Authors: Marie Rochelle
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Jenisha
snapped.
“You’ve admitted
Clinton
isn’t a bad looking man.” True commented.
No.
Clinton
wasn’t bad looking with his deep moss green eyes and dark brown hair. Three words popped into her mind when she saw him in the living room-
gorgeous as sin
. “I’m not looking for a man or a relationship.” She lied, hoping True didn’t see the truth on her face.
True stared at her a few more seconds then shrugged. “The food is almost ready. Can you please tell the guys to head to the dining room?”
“Sure.”
Jenisha
muttered hurrying from the kitchen.
* * * *
Two hours later
Clinton
glanced at his watch and sighed. “I hate to leave such a wonderful party, but I have an early flight tomorrow.”
Standing up he looked down at
Jenisha
, but she didn’t look back at him.
“I wished you didn’t have to leave.” True muttered. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too,
True
.”
Clinton
replied. “I would love to stay and watch you keep by brother in line, but I can’t.”
“I guess I better leave too.”
Hayward
sighed, getting up from his chair.
“
Jenisha
let’s walk the guys to the door.” True said, pushing her chair back from the table.
“
Ummm
… okay sure.”
Jenisha
said, glancing at him and then she looked away when he made eye contact with her. Pushing her chair back, she slid away from him.
“Now you have to come back for a visit real soon, because I might need some help keeping
Hayward
under control.” True said coming around the table to him. She linked her arm through his and walked him to the front door.
“Hey, I’m not that bad,”
Hayward
laughed.
Bending down at the front door he kissed True on the cheek, “T
hank
s for dinner. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.” He declared, staring over
True’s
head at
Jenisha
, who still refused to look in his direction.
“It was very nice to meet you,
Jenisha
.” He said trying to draw her attention in his direction. “Next time I hope we have more time to talk.”
“It was nice meeting you too.”
Jenisha
responded.
Clinton
looked at
Hayward
standing by the door and said. “I’ll see you at home.”
He took one last look at
Jenisha
and then went out the door.
* * * *
“Kitten, you outdid yourself with the dinner party,”
Hayward
praised. He moved away from the wall and eased closer to her. “Everything was wonderful.”
From the corner of her eye she watched
Jenisha
leave and head for the dining room. Taking
Hayward
by the hand, True dragged him behind the white divider that separated the doorway from the living room. “I’m really going to miss your sexy body tonight.”
Hayward
pulled her into his arms, and then kissed the top of her head. “I’m going to miss waking up with you in my arms tonight too. What am I suppose to do until Wednesday?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You can dream about me all you want.”
“I don’t want dreams anymore I want you.”
Hayward
complained, massaging her back through the thin dress.
“Oh it won’t be that bad. Saturday night will be here before you know it. I know you have a lot of work to keep you busy until then.”
“If I’m a good boy until then, will you have a sleepover at my house?”
Hayward
’s mouth watered at the thought of waking up, with
True’s
softness, cuddled against him in his own bed in the middle of the night and early in the morning.
True raised an eyebrow and stared up at him. “If you promise to be a good boy and let me spend time with
Jenisha
until she leaves on Saturday morning. I’ll pack an overnight bag and stay with you until Monday morning.”
Hayward
couldn’t control the smile that spilt his face. “I’ll show you what a good boy I can be.” Kissing her quickly on the mouth, he walked around the divider. Opening the front door, he winked at her and went out closing the door behind him with a soft click.
Chapter Sixteen
Locking the door, True detached herself from the sensual web
Hayward
had woven around her. Composing her rattled nerves, she strolled into the kitchen to help
Jenisha
clean up. Grabbing a plate off the island, she raked the leftover food into the trash. Taking a quick peek at
Jenisha
she watched her wipe down the counter over by the sink.
“
Jenisha
, is there anything wrong? You don’t seem like yourself.” She commented, as she grabbed another plate off the island.
Jenisha
took several of the plates she had already raked clean and loaded them into the dishwasher. “There is something going on, but I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“You know you can discuss anything with me.”
“Can we please not talk about it?”
Jenisha
sniffed, brushing the tears off her face with the tips of her fingers.
“My God,
Jenisha
what’s wrong?” True gasped worried.
“Please just leave it alone,”
Jenisha
begged.
“Okay, I’ll leave it alone.”
“T
hank
s,”
Jenisha
whispered. She picked up a towel off the table and went back into the dining room.
True watched her friend retreat, with growing concern.
Jenisha’s
tears had frightened her. What was so bad that she needed to cry? Whatever
Jenisha
was hiding from her was huge.
* * * *
“Can you hand me the blue shirt?” Picking the shirt off the chair,
Hayward
tossed it to his brother. Catching it with his left hand,
Clinton
folded it up and laid it in his suitcase.
“Do you know how much I’m going to miss having you to talk to?”
Clinton
’s eye darted over to meet his. “I’m going to miss the hell out of you too, little brother.”
Closing his suitcase, he picked it up and sat it by the closet door, “Do you want to have one last drink together?”
“Hell, why not,”
Hayward
muttered walking out the door with
Clinton
behind him.
* * * *
The next morning standing in the noisy and bustling airport,
Hayward
watched
Clinton
’s airplane through the window until it became a small speck in the sky. He couldn't get rid of the tingle of homesickness that touched him.
He was going to miss his brother. Taking one last glance at the window, he turned and left the airport.
On the back way home, he decided at the last minute to make a quick stop at the shopping center near the exit turn. He wanted to buy
True
a gift. Something that would keep him in her mind until
Jenisha
left. He pulled into the crowded parking lot and got out.
Walking around the busy precinct, with the loud teenagers, crying children and loud music,
Hayward
remembered why he hated these places so much. He never had the patience to deal with the hassle it took to purchase a gift.
He wandered around the mall for about an hour and didn’t find one thing that he wanted. “Damn, why can’t I find something here?” He grumbled, brushing past a group of teenager girls talking on their cell phones. As he was about to leave the mall, he noticed a little gift shop, hidden in the corner that caught his attention. “I hope this place has something or I’m out of luck.”
Hayward
sighed. He was more than a little nervous, because he’s never bought a gift for a girlfriend before.
Girlfriend?
Hmm…he liked how that sounded. True was his girlfriend now and the thought didn’t scare him. Strolling around the quaint little shop, he searched the aisles, but he still didn’t see the anything he wanted to buy. “I’ll look one more time to make sure he didn’t miss something.”
As he brushed past a small cookie arrangement on top of the checkout counter, his elbow hit one and sent them crashing to the floor.
“Shit.” He bent down to pick up the cookies and then he spotted the perfect gift for True in the display case below the cash register.
A bear wearing a red leather coat, black pants and a matching purse with the words ‘
Born to Shop’
scribbled across the bottom.
Tossing the cookies back on the counter, he pointed to the statue through the case. “I want to buy that and a card.”
Hayward
informed the teenage girl wearing a
Juicy
t-shirt behind the counter. “Could you wrap it in purple gift wrapping paper with a matching bag?”
He asked.
Popping her grape gum, the sales girl unlocked the case and grabbed the bear. “Sure.” The sales girl replied grinning. “Is there anything else you need?”
“No, that’s it.”
Hayward
answered. “She’s going to love this.” He uttered going out the malls front door.
Back home,
Hayward
hurried out of his car and dashed across the grass to
True’s
house, with his gift in his hand. Gently, he placed the bag beside her morning paper. He knew that
True
usually came out around
Hayward
grinned as he rushed back to his house.
* * * *
Twenty minutes later
True
opened her front door and her eye’s widened at the sight of the purple bag sitting beside her newspaper. “Where in the world did this come from?” She whispered. Picking up the newspaper and the bag, she brought them both back into the house.
Sitting cross-legged on the couch she opened the bag. On the inside there was a small box wrapped in purple paper with a card attached.
Placing the box on the table, she read the card first.
Kitten,
When I saw it, I knew I had to buy it for you.
I love you,
Hayward
Laying the card next to the gift bag, True tore off the paper and opened the box. She gasped as her fingers pulled out the bear statue. It was so cute and adorable! It was something she would have brought for herself.
How did
Hayward
even know I wanted a new statue for my collection?
Rising off the couch, she raced over to the stand and added her newest bear to the front of the display.
“What a cute bear.”
Jenisha
commented behind her.
“T
hank
you.
Hayward
left it on my doorstep. Now, I’ve got to buy him something while I’m out shopping for his Christmas present,” True commented. “I’m buying his gift early because the place only had one left in stock. If I don’t get it now, I’ll be placed on a six month waiting list.”
Hayward
really surprised her with this. Now her gift had to be three times better than the one he got for her.
“You already know what you’re going to get
Hayward
for Christmas?”
Jenisha
asked, moving next to her.
“Yes I do and I need to leave now to go get it.”
“Aren’t you going to tell me what it is?”
“A diamond watch,” True replied.
Jenisha
whistled under her breath. “Wow. I bet he’s going to love that.”
“I saw one in a magazine last month. I had to call six different places until I found a jeweler that sold them and I got a huge discount off it. The only problem is I’ll have to drive about five hours to get it.”
She hated taking long roads trip by herself. “You don’t mind going with me do you?”
True didn’t tell
Jenisha
the real reason she wanted her along for the ride. She had started getting those strange calls again. She could hear someone in the background, but the person never said a word. The calls were beginning to scare her a little, but she couldn’t tell
Hayward
about them, because they would only anger him. If the phone calls continued after Christmas, she would tell him and go to the police.
“No, I don’t mind going with you. I love roads trips.”
Jenisha
answered.
“Well, we better hit the road, because we have a long drive ahead of us.” True stated as she headed out the door.
* * * *
Antonio Chambers, the owner of Chamber Jewelers, was in his early forties with salt and pepper hair cut close to his forehead. His gray eyes sparkled with pleasure the moment
True
walked in the door with
Jenisha
. “Have you come back to look at that remarkable watch again?” He gestured with his hand toward the long glass case near the corner.
He couldn’t get over how
True’s
milky chocolate complexion captivated him. The moment she stepped through his door two weeks ago he found her stunning and when she smiled she became breathtaking. She didn’t know that he held the watch back for her despite three very tempting offers. He wanted to see the pleasure in her eyes when he sold the watch to her.
She was so different from the woman in his country. No woman there possessed her natural grace or beauty. Too bad, she was already spoken for or he would have shown her the world.
“Yes, I have Mr. Chambers.” She replied in that breathless voice he loved.
“Come with me.” He unlocked the glass case and sat the watch on top of it.
“May I take it out of the case?” True asked reaching for the watch.
“Sure, you can,” Antonio smiled, staring at her.
True opened the box and slid the watch on her wrist. It felt very heavy and cool.
“Antonio, this watch is unbelievable.” She whispered, holding it up to the light, watching the diamonds sparkle under the bright lights.
She loved the beauty of the watch with its touch of masculinity, combined
with
its
streamlined elegance. She ran her fingers across the face of the timepiece.
“
Hayward
is going to love that.”
Jenisha
whispered over her shoulder.
“I think he’ll love it too,” True remarked. Looking at Antonio she said, “I’ll take it.” Slipping the watch off her wrist, she handed it back to him. “Can you engrave something on the back?”
Antonio grinned and took the watch from
True
making sure his hand accidentally brushed hers. “I’ll be happy too.”
He’ll do anything to keep her in his shop longer.
He handed her a piece of paper and pen. “Write what you want and I’ll do the engraving personally.”
True took a few minutes to decide what words she wanted to use for her gift. Tapping the pen against her chin, she thought about several different things, but in the end she decided on something short and sweet. She wrote the inscription down on the pad Antonio gave her, and then handed it back to him.
“How long will it take?”
“Give me about fifteen minutes and I’ll have it ready for you.” Antonio said walking away.
“Let’s look around while we wait,”
Jenisha
walking over to the ring display case. “Do you think
Hayward
will give you one of these in the future?”
She pointed to the biggest ring inside the stand.
* * * *
Glancing over
Jenisha’s
shoulder True looked at the eight-carat ring that
Jenisha
was pointing to. Its flawless beauty mesmerized her, she wanted more than anything in the whole world for
Hayward
to ask her to marry him, but her heart knew he would never get married again after the way Brooke ruined his trust in women.
“No, I don’t think he’s even thinking about marriage.” She replied as she gazed down at the rings. “Anyway, it’s too early for me to think about marriage, we are still in the getting to know each other phase.”
“Ms. Williams, I’m finished with the engraving,” Antonio said coming back into the room breaking into the conversation.
Spinning away from the ring case, True strolled back over to Antonio and took the watch out of his hand. Turning it over she checked the engraving to make sure it was what she wanted. “Antonio, you do beautiful work, if I need anything else I’ll come back to you.”
She said, slipping it back into its case. Taking out her checkbook, she paid for the watch, while
Jenisha
waited for her at the door.