Her attention span waned after that. During the last thirty minutes of the class, her mind wondered from the professor’s lecture to Marcus Brooks.
Why was she tempted to play with fire again?
* * *
As Tanya was beginning to pull out of her parking spot at the University, her cell phone rang. She figured it was Marcus being persistent and calling her prematurely, so she answered it without checking Caller ID.
“Hi Marcus.”
“Who is Marcus?”
Tanya’s heart literally jumped out of her chest at the sound of Justin’s voice.
“Justin?” She stopped the car short of backing up out of the parking spot and put the car in park.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Justin said. “Jesus! I thought you’d changed numbers. Do you know how long I’ve been trying to reach you?”
“Has it occurred to you that I didn’t want to be reached?”
“Let me guess?” Justin chuckled nervously. “Have anything to do with Marcus?”
“That’s none of your business.” She frowned. “What do you want?”
“Well, for the past few months I’ve been calling and calling with no answer or reply. I’ve sent flowers to your apartment and your work and I receive no thank you. What do you think I want?”
Her shoulders slumped and she rested her back against the car seat. “It’s too late, Justin. Your intentions were clear. You wanted a new life and a clean fresh slate—that’s what you said.”
“I made a mistake, okay? I realized that I needed you more than I thought.”
“So are you saying that you thought you wouldn’t need me at all? That’s funny,” she said, with a hint of snark in her voice.
“Tanya, I am so serious about this. Why haven’t you taken my calls?”
“I don’t like playing games, Justin. You know this,” she said.
“I’m not playing, alright. I made a mistake and I’m fessing up to it,” he replied. “I sent a FedEx package to your door last week. Did you receive it?”
“I did.” She shrugged. “But I didn’t open it. I meant to send it back. I don’t have time for Dear Jane letters after the fact.”
“It’s not a Dear Jane letter,” he said. “They were plane tickets.”
“Tickets for what?”
“I want you to come see me in New York. And…possibly stay.”
Tanya gasped, her fingers suddenly slipping on the phone. “You…what?”
“My move to New York will be permanent, but I want you back in my life.”
“No.” She shook her head. This couldn’t be happened. It had been almost a year and now he entertains the notion of her joining him in New York. “It’s too late, Justin. I’ve moved on. I’m sorry that I hadn’t picked up the phone earlier and called you, but I thought it would be better if we just didn’t talk at all. You really disappointed me.”
“I know, but don’t say it’s too late. It’s not.” He actually sounded hurt by her admission.
“I’m afraid it is. The truth is that I’ve moved on,” she said. “You started your clean, fresh slate, and so did I.”
“Marcus? Is that his name?”
Tanya swallowed. “I’m sorry, Justin. I wish you well with your new job.” She disconnected the call.
* * *
“This is too surreal,” Zaira said on the other end of the line. “He waits over six months to send you a plane ticket? Foolery, I say.”
“I couldn’t believe it.”
Tanya had called her best friend as soon as she got home. She folded her legs under her on the bed and took another swig of wine.
“I’ll be returning those tickets to the post office unopened tomorrow,” she said.
“Good for you. I can’t imagine what changed his mind,” Zaira replied. “Wait…does he know about you and Marcus?”
“No…” Tanya thought back to her blip when she answered the phone. “Not really.” She sighed. “And Marcus and I aren’t really on speaking terms either.”
“Girl…what the hell? What’s up with you and these men? What happened?”
“One question at a time. Look, I got a glimpse of what kind of drama I might have to deal with if Marcus and I moved forward with our relationship.”
“Well, do you want excitement and sometimes a bit of drama or the drab life? I mean, really, you said you were ready to move on with your life.”
“Let me finish…one of his old girlfriends showed up at that BBQ he invited me to and caused a scene in front of everyone. That sounds like a load of drama to me.”
“No way! But really, you know who Marcus is…the kind of women he attracts…how could you not know that he comes with drama?”
“Whatever.” Tanya was getting quite aggravated with Zaira. “Whose side are you on? I didn’t know who he was before we…”
“Before you fucked him in Ocho Rios. Go ahead and say it.” Zaira sighed on the other end. “Oh, the mess…you need to call Marcus back, I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding.”
“I’m not. I’ve told him I wasn’t ready for that life. I meant what I said.”
“You are so stubborn,” she huffed. “It’s no wonder Marcus has had an attitude all week. I mean was it that bad…did home girl show up and try to throw down with you?”
“No. From her reactions though I would say that she still has the hots for Marcus and—”
“Who wouldn’t? Dude is fuckin’ hot as hell. He hasn’t gone back with her, has he?”
“He went on this spiel about how he only wanted me. I just didn’t want to hear it. I was beyond shocked about her showing up to even process it. His brother took me home.”
“Which brother?”
“Trent. The one that came to the wedding with him.”
“Oh.” There was a moment of silence. “Did you go home with Trent or something?”
“No.”
“Fuck him?”
“No! Absolutely not!” Tanya smacked her palm to her forehead. “I’m surrounded by people who think everything is about sex.”
“That’s so not true.”
“How do you know Trent anyway?”
“From around the way,” Zaira replied. “And we’re talking about you. Marcus is a good guy from what I know about him. I think you should really drop the independent woman attitude, get your shit together, and go collect your man.”
Knowing that her friend spoke the truth, Tanya collapsed on the bed and looked up at the drab white ceiling of her drab normal apartment. “Maybe I just need some time to get my shit together, Zaira.”
“Don’t play games with a good man, Tanya.”
Chapter 12
MARCUS
Two days later…
As Marcus’ gaze dropped once again to the box sitting opened atop the desk in his home office, he ground his teeth in anger once again. In one hand, he held the TV remote control and his other hand was balled into a fist. His blood continued to boil despite the fact that the TV screen had gone black.
He swallowed down his anger, still not believing what he’d just seen on the screen. The woman that he thought was innocent and would never use him as others have done in the past wasn’t that innocent after all.
“Isn’t it ironic?” he mumbled, as he tossed the remote control on the desk next to the boxes.
The package had arrived shortly before lunch by private carrier. The shock came only after he realized what it was and whom it had come from. The return address had been from a New York residence. He’d thought nothing of it before opening it up since he had several business partners and acquaintances in New York City. The contents had turned out to be the eye-opener of the century.
He picked up the note that had been included with the DVD contained in the large package. “THANKS FOR KEEPING HER OCCUPIED WHILE I WAS AWAY.” The message was printed, not handwritten. Nothing else was included besides packing peanuts.
“Bastard.” He crumbled the paper in his fist and tossed it in the waste basket.
His heart tightened at the fact that her heart might still belong to another, even after all they’d shared since meeting in Jamaica.
Marcus’ mind had been made up a long time ago. He knew what he wanted and what he had to do to keep it.
He settled back in the chair, picked up his cell phone, and made a call.
* * *
TANYA
Several hours later…
The doorbell rang, interrupting Tanya from her job search online. She rarely got visitors out of the norm, so she figured it could only be one of two people. Marcus or Zaira. She uncurled her legs from under her, put her laptop on an end table, and got up to answer the door.
Her intuition was right. It was Marcus. Standing there like a fine example of a sex god ready to conquer.
Two days had passed since she’d last spoken with and nearly a week had passed since she’d last seen him. Why her heart skipped a beat now with him there in her doorway, she didn’t know. She didn’t know why her body revealed so much vulnerability. What his presence did confirm, was that she missed him. A lot.
Marcus leaned against her doorframe when she didn’t invite him inside. “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
“Not bad that you’re here, but bad because of what I was doing. Graduation is only months away and I’ve been doing some major job searching,” she replied. “I’ve had a migraine all morning from it.”
There was some slight hesitation in his demeanor, one that she hadn’t observed before. And today, he looked at her with almost a question on his face. “Would you like to go for a ride? To clear your mind a bit.”
Tanya bit her bottom lip, hesitating, but a positive reply was right on the tip of her tongue. She wanted this man, even if it cost her her sanity and led her into the risk zone. Like any other Sunday afternoon, he was dressed casually in form-fitting jeans, black T-shirt, and loosely tied Timberland boots. His motorcycle keys hung from the belt loop.
He must have sensed her hesitation, because he stepped closer to her, waited a few seconds for her resistance, and then embraced her. His strong muscular arms felt heavenly wrapped around her. Her body relaxed, her knees weakened, and she fell deeper into his embrace. His familiar fragrance renewed her, and she suddenly wished that she’d never been so stubborn to deny what she most obviously wanted.
“What took you so long to come?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“I wanted to give you space, time to think. I came here to ask you the same thing.”
She sighed against his chest. “I’m afraid of committing again. And I’m afraid that if I don’t commit, I’ll get another repeat of what happened at the BBQ.”
“I understand.” He kissed the top of her head. “Let’s ride. Get some fresh air. We can talk about this.”
She nodded. “Let me get my keys.”
* * *
They rode for about an hour up and down the Atlanta freeway and within the city limits and suburban areas. He alternated speeds between neck-breaking to monotonously slow. Consequently, she could compare her emotions over the last few weeks to the ever changing pace of the ride.
Finally, Marcus pulled into a cul-de-sac of townhouses. She’d only been to his home a few times during their first few dates, but she recognized it right before he pulled up into the driveway.
“I hope you don’t mind. It’s a little closer…and I have something to tell you,” Marcus said, as they slid off the bike and he collected the helmets.
“As long as you’ve got something to eat inside, I don’t mind at all,” she teased, walking up the sidewalk with him.
“I can put some steaks on the grill,” he replied, grinning.
Marcus’ home was the epitome of a bachelor pad with simple furnishings and toned down muted colors. He’d explained earlier that it was actually a rental provided by Svelte until he was able to settle down and buy his own place.
He threw his keys on an end stand in the foyer and pressed his fingers to the center of her back. “Make yourself at home.” He kissed her against the temple. “I’m going to take the steaks out and grab us something to drink.”
“Sure.” Tanya took a seat on his leather couch and grabbed a magazine off the coffee table. Once she recalled that they were to have a talk about the relationship, her nervousness set in again.
“Oh, and before I forget…” Marcus came back around the corner and handed her a key chain with two keys on it. “Keep these with you.”
“What for?” She accepted the keys, but looked up at him in confusion.
“A set of keys to get into my house. Just in case you need a change of scenery or if you just want to come visit.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I do…” he said. “You are the only woman in my life and I want to see more of you each and every day.”
“Marcus, I…” Tanya blushed, breaking the eye contact.
“Let me go get those steaks ready and some drinks. We have something to talk about.”
She swallowed, pushed the keys down into her jeans pocket, and settled back on the couch. The images in the sports magazine she flipped through did nothing to cool her anticipation.
* * *
“Tanya, I want you to know that I’m in this for the long run.” Marcus set down his beer and turned to face her completely. “The moment I met you back in Ocho Rios, I knew I wanted you and despite how fast we became intimate, it was never about sex for me.”
Tanya took a sip of the daiquiri. “I guess you know I have reservations already. I’ve only been in one serious relationship prior to you and before that the men all wanted one thing.”
“You and I share something in common. Maybe more in common, than normal. Becca and I had been off and on for the past three years before we officially broke up. I couldn’t quite pinpoint why it was that I could never commit to her, and then I realized what type of woman she was.” He shook his head. “It took me almost three years to figure out that she was money hungry and enjoyed having more than a few men in her back pocket.”
“What does that mean?”
“In the beginning, our relationship was non monogamous. Open. Which meant we agreed on seeing other people.”
“How can a relationship like that work?” Tanya asked.
“It didn’t. Not in the long run. I came to realize that what we had wasn’t a relationship at all. I think Becca got a bit of a rush or confidence booster that she was my main lover and I was hers, like we agreed. I was tired of it, tired of playing around, but Becca convinced me to give her a chance and we promised to stop dating others. Faithfulness is not something Becca was very good at. I don’t think it would have hurt so badly if she hadn’t been sleeping with one of the members of Rugged.”
“Oh.” Tanya frowned. “You must have had feelings for Becca, then?”
It took him a while to answer. “There’s affection, lust, and then there’s true love. I’ve grown to learn the difference.”
“Sorry that happened, but I’m glad you’re being truthful with me.”
“I can’t control what other people do, but do know that after what happened I made certain she knew that we were through. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my past when it comes to women, Tanya. I’ve had many, many failed relationships. I played the field because I could and because that’s what I wanted. In the end, there’s no fun in the outcome of it. Broken hearts. Hurt feelings. These things come up to haunt you in future relationships as it has done here with us. You will not be one I fail at keeping. My life is purposeful now with you in it. I can wake up in the morning and know that when I’m with y
ou, everything will be as it should be. I don’t want that feeling to end ever again. When you refused to see me, I experienced what that felt like.”
“Not only am I an emotional wreck, I’ve got baggage too,” she admitted.
He arched a brow. “Care to tell me all about it?”
“Has Zaira told you who Justin is—was I mean?”
“Why don’t you tell me? I hate gossip and hearsay.”
She exhaled, but continued to make eye contact with Marcus. “My ex, Justin, used to work for Svelte in the accounting department. I can’t believe you haven’t found that out yet. This is why I had issues with you and me continuing a relationship after Ocho Rios.”
His brows came together. “Why would you let someone you no longer want in your life dictate your future?”
She shrugged. “I thought maybe it would be an embarrassment if you found out that the woman you were dating had also been with a past employee.”
“Sometimes things happen for a reason. We met in Ocho Rios because of the wedding, but I do think that sooner or later, we would have met. This Justin is not the only thing we have in common,” he replied. “I’ve told you this many times, but I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of me. I’ve gone through that phase earlier in life.” He took her hand. “Why should I care if they didn’t give birth to me, aren’t paying my bills, aren’t fucking me, and aren’t taking care of me?”
“Okay…”
“I know exactly what I want. You.” Marcus kissed the back of her hand. “You’re the type of woman that you have for a lifetime. Can you commit to me? Can you commit to us?”
“You have everything you need versus trying to obtain what you want. You’re already successful, and you’re different, but it will take some time for me give full trust again.”
“I’ll be patient, Tanya.”
A long sensuous kiss confirmed their declarations, and Tanya was sure now that she’d found a man who understood her.
Seduced by Sin: Sean (Rugged Riders #3) Page 25
