“Oh my God! Faith Flare is your mom? She is one of my favorite designers.”
Kalon wiped his hand on his napkin and smiled at Taylor. “I can’t believe I told you all that. I never let a woman into my personal life. And I have never ever told a woman that my mother is a famous designer. She’s probably the reason I can appreciate the finer things in a woman like you.”
She cut him off before he went back to talking about what he liked in her. “What about your dad?”
“Oh, he owns his own construction business. “Maybe you’ve heard of it—Knight Construction.”
Taylor frowned. “Nope, sorry. I haven’t heard of him.” She continued her little interview. “So I read your bio on how you got started with your company and what motivated you growing up. I really admire you, Kalon.”
“So maybe I’m not as bad as people say.”
He earned a smile for that. “They didn’t say you were bad. It was just that you were a player.”
She could see that he was the one who wanted to change the subject now. They engaged in more conversation about his business and her business. Their meal was slow and relaxing. When they finally finished eating, she helped him clean up the kitchen. Then they both grabbed their wine glasses and plopped down on the sofa in front of the window overlooking the water.
“So why did it take you a week to call me?”
He had to go there, she thought to herself. She stared straight ahead. “I was really stressed and had a lot going on. Believe me when I say you don’t want to be around me when I’m like that.”
He played the rejection card. “I thought you didn’t like me or maybe you thought I wasn’t attractive.”
Hell naw. I thought you was fine as hell. Taylor grunted.
Kalon sat his wine glass down on the coaster and took her glass out of her hand. “If you’re stressed, remember I can be your stress reliever, if only you would let me.”
Taylor got lost in his words. He leaned forward and kissed her. It started as a few soft pecks and then the kiss became aggressive. He took her mouth greedily and held it hostage. He swept his tongue all over her mouth and sucked on her bottom lip. Taylor released her mouth to him to do with it as he pleased. It seemed like kissing was his specialty and she never wanted him to stop.
Ari’s face crept up in her mind. He did this to her. He was the reason why she was here now trying to find comfort in another man’s arms.
She felt Kalon’s hand move to her breast. He pulled her halter dress down and her 34-Cs spilled out. He took one nipple for his dessert, then the other. Taylor let out loud moans, flinging her head back on the sofa.
Not again, she thought when she felt him pull away. She was a willing participant this time and she didn’t want him to stop. He pulled her dress back up to cover her breasts and guided her to her feet. Leading her by the hand, they walked down a long hallway until they reached his bathroom. A tub the size of Lake Michigan sat grandly in the middle of the room.
She was as hot as the red décor.
He bent over the tub and started to run water. Turning toward Taylor, he asked, “You seem tense. Do you want to take a hot bath?”
“I didn’t bring any clothes to change into.”
“I’ve got something you can wear if you decide to spend the night. My assistant can get some clothes delivered to you tomorrow.”
Taylor never thought about spending the night but she quickly remembered that she had no one at home waiting on her. She didn’t want to be alone tonight. Kalon was such a gentlemen and she had never experienced this type of thoughtfulness from a man. She had only read about it in her many romance novels.
“Okay. I think a hot bath would take the edge off.”
The bath filled to capacity and Kalon turned the water off. He left the room so Taylor could undress. She did it quickly and submerged herself in the hot water. Bubbles floated around when she hit the jet button; peace enveloped her inside and out. After a few minutes, she heard a subtle knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Kalon came into the bathroom with his shirt off but his pants still on. Six-pack abs were on display. Taylor took it all in and wanted nothing more than to reach over and run her hands over his ripped muscles. She looked away instead. She didn’t want him to see the desire she had for him.
“I came to see if you wanted me to wash your back,” he offered.
Where did this man come from? And what is his angle? She brushed her qualms aside and said, “Sure.” The water sounded like waves on a beach as they slapped against the tub when Taylor repositioned herself so that he could easily reach her back. She bent her neck down and closed her eyes.
Kalon took the sponge and poured some Dove Body Wash on it. He started at her shoulder blades and moved side to side. He then ran the sponge lightly down her spine.
Taylor shivered a little in the water.
“Are you cold?” Kalon asked in a concerned voice.
“No.” She said quietly.
Kalon dropped the sponge in the tub and the next thing she felt against her skin was his hands. He ran them across her back a few times, taking his time to massage her neck and then her shoulders. He moved his hands in front to her breasts, massaging those, too. Taylor felt like she was floating on a cloud. If this is what comfort felt like, then she never wanted to come down. Kalon was pampering her and catering to all her needs.
He started to kiss her back and it felt like soft butterfly kisses. She wasn’t sure how much of this she could take before she asked him to just take her.
“You ready to get out?” Kalon asked.
“Yes.”
He opened a huge bath towel and held it in arms spread wide. She walked into the cocoon and let him fold her into the softness. He stepped back and allowed her to pat herself dry. When she was done, he handed her his Georgetown T-shirt. Taylor quickly slipped it over her head.
“My room is this way.”
Taylor followed him into his expansive bedroom. Darkness was all around, except for where lights from downtown Chicago shone into the windows. She went over and lay down on the king-size bed.
“I’m about to take a shower,” he told her. “I’ll be right back. Make yourself comfortable.” From the en-suite master bathroom, Taylor heard the water come on and she closed her eyes. This was exactly what she needed right now.
* * *
Kalon took a long time in the shower. He needed to get control of himself and to think. He was doing things that he never did with any other woman but Taylor was different. He could see how she put up this brick wall so no one could get close but in the inside she was a fragile piece of art.
He came out the bathroom to find this beautiful angel asleep in his bed. When he was kissing her earlier, she was submissive but he felt something was bothering her. He didn’t feel right moving forward with her if her mind wasn’t in the right place. This was definitely not his plan for tonight but it was the right thing to do.
He rained a few kisses on her face and she didn’t wake up. He moved down to her long beautiful legs and placed a few kisses in her inner thighs. He pushed her legs apart and licked her clit. She moved a little in her sleep. He knew she needed to release and he wanted to give that to her. He took hold of her clit and sucked it harder. Taylor roused from her slumber and grabbed the back of his neck. All she could do was cry out in pleasure. His mouth was skilled in kissing and definitely in oral sex.
He lifted her butt off the bed and licked her ass. Kalon’s tongue went deep inside Taylor’s pussy and she tried to scoot away. He knew she couldn’t take it any longer. Kalon locked his arms in between her inner thighs and kept her in place. Taylor let out a muffled scream as multiple orgasms hit her, one after the next.
Kalon rolled over onto his back after he made sure he had licked every drop of her. All she could do was ball up in the fetal position beside him and fall fast asleep. He took pleasure in the fact that he had satisfied her.
Watching her sleep so peacefully, he knew he was
in trouble. This woman was his poison. He needed to stick to his plan to bed her and get out.
* * *
Taylor awoke the next morning in an unfamiliar place. She looked around the room, with its wall-to-wall windows. Rubbing her eyes did nothing to help her recognize her surroundings. And then she remembered she was still at Kalon’s place.
She stood to get out of bed and her legs were kind of weak. Taylor smiled to herself and thought, this man cannot be real. All the things he did to her body started to resonate in her mind. She almost became horny from the memory of last night but the aroma of bacon and eggs in the air captured her attention.
Her nose led her down the long hallway to find Kalon standing at the stove, flipping pancakes. In gym shorts with no shirt, his body was flawless. The Mohawk he was rocking was on point. She came around the counter and sat at one of the bar stools.
“Good morning, sleepy head.”
Taylor smiled shyly. “Good morning, Kalon.”
He walked over with a plate of food in his hand and gave her a kiss on the lips. “Enjoy.”
Taylor couldn’t believe what she was feeling for this man.
“So, Taylor, what do you have planned for this Saturday morning?”
“I have to go into the office today.”
He pretended to sound surprised. “You work on Saturdays?”
She playfully shoved him. “Well not really. I just go in to check and make sure things are running smoothly.”
“You’re a workaholic.”
Taylor took a sip of the coffee he poured for her. “Um, somewhat.”
Placing his hand under her chin so she would look up at him, Kalon said, “I want to see you again.”
This could get messy. Taylor didn’t want to get too involved with Kalon until she had time to figure out her marriage. She loved the night they had just spent together but was still unsure if this was something she should move forward with. Guilt over what happened last night was already beginning to eat at her. She wasn’t sure how much of her morals she was willing to throw to the wind.
She bit her lip. “I’ll call you, Kalon.”
“When?”
Kalon was being really direct but Taylor was trying to stay vague. “Today. Once I get my work done at the office, I’ll give you a call.
“Alright, beautiful. Don’t keep me waiting all day. And oh,” he added, “I had you some clothes delivered today.”
He had mentioned that last night but she didn’t know he had actually done it. “Kalon, you didn’t have to do that.”
“It wasn’t any problem.”
“Do you need me to help you clean the kitchen?”
“No, you can go ahead and get dressed.”
Turmoil bubbled inside Taylor. What have I gotten myself into?
Chapter 13
Taylor arrived at her office around eleven o’clock. After getting dressed and saying good bye to Kalon at the door, he grabbed her around the waist and kissed her passionately. But when he let her go, something weird happened. He held her face in the palm of his hands like he wanted to tell her a secret only he knew. All she could do was stare into those deep, dark eyes filled with a hunger for her.
Maybe checking her voicemails would get her mind off Kalon. The first message was from her mom, saying that she wanted the family to get together for a dinner. The next message was from Mrs. Tab, explaining that her husband was in the hospital and she was unsure when she would be able to return. She had called the temp agency for a replacement, who should be there on Monday morning. Taylor had noticed all the mail stacked up on Mrs. Tab’s desk when she came in. She would leave it there for the temp to sort through.
The last message was from Ari. “Hey, Tay. I’ve called you several times. Your cell phone kept going to voicemail last night so I decided to call your office phone. Please give me a call back. We really need to talk. I need to explain to you about Maci, that she means nothing to me, baby. Don’t let this destroy us.” Beep.
Taylor hit the delete button. She wasn’t ready to talk to Ari just yet. She couldn’t escape the truth, though—she was as much to blame as he was. She knew about Maci and Adrianne before she and Ari got married but she let her concern for her family and fear of embarrassment keep her from doing the right thing. Plus, the love she carried for her husband had dimmed her judgment.
Now she sat in her office wishing she could do it all over again. She wished that when she first got that letter from Maci, she had told Ari and called off the wedding. Now that she thought about it, she realized that her father’s campaign would have survived the media blitz. And, she knew she would have kept her mom in check.
My life is fucked up.
* * *
Kalon met Ephraim at the Martin Luther King Recreational Center on 191st and LaGrange to play basketball. They always met every other Saturday to play ball in the neighborhood they grew up in.
“What’s up, bro?” Ephraim asked. They dapped hands on the court.
“I’m good.”
Ephraim started shooting a few free throws. “Man, you left work early the other day. What’s up with that?”
Kalon caught Ephraim’s missed free throw and nailed a three-point shot. “Nothing, man. I just had something to do.”
“Did it have anything to do with you blowing off meetings and being so secretive?”
Kalon kept throwing up shots. “Man, stay out my business.”
Blocking his friend’s shot, Ephraim challenged, “I thought I was your boy and we tell each other everything.”
Kalon thought about what Ephraim said. Their friendship went back to when they were kids growing up in Orland Park. Kalon was a skinny nerdy boy; he was quiet and kids would pick on him. Ephraim was a big boy for his age. He already was growing facial hair in the sixth grade. They attended the same boarding school and were among the five percent of blacks at the school. They were roommates and made a pact that since they were in this dreadful place together, no matter what, they would remain good friends.
Halfway through today’s hard game of one-on-one half-court basketball, they made a five-dollar wager on who was the best player. Kalon beat Ephraim by just one point. Exhausted, they walked toward the bleachers. Two other men stepped right in to take their place on the court.
“A’ight, man,” Kalon said, “Let’s sit down and take a breather.” Ephraim drank a bottle of water. Kalon took a few sips of his water, too, swishing it around in his mouth before swallowing it. “I met someone.” He spit the words out and waited for a reaction.
Ephraim wiped his mouth and cleared his throat. “You met someone. Like, is this serious or does this person fall under your one-date rule?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure that out.”
Patting Kalon on the shoulder, Ephraim concluded, “Bro, if you got to think about it that means it’s serious.”
Kalon knocked Ephraim’s hands off his shoulder. “Don’t even go there, Ephraim. I ain’t serious about no woman. She still falls under my one-date rule. It’s just going to take me a little longer to get what I want.”
Laughing and slapping his thigh, Ephraim replied, “Yeah, keep telling yourself that. If you keep spending time with this girl, you’re going to throw that one-time rule out the door. I thought it was stupid anyway. I think you are just suffering from some abandonment issues.”
“Who the hell do you think you are, Dr. Phil?”
They both laughed.
The basketball rolled off the bleacher Ephraim had laid it on. He reached down to pick it up, tucked it away under his arm, and then turned to relay some work information to Kalon. “Anyway, I have some news for you. That account you passed off to me a few weeks ago, they’re interested in doing business but they want you to go to New York to sign the final documents.”
“Why you can’t go?” Kalon asked.
Bouncing the ball once and sitting it on the ground, Ephraim said, “Because they want you to finish up the deal. And I think it would b
e a great opportunity for you to see your mother. It’s been a few years since you last saw her.”
Kalon thought to himself that Ephraim was right about him going to see his mother. Every time he talked with her on the phone, she would always ask when he was coming to visit. “Yeah, I might just go down there and see how she is doing and get this deal closed.”
Ephraim grabbed the ball off the floor. “Great then. Come on, let’s play again so I can whoop that ass.”
* * *
Ari went to his home that evening to wait for Taylor. He had avoided several calls from Maci. She kept begging him to call her back. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk to her about the little stunt she pulled with Taylor and him the other day.
He walked up the long, circular staircase and into the master suite they used to share. His heart dropped when he saw his clothes in a pile on the floor. Expensive suits, jeans, shirts, and underwear were all lumped together. He went over to the wall-to-wall walk-in closet. Hangers that once held his wardrobe were empty. He didn’t think it would go down like this. He sat down on the bed and placed his face in his hands. He decided to wait for Taylor. He was convinced once he explained everything, life would go back to normal.
* * *
Taylor left the office to head home to shower. She wanted to be in her own bed tonight after the night she had with Kalon. Her mind was confused and she was stressed. It intensified when she pulled into her driveway and saw Ari’s car.
“Damn! I forgot to change the locks.” She banged her hand on the steering wheel.
When she got in the house, she saw no trace of him anywhere. In the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of Moscato to calm her nerves because she knew an argument was brewing. All she wanted him to do was get his shit and leave.
She walked up the stairs and entered their room. Ari sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the pile of clothes on the floor.
His Betrayal Her Lies Page 12
