Can I Get an Amen

by Janice Sims

  Jared laughed. “Do you always tell the truth?”

  “No, but I don’t want you to have to guess about me. I’m the jealous type. Not insanely jealous, but when you look at someone with lust in your eyes, I want that someone to be me, not some other woman.”

  “Like I’m looking at you now?” Jared said, his golden brown eyes raking over her with slow, deliberate longing.

  Alex had backed into the chair she’d previously been sitting in. He walked up to her, pulled her none-too-gently into his arms, and tilted her head back with his thumb. “Do you know how much I want you?”

  Alex felt his erection on her thigh. Yes, she had some indication.

  She smiled seductively and pressed her lower body against his hard member. “About as much as I want you,” she told him.

  Jared licked the side of her neck. Her skin was salty due to perspiration, but she tasted good to him. Alex shivered, and her knees went slightly weak. He softly kissed her mouth and raised his head to smile at her. “But I’m going to be a good boy right now because I know you’d feel awkward tonight, meeting my Mom for the first time, after we’d made love in this shabby trailer. So get out of here before I change my mind.”

  Alex looked panic-stricken. It had slipped her mind that they were going to a dinner party tonight. It was his mother’s birthday, and she’d asked Jared to bring Alex. She’d specifically asked for no gifts; she already had everything she needed.

  Alex quickly shrugged out of his arms. “Oh, Lord, I’m meeting your mother tonight! I have to go. I’ve got a lot to do before seven-thirty.”

  Jared calmly glanced at his watch. “It’s already half past five.”

  Alex sprinted for the door. “Why didn’t you remind me earlier!”

  She could hear Jared’s laughter all the way to her truck.

  “That’s not a house, it’s a castle,” Alex said upon seeing the Kyles’s home later that evening. “It’s something out of a King Arthur fantasy.”

  Jared laughed as he slowed the Acura and turned onto the circular driveway. “You’re right, it’s James Kyles’s castle. Emma, however, would prefer something smaller. It’s for sale.”

  Alex stared at the three-story gray stone house that had turrets on each corner. She sided with Emma Kyles. No doubt it was a luxurious home, and people passing by probably gaped in awe at it, but it didn’t belong in the Georgia countryside.

  “Your father didn’t let your mother have much say in its construction, huh?”

  “If he had, it would have turned out something like your house.”

  Alex turned in her seat to get a glimpse of his face so she could discern whether or not he was pulling her leg. He didn’t appear to be. “Did you grow up in that house?”

  “No, he built it in 1997. Carena and I grew up in a normal place.” He stopped the car in front of the house, and, in a matter of seconds, a valet came bounding down the steps to retrieve his car keys.

  Jared jogged around the car and helped Alex out. “I’ll give you a tour,” he said. “It has hidden rooms and walls that move. My father was a very eccentric man.”

  They walked up the ten steps leading to the double brass front doors. The pulls on the doors were lions with their mouths open. Jared had to put his hand inside one of the lions’ mouths in order to open the door. He pushed it wider and gestured for Alex to precede him. Alex stepped inside a vast foyer with a black-and-white checkerboard floor. The sound of her heels resounded on it as she stepped down the two steps. A petite, middle-aged black woman with a salt-and-pepper Afro welcomed them.

  Her dark brown eyes narrowed accusingly at Jared. “Mr. Jared, you’re late.”

  Alex smiled as Jared kissed the woman’s proffered cheek. “Alexandra, meet Miss Sadie Canton, my mother’s personal assistant.”

  “Tell it like it is, child,” Miss Sadie said. “I’m the head housekeeper, the cook, and the chief bottle washer.”

  “And she puts Florence of The Jeffersons to shame with her sassiness. Momma should have fired her years ago.”

  “Who do you suppose would put up with that woman, except me?” asked Sadie with a mischievous grin.

  “Any number of loyal, discreet servants,” said a haughty feminine voice from behind them. Alex tensed as she turned to face the petite woman of indeterminate age who had Jared’s skin color and eye color. Emma Kyles’s long black hair was pulled back in a perfect chignon. She was wearing a flowing emerald silk kimono over a simple black shell and black slacks. Low-heeled emerald sandals adorned her small feet. Trim and vibrant, her face mirrored her pleasure at seeing her only son.

  “Don’t let us frighten you with our banter,” she said to Alex, as she grasped both of her hands in hers. “Sadie and I bicker all the time. I’d think she was sick if she wasn’t complaining about something. And she’d think I’d lost my mind if I didn’t give her tit for tat.”

  “Then there will be no fistfights here tonight?” Alex joked.

  “Not unless she starts one,” Sadie said before disappearing.

  “She always has to have the last word,” Emma said peevishly. Then she yelled at Sadie’s retreating back, “I’d mop up the floor with you!”

  “That would be the only time you ever mopped a floor!” Sadie tossed back.

  “See what I mean?” Emma asked with a laugh. “The last word. Come on, let me introduce you to everybody.”

  Emma looked back at her son as she led Alex to the library, where the rest of the dinner party guests were enjoying drinks and hors d’oeuvres. “What kept you?”

  “It’s Alex’s fault, she couldn’t decide what to wear,” Jared said, unashamed.

  Alex glared at him. “Now, you know you’re lying! We’re late because…”

  She stopped abruptly. They were late due to a rather heavy petting session which had almost ended up in the bedroom. Humor flashed in Jared’s devilish eyes.

  Alex would have slugged him if his mother weren’t still holding onto one of her hands. “Darlin’,” Emma said to Alex. “I could always tell when my son is lying to me. I know you aren’t late because of your indecisiveness. By the way, you look beautiful tonight. I always wanted legs like yours, but I stopped growing at five-two.”

  “Mrs. Kyles, I’d trade my long legs for your sophistication and self-assurance any day.”

  Emma laughed delightedly. “Fooled you, didn’t I? I was born in a tarpaper shack, fifty-four years ago, in Normal, Alabama. We were so poor I didn’t know what plumbing was until I was seven years old. But I thank you for the compliment, because I worked hard to become the person you see today. Which is why I’m so happy to finally meet you. Jared tells me you’re a self-made woman, too.”

  Alex felt at ease enough to say, “I’m still a work in progress.”

  “Aren’t we all?” Emma replied.

  Jared walked behind them, aware of the fact that his mother and the woman he loved were forging a strong bond. They were alike in a number of ways. He knew they would have fun finding that out.

  I love Alex.

  He was momentarily stunned by his own thoughts as he arrived at the entrance to the library. That he desired her with every fiber of his being he had no doubt. But love? That had taken him by surprise.

  In the library, everyone looked up when Emma and Alex walked in.

  Alex felt a little jittery with all eyes trained on her, but she had survived worse and knew she’d make it through tonight’s goings on unscathed.

  “Everybody, this is Alexandra Cartwright, Jared’s girlfriend,” Emma announced.

  Alex smiled bravely as Emma gestured to a young couple sitting near the fireplace. “That’s my daughter, Carena, and her husband, Fletcher Henderson.”

  “Hello, Carena,” Alex said.

  Carena, petite like her mother, had smooth caramel-colored skin and jet-black hair that she wore slick and straight, nearly to her waist. Her light brown eyes were almond-shaped and lent her a somewhat Asian aspect. She smiled warmly. “It’s a pleasure, Alexan
dra.”

  Fletcher was on his feet, coming across the room to shake Alex’s hand. “Of course, we’ve already met. How are you, Alex?”

  Tall, dark-skinned, and in splendid shape, Fletcher dwarfed his wife. He wore his natural black hair cut close to his scalp, and his eyes were dark, almost black, and deep set. Both he and Carena were dressed casually, Carena in a pale green lightweight twin set and a pair of moss green slacks, and Fletcher in an even paler green polo shirt and a pair of jeans. Alex was glad she’d decided on slacks tonight, too.

  “I’m fine, thanks. Good to see you again.”

  “Where’s Jared?” Carena asked.

  Everyone looked toward the door. Jared sauntered in, grinning.

  “Did you get lost?” Fletcher asked.

  “Sort of,” said Jared, his gaze on Alex’s inquisitive face. “But I finally found my way.”

  “Does anyone know what the heck he’s talking about?” Emma inquired. However, the manner in which her son was looking at Alex made her so ecstatic that she didn’t care that he wasn’t making any sense. “Come on in, sweetie, and finish introducing Alex around. If I were Alex, I would never go anywhere else with you, the way you’ve been behaving tonight. First you try to blame her for being late, and then you hang around in the hallway when you should have been in here being the doting boyfriend.”

  “Well then, Mom, I’m glad you’re not Alex,” Jared told her.

  Everyone laughed, including Emma.

  Jared introduced Alex to the other four couples in the room.

  Emma purposefully did not sit Alex and Jared together at the dinner table. She sat Alex on her right and fairly monopolized her all night. She regaled Alex with stories of Jared’s misspent youth. He continuously shot warning looks at his mother, but Emma ignored them. She was having too much fun. Jared had never brought a woman home before, and Emma wasn’t about to miss her chance to relate thirty-two years of stored-up Jared stories to an appreciative audience.

  When he heard his mother say the word “bounced,” he knew she was telling Alex about the most embarrassing episode of his high school years.

  “Mother, don’t!” he demanded from across the table. His eyes narrowed ominously.

  Emma smiled sweetly. “Baby, it wasn’t your fault that the ball bounced off of your big head and went into the other team’s basket.”

  “It was his fault that he had such a hard head,” Carena put in with a snicker.

  “It was the Afro he used to wear,” Fletcher said. He’d been playing on the same team that fateful night. “It served as a springboard for the basketball. And, of course, coach had to wipe off the Afro Sheen before the game could resume.”

  Alex was laughing so hard that tears came to her eyes.

  “I bet you were adorable,” she said. “How old were you?”

  “Seventeen,” Emma provided. “It was his last year in high school.”

  “Thank God,” Jared said ruefully.

  Later, as they said farewell at the door, Emma warmly embraced Alex and softly said, “Welcome to the family, Alexandra. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better. Make him bring you again. Real soon.”

  Alex whispered back, “No, next time you’re going to come to my house for dinner.”

  Emma smiled up at her. “I’d love to!”

  Jared, having heard only his mother’s comment, asked what she was talking about.

  “Going to Alexandra’s house for dinner,” his mother replied.

  “Good,” said Jared. “Wait until you see her house. You’re gonna want to buy it.”

  He bent to kiss his mother’s fragrant cheek. Now he knew he wasn’t going to get away from her without their customary hug. She grabbed him and got her hug. Then she stood on the bottom step and waved good-bye to them.

  They were the last of the guests to leave. Sadie was waiting for her in the foyer when she closed the front door.

  “Well, what did you think of her?” Sadie asked.

  “I always wanted another daughter,” Emma said with a smile. “I thought she was fabulous!”

  “Me, too,” said Sadie. “Did you hear the way she called him on it when he tried to pin being late on her? She’s got what it takes to tame a man like that big ol’ hardheaded boy of yours.”

  Emma began walking back to the kitchen. She wanted a seltzer. Something Sadie had cooked hadn’t agreed with her, but she wasn’t about to tell Sadie and get into an argument with her tonight. She was tired.

  However, she couldn’t resist saying, “My hardheaded boy? You spoiled him more than I did!”

  After which an argument ensued.

  In Jared’s car on the way back to Red Oaks, Alex relaxed against the leather seat and closed her eyes. It had been a wonderful, though stressful, evening.

  “She likes you,” Jared said, breaking the silence. He reached over and lowered the volume on the CD of Andre Watts as guest pianist with the New York Philharmonic.

  Alex turned in her seat to smile at him. “I know. Your mother doesn’t have a false bone in her body. What you see is what you get. I liked her, too.”

  Jared was quiet for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. “I was thinking that if you could get next Saturday off we could go somewhere for the weekend. Carena and Fletcher stayed at a bed and breakfast in Savannah a few months ago, and they said it was a very romantic place. The Ballastone, I think it’s called.”

  “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been there,” Alex said, trying to conceal her excitement. This was the first time Jared had mentioned going away for the weekend. Did this mean he was finally going to proposition her? For three months he had been wearing her lips out with hot, passionate kisses, but something always happened to interrupt them when she felt he was about to go further. Like today, when he’d reminded her that they were going to his mother’s for dinner. There was something else he’d said in the trailer today, she recalled. That he didn’t want her feeling awkward about having made love to him just before going to his mother’s birthday dinner. Therefore, he was going to be a good boy and stop tempting her with kisses.

  “Will you make love to me when we get there?” she asked suddenly.

  Jared laughed shortly. “You shouldn’t say things like that while I’m driving.”

  “On the contrary, that’s the best time to say something like that. You have to keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. I can say anything to you, and, unless you pull over, all you can do is listen.”

  Jared turned off the music. “Let’s get something straight, Alexandra. I’ve wanted to make love to you since you walked onto my back lawn three months ago, because you are a dangerously sexy woman. And men are drawn to women who have it going on. But in the past few months, I’ve come to appreciate a lot more about you, and I know that no matter when we make love for the first time, it’ll be worth the wait.”

  When Alex spoke, she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “I have a confession to make.”

  “I’m pulling over.” Jared looked for a suitable place. When he saw a well-lit park, he slowed and turned into it. He parked and let the car idle.

  After unfastening his seatbelt he reached over and undid hers. He pulled Alex into his arms. She clung to him. “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked softly. “Why’re you upset?”

  Alex sniffled. “Tonight, when your mom was telling me about that time the basketball bounced off your head, and you begged her not to tell me, it suddenly occurred to me that I love you. Isn’t that ridiculous? That I should come to that realization at that moment? Not during a romantic moment, but when we’re surrounded by other people? I looked over at you and my heart did this little flip-flop thing and I just knew.”

  She raised her head to look him in the eyes. Jared was smiling at her. “I beat you to the punch.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I knew that I loved you a good half hour before you knew you loved me. It hit me when we were outside of the library. That’s why I did
n’t enter with you and Mom. I was floored by it. I had to regain my equilibrium. I was thinking that you and Mom have a lot in common, and I was glad because I knew that I loved you, and more than anything I wanted you to get along since you’re the two most important women in my life.”

  Alex remembered his odd behavior. “That’s what you were talking about when you said you’d been lost? You gave me such a strange look!”

  “I was stunned,” Jared said. “How else is a self-pro-claimed player supposed to react when he’s hit right between the eyes by love?”

  Alex sniffed some more, and her cheeks were moist with tears. “You don’t think it’s too soon? What if it’s lust we’re feeling?”

  “I’ve never been in love before, Alex. I think I can tell the difference between love and lust. You, on the other hand, might want to take some time to think about what you really feel for me because I’m telling you now: If you make love to me and then decide you don’t love me, I’m going to be pissed!”

  Alex laughed through her tears. “Would you really?”

  “Highly. I don’t want to be used by you. I have my reputation to think of. A player getting played by a little church girl? I’m not having it!”

  Alex could hear the humor in his voice, but deep down she knew he was serious. Jared Kyles had his heart to think of. He had probably broken a lot of hearts in his day, but he would be devastated if the tables were turned. She could understand that.

  She sighed in his embrace. Jared held her more closely. They stayed that way for a few minutes, then Alex raised her mouth to his and kissed him. Jared moved over, so that he was no longer sitting under the steering wheel and gently pulled her onto his lap. She straddled him. They were now crotch to crotch.

  His big hands grabbed hold of her hips and pressed her firmly to his erect penis. Alex moaned with pleasure. She raised her head to look up at him. “Do you have any condoms?”

  “Not on me, no,” was his regretful response. He pulled her down for another quick kiss, and then set her on the seat next to him while he slid back under the wheel. “We’re not going to make love in a car.” He gave her a pleading look. “Work with me here. Behave yourself. We’ve got nearly fifty miles to go before we’ll be home. Until then, don’t talk about making love to me. It turns me on.”