IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN (13 page)

Sixty, long, hellish days.

He inhaled deeply, reaching for control. He wasn’t sure if there were any words possible to convince her she wasn’t Goliath. Despite the slightness of her frame and the delicacy of her skin, Laney was a fighter. She was also amazingly valiant, but if something ever happened to her, he wasn’t certain his nerves could stand it.  

“God, what am I gonna do with you,” he finally uttered and reached out to hold her.

“Allow me to help you,” Laney answered, moving away from his grasp, her eyes cool and confident. “And if you don’t, I’ll find a way to do it myself.”

Still unconvinced, Ray folded his arms over his chest. “All right, Sherlock, exactly what scheme is rattling inside that brilliant mind of yours?”

After hearing Laney’s succinct strategy, he knew she’d follow through whether he agreed or not.  She had an undaunted look in her eyes that he’d never seen before. It was measured, calculating. No matter what was thrown her way, she wouldn’t shy away. 

Laney might be delicate, but she was as strong as steel.

~ ~ ~

After Laney returned to her room, Ray paced in a tight circle inside his bedroom suite, trying to clear his mind.  The sharp turn of today’s events caused his thoughts to boomerang inside his head so fast he couldn’t make sense of them, no matter how hard he tried. He came to Olivia to escape the paparazzi and conceal his illness, but now Evangeline had managed to track him down with the possible help of Ashton.

At that moment, Evangeline and Ashton weren’t the ones who had his nerves rattled. It was Laney. In a little over two months, she had wrapped herself so firmly around his heart, had so completely insulated herself into every fiber of his being, it scared him. Something inside of him was growing more and more powerful and he was helpless to stop it.

Ray plopped on the bed in a spread eagle position, his gaze fixed on the ceiling, his mind traveling down memory lane. His strong, private core was the distinguishing feature between him and his five siblings. Growing up, they’d teased him merciless because he could be alone, yet be perfectly content. That solitary nature transcended into his career. As a celebrity, he mastered the ability to hold people away and refrained from trusting them. He was never sure if people wanted to befriend him because of who he was or because of what he had. He’d observed cautiously and had the uncanny ability to use his charm as a shield to appear outgoing, perhaps spontaneous when in fact, he wasn’t.

All of that served him well until he met Laney.

After they first met, Ray convinced himself he’d be sated without Laney. He’d persuaded himself that she wasn’t good for his sanity because she made him forget about his one passion in life
—
his music—and think only of sex. Not sex in general, but sex in particular with her. Whenever he tried to turn his thoughts to the women he’d slept with, their names and faces eluded him. And month after month, his only concrete thought was of her. 

He’d wanted her then. Now, he needed her more than he ever thought possible.  Was this kind of want the fundamental attraction between couples?  Maybe. Smiling, he knew what existed between them was based on much, much more.

Facing the most extenuating circumstance of his life was one thing, but coming to terms with his agreement to let Laney help him was another. Ray lifted up slightly, bracing his weight on both elbows. His expression was one of resolve rather than surprise. Laney’s plan sounded crazy at first, but the more he thought about it, it could actually work. Her plan was two-folded: have someone double as Ray LaSalle so that the paparazzi followed the look-a-like instead of him and allow O’Reilly Enterprise to feed information on his whereabouts to the media.

The key to her strategy working was to be sure his double stayed away from Memphis and the paparazzi never got too close to him. Hopefully, seeing his look-a-like out and about would not only quail the speculation involving his illness, but keep the media running around in circles long enough for him to land back on his feet.  He rolled over and picked up is cell phone and punched in a number.

“
Mon frère
, I need you to help me out with something.”

“Okay. What’s up?”

“Take a peep into Evangeline’s background for me. And while you’re digging, check out Ashton Bryant, too.”

Ray went on and shared with Alex the discussion he and Laney had. For a brief moment, he second-guessed the validity of the entire strategy as he listened to silence. “C’mon and talk to me,
mon frère
.” 

Alex chuckled. “Well, part one of your request is a cakewalk. As for part two, it’s a hellva of a better plan than what Nicki thought of. When she found out, she wanted to call the National Guard.” There was a long pause. “I would never have imagined Laney could think up something like this.” 

Ray groaned. “Look it,
mon frère
, let me give you a heads up on Red. By the time you figure out which way is up, that sista will bust a move on you and you’re left standing in the dust.”

Alex chuckled. “Seriously?”

“Oh, hell yeah. Now I know why Big Eddie occasionally refers to her as the Calm before the Storm.”

“The what?”

“You know how there’s a brief calm before a storm makes landfall?”

“Yeah,” Alex drawled.

Ray thought back to the day in the kitchen when he experienced the aftermath of Hurricane Laney. “Well, that’s Red. That’s all the time that little bitty tack head needs to roll up on you and leave total devastation.” Ray shook his head in amazement. “I’m telling you,
mon frère
, you’ve got watch her. Red is Slick Willie’s baby sister.”

~ ~ ~

Two days later, Laney flew to Oakland to visit her grandfather, Charles O’Reilly. Although Raphael had begun his third round of chemo, she didn’t hesitate to leave his side. With the help of his father Alcee and her family, she knew Raphael would receive the best of care. 

When Charles entered the family room, she walked over to his well-stocked liquor cabinet and poured his favorite drink, Scotch and water. She poured sparkling water in her glass. He lifted his glass to her and as always, his eyes smiled though his mouth didn’t. She lifted her glass in return. “To a conundrum.”

Charles lifted his brow. “A
a
ah, the truth emerges.”

She dipped her head, acknowledging the accuracy of his statement. “Didn’t you teach me to always be truthful?”

“That I did.” Charles tasted his drink and sighed with satisfaction. “Would you like to know what’s for dinner?”

Laney gave her grandfather an angelic look. “Hopefully, it’s conversation.”

With an amused look, Charles sat his glass down on the bar.  “So, exactly what are we conversing about?”

“Evangeline Williams.”

Right after Raphael begrudgingly agreed to her plan, Laney phoned her grandfather and asked him to initiate the steps to purchase Universal Entertainment. She needed to be doubly sure the focus was off of Raphael.  Although she knew nothing about Evangeline, she banked on the fact that she’d fight tooth and nail against the sale, which would draw her attention away from investigating Raphael for a while. With the paparazzi running around in circles chasing Ray LaSalle’s double coupled with Evangeline focusing on preventing a buyout, it would give Raphael the time he needed to recover.

No sooner had she come to grips with her decision, she got a quiver in the pit of her stomach. The feeling was no different than what she’d felt when she’d set out to accomplish any major goal in her life. Nothing had been disastrous then. She prayed the same held true now.

“What about Evangeline?”

“Do you know anything about her?”

“Evangeline is the one person you need to walk away from.”

“Why?”

Laney listened, stunned as her grandfather explained in detail exactly what he learned about Evangeline. Wide-eyed, it was the first time in her life she recalled stammering over her words. “Poppy are you one hundred percent certain she was the one?”

Charles offered a rueful nod.  “I double and triple checked. Evangeline was the one.”

“This doesn’t change anything. I’d like you to continue with the purchase of Universal Entertainment,” Laney stated, feeling a bit of exhilaration for the daring of it.

“Laney Olivia, are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely certain.”

“Evangeline is tougher than most men I know and can definitely hold her own.”

“If she harms Raphael in any way, I’ll destroy her.”

“You’re the most even-tempered person I know. You don’t have a vindictive bone in your body.”

“In this case, I’m afraid I do,” Laney admitted in the tone she used when racism confronted her. It had caused the most bigoted people to back away. 

“And there’s nothing I can say to talk you out of this?”

Laney wrinkled her nose, her eyes gleaming with victory. The man under her roof was in a fight for his life. She’d promised to stand by him, and that’s exactly what she planned to do. She’d extracted Evangeline out of her life years ago. Plus, this wasn’t about her any longer. “No.  Besides, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Charles actually smiled this time. He withdrew a white handkerchief from his pocket and waved it in surrender.

~ ~ ~

“Boy, ever since ya been here, I been watching ya.” Big Eddie removed a toothpick from his mouth and held it between two fingers. “Ya little sweet on Laney Olivia, ain’t ya.”

“Yeah,” Ray admitted. “Is there a problem with that?”

“Naw, naw. I’m just thinkin’. Might need a little help on how to snag ya woman though.”

Ray peered over a pair of Gucci frames. “Oh, so you saying I don’t have game?”

Big Eddie chuckled. “Well, ya could stand to tighten it up a little mo’. That’s why I’m comin’ to ya man to man. A southern woman needs to be courted.”

Ray stared off into the distance. Courting a woman was a foreign concept to him. Getting to know a woman on a physical level had been the only requirement in his past relationships. Then a frown fanned across his face. God, he missed Laney. She wasn’t scheduled to return from Oakland until tomorrow evening and he wasn’t sure if he could hold out that long. “All right, Romeo. It’s your dime. Talk to me.”

Big Eddie glanced over his shoulder and pulled a pint-sized liquor bottle filled with moonshine from his back pocket. He placed a finger next to his lips and winked. “Just a little somethin’ to help my thought process git goin’.”

Ray’s mouth dropped wide open. “Does Ida Mae know you drink that stuff?”

“
Sssh
. It’s just some thangs ya woman don’t need to know ‘bout.” Big Eddie cleared his throat. “Always make ya intentions known to the head of ya woman’s family. After that, ya bring tha two families together so they gets to know each other. That’s the way we do things down in these parts.”

“Is that what you did with Ida Mae?”

“Been with her the last forty years, ain’t I?  But listen here, I don’ learned somethin’ down through the years. These Houston women is s-t-u-b-b-o-r-n. Best thang to do is let Laney Olivia know comin’ out the gate who tha boss is. Understand?” His eyes darted around the room. Finally, he pulled a small plastic cup from his front shirt pocket.

“Big Eddie, if Ida Mae catches you—”

“Son, I’ma a grown man. I ain’t scared of Ida Mae.” Big Eddie leaned back in the chair as far as he could go and peered at the entrance way. He screwed the cap off the bottle and took a long sniff. “Aaah. This here is one of the best batches I don’ made in a long time.” He leaned over and waved the bottle underneath Ray’s nose. “G’on head, take a sniff.”

Ray turned his head away and waved his hand under his nose. “
Daaayuuum
, Big Eddie. How do you drink that stuff?”

“With pleasure.” Grinning, Big Eddie poured a small amount of moonshine into the cup, placed the bottle back on the floor, and drew the cup to his lips.

“Eddie Lee,” Ida Mae called out from a distance. “Ya
too
quiet. What’s going on in there?”

Big Eddie snatched the cup from his mouth, his gaze darting around the room. “Uh
…
ain’t nothin’ goin’ on, sugh.”

Ray laughed aloud. He sat back and spread both arms on top of the couch. “Wanna run all that jaw jacking you were doing a few minutes ago about being
tha boss
by me, again?”

“Eddie Lee,” Ida Mae called out a second time. “Ya ain’t drinking moonshine around Raphael, is ya? Ya know the instructions Laney Olivia gave us about taking care of that boy before she left away from here. And ya ain’t got no business drinking that mess no how.”

Big Eddie grimaced. “Ain’t one drop of nothin’ don’ passed by my lips, sugh.”

“It better not,” Ida Mae fussed. “Don’t let me have to get on this phone and call Laney Olivia, ‘cause ya know I’ll do it. Ya know better than to disrespect her house.”

“Ain’t doin’ no such a thang.” Big Eddie scrambled and poured the brown liquid back into the bottle. “Just sitting here talkin’ with Raphael. That’s all.”