Risking It All (19 page)

Michael had worked from home yesterday and she had no real alibi. One whole day away from Quinton was one day too many.

“Hi, Beautiful.” He gave her the once over.

“Hi. And no, this is not what I’m wearing tonight.” The jeans and t-shirt she was wearing was only a decoy for Michael.

Quinton
bent his head and gave her an intimate kiss before saying, “And if you did, that would be perfectly fine with me. You look hot in everything.”

Julissa wasted no time using his bathroom to change from her jeans into a simple black dress. Her curls were still fresh from this morning, so she used her fingers to style them.

“This is a dinner date, right?” Julissa came out of the bathroom. He was bent over, shining his shoes.

“That’s what I wanted to tell you about. It is a dinner date. But, what I didn’t tell you is that Ed invited me.”

“What? Are you serious?” Julissa looked at Quinton as if he were crazy. Maybe he was.

“Look, Ed was telling me about how his new girlfriend, Amber, is such a good cook. She’s executive chef at one of the restaurants in Buckhead. They invited me to dinner and he told me to bring a date. He just doesn’t know it’s you.”

“Oh, my gosh.”

“Look, Julissa…they were both standing right there in my face. How could I tell them no to the face?”

“Taking
another date would have been a better
option.”

“Lissa, are you serious?
”

“
Quinton! Do you want us to get found out?”

“Ed already knows.
”

Julissa paced the room.
“And can we keep it that way. We don’t want anyone else to know. What if word gets around? What if Michael knows this Amber? He knows practically everybody in this city who is anybody. He’s wor
ked with politician,
celebrities
. W
e can’t
—”

Quinton came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I want to be with you, Lissa. So much, that I could care less if you
r
boyfriend, fiancé, or whatever he is finds out. I’m sorry that I’m being selfish.” He kissed her softly on the neck.

“You really want to be with me?” Julissa turned around and kissed him softly.
“After all this…after what I’ve done just to be with you.” She felt bad for cheating, but she was in so deep in this situation that she didn’t where to begin with getting herself out of it.

“Yes, I do. You know that.”

W
hat she would
give to find out what would make Michael let her go. Would it be the proo
f that she was cheating on him?

The very first time that Michael was violent towards her, it was when they were living in separate places. He was in the process of moving into his home and she was still living in a thirteen story condominium. She knew then that anybody who called himself a man would never display so much violence to a woman they said they loved. He had gotten mad over something so stupid. Apparently, he had placed a pair of black slacks in the white clothes hamper to be washed. She had been washing and ironing his clothes, even back then. She didn’t see the black piece amongst the white clothes and she put them in the washer together. On top of that,
she used bleach in the cycle. He’d been utterly pissed. S
o pissed that he knocked her onto the floor, causing her to sprain her ankle.

The next morning, she left him a note that it was time to break it off. He showed up on her doorstep the next day a
nd did everything in his power
to make her say that she would forgive him and accept him again.
He’d even called his mother, and bribed her into talking her out of leaving him. After all the pressure, s
he went back to him.

She shook the bad memories from her head.

“Okay, Q. But, we should let Ed know that we
want to keep this low key
. You are to introduce me to Amber as your realtor and friend. Nothing more. No one else is to know about this.
Not like this, at least.
”

Quinton’s forehead creased and he seemed to be thinking about the stipulations that she had just laid out
in front him. “Whatever you say.”

When they pulled up at Amber’s home, Julissa slipped off her engagement ring and put it in her purse. Quinton quietly observed her.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head.

He walked over to her side and helped her out and they walked the short distance to the doorstep. It seemed like they took an eternity to answer the door after Quinton had rang the doorbell.

“Hi!” Amber smiled brightly at the two of them. Her jet black curly long hair flowed way past her shoulders. The blonde highlights
and frayed strands
on the ends revealed t
hat most of it was a weave. Yet
she looked beautiful anyway. Ed sure knew how to pick them a
nd she was happy for him. “G
lad you guys could make it. Come in. I’m Amber, by the way.” She held out her hand.

Ed had not said a word. From the moment that they opened the door, his
jaw had dropped open from
a few centimeters to a few inches.

Julissa offered her hand. “Julissa.”

“Ed, is something wrong?” Amber looked up at Ed with big eyes that wondered why he wasn’t greeting anyone.

Julissa glanced at Ed in time to see the look he exchanged with Quinton.

“No, ever
ything’s fine,” Ed mumbled, taking
the bottle of w
ine that Quinton held out to him
. “Thanks
. Come on in. Have a seat in the den. Amber was just setting the table.”

Julissa was about to take her seat beside Quinton when Amber spoke, “Julissa, would you like to help me set the table?”

“Sure.
” Julissa smiled. As she retreated, she could feel
the tension as she left
.

As they were setting the table, Amber was making small talk with her. “Your dress is absolutely gorgeous. Who’s the designer?”

“Thanks. It’s Gucci.” Julissa set chargers down on each placemat. “It smells wonderful
in here. Quinton says that you’
re a chef.”

“Oh, thanks. Yes, I’ve been a chef for about two years now. Gourmet
,
that is. I have a big wedding coming up this Saturday that I’m catering. Some of the selections that I’m preparing tonight are on that menu.”

“Wow! That’s good to know. Although, my best friend just got married, I may know a couple of other friend
s who could use your services.”

“Oh, I love referrals.” Amber arranged the utensils around the table. “How long have you and Ed’s cousin been together? Any wedding bells in the near feature?”

Julissa’s entire body got hot in embarrassment. “Oh, we…didn’t Ed tell you? We’re just friends. I’m his realtor.”

“Oh!” Amber put her hand over her mouth. “Well, I just thought that…well, you two looked so cute together and…well…I’m babbling.” Amber motioned for Julissa to fo
llow her to the kitchen. “
Quinton’s certainly a g
ood looking guy. Ed says he
’s changed and done a lot for himself since they last saw each othe
r
.”

“Oh, yeah?” And on and on she went talking and talking and talking u
ntil they finally had
set
everything
and all the food
was
set out on the table buffet style.
She knew instantly why Amber and Ed were together. They could probably talk each other to death.

Julissa was pleased
that it had finally settled with
Ed that Quinton had the nerve to bring her. He seem
ed to have let the situation go for now. But it probably wouldn’
t be the last she heard about this night from Ed.

“So
Quinton’s told me that he’s got you taking him out to Dunwoody to look for a house?”
Ed asked, over the dinner table.

“Yeah. Pretty good neighborhood and pretty good selection of homes when it comes to quality. I think he’ll find some
thing out there,” Julissa said
.

“Quinton, Ed said you had some property down in Florida. Are you selling those off to move here or what?” Amber asked.

“I’m not ready to sell just yet. I own all those properties outright, so basically I have income coming in month to month. If I sell, that cash flow stops. Of course, I would be getting one lump sum payment from the sale. But, it just makes more financial sense to hold on in this market. Plus, I get to deduct expenses from upkeep on my income tax return,” Quinton explained.

Julissa smiled. This man seemed as if he had planned everything exceptionally well. This was probably why he was so successful and strived to do so much.

“Wow! Are you gonna be the next
Carlton Sheets
?” Amber asked, smiling.

Quinton laughed. “I like the money without the fame, so I don’t think so.”

“Who would have known? Quinton Brennan, real estate tycoon,” Ed sa
id, and then he turned to Amber.
“Did I tell you that Quinto
n was a total loner when we went to
middle school and high school together.” Ed held up his hands at Quinton. “Not trying to bring back bad memories or anything, man.”

“No, go on. That’s all they are. Just memories,” Quinton replied.

“I almost felt sorry for making fun of you all those years at the YM
CA and c
hurch. But, somehow, he
alwa
ys stayed true to the family. D
oing our homework and helping us with our science projects and math
problems. I’m proud of you, cousin. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Thank you, man. Taking all the jokes you guys threw at me made me who I am today.”

Julissa couldn’t imagine why his cousins and friends would have teased him in middle school and high school for bein
g so smart and successful. Then
she thought back to her middle school days and how they made fun of kids who were know-it-alls, teacher’s pets, and suck-ups. Maybe he was that type of kid.

After each of them had a second helping of delicious food, talked about everything politics to favorite television shows, and got the run-down from talkative Amber of every single ingredient she used to make the dinner, they had wine and dessert. After dessert, Quinton took Julissa’s cue that it w
as time to go.

Amber waved goodbye
from the doorway and Ed walked them down the driveway. Quinton helped her into his Range Rover and walked to the ot
her side with
Ed on his tail.

“Thanks for coming out, guys.
” The door was closed and Ed leaned on the window frame
, preventing Quinton from backing out. Ed made a tsst, tsst sound with his teeth and looked from Julissa to Quinton
. “Never in a million years…”

“Ed!” Quinton passed a look at Ed that Julissa couldn’t see.

“Alright, man. This is some real Maury, Jerry Springer shit. I can’t wait to see how everything ends. Of course, it s
hould end just like this…Q and L
issa.”

“Ed, we have to go,” Quinton spoke again, sternly.

“I know. Don’t worry. Your secrets are safe with me. Julissa knows how good I am at keeping secrets, don’t you, Julissa?”

If looks could kill, then Ed would have been dead. She wanted to open the car door, jump out, and stran
gle him
.

“Okay, I’m done!” Ed held his hands up and backed away from the Range Rover.

Quinton pulled out of the
driveway and onto the highway. “What was that all about?”

“Well,
you should know.”

“I’m talking about what Ed just said about being good at keeping secrets.”

“I have no idea, Q.”

“Julissa.” Quinton slowed done well below the speed limit.
“
I want to apologize. Obviously
this was not a good idea bringing you h
ere if you were going to
be uncomfortable.”

“I just think that things would be much better i
f we kept this between us
.”

Quinton was quiet for a moment, while he maneuvered in and out of traffic. He stopped under a traffic light. “Do you honestly think that we can keep hiding like this? You want me to keep courting
you
at the hotel, while we’re both unhappy because we can’t accept the fact that we’re attracted to each other and
—
.”

“You’re right. From now moving forward you won’t be courting me at the hotel.” Juli
ssa didn’t want start petty arguments with him of all people
.