oh, mom, you’re such a hopeless romantic.” She closed her eyes and for a moment, allowed images of Jaxon, the gorgeous stranger from Beale Street to flash through her mind. “I wish I believed in romance and love like you do.”
“When you met Steve, I think you were ready to love because for so long, you wouldn’t.” Her mother paused. “When we lost your sister…I don’t think we knew how much that affected you until you were older.” Her mother’s head bowed. “We should’ve known. We should’ve done more.”
They’d been young, but no matter how young you are, you shouldn’t be playing kick ball with your baby sister one minute and the next, the ball rolls into the street, the brakes of a car screech…and your sister’s gone. She rubbed the spot on her leg where the scar blazed that constantly reminded her of how she was too weak to drag her sister out of the street.
Tears welled, but they didn’t fall as she remembered her mother as she’d seen her all those years ago sitting in almost the exact spot trying to explain Charity’s death. Instead, she’d spent hours comforting her mother as an endless stream of tears soaked them both.
“You were always so strong.” Her mother’s hand slid along her chin. “But maybe, now it’s time for you to let someone else help you. That could be why you’re here.”
She stared at the stain on the wall. “Mom, I really thought he loved me.”
“I know.” Her mom kissed her on the forehead and stood to walk away. “Maybe it’s time for you to love yourself. Maybe because we’ve missed you and we need you as much as you need us. Whatever the reason, we’re all together. Family should be together.”
Family should be together.
Fully clothed, Darling climbed underneath the covers. Sleep…that was all she needed. Everything would look better tomorrow. No matter how long she laid there, nothing happened. Until…images of her beautiful green eyed Jaxon filled her mind and warmed her from the inside out. She allowed the images of him to take over. Again, the scent of persimmon flooded her senses. The confidence and strength of his hold around her waist sent shivers down her spine. Jaxon had made love to her like she was the only one he’d wanted. Tonight, she would give anything to be in his arms again. If she could feel his lips against hers, one more time all the other crap might be worth it.
Chapter Two
Mornings sucked. And the worst thing about this one was that it was Friday morning. Darling should be happy like normal hard-working people, but Friday morning meant that she wouldn’t hear back from any of the recruiters she’d reached out to until Monday, if she didn’t hear today. If I heard anything at all.
At least she wouldn’t have to think about anything over the weekend. She could sleep all day Saturday and Sunday. No plans whatsoever.
Again, she dragged herself through the day. Periodically, she stared at the clock as if she wanted to beat it with a bat if it didn’t continue to do its job. And today, would be even longer because she had to go to lunch with co-workers, including her boss, who, she felt sure, believed she would eventually end up in his bed. Apparently, his wife didn’t know she shared him with several of the women in the office.
Sucks!
A few hours later, everyone huddled around a table in a private area of the cafeteria, waiting on their boss to grace them with his appearance. The desire to bang her fists against the table and scream overwhelmed her. She swallowed a laugh, but eagle-eyed Barbara, superstar meeting guru, still noticed.
Just as she figured out what lie would be an acceptable excuse to leave, Rodney Burch popped in. Darling heard the faint ding of a microwave in the background and the delicious smell of buttery popcorn wafted through the door behind Rodney.
“Team, sorry that I’m late.” He paused to look over his shoulder. “I have a huge surprise.” Again, he glanced over his shoulder. This time he turned around with one of his classic big crap grins on his face. “The owner of our wonderful company, Slater Enterprises, Jaxon Slater, flew in to join us for our luncheon to welcome our new team member, Darling.”
Jaxon? Couldn’t be!
A man with too familiar a face stepped from the background to join Rodney. She would recognize the way Jaxon moved no matter where they were or when. As he walked up to join Rodney, flashes of him moving around the dance floor with her in his arms hit her hard. She swore she could feel his arms holding her, his hands resting on the small of her back guiding her to exactly where he wanted her next.
The man’s physique dwarfed Rodney and emphasized Rodney’s need to join a gym, immediately. Beautiful green eyes met hers briefly before focusing on Rodney.
Darling tried to shake off the feeling that she thought she saw anger in his eyes.
“I’d like to introduce all of you to Jaxon Slater,” Rodney said.
The guru jumped from her seat with her hand extended and approached Jaxon. “Nice to meet you again, sir.”
Could she kiss his butt any more than she kissed Rodney’s? Rumor had it, she did a lot more than that and from the way she kept licking her lips at Jaxon Slater, she had plans there, too.
Slut!
“Sir,” Rodney interrupted, “you remember Barbara Kearns. She helped us with a lot of our meeting planning last year.”
“Ye
s, of course, Barbara, a pleasure to see you again.” He smiled.
Crap! Darling sipped from the glass of iced tea in front of her, but it didn’t cool her off. No matter how much time had passed, she couldn’t forget that voice. The touch of his lips against her skin and the soft mumble of her name against her stomach along with one too many vodka martinis created a night—the only passion filled night she’d had in Memphis—she hadn’t been able to forget.
He walked around the table greeting everyone until he reached her.
“Mr. Slater, this is our newest team member, Darling Crawford. She’s done a great job for us. Fitting right in with the team,” Rodney said. “I thought she might be the best person to assist us with the meeting calendar this year.”
“What?” Barbara asked. She pinned Rodney to the wall with her stare.
“Darling.” Jaxon smiled. “That is a unique name. Hard to forget.” He extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Thank you, sir.” How did she end up in this position? Nothing good ever comes from a one nightstand. Well, almost nothing. Her one night with Jaxon had given her something she hadn’t had in a long time. A night of romance.
“Please.” He glanced around the table. “Everyone call me Jaxon.” He pulled out the chair beside Darling. “Is anyone sitting here?”
“No,” Rodney answered for her.
An intoxicating scent of persimmon overtook her as he sat beside her. Her dress, her hair, her skin it all smelled of persimmon and amber when she’d left him that night. It’d been too damn hard to wash the scent from the dress the next day. Distance was what she needed. Immediately. She slid her chair away from his. Just a little.
“Sir,” Kathy addressed him, “How long will you be in town?”
He glanced around the table. “I’m not sure, yet. But, I thought I’d meet with a few of you while I was here. Get an idea of how you feel the company is doing and how we’re treating you. Memphis is one of our key markets. Everything at this office is extremely important to me.”
