If everything went well, Zora hoped to bring Jaxon to her parents’ house. It would definitely shock her parents since they hadn’t met a boyfriend of hers since her high-school senior prom. Then again, since she had been dating Jaxon, she was doing a whole lot of things she hadn’t done before.
With Jaxon, Zora felt free to be herself. The supermodel or the businesswoman or the other dozen things that people expected her to be. And she made sure to provide the environment so that Jaxon would feel the same way. On top of the incredible sex and the deepening love, there was trust and honesty.
Have you really been honest with him?
Zora’s renegade thought caught her off guard and she froze in the middle of putting on an earring. The promise to Melanie suddenly lingered in her mind. Now that she and Jaxon were an item, shouldn’t she tell him that they met because his grandmother had hired a matchmaking service?
As the second question floated around, she started shaking her head. A confession like that didn’t bode well for her. Jaxon’s pet peeve was his grandparents’ meddling—especially in his personal life. Was she expected to keep this secret forever? If so, how could she truly say that there was anything honest about their relationship?
The doorbell rang. Zora looped the last earring into her ear and rushed to answer the door. To her surprise, Jaxon wore a pair of casual jeans and a navy-and-gray Vansport T-shirt. She glanced down at her Armani ensemble and then back up at him. “Now, why do I feel overdressed?”
Jaxon laughed as he entered her apartment and kissed her on her upturned face. “You’re meeting my grandparents, not applying for a job interview.”
“I want to make a good impression.”
“You have.” He pulled her into his arms. “On me. Isn’t that all that matters?”
“Is that right?” She slid her arms around his neck. “Well, I have to say that you’ve made quite an impression on me, too, Mr. Landon.”
“It took a while,” he added.
Zora laughed. “Mmm. Not as long as you might think.”
“Aha!” Jaxon smacked her on the ass. “I knew that you were playing hard to get.”
“Are you kidding me? When I met you, you had a fiancée.”
“We’ve been over this. It was a joke,” he reminded her, rolling his eyes. “I know you don’t understand, but trust me, if your parents were always plotting and planning your life, you would take a few drastic measures, too.”
“I’m still convinced that they only do what they do because they love you,” Zora said. “But you’re right. I’ve never been in your position. My parents have always been supportive of whatever I choose to do—even when they didn’t understand my choice. All they ever wanted was for me to be happy. I was lucky. But it doesn’t mean that your grandparents loved you any less or wanted any more from you. Life doesn’t come with instruction manuals.”
“I would just settle for them being proud of me,” Jaxon said. “I swear to you—not once has Carlton looked me in the eye and said that he was proud of me making my own way in life.” His gaze broke contact with her as he shook his head. “I was never really after the money or the accolades or even showing him up. I just wanted Carlton to recognize that I was my own man—that there was a different way of doing things.”
Zora felt his pain and pressed closer. “Some men don’t know how to say it. Given what you’ve told me about Carlton, I just think that there’s a little more to the story than he’s letting on. Even if there isn’t, you gotta try to find a way to forgive him and move on.” She watched him as he reflected on her words. “Reach out to him. Show him how to accept someone for who they are. Maybe then he’ll learn how to do the same with you.”
Jaxon smiled as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. “You’re something else. You know that, baby?”
Zora shrugged one shoulder and bragged. “I might know a little sumpthin’ sumpthin’.” She received another playful smack on the ass for that comment. Giggling, she rushed to change clothes.
Jaxon followed and became extremely playful while she tried to make a quick change.
“Will you please stop?” Zora giggled. “I’m trying to get dressed.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Jaxon eased up behind her and cupped her breasts. “I’m just checking to see if you got these titties safe and secure.” He gave them a light squeeze and started nibbling on the back of her neck.
“Jaxoooon,” she moaned as she pulled down a folded pair of skinny jeans.
“Hmm?” His hand slid underneath her bra for more skin-to-skin contact. “Looky here. Your nipples are all hard.”
A purrlike moan fell from Zora’s lips as her mind started to drift off in space.
“Let me just see if these babies taste as good as I remember.” He moved around her and dropped his head low to pull her left tit into his mouth. At its cinnamon taste, he groaned out his pleasure and dropped his hand down into her panties. She was already wet and juicy.
Zora dropped the pair of pants she was holding. “Jaxon…. we have…to go.”
“In a minute, sweetheart,” he whispered raggedly. “I’m just going to check out a few things here.” He twirled his finger around the head of her clit and then smiled when her legs trembled.
“Baaaaybeeeee…”
Jaxon sank down to his knees and instead of rolling down her Victoria’s Secrets, he just moved the crotch of her panties over to the side. “Spread your legs.”
Zora forgot her need to get dressed and did as she was told.
“Ooh,” Jaxon cooed as if he’d just found a lost treasure chest. He continued to probe his fingers in and out, loving the sight of her juices coating his finger.
Zora leaned back against the wall of her walk-in closet and tried in vain to catch her breath. She nearly came undone when Jaxon looked up with a puppy dog face and asked, “May I have some of this pussy, baby?”
Not able to speak, she just nodded and watched as he leaned forward and his pink tongue slipped inside. “Oh…gawd…that feels good.”
Jaxon’s tongue plunged in deeper and rotated like a hurricane. In no time at all, ecstasy washed over her and leaked out from the corners of her eyes. “Aah. I’m going to come.” Grabbing his shoulders, she let out a thunderous moan. As her orgasmic waves convulsed through her, Jaxon stood up, unzipped his jeans, picked her up and buried himself so deep inside her that another eruption popped off before he even started stroking.
“So wet,” Jaxon panted, bobbing her ass up and down his cock.
Zora held on for the ride. She loved how she could feel him almost to her stomach and the sexy faces he made when her ass smacked the base of his dick. Feeling playful, she licked and sucked on his bottom lip.
Jaxon’s groans deepened as his hips gained speed. Feeling his peak just on the horizon, he leaned Zora back up against the wall and hammered his hips until he came with so much force that he nearly dropped Zora on the floor. After a minute to catch his breath, he peppered kisses along her collarbone and confessed, “I love you, baby.”
Chapter 22
The Platinum Society team beamed smiles at one another as they lifted their champagne glasses high into the air and made a toast. “To another successful union and a satisfied customer,” Melanie declared.
“Hear, hear.” Veronica, Jessica and Vincent all clinked their glasses together and then drew their first sip of the bubbly drink in sync.
“I gotta hand it to you,” Veronica said. “You certainly know how to pair them.”
“Of course, young grasshopper,” Melanie sassed. “It’s in the genes.”
“Do we know if he has proposed yet?” Jessica asked. Her eyes shone like a child’s on Christmas morning.
“Not yet. But I got a call from a contact over at Cartier. She said he picked a four-carat stunner.”
Veronica shook her head. “It amazes me how you’re always the first to know these things.”
Melanie playfully tapped Veronica on the nose. “That’s my job, sweetheart.”
&
nbsp; Vincent was a little more reserved. “I don’t know. They haven’t walked down the aisle yet. And it’s not like the man hasn’t been engaged before.”
Melanie rolled her eyes. “I told you. It wasn’t a real engagement. He was just trying to shock his grandparents into backing off. That’s all.”
“And to prove a point that he was his own man and that he would date and marry whom he chooses,” Vincent added, sounding like he was trying to say something without saying it.
Melanie set her champagne down on the bar and folded her arms. “What’s your point?”
“My point is that his grandmother didn’t back off. She hired you.”
“Because she knew what was best for him and he was being hardheaded.”
“Do you seriously think that’s how he’s going to see it?” Vincent asked. His gaze swung from his aunt and cousins. “Take it from me. No man likes to be manipulated, and if he ever finds out that his grandmother paid a matchmaking service to find him a wife, that’s exactly what he’s going to think has happened here.” He had now successfully ruined the mood.
Internally, Melanie conceded his point. It was a proven fact that when it came to the Landon men, their Achilles’ heels were their pride and their stubbornness. “Well,” Melanie said, drawing a conclusion. “Then we’ll have to make sure that Jaxon never finds out.”
Veronica and Jessica agreed with a firm nod and went back to drinking their champagne.
Vincent laughed. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”
Sylvia Landon was as happy as a clam, bustling around the house and making sure that everything was in order. Every time she came into a room, the house staff moved faster or scrubbed harder. Even Carlton didn’t escape from her micromanaging. After agreeing that he would be on his best behavior, Sylvia also launched into a speech about him not questioning, criticizing or adding his two cents about anything pertaining to Jaxon’s professional or personal life. The one rule of the day was: thou shall not be argumentative.
“I’m not the one always starting an argument,” Carlton complained.
Sylvia rolled her eyes. “I mean it, Carlton. Be on your best behavior.”
Carlton may have been used to running a Fortune 100 company with thousands of employees, but at home he knew who was really in charge. “All right. Fine,” he said, huffing and rolling his eyes. “I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
“Perfect.” She clapped her hands together.
Wounded, Carlton frowned.
“Aww, baby.” Sylvia glided in close and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. I just really want this evening to be perfect.”
“I know, honey. And I want it to be perfect, too,” he said with honest sincerity. “It’s not that I try to drive him away. You know that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Carlton’s blue eyes misted. “It always seems to happen. Just like with Junior,” he added sadly. “I didn’t mean to drive him away—either of them. I just did what my father always did. I was firm, focused and determined that they were always at their best and striving to be the best. That wasn’t so wrong, was it?”
“No, baby. It wasn’t.” She smiled tenderly. “Your heart has always been in the right place. Deep down I believe Jaxon knows this and even thinks that Junior realized it, as well.”
Hope sparkled in Carlton’s eyes. “You really think so?”
Sylvia sniffed and wiped away a tear. “I do. He had his own son and was coming into his role as a father. Jaxon doesn’t remember but there was a lot of head butting going on between him and Junior before that horrible incident.” She glanced away, lost in the past for a few heartbeats.
“I wish I could go back,” Carlton confessed softly. “There are so many things that I would do differently.”
“I know,” she said. “There may not be anything we can do about the past, but there’s nothing stopping us from doing something about the here and now. Let’s just try to accept and support whatever choices he makes in life.”
“Like when he claimed he was going to marry that stripper friend of his?” he asked with a crooked smile.
Sylvia groaned and rolled her eyes. “We were talking about you—not me.”
Carlton laughed. “The good ol’ fashioned double standard.”
Sylvia dropped her arms from around his neck and then crossed them against her chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you don’t, dear.” He kissed her on the cheek and then walked off with a smirk.
When their afternoon delight had drawn to a satisfied end, Zora and Jaxon quickly hopped into the shower, played a little bit longer and then hurried down to the waiting limousine.
“Are you sure there is enough gas in the tank?” Zora asked Kwan, winking.
“Yes, ma’am,” he assured her, blushing.
The question had become a standard now whenever he was driving them around. Sure, she had enjoyed the eventful first date, but she certainly didn’t want to have to go in the tall, dead grass on the side of the road again anytime soon.
During the long drive out to the Hamptons, Zora and Jaxon remained snuggled up in the back of the limousine. Jaxon wanted to do things but Zora was too scared that Kwan would overhear them.
“C’mon,” Jaxon whispered, trying to snake his hands underneath her shirt. “He can’t hear or see us. Trust me.” He nuzzled sweet kisses along the column of her neck.
She resisted for a while, but she was learning that when Jaxon set his mind on something, he usually got it. In no time at all her feet were pressed up against the ceiling and Jaxon was smothering her moans and sighs with his hot mouth. The long drive seemed to pass by in a blink of an eye to the lovers and then when the vehicle finally rolled to a stop, they bolted upright and frantically tried to get dressed again.
“Oh, my God. I’m going to look like a hot mess when I meet your grandparents.”
Jaxon laughed as he zipped his pants. “That, my dear, is something that you will never have to worry about. You’ll always look like a million dollars no matter what you have on—” he leaned over and kissed her flushed face “—or off.”
“Oh, go on.” She smacked him in the arm. A minute later, they climbed out the back of the limousine, touching and clinging to each other the way new lovers always do and not caring what anyone thought about it.
However, Zora was both nervous and giddy—but more from wanting to make a good impression with Sylvia Landon. Given the fact that she was the one who had enlisted Melanie’s help in finding the right person for her grandson, she didn’t want the woman to run back to Melanie demanding a refund.
“Are you ready?” Jaxon asked.
“About as ready as I’ll ever be,” Zora admitted and then took a deep breath when Jaxon reached for the door. Once open, they had barely crossed the threshold before Sylvia’s lyrical voice floated toward them in greeting.
“You’re finally here!”
Zora turned and watched the elegant Sylvia Landon race across the hall and then dive into her grandson’s outstretched arms. “Oh, baby. I’m so glad to see you.” She pulled out of his arms and then smacked him on the shoulder. “And you’re late.”
“Ow.” Jaxon grabbed his shoulder and pretended to be wounded. “Careful with that right hook, Grans. You might hurt somebody.”
Sylvia rolled her eyes at his dramatics. “I’ve told you for years that you call when you know you’re going to be late.” She finally turned her gaze toward Zora. “Now, I would know that beautiful face anywhere.” She popped Jaxon on the shoulder again. “Introduce me to your friend.”
A wide smile hooked across Jaxon’s face as he pulled Zora close to him. “Grans, I’d like for you to meet a very special woman in my life, Zora Campbell. Zora, this is the only other woman in my life, my grandmother Sylvia Landon.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Zora said shyly and stretched out a hand.
“Trust me, dear. The pleasure is all mine.”
The older woman took her hand and patted it softly.
“I hope I’m not late for the party,” Carlton’s voice thundered across the spacious mansion as his long strides erased the distance between him and the small group.
Zora remembered Jaxon’s handsome grandfather from their sixtieth wedding anniversary, but this time was struck by how, despite the obvious color difference, just how much grandfather and son looked alike.
“Well, now. Aren’t you a beauty?” Carlton reached for her hand before being offered an official introduction. “I can see why my grandson has fallen head over heels for you, Ms. Campbell. Next to my Sylvia, you just might be the prettiest thing I’ve seen in a long time.”
Zora laughed. “Well, I certainly know where Jaxon inherited his charm.”
The Landons laughed and Zora relaxed. In the next minute, Sylvia latched onto her arm and insisted on giving her a grand tour of the estate. Two hours later, Zora was glad that Jaxon had convinced her to dress casually, because there was no doubt that the high-heeled pumps that she was wearing originally would have been cutting off her circulation by the end of the tour.
All in all, Zora was very impressed with the immaculate home and could tell that Sylvia was very proud of what her husband had been able to accomplish. There was a way that Sylvia lit up when she talked about her husband that made Zora envious, yet it also put her in mind of how her own parents were toward one another. And now when she thought about it, it was exactly how she felt when she thought or talked about Jaxon.
Every time they were together, he made her feel cherished. That was something she had never experienced with another man. Could it be possible that he was the one? The question made her smile because she knew the answer.
At dinner, Sylvia questioned Zora—who couldn’t decide whether she felt like she was being interviewed for a federal job or interrogated for a terrorist act. By dessert, both Carlton and Jaxon took pity on her and finally interceded.
“Sylvia, honey. You’re going to scare the young woman off before I get a crack at it,” Carlton teased.
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