by Sloan, Molly
Radhika had told her how Andrew stormed down to the cemetery and confronted Mykel. They had been trying to get the upper hand on Mykel for months, and somehow Andrew accomplished it in a matter of minutes.
Janet’s heart started sinking again. He is so perfect in so many ways. If only he weren’t such a playboy, she thought. Taking a swig of her beer, she shook her head to clear the dark thoughts.
“Janet? Did you hear us? We were asking how long Andrew was planning on being in town?”
She forced a professional smile on her face and said, “Probably not much longer. His business here is done.”
“Ummm…there’s one little piece of business he hasn’t finished yet...am I right?” David was looking at her pointedly. “Monkey business with you.” Everyone but Janet laughed.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
Everyone looked shocked. Radhika was the first to ask, “Why not? You are both so perfect for each other!”
“Not if he’s sleeping with his assistant. I don’t exactly call that perfect.” Janet looked down at the plate of chips in front of her.
All at once, the group burst out in Andrew’s defense. “Fiona? No way.” “You have to be kidding me.” “She’s not even pretty!” This last one came from David, who was looking rather agitated.
Radhika had been silent. “Janet. I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that Andrew is not sleeping with Fiona. Winston and I talked about it one night, and he told me that they’d had a fling shortly after you and Andrew broke up, but that was in the past. Janet. Andrew is in love with you.”
Elyse confirmed. “She’s right. That day when we were building the bunk beds, I overheard him asking Nicole if she knew your ring size and what color diamonds you prefer.”
Janet’s head started to swirl. He’s not sleeping with Fiona? He’s in love with me? He was asking Nicole about a ring?
It was almost too much to take in.
Coral stood up from the table. “I think it’s time we call it a night, ladies. Looks like Janet has a phone call to make.”
“I’m glad you called, Red. It feels like forever since we’ve been alone.” Andrew stepped through Janet’s front door with one hand behind his back. He presented her with a dozen ruby red roses, wrapped in newspaper. “A peace offering? Even though I’m not really sure what I did. But whatever it was, I’m sorry.”
The look in his eyes was so intense that it made her heart stutter in her chest. “How did you get roses this late at night? Everything in town is closed!” Janet pushed her face into the fragrant bouquet and inhaled a deep breath. She was as much trying to calm her heart as she was trying to smell the roses.
“I have friends everywhere,” he said, as he took the flowers from her and laid them on the counter. “But there is only one woman I love.”
Andrew pulled Janet close, took her by the waist, and pulled her up against his strong, hard body.
“What?” she asked, looking into his eyes.
“I love you, Janet,” he said softly. “Even though we’ve been apart for so long, I knew it the moment I saw you. I realized that I never stopped.”
Janet pushed up onto her tiptoes and kissed him. “I never stopped loving you either,” she whispered against his mouth. “I’m sorry for the-”
Before she could get the words out, Andrew covered her mouth with a deep kiss.
Janet took his hand and let him through the darkened living room to her bedroom. Before, their need for each other had been insistent, urgent and impatient. But now Andrew was so careful and almost reverent as he pulled her shirt over her head. He leaned in to kiss her again, his mouth hungry and questing as he undid the clasp on her bra, and pulled it off, revealing her breasts. His palms were hot and rough against her nipples. His gentle kneading sent zaps of pleasure to the place between her thighs.
“Andrew,” she breathed. “I need you.”
“I’m right here, Red. You have me.”
He moved them toward the bed, lowering her down gently so that she lay on her back. Janet’s fingers fumbled at the drawstring on her linen pants and he helped her pull them off, taking her panties with them.
Andrew leaned back and sighed while gazing down at her. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered before covering her mouth with his again.
Janet reached for him, needily grabbing handfuls of his curls and pushing her hand under the t-shirt that she immediately yanked over his head. He caught her wrists, still trapped in the soft fabric, and pinned them over her head. She struggled against him for a moment, but he distracted her by making a trail of kisses from her mouth to her breasts.
When his mouth closed around one of her nipples, Janet moaned and arched off the bed. No man had been in her bed since they broke up. And Andrew’s mouth sucking and nibbling at her sensitive nipples reminded her of why. Andrew was the first, and his hands and mouth reawakened that desire in a way no other man could. She writhed and twisted under his attentions and when his hand finally found its way between her thighs, she cried out.
“Please, Andrew. Please,” she begged as his fingertips slipped over her tight bud.
“Shhh…” he quieted as he pulled away and stood at the edge of the bed to take off his pants. He made quick work of it, but her eyes still roamed every beautiful inch of his bared skin. Instead of climbing on top of her, he dropped to his knees and covered her achingly empty core with his mouth. His tongue lathed her clit and her opening with each broad lick and soon she was spiraling toward an intense orgasm.
Her hands, free from his makeshift manacles, grabbed two fistfuls of his hair and pulled him up to meet her. “Inside of me. I want you inside of me when I come.”
“Do you have condoms?” he asked.
“No. But there has been no one else…” She hated to break the moment but had to ask. “Do you?”
“No. But I had a complete physical not too long ago. And it’s been years for me too. We’re good.”
Relieved, Janet leaned back on the bed and smiled. “Then, get over here.”
Andrew crawled across the bed and settled himself in the cradle of her thighs. She kissed him and tasting herself on his lips made her need spike. She rolled her hips against him until the tip of his cock was positioned at her entrance.
“Please, please, please,” she begged again until he finally slid inside of her.
“Oh, god, Red,” he murmured against her shoulder as he pressed into her slowly, gently, and carefully.
He moved with slow, shallow thrusts until she began to meet each thrust, seating him deeper. Then he stopped being careful and gentle. He hooked his hand under her knee and pushed her hips wider as he plunged deep, over and over again until she tightened around him, squeezing, triggering a release that made her slipperier and heightened all of the nerve endings inside of her.
“I’m coming...” she moaned but the words had barely left her mouth before it rolled through her, clamping down on his cock so hard that he gritted his teeth and growled.
Before she could catch her breath, he hooked her knees over his shoulders and pumped into her, hard and fast. Soon she felt the pleasure building again.
“Come with me,” he whispered. “I want to feel you coming around me as I come.”
His words worked like some kind of spell and with panting breaths and strangled moans Andrew chased her orgasm with his own.
Chapter Thirteen: The Call
For a moment, Andrew was confused. First, there were birds chirping outside. Why are there birds in my hotel room? Then, there was an incessant buzzing coming from across the room. Is that my phone? Why isn’t it on the nightstand? And, last, it appeared from the feel of the sheets on his bare skin that he was naked. Where are my clothes?
But before he could open his eyes, the memory came to consciousness. Janet. They made love. Almost all night… The memories stirred in his mind. And soon, something else started to stir.
“Are you going to sleep all day?” Janet walked into her bedroom
holding two steaming mugs of coffee.
Sitting up in bed, he answered, “If I can sleep with you, absolutely.” Reaching out for the mug, he heard the buzzing of his phone again.
Janet was looking around for the source of the sound. “Where is it? Under my pants? Your t-shirt? I can’t find it!”
Janet looked like a Disney princess the day after a night with her prince. Her red curls fell down over her face as she was bent over looking for his phone. Those delicious breasts were falling out of her robe as she leaned forward, moving pieces of clothes about.
“Leave it, Red. I have something else that’s buzzing that needs your attention more…”
“Oh here it is. How did it get under the bed?” Janet handed him the phone, without looking at it.
Reluctantly, Andrew took the phone. “I’ll just get rid of whoever it is… Cole? Hey, buddy. Why are you calling so late?” Although it was 9:30 am in Francistown, it was 2:30 in the morning in New York.
“Sorry to call so early. I’ve been trying to get you all night. It’s Ryan. There’s been an accident.”
Andrew sat up straight in bed. Ryan was Andrew’s college friend. Cole and Andrew had been roommates, and across the hall were Ryan and Michael. Ryan was Ryan Cummings, and his family owned Cummings Construction, a large firm in California. Ryan had taken the first few commissions from his role as the lead architect and invested in tech stocks. A couple of good calls meant that he, too, was a billionaire.
Not that any of that mattered now. “How bad is it?”
“We don’t know yet. Mike got the call last night and he called me from the plane. I’m headed to London in a couple of hours myself. It doesn’t look good, Andrew.”
Shit, shit, shit. They were too young to be dealing with this. “I’m on my way.”
Janet had been standing nearby, watching, and said, “On your way where? What happened?”
“To London. Ryan has been in an accident.”
“Ryan? Ryan Cummings? From college?” Janet looked pale. “Oh my god.”
“I have to go.” Embracing her, Andrew pleaded, “Will you come with me? Please?”
Janet took a step back. “I can’t. I have to stay here. There’s Oba and A Place for Grace. And I have meetings with the community leaders. I just can’t go.”
Pulling on his jeans, and running a hand through his hair to straighten it, he said, “I understand. But I have to go. Ryan, Cole, Mike…we’re like brothers. If I can help in any way, I have to be there.”
They kissed, and held each other tightly, not wanting to let go. They had just found each other again. It just wasn’t fair. “I’ll call you when I land.”
As the doors opened to Bart’s, St. Bartholomew Hospital in London, Andrew recalled the last time he’d been in a hospital. It was the day his caravan had almost killed Janet. The day he met Oba. The thought of them so far away made his heart sink. But, they had walked out of the hospital with little more than a few scrapes. Who knows? Maybe Ryan will get lucky, too.
“Andrew! I’m glad you made it.” It was Cole.
“I jumped on the first flight I could catch. I had to fly coach!”
Cole chuckled. “Such indignity! Did you at least have a pretty seatmate?”
“No, it was a very large Irishman named Fergus. Not a good way to spend seven hours, I’ll tell you. How’s Ryan?”
“Still unconscious. He hasn’t woken up since they brought him in two days ago,” Cole whispered.
“There he is!” Michael strode toward his two friends and embraced Andrew. “Usually when one of us is passed out for two days, it’s you, man.” Only a good friend could get away with a comment like that.
“What happened? Why is he in London?”
“Not sure. The last I heard was that Cummings Construction was in talks to build a hotel out here. Kind of a Hotel California vibe. Maybe that’s why he was here?” Michael didn’t seem to know more than that.
“That’s kind of random,” Andrew said. “I wonder what the backstory is that led a California construction company to want to build a hotel in London.”
Cole chimed in with more information. “Don’t know. But they were on their way to tour a potential site when some car came into their lane and crashed head-on. Ryan lost control of the SUV and it rolled. Thank god he was wearing a seatbelt. It saved his life.”
Michael added, “They had to cut him out from the car, though. Some kind of head injury. We’re not sure.”
Andrew looked at his friend, unconscious in a hospital room, far away from his family and felt a rush of emotion. You have to make it, buddy. We need you. At the very least, I need you in my wedding...
Chapter Fourteen: X-Ray Vision
“You hang up first.” Janet was laying in bed, Facetiming Andrew. Since London was two hours behind Francistown, it was still dark where he was, but the sun was just coming up through Janet’s window.
“I’ve told you a thousand times, I am not ever going to hang up on you.” Andrew’s deep voice stirred something primal in Janet.
“A thousand times? Really? Who are you, now? David?” Janet laughed. Andrew had been gone for a little more than three weeks, and they had managed to Facetime every morning since he left.
“How is Ryan’s PT coming along?”
Ryan had awakened from his coma a few days after Andrew got to London. He’d had a concussion - a pretty bad one - and lost some function in his legs. He was doing physical therapy every day to regain his ability to walk normally.
“Pretty good. In fact, I need to get over there early this morning. Mike has to get back to the States, and we are meeting for breakfast before he leaves for Heathrow. What about you? What’s my gorgeous girl doing today?”
For all her independence, Janet still swooned when Andrew called her “my girl.”
“Just another meeting with the architect on the construction for Extended Grace.”
“I love that name, by the way. It’s like an African version of Ronald McDonald House, where families can stay together during medical treatment. You have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met, Red. I love you.”
“I love you too, Andrew. I can’t wait to see you again.”
Pulling on a pair of black slacks and a turquoise top, Janet headed out to kiss Oba in the dining room on her way to her office. Things are going so well right now, Janet thought. A little too well, actually. What do you bet my mother calls today?
“Mama look! I have a loose tooth!” Oba had just started calling Janet “Mama.” At first, Janet felt a little uncomfortable. But Radhika had assured her that Gouta would have wanted her son to call Janet “Mama.”
“Why yes, yes you do, little king. It’s your first one! When I was a little girl, when I lost a tooth, I put it under my pillow and a fairy left me a dollar for the tooth.”
Oba’s eyes grew wide. “A fairy! Can I put my tooth under your pillow, too?”
Janet laughed and affectionately patted his head. “We shall see, little king. We shall see.”
“I need to see the spreadsheets of the budget forecast for A Place for Grace.” Alexis’ voice was demanding and shrill as she didn’t even bother with saying hello to Janet.
“Good morning to you, too, Mother.” I called it, didn’t I? Janet thought.
“It’s not a good morning to me when I am expecting to see a report detailing how the foundation money is being spent and I’m not getting it. What are you doing out there, Janet? Do I need to come out there and see for myself?”
Rolling her eyes, Janet appeased her mother. “No, you don’t need to come here. The reason the forecast is late is because I need to see how much we are going to need for Extended Grace. Those figures should be in later today, and I’ll have the spreadsheet to you tomorrow.”
Just then, there was a knock on Janet’s door. “Come in.” The door opened to reveal Elyse and Oba standing there. “Mother, I have to go.”
Oba was standing with a huge smile on his face and a gap where his fron
t tooth used to be. Extending his hand toward Janet, he proudly stated, “Look, Mama. My tooth is out! Can we put it under your pillow now?”
Walking over to the small boy, she kissed him on the top of the head and took the small pearl of a tooth cradled in his pink palm. “It’s supposed to go under YOUR pillow, little king.”
Elyse gave her a warning look. How would it look if one of the boys got a visit from the tooth fairy and didn’t visit the rest?
“But, you know what? I bet the tooth fairy will think to look under my pillow, too. Let’s go put it there for her to find.”
“Has he ever had an X-ray of his teeth before?” The dentist was looking at Janet as Oba sat in the huge chair with a paper napkin tied around his little neck.
“No, this is his first time to the dentist. I just figured since he lost his first tooth this morning, we should have him looked at.”
“That’s fine. Let’s go ahead and get a set of X-rays.” Leaning over and whispering to her, the dentist added, “I find that the little ones get nervous. Can you stay with him during the X-rays?” Janet nodded as he handed Oba a lead blanket. “Just put this blanket on your lap.”
Handing her a lead vest to wear herself, he asked Janet, “There’s no chance you might be pregnant, is there? X-rays can damage a fetus.”
Pregnant? Janet started doing mental calculations. Could she be pregnant? Andrew had been gone almost a month. When was her last cycle? Was it before…?
“Little king? Mama is going to step right outside while the nice dentist takes pictures of your teeth. You’ll be fine.”
Oba was looking at a book of stickers and said, “Okay, mama.”
As she closed the door to the exam room, her heart was pounding. Could it be possible?
Chapter Fifteen: The BBC
“Are you seriously going to eat all of that?” Cole laughed at Michael, as he sat down at the table in the hospital cafeteria with a heaping plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, fried bread, and for good measure, a slice of dark blood sausage.
