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Authors: Cheris Hodges

BOOK: Betting On Love
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“Mo,” James said, holding his hand up, “why are you so invested in what I do and who I do it with?”
“Because we've been down this road once, and I don't want to see another crazy bi ... James, if I'm wrong about her ...”
“You are, so why don't you take all this energy that you're putting into nosing around my life and put it into making sure the Panthers don't trade your ass,” James said as he pressed the elevator up button.
The doors opened, and the brothers stepped onto the elevator. Maurice glared at James. “That was a low blow.”
“And calling Jade a showgirl wasn't?”
“I forgot, you and Kenya tell each other everything,” Maurice said, with a laugh.
“That's not funny,” James said, fighting back his own laughter.
“Whatever, man. I know you and this girl are having a good time right now, but what are you going to do when this thing runs out of steam?”
James cast a sidelong glance at his brother. “When did you get a crystal ball, and why haven't you used it in your own damned life?”
“Stop comparing this situation to what happened with Lauryn,” Maurice said.
“As soon as you stop doing it, I will,” James snapped. “This isn't even about you. Or is that the problem?”
“Not this shit again,” Maurice grumbled.
“Yes, this again. You have to be the center of damned attention, don't you? Or is it that you're the only one who can have a stable relationship and a family? The rest of us are just supposed to be envious of what Maurice has, because we mere mortals will never have that.”
“That's bull and you know it,” Maurice snapped. “But if I see you walking into fire, am I just supposed to let you get burned?”
“If that's what I want, then yes,” James said. “And you're going to show Jade some damned respect.”
Before Maurice could reply, the doors to the elevator opened.
“We'll finish this later,” Maurice said as he bounded toward Kenya's office.
James shook his head and followed his brother to Kenya's door. “You know Jade's in there with her, right?” James asked as he grabbed his brother's elbow.
“And?”
“Mo, Jade is a potential client. What are you going to do? Just burst in there?” James asked.
“Why are you so insistent on involving that woman in our lives?”
James shook his head. “I'm sick of trying to explain myself to you.” He sat down in one of the chairs outside of Kenya's office. Maurice sat beside him.
“All right. Fine,” Maurice said. “You do what you want to do with that chick, but mark my words. This relationship is a mistake.”
James wanted to punch his brother, choke him, or just push him down a flight of stairs. Then he thought about it. It was as if their roles had been reversed. James had said far worse to Maurice when he and Lauryn were together. But the difference was he'd been right.
What if Maurice is right now?
the skeptic in James asked. He rubbed his neck and turned away from his brother. Jade wasn't running game, she wasn't trying to use him, and Maurice needed to mind his own damned business.
CHAPTER 16
Jade watched Kenya as she typed information into her computer, and she felt hopeful. Hopeful that there was a law somewhere that would allow her to atone for her stupidity and get her money back.
“A lot of courts do look seriously at verbal contracts,” Kenya said as she printed a document. “I'll bet he's going to use the gift defense.”
“The what?” Jade asked.
“In a lot of these cases that I've seen, when a woman sues a man that she used to date, he claims that she gave him money as a gift.”
“Trust me, that fifty thousand dollars was no gift. I thought it was an investment in my future.”
Kenya pulled her reading glasses off and stared at Jade. “Just one question,” she began. “Why didn't you get something in writing?”
Jade sighed. She'd been asking herself that same question since she'd seen the picture of Stephen in the
AJC.
Shrugging, she said, “A serious lapse in judgment? I thought we were in love with each other. The last thing I expected was to be replaced by a bootleg Barbie doll.”
“This is a costly mistake,” Kenya said. “But he still took your money, and that's wrong. We can get this lawsuit filed and maybe get a court date for next month some time.”
“How much is this going to cost me?” Jade asked, a little surprised that Kenya had taken her case when several other attorneys had turned her down.
“Don't worry about that,” Kenya replied. “This man needs to learn a lesson, and I'm more than willing to help teach it.” She extended her hand to Jade. “Besides, he tried to take advantage of my mother-in-law as well, so I'm guessing this is a pattern with him.”
Jade enthusiastically shook Kenya's hand. “Thank you so much.”
“Don't thank me until I win,” Kenya said. She handed Jade her business card. “If you have anything that shows you were his employee and you two had more than a personal relationship, I'm going to need that.”
“I have some old pay stubs and W-two forms from the restaurant,” Jade said. She wished she had listened to Alicia when she'd told her to find another job once she and Stephen began sleeping together. Hell, she wished that she had walked away from Stephen when Alicia had told her that he'd tried to pick her up.
“All right,” Kenya said. “And I play to win, so Stephen is going down.”
Jade smiled brightly. “I like how that sounds.” In the back of her mind, Jade wondered how in the world Kenya dealt with being Maurice Goings's wife.
Kenya and Jade walked out of the office, talking as if they were old friends. But their chatter stopped when they saw James and Maurice standing toe-to-toe, arguing.
“You're acting like a damned fool!” Maurice boomed.
“Learned from the best, because you are a damned fool,” James shot back.
Kenya rushed toward the battling brothers and grabbed her husband's arm. “Do I need to remind you two that this is a place of business? Why are you two out here acting like Neanderthals?” she demanded.
Maurice cast a sidelong glance at Jade but held his tongue.
“Let's go,” James said as Jade walked over to him.
Jade looked from him to Maurice and shook her head. “Maybe we all need to sit down and talk,” she said. “Kenya just took me on as a client, James and I are going to be seeing each other a lot more, and I don't want you two to keep fighting.”
“Sounds logical to me,” Kenya said.
Maurice and James remained silent.
“Guys,” Kenya said, “stop acting like children and come into my office.”
They headed into Kenya's office, and Kenya perched on the edge of her desk, looking at the frown on her husband's face and shaking her head. “What's the problem?” she asked.
Maurice looked in Jade's direction. “Tell me something,” he began. “How much money do you and your friends make from all these men you take advantage of ?”
“What?” Jade snapped. “You're mistaken.”
“Serena Jacobs is your friend, right?” Maurice continued.
“So? Since when am I responsible for what someone else does?” Jade retorted.
“Yeah, Mo,” James said. “I mean, do you want to be judged by the company you keep? Remember when the city thought you were the second coming of Rae Carruth?”
Kenya waved her hand. “Don't go there. Look, guys, we're going to be a part of each other's lives for the immediate future. I'm not going to mediate arguments every time the four of us get together.”
Maurice looked from Jade to James. “All right. I hope I'm wrong about you, Jade. My mother raised me better than this, so if you make my brother happy, then I guess I should mind my business.”
“Thank you,” James said.
“But,” Maurice said, “don't let me be right.”
Kenya reached out and smacked Maurice on the shoulder. “Be nice.”
“I am being nice,” Maurice said, sounding like a child that had been scolded by his mother.
James and Jade chuckled quietly. It was now obvious to Jade how Kenya dealt with being Mrs. Maurice Goings. She held her own with him and stood her ground when she needed to.
“All right,” Kenya said. “Now all of you can get out of my office, and I can get to work.”
James rose from his chair and crossed over to his sister-in-law, then gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks,” he said.
Maurice stood and opened the door for the couple as they left. Jade glanced at him, wanting to tell him that he was wrong about her and her friends. Instead, she kept her thoughts to herself as she and James said good-bye.
“How did things go with Kenya?” James asked once they were in the parking lot.
“A lot better than they seemed to go with your brother.”
James fanned his hand as if he were swatting away an annoying gnat. “Maurice is just being Maurice. You know, he had the nerve to hire a private investigator to check up on you and your friends.”
“What?” Jade asked incredulously. “How could he invade my privacy like that?”
“I know,” James said. “But you don't have anything to hide, do you?”
Jade stopped walking, placed her hands on her hips, and glared at him. “I know you better be joking. Or ...”
James crossed over to Jade, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her on the neck. “Of course I was joking. Why is this bothering you so much?”
“Because I don't want to have your brother looking at me as if I'm some leech on your neck, and I don't want you caught in the middle, having to choose.”
“That's not going to happen,” James said. “Maurice will get over it, and you and I are going to be fine.”
“The stuff he said about Serena ...”
“I don't care. You're not Serena, and whatever she has done or is doing has nothing to do with you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I'm glad you feel that way.”
James pulled Jade against him and thrust his pelvis into her. “I'm feeling a lot of things right now.”
“You are so bad,” she whispered as she felt the thickness of his erection.
“Let's get out of here and have lunch in my bed,” he breathed against her ear.
James didn't have to say another word as Jade grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the parking lot.
CHAPTER 17
James and Jade entered his house, locked in each other's arms. She craved his touch as he opened the front door, and didn't want to wait until they were in the bedroom to feel the heat from his hands and the passion of his kisses. As soon as they stepped into the foyer, she slipped her hand inside his slacks. The move excited James even more than he already was. She gently stroked his shaft up and down. A soft moan escaped his throat as he backed against the wall. She unbuckled his slacks and slid them down his hips. His erection sprang forward from his boxers. Jade continued to stroke him as she dropped to her knees. Softly, she breathed against his pulsating manhood; then she took the length of him into her mouth.
James threw his head back in ecstasy as Jade sucked softly and slowly, then faster and harder. He buried his hands in her silky hair as her tongue glided across the tip of his penis. Then she took him inside her mouth again, deeper than before, and James groaned in delight as the wetness of her mouth enveloped his swollen member.
As she took him to the edge of a climax, James pulled back. “Damn,” he murmured, then lifted her into his arms. James carried her to the sofa and gently laid her down. Then he pulled her skirt up to her waist. “It's my turn to taste you,” he said, then planted his face between her quivering thighs. Hungrily, he lapped at her sweet juices, wrapping his tongue around the trembling bud that held her pleasure.
Shivering, she cried out in pleasure as James sucked, licked, and kissed the hidden areas between her wet folds of flesh. Just as she was about to reach her own climax, she grabbed his neck, wanting him to stop, but James kept licking, kept kissing, and Jade let nature take its course. The waves of pleasure that flowed through her body were beyond description. Every fiber of her being was touched by passion, desire, and longing. James had awakened her body in ways that she'd never known.
Pulling back, he looked up at her and licked his lips. “Delicious.”
Jade wrapped her legs around his waist and let him know that she was ready to have him deep inside.
“Not here,” he said. “I need more room than this sofa.”
James scooped Jade into his arms and headed for the bedroom. She pressed her lips against his neck, gently kissing and licking him. James was so aroused and so ready to take her to bed that it took everything in him not to drop her before getting her between the sheets.
“You're driving me wild, baby,” he said as he placed her against his soft cotton sheets. He ran his hand between her breasts, relishing the softness of her skin. He dipped his hand between her thighs and felt the wetness awaiting him.
Before he dipped inside her, James reached into his nightstand drawer and grabbed a condom. Jade watched with eager anticipation as he slid the sheath in place. He took her into his arms and kissed her with a fiery passion that made her teeth chatter. She was already hot, but his lips and tongue made her hotter. Jade grasped his shoulders, forcing him onto his back. Then she mounted his erection, taking the length of him inside her love. He held her hips, getting into a slow and steady rhythm. They rocked back and forth, enjoying the heat from one another.
She felt as if this was the first time she'd made love. James wanted to please her as much as she pleased him. They had a mutual need and desire, which weren't complete until they'd both had their fill.
James moaned as Jade moved faster. He dropped his hands, allowing her to take total control. With her head thrown back and her eyes closed, she rode him like he was a champion stallion. Over and over she called his name. His reply was an incoherent cry, alerting her to the orgasm building inside him. As he exploded, she fell against his chest, holding him tightly as she shivered from her own climax.
He kissed her gently on the collarbone. “You're amazing,” he whispered.
“So are you,” she replied quietly.
“Are you sure you have to go back to Atlanta tonight?” he asked.
Jade nodded. “I'm sure Serena, Alicia, and Kandace are waiting on me so that we can figure out what our next move is with the restaurant.”
James cleared his throat. “Yeah, I almost forgot about your business here.”
She groaned, as if she felt an argument coming on. “James, do we have to do this?”
“We're not doing anything. I know why you all wanted that restaurant and—”
“Shh. You're about two words away from ruining the afterglow.” She leaned in and kissed him on the tip of his nose.
“I hope you all can make this restaurant work,” he said. “And that's all I'm going to say about it.”
“Thanks. Now, can you just hold me until I have to leave?”
James tightened his embrace. “You don't have to ask me twice.”
It was nearly 9 p.m. before Jade hit the road for home. Despite his best attempts at coaxing her to stay, Jade told him that she had some things she needed to take care of in Atlanta. Honestly, she didn't want to go. She wished that she could stay wrapped up in James's arms forever. But she had to face Stephen, especially since he knew that she was the reason that he couldn't purchase the restaurant that he'd been coveting for years. Of course, she wasn't going to tell James any of this, because she knew how he felt about her battle with Stephen.
Jade glanced at him as she opened her car door, waved, and smiled at him.
He'd understand if the shoe was on the other foot. I can't just let Stephen get away with what he did to me. This is business. Nothing personal,
she thought.
Still, Jade wondered if Stephen was worth all the effort that she was putting into him. He'd made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her, other than keeping the money he'd bilked her out of. What if James really walked out of her life because she wouldn't let this thing go?
She was about to cross the state line into South Carolina when her cell phone rang. Jade had no doubt as to who was on the other end.
“Hello, Serena,” she said when she answered.
“Where are you?”
“On my way back to Atlanta. What's wrong?”
“Guess who I ran into today,” Serena said.
“Who?” Jade asked, not really wanting to play a guessing game.
“Stephen. He came by my office, demanding to know how you got enough money to buy his North Carolina restaurant,” Serena said smugly. “He nearly had a coronary when I told him how we're opening a restaurant there, and master chef Devon Harris is thinking of running the place.”
“Is that true? How in the world did you get Devon Harris to—”
“It's not a done deal, but we're working on it,” Serena admitted.
“Serena, why would you tell him that if we don't have Devon? And when did
we
decide that we were really going to do this restaurant?”
Serena sighed into the phone. “Let me get the girls on a conference call. If you'd have come back earlier, we could've talked about this. I guess you were busy with that dude.”
“His name is James, and I'm getting pretty tired of your smart-ass comments about him.”
“Some things are more important than your precious boyfriend, okay? We've got to make our money back from this restaurant purchase, and it would be helpful if you were in town, since we got into this because of you.”
“Don't act like you didn't have a choice,” Jade snapped. “I was willing to let this go in the beginning, but you were the one who said Stephen needed to learn a lesson.”
“And he does, but this is our fight and you're phoning it in.”
“Whatever. Maybe we should forget about this.”
“Hell no! We got a million reasons to make this thing work. You know how long we've been investing and saving money so that we could do something special with it. Now we've put it into this restaurant, and you want to quit.”
“I didn't say I wanted to quit, but let's make this about more than getting revenge on Stephen.”
“Sounds like James talking and not you. Hold on.”
Jade waited for Serena to come on the line with Alicia and Kandace. She knew this was a conversation she didn't want to have.
“What's the deal, people?” Kandace said. “I was in the middle of something important.”
“I'm sure your Twinkies will wait for you,” Alicia said.
“For your information, I have a project that I'm working on, and it's cupcake night, so there,” Kandace replied.
“Ladies,” Serena interrupted. “We have a more pressing matter at hand. Ms. Jade is having second thoughts about things.”
“That's not what I said,” Jade snapped. “Look, we've been so focused on getting revenge on Stephen, but what if we just forget about him and focus on making this restaurant work?”
“Uh-oh,” Alicia said. “Sounds like somebody is going soft. Have you forgotten what Stephen did and the money he—”
“No, I haven't. That's why I'm suing him,” Jade said. “But this can't be a collective thing. We're not vindictive bitches who have to prove anything to Stephen.”
“But you're suing him? Why?” Serena asked. “Isn't it going to cost more to do that than to open this restaurant? Hell, we could sell the place to another developer if we can't get Devon on board.”
“I'm suing him because it was my money and it's the mature thing to do,” Jade replied.
“According to who? James?” Serena asked.
“All right,” Kandace said. “We're not going to solve anything over the phone, and I really have some work to complete. Can we meet for breakfast in the morning?”
“Sure,” Jade said. “I'm hanging up because it's dark out here and I need to focus on the road.” She clicked her cell phone off before anyone could reply.
Seconds later her phone began to ring again. “Damn it,” she muttered as she answered. “What now?”
“Is that how you answer the phone when you're driving?” James asked.
“I thought you were someone else,” she replied, with a smile spreading across her face.
“Where are you now?” he asked.
“In the backwoods of South Carolina. I should be home in another hour.”
“I really don't like you driving late like this,” he said. “And I'm sorry if that sounds paternalistic.”
“Are you worried about me?”
“What do you think?”
Jade continued smiling. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been treated this way or had a man in her life that was genuinely concerned about her and not just about what she could do for him. “Well, I'm a big girl, and I follow all traffic laws,” she said jokingly.
“I'll bet. You don't strike me as a girl who follows the rules, and I mean that in a good way.”
“Sure you do,” she said, with a laugh. “And I guess you're Mr. Straitlaced.”
“I used to be. You must be rubbing off on me,” he quipped.
“You're confusing that with me rubbing you,” she said.
“Funny. I don't want to distract you, so do me a favor and give me a shout when you arrive home so that I know you're safe.”
“All right,” she said. “I'll talk to you soon.”
After hanging up with James, Jade pressed the gas pedal to the floor. She couldn't wait to get home so that she could crawl under the covers and call her man back.
 
 
James hung up the phone with a satisfied look on his face. But when his phone rang and he saw Maurice's number on the caller ID, his mood changed. Despite the fact that Mo had claimed that everything was squashed with Jade, he knew his brother probably had more to say. Part of him didn't want to answer the phone, but he picked it up, anyway.
“What's up?” James said.
“Is your chick still there?”
James sighed and said, “Are you talking about Jade? If you are, no.”
“Sorry. Meet me at the Blake Hotel's bar. I got to tell you something.”
“Do you realize that one of us has to go to work in the morning?”
“Negro, it's only eleven o'clock.”
James exhaled, then agreed to meet his brother.
This man always has some damn drama going on with him.
Fifteen minutes later, James was walking into the hotel's bar. Maurice was sitting on a stool, with a smile on his face and a bourbon in his hand.
“What's so important?” James asked.
“I'm not getting cut or traded. My agent called, and the Panthers have offered me a contract extension. Drinks are on me,” Maurice announced.
“Okay, so you couldn't tell me this over the phone?” James asked as he waved for the bartender. He ordered a Crown Royal on the rocks and turned to his brother, who was still smiling like the cat who ate the canary. “What?”

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