After Hours (10 page)

“Buddy, I don’t know who you are but you need to stop calling me names,” her lunch companion snapped.

“I’ll call you anything I want,” Paul threatened, standing up to his full six foot six inch height. “Tyra is mine and I’m not about to give her up without a fight.”

“Paul, stop!” she hissed, getting up out of her chair. She pulled at his arm. “You don’t know what you’re doing. Listen to me.”

Paul jerked his arm away from her. “No. I need to show this guy who you belong with and it sure in the hell isn’t him.”

“Of course I don’t belong with him,” Tyra grounded out. “Marco is my nephew, you idiot,” she shouted, drawing attention over to their table.

“Nephew,” Paul muttered turning to face her, “if he’s your nephew why was he showing you a damn ring?”

“I wanted Tyra’s opinion about the size and if my girlfriend would like it,” Marco cut in, moving to stand by her. “God man, you’ve a temper problem. I don’t know why my aunt thinks she’s in love with you.”

****

“Can’t you stop working on that book for one minute and talk to me?” Africa asked, closing her laptop and moving it away from her.

 “You’d better be glad I have that set to save every two minutes or you would be on my Most Wanted list right now,” Jametria said, glaring at her best friend.

Laughing, Africa sat down on the couch beside her. “I know you aren’t really mad at me, so I’m going to let your comment slide. So, how much longer are you going to hide from Forbes?”

“I don’t have any reason to see that man again. He lied to me and I’m done with him. Besides, my book deadline is getting closer. Shouldn’t you be pushing me to get this done and off to the publisher?”

“Jametria, you know they have to go with another cover because of Forbes, so they gave you extra time to finish it. Tell me the real reason you are pushing yourself so hard?”

The sympathy in her friend’s voice made her bolt from the couch. “How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want to hear his name?”

“I think what he did was horrible and uncalled for, but don’t let it ruin your life.”

“How can you say that?” Jametria shouted. “Forbes never loved me. He was working undercover so he could arrest my uncle. He even slept with me so I wouldn’t see the truth.”

“I think you’re judging Forbes way too hard. Zane told me that he wanted to come clean with you numerous times.”

“Zane told you,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “What in the hell are you doing talking to that bastard?”

“He has been calling me to check on you for Forbes. Of course, I was angry at first and wanted to protect you until I realized how much he really cares about you.”

Jametria couldn’t believe this shit. Africa was supposed to be her best friend; however, she was taking the side of the two men who hurt her. “How can you turn on me like this? Isn’t your girlfriend supposed to have your back during a bad break-up?”

“Will you listen to me?” Africa tried to touch her, but she stepped back.

“Don’t touch me. You aren’t the friend I thought you were.” Jametria ignored the hurt look that crossed Africa’s exotic features.

“I’m going to forget you said that because you’re in pain.”

“You have it so wrong. I’m not in pain. Forbes has pissed me off and I feel stupid for falling for him. I wasn’t in love with the guy. He was good-looking and even better in bed, but I wasn’t dreaming about getting married to him.”

Hopefully, Africa would believe her lie, giving her the ability to think it was true.

“You’re still in love with Forbes and it’s probably not going to get any easier until you talk to him,” Africa challenged.

“No,” Jametria screamed. “Hell will freeze over before I say anything to that lying bastard.”

“Jametria, listen to me.”

“Can you please leave me alone? I’m getting a headache and I want to take a nap.” Africa opened her mouth, but she interrupted her. “Will you just go?”

“Fine, I’ll let you get some rest.” Africa finally agreed after a few minutes. “However, I want to tell you acting like this isn’t healthy. All this anger isn’t you. Jametria, you need to work through it and find a way to talk to Forbes.” Her agent walked away from her and then went out the door closing it with a soft click.

“I won’t ever allow Agent Forbes Huntington within touching distance of me or my heart again,” she promised herself inside the empty living room.

****

“You look like hell. Is Jametria still not talking taking your calls?”

Forbes slid over on the bench so Zane could sit down next to him. He hadn’t been at work for almost two weeks and he was actually thinking about not returning. “Last week, I went back to Dallas to see her and nothing worked out as I hoped it would. She wouldn’t even open the front door. The last time I laid eyes on her was at her uncle’s trial.

“Shit, I even tried to talking to her in the hallway outside the court room, but she was with Africa and her agent was like a mama bear protecting her cub. She rushed Jametria out of the court house past the media cameras into a waiting car and then left.”

 Zane frowned at him. “Jametria still can’t be mad at you, and if she is then you don’t need her.”

“Zane shut the hell up! You don’t know what I need,” Forbes snapped. “Jametria understood me and I loved it. Now I have lost her and I’m scared as hell I won’t find a way to get her back.”

“Are you sure that you can’t try talking to her again?” Zane suggested. “She can’t hate you forever. You were only doing your job. She should get that since she’s a writer. Most of her time is writing about people she isn’t and she makes a comfortable living at it too.”

Forbes laughed at his boss’s reasoning for him lying to Jametria and it eased some of the pain from his heart. “I love the way you think about things, but she doesn’t see it like that. Wayne was the only family she had left and the man she loved helped put him away.”

“Her uncle was a criminal and his life choices are what got him locked away not you,” Zane corrected. “Jametria is a grown woman not a child. She needs to understand stuff happens in life and move on. If she truly loves you then she needs to get over it and forgive you.”

A part of Forbes knew Zane was telling him the truth, yet he was still worried Jametria wouldn’t take him back. “I’m going to try one more time and see what happens. She’s having a book signing next week and I’m going to be there.”

“Do you think she’ll talk to you?”

“I won’t know until I get there.”

“I’ll come with you,” Zane offered, taking him by surprise.

Forbes frowned. “Why? You aren’t Jametria’s biggest fan.”

“Someone needs to keep Africa away from the two of you. You can’t have any privacy with her lurking in the shadows.”

Swallowing down a grin Forbes rose from the bench. “Africa is a very tough woman; she isn’t going to let you charm her.”

Zane snickered. “I don’t want Africa. She isn’t even my type. I offered to go as backup for you and that’s it.” His boss rose and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m not interested in Jametria’s agent so get that out of your mind.”

“That’s good to hear, because she can’t stand you either,” he tossed back then walked away.

“Who told you that Africa doesn’t like me?” Zane asked, but he kept walking.

Chapter Seventeen

One week later

“Jametria, stop it,” Africa scolded as she paced around the small room for the tenth time in the span of only a few minutes. “There are at least a hundred people out there to see you and you’re already a bundle of nerves. You aren’t going to have a steady hand to sign your name if you keep this up.”

“Why are you on my case?” she complained, sitting down on a chair by the window. The sunlight shone through, warming her up and soothing the anxiety that was clawing its way through her body.

Forbes hadn’t contacted her in over a week and she wasn’t upset by it. She wasn’t in love with him anymore. She just never thought she would lose her heart so easily to him. Why hadn’t her womanly instinct kicked in and warned her away from him? Jametria silently scolded herself then shook it off.

No, she wasn’t going to blame herself for this.

Without a doubt, Agent Huntington spent years crafting his charisma, making it a lot easier for him to seduce unsuspecting females. Honestly, how many men in the Bureau looked like Forbes? He oozed the bad boy sex appeal. The instant her eyes landed on Forbes, she fell hard for him like Jennifer Gray did for Patrick Swayze in
Dirty Dancing
.

 “I’m such an idiot,” she chastised herself. “Why did I ever sleep with him?”

“Jametria, you aren’t an idiot. You’re a woman who fell in love with an attractive man. Stop being so hard on yourself about it.”

 She smiled at her best friend, but she wasn’t buying Africa’s excuse. “Thanks, but I’m not talking to Forbes. He doesn’t understand what he did was wrong. He never thought about being honest with me.”

“How do you know that? Have you given him a chance to explain?”

“Africa, two weeks ago I was in court watching my uncle being accused of being on the F.B.I.’s ten most wanted list,” Jametria said. “How could I want to talk to Forbes after sitting through that? Besides, when he did try approaching in the hallway, you practically dragged me down the court house steps.”

 “I know and I feel bad about that now, but you were so upset that day. I couldn’t let Forbes corner you.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. “Come in,” Jametria yelled, standing up.

Kay, the bookstore owner, came in with a huge smile that covered her sienna face. Her thick braids were pulled back from her head with a clip. Jametria had liked her the second they were introduced.

 “We are ready for you, Ms. Collins,” she stated. “I can’t believe that I’ve already sold every copy of your book I had in the store.”

“You’re kidding me,” Jametria gasped.

Kay shook her head. “No, I’m serious. We sold out your newest hardcover book in a matter of minutes, and then they started on the mass market books.”

Jametria was speechless. She never thought people would respond to her like this at her first book signing. “How many people are out there now?” She wasn’t fond of big crowds, but she could deal with one if the time called for it.

“It’s hard to guess, but I would say over a hundred.”

Lord, give me the strength, she prayed silently.

“You can do this,” Africa said, giving her encouragement. “Just take a deep breath and smile. Don’t make it worse than it is. Remember that I’m going to be standing right behind you.”

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.
She kept saying that over and over in her head until her pulse returned to a normal rate. Jametria knew she wasn’t a coward and her fans came all this way to see her. It would be very disappointing if she didn’t get out there.

“Okay, I’m ready. Lead me to them.”

“Wonderful.” Kay grinned, turning back towards the door. “Thank you again for coming here and doing this.”

“Shades of Love was the first book store to place my books on its shelves. How could I say no? You helped me gain the fans that I have today.”

“I may have given them the avenue to buy your books, but your excellent writing keeps them coming back.” Kay opened the door allowing her and Africa to walk through then she followed.

“Thank you for the compliment,” Jametria said.

Kay waved off her statement. “Don’t thank me for speaking the truth. Now, let’s go and give your fans what they want.”

“What do they want?” she asked, growing a little more anxious as they strolled towards the front of the store.

“The chance to meet the famous Jametria Collins,” Africa answered. She wrapped her arm around her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “Push everything else to the back of your mind and allow yourself to get lost in the moment.”

Turning her head slightly, Jametria glanced up at her friend. “I’ll try my best.”

****

“There she is,” Forbes whispered as he watched Jametria take a seat at the empty table that only twenty minutes ago was stacked with her latest book. Her fans had snatched the books up minutes after the clerk walked away from the table. Luckily, he had arrived a little early and was able to grab one before they were all gone.

He couldn’t take his eyes off how the white sundress contrasted with Jametria’s dark beauty. Everything about her looked so bewitching today; if he wasn’t already in love with her, he would have fallen hard today.

What was he going to do if she
never
looked at him with love in her eyes again?

He wasn’t ready to think about all the time he had been cheated away from her. These past few weeks had been the worst of his life. Every day he remembered how her warm body felt against his chest, how sometimes her soft fingers stroked the middle of his chest until she fell asleep.

From looking at her sitting there so calm and professional, no one would ever guess how she loved hogging the bed at night. Her body continually sought his out during the night until she found the position she was most comfortable in. Forbes growled deep in his throat when Jametria smiled up at an attractive man while she signed his book. He hated being back here while that man was up there with his woman.

“If you don’t stop someone is going to look at you strangely,” Zane laughed beside him.

“Shut up!” he hissed underneath his breath. He watched as another man got a winning smile from Jametria as she took her book from his hands.

“Don’t yell at me. I wouldn’t be back here hidden next to a bookshelf if Jametria was mine. I’d have been the first person in line to see her.”

“She isn’t yours,” Forbes pointed out, hating that the fact the Jametria wasn’t his either.

“The last time I checked Jametria wasn’t yours either, Agent Huntington.” Zane snickered. “I can’t stand here any longer and watch you stare at Ms. Collins. So, I’m going next door to get something to eat. You are more than welcome to join me,” his boss said then left him alone.