Truly Yours

by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  The thirty-minute ride to Harahan was comfortable and easy. Darryl made her laugh and the butterflies in the pit of her stomach were floating comfortably. By the time they reached the gym, she was starting to question whether or not she could be focused enough to give Darryl a solid run for his smug money.

  Camryn had reserved one of the three glass-enclosed racquetball courts for them at one of the premier racquetball-and-indoor-sports complexes in the Louisiana area. Darryl knew the minute she exited the women’s locker room that he was in trouble. The black performance shorts she wore were too short and the matching tank top more than flattering to her full bustline and thin waist. He struggled not to stare, his jaw dropping to the floor when she stepped onto the court. He noticed that he wasn’t the only appreciative eye in the gym.

  The woman had an athletic frame of tightly toned muscles. More leg than torso, she had long limbs that seemed miles high. Her buttocks were round and full like oversize melons. Heat shifted in his groin as he suddenly imagined those legs spread in a wide V with him nestled waist-deep in the warm crevice. He suddenly realized he’d been holding his breath.

  Camryn called his name, pulling him from the reverie.

  “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

  She was staring at him with one hand on her hip. “I asked if you were ready to see who gets the first serve.”

  “Oh...yeah...I...yeah,” he stammered, shaking the clouds from his head. “You go.”

  Camryn tossed him a wry smile. Taking aim, she rebounded the ball off the front wall, landing it near center of the dotted line on the floor. She turned and grinned, throwing him a ball from her pocket. “Your turn!”

  Darryl took a deep breath and grinned back. He took his position and slammed the ball against the wall. It landed far from its target. He glanced at Camryn. “I think you get to serve first.”

  “I think you’re right,” she said as she pushed him out of her way.

  Darryl laughed and tapped her on her backside, enjoying the easy jiggle of her buttocks.

  Camryn faulted on her first serve.

  It was a back-and-forth match that had them both sweating profusely for over an hour. On the last set, Darryl played hard and Camryn played harder. Darryl missed her last slam by mere inches. Throwing her arms in the air, she cheered excitedly, jumping up and down. Her exuberance was contagious and Darryl couldn’t help but smile. He bowed slowly, gesturing with one hand sweeping outward, the other held behind his back.

  “Congratulations!”

  “Fifteen!” Camryn cheered. “I won! I beat you!”

  Darryl shrugged. “Best two out of three?”

  “Awww! Does the big man need to play more than two games to beat the little lady?”

  Darryl laughed. “Can I at least buy you dinner, then?”

  “And dessert. You’re buying dessert, too,” she said matter-of-factly.

  Darryl nodded his agreement. “Dessert, too, then.”

  “I’m going to grab a quick shower. I’ll meet you in the lobby,” she said.

  He watched as Camryn headed toward the locker room, her full hips switching nicely in those shorts. She reached the room door and paused, giving him a look over her shoulder. Her stare took his breath away. He called out to her.

  “Yes?”

  “You do know that I let you win! It won’t happen again.”

  She tossed him a nod of her head. “Darryl Boudreaux! You didn’t let me do anything!”

  * * *

  She razzed him through their first cocktail, the appetizers and halfway through the entrée. Her kidding was all in good fun and Darryl took it admirably.

  “You’re thoroughly enjoying this, aren’t you?” Darryl said with a hearty chuckle.

  “Yes, I am,” Camryn said, laughing. “In fact, I can’t wait to tell everyone. I figure I’ll start with the boys down at the construction site. Then, of course, it’s going to make great conversation around the water cooler at Charles & Charles.” She smirked.

  “Don’t stop there. I’m thinking you should just put up a webpage with a link for everyone to just replay that last shot over and over again.”

  “Webpage, billboards, full-page ads... I’m thinking the sky’s the limit!” Camryn exclaimed.

  Darryl rolled his eyes playfully. He rested his gaze on her face. Her hair was still damp from her shower, the lush strands pulled back into a tight ponytail. A few tendrils curled around her face. She took his breath away.

  “You beat me fair and square. It was a good challenge.”

  “I caught a cramp when we tied that first time. You almost had me then.”

  “Yes, I did!”

  “Almost.”

  “Did you know that you are quite beautiful when you’re being pompous?”

  Camryn smiled. “Pompous?”

  Darryl leaned forward ever so slightly. The gesture gave Camryn reason to pause as she instinctively shifted toward him. His face was mere inches from hers, his lips close to her lips as he stared into her eyes. His smile was sweet and welcoming. He brushed a hand down her cheek, his fingers lightly gracing her profile as he pushed a curl out of her eye. When he suddenly leaned back and away from her, she had to struggle to keep the disappointment out of her eyes.

  Chapter 8

  “Why doesn’t the contractor have final copies of the blueprints?” Camryn asked, the question directed at her assistant.

  “His copies were delivered weeks ago,” the young woman answered.

  “We break ground tomorrow and the man claims he doesn’t have copies of the blueprints!”

  “I delivered them personally, Ms. Charles. I assure you he has his copies.” The assistant was wide-eyed and flustered.

  Camryn tossed up her hands in frustration. “And who picked this crew?” she asked, shooting a look toward Darryl.

  He grinned sheepishly, throwing up his own hands. “What can I say? Good help is sometimes hard to find,” Darryl said jokingly in an attempt to make her laugh.

  They were becoming fast friends. And with each passing day, the bond between them was growing stronger. Darryl was delighted to be able to work so closely with Camryn. The intelligent woman was mesmerizing, her talents beyond his wildest imagination. She challenged and inspired his own work. Side by side the two of them were giving life to his brother’s vision, the magnanimous building taking on a life of its own, much as the friendship between them was becoming corporeal.

  And she had the most intoxicating laugh of any woman he had ever known. He loved to hear her laugh, the wealth of it always seeming to start somewhere deep in her midsection. When she laughed, there was nothing else he could do but laugh with her.

  In that moment, though, Camryn wasn’t doing much laughing. Since Darryl had arrived at the office, she’d been bellowing one order after another.

  * * *

  “I really can’t believe—”

  Darryl interrupted her. “Calm down, Camryn. The contractor is one of the best in the business. You’ve also called him a half dozen times since I got here this morning, which means you’ve annoyed him more than a dozen times today and it’s barely 9:00 a.m.”

  “Am I the only one trying to do my job?” Camryn snapped. “The man insists he never received the blueprints!”

  “Knowing Gerald, I’m sure he told you he didn’t have the blueprints to give you something else to focus on so that you would leave him alone. Obviously he has the blueprints, because he acquired all the building permits. You can’t get permits without blueprints.”

  “Am I the only one concerned about us breaking ground tomorrow?”

  Darryl directed a look at Camryn’s assistant and shrugged his shoulders. His grin was miles wide and the woman smiled with him. He gestured with his head and she excused herself from the room,
leaving Darryl and Camryn alone together.

  “As project manager on this project, I can personally assure you that we will break ground with no problems, Ms. Charles.”

  “You really need to take this seriously,” Camryn stated, her hands resting on her hips.

  Darryl chuckled. “I am very serious when I say that you are officially overworked and in need of a break.”

  “I don’t have time—”

  “Make time,” Darryl commanded. He looked down at his watch. “We leave in ten minutes.”

  “To where? I’m not going—”

  “Ten minutes,” Darryl interrupted.

  Camryn bristled. As she sat fuming, her assistant poked her head into the room.

  “Ms. Charles, the contractor said he found the blueprints and everything is right on schedule.”

  * * *

  Camryn hadn’t muttered ten words to him the entire ride. And not because she didn’t have anything to say but because she needed every ounce of her energy to stall the rise of wanting that threatened to consume her.

  With the bright sunshine raining down and the warm temperatures rising steadily, Darryl had lowered the top on his late-model convertible rental, the breeze ruffling Camryn’s lush curls. He eased the vehicle uptown into the Fourteenth Ward. Although he’d anticipated a host of questions from her, she’d not asked him again where they were going. It was only when he pulled past the wrought-iron gates of the Boudreaux Broadway Street home that she cut her eye at him, a wave of anxiety filling the pit of her stomach. Her eyes widened.

  “Where are we?” she questioned, eyeing him with reservation.

  Darryl smiled. “My home.”

  “But you’re staying with your parents, right? Is this their home?”

  Darryl nodded. “Yes, it is. I need to pick something up.”

  “Are your parents home?”

  “Probably,” Darryl said as he shifted the car into Park and shut down the engine. “Is that a problem?”

  “You could have warned me that I’d be meeting your parents,” she said. She pulled down the sun visor to check her makeup in the mirror.

  Darryl laughed. “Why? We’re just friends, right? It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

  The look Camryn gave him was hostile at best. She adjusted her clothes and pulled her hands through her hair.

  “There you go fidgeting,” Darryl said, eyeing her back.

  “I’m not fidgeting,” Camryn said beneath clenched teeth.

  Exiting the vehicle, Darryl moved to the passenger side of the car and opened the door. He extended a hand in her direction. Camryn stared up at him, still put out by the fact that she was meeting his parents without notice. She glared and Darryl tossed her a look back.

  “What, Camryn?”

  “Nothing!” she snapped.

  “So, are you coming?” he asked, extending his hand a second time.

  Pushing his hand away, Camryn made her own way out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She motioned for him to lead the way.

  Darryl laughed as he turned an about-face and headed for the front door. His parents met them at the entrance.

  “Hello, Son-shine!”

  “Good morning, Mom,” Darryl said as he kissed his mother’s cheek before extending his hand toward his father. “Welcome back, sir! How was your trip?”

  Mason “Senior” Boudreaux shook his son’s hand, then pulled him into a hearty embrace. “The trip was good. We had a great time with those grandbabies.”

  “Well, it’s good to have you back.”

  “Thank you for keeping the house clean,” his mother said. “I was sure I was going to come back to a mess.”

  Darryl’s father looked past his son’s shoulder, spying Camryn, who was standing nervously on the top step. “Darryl, where are your manners? Folks would think you have had no home training. Good morning, pretty lady!” Mason Senior chimed, holding out his hand. “Mason Boudreaux, but everyone calls me Senior,” he said as he pumped Camryn’s arm up and down. “Introduce your friend, boy!”

  Darryl threw a glance over his shoulder. “Oh, that’s Camryn. Camryn Charles, these are my parents...my mother, Katherine, and my father, Senior.”

  Katherine wrapped Camryn in a warm hug. “So, you’re Camryn. It’s very nice to meet you, dear. Darryl talks about you all the time!”

  “Thank you,” Camryn said, a smile brightening her face. “It’s nice to meet you both, as well.”

  “I don’t talk about her all the time,” Darryl muttered under his breath.

  Katherine laughed. “Oh, yes, you do,” she said, still holding on to Camryn. “My son is a big fan of yours!” She gestured for the two of them to follow her into the house.

  “We’re not staying,” Darryl said. “I just needed to pick up some paperwork and Camryn needed a break from the office.”

  “I hear my boys have you working hard on this building Mason is putting up,” Senior interjected.

  “Yes, sir. It’s been very exciting and Mason has been a sheer joy to work with.”

  “I thought you’ve been working with Darryl?” Senior queried, looking from one to the other.

  “I have,” Camryn answered, a rush of color rising to her cheeks. “He’s been something to work with, too!”

  Darryl’s parents eyed them both and then burst out laughing.

  “Sounds to me like the honeymoon is officially over,” Senior joked, hanging an arm over his wife’s shoulder.

  “Or just getting started,” Katherine teased.

  Darryl rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Mom and Dad. I am now officially embarrassed.”

  “Nothing to be embarrassed about, boy!” Senior exclaimed, tossing Camryn a wink of his eye. “Man can’t help who he might be sweet on!”

  Camryn giggled nervously. Darryl shot her a look before turning back to his parents.

  “Camryn and I are just working together. She is only a friend,” Darryl called over his shoulder as he headed up a flight of stairs. “Ask her! She set the rules!”

  Camryn’s face was flushed with embarrassment. “We... I... It’s...” she stammered, not having a clue if she needed to respond.

  Katherine laughed. “Don’t pay my son or my husband an ounce of attention. You’ll get used to it. Are you two hungry, dear? I can fix you something to eat.”

  “No, ma’am, but thank you for offering.”

  “Well, at least sit and have a cup of tea with me,” Katherine said, motioning for Camryn to follow her into the kitchen.

  Minutes later when Darryl bounded down the stairs, the two women had disappeared and Senior was sitting in his favorite recliner, flipping through the morning newspaper. “Where’s Camryn?” he asked as he moved into the room.

  Senior gestured with his head. “She’s having a chat with your mother. She seems like a nice young lady. I know Mason speaks very highly of her.”

  Darryl smiled shyly. “She’s okay.”

  “She doesn’t seem as high-strung as that other girl you used to date. You know which one I’m talking about. That crazy one that tried to shoot you. The one the judge put on probation. You remember her, don’t you?”

  Darryl dropped his head back against his shoulders. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Senior, I—” he started.

  Mason Senior shook his head. “You need to handle your business, Darryl. You haven’t cleaned up that situation yet and here you are all hot over another woman. Don’t think we don’t see the way you look at that girl.”

  “I like Camryn. I like Camryn a lot and things with Asia are over, so—”

  His father cut him off a second time. “You want things with Asia to be over but trust me when I tell you over might not be that easy when a woman resorts to shooting at you.”

&nb
sp; “Senior, she didn’t—”

  Senior stalled his words again, holding up his hand. “I just need you to remember to be careful, son. Know a woman before you rush into anything. That’s the problem with you young people today. Always want to rush into something and don’t have a clue what you’re dealing with. I had to tell your nephew Collin that just the other day. Much like you, that boy’s nose is wide open over some young girl. Done had him a little tail and now you can’t tell him anything. But these days you just can’t be too careful.”

  “Little Collin?” Darryl questioned, thinking of his older sister Katrina’s young son. “You’re joking right?”

  “Collin’s not so little anymore. Boy’s driving, about to graduate, and them hormones of his are raging. I told him about being so fast because these days some of the girls are faster than the boys. He’s giving Matthew and Katrina a run for their money!”

  Darryl laughed.

  For the first time since their conversation started, Mason Senior peered over the top of his newspaper to stare up at Darryl.

  “It’s not funny. That boy is about as bad as you were the first time you got you some! Don’t think I don’t remember that. What was that little girl’s name? Pattie, Penny, Paula? Pauline! That was her. Pauline Satterwhite. She lived next door to your aunt Helen. You know I don’t forget much!”

  Darryl tossed a quick look over his shoulder. “Senior! Come on, man!”

  “Just be smart, Darryl. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Blowing out a gust of air, Darryl nodded his head. “Yes, sir!”

  The two women moved back into the room, interrupting the conversation.

  “What about Pauline Satterwhite?” Katherine asked. She directed her next comment at Camryn. “That was Darryl’s first little girlfriend. She was a sweet girl but she was hot in the pants. I remember having to talk to her mama one day about her being so hot.”

  Camryn looked at him with raised eyebrows as his mother continued. “Darryl, when’s the last time you saw that girl?”

  He shook his head. “It’s been years, mama. Senior was just trying to remember her name.”

  “What made you think about that girl, Senior?” she asked.