North Star (20 page)

He lifted his body slowly to sit up and felt her arm drift from his shoulders. A hesitant glance in her direction revealed the woman he’d been dancing with in a Jersey City nightclub a few hours before.

He’d become aware of her the moment she’d sauntered through the door. She had a cockiness that screamed, ‘I’m here to party’ and he had every intention in helping her do that. From what he remembered, she had an average face but it was the way she moved her body that did a number on him. He was sold the moment they stepped on the dance floor. It was just too bad he was now having buyer’s regret.

Malcolm leaned over to have a better look at her when she rolled over onto her back and exhaled deeply. The heavy scent of alcohol and bad breath drifted to his nostrils and reminded him of the shots of tequila she doubled back during their initial conversation.

Just what I need
, Malcolm thought as he rose from the bed and went over to blow out the candles.
An aging member of
Girls Gone Wild. He wasn’t bothered by her intoxicated state. No, it was the fact that they’d fallen asleep at his place. The last thing he wanted was his nosey roommate noticing her tomorrow morning.

He reached for this cell phone and called a cab in hushed tones. An act he’d done more times than he cared to remember. Then he flicked on the bright, overhead bedroom light to wake the sienna-skinned, excessively made-up, burgundy-coiffed party girl currently drooling on one of his pillows.

“Rise and shine. Party’s over.”

“What-what the hell is your problem?” She groaned as she covered her eyes.

“No problem, just time for you to get up and leave.”

“What’s wrong? Your lady’s about to come home?”

“I don’t have a lady.”

“Then turn the light off and leave me alone. I promise we’ll go another round in a few hours.”

“No can do. I have work in the morning so you have to go.”

“You’re a writer who works from home. Save it!” She spat out the words condescendingly.

“Listen, it was fun but I’m a guy that likes to sleep alone.”

“Then head for the couch, Einstein, and let a lady sleep.”

Annoyed, he countered, “If I saw a lady, I would.”

Suddenly wide awake, the disheveled woman sat up, sneered, then said, “You have the nerve to—”

‘Yes, yes, I have, so do me a favor, save your insults on the way to the cab outside.”

The woman swung her legs over the side of the bed and tossed the sheet away from her body with masculine aggression. The sight of her lack of feminine modesty caused Malcolm to shake his head and frown.

“I don’t have money for a cab,” she whined. “You brought me here, so you can take me home.”

“In what lifetime? I don’t know where you live and I don’t want to know. Just take this to cover your cab cost.”

She grabbed the money he tossed on the bed. “A ten? Listen here, playa, if you aren’t taking me home, the least you could do is give me twenty bones. What do you think I am?”

Malcolm watched her dress and extended another ten-dollar bill. “Can I have a doubt with such a rate demand?”

She glared at him and snatched the next bill that hit the bed. She gathered her purse and heels from the floor as she stomped out of his bedroom toward the front door. “Your oral wasn’t all that anyway.”

Malcolm leaned over the arm rail of living room stairwell to watch her exit the apartment. “Yeah, right, that really explains why you were sighing, moaning, and reaching for stuff that wasn’t even there.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I was trying to find something to knock you in the head so you’d stop. For future reference, not all women want the techniques learned from porn.” She slammed his front door behind her after cursing.

Malcolm raced down the stairs and peered out from the living room window. A sense of relief washed over him the moment he watched her cab drive out of sight.

That just made my highlight reel
, he thought as he strode to the front door to secure it before his shower.
Getting told off by Ugly Betty’s distant cousin Bonifia
. He shook his head as he headed back upstairs, remembering how she’d distorted her face before asking for more money. It was a new low. He was trolling the clubs for women like a desperate Lothario. This wasn’t what he’d planned. His ex-girlfriend Laila was supposed to be blowing up his phones and emails with messages after he’d ended their relationship but instead she’d just moved on like their relationship hadn’t happened.

And, to add salt to the wound, he’d seen her in the arms of some muscle man at the beach last year, a few days after he’d marched out. The sight of them made him madder than he cared to admit. He knew better than to think she wouldn’t have another man sniffing around the hem of her skirt. She was beautiful, funny, single, and when the right guy discovered her tight body, only a fool would walk away.

A fool like him. It had been six months and yet it seemed like just yesterday when he’d discovered a ruined living room in her chic condominium. He hadn’t cared about the damage at the time. He’d just wanted out. Laila wanted marriage but she wasn’t supportive of getting more of his articles in
Psyche
magazine, a publication owned by her brother, Graham.

Malcolm turned off the overhead light and cursed. He didn’t want to think about Graham. In one single email, he’d systematically halted his journalism career in the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania tri-state area. He remembered the day one of the editors of
New Jersey Monthly
had laughed in his face as he tried to pitch his articles. He’d said he’d received an email months ago telling him to be wary of Malcolm Khalid.

He should have known Laila would make her brother aware of their breakup and Graham would retaliate with both guns blazing. He hadn’t sold an article in six months and the little journalistic blurbs in the community papers were getting on his nerves.

He moved over to his bed and removed the sheets from the mattress. The scent of his latest conquest lingered. A stench that reeked of loneliness and distraction. He tossed the sheets at his open closet door and lay down on the bare mattress.

It wasn’t so long ago that he’d made love to Laila
. He remembered the way she’d felt under his body. The soft, sweetness of her drove him crazy. She knew just how to let go with him. She’d put all that
Psyche
business far from her mind and was one hundred percent presence with him. In short, the sex had been good, damn good.

If push came to shove, he knew she would come back to him if they only talked. He had to get her back.

Gray took a deep sip of his coffee and studied his computer screen. He had been in the office since ten and had a new idea that would steer
Psyche
’s marketing program in a new, exhilarating direction. He glanced over his proposal and knew it was the start of a wonderful campaign, as long as Laila could get the vendor support he needed. He picked up the phone to get her take on his idea when a flash of Graham and Caresse came to mind. They’d told him that Laila had left their wedding reception early yesterday to catch a flight out of town.

He groaned and replaced the phone back in its cradle.
The lovely lady is enjoying some rest and relaxation.

He leaned back in his leather executive chair and recalled the way Laila looked walking the wedding procession in her pale blue-gray bridesmaid gown. When she approached his aisle seat, she flashed him one of her sassy smiles and winked. Everyone knew it was Graham and Caresse’s show but Laila was determined to prove to everyone that being the bridesmaid, and not the bride, wasn’t a raw deal. She sure could give Kate Middleton’s sister, Pippa, a run for her money when it came to strolling down an aisle. Coming and going.

Such a far cry from the night of Caresse’s bachelorette party, when Laila appeared on his doorstep drunk and upset that she wasn’t the one celebrating getting married.

Ever the gentleman, he’d paid for the cab that had brought her over and listened to her anguish. He remembered vividly how she stood by his fireplace, dropped her LaFayette Chinchilla fur coat from her shoulders and asked, “Any man would love to have this in his bed, right?”

He could appreciate how she had poured her sexy body into a cobalt blue Versace cocktail dress. It was hard to speak when Laila flaunted her figure in front of him because all he wanted to do was capture the sight of her and save it to memory. He remembered sitting there rubbing the five o’clock shadow covering his chin, as his eyes poured over every inch of the fabric hugging her body.

Noting no quick response from him, Laila had sauntered closer to him and asked, “Do you want to make a memory?”

Tempting, forever tempting,
Gray thought as he shook his head and returned to the present. He’d probably always regret not taking Laila to his bedroom and making her forget Malcolm had ever existed but he didn’t wanted her like that. He wanted her free from the grief of losing a man who didn’t appreciate her and not drunk on his doorstep.

There was nothing he wanted to do to her that he didn’t intend for her to remember the next morning and every day after that. She was so used to being in control at work that it was refreshing to see her vulnerable side. He knew he shouldn’t be thinking of her in this manner; he was seven years her senior for Pete’s sake. But Graham had thrown them together on one too many projects so there was nothing left to do but give in to a few daydreams and fantasies.

Gray glanced over at Graham’s old wedding invitation on top of his unsorted mail. He’d wanted to talk to Laila at the wedding yesterday. After listening to Jaiden’s best man speech he decided he was getting too old to not put his cards on the table with her. They had flirted more times than either would probably admit but he wanted more than ‘best friend’ status.

The sudden ring of his cell phone jarred him from his thoughts. The display read, ‘Graham (cell)’ and sent off warning bells in his head. He answered quickly and prepared for the worse.

“Gray? I just wanted to remind you that the final Byron Lars ad campaign meeting has been pushed back to the seventh of next month and I’ll need you to get your team ready for the presentation in three weeks.” Mr. Sheridan’s voice held depth and authority.

“Sure. Not a problem. Isn’t that when you are due back from Hawaii?”

“Yes, I want to hit the ground running when our plane lands back at Newark. There’s only so much sightseeing a man can do.”

“I was under the impression that a honeymoon was about something more that taking pictures and shopping for souvenirs.”

A deep chuckle came from the phone. “Yeah, you’re right, but at the moment we’re just getting checked-in so I wanted to make sure we were on the same page before I get lost in that beautiful wife of mine.”

“Speaking of Caresse, how did you get past her with this phone call?”

“Oh, she’s headed upstairs to unpack while I’m meeting with the concierge about arranging a romantic dinner for two in town. So, what’s on your agenda today?”

Gray glanced over his Outlook calendar on his computer screen. “Not much, just working on a new proposal to run by you next month.”

“I’m glad you’re proactive on the marketing front but I’m beginning to think I created an unbalanced worker. On the day I choose to close
Psyche
and give everyone an extra day off, you decide to work instead of snuggling next to some cutie?”

“Hey, don’t start. If I was next to a woman, I wouldn’t have been able to take your long-distance call.”

“That’s what voicemail is for, my friend. You need a vacation.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll take one once your sister gets back to work. Lord knows I’ll be so tired of seeing both of your vacation pictures and hearing your travel stories that I’ll be begging for time off.”

“You have a point. I’d better get back to my honeymoon before the little lady comes looking for me. Later.”

When Graham disconnected, Gray thought about his own dreams of settling down. He was so tired of the type of ladies he was encountering each week. They were nice enough, and pretty enough, but since they weren’t Laila, his interest faded pretty fast. He wanted her. There was no doubt about it. But did Laila want a life with him?

She was still in her party stage and a sudden trip to South Beach had shattered any hope that her latest heartbreak would make her want the stability of a lasting relationship. Part of him wanted to stroll onto whatever beach she was sunbathing on to show her what a real man could offer. He knew he had a body that could outshine those young beachcombing playas because his defined muscles came from years of helping his uncles on their construction site. And if he had to defend Laila’s honor it wouldn’t take much to swat some leeching gigolo who tried to spoil her relaxing vacation.

Gray took a long sip of his cooled coffee and returned staring at his computer screen. He reduced the proposal file and opened his pictures folder. On the subfolder marked ‘LS’ he clicked his cursor and watched twenty photos of Laila display across his screen. He clicked on the one of the first weekend they met. She stood in front of his towering body and smiled as he helped place her jacket around her shoulders. The photo had been captured at the end of the
Psyche
anniversary luncheon by Kathy, Graham’s assistant.

At first, Gray had been annoyed at the intrusion but when Kathy had placed an apology card in his mailbox with a CD of the photo file all was forgiven. The CD revealed a look on Laila’s face that showed complete happiness and security and he knew their conversation had had something to do with it. He remembered remarking that she seemed to be too much of a woman for a nickname like ‘La La’.

And she’d responded, with a sexy smile,
You’re right. I’ve outgrown the moniker but family members have a hard time separating the little girl from the grown woman. Since you see the woman, please call me Laila.

He found himself looking at the photo whenever she was away from the office. It made him feel better somehow. Part of him wanted to call her but without a work-related reason to interrupt her fun, he dismissed the thought.
She’s partying in South Beach and, knowing the men down there, it’s only a matter of time before she’s forgetting about her heartaches in some guy’s arms
, he thought as he lowered the screen.