Perfect Timing (25 page)

Maxi and Christopher

M
axi watched Christopher's reaction as she slowly slipped the buttons from out of his shirt one by one. She felt blessed.

“I think tonight calls for a celebration,” she said when the last button had been undone. She then went for the belt on his pants.

“And just what are we celebrating?” he asked huskily. Not that he thought they needed a reason to get naked.

“Christopher Max is eight-months-old today.”

“Oh, I thought we were celebrating something else.”

She lifted a brow. “Something else like what?”

He smiled. “Like last night. You broke a record.”

She blushed as she remembered. While making love last night she'd had so many orgasms she had stopped counting. “You did that on purpose.”

“Yeah, I did. I like watching you come. It does something to me.”

She laughed. “Oh, it does something to you all right. I believe it increases your sex drive,” she said slipping the belt from his jeans. She then went for his zipper.

“Possibly,” he murmured huskily. “Probably,” he further added on a deep sigh when he felt her hand reach inside his pants to free him. “Don't you want me to take off my jeans?”

She looked up at him. “No need. I got just what I want in my hands.” And then she slowly eased it into her already naked, hot, wet, body. “Ahh,” she moaned softly. “Perfect.” She then spread her legs more.

“Perfect timing,” Christopher said, enjoying the feel of being so deeply embedded within her.

“Do it, Christopher. On the wall.”

He took her spread legs and wrapped them around his waist. Keeping their bodies joined he carried her across the room and pressed her back up against the wall. And then he made love to her, the way she liked. Wall style.

He liked doing it this way, too.

While standing he could go deep inside her, pushing in and pulling out, over and over again in a way and at an angle that could drive him over the edge. He watched her eyes close as she savored the sensations and the feeling of him inside her and the friction of her thighs as they rubbed against the denim of his jeans.

“Open your eyes, Maxi. I want to see you come.”

She opened them and locked with his when he gave one final thrust into her body. She screamed out his name when he climaxed, flooding her with the thick, hot essence of his fluid. The feel of him shooting off inside her always made her climax as well. She tightened her legs around him, clenching her muscles, milking him for all it was worth. For all she could get. She wanted everything.

Moments later when there was nothing left to give—a least for the moment—Christopher eased her body down his. “Now I take off my pants and we continue this in bed like normal people.”

She nodded, too weak to respond.

“Do you think Christopher Max will sleep for a while?” he asked as he gently placed her on the bed.

She smiled up at him when she thought of their son. “He'll sleep long enough.”

When he had removed his pants and joined her in bed, he smiled and said. “Damn, I hope so.”

Garrett and Mya

From his position on the field, Garrett could see it was a packed stadium but he had expected no less. Whenever the Cowboys played it was football at its best. He had taken a few hard knocks already but then, that was all part of the game. A game he loved.

Thinking about something else he loved, he looked over his shoulder into the stands, to a certain area to find a particular woman who was sitting where she normally sat. During this time last year they were having major problems in their marriage but they had worked through them and now once again their marriage was solid as a rock.

His gaze found Mya, along with his sons who were sitting next to her. And in her arms she held the newest member of their family, their three-month-old daughter whom they had named Destiny.

They had decided to have another baby after Mya had brought her career in the financial arena to an end. The boys, she had told him, were getting older and they needed her at home. The decision had been totally hers and he had been happy with it because so was she.

He caught his wife's gaze, gave her a thumbs up and smiled. She smiled back and threw him a kiss. He felt like a man on top of the world. Now if they could only kick the opposing team's butt. But then he knew win or lose he would have a treat when he got home.

A very sensuous treat.

B
RENDA
J
ACKSON
lives in the city where she was born, Jacksonville, Florida. She is a graduate of William M. Raines High School and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Jacksonville University. She has been married for thirty years to her high school sweetheart, and they have two sons, ages twenty-four and twenty-two. She is also a member of the First Coast Chapter of Romance Writers of America and is a founding member of the national chapter of Women Writers of Color. Brenda has received numerous awards for her books, including the Emma Award for Author of the Year in 2001, Shades of Romance Author of the Year 2000, Shades of Romance Author of the Year 1999, Shades of Romance Multi-cultural Romance of the Year 1999—
Fire and Desire
, Waldenbooks Best-selling Multi-cultural Romance 1999—
Fire and Desire
, and Romance in Color Award of Excellence 2000—
Secret Love
.

Perfect Timing
is her thirteenth book. Her other books include:
Tonight and Forever, Whispered Promises, Eternally Yours, One Special Moment, Fire and Desire, Secret Love, True Love, A Valentine Kiss, Something to Celebrate, Welcome to Leo's, Surrender,
and
A Family Reunion
.

Her next book for Dafina—
Perfect Fit
, released in May of 2003—is Gabe Blackwell's story.

You can visit her Web site at http:/www.brendajackson.net

The following is a sample from Brenda Jackson's
newest novel, PERFECT FIT, now available wherever
books are sold.
ENJOY!

Gabe
Detroit, Michigan

G
abriel Blackwell had a low tolerance level for women who constantly tripped on excess emotional baggage, and the one sitting across from him had bags packed so heavy he wondered how she was lugging them around.

After listening to her moan, weep and groan for the past hour, he'd just about had it. There were only so many burdens a mortal man could take from a woman who refused to see the light of day because her lover of the past two years had made one mistake too many.

He lifted the wineglass to his lips and took a sip as he continued to listen to her whine. Since this was their first date, she was evidently clueless that this was not the way to go about establishing a new relationship with someone. When he'd picked her up for dinner, he'd been truly impressed since she definitely was a looker who had everything in all the right places. For once he had thought his mother, who'd harassed him into going out on this blind date, had finally done something right. It didn't take long for him to change his mind and decide that instead, she'd definitely done something wrong. En route to the restaurant when a certain song by Luther Vandross began playing on the car's radio, the woman had begun crying her eyes out over what she'd tearfully described to him as “painful memories.” Evidently the pain only got worse, because she'd been sobbing ever since. Several times he had offered to take her back home, but she'd refused, saying that at some point she had to get on with her life. And each time he'd come close to telling her that she was exhibiting a piss-poor job of doing so.

He knew of very few men who needed or wanted the stress of getting involved with someone who couldn't regain control of her emotions and let go. He'd found out the hard way three years ago that some women actually enjoyed bemoaning a lost cause. He had fancied himself in love with such a woman. After they had dated exclusively for ten months, she broke things off between them the moment her ex-lover returned to town and decided he wanted her back. The scars from that encounter had been slow to heal.

“I guess I'm not making a good impression tonight with it being our first date and all, but I can't help it,” the woman said, breaking into Gabe's thoughts as she sniffed into the handkerchief he'd given to her earlier.

When he didn't say anything, she continued by saying, “I can't believe I'm still upset over the fact that he left me. He was nothing but a total jerk anyway.” A few minutes later she added, “But still, after what we used to mean to each other, you'd think he would have the decency to at least return my phone calls.”

Gabe lifted a brow, wondering if she really thought a jerk would actually do something decent. Then, belatedly, what she'd said caught his attention. “You've tried calling him?” he asked, more in astonishment than interest. She had spent the past hour telling him how she'd discovered the guy had hocked her jewelry to pay his gambling debts, as well as the fact that he'd been carrying on an illicit affair with a woman in the office where he worked. As far as Gabe was concerned, the man had two strikes against him. She was definitely better off without him and had said so herself several times during the course of the evening. Yet in the same breath, she'd just admitted that she'd tried contacting him. Gabe determined she was a glutton for punishment and was taking obsessive love to an all-new high…or in his opinion, a very disgusting low.

“Yes, I've been trying to reach him for the past two days, ever since I found out about my condition,” she finally answered as fresh tears appeared in her eyes.

Gabe inhaled sharply, almost choking on the wine he'd just sipped. He cleared his throat and shifted uneasily in his chair, then inquired as calmly as he could, “Your condition?”

Red, swollen, tear-soaked eyes met his gaze. She again put his handkerchief to use as she sobbingly replied, “I'm pregnant.”

The next day

Joella Blackwell looked at her son and said calmly, “The situation you described doesn't sound like a major crisis to me, Gabriel.”

Gabe shook his head in disbelief, clearly stunned. After a brief moment of recovery, he was almost certain he had misunderstood his mother's response, so he decided to tell her again.

“I said the woman who you talked me into taking out last night announced over dinner that she's pregnant.”

And just in case his mother still didn't get it, he clarified by saying, “She's going to have a baby, and before you give me an all-accusing stare, just remember that last night was our first date and under the circumstances it was definitely our last.”

Joella Blackwell raised a dark brow as she continued the task of setting the table for dinner. Christopher Chandler, Gabe's best friend and business partner, whom she considered her surrogate son, and his wife and their ten-month-old son would be coming, and she looked forward to seeing them. She was pleased that at least one of her
sons
had finally put aside his whoring ways to marry and start a family.

“I know what being pregnant means, Gabriel. All I'm saying is that at least she was honest and up front with you. So the way I see it, to decide you won't be seeing her again is acting rather hasty. I would think you could put the issue of her pregnancy behind you and move on.”

Gabe leaned in the doorway that separated the kitchen from the dining room, wondering if his mother actually thought such a thing was possible. But then, he knew she really did. Everyone who knew Joella Blackwell was well aware that she had a soft, loving and forgiving heart. She was a good Christian woman who saw good in everyone and believed a positive spin could be derived from any negative situation. In this case, she was dead wrong. “You're expecting too much if you assume I'll consider asking her out again,” he finally said.

Joella Blackwell shrugged. “I see no reason why you shouldn't. Being pregnant is not the end of the world. Men date pregnant women all the time.”

Gabe frowned. “Yeah, and usually when they do it's because they have a vested interest, like being the father of that child. Don't you see the problems that can develop if I become involved with Keri Morton?”

“No, I don't see the problems since she's made you aware of her condition. It's not as if she's trying to pass the child off as yours. I think you're being too judgmental. Your name may be Gabriel, but you're far from being an angel yourself.”

Gabe shook his head. “I happen to like children, no matter whose they are, but there's a lot more to it than the pregnancy issue. She's still hung up on her baby's father.”

“She actually told you that?”

“She didn't have to. She talked about him enough over dinner for me to tell, and I refuse to get involved again with a woman carrying around excess emotional baggage. And trust me, Keri Morton is up to her ying-ying in it. I'm not interested in dating a woman with issues.”

Joella Blackwell didn't say anything for the longest moment. She remembered how a few years back Gabe had fallen in love; a woman he had practically offered everything—his time, his money and most important, his heart. The day before he was going to ask her to marry him, she broke off things between them to get back together with her old boyfriend and had even had the gall to send Gabe an invitation to their wedding. Since that fateful time, he had refused to date women who he thought had personal problems they couldn't let go of. What she'd tried to get him to see was that everyone had some sort of issues. No one lived a completely carefree life.

“There's no such thing as a perfect woman, Gabriel.”

Gabe met his mother's gaze. “I'm not looking for one, but any relationship I get seriously involved in again has to be uncomplicated and straightforward.”

Joella shook her head. “I hate to disappoint you, but there's nothing uncomplicated or straightforward about any woman. God made us unique and he gave us emotions and I do thank him for that. Otherwise, this world would have ended long ago if it was left up to a man. Your gender on occasion has shown to be rather heartless. And heaven forbid if anything has to be done. Men take forever to do nothing. Women are known not to beat around the bush. And we are a nurturing breed. We're sensitive, understanding, and luckily for the male, we're also compassionate. That's the reason we can't let go of things as easily as a man. Then there are some of us who can't seem to let go at all. They're the ones in need of more personal growth and healing, along with tender, loving care. But in due time they'll learn there is life after a love that's ended.”

Gabe heard everything his mother said, but still he felt women like Keri were the ones to watch out for and avoid. As far as he was concerned, the best way to handle those types of women was to put concrete and solid rules into place. And his number one rule was to not become involved with a woman who obviously sweated the small stuff and who refused to let go and move on.

“Is it wrong for me to want a woman who'll complement me in every way?” he finally asked. “A woman who I'll consider as my soul mate, my perfect fit? Until that time comes, I have no intention of getting seriously involved with anyone with issues.”

“And what if you fall in love with her first?”

Gabe frowned. “Trust me, that won't happen. I may not be an angel, but neither am I a fool. I've learned from past mistakes.” He then turned and walked away.

Joella watched her son leave and shook her head sadly. She wondered when it would occur to him that in addition to not being an angel or a fool, he lived in a glass house and shouldn't throw stones because it was quite obvious that
he
had issues of his own.

 

Late that evening Gabe entered his apartment, went straight to the kitchen, grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and took a swig. His mother had been too busy lavishing her attention on her surrogate grandchild to remember to harass him any more that afternoon. But he wasn't crazy enough to think she was through with him. With Christopher married that meant Gabe was now the recipient of all of her attention. As soon as she could, she would try playing matchmaker again.

Walking down the hall to his bedroom, he smiled as his thoughts fell on his partner and best friend. Christopher had begun working for Gabe's father's construction company at eighteen. Omar Blackwell had taken the young, hard-working loner under his wings and become not only Christopher's boss, but a mentor and father figure. The Blackwells had offered Christopher things he'd never had before, family ties, trust, respect and complete love.

Gabe knew his parents considered Christopher their
other
son, and since the two boys were the same age, they had talked Christopher into furthering his education right along with Gabe. They both had graduated with MBAs at the top of their class. Christopher had a degree in Industrial Design, and Gabe had earned a degree in Structural Engineering. And when Omar Blackwell retired six years ago, signing ownership of the company over to Gabe and Christopher, they had taken it in a whole new direction, one that was now world known. The Regency Corporation had built numerous upscale shopping malls, industrial office parks and department stores all over the United States in the past five years. Their biggest contract to date was the Landmark Project, which involved building a multimillion-dollar ski resort near Anchorage, Alaska. Plans were to start on it by the first of the year.

The fact that a deal of that magnitude had been awarded to a company owned by two African-American men had made headlines. He and Christopher had been featured in several newspapers and magazines, and had even made the covers of
Black Enterprise
and
Ebony,
as well as being the recent recipients of
Black Enterprise's
prestigious Minority Businessmen of the Year Award a few months ago. At the age of thirty-two, they were the youngest individuals to receive such recognition.

As Gabe began stripping off his clothes, he thought about his mother's fixation with marrying him off. It was as if she was on some sort of mission. Unfortunately, it was one he was having no part of. He had tried placating her by dating a few of the single women from her church, but since it seemed the majority of them had issues that he refused to deal with, he continued to make his work the top priority in his life.

Now that Christopher was a family man, their roles in the company had switched. Gabe did the majority of the traveling these days as well as working most of the international deals. Christopher was the one who stayed in the office and ran things on the home front, and the few times he did travel, he took his wife, Maxi, and the baby with him.

Gabe sighed deeply. The new demands of the job had taken over his life. He didn't have time to develop any sort of serious relationship with a woman other than a brief fling, which was just fine and dandy with him. Anything else took time and energy he couldn't spare.

Stepping into the shower, he couldn't help but appreciate his on-going affair with Debbie Wells. Like him, she was a successful professional who preferred a sex-only relationship; no romance, no commitment—just raw physical contact and sexual release, which was an invigorating way to work off stress.

Over the past three years, after his disaster with Lindsey Jefferson, he'd found that a nice unencumbered, noncommitted sort of relationship with a woman was what he needed. It definitely had its advantages. There wasn't a chance you would fall in love, and neither party had expectations of anything turning serious. There was no room for jealousy or possessiveness or broken hearts. And best of all, you could walk away at any time without looking back. Debbie was great in bed, and like him, she played by the rules. He couldn't ask for more, nor did he want to. He liked things just the way they were.

He heard the doorbell the moment he'd stepped out of the shower and had begun drying off. Tucking the towel around his waist, he walked barefoot to the door. Glancing through the peephole, he smiled as he opened the door. It seemed his thoughts of Debbie had conjured her up on his doorstep.