Scandalous Heroes Box Set (166 page)

Eminence’s bottom jaw unhinged. “A little girl. You would have had a little girl?”

Jordyna smiled and nodded. “It was hard. I didn’t have you. I lost the baby. Besides Reggie, the only person who stayed by my side was Keys. And every time we talked, he centered all conversations on you, about how much he missed you and how he wished things could be different.” Her smile oozed down her face. “After a while, Keys’s whole mood changed. He stopped smiling. He didn’t hang around us a lot. He became a hermit. He’s a different man.”

Eminence couldn’t dab away the current of tears that flowed from her eyes. “Can you ever forgive me?”

Jordyna slid over on the couch to get closer to Eminence, then wrapped her arms around her. “We all make foolish mistakes. We just have to learn from them, right?”

Eminence nodded. She pulled back from her friend who had a handful of tissues ready for her. “Look at us. We’re drama queens, aren’t we?”

Jordie smiled and laughed.

“I never understood something.” Jordie sniffed. “When I used to go see Reggie after school when he hung out with his boys, they would ask Keys about you. He never did that childish stuff boys do and disrespect the girls they were with behind their backs. He always talked about you like you were something special. I can kind of understand why you wouldn’t talk to me. But why wouldn’t you talk to him? Why couldn’t you give him a chance?”

Eminence had kept a secret just like Jordie had. Unlike Jordie, though, she’d never talked about it with anyone. “The day I came to see you, I had come home from school and caught my father with another woman in our house.”

Jordie gasped. “Oh, my God. I didn’t know that.”

Replaying that moment caught Eminence off guard. She hadn’t prepared herself to expose all her secrets. She wanted to tell off her former friend and be done. So much about her harbored hatred had to do with that very moment catching her father embracing another woman.

“I had called you after I ran from my house, but your aunt said you weren’t home. So I went to see Keys. When I caught the two of you, all I could see was my father’s betrayal being replayed again. So I turned my back on it all. My parents divorced that year. I haven’t spoken to my father since.”

“Eminence, you should—”

Eminence held up her hand to stop her friend from spouting the speech she knew was coming. “I know. I should talk to him. I’m just not ready.”

“So many years. You can’t wait. Things can happen in a second and you could lose a loved one so fast.” Jordie shook her head.

Eminence knew exactly what she meant.

“So?” Jordie waved her hand between the two of them. “Are we good now?”

Eminence wiped her face. “Tell me the truth. How do I look now?”

Jordie stared at her for a moment before saying, “Like shit. No one’s going to buy you a drink looking like that.”

Eminence laughed hard enough to shed more tears. “Yes, we’re more than good. Only a friend would be that brutally honest.”

“Since we’re being honest, you need to talk to Keys. I don’t know what your romantic situation is like right now, but if he’s got a chance with you, you should definitely give him one. He’s so broken and closed off. It’s killed
me
that I was the reason you two broke up.”

“He wants to, um, talk after work. After what I said to him earlier tonight and the things I did, I don’t know if we can repair what we had.”

“You don’t know unless you try.” Jordie smiled. “He’s only here to help me out tonight. He’s able to go at any time.” She winked. “Did you drive?”

Eminence shook her head. She had plans to get shit-faced, tell off Jordie and go back home without an ounce of regret.

Sober, she now rekindled her friendship with her best friend, she revealed a secret that had been haunting her, and she came to a painful realization about her current relationship. Funny how things changed. 

“There’s this guy,” Eminence started to say.

“Oh, you’re seeing someone? Is it serious?”

Eminence shook her head. “He’s not the one.”

Jordie smiled. “I’ll get one of the guards to take you to his ride out back. The employee parking lot is gated, so you’ll be safe.”

“What if Keys doesn’t want to talk to me? I was pretty rough with him. I’ve been hard on him in the past. I never saw him as the type that wanted to do anything with his life. He could never commit to anything, and he never had goals. I can’t be down for a guy like that.”

“Don’t worry. Keys is a lot tougher than you think.” Jordie stood and helped Eminence to her feet. “By the way, why did you decide to come out tonight?”

Eminence smiled. “You.”

Jordie blinked. “Me? Why?”

“I realized that when we were friends, you gave me strength. We would go in the woods to play as kids. You would always just run without thinking about what you could encounter. I treaded lightly, always looking down at the ground or up in the trees for hidden dangers. You wouldn’t get hurt. Not one scratch. I would be looking up, take a step, and get scraped by a broken tree limb on the ground or something.”

Jordie snickered. “You were a bit accident prone. I just like feeling free.”

Eminence shook her head. “No, it was more than that. You would jump over ditches without a second thought. I would be so afraid. I couldn’t do it. I would start to cry and you would say, ‘Just believe you can do it and do it.’ And I would jump. Inevitably, one foot would go right in the water.” Eminence laughed with Jordie this time. “You would brush me off like it wasn’t a big deal and keep us moving. When we got older, you got me into my first club using those horrible fake IDs.”

“Yeah, they were pretty bad, right? Wait.” Jordie put her finger to her lips. “I think I remember. I was Roxanne Dumbroski, and you were—”

At the same time, Eminence said with Jordie, “Angel Finklestein.”

Eminence laughed with her friend. Her lungs opened up and she felt like a whole new person, like time had stopped on them as teenagers and she could pick up from where they’d left off so many years ago.

“I think I have my old fake one packed in a box somewhere at my house.” Jordie smiled as she leaned back on the couch. “So, you accepted my invitation because we used to jump ditches and sneak into clubs?”

Eminence shook her head. “It’s what all that meant for me. I realize now that you gave me strength to do things I was always afraid to do. I wouldn’t try new things for fear of failing. I wouldn’t date a risky guy because I thought the safe ones wouldn’t break my heart. I had sex for the first time with Keys because of you.”

Jordie blinked. “You did? You never told me that. You told me you two did it, but you didn’t say it was because of me.”

“Remember we were pushing your car over to Keys’s house after we hit the club? You kept telling me that you were a heavy sleeper and that once you’re knocked out, you wouldn’t hear anything?”

Jordie laughed and put her hand to her head. “Honey, I said that because you snored like a bear. I didn’t want you thinking you would keep me awake.”

Eminence hit Jordie’s leg. “I don’t snore!”

Jordie nodded like a bobblehead doll. “Like a grizzly.” Then she simulated the sound, growling like a bear and pushing the sound from her open mouth. “For a skinny little thing, you could certainly make a lot of noise.”

“You are so mean.” Eminence covered her eyes and shook her head. When she brought her hands down, she continued with her story. “Anyway, I took your warning as a sign that you would want me to take that next step with Keys. So I did.”

“Out in the open in the bedroom?” Jordie sat up taller.

Eminence shook her head. “Remember he made himself a little bed in his walk-in closet?”

Jordie opened her mouth and made a big O with her lips. “You didn’t!”

Eminence nodded. “Right there in the closet. Cramped but very intimate.” Just thinking about it now had her clit throbbing.

“Good for you! Get your man.” Jordie held Eminence’s hand. “And, as you can see, you did that all on your own. You didn’t need me to prompt you to do it.”

Eminence bowed her head. “I know that now.” She squeezed Jordie’s hand. “There’s a supervisor job at my work that’s open. My boss wants me to put in for it, but I’m nervous. What if I don’t do well in it? What if I fail?”

Jordie stared at Eminence and cocked her head. “And what if you don’t?”

“What?”

Jordie shook her head. “You have always been the smart, practical one. You have a great head on your shoulders for business. If people around you are telling you to put in for that job, that should tell you something. People see great things in you.”

Eminence felt her throat closing as she allowed Jordie’s words to sink into her mind. Her eyes felt scratchy until she had to fan her face to keep the tears from flowing.

“Don’t cry.” Jordie moved over to her Eminence and hugged her. “Put in for that job, not because someone like me or your boss or your family tells you to do it. Do it because in your heart of hearts, no one could do that job better than you, okay?” She leaned back and looked into Eminence’s eyes.

Eminence nodded. “I still have a lot to think about. The job posting closes on Monday.”

Jordie cocked her eyebrow again. “Don’t wait. I know you, Eminence. You’ll do the right thing.”

“And if I fall on my face?”

“You can work for me here. Do you mind wearing shorts and a tight t-shirt?” Jordie laughed again. “Kidding. But not kidding about the job. I’ll always look out for you.”

“After all this time, I truly appreciate that.” Eminence meant every word. She didn’t want another minute going by without Jordie.

“Good. I hope we can rebuild our friendship.” She handed Eminence her business card. “This has my personal cell phone, home phone, and e-mail address. Oh.” She snatched the card from Eminence and scribbled something on the back of it. “Here’s my home address.”

“You really want to stay in touch, don’t you?” Eminence laughed.

“Absolutely. It’s hard to find really good friends nowadays. In this town, I need all the friends I can get.” Jordie stood and helped Eminence get on her feet.

With her arm around Eminence’s shoulders, Jordie strolled to her private elevator. Once at the doors, Jordie pushed the down button and gave Eminence a gentle shove toward the open car. “Now you get going. You need to go out and get your man.”

Although the words sounded positive, Eminence wasn’t so sure of the outcome. Twice she had questioned Keys’s intentions. She would have to put herself on the line to show him that she wanted his forgiveness. She just hoped he wouldn’t make her grovel.

Chapter Ten

As soon as Tank burst through the door to head to his black-and-chrome Harley-Davidson, he didn’t expect to see Eminence standing beside it. What did she want? Round Two?

A smile threatened to peek through, but he managed to arrest it. So she did want to have one last go ‘round, huh? Blood pumped to his lower extremities the longer he stared at her. He left his expression stoic.

He hesitated a moment before his will and his feet propelled him forward. Even though at one time in his life Eminence had owned his heart, he had to give her a bit of the treatment she’d given him and Jordyna. See how she liked the taste of her own medicine.

Tank stared ahead, but whenever he glanced at Eminence, his bones turned to pudding and his muscles transformed to taffy. How could he still be crazy over a woman who obviously hated his guts?

“Want a shot at the other cheek?” Tank turned his head to the side Eminence didn’t smack. “Get it in before I put the helmet on.”

“I don’t want to hit you.” Eminence’s voice floated like a whisper. “I shouldn’t have hit you earlier.”

Tank stared at her for a moment. From the way she fidgeted in her spot and chewed on her lower lip, he figured something had changed. “You talked to Jordyna, didn’t you?”

She nodded.

“No wonder she wanted me to leave.”

This whole time, all of these years, Tank thought that once Eminence knew the truth, things would be different, he would be different. From the way she stared at him, so full of remorse, she had changed her perception. A niggling feeling in his gut told him something hadn’t been resolved.

“I’m so, so sorry.” Eminence took a step toward him.

Tank took two steps back, then circled his bike to mount it. “Thanks for the apology. So is everything all good with you and J.?”

She nodded again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“I know. I would think if you did know, you wouldn’t be so cold as to leave your friend in need.”

“So why does it seem like you’re mad at me now?”

As he stared at her, it hit him how much his new shift in attitude wasn’t just for show. He had every right to be as angry as Eminence had been with him and Jordyna.

“Don’t worry about how I feel.” He climbed on his Harley. “You didn’t before.”

Before he started it, Eminence circled around to get in his face. “Wait. You don’t know everything that I was going through at that time. I—”

“You want to tell me about it?” He stared at her, waiting for her to hightail it. He knew better than that. He knew Eminence. She’d never back down from a fight. Ever.

“Your place?”

He unhooked a helmet strapped to the back of his seat. “Put this on and get behind me.”

She took the black helmet and secured it on her head. Once he started the rumbling motorcycle, she didn’t bother with fastening the strap around her chin. She hopped on behind him.

If Eminence truly wanted to make amends, she would be paying for her sins in sweat and her flesh. Tank was owed that much. Thank goodness he would be gone in a couple of days. He wouldn’t have to deal with Eminence…or his impending guilt.

“Hold on.”

* * * * *

Eminence didn’t know if Keys drove like a madman because anger fueled him or because he wanted to scare her or if he just drove that way normally. Every time he took a sharp turn, she squeezed her legs together to hold onto him.

He smelled so good, and he felt even better. At one point during the ride, she closed her eyes and imagined his nude body, wondering about his chest, his abs, and that ass.