“You sure?”
“Why the hell would I be sending you e-mail? I’ve moved on, remember?”
“Well somebody sent me an e-mail using your name and it fried my computer.”
His laughter didn’t endear him to her one bit. “Wasn’t me, but if you find out who, tell them dinner’s on me.”
Angry, she ended the call. “He says it wasn’t him.”
Misha packed up her tools. “Sending viruses is a felony. What else was he going to say?”
“Let’s suppose he’s telling the truth. Is there a way to tell who did send it?”
“Stuff that deep is out of my league. You need a big brain for that. I know a guy. He’s in Mexico right now, but he’ll be back in a week.”
JT shook her head. “I need this figured out asap because I don’t want it happening again. Do you know anyone else?”
“Not anyone with those skills. You could call around to the colleges.”
“That’s an idea.”
“In the meantime,” Misha said, “I’ll go online and order you some new equipment. Even if you find out who, none of these computers are going to work again.”
JT sighed. “Okay.”
After Misha left, JT said to Carole. “Good thing everything’s backed up.”
“I know. We’d’ve lost everything from contracts to phone numbers to Lord knows what else. People pick up viruses all the time. I just never thought we’d be one of them.”
“Me either. We’ll have Misha upgrade the firewalls and whatever else she needs to install to keep this from happening again.”
“Sounds good.”
“In the meantime, you may as well go home. With no computer, there’s not much you can do. The answering machine can handle any calls.”
“What are you going to do?”
She shrugged. “Go home too, I guess.”
JT was rarely home during the day, and as she moved around her place it felt odd seeing sunlight streaming through the windows instead of the darkness that usually greeted her after a long day at the office. After going into her bedroom to remove her suit, she changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, then sat on the couch and called her mother, Michele, in Texas. “Hey Mom.”
“Hey, yourself,” Michele answered. “How are you?”
They spent thirty minutes catching up. JT shook her head upon hearing about the young women at her mother’s church throwing themselves at the new unmarried minister. “He is a cutie,” her mother said. “And if I were thirty years younger I’d be acting just as silly, I suppose.”
“Mom, we both know the only thing you’d get out of a marriage to a preacher is a divorce.”
Her mother laughed. “You’re probably right.”
“Have you heard from Maxie?”
“She’s in Michigan somewhere babysitting a big-brained scientist.”
“Wonder if he does computers?”
“What?”
“Nothing, just some drama at work. How long has she been back in the States?”
“Not long. I heard from her a few weeks back, but not since.”
Max did security work for the government and was likely to be anywhere in the world. JT and her mother worried constantly about her safety. Even though they knew she was highly trained and could take care of herself, they worried just the same. “Did Daddy court you, before you two got married?”
“Yes, he did in his own way—sent me flowers, took me to the movies. Why’d you ask? Somebody courting you?”
“I don’t know. He says he wants to.”
“Well now.”
“Don’t start buying clothes for your grandbabies yet,” she laughed. “I told him no.”
“Because?”
“Because its complicated, and I’m not even sure I want a man in my life.”
“There is that. Men take up a lot of air.”
“He’s nice, though.”
“Since I know you’re not asking for advice, I’ll just say keep me posted.”
“If there’s anything to post, I will.”
They talked for a few more minutes, then said their good-byes. JT sat on the couch smiling like a daughter does when she loves her mama, then picked up her phone again.
When Reese’s phone went off, he checked the number displayed on the caller ID, raised an eyebrow with surprise and answered, “Hey, Jessi. How are you?”
JT found it impossible to remain unmoved by his voice. “Fine. You?”
“Fine. How’s the day going?”
“Rough. I need to pick your brain for a minute.”
“Pick away.”
She told him about her computer problem, then asked, “Do you think your brother knows anyone out here he could recommend? My techie says that kind of diagnosis is out of her sphere.”
“I could ask him and call you back.”
“Would you?”
“For dinner.”
She paused, then smiled. “That’s blackmail, my brother.”
“And since I am a Black male…”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, dinner.”
“I miss you.”
She fought through the dizziness that came over her all of a sudden. “I miss you too,” she replied, even though she hadn’t meant to.
“I’ll call you back.”
“Thanks.” She closed the phone, and after a few moments of floating, yelled out into her silent condo, “JT! What are you doing!” In reality, she knew exactly what she was doing. She just didn’t want to admit it.
True to his word, he called her back a short while later. “Bryce is going to fly out tomorrow and take a look at your computer.”
“What?”
“Hey, we Anthony men are suckers for damsels in distress. What can I say?”
“Reese, I’m sure your brother is busy. All I wanted was a name.”
“He doesn’t have one, so he’s coming himself.”
She didn’t believe this. “Is Pinky coming too?”
“No, he’s in Montreal at a conference, and Pops is in Amsterdam touring a new plant we just opened. Otherwise he’d be on the plane too.”
“What have you been telling them about me?”
“Only the truth. I swear.”
“You are a mess. Do you know that?”
He laughed. “Bryce is going to fly into San Francisco. I told him I’d meet him at the airport.”
“But you’re in L.A.”
“Now I am. At seven-thirty this evening, though, I’m hopping a flight to Frisco. Be there in less than an hour, according to the airlines. Can you meet me?”
Her heart pounded in the silence. “Yes.”
He was impossible to miss, standing by the curb among all the other travelers waiting for friends, shuttles, and other modes of transportation to their destinations. Dressed in a black silk tee and black slacks, he looked devilishly handsome. She maneuvered the Lex to where he stood then popped the door locks so he could enter. He tossed his bag in the backseat then got in. She pulled out into the slow moving traffic and headed toward the streets. “How was the flight?” She hoped chitchat would help settle her nerves. It didn’t.
“Not bad. Thanks for picking me up.”
“No problem.” She gave him a quick glance then swung her attention back to the road.
Reese sensed her nervousness, and rather than force a conversation, made himself comfortable against the plush leather seat and relaxed. “I booked rooms for Bryce and me at the Le Meridien. Do you know where it is?”
“Yep. Been there quite a few times for dinners and things. Pretty fancy place.”
He soaked up the angular profile peeking out from behind the curtain of shoulder length brown hair. The long gold earrings graced her slender neck the way he wanted his kisses to do. She was casually dressed in a plain white shell and white pants, but from her gold-beaded, low-heeled mules, to the perfectly manicured nails, to the tasteful bling on her wrists, she looked like a million bucks. The girl would look good in a brown paper bag, he thought. Not a bad image, he mused further, then set the thoughts aside.
A red-uniformed valet met them at the hotel’s grand entrance and opened her door.
Reese said to her, “Come on up. We’ll order some dinner.”
JT’s eyes met his. The offer was innocent enough, and since she hadn’t had dinner, she asked herself why not, all the while knowing there would be nothing innocent about the happenings that would probably take place later on.
The bellman didn’t take them to the penthouse suite, but did take them to one luxurious and beautiful enough to be a cousin. The view was stellar, the furnishings lush and expensive. He spent a moment walking them through the amenities, like the flat screen TV, the wine rack, and the multihead shower and Jacuzzi tub, then graciously accepted his tip from Reese and departed. JT had stayed in five-star suites all over the country, but even she was impressed by the rich surroundings. “I knew they had killer rooms here but this is lethal.” Stepping over to the windows, she looked out on the small stone porch. “You can see the Golden Gate.”
Reese came up behind her and enjoyed the sight as well. “Should be great once it gets dark.”
She turned and looked at him over her shoulder. “I’m not staying the night, Reese.”
His eyes were dancing. “Whatever you say, Ms. Blake.”
“I mean it.”
“I’m sure you do.”
Grinning, she turned back, and he moved in close and put his arms around her waist. The heat of their bodies merged and his lips against her hair felt so natural, it was as if he’d been holding her for a lifetime. “Missed you, woman, and it’s only been a day.”
She smiled. “Texas girls can be addictive.”
“So I’m learning.” He ran his hands languidly up and down her arms, liking the feel of her silky skin. Lips against her ear, he husked out, “Do Texas girls like to be kissed?”
She looked up and said heatedly, “You tell me.”
To determine the truth, he kissed her, and in the slow, warm moments that followed, the answer became quite evident. She didn’t remember turning in his arms, but as his lips burned down her throat, she realized she was facing him, her soft curves pressed against his hard chest. Their lower extremities were flush and the aroused state of his manhood was hard to ignore, so she didn’t. Reaching down, she ran a palm slowly up and down. He sucked in a ragged breath, and she smiled at the power of her touch. “We Texas girls can be pretty fast sometimes too,” she sultrily pointed out, her manicured hand still exploring, enticing.
Reese’s eyes were closed. Her touch was so hot and sweet, he had trouble breathing. “You keep that up and you won’t get dinner.”
“No kidding. You Midwest men are pretty smart.”
“Didn’t know you were playful.”
“I didn’t either, till now.”
Their eyes glittered with mutual desire. His mouth curved into a smile then descended on hers and kissed her with a possessive hunger that soon ruffled the silence with the sounds of heightened breathing. He filled his hands with her breasts and worked his thumbs expertly over the taut tips until she groaned her response. A beat later her top was raised, his head lowered, and his warm mouth moved over her bra-shrouded breasts. He drew the black demicups down and treated the dark nipples to his own brand of hello. She growled, he licked and slipped a hand between her thighs that lazily played and delighted. He thrilled at the heat his touch evoked. The warm passage and thoughts of the treasures it shrouded intensified his level of need. He wanted her now. He kissed his way back to her ear. “Either we find the bed or we do it right here.”
JT didn’t care where just so he didn’t stop.
He didn’t stop, and because he didn’t they ended up
on the large velour love seat with him seated and her riding his condom-shrouded manhood, her back to him. She’d never made love in such a scandalous position before but it allowed his magnificent hands to touch her everywhere she wanted to be touched while he brazenly guided her up and down. It didn’t take long for the combined sensations to send her over the edge. She came with a hoarse cry. Her body stiffened and she lost herself in a pounding orgasm and in his equally pounding thrusts as he climaxed a beat later.
She came back to herself boneless and arched back against him. Her brain didn’t want to move, and neither did she. She could feel the heat and dampness of her skin fused with his, and she reveled in the feel of his arms wrapped around her and holding her close. “Wow,” she said softly, finally. She glanced up and met his soft smile. “You Midwest types are very talented.”
“Given the right stimulation anything is possible.”
She moved to make herself comfortable in his lap and he wrapped her in again. She placed her head on his bare shoulder. “What are we doing here, Reese?”
He kissed her brow. “I know what I’m doing,” he told her softly. “The question is, what are you doing, Jessi?”
The eyes she met were serious. “I don’t know. Can we keep taking it one day at a time while I try and figure it out?”
“Whatever the lady wants.” Truthfully, Reese wanted her for his own to have and to hold from this day forward until the end of time, but he knew laying claim to her was not what she wanted to hear, at least not yet, so he gave her a soft pat on the butt. “Up. Let’s go see what the shower looks like.”
Back in L.A., dusk had settled and Matt Wenzel was driving home. As he turned into his driveway, Garrett’s threats continued to weigh heavily, but he was determined to set them aside. Melissa had called him earlier and said she had a surprise. He had no idea what it was, but he was looking forward to whatever it might be. He didn’t see her car, so he assumed she hadn’t come home yet. He cut the engine and stepped out.
“Hey,” a voice called.
Puzzled, he looked around and was startled by the sight of a man on the roof of his garage. He was dressed in all black and his face was covered by a ski mask.
“Who are you?”
“Not important. What is, though, is where’s your wife?”
Matt froze.
“Knew that’d get your attention.” The man chuckled softly. “Seriously, though, I’m just here to make sure you keep your word, Matty. In the scheme of things, a man’s word is his bond. You know what I mean?”
Matt nodded like a puppet.
“Good. Here comes your old lady now.”
Matt turned to the shine of the lights coming up the driveway and was so glad to see her he could have cried. He turned back to the roof. The visitor had vanished.
Melissa walked up and peered into his face with concern. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Not feeling good. Think I’m coming down with something.”
“Well this ought to cheer you up. I had a doctor’s appointment today. I’m pregnant, Matt. We’re going to have a baby!”
His eyes widened, then he bent and vomited all over the driveway.
Reese and JT enjoyed a leisurely dinner, courtesy of the hotel’s highly rated kitchen, then had some wine outside on the small stone patio under the stars. Her declaration that she wasn’t spending the night had been all but forgotten. As they sat in the silence, sipping, she realized that she had no idea why she enjoyed being with him as much as she did. The fact that he made love to her as if she were the most precious thing in his world played a big part, but it was more than that. She’d never wanted to know everything there was to know about a man, but she did about Reese. “What do you like to do when it’s raining outside?” she asked.
“Go fishing.”
Surprised humor filled her voice. “What?”
“Go fishing. You asked, I answered.”
“In the rain?”
“Best time to go. Every fisherman knows that.”
JT smiled and sipped from her flute.
“You fish?” he asked.
“My daddy took us fishing with him once. Maxie and I were probably seven and eight. We got to fighting and tipped the boat. He never took us again.”
“What were you fighting about?”
“I don’t remember. Something dumb probably.”
“My brothers and I had some dumb fights over the years. Why’d you ask about the rain?”
She shrugged. “Just wanting to know more about you.”
The night hid his pleased smile. “My turn, then. What do you like to do when it rains?”
“If I’m not working, walk around the house in my pajamas, curl up with a good book. Play Madden on the PlayStation if D’Angelo or Jason stop by.”
Reese stared. “Play Madden?”
“Yes, Reese. You have a problem with girls playing Madden?”
Filled with wonder, he sipped and shook his head with amusement. “No, ma’am. Not at all. You any good?”
“Is Texas big?”
He laughed softly. “Modest too, I see.”
“Best thumbs in the West.”
Reese’s brothers were big Madden fans. “Bryce is the family champion. I’ve seen him reduce Pops and Jamal to tears with the whippings he gives out, and Pops used to
play
pro ball.”
“Really? What team?”
“Chicago back in the late sixties, early seventies.”
Something else she didn’t know. “Well I’m telling you now, your brother will lose the family belt if he plays me.”
“You take him down, and Pops, Jamal, and I will send you to Hawaii.”
“Really?” She liked the sound of that. “You all must want him beat bad.”
“Boy talks entirely too much yang when he wins. You beat him and Pops may propose.”
“Let’s not get carried away here, Mr. Anthony. Hawaii will be quite enough.”
He grinned. “I already know the perfect place. We can go see Kilauea—”
“What do you mean, ‘we’? I thought this was my trip.”
“It is, but I own that perfect place and I’m the only one with a key.”
Stunned, she turned and stared. “You have a house in Hawaii?”
“Yeah. I’m the VP of a multinational trucking consortium. You’re not the only one on this porch with big bucks, Ms. Thang.”
JT dropped back against her chair.
He chuckled. “What’s the matter?”
“You are so not the truck driver you were pretending to be.”
“I wasn’t pretending, I am a trucker. I was just being careful. Wanted you to be dazzled by my charm first. That’s all.”
She never knew she could enjoy one man’s company so much. “Then mission accomplished,” she confessed softly. “I am dazzled.”
“Good,” he whispered while imagining the two of them sitting under the stars together until they reached Pops’s age and beyond. He knew without question he’d still find her hot. Leaning over, he gave her a humid kiss that let her know how hot he found her at that moment, and she responded in kind. Slowly, one thing led to another. This time they made it to the bed.
The next morning the sun was just getting up when Reese awakened to the sound of the shower. He’d been in so many different hotel rooms in the past few weeks it took him a moment to place himself. Once he did, he turned over onto his back and enjoyed the sounds of her being near and the memories of a very steamy night. He felt as if he were making good progress storming the walls of Queen JT’s well-guarded castle, but she was so complicated, who really knew? What he did know for certain was that she was the most uninhibited women he’d ever had the pleasure of pleasuring, and his manhood stirred at the remembered tastes and feel of her lean luscious loveliness.
She came out of the shower dressed in the white outfit she’d had on yesterday and with her hair pulled back. He was admittedly disappointed seeing her dressed. He’d planned on spending the morning making her purr, and it must have shown on his face.
“Morning. What’s wrong?”
“You leaving?”
Her amused eyes met his. “It’s a weekday, Mr. Anthony. Some of us have to go to work. I also need to stop by my place and change clothes.”
“I thought you said you were dazzled.”
“Dazzled doesn’t mean crazy,” she pointed out, stepping into her mules. “Besides, I’m assuming you’ll come by the office when your brother gets in.”
Reese nodded but he still wanted her back in bed with him. “His flight gets in at noon. You want to meet us for lunch?”
“Can’t, got a prior commitment with my accountant, but we can get dinner.”
“Okay. We’ll swing by your office around three?”
“Sounds good.”
He expected her to head out, but she remained where she was, her eyes holding his. His mouth curved up. “What’s the matter?”
“I want to kiss you good-bye, but if I do, I know I’m going to wind up with my clothes off again, and I’ll be late.”
He laughed.
“It’s not funny,” she scolded, smiling.
“Suppose I promise not to touch you?”
“We both know you lie.”
“There is that.”
Walking over to the bed, she stood beside it for a moment, letting the sight of him bare-chested and leaning back against the headboard with the bedding covering his waist fill her eyes. The handsome chiseled face and his dark muscled guns made her want to lap him up like cream. Instead she bent and kissed him softly. “See you later.”
She wound up on his lap. They lingered over the parting as lovers were wont to do, but she didn’t lose her clothes and as a result got to the office on time.
Once there, however, there wasn’t much real work she and Carole could do, being unplugged as they were, so Carole spent the morning tidying up the paper files while JT composed counterproposals for Keith Owens’s contract using a pen and a yellow legal pad. She missed not being able to scan the Web for the morning’s sports news, so she clicked on the TV, let the sports channel play in the background and prayed no one on her client list had done anything dumb last night.
She, on the other hand, had had a fabulous night, and the memories made her look up from the legal pad and ponder Mr. Reese the Fine Anthony. Goodness, his loving was amazing, she thought. A daily diet of that could make a woman want nothing more in life for the rest of her life. Her body was tender everywhere, but it was a good tender, and yes, she wanted more. She also wanted to know more about him. Did he really like to fish in the rain, or was he just messing with her? With Reese it was hard to tell. He was as multifaceted as he was handsome, and who knew he had money? He certainly didn’t act like any high-powered men she’d met. Where they were often stiff and boring, Reese was silly. None of them would have been bowled over by seeing whales, or make her almost drive off the road with talk about women melting in their mouths. Reese was a mess, really. Handsome, charming, sexy. Nice too. That quality seemed to be rare in the eligible men in her sphere, but maybe he was that way because of where and how he’d been raised. She didn’t know a thing about living in the Midwest, but if it produced men like him, she bet the women didn’t mind the cold.
So the question remained: What did she want? The answer was obvious. She wanted Reese. But under what format and for how long? She’d been raised to take care of herself, and she did it well; too well, according to some of the men who’d called themselves having a relationship with her. She thought back on the financial planner from Sacramento who after a few months of being with her stomped off because she refused to let him oversee her portfolio. After him came a Seattle lawyer. He seemed nice enough at first, but one night over dinner declared that her being a sports agent wasn’t something he wanted “his” woman to be doing. She dropped him quick. In hindsight, she realized neither man knew a thing about lovemaking. With them sex had been something she’d tolerated, but Reese showed her it could be a volatile red hot sport, and she did love her sports.
By eleven o’clock her eyes were starting to cross and her fingers were cramping from all the writing. Rolling her chair back from the desk, she stood to go freshen up for her noon appointment. As she walked by the television, the announcer on the sports channel said, “This just in. High-powered sports agent JT Blake is reportedly on her way to rehab.”
She stopped and stared.
“According to sources, Ms. Blake is seeking help for an unspecified problem, leaving the fate of her agency and her clients up in the air. In other news…”
“What!”
She snapped open her phone, got the network on the line and barked to speak to whomever was in charge. While waiting for the secretary to put her through, JT yelled, “Carole! Call Francine!” Francine Ross was her lawyer. “Tell her to break out her lawsuit pearls. We’re hunting bear!”
Twenty minutes later the bear was all but nailed to the wall. The network cut into the finals of a poker championship to retract the Blake story, and offered an on-air apology for running the unsubstantiated report. When she got done blistering them, she turned them over to Francine, who, from her Bel Air kitchen, demanded chapter and verse on where the story had come from and the identity of the so-called source. JT bowed out of the three-way call, knowing Francine had her back, and turned her attention to the phones ringing off the hook in Carole’s part of the office. It seemed everyone in her part of sports-dom had seen the report. Never mind the network’s retraction, all fifty of her clients called over the next two hours to find out what the hell was going on. In reality, she wished she knew.
In his Wilshire Boulevard office, a pleased Bobby Garrett clicked off the big screen and put down the remote. He could only imagine the surprise on Bitch Blake’s face when she heard she was on her way to rehab. He laughed. It was just something he’d done to mess with her head. These opening salvos would lay the foundation for the more serious stuff he planned to throw at her later. He also imagined she’d be spending the rest of the day on the phone denying the story, and that was okay too. Pro athletes were notoriously skittish about their money and their futures. Rumors that their agent of choice might not be as mentally or physically fit as they believed could lead to some hard thinking on their part, even if the rumors were false. Too bad he wasn’t in the Bay area so he could stop by the office and offer his support. He was out to get her, and by the time he finished his campaign, she would be begging someone to take over her business, and he’d be right there to scoop it up.