No Ordinary Love (8 page)

“Tell me that it’s not mine, that you’re not mine whenever I want you and I’ll leave you alone right now,” he urged.

Catrina didn’t attempt to argue; the truth would not be questioned. If he wanted her in his bed, he had her there. They both knew it.

David’s hazel eyes bore in to hers, challenging her. Catrina closed her eyes first, breaking their connection, making him angry. Roughly, he pushed her legs up, his fingers biting into her thighs as he began to take the only thing she seemed to give him freely. The way he saw it, Catrina was his, even if she hadn’t realized it yet.

What she did realize was that he was once again pushing for something that she wasn’t ready to give. Though she didn’t like the motive for his attention, she couldn’t help the traitorous spiking of blood running through her veins.

“Dave,” she murmured in pleasure.

He stared down at her and kissed her lips. Slowing his pace, he breathlessly whispered, “Don’t fight it so hard, bey. Just be with me.”

Since she needed to be, Catrina arched upwards and reached for his hands to complete their link. Fingers linked, eyes locked, and hearts beating against one another they both murmured small admissions of wanting.

Casey

It was twenty minutes later when Casey stuck her head through Daemon’s office door. The neutral tones of the walls and the dark furniture represented the man. He was calm like the ivory with yellow undertones. His moods were dark like the mahogany color of much of his furniture.

The first few days of constant sun caused his golden skin to tan a shade darker than usual. The fresh haircut complemented his handsome face. She smiled as she thought that he reminded her of a lighter version of Idris Elba; an actor from a BBC soap opera she’d recently started watching.

“I’m going out so don’t take up too much of my time,” she told him, taking a seat across from his cherry oakwood desk.

Hadn’t he calmed down? Daemon questioned himself as he watched her quietly. The sight of her thick, five-eight inch frame barely clothed in something he supposed she thought resembled a normal shirt and capri pants. Something Briannah made for her, he was sure. The top was backless and dipped low in the front to show off the swell of her breast. The pants were simple, black, and form-fitting ending mid-calf being met by the straps of her high-heeled sandals.

Casey cleared her throat. “Are you going to tell me what the hell you want, or are you going to continue giving me an unsolicited critique on my looks?” She crossed her legs and sat straight up, causing her breasts to jut out and smiled. “I have to say that I prefer you to look.”

In response, Daemon rubbed his temples. She was pressing her luck. “Case, I’m telling you, all this running round with these different niggas has got to stop,” he told her

A smile flirting around her pouty mouth, she asked, “Why are you jealous?”

“No, I’m not. But if you go round here actin’ like a whore you’ll get labeled as one.”

Since being a whore was far from what she was, Casey laughed. “I can do whatever I want to do. And if that means going out with someone who works for you, I will. He wanted to take me out; shit, I wanted to get treated. That’s more than I can say for somebody else.”

Daemon sucked his teeth. He hadn’t expected her to be offended about the whore comment, and she didn’t disappoint him.

It frustrated the hell out of him. “Don’t make me fuck somebody up, is all I’m saying.”

“Here we go with that big brother shit. And we both know that the last thing you would like to be is my brother. In any case, I’m an adult; I contribute to the bills we incur. I hate being your responsibility. Your mom did not leave saying Daemon make sure you take care of Casey.”

“She did and you are my damn responsibility. I don’t know how many times we gotta go over it. Just as soon as you get it in your head the better things will be.”

Casey didn’t want to ruin her good mood debating the never ending subject of her relationship with him, when he continually proved to be unmovable; and undeniably stubborn. Daemon’s refusal to her advancements did not discourage her. “Whatever, if that’s what you tell yourself to help you stay away from me, that’s fine, D. I’m not gon’ throw myself at you— that’s beneath me. You do you and I’ll continue to do me.”

Daemon frowned and considered that. “These niggas got you thinking pretty high of yourself, huh?” he asked, leaning back in his chair. “How ‘bout you tell me about your date with Raheem.”

She smiled. “Let’s just say it was an experience.”

“The date? Or you ending up in his bed afterward?” His jaws clenched in jealousy as he replayed that morning’s scene in his mind.

Raheem sure did go a little far in his storytelling,
Casey thought.

She knew he expected her to be upset, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. She would play it smart and be cool and distant. “I knew it had to be bad for you to call me down to the big bad office and all.”

Frustrated, Daemon’s patience snapped. “Casey, I’m tryna be real patient with you when I want to choke the shit out of you. You think that this is a fuckin’ joke,” he accused, standing up.

With a negligent shrug, she said, “I’m not laughing, D.”

“You weren’t there when that nigga walked in talkin’ bout what y’all did.”

Casey could hear traces of hurt in his words, but he hid them well. “Do you have any idea what they were saying about you? In my place of business?”

“I figure the normal stuff people say about their latest conquest.”

She’s such a pain in the ass, he thought. “What happened at his house?” he demanded to know.

“Nothing. We talked.” She turned her face away from his, took a little time studying her manicured nails before lifting her gaze back to his and continued. “Ate and entertained ourselves.”

Daemon trapped her in her chair by standing in front of her then caging her in with his arms. “Define entertain.”

Casey frowned, a little threatened by his anger. “I don’t have to explain anything to you. You’n wanna fuck with me, fine. But I will not have you dictating proper date etiquette to me. So back up,” she said, pushing at him.

Daemon caught her arm. “Case, Baby, you don’t know what you’re playin’ at. If you keep it up, you’re going to end up getting hurt.”

If her eyes could have rolled in the back of her head, they would have, she thought. “Yes, so you keep saying.”

“Casey, it’s hard to turn you away when I know what it’d be like between us,” he admitted letting go and backing away from her.

Composed, Casey stood up. “I’m trying to run slow to let you catch me, but if you don’t, someone else will.” Casey didn’t say anything else just left the office.

Girl’s Day Out

At the last minute Casey had suggested they go to the King of Prussia Mall instead of going into Center City to shop and browse the stores along Market and Walnut Streets. It meant she had the urge to spend money.

Noting their friend’s black mood, both Catrina and Briannah realized that it had to have something to do with Daemon and figured a way to bring him up since their friend hadn’t said a word about him. That was a very rare occurrence.

“So, Case, how was your date last night?” Briannah asked casually.

Casey shrugged. Daemon had in fact affected her mood. “It was okay; I only went out with Raheem to make D jealous,” Casey explained.

“So did it work?” Catrina asked.

“Yeah, it did. He barged into the bathroom, mind you while I’m in it and demanded that I meet him in his office. Apparently, Raheem went a little too far when he was telling the other guys what happened. Anyway, y’all, I was butt ass naked and D didn’t want me. Every guy I know wants to be with me and I can’t even get him to admit that. Let’s go in here.” She gestured to the store they were passing.

“Tyree told me what dude said and just how upset D was,” Briannah said. “He’s set on not corrupting you. Maybe you should just be happy that he loves you enough not to take advantage,” she added.

Casey shook her head. “Take advantage of me!” she joked loudly causing mall walkers to turn and stare. “I’m not giving up. And I am not the naïve young girl that everybody seems to think I am. I can handle adult relationships; I’ve had practice.”

Catrina laughed as she considered. “You don’t have the kind of aloof attitude or the coldness in you to pull something like that off. He’d break your heart into a billion itty, bitty pieces.”

Briannah frowned. “And I guess you’d be an authority on aloofness and coldness, wouldn’t you, Trina?” she questioned her friend in Casey’s defense while trying to decide between a pale yellow Armani Tee and a pastel pink one.

Catrina arched her brow at Briannah’s sarcasm. “Yeah, I would be. These niggas don’t be worried ‘bout me loving them, so I don’t be worried ‘bout them loving me.”

Casey stood in front of her. “I know who you worried ‘bout loving your ass,” she said with a smirk before she walked away to follow Briannah who was already randomly picking out clothes.

“You can say that again.” She tuned in briefly, lifting her face from the rack.

Catrina rolled her eyes and went over to them. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

Casey shot her a look over her shoulder. “Don’t act like you’n know who we’re talking about, honey.”

Catrina bristled. Now was not the time to bring up that man. “Whateva, y’all.”

“Yeah, we know it’s whateva,” Casey laughed. “Y’all been kicking it for a minute, and we know that you ain’t sleeping with nobody else. So what’s up?” Casey pressed.

“Monogamy is not his strong suit. So let’s just cut the convo short. I do not- absolutely do not want to talk about Dave or what I have going with him.” She had no idea what it was at this point.

Briannah cleared her throat and Casey just chuckled. “Monogamy isn’t your strong suit either, sweetie.”

Catrina had to give that one to her and laughed with a shrug. “Weren’t we discussing you and D?”

“Yeah, we were,” Briannah interjected, mentally calculating the total price of her purchases. “But we gon’ have to finish while we eat. I’m hungry as hell,” she announced, patting the mound that used to be her very flat stomach. Or at least it had been six and a half months before.

“Yeah, get her slim ass something to eat. You look like a damn stick with a pea stuck in the middle,” Catrina laughed with a point to Briannah’s stomach.

Offended, Briannah stuck her nose in the air and began walking towards the register. “I’ll have y’all know that I gained twenty-five pounds,” she huffed, pushing her selections toward the cashier. As long as Tyree thought she still looked good was all that mattered.

They ate at T.G.I. Fridays and watched in awe as Briannah devoured all her food and some of theirs. There, Casey came up with yet another plan to make Daemon jealous, as her friends; Briannah and Catrina agreed to help her.

Chapter Five

It’s My Party

Casey

There was no surprise in finding Daemon engrossed in paperwork in his office when she arrived home. She just stood in the doorway and watched him quietly. A smile curved her lips. He was, Casey thought, the perfect person to represent the African American male with his dark head of waves bent in deep concentration as his cinnamon-colored eyes scanned the paperwork neatly stacked in a pile before him.

After realizing that he wasn’t going to acknowledge her presence, Casey reluctantly knocked. The dream of him lifting his head and finding her there in a sexy pose shattered.

Without looking up from his work he said, “Wassup?” His voice husky in a way Casey considered extremely sexy.

She shrugged and rolled her eyes. “I just came in to see what you were doing.”

This time he did look up. “Working.”

“That’s funny, D,” she allowed.

There was no way he would be able to concentrate on ordering car parts or scheduling labor hours while she was present, but he didn’t want to rush her away. “Did you have a nice time?”

“Shopping is therapeutic; you should try it sometime. It may loosen you up a little,” she advised to annoy him and added to the annoyance by taking a seat. When she saw that she had, she continued. “Bri’s pregnancy is progressing well. The slim hussy gained like twenty something pounds, and she could use about ten more.” She laughed.

Daemon frowned and made a gesture towards the papers on his desk. “I know. I really need to get back to work.”

“Oh, am I distracting you?” She crossed one leg over the other.

Hell yeah, he thought. “Yeah, you are, but irritating is more like it.”

Irritating? I bet
. She made a smirk, stood up, and attempted to whisk away any wrinkles in her pants. “You use your term, I’ll use mine. I just dropped in to remind you about the get together tonight.”

“What get together?”

“I knew you weren’t going to remember,” she chastised although she’d just planned it an hour or two ago. “I told you about it last week,” she lied. “You gon’ be here?”

“Yeah, I guess. Who’d you invite?” he interrogated sure that this was another attempt to parade guys in his face.

“You have to be here to find out,” she told him, then made the decision to work him for a few minutes. So she sauntered over to his desk and took a seat on the edge.

Taking this interruption as his long overdue break, Daemon figured he’d indulge her with conversation. He sat up and pushed his chair away from his desk just in time to see her tongue dart out her mouth to moisten her lips. He smiled. “You gon’ let me get back to my work, or do I have to work around you?” he questioned, contemplating what her reaction would be if he finally took what she so blatantly offered. Daemon doubted that she ever thought that he would and was tempted to just to surprise her.

“I’d rather you worked with me. Right here on your desk if you prefer,” she challenged.
Fuck it,
she thought. There was no way that she was going to shy away this time. Even if her desired results didn’t come out of her little experiment, she’d get to irritate the hell out of him. “You’re thinkin’ ‘bout it,” she teased, scooting her body over on the desk to settle in front of Daemon.