Ready for Love (6 page)

Terrill noticed that Jason’s anger seemed to shift from Aunt Sophie back to him again.

This guy! Good grief!

While Terrill threw his head up in disgust for Jason, Jason’s aunt was narrowing in on Terrill.

“Your mother told Sister Robinson you and Penny weren’t dating anymore. That you must have broken up with her as soon as y’all got to California, because as far as she knew you two weren’t an item.” Aunt Sophie had her lips twisted to the side. “And I took that to mean you were smarter than you looked. But…I guess if you still messing with
her
.” She glanced at Penny. “Then you’re not.”

Terrill counted to ten and took a deep breath. Telling Sophie that he and Penny never dated wasn’t his place. Penny was going to have to reveal that when and if she was ever ready to. Telling his mother to stop telling people his business as soon as he got the chance was another story.

Patrick cleared his throat and reached for the potato salad. “So Penny, you gonna be in town for long?”

“With all due respect, Aunt Sophie, I think you owe Penny an apology.” Jason snapped.

Terrill smiled.

About damn time!

Penny looked up and stared at Jason and Terrill knew she was probably shocked that Jason was taking up for her. But Terrill knew his friends and he knew they weren’t anywhere near done. Jason and Penny’s feelings ran deep and feelings that deep didn’t just die, no matter how much time had passed and no matter what wrongs they felt had been committed.

He hoped to be able to love like that one day. He thought he had the woman he could love like that in Maritza. He only hoped that she would give him a chance.

“I think you should apologize to all of us for ruining a nice Sunday dinner.” James Hightower gave his older sister a stern stare.

All right, Mr. Hightower!
Terrill knew there was a reason he loved the man that had been the only father figure he’d known growing up.

Unfortunately, having her baby brother
and
her nephew both chastise her only served to make Sophie angrier.

“Me? Apologize to her? Mmmp.” Aunt Sophie let out a bitter laugh and then turned a very hateful look on Penny. “I really hate to be a disruption to Sunday dinner. But someone has to be the voice of reason here. The mere fact that Celia has this little…tramp…at the dinner table and let her come within an inch of the food preparation tells me she isn’t playing with a full deck. But I would have thought you would know better, James.” She tsked. “And after the way she dropped you for your best friend and a trip to Los Angeles, I would hope you would know better, Jason.
Please
tell me you all know better.”

Penny pushed back her seat and stood. “Mr. and Mrs. Hightower, it has been lovely and I really appreciate your invitation.” She turned to Celia. “I really enjoyed cooking with you. It was so much fun. I do miss you, but I’m sorry I can’t stay here and be insulted.”

Turning to Terrill, she said, “I know you don’t want to miss out on this lovely meal, but can you take me home now?”

Terrill placed his napkin on the table and without a moment’s hesitation he was at her side and they were leaving.

As they sat in front of Big Mama’s house in his rental car, Terrill tried his best to console Penny. He never could stand to see her cry.

“Penny, I just want you to stop crying. You know I can’t stand to see you cry. That’s how you managed to talk me into helping you in the first place.” Terrill sighed. “Look, I can reschedule some meetings. I don’t have to go back to Los Angeles yet. I can—”

“No, I’ll be fine. I’m going to settle Big Mama’s affairs and get out of here as soon as I can. I’ll have to get to know my father some other time. Maybe I can set him and Carla up on alternating visitation schedules.” She cracked as much of a smile as she could and hoped she had convinced Terrill she was okay. “Plus, I need you to go back to Los Angeles and keep an eye on Maritza. She’s probably bossing around some very important clients as we speak.”

Terrill smiled at the thought of Maritza. He couldn’t wait to get back to Los Angeles so that he could really start wooing her. If watching Jason and Penny over the past couple of days had taught him anything at all, it was that he really needed to go after what he wanted with her. Life was too short to live without love.

“And I’m supposed to help how? Your little business partner can’t stand me.” Terrill chuckled and rubbed his chin. “Although if she thinks I’m keeping an eye on her, that should make her good and mad. And I love making her good and mad.”

Penny shoved his shoulder. “Play nice, Terrill. I swear you better not do anything to tick her off or she’ll be blowing up my cell phone.”

Terrill laughed. If he had his way, Maritza wouldn’t have time to be blowing up anyone’s cell phone.

Yes, it was time to head back to Los Angeles.

S
eeing Terrill Carter’s Maybach waiting for her when she left the office on Monday evening shouldn’t have been as much as a shock as it was. Maybe if she had been a little less shocked she would have done something besides get into the car when the driver opened the back door for her.

She could have thought of something sensible, like the fact that her own Mercedes coupe was waiting for her in the parking lot, or something else more reasonable. At least she wouldn’t have to admit that she had been thinking about him the entire time he was in New Jersey, that she had been thinking about his kiss and looking forward to his calls.

As it was she was sitting right next to him in his car and was still pretty much shocked and speechless.

As soon as she stepped into the car, he leaned over and gave her a kiss. She could tell that he meant it to be a quick peck, but a funny thing happened when their lips met.

After stunned silence, her mouth could apparently do something after all. It could kiss Terrill.

Who knew?

Her lips opened and her tongue darted and ducked back and forth, pressing against his lips and seeking entry, only to fall back and retreat before seeking again. She could have played that game all night until he gently grabbed her tongue between his teeth and held it there, nipping and nibbling on it slowly and seductively.

She groaned and pressed her body closer to his.

He pulled her further into an embrace until she was literally sitting on his lap.

Their kiss took on super-sultry proportions at that point and it felt as if he was trying to consume her, inhale her whole. She could only recognize it because she was doing the same thing. Terrill had become air to her.

She let her tongue dance around his mouth as if she had all evening to play there. She swayed from the roof to the tongue and tried to touch each and every one of his teeth. He let her play in her new playground until her tongue started getting in the way of the explorations he wanted to do. Then he took control of the kiss and forced her mouth to follow his lead.

Typically she would have balked at the thought. But today she followed his path, touching and teasing him along the way.

When they finally pulled apart they did it together.

“Damn, I’ve missed you, Maritza.”

She didn’t know what she expected him to say after kissing her senseless. But she did know that she could have probably come up with a smart comment for just about everything but that.

She could lie.

Perhaps say something glib like,
Well, I didn’t miss you
… Or she could fall into her typical M.O. and catch an attitude full of righteous indignation for his kissing her once again without asking, without even seeing if she wanted to kiss him. But she wasn’t that good of an actress. There was no lying about how much she wanted that kiss and more.

When she remained silent, he smiled. “Kissing you does shut you up, huh?” He chuckled and the sound of his laughter made her smile.

She squinted her eyes as she thought about the ramifications of her laughing at what Terrill had just said as opposed to telling him off. She slid off of his lap and sat down beside him. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

She had been so consumed by his heated kiss and embrace that she hadn’t even realized that the car was moving.

“So. You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you? Your really want to do this? Us?” Tired of fighting for the moment, she rested her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the ride.

“No. I’m not taking no for an answer. We are doing this. It’s our time, Maritza. I can’t fight this feeling anymore. I want you in my life as more than a business partner, more than a friend, or as I’m sure you can wait to remind me, a friend of a friend. Because according to you we aren’t friends.”

“You know me so well. You just see right through me and know exactly what I’m going to say or do, huh?”

“I’ve studied you for years, Maritza. I probably know you better than you know yourself.”

“Whatever.”

“I know that you are really skittish right now and one false move will have you running for the hills as fast as your feet can take you.”

“Well, at least you’d be able to catch me quick because I’ll tell you I won’t get very far in these bad boys. They are fierce, but they don’t do marathons.” She kicked off her black patent leather Mary Jane–styled Manolo Blahniks and stretched her feet.

“So where exactly are you taking me, Terrill?”

“I’m taking you out on a hot date.” He gave a half smile. “Hotter than the date you went on Saturday night.”

“I don’t know about that. My Saturday night date was something special. The memories of that evening will stick with me for some time to come. I won’t be able to get rid of them easily…”

She laughed at the sour expression on his face. If she didn’t know any better she might have actually believed that he was jealous.

“Really? Then I’ll just have to use everything I’ve got to give you better memories to get rid of those.” His sour expression turned to determined just that fast.

“Really? So you’re taking me to the gym?” She giggled.

He frowned. “The gym? No. Why would I take you to the gym?”

“Because that’s the only thing that’s going to help me get rid of these pounds that hot date with Ben & Jerry’s added to my hips and thighs.” Her voice sounded light and wistful and she wondered what was happening to her.

Who was this person that wanted to flirt and be all girly-girl with him? It couldn’t be her! It couldn’t be Maritza Morales.

A sly smile crossed his lips and he kissed her again, softly and sweetly.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with your hips and thighs. They are as perfect as the rest of you.” He licked his lips like he could taste her and she thought she was going to turn to mush and slide out of the seat.

She smiled, slightly surprised at how much his approval warmed her insides and made her feel so much glee.

“So where are you taking me?”

“A new restaurant downtown that’s supposed to be really good. They specialize in transnational fusion cuisine. Apparently on any given night you can go there and experience the fusion of at least three different parts of the world.”

“Oh, I read about that place. It’s supposed to be really hard to get in there.”

“After dinner, I figured we could play it by ear. I know you’re probably tired from working all day and holding things down while Penny is in Jersey.”

“How is she holding up?” She hadn’t heard from Penny much lately.

“As well as can be expected. Her mom and her ex-boyfriend are both working her nerves. And her long-lost father showed up. Fresh out of jail, I might add…he’d been in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“Get out of here, for real? I need to call girlfriend and see how she is holding up. She must be stressed as hell. Good thing you were there for her.”

“I was glad to be able to be there for Penny. But I am even more glad that I’m back here and I’m with you now.”

She found herself gazing in his eyes then. She had no idea what she was looking for. She only knew that she needed something to help her be able to resist this man.

“You know we can’t go public with this, right, Terrill?”

“Why can’t we? I don’t want to date you in secret. I want the world to know.”

“I was serious when I said I didn’t want Penny or any of our other mutual friends to have to decide who to still be friends with if things don’t work out.” She sighed. “And I mean…come on…how long do you expect this to last anyway before we end up killing one another or something?”

He pulled her closer. “We can sort out the details later. For now, let’s just enjoy being together and get to know more about each other.”

She started to argue with him and list all the reasons why they needed to set up firm rules of engagement right now before they moved any further. But she couldn’t.

Dinner was even better than she had expected. She had expected the food to be out of this world. But she had no idea how captivating and charming Terrill could be.

The atmosphere in the restaurant gave off an air of understated elegance and exclusivity. The high, almost covered dining booths made it so you really couldn’t tell who was dining there. All kinds of Hollywood A-listers could have been in the place and only their companions and their wait-staff would know. It wasn’t a place to be “seen.” Rather, it was a place to get away from being seen.

The food was absolutely amazing. She studied the man across the table from her and made a decision that she hoped she wouldn’t regret.

“Terrill, I think we should explore the chemistry between us. But I think we need to keep it just between us. No one needs to know. If you can promise me we will have a discreet affair, then we can do this.”

“But I don’t want to have an affair with you. I want to date you. I want you to be my woman, in public and in private.” Terrill looked so frustrated she almost caved. And caving would be absolutely the wrong thing to do.

There was so much he just didn’t know about her or her past and so much she hoped he never found out…

An affair was all she could risk.

“We can get started on the private tonight, Terrill. If you’re willing to do it this way, we can start now. You’re right. I’m tired of running, too. But we have too much to risk.”

“It would be worth the risk, Maritza.”

She wanted to believe him. But she couldn’t. “Please, Terrill. Let’s try my way first, and then we’ll see.”

“Fine, we’ll do it your way for now—”

Maritza couldn’t believe he was going to do it her way. “Great! Let’s blow this spot and finish the night at your place.”

“Check, please.” Terrill got them out of there, into the Maybach and back at his mansion quicker than she ever could have imagined.

Maritza had always loved Terrill’s mansion in Bel Air even though she couldn’t imagine what one man did with so much space. His mother lived in a condo nearby, but she spent the majority of her time traveling. Terrill spared no expense when it came to his mother. That woman had been all over the world.

Maritza assumed he used the home mostly for entertaining and big parties for his music company. She had never spent a significant amount of time there. She had a feeling that was about to change.

As soon as they entered the mansion, Terrill pulled her into his arms and she forgot all thoughts about his space and what he did with it. The only thing she was concerned with was what he planned to do with her in it at that moment.

His lips brushed hers softly and he inhaled. “We don’t have to go this fast, Maritza. I want to take the time to woo you and wow you and make you see that I’m the guy for you.”

Her insides melted and she knew she should run from his embrace as swiftly as her feet could carry her. There was no way she could possibly resist Terrill if he insisted on being this perfect!

“Why now, Terrill? Why are you so determined to pursue this now?”

“Why not now? How long were you going to keep doing this dance we have been doing?”

Forever…

“I don’t know. I just know that things were a whole lot simpler when we couldn’t stand one another…”

“I could stand you just fine, Maritza. It was your attitude that I wanted to adjust.”

He laughed and when she opened her mouth for a smart retort he kissed her again. His mouth possessed hers as surely as he was slowly but surely possessing the rest of her. Goose bumps trailed down her entire body as he caressed and held her close.

“I want you, Terrill. We don’t have to wait. I want this.” The certainty in her voice would have shocked her if she didn’t know from the bottom of her gut how much she really meant the words she had just said. She had wanted him the very first moment she set eyes on him. That had never really changed.

He took her hand and led her up the stairs. When they made it to his suite she couldn’t help but continue to be impressed by him. His home was the perfect mix of stately with a touch of subdued opulence. It had a done-but-not-overdone appeal to it. From the artfully modern design throughout, to the original artwork on the walls, his home epitomized style and class. He had come a long way and that was enough to make anyone proud. And she didn’t find it odd that she could finally admit she was more than a little proud of him herself.

As soon as they entered the room, he kissed her again and their kisses turned into a groping and clingy exchange that had them disrobing each other as they tried to cop feels. She knew she wanted to touch every piece of skin on his body. So as soon as she removed his jacket, shirt and undershirt, she let her hands trace the rips and cuts of his finely chiseled chest.

Damn.

She hadn’t known that he had so much going on under those custom-tailored suits. She would have been feeling him up a long time ago. His muscles and his smooth skin felt like velvet-covered steel to her touch.

He managed to get her dress off of her while she touched him and then he made quick work of her bra, leaving her thong, thigh-high silk stockings and Manolos on her. His strong hands moved up and down her back and caressed her ass with each stroke down. Then his hands moved up her belly and he took a breast in each hand. He molded her breast with his hands and teased her nipples with his mouth. He moved steadily from one nipple to the other and sucked them until they tightened to peaks. He massaged her breasts and soon her legs were shaking with a built-up desire and need that she couldn’t put into words.

He moved one hand down and placed it between her shaking legs. He pushed her thighs apart and pulled her thong to the side. She could feel her womanly juices rushing to meet his fingers at the door to welcome them in.

One finger.

Two fingers.

Three fingers.

She let out a gasp of breath and she hoped each digit found a nice and welcoming home inside of her because she loved the way they were making her feel. His mouth remained on one breast as his fingers probed her from her slick folds to her heated core. Soon she was shaking with an orgasm that could only be described as amazing.