The Color Of Love: A BWWM Billionaire Alpha Male Romance (10 page)

*****

Abby knew how to run
her business and there was no better person to take the reins in
Victoria’s absence than her best friend. Waiting at the airport
to hop a plane to the hood was exactly what she decided to do.
Everything here was fancy and frilly, too much for her palette right
now, she needed to leave. Knowing better, she took instruction from
this man who said he cared for her. Yes, business was booming with
his help, but now she was a miserable person without passion. It was
a painful way to live.

Final kisses were
exchanged between the two friends as the woman on the intercom’s
voice announced her flight was boarding - it was time to leave.
Because she was now forced to hide from reporters, she dressed
incognito but chose to fly first class. She needed to be alone and
undisturbed. The chatty people in coach couldn’t be tolerated
right now.

The plane taxied
down the runway after the pretty air hostess informed them of the
safety measures. It was going to be good to leave this place. In a
few hours the plane taxied again, but this time instead of feeling
regret, Victoria was filled with joy. It was time to surprise her
mother.

Marjorie insisted on
keeping her job. Yes, Victoria had added to and reinforced her
mother's savings. Yes, she sent her money and other surprises that
would make any mother happy. But the woman only knew hard work and
that’s where she was happiest.

Choosing not to roll
in a limo or anything glamorous, a simple yellow cab drove her to the
old neighborhood where she left her solitary bag at the old apartment
she had lived in for so long. There was comfort in finding that
nothing changed. Back in the waiting cab, she gave directions for her
mother’s workplace.

Arriving at The
Desert Canteen just as the lunch crowd slowed, proved to be perfect
timing. She went inside and took a table where the young waitress
took her order.
This restaurant gave hearty servings, enough to
fuel the tank of any hungry man or woman. Victoria ordered chicken
and waffles with a spicy dipping sauce. When it arrived minutes
later, Victoria requested to see the cook. Reluctantly the girl
agreed - it was an unusual request for a small hole in the wall like
this.

Disappearing through
the flapping service doors, the girl fetched the cook to speak with
the customer. Marjorie appeared looking concerned. Maybe the food she
sent out was not as well prepared as she thought.

As the waitress
directed her toward the woman in the floppy hat and oversized
sunglasses sitting next to the window, Marjorie approached with a
light, “Good afternoon.”

Victoria slowly
removed her sunglasses and looked up at her mother. “Guess
who's home mom?”

Laughter and screams
of joy came from the two plump women hugging and dancing, happy to be
reunited. Marjorie sat down, forgetting her tasks for a while. Her
daughter was home and something was different. A mother always knows
when something is different.

Right away Marjorie
asked her daughter about her missing hair after Victoria removed her
floppy hat. She had forgotten about that. After scolding her and
repeating the age old line about a woman’s hair being her
beauty, Marjorie asked why she didn’t call. In the way that
only daughters could do, she dodged the question.

“I just wanted
to see you mom. It’s been a while. Chatting on the phone wasn’t
the same and I wanted to eat your homemade grits.”

Marjorie looked her
child in the eyes. She knew the girl was lying and she also noticed
something else. Victoria interrupted her mother’s thoughts.
“Mom can you leave here early today?”

Maternal instinct
told Marjorie that her daughter needed her. To travel across state
just to pay her old mother a visit wasn’t a solid reason. There
was more to this than met the eye. Without hesitation the older woman
disappeared from sight and moments later, reappeared free of her
apron and armed with her purse. It was family time.

*****

“Tell me where
she is Abby.”

Victoria’s
best friend inspected her fingernails as she considered the question
for the fifth time.

“I cannot say
Dawson. It would be wrong of me to betray her trust. Maybe you should
call her.”

“Abby you and
I both know that she’s not going to answer me and besides that,
she changed her number. She thinks I put her in harm’s way. I
can’t blame her for being angry, but I need to apologize and
she won’t listen… it's… infuriating.”

Abby was going to
cross the professional line but she would be the right one to do it.
Choosing her words carefully, Abby shed some unwanted light on the
situation.

“Have you ever
stopped to think that maybe if you relaxed your, ‘my way or the
highway’ attitude that maybe she would talk to you?”

“What are you
talking about Abby? I have never forced her into doing anything. She
has her own free will.”

“And do you
respect it Mr. Ledger? I know for a fact that you have to be subtle
when suggesting things to her. Also, I think it was unfair of you to
drag her in the middle of your unfinished love affair. It’s
almost unforgivable.” Dawson sat back and clasped his hand
under his chin in contemplation. Was he that bad?

Abby was speaking
again. “Have you ever stopped to ask her about her family? Her
parents? What about her other passions separate from food? Did you
ever seriously discuss how race would affect both your lives? She’s
deeper than a screw you know Mr. Ledger, Victoria is a full woman in
every way.”

Dawson’s brow
furrowed and he nodded pensively at the suggestion Abby put on the
table. Maybe he had been a commanding jerk. Deciding to ask the
question one more time, Dawson added an extra plea, hopeful of
getting information.

“Please tell
me where she is Abby. I miss her more than you know. It’s been
almost a week she has disappeared and she refused to speak to me for
a few weeks before that…”

In her heart, Abby
considered him the most handsome man alive and couldn’t bear to
see him suffer. Grabbing one of his expensive pens and a blank sheet
of paper from his desk, she scribbled Marjorie Jones’s address
and shoved it his direction.

Standing and
lingering near the door Abby said, “You didn’t get that
from me,” before quietly closing the door behind her. Before
she was out of earshot, he picked up the phone and speed dialed Sara.
“Tell the pilot to ready the jet. I am taking a trip this
afternoon.”

*****

Old people seemed to
be full of talents when it came to things felt but not seen. Marjorie
noticed the exceptional smoothness of Victoria’s cheeks last
night and her fingers seemed a tad lighter than usual. It was when
she polished off a bowl of homemade grits and topped it with sautéed
bacon that the red light went off in Marjorie’s head. When she
ate seconds, the light began to flash.

The apartment her
mother had shared with Victoria was the exact same as before.
Regardless of the money she deposited in her mother’s account,
the headstrong woman insisted on
staying there, working and saving. Old habits
died hard.

From the small
mahogany dining table, Marjorie could look through the kitchen door
and see her child standing over a stove well past maturity, and
washing her hands at the outdated tap.

Still on her first
plate when her daughter returned with her second helping, Marjorie
asked the question that she already knew the answer to. “Eating
for two are we?”

“What?”
Victoria asked.

“Are you
pregnant girl?”

“I have no
idea what you mean Mom.”

“Humm…either
you are pretending to be innocent, or you genuinely don’t know.
You should pee on a stick or whatever it is pregnant women do but it
looks that way to me.”

Victoria was totally
stumped. Her mother had said cousin Amelia was pregnant and the then
twenty year old laughed it off. That was in April. The following
April, Marjorie stood at the altar of the church with the young
parents and pledged to be a good God mother to baby Amir. He was now
ten years old.

The tears came from
nowhere. The sudden flow of emotion seemed to be unstoppable and
fifteen minutes later the dam continued to gush. Marjorie shifted her
chair closer to her daughter and rubbed her back. The thought of
raising a child overwhelmed Victoria greatly and the prospective
father was a control freak. More tears sprang. Without touching her
plate, Victoria stood and went to her room. She would sleep away the
idea that she carried Dawson Ledger’s child.

When Victoria woke
the next day, it was nearly noon and the apartment was deathly
silent. She lay there for a moment contemplating how nice it was to
be home and wondering when her mother got the time to keep her room
in such pristine shape. Her tiny wardrobe was still covered with the
stickers of teenage boy bands. Life was simpler then, right now she
was more concerned with her situation

After a quick bath,
her stomach rejected the idea of eating any form of food and she
decided to follow her mother’s advice. Leaving the apartment,
Victoria headed for the drug store. At twenty seven there was no way
she should be embarrassed about approaching the pharmacy counter and
asking for a first response but she was.

After inspecting
several items that she really had no interest in, she finally got the
courage to approach. Never having been a person to fear anything,
Victoria became frustrated with her recent choices. She was losing
control of herself.

The woman at the
counter didn’t seem interested in what she wanted and Victoria
sighed at how much she worried recently. Back at home, she sat on the
toilet in the small, cramped bathroom wondering if there could be a
false positive. If two lines appeared she would act as though it was
one. Pretending seemed to be a good way through this.

Removing the cap
from the acrylic contraption, Victoria willed herself to pee and
hoped it was enough. Standing, she rested the stick on the top of its
opened box and washed her hands waiting for the two minutes to
elapse. Either it was taking longer than she thought, or she had done
it wrong.
Either way, when the knock came on the door she
was agitated. The person had increased the intensity of their knock
after she ignored it the first time.

She forgot this was
New York and not her quaint little district in Florida. Only when she
opened the door did she remember. It was now officially too late.

“Why the hell
are you here Dawson Ledger? How did you know where to find me?”

He never answered,
he simply stepped into the small apartment, filling the cramped space
with his tall frame. Victoria was tired of him, tired of the world
wind she'd been caught up in and tired of the idea she may be
pregnant. Exhaustion showed on her face.

When Dawson decided
to speak, his words were deliberate and slow. “Victoria, I am
sorry that I have imposed my life on you. I never meant to boss you
around or take over your business and by no means did I intend for
you to be caught in Naomi’s ambush. I hope you can forgive me
as I try to compromise. It won’t be easy by any means, but I
know you are worth the effort. Will you please give me a chance?”

His words were
honest and heartfelt and his eyes sincere. She believed him. Yet
again, she found herself on the brink of tears, standing there in
leggings and a sports bra without makeup. His suit and tie were out
of place but none of them noticed.

His green eyes
sparked with emotion as Dawson leaned down several inches to kiss the
woman he had fallen for. It was like a welcome breath of air when she
kissed him back. Victoria didn’t realize how much she had
missed his arms around her or the smell of his cologne. She all but
melted when he pulled her closer and slid his palm over her ample
ass. He wanted her.

Victoria had never
slept with a man in her mother’s house, but she wasn’t at
home and she wasn’t a kid. Slamming the door without looking
back, Dawson lifted his woman off the floor and she automatically
threw her legs around his waist. His kisses were feverishly hot and
urgent while his hands roamed her back and thighs. He wanted to touch
all of her. When Dawson deposited Victoria on the couch, she
temporarily came out of the haze. “No,” she uttered,
“come to my room.”

Once again, her tall
lover took over the room with his height, but that was not their
concern. Dawson was interested in pinching her nipples which suddenly
seemed harder and kissing her breasts that suddenly felt larger and
softer. This time Victoria was determined to get her way in bed and
didn’t entertain his kisses very long.

He said he was sorry
and willing to relinquish control. Time to test that theory out.
Wriggling from under him, Victoria managed to escape his hold while
he rolled over on the small bed to see what she was doing.
Unassisted, she removed the remaining leggings, revealing she wore
nothing underneath before undressing Dawson. He seemed uncomfortable
with her doing something for him and it was apparent because of the
redness on his face. Slowly and seductively, Victoria opened the fly
of his pants and slid the sheaths covering his legs down each one.

Tracing the line
where the boxer briefs met the skin of his hips, she teased him while
he breathed heavily, eyes focused only on her. Slipping her fingers
between the elastic band and his skin, she gripped the fabric and
slowly slipped down the garment. The last time they were together,
she didn’t get to take in the sight of his cock or taste it and
it was something she dreamed about. The shaft was thick and tiny
veins trickled down the length to the base. The head of his dick
stretched taunt at the sensation of being stroked with her thumb, she
was entranced. Stroking the shaft that pleasured her only once
before, Victoria anticipated savoring the flavor of his vanilla cock
- pure decadence.