Blueprint for Love (18 page)

Before prison, it seemed Vic had his whole life
ahead of him. He often recalled a line from an old movie with
Marlon Brando. ‘I coulda been a contender.’ That was how Vic felt.
He could have been something, done something great with his life.
Instead, he let his anger rob him of five years of his life. He’d
done a lot of thinking while he was locked up. If he had a do-over,
would he make the same decision? He didn’t know. Prison had a weird
way of transforming a man’s outlook. Some guys became hardened and
bitter. Others became enlightened about their purpose in life. He’d
been through a wide range of emotions.

In prison, he’d wanted nothing more to do with
fighting. He hit the books and got his college degree while behind
bars. He changed his attitude. Oh, he still got angry, but he found
positive things to think about and encouraging people to surround
himself with. He’d thought Ronnie was one of those people. When he
was with her, he felt invincible. Yeah, they’d gotten off to a
rocky start, but as soon as they stopped fighting their insane
attraction to each other, they made up for lost time. The way she
looked at him made him feel like he could do anything. She had
become special to him in such a short time. Imagine him, an ex-con,
kicking it with a classy businesswoman like Ronnie Jones.

Seeing her car had an odd effect on him. It made him
realize how much he’d been missing her.

Vic tweaked Andrea on the
nose.
C’mon
, he
signed.
It should be safe to go back in
now
.

She laughed.
If not, let’s make some popcorn. That should get rid of the
smell.

He grinned.
Yeah, especially since you burned it last time!

His building had been sprayed with pesticides
earlier this morning. It was standard procedure for the entire
complex to be sprayed once every couple of months. He’d totally
forgotten about this when he invited his sister to hang out with
him today. He thought they could chill out and watch a few
close-caption movies, but when she arrived, the acrid smell of
roach spray still lingered in the air. They’d played baseball
outside instead.

He’d left his cell phone on the kitchen counter.
While Andrea searched for a pack of microwave popcorn, Vic checked
the display on his phone. Two missed calls from Ronnie. His heart
rate jumped as he listened to the voicemails she’d left. The last
one said she needed to see him and she was on her way over. He
checked the time on the message. That was almost two hours ago.

Maybe that
was
her car in the parking
lot.

What the hell was Ronnie up to? Vic dialed her
number. After a few rings, he figured he’d get her voicemail, but
she answered just as he was about to hang up.

“
What can I do for you, Mr.
Romano?”

Vic frowned at her choice of words. Why was she
being so formal? And did he detect an attitude? She was the one
who’d rejected him. Now, she had the nerve to try and pull rank.
“You asked me to call. I’m calling.”

“
Never mind.”

“
Never mind?”

“
That’s right. Whatever I had to
say to you is null and void. There’s nothing you and I need to
discuss.”

“
Look, Ronnie. I don’t know what
kind of game you’re play—”

“
Me? How can I play the master?
You’re the one with all the game, Vic.”

Even though Andrea couldn’t hear him, he moved away
from the kitchen so she wouldn’t be able to read his lips. He paced
in front of the hall mirror. The frown on his face reflected how he
felt inside: confused. “What are you talking about?”

“
I’m talking about Blondie. Your
little plaything you were kissing outside of your
apartment.”

“
I knew that was your car
hightailing it out of the parking lot.”

“
I’m surprised you even noticed
anything else around you, being so busy with your public displays
of affection.”

“
Now, hold on a
minute—”

“
You know, I was under the false
impression you couldn’t keep your hands off me. But I see with you,
it’s an epidemic. You can’t keep your hands off any
female.”

“
Woman, you got me all wrong.
I—”

“
Don’t you think she’s a little
young for you, Vic? For God’s sake, she looks like she’s fifteen
years old!”

“
Ronnie…”

“
And here I thought I was the
cougar. You’ve got me beat by a long shot.”

“
Listen, Ronnie. Andrea is
my—”

“
Oh, I know what she is. You don’t
have to spell it out for me. I got the message loud and
clear.”

“
Listen to me!”

“
I’m done listening to your lies,
Vic. I should have known I couldn’t trust a man like
you.”

He stopped in his tracks. “A man like me? What is
that supposed to mean?”

“
You’re smart. You’ll figure it
out. And don’t bother calling me again.”

Vic stared at his phone. Did Ronnie just hang up on
him?

Aw, hell no!

He stalked to the kitchen, where
he found his sister munching on a fresh bag of buttery popcorn and
playing with her new camera. He was furious as he signed,
Time to go!

Her mouth dropped open. Bits of
popcorn fell to the floor.
I just made the
popcorn.

We’ll take it with us.

But I thought we were going to watch a sci-fi
flick.

Trust me. What I have planned will be a lot more
entertaining!

# # #

Vic stormed through the lobby of Three
Sisters Construction. He dragged Andrea behind him, focused solely
on one mission. Making Ronnie Jones see things his way. That was if
she opened those jaded eyes of hers.

He barged through her open office door, and
planted himself and Andrea firmly in front of Ronnie’s desk. He
knew she would be here. She was a workaholic—a fact that didn’t
bother him. He admired her dedication to work, among other things.
Only at this moment, she wasn’t working. She was standing in front
of her office window. She’d been looking out when he made his
entrance.

Now, her mouth hung open, and he barely had
time to register the new shade of coral lipstick she wore. Her lips
looked damn kissable. His eyes greedily roamed her tall form from
her lacey blouse and short denim skirt where her long legs gave him
pause, and then back up again. Her eyes were red. For a moment, his
heart dropped, thinking she’d been crying.

Was he the source of her unhappiness?

She scowled at him. Before she could say
anything, Vic turned to Andrea and began signing.

Andrea, this is Ronnie
Jones. Tell her who you are!
he
demanded.

Andrea’s eyes widened as she took in his
countenance. He knew she rarely saw him mad. The last time had
tragic consequences.

I’m his
sister
, she signed to Ronnie.

Ronnie gave them both blank stares. “I don’t
understand sign language.”

“
She’s my sister,” Vic
translated.

Ronnie scoffed. “Yeah, right!”

“
I have no reason to lie,”
Vic countered.

He grabbed a pen and paper from Ronnie’s
desk and thrust it toward Andrea. She dutifully scribbled on the
paper and held it up for Ronnie to see.

Vic’s heart thundered as Ronnie glanced at
the paper. To his surprise, she started laughing.

Now it was Vic’s turn to scowl. He plucked
the paper from Andrea’s hand to see what she wrote.

IT’S TRUE. WE HAVE DIFFERENT FATHERS, WHICH
EXPLAINS WHY I’M SMARTER AND BETTER LOOKING THAN HIM.

Stick to the
facts
, Vic signed to Andrea.

Those are the
facts
, she signed back. She tugged on her
camera still dangling from a thick strap on her neck.
I’m going to go snap a few shots.

Don’t go far.

Yeah, yeah, Big Bro. I’m not a child. I just
play one in real life.

Vic rolled his eyes as Andrea waved to
Ronnie and then she slipped from the room. When he turned to
Ronnie, she was trying not to grin. She did a damn good job when it
came to him. Within seconds she was serious again. But at least she
hadn’t thrown him out on his ass.

“
You owe me an apology,”
he told her.

“
Excuse me?”

“
You heard me.” He walked
around her desk and stood in front of her. “You made some nasty
accusations about me. Things that weren’t true.” He stared into her
eyes. “I’ve had a lot of folks say a lot of things about me, but
what you said was the most painful, Ronnie. Do you think so little
of me that you’d believe I’d be sleeping with someone
else?”

She shrugged.

“
You must not have a lot
of faith in me. That’s what hurts most.”

“
C’mon, Vic. We’ve only
just met each other.”

“
That doesn’t make what I
feel for you any less important. That doesn’t make the time we
shared any less sacred.”

She tried to turn away, but he cupped her
chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. God, she was
beautiful. The most beautiful woman he’d laid eyes on. Out of
habit, he lowered his voice. “When I held you in my arms and made
love to you, it meant something, Ronnie. Are you telling me it
didn’t mean anything to you?”

“
You know it did.” Her
brown eyes held his captive. He could get lost in those
depths.

“
For weeks, I’ve been
agonizing about what I should do. It’s hard to come back here and
see your face when I know you hate me.”

“
I don’t hate you, Vic.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “In fact, I feel just the opposite. I’m
scared because I want you so bad. More than I’ve ever wanted
anyone.”

He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “I
feel the same way, Ronnie. Woman, you got my stomach in knots
wondering how you feel about me. When you forced me away, I was
devastated.”

“
I didn’t force you. You
left.”

“
I figured you wanted me
to.”

She shook her head. “No, I was just in shock
over what happened that day. I couldn’t think straight. Why didn’t
you tell me about your past sooner?”

“
I was wrong for that. You
never asked, and I never pushed. Once we got to know each other, I
was too ashamed to give you the details. I didn’t want you to think
differently of me. And I see I was right.”

“
I’m sorry, Vic. I should
have asked you. I’m just as guilty. Then, being confronted by Allen
and Toye…I had a meltdown. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when
you needed me.”

“
I can never let you take
the blame for something that was my fault, Ronnie. Truthfully, I
never thought I had a chance with you, but when we made love,
something powerful happened.” He put his hands on her shoulders and
pulled her close. “I’m still not sure what it was, but I’m not
ready to let it end. I’m not ready to let you out of my
life.”

“
That’s just lust talking.
You’re riding high on the emotion of a good fuck. I know. I’ve been
there.”

“
I’ve been there too,” he
argued back. “That’s why I know what we have is more than that. I
wouldn’t have dragged my sister down here to explain things if I
didn’t care about you, Ronnie. We owe it to ourselves to work past
whatever obstacles we have. How else can we really get to know each
other?”

She nodded in agreement.

“
Are you willing to give
us a chance?” he asked.

He prayed she didn’t ask him to leave. He
would honor her wishes, but it would hurt like hell to be away from
her.

Without waiting for her answer, Vic dipped his head
and claimed her lips. Her mouth felt so good beneath his. His
fingers gently cupped both sides of her face, his thumbs delicately
stroking the base of her cheekbones. He nibbled the corners of her
lips, teasing until he’d coaxed them open. Then his tongue smoothly
slipped inside her mouth. The feeling was powerful. Heady.
Breath-taking. Their tongues circled each other, cautiously at
first, then boldly mingling together.

He’d missed this. He couldn’t believe how
much Ronnie had changed his life in such a short time. His
temperature skyrocketed every time he thought about her.

He pulled away and gazed into her eyes. “We
belong together, Ronnie. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted
anyone, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you by my
side—starting with telling you all about my past.”

Ronnie relished the warmth of Vic’s embrace.
He was right. They did belong together. And she wanted him more
than anyone she’d ever wanted too. More than her first love in
junior high. More than her second love in high school. And
certainly more than Frank, whom she thought she was passionate
about, until she married him. Now, she knew she had no clue about
passion. Not until she’d met Vic. He could set her on ‘smolder’
with just one look.

She listened as Vic recounted the story of
why he’d gone to prison. He leaned against her desk and pulled her
between his legs. His hands rested firmly on her hips. She draped
her arms around his broad shoulders and waited for him to
speak.

“
Andrea was born deaf,” he
started. “All her life, I protected her from mean-spirited people.
She’s a smart girl, but people assumed because she was deaf, she
was also ignorant. They tried to take advantage of her. I took
pleasure in setting them straight.