Pretty Packages

by Dodson, Mi'Chelle

  “Not even a wine cooler?”

  “Not even a wine cooler,” Giada confirmed. “That’s also why I refuse to fall in love.” She spoke defiantly, as if that emotion was somehow coming against her right now. “Drinking and heartbreak took my mother away from me. Therefore, I don’t want anything to do with alcohol or love,” Giada concluded, blinking her eyes free of all emotion.

  Kentucky frowned at those words. He felt grieved by them, yet he said nothing. Instead he allowed Giada to continue to talk. He soon discovered why she started along the gold-digging path in the first place.

  “After my parents died, things were very hard for me and my grandmother. I quickly grew tired of wearing hand-me-downs, sick of eating Ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When I turned sixteen, I promised myself that I would do whatever it took to banish poverty from my life forever. The quickest way I found to do that was through my looks,” Giada said, sharing things she had never told anyone before.

  Kentucky continued to be the great listener that he was. Although he clearly disapproved of what she’d chosen to do with her life, he understood her decisions a lot better now.

  “Why didn’t you try modeling or acting instead? Why use men to rise up from poverty?” Kentucky asked, very interested in her answer for more reasons than one.

  “Like I alluded to before, I was looking for a quick fix. Modeling and acting took time. My grandmother needed her costly medicine on the regular. Food and clothing still had to be bought. The house was paid for, but the taxes were still due. Not to forget the utilities and my college tuition.” Giada sighed. “I did what I had to do. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to pay for my grandmother’s funeral since there was no life insurance money. I also wouldn’t have been able to finish paying for my last year of college or keep the house that I now use as rental property.”

  “Why do you continue to date men for money now? You have a steady job at a prestigious law firm, and you have rental income. Why not take that income and build upon it? Or better yet, use that money to go to law school since you obviously have the brains and the drive for that type of career. Bottom line is, you don’t have to lower yourself to the role of gold digger anymore just to raise your net worth.” Unfortunately, Kentucky’s tone had gotten angry, even judgmental at the end of his response.

  Now the air was thick with tension in the room. And not the sexual kind, either.

  * * * *

  Giada sat upright with a frown, highly offended by his tone. “Haven’t you been listening at all? I’m too impatient for a slow buildup. I’ve lived enough years in poverty. It’s time for me to live the high life now. I plan to for the rest of my life.”

  Kentucky sat upright, too. “So where do I fit into this picture, Giada? Do you expect me to give you the high life? Or are you gonna look beyond me and find some other man to give you the life that you crave?”

  “We can still have our special nights together, Kenny, no matter who else I date,” Giada said, discreetly letting him know that nights would be all they had. She didn’t openly date boy toys.

  What Giada failed to tell Kentucky was that, as soon as an opportunity to be exclusive with a rich man availed itself, their nighttime trysts would have to cease altogether. She didn’t let anything mess up her money supply, not even her libido.

  “So you expect me to stand idly by and watch you parade around on the arms of other men, even sleep with them on occasion, if the money is right?” Kentucky got up from the bed and started to look for his clothes.

  “Yes,” Giada admitted, seeing no need to lie to him. Kentucky already knew what she was. Besides, she never lied to her boy toys. Lies were reserved for those she wanted to extract gifts from.

  “Do I look like the type of brother to go for some bull . . . for something like that?” Kentucky asked, sending her a hard glance as he visibly fought for control of his temper and tongue. “I may not be the most attractive guy in the world, but even I refuse to share a woman.” Picking up his shirt from the floor, he slipped it over his head and down his torso.

  “Don’t be like that, Kenny.” Giada stood up and began to follow him around the room as he looked for the rest of his things. For some reason she felt grieved by him leaving on these terms.

  “No, don’t you be like that. I’m not about to let you use me for some sex toy simply because you don’t think I have the looks to be seen with you in public or enough money to satisfy your material wants and needs.”

  Angry herself now, Giada returned to the bed and sat down with her arms folded and her legs crossed. “It’s your loss. Most men would kill to have sex with me anytime of day or night.”

  Kentucky’s head snapped around to face her. “If they knew what I know, they wouldn’t have to kill a fly to have sex with you.”

  Giada glared at him. “You don’t know nothing about me!” she said, giving him a dismissive flip of the hand.

  Challenge filled Kentucky’s eyes as he closed the distance between them.

  * * * *

  “I know that all a man has to do to get you wet is this.” With the word “this,” Kentucky dropped to his knees and descended upon Giada’s exposed breasts. Moving from one taut peak to the other, he sucked and then nibbled lightly at the end.

  As expected, Giada shuddered violently with desire. Rivers of passion began to flow. Her legs parted automatically. It was as if Kentucky had turned a key in her lock. He had.

  The girl was open. She was wide open for him to do as he pleased with her now.

  Though Kentucky could have been satisfied with his current triumph in humbling Giada, he took it a step further. Easing between her legs, he joined with her again and began to make love with long, powerful strokes. He put his whole back into it.

  If the relationship was going to end, Kentucky figured he might as well go out with a bang. He was going to make it a good, hard bang, too.

  * * * *

  As if her body had a mind of its own, Giada found her anger being rapidly replaced by desire. She moved her hips in time with Kentucky’s. She locked her legs about his waist. She welcomed his fervor. She embraced his intensity. And although she was probably going to be sore for days afterward, she couldn’t help but thrust against him just as hard. That’s just how greedy she was for him.

  When Giada went over the edge a few minutes later, all she could say was . . .

  “Kenny.”

  “Kenny.”

  “Kennnnnnnny!”

  Mercedes could be heard scratching at the closed door of her bedroom after being awakened by that unexpected scream at the end. Giada barely heard those scratches. Her mind was too gone for anything to fully register.

  * * * *

  Moments later, Kentucky threw his head back and released his essence into Giada. He bit his tongue to keep from crying out in ecstasy. She would never know how much he enjoyed this last time. She definitely wouldn’t know how close he came to telling her that he could give her the life she craved . . . now.

  Reluctantly, Kentucky disengaged himself from Giada’s body now that their final tryst was over. In silence, he gathered the rest of his clothes and prepared to exit the room and, ultimately, her life.

  “All fine and well,” Giada said, looking highly offended that he’d been the one to end things between them, that he wasn’t even going to say good-bye first.

  “I was going to dump you anyway once I found the kind of man I really want,” Giada added spitefully.

  Kentucky paused and looked back over his shoulder. “Happy hunting, baby.” Then he turned around and proceeded down the stairs, dressing on the way. In the distance, he could hear Giada calling him almost every bad name under the sun, which was rising at this very moment.

  Kentucky didn’t care what she called him now. It was a new day. A new day meant it was time for him to start putting all of this behind him.

  Starting now. Kentucky walked out into the warm morning rays, bravely closing the door to Giada’s house and s
ignifying the close of their brief relationship.

  * * * *

  At the sound of the closing door, Giada’s rant abruptly ceased upstairs. Grief filled her heart. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She wanted to run to the nearest window, fling it open, and shout for Kentucky to return to her on his terms . . . on any terms.

  But Giada refused to budge from the bed, despite her current misery. She would not lay her destiny at Kentucky’s feet.

  I’m meant to marry a rich man, and he’s simply not that man, Giada thought, oblivious to her error in judgment.

  Chapter Seven

  Four significant things happened after that incident between Kentucky and Giada. First of all, the crime spree that had been plaguing their neighborhood was over before the year ended. It seemed that the thieves who burglarized the Jones home were tied to a crime ring of crooks. Their arrest led to several others.

  Soon thereafter, Giada noticed how Hannah went out of her way to befriend her. The woman even hand-delivered a plate of food to her every Sunday. This act of benevolence continued until Giada became exclusive with a new rich man and moved out of the neighborhood, which were the second and third significant things to happen after Kentucky and Giada’s fallout.

  Having returned to dating in full force in order to quickly push herself past the Kentucky incident, Giada finally hit the jackpot when she met Fabian Flow, the newest R & B sensation out of Florida.

  Looking and sounding like an old-school singer named Jon B., Fabian’s melodious hooks were coveted among many rap artists. Singers from all over wanted to do duets with him.

  Giada loved the fact that Fabian was rich, handsome, and generous. There was nothing she couldn’t ask for that he wouldn’t give her. There was no place she couldn’t ask to go that he wouldn’t make happen. Fabian even moved Giada into his condo because he hated being away from her for long stretches of time. The weekly allowance he gave her was more than she made in a month at her job.

  As a result, Giada was able to quit working and move off Wilmington Street right after New Year’s. However, she did not sell her house. Instead, she used it as another piece of rental property and allowed that money to draw interest in a high-interest-bearing account.

  Other things Giada loved about Fabian were the fact that he didn’t allow stardom to go to his head, could be faithful to one woman, and didn’t travel with an entourage. The only people Fabian traveled with were his manager/assistant named Bartley and one bodyguard.

  The only downsides to Giada’s relationship with Fabian were his bouts of possessiveness

  and . . . their sex life. Though she obviously satisfied him—the man actually shed tears during their first time—Fabian wasn’t able to completely satisfy her in the bedroom.

  Giada might have been satisfied with Fabian’s efforts if she’d never had those two nights with Kentucky. She might have been content if she’d never been exposed to how great sex really could be between a man and a woman.

  That giant of a man had been right about spoiling Giada for other men. He’d been right about her body craving even more of him after they made love. There hadn’t been a night since that incident that Giada hadn’t craved Kentucky’s body next to hers, in hers.

  Yet to hold on to her otherwise great catch, Giada pretended to enjoy her intimate times with Fabian more than she actually did. Trying to get another boy toy was out since she wasn’t about to jeopardize the financial security she now had.

  Besides, Giada seriously doubted that any man could ever top Kentucky in the bedroom area. As the first man to ever make her scream in ecstasy and secretly entertain thoughts of falling in love, the gentle giant was an extremely hard act to follow.

  * * * *

  The fourth significant thing that happened after Kentucky and Giada’s estrangement proved to be more beneficial to Kentucky this time. In fact, this beneficial thing was actually fueled by that estrangement.

  After his last night with Giada, Kentucky threw himself into his boarding school project even more. Instead of just looking at his business plan on paper, he submitted it to several banks and a few other investors. All jumped at the chance to support him in this worthwhile venture.

  Encouraged by their response, Kentucky applied for all the proper accreditations and then went in search of the perfect location. He searched doggedly, putting all of his pent-up frustrations about Giada to good use.

  That fervent search led to the acquisition of some prime real estate in lower Georgia in a rural town called Village Square. These days Kentucky spent every available moment overseeing the renovation of the colonial mansion, which would house the classrooms, library, dining room, and nurse’s office; the building of male and female dormitories; the construction of a gym with an adjoining pool; and the building of independent cottages for the headmistress and other on-site teachers and counselors. Kentucky’s stepmother took over the task of interviewing and hiring the academic personnel.

  Though the school was stretching his financial portfolio in a major way, Kentucky knew that it was for a worthy cause and so didn’t mind all the expense. Plus, with the various endowments he’d gotten recently from wealthy donors and the approval of a government grant, he would be able to recoup what he had put into the project within three years.

  Until then, Kentucky had to continue to live modestly, only take on the highest paid protection assignments, and save, save, save since he wasn’t about to dip into the retirement funds he’d set aside for him and his stepmother.

  Last, but certainly not least, Kentucky also had to stay away from gold-digging women. He especially had to stay away from Giada, no matter how much he still dreamed of her at night.

  Chapter Eight

  Five months later

  Set to accompany Fabian for his upcoming summer tour in the Caribbean, Giada learned he was in need of another bodyguard. The old one had opted out of his contract early in order to guard a congressman’s daughter overseas.

  In the world of bodyguarding, certain assignments were considered nobler than others. Guarding a politician’s child over an R & B singer was one of them.

  What Giada did not know was that Fabian’s new bodyguard would be none other than Kentucky Jones. Up until today, she didn’t even know that he performed bodyguard services.

  Giada almost choked on her orange juice when Fabian revealed the name of the new bodyguard his manager hired. She started to cough again when he started listing some of the man’s credentials.

  Among Kentucky’s clientele were several politicians and dignitaries, singers, movie producers, actors, a Texas oilman, and even a few high-profile businessmen traveling overseas.

  This could mean only one thing—Kentucky was rich.

  Rich!

  He was probably rich when I met him, too, Giada thought.

  Her suspicions were quickly confirmed when Fabian revealed how much he was going to be paying Kentucky for his services. He shared how hard it had been to even secure Kentucky’s services in the first place since he was among the top-notch in the business and could pick and choose whom he wanted to work for at will.

  No wonder Mrs. Jones never wanted to talk about her son’s profession, Giada recalled. Or why he suddenly had to be gone for long stretches of time.

  Giada also thought about how the question of “If Kentucky doesn’t really live here with you anymore, where does he live?” was never answered by his stepmother, and downright avoided every time.

  I can’t believe I could have had it all. The money, great sex, and the finest man on the planet. Grief settled into Giada’s heart.

  “Are you all right, baby?” Fabian asked with concern when her coughing had gone on a bit too long for comfort. “You’re not asthmatic, are you?”

  Giada cleared her throat once and for all, then blinked rapidly to refocus before answering him. “I’m fine, with no traces of asthma in sight. It’s just that I thought I heard you mention the name of a former neighbor of mine. A neighbor who
lived very modestly and whom I thought only did bouncer work at local clubs.”

  “Kentucky Jones was your neighbor?” Fabian asked with intrigue.

  “First, are we even talking about the same Kentucky Jones here? The one I’m referring to is from Miami and looks like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Giada replied.

  Fabian chuckled. “That’s the one. Though I have yet to meet the man in person and have only seen a picture of him, is he as mean as he looks?”

  Giada chuckled for a whole other reason. Only she knew that Kentucky’s bark was often worse than his bite, especially when it came to his stepmother . . . and his lover. Her lower body throbbed with the memory of what it had been like to be Kentucky’s lover. The man had been gentle and passionate all at the same time.

  “Put it like this, Kentucky knows how to be mean to the right people,” Giada replied with a knowing smile. “As for being my neighbor, I was actually neighbors with his mother,” she went on to clarify. “Kentucky didn’t live with her, but he was over there quite a lot. Either way, they were both very hospitable to me when I lived in the neighborhood. Kentucky even helped me out of a crisis once, so I know he’s going to be a great bodyguard for you.”

  Fabian smiled. “Now I know Bartley made a good choice. I can’t wait to meet this Kentucky dude now,” he said, showing that he trusted her judgment.

  Fabian had no reason not to trust Giada’s opinion in business matters. Not only had she helped him successfully renegotiate the contracts for this tour greatly in his favor, but she’d done so even better than his manager had. That last thing gave Bartley one more reason to hate her, as if he didn’t have enough reasons already.