by Naomi Chase
Her nostrils flared slightly, as if she’d caught a whiff of something foul. His sweaty underarms, maybe. Or the lack of finances she presumed he was working with.
“Thanks,” she declined in a cool, sexy voice, “but I think I can buy my own pack of gum and soda.”
The cashier snickered.
Not to be deterred, Brandon came back smoothly with, “How about dinner then?”
She raked him with another slow, appraising look. And her expression said it all: You can’t afford me.
“No, thank you,” she murmured.
As she turned away, dismissing him without another thought, the cashier shot him a sympathetic look. But Brandon was more amused than dejected.
To his surprise, she was waiting for him when he emerged from the convenience store. She’d pushed her sunglasses off her face, and he didn’t know whether to lose himself in her hypnotic eyes or the luscious swell of her cleavage.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
Before he could respond, Dre stuck his head out the truck’s passenger window and yelled, “Yo, Chambers! Get the magic digits and let’s bounce before the rental place closes at five!”
Shaking his head, Brandon gave the bodacious beauty a small, rueful grin.“Please excuse my friend. He has no home training.”
She chuckled softly, and he swore he saw the wheels turning in her mind. Had she made the connection that he could be related to the lieutenant governor? he wondered. He hoped not. But anyone who’d ever seen his father on television knew that Brandon was the spitting image of him.
“Got a first name, Chambers?”
“Brandon.”
She graced him with a lovely smile.“Tamia.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Tamia. I’d shake your hand, but …” He trailed off, indicating his armful of bottled drinks.
“That’s okay.” She dug into her Gucci pocketbook and fished out a business card, then slipped it between his lips. Her eyes were sensual and inviting.“Call me.”
He did, of course.
But he’d waited three days just to punish her for treating him like a wad of gum stuck to a hot sidewalk. Once they started dating, she admitted that she’d mistaken him for one of the many day laborers who constantly hit on her at gas stations.
I always turn them down, she’d explained. But you were so damn sweaty and sexy, I just couldn’t resist.
“Look at you.” Dre’s amused voice dragged Brandon back to the present. “Standing there grinning like a damn fool. Pussy-whipped, that’s what you are.”
“Shut up, man.” But Brandon couldn’t even deny the charge.
“Before you know it,” Dre warned teasingly, “she’s gonna have you packing up your shit and moving into her house like Leah talked me into doing.”
Brandon grinned.“And you call me pussy-whipped.”
Idly he removed a DVD from the box. It was a copy, so there was no jacket. Just the movie title scrawled in marker across the white plastic case. “Mystique Slave Chronicles,” he read aloud, then glanced over at Dre, brows raised. “What the hell is this? Some bootleg porn flick?”
Dre grinned.“That’s not porn, my friend. That is a work of art.”
Brandon smirked.“Riiight.”
“No, for real. The star of the video? She went by the name Mystique, and let me tell you, she was a baaad mothafucka. Her body was straight bangin’, and the things she did on screen? Ooo-wee! Blew my mind every time.”
Brandon chuckled wryly, shaking his head. “Does Leah know you’ve been jerking off to another woman?”
“Hell, naw! I’m not stupid. She hates watching pornos. She’s kind of a prude.” Dre grinned.“Like you.”
Brandon took umbrage. “Hey, I’m not a prude. But I haven’t watched porn since we were in college, and nowadays I really don’t see the point. I mean, if I’m horny and wanna get laid, I know where to go. And trust me,” he added with a wicked grin as he held up the DVD,“this Mystique chick’s got nothing on Tamia.”
Dre scowled.“Damn, nigga, why you gotta be rubbing that shit in my face?”
Brandon laughed, returning the DVD to the box.
“Hold up. Don’t put that back. I need you to take it with you, along with the other ones.”
“What? I don’t think so.”
“Come on, B,” Dre cajoled, walking over to him. “I can’t take those DVDs to Leah’s house. If she ever found them, she’d kill me.”
“Then why don’t you just get rid of them?”
Dre’s eyes bugged out.“Are you crazy? The Mystique Slave Chronicles videos are practically collector’s items, ’cause she retired from the industry years ago. My own brother wouldn’t even let me borrow the originals. I had to ask him to make copies for me.” Dre retrieved a small stack of DVDs from the box and passed it to Brandon, who accepted the stash as reluctantly as if he’d been handed contraband.
“Just hold them for me for safekeeping,” Dre said.
“Yeah, okay,” Brandon grumbled.“But if Tamia finds them and goes off on me, I’m kicking your black ass.”
Dre laughed.“Just find a good hiding place for them. But if you do get busted and you need a little somethin’ somethin’ to tide you over until wifey lets you out of the doghouse, I highly recommend popping in one of Mystique’s videos.” He grinned slyly. “If you’re gonna get in trouble for having them, you might as well watch them.”
Chapter 11
Tamia was avoiding Brandon.
She couldn’t face him after what she and Dominic had done. Once she’d come off her lust-induced high that night, guilt had assailed her, blanketing her conscience like a thick, grimy layer of sludge.
She’d allowed another man to go down on her.
Worse, she’d thoroughly enjoyed it.
Even worse than that—and here was the really fucked-up part—she wanted more.
It was so bad that she’d actually found herself anticipating the next time she’d be summoned to Dominic’s penthouse. She constantly checked her e-mail, and every time her phone rang, her pulse went through the roof.
But three days had passed with no word from Dominic.
On Wednesday evening, she was driving home from work when her cell went off. But it wasn’t Dominic.
It was her man.
Tamia gulped hard. She’d been dodging Brandon for days, keeping their phone conversations brief and telling him she had to work late every time he hinted at wanting to see her. As guilty as she felt, she was afraid he’d take one look at her and know she’d been unfaithful. On the other hand, she couldn’t keep avoiding him, or he’d definitely know something was wrong.
She answered the phone.“Hey, you.”
“Hey, baby,” Brandon said warmly.“How was your day?”
“Long.” She sighed.“Exhausting.”
“I know what you mean. The walls were closing in on me, so I called it a day and rolled out at five-thirty. Shocked the hell out of everyone.”
“Really?” Tamia glanced at the dashboard clock. It was 7:47.“So you’re home?”
“No. I stopped over at Dre’s to check up on him.”
“How is he?” Tamia asked with a wry grin. “Specifically, how much packing has he gotten done?”
Brandon chuckled. “Not enough. And now he’s freaking out because the movers are coming in two days.”
Tamia tsk-tsked.“That’s what he gets for procrastinating.”
“I know. That’s what I told him. He ain’t trying to hear it, though.”
“I’ll bet.” Tamia merged into another lane.
“So where are you? Home?”
“On my way.”
“I was thinking about swinging by,” Brandon said slowly.
She felt a twinge of panic.“Tonight?”
“No. Next year.” He chuckled. “Of course tonight. I haven’t seen you all week. I miss you.”
Tamia melted.“I miss you, too.” It was true. She missed the way things had been before Dominic came along, turning her worl
d upside down.
“If you want,” she offered softly,“I could meet you at your place in twenty minutes.”
“Oh, man, I’d love that.” Brandon wavered, then blew out a resigned breath.“But I think I should hang out here and give Dre a helping hand. He’s laying on the guilt pretty thick, calling in favors that date back to high school.”
Tamia chuckled dryly.“That is so wrong.” She didn’t know whether to be relieved or offended that Brandon was choosing his best friend over her.
“So you won’t mind if I take a rain check tonight?” he verified.
“No, I guess it’s okay.” She sighed. “If you weren’t being such a good friend seven months ago, we never would have met.”
“I know.”There was a smile in Brandon’s voice.“I was just reminiscing about that earlier.”
“Were you?”
“Yeah.” His voice lowered, as if he’d gone into another room for privacy.“Listen … Is everything okay?”
The question caught her off-guard. “Of course,” she said quickly. Too quickly.“Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. You’ve just seemed … preoccupied lately.”
Guilt gnawed at her insides. “I’m sorry. Things have been so busy at work, I haven’t had the time or energy to concentrate on anything else. You know how it is.”
“Of course I do. Believe me, I have no room to complain, as many times as I’ve neglected you over work.”
She winced at the implication that he felt neglected. Not good. Definitely not good.
“I just wanted to make sure everything’s okay,” he continued gently.
“Everything’s fine, baby,” she assured him. “Don’t worry. Things will settle down eventually.”
“I hope so.” He pushed out a deep, weary breath. “That weekend getaway’s sounding better and better every day.”
“Really?” Her mood lifted a little. “I could start researching some places, checking available dates and airfare.”
“You do that. Maybe we could sneak away one weekend before the trial starts.”
“That’d be wonderful.” She grinned.“Okay. I’m on it.”
“Sounds good.” Brandon sighed. “Well, let me run. Dre’s bribing me with pizza and unlimited cold beers.”
“Is that all?” Tamia laughed. “He’d better throw in some season tickets to make it worth your while. ’Cause if he weren’t such a procrastinator, you could be getting laid tonight.”
Brandon groaned. “Damn. Don’t remind me. Yeah, that nigga owes me big time.”
“He owes me, too. And you tell him I said so.”
“Oh, I will. Most definitely. Have a good night, baby.”
“You, too.”
As Tamia disconnected the call, her smile faded.
She wished she could believe what she’d told Brandon, but she knew better. Everything was not fine, and as long as Dominic remained in the picture, threatening to expose her scandalous secret, nothing would ever be the same again.
She was still deep in thought when she pulled into her driveway and cut the ignition. As she grabbed her handbag and climbed out of the car, movement from the house drew her gaze. She’d forgotten to turn on the porch light when she left home that morning, and now the small house was cloaked in darkness. A shadowy figure sat on the porch swing, slowly rocking back and forth.
A chill ran through Tamia.
Without taking her eyes off the stranger, she reached inside her purse. As her fingers closed around the compact canister of Mace, the man slowly got to his feet.
Her heart skipped several beats. Visions of being attacked by a home intruder sprinted through her mind.
“Mamacita?”
Tamia froze, staring in shock. “Lou?”
A low, raspy chuckle floated through the gloom.“The one and only.”
Relief flowed through her like fresh water. Exhaling a shaky breath, she made her way toward the house. As she stepped onto the porch, Lou Saldaña wrapped her in a tight bear hug and kissed the top of her head. Her nostrils were filled with the heavy musk of his cologne mingled with cigarette smoke.
As they drew apart, he said,“Turn on the light so I can see you better.”
Tamia unlocked the front door, deactivated the security alarm, then flipped on the porch light.
Looking her up and down, Lou gave a long wolf whistle. “Ay, mamacita! Estás buena!You look as good as ever.”
Tamia smiled.“You don’t look too bad yourself, papi.”
It was true. Though he’d gained some weight around his midsection and the pores of his pockmarked skin seemed more pronounced, Lou was still good-looking by anyone’s standards. His thick black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a tattoo of a serpent climbed up his neck past the collar of his loose shirt. With craggy brows that sank low over piercing eyes, full lips, and a swagger that oozed machismo, he resembled Benicio Del Toro enough to draw double takes wherever he went.
Although it was rumored that the Puerto Rican porn king personally auditioned every actress he hired, Lou had never so much as propositioned Tamia. Which was why she’d always liked and respected him.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she offered.
“Naw, I’m good. I just came from dinner.”
Tamia glanced up and down the quiet, darkened street. “Where’s your driver?”
Lou gestured vaguely. “Cruising around.” He took her hand and led her over to the porch swing.“Let’s sit outside. It’s a nice night. Not too muggy, you know?”
As they sat down, the rickety wood creaked and groaned under their weight.
Fragments of memory drifted through Tamia’s mind. The gentle rocking motions of the swing on a sweltering summer afternoon … The sound of her grandmother crooning her favorite hymn as she braided Tamia’s unruly hair … Fiona’s childish squeals as she raced around the small yard, blissfully oblivious to her sister’s envious glare … Tamia, feeling appeased when someone brought her an ice cream cone … licking eagerly to devour the cold sweetness before it melted down her arm …
“Heard about your sister. Damn shame. How’s she doing?”
Roused from the soft haze of her reverie, Tamia answered Lou, “She’s doing well. Holding up better than I thought she would. She gets out next month.”
“Good, good.” Lou leaned back, stretching out his long legs.“Think she’ll stay out of trouble this time?”
“She’d better,” Tamia muttered,“or I’ll kill her.”
Lou chuckled. “She’s lucky to have you looking out for her.”
“That’s what I keep telling her.”
Lou nodded slowly, abstractedly.
Tamia waited. She knew he hadn’t shown up at her house after all these years to discuss her wayward sister.
After several moments, he finally spoke.“About two weeks ago, a man came to the studio asking questions about you.”
“I know.”
Surprised, Lou stared at her.“You knew?”
“Yes.” She hesitated.“He showed up at my job.”
“Puñeta coño! Why didn’t you come and tell me?”
“I was in shock. I didn’t know what to think.” She met his stunned gaze.“I didn’t know who to trust.”
Lou gave her a wounded look.“You thought I told him?”
“Honestly? I didn’t know who talked.”
“Well, it wasn’t me,” Lou growled. “I gave you my word that I’d keep your identity a secret, and I have. You think it’s been easy? Do you know how many inquiries I still receive about you? My distributors have been urging me to reproduce your videos and put them back on the market. If you were still in the industry, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But you left that life behind, so I have to respect your decision and move the hell on.”
“Thank you,”Tamia said humbly.
He waved a dismissive hand, mumbling under his breath in Spanish.
Tamia sighed, feeling like shit for ever doubting his loyalty. “How much did he offer you?”
>
Lou snorted. “He didn’t get the chance. As soon as I saw where the conversation was going, I had him tossed out on his fucking ass.” His expression turned grim. “But he obviously found someone willing to talk.”
“Do you have any idea who?”
“Maybe,” Lou muttered darkly.“Don’t worry. I’ll be looking into it.”
Tamia sighed heavily. “Thanks, Lou. But it doesn’t really matter who talked. What’s done is done.”
Lou sent her a sharp look.“What did he want?”
Shame engulfed her. Dropping her gaze, she mumbled, “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m handling the situation, doing what I gotta do.”
Lou said nothing. She didn’t have to spell it out for him. He knew exactly what she was doing to ensure Dominic’s cooperation. He might not approve, but he was the last person on earth who would judge her.
A long, heavy silence lapsed between them.
Before either could break it, a dark QX56 Infiniti tricked out with gleaming rims, tinted windows, and chrome trim pulled up quietly to the curb.
Tamia let out an appreciative whistle.“Nice whip, papi.”
Lou smiled.“You know how I do.”
The swing creaked and rocked gently as he stood. Cupping Tamia’s chin in his hand, he searched her face in the warm glow of the porch light.“If you ever need my help, mamacita, you know where to reach me.”
She swallowed, then nodded slowly. “Thanks, Lou … for everything.”
“Don’t mention it.”
As he sauntered off the porch, she called out,“Lou?”
He glanced back at her.
She hesitated. “I heard … the studio’s been having some problems. Is that true?”
“Yeah.”A sardonic grin cut across his face.“But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Chapter 12
The next afternoon, Tamia was waiting in line at her favorite gourmet coffee shop across the street from her office building when Brandon called.“Hey, beautiful. What’re you up to?”
She smiled. “Getting my two p.m. chai latte fix. What about you?”
“Getting ready for a meeting. But I wanted to call and see if you have to work late tonight.”
