Moments of Clarity (14 page)

“No, as a matter of fact I had to teach her,” Sexton said with a teasing glint in his eyes. “After my brush with the law, Mom enrolled me in dance classes as part of my punishment. I can even ballroom dance.”

“Really?” Sasha replied, somewhat surprised.

“After my stint in the hoosegow, I was grounded for a couple of weeks and at the end of my time, Mom came into the room and told me she'd signed me up for dance classes. I suppose she was trying to get some of the heathen out of me.”

Sasha laughed at his description of himself, which she knew to be opposite to the kind of man he really was. “I should turn your name into
Dancing with the Stars
. You could be the next Emmitt Smith,” she laughed.

“I try to be the best at whatever task is given to me,” he replied with a touch of smugness.

They continued to dance, and on the third song Tiara and Calvin came onto the floor next to them.

The music changed and Calvin turned and held out his hand to Sasha.

Instinctively she looked at Sexton and saw a slight nod of permission. She let herself be drawn close to Calvin's body. As soon as they began to dance, the tempo of the music changed from salsa to a slow one by Levert.

She did not feel at all uncomfortable in Calvin's arms. He didn't hold her so close that she felt his sexual organ as she had when she danced with Sexton. Sasha peeked over Calvin's shoulders to find where Sexton and Tiara were dancing.

Sexton had his head bent at something Tiara was saying and he threw his head back and laughed.

A surge of jealousy coursed through her body at the sight, and then surprise at her reaction made her miss a step and she stumbled against Calvin's body.

He steadied her and she looked up into his face to apologize. Calvin stared down at Sasha, but when he realized that she was watching him, something that she couldn't quite fathom was replaced by an expression that she was familiar with.

“Focus on me for a minute, please,” he teased. “I know that you're in love with my boy, but you have to pay attention to your dancing partner if you don't want to damage him with those lethal shoes you and Tiara insist on wearing all of the time.”

Calvin's words startled her.
Was she in love or falling in love with Sexton
? In the past, whenever someone had asked her if she was in love with Abdul, she'd denied it forthwith. But she had no verbal response for Calvin's words.

* * *

Sasha was quiet on the ride home, still thinking about the things that Tiara and Calvin had said to her. Sexton put the radio on a station that played love songs without interruption from one a.m. to six a.m.

She had been dozing in and out of sleep and was surprised when Sexton pulled into a parking garage in the village. Sitting up, she looked around drowsily and said, “Where are we?”

“At my place. Don't you think it's time for you to see where I live?”

Sasha was wide awake now. “You're right. I need to make sure that you don't have a mistress or a passel of kids in hiding,” she quipped.

Sexton gave her a dark look. “That's not funny. What kind of men
have
you been used to?”

Sasha felt chastised. She knew that her words were wrong for an intimate moment, but she was still reeling from the recognition of the depth of feelings she'd developed for Sexton in the short time that they had been seeing each other. She didn't know how to describe what she felt.
Was it love?
The sex was wonderful, but did sex alone make for everlasting love?

Sexton had parked in an open reserved spot. On one side was his Escalade and on the other, his Chrysler 300. “Come on,” he ordered. After exiting the door that he held open for her, she stopped in front of him and slid her hand in his. Looking down at her, Sexton silently nodded his head at the look of apology apparent on her face and pinched her backside.

They walked under a covered walkway to a set of steel doors with a key pad to the left. Sexton quickly punched in a combination of numbers and led Sasha down another long hallway. “We have a lot of security checkpoints in this building.”

As Sexton led Sasha down the brightly lit hallways towards two sets of elevators that looked like cages, she was amused to see a guard dozing with his feet up on the desk. He roused only when he heard the sound of the elevator as it made its journey down to the first level.

He sat up and his expression showed that besides being embarrassed to be caught napping at his post, he was obviously surprised to see Sexton with a woman. He sheepishly tipped his hat at them and Sexton's only response was to nod his head. Once the elevator doors shut, Sasha whispered, “Thank goodness there are a lot of checkpoints that you have to go through to get upstairs.”

“I know.” Sexton explained, “Rudy works three jobs in order to help put his daughter through medical school.”

“He's a good man then,” Sasha said.

“He's a good man,” Sexton agreed.

The elevator stopped at the fourteenth floor and Sasha exclaimed, “Wow. You're really up here, aren't you?”

“I'm a tall man, so I need a tall building.”

“Well, you got it.” Sasha looked around admiringly as she followed Sexton down the hallway to a large mahogany door with a brass knocker on the outside. She pointed to a door almost identical to the one that Sexton was in the process of opening. “Who lives there?” she whispered even though there was no need to since it was all the way down at the other end of the hall.

“A dancer with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre of Harlem.”

“Wow. I didn't know that they make that kind of money.”

“I guess they do okay, but I know that she lives with three other people. They are such a one-of-a-kind ballet troupe. People should include a yearly donation to them just as a matter of principle.”

“Do you?”

“Maybe,” he responded with a secretive smile. “As for the others, one of the girls is a writer, and the other two are actresses. None of them are ever there for long periods of time so I guess it makes sense for them to share.”

Another surge of jealousy coursed throughout her body, and it was reflected in her voice. “You certainly know a lot about your neighbors. I can't even call my neighbors' last names.”

“That's bad business,” he chided. “It's only smart to have a certain amount of knowledge about the people surrounding you, if for no other reason than for them to look out for you when you're not home.”

“So I take it that you don't have a roommate?”

“Obviously not. I wouldn't be bringing you here to stay the night if I did,” he replied, and then added, looking her up and down, “for obvious reasons. Calvin is the closest thing I have to a roommate. He's the only other person who has a key to my place. He lives on the fifth floor.”

“He does?” Sasha replied with surprise. “I knew from Tiara that he'd recently bought a place, but I didn't know where.”

“He was lucky that there was an unexpected opening. People don't usually move out of this building, and there aren't any apartments left to buy. I bought two connecting apartments and had the walls between them knocked down.”

At this, Sexton threw open the door. Sasha was immediately impressed by the large expanse of living area that was almost unobtainable in New York City. Then he hit a switch and the room was suddenly flooded by light. A window facing them took up three-quarters of the wall. The drapes were open and Sasha walked over to look at the moonlit view.

“So I take it that you're not afraid of heights,” Sexton said.

“If I was, I certainly wouldn't be dating you.”

Sexton chuckled and Sasha turned to him, waved her hand and queried, “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” He motioned for her to take a look around. “I'll check my messages.” He walked over to his answering machine on the kitchen counter.

Sasha quickly went down the hall to the far end of the apartment and inspected his bedroom. She was amused by the fact that Sexton fit the bachelor stereotype. The bedroom had a king sized bed, dresser mirror and large television that took up the wall in front of the bed. There were no pictures. There was a bathroom off to the left, and in it was a double closet crowded with clothes. The inside of the bathroom had a double shower with a sunken tub that looked as if had never been used and an empty makeup counter with a sink.

Sasha took a tour from room to room, smiling as she spied a Jacuzzi and a weight room.

Turning around, she was startled to find Sexton close to her. He had walked to stand behind her and the thickness of the carpet had made his journey noiseless. “I could really have a good time decorating this place. Why are your walls so bare?”

“I don't know,” he shrugged. “I thought about hiring an interior decorator to do it but I don't like impersonal houses.”

Together they walked back into the kitchen. “This is a chef's dream,” she exclaimed excitedly, seeing the state-of-the-art appliances and huge center island. “I could really make a meal a lot fancier than pork chops and succotash.”

“What are you talking about, girl? That meal was fit for a king. It tasted better than caviar to me because it showed that you listen to me when I talk.”

Sasha lightly nudged Sexton's leg with her foot. “Of course I listen to you.”

He nudged her back. “I know.”

“What was Tiara saying to you when you were on the dance floor?”

“I don't know,” he replied dismissively. “Why?”

“No reason,” Sasha lied, “I just wondered.”

“You're jealous,” he responded in disbelief.

“No, I'm not. It's just that you laughed so hard I wanted to be in on the joke, that's all,” she replied.

“Let me think.” Sexton absently rubbed the hair underneath his chin. “I think that she said that it looked like you were coming on to Calvin.”

“That's what she said to you?” Her expression was indignant. “And you laughed at that?” she asked huffily. “Are you that secure about me?”

Suddenly the conversation had turned serious and, realizing that, Sexton's expression sobered. “I do feel secure about us because of the kind of woman you are. You wouldn't sleep with a friend of mine any more than I would sleep with a friend of yours. As I already told you mom told me what to look for in a woman,” he placed his hand over his heart, “and I know that you're it.” He started to say something more, and then paused at the last minute to say with conviction, “Let's just say that I know that you're safe with Calvin. Now I'm tired and ready to go to bed.” Having said that, Sexton took hold of Sasha's hand and led her to the bedroom.

The drapes in the room were drawn, and Sasha was grateful for the tight hold that she had on him so she didn't stumble into anything.

He quickly shed his clothes and threw them on the occasional chair beside the bed. Then he took Sasha's hand and closed it around his hard, taut member. Sasha felt the ooze of desire surface between her legs just by the feel of him. Her legs slightly buckled, so in fear of falling she hastily stepped out of her stilettos.

Then Sexton began to unzip her dress and Sasha lifted her arms and bent her head so he could easily remove it. She felt miniscule as she stood in front of Sexton wearing her crotchless panties, and lace bra. Sexton bent down and lifted her into his arms, turned and placed her gently on the bed. Then he lay beside her and gently undid the front clasp of her bra. Once her breasts were free they seemed to reach upwards towards Sexton's lips. He suckled one breast with his mouth and kneaded the other as if he were rolling dough for a pie crust. Instinctively, her body arched and she threw her head back. “Sexton, Sexton,” she moaned.

Suddenly he stopped and taking her chin in his hand so that he could stare deeply in her eyes he asked, “What's my name?” Desire was threaded through his words and the look on his face was a mixture of amusement and urgency as he waited for her to answer.

“Sexton Johnson,” she murmured and slid her arms around his shoulders.

“Do you still find it funny?”

“I don't find it funny at all, Mr. Sexton Johnson.”

Her words were so low he could barely hear her and he leaned in even closer.

She could feel his breath on her face and it felt cool in contrast to the heat from their bodies.

“Say my name again,” he ordered.

Sasha quickly obeyed, murmuring, “Sexton Johnson, Sexton Johnson, Sexton Johnson,” before he stilled her words with his mouth.

Sexton searched Sasha's eyes. Satisfied with what he saw, he breathed a sigh of relief. He kissed her long and hard, pausing to let her breathe, and then he kissed her again.

Sasha welcomed his tongue with such eagerness he feared it would make him spill his desire and he struggled for control.

“I love you, Sasha,” he whispered in her ear.

This was the first time Sexton had openly expressed these words to her and she was too choked up to respond. When the full enormity of what he had disclosed sank in, she her heart beat rapidly and for the first time in her life she felt she had it all.

That night, as Sexton made love to her, Sasha clenched his manhood with every thrust as he moved inside her. She satisfied him in a foreign way, and as she gripped him, he felt as if he was being pulled down into a whirlpool of pleasure. As Sexton climaxed, he called out her name over and over again.

The next morning as Sexton showered, she went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. The only coffee maker she found was one on a shelf still in its box. After reading the directions several times, she put it back in its box, frustrated. “It's too hard,” she exclaimed in disgust.

“I heard that.” Sexton as usual had padded noiselessly into the room. When Sasha looked up, he planted a brief kiss on her upturned mouth.

“Why don't you have this kitchen set up? You have this big expensive place and it's not even habitable,” she complained.