Talk a Good Game (25 page)

I was hoping to give the
impression that I was having a hard time deciding, but my mind was
already made up. There was no way I was walking away from all that
money. “I
’
m not gonna keep dealing with
your jealous bullshit,” I warned.

“
I understand. You
’
re right. And
I
’
m sorry.” He brought his arms
around and held me tight. “Just come back home to me. We want you
there with us.”

That was the extent of our conversation.

Kaleb brought his lips down on mine in a kiss so hot
and delicious, I ended it just long enough to take his hand and
lead him up to my bedroom.

Sorry Shonda Rhimes.

But I
’
m about to
do something scandalous of my own.

NYREE

There was a soft knock
at my door. I looked up and there was Timmy standing in my
doorway.

“
Hey Nyree,
” he said with
that gorgeous smile of his. That man was too fine for his own good.
Tall, handsome and a body that made a sistah want to lick him up
and down like he was a fudge pop.

I sprung out my chair like a jack-n-a-box and walked
around the desk and hugged him. As soon as I felt that solid body
against mine, I closed my eyes. He felt good. So good I knew I
needed to put some distance between us fast. Besides public
displays of affection was frowned on while in uniform.

“
What are you doing here?” I asked
as I moved back over to my chair.

He grinned in my direction as he
straddled the chair across from my desk. “I flew down to interview
for the superintendent spot.”

“
Oh snap! I forgot you had applied
for the position.”

“
Damn! You forgot about a brotha
already?” Timmy tried to look hurt but I’ve known him long enough
to know he was flirting with me.

“
Whatever,” I said with a
dismissive wave and tried to ignore the affect his deep voice was
having on my nipples. Thank goodness for uniforms.

“
How did the interview
go?”

“
It went really good,” he said
with that cocky look that was so Timmy. He leaned forward on the
chair with his large arms resting on my desk. “I think I gotta good
chance at getting it.”

“
So do I.
” Since I worked
in personnel it wasn’t hard to find out how many other candidates
were being considered for the position. And trust me the second he
left I was going to Janet
’s
desk to find out. She
was a civilian, so she wasn’t there, but I knew where she kept the
active job postings.

“
You got time to
go grab a bite to eat?” he asked and there was the wolf gleam in
his eyes that screamed, “
Beware!
”

“
I-I don’t
know,”
I
stuttered.

“
You know you
want to,” he began with a cocky smirk. “We can just run and get a
sandwich.” He rose from the chair like it was no longer up for
discussion. “C
’
mon I haven’t eaten all day.” His
voice had dropped to a low tone that I felt clear down in my belly.
Moving toward the door, Timmy waved his hand and signaled for me to
follow.

There was something about the way
he was always sure about himself that was such a turn-on about him.
I tried to tell myself going out to lunch with an ex-boyfriend
wasn’t a good idea but deep down I knew I wanted to go and spend
some time with him. I grabbed my purse from the bottom drawer and
followed him out to his rental car. We chatted nonstop until Timmy
pulled into one of the drive-up stations at
Sonic
’s
. The second the car was in
Park, Timmy swung around on the seat.

“
So
what
’s
the deal? You in love with
dude?” he asked.

Goodness, he was so sexy. I
nodded. “Yes, I
’
m in love.”

He kept staring at me and licking
his lips at the same time. I started to squirm. Timmy knew he was
working on me. “But is he the right man?”

Timmy has always been one to get
straight to it. I looked down briefly at my hand then back up to
him again. “Yes, I believe he is. I
’
m at a point in
my life I am tired of the games. I want something real… something
solid.”

“
So do I.
” he dragged a
hand down along his face. “I was hoping if I got this position you
and I would have a chance to finish where we left off.
We
’
re good together, Nyree.
Remember?”

How could I forget with him
sitting over there licking those juicy lips of his? But I had to
remind myself with Jeremy it wasn’t about sex. We had something
that connected our souls.

“
Yeah, we
were
good, but Jeremy
and I are better. For someone who
’s
supposed to be
starving you sure are taking all doggone day to order.” I tried to
add a little attitude to my voice.

“
Yeah, okay.” Timmy started
laughing then pressed the button and we ordered our food. After he
paid with a credit card, we waited and I should have known he
wasn’t ready to put our conversation to rest.

“
I bet that Jeremy dude can’t suck
that pussy like I do.”

“
What?” I yelled trying to sound
offended when in actuality I was squeezing my thighs together
fighting the memories. Like I said, Timmy had some juicy lips and
they were made for sucking Ms. Kitty. “Timmy shut the hell
up.”

He shifted on the seat, so he
could look me dead in the eye. “Why? Because you hate hearing the
truth?”

“
No because
you
’
re being ridiculous,” I spat and
looked everywhere but at him because if I did he would have seen
the truth. Nobody ate pussy like Timmy. But sex ain’t everything.
“I love Jeremy. We
’
re practically living
together.”

That knocked that cocky grin off
his face. “Damn, you really are serious, aren’t you?”

“
I told you I am. With Jeremy I’ve
learned there’s a lot more to a relationship than just sex,
especially when you meet the right person.”

There was no disguising the
disappointment on his face. “I guess you
’
re serious
about dude.”

“
I
’
m dead serious.” I released a
long breath and was proud I was able to resist temptation. Our food
arrived and he handed me my drink and burger.

“
Yo, Nyree. Listen, I
’
m sorry for
disrespecting you. I
’
m not gonna lie.
I
’
m jealous as hell. But
it
’s
my loss. I had a chance to get with you and I
fucked that up. Now another mothafucka slipped in and snatched yo
ass up. I hate to lose but I
’
m happy for
you.”

“
Thank you.”

Suddenly, Timmy leaned in close
enough so his lips were touching my ear and whispered, “But
I
’
m gonna try every chance I get to
steal yo fine ass away.”

As we sat and ate our lunch I had
a sinking feeling resisting Timmy wasn’t going to be
easy.

* * *

By the time five
o
’
clock rolled around, I was worn
out. I made it back to Columbia, ready for a night with my feet up
on the couch. But the second I pulled into my driveway and raised
my garage, I was suddenly full of energy when I saw
Jeremy
’s
car parked inside.

I had given him a key over a week
ago and he hadn’t used it until today. Part of me wondered if the
reason he was here was because he knew I had been out to lunch with
another man.

I stepped into the house and drew in a long slow
breath. The scent of my favorite margarita scented candle was in
the air. Soft music was playing in the background and Jeremy knew
how much I loved me some Ne-Yo. I stepped into the living room and
left my purse and keys on the coffee table.

“
Welcome home, Angel.” I looked
over to see Jeremy coming down the stairs in a white beater and a
pair of Redskins shorts. Did I mention how much I loved this
man?

“
What
’s
going on?” I said and shook my
head. He was carrying flowers in his hand. I couldn’t believe how
romantic this was.

“
I just wanted to come over and
show my Angel how special she is to me.” I tilted my head and met
his warm, sweet kiss then drew back and stared up into his
eyes.

“
I know you had a long day and I
wanted to do something to make your evening nice.”

“
This is so nice.” I took the
bouquet from him into the kitchen and went in search of a
vase.

“
Babe, let me
take care of that. Why don’t you go and get undressed. I just
filled your tub. I thought maybe we
’
d get in, kick
back and relax together.”

I was smiling like a nut because
no man had ever been that thoughtful before. “That sounds so
romantic,” I cooed and leaned over and pressed my lips against his
again.

“
Go on and take your sexy behind
on upstairs.” I squealed when he swatted me playfully on my butt
then hurried up to strip out of my uniform. By the time Jeremy came
up, I was standing in nothing but my birthday suit.

“
You
’
re so beautiful,” he said and
quickly pulled off his t-shirt and shorts.

“
Go on. I’ll join you in a
second.” He ushered me into the bathroom and what I saw brought
tears to my eyes. The large garden tub was filled with my favorite
stress relief scent that I got from Bath and Body Works. There was
a bottle of red wine chilling in a bucket on the side of the tub as
well as candles flickering around the room.

“
You like?” Jeremy asked coming up
from behind and wrapping his arms around my waist.

I was so choked up I couldn’t even
speak so I nodded. If I didn’t know it before I definitely knew it
then. How much I loved that man.

My bottom lip began to quiver. That man had
transformed my bathroom into something you would have seen in the
movies. It was beyond romantic.

“
Angel, say something,” Jeremy
urged with that squeaky voice that suddenly gave me goose
bumps.

“
I can’t believe you did all
this.” I was shaking my head and looking around the room all at the
same time.

“
You
’
re my queen. I plan on showing
you every day how truly special you are.”

I closed my eyes and thanked the Lord for bringing
this amazing man into my life, and suddenly felt guilty for
spending lunch with Timmy. Not that I had done anything
inappropriate but it still felt like I had been cheating, so
apparently something had been wrong about the entire situation.

“
Thank you so much,” I murmured
then tilted my head back and met his lips in a kiss that I felt
clear down to my toes.

“
Whadda you waiting on? Go ahead
and get on in.” Jeremy released me and I started giggling as I
stepped over to the tub and climbed inside.

“
I hope
you
’
re planning on joining me?” He
was standing over the tub grinning

“
I will in a minute.” Jeremy
reached for one of the flutes and filled it with wine. I took the
glass from his proffered hand then brought it to my lips and
moaned. It was so smooth. He then poured himself a
glass.

“
Are we celebrating something?” I
asked and gave him a curious look.

He hesitated long enough that I had this feeling at
the pit of my stomach.

“
Baby…
what
’s
wrong?”

He took a sip then took a seat on
the end of the tub and looked in my direction. “I got a job
promotion.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Jeremy, oh that
’s
wonderful news!
Congratulations!” I expected him to look happy but instead he had
this painful look in his eyes. “What
’s
wrong?”

“
The job is in Hawaii.”

I sprung up from the pillow.
“Hawaii?” There is no way I had heard him correctly.

He nodded. “I
’
m
afraid so. I interviewed for a GS-12 position long before
we
’
d started dating. I just figured
they had given the job to someone else, but I found out this
morning I had been selected.”