Both he and the doorman turned as the elevator doors opened. She ran at him and Devon took deep breaths as he caught her in his arms. Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck and inhaled deeply of his scent. Devon pressed his face into her neck as well, enjoying having this remarkable woman, his woman, in his arms again. They remained in the foyer that way, entwined and just enjoying the feel of each other, for a long time.
Chapter Twenty-five
Devon looked down into Chloe’s sleeping face. As always, he was amazed by her beauty and her passion. He loved her.
He was curious about seeing this side of Chloe’s life and that’s why he wasn’t sleeping, as she was, after their hour of ardent and passionate loving. Devon got out of bed, careful not to wake her, and pulled his discarded boxers onto his naked frame. With one last loving glimpse at her, he left the bedroom.
Five minutes later he was totally floored! He had known Chloe was wealthy, but he had not imagined just how much wealth she had accumulated during her career. Enough to afford the expensively furnished luxury apartment. Enough to donate all her earnings from her new project to charities. Enough to earn numerous humanitarian awards for her efforts in fundraising in the past. Being in this apartment felt like being in a mini palace to him.
It was so unlike the quiet charm of her house in Holtsville. It was so unlike the Chloe he knew it all. But this was her house. Obviously there was a lot about Chloe that he still didn’t know.
“Devon?”
He walked back into the bedroom at her call, and went to sit on the bed next to where she lay. “Yeah, baby?”
Chloe smiled up at him, reaching to caress his square jaw. “I thought I dreamed it all.”
“No baby, it’s for real.” He leaned down to kiss her lips. “I’m sorry for the way I acted that day in your yard.”
“And you should be,” she asserted, giving him a stem look.
“And you should have told me weeks ago that you were going to New York and why.” He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger playfully. “It wasn’t my grandmother’s place to tell me, but she did.”
“You should’ve given me a chance to tell you, instead of running home with a stick up your—”
“You shouldn’t have run here to New York.”
“You shouldn’t have assumed I was back with my ex.”
“He shouldn’t have called you.”
“You’re right about that!”
Devon laughed and pulled her up into his arms. “Have I congratulated you on your win last night?”
“No.”
“You know what?”
“What?”
“You should have called me sooner and told me you missed me, instead of telling me and millions of television viewers.”
“That’s all it took for you to come here?”
He nodded. “That and Nana Lil explaining to me about your ex and the awards show, like you should have.”
“She’s our own little cupid . . . God bless her!”
“I really missed you, Chloe, and I’m sorry my jealousy led to all of this.”
Chloe kissed him full on the mouth. “And I’m so happy you’re here, Devon.”
He removed his boxers, kicking them off into a pile at the foot of the bed under the covers. With a groan he pulled her naked, curvaceous body to his and nuzzled the warm intimate spot in the hollow of her neck. His tender, warm kisses sent shivers of pleasure through her as she closed her eyes in sweet longing and gave in to his passionate loving.
And lovemaking it was. Slow, gentle and safe with lots of tender kissing and stroking. Soul-searching stares and entwined limbs. Admissions of love in their eyes, although not slipping from their tongues.
Devon rolled to lay on his back, and Chloe straddled his strong hips, his hardness deeply implanted inside of her warm sheath. His eyes worshipped the sight of her breasts, full and heavy with dark aureoles and tightened nipples. She leaned down and lightly licked the contours of his full lips, letting her breasts lightly graze his hard muscled chest, teasing them both.
Slowly and deliberately she rode him, grinding their hips into each other. Their eyes never parted and Chloe felt tears well in her eyes. They worked in unison as Devon raised his hips up off the bed to deepen each stroke within her. And he felt like he touched her very core. Deep inside of her gave him comfort like he had never known, and he wanted to stay there as long as he could. Chloe began to shiver with her first release, biting her lips to keep from screaming out.
“Scream. Yell if you want to. Don’t hold back from me, Chloe. Come on baby.”
He grabbed her hips with his hands and stroked deeper to hasten her climax. And Chloe did give in to the feeling, quivering from her toes to her soul. She sat up straight, her hands clutching wildly at her own hair. White blinding lights seemed to flash around her as he brought her release. She let out the scream she tried to bite back, and it was primal and hoarse.
How could he not give in to his own climax as her reaction to the pleasure he brought her pushed him over the edge. Devon turned over, pinning her beneath him, and held her close to him in his arms as he stroked inside of a little piece of heaven. He planted his tongue deep into her mouth as she panted, kissing her as if he drew energy from her soul. His body stiffened with the first white-hot spasm of his release. He felt that they would have surely created a child from their explosive union if not for their use of protection.
“Chloe, I . . .” he bit his own bottom lip to keep from telling her how much he loved her.
∞
Chloe had wanted to show Devon a little bit of New York. She crammed in more dinners in four-star restaurants, and front seats at Tony-award-winning plays into one week than he cared to remember.
Devon would have preferred to stay in her apartment cuddled in front of the marbled fireplace, just spending time with his woman. But he wanted to please her, and going out on the town seemed to make her happy.
Honestly, he had had it with rubbing elbows with the metropolitan’s wealthy and famous elite. He had thought Chloe had said she had tired of it as well, when she was in Holtsville. But alas, as he feared, being back in her hometown had obviously awakened in her the desire to jet set. Devon planned to return to Holtsville, but he was beginning to doubt whether she would return with him. Not when she seemed so at home in this environment.
Tonight she made reservations for dinner at some fancy restaurant, when he would have been happy with some of her good home cooking. But he was fast realizing that his Chloe in Holtsville was far different than this Chloe in New York.
∞
Chloe leaned over and kissed Devon’s cheek in the back of the Lincoln Town Car Ashanti had provided for her twenty-four-hour use while in town. All of this week had been for him. He had never been to New York and she wanted to show him the best it had to offer.
She herself had seen more of New York’s famous night life this one week than she had when she lived here. Chloe was hoping he wouldn’t disdain the Big Apple as much as he had before, especially since she had to spend another month here to begin promos for the hair care line she was endorsing.
His opinions of the city mattered to her because she was hoping to ask him to remain here in New York with her, just until her promotional work was done. Then they would both return to Holtsville . . . together.
The Fifty Seven, Fifty Seven Restaurant and Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel was a deluxe dining experience. It was one of Chloe’s favorite restaurants. Devon and she had been immediately ushered to their seat by the maître d’, and were given the red-carpet treatment. They had just ordered drinks, a margarita for Chloe and a rum and coke for Devon, when she spotted Calvin and a leggy beauty enter the restaurant.
She crossed her fingers, hoping that he would have enough class and taste not to make a scene. But Calvin wouldn’t be Calvin if he hadn’t headed in her direction as soon as he spotted them.
“Devon, here comes Calvin . . . my ex.”
“Hello, Chloe
.”
“Calvin.”
She gave him a nasty look but he was busy sizing up Devon, who was equally busy sizing up Calvin. “Devon baby, this is Calvin Ingram. Calvin this is my boyfriend, Devon Jamison.”
Devon stood and flexed his muscles in the Shaka King coat-length blazer he wore. He was obviously more muscular in build than Calvin and when Chloe eyed them both standing in front of each other, shaking hands with barely concealed hostile looks, she found Devon purely the superior man.
She breathed an audible sigh of relief when Calvin moved on with his date to their table. He hadn’t even bothered to introduce the woman, not that either Chloe or Devon minded. “Sorry about that, Dev.”
“No problem” were the words he said, but Devon was thinking, What the hell did she see in that asshole?
Devon had wanted to punch the pretentious uptight jerk in his face, but now was not the time nor the place for a show of male bravado. In the brief meeting he had immediately picked up on the man’s superior attitude. How could his Chloe ever have been compatible with that snob?
Chloe immediately picked up on Devon’s distant mood. He seemed to have something on his mind, as he frequently would get a faraway look in his eyes. She tried to engage him in conversation, but his mental attention was obviously focused on something else.
“Devon . . . Devon?”
She kicked him under the table.
He immediately jumped and howled out in pain. Several nearby people turned to look in their direction. “What, baby? Why did you kick me?”
“Because I’m tired of talking to myself.” She watched as he leaned down to rub his bruised shin. “I’m sorry, but it was the only way I could think of to get your attention.”
He gave her a look of total disbelief. “You could’ve tapped my hand!”
Chloe started to say something, but changed her mind, instead looking at him with an apologetic smile that lit up her face. “You’re right, but tell me what’s on your mind, Dev.”
He looked down at his plate of grilled chicken that they both had ordered. “We need to talk, but it can wait until we get ho— . . . uhm, back to your place.”
Chloe thought that over for a few seconds. “Well let’s go home and talk . . . now.”
He was more than ready to leave the glamorous establishment. When she reached in her small, beaded clutch purse, he cleared his throat. She looked up, saw his expression, and immediately closed the purse. When he first arrived they argued over who would pay for their dates, and they agreed to take turns.
Devon signaled for the waiter to bring the bill and slipped his gold card inside the slim leather billfold. Moments later he returned with the receipt for him to sign, and they left.
When they were back in the limo they were silent, each composing their thoughts, but they held onto each other’s hand tightly in the space between them. The silence remained even in the elevator ride up to the apartment.
Once inside, Chloe dropped her purse and wrap on the plush sofa in the living room. “So what’s up, Devon?”
“I thought you told me you moved to Holtsville to get away from the hustle and bustle of New York?”
“I did, and I still feel that way.”
“So when are you going back home?”
She smiled when he referred to Holtsville as her home. “I never moved away. It’s just that Ashanti had offered me an opportunity to make a lot of money for the community I was raised in, other needy areas and worthy causes, like the South Africans still feeling the effects of apartheid, or AIDS and cancer research. I wouldn’t have come out of retirement for any other reason, if not the opportunity to help.” She looked at him, her face showing how important this was to her. She only hoped he understood. “If other people had the fame and recognition that I have to make a lot of money in a short amount of time to help themselves, then I would have rejected the offer.”
She spoke with such conviction that Devon wanted to kiss her, hold her . . . and love her.
“A part of that requires that I remain in New York for at least another month, and I’ll be required to do some traveling in the months to come.” The last words she spoke trailed off.
He removed his tailored jacket. “Chloe, I understand how important this all is to you.” He waved his hand around the apartment. “But Holtsville is just as important to me, and I want you there . . . with me.”
She nodded in understanding.
He sighed, wiping his hand over his eyes. “What about us, Chloe, huh? I can’t take another day here. I’m ready to see Holtsville, South Carolina. So what about us?”
Tears filled her eyes. “Are you asking me to choose between making millions of dollars for charities, even if it means spending a little bit more time in New York than I planned when I retired, and having you in my life?”
“Don’t cry, Chloe. Damn!” he yelled as he stalked to stand by the window. “Just admit you never wanted to retire. Admit that you love eating at expensive restaurants and having front row seats to hit Broadway shows. Just admit that dirty little Holtsville can’t compete. Admit it! ”
Chloe flinched as his voice rose in anger. “Devon, you really don’t think that about me, do you? Because if you do, then you don’t really know me at all.”
“For you to drag me around in the midst of New York night life, then you don’t know me at all either, Chloe.” Silence reigned after that, and it was deafening. Chloe blinked back the tears pooling in her eyes.
Devon continued to stare out at the city below. Even at close to ten p.m. the streets were filled with fast-moving people and slow-moving cars.
“So you’re leaving me this time, Devon?” she asked quietly, sniffing back the tears.
His heart ached to hear the pain in her voice. “The choice is yours, baby. I’m leaving tomorrow and I would love for you to come home with me.”
Chloe let the tears fall. “That’s so unfair, Devon,” she whispered, but she was alone. He had quietly left the living room.
That night they slept on opposite sides of the bed, each afraid to reach out for the other. Neither would be able to stand the rejection they believed they would get. But both wanted to be in each other’s arms. It was the worst night of sleep either of them ever had. So close ... yet so far.
∞
Chloe awoke to an empty bed. Frantic, she searched the entire apartment, but she knew already that he was gone. To her the feeling was akin to abandonment. She was intelligent enough to know that she was wrong to project her anger at her father onto Devon, but she did it anyway. How could he ask me to chose?
She found the note on the bedside table. In her earlier haste to search for him, she hadn’t even noticed it.
Chloe,
I realize I was wrong to ask you to choose. So I made the choice for both of us. This week in New York has made me realize that it’s for the best. This wasn’t easy for me to do, so please don’t think so. I will miss seeing your beautiful face, so seeing you on T.V will have to suffice. I honestly don’t believe you have any intention of returning to Holtsville. I’m sorry I couldn’t face you but that would’ve made it hard for me to leave. You will be in my thoughts forever.
Devon
P.S. Tell Anika that it was great finally meeting her.
Chloe shook her head in disbelief as she read the note again and again. Did he think he was being noble? No, she wouldn’t have left with him today, but she had no intention of moving to New York permanently again, regardless of what he thought. But now how could she return to Holtsville, knowing Devon would not be in her life because he didn’t want a relationship that would have to be long distance at times? Obviously he didn’t think she was worth it.
Imagine how foolish she would have felt if she had admitted to him that she loved him with every fiber in her being. Chloe balled up the paper and threw it across the room in anger, where it bounced off the wall. She tried to tell Anika that, for her, loving a man was all about disappointment.
Chapter Twenty-si
x
Devon turned his truck into the yard with Deshawn directly behind him in his. They had just finished up their first day of renovating Donnie’s Diner. Deshawn, with the help of Poochie, had talked the belligerent owner into modernizing the restaurant while Devon was in New York three weeks ago.
They entered the house and were engulfed by the acrid smell of smoke. “Nana Lil,” Deshawn yelled out, running to check her bedroom.
Devon dashed into the kitchen, where a pan of grease sat on a lit eye on the stove, the source of the smoke filling the house. He rushed toward the stove to push the pan off the hot eye. Smoke was everywhere, and it began to sting his eyes and throat.
When he began to cough, he moved to open the windows. It was then that he noticed his grandmother’s prone and lifeless body on the floor by the back door.
“Deshawn!” he yelled out before he fell to his knees by her, huddling her body into his arms. He nearly fainted with relief when he felt a pulse at her wrist. It was weak and thready against his fingers, but thankfully present.
Deshawn flew into the kitchen, and if it was at all possible for a black person to blanch, he did. Their eyes met over her body. Fear was in the depths.
∞
“Why didn’t she tell us she was having these headaches for weeks?” Deshawn whispered to his brother over Nana’s sedated figure in the hospital bed. “We could have gotten her to the doctor before the aneurysm ruptured and caused the stroke.”
“I don’t know, Shawn. You know how stubborn she is,” Devon whispered back. “I just thank God that she’s alive.”
They had to talk quietly because the doctor had placed their grandmother on aneurysm precautions. She was to have complete bed rest with the head of her bed elevated slightly. Her room was to remain dark, without the intrusion of television, radio or even reading materials. Hot or cold beverages and caffeine products were cut from her diet. And her visitors were very limited. She was sedated to help her comply with the restrictions because she was at risk for another rupture or rebleeding of the aneurysm. Surgery to correct it was being postponed until her condition stabilized. They both prayed she pulled through and would return home with them soon.
Admission of Love Page 28
