The Reluctant Jump Off(An Erotic Tale)

by Day, Desiree

  “Okay.”

  “And don’t jump at the first man who approaches you. It’s rare that you get the perfect guy the first time out.”

  “But what if he’s married?” Brooke asked.

  Ebony raised an eyebrow. “So what if he is. That is not your problem.”

  “But, I don’t want to be a home wrecker.”

  Ebony scoffed. “You will not be a home wrecker. We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. They might have an open marriage, the wife might not be putting out, and if she does, it’s boring as hell. And if you’re so concerned with him being married, don’t ask; in this case ignorance can be bliss.”

  “Okay,” Brooke said with a frown, she didn’t like it, but she had bills that needed to be paid.

  Ebony nodded with satisfaction. “I want you to remember three things,” she said somberly.

  Brooke eyed her nervously. “What?”

  “Don’t ever think that you’re his girlfriend and in a real relationship.”

  “I won’t,” Brooke vowed.

  “I’m serious,” Ebony said. “People say that they won’t but they do, they forget their lane, just stay in it and it’s all good.”

  “Okay. What else?”

  “Whenever he offers you money, to take you on a trip or to do something nice for you, always say ‘Oh no, you don’t have to’ or ‘No that’s not necessary’, or something along those lines.”

  “That’s phony, but what happens if he believes me and doesn’t do it?”

  “Oh, he won’t. Sugar Daddies like taking care of their girls, makes them feel good. And here’s one I don’t want you to forget. Don’t you ever, and I mean never ever never ever fall in love.”

  This time Brooke rolled her eyes. “Trust me, that will not happen. I will not be falling in love with any of those men.”

  “It can happen,” Ebony said. “He’s taking you on vacation, buying you things, and sometimes he might introduce you to his friends, it’s easy to fall in love when you’re being seduced. You have to remember you’re in a pseudo relationship. It won’t be a real one, so don’t get sucked in.”

  Brooke raised her eyebrows. “Pseudo relationship?”

  “Hey, I watch Dr. Phil. I don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all. Some men are clueless assholes and they say and do things that will cut a lady to her knees. Then they’re looking around all bewildered wondering why we want to cut their fucking dicks off.”

  Brooke giggled. “That’s true, because if I ever get the chance, I will not hesitate to cut off Savion’s.”

  “Yeah, I have a four-page list of men, I would like to take care of myself,” Ebony said, her eyes glinting meanly.

  “Hmmm, four-page? That’s some serious dick cutting.” Brooke and her cousin laughed.

  “So are you ready?” Ebony asked.

  “You’re leaving? Please don’t go!” Brooke pleaded.

  “I’m not ditching you. I’m going outside to make some calls, then I’ll get a seat close by so that I can hear what’s going on. If somebody approaches you before I get back, text me.”

  “I don’t know Ebony. Can’t you sit here with me?”

  “Nope. Your chances are better if you’re by yourself. It’ll be okay. Go ahead and order your salad. I’ll be right back.” And before Brooke could protest, Ebony slid off the bar stool and disappeared into the lunch crowd.

  Brooke did as Ebony instructed and ordered her salad.

  Benji, the bartender, grinned at her. “I think Ebony would like it if you turned around a little to show your face. Just for a minute or two then began reading your book,” he said helpfully.

  Brooke’s face reddened. Of course he knew why she was there, he was Ebony’s friend, after all. She tentatively faced the crowd, a couple of men smiled in her direction, she shyly returned their smiles before whipping around and opening her book.

  Before she could finish the first paragraph, she felt someone sliding onto the stool next to her. And so it begins.

  “What are you reading?”

  “Oh, Stephen King, I love his novels.” Like her outfit she had taken some time to figure out what book she wanted to use as a prop. It had to be something that she definitely wanted to read. She knew that it couldn’t be religious or too controversial. Normally she would have picked her favorite author Zora Neale Hurston, but it would go over most men’s heads. But most men knew who Stephen King was.

  Brooke studied the man. He was cute, dressed in a pair of khakis, and a white cotton button down that he had rolled up to his elbows, he definitely had the geek look down pat. Her gaze inched up to his eyes and she nearly fell off her bar stool, they were bright green, his top lip was a little too thin for her tastes, but his dirty blond hair was sexy as hell, and that made up for his lack of lips.

  He held out his hand. “I’m Addison Lincoln.” Brooke introduced herself. “Yeah, his books scared the crap out of me when I was younger. Hell, they still do, but that never stopped me from reading them. I’m always first in line whenever he comes to Atlanta for a book signing or if I happen to catch him while I’m traveling.”

  Brooke had closed her novel and focused her attention on Addison. “Oh, you travel a lot?”

  “Too much. I own my own company,” he announced and Brooke’s heart sped up.

  I’ll get my guy the first time out!

  Just then Benji placed her Caesar salad in front of her. Addison ordered himself a drink and asked Brooke if she wanted anything and she declined. “So tell me about your company.”

  “I started it about ten years ago, I actually started it in my basement with a couple of my friends, we designed computer games. We created some good ones, so good that we were able to move out of my basement into a building downtown. Then about five years ago, we decided to start dabbling in apps for the smartphone, then that took off. Our revenues are over sixty million,” he bragged.

  “Wow! That’s impressive.”

  Just then his phone rang and she took a bite of her salad while he talked. A few minutes later he finished his call.

  “Hey, I’m sorry, I have to get back. Something had come up.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “Give me a call when you get a chance, I would love to take you out.”

  She beamed at him. He’s cute. “Thanks I’ll do that,” she murmured.

  He motioned to Benji. “I’ll take care of this beautiful lady’s tab.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Brooke protested.

  “It’s not a problem.”

  “Well thank you very much. It was nice meeting you.”

  As soon as Addison sauntered off, Ebony returned. “You did great girlie. He’s cute, not too old, in good shape, jackpot!”

  “And he’s rich!” Brooke said, trying hard to keep her excitement down. “He told me to call him.”

  “Cool. Send him a text right now and tell him how much you enjoyed meeting him.”

  “But I just told him.”

  “So, just do it!”

  Brooke pulled her phone out of her purse and texted Addison. “Why did you want me to do that?”

  “I wanted to make sure that he had your phone number.”

  “But he would’ve gotten it when I called him,” Brooke said perplexed at Ebony’s reasoning.

  “Yeah, but you weren’t going to call him for a couple of days, in the meantime, he has your number, so just in case he gets the urge to call you, you might be seeing him sooner than later.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “I want you to go home and Google the hell out of him, find out everything you can and cover your eyes if you find out whether he’s married,” she joked and Brooke stuck her tongue out at her. “You’re not using this information as conversation starters or fillers or anything else, other than just information. You need to know who this man is. Then if he doesn’t call you, wait a couple of days and call him.”

  Ebony picked up Brooke’s fork and began eating her salad. “Hey, that’s mi
ne.”

  “I’m hungry.” She got Benji’s attention. “Bring me a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke.” Brooke eyed her. “Hell, I’m not on the prowl, I got my men. So I can eat what I want.”

  Brooke swatted her hand. “Leave my salad alone. I was so nervous this morning that I couldn’t eat.” She was just about to eat when her phone buzzed. She read the text. “It’s Addison he wants to take me to dinner tomorrow night.”

  “Told ya!” Ebony gloated. “Text him yes. And we’ll talk about where we’re going to pick up man number two.”

  “Man number two?”

  “Text him!” Ebony ordered. “Then we’ll talk. And tell him that you’ll meet him, he doesn’t need to know where you live. Maybe later but not now, we don’t know if he’s crazy.”

  “That makes sense,” she agreed, while texting Addison that she’ll be glad to meet him. Brooke set down her phone and focused her attention on her cousin. “A second man?”

  “Yep. We don’t know how this one is going to turn out. And the more you get the faster you can get on your feet financially and the sooner Jaden can come back home,” she added and Brooke drooped in the bar stool.

  She missed her son, her mother had flown down, stayed for a couple days then she and Jaden flew back to Buffalo together. The house felt dead when he wasn’t in it.

  “Okay we’ll work on number two,” she reluctantly agreed.

  Chapter 5

  Brooke was almost dressed for her date with Addison when her doorbell rang. She raced down the stairs to her front door, she peeped through the hole. She frowned, surprised by the visitor. She opened the door. “Hi, Officer Ferguson is there something wrong?”

  “Not at all. I’m just checking in with you to make sure that you’re not having any additional problems,” he said politely. Brooke couldn’t help but notice his super long eyelashes.

  “Oh that’s sweet, come on in.” She opened the door wider. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “No thanks. I don’t want to keep you, you look like you’re ready to go out.”

  “I am but it can wait. Are you sure you don’t want anything to drink?”

  “A glass of water would be fine.”

  “No problem. Come on to the kitchen.”

  Avery couldn’t take his eyes off her behind while he followed her. “So I was talking to some of your neighbors.”

  “You did?” Surprised, she turned to look at him. “I really appreciate that. Did you find out anything?” Brooke continued into the kitchen and pulled out a bottled water from the refrigerator and handed it to him.

  “Maybe,” he said. “Mr. Nichols, your neighbor who lives across the street, was out walking his dog when he said he saw a painting van in your driveway, he thought that you getting your house painted or getting estimates. So it didn’t seem suspicious to him to see a man setting up a ladder outside one of your windows. Did you leave your upstairs windows up that day?”

  “Maybe, sometimes I do that so that I can get fresh air. I think I left some windows open upstairs. I figured it would be safe, it’s upstairs for Pete’s sake.”

  “Would you mind if I go check and I might have to dust for fingerprints. It won’t take long.”

  “Take your time,” she said easily, belying the urgency she felt. She didn’t want to be late for her dinner with Addison, but she wanted to catch Savion because she knew he did it.

  “I’ll be right back.” He hurried out to his car and returned a few minutes later carrying a black case. “Do you mind escorting me upstairs.”

  “Sure.”

  Brooke hurried upstairs and Avery inspected the windows while she went into the bathroom to finish getting dressed.

  “I think this is the point of entry,” he yelled excitedly. “Come look.”

  Brooke rushed to the second guest bedroom. His mouth dropped open when he saw her, she looked attractive when she had opened the door, but the added jewelry and makeup completed the look. His dick twitched, a sure sign that he was about to get hard. She was flawless, he had only seen two other women who could compare to her. He had seen Beyoncé and her former Destiny’s Child group mate Kelly Rowland once when he was doing security part time at a club. They were both stunning. Then there was Brooke, she outshined them both. His cock hardened. He silently cursed his police uniform, suddenly the pants were too tight, he abruptly turned away, hiding his erection.

  “Come look over here.” He pointed to the window. Brooke peered at it.

  “I don’t see anything.”

  “There are smudges that look like fingerprints. If they weren’t so smeared, I’d do it myself, but I think I’d better have our expert come out and dust. I mean I can do it but there’s no guarantee that I’ll do it right. And I don’t want to mess it up.”

  “Now we can finally catch him. He thinks he’s so smart.” She felt tears of gratitude filling her eyes and willed them back, she didn’t want to ruin her makeup.

  “You look so beautiful,” Addison commented, he loved the way men’s heads swiveled for a second look when she walked past.

  “You like?” Brooke preened, she knew that she looked good by Officer Ferguson’s reaction and the stares she was getting from the various men in the restaurant. She was glad that she had gone shopping for the Rachel Roy fitted dress, it made her caramel colored skin glow, her breasts look twice their normal size and gave her the hour glass figure everybody coveted. It had cost over four hundred dollars, something that she could barely afford, but she charged it to her Visa and considered it an investment that would pay off many times over.

  “You’re hot!” Addison breathed, awed by her beauty.

  “You look pretty good too,” she said. No one would guess that he was worth millions, with his Dockers and light green button down, he looked like the average Joe. But he had a quiet confidence about him that told people he was a powerful man.

  “I love this restaurant, I’ve heard about it but I’ve never been here before.” Her dates could never afford to bring her to a ritzy place like this and although she had made a comfortable salary at her previous position, she could never afford treating herself to a lunch or dinner at the restaurant, even if she wanted to.

  The restaurant itself was a feast for the eyes, Brooke’s gaze roamed over the restaurant for the hundredth time. It was a piece of art and was occasionally featured in magazines. Hundreds of pendant lights encased in clear shades hung from the ceiling, floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooked the Chattahoochee River and cozy tables for two filled the restaurant. Classical music provided the perfect cover for intimate conversations. The final effect was sophisticated romance.

  “I come here a lot for business. It looks a lot different during the day, there are more lights and they push a lot of the tables together. The service is amazing and the food is phenomenal.”

  “It is, I love these crab cakes.”

  They enjoyed their dinner. And Addison enjoyed talking to her, they could transition from world events to pop culture then to personal information all without missing a beat.

  “So where do you live?” Brooke asked.

  “I keep an apartment in the city. My family lives in Savannah, and most times I drive down there on Fridays and drive back up on Sunday night. Or sometimes I just stay up here.”

  “So you’re married,” she asked nonchalantly, trying to keep the anger and judgment out of her voice.

  Addison nodded. “Yeah, we got married right after college and she got pregnant on the honeymoon. I think she did that on purpose.”

  Brooke pursed her lips. It wasn’t Immaculate Conception, buster. “Yeah?”

  Addison grinned wryly. “I wanted to wait a few years. But Blythe always gets what she wants,” he said bitterly.

  Brooke raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on his attitude. “How many kids do you have?”

  “Four. Three boys and one girl,” he said proudly and rattled off their names. “You have any kids?”

  “A four-year-old, Ja
den,” she said quietly. She had called him earlier in the day as was their custom, and even though he was having fun with his doting grandparents and his various family members, he still missed not being with her, as did she. Her heart nearly broke in half when he begged her not to hang up. Their separation was just as hard on him.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I miss him,” she revealed, then went on and told him about her lack of a job and having to send Jaden to Buffalo to live with her parents because she couldn’t afford to take care of him on her own.

  “We’ll see how we can rectify the situation for you.”

  “Oh no,” Brooke protested. “You don’t have to.”

  “I want to,” Addison insisted. “You’re too beautiful and nice to be so upset. Ready to go?”

  “Sure. Where to next?”

  “My apartment.”

  Brooke turned the radio down in her car, she needed to think without any extraneous noises. She kept an eye on Addison’s vehicle, while tailing it. While his clothes were nondescript, his car wasn’t, she never would’ve guessed his car choice in a million years, she wouldn’t have been surprised if the valet had driven up in a Prius, because he seemed like that type of guy. She could barely hide her shock when he hopped into a tricked out bright yellow Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible. She knew that he was purposely driving the speed limit for her benefit and she appreciated it.

  “You can turn around right now and go home. You can find another way to make extra money,” she whispered to herself, but she knew she wasn’t able to do so, if she could’ve, she would’ve done it by now. Anxiety churned in her stomach almost making her ill. Several times she almost turned around and headed home, but she thought about Jaden and she drove on.

  “Well, here we are,” Addison said, while escorting her into his apartment.

  “I love the view,” Brooke said.

  Addison grinned. “I rarely notice it. By the time I get home I usually take a quick shower and jump into bed.”

  At hearing the word bed, Brooke looked sharply at him, by the casual look on his face he was just making a casual comment, she relaxed. “Well you’re missing quite the view.”