Scandalous (8 page)

I laughed, but it was definitely time
--
time to cut and run.
Because the truth was that if I stayed any longer, whatever he was selling, I was gonna buy.

I glanced at my watch.
“
It's getting late.
”

“
Okay, where to now?
”

I looked him dead in his eyes.
“
I'm going to the hotel.
”

“
Not home?
”

“
I'm staying at the Ritz tonight.
That's where the wedding will be tomorrow.
”

“
I've never been to the Ritz.
”

I chuckled.
As if he could get me with that little hint.
Like I was supposed to invite him to the hotel just to check out the room.
Yeah, right.

Roman raised his hand in the air, motioned for the waiter, then pulled his wallet from his bag.
When I reached for my own wallet, he shook his head.

“
Your money's no good here,
”
he said.
This was hardly a five-star restaurant; the bill couldn't have been more than twenty dollars, but I appreciated the sentiment.
Still, it was definitely time for me to move on before those lips and those eyes and that glistening bald head got to me even more.

The crowd had thinned as the day edged toward evening, and the walk back to my car was much faster.
Like he'd done last night, Roman opened the door for me.
For a moment, I hesitated, expecting so much more from him.
Surely, he was going to make a move.

But he did nothing.
And I was glad about it.
I think.

“
So,
”
I said wanting to give him one more moment.
When he didn't say anything, I slipped into the car.

He closed the door, then waited for me to roll down the window before he leaned inside.
“
Thank you for spending your last hours as a single woman with me.
”

I couldn't remember a time when I'd been more proud of myself.
I mean, here was this man, with all of his magnificence right in front of my face.
His lips were so close that a mere movement would have connected us and it wasn't hard to imagine all the ways that those lips could satisfy me.

The familiar heat smoldered between my legs and I revved up the BMW's engine.

“
Thank you,
”
he repeated, as if he wanted me to respond.

But I had nothing more than a wave for him.
He backed away and I pulled out, stunned that I was really letting this man go.
Slowly, I maneuvered through the lot, putting distance between me and temptation.
But, my eyes stayed on the rear
-
view mirror and the view of Roman
…
and I remembered him as he was last night
--
in that fireman's ensemble.

That was when my heat flickered into flames.

“
Keep driving,
”
I whispered to myself, and pressed the A/C button on the dashboard, adjusted the vents and blasted that cold air right onto my face.

“
I'm doing the right thing,
”
I said.

But though the air blew cold, I was fire hot.
I couldn't stop the blaze that burned and quickly spread through me.
It was a wildfire; it was sexual combustion.
There was nothing that I could do.

I slammed on the brakes, pushed the car into reverse, and skidded back to where my satisfaction stood.

With a smile and without a word, Roman hopped in.
As much as I wanted to wait for Kenny to take care of me tomorrow, I needed Roman to put out this fire tonight.

I pressed the accelerator to the floor and headed toward the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Chapter 5

This was the life I needed to live.

I needed to wake up every
day just like this on the softest silk sheets known to man, surrounded by the elegance of this Victorian decor, with the marina right outside my window.
I felt rich, I felt sexy, I felt satisfied in the luxury of this bridal suite; I wanted to live like this always, forever a bride.

Rolling over, I smiled at the round mound of chocolate next to me
--
and that was just his head because round was not the way I would've described any other part of him.
This man was all muscles: a lean, mean, male machine.

So here I was in this bridal suite, not yet a bride, lying next to the man who was not my husband to be.
But who could blame me?
How could I not take advantage of the opportunity that was handed to me to live out this ecstasy-filled fantasy?

And ecstasy-filled it was!
Last night had been nothing but pure pleasure.
Roman was my favorite kind of lover
;
the time we spent together had been all about me.
His hands explored, his tongue wandered, and he had me singing in twenty-seven different languages
--
all at once
--
while he carried me around the suite with my legs clinging to his waist.
Then, when I introduced him to my favorite position
--
upside down
--
I had him singing, too.
Roman wanted to go all night, and I'm telling you, there's nothing like a man who is ready and willing to do the bidding of a sex-starved woman.

Roman's skills had me all messed up.
He made me forget all about my plan, which was to just bring him back here to the hotel for an hour or two.
I planned to send him home before dark, sure that by then he would have scratched my three-week itch.
But how was I supposed to know then that I'd given this man the appropriate nickname
--
Mr. Chocolate.
He was as addictive as any Godiva bar.
And
that was why two hours had turned into four, then eight, and now it was almost six in the morning and the sun was rising on my wedding day.

It was definitely time to let this man go.

I gave Roman a shove, but when he didn't move, I pushed harder.
I hoped he wasn't going to be one of those hard-to-wake-up dudes.
I needed this man up and out of this room.
Not only did I need to put some time and space between this mistake and my future, but I needed him gone before I got busted.
Kyla wasn't coming over until seven, but knowing my best friend, her promptness and excitement might have her knocking on this door much earlier.
Not to mention my sister, Serena
--
and the wedding planner, Yolanda, who had been assigned to me by the hotel.
It wouldn't do me well to have any of those people see me with a man who didn't look anything like my husband to be.

“
It's time to get up,
”
I said when Roman stirred just a bit.

He rolled over and his eyes opened slowly.
Then, he grinned and stretched, kicking the sheet off at the same time.

I looked down at his body and sighed.

He said,
“
Morning, sunshine.
”

The look that he gave me
--
like he wanted more
--
and the look I gave his body
--
l
ike I wanted more
--
had me longing to fall right into his arms.
But I had to stop this madness and start acting like the bride-to-be that I was.

Roman reached for me and with all the strength I had, I pushed his hands away.

“
Sorry.
Can't do that anymore,
”
I said, as lightly as I could.

“
What?
Don't you believe in morning love?
”

I chuckled.
“
Trust me, I do.
It's just that I can't do morning love with you.
”

“
Why not?
”

“
First of all, I don't have time.
And secondly, I'm not about to have sex with anyone but my husband on my wedding day.
”

He laughed, hard, like I'd just told a Saturday Night Live kinda joke.
“
Oh, so having sex with someone besides your husband the night before your wedding is cool?
”

Roman had me there.
I mean, I really did feel horrible about what had gone down last night, but what was I supposed to do?
I was a woman who was used to getting mine on a regular basis.
Having lots of sex and having lots of good sex.
The sex part, I could get from Kenny.
But the good sex part
…
not so much.
Not that it was Kenny's fault.
He had no idea that he was competing with all of these men in my mind.

I sighed.
My goal really and truly had been to stay celibate (for three weeks) so that my first night as Kenny Larson's wife would be really special.
But maybe all was not lost.
Maybe it would still be great with Kenny because
we
hadn't been together in such a long time.
And maybe once Kenny and I took these vows, my body would catch up with my heart and I would be satisfied the way I'd been satisfied with him throughout high school and three years of college.
The way I'd been satisfied before I began working at Foxtails and discovering sex on a whole 'nother level.

Finally I said to Roman,
“
Sleeping with you last night was unfortunate.
”
I made it sound like I'd just made a little mistake.
“
I shouldn't have done it, but stuff happens, you know?
”

He smirked.
“
Stuff?
”

“
Yup, stuff.
Good stuff, I'll admit that.
But, wrong stuff.
”

His eyebrows rose so high, I was sure they were going to slip off his forehead.

“
Look,
”
I said,
“
there's nothing I can do about what happened.
I don't look back and I don't live with regrets.
So, all I'll say is that I had a great time with you, but now it's over
…
bye-bye!
”

He chuckled as if he didn't believe I had enough will power to really walk away from what he had laid on me.
But he just didn't know.
I was Jasmine Cox-about-to-be-Larson.
I could walk away from him or anyone or anything.
'Cause I was the one who was always in control.

I rolled off the bed and strutted to the dresser, not caring at all that I was butt-naked.
My mind was already on the events that were going to go down over the next few hours.
Glancing in the mirror, I twisted my head from side to side, taking in the damage I'd done from a night of hard sex and then sleeping without my silk scarf.
My asymmetrical hair cut was matted flat against my head, making me look nothing like a bride.
Kyla was gonna kill me, but that was fine.
All she was gonna do was fuss and then fix me up.
By noon, I'd be ready to walk down the aisle looking like the most beautiful blushing bride.

The blushing part made me look beyond my reflection in the mirror and glance at Roman.
He was still in the bed - with his elbow cocked, and his head resting in the palm of his hand
--
as if my goodbye speech had not moved him.
Literally.
He just stared at me, his eyes glazed with appreciation.
As if I was a valuable piece of art, like a black Mona Lisa or something.

“
You know, you're one fine female.
”

I pivoted around so that Roman could get a full frontal view of all of my glory.
Foxtails had been such a great breeding ground for my self-esteem.
It was there that I learned the power of a woman.
And it was moments like this when I felt almighty.
Because without doing anything more than showing the body that had made me lots of money, I could bring a grown man to his knees.
I could make a grown man cry.
I could turn a grown man into a babbling, begging buffoon.

“
Yup,
”
he said, with eyes that were even more glassy now.
“
Fine.
”

“
Thank you.
”

“
I sure wish I could get another piece of that today.
”

Slowly, I strolled toward him.
There wasn't much on my body that jiggled, but what was supposed to did.
And Roman did what all men did when they saw me like this: he licked his lips
and
began to pant, and that meant the begging, babbling part wasn't very far away.

But I was just teasing.
He was never going to get another piece of me.
All I was doing now was gifting him with a sight to remember me by.

I stood over the bed and looked down at him.
“
Sorry, boo.
No seconds here.
This was just a one-time thing.
”

“
Don't be so sure.
”

“
Oh, I'm sure.
”

“
Well what would you say if I told you that this isn't over until I said it was over?
”

This time, it was my eyebrows that rose high.
Roman was still smiling, but that didn't mean a thing.
Just as I was about to start cursing this man out, he chuckled.

“
I was just playing,
”
he said.

It was my turn to stare at him, but I wasn't looking at him with the appreciation that had been in his eyes when he looked at me.
I was trying to see inside his head.
Please don't tell me that I had hooked up with a crazy!

But as soon as I had that thought, Roman laughed.
“
I said, I was just playing.
I knew what this was when I walked into this room with you yesterday.
Just a one-time thing.
I didn't even think that you'd let me stay the night, but I'm glad you did because I really did have a good time.
”

I wasn't sure if he was lying or not, but I kinda figured that those words deserved, if not a reward, a peace offering.
If this guy was crazy, I didn't want to piss him off.
I just wanted to get him out of here and make sure that we parted
--
at least in his mind
--
as
friends.

So, I leaned over and kissed him, letting my tongue say a slow goodbye.
But when his hands began to roam over my body, and
goose bumps
rose on my skin, and he brought back those last-night memories, I started having second thoughts.
It might be good to give him a quickie
…
I had time
…
it could be short and sweet
…
what would it matter?

But I pushed him away because it would matter.
It would matter because today was my wedding day.
And no matter what anyone thought, I
did
have morals!

I rolled off the bed, then glanced at Roman over my shoulder.
“
I'm going into the bathroom,
”
I said.
“
When I come out, please be gone.
”

His face stretched with surprise and his expression told me that he found my words a bit abrasive.
I was sorry for that
--
my tone was harsher than my heart.
But if that's what was needed to make him be gone, then fine.
I had to keep my mind on what was important here, and that was getting him out of the room so that I could prepare to become Kenny's bride.

I went into the bathroom, lowered the cover on the commode, sat down and waited.
For a while, I was sure that he was going to knock on the door and ask to use the toilet.
Isn't that what everyone did in the morning?

I folded my hands together and that was when I saw it
--
the ring!
Dang!
I'd forgotten that I still had on Hines's ring.
Can you imagine what would have happened if I walked into the church wearing this?