Live and Learn (12 page)

“D
amn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

Frustrated, I hit the steering wheel with my fist. Taking a deep breath, I made myself calm down and tried to crank my car again.

Nothing.

Now definitely was not the time for this. I was going to be late getting to work at this rate, and that was a no-no. I pulled the lever to open the hood and climbed out of the car. I had no idea what to look for or how to fix it even if I did.

“Mornin’, Ms. Danielle. Can I be of service?”

I stiffened where I stood. When I turned my head to the right, I looked right up at Mohammed. “Good morning,” I said, forcing a smile. “My car will not start.”

“Lookin’ sexy fine as always,” he said, giving me a once-over that made me feel naked.

“What does that have to do with my car, Mohammed?”

He laughed, low and husky, a broad smile on his face. “What seems to be the trouble?”

I wanted to say, “If I knew that, why would I need you.”

Mohammed moved to stand beside me, and I smelled his fresh soapy scent. As he leaned down to fiddle with something, I noticed that those dreads that I thought were funky were not so funky after all. Instead they smelled faintly of cocoa butter.

He moved suddenly and walked around the car to slide into my driver’s seat. He just as suddenly jumped out. “You just need a jump, pretty lady. You left your lights on.”

I winced in embarrassment.

“Be right back,” he said before striding away in the garage.

Glancing at my watch, I reached into the car for my cell phone. I dialed the private line to Sahad’s office, leaving a voice mail to let him know I was running late.

“Long time no see, Dani.”

Turning, I did not bother to force a smile to my lips. “Hello, Winthrop,” I said, my tone evident of my continued annoyance with him.

He was on an all-out campaign to get back in my good graces. Phone calls, uninvited stops by my apartment with gifts and flowers, notes pushed under my door. Now here he was blocking my car in with his Range Rover in our deserted underground parking garage. He was really plucking my last good nerve.

“Car trouble?” he asked, stepping out of his SUV to walk over to me in golf attire.

I gave him a nasty look that he chose to ignore. “I have someone assisting me, but thank you.”

“Funny, I don’t see anyone,” he joked, pretending to look around. “Let me call my mechanic for you.”

I heard Mohammed’s old clunker roaring toward us. “Here is my help now,” I said with relief, stepping past Winthrop as Mohammed parked his jeep in the space next to mine.

“Him?” he spat, obviously perturbed by the other man’s presence. “Does he ever go home?”

“Hey, baby.” I fawned over Mohammed as he walked to the front of my car with cables in hand.

He looked at me oddly.

“I missed you just that quick.” I sighed, wrapping my arms around his neck.

Before he could protest in that lilting accent of his, I pressed my lips to his. My eyes warning him to play along. I just hoped he would not get any oil on my silk Liz Claiborne sundress.

“You asked for this, little Danielle,” Mohammed whispered against my lips, unceremoniously dropping the cables to grasp my hips with his hands as he deepened the kiss.

He took advantage of my plight as his tongue caressed my lips softly before circling my own in a wicked fashion. He pressed my lower body closer to his, and I felt his dick growing as it pressed into my stomach with way too much thickness and length.

Soon Winthrop stomped to his SUV and pulled away with a squeal of his tires.

I yanked my head back and broke the kiss. “You can let me go now,” I ordered him, prepared to knee him in the groin if I had to.

“See what you do to me, sexy lady?” he asked thickly.

“One—” I began.

He just smiled. “Now, come on, Danielle. You know you liked it—”

“Two—”

“I heard you moan, Ms. Danielle—”

“Three!”

“Okay, okay.”

And he released me.

He smacked his lips. “So you had coffee for breakfast?”

“Just give me a jump,” I snapped and immediately winced at how that sounded.

“Gladly, sexy lady—”

“Mohammed.”

He laughed good-naturedly as he worked on connecting the cables to my car battery.

I wrapped my arms over my breasts. No need for him to see that my nipples were hard as acorns.

“You have a daughter, right?”

I looked up at Sahad at his question. I shook my head. “No, I do not have any children.”

He leaned back in his office chair and looked across the desk at me as he rubbed his chin. “Oh, I thought I saw you with a little girl at the Family Day event.”

I smiled. “That was Kimani, my goddaughter.”

“Oh, okay…okay.”

“You’re putting the carriage before the horse, Mr. Linx—”

“I told you to call me Sahad, Danielle,” he said with a smile.

“Okay, Sahad. I am not married, so children are not in the picture. I am not into the baby father drama.”

“I hear that.”

“You do not have any kids, either, right?” I asked as I looked back down at his schedule for the day.

“I guess we have something in common, because I am not feeling baby mama drama, either.”

We fell silent after that. I wanted to strip down to my lacy French thong and climb right onto his lap. That would be fine if I was just looking for a one-night stand to brag about to my friends. I remained cool, calm, and confident at all times. I did not fawn over him and play into his ego. My thinking was that it would be as much a pleasure for him to date me as it would be for me to date him. Never let a wealthy man think he was doing you a favor. Ahem, Rule #3.

“Uh, Danielle…I mean Cristal. Do you have plans for lunch?”

My heart double skipped, but I just looked up at him with the most innocent face. “No. Why?”

He dropped the pen he was using to sign payroll checks and looked over at me. “I thought we could grab a bite together.”

“Okay, just tell me where. I will call and make a reservation. How many?”

“Just two.”

Our eyes locked.

“Just you and me?” I asked softly.

Sahad nodded with clear intent in his sable eyes. “If that’s okay with you?”

“What about Tyrea?” I asked boldly, laying it on the line.

“It’s over.”

I wanted all or nothing. “How do I know that for sure?” I asked, tilting my head to the side to meet his heated stare.

Sahad leaned forward in his chair to put his phone on speaker and dialed a number quickly.

Three rings.

“I thought you said it was over, so what the fuck you calling me for, Sahad?”

My brows raised at the angry voice of Tyrea.

Seconds later the line disconnected, and the dial tone echoed in the quiet of the office until Sahad ended it.

My pussy throbbed as he rose to come around and lean against the desk. My eyes traveled from the enticing sight of his dick outlined by the linen shorts he wore to his handsome face. I was turned the fuck on by his power, his wealth, and his pure sex appeal.

Still…I had to play this right if I was going to play it for keeps.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” he said, picking up my hand to pull me to my feet.

“I don’t want to be played,” I told him softly in the heat between us as he urged my body close to his and lowered the mouth I had dreamed of to mine.

“Neither do I.”

I quivered as his strong arms wrapped around me and he pressed his soft lips to mine. My hands rose to lightly grasp his lapels as he suckled my tongue like he was thirsty. My heart pounded like a wild drum, and my nipples ached as my breasts were crushed against his solid chest. My clit tingled as I gave him just as much passion as he gave me.

Victory never tasted so sweet.

“I
f there’s nothing else, I say we call it a night.” I felt mentally drained, and I didn’t want to show it, but I was happy as all get-out at Cameron’s statement.

He looked around the cherry boardroom table at his mergers and acquisitions team. “Good night, everyone.”

I chanced a look down at my Movada watch. It was going on 9:00
P.M
. I had been up since 6:00
A.M
. and had hoped to get my behind in bed early tonight. An impromptu meeting to prep Cameron for a trip to Chicago in the morning had put a stop to that with a quickness. Even though I was just an intern, Cameron had encouraged me over the last month to see everything and miss nothing as a part of my learning process.

All of the girls were busy with their own lives, and being at Rah’s beck and call was no longer of interest to me, so I enjoyed the invaluable experience that I knew would benefit me in the end.

“Plan on spending the night?”

I looked up to find Cameron standing above me. Everyone had left, and the meeting room was now empty except for him and me. Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t even notice everyone take their leave. I gathered my things and smiled as I rose. “Definitely not,” I answered.

“How’s everything going so far?” he asked as we walked together.

“Great. I think this internship will help me so much when I start graduate school,” I told him as we neared his office, surprised by the scent of his cologne lightly tingling my senses.

“I hope you decide to apply here when you graduate.”

We stopped at his closed carved mahogany door.

“Thanks, I’ll take that as a definite compliment from
the
Cameron Steele,” I teased, looking up at him with a smile.

“You do that.”

We fell silent.

“I better head on home. Good luck with everything tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

I walked away, heading to my own office for my briefcase and purse. I instinctively felt Cameron’s eyes on me.

“Monica.”

Uh-huh, I thought so. Turning, I looked at him with a questioning gaze.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but then he shook his head. “Nothing. Never mind.”

“See you in a few days, then.”

“Bye, Monica.”

I turned back and continued on to my office. When I glanced back over my shoulder this time, he was gone. I couldn’t help but wonder what he had started to say.

Cameron reminded me of a few of the guys I went to high school with. The kind that went to college and pledged white fraternities, dated white women, and listened to Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, or Kenny G. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him dressed like Carlton from
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
in chinos and deck shoes. He was definitely a nerd. A gorgeous one, but a nerd nonetheless.

I wanted nothing more than to go home and take a hot shower and crawl into my own bed, but I had promised Rah I would spend the night at his apartment. Since I was steady trying to work his ass for my own car in my own damn name, I steered his Benz toward his apartment. Once I had it, I was gonna ride away from his ass.

I was so glad that Brian the rent-a-cop was not at the security desk when I signed in. The last thing I was in the mood for was his weak-ass plays for my affection. I rode up in the elevator and used the key Rah
finally
gave me to unlock the door. “Rah, I’m here,” I called out, setting my Coach briefcase and purse atop the leather bar.

“I’m in the bedroom,” he called back.

Who gives a shit
? I thought as I strolled in there. He was sprawled out on the bed, watching the flat screen television and smoking a blunt. Not wanting the scent in my work clothes, I removed my Donna Karan suit and blouse at the door before hanging it up in the closet.

He smiled up at me like he was pleased as punch to see me, patting the spot on the bed next to him. “Come here, baby,” Rah urged.

As I crawled on the bed and lay beside him, I was wondering if some stank hussy had laid up in the very same bed screwing my sorry-ass man while I was working. He didn’t have to worry about getting up in my stuff raw dog anymore. There was too much shit out there to catch from a cheating dog. I lied and told him that I couldn’t take my pills and we had to use condoms until I got on different birth control. The lie worked like a charm.

When he left the bed to go and fix himself a sandwich, I picked up his cordless phone and scrolled through the numbers in his caller ID. “Why didn’t you tell me that Dom called for me?” I yelled when I spotted her cell phone number.

Rah walked back in carrying a black plate with two sandwiches on it. “Oh, I forgot. I’m sorry,” he said, quickly eyeing the phone in my hand as he offered me one of the sandwiches.

I shook my head at his offer and dialed Dom’s cell. It rang several times before automatically switching to voice mail. “Damn, Dom, you finally know how to call somebody, huh? I hope you feeling better. Call me when you get this. Oh, this Alizé if you don’t recognize my voice. Call me, heifer.”

I hadn’t spoken to Dom in at least two weeks—maybe more—and even then I had to always call her. Maybe this weekend I’d round up Cris and Mo and we’d bum rush her. It was definitely time to see what was up with Dom and Kimani.

“I’m going to shower,” I told him as I rose with effort from the water bed.

“Let me finish eating this sandwich and then I’ll eat you.”

I just smiled at him before walking into the bathroom. Once the door closed behind me, I rolled my eyes. I wanted to confront him, question his behind, and corner him, but I had no real proof. I had to put my hands on him so that he couldn’t pull a Shaggy and say it wasn’t him.

I’ve done my dirt on him, true. Knowledge of his shadiness had me call Lionel, and we had one helluva lunch date yesterday. If Rah wasn’t bright enough to catch on to my game, then that was his damn problem. Right?

I stripped off my underclothes and stepped under the pulsating hot spray of the shower. I heard the bathroom door open and froze with my soapy loofah paused over my outstretched arm. My eyes widened as first one hairy masculine leg peeked through the curtain and Rah climbed into the shower with me. He was naked and already hard, his dick looking more like a condom-covered gherkin pickle than a cucumber like Lionel’s.

“Come give me some sugar, baby,” he moaned, pulling my wet body against his own.

“Rah, you gone mess up my hairdo,” I screeched as water hit my hair.

“Just go to the shop and get it fixed.”

I jerked out of his grasp and slipped past him to stand at the back of the tub. “I just went yesterday,” I told him, holding out a hand to his chest.

Rah smiled as he jerked my body to his and then stepped back under the spray. “You are so sexy, Ze,” he whispered as he rubbed his hands over my body.

The suds and the heat actually intensified the feel of our bodies together as he sucked on my neck and squeezed my buttocks. I surprised myself when I moaned in pleasure. His thing was whack, but Rah did know how to use that tongue of his.

As he moved down to suck wildly at my nipples and the water beat down upon us, I actually didn’t care that my perfectly coiffed hair became plastered to my head, neck, and shoulders with wetness.

All too quickly he moved back up to my neck, which was his usual speedy style. He pressed his erection into my stomach. “You want this bad, don’t you?”

I bit my bottom lip to keep from telling his ass the truth as the warm fuzziness he started cooled with a quickness. “Yes, daddy,” I moaned, lying big-time as his finger played in my sudsy pussy.

“Say please,” he ordered, taking my hand to circle around his gherkin.

“Please, poppy,” I said with a bad Hispanic accent.

As he lifted my leg and pushed the gherkin up inside of me, I went along with the motions and even faked a nut or two. The only thing on my mind as he grunted and tried his best to please me was the perfectly good Doobie I wasted for yet another sorry lay. Then I thought of the cherry red Chrysler Sebring convertible I wanted and faked another one. “You the best, Rah,” I lied, clutching his neck.