Too Hot for TV (26 page)

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Authors: Cheris Hodges

BOOK: Too Hot for TV
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“It's easy to do things when you love someone enough. Imani and I wanted this wedding to be about us, close friends, and family.”
Keith nodded. “And there was no way in hell that was going to happen in New York. The photographers and reporters staked out the clinic like we had the cure for cancer,” he said.
Raymond laughed when he thought about how he fought not to do
Let's Get Married.
His life would be totally different had he not gone on that show. Turning to Celeste, he asked, “What's the word on the dress?”
“In her hotel waiting for her when she and Dana get here. I hope she likes it, because it is not your traditional wedding dress and she didn't pick it out herself.”
“What does it look like?” Raymond asked.
“You'll see tomorrow. Can we keep some semblance of tradition going on here?” Celeste quipped. “And, Keith, this just raised the stakes on our New Year's Eve wedding.”
Keith rolled his eyes and sighed. “Somehow, I knew that was going to happen.”
Celeste sauntered away, smiling. “You shouldn't have showed me how capable you are, darling.”
Once he was alone, Raymond stood in the middle of the walkway and smiled. This was the right thing, the wedding that Imani deserved. He didn't mind going all out for her because this would be their first and last wedding. At sunset tomorrow, they would take vows to spend the rest of their lives together.
Chapter 25
Imani and Dana landed in Negril at sunset after the most annoying flight in history. First, they were delayed for two hours because of a flock of geese on the runway. Once they were seated on the plane, one of the passengers, who'd spent at least two hours in the airport bar, was so unruly that they sat on the tarmac until security removed him from the plane.
Finally, once they were up in the air, the flight was hit by so much turbulence that Imani thought they were going to crash.
“This magazine shoot had better be worth it,” Imani had said to Dana as she squeezed her hand.
“Ouch! It will be, but if you squeeze my hand again, then I'm not going to be able to shoot again.”
Finally on the ground, they dashed through the airport and took the shuttle to the Xtabi Resort. Imani leaned back on the seat and closed her eyes.
“You're missing the sights,” Dana said. “It is really beautiful out there.”
“The only sight I want to see right now is the other side of my eyelids. I am drained and if you want me to look like something other than a beast for the shoot tomorrow, you're going to let me sleep,” Imani said.
“I forgot how irritated you get when you're not properly rested,” Dana said with an eye roll. “While you sleep, I have to go meet with the editorial director.”
“Want me to go with you?”
“Absolutely not. I just want you to sleep and do something with your face,” Dana said.
Imani squeezed her friend's arm. “My face is perfect,” she said. “But I hope there is a nice hot tub in the room that I can soak in while you're working.”
“Just rub it in,” Dana said. “I think our room overlooks one of the cliffs. If you're up to it, we can jump later.”
“Not on your life,” she said. “Oh, I'd better call Raymond and let him know where I am. Shit, I don't even know if my cell phone will work over here. Can't you call internationally on your phone?”
Dana nodded but didn't immediately hand her phone over to her friend. “Let me call the editorial director first,” she said. Imani shrugged and waited for Dana to finish her call.
“Here you go,” Dana said as she handed her the phone.
Imani dialed Raymond's number and was excited to hear his voice even though he'd only been gone for half a day.
“Hello?”
“Baby, it's Imani,” she said. “I was just calling to tell you that I'm in Jamaica.”
“Really? What are you doing there?”
“A shoot with Dana. I should be back in New York around the same time you get back, but I wanted to let you know where I was just in case you called home and I wasn't there.”
“Thanks for calling.”
“How is New Orleans?”
Raymond sighed. “Without you here, very boring. I've been in meeting after meeting. Listening to doctors talk isn't that much fun when all I can think about is this hot fiancée that I can't wait to see.”
Imani grinned from ear to ear. “And when you see said fiancée, just what are you going to do?”
“Mmm, hold that thought. My next session is about to start and I can't get into it. Love you.”
“But—but.” He'd hung up. She handed the phone back to Dana, saying, “He's busy.”
“What did you expect that he would be doing?”
Imani tapped Dana on the knee. “Well, when we get back, I want to tell him about my plans for our Valentine's Day wedding.”
“When? Four years from now? Not even with your newfound fame could you pull off a Valentine's Day wedding this late in the game,” Dana said.
Imani sucked her teeth. “I can make it happen if I put my mind to it,” she said. “But Raymond has a say in this as well. I don't want to be one of those brides who focuses more on the wedding and forgets about the marriage.”
“That's what I'm talking about,” Dana said.
After arriving at the resort, Dana rushed off to her meeting and Imani was so mesmerized by the view from the room that she forgot all about soaking in the hot tub.
 
 
Raymond rushed Dana into the room dubbed “wedding central.” “Imani didn't follow you, did she?” he asked.
“Your fiancée is probably soaking her cares away in the tub. So, what time tomorrow do I need to have her walking down the aisle?” Dana asked.
“Sunset,” Raymond said as Celeste walked into the room. She motioned for Dana to follow her.
“She gets to see the dress?” Raymond asked. “That isn't right.”
“Hush up, Raymond,” Celeste said as she and Dana headed into the adjoining room.
“She's going to love it,” he heard Dana exclaim. Raymond couldn't help but smile. He only hoped that Imani would be as excited about the dress as her friend was.
Keith walked into the room with dinner. “Have Imani and Dana gotten here yet?”
“Yes. Imani called and I was almost busted when the steel drum band started playing. I damn near had to hang up on her in midconversation.” Raymond and his partner laughed.
Dana and Celeste walked back into the room. “And our girl was not happy about that,” Dana said. “I'm just glad I was able to call you and give you a heads-up that she was going to be calling on my phone.”
“That was close because I would've ruined everything,” he said with a laugh. “Now, how are you going to keep her busy all day tomorrow?”
“We're going to go to the lighthouse around four and take some shots. Celeste, I need the dress so that I can make sure it fits her and then we can get the accessories to go along with it.”
“All right, but let me get the garment bag so that Raymond will be surprised by at least one thing on his wedding day,” Celeste said as she headed back to get the dress.
“Dana, would you like to join us for dinner before you leave?” Keith asked.
“No, I'd better get back to Imani before she starts asking questions or comes looking for me. You know she's a very impatient woman when she wants to be.” Dana laughed.
 
 
The warm air of Negril filled Imani's nostrils as she walked along the resort's grounds. She marveled at how close she was to the edge of a cliff, but at how safe she felt. One day she and Raymond would have to come here, maybe for their honeymoon. Looking down at her watch, she wondered what was taking Dana so long. She was starving and wanted to try some of the local cuisine. Of course they had Jamaican restaurants in New York, but the real thing here was going to be so much better, Imani imagined. She turned back toward the entrance of the building and headed inside. Dana, who was walking in from the other side, waved a garment bag at her.
“It's about time you made it back,” Imani said. “What's in the bag?”
“The dress for the shoot. Let's order some curried jerk chicken and rum punch for dinner.”
“Glad you know that I'm starving,” Imani said. “That's a small bag for a wedding dress.”
“It is, but you're going to love the dress.”
“Not if I don't eat first,” Imani said as they headed up to their room. Dana talked her friend into ordering room service and trying on the dress while they waited. Imani reluctantly agreed. She'd hoped to see more of Negril before she started working, but Dana made it seem as if trying on that dress was the most important thing in the world. But when Imani unzipped the white garment bag and saw the goldenrod halter dress with the fishtail and the matching lace wrap, she excitedly yelped. “This is beautiful. Who's the designer?”
Dana shrugged. “I have it in my notes. Try it on.”
Imani carefully removed the dress from the bag and held it against her body. “It looks as if it was made for me.”
“Can you try it on and make sure that it fits, please? I would like to eat sometime tonight,” Dana said, smiling because she knew Imani would love the dress.
She watched as her friend dashed into the bathroom. Inside, Imani slowly slipped into the dress. The softness of the material against her skin felt like a lover's touch. And the fit was perfect. Rushing back into the room, she twirled around so that Dana could get a good look.
“As good as I look in this dress, I should be getting married tomorrow. It's chic, different, and would make Raymond drool. Make sure you get the designer's name for me,” Imani said, then twirled again. “I don't want to take it off.”
“Well, you have to, because I've seen you eat. This dress won't be sexy with jerk chicken stains on it.”
Imani smoothed her hands down her sides and nodded. “You're right. Thanks for tricking me into being your model. All you had to do was show me this dress and I would've said yes.”
After Imani had changed out of the dress and into a simple tank top and a pair of denim cutoffs, she and Dana decided to cancel room service and head down to the resort's restaurant. Imani couldn't wait to do the photo shoot tomorrow.
 
 
The next day, Raymond stood at the base of the lighthouse nervously awaiting Imani's arrival. The day had been a mix of bad weather, lost clothes, and frayed nerves. But now, as the time drew near for him to marry Imani, the weather was perfect. The sky was putting on a show of colors—pink, orange, deep blue—and the sun was leaving its shiny footprints across the watery horizon.
“Are you ready?” Keith asked his friend.
Raymond looked down at his tan linen pants, yellow shirt, and sighed. “I'm more than ready. I hope she's ready.”
Keith pointed at the walkway where Dana was walking backward snapping shots of Imani, who stopped Raymond's breathing when she came into view. “Wow,” he intoned as he drank in her image. Hair pulled up in a loose bun with a white orchid behind her left ear. The goldenrod color highlighted her skin and made her look like a living doll, his doll.
Dana stopped taking pictures and stepped aside so she could see what was waiting for her at the end of the aisle. Imani focused on the scene before her, standing beneath the flowered archway. There was a man standing in the middle, looking like no pastor she'd ever seen in a pair of tan cargo shorts and a white tank top with a depiction of Jesus with dreadlocks in the center of his chest.
As she got closer, Imani realized that was no model standing in as her groom, that was Raymond. This wasn't a photo shoot, but her real wedding. A wedding that she knew nothing about.
Did she care? Nope. Before she knew it, Imani lifted the tail of her dress and took off running in Raymond's direction. When she made it down the aisle, she flung herself into his arms and kissed him, then, playfully punched him in the chest.
“I really want to be mad at you, but how can I when you've done all of this for me?”
“For us,” he said.
The pastor laughed as he looked from Imani to Raymond. “I guess we are ready to get married,” he said.
Raymond reached out and grabbed Imani's hand. “Oh, yes.”
Imani nodded, her eyes sparkling with tears of joy.
“Then let's get you two married,” the pastor replied.
Standing there, looking into Raymond's eyes, Imani knew she had found the love of a lifetime. She knew that this was the man she would grow old with and if fame eluded her, it wouldn't matter—because the most important thing was love. And as she pledged her heart, soul, and spirit to Raymond, she knew love was all she would ever need.

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