Just Friends (25 page)

“Why do you have to say stuff like that?” She
dropped her head on his shoulder, and he inhaled the familiar scent
of her hair and skin.

He smiled. “I say stuff like that because
it’s true.” Trenton bent his head to hers and they bumped noses.
Her eyes smiled into his. “It’s true,” he repeated, his voice thick
with emotion. “You’re irreplaceable. I love you. You believe me,
don’t you?”

“I do.” She sighed. “You and your crazy man
logic.”

“My what?”

“Nothing.” She smiled with her lips, her
eyes, her entire face. “Just kiss me.”

Happy to oblige, Trenton pressed his mouth
against her soft, cool lips. When she leaned into him, he cupped
her jaw in his hand and deepened the connection, barely holding
back from ravishing her right there on the sidewalk.

When their lips separated, he stroked her jaw
with his thumb. Looking deeply into her eyes, he asked, “No
regrets?”

“No regrets. I realize that I made my
decision a long, long time ago. I chose you, Trent. I’ll always
choose you.”

Trenton kissed the palm of her hand. He could
smell the candy-apple sanitizer, arguably the most alluring scent
in the world, solely because it represented Alannah.

Standing, he picked up her suitcase. “Ready?”
He extended his hand.

“Yes.” She closed her fingers around his and
rose to her feet.

And followed behind him, the way she’d always
done. Ever since they were eight years old.

Trenton trailed Alannah up the stairs and set
her suitcase in the closet. Then he turned his attention to the
woman he loved. She stood in the middle of the room, silently
watching him. He walked over and proceeded to slowly undress her,
taking the time to release each button on her coat.

He tossed it aside and then lowered to his
haunches to remove her shoes. Once she’d stepped out of them, he
slipped the long-sleeved blouse over her head. Pants, socks, and
underwear followed.

Then it was her turn to undress him.

“I guess we’ll always be stuck with each
other,” he said.

“Is that how you feel? Stuck?” She unzipped
his pants.

“Nah.” He tilted her head up so he could see
her eyes. “Does it ever scare you? To need someone so much.”

She paused with her fingers on the middle
button of his shirt. “Yes. Does it scare you?”

“A little. But we can be scared together.” He
grinned.

She grinned back. “Considering everything
we’ve been through over the years, I think we can handle this.”

“Agreed.”

They fell onto the bed and their naked bodies
wrapped around each other. Comfortable. Familiar.

“We haven’t made love since before I left for
Colorado,” Trenton reminded her. He said the words against her
arched throat, his fingers strumming her clit as deftly as he did
the strings of the violin. “That’s cruel and unusual punishment.
It’s unconstitutional.”

Her laughter was breathless and husky, and
utterly content. A sound that he wanted to hear many more times to
come.

He made love to her in an unrushed, leisurely
fashion. Taking his time, he let his fingers sweep over her soft
hair and skin, leaving not an inch of flesh untouched. His tongued
traced the line of vertebrae from the small of her back to the base
of her neck. And his mouth savored the moisture of desire between
her legs, until she cried out, trembling, and clamped her thighs
around his head.

When their bodies joined together, she
allowed him deeper than she ever had, crossing her ankles high up
on his back. Her forearms tightened around his neck and held him
close, and his eardrums filled with the sound of her whimpers and
breathless pants.

She climaxed and he groaned, burying his face
in her neck, the tremors that shook her body echoing within him as
he released.

He whispered the first words that came to
mind—the only words he could say after such an intense orgasm and
the relief of holding on to the love of his life. “Love you so
much, Alannah.”

Then he took a deep breath, and the remaining
tightness in his chest completely dissipated.

****

The ringing phone broke through
Alannah’s sleep, and she felt the loss of heat as Trenton rolled
away from her. He slapped his hand along the table in the dark and
finally found the phone.

“Hello?” He was quiet for a bit and then he
sounded alarmed when he said, “What? And you’re just now calling
me?”

Alannah rolled to face him. “What is it?” she
asked, still groggy from sleep.

“Daniella went into early labor eight hours
ago,” Trenton whispered. He put the phone on speaker.

“At first they thought it was another false
alarm,” Ivy explained. “Then they wanted to wait until she was
properly dilated before calling anyone. She’s in the delivery room
now. Our nephew will be here any minute.”

Trenton swung his legs over the side of the
bed. “We’re on our way.”

“You don’t have to rush. Come when you’re
ready.”

“We’ll be there soon.”

He and Alannah dressed, while she chattered
excitedly about the baby. No surprise, since she loved babies and
spoiled her niece and nephews rotten. Now she’d have another baby
to love on.

By the time they arrived at the hospital,
Michael Andrew had already made his appearance. Flowers and
balloons filled the large room where the family was located, in a
private wing reserved for celebrity and high-profile births.

Phone pressed to her ear, Ivy waved hello as
she updated her fiancé, Lucas, who’d stayed at home with their
daughter. Daniella, looking drained, greeted them with a wan smile
and wave from the bed. Cyrus sat in a chair, holding her hand and
talking quietly to her. With Xavier still out of town, the only
other immediate family member missing was Gavin. Alannah figured
because of his limited mobility he’d decided to stay at home.

She went over to the bassinet where the
family matriarch, Constance Johnson, stood over her new grandson.
As always, the older woman wore a tailored designer dress and her
shoulder-length hair was perfectly styled without a strand out of
place.

“He’s adorable,” Alannah whispered, so as not
to wake the baby.

“Yes, he is. How are you?” Constance asked.
She searched Alannah’s face and shot a quick glance across the room
at Trenton. “I see everything is back to normal.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Alannah’s cheeks heated with
color.

“Good.” She patted Alannah’s hand.

Less than an hour after their brief exchange,
four more people arrived—two men and two women. She knew Hudson
Lynch, the Johnson family’s spokesperson. His PR firm handled all
their media relations. He had striking blue eyes and sported a fake
tan, with his long hair pulled back into a ponytail. She soon
learned that the other man was a photographer and the two women a
hair stylist and makeup artist.

Alannah watched in amazement as the stylist
whipped Daniella’s hair into a tamed style that fell over one
shoulder, looking sleek and neat but not overdone. The makeup
artist worked the same magic on her face, using concealer and
neutral colors to give her a fresh-faced look that didn’t appear
made up.

When they’d completed their work, Constance
carefully lifted the baby from the bassinet and handed him to
Daniella. The photographer proceeded to take a slew of photos.
Close-ups of the baby, pictures of Daniella and the baby, photos of
Cyrus, Daniella, and the baby, and even photos of the entire group
gathered together.

Having been close with the family for so
long, Alannah knew the purpose of everything they did was not only
to capture the moment for the family. They would release official
photos to the press so as to avoid the feeding frenzy that could
ensue when media outlets jockeyed to get the first pictures of the
newest addition to the Johnson family.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Cyrus said. He stood
over his wife, his concerned gaze resting on her strained face.

“Just a few more,” Hudson said.

“That’s enough,” Cyrus said again, this time
speaking directly to their spokesperson. “My wife needs to rest,
just like my son is doing. You have plenty of pictures. You should
be able to find something usable among all of those.”

Hudson nodded. “All right, let’s go.” He
waved his hand in a circle above his head and the three who’d
arrived with him started packing up. “You’re fine with the
statement I’ll be releasing?” he asked Cyrus.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Within seconds, they were gone.

“We’re going to leave, too,” Trenton said. He
walked over to Alannah and put an arm around her shoulders.
“Congratulations you two.”

“I’ll come with you,” Ivy said.

They all said their goodbyes, and they left
Constance, Cyrus, Daniella, and baby Michael in the room.

“I’m surprised they didn’t name the baby
Cyrus,” Alannah said, as they waited at the elevator.

“I’m not,” Trenton said.

“Me either,” Ivy added.

“Really? I thought for sure that there’d be a
Cyrus the third.”

“There’s a lot of responsibility attached to
the name Cyrus Johnson,” Trenton said. The elevator doors slid open
and the three of them entered the cab. “I think he wanted to give
his son some different choices.”

****

Trenton let himself into Alannah’s townhouse.
His nephew was seven days old, and he and Alannah had gone by the
house to see Daniella and the baby. Afterward, they’d gone their
separate ways to run errands, and Trenton had stopped at home to
shower and change into the long-sleeved shirt and navy slacks he
wore under his coat.

On the way to the stairs, Angel rushed out of
her cage and trotted over to him.

He bent down and patted her head. “Hey there,
Angel. How’re you doing, girl?” She let out an excited bark and
turned in a circle. Tail wagging, she bounced up on her hind legs
and looked up at him expectantly.

“I can’t play with you all night,” he said,
rubbing the dog’s head and around her ears. “Your mommy and I are
going to The Underground.”

Trenton left the Yorkie and climbed the
stairs two at a time. As he neared the open bedroom door, he heard
“Vivrant Thing” by Q-Tip playing. He came to a stop in the doorway.
Even with her out-of-rhythm dancing, Alannah still looked sexy as
she applied the finishing touches of her makeup.

Tonight she wore a white Donna Karan blouse
with a deep vee neckline. With her small breasts, there was no
cleavage, and a thin white gold necklace settled on her chest.
High-waisted black trousers and black shoes with a short heel
completed the outfit.

No more pretending that high heels were her
thing. She told him she admired women who wore them, but admitted
they hurt her feet and she had to concentrate too much when she
walked. She’d save them for special occasions.

He’d opened accounts for her at several
high-end stores, and she’d taken Terri shopping with her. After the
trip, she’d made a big deal of expressing how much she appreciated
his generosity, which he found amusing. Based on the bills he’d
received, she hadn’t spent much. He’d bought her gifts before, but
he suspected it would take time for her to get used to having him
give her gifts as a lover.

Overwhelmed by his love for her, he walked
over and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her, hard.

“You’re going to kiss off all my lipstick,”
she muttered, kissing him back and flicking her tongue over his
mouth.

“You don’t have more?” He reclaimed her lips,
drinking from their sweetness and savoring the texture of their
lushness.

“I do, but…” She kissed him.

“Okay, then.” He kissed her again.

They kissed and kissed, and their mouths
devoured each other. His lips moved down to her neck. “Should I
give you a hickie?”

“Don’t you dare.” She slapped his arm and
twisted to face the mirror again.

Trenton folded his hands over her stomach and
watched her reapply her lipstick. “Did you get through with your
application?”

Alannah had decided to get a master of
science in molecular biosciences to increase her chances for
advancement in her field.

“Almost. I’m waiting on one more
recommendation to come in before I submit it.”

“We’re going to have to spend every night
together from now until you start classes. Once you start, you
won’t have much time between studying and work.”

“Every night?” Alannah looked at him in the
mirror, amusement in her eyes.

“Yes, every night.” He pulled her tight
against him so she could feel his rising erection. “Don’t you want
to wake up next to this every morning?”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” She
brought a hand to his face and rubbed his cheek. “I hope I don’t
get tired of seeing your ugly mug every day.”

“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing
about you.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Meanie.” She twisted in his arms and gave
him a quick peck on the lips.

Trenton placed a moist kiss to the skin
exposed by the revealing neckline and growled. He lifted his head
and sighed heavily. “We better get out of here before I have you
naked and we never leave.”

“Would that be so terrible?” she teased.

“Yes, it would. I already texted the frat
that I’d be there, so I want to keep my promise.”

Devin had broached the topic of he, Trenton,
and another frat brother opening clubs like The Underground in
Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina, where Devin had
contacts.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Almost.” Alannah scurried over to a table in
the corner and turned off the music. With a happy grin on her face,
she placed her hand in his. “Ready.”

****

They walked into The Underground holding
hands. Whenever Trenton stopped and spoke to anyone, he continued
to hold Alannah’s hand, or left an arm around her waist. Even when
he greeted other women, he didn’t let her go, giving them one-armed
hugs so he could maintain his hold on her.