Was it Good for You Too? (16 page)

On her way back to sit next to Delvin, J. L. gave her a thumbs up and said, “You know, I could use a summer job at Nelson, since I'm practically a member of the team already.”

Tailan's eyebrow floated up to her forehead. “Isn't it past your bedtime?”

“Not that again,” he grumbled and slumped down in the seat.

Everyone around them broke into laughter.

* * *

Tailan had to call upon every angel and ancestor she had in her spiritual rolodex not to explode when she followed the general manager to the back of the Woodland's store where the authors had been stashed.

Stashed
being the operative word.

“Seriously?” she snapped. “Is this the program we're on right now?”

She whipped around to Pinky, the sleek-haired manager. “The lawn and garden section?!”

Pinky didn't bother to hide her embarrassment. “It's the best we can do.”

Tailan scanned the solemn faces of the authors and boiled.

Brenda was nestled between the fertilizer and shovels. Beverly pushed a heavy palm tree leaf out of her face, only to have it spring back and nearly take her eye out.

Her people were being treated like afterthoughts. This setup had Margo's fingerprints all over it.

“Nobody's going to know we're back here!” Tailan snapped. “We're supposed to be up front, right where customers walk in.”

Pinky shrugged and said, “I'm sorry, but you're going to have to deal with it.” Then she zipped up the aisle, putting as much distance between Tailan's anger and herself as possible.

Sabrina stood by, alternating between scribbling on her notepad and looking at Tailan as Nona scrambled from behind the table with her crew following fast on her heels.

“So what's the move, boss lady?” Nona asked in a surprisingly businesslike manner. “What are we gonna do?”

The fact that the woman said, “we” and not “you” was telling. Evidently the liquor hadn't dulled her senses, and she was still in the teamwork frame of mind.

“No Ma'am,” Shannon said. “This one's on us. Come on, y'all, let's roll out.” Shannon squared her shoulders, puffed up her chest, and moved with laser intent. Like a battle cry only The Divas heard, Nona followed suit, with Traci and Channel bringing up the rear. They were at the front of the store and out the door before Tailan realized that she should try to catch them.

She feared those four would not be returning until the problem was handled properly. It was their definition of “properly” that had her the most worried.
Like eighty-proof was oatmeal.

A headache was kicking its way up the side of Tailan's head, and she desperately needed it to go sit down somewhere.

Sabrina gave Tailan a rueful smile, then took off in the direction of the four divas.

Delvin edged over to her, watching the foursome's retreating backs. “Another glitch?”

“You could say that,” she mumbled, keeping her focus on the entrance to the store.

“Are you mad at me or something?” he asked.

“No, not mad … just busy.”

“So what are you saying?” he asked in a low tone.

Tailan looked over to him. This was not the time—not the place. She had so much riding on this tour that spared feelings were a luxury she couldn't afford. She kept her eyes glued to the store entrance but eased away from the majority of the group.

“Delvin, it's clear you want me back. But I'm not available. I'm with someone. And it's serious. I've tried to be understanding, but you won't listen.”

He had her pinned to the end display in less than a second. “Evidently, he's not handling his business, or you're not handling yours. Tell me honestly that you didn't want to make love last night.”

“No,” she squeaked.

“Woman, don't play games with me!” he ground out.

Nona saved her from Delvin's interrogation when she suddenly appeared with her friends in tow. Tailan broke free from Delvin and looked down the aisle to the crowd steadily growing behind The Divas.

Even Sabrina was sprinting.

“Good Lord, what have they done?” Tailan whispered.

“The store people said y'all had left,” a woman panted, out of breath as she tried to keep up with Nona.

“They told us y'all didn't make it,” another woman added as she halted at the table. “I was almost out of the parking lot.”

A growing crowd spread out in front of the tables, and the sales were on!

“We set ‘em straight,” Nona said, with a proud lift of her chin and a glare at Pinky. “Everything's cool.”

Well spank my ass and call me Sally. By George, The Divas are growing up!

Pinky's face had flushed angry red. Her eyes were even worse, glazed over with shock. Tailan was too afraid to ask what the foursome had said to the woman.

Instead, she looked at Nona and said, “Thank you, ladies. Let's get to work.”

“Tai, we're not done,” Delvin said as she tried to walk away.

“Oh, yes we are. Very done!”

Shannon whipped around right before making it to her spot. She was at Tailan's side in a Chicago second, her expression both hopeful and predatory. “You're putting his fine self back on the market?”

“I never took him off,” Tailan answered, retrieving the novel one of Delvin's adoring fans held out and thrusting it into his hands. She could feel his angry glare heating up her back as she hurried toward Pinky and Sabrina to do some damage control.

* * *

Delvin was a tight ball of anxiety. The hairs on the back of his neck rose as the signing event concluded and Tailan was nowhere to be found.

It was customary for her to always call the group together to congratulate them on another job well done. Not this time. She had hugged and whispered something to each member of the tour while they were inside the store. All except him. Now her staff was conducting the exit meeting and giving each of the authors a parting gift from NEG.

Something was all the way off.

Delvin shot over to Terry. “Where is she?” he barked.

She jumped without taking her eyes from the itinerary she held. “Where is who?”

“Tai. Where is she?”

Terry shrugged guiltily. “She went to check on some things.”

Delvin waited a moment and noticed something. Not a single member of the staff would look his way. “When is she coming back?” he demanded.

Several ticks of time passed before Elona finally confessed, “She's not. She went home.”

“Come again?” Delvin asked. “Home?”

The limo driver cleared his throat, which caused Delvin's attention to snap to him. He was waiting patiently next to the Black SUV, ready to whisk Delvin off to the airport. Delvin had planned to make a detour with Tailan to see his folks. It had been years since they had laid eyes on her.

He pinned his gaze squarely on David while addressing Tailan's staff. “I understand.”

David exhaled a long, slow breath, then clicked the keys on his cell. Instantly, Delvin's phone vibrated. He looked down, then up at David.

“Tai's home address,” David confessed to the shocked gasps of the rest of the Nelson team.

Delvin broke for his limo driver. The man read the address and replied, “That's about twenty minutes from here.”

“Good. Then let's step on it.”

The driver hurried to open the back door. “But I thought you had a plane to catch.”

“My man, I've got a
woman
to catch.”

Chapter 18

Tailan opened the front door to her North Pullman row house and used the remote to disengage the alarm, then froze when she saw a lone figure lounging on the sofa.

The man was holding the wedding ring she had taken off and tossed at him before she left for the book tour. She had ignored his calls all week. Tailan had told him they needed a break and she didn't want to see him for at least two weeks. So his presence here could represent one of two things—neither one of them pleasant.

She wheeled her suitcase and positioned it in front of a chair near the door.

“Why are you here?” she demanded.

“Delvin Germaine,” Amir bit out. His caustic tone gave Tailan pause.

“What about him?” she asked, wondering how the name of the man who had driven her into Amir's arms in the first place was now dripping from his lips.

He stared openly at her. He was silent, but his light brown eyes spoke volumes. He was handsome, his olive complexion and thick, dark hair was Bollywood perfect—so perfect, in fact, that many East Indian woman were insulted that he would choose her over women from his own culture.

“He was on the tour,” she said, using her foot to close the door behind her.

“And you knew this and did not tell me?”

“I didn't know anything about it,” she replied. “My boss brought him on board.” Inwardly, she was ticked. Tailan had demanded a temporary seperation from Amir because of the things his family put her through. But they'd mistreated her for the last time. She had endured it for years had finally had enough. She'd given him an ultimatum, but he hadn't been man enough to balance the scales. So she gave him a wake-up call. And now he was grilling her about something that wasn't within her control.

“Did you sleep with him?”

Images of lying in Delvin's arms flashed in her mind, but thankfully she'd had enough self-control to not fall for him again—at least not totally. Not in body. But her heart and mind …

“No.” She took a seat on the edge of the sofa and faced him. “But that's something I want to talk with you about.”

Amir tore his gaze from the ring he held and looked over at her, his shoulders tense with the anticipation of bad news.

“I would like to take Delvin on as my lover.”

Amir was on his feet and in her face in seconds. “I forbid you to sleep with him,” he said through his teeth. He was shaking with rage.

She stood so she was toe-to-toe with him.

“Forbid?” she echoed, her hands slowly riding up on her hip. “I'm a grown woman. And I didn't
forbid
you to be with Laura, Sheila, Joan, or Willow.”

“But they,” he said, waggling a finger at her, “were within the terms of our agreement. We agreed that we would only develop intimate relationships with married people.”

“He
is
married,” she shot back.

“Ah, but he is not in the polyamorous community, and you know it!” he shouted. “Stop playing games.”

“Wait a minute!” she said, circling him. “You only said that our lovers had to be
married
. You didn't say they had to practice polyamory as we do.
That
I have in writing.”

“It was implied,” Amir snapped, his eyes practically shooting daggers in her directions.

“Peddle that bull somewhere else,” Tailan snapped back and got in his face. “
Implications
are not
stipulations
.”

Amir ran his fingers through his silky hair. He stormed the length of the living room and into the dining room, then braced himself on the kitchen cabinet for several moments before inching back to the living room and standing directly in front of Tailan. “He will take you from me.”

Strong odds on that one,
slipped into her mind before she could rein it in.

Delvin had made his intentions crystal clear from day one. And when he was set on something, nothing short of the Apocalypse would keep him from it. Because of that, she knew she had to sneak away while he was still engaged with his fans.

Amir walked away again, as though he took her silence for assent. This time he made it as far as the dining room before he turned back around to her. “He did not deserve you. He never deserved your tears,” Amir reminded her. “You were so heartbroken. Where. Was. He?” His voice broke on those three words. “I was the one to make it all better.”

“You did,” she said. She did not finish that sentence with what was in her head—
for a time
. “And that's why I agreed to the new terms of our marriage in the first place. Terms you have put into practice numerous times, while I never have.” She didn't take her eyes off him as she admitted, “This is my time.”

“I did not want them,” he confessed. “I wanted you. All of you! I wanted you to take notice that I needed you!” He implored, thumping a hand to his chest. “I wanted you to finally let go of him and love me,” he whispered, “the same way that I love you.” He took her hand in his. “Even you admit that you weren't all there for me.”

“I was honest with you from the beginning,” she said, causing Amir to pull away. “That's why I agreed that you could take lovers. I always hoped that you would find a woman to love you the way you needed to be loved.”

“You refused to let anyone with any true feelings come in,” he protested, his normally sultry voice at a slightly higher pitch. “Where was he when you were so low that you … you could have died. Where. Was. He? Where—”

Tailan stopped him with an icy glare, but he was not cowed.

“Now you want to go back to the same man who threw you away because you wouldn't give him what he wanted?”

Tailan tried to formulate a response, but Amir was ripping a Band-Aid off a wound that had never quite healed. And he was right, but she had played a part in things too. Delvin had expertly brought that point home during the tour.

“I accepted the limited amount of love you have for me,” Amir said, lacing his fingers in her hair. “It has not been enough, but I am still here because I know what unconditional love is.”

Tailan buried her head in the wall of his chest. His arms went around her, and he held her close. “I love you, Tailan. One day you will heal from his hurt so you can see that.” After a while, Amir cupped her face in his hands. “Only then will you finally be the wife that I need.”

“Amir, we're not even addressing the real issues with our marriage.”