by Love Belvin
“Jackson’s the epitome of professionalism. I’ve never worked for anyone as competent and effective,” quickly rushed from my mouth.
I had no idea where the words came from or the urge to disprove his mother. Who did she think she was, belittling him in public? Yeah, he’d played between my legs, but at work Jackson never carried on like the horny adolescents his peers were. His reputation wasn’t scandalized like even Jamie’s. He worked and excused every piece of his social life that attempted to infiltrate his work space. Like Stephanie here. And Ashley.
For moments long, Valerie regarded me intensely. She was questioning my audacity while processing my assertion. At this time I was able to gain full view of her features. Valerie was devastatingly beautiful by mainstream America’s standards. Her butterscotch skin was flawless and I couldn’t decide if it was assisted by makeup. Her alluring eyes were a combination of yellow, green and russet, her nose was neat and trimmed, and her strong jawline all made up a gorgeous woman with a bruised heart. But no matter how beautiful she was, Valerie was vile. No mother should charge her son that way.
“So, you are his secretary,” Valerie stated warily, but didn’t question.
I didn’t answer, and neither did Jackson that time. In that moment, I would have been anything she wanted me to be to Jackson just for her to stop berating him.
“Well, maybe Elle can schedule you some time in with Jackson, Stephie,” Magreen broke the awkward silence. “I want grandbabies before I roll over and croak.”
“Ma!” Stephanie hushed. “You’re pushing it. You two promised you wouldn’t.” She gestured her mother and Valerie.
“Well, sweetheart, what he needs is a woman his age and not some middle-aged whore.”
Stephanie gasped. Jackson’s eyes remained low, but in an absent manner. Middle-aged? Is that about the older woman from the restaurant a while back?
“Ughhh! C’mon, Elle. I’ve had enough of this,” Candice grated as she pushed from the table. “Thanks for yet another pleasant Sunday dinner. The fact that you’ve managed such a stellar job while sober is a new talent.”
“Aye, Candice!” That’s when we heard from Jackson. His tone was crisp, deeply tenored and gravely authoritative. “Curb your mouth when you’re speaking to your mother.”
I was a deer caught in headlights. What to do? I wasn’t alone in my stupor. No one in the room moved for a while.
“Sure, Jax,” Candice acquiesced wryly. “I wish that rule was universal around here.” She rolled her eyes over to me. “Let’s go, Elle.”
Quietly, I shuffled in my large chair, scooting off and was on Candice’s heels in a moment’s time. I followed her pace out into the main corridor.
Once I could see the double doors of the front of the house, I informed, “Maybe I should go.”
Candice turned 180-degrees in the air. “Please. No!”
Her eyes were welling with tears. Since when did tears move me, I had no idea, but hers did.
In no time, I found my head nodding. “Okay.”
So caught up in her emotions, I’m sure subconsciously, Candice’s head bounced up and down, too, relieved. Then she turned for the steps and I followed. We ended up back in her room where I closed the door behind me and rested against the wall.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Candice muttered, her back to me as she sat on the bed, facing the window.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t understand what had just taken place.
“She does that to him all the time. She either completely ignores him or rags on him. It’s pathetic.”
“They seem to have a unique dynamic.”
Candice jerked her neck over to glance at me. “He never defends himself to her. He just takes it. Most times I do, too, but tonight was deplorable.”
“Why did you invite me over, Candice?”
I didn’t mean to be rude, but didn’t know how to respond to their family drama. I wanted no parts of it. With Valerie’s antics, I’d be shredding Jackson’s mother to pieces verbally for her unrelenting impudence by night’s end.
Candice’s face was set into a scowl, trying to deliberate her answer. Then, unceremoniously, she shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know. You seem really cool.”
“I work for your brother. This is grossly unethical, I’m sure. He doesn’t want me in his personal life, Candice…and neither does your mother.”
When her shoulders then dropped in defeat, something inside me twisted.
I pushed off the wall. “Look, Candice, I don’t mean to be rude, but at my age it’s a little weird to be at the beck and call of a teenager. Why call me?”
“You’re cool,” she spoke dejectedly.
“And so is the breeze.”
“You look out for me, okay?” That came out far more spirited. “That day when Trevor and my other friends were by, you looked out for me.”
“And you were a bitch about it.” I arched a brow.
“I know!” She rubbed her face exasperated. “But you don’t understand: no one looks out for me. No one. Not even Jackson. I’m surprised he even makes it to these Sunday dinners. He’s always leaving town on Sunday mornings without fail. He’s never around. No one has ever looked out for me.”
That comment took my mind back to the first time I’d fallen asleep there. That Sunday, Jackson mentioned having something to do. But still…
“Candice…”
“No one, Elle! Even when my dad was alive, he didn’t spend half the time with me that he did with Jackson. He’d take him everywhere. He even worked for our dad before he was eighteen. I had to stay here and compete with vodka for my mother’s time. No one has ever checked up on me or expected others to do it in their absence the way you did with Trevor. I’ve always been left to make a mess and abandoned to clean it up alone or stew in it.” Her reddened eyes met mine. “I’ve never had a friend like you.”
I’m not your friend, Candice! I don’t even have friends my damn self!
Something about the despondency in her posture struck a memory. Would I have been this transparent and desperate at her age if I’d sensed a ray of hope? Someone to help me sort my issues? I’d made disastrous messes myself, coming up. I’d felt the weight of being the pastor’s daughter and resented the title, hated my life. I only wanted to be a normal girl, one who grew into her essence, not having had it chosen for her. I won in the end. I charted my own path and did things my way. The problem was, I’d hurt lots of people in the process. My strong will took no prisoners, only produced casualties.
Would this all have been prevented if I simply had someone to listen? To pay attention?
On a long sigh, I began removing my blazer, “Now tell me your original reason for having me over.” I draped it on the back of her desk chair and took a seat. “You said you’d fill me in once I got here. Why do I have the feeling it involves that kid, Trevor?”
A ghost of a smile crested upon her amber face. I tensed, attempting to prepare myself for pubescent discourse.
And when Candice started, “Well…okay, so last night Trevor showed to Tiffany’s party. He came alone and wore these dope ass 7 Man Kind jeans that hung low on his butt, right!” she shrieked. “So, I was psyched and couldn’t breathe for like…ever when he was waiting for Sean to pour him something to drink. I think he was checking me out, but can’t say for sure. So…,” I tuned her out with thoughts of anything but the topic at hand.
I was good at pretending, so she had no idea of my vacancy. My mind wandered over to her brother. Was he still downstairs with his mother? Where did he take flight to when she went in on him like that? How long has this been going on? How could his girlfriend just sit there and watch it all go down.
Why did I care?
But still I was intrigued. The speed with which she unleashed her venom told me Valerie did it often. Jackson had to have had a method of drowning it out. It was almost as if he’d removed himself from the room. Until Candice spoke. But while his
mother went off, he didn’t even flinch, just stayed the course of his food, totally barricaded. It reminded me of our night together. Although the chemistry was incredible, Jackson was like a machine working me over. He dictated each position we ventured, determined the cadence of our sexual excursion. He wasn’t attempting to tap into anything more than my body. I don’t think he anticipated anything more than an escape, by way of an unknown, unattached, equally dejected soul.
It happened again. I was awakened by gentle nudges. I don’t know how many before I aroused, but once my eyes opened, they were met by those with a glower. A little dazed, I wasn’t given a chance to respond before strong arms were lifting me from the floor and into a hard chest. I stirred, but was somewhat quieted by his placid demeanor. I was getting used to it. While being carried out of the room, I stole a glance over to a sleeping Candice. Although she was a teen, she sure slept as hard as a toddler. I immediately thought it was best not to alert her. I’d just have to deal with her ass of a brother on my own in spite of the divine waft of his cologne disabling my guard.
When I thought he’d let me down outside of her bedroom door, I realized we’d passed several doors and traveled up a short set of carpeted stairs and into an area I’d never noticed before. Jackson didn’t stop until we approached a set of French doors. With ease, he opened one and slid sinuously inside. He quietly closed the door behind him with a neat push of his foot before letting me down.
“What the hell are you doing? Where am I? What time is it?” I hissed as I straightened my clothes.
I could hear raps of rain against the window pane. Rain always lulled me to sleep, which is how I got caught sleeping. Again.
Just perfect…
“It’s after two in the morning. You’re safe and in a place where I can get some answers from you.” Jackson’s timbre was rich in its baritone. Possibly due to the hour, it was even deeper than usual.
My breasts felt heavy in their holdings. It was so visceral, I had to keep from reaching for them in panic.
“Answers?”
“Yes. As in what is this damn game you’re playing with my sister? You walk around as though you can’t stand me, but you’re in my home, eating at my table, cohorting with my sister. And other simple shit you seem to keep under lock and key.”
“Like what?” I felt my brows pinching.
“Like what did you do before coming to work for J.G., Wizer and Hunter?”
I scoffed. “School. Is that a far-reaching concept? Before the career comes training.”
“Yeah, but you weren’t exactly twenty-two when you enrolled in NYU.” There was a sneer in his tone, hidden resentment.
But why?
“You’re asking for me to chronicle my life…someone who holds his cards at the sternum himself?” I jerked my neck.
Jackson and I performed a stare down. It was truly a battle of dominant wills that I refused to lose. He may have been my employer, and could have found a way to fire me purely on my disgruntled personality, but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t tolerate the hypocrisy.
Realizing there was no easy victory in sight for him, Jackson backed away, tossing his eyes afar. My eyes fluttered and breath silently caught when he brought his hands up and used his index finger to rub the small patch of hair beneath his bottom lip. That subconscious maneuver sent sensations shooting from my groin.
When his eyes returned to me preoccupied, those perfectly curled lashes caught my attention immediately.
“Okay. I see this is going nowhere fast.” His gaze on me intensified as he inched closer to my face. My lips. “I want to change the rules of engagement. I want you to agree to it. But I’m uneasy about your guards. I don’t know you, Elle, and for this to work successfully, I need to be able to trust you, and you me.”
My strained eyes faltered at the word trust. I’d never trust him. Why should I? He’s too young to appreciate how that characteristic is a prerequisite to commitment. A man his age knew nothing about either.
As my pulse raced at his proximity, I felt my resolve acquiescing. I knew where he was going. What Jackson wanted from me.
“What are you asking, specifically?” I sucked in the corner of my lip, not understanding why I’d become so nervous all of a sudden.
I had been used to this in my former years, very familiar with the type of arrangement he was alluding to, only this felt different. I wanted it. I have no idea why I was so intrigued and…beguiled by this damn kid, but I was.
“I want you to agree to sharing your body with me.” Jackson’s eyes turned hooded. “I’ve tried to fight my urge for you. I mean, Elle,” he growled, “you have no idea the extent I’ve gone to shake this strong desire to feel you shivering beneath me, the feel of those tanned and pebbled nipples between my teeth and against my tongue, to see your eyes squeezed shut while your juicy walls grip my stick as you’re coming all over it.” He let go a shaky breath against my pulsing neck. “You’re beautiful unfastened from your iron poise. Such a contrast to your usual titanium persona. But the thing is, I need that steel for my business. I’d like your body for my pleasure.”
If I hadn’t already been privy to what Jackson was capable of in bed, I would have laughed in his face. Surely, no man his age could possibly have a clue as to how to blow a real woman’s body. However, Jackson went beyond that. He knew how to engage my mind, making what he did in the bedroom an easy adventure. There was so much I wanted to know about him. So many questions floating around in my mind about his personal life and what had matured him so soon in life. I also knew those curiosities were involved in this attempt at concord.
The gentle taps of rain on the house whispered against the sound of my pulse racing in my head.
He continued. “I can’t get your taste out of my mind. And that night at Gild Hall arouses me at mere thought. I want it again. It’s all I think about, even when you’re not around. If you don’t remember that explosive magic, give me the opportunity to remind you. I can’t guarantee it will be a seamless venture, considering our business relationship, but I can promise to make it worthwhile.” Jackson shifted closer until his hard chest and thighs pinned me against the wall. His egregious erection imprinted my thigh. “Please.”
His imploring gaze bounced between my eyes beseechingly. This twenty-six-year-old, with effortless seduction, titillated me with sensual promises. The prospect of it intoxicated me. The idea of it frightened me.
“I-I don’t understand what being cut buddies has to do with answers.”
“This wouldn’t be purely about sex. It’d be for recreation as well. I want to be able to relax around you and have you disarm, too. It would only accentuate this venture I’m proposing. If we can’t have just enough knowledge about one another to at least feel we know each other, this thing will fail at launch.”
“Like how I want to know if you’ve ever slept with Princess Stephanie downstairs…” My eyes popped at revelation. “Or the older woman from our lunch meeting last month. And the burning question of what exactly do you see in older women that you don’t in those your age?”
Jackson chortled sexily. He brushed the patch of hair under his bottom lip. Damn. I wanted to feel those lush lips against my tongue again.
“How about we do this. For every question one of us has, the one posing it has to be willing to answer a question in exchange.” My breath hitched audibly. “All answers must be thorough and completely honest.” Jackson arched a brow. “Deal?”
Biting the corner of my mouth, I considered this pensively. I wouldn’t agree to a windowless room with a steel door without a key. There were some things regarding my past that I didn’t discuss with anyone. Not even those affected by my grave mistakes. This was no easy feat. But Jackson. I’ve broken so many rules and practices with him already, and before learning his name and age. How far could he push me?
He’s a kid, Elle! Kids don’t outwit thirty-five year olds.
But Jackson was no average kid. My eyes raked down to his pelvis. H
is tool didn’t even function with juvenescence. I could faintly hear the drops of rain now pelting against the window.
“Answer now, Elle!” he demanded with abating patience. It was absolutely converse to his pleading proposal moments ago.
“No one knows, but the two of us,” I grated, rendered motionless against the wall.
I immediately saw his chest fall in relief. His head followed for a few seconds. “No task has ever been so simple,” I hardly made out from his mumble. When his head ascended, I could tell he tried to muster placidity, and I was thankful for the attempt. It meant he wasn’t more of a hard ass than I could handle. “No one knows but us.” He nodded. And I fought like hell to control my heaving. “Now. Who goes first?”
Easy.
“Ask away.” I attempted a fluent smile.
“Why did you take so long to get your degree?”
I wet my lips to pad the time. This had to be plausible and not short or else I would be in violation of our seconds-old agreement.
“I had a slow start. I always knew what I wanted to do, but made a few mistakes my last year in high school. Mistakes that put me on an alternate path, forcing me to get a job at a daycare and then I lucked up with a decent gig at a doctor’s office. A pediatrician.” I snorted. “The worst irony in it all was that I’ve never liked kids, but could never get away from them.” Literally. “When the tide changed and I was ready to get off my ass, I went back for my undergraduate. Then I started looking for graduate programs in major cities. NYU won me over.” I cocked my head to the side. “And I’m here. My turn.”
That wasn’t too bad. Keeping it surface always made sharing easier.
For seconds long, Jackson issued me an examining glower as he processed my words. You won’t find many holes there, dude. Besides, in spite of my feminine limitations, I was extremely aroused. Jackson smelled delicious and while I promised to discover his signature fragrance later, I wanted to unman him now. I had to. I needed leverage from his successful demands at getting me to agree to this monstrosity of an arrangement. His stubble was enticing, proximity dizzying and his massive manhood that I knew wanted my attention had me damn near clawing at the wall behind me.
