Betting On Love (6 page)

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Authors: Cheris Hodges

BOOK: Betting On Love
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She expelled a deep breath, happy with James's response. But in the back of her mind, she wondered if this was normal for him. Did he live his life having sex with no strings attached?
It's just Vegas. Let it happen and move on,
the lust devil on her shoulder told her as James's tongue flicked across her hard nipple. Jade gave in to desire, allowing James to have control of her body. As he alternated between sucking and gently biting her breasts, she reached down and massaged his hardness with expert skill, nearly bringing him to the brink with her up and down strokes. He moaned with satisfaction as Jade moved her hand faster, then slowly again. Next, she decided to tease him with her wetness and pressed her body against the tip of his throbbing manhood.
“I need you now,” she moaned breathlessly.
For two seconds, James wanted to dive into her hot body and just stay there until New Year's Eve rolled around. But with everything in him, he was able to pull back from Jade's awaiting valley. “Let me protect us,” he said as he reached for his pants. Then he smiled at her. “Unless you have something in your purse.”
She pinched him on the forearm. “Funny,” she said. “Maybe you should be on stage tonight instead of the comedian George Wallace.”
James pulled the circular condom packet from his wallet, then slid the sheath in place. Neither of them noticed that the limo had come to a complete stop. It didn't matter what was going on outside the limo as Jade pushed James onto the seat and climbed on top of him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and positioned herself on top of his erection. James pulled her against his chest as he felt the heat radiating from her womanly core. With her breasts pressed against his chest and his lips grazing her neck, James and Jade gyrated against each other, giving each other passion and pleasure that they'd never known. She moved her hips in a slow, circular motion, taking him deeper and deeper into her valley.
“James,” she said, her lips pressed against his ear. “James.”
His response was to take her chin in his hand and capture her lips, as if they were the rarest candy that had ever been invented. As their tongues jockeyed for position, James shifted his hips and eased Jade onto her back. Breaking off the kiss, he used his lips and tongue to travel down to her cleavage. He stopped kissing her as she ground against him, nearly taking him to the point of no return. James knew that Jade had reached her climax a few times. Every time he felt her lips tighten around his manhood, he knew that she'd come. Three times.
But he wasn't done with her. He couldn't be, because there was no telling if he'd ever see her or feel her again. She shivered and sucked in her bottom lip as he slowly pumped in and out. Four times. She moaned with satisfaction, and James knew that he could release himself. He filled the condom with his pleasure, and then he and Jade lay in each other's arms, sweat making their bodies slip from the leather seats a bit.
“We're really going to have to stop this,” Jade said, a wide smile plastered on her face.
“I totally agree,” he replied and returned her smile. “We need more space.”
Jade smacked his bare chest. “You know what I mean. It's like when we're together, we can't keep our clothes on.”
“With or without your clothes, you're a beautiful woman.”
“James,” she said. “Seriously.”
“Fine. If you want to spend these next few days just hanging out, we can do that. As a matter of fact, Homer and the boys are having another poker game tomorrow.”
“I'm there,” Jade replied.
“Great. But there is still the issue of you and me walking to your room after you take their money again. You're going to invite me in, and I'm going to have to say no.”
“Who said I was going to invite you in?” she ribbed.
James clutched his chest. “And here I thought you liked me.”
“I do.”
And that could prove to be a problem, because this is just a Vegas fling.
“Think the driver is back yet?” James asked.
“I hadn't even noticed that the limo wasn't moving,” she said.
“Oh, it was moving, all right.”
The couple dressed, and James tapped on the window between the front and the back of the limo.
“Yes, sir?” the driver asked.
“We're ready to go. Do we still have time to catch a nice restaurant for dinner?” James asked.
“Not on the Strip, but I know of a great place downtown,” replied the driver.
James turned to Jade, who was straightening the hem of her dress. “Want to try it?” he asked.
“Sure. I seem to be doing a lot of new things with you tonight. What's one more?”
“That's fine,” James said to the driver.
CHAPTER 7
By the time James and Jade finished eating dinner and hanging out in downtown Las Vegas, they were bone tired.
“I guess we should head back to the hotel. I'm sure my girls have been looking for me,” Jade said as they slowly walked to the limo.
“They probably have. Your friends are a trip,” he said. “You guys remind me of some of the guys my brother and I grew up with.”
She smiled wistfully. Why did her mind have to dart back to that lying bastard Stephen? He'd never said anything nice about her friends, the women who had had her back since she was in college.
That's probably because Stephen had never had a friend he didn't betray.
Despite the way they had treated him, James didn't degrade her buddies.
“What's wrong?” James asked when he noticed the perplexed look on Jade's face.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about something,” she said quietly.
“Something or someone?”
“James, let's not bring reality into this,” she said.
“So, you were thinking about Stephen. Let me just say this. Let it go. He's not worth it.”
“He may not be worth it, but ... Never mind. I don't want to talk about it. These few days are supposed to be about me and you having fun.”
When they reached the hotel and took the elevator up to Jade's room, James pulled her against his chest and hugged her tightly. It was the kind of comforting hug that a man would give a woman he cared about. Jade pulled back from him and flashed a plastic smile. She was getting too comfortable with him. She was being drawn in by his gentle way and amazing bedroom prowess. But they were going back to their real lives in a few days.
“Good night, James,” she said.
James glanced down at his watch. “It's more like good morning,” he said, then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Sleep well.”
I'll be dreaming about you as soon as I close my eyes,
she thought as he headed for the elevator. Jade slid her key card into the electronic lock and entered the room floating, with a big smile on her face.
“And just where in the hell have you been?” Serena snapped.
Startled, Jade nearly twisted her ankle as she walked over to the small sofa in her room. “Serena, what are you doing here?”
“Looking for you. I had a couple of bankers that wanted to meet with us this evening, and you were nowhere to be found.”
“How was I supposed to know you were out setting up meetings? You didn't tell me, and I can't read your mind,” Jade said, then fell back on the sofa.
“You were with that man, weren't you?”
“Sure was.”
Serena shook her head. “I know you're having fun and that's what we came here to do, but don't forget that we have to take Stephen down also. To do that, we're going to need money.”
Jade sat up and faced her friend. “I know what we have to do and that it is important.”
Serena folded her arms across her chest. “Jade, I know how things are with you. You're a hopeless romantic. You thought things were going to work out with you and Stephen, despite the fact that all of us, even Miss ‘I believe in love more than anything else' Kandace, tried to warn you about him.”
Jade closed her eyes, tired of hearing about the biggest mistake of her life. “Serena, I know what I did, and I'm not following that same path with James.”
“No one said that you were,” Serena replied. “What do you know about James Goings?”
Jade could've answered that question in so many ways. She knew he was passionate, a lover that was all about pleasing her.
And he hated Stephen. What if James was a key part of the plan to make Stephen pay for being a total asshole? She opened her eyes.
“James knows Stephen,” Jade said. “And he doesn't like him, either.”
Serena shrugged her shoulders. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Nothing, since he insists on staying out of this,” Jade muttered in such a low voice that Serena didn't hear.
“The meeting has been rescheduled. Nine a.m., so you'd better go to sleep and be on time in the morning,” Serena said as she stood up and headed for the door. “Make sure that you keep your business and your fun separate this time.”
Jade gave Serena a mock salute as she walked out the door. Once she was alone in her room, Jade stripped out of her dress and crawled into bed. As she drifted off to sleep, the only thought on her mind was having James's arms around her.
 
 
James reached across his bed and was a bit startled to find the other side empty. Sitting up in the bed, he realized that he'd dreamed that Jade had spent the night with him. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, James wondered if he was going to be able to push Jade out of his mind when he boarded the plane to Charlotte.
She's only in Atlanta, less than five hours away,
he thought.
There is something special about this woman, and I want to get to know everything about her. This is insane. I came here to gamble and relax. Who knew I was going to meet this goddess?
James headed for the bathroom to shower and start his day, even though he'd slept for only a few hours. He knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Maurice was knocking on his door, trying to find out what he had done the night before and with whom.
As he climbed in the shower, James thought about how his morning would be getting off to a better start if Jade was there with him. He'd love to see her with her hair wet and dripping. He'd love to see her face scrubbed free of make-up. Not that she wore a lot of it, but he wanted to see her completely naked and bare.
James knew that whatever he and Jade had wasn't going to last past this weekend and that he needed to stop letting her take up so much space in his mind, because when he returned to Charlotte and she went back to Atlanta, they were going to have only memories.
And then there was Jade's drama with her ex. Part of him wondered if the two would reunite when she returned to Atlanta. He'd seen it happen before. Kenya had sworn to him so many times when she was in college that she wouldn't pour water on Maurice if he was on fire. Now they were the happiest couple that he'd ever seen. Still, he knew Stephen, and he couldn't imagine him with a woman like Jade. Unless this wasn't who she really was.
She was fun, sexy, and smart. Everything that James envisioned his match to be. Not that he was willing to admit that he thought Jade was his match. The sex was good—no, phenomenal—but he wasn't going to pretend that in a few short days he'd met the love of his life. That stuff only happened in fairy tales, and they were in Las Vegas, not at Disneyland.
Shutting the water off, James climbed out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. Just as he was about to start shaving, there was a knock at the door. He ignored it, figuring that it was his brother. But the knocking persisted. Grabbing the plush white robe that was hanging on the back of the bathroom door, James put it on and dashed to the door. Through the peephole, he saw Serena and Alicia standing at his door. Immediately, his mind turned to Jade. Was she in trouble? Did something happen after he left her last night? James snatched the door open.
“Ladies, is there something wrong with Jade?” he asked frantically.
Serena and Alicia looked at each other and then focused on James. “May we come in?” Serena asked.
“Yes, but what's the problem?” he asked as he ushered the women inside.
“You may be the problem,” Alicia said.
James folded his arms across his chest, ready to toss these women out of his suite and find Jade himself. “What are you talking about?”
“Whatever you and Jade are doing has to stop. She just got out of a relationship, and you can't think that she's ready for something—”
James threw up his hand and cut Serena off. “First of all, does Jade know you two are here?”
“That's not important,” Alicia said. “Look, you're probably a nice guy, and if you lived in Atlanta and could make Jade happy, we'd be cheering you two on.”
“Ladies, I understand your concerns, but what goes on between Jade and me is our business,” James said.
“Not really,” Serena said. “Jade is our best friend, and we're not going to let her get used by another man. Who knows what your plans are or if you don't come to Las Vegas every weekend to sleep with different women?” Her neck rolled as she spoke. James thought it was cute that Jade's friends were looking out for her, but he didn't feel as if he had to explain himself to them.
“Ladies, I have a meeting I have to get to, and if you want to know what's going on between me and Jade, you're going to have to ask her,” he said flatly.
“We're asking you,” Serena snapped. “James, what are you trying to hide?”
James, struggling to keep his temper in check, walked over to the door and waited for Alicia and Serena to make their exit. When neither of them moved, he cleared his throat loudly. “Ladies, this was fun, but it's time for you all to leave,” he said.
They walked toward the door. “James,” Alicia said, “what can you offer Jade? You live in another state. She has a business that she needs to focus on. Just have your fun and move on.”
“It's nice that you have your friend's back and you're looking out for her best interests. But she's a grown woman, and I think she can take care of herself,” he replied.
Serena shook her head as she and Alicia headed out the door. James slammed the door behind them and muttered under his breath about nosy women. Part of him wanted to call Jade and let her know what her friends were up to. But, he understood their position and why they were looking out for their girl. Most men would say they were jealous, but James could tell that Jade and her friends were more like sisters. He and Mo had a similar relationship. James just wished that he had been there when Maurice first met Lauryn. Had Maurice stayed away from that freak, he and Kenya would've been happy a long time ago.
James headed for the phone to order breakfast, but before he could dial room service, there was a knock at the door again. Stalking to the door, thinking that it was Jade's friends again, James called, “Look, I'm not discussing this with you.”
“Damn, bro,” Maurice said. “I was just going to ask you if you wanted to go to breakfast with me and the fellas.”
“Let me get dressed,” James said as Maurice entered the suite.
“So where is she?” Maurice called out from the sitting room of the suite.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your date. I heard you had a limo and everything.”
“Damn, you got spies?” James asked as he zipped up his jeans.
“Please, you're not that important, but Homer is still pissed that your little fling beat him out of all that money. He's on a mission to bring her down.”
James walked into the sitting room, laughing. “Homer will get over it. Besides, Jade is coming to the game today.”
Maurice shook his head. “This I have to see.”
“You mean you're going to hang up the phone long enough to do something other than talk to your wife?” James asked, with a laugh.
“Shut up. Don't hate me because I love my wife. Who knew that I'd miss her this much?” Maurice said.
“Whipped.”
“You're damned right, though I will deny it in public,” Maurice said as he rose to his feet. “So, what did you and Jade do last night?”
“Things that grown people do, and you don't need to worry about it. Breakfast is on you, right?”
“Isn't it always?” Maurice said as they headed out the door.
“Well, you are the millionaire,” James ribbed.
“Get it right. Multimillionaire,” Maurice joked.
“Seriously, though, what's up with you and this woman?”
James shrugged his shoulders. “She's fun, easy to talk to, and beautiful.”
Maurice nodded but didn't say anything.
“What?” James asked. “I know that you, of all people, aren't judging me.”
“No, I'm not, but this isn't you. You don't just have flings with women,” Maurice said. “But you've been acting a little like I used to, and nothing good is going to come from it. Trust me.”
“Didn't you get Kenya out of the deal?”
“That's not the point,” Maurice said. “You need to slow down. Maybe you will find the right one when you stop sleeping around with—”
“This is rich coming from you, the former king of groupie love,” James said. “I don't sleep around as much as you think. But do you know how sickening it is for me to meet women who want to talk about you all the time?”

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