Trouble with Luv' (21 page)

She slowly nodded. His gentle words were just what her heart needed to hear and his touch was welcome, even if it was just for a moment.

“You're perfect for me in every way and despite what happened tonight, I still want you in my life. But in order for us to get there—”

“You need to know what happened with Malcolm,” she finished.

“Exactly.” When Xavier asked Ebony if he could ask one final question, she grudgingly agreed. Holding her in the crux of his arms was the greatest feeling in the world, and though they were at odds, this was exactly where he wanted to be. “Why didn't you go to Jacqueline and tell her the truth?”

Ebony's eyebrows drew together, but Xavier didn't let the hard expression on her face stop him from getting to the bottom of things. “If what you say is true, that Malcolm lied to you about being married, then why not track down his wife and explain?”

Ebony pulled out of his arms. He was doing it again. Judging her. Their future hinged on her response, and that scared her. They had fun together, shared jokes, and even in the silence that sometimes plagued their conversations, she felt loved. Ebony didn't want to lose Xavier, but there was nothing she could do to make him stay.

“I don't know.”

“You're going to have to do better than that, Ebony.”

“I was young,” she said, pushing the words out of her mouth. “After Jacqueline busted into the room, Malcolm threw on his clothes and ran after her, leaving me all alone. I had every intention of tracking her down and telling her what really happened, because I knew Malcolm would lie, but I got scared. A week passed, then two, and before I knew it, six months went by.”

When Xavier parted his lips to respond, she waved her hand in his face. “No more questions.”

He held up an index finger. “Just one more.”

Later, when Ebony reflected on their conversation, she would regret ever giving him such leeway, but in the moment, she wanted to erase the pain in his eyes. During their relationship Xavier had been the one to make her laugh. And smile. Tears of happiness had flooded her eyes too many times to count. It had been his sweet, compassionate nature that had opened her heart to love. Xavier made her feel good about who she was and what she had accomplished in her life. He encouraged her to do better, and in the time they had been dating, he had proven to be a shoulder she could lean on.

Friends, family, co-workers and even employees had commented on her improved outlook on life, and she had credited her newfound peace to her growing faith and her relationship with Xavier. Their love was embedded in security and loyalty, and the raw, deep-seated attraction they shared only intensified their bond. Ebony wanted to return to the safety of his arms, rest her head on his chest and listen to the soft beating of his heart, but knew she couldn't.

Bracing herself for the worst, she held her head high and met his gaze. “One last question, Xavier. And then I want you to go.”

“Did you continue dating Malcolm after you learned he was married?”

Ebony flinched as though he had slapped her. “Do you think that little of me, Xavier? Do you think I would continue seeing him after all the stress he put me through?” Tears filled her eyes and when she rubbed them away, her eyes filled with more. She loved Xavier with every fiber of her being, but she wasn't going to let him hurt her any more than he had.

The inky darkness of the evening, which had enclosed the room, mirrored what Ebony was feeling inside. There was an undertone of sadness in her voice when she finally spoke. “After the incident at the Marriott, I never saw or heard from him again.” Ebony opened the front door. “Now, if you don't mind, I'd like you to leave.” Conflicting emotions left her feeling confused. She wanted Xavier to leave, but secretly hoped he would stay with her.

Xavier stopped in front of the open door, unsure of what to do. Ebony wasn't to blame for what happened with Malcolm. The man was a womanizer who preyed on innocent women searching for love and acceptance. Xavier had disliked the businessman on sight. And when Jacqueline announced they were engaged, after dating a mere seven months, the entire family was outraged. But his sister was a grown woman and there was nothing anyone could say to change her mind. The ink on the wedding license hadn't even dried when the young newlywed started suspecting her husband of having an affair.

Jacqueline had confided in him about her marital problems, hoping he could give her some advice. Malcolm was coming home all hours of the night or not at all. He was squandering their money on lavish dinners that she wasn't a part of. And he grew angry when she questioned his whereabouts. Despite Xavier's protest, Jacqueline began leaving work early and trailing Malcolm around town. After three weeks, she discovered that he was spending copious amounts of time with a young, dark-skinned woman. But it wasn't until Jacqueline stormed into his hotel suite and found him in bed with his mistress that she filed for divorce.

Xavier remembered that afternoon with acute clarity. Jacqueline had called him at work, sobbing. The more he tried to calm her, the harder she cried. Xavier had signed out at the office and left the school immediately. He spent the rest of the night, and the weeks following, comforting his sister. He helped Jacqueline move out of the house she shared with Malcolm and into his place. One of the women at Jubilee Christian Center, who was also going through a divorce, took Jacqueline to a women's support group, and six months later, she was back to being her old self. As luck would have it, she met Andrew soon after at a church fellowship service.

The faint lights of the wall sconces cast an angeliclike expression on Ebony's face, although bitterness underlined her eyes. In the time they had been dating, she had never given him any reason not to trust her. Men approached her constantly, offering dates and even gifts, but she didn't respond to their advances. She was his woman, his love, his life and he wanted her with him on a permanent basis. But first, he had to talk things over again with Jackie. “Ebony, I love you with all my heart, but if Jackie isn't going to be okay with us being together, then…”

“Why does
she
get to decide
our
future?”

“Because she's my sister!”

Ebony couldn't believe what she was hearing.
He's willing to throw away what we have because his sister has a problem with it? I haven't seen or spoken to Malcolm in years. I've moved on and changed my ways. Doesn't that count for something?
Ebony wasn't going to sit around and wait for Xavier to come to his senses. He either loved her enough to stand up to his sister, or he didn't. “Don't bother talking things over with Jacqueline, Xavier. I'll make the decision easy for you. It's over.”

“Wait! Let me—”

“No, you wait! You've been judging me since day one and I'm tired of trying to win your approval. We tried to make a go of a relationship, and we failed. No hard feelings.” But the harshness of her tone suggested otherwise.

“I'll call you in a few days and we'll—”

“Don't bother. We have nothing to discuss.” Ebony shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly. “I guess you were right all along. We are too different for each other.”

Xavier studied her face. Since they'd begun dating, he'd learned to look beyond the surface and search for the truth in the depths of her eyes. He wanted to dispute her claims but decided against it. Besides, what Ebony said made no difference. Over the next few days, he would talk things over with Jackie and then go from there. There was nothing Xavier wanted more than to have Ebony in his life, but his sister's feelings mattered to him, too. In one last attempt to smooth things over, Xavier stepped forward and reached for her.

“Don't,” she warned, narrowing her eyes. Ebony glanced down the hall, thinking about all the packing she would have to do. Movies were stacked in the entertainment unit, nutrition books lined the last row of the bookshelf, and T-shirts, pants and sneakers crowded the spare bedroom. It all belonged to Xavier. “I'll have your things ready tomorrow. Pick them up before I get back from work and leave my keys on the kitchen counter.”

“Don't do this, Ebony,” he said, touching her cheek. Xavier wanted to take her into his arms, which he'd grown accustomed to doing, but if he gave in to his desire he knew there'd be no turning back. And now, more than ever, he needed to think clearly.

“Don't do what? End a relationship that you don't want to be a part of?”

Xavier wanted to argue with her, yell at her, tell her she was wrong. How could Ebony insinuate that she didn't mean anything to him? He loved her and he knew that she loved him too, so why was she doing this? Why was she willing to throw away what they had? Xavier was stunned to learn she had had an affair with Malcolm, but nothing had changed. His feelings for her were still intact. Xavier didn't know how to keep the peace in his family and have Ebony in his life, but he would do everything in his power to have both.

“I don't want to waste any more time discussing this. Kindly lock the door behind you when you leave.” Tears of frustration blurred Ebony's vision as she trudged upstairs. In her bedroom, safe from hurtful words and accusations, she collapsed on her bed and cried. A full minute passed before she heard the door slam, and then the house fell quiet.

B
y the time the sun crept over the horizon the following morning, Ebony was behind her desk, hard at work. Staying home had never crossed her mind. Work had to be done and no amount of crying or pondering over what could have been was going to bring Xavier back. He was gone, they were over and the best thing she could do was focus on her business. Ebony had a vaulting ambition to take Discreet Boutiques worldwide, and now that Xavier was gone, she could focus all of her time and energy on making her dreams a reality.

Unable to shut off her thoughts long enough to get some rest, she had tossed and turned for the better part of the night. Thoughts of happier times had played over and over in her mind like a PowerPoint slide show. Quiet, moonlit drives through downtown, picnicking in Xavier's backyard, cooking exotic meals and then feeding them to each other were just a few of the memories that touched her heart. And then there were the thoughts of making love. All the times Xavier touched every square inch of her body and the way he would slide himself between her legs at the perfect moment were welcome memories. And so was their birthday romp outside the garage door.

Filing away all thoughts of her ex, she gave her head a shake. Then a sudden, intense panic gripped her.
What if Xavier finds someone else? What if one of those well-meaning but interfering church mothers throw their daughter or granddaughter at him?
Xavier had given Ebony every little thing her heart desired, and she knew it was just a matter of time before he found happiness with someone else. Ebony pushed away an errant strand of hair, thoughts of him swarming her mind.

God, I miss him.

It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since they spoke, but it felt like days. Several days. Ebony longed to be back in Xavier's arms. She missed the feel of his fingers in her hair, hankered for the taste of his lips just one last time. Ebony wanted to hear his voice, but calling him was out of the question. Washing her mind of all thoughts of Xavier, she did a mental check of what she had to do that afternoon. She was taking Lydia out for lunch to celebrate her new apartment. “It's not the Hilton or anything,” Lydia had said when she invited her over last Wednesday after Changing Lives Through Meals, “but it's mine.”

“That's right,” Ebony agreed, giving her a wide smile. “You should be proud of yourself. You've accomplished a lot in a short time.” Lydia's stint at the women's shelter had gone far better than either of them expected. Smoking was a habit she had yet to break, but she was trying her best to quit. Despite her past, it quickly became apparent to the staff at the New Hope Women's Shelter that Lydia Miller was going somewhere with her life. Under the advice of her counselor, she enrolled in adult education classes at a local high school and began volunteering at a day care center three afternoons a week. In her spare time, she spent generous amounts of time at the public library, poring over fashion magazines. Lydia was bent on being a makeup artist and Ebony was already pulling strings to make her dreams come true.

When Kendall poked her head into her partner's office at eleven-fifteen, Ebony was staring off into space, her fingers intertwined, resting in the crux of her hands. Polished looking as she was in a conservative charcoal-colored suit, an opaque blouse, and sporting a new wavy hairstyle it was hard to believe that Ebony had been crying her eyes out last night.

“You all right?”

“Just fine,” Ebony lied, snapping out of her thoughts and casting her eyes on the spreadsheets in front of her. “How did the meeting with Mrs. Toliver go? Any promising news or was she her usual evasive and surly self?”

“Things look grim,” Kendall confessed. “She all but said the loan would be denied.” Flopping down on the leather couch, she released a sigh of frustration. Ebony's mind wandered back to last Wednesday. Xavier had surprised her with lunch from her favorite Italian restaurant. She had jumped to her feet, wrapped him in her arms and properly thanked him with her lips. After locking her office door, she'd straddled him in the middle of the couch and helped him out of his track suit. The seafood spaghetti, garlic cheese sticks and potato salad were forgotten as they satisfied a hunger of another kind. Ebony closed her eyes. Six days later, she could still feel the heat of his lips on her neck and his hands on her breasts. Xavier had done things to her on that couch that she would never forget. And that night in bed, he had given her a repeat performance that left her body writhing in ecstasy.

“Are you listening to me?”

Ebony's eyes flickered. Caught daydreaming, she smiled at her partner ruefully. “Sorry, Kendall. What were you saying?”

Kendall shot her a sympathetic look. She wanted to ask Ebony if she wanted to talk about last night, but decided against it. Her partner didn't like the staff discussing their personal affairs during work hours. No matter how grave the situation. “The bank is going to turn us down.”

Ebony wasn't surprised by the news. First National Bank had been giving them a hard time all year. They had made good on their loans, were professional and thorough in their dealings, and the boutiques were making more money than the projected figures. Racking her brain for the next step to take, she tapped her ballpoint pen absently on her desk.
There has to be something we can do.
She eyed the picture frame propped up against the computer. Opal and Spencer were in the picture, along with her and Xavier. His eyes were alight with excitement and he had a hand draped across her shoulder. The shot had been taken at Q's Joint and they were the picture of happiness. “That's it!” she yelled out loud.

Kendall sat up. “What's it?”

“I know who can help us. Kale! A few years back he hosted the First National Bank Charity Ball. Who knows, maybe he can pull a few strings for us.” Ebony buzzed Jocelyn and asked her to get Kale Washington on the line. “If anyone can give us a hand, it'll be Kale. I'll see if I can set something up for this week. What day works for you?”

Jocelyn stuck her head in the door, preventing Kendall's response. “Mr. Washington wasn't in but his secretary said she'd have him call you back when he returns. He's expected back within the hour.”

“Thanks, Jocelyn.”

Ebony checked her appointment book. She wanted to be ready with a date and time when Kale returned her call. The only day she was available to meet was Thursday afternoon. She told Kendall.

“I can make it, as long as we're finished by four. I have an appointment at Garden Square at five and you know how crazy rush-hour traffic is.”

“Must be a pretty important appointment if you're willing to blow off this meeting,” Ebony noted.

Kendall was quiet. She wanted to share her news, but she didn't know how it would be received. Ebony was going through a rough time, and she knew from experience that when her partner was in a mood, she didn't want to hear anybody's good news, especially if it had to do with a man. “I wasn't going to say anything, because I know you're bummed out about Xavier…but…um, I think I'm pregnant. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but—”

The rest of her sentence was drowned out by Ebony's screams. She abandoned her chair and ran around the desk. “When? How? Well, I know how,” she joked, “but I thought Turner was dead set against having children right now.”

“He was, but I took your advice, and he—” When Ebony's eyebrows sank, she said, “No baby, no nooky. Remember? I just flipped the script on that husband of mine. Since he was the one worried about getting pregnant, I told him
he
should be the one using birth control. Needless to say, it didn't go over too well.

“Turner tried to keep on top of things, but failed. Then he told me that if we got pregnant it was God's will. My period was late, but I didn't think anything of it because I'm
always
late. But four days later, I knew something was up. I was waiting for the results of the home pregnancy test when you called. When I heard you crying, I raced out of the house, forgetting all about the test.”

Ebony fidgeted with her charm bracelet. She couldn't believe she had cried all over herself like that. “I never did thank you for coming to get me.”

“You don't need to. That's what friends are for.”

Ebony smiled. “Well, what happened with the test?”

“When I got back home, Turner met me at the door with the applicator in his hand. ‘Two pink stripes. I guess that means we're pregnant!' I bawled my eyes out!” she said, a smile of pure joy on her lips.

“I'm so happy for you!” Ebony gave Kendall a hug. Kendall was more than her business partner and friend, she was the sister she had never had. Sometimes they called each other names, and back in college, they had even gotten into a shoving match, but no matter what she went through, Ebony could always count on Kendall to be there for her. Her eyes teared and her face twitched like she was about to sneeze. Being a mother meant the world to Kendall, and Ebony couldn't think of anybody more deserving of the honor. “Kendall, you're going to make a terrific mother!”

Kendall felt guilty for not wanting to share her news with Ebony. Her friend was genuinely excited for her. She broke into laughter when Ebony touched her stomach and said she could already feel the bulge. Her stomach was as flat as an ironing board, but she was looking forward to the weight gain, the intense cravings and even the sleepless nights.

Ebony listened quietly as Kendall chattered about the baby names she had picked out, the colors she was going to paint the nursery and the furniture she was going to buy. Sabrina and Jocelyn came into the office, carrying a tray of coffee and muffins, and suggested they take a break. Kendall told them she was pregnant and was plied with more hugs and kisses.

Questions whirled in Ebony's brain.
I wonder what our kids would have looked like? Would we have had a set of twins?
Thoughts of Xavier, and their love, left her speculating whether or not she would ever find such happiness again. Her eyes pooled with water. Ebony wiped a tear away. She refused to shed another tear over the demise of their relationship. It was over, done, history. And brooding over what could have been wasn't going to bring Xavier back.

 

Kale Washington loved the dog days of summer. Not because of the heady scent of the season or the additional hours of sunlight. There was one reason and one reason only why he looked forward to the summer: the women. The greater the heat, the less women wore outside. Miniskirts, cleavage-baring tops and booty shorts came out the second the temperature soared above seventy-five degrees.

Kale loved his wife passionately and would kill any man who touched her, but marriage had done nothing to curb his appetite for other women, especially sultry and provocative females like the one sitting across from him. Ebony Garrett had more going for her than just her good looks. She was the prototype of what he desired in a mistress. Secure, career-minded, intelligent and self-sufficient. There wasn't anything he could do for her that she couldn't do for herself. He admired that. In his experience, businesswomen made the best girlfriends. They didn't ask for too much of his time, weren't interested in taking his wife's place and had no inhibitions in the bedroom. The confidence they had in their abilities carried over into their intimate lives as well. As far as Kale was concerned, dating a professional woman was a win-win situation. He got all the sex he could stand and she received companionship and romance.

Tilting his head back to finish his wine, he let his eyes linger over the seductive curve of Ebony's mouth. He liked that she was a very together businesswoman and sure of herself. If it weren't for the fact that his wife was on friendly terms with the boutique owner, he would have stepped to her a long time ago. For now, he had no choice but to admire her beauty from afar.

“It's a shame Kendall couldn't join us,” he said. “It's been months since I saw her. How is she doing?”

“Great. She had an appointment that couldn't be rescheduled, but she sent her greetings.” Ebony took a generous bite of her steak. It was moist and succulent, just the way she liked it. “I really appreciate you agreeing to meet with me, Kale. I know how busy you are running the club and satisfying all the other commitments you have.”

Kale gave her a winning smile. “It's no problem. I'm always here to help.” His smoky-gray eyes bore down on her like a lynx stalking its prey. His mouth drew back into a toothy smile. “Have I told you how stunning you look tonight?”

Ebony returned his smile. She considered Kale a friend, but this was still a business meeting, so she had wisely dressed down in a black V-neck dress and sensible pumps. Wanting a smart and professional flair, she had curled the ends of her hair lightly. Ebony knew Kale was attracted to her, but she wasn't going to do anything to suggest the feelings were mutual.

Tonight, he had traded in his customary Armani suit for a black mock-neck dress shirt and tan slacks. Although he'd set hearts racing when he strolled into the Indigo Lounge, Ebony wasn't impressed. He was handsome enough, but there was only one man she desired.

She took a bite of her sautéed potatoes, and took her time chewing. “This is my first time here, but it won't be my last,” Ebony told Kale, as her eyes passed over the room. The contemporary and attractive restaurant was sequestered behind tall hedges of ficus trees and boasted a dazzling view of the city. Slightly upscale, the main floor level housed sleek furniture, muted tan walls and glistening hardwood floors. In addition to the delectable Southern cuisine, and extensive wine lists, the restaurant had a live jazz band that wooed patrons on Friday and Saturday nights. Ebony had wanted to eat somewhere less flashy, but she had allowed Kale to pick the time and the place, and he had chosen the Indigo.