“I could never be bored as long as you’re wearing those pants.”
He chuckled as he leaned in and pressed his lips to the hollow of my neck. “Really, baby? That’s all it takes to entertain you?”
“Yep. A pair of jogging pants sans underwear will do it. It’s like watching a pendulum swing on a big, humongous-ass grandfather clock.”
He threw his head back and laughed while I climbed into his lap, wrapped my arms around his neck, and asked, “You know why I love you?”
“Because of my pendulum?”
“Damn, you guessed it.”
He gave me a smirk.
I smiled and kissed his cheek. “I love you because you’re brilliant, you can run a boardroom and then come home and run the hell out of our bedroom with your nasty ass.”
He lifted a brow. “Am I nasty, baby?”
“Hell yes, and you’re also kind, you treat me like a queen, and you are sexy all at the same time.”
“Girl, you keep talking like that and you’re gonna get yourself in some trouble up in here.”
“Mm-hmm, so what do you want for lunch, Mr. CEO?”
He looked me dead in the eye, and said, “You.”
I adjusted myself so that I was straddling him. “Well, tic toc, baby.”
32
I wasn’t sure at first what pulled me out of a sound sleep, but when I rolled over and reached for Derek, finding his side of the bed empty, I realized it was the absence of his warmth that had awakened me. I shifted my eyes to the bathroom door to find it ajar and the bathroom dark. Sitting up, I frowned slightly, glanced at the clock that sat on the nightstand on Derek’s side of the bed to see that it was only 2:00 AM. I climbed out of bed, wrapping the sheet around my naked body, and drowsily walked through the huge house. I finally found Derek sitting at the kitchen table on his laptop.
He looked up and sighed. “You’re up? I tried my best not to disturb you. Sorry, baby.”
I approached him, stepped behind his chair, and leaned in to get a look at the screen. “Work?”
He glanced up at me. “Yeah. Got a meeting first thing in the morning. Reading over this contract trying to figure out what’s missing.”
As I took a seat across from him, he rubbed his hands over his face and closed his eyes.
“You need rest,” I said. “Come back to bed for a couple of hours. Wake up with fresh eyes and look at it again.”
“Yeah...I should do that,” he said absently, fixing his eyes back on the screen.
“Derek, you’re working too hard. I know this new deal is important to you, but you’re going to wear yourself out.”
He nodded, his attention still on the computer. “I know.”
I watched him for five minutes before leaving my seat and dropping the sheet. I walked over to him and said, “Scoot back.”
He looked up at me with tired eyes that brightened a bit when he noticed I was now exposed, and complied with my request. I slid into his lap and licked his bottom lip before kissing him deeply. “Come back to bed, and I will make it worth your while.”
He wrapped his arms around me. “You’re playing dirty. How the hell am I supposed to refuse that offer?”
*****
“Hey, my boy Christian is gonna be by this morning. He wants to look at my Mercedes.”
I bent over and checked my muffins in the oven. “Okay. You still sure you want to sell it?”
“Yeah, I haven’t driven it in years, and you say you don’t want it, so we don’t need it.”
“Okay, if you’re sure…”
“I am. Just let him in the garage when he gets there.”
“All right.”
“You got any plans for today?”
I perched on a kitchen stool and sighed. “Not too many. Someone had me up late last night.”
“You started that. I was minding my own business, working.”
“You were being a workaholic. I offered you the balance you needed.”
“You sure did. You always do, and I love you for it. So you’re taking it easy today?”
“For the most part. I just need to work on finalizing plans for the Essence Festival, see if my blog can get me some media passes. Cross your fingers for me.”
“Fingers and toes crossed, baby. I have a lunch meeting so I won’t see you until this evening. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I set my phone on the counter and sighed again. I had spent the month since our engagement obsessing over planning the wedding, and it had stressed me out to the point that Derek begged me to let him hire a wedding planner. I just didn’t want to do that. I wanted to plan out every detail myself. I wanted our day to be personal and magical, but even I had to admit I was overwhelmed. Yeah, I planned out my trips myself, but by and large I was not a planner. At least not when it came to something as big as a wedding. The major things in my life sort of just happened—becoming a travel blogger, meeting Derek, hell, even meeting Lloyd. So we agreed to hold off on the planning. As Derek said, we were in no rush. Neither of us were going anywhere. I sure as hell wasn’t. He was stuck with me.
An hour later, Derek’s friend, Christian, arrived to check out the Mercedes that, as far as I could tell, was in mint condition. Derek had told me it was the first vehicle he bought for himself after he and his brother took over operations of Sable Inc. and that it sort of symbolized his transition into both business and official manhood. He said he could let it go now, because he was making another transition with me. Plus, he owned two other vehicles and most days preferred being driven to work via a car service.
After Christian checked the car out, I invited him in for something to drink. He was tall, handsome, about Derek’s complexion with a bald head. I had learned from Derek that he owned a car lot, hence his interest in the Mercedes. I also knew he was single, and I thought he and Trevia would make a good match, not that I thought for a second she would leave sorry-ass Wesley alone.
“Derek said you’ve known each other since high school?” I asked, as we sat at the kitchen table, me sipping coffee and Christian drinking water.
He nodded. “Yeah, we’ve always been pretty close. We were on the basketball team together, warming the bench. We sucked!”
I laughed. “He failed to mention that to me.”
“I bet he did. Hey, I’m surprised it took him so long to let us meet, but I guess he wanted to be sure this time.”
“This time?”
“Yeah, you know about Sasha, right? His last girlfriend? Gold digger extraordinaire?”
“Oh, her,” I said through a chuckle. “He said she was something else.”
“She was. He introduced her to me and our other friends pretty quickly, but I never did see them as a match. Derek likes to spoil his lady because that’s the way his pops treated his mom. Sasha took advantage of that. I knew they weren’t going to work out. I really think Derek was looking for something he didn’t find until you. Glad you two got together. He’s happier than I’ve ever seen him. He’s a good man, Greer.”
“That he definitely is. I’m happy to be with him.”
“Good. Seeing what you two have gives me hope.”
I smiled. “You looking to settle down?”
“Absolutely. I’d love to get married and have some kids. Got any single friends?” He laughed after making that statement, but I knew he was at least partially serious.
“I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for you.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
About five minutes after Christian left, the doorbell rang again. I glanced at the kitchen table to see if he’d left something behind, but all I saw were our cups. Then I thought maybe he left something in the garage. I opened the door without benefit of checking the peep hole, and said, “Did you forget something?” before realizing it wasn’t Christian at the door, but a woman. A very pretty woman with flawless dark skin, full lips, blond hair, and a huge belly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were someon
e else. Um, can I help you?”
She shook her head and dug in the black and white, chevron-patterned purse that hung from her shoulder, unearthing a piece of paper, a check, and thrusting it in my face. It was a check Derek had written for fifty thousand dollars. It was endorsed to one Sasha Porter.
“No,” she said, “but I can help you.”
33
My house was dark and empty when I finally made it home much later than anticipated. I’d been calling Greer all afternoon and evening, trying to see if she would have dinner with me in my office, but she never answered. I left several messages and texted her at least ten times. Still no answer. So I left the office with a heavy heart. She was pissed about something. Maybe about how much I’d been working lately, but I thought she understood Sable Inc. was acquiring a new company and that kind of thing requires my close attention. She said she understood, but maybe she didn’t. Or maybe she was just tired of sitting in my house by herself.
The house was so quiet, it almost felt as cold as it did before she moved in—cold and lonely. I slowly ascended the stairs, a feeling of doom floating around me like fog. Alarms were going off in my head. It was too damn quiet. An empty kind of quiet. I knew before I reached our bedroom that she wasn’t there. But what I didn’t expect was to find her portion of the closet empty or to see her perfume no longer on the dresser or to find her ring sitting on the bedside table.
I dropped my briefcase on the floor and slumped onto the bed and sat there wondering what happened. What had gone wrong? How had I missed whatever signs there were that pointed to this happening? To her leaving me?
Shit, how did I mess this up? Or was it me?
I glanced around the room, looking for what? A clue? An explanation?
Damn, what am I supposed to do now?
I dialed her number again—straight to voicemail. I thought about calling one of her friends, but knew they would probably ignore me, too.
I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to get her back.
I snatched the ring from the table and at that moment, noticed the piece of paper it had been sitting on. A check.
I picked it up, and when I saw exactly what check it was, I knew what had happened.
Sasha was here.
34
I was in my bedroom, in my apartment, digging into a whole gallon of ice cream that evening when Denise made it back. I had finally stopped crying, or maybe I had just grown too exhausted to cry. After Sasha’s little visit that morning, I had packed my things and was on the first plane back home in less than two hours. My heart was aching so badly, I now fully understood the term broken heart, but my heart had nothing on my head. It felt like it was about to split in two.
Thoughts of the pretty pregnant woman’s words filled my mind as I looked down at the rapidly melting ice cream I’d barely tasted. I had no appetite, no desire to do anything but sit and think and overthink. How did things go so wrong? What was with me and choosing men? What was with me and accepting marriage proposals from assholes?
Maybe I was constantly forcing something that was just not meant to be for me. Maybe I was meant to work alone, travel alone, live alone...be alone. Otherwise, things with men wouldn’t always end like this—with another woman and a baby.
Shit. Another damn baby.
What. The. Hell?
“Hey, I’m back!” Denise announced, as she walked into the bedroom with a paper sack.
“Hey,” I said. “I’m sorry again for popping up like this.”
“Girl, it’s your apartment. I can sleep on the couch or go back to my mom’s. No biggie. I just want you to be all right.”
“Then erase the last few years of my life or give me amnesia so I won’t remember these two shitty engagements or the bastards who gave me the rings.”
“Well, I can’t do that, sis. But I do have pie.” She pulled what I recognized as one of her mother’s pies from the sack and flashed me a smile.
I laughed despite my pain. “You stole another pie?”
“No, I actually took this one right in front of her, told her it was an emergency situation.”
“And she accepted that?”
“No, she made me elaborate. Girl, when I told her you and your fine, rich, CEO boyfriend had broken up, she not only let me take the pie, but she gave me this.” She reached back into the sack and pulled out a canister of whipped cream this time.
I laughed lightly while shaking my head. It didn’t take long for the laughter to flow into tears. I was a damn emotional wreck.
“Where the hell is Trevia?” Denise ranted. “I don’t know how to handle you when you’re like this. You barely ever get emotional. You usually just go with the flow and be all que sera, sera and shit. I swear I’ma curse her ass out. She’s supposed to be here!” She sat down next to me and snatched me into a hug.
I relaxed against her and through sobs, said, “I love him, ‘Nise. I love him so much. What am I supposed to do now?”
“Well, maybe you should talk to him. You just up and left and didn’t get his side.”
I sat up and wiped my eyes. “He gave her a check for fifty thousand dollars. She says he tried to pay her to abort his baby. He kicked her out of his house a couple of weeks before I pretty much moved in. What kind of man does that?”
“That just doesn’t sound like Derek, Greer.”
“You don’t even know him!”
“I know enough. He’s a good man, and he definitely loves you. You’ve got to at least hear his side.”
“He’s not gonna tell the truth. He tried to make her out to just be an ex, never mentioned a baby at all.”
“Greer, maybe...never mind.”
“What?”
“Maybe this is more about what Lloyd did than Derek.”
“No, it’s about Derek lying to me and trying to pay off a pregnant woman. I saw the check, held it in my hands. It was his sloppy-ass handwriting and it was dated within the time frame of us being together. Why would he give her that much money and not tell me if everything was on the up and up?”
“I don’t know.”
“Neither do I.”
A knock at the door startled me so badly, I dropped the now soupy ice cream on the floor. “Shit!” I yelled.
“I’ll clean it up,” Denise offered. “That’s probably Trevia. Can you let her in?”
I nodded. “I’m surprised she didn’t use her key.” Dressed in a ratty t-shirt and bleach-splattered jogging pants, I dragged myself to the door. “Why didn’t you use your key?” I asked through the door before opening it to reveal Derek.
She moved to close the door in my face, but I grabbed it before she could. “Baby, I need to talk to you,” I said. Her eyes were red and puffy, and there was a look of sadness in them that broke my heart. I had never laid a hand on a woman in my life before, but right that second I really wanted to put my foot in Sasha’s ass.
Greer shook her pretty head. “No, go away.”
“I can’t do that. I need you to hear me out. I need to tell you the truth, because I know Sasha didn’t.”
“No, just leave, Derek. Please leave. Move so I can close this door.”
“No.”
“I’ll call the police.”
“No you won’t. You’re upset. You deserve to be upset with me, but you also love me. You don’t want me arrested. Let me in, baby. Let me explain.”
She dropped her eyes and shook her head.
“If you don’t let me in, I’m going to sit at your doorstep until you do. I don’t care if I have to sit out here for a year. Let me in, please.”
She sighed and moved to the side, allowing me into the apartment. Her friend, Denise, walked into the living room and gave me a surprised look. “Uh…I’ma go see what’s going on with Trevia. Be right back.”
As she breezed past both of us, Greer said, “Wait!” But Denise was already gone.
“Can we sit?” I asked.
“No. Just say what you’ve got to say and leave.”
“What do you think? She told me a whole bunch of shit that seemed to slip your mind.”
“She told you she’s pregnant with my child?”
“Yep.”
“Why’d she say I gave her the check?”
“To get rid of her and the baby.”
“Well, that’s partially true, the part about getting rid of her at least.”
“She said she was living with you shortly before I moved in.”
“No, she was living in my house. I wasn’t living there at the time.”
“Even if that’s true, and I don’t believe a word you’re saying, but if it is true, you still kept it from me.”
“Okay, I acknowledge I was wrong for not telling you what was going on with her, but I didn’t think it was important. She wasn’t important. Hell, she’s still not.”
She scoffed and shook her head. “Now why the hell would I want a man who thinks the mother of his child is not important?”
“She’s not the mother of my child. She’s not the mother of any child! She’s not even pregnant!”
35
“Oh, come on! Are you serious? I saw her and her big-ass stomach, Derek! Try again!” Greer shouted.
“It’s a prosthesis or something. Like those outfits guys wear to know what it feels like to be pregnant.”
She took a seat on her sofa and buried her face in her hands. “You are really a piece of shit. An unimaginative piece of shit. How could I fall in love with you?”
“Because you know what kind of man I am. I’m telling the truth, and Sasha is crazy as hell. Look, her house burned down after we broke up, and she called asking if she could crash at my place because she doesn’t have any family in the state. I told her sure. This was a few weeks before I met you. So she arrived at my place and I honestly thought she’d just gained some weight until she told me she was pregnant with my baby.
“Greer, baby, I didn’t believe it from day one. After all, I knew she’d been with someone else and I always used protection. Always. Hell, I’m not dumb. So I told her I wanted a DNA test. She started crying, talking about how on top of losing her home she’d lost her job, so I let it go and decided to bring it up later. I felt kind of sorry for her.”
Higher Love Page 11
