After Hours (8 page)

“No, Forbes hasn’t done a thing wrong.” The guy walked up to the empty chair in front of her desk and waved towards it. “Do you mind if I have a seat?”

“Of course not, have a seat Mr.….?”

“Zane.”

One perfect eyebrow arched. “Is that a first or last name?”

“It’s just Zane,” came the deep reply as he sat down in front of her. “I only wanted to come by and see how much longer you might need my client’s service.”

“Client?”

“Yes, I’m his manager and I’m trying to book another photo shoot for him in Paris, but I don’t want it to conflict with his job here.”

Africa had a sneaky feeling that Zane wasn’t telling her the complete truth about Forbes, but she didn’t have to time to dig the honesty out of him tonight. “I don’t need him for anything else. We finished up the photo session a couple of days ago.”

“Wonderful. I’m glad to hear it. Now, I know it won’t be a problem for me to have him out of here by the end of the month.”

“I don’t have a problem with that at all; however, Jametria Collins might.”

“Why would Ms. Collins have a problem?” Zane asked.

“Forbes is dating her. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you about her.”

Crossing one leg over another, Forbes’ agent gave her a killer smile and said, “Why don’t you? I need to know who my top money earning model is dating while he’s in Texas.”

Chapter Fourteen

Forbes rolled over on the thick mattress and pulled Jametria’s warmth next to him. With the back of his hand, he tenderly brushed a strand of hair away from her eye. “You have no clue how much you are starting to mean to me. I have never felt this away about someone in such a very long time, he whispered, softly. “I never thought when I got assigned to this job, I would end up falling for you.

 “I think I might be falling for you too,” Jametria said, surprising him. “I can’t explain it, but I feel this connection with you.”

His heart clenched at Jametria’s soft-spoken words. God, he didn’t want to hurt her, but his job had to come first. Her uncle was a wanted fugitive and Wayne Collins had to be brought to justice.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t interfere too much with what they were building with each other. He was only doing his job and when it was over things might be a little tense between them, but Jametria would find a way to understand. After this case was over he was going to take some time off so he’d be able to work things out with her.

 “You got all silent. Is something wrong?” she asked, resting her head on his chest. “Do you want to tell me what it is?”

I can’t confess that I’m here to arrest your uncle, he thought.

 Forbes was beyond worried that Jametria would leave him after she found out the truth.

For a while now, he had kept her in the dark so he could gain her trust while finding out more about her uncle. This wasn’t the secret she was expecting him to come clean about and now sure in the hell wasn’t the time.

“Honey, there isn’t anything wrong. I’m just excited that you decided to get involved with me,” he lied, hating the bad taste it left in his mouth. “It has been a very long time since a woman accepted my career.”

“What do you mean?” Jametria said, turning her body so she could look him in the eyes.

“Females love fantasizing about the hot guy on the cover of their favorite romance book, but there are only a few who are strong enough to date us,” Forbes explained. “It does get tough when fans run up to me and I’m in a relationship. I’ve been dumped twice because of it and two of my best friends got divorced because it.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me. An excited female fan isn’t going to make me leave you because I’m in the business. I know how things work. So, you might be stuck with me for a while.” Jametria kissed the spot above his left nipple and ran her fingertips over and played with the other one

He prayed those words held true when she found out the entire truth about him. It was probably only a matter of days before her uncle called, but he was done worrying about the future. He only wanted to get lost in the present with her.

Flipping Jametria over, Forbes searched her face and saw all the emotions she felt for him shining back. He didn’t want to ask, but he had to do it. Her answer was so important to him; it would give him the willpower to keep doing his job.

 “Did you really mean what you told me? You’d stay with me no matter what may happen in the future?”

“Well, unless my crush from tenth grade comes knocking at my front door, it’s safe to say I’m staying put,” she teased.

“Jametria, I’m serious. Will you stand by me no matter what?” Forbes questioned with more than a hint of fear to his voice. “My world would be over if you broke up with me.”

“Baby, what’s wrong with you?” Jametria sat up beside him, concern etched across her beautiful face. She ran her hands over the stubble on his jaw and the caress calmed away most of the tension in his body.

“You know that I’m here for you. Are you worried about landing another job?”

If that was only his problem,
Forbes wished, tugging Jametria back down to his chest. “I have something I need to tell you.”

“Is it something bad? Do I need to be sitting down instead of lying down to hear your confession? I’m not scared about what you have to tell me. It’s probably something small that you’re blowing
way
out of proportion.”

Don’t tell her
! his mind screamed at him. Her uncle hadn’t shown up yet and he might not after all, so he might have a chance to tell her the real reason he came here. He wasn’t willing to chance telling Jametria his real job just quite yet.

“Forget about it. I’ll tell you later.” He tucked Jametria’s head underneath his chin and covered them with a sheet.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yes…let’s get some sleep and we can talk in the morning.”

“Alright, I’m a little tired.” Jametria snuggled up to him and a few minutes passed before she started drifting off to sleep.

Long after Jametria fell asleep beside him, Forbes stayed awake worried about when the other shoe was going to drop. Anytime a person was in a relationship and one person was lying to the other, the truth came out without warning.

Zane thought Forbes couldn’t handle the pressure of dating Jametria and keeping the truth from her, but he did because it was his job. Giving his career his all and being in love with her were two different things. He only prayed that Jametria would know the difference when the time came.

“I love you more than my own life,” he whispered. “I hope you understand what I had to do when the time comes.”

****

Flipping the pancakes inside the skillet the next morning, Jametria moved away from the stove and checked on the bacon inside of the microwave before adding two more minutes to the time. She couldn’t get last night out of her head. It turned out to be one of the best experiences of her life.

Forbes finally told her that he loved her and she was excited about their future, but something was bothering him. He kept twisting and turning around in the bed most of the night. Every time she tried to move away from him last night, he would tug her right back against his body. His behavior was totally out of character for him. Sure he was a little possessive, but not to the point that she wouldn’t leave the bed at night. It was almost like he was afraid she was going to leave him.

 “I’m reading more into it than there is,” she muttered to herself as she finished fixing breakfast. Once all the food was done, she dished it up placing it in the center of the kitchen table.

“Forbes, breakfast is ready,” she yelled into the living room. She had never dated a guy who watched the news as much as Forbes did. Any chance he got to squeeze in the news, he did it.

“I’ll be right there, Baby,” he yelled back at her. “Just give me two more minutes.”

“You better only be two more minutes or I’m not fixing breakfast for you anymore,” Jametria threatened, but Forbes knew she was only teasing with him. Yet, she knew something was wrong with him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it and she didn’t know if she wanted to ask and find out the answer.

The ringing of the phone stopped her mind from wandering down a path it shouldn’t. She had fallen madly in love with Forbes.

“I’ll get it,” she said, picking up the phone off the counter.

“Hello.”

“Is this my favorite niece?” a male voice asked with a hint of a southern accent.

“Uncle Wayne,” Jametria screamed, sitting down at the kitchen table.

“How are you doing?” she asked. “Is everything okay? I haven’t heard from you in such a long time. I thought you had dropped off the planet. You know better than to have me worrying about you.”

“Everything is fine. I’m going to be in town today and I was wondering if I could drop by and see you,” her Uncle Wayne asked.

“You know that you never need an invitation. You're more than welcome to stay with me if you want. You’re family. I haven’t forgotten all the times you let me stay at your place.”

“Niece, I’m not staying in town that long. I’ll probably only be in Dallas for less than twenty hours then I’m headed on a long planned vacation.”

“Oh, I hate to hear that.” She pouted, disappointed her uncle wouldn’t be in town long enough to get to know Forbes. Jametria wanted the two favorite men in her life to be good friends as well.

“I knew you would, but I’ll be at your house in an hour or so. Is there anything new going on with you? It always seems like you have a surprise to tell me. How’s the writing?”

Jametria peeked over her shoulder at Forbes laid out on the couch watching the news. She had a hard time dragging her eyes away from his bare chest and jeans covered legs. He was such a wonderful surprise in her life. Her uncle was going to be so overjoyed that she finally found ‘the one’.

“I have a boyfriend,” she whispered into the phone then giggled.

“Niece, please tell me he’s better than Roland was,” Wayne complained. “I hated that loser on sight.”

“Roland was only a passing fling.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t because he looked like Rick Fox?”

“Uncle Wayne, please! I was young and made a mistake. I mean after you told me about him and his two ex-wives. I stopped dating him, didn’t I?”

“Okay, I’ll drop it,” her uncle sighed. “What’s this new guy’s name?”

“Forbes,” Jametria said with love in her voice, “I know you are going to love him.”

“Forbes? What is it with you and these guys with these stupid names? Can’t you date a Jeff or Brian?”

“Uncle Wayne, I’m a writer. I can’t date a Jeff or Brian because I actually like creative names.”

“Fine. Will this guy be at your house, so I can give him the rapid fire? I can’t have any creep winning over my favorite niece’s heart.”

“I’m your only niece,” she pointed out.

“That doesn’t make a difference. Is he going to be there or not?” Wayne asked.

“Yes, he’ll be here and you better be nice or I won’t let you stay here the next time you come to town,” Jametria threatened.

“What. You wouldn’t dare toss your poor old uncle out on the street,” he said. “By the way, how long have you been seeing this guy?”

“It has been a little over a month, but he’s the one and I can feel it.”

“Jametria, don’t be rushing into anything that you haven’t thought about. Please take more time to get to know this man better. He may not be the hero from those romance books you write.”

“Uncle Wayne, you remind me so much of Daddy when you lecture me,” she told him. Jametria remembered how her father constantly told her to stop letting her heart rule her emotions.

“Sweetheart, I’m not liking what I’m hearing. I’ll be over there today. I need to see what this man has to offer you. Don’t go anywhere.” Her uncle ended the call before she could stop him.

Jametria wasn’t ready for Forbes to meet her only living relative yet, but it didn’t seem like she had much of a choice since he was on his way. Getting up from the table, she strolled into the living room and stood beside the couch.

 “Forbes, you need to get up and take a shower. We’re having company coming.”

“Who is it? An ex-boyfriend coming back to tell you he’s madly in love with you?” Forbes teased, turning his head to stare at her.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s my Uncle Wayne and he wants to meet you.”

****

Forbes’ body went on high alert as his FBI training set in. His heart fell to his feet as Jametria’s words sank in. Why was this happening now especially after the night they spent together? He wasn’t ready to come clean yet.

What was he going to do?

This might be his only chance to catch Wayne Collins. Zane would kill him if he didn’t take it. Shit. Forbes knew he had to find a way to get Jametria out of the house before her uncle arrived. All he had to do was make a few phone calls and he could have Zane and the rest of the Bureau here in a matter of minutes. However, he needed to get Jametria out of the line of fire; in case bullets started to fly. Losing her wasn’t a part of the plan and he had to make sure it wouldn’t happen.

“Your uncle is coming here? I didn’t know he was even in town.” he said, sitting up on the couch. Jametria joined him.

 “I love my Uncle Wayne a lot. He’s my daddy’s brother and the only family member I’ve left. He’s like a modern day hobo,” she said.

“A hobo?” Forbes frowned while trying to think of a way to get Jametria to leave the house.

“He constantly moves from place to place. He does it without a second thought to where his next adventure will lead him. I’m very jealous that I can’t do it.”

He ran his hand down the side of her arm. “You do that every day with your writing.”

“I guess I do a little, but Uncle Wayne can’t ever seem to hold down a job, but he’s
never
without money. I never understood how he did that. Once I asked him about it and he told me that he was a bank robber.”

Leaning away from Jametria, Forbes’ shocked eyes fell down to her face. “Your uncle is a bank robber? How did he avoid getting arrested for all of these years?”