Feel the Heat

by Cheris Hodges

  MJ nodded toward the front of the restaurant. “Too late.”

  Mimi squeezed Brent’s elbow. “Are you going to be all right?” she asked.

  Not if you don’t move your hand. “I’m good. We’re all adults here.”

  Jamal approached the table and shook his head. “So, this is how we’re playing it now?”

  “What’s up, Jamal?”

  “You really want to get into this now?” he asked, his voice peppered with annoyance.

  “I’m getting real sick of you trying to tell me what kind of relationship I need to have with my father,” Brent bellowed.

  Mimi and MJ exchanged worried looks. “Guys,” MJ said. “Maybe this isn’t the time and place.”

  “When is the time, when this jackass keeps avoiding me?” Jamal snapped.

  “I don’t want to talk to you about my father and how I deal with him. Why does it matter so much to you?”

  Jamal pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t want to do this here,” he said. “We really need to sit down and have a real conversation.”

  “Tell me now or forget it.”

  “My little brother needs to know that when y’all’s father dies that he’s going have someone he can depend on.”

  Brent held his hands up. “Why in the hell does it matter to you? And what does your little brother have to do with anything?”

  “He’s your brother, too.”

  Brent’s mouth dropped open and Mimi gasped. Now it made sense; the doctor said sons. But Jamal’s little brother?

  “I’m out of here,” Brent said. Jamal reached out for his friend, but the angry look on Brent’s face gave him pause.

  “What in the world just happened?” MJ whispered.

  “Something that should’ve happened a long time ago,” Jamal said. “I’m going go find him.”

  “No. I’m going to talk to him.” Mimi dashed out of the restaurant.

  * * *

  Brent paced back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. How was that even possible? Brent knew Jamal’s mother, or at least he thought he did. How could he not know that she had an affair with his father? How could Jamal not tell him?

  “Shit,” he muttered.

  “Brent?”

  Turning around, he saw Mimi standing there. “What’s going on?” he asked as he crossed over to her.

  “That’s why I’m here. Are you all right?” she said, placing her hand on his cheek.

  He sighed. “I just can’t wrap my mind around everything right now.”

  “Want to talk about it?” she asked as she leaned against him.

  “No. Mimi, I don’t want to talk. Come home with me?”

  She nodded. “What happened back there with you and Jamal?”

  “I want to do a lot of things, Mimi, and talking isn’t one of them.” Brent wrapped his arms around her waist and it felt too good to hold her. The walk to the car was torture. Her hot body against his made his libido skyrocket. Once he had Mimi buckled into the passenger seat of his car, Brent got into the driver’s seat. Glancing at Mimi, he noticed that she had her eyes closed as if he was deep in thought. Beautiful. She was so beautiful. His gaze fell on her lips and he wanted to kiss her so badly. But he had to follow the rules. Starting the car, Brent knew the sooner he got Mimi home, the better he would feel. This case had to get settled soon. He needed to taste the most intimate parts of Mimi Collins, needed to get her off his mind. But what if one taste wasn’t enough?

  Could she be the woman he’d been waiting for? One thing was for sure—Mimi wasn’t like any woman he’d ever met. She had a free spirit and didn’t get caught up in the image-conscious nature of Atlanta. As much as he didn’t want to think about Jamal right now, he had been right about one thing, Brent had dated women who looked good on paper. Mimi Collins was off the charts.

  And he felt as if he could open up to her about one of the most difficult parts of his life. They got out of the car and walked inside the building in silence. Once they made it to her door, she looked up at him and he was overcome with so many pent-up emotions.

  “Brent?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Tell me what’s going on. I’ve laid my problems on you. Let me listen to you for a change.”

  “Just knowing that you want to be here for me means a lot.” He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. Their eyes locked. And for once, Brent didn’t care about the rules. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to kiss her. And in a swift motion, he captured her lips, pulling her against his body. He ripped his mouth from hers and licked his lips.

  “I need you, Mimi.”

  “But...”

  “I need you.” He stroked her cheek. “I need you.”

  Mimi nodded. Brent took her keys from her hand and unlocked her door. Once they were inside, Brent pressed her against the wall and kissed her slow and deep. He slipped his hand inside her shirt, massaging her breast until her nipple hardened and she moaned. He ran his tongue up and down the column of her neck.

  Bringing his lips to her ear, his flicked his tongue against her lobe. “I want to make love to you, Mimi. Let me make love to you.”

  “Please. Please.”

  Brent scooped her up in his arms and headed for her bedroom. He laid her on the bed and Mimi started to take her clothes off. Brent drank in her image in black lace panties and smiled. She was more beautiful than he’d ever fantasized about.

  She reached for his belt, but Brent grabbed her hand. “Just let me look at you. You’re so beautiful.”

  He joined her on the bed and took his shirt off. Then he pulled Mimi against his chest. Feeling her skin against his made his body burn with desire. Then she found his hot spot—his left nipple—with her tongue and he couldn’t wait another second to make love to her.

  He was crossing a line that he’d vowed he never would, but with everything that happened tonight, he needed Mimi’s tenderness, her warmth, her loving.

  Pulling back from her, he quickly disrobed, then wrapped her legs around his waist. Skin to skin, lips to lips, Brent had never felt so good with a woman in his arms. Mimi’s skin felt like silk. And her lips were like sugar. He wanted nothing more than to dive into her wetness, but they had to be protected. Mimi seemed to read his mind as she reached into her nightstand drawer and grabbed a condom. Brent took it from her hand, then pushed her back on the pillows. Spreading her thighs apart, he stroked her wetness, taking control of her body. She responded to his touch with vigor, her body moving as his fingers commanded.

  Then Brent planted his face between her legs, licking and sucking her sweet wetness. Mimi’s moans filled the air and Brent grew harder and harder. As he nibbled at her throbbing bud, all he could think about was feeling her wrapped around his hardness.

  “Oh, Brent,” she moaned.

  Easing back from her, Brent smiled at the look of bliss on her face. “Need to be inside you.” He sheathed his erection and thrust into her. They moved in a singular motion, rocking back and forth as if they were riding ocean waves.

  “You feel so good.”

  “Brent, Brent.”

  “Come for me, baby.” He thrust harder and deeper. She shivered in his arms as her climax took hold. Moments later, Brent exploded inside her. They fell into each other’s arms and exhaled.

  “Oh, my God,” Mimi exclaimed. “That was amazing.”

  Brent smiled as he toyed with one of her curls. Yes, making love to Mimi was amazing, but they’d crossed a big line. She was still his client and as good as it felt, it was so wrong. Mimi caught the pensive look in his eyes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Brent exhaled. “Mimi, you know you’re amazing, right. But we...”

  “Don’t say it. Don’t start talking about rules right now, Brent.” />
  He stroked her cheek. “We crossed the line and this can’t happen again until I’m done with your case.”

  She expelled a sigh and shifted out of his embrace. “Brent, you are the most irritating man I’ve ever met! How can you lie here with me right now, after what we shared, and think about rules?”

  He wanted to tell her that it was because of his father’s legacy, but when she leaped from the bed and started pacing the room, he couldn’t. Not when she looked so good naked and angry.

  “Mimi.”

  “Don’t Mimi me!”

  “I can’t have this conversation with you when you’re naked.” His lopsided smirk seemed to calm Mimi. She stopped pacing and shook her head.

  “Okay.” She grabbed her robe from the back of the closet and put it on. “Brent. You’re not the only one who broke a rule. I don’t hop into bed with a man without considering how things are going to move forward. I...”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Babe, let it out.”

  “I don’t want to be hurt. And I need to know that this goes beyond me being a warm body for you because of what you were going through tonight.”

  She walked over to the bed and Brent pulled her into his lap. “It does. This isn’t a one-night stand, Mimi. And you are more than a warm body. Actually, you’re pretty hot.”

  She playfully punched him on the shoulder. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  He looked into her eyes and wanted to tell her that he was falling in love with her. “Mimi.”

  “Don’t. Since we’ve already broken the rules, let’s just keep going.”

  He laughed. “What do you have against rules?”

  Mimi shrugged as she sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I like to blaze my own path and this lawsuit has made me do things I never wanted to do.”

  “Like what?”

  “I had to censor my blog today, and I don’t like doing that.”

  “Have you ever thought about maybe toning it down on your blog?”

  “Are we starting this again? My blog is mine and I’m going to run it as I damn well please.” She dropped her arms from his neck and rose to her feet.

  “Then you’d better put me on retainer. Fast Love is just the beginning. Other people are going to see this suit, no matter how it turns out, as a way to come after you and try to take you down. Or for marketing purposes. Mimi, you know that people listen to what you say and take your words to heart. Why do...”

  “Stop!” she exclaimed. “Maybe you need society to give you a rubber stamp or a pat on the back so that you can feel good about yourself. I don’t live like that.”

  “No, you hide online where you think you’re untouchable, but you’re not. If this lawsuit hasn’t taught you that, I don’t know what will.”

  “You know what, I think you should go. I don’t want to spend another minute with a man who’s too afraid to live. You’re perfect for Atlanta. Image is everything for you.”

  “Fine.” Brent dressed, then slammed out of her place.

  Mimi sat alone in her bed pondering what Brent had said.

  He made a good point, but it was a point she wasn’t ready to accept—especially from him.

  But why did it matter so much? Brent Daniels was just a man. A sexy, sensual man who had been haunting her dreams since he kissed her. A man she wanted to make love to again more than she wanted to take her next breath. But Mimi knew she could never have anything serious with Brent because she wasn’t one of those women he obviously found appropriate. He thought she needed to be tamed, and she wasn’t a damned horse.

  * * *

  Seeing Jamal waiting for him the hallway made Brent cringe. He didn’t want to walk from one argument to another.

  “Are you going to talk to me or what?” Jamal asked as Brent unlocked his door.

  “I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Brent said. “Talking to you means you’ve lied to me for years and I don’t want to accept that right now.”

  “I tried to tell you,” Jamal said. “I wanted you to know about my mother and your father, but every time I said something about your dad, you shut me down.”

  “How did this happen?” Brent asked.

  “I asked her to skip the details, but she was a part of the prison ministry and she met your father. Since we were friends, she’d give him updates on you.”

  Donna Carver used to be one of his favorite people but hearing this was changing his opinion. “And how did that lead to her sleeping with the man and getting pregnant?”

  Jamal sighed. “I can’t wrap my mind around that, either. One thing led to another and I was going to take it to my grave until she had Daveon.”

  “Ten years, though? Ten years you kept your mouth closed and now because that bastard is dying I’m supposed to step in?”

  “No one is asking you to step in to do anything. Daveon is my little brother and we’ve done a good job of taking care of him. Unlike you, he doesn’t hate his father. And it would be nice for him to know his other brother since both of you are losing your father.”

  Brent closed his eyes. Things were beginning to make sense. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “And give you another reason to hate your father? And I wasn’t sure how you were going to react to my mother, because friend or not, I wasn’t going to allow you to disrespect her.”

  “I’d never disrespect your mother and just like you, I don’t need the details of their affair, relationship or whatever. Is she still in contact with him?”

  Jamal nodded. “She takes Daveon to see him once a month. You know what my mother has been through and how we’ve struggled with her addictions for years. Even after she had Daveon, she was still struggling. Gran had been raising him and it wasn’t until your father got sick that she took a more active role in his life.”

  “You mean all of this time, my—our—little brother has been living with your grandmother?”

  Jamal nodded.

  “All right,” Brent said. “I guess I do need to have a conversation with my dad and your mother before I meet Daveon and...”

  Jamal reached out to shake Brent’s hand. “Look, I hated lying to you and trying to force you into a relationship you didn’t want with your dad, but...”

  “You were looking out for your family and I can’t fault you for that.”

  “You’re family, too,” Jamal said. “And what in the hell is going on with you and Mimi?”

  Brent closed his eyes; images of making love to Mimi flashed in his head. He wasn’t the guy to kiss and tell, but he was aching with the fact that he’d crossed a huge line with Mimi.

  Jamal shook his head. “It’s pretty obvious that she wants you as much as you want her.”

  “Let’s just say things are pretty complicated.”

  “That’s because you’re making things that way. Go get that woman.”

  Brent shook his head. He couldn’t be next to Mimi’s heat right now.

  Chapter 14

  Mimi woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. She tried to ignore the throbbing in her head. All she needed was five minutes. A snooze button. But someone wanted to talk to her this morning.

  Reaching for her phone, she hoped that it was MJ with good news. “Hello,” she breathed.

  “Mimi?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

  “Yes, and you are?”

  “Kayla White from Del-Ray Publishing. I’m Kita Jameson’s assistant.”

  “Oh, good morning.”

  “Kita wants to speak with you.”

  Mimi sat up in her bed. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a one-on-one conversation with her editor. “Great,” she said, forcing the sleep from her voice.

  “M
imi, good morning,” Kita said. “What’s going on with your blog?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Usually there’s fresher content, more page views. I know you have this thing with Fast Love going on right now, but...”

  “Wait, I just put a piece up yesterday.”

  “Yes, and it was so tame,” Kita said with a sigh. “A travel piece about a city you want to visit. It just didn’t have the punch that your blog posts normally have. Do you have someone representing you in this case? I could talk to the...”

  “Kita, I have a lawyer. But what do you mean about the punch of my blog? Is that what you’re looking for in my book?”

  “Duh. Haven’t you and MJ been talking about the plan for the Mis-Adventures of Mimi Collins brand? We have to capitalize on the success of your first book.”

  “I love how y’all are having these discussions without me.”

  “Mimi, you are on your way to being a superstar. We’re just trying to make that happen for you.”

  “I’m going to need a say in that,” Mimi snapped. “And I’d like to talk to you about my next book. When is that going to happen?”

  “As soon as your blog starts breaking the internet again. Mimi, I think you’re a great writer. But you have to know this is a business and needs to be treated as such. MJ told me about your desire to do something different with your book. We’re not ready to go that route yet. People are going to want the magic of your blog in book form. That’s...”

  “All right,” Mimi said. “Whatever.”

  “But we don’t want to proceed with this lawsuit hanging over your head. Are you sure you don’t want me to sic some of our lawyers on Fast Love?”

  “Sure you don’t want to use this for marketing?” Mimi muttered.

  “That’s not a bad idea, even though I know you’re being sarcastic. And that is what we’re missing from the blog right now. Why don’t you put that back in your next post?”

  “Bye, Kita.” After hanging up, Mimi pulled herself out of bed and headed to the kitchen for a huge glass of water. Her head throbbed from the conversation with her editor. Maybe she didn’t need the book deal, especially if she was going to be forced to write things for marketing purposes. Groaning, Mimi started her coffee machine. She needed a jolt before she got to work and apologized to Brent for her behavior last night. Yes, she had a right to be upset, but he was only trying to help her. He didn’t have to take her case, but he did. Mimi knew she needed to start taking his advice seriously. Especially if she wanted to win this case. Fast Love needed to learn a lesson.