Secrets On Lake Drive (7 page)

“You know, the women you parade around the
city with like you just won the Pimp of the Year Award or
something. And I don’t know why you’re up in my face like it’s not
true. Everybody around here knows your reputation.”

“Boy-o-boy. You just know it all, don’t
you?”

“Sean, move out of my way.”

He looked angry, and at that moment, I
realized I didn’t really know who Sean Beauvais was or what he was
capable of doing.

“What’s my reputation since you know me so
well?”

Sean’s temper was getting worse, and it was
almost intimidating. He could probably lift up my skinny behind
with one hand and spin me in the air like pizza dough.

“I’ve heard people say that you dog women
out and sleep around,” I replied nervously.

“And you believe that? How is it that you
think you can come into my house and judge me? You think you know
me, but in reality, you don’t know anything about me or my life or
what I’ve been through!”

Not caring to hear any more of his ranting,
I left him standing in the kitchen and made my way back
upstairs.

“Think about that the next time you open
your mouth,” he yelled as I was going up the stairs.

I said nothing in response. Instead, I just
kept my mouth closed. Besides, I was ready to go to bed. I wasn’t
about to waste any more valuable sleep time on that lunatic.

Chapter 8 -
Making
Progress

Things were going fine for a few weeks into
July. Sean was going to work regularly on weekdays (hallelujah) and
worked from home on most weekends. I still had an issue with the
little time he spent with Roman, although I was hesitant to bring
it up for fear that I’d be yelled at again. I stayed clear of Sean
and Sean stayed away from me.

One day when Roman and I were returning home
from the lakefront, I noticed Sean was home early. He was sitting
on the balcony outside of his bedroom, looking lonely and in deep
thought. Or maybe he just wanted to sulk in misery and solitude. I
don’t know. Daryl did say that Sean didn’t date women because all
they wanted from him was his money.

I guess that’s all Shanelle wanted, a
walking ATM machine. She never really loved Sean. She loved the big
house, the fancy cars, and the one and a half princess cut,
certified diamond solitaire ring she rocked on that lockdown
finger. That is until she found another man with a bigger house,
fancier cars, and bigger diamonds. I heard that if it wasn’t for
his mother, Sean would’ve never married the gold digger.

As we got closer to the house, I could see
that Sean was bare-chested again, looking like he’d just gotten
into a fight with a bottle of baby oil.

“Look, Roman. Wave at your daddy.”

Roman was waving like a six-year-old would,
while increasing the speed of his walk in order to get to his
father faster.

“Daddy! Daddy! Mrs. Smith showed me how to
make a big sandcastle!”

“She did, huh?”

“Yeah, and we cowected seashells. See.”
Roman opened his little hand, revealing two small seashells.

“That’s nice, son. Come on in and rinse off
and get ready for dinner. Okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

I walked into the house behind Roman, went
upstairs to Sean’s room, and joined him on the balcony. Since that
night in the kitchen, we hadn’t talked face-to-face, just on the
phone, and I wanted to make things right between us.

“Sean, I want to apologize for those bad things I
said to you.” It took a lot of pride swallowing to do that, but one
of us had to be the bigger person. I mean, after all, I am living
in the man’s house. “I don’t know you, and I’m sorry for the things
I said about you. I was wrong.”

“I’m sorry, too,” he said, then stuck out
his hand as if he wanted to shake and call it even. “Maybe we can
be civil with each other from here on out.”

Thinking he was too arrogant to apologize, I
wasn’t expecting that response from him. I smiled but refused his
handshake, wanting a hug instead. I wasn’t about to let the first
opportunity to feel the ripple effect of his muscles up against my
body pass me by, so I hugged him. No, I squeezed him, firmly
pressing my body up against his, laying my head against his oiled
chest.

“Amber Romance,” Sean said, equally gripping
me.

“What?”

“You’re wearing Victoria’s Secret Amber
Romance, right?”

“Yeah. How did you know that?” I asked, as
Sean inhaled the scent of my body mist.

“I just know.”

I was ready to pull away from our hug, but
Sean held on to me, and for that moment, I felt like I was his.

“We’ve been spending so much time angry at
each other that we haven’t had a chance to get to know one
another,” he said when he let me go and started staring at me
with his darling green eyes. “I really need to get to know the
woman that my son is so crazy over.”

He held my hands and we just stood there on
the balcony, staring at each other. Actually, he was staring at me
and I had no idea why. The awkward silence was killing me and he
seemed to have lost himself in my eyes. Then, out of the blue, he
smiled. I smiled, too. It was the first time I’d seen him so
sincere.

He broke the silence. “Besides the fact that
you’re a teacher and you like to cook, I don’t know much about you.
So why don’t you tell me about yourself.”

“Depends on what you want to know?”

“Well, where are you from?”

“
I’ve been living in
Milwaukee all my life.”

“Oh, word?”

“Yeah. My apartment is near Appleton &
Hampton.”

“Oh, okay. I know the area. I own a few
houses over there. So have you always been a teacher?”

“Yep, since I graduated from the University
of Wisconsin. I’ve only been actively teaching for about ten
months.”

“So you’re pretty much new to the game,
huh?”

“Yeah, I guess you can say that.”

“Well, you’re doing a good job with
Roman.”

If I was doing such a good job with
Roman, why did you take him out of my class,
is what I thought,
but didn’t bother to ask. I shifted the focus of the conversation
on him. “How long have you been in real estate?”

“
For about eight years. I
used to work at one of the more popular real estate agencies in the
greater Milwaukee area. Then, after a while, potential homebuyers
and sellers began requesting me by name.”

“
Oh, so er’body started
sweatin’ you after a while?”

Sean grinned. “Yep. So, after eight years of
working for the firm, I opened my own real estate agency with a few
associates, Beauvais Real Estate Agency.”

“I bet you have a lot of requests from
women.”

“Why you say that?”

“Because of your looks. While you’re showing
them around the house, instead of checking out the details of the
place, they’re checking you out.”

Sean laughed. “You’re funny.”

“I’m for real. That’s why all those women
want Sean Beauvais to show them around houses.” Sean tried to laugh
it off like he didn’t know what I was talking about. “You know I’m
telling the truth.”

“Okay, I do get a lot of female clients, but
I would like to think they request me because of my expertise, not
because of the way I look.”

“Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn’t it?” I
replied, while nervously playing with my fingers. I tried my
hardest to make eye contact with him, but his eyes were so
enchanting, so dominant, and so beautiful that I almost couldn’t
stand to look at him. “I know you’ve probably been asked this a
million times, but how does it feel to be a triplet?”

“Ah, man. It’s kinda crazy. I mean, it was
crazy growing up because people would always get us confused, but
now they know us apart by our personalities.”

 “Yeah, I bet.” I sure did know them
apart by their behavior.

 “I have a sister, too. She’s four
years younger than us. Her name is Nikita, but we call her Nikki.
You’ll meet her one day. What about you? Do you have any
siblings?”

“Nope. It’s just me.”

“Word? It must have been lonely growing
up.”

“Somethin’ like that.” I wonder if he knew
he was making me nervous. I had to get out of here. “Well, I’m
going to go and find something for Roman to eat before I put him to
bed. It’s been nice talking to you, though.”

“Nice talking to you, too…finally. We should
do this more often.”

“Yeah, we should.”

I left the balcony and met Roman in the
kitchen, where he ate a bologna sandwich and I had nothing. I just
sat there and watched him eat. About thirty minutes later, I tucked
him in bed.

“Ms. Smith?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“If you and my daddy were married, that
would make you my mommy, right?”

Don’t know where the boy got an idea like
that from. Since when do six-year-olds know anything about
marriage? “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then can you pwease marry him so I can have
a mommy?” Roman asked sincerely.

I grinned at his question, along with the
cute way he pronounced his L’s as W’s. The thought of marrying
someone like Sean Beauvais was foreign to me. I never imagined
being with someone of his caliber.

“It doesn’t work like that, Roman. But don’t
worry. Your daddy loves you very much and he’ll find the perfect
mommy for you.”

“But I don’t want another mommy. I want
you.”

“You have me for right now, hun, but I’m not
going to be around forever.”

“Mrs. Smith?”

“Yes?”

“Can I just call you my mommy until you
weave?”

  “Roman, I don’t think your
father would like that?”

  That’s when Sean stepped into
the room. He had been standing by the door, eavesdropping on me and
Roman’s conversation.

“Actually, I would love that,” he said,
confirming that it was indeed okay for Roman to refer to me as his
mommy.

     What did he do
that for? I was livid, but Roman was happy that his dad had agreed
to it.

“I wuv you, Mommy,” Roman said, then laid
his head on his pillow like he was relaxed, at peace, and glad he
finally had someone to call mom.

It made me feel good, but I wasn’t happy
that Sean single-handedly made this spur-of-the-moment
decision.

“I love you, too, sweetie. Now try and get
some sleep.”

Sean and I left Roman’s room together, and
after I shut his bedroom door, I confronted Sean right outside my
bedroom.

“Why did you tell him that?”

“That it was okay for him to call you
mom?”

“Yes. How is that okay, Sean? I’m not his
mother.”

“You’re the only mother he knows,” Sean said
calmly. “Who else does he have?”

“He has you. I don’t want him calling me his
mother. Then when it’s time for me to leave, he’s going to be
heartbroken. Have you thought about that?”

I shook my head, and after walking into my
bedroom, Sean came up behind me with his flaring temper.

“So what you’re not going to be here
forever. My son loves you. You’re the mother that he always needed.
Do you see anyone else around?”

Maybe Sean was referring to Shanelle. I
don’t know. In answer to his question, there wasn’t anyone else
around, but how was that my fault?

“No, I don’t see anyone else, but what does
that have to do with me?”

Growing furious, he walked out of my room,
slamming the door so hard that he broke the knob. Then he went
outside to get some air and cool off, I guess.

I don’t know how it is that I could get
underneath his skin so much. It’s not like we had some undeniable
emotional connection. At the school was the first time I’d ever
laid eyes on the man that men envied and women lusted for. However,
for some reason, our working relationship had morphed into somewhat
of a twisted mess. Still, I’m here to do a job and I intend on
doing just that.

Chapter 9 -
Playtime

I woke up the next day to a bright Saturday
morning. Roman was in the family room watching
SpongeBob
and
Sean was in the kitchen with his brothers. I walked into the
kitchen wearing my hot pink pajama set.

“Good morning, guys.”

“Mornin’, Monica,” Warren said.

“Wassup, shawty,” Derrick responded.

Sean didn’t say anything. Hope he didn’t
think I cared.

“Should I cook breakfast?” I asked just to
tick Sean off. I knew he was still upset from last night.

“No, you don’t have to cook,” Sean said. “I
don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.”

“I don’t know, man. Them eggs she cooked the
other day were banging!” Warren responded, trying to lighten the
mood and giving me props at the same time.

“Well, thank you, Warren. At least someone
appreciates me around here.”

Sean looked at me evil-eyed. However, Warren
must have gotten him curious about my cooking skills, because he
gave me the okay to cook.

I cooked some eggs, bacon, and grits, and
Sean couldn’t help but tear the eggs up. They were probably the
best tasting eggs he’d ever eaten. Meanwhile, I had a slice of
peanut butter toast and a glass of orange juice.

“Sean, I wanted to take Roman to the
carnival today. Is that okay with you?” I bit into my toast, while
looking into Sean’s eyes for his approval.

“That’s cool,” he said. “You mind if I tag
along?”

I almost choked to death.
Am I hearing
things? Did he just ask if he could tag along?
I was coughing
so bad that I left the kitchen. When I was finally able to clear my
airway, I came back in. Sean had never wanted to go anywhere else
with us, but all of a sudden, he wanted to come with us to the
carnival.

“That would be great,” I said, managing to
hold a smile on my face, when on the inside I was thinking,
why
do I continue to torture myself?