Gimme an O! (26 page)

“I think it’s just awful how that woman tried to railroad her husband. Feeding all those lies to the media.”

“Yes, it was,” Lecia replied, keeping her more detailed thoughts on the subject to herself.

Rita got to her feet. “For what it’s worth, I think you two make a cute couple. And he seems so nice—I can’t see him being the kind of guy to get upset over a little dryness,” she added wryly.

“Rita—”

“I know. I’m here to talk about me, not about you. Next week, same time? You’ll be here?”

“I’m not planning any more adventures in the near future.”

“Oh well.” Rita shrugged as if to say that was a shame.

“Now, Moaner. I already made an exception and let you into the house. The least you could do is sleep in this very lovely bed that I bought for you.”

The orange tabby looked up at Lecia and mewled her discontent.

“What is it, hmm?” Lecia dropped to her knees and stroked the cat’s head. Moaner started to purr. “Is that it? You just wanted a bit of attention? You’re just like a man, aren’t you? You want attention when you want it, but when you’re satisfied, I don’t hear from you for days. Well, this is as good as it gets, you hear? You will not share my bed.” She softened as the cat rubbed itself against her leg, purring in delight. “All right. Maybe you can have the foot of the bed. Which is about as close as I’ll get to any type of companionship for a long time, I’m sure.” Moaner licked her hand. “No—don’t get your hopes up. I’m not going to let you sleep in my bed until you’ve given your bed a fair chance. Got it?”

Her doorbell rang, and Lecia frowned. It was after seven in
the evening, and she wasn’t expecting anyone. Still, she padded out of her bedroom and to the front door, Moaner trotting behind her.

She glanced through the peephole. Then nearly had heart failure when she saw Anthony Beals standing on her front porch.

She backed against the wall, panic swirling inside her. What should she do? She had to look ghastly with no makeup and wearing sweats.

Of course, Anthony had seen her in much worse…and much less.

The doorbell sounded again.

Why did she have to look good for him, anyway? Lecia inhaled a deep breath, gripped the handle, and swung the door open.

Damn if butterflies didn’t start dancing for joy in her stomach at the sight of Anthony’s tall, muscular frame filling her doorway.

“Hey,” he said softly.

Lecia watched Moaner dash outside, not saying a word.

Anthony held up a copy of her book.

She arched an eyebrow. “What is this?”

“Your book.”

“I know that’s my book. I want to know why you’re standing in my doorway showing it to me, as if I’ve never seen it before.”

“It’s for my mother. Seems she’s a fan of yours and wants it autographed.”

The mortified look on his face told Lecia he was being truthful. “So your mother’s a fan. Isn’t that sweet.”

“I’m not too sure about that.”

“Ah. I get it. You’re one of those guys who’d rather believe you were delivered by a stork than accept the fact that your mother is a sexual being.”

Anthony held up a hand. “Please. I don’t need that visual image.”

Lecia almost chuckled, but managed not to. “Shall I get a pen?”

“I was thinking I could come in.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

She didn’t move backward to invite him in. Instead, she looked him directly in the eyes and said, “There was one thing that was important to me.
One
thing. That you not get up and leave me the way Allen used to do. But Ginger called, and as soon as you heard her voice, you were off.”

“Not for the reason you think.”

“It doesn’t matter why. It matters how it made me feel.”

“I know I hurt you, and I’m sorry. But so much was going through my mind at the time, I thought my head was gonna explode. I needed to think, to figure out how I would move on with my life.”

“You haven’t called me in nearly a month.”

“Sorting out one’s feelings—you can’t do it overnight.”

Lecia didn’t know if she should invite him in and tear his clothes off or slam the door in his face.

“If you’re here because you feel guilty—”

“That’s not why.”

“—then you really shouldn’t give what happened between us a second thought. Like you said, it just happened. We got caught up with our emotions. We were both looking for some type of comfort, and we found it in each other. We were two
consenting adults. You said yourself, it was a meaningless fling.”

Anthony’s eyes widened. “I know I didn’t say that.”

“But that’s what you meant.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“I’m a shrink, remember. Trained to read between the lines.”

“Then you should have figured out that my issue had to do with how everything between us had happened so quickly, same as it happened quickly with Ginger. I didn’t want to make another mistake.”

“We don’t need to rehash it. I understand.”

“I’m not sure you do. Let me start over. Hey, Doc. I missed you. Can I come in?”

Despite Lecia’s reservations, there was a part of her that wanted to swing the door open wide, throw her arms around his neck, and drag him inside. But that would get her a few hours of pleasure at best, leaving her in the same predicament when Anthony turned around and left.

“I’ve got Agatha,” he said, then dangled a videotape before her.

“Ooh, you don’t play fair.”

“I’m a quarterback. I play to win.”

Sighing with resignation—and a budding sense of hope—Lecia stepped back and pulled the door open wide.

Anthony moved inside, then followed her to the living room. She sank onto her soft leather sofa, dragging one of the throw pillows onto her lap as she did.

“I realized you were right,” he said as he sat opposite her. “That maybe I did have more issues on my plate than I was able to deal with, and that there was no shame in talking to someone about it.”

Her eyes flew to his. “You went to see a therapist?”

“Not an actual therapist, but a guy I trust.”

“And?”

“And he helped me sort through what was going through my head.” Anthony paused. “I think at the root of what I was feeling, guilt was the strongest emotion.”

“Guilt?” Lecia asked, disbelief in her voice. But Anthony’s sincere expression silenced her. She knew better. She was a therapist, for goodness sake. The last thing she ought to do was interrupt someone who was trying to get their emotions out.

But this wasn’t just anyone. This was Anthony.

“Hear me out,” he pleaded.

“I’m sorry. Please continue.”

“All my life I told myself I would never be like my father. Yet there I was with you, spending so much time with you, and growing more and more attracted to you by the second. The next thing I knew, we were in bed together. Even though I was still legally married.”

“She wasn’t your wife.”

“But I didn’t know that then—”

“Yes, you did. From the moment she told you she wanted a divorce based on some phony story that she had concocted, you damn well knew she was no longer your wife. I mean, you knew that how she reacted to you was not the way that a woman who loves her husband reacts. Hell, once I heard you tell your story,
I
believed you and trusted you—and I barely knew you.”

A feeling of warmth started to fill Anthony. Like nothing he’d quite experienced before, it spiraled out from his belly and spread through his limbs, reaching every part of his body. Reaching his heart.

Her words were only part of what touched him. It was the way she spoke them, with such passion.

“That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“I’m not saying it to be nice. I’m saying it because it’s true. When I think of what Ginger or Takesha or whatever she calls herself put you through, how she set you up, how you possibly could have gone to
prison
because of her—I get so angry I just want to smack the woman.”

Anthony couldn’t help it. He smiled.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because. I like you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“No, I take that back. I love you.”

Seconds passed. Then Lecia gaped at him. “What’d you say?”

“You didn’t let me finish. That’s why I felt so guilty. Yeah, I knew my marriage was over. I was legally separated, on the road to divorce. But the last thing I ever wanted to do was be a serial monogamist. Or worse, a cheating bastard.”

“Oh? Are you saying that’s what I have to look forward to?”

“Not a chance. But it was what I needed to figure out. God, that sounds wrong. I’m trying to say that I needed to know my falling for you had nothing to do with some sort of weakness I had no control over. The kind of pathetic weakness my father succumbed to over and over. I wanted to know that if I finally met the right woman, my genetic makeup wouldn’t blow it for me.”

“And?”

His lips lifted in a sweet smile that touched Lecia’s heart. “How could I ever blow it with a woman who loves Agatha as much as I do?”

She wouldn’t make this easy for him. “So this is about Agatha?”

“You know what?” Anthony stood. “I think I should shut up, and I think you should shut up. Because you know why I’m here. And I say we leave it at that.” He stopped in front of her, bracing his arms on either side of her so his face lingered before hers. “Except…”

Lecia’s eyelids fluttered. “Yes?”

He inhaled deeply, as if breathing in her scent. “Except…I wouldn’t mind some popcorn.”

Lecia blinked. “Come again?”

Anthony put the videocassette on her lap. “You fell asleep as
Murder on the Orient Express
was playing in the car. I thought we could watch it. I’ve also got
Murder Most Foul
,
Murder, She Said
, and
Murder Ahoy
in the car. I don’t have to be anywhere for a long, long time.”

Lecia found it hard to breathe from excitement. Her mojo was doing the happy dance. “Planning a marathon session, are you?”

He bit his bottom lip. “Oh, yeah.”

Lecia swallowed. “Lucky for you, I’ve got popcorn.”

“I hope it’s not low-fat.”

“Caramel and extra butter.”

“Oooh, Doc. You know how to tease.”

She would never tire of his verbal foreplay. “The VCR’s behind you.”

“Can I get a kiss?” he asked, inching his face closer to hers.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Anthony brought his full lips down on hers, and Lecia thought she had died and gone to heaven. This was real. She wasn’t dreaming.

“Aw, Doc. I’ve missed those lips.”

She whistled lowly. “If we’re gonna watch that movie, you’d better get up.
Now
.”

Anthony stood tall, grinning down at her as he did.

“Here.” Lecia shoved the tape into his hands.

And as Anthony took it and headed to the VCR, Lecia smiled like a fool and hustled to the kitchen. The sound of opening cupboards mixed with the sound of the television coming to life. She had to admit, she liked the sound of a man in her living room. Finally there was someone in her life to mend the cracks in her walls, and maybe even to rebuild her deck. And of course, to give her endless nights of great sex.

“All right,” Anthony called out. “Why can’t I get this VCR to work?”

Okay, so perhaps she’d have to hire someone for the cracks. And the deck could wait, right? After all, she would hardly have time to hang out in the backyard when she’d be making serious use of her bedroom.

“Lecia?”

“Coming, dear,” she said, then made her way to the man she loved, thinking that the great sex was a pretty good compromise.

KAYLA PERRIN’s
acclaimed novels include
The Sweet Spot, Tell Me You Love Me,
and the
Essence
bestseller
Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa.
A certified teacher, Kayla also works in the Toronto film industry as an actress, having appeared in many TV shows, commercials, and movies, and was the 2002 recipient of the
Romantic Times
Career Achievement Award for Multicultural Romance.

www.kaylaperrin.com

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