Let's Get It On (13 page)

Shaking her head to rid herself of bygone days, Kenya pointed Maurice in the direction of the entertainment center. “I'll heat up the food,” she said, watching him as he removed his white oxford shirt. “What are you doing?”

“I don't want to get my shirt dirty,” he said. “Problem?”

She looked at his torso, which was hidden behind a tight Under Armour tank top that hugged each rippling muscle, enhanced the look of his six-pack, and made him seem nearly naked. “No,” she replied as she bounced into the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye, she could've sworn she saw Maurice smirking.

Kenya brushed it off as she walked into the kitchen and fished a pair of plates and some mismatched flatware out of her boxes. Then she placed the food in the microwave, ignoring the feelings that were stirring between her legs. “How's it going in there?” she called out.

“Uh, it's coming along. This thing has a lot of pieces. And you were going to put this together with no tools,” he replied.

“I would've managed,” she said as she pulled the steaming food from the microwave and dumped it on the plates. When she walked into the living room to survey Maurice's work, she wasn't surprised at how little he had gotten accomplished, because he had tossed the instructions to the side.

Just like a man,
she thought.
It would be so simple if he read this.
Kenya reached down and picked up the instructions. “Why don't you read these as we eat? And then you can finish.”
And get out of my house, because I can't take being this close to you without touching you, kissing you, and having you inside me
, she added silently.

Maurice nodded, took the instructions from Kenya, and then sat beside her on the sofa.

They ate in silence, commenting only on the taste of a dish. Kenya stole glances at him as he ate, thinking about the last time those lips were on hers and on the most intimate places of her body. Rising to her feet, Kenya had to get away from Maurice before she leaned over and ripped his pants off.

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked as she headed into the kitchen with their empty plates.

Maurice followed her and pressed her against the wall as she dropped the dishes in the sink. “I want something.”

Before she could protest, he captured her lips, kissing her fervently. Her knees shook, the room seemed to spin, and she didn't even notice that he was slipping his hands into her pants until she felt his finger at the crotch of her lace panties. Every rational thought in her head was to push him away, but she gave in to the kiss, allowing her hormones and heart to take over. She grabbed the buckle of his pants and pulled him closer to her body. Feeling his every throbbing muscle against her made her melt into a pool of lust.

She allowed him to strip her clothes off and kiss her breasts until her nipples swelled. Then he eased down her torso, kissing and licking her navel as if she held the sweetest nectar there. Kenya held on to the wall as he parted her thighs and kissed the wet folds of skin that hid her desire. She shivered as his tongue grazed her clitoris, nearly causing her to climax. With one hand, she grabbed the back of his neck, pushing her hips into his lips. Moaning from delight, Kenya whispered his name as he alternated using his tongue and his finger to stimulate her.

“I want to be inside you,” Maurice declared as he looked up at her. “I'm burning for you. Tell me you want me, too.”

“I want you,” she replied. “I need you.”

Maurice hoisted her up and toted her off to her bedroom. The bed wasn't made, and there were boxes everywhere, but it didn't matter to either of them. They were half naked, hot, and desperate to feel each other.

He gently laid her on the bed and began nibbling on her body again, starting at her neck. Kenya felt as if she was about to explode when he slipped one hand between her legs. Clenching her muscles, she took his finger into her wetness and nearly brought herself to a climax. Maurice spread her legs and fought the urge to enter her without a condom. He had to protect her, though he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to watch Kenya's belly swell with his child.

My child?
he thought as he reached for his discarded pants to retrieve a condom.
I've never wanted any woman to have my baby. But Kenya isn't like any other woman. She should've been the one standing at the altar with me.

Kenya stroked his face gently. “What are you thinking?” she asked.

“About how good you feel,” he replied as he slipped the condom in place. “How I never should've let you go. Kenya, I need you in my life, and not just as someone I sleep with when the feeling hits. I want you to be mine.”

She sighed, her breasts heaving as she exhaled. “I'm afraid,” she said. “I don't want to be hurt again.”

“I won't hurt you,” he said as he entered her awaiting body.

Kenya felt a ripple flow through her body as he ground his hips against hers. She met him stroke for stroke, pushing her pelvis into his, making sure he touched every tender spot inside. When he melted into her G-spot, Kenya screamed in delight. How could she keep doing this and not let her real feelings show? This wasn't casual sex, and he'd said he wanted more from her. Was it true, though? Could she risk her heart again when she knew that Maurice had already broken it once?

Grasping his shoulders, she pulled him deeper inside her, unable to think or speak because it felt so good to have him there. He made her juices flow like a river. Kenya tightened her thighs around him, as if she was trying to make him lose himself in her or to weld their souls together.

Maurice shuddered as Kenya bucked and feverishly ground against him, taking her sexual satisfaction into her own hands and making him feel sensations that he'd never felt before.

“Kenya, I love you,” he exclaimed. “I love you.” Then they climaxed, their hearts beating in sync. As Kenya collapsed in his arms, she didn't think about Lauryn, as she had the first time they'd made love. She felt comfortable this time. Maurice was hers; now she could be his.

Looking up at him, she smiled, then said, “You're going to have to find a new lawyer.”

“What?”

“I don't sleep with my clients, and I definitely don't have relationships with them,” she replied. “But it's up to you. You can have me or my services.”

“Who were some of those other attorneys that you suggested?” he said, without hesitation.

Gently, Kenya pushed Maurice over on his back. Then she straddled his body, immediately reviving his sex organ. She kissed him on his earlobe as she ran her hand down his chest. “I'll make sure you get that list in the morning,” she whispered. “But right now, I don't want to talk about business.”

Maurice wrapped his arms around her waist. “Let's not talk at all,” he said before sinking into her hot, wet valley.

It had been two weeks since Maurice and Kenya had made it official: they were a couple again. Kenya couldn't have been happier. Maurice was more attentive, more loving, and more caring than he'd been nearly a decade ago. Still, in the back of her mind, she wondered if things were going to be different when football season started and he was on the road with all of the groupies and the other women who would surely be after him. Then there was Lauryn. Kenya figured that she'd resurface at some point. After all, she was going to marry Maurice, and Kenya figured the gold digger would run out of gold sooner or later.

Stop borrowing trouble,
she told herself as she headed downstairs to meet Maurice for lunch.
Just be happy.

Happiness.
Could she and Maurice really have true happiness, and had she really forgiven him for what happened all those years ago in that dorm room? And would he forgive her for not telling him about the loss of their child? A frown clouded her comely features as she stepped on the elevator. When Kenya saw her reflection in the steel doors, she plastered a smile on her face and vowed not to ruin their date.

“Hello, beautiful,” Maurice said when she stepped off the elevator.

“Hi.”

“I made reservations for us at Bentley's on Twenty-seven. It's a beautiful place, with a view of the city that's almost as breathtaking as you are,” he gushed. Proudly, he wrapped his arm around her waist and led her out the door. “How's your day been?”

“Normal. Contracts, negotiations, and people wanting stuff yesterday. It's amazing. When I was in Atlanta, I was in court almost every day, but here people love to settle. It's like no one wants bad publicity,” she said.

Maurice nodded in agreement. “You see how fast the city came down on the price of that land we wanted once they heard that we had your firm working with us. You all must have some reputation.”

“Well, we try. But from what I can tell, no one in Charlotte wants to look bad. This city is all about image, getting a good one and keeping it.”

Maurice was strangely silent. His image had taken a hit after his failed attempt at marriage to Lauryn. He wasn't looking forward to training camp, because he was sure that his teammates would have a lot to say about him being left at the altar for a woman. He'd purposely avoided them during the off-season, something that he didn't normally do. He was the guy who organized team-building activities, welcomed the rookies into the organization, and planned the parties for the veterans. He hadn't even spoken to his good friend Homer. They usually played golf and traveled together during the off-season. Maurice tried to pretend that he was busy with his business, but that wasn't the case. He'd left the running of Brothers Reality to James. He could've easily said that wooing Kenya was why he hadn't been in contact with his teammates, but he knew the truth was that he was embarrassed. What did his woman leaving him for another woman say about his manhood?

“What's wrong?” Kenya asked, noting his silence.

“Nothing. Just thinking about the upcoming season,” he lied. “We're going to have to work extra hard, because everyone is going to be gunning for us.”

“To be the best, you have to beat the champs,” she said and grinned. “I'm excited. I may have to come check out a few games.”

“You're going to have to check out all the games. You've always been my good luck charm.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “I can put you on my family list, which I'm going to have to update immediately.”

“Guess Lauryn is still on it, huh?” Kenya said detachedly. She hated when thoughts of the past entered her head or when she felt jealous and insecure about Lauryn. Maurice was with her now, and their relationship might have been low key compared to the media spectacle that he and Lauryn had shared, but Kenya didn't mind. What went on between the two of them wasn't the business of the city or
SportsCenter
. Then again, maybe Maurice was trying to keep up the illusion of being single so that when the season started, he would have his choice of groupies.

Stop it,
Kenya chided herself as she slid into his car.
If you can't trust him, then you need to end this now.

“
Maurice,” Kenya said as he peeled out of the parking lot, “have you seen Lauryn since you've been back?”

“Please don't start that.”

“I'm not starting anything, I'm just . . . it's just you two were going to be married, and I'm sure . . .”

“She made her choice, and I have nothing to say to her about it or anything else. Why do you keep harping on it?” he snapped.

“Harping? I asked you a simple question, and trust me, I have a right to wonder about the two of you, considering the past.”

“You want to stay stuck in the past, or are we going to move ahead? Really, Kenya, if you're going to keep holding a nine-year-old mistake over my head, maybe I'll go out and make a new one.”

“Stop the car.”

He slowed down and turned to her. “I didn't mean that.”

“Stop the damned car,” she yelled.

He did, and she jumped out as if she'd been burned by the seat. Slamming the door, she took off speed walking down the street, into a sea of bankers and construction workers.
How stupid have I been?
she thought.
Maurice is the same arrogant jerk that he was in college, and I am just his mid-season replacement. I won't go through this again.

Kenya wasn't surprised that when she turned the corner, Maurice—illegally parked—was waiting for her. She ignored him until he got out of the car and jogged to catch up to her.

“Kenya, I'm sorry. I just don't want to think or talk about Lauryn.”

“Because you still love her, right? What if she decides that she's straight again? Are you going to go back to her and forgive her? Are you going to ask her to let her ex-lover join you two in a night of sex?” Kenya snapped, rolling her eyes as she spoke.

“Hell no. Lauryn can flip-flop in terms of her sexuality all she wants. I'm done with her. But that whole thing with her hurt me. Maybe it's just my pride that's bruised. Can you imagine what I'm going to hear in the locker room? What defensive linemen from opposing teams are going to say to me on the field?”

Kenya held her arms out as if she were playing an invisible violin. “Karma! I seriously hope you get over yourself. Men kill me. You and your egos. Maybe if you thought with your head and your heart and not with your penis, things like this wouldn't happen to you! Maybe if you would have paid more attention to me in college, you would have known that I didn't want to go to those smoky clubs and sip on liquor, because I was pregnant with your child.” She covered her mouth quickly because this wasn't the way she'd wanted to tell him about the baby and the loss of it.

“What did you just say?” he asked, his mouth hanging open like a shocked tourist meeting a drag queen for the first time. “You were pregnant?”

“Yes,” she muttered. “But when I got to Clark, I had a miscarriage. I wasn't doing what I was supposed to do to take care of myself and my unborn child. I was too afraid to tell you, because I didn't want you to think I was trying to trap you into a marriage or staying in our relationship when I could feel you pulling away from me. And there was no way in hell I was going to tell my mother that I did what she told me not to do, go to college and get pregnant.”

He stood there, soaking in her words.
Pregnant.
He had almost been a father. “Why didn't you tell me?” he demanded.

“Because I was only acting on a strong suspicion that I was pregnant and I was afraid,” she said quietly. “When I found out for sure, you were with Lauryn, and I was in the hospital, having a D and C.”

“Come on. You had to know. Maybe if you would have told . . .”

“If you had known I was pregnant, you wouldn't have slept with Lauryn? What BS, Mo!” she yelled.

“How do you know? You never gave me a choice. Do you really think I believe you didn't know you were pregnant? How could you not know? Something was growing inside you! My child was inside of you. Miscarriage? Just tell me the truth. You had an abortion, didn't you?”

Before she could answer, a parking enforcement officer walked over to them. “Excuse me,” she said. “This car needs to be moved, or I'll ticket you.”

“This is not a good time,” Maurice snapped.

“And this is not an authorized parking spot,” the officer replied. “Move the car, or I'll have it towed. Hey, aren't you Maurice Goings?”

“Yeah, and I'm in the middle of something,” he said forcefully.

The officer placed her hands on her hips and pursed her lips. “And I'm not the meter maid who Randy Moss ran over. I'll kick your ass. Move your car.”

“Move the car,” Kenya said as she began to walk away. Maurice reached out and tried to stop her from walking away. The officer stepped in between them.

“Don't you grab her. She obviously doesn't want to talk to you,” the officer said, then pressed a button on her radio.

Maurice tried to sidestep the woman, but their arms got tangled, and the officer fell to the ground.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” he said and held his hand out to help her up.

“Don't touch me!” the officer yelled, causing a group of onlookers to gather.

Kenya ran back to them. “He didn't mean it,” she said as she tried to help the woman to her feet.

“He was just about to grab you, and now you're defending him?” the officer asked incredulously as she rose to her feet, ignoring Kenya's outstretched hand. Seconds later, two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police cars pulled up, and four officers stepped out.

“Meg, everything all right?” one of the police officers asked.

The parking enforcement officer pointed at Maurice. “He assaulted me.”

“Mr. Goings?” said the other police officer. “Maurice Goings, the Panthers' wide receiver?”

“I don't give a damn who he is. He assaulted me, and I want to press charges,” the parking enforcement officer exclaimed, waving her hands wildly in the air. “Arrest him, or I will report this to the chief.”

The police officers looked at Maurice apologetically. “We have to take you in, sir,” said one of the officers.

“Oh my God! This is a misunderstanding that you all are blowing out of proportion,” Kenya exclaimed. “This hag is just trying to make the six o'clock news.”

“Kenya,” Maurice said, “I don't need your help.”

Kenya's mouth dropped open, and hot tears of anger sprang into her eyes. Without saying another word, she turned on her heels and headed for the free trolley stop to go back to her office. Maurice could rot in jail for all she cared.
Spoiled brat,
she thought as she waited for the Red Line bus to pick her up.
And to think he had the nerve to accuse me of having an abortion! I wasn't the one caught with my pants down. He can pretend that he would've acted differently if I'd told him that I thought I was pregnant. He's not going to lump me into Lauryn's league. He wanted a way out so he could be single and free. Now he has it.

By the time Kenya made it back to her office, her stomach was growling, and her feet were throbbing. The Red Line had dropped her off about three blocks from her office, and three-inch heels weren't exactly walking shoes. She kicked her shoes off once she sat at her desk and rubbed her feet.

“Miss Taylor,” her assistant said. “Mr. Goings is here to see you.”

Thinking it was Maurice, Kenya fought the urge to tell him to go to hell. “Send him in.” She bent down to put her shoes on, and when she heard the door close, she said, “You're such an asshole, and I don't know what you're here for. I guess the police didn't cart you off to jail.”

“It's James, not Maurice. Why would he be going to jail?” James asked.

Looking over her desk, she smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry.” She rose to her feet and began explaining what had happened uptown.

James sat down. “So, you guys are arguing already,” he said.

“Aren't you going to go check on him?” Kenya asked.

He shrugged his shoulder. “If he needs me, he'll call. I'm concerned about you. I know that you and Maurice are trying this thing again, but I don't want you to be hurt, and I don't want to see my brother get hurt, either.”

“It doesn't look like you're going to have to worry about Maurice and me being together anymore.” Kenya sighed heavily. “You can't go home again, and you can't relight an old flame.”

“I'm sorry,” James said. “Then again, maybe I'm not. Maurice blew his chances with you a long time ago, and you can do a lot better.”

Crawford Calhoun, one of the firm's associates, burst through the door of Kenya's office. “Turn on the news. Maurice Goings was arrested and charged with assault. They're comparing it to the whole Randy Moss situation from a couple of years ago.”

James rose to his feet quickly. “I'm going to head down to the county jail and see what's going on.”

Kenya fought the urge to go with him. But Maurice's words rang clearly in her ears.
Kenya, I don't need your help.

 

 

Maurice was treated like a rock star when he was booked at the Mecklenburg County Jail. He signed autographs for jailers and a few of the deputies. He even smiled for his mug shot. Inside, he fumed. Kenya didn't have to blurt out that kind of news on the street. Did she expect him to believe that she had a miscarriage? He remembered her anger when she left JC Smith. She had known that she was pregnant, and she'd wanted him to suffer. So she'd killed his child. Maurice had always wanted to be a father so that he could be a better one than his own father had ever been. He had shared that with Kenya time and time again. When they'd started having sex, he'd always told her that he would take care of her and their child if that time ever came.