Authors: Angie Daniels

When It Rains... (23 page)

BOOK: When It Rains...

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“I have something to tell you,” Jacob said, taking her hand in his. But then he paused.

“What is it?” she probed uneasily. She hadn't noticed the strained tone of his voice until now.

“I've been offered an opportunity to design a databasefor a large military installation.”

“That's wonderful!” She knew he'd always dreamed of such an opportunity. “When do you start?”

His expression stilled as he looked at her. “I'll be moving to Germany at the end of the week.”

Natalia felt her mouth go dry, and confused thoughts began to race through her mind. Was he really leaving? “What about us?” She tried to keep her voice steady, even though her heart was thundering.

Jacob dropped her hand. “I would like for us to remainfriends.”

She was stunned. “Friends. What the fuck do you mean, friends? I thought you loved me ...” Her voice broke. “... that you wanted to marry me.”

“Things have changed since my father passed,” Jacob said, his voice heavy with emotion. “I spent my life trying to make him happy. Now it's time for me to live my own life. I'm not ready for marriage.”

Natalia looked at him, angry, her mind working overtime. She stared across the table at him, wishing she had a bat so she could bust his head in two.

“I'm so sorry.” Jacob lowered his eyes to the table when he spoke; his tone was apologetic. “I never meant to mislead you.”

Natalia felt her heart break in two. How could she have been so damn stupid to believe that she had finallyfound love? How could he break her heart like this?

“You no-good mothafucka!” Her throat tight with rage, she rose from the table and scurried out of the restaurant.

Once home, she quickly undressed and crawled into bed, knocking the lacy negligee she had bought for Jacob onto the floor.

Ms. Kitty wouldn't be stroked tonight.

Honey looked down at the empty bowl of ice cream. She felt like a pig. Instead of eating a bowl, she'd eaten the entire carton. What a way to spend Valentine's Day.

Right after dinner, she had Darrius take her home. Even though she'd faked a headache, she had a strong suspicion Darrius knew the real deal.

Sighing, Honey let her head fall back against the couch and closed her eyes. Visions of Jay danced beforeher. She had tasted his lips throughout the depressingdinner, and even now as she sank back onto the couch. She could still smell the scent of his body, feel his breath against her earlobe, his dick pressed against her stomach. God, she was a damn fool. There was no harm in spending an evening with Jay. What was wrong with a harmless evening of video games?

She jumped off the couch and went in search of her cordless phone.

She let it ring five times before she hung up without bothering to try him on his cell phone. A pain squeezed at her heart as she thought of him with someone else. It was Valentine's Day; what did she expect him to do, sit and spend the evening alone? Jay had decided to spend the evening with another woman.

“I'm sorry, Jay. I didn't mean to ruin your night,” Kendra said as they entered her apartment.

“No harm done,” he said reassuringly. “Dr. Gaye said Braxton-Hick contractions are common in this stage of the pregnancy.” He shrugged. “I didn't have any plans tonight anyway.”

“I just assumed since you were all dressed upâ”

“My date canceled,” he said. Actually, he hadn't had a date. It had just been a ploy to make Honey jealous. An unsuccessful ploy after all.

“Oh.” Kendra tried to hide a smile as he helped her slip out of her black cape.

While hanging it in the hall closet, he added, “Besides,I told you to feel free to call me. That's my kid growin' inside your body.” He strolled into the living room with a proud grin lifting the corners of his lips.

Kendra moved to the couch and with Jay's assistance,lowered herself onto the soft cushions. “Thanks. I don't know how I manage anymore.”

“No problem.” He propped a pillow behind her head, then moved to elevate her feet onto the couch. “You don't have to apologize. Regardless of our differences,I said I'd be there for you, and I meant it.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling. “You know, this is our second Valentine.”

“It is?” Jay gave her a questioning look before he remembered.He had arrived home after a date with a schoolteacher to find Kendra lying across his bed, butt-assnaked and covered in rose petals.

He cleared his throat. “I'm gonna head on home.”

“But you can't leave,” she said. Seeing his puzzled expression, she quickly added, “I'm still not feelin' good. Can you please sit with me for a while?”

After a brief pause, he nodded. “Sure.” He had made a pledge to help her through her pregnancy. He took a seat at the end of the couch, raised her feet to his lap, and reached for the remote.

“I think I found a lawyer that can handle the adoption,”she said in slow, precise syllables.

He stopped channel-surfing and his eyes swung to her. “Let's hold off on that for a while.”

“Why?” she asked. Lowering her chin, she regarded him through her lashes.

“Because I don't want to give my child up for adoption.”There. He had said it.

She clapped her hands with glee. “That's wonderful! Iâ”

“Just give me a little time. Then we'll talk.”

“All right.” For the time being, she wouldn't push. Instead, she reached down for a small woven bag and pulled out a ball of yellow yarn and two needles.

Hearing a clicking sound, Jay turned to face her again and was stunned by what he saw. “What're you doing?”

“What does it look like I'm doin'? I'm trying to knit a sweater for the baby. What do you think?” She held up something that looked like a dysfunctional sock.

Jay's head fell back in laughter.

Kendra pouted for the rest of the evening.

At the end of the ten o'clock news, Kendra switched off the television and, stretching her arms over her head, she released a restless sigh. She looked over at Jay, who was nestled comfortably against a pillow, snoringpeacefully. From the end of the couch, Kendra watched the rise and fall of his chest. Damn, he was fine. Her coochie throbbed as she thought how good it would be to feel him inside her once again. It would take a little work on her part, but he loved it before and he would enjoy it again. Like they say, pregnant pussy is the best kind.

With little difficulty, she slid off the couch and got down on her knees in between his parted thighs. She then reached up, and gently unbuckled his pants. She watched Jay's face the entire time, making sure he didn't wake up. Lowering his zipper, she reached inside his boxer and found what she was looking for.

“Come to Mama,” she whispered as she took hold of his big fat dick.

Kendra licked her lips as she gazed at its size and thickness. The brotha was truly blessed. Slowly, she stroked the head, then worked her way down the length and back up to the tip. His dick grew brick-hard and a low moan escaped from his lips.

Kendra tried to stifle her laughter as she moved in closer and filled her mouth with as much of his length as she could handle. She took him in and out, sucking his dick like a well-seasoned pork chop. It wasn't long before his hips began to gyrate against her mouth.

Jay couldn't believe how real his dream felt. He was in Honey's bed. Her legs were wrapped around his waist as he thrust in and out of her red-hot pussy. Oh, she was tight! The walls contracted and felt so fuckin' good wrapped around his dick. He was about to explode when he opened his eyes, wanting to see her face when he came. His eyelids fluttered open. He had to blink several times before he realized where the hell he was.

He looked down at his crotch to find Kendra's head bobbing up and down.

“What the hell are you doing?” He gasped although he did nothing to stop her.

“What does it look like I'm doin'?” she said with a bit of amusement before she took him deep in her mouth again. The she reached up and cupped his balls, massaging them delicately.

Jay knew he should put an end to her actions but he couldn't. He was too damn close to coming to stop now. He closed his eyes and lowered his head back against the couch.

“Yeah, baby. Just like that,” he moaned.

Kendra didn't need any instructions. She knew exactlywhat he liked. She knew exactly how to perform her magic.

“Aaahh ... oh, shhiiit! I'm gettin' ready to come!”

Kendra worked faster and harder and within secondshis cream spilled inside her mouth.

Jay waited until his breathing had returned to normalbefore he rose and went into the bathroom to clean himself up. He returned to find Kendra sitting on the couch pretending that shit never happened.

“What the hell you do that for?”

She sucked her teeth, then gave him a long penetratingstare. “I didn't hear you complaining.”

“Girl, what-the-fuck-ever! You just don't know when to quit.” Damn! She had played his ass again. And he had thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jay shook his head, reached for his jacket, and headed for the door.

“Come back anytime. I aim to please!” she shouted.

He could hear her laughter even after he shut the door.

“Damn!” he hissed as he slammed his car door. She had played him like a fuckin' harmonica. Kendra alwayshad this unexplainable power over his dick that he never could understand. Nevertheless, he would have to learn to control his sexual urges around her. But damn, he hadn't had any pussy in months. Never in his life had he ever gone this long without getting some. He hoped to remedy that problem real soon. Only it wouldn't be with Kendra's triflin' ass. He wanted Honey.

As he pulled away from the apartment building, he lit a cigarette. Turning onto West Florissant Road, he wished he could go home to find Honey waiting in his bed.

He had meant to end it there ... just a simple kiss to remind her of what they once had. Or rather, what could be if she allowed the chemistry between them to evolve. Something to put in her mind so that while she was with Darrius, her mind would be on him.

As he turned down Chambers Road, he was tempted to drive by Honey's house to see if Darrius's car was parked in her driveway. It was almost midnight; if he was there, it wouldn't be a good sign. But even though he still couldn't get the two of them out of his mind, Jay resisted the impulse.

When it rained, it fuckin' poured, and right now it was hailing on top of his black ass.

Eleven

A
noisy commotion caught Honey's attention the momentshe climbed out of the car. Tightening the wool scarf around her face, she reached for her purse and dashed across the snow-covered sidewalk. Entering the salon, she found the reception area overflowing with females.

“What the fuck?”

Honey pushed her way through the crowd of women waving dollar bills in the air. The music was so loud she thought she was at a rap concert. As soon as she reached the center of the room, she realized what all the commotion was. One of Rashad's employees, whom they called B-Daddy, was flexing and wiggling to the sound of LL Cool J's “Head Sprung.”

A pissed-off Honey moved over to the stereo and hit the power button with her finger.

“What the ... ?” Rashad's voice drained at the expressionon his sister's face.

“What the hell's going on?” Standing only inches away from her brother, Honey folded her arms across her chest as she tried to control her rage.

Rashad shrugged sheepishly. “Just havin' a lil' fun.”

“Fun?
Fun
?” she said. “This ain't a fuckin' strip club! This is a place of business.” Realizing she was making a scene, she lowered her voice to a heavy whisper. “Your mothafuckin' ass is supposed to be workin'.” She peered around the work area with a fist planted on her hip. “All of you should be workin'.”

Candy bolted to her chair, dropping her money on the floor along the way. All five stylists quickly scatteredto their stations while the customers who'd been observing scrambled to take a seat.

B-Daddy reached for his shirt, mumbled, “Sorry, Honey,” and rushed through the makeshift door.

Giving her brother one long stare, Honey stomped off to her office with all eyes on her. Rashad came behindher, trying to explain.

“Sis, we were on our break. B-Daddy just won first prize in one of those bodybuilding contests and one of the ladies wanted to see what the brotha was workin' with.” He flashed her a twenty-four-karat smile. “It's all good.”

“No, it ain't.” Honey shook her head, hoping she didn't look as confused as she felt, then lowered her head in her hands.

She was falling apart. She'd spent half the evening wondering whom Jay was with, and the rest of the night fucking her vibrator. Part of her was ready. She wanted his lips. His dick. His love.
Lord have mercy.
Even now, desire shuddered through her, so intense that it stripped away all pretenses. Besides her rape, she had no sexual experience whatsoever, yet she wanted to be sexing it with Jay. Because they wouldn't be having sex, they would be making love.

She needed time to think, to sort this shit out. Everything was happening too fast. She was so scared of loving him. She was scared of him finding out she had been raped. Somehow, she had to deal with the fact that Jay wasn't going away. She kept telling herselfshe couldn't get involved with him. But she alreadywas. One touch from him and everything had come tumbling down. Jay owned her heart. He had somehow managed to unravel every ounce of her resistance.

She had to get her turbulent emotions under control. The simple truth was she was in love and ... yes, damn it, she was definitely losing it.

The other part of her was scared, so very scared of him finding out the truth and rejecting her. Her body was ready for intimacy but her mind wasn't. Once he found out, Jay would realize he was wasting his time. She couldn't bear for him to look at her with pity, and then deal with the rejection that would follow.

God, she was having a bad day. Last night, Mercedes had moved her stupid ass back home. This morning her fuckin' toilet backed up. The heat in her car had stopped working. Then she came in to work to find a man with a body that could put Tyrese's black ass to shame standinghalf naked in her salon. Trivial things never botheredher before. Now everything bothered her, trivial or not. She was in trouble.

And it was all Jay's fault.

Honey flinched in her seat.

“What's up, sis?” Rashad asked, his brow creased with concern.

Yep, she was losing it. She couldn't even stay angry. She had to be falling apart.

“Rashad, I ain't in the mood.” She raised her head and looked at him. “Whatcha need to be doing is tryin' to make up for that shit.”

Honey had spoken so calmly she had Rashad worried.“No problem. Whatcha need?”

“I need heat.”
Jay can warm you to the core of your existence.
“Damn! IâI mean, I need the heat in my car fixed.”

“No problem. I'll take care of it. You sure you're aw'ight?”

I am in love and about to pull my fuckin' hair out trying to deal with my emotions, but other than that, I'm just peachy.
She nodded. “Yeah, I'm cool.”

“Good.” He breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to walk to the door.

She cleared her throat and called out to him, “Oh, and don't think your ass is off the hook. We'll talk later.”
When I have my head screwed on right.

“I had no doubt.” He smirked before exiting the room.

Jay arrived in Chicago around noon, hailed a cab at the airport, and gave the driver directions to Pulsar's Medical Research. The corporation had devised a retractablesyringe, which would cut down on the numberof nursing personnel sticking themselves with infected needles. Until the product was completely tested, though, they didn't want any word of its existenceto leak out. A security system was needed to ensurethe secrecy of the product. Pulsar was a nationwide corporation. If Extreme Measures could outbid their competition, it would open up a lot of doors for the company. Luckily, the owner was a friend of the family.

As the cab pulled off the Eisenhower Expressway, Jay reached for his cell phone to check his messages. After listening to them, he only returned one call.

“Jay, I'm so glad you called me back,” Jocelyn said after they exchanged greetings.

“I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. I'm going to be out of town until Thursday. What did you find out?”

She sighed into the receiver. “Well, according to the insurance company, the policy was left to James's brother, Jhamil. But that's impossible.”

“Why is that?”

“Because Jhamil is dead.”

“Hey, everybody,” Sasha called as she moved through the salon waving to all of the stylists.

Mercedes was saturating a woman's hair with a strawberry rinse, but glanced over her shoulder. “Hey, Mama.”

Holding hot curlers in her hand, Aisha spied Sasha's stomach. “How much longer you got?”

Pausing to rub her red sweater, Sasha answered cheerfully,“Three weeks and counting.” Then she looked over at the empty workstation and asked, “Where's Honey?”

Sonya swiveled around, flipping booty-length auburn extensions across her shoulders. “Girl, she's in her office.She fuckin' flipped out.”

Sasha stopped in her tracks, eyes wide with wonder. “What happened?”

Moving over to the shampoo bowl at the back of the shop, Mercedes answered in a low voice, “She caught us goofing around and hit the roof.”

“We deserved it,” Aisha added as she reached for a can of hair spray. “Although Rashad is to blame.”

Swinging around in her seat, Candy rushed to his defense. “Don't even go there.”

Aisha held up an open palm and barked, “Whatever!”at the receptionist. Everyone was well aware of Candy's infatuation. They also knew she didn't have a chance in hell of getting Rashad's attention.

Turning back to Sasha, Aisha said, “Honey usually goes off, then she'll laugh along with the rest of us. But this time was different.” She paused to glance down at her wristwatch. “It's been three hours and she still hasn't come out.”

Sasha pondered the possibilities a moment, then headed across the floor. “I guess I better go talk to her.” When she entered the office, she found Honey's head down on the desk. “Knock, knock.”

“Go away,” Honey commanded.

“Girl, what's wrong?”

Honey groaned.
Not Sasha.
“I'm just tired.”

Sasha moved to take a seat in a chair across from her desk. “Rashad's friend keep you out too late?”

She snorted. “No. I just couldn't sleep.”

“How was your date?”

“Fine.”

“That's all? Just fine?” Sasha said, disappointed.

“I told you we were just friends.”

“Your staff is worried.”

“Let their asses worry! I'm sure they told you what they were doing.”

“They told me.”

Honey raised her head to find four heads peeking around the corner of her door. She couldn't resist a grin. “Get back to work,” she ordered, and the heads disappeared. Then, reaching into her drawer, she removeda hairbrush.

Sasha leaned against her desk. “So what's really going on?”

Looking down into a handheld mirror, Honey said, “Why does everyone think something's going on? Maybe I've got PMS or something.”

“And maybe you're hiding something from me,” Sasha retorted, but decided not to pursue the big mysteryuntil later. “I'm on my way to visit my mother. But I wanted to stop and invite you over this evening.”

Honey looked at her for the first time since she'd enteredher office. “Why? Is somethin' wrong?”

Sasha rose slowly from the chair. “Does there have to be something wrong for me to invite my best friend over?”

“No,” Honey answered, but her voice held skepticism.

“Good.” Sasha smiled. “Then I'll see you this evening.”

Honey stopped brushing her hair and said, “Is Jay going to be there?”

Sasha looked down at her, and immediately sensed her apprehension. “Why?”

“Because if he is, I ain't comin'.”

Honey shifted her eyes, but not before Sasha saw the pain she was trying to hide. Instead of what she wanted to say, she said only, “No, he won't be there. Jay left town this morning.”

“Good,” Honey said with a sigh. “I'll see you this evening.”

The sun was melting the thin layer of snow when Honey pulled into the circular driveway at Andrews Manor. She rang the doorbell, then waited patiently for Sasha to waddle to the door, admiring the large wraparounddeck surrounded by shrubs. The twenty-room mansion dated back before the 1904 World Fair. Before Sasha had moved in and applied her creative skills, the grand house had reminded her of a mausoleum.

“Hey, girl.” Honey smiled at her best friend, hoping the look was convincing.

“What took you so long?” Sasha scolded. She moved aside so Honey could pass. “I pulled the lasagna out of the oven an hour ago.”

“Mmmm, you didn't tell me you were cooking,” Honey said as she stepped into the huge marble foyer and hung her coat on the rack.

“What can I say?” she said, shrugging. “I was bored. Waiting on this baby, I have a lot of nervous energy. I think I've cleaned out all the closets. Our housekeeper had a fit.”

Honey laughed.

“Anyway ...” Sasha signaled with her hand. “Followme.”

Together they traveled up a winding staircase trimmed in rich oak to the suite at the end of the hall.

“Come on, girl,” Sasha called as she waddled rapidly down the hall. Honey tried to keep up.

“I'm comin'. I'm comin',” Honey said, noting that Sasha was more excited than Honey had ever seen her before.

BOOK: When It Rains...

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