I cleared my throat. “Jaylin.”
“Who?” she repeated.
“I said Jaylin.”
She slowly pulled open the door and stood in her soft yellow sheer nightgown. Her long thick hair was full of wavy curls. She looked to be in a trance. My eyes couldn't help but wander to her visible almost bare breasts and her yellow panties that covered her goods down below.
“What a surprise,” she said. “I was expecting someone else.”
“I don't mean to intrude, but is it okay for me to come in?”
“Sure,” she said, widening the door. “If you're looking for Mackenzie, she's at my sister's house. My fiancé, Bruce, will be here soon.”
I looked around at the cozy dim living room and the several lit candles around it. Ironically, “Like You'll Never See Me Again” by Alicia Keys was playing and the aroma of soul food was in the air. Scorpio invited me to have a seat, so I did. She sat on one end of the couch, and I sat far away on the other end. I looked at my watch. “I came here to talk to you,” I said. “How long do I have before your man gets here? I'm not up to fighting . . . .”
“How much time do you need? I have no problem calling and telling him to push our plans back for a few hours.”
“That's fine. Just give me about an hour.”
Scorpio stood up and walked into the other room. I couldn't help but feel guilty about the way her sexiness still turned me on. To see her go all out for another man kind of made me jealous. I looked around the room, thinking about the many times we'd had sex in this type of atmosphere. My dream was still fresh in my memory and damn did she look good. She came back into the room and returned to her position on the couch.
“Done deal,” she said. “He won't be here until later. I'm glad you're here. I'd been meaning to contact you about a big problem that we seem to have. Mackenzie's father, Bruce, and I are getting married. He's anxious to get back custody of his daughter. Since you've moved on without her, I think it's only fair that we do the right thing.”
I surely hated that Scorpio had already struck a nerve. “For the record, I have not moved on without her. I think about her every single day. When she turns eighteen, because of me, she will be a millionaire. Now, I'm happy for you and Bruce, but giving custody back to a man who walked out of his child's life years ago, and signed away his parental rights, is not going to jive with me.”
“That was a long time ago. He's a different person now. We've all made mistakes. Mackenzie is his child andâ”
“Look, we can sit here and debate about this all damn night. Like I said, I wish you and Bruce all the best, but things will have to be left as they are. I've been talking to Nokea about my situation with Mackenzie and she's coming around. Mackenzie will know her brother and sisters. She's old enough to understand that things just didn't work out between you and me.”
Scorpio's mouth hung open. “So, let me get this straight. When Nokea decides that it's okay for Mackenzie to visit you all, then she can? It's been years, Jaylin; I'm the one who's had to explain why she can't see you. Mackenzie doesn't give a damn about your moneyâall she wanted was to be with you. You left, and I watched my child hurt and behave badly because you wouldn't come for her. Now, she's over that stage and I will not allow her to go through that again. So, how dare you come in here and tell me what's not going to happen. You need to get with your lawyer and do what's best for Mackenzie.”
“I don't need to do shit!” I yelled then lowered my voice. “Sorry, but my mind is made up. I will tear Bruce's past up in court and you know it. You get so caught up in these fucking relationships. By next year, that sucker will be history.
My
daughter needs a stable father figure in her life and she will have one. I mean that shit, Scorpio. That's just how it's going to be.”
Scorpio shook her head in disgust. “After all this time, you still haven't changed one bit. It's gotta be your way or no way and there's nothing I can do. I've told you about all of the setbacks we'd endured since you left, but you won't listen. You expected for me to accept things for what they were and go live happily ever after. Well, that didn't happen for me, up until recently. Bruce and Iâ”
“I don't give a damn about you and Bruce, Scorpio. You said the same mess about you and Shane and look at how that turned out. You're starting to sound like a broken record. Your reputation is getting awfully ugly.”
“Fine,” she said, standing up. “If you don't want to listen to me, then why are you here? I don't understand the purpose of your visit.”
“Let's just say that I had a feeling something wasn't right.”
She folded her arms. “Something like what? Like I have an opportunity to be happy and you're here to steal my joy? You do it to me every time, Jaylin. From Shane to Bruce, or anyone else I might date, you'll continue to cause problems for me. After playing me how you did, I hoped you'd want me to find happiness. For years, I've struggled with being without you. Even while with Shane, I could never get you out of my system.” Scorpio swallowed and plopped down on the couch. She dropped her face into her hands and rubbed her hair back. “I never told you this, but I wanted to die. After you went off and married Nokea, I wanted to roll over and die because of your decision. Since then, yes, I've made many mistakes with men. I wanted all of them to be like you. Who could blame me? Even with Shane, I felt as if being with him would keep me close to you. Once the two of you stopped speaking, it was as if I had no need for him.” She turned to me and displayed true honesty in her eyes. “God help me for loving you so much. I . . . I just want to move on with my child and be with a man who truly loves me.”
I hated to see Scorpio so broken. I knew what our failed relationship had done to her. The repercussions showed as she fought her emotions. I stood up and went to her end of the couch. I pulled her up and put my arms around her waist. She resisted a bit and turned her head to the side. I placed my finger on the side of her face, turning it to face mine.
“Tell me something. Did you lie to Shane about being pregnant?”
Scorpio hesitated. Her eyelids fluttered and she slowly nodded. “I couldn't lose him too. That meant losing my connection with you. I was so confused. I hated to lie to Shane, but even he knew how much I still loved you. Please don't tell him the truth about the baby. I never meant to hurt him as much as I did.”
I shook my head in disgust. “Damn, Scorpio, but you did. He gave up so much for you and youâ”
“I know. But, you haven't walked in my shoes and you don't know how difficult all of this has been for me. I've made so many horrible mistakes, all because I didn't know how to deal with being without you. The relationships I've had, none of them made me feel as I do now with Bruce. I know he's the one for me, and . . .”
I knew Scorpio too well and I didn't believe her. “You said that Bruce loves you. Not once have you said that you love him. Please, don't marry a man just to escape your hurt. You'll make a big mistake and I'm not saying this because I'm jealous. I'm telling you this for your own good.”
Scorpio wrapped her arms around me, lightly scratching her nails up and down my back. Without a blink, she gazed into my eyes and I could feel what she'd been going through. Her look was so powerful that it caused me to blink and look away. This time, she turned my face to hers.
“I do love Bruce, Jaylin,” she confirmed. “But, I will never, ever love a man as much as I love you. So, if that's what you came here to hear, then I have no shame in saying it. Yes, I still love you, but there isn't a darn thing I can do about it. Who in the hell could blame me, after what you did for me and Mackenzie? You changed my entire life around. At the time we met, my life was headed for destruction. We endured a lot in our relationship, but overall, you were a blessing to me. Therefore, losing you was tough. I . . . I can't forget what we shared and I will never forget. Call me stupid or whatever you want, but my love for you can never be replaced.”
I was speechless and continued to stare at Scorpio. She was so damn sexy and her watery brown eyes, along with the thoughts of my dream, and Alicia Keys' song replaying had me so caught up. As I felt a rise down below, I slightly backed up and cleared my throat.
“Listen, I gotta jet. I hope everything works out for you and Bruce and, uh, I appreciate you sharing with me how you feel.” I loosened our embrace and made my way to the door. When I reached for the doorknob, Scorpio's hand covered mine.
“I'm getting married soon. This might be our last chance,” she said. “Please stay with me for a while.”
I turned to face her. “Our last chance for what?”
She got on the tips of her toes and whispered in my ear, “Last chance for us to be naughty. I will never interfere with your marriage to Nokea again. I wish you and her nothing but future happiness. I hope you feel the same way about me and Bruce, but please allow us to have this one last time together.”
I stood for a moment, seriously debating with myself. I was so weak when it came to Scorpio, and the thing is, she knew it. She stepped forward and when her lips touched mine, I held her face in my hands, sucking her lips in like kissing was going out of style. “Call Bruce,” I ordered. “Tell him to come much later. I . . . I gotta tell you about a dream I had, but you gotta promise me that you and I will be
Naughty No More
.”
Scorpio reached for my belt buckle. “After tonight, you go your way and I'll go mine. I promise you there will be no phone calls, no questions and no attachments. Let's just get this over with and do something that we both have been dying to do.”
I didn't say another word. I followed Scorpio to her bedroom. When she removed all of her clothes, there was no turning back for me.
Â
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I reached the hotel at 1:15 in the morning. I wasn't sure if Nokea had made it in yet, but I hurried to slide the card in the door. When I didn't see Nokea, I rushed out of my clothes to take a shower. All I could think about was where in the hell I'd just come from. I kept telling myself that Nokea didn't deserve this. Feeling frustrated with my decision, I threw my cell phone across the room and broke it. I hurried in the shower. While my hands were pressed against the shower's wall, I let the soothing cold water drench me to calm down my dick. I closed my eyes and visions of Scorpio played in my mind.
Damn
, I thought.
Why couldn't she have just let me leave!
The betrayal I felt from being inside of her made me ill. My stomach turned in knots. I had the nerve to hold my dick and look at it, as if it was the one who made the decision. “Fuck,” I said loudly and rubbed up and down my dripping wet face.
Why? Why did I go there?
Never, ever would I do this shit again. I didn't like how being with another woman made me feel. Yes, Scorpio's performance was good . . . damn good, but I had no idea I'd feel like this.
The cold water dripped from my face. As I was reminiscing about what had just happened, the shower curtain slid over and startled me. Nokea stood outside the shower and stared at me with a blank expression on her face.
“What?” I hurried to say. “Is . . . is everything okay?”
She gave me a puzzled look and the knot in my stomach felt like it was being pulled tighter. “Everything is fine, Jaylin. I saw your broken phone and called your name several times. You didn't answer, so I thought something had happened.”
To release my tension, I took a deep breath and turned off the water. “I got mad at the damn thing because I couldn't get a signal. I tried to call you, but it wouldn't dial out.”
Nokea reached for a towel and slowly wiped my body. When she got to my back, she stopped. “Where did this red markâlong scratch on your back, come from?”
I turned my back toward the mirror to see what she was referring to. There was a long scratch on my back and I had to think fast. “Shit, I don't know, probably from Jaylene climbing on my back yesterday. Remember, when I was on the floor and she . . .”
“Yes, I remember,” Nokea smiled and yawned. “I'm so tired. Pat's baby shower is tomorrow, and can you believe I'm already missing home? I can't wait to get back to my babies.”
“I can't wait to get home either. I wish we could leave now, but I know how important it is for you to be there for your friend.”
“Very important,” she said. “Pat would die if I left this soon.”
As Nokea got undressed, I got in the bed. The feeling I had inside was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. From the disturbing look on my face, it was so easy for Nokea to tell that something was wrong.
“Out with it Jaylin Rogers, what's on your mind?” she teased while climbing underneath the sheets with me. We cuddled, and as I held her, she lay the back of her head against my chest.
“I just had a long day, that's all. I'm glad that Shane and I worked things out. I'm looking forward to him moving to Florida. My mind's been preoccupied with our new business venture.”