“I want to protect you from your asshole boyfriend.”
“Number one, he’s not my boyfriend, and number two, I don’t need you to protect me.”
“Sherri, I can tell you need me to protect you. I’d like to teach you some self-defense moves, some martial arts.”
“Okay, so you’re gonna be my Kung fu instructor?” I laugh. “Please, I’m fine. I don’t need you to help me.”
“Look.” Gino walks to his dresser. “Here’s my card.” He hands it to me.
“Your card?”
“Yeah, hang on to it. You know where I’ll be. You know where I live. So when you decide to come off that high horse . . . ”
“Excuse me?”
“When you decide to come off that high horse I’d like to teach you a few things.”
“I don’t need you to teach me anything I’m fine. Look, I’m getting an Uber and I’m leaving. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it babe. Do what you need to do.”
“Fine! I will.”
Leaning against the back seat of this Honda, I’m grateful to be in an Uber. All I want to do is sit here and think about Gino. I don’t want to have to think about whether the cab driver knows where he’s going or whether he’s going to charge me too much.
Yes, I confess. All that stuff I said back at Gino’s was just a masquerade. I can’t let Gino know that he’s getting to me. I can’t let him have the upper hand. I want to control this, not the other way around. I can still feel his firm hands on my bottom. God that felt good! I haven’t had my butt spanked in a long time. And yet, when I get it done again, I get it done by one of the hottest men in town.
But I come right back to what I’ve been thinking all along. Where am I going with this? Why can’t I just settle down with one of the guys from work, or get on one of those dating sites and meet someone there? What’s wrong with me?
Maybe I should do what my friend Yvonne told me to do. She’s one of those natural women who doesn’t wear makeup and who only eats vegan. She’s got long, wavy blonde hair that’s starting to turn grey, but she doesn’t care that it’s turning grey. She’s a Reiki master, always hounding me to get it done. She wants to heal me. She says I’m too stressed out.
She says that I need to learn to accept the way I am, and the way I am, according to her, is a woman who likes “bad boys.” She says I tell myself that I should like guys at the office because I feel like a woman who likes bad boys is a bad girl, someone who is not respectable. So she says I need to dump the guilt and the negative self talk and just go for it.
Deep down I know she’s right, but look where’s it got me. Brad was a jerk. Damon was a jerk. Taylor was a jerk. Bruno was a jerk. And now there’s Gino.
He says he wants to teach me how to protect myself. I find it hard not to laugh about that. Besides, even though I’ve been dashing through the city like a scared little mouse, I haven’t seen any sign of Bruno. He’s not after me, but he is after Gino, apparently, so I’m glad I can help him with a lawyer. He’s going to need it. Bruno is incredibly stubborn. Who knows what he’ll do.
Right before I’m about to get in bed, my cell rings. It’s Gino.
“Hello.”
“Hi,” he says. “I just wanted to make sure you got home all right.”
“Of course I got home all right.”
“Look, I want to take you out again.”
“So you can teach me martial arts?”
“I just want to take you out. Is that so wrong?”
I pause for a moment. It’s not wrong, and I know I want to see him again. “No, it’s not wrong. I’m free Wednesday evening. We can go to Aster. I haven’t been there in ages. You like Ethiopian food?
“Uh . . . I guess. I’m sure I’m good with it.”
I laugh. “You’ll enjoy it. It’s good for you to try something new.”
“Okay, ma’am.”
“What did I tell you about calling me ma’am?”
He laughs. “Sorry about that.”
Forty-Five
Sherri
I’m at work at my desk staring at a pile of papers. There’s a case a fellow lawyer and I have been working on that’s about to go to court soon. I’m really good in court, but, once again, I keep thinking about Gino. I need to get my head in the game if I intend to continue on with my life in a reasonable fashion.
The lawyer is standing in my doorway. “Sherri, can you come into my office? You and I have got some things we still need to iron out.”
“Yeah, sure Tim.” I grab my cup of coffee and head to the door, but as I do, I almost drop my coffee cup on the floor. My office is on the third floor, but I’m not too high up to not see Bruno standing across the street staring at my building. I’m frozen in my footsteps.
“Tim, I’ll be with you in a minute.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. I’ll be in your office in a few minutes.”
When Tim leaves, I rush to my desk and get ready to call 911. Except . . . I don’t know what to tell them, that some guy is standing outside my building? Why would they care? He’s not breaking any laws. I don’t have an order of protection against him. I put my cell back on my desk.
But then it rings. Caller I.D. says it’s Gino. I answer it immediately.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Sherri. I don’t want to bother you, but if you want to see a movie Wednesday night after we eat, I’m good for that . . . ”
“Gino . . .”
“What, babe?”
I can’t say anything. I want to say something, but my mouth won’t work.
“What . . . what’s wrong?”
My mouth still won’t work.
“Is Bruno there?”
He guessed it. “Yes, outside my office building. He’s . . .” I look outside my window, but Bruno is gone. “I guess he’s not there anymore.”
“Fuck! I’ll be right there.”
“No, Gino . . . ” But it’s too late, Gino has hung up and he’s on his way over here. It won’t take him long. He doesn’t live far. Shit! What’s going to happen?
I rush over to Tim’s office. He’s sitting at his desk looking especially stressed.
“Are you ready now?” He asks.
“Something has come up. I’m taking care of it now, and then we can meet.”
“What the hell is going on, Sherri?”
“It’s nothing for you to worry about. I’ll back in a minute.” I leave Tim’s doorway before he can protest, and I take the elevator down to the lobby where our assistant Linda sits at the front desk. She’s young. Probably only around 22, but she’s a good secretary/receptionist.
“Linda, did you see a man in a black jacket, at all?”
“No!” She pulls her dark hair back making her bright green eyes pop out even more. “I haven’t buzzed anyone. You guys aren’t excepting anyone.”
“Right, of course not.” We have a security system in our building. It all happened when a disgruntled client tried to shoot one of the lawyers. Since then nobody gets in here unless he or she is scheduled and buzzed. “Okay, thanks Linda.” I don’t want to get Linda all worried about Bruno. She’s got enough work to do. But then I remember about Gino. “Oh, listen, I am expecting a man name Gino Mancini. If he shows up, you can let him in.”
Linda types his name into her system. “Gino Mancini. Okay, Sherri, will do.”
“You okay?” says Tim. “We’ve got a lot of work to do on this case.”
I finally sit down in Tim’s office. “Yes, um, I’m fine. There’s a man who will be stopping by for a moment, but I won’t be with him long. Um, so why don’t we get started, and I’ll deal with him when he comes.”
“All right. We really need to get this done.”
“Tim, I know, let’s just get to it.”
Sure enough, 15 minutes into my meeting with Tim, Gino shows up, looking as handsome as ever, by the way. I’m with him now in the lobby, over to the side, away from Linda. Lind
a is trying not to stare at us.
“Don’t worry about me,” I whisper. “Bruno was here, but now he’s gone.”
Gino puts his hands on my shoulders. “What do you mean, don’t worry about it?” He whispers too. “He was stalking you.”
“Yes, I know. But he’s gone now. I can’t worry about him. Besides, he can’t get in the building unless he’s buzzed.”
“This isn’t over, Sherri. I’m going to have to take care of that guy.”
I take Gino’s hands off my shoulders and into my hands. “Please, let’s not worry about it.” I give him a quick kiss on the lips. I’d kiss him longer if Linda wasn’t nearby. “I’m looking forward to being with you tomorrow night. We’ll talk then, okay?”
“Yeah, baby. Okay.”
Forty-Six
Gino
I’m holding Sherri’s hand as we walk to the restaurant. She’s wearing a tight black dress and black heels, her dark hair flows down her back. She looks beautiful and sexy, and I think she wore that dress especially for me.
She’s unlike any woman I’ve ever been with. I mean, none of the girls I’ve dated had more than a high school education. So now I’m with this attorney, and I gotta admit, it made me nervous at first, but not anymore.
“Why are you looking at me like that,” she says to me.
“What? I’m not allowed to look at my woman.”
“Oh, I’m your woman now? I thought we were just going out on a date.”
“Cut the crap, Sherri. You know this is more than that.”
“Oh, is it?” She’s looking at me, but she’s smiling too.
“Yeah, it is.” I’m about to say more, but when I look up who’s standing over to my side but Bruno, yeah, fucking Bruno.
“Oh my God!” says Sherri.
“Baby just hang back. I got this.”
Sherri grabs my arm. “Gino don’t . . .”
But I don’t listen. This dude has bugged my woman for the last time.
I walk right up to him and I don’t take my eyes off him for a second. “What do you want?”
“I want you to stay away from my girlfriend.”
I laugh. “She’s not your girlfriend. So get the fuck out of here and stop stalking her.”
Bruno looks over at Sherri. “Honey, come with me. Come get in the car.”
“Did you not hear what I said? You need to get the fuck out of here.”
Just then the guy lunges at me, but I put my martial arts to work and take him down. You’d think this idiot would learn. I don’t have a black belt in Karate for nothing.
I stand over him as he stares up at me. “Get the hell out of here.”
He rolls over onto his stomach and then gets up. I’m ready for him, but he runs off to one of the parking lots in the other direction.
But when I look over at Sherri, she’s gone. I head for the parking lot we just came from. Sherri is nowhere to be seen. I run back to my car. She’s not there either. Sherri has taken off. I pull out my cell and call her, but her phone immediately goes to voice mail. I text her: Where are u, babe?
In front of me, I see Bruno in his car speeding off down the road. I don’t give a fuck about him, but where the hell is Sherri? I need to know that she’s all right and that Bruno won’t be going after her.
Forty-Seven
Sherri
My heart is beating so hard it’s practically pounding against my chest. As soon as Bruno and Gino started acting like unruly boys, I took off. I don’t know if they noticed me or not. But now Bruno is calling and texting me, and Gino is calling and texting me too.
Bruno has some nerve declaring that I’m his girlfriend. He lost that privilege when he grabbed me so hard I fell in the bar. No man is going to get physically abusive with me like that. As soon as he did that it was over for him and me.
But now, I’m sick of Gino too. My instincts are telling me not to even continue with this guy. He’s a hot head, just like Bruno. Have I not learned my lesson by now? What will it take for me to learn my lesson?
No, I’m done with both of them. You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to go see a shrink, that’s what. I need to get my shit together before I get with anyone else. Otherwise, all I’m going to do is repeat my same bad habits. It’s got to stop. I’m also taking legal action against Bruno. Who knows what he’s capable of.
Forty-Eight
Gino
I’m back home in my apartment. I could continue to call Sherri. I could go to her condo and see if she’ll let me in, but I’m not doing that. I’m not chasing after a girl. I’m sure she’s fine. I can just sense it. I’m sure she got back into her apartment, safe and sound, and now all she’s doing is ignoring my calls and my texts. And that’s cool. I’m okay with that. So what I did was leave her a long message:
Sherri, You know where I am. You know how to find me. You know how I feel about you. If you ever need anything, if you ever feel scared, know that I’m here for you. I’m sorry about the deal in front of the restaurant and I’m sorry we couldn’t be together tonight.
And that’s it. I gotta go on with my life. It was nice dating a lawyer, but Sherri isn’t the one for me. I need a woman who wants to be with me. I don’t think Sherri was ever down with me.
Forty-Nine
Sherri
“So what are you going to do about Bruno?”
I’m in my friend Yvonne’s apartment. She’s that spiritual health nut I was telling you about. We’ve finished a tofu pizza. I have to admit, it wasn’t bad.
“I’m working on getting a restraining order against Bruno. I don’t know if I’ll be successful. But I’m going to try.”
“And you’re done with Gino?”
“Yes, Gino and I are done. He sent me a text, but I didn’t answer it. I want to move on.”
Yvonne looks at me with those blue eyes. I know that look. “You don’t seem to mean what you’re saying.”
“Oh, please! Stop analyzing me, okay? I’m done with him, and I feel good about moving on.”
“All right, all right.”
“Well, it’s getting late,” I say. “Thanks for having me over for dinner.”
“You’re welcome.”
“We’ll have to do this again soon.”
“You know where to find me. You’re always so busy, Ms. Attorney.”
I nod my head. “I know. I know. I’m going to make the time again.”
“Next time I see you, you’ll have to introduce me to Gino.”
I sigh. “Seriously? Did I not just say that Gino and I are through?”
“Yes,” Yvonne smiles. “I know what you said.”
Fifty
Sherri
It’s been a few months since Gino and Bruno brawled in front of the restaurant. I took some legal action against Bruno, and he has not shown up at my apartment or my work.
As far as Gino, I haven’t heard from him since he sent me that text, and I have not contacted him. Things are pretty much back to normal in my life.
Tonight, I’m traveling to a weekend conference with a group of attorneys. It’s at a casino resort in Indiana. We have work to do, but we’ll have time to gamble some too. I don’t gamble much, but I could use spending time with people I don’t have a love connection with.
Fifty-One
Gino
I haven’t heard from Sherri in, I don’t know, three months? She blew me off. Never responded to my text at all. So I’ve been done with her. In fact, normally, by now, I’d have banged another girl, but I guess this Sherri got a hold of me more than the others have.
But tonight I don’t have women on my mind. I’m in my car with Jackson and we’re headed to the casino. He and I haven’t gamble in a long time or done much of anything together really. Ever since he got with Cameron, she seems to have him on a tight leash. She’s got him in a polo shirt, too. Jesus! I’m just glad she let him out of the house.
“You got enough to gamble with, man, or do I need to loan you some cash?” I smile wh
en I say it.
“Fuck you!” Jackson laughs. “I’m not living the life like we used to, but I got money to gamble with. Besides, you’re not exactly rolling in the dough yourself these days, right?”
“Yeah, I can’t lie about that. But sometimes, sometimes I want to get back in the life. I guess I can do that since I’m not hooked up and about to be a dad and all.”
“You’re just jealous that I’ve got a good life. And anyway, you better watch it. You’ll end up in jail like I did. Remember?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I am jealous. But I can’t seem to find the right girl. I had a girl I thought I could get serious about, but she just wasn’t the one for me, you know?”
“You were seeing the lady lawyer right?”
“Yeah, man. She ditched me like a bad habit. She had some loser guy chasing after her. I told her I’d protect her, but I guess she didn’t need my help.”
“Independent women don’t like macho guys taking care of them, man.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Hey, I’m starved. Wanna get a burger before we hit the tables?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m good with that.”
Me and Jackson are done with dinner and now we’re at the casino. Jackson likes craps. I’m good with black jack. We’ll meet up midway to access the damage. He won’t admit it, but I’m a better gambler than he is. He always loses money every time.
Shit! Is that who I think it is? Yeah, it’s Sherri. She’s just sitting at the bar alone.
Fifty-Two
Sherri
Stand By Your Man: (Three Bad Boy Romance Novellas) Page 12
