“You know what? I have often wondered what it would take to shut you up.”

Maritza smirked and filled her expression with more brazenness than she felt at that moment.

“Funny, I’ve often wondered the same thing about you. Unfortunately, Penny would miss you if I followed through on any of my ideas.”

He chuckled again. It was masculine laughter at its finest. “Hmm… Good thing my idea will shut us both up for a while…then we both win.” His sexy face leaned in, further invading her space.

She gulped. And willed herself to pull away, but she leaned forward instead. It was as if some magnetic force was moving her head, twisting and contorting it to find the right angle for his lips to meet hers.

It couldn’t be of her own free will. Could it?

She did not want this. Did she?

His lips connected to hers and she sighed. It sounded like a contented kitten that had just lapped up the last bit of milk. More like a sigh and mewl mixed together, but nevertheless problematic….

His tongue traced her lips and more shocks went through her. Her heart seemed as if it wanted to pound its way right out of her chest and into his hands.

Stupid heart, she thought as she opened her lips and allowed her tongue entry into his mouth.

She wasn’t letting her heart out but there was no reason her tongue couldn’t come out and play.

Books by Gwyneth Bolton

Kimani Romance

If Only You Knew

Protect and Serve

Make It Hot

The Law of Desire

Sizzling Seduction

Make It Last Forever

Rivals in Paradise

At First Kiss

Ready For Love

GWYNETH BOLTON

was born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey. She currently lives in Central New York with her husband, Cedric. When she was twelve years old, she became an avid reader of romance by sneaking books from her mother’s stash of Harlequin and Silhouette novels. In the ’90s she was introduced to African American and multicultural romance novels and her life hasn’t been the same since. She has a B.A. and an M.A. in English/creative writing and a Ph.D. in English/composition and rhetoric. She teaches college level classes in writing and women’s studies. She has won several awards for her romance novels, including ten Emma Awards and the Romance in Color Reviewer’s Choice award for new author of the year.

When Gwyneth is not teaching or working on her own romance novels, she is curled up with a cup of herbal tea, a warm quilt and a good book. She can be reached via email at gwynethbolton@prodigy.net. Readers can visit her website at www.gwynethbolton.com.

Ready for Love

GWYNETH BOLTON

To all the readers who loved the Hightowers and have been asking for Terrill and Maritza’s story almost from the beginning… This one is for you!

Dear Reader,

Psssst. Psssst. Pssssst.

Come closer…

Okay… Terrill and Maritza have a secret. It is a secret that will shock all of their friends and family. And it will probably even shock you, dear reader!

I wish I could share their secret with you but I am taking great risk telling you this. Okay, I’ll say this much, I think of the old New Edition song, “My Secret” whenever I think of these two enemies turned lov—

Oops! I’ve said too much already. But let’s just say, when New Edition’s Ralph Tresvant sings “sparks begin to fly, lightening in the sky,” he could very well be talking about what happens every time Terrill and Maritza come within five feet of one another. And their secret has a lot to do with what happens when neither one of them can ignore all those sparks any longer.

You’ll have to read it to find out the rest. But I hope you will enjoy finding out Terrill and Maritza’s secret as much as I enjoyed revealing it!

Much love and peace,

Gwyneth

I want to offer a special thanks to my family: my husband, Cedric Bolton; my mom, Donna Pough; my sisters, Jennifer, Cassandra, Michelle and Tashina; my nieces Ashlee and Zaria and my nephew Michael.

And I’d like to offer an extra special thanks to all the readers and book clubs that have read my books and have let me know that they enjoyed them. I can’t tell you how much your support has meant to me. I appreciate you all so much because the readers make up the heart of this genre that I love so very much! Thanks for all you do to make sure that the legacy of Black romance novels continues.

Contents

First Interlude

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Second Interlude

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Third Interlude

Epilogue

First Interlude
If you stay ready, you won’t ever have to get
ready…

“Girl, you got some’s plainin’ to do!” Samantha Hightower did a halfway decent mimic of Ricky Ricardo. The dark chocolate beauty was a dead ringer for a pre–Weight Watchers Jennifer Hudson.

Maritza rolled her eyes at Joel Hightower’s wife as she toyed with the ten-carat pear-shaped engagement ring on her finger and tried to figure out where it all had gone so incredibly wrong.

Wrong man.

Wrong ring.

Wrong everything.

Wrong like the way she was thinking about Terrill Carter—the man who was undoubtedly the love of her life—instead of Andrew “Speed-Lo” MacGregor, the man she had agreed to marry…

“She doesn’t have to explain anything to me! Little mamacita was double dipping and trying to get her vanilla-chocolate swirl on! She wanted two men and then she got caught up in the mix. Shoulda asked an ol’ school playa like me how to play the game and not let the game play you. That’s the truth.” Carla, her best friend Penny Keys-Hightower’s mother, was stretched out on Maritza’s cream-butter leather sofa relaxing and popping off at the mouth—feet up and shoes on like she paid the mortgage or something.

Maritza could only shake her head because there was no point in trying to get into it with Carla. The petite firecracker looked spiffy in a peach maxi sundress and matching sandals. But her spiffy behind was going to hear it from Maritza if she left just one scuff mark on the butter leather.

The bright airiness of her downtown Los Angeles loft was cluttered with crowds of questioning people. The Hightower wives and their families, along with Maritza’s parents and brothers, made for a pretty intense interrogation team. Everyone wanted answers after Maritza’s fiasco of an engagement party hadn’t gone exactly as planned, and Terrill Carter showed up trying to get Maritza to admit she loved him.

Her fiancé’s boys hadn’t liked Terrill’s impromptu interruption at all, and there had been a small scuffle that ended up with everyone being kicked out of the restaurant and possibly banned for life.

Yes, the people roaming around her loft wanted answers and they probably weren’t going to go anywhere until they got them. Maritza had no idea how she would appease them all, once they started throwing questions at her. On her best day she could take whatever people threw at her without blinking. She could work a room full of normal people and have them exactly where she wanted them. But she was unfortunately not having her best day. And the people in her loft would be hard to handle one on one if she didn’t want them all in her business, let alone as a pack of frenzied friends and family.

“Mommy, now you know you couldn’t have schooled nobody the way you got caught out there between my daddy and C-Money, so stop playing.” Penny rolled her eyes at her mother and sighed before turning to Maritza. Her bronze locks were hanging down her back and the black linen sleeveless pantsuit she was wearing had her looking like a sure stand-in for Janet Jackson in the “That’s the Way Love Goes” video.

“But for real, for real, girlfriend,” Penny offered in a need-to-know-all tone, “you are going to have to tell us what the deal is! How the hell did my boy, from way back in the day, end up crashing your engagement party like he was Dwayne Wayne and you were Whitley Gilbert in that classic episode of A Different World? Terrill was pouring his heart out on some ol’ ‘Maritza, please, baby, please,’ tip.”

Maritza ran an image-consulting firm called New Images by Keys and Morales with Penny. Both former video models and dancers, they had met on a rap video shoot years ago when they were both working their way through college and had developed a steadfast bond.

Since Maritza had grown up the only girl in a family of brothers and Penny had only ever had guy friends, developing a close friendship had been a challenge for the two of them. They had had to learn how to be good friends and trust the bonds of the sistah-girl-friendship. But they had worked at their friendship and it grew. Their business, New Images by Keys and Morales, was doing extremely well and was poised to do even better.

“They must have been having a secret affair. We all knew there was something there all along. But we just thought they liked each other and didn’t want to admit it.” Celia Hightower shook her head in disapproval and Maritza thought she couldn’t have felt worse until her own mother, Sharon Morales, joined in.

The similarities between her own mother and Celia Hightower had always made Maritza hold the Hightower matriarch in high esteem. They didn’t necessarily look alike, but both women had a regal air about them that seemed to say, “I shall not be moved.” They also had a calm way about them; even when they were telling you off, they could do it without getting a hair out of place or looking bad in any way.

She admired both women as mother and other-mother as well as older sorority sisters. Maritza, like her mother and Celia Hightower, was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

She’d pledged in college just before she started dancing in music videos. And it was the one thing she’d done during her college years to actually please her mother. She also did it because growing up she had always coveted her mother’s pink and green sorority paraphernalia.

“Maritza, I just don’t understand you at all. Why would you agree to marry one man when you clearly have unresolved issues with another?” The look of disappointment on Sharon Morales’s face and the tone of clear disapproval in her voice took Maritza down to her lowest point.

Sharon stood in a sleek black cocktail dress that showed off a perfect, size ten figure. Her creamy butter-pecan complexion held very few wrinkles. Her salt-and-pepper hair hung in naturally curled ringlets around her face and down her shoulders. Her hair was the only hint that she was the mother of four adult children, each in their thirties.

Maritza and her famous Black feminist academic mother had definitely had their issues in the past. Part of Maritza’s reason for even becoming a video model was an act of rebellion against her mother, the world-renowned feminist theorist and women’s and gender studies professor. She still got a kick out of getting a rise out of her mother.

But Maritza’s rebellion was something she controlled and navigated. The kind of parental disappointment and disapproval on Sharon’s face at that moment was new territory for Maritza and it didn’t feel good.

How the hell did I get here?

Why couldn’t I just admit that I loved Terrill?

Why couldn’t she just trust that things would work out between her and Terrill and just step out on faith?

Why did she have to find a way to ruin the good thing they had going?

“I didn’t know if I should have helped Andrew’s boys kick Terrill’s behind or help my man Terrill out.” Maritza’s older brother Victor had to add his layer to the guilt quilt their mother was weaving.

Her overprotective, LAPD detective brother was just getting started and she knew she had to nip it in the bud before all of her equally overprotective brothers and her massively overprotective father got in on the discussion.

“Niña bonita, you know your papi loves you with every breath in his body, but everyone is right, you have a lot of explaining to do. Now if Terrill didn’t have just cause to try and break up your engagement party, then fine. But if by some chance you have feelings for this man…and keep in mind, niña bonita, your papi knows you like the back of his hand…” Her father paused for emphasis and gave her the don’t-lie-to-me-because-I-already-know-the truth look. “Then you need to come clean once and for all. We won’t judge you.” Manuel Morales Sr. wore the look of distinguished emeritus professor like a second skin.

His warm caramel skin and silver-trimmed hair, beard and mustache gave him an air of respectability. And it was sometimes hard to reconcile the fact that the man who was now known as the father of Afro-Latino Studies was once on America’s most wanted list as a leader of the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican power group in the late 1960s.

But that’s how her parents had met. Her papi had been a Young Lord and her mom had been a junior Black Panther. Both were staunch nationalist activists until her mother became a feminist and they both got involved with academics. Now, although they were still left-leaning activists, they were scholar-activists and most of their activism was in higher education or in the pages of their many nonfiction books.

“I don’t know about all that. I could have been home maxing and relaxing instead of coming all the way out to Cali for some bogus party. So I am judging.” Her brothers Manuel and Victor pushed their youngest brother, Louis, as soon as the words came out of his mouth.

Louis had big brown eyes, close-cropped black hair and a dimpled smile that belied his mischievous nature. A lot of people told her that her brother could be the fine actor Adam Rodriguez’s twin, but she couldn’t see it.

Louis shrugged and shook his head as he turned to push Maritza. “What? Papi’s niña bonita can never do any wrong? And once again I’m the only one willing to call her on her crap. I could have been scoring big time this weekend instead of coming here for an engagement party, when she doesn’t even know who she wants to marry. I knew she wasn’t ready to get married!”

Maritza rolled her eyes at Louis. If she had to rank her three older brothers from most to least liked, Louis, the brother who was only a year older than her and the one who should have been the closest to her, would be number three and least favorite. She loved them all, but Louis knew how to work her nerves, probably because he had the uncanny ability to see right through her, just like Terrill.

Her brothers took the best traits from their African-American mother and Afro-Latino, Puerto Rican father. They were each tall, like her mother’s basketball playing brothers, with strong, muscular builds. Their skin tones showcased varying shades of honey. Their jet-black hair had more wave than curl. Each had his own version of their father’s devilish dimpled smile.

Compared to her absolutely gorgeous older brothers, Maritza had always felt like an ugly duckling growing up. It hadn’t helped that she was also a tomboy until she started getting the curves that would one day make her a famous video vixen and the rest was history. She realized she might not be as fine as her brothers, but many men considered her looks and build eye candy.

She knew that her best attributes were her shape—for which she owed thanks to her mother—and her hair. But her long black curls could easily be attributed to both parents. Like that of many African-Americans, her mother’s heritage had a mix of some Caucasian and Native American. And, as a native Puerto Rican, her father claimed Black first but also had a mix of Spaniard and Indio in his lineage. Maritza liked to credit the hair to the Native peoples on both sides of her family tree and made jokes about having Indian in her family whenever people commented on her looks or hair. When it came down to identity though, she claimed her Black and Latina roots proudly.

She looked at her fine brothers and smiled as she thought about the various ways she and her brothers had found to rebel. Most people would think that having former nationalist parents who had protested the status quo and spent time in jail for their political beliefs would leave little room for kids to actually do anything that would shock their parents. But Maritza and her brothers each found ways.

Manuel Junior, the oldest, was a conservative talking head on the most conservative news channels on television. And for liberal, left-leaning progressives like Sharon and Manuel Sr., that was probably the ultimate act of rebellion. Victor was a cop and, for former nationalists who used to scream “off the pigs,” having a son decide to become a cop was probably just as bad as a fundamentalist preacher having a rock ’n’ roll artist as a child. Louis, at least, was leaving the corporate world that her parents believed was bleeding the country dry to become a professor. Too bad he was becoming a professor of practice in the business college of an Ivy League university and training more corporate sharks.

And then there was Maritza…Maritza Morales, the only daughter of famous Black feminist Sharon Morales, a former video vixen with a sexual past that would probably make her father have a stroke—even if he had grown up in the free love 1960s.

Yes, the Morales bunch proved that those other PKs—preachers’ kids—had nothing on professors’ kids when it came to acting out and breaking expectations.

“Niña bonita, you had better come clean. We need to know the truth about what happened and why.” Manuel Sr.’s voice was extra stern now and Maritza knew that it would only be a matter of time before he was no longer using his pet name for her and he started calling her by her full given name, Maritza Diane Morales. Once he went there she would have to work extra hard to make it back to her perfect little daddy’s girl place.

“We’re waiting,” Sharon added as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

Maritza sighed. There was no getting around this. She would have to tell them everything. She eyed the Hightower wives, Penny’s parents, Carla and Gerald, and her own parents and brothers. All of them had traveled to Los Angeles to meet her future husband and to celebrate her engagement.

An engagement that really should have never happened…

If only she could have one of those Being Erica do-overs…

But what would she go back and change? Would she not accept Andrew’s proposal? Or would she find a way to stop Terrill from kissing her and turning her nice, orderly life upside down?

She shook her head because she knew which one she would have changed and there was no way in hell she wanted to live in a world where she didn’t know what a kiss from Terrill felt like.

It was time to come clean.

She cleared her throat. “See, what had happened was—”

“Oh Lord! Here she come starting with some ol’ what had happened! That means she ’bout to drop ol’ okey-doke crap. Anytime they start with see, what had happened, you know you ’bout to hear some ol’ convoluted mess.” Carla shook her head, all the while stretching and getting into a comfortable spot to hear what she was deeming a mess.

“Carla, hush up and let the girl tell her story. Go ahead, Maritza. And make it plain.” Celia Hightower gave both Carla and Maritza a stern look.

With that admonishment from the matriarch of the Hightower clan, she decided beating around the bush and hemming and hawing weren’t going to work and she needed to just tell the truth.

“Okay, it started back when Big Mama passed away…”

“Now that’s what I call a shiner! Da–mn! Man, you got knocked out!”

Terrill Carter held the ice pack over his swollen black eye and glared at his best friend, Jason Hightower, with the other eye. On any other day he would be able to take Jason’s ribbing, but not today.

It was nice to have company in his normally empty—except for when he had a work-related event or party going on—place. His Bel Air mansion was more a sign of status, and an affirmation that he had made it, than anything else. It certainly didn’t become a home until it was filled with his friends and since his closest friends, the Hightowers, lived in the city where he was born and raised, Paterson, New Jersey, the mansion didn’t feel like a home very often.

“Yeah, man! They almost jacked you all the way up! Just imagine how much worse it could have been if we hadn’t been there to pull dude’s crew off of you. What in the world possessed you to crash the engagement party anyway?” Joel Hightower had his usual expression—on the verge of laughter—on his face as he leaned against the door in the entryway to Terrill’s state-of-the-art kitchen.

“That’s not the most important question. As usual, you guys are slow on the uptake,” Lawrence offered wryly as he twirled a toothpick in his mouth and studied Terrill.

Terrill could feel the third degree coming and he didn’t like it one bit. Not with a swollen eye and the knowledge that he had only put a temporary stall on the love of his life’s wedding plans. He had only managed to break up the engagement party. There was still a chance that Maritza might be marrying another man in six months or so. How was he supposed to cope with that?

“The most important question is—” Lawrence leaned forward and arched his left eyebrow and gave Terrill his most intense cop stare “—when exactly did you and Maritza become an item? And how long have the two of you been seeing each other? Because no man comes up into an engagement party the way you did without having a really good reason.”

“Word,” Jason agreed.

“Right!” Joel exclaimed.

“Co-sign,” Patrick offered with a halfway bored shrug.

Things had not turned out the way he expected them to, that was for damn sure. He was supposed to waltz up in there and claim the woman he loved and leave with her. He and Maritza were supposed to be making love right now instead of him nursing a black eye and explaining anything and everything to the Hightower brothers.

The Hightower brothers were all tall, in shape and handsome with mahogany complexions and killer smiles. Terrill loved these men like they were his own brothers. But damn if they knew when to just leave a brother alone and let him sulk in silence.

“Come on man, you might as well come clean now. You and Maritza have been doing that I-hate-you-but-I-might-really-love-you dance for years. And we saw the way she looked at you when you bum-rushed the spot—” Jason started.

“True,” Joel added. “Love was all in her face. I never would have believed it unless I had seen it with my own eyes.”

“Word. And the way ol’ girl screamed when Speed-Lo’s bodyguard punched you and knocked you the hell out! Man, you can’t tell me she didn’t give a damn what happened to you,” Patrick added.

“So you might as well come clean, man. How long have you and Maritza been kicking it and what do we need to do to help you get your woman back?” Lawrence had a cynical smirk on his face.

Terrill winced and figured he could also add can’t-leave-well-enough-alone to the Hightower brothers’ list of annoying habits. But at least they had his back.

He remembered how the Hightowers used to joke with him all the time that light-skinned brothers were out of style and they’d always get more ladies than him unless light skin made a comeback. He would joke right back that he was the comeback. Still, the Hightowers were all actually married to the women of their dreams now and he was trying to stop the woman of his dreams from marrying someone else.

Maybe if he talked to them and gained some perspective he could figure out a way to get his woman back. He needed to make that happen because without her, he knew he would never be happy.

Terrill sighed. “Fine, since you guys refuse to leave well enough alone, maybe you can be of some use to me after all. Maritza and I have been kicking it on and off for a while. Since Big Mama died, as a matter of fact, right when Jason and Penny got back together…”

Chapter 1

“Good, glad you’re still here. I’m on my way to the airport. But I wanted to catch you before I left. That plan you have for Da Stunnas needs to be scrapped and you need to come up with something more feasible. The folks in A&R hate it.”

Maritza looked up to see her supposedly silent business partner, Terrill, doing what he seemed to do best, talking.

She rolled her eyes and kept flipping through the latest magazines making sure that the clients she needed to set up various photo opportunities for made it into this month’s issues. It didn’t make sense to make sure your habitually drunk driving, heiress client spent every Saturday morning volunteering at a soup kitchen or ensuring that she used her driver and wore her underwear when she went out partying if the paparazzi didn’t get the good shots to counteract all that negative media.

She was also checking out the latest fashion styles and trends for when she went shopping for some of her other clients. New Images by Keys and Morales offered a variety of services to their clients. They could help you clean up your image, figure out how to spin a negative to a positive and keep you looking good to boot. Their chic offices were on the third floor of the office building Terrill owned downtown.

Maritza’s office was all white furniture with clean, straight lines. She liked to think her office represented her straight-no-chaser outlook on life. Plus, she needed a clean canvas for an office because she brought enough color and style to fill the space.

“So you’re doing your little ignore-Terrill-and-he’ll-go-away thing. That’s cute, Maritza. Unfortunately, I don’t have time for that. I have a plane to catch. I have to be there for Penny at Big Mama’s funeral. If I hurry, I can make it in time for the wake, at least part of it.”

For some reason, that really made her want to roll her eyes but she refrained.

She didn’t know what was worse—the fact that he was going to be there for their best friend and business partner, Penny Keys, and she wasn’t, or the fact that he was always coming to Penny’s rescue. It had to be the former because she could really care less about the latter.

Plus, that was just the way it was. Girls like Penny got rescued and girls like her got…

Well, we get what we get, don’t we…right?

So what if he had some sick need to be his best friend’s personal knight in shining armor?

So what if that same knight morphed into a nagging bridge troll where she was concerned?

Okay…a really cute, honey-toned-hazel-eyed-built-like-one-of-God’s-warrior-angels nagging bridge troll, to be fair, but an old mean and nasty bridge troll nonetheless…

He was fine, though…

He had looks that could best be described as Michael Ealy’s face on Boris Kodjoe’s body. And he knew exactly how to work those looks to entice even a sane woman like her to think about doing something crazy—like making a play for him when she knew it would never, ever, ever work out between them.

He was Mr. Do Everything Right Can Do No Wrong, and the world loved him. She was Ms. Do What She Likes or What Feels Right, and she didn’t care what the world thought. In short, they weren’t meant to be. It was a good thing she’d had sense enough to figure that out the first time she set eyes on him and had managed to keep a nice healthy distance from her desire.

But times like these with him all in her personal space…

She had to keep her wall up and abrasiveness worked best in that regard.

“By all means hurry then, Terrill. You really didn’t have to come here, you know. You could have called. You could have sent an email. Hell, I don’t know, you could have minded your business and let me do my job.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “Any number of things…” She kept her game face smile locked in place, but all the while she was shooting laser daggers at him with her eyes.

“Listen, I know you think I’m overstepping my boundaries and maybe I am. But I am a silent partner here. And Da Stunnas is one of our biggest new clients at my record label.” He stopped midsentence and ran his hand across the deep waves in his Caesar haircut. “I didn’t send them to you all because that would have been a conflict of interest. But now that they are working with you guys of their own accord, I need to be sure that the label’s interests aren’t jeopardized.” He sighed again as if he was just entirely too irritated for words.

“You are going to turn the biggest hardcore rap-rock group ever into a bunch of punks in the public eye and we won’t be able to market them the way we had planned.”

Maritza hissed. Before she knew it she was out of her desk and in Terrill’s face.

“Those fools destroyed a stage and almost burned down a club full of their fans! Tell me you can give away their album now? Isn’t that the reason they came seeking help with their image in the first place? Aren’t your A&R people fit to be tied? Hasn’t the album been pushed back several times now? El stupido!” She turned and walked away. There was no talking to him. She would just have to let Penny handle him because if she had to keep talking to him she was going to punch him or worse.

“Who are you calling stupid, girl?” His strong hand pulled her back to him with a quickness she wasn’t expecting and she stumbled right into his arms.

When she looked into his eyes, his very beautiful hazel eyes, she didn’t like what she saw there. Gone was the know-it-all-jerk who barged his way into her office like he owned the place.

Well, technically he did own the place, New Images by Keys and Morales leased from one of the office buildings he owned. And he had put up the major capital for them to get started. But that didn’t mean he had the right to make himself a nuisance.

And now something else, something sexy and dangerous, was simmering in his eyes and she couldn’t look away.

“Let go of me, Terrill!”

He pulled her closer and let one hand trace her face. “Promise me you’ll at least think of some different ideas for Da Stunnas.”

“No. My ideas are great. Now let me go!”

He had the nerve to chuckle and it had the nerve to sound sexy.

Had she fallen and bumped her head and ended up in bizarro world? The Twilight Zone? What crazy altering of the universe was this where she was thinking anything that Terrill-get-on-her-last-nerve-Carter did was sexy?

“You know what? I have often wondered what it would take to shut you up.”

Maritza smirked and filled her expression with more brazenness than she felt at that moment. “Funny, I’ve often wondered the same thing about you. Unfortunately, Penny would miss you if I followed through on any of my ideas.”

Terrill chuckled again, all throat and bobbing Adam’s apple. It was masculine laughter at its finest. “Hmm…good thing my idea will shut us both up for a while…then we both win.” His sexy face leaned in, further invading her space.

She gulped. And she willed herself to pull away. But she leaned forward instead. It was as if some magnetic force was moving her head, twisting and contorting it to find the right angle for his lips to meet hers.

It couldn’t be of her own free will. Could it?

She did not want this. Did she?

His lips connected to hers and she sighed. It sounded like a contented kitten that had just lapped up the last bit of milk. More like a sigh and mewl mixed together, but nevertheless problematic…

His tongue traced her lips and more shocks went through her. Her heart seemed like it wanted to pound its way right out of her chest and into his hands.

Stupid heart, she thought as she opened her lips and allowed her tongue entry into his mouth.

She wasn’t letting her heart out. But there was no reason her tongue couldn’t come out and play.

She wrapped her arms around him and soon she was holding him just as tightly as he held her and it felt good.

Too good.

She moaned as she clutched him. He groaned as he let his strong hands trail her back down to her behind. He held her firmly in his grip and his kiss became even more intense.

As if that were possible…

His tongue traced every nook of her mouth, marking each place. She tried to give as good as she got but she became enthralled with his skilled lips and was content with following his lead. She tracked his tongue, followed his marks and made similar marks of her own in his mouth. Each time his tongue landed on a spot, she found a spot to lick and savor. She got lost in the thrill and game of it.

Later she might say she lost her mind. But at that moment, all she wanted to do was kiss him.

So she did.

She could think about the consequences tomorrow…

Terrill wished like hell he didn’t have a flight to catch, because he had wanted to have this woman in his arms exactly like this from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her.

She felt amazing in his arms.

She was made to be in his arms.

And her lips…

They were the softest and sweetest lips he had ever tasted.

Maritza Morales was walking perfection if he had ever seen it. She had a figure that could make grown men fall to their knees and thank the God that saw fit to make her. Unfortunately she also had a mouth that could probably make grown men cry.

She was wearing a stylish red power suit with matching pumps and lipstick. As usual, her outward appearance seemed to scream “don’t mess with me.” Too bad he was done listening to her signals and outside appearances.

He couldn’t help the groan that came from deep down in his gut when she wrapped her arms around his neck and finally gave in to the passion between them.

It was a good thing he had a plane to catch because the things he wanted to do to her required time and space—lots of both.

He let his hands roam her body as his tongue tunneled forward, marking and claiming the spaces he wanted to revisit again and again, over and over. Because if he was sure about anything in his life, he was certain of one thing: He would be kissing Maritza Morales again.

He begrudgingly pulled his tongue away from its exploration and traced her lips before letting her go.

He waited a few seconds for the slap that might come and when it didn’t, he let out the breath he hadn’t even known he was holding.

It was time to put her on notice. “Play time is over now, Maritza. I need you to understand that. So I’m going to give you a little time to think about it. We aren’t ignoring this any longer. I can’t do it anymore.”

He turned and walked away while he still could and stopped at the door to her office. He didn’t turn around because he didn’t trust himself not to throw her over her desk and give them both the release that had been building up between them for years.

“I will call you from Jersey while I’m there and I’ll see you when I get back,” was all he could manage to say before walking out the door.

She was a smart woman.

She could read between the lines.

She should be able to figure out that they could no longer continue the way they had been.

Things between them had been irrevocably changed…

Terrill stood in the doorway of the funeral home and took a deep breath as he searched the room for Penny. He’d missed his first flight and taken a later flight from Los Angeles than he had intended to, because he had kissed a woman he never thought he would ever work up enough nerve to kiss, let alone stop being irritated with long enough to do so. And now he was running late for Big Mama’s wake and Penny was probably facing God knows what all alone.

Lee’s Funeral Home hadn’t changed much over the years. It was still a little bit grimy and worse for wear. The folding chairs and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. church fans might have been there the last time he had been there, years ago. It was clear, though, that they still made money hand over fist when killing season started in the hood. He remembered his last spring and summer living in Paterson before moving to Los Angeles to attend college. He had attended far too many funerals for brothers shot down in their prime.

When his eyes caught her in a heated debate with their former best friend, who also happened to be the former love of her life, Terrill rushed over and mentally kicked himself for being late. Jason Hightower’s angry voice greeted him as soon as he stepped up.

“Are you sure about that? Because from what I could see that woman missed you and mourned you the entire time. And for you to stay away that long shows what a cruel, heartless, selfish—” Jason took a deep breath, glared at Penny and cut himself off.

Terrill shook his head and sighed as he took in the anger in Jason’s voice and the angst-ridden, nervous energy surrounding Penny.

The two of you deserve each other, a backstabber and a schemer. I can’t believe I ever trusted either one of you.

The harsh words Jason had spoken fifteen years ago echoed in Terrill’s mind as he surveyed the scene. It was a good thing he’d decided to come and offer Penny moral support. There was no way she could have dealt with Jason and all their past baggage alone.

He watched Penny brace her shoulders squarely. She inhaled and exhaled several times in succession. “You need to calm down, Jason. This is not the time or the place. If you cared about Big Mama as much as you claim you did, then you wouldn’t disrespect her wake like this.”

Terrill placed his hand on her shoulder and Penny let out a sigh of relief.

“Everything all right?” Terrill spoke the words to Penny but his eyes remained fixed on Jason. He tried to give his former friend the visual warning that backed up what Penny had just told him.

Jason might have gotten a good sucker punch in on Terrill fifteen years ago, but Terrill wasn’t above throwing the man out if he didn’t heed the warning.

Penny hugged Terrill and he could feel her body shaking just a little in his arms. “Everything is fine, Terrill. I’m glad you were able to make it.”

Since they had just seen each other before she left Los Angeles, Terrill knew Jason’s presence was what made Penny extra happy to see him. She leaned on his shoulder and clasped the arm of his suit jacket.

Terrill smiled at her and winked. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. But he had no way of really knowing that. He glanced around the room and noticed that all eyes were on them.

Most of the people in the room were checking him out. It always seemed to happen when he went home. Not many people who’d grown up in a small one bedroom attic apartment with a single mom made it to be senior vice president of a major music label.

The way eyes darted and conversations took place behind hands showed Terrill had given many of the folks in the room something to talk about. In fact, given the history between the three of them, the room was probably abuzz with gossip.

Terrill figured they were talking about how Penny had dumped Jason for him all those years ago.

If only they knew about the lies that had broken up the Three Musketeers.

Terrill understood why most of the people in the room either couldn’t or wouldn’t take their eyes off of them. He knew what it had meant for both him and Penny to make it from their inner-city neighborhood in Paterson to their positions as movers and shakers in Los Angeles. Not many people from Warren Street who’d attended PS 10 and then East-side High School ended up where they were.

Terrill noticed that Penny lifted her hand to her right eye and rubbed it across the tiny scar she had gotten when she was twelve. Although barely noticeable now, whenever Penny felt uncomfortable or put on the spot, her hand found and rubbed over the small mark. He watched her circle it with her pointer finger for a moment before she forced her hand down at her side.

Terrill gritted his teeth. No matter what, Jason didn’t have a right to harass Penny like that. He made up his mind that he would personally dump Jason out on his ass if he didn’t cut it out. So what if everyone in the funeral home was probably waiting to see if they would cause a scene?

“Hey, Jason. How’s it going?” Terrill reached out to his old friend in an attempt to get him to cool down and got a harsh stare and a sneer for the trouble. He felt his face heating and knew that the red undertones in his skin were probably lighting up like Rudolph’s nose on Christmas.

Damn Jason for still being so arrogant!

Terrill slanted his eyes and nodded a nod that he meant more as a promise: don’t-start-none-won’t-be-none.

Jason didn’t even pretend to acknowledge Terrill.

“You’re right, Penny. This isn’t the time or the place.” Jason gave her a once-over before walking away, and didn’t even bother looking at Terrill. “It wouldn’t even be worth it anyway.”

Terrill’s mood morphed from disappointed to angry in zero seconds flat when he saw the pained look on Penny’s face. He knew that if he wasn’t careful he wouldn’t be able to contain his emotions and he might be the one causing a scene instead of trying to prevent one.

Jason’s disdain was still palpable. The two men hadn’t been able to say a kind word to one another in fifteen years. But as far as Terrill was concerned that was Jason’s fault.

Terrill squeezed Penny’s shoulder. Terrill hoped that Penny knew he didn’t blame her for losing his other best friend.

Looking at the three of them now, no one would be able to tell people used to jokingly call them the Three Musketeers and tease them about being joined at the hips. They had been best friends since grade school and the friendship hadn’t changed when Jason and Penny became high school sweethearts. They hadn’t thought anything would be able to come between them. But they had been wrong.

Terrill shook his head. There was no use dwelling on it now. He’d made his decision on whom he would stand by in the middle of a difficult time. But if he had it to do all over again, he wouldn’t have let things get so out of control that two people who loved each other would stay apart for fifteen years.

Still, he needed at least to talk to Jason and make sure that he didn’t make things any harder for Penny when she was trying to cope with the loss of her beloved grandmother.

When he found Jason standing outside of the funeral home, he had to step to him even though it was clear the man was leaving.

If the inside of Lee’s Funeral Home seemed as if it were stuck in a time warp, the outside and surrounding neighborhood really were stuck. Besides the changes in hairstyles and the clothing people wore, he noticed the same things that had been prominent back in the day, girls playing double Dutch and brothers playing dice.

“This is a tough time for Penny, you know. Big Mama was the only person who had always been there for her no matter what. She’s taking it hard. You really need to lay off about the past.”

A wave of emotions came over Jason’s face at once and Terrill could see the exact moment when his ex-best friend’s shield went up and he decided to block the emotions.

Jason sneered. “Shouldn’t you be inside with her, then, if she’s so torn up? Isn’t that what lovers are supposed to do for one another? Comfort? Console? Why are you out here talking to me?”

Terrill let out an exasperated sigh. He wished he could just be done with this crap. Sure, maybe he and Penny were in the wrong for deceiving Jason, but he so wanted to tell the man that he was being an idiot by not finally making things right with the woman he loved.

Terrill knew without a doubt that if he had the chance to really have the woman he loved he would take it.

“I’m out here because despite what you think, I want what’s best for everyone involved. She doesn’t need the stress. It’s bad enough she has to deal with Carla and you know how that can be.” Terrill ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t need to be all hung up on a past you barely understand. There’s a lot you just don’t know, Jason. If I could tell you without breaking confidences, I would.”

Terrill was close to just telling Jason that he had never slept with Penny all those years ago and they hadn’t left for California as a couple. That they, in fact, had never been anything more than friends. And the only thing he was guilty of was being a good friend and looking out for the love of Jason’s life until they came to their senses and got back together.

But no matter what, he couldn’t tell her secret—that it was all a lie. He couldn’t do that to Penny, especially not now with all she was dealing with.

So he watched the kids ride their bikes down the crowded street along with the other hustle and bustle of an urban city on a spring evening. Paterson’s streets were full of life with a hint of danger pulsing underneath.

Please let this fool wise up! I am so tired of this!

“Oh! Now you have morals. Where were they fifteen years ago when you stole my girl?”

Terrill threw his hands up and shook his head. “I give up, man. I tried, but you’re stuck in the past. You need to let it go. And like I said, lay off with the guilt trips on Penny. She doesn’t need that right now.” Terrill walked away before he did something stupid—like sucker punch his ex-best friend who was now a cop—and ended up in jail.

He had more important things to think about. Like being there for Penny in her time of need and making it back to California to see where things stood with a certain feisty Afro-Latina woman that he had shared the most amazing, earth-shattering kiss with. He was sure that once she got over being stunned, she was going to be pissed.

Maritza found her right hand couldn’t stop trailing her lips. It was really hard to focus on work when she had done the stupidest thing she had ever done in her life.

She had kissed Terrill.

Or he had kissed her.

Whatever the case may be…

She had messed up.

Big time.

And now he was in New Jersey with Penny. Helping Penny deal with Big Mama’s death.

Like always he would be there for Penny whenever she needed him.

How did a woman allow herself to kiss a man who would drop everything in a heartbeat to run to the aid of another woman? Another woman who was her best friend and his? It was a soap opera waiting to happen if she ever saw one.

“I knew this was a bad idea! Are you even listening to me?” Lace Monroe, the video vixen formally known as Lil’ Freak and author of several scathing tell-all books in which she named just about every rapper, mogul, athlete, actor or singer she ever so much as blew a kiss at, let alone anything else, hopped her perky little behind out of the seat and in front of Maritza’s desk with enough attitude to loan some out and still have plenty to spare.

Maritza tried to remember that Lace was a prospective client that would need so much help she might just as well have “Made Out to Cash” stamped on her forehead. But she couldn’t keep her left eyebrow from arching and her head from tilting to the side. Blame it on her parents, but Maritza Morales had Black girl attitude and Latina heat in equal combinations. She certainly wasn’t the one to mess with.

Lace noted the change in Maritza’s demeanor and gave her a good once-over before much more calmly sitting her behind back down.

Lace wanted to use the hype and the buzz surrounding her books to go legit. And she wanted New Images by Keys and Morales to help her present a more suitable image.

Maritza put on her most professional smile and folded her hands in front of her, admiring the pop of color she gave to her clean, white, contemporary-style desk.

“It will take a lot to clean up the image you have been busy cultivating, Lace. Not to mention the fact that you won’t be able to continue banking on it. If we take you on as a client, you can’t write any more tell-all books and you certainly can’t be out there gathering any more material for future books.” Maritza laid out the ground rules in her most blunt voice.

Lace rolled her eyes. “Please, if you and Penny Keys can clean up your images and become respectable businesswomen then I can, too. Trust and believe I heard the stories of how you used to get down, especially you.”

Potential paying customer, potential paying customer… Do not cuss out a potential paying customer. Maritza repeated the mantra in her head and tried to make her smile a little less icy. She knew it was the cold and brittle smile taking shape on her lips because it hurt like hell to do it.

“I don’t see what my past or my partner’s past have to do with it—”

“Well, not so much hers since she was hardly as out there as you were, but definitely you. Chick, you would have given me a run for my money in your heyday. Let’s be real.”

Let’s be real, indeed.

Wasn’t her scandalous past the reason she never allowed herself to want to have a relationship with the dynamic and domineering music mogul Terrill Carter? But she would be damned if she would let Lace have any leeway when it came to telling her story.

Maritza’s coldest smile chilled down several more degrees and her eyes narrowed. The other reason she opted for a glacier-white office was about to come to bear. The ice queen had to get deep-frozen in order to give Maritza a challenge when some poor unsuspecting fool got her started. And Lil’ Freak Lace Monroe had fool written all over her if she thought Maritza was going to let her keep on.

Her Los Angeles professionalism took a back-seat to Maritza-from-the-block and the Bronx Nuyorican Blacktina came out.

“Chick, you don’t know me. So let me school you on the subject since you seem to want to persist with this line of discussion. While I may have had my share of lovers in my past, the one thing that I have always had is discretion. People may have speculated or wondered, but they could never say for certain who I might have slept with. I’m particular like that with my personal business. You, on the other hand, have chosen to put your own business out there for the world to see. And hey, I can’t knock your hustle…” She shrugged nonchalantly for emphasis.

“But if you want more than your tawdry tales of sex and scandal being gobbled up by the masses and want to move on to something that showcases more of—should I say more than—your talents, then you need to leave the attitude at the door and listen.” Maritza paused for emphasis and to catch her breath.

Lace’s face became increasingly twisted in anger and attitude. The woman seemed to be bubbling up and seething. Maritza took another calming breath.

“Listen—” Lace started.

“No, you listen.” Maritza cut her off. “People can speculate all they want about my past. But that’s all they will ever do. You won’t ever see me letting them into my personal life like that.”

The words I’ll never tell took on new meaning as far as her past was concerned. She didn’t want to talk about it, revisit it or have anything to do with it.

Lace sighed and rolled her eyes. “What-the-hell-ever! I knew this was a bad idea. Chicks are always quick to judge when they know they are just as scandalous and have enough skeletons in they closets to fill a cemetery.”

Maritza took a deep breath and then exhaled. This woman would be work. This woman would also work her nerves and test her religion on the regular. But something inside of her was demanding that she give Lace a chance.

It must have been Maritza’s own little inner ex-video-vixen acting up. It was a good thing she’d stopped letting that child make decisions in her life years ago. But still…

Maritza sighed. She simultaneously hoped she wouldn’t regret what she was about to do and knew without a doubt that she would.

No good deed goes unpunished.

It was her favorite saying and she repeated it like a mantra. Too bad it never stopped her from doing good deeds and trying to help folks who probably weren’t worth helping.

Maritza knew Lace Monroe. Hell, but for a few digit differences in the number of men they had both supposedly slept with or had affairs with, she used to be Lace Monroe. And in her heart Maritza knew that Lace Monroe was nowhere near ready to change her lifestyle. Truth be told, it had taken a traumatic experience that she wouldn’t wish on any woman to make her change so many years ago.

“Okay, Lace, we will take you on as a client, but what we need you to do and to stop doing is firm unless you like throwing your money away. We can’t help you clean up your image if you are bent on continuing to be that scandalous tell-all video ho.”

Lace smiled a real smile that made her look like the young twentysomething she was. “You won’t regret this, Maritza. I swear. This is going to be lucrative for all of us. Because if New Images by Keys and Morales can clean up my image, just think of all the Hollywood and hip-hop clientele you will be getting.”

“We’ll see about that. In the meantime, I am going to set up some shopping trips for us. You will need a new wardrobe. You know the saying ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have’? Well, it’s time for you to start dressing for the life you are aspiring to live.” Maritza took a minute to take in Lace’s popping red, super tight and extra short spandex micro-minidress.

“So that means we’re going to need you to be a little less video vixen and a little more businesswoman slash rising starlet. On top of that, it’s time to stop doing moguls and time to start concentrating on becoming one. Your mindset is going to be the hardest thing to change.” Maritza kept her face stern and no-nonsense. She knew she was laying it on heavy with Lace. But she wanted the young woman to know that this wasn’t going to be an easy thing to accomplish.

Changing people’s perceptions of you was a damn near impossible endeavor. But as far as Maritza was concerned, New Images by Keys and Morales dealt in possibility and faced the impossible down until it flinched.

“Am I paying for this lecture or is it a bonus service?” Lace twisted her lips to the side and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, the lectures are free. One thing you should know about me is I keep it real. I shoot straight from the hip. I will always be up front with you and tell you exactly what I think. Some people say I’m bossy.” She gave her signature shrug. “But I tend to think I am well versed in knowing what can and should be done—”

Lace busted out laughing and Maritza couldn’t help herself, she had to join her.

“What’s so funny about that.” Maritza made her face as expressionless as possible considering the fact that she wanted to break into a fit of laughter again. “Am I wrong for thinking that the world would be a much better place if everyone just did what I told them to do?”

Both women laughed at that and Maritza was glad the weird energy between them seemed to be gone.

“I should warn you, Maritza, that I suffer from the same affliction. I’m cursed with knowing what’s best for every situation and unable to keep those thoughts to myself. Something tells me that unless we are on the same page all the time, we are going to bump heads often, maybe even clash.”

Maritza stood up and held out her hand to seal the deal. “Oh, I have no doubt we will clash, Lace. But hopefully we will be able to move past the clashes and get you the results you want. Remember at the end of the day, my suggestions are only meant to help you present the image you say you want to present and get you where you say you want to be.”

Lace shook Maritza’s hand and the genuine smile that surfaced transformed her into a sweet and almost likable woman. “I’m looking forward to working with New Images by Keys and Morales. If anyone can help me get where I want to be it would be Penny Keys and Maritza Morales.” She paused as if considering what she wanted to say. “I really do look up to you two. You both made me want to be a video model and when I look at the successful business you’ve built, you make me want to become more than some rapper’s prop.”

“And you can. You will.” Maritza really did believe that Lace had the tenacity and drive to make it at whatever she put her mind to. The only question was if she was really ready to put her mind and energy on cleaning up her act. Only time would tell.

She walked her to the front door of the office and picked up the stack of pink memo slips her receptionist had left in her in-box. There was a message of a call from Terrill marked urgent.

Without thinking she rushed to her desk and dialed his cell phone number.

“What happened? Is everything okay? Is Penny okay? I knew I should have gone to the funeral. We could have cancelled everything for a few days—” Maritza went off into a barrage of questions as soon as Terrill picked up the phone.

“Calm down, calm down, nothing is wrong. Everything is fine. I just wanted to hear your voice. How are you?” Terrill’s voice sounded strained and a little weary.

Maritza sighed. He didn’t sound like everything was fine. And why the heck did he want to hear her voice?

Kissing him had been such a bad idea!

Yet knowing that and stopping the big old grin that started to form on her face seemed to be impossible to get together. She plopped down on her white leather office chair. It rolled just a little and stopped.

“I don’t understand, Terrill. If it is not about Penny or our business, why would you want to hear my voice?”

Terrill chuckled. It was a sound that normally would have grated her nerves and gotten under her skin. But for some reason in that moment she was relishing the sound of it. It sounded sexy and made her insides get gooey.

Not good.

Change the subject.

“How is Penny? I haven’t had a chance to speak with her since she left.”

“She’s doing as well as can be expected.” He sighed and she could hear the stress in his voice. “Big Mama’s death was unexpected and sudden and Penny is going to need time to cope.”

“She can take as much time as she needs. I can certainly hold down the fort here at the company.” It would be hard, because she and Penny were a perfect team. But she would do whatever she could to help her friend out in her time of need.

“We know you can handle things, Maritza. But I didn’t call to talk about business. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“You just wanted to hear my voice and that was urgent?” Maritza winced at the breathy sound of her voice.

What was wrong with her?

This was Terrill, also known as off limits to Maritza. She knew that. Or at least she used to know that. She didn’t know what she knew anymore now that he had hauled off and kissed her like he had no damn sense.

Terrill did that sexy chuckle thing again and her heart fluttered. “Urgent like you wouldn’t believe. With everything going on here with Penny and Jason Hightower, I have come to realize that people waste way too much time being apart when they should be together. And it has made me even more certain that I am doing the right thing by moving away from the herd and going after the person I want.”

Maritza’s heart began to pound furiously and for once in her life she didn’t have a clever or snarky response. All she could do was literally wait with bated breath to see what Terrill would say next.

“So I thought it was only fair to warn you again. I’m through playing games and denying whatever this thing is between us.” He paused and her heart thumped even louder. “And I’m coming for you, girl.”

Her breath caught and the logical side of her wanted to yell no, you take that back. Don’t say that! But some other part of her, probably that same part that was silly and hopeful enough to think she could actually make a difference for someone like Lace Monroe, was actually wondering how soon would it be before Terrill came for her and how long she should let him chase her before she let him catch her.

And once again she was speechless.

It was becoming a bad habit that couldn’t bode well for the future.

If she wasn’t snapping at Terrill, she really had no idea how to talk to the man, especially when he was staking claims and stuff.

She cleared her throat and opened and closed her mouth, happy that Terrill wasn’t there to see just how he was affecting her.

“Well, thank you for putting me on notice. I…errr…appreciate it. I guess…” What was she supposed to say? “I should let you know that I don’t think this is a good idea at all.”

“I know you don’t. That’s why I’m going to change your mind,” he offered with that sexy chuckle of his. “I’ll let you go so you can continue to stress and fret about it. But you should know that it’s going to happen. I’m serious about this, about us. I’m tired of wasting time. If I learned anything from what went down between Penny and Jason, it’s that you can never get the wasted time back and you are never really going to be happy without the person who was meant for you. And I think that you are that person for me, Maritza. I plan to see if I’m right about that.”

“I don’t think—” she started, finally working up her indignation.

“Yes,” he cut her off. “It’s probably best if you didn’t do that where I’m concerned. Your objectivity is off. I’ll handle this. And I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“But—” she started again.

“Just save all your objections till tomorrow. I’ll be calling to hear your voice again. Goodbye, Maritza.” He hung up.

She stared at her phone for a full minute before finally hanging it up. She had no idea what had just happened. But she was starting to think she wanted to find out.

Chapter 2

“You just won’t stop will you? If you can’t cut Penny some slack on the day she buried Big Mama, then you need to leave.” Terrill spoke in a calm tone that gave only the slightest hint of his increasing level of irritation with Jason.

Jason just watched angrily as Penny walked away before turning his glare on Terrill.

For the life of him, Terrill really didn’t know what the hell Jason kept popping up for. If he really hated Penny as much as he claimed and really believed that Penny had betrayed him all those years ago, he must be a glutton for punishment or something to show up at Penny’s grandmother’s home after the interment.

Terrill could totally understand Jason’s need to pay his respects to Big Mama. Hell, that was why he was there as well. They had spent a lot of time as kids running around Big Mama’s house and eating her good food. Big Mama’s house and the Hightower place had been Terrill’s second and third homes growing up. But Jason was taking it to the extreme, showing up where he wasn’t wanted and clearly didn’t want to be.

Enough is enough.

“You need to mind your business, Terrill,” Jason snapped.

This guy!

Terrill wondered if Jason knew he was about five minutes shy of a serious beatdown.

“Penny is my friend. And you used to…” Terrill paused before hissing in disgust. “Jason, this just isn’t the time or the place. You should leave if you can’t see that.”

Forget this!

If Jason wants to play the sulking angry teenager who’d lost his girl and stays stuck in the past, he could do it someplace else. Terrill sneered in disgust and placed any lingering guilt he had about the way things went down fifteen years ago behind him. If Jason had half a brain he could have Penny back. But if he wanted to walk around wounded, glowering and striking out at folks, then that was on him.

“You gonna make me?” Jason’s shoulders arched and he was clearly spoiling for a fight.

Terrill narrowed his eyes as he remembered the sucker punch Jason landed on him fifteen years ago. What he wouldn’t do to take it to the grass and finish that fight. But it was neither the time nor the place.

“We’re grown men. I’m not going to resort to fisticuffs here.” Terrill shook his head and turned up his lips.

“Why? You scared I’ll kick your ass?” Jason leaned forward a little and it looked like he was going to try and make a move.

Yeah, come on. Do it. Touch me, son. Do it and let’s see who will lose!

Terrill found himself puffing up and rearing for a fight. His nostrils flared and he was tempted to take the first punch himself.

He shook his head.

He couldn’t go there. He couldn’t do that when they were supposed to be mourning and remembering Big Mama.

“No. I don’t want to add any more stress to Penny than she needs at this time.”

“Well, aren’t you the perfect little boyfriend?” Jason taunted.

“Just lay off, Jason,” Terrill hissed.

“Mind your business, Terrill!” Jason sneered.

“You boys aren’t going to start fighting in here, are you?” Carla came sneaking up on them.

“No. We aren’t.” For the first time ever Terrill was almost glad to see Penny’s former crackhead mother.

Almost.

The woman gave new meaning to the words “loud” and “inappropriate.” Add that to the fact that he’d never cared for the way she treated Penny, and Carla would probably never make his favorite people list. But he was sort of glad she’d popped up before he had to coldcock Jason in the mouth.

Even though Penny was in her thirties, Carla was only in her late forties. Carla was more of an older sister to Penny than a mother. She certainly had never acted like a parent, especially not when she was hooked on drugs. All those years of addiction had caught up with her—she was still a decent-looking woman, but her once-soft looks had a hard and rough edge to them. Her honey complexion was a dull yellow in spots. Her naturally wavy hair was a tad brittle and had lost its shine. She had a lot of gray hairs mixed in with the black. Her eyes still held the same youthful, wholesome appeal however. They literally danced and shimmered with mischief.

Carla opened her mouth in a wide grin and Terrill saw that one of her front teeth was badly chipped. Less brazen women might be too shy to smile with that kind of grill, but not Carla.

“I always wondered what Brat had that made the two of you follow her around like little puppies. Whatever it was I guess she’s still got it. Ha!”

“We were just friends, Carla. If anything, Penny was stuck to us like glue. We just realized she wasn’t going to go anywhere until we let her join the crew.” Terrill wistfully remembered the old days when they were kids without a care in the world and thought they would be the Three Musketeers forever.

Terrill noticed Jason raising his eyebrows as if to make clear that they were no longer friends.

But a part of Terrill wanted to hold out hope that one day they would all be friends again.

He smiled as he remembered the first time they had all played together in the small attic apartment on Warren Street where Terrill lived with his mother. Big Mama had had to rush off for some emergency with Carla. She had no choice but to leave Penny at their house. Jason had come over to play with Terrill and Terrill remembered his buddy being thoroughly disgusted that a girl was interrupting their playtime. Terrill was used to having Penny around. In fact, he had already secretly considered her his other best friend. As long as no other boys knew he was friends with a girl, he was fine. So he had pretended to be just as horrified as Jason when Penny showed up.

But Penny wouldn’t let them brush her off. She was a tough kid back then, every bit Carla’s child, mouth and all. Terrill laughed as he remembered the way she had snatched Jason’s Rubik’s Cube and snapped, “Let me show you how to do it.” She had finished the complicated box that had had both he and Jason stumped for months in no time flat.

Terrill wasn’t surprised she beat them at the Rubik’s Cube. She used to beat him at games all the time and even showed him some winning strategies and techniques. She was really cool…for a girl.

And if he had known anything about love that day, he would have realized that was the day his best friend Jason started to fall in love with his secret best friend, Penny. The three of them cemented a friendship that day that he thought would last forever.

“Whatever. A girl could do worse than having two strong, strapping young men such as y’all to look out for her.” Carla let out a hooting laugh and her eyes took in Jason.

“Then I guess you don’t really look out for her anymore since she stomped on your heart. But you’re here anyway, huh? You can’t stay away now that she’s back. Ha!” Carla laughed so hard she started to cough as she opened the fridge and pulled out a can of grape soda.

Jason visibly winced. “I’m just here to pay my respects, Carla.”

“Yeah, right. And I can take a hit of crack today and not have to worry about getting hooked. Somebody is swimming in the river of de-nial.” Carla sang the last word.

“We’re all just here to pay our respects. Big Mama always opened her doors to us and made us feel like family,” Terrill offered. Even now he couldn’t let Jason take all the heat. Some loyalties never died, no matter what. “We wouldn’t want to do anything that would take away from this time of mourning for your family, or for Penny.” Terrill gave Jason a pointed stare.

Jason sneered at him before turning his attention back to Carla. “I’ve got to go. Please accept my condolences, Carla. And please tell Penny I will be back by later to talk with her.” Jason took off in a huff without giving Terrill a second glance.

Terrill shrugged. He was just happy to see Jason leave. At least now Penny could catch a break.

Once everyone else but Carla and Penny left Big Mama’s house, Terrill was glad that he had decided to stay a little longer before going back to Los Angeles. Penny certainly needed a friend and needed all the backup she could get. She certainly wasn’t going to get that from her mother.

As they sat on the worn sofa, Terrill watched Penny run her hand lovingly over the rips and large exposed patches of cotton filling. The room looked like a prop room for I Love the ’80s, from the black pleather sofa to the black lacquer and gold and mirrored coffee and end tables.

Terrill figured Penny must be missing Big Mama something awful if she was smiling at the rips in the pleather sofa. He knew for a fact she had hated the pleather furniture when Big Mama first purchased it and used to complain that Big Mama could have at least gotten some real leather.

He could still hear Big Mama telling her, “Child, I’m not gonna spend that kind of money just for you and your little friends to eat potato chips and drink soda on it and tear it up. You better get this here! Stuff that you could wipe off when you get a spill.”

The far-off expression in her eyes and the layers of pain he could see spilling off of her made him worried. “If you need me to stick around a little longer, Penny, I will. I can rearrange some things and do it.”

“No, I’ll be fine. I’m not staying around here long. Just long enough to settle Big Mama’s affairs and then I’m out. For good.” She sighed and it sounded more like a shudder. “Thanks for being here for me. You’re always there for me and I appreciate it. I know that you gave up a lot to stand by my side and—”

Terrill interrupted her. “Don’t worry about it. But a lot of time has passed and maybe enough time—” He couldn’t help taking this as an opening to try and talk some sense into her. Maybe if she made the first move she could finally fix things with Jason and he could have both his best friends back again.

Unfortunately, Carla came into the room with her mouth open, and popping noise, as usual and he had to cut himself off.

“So you ended up sticking around. I would have put money on the other one being here.” Carla grinned at him, showing every chip and crack in her teeth with absolutely no shame.

“No offense, but I always thought he was a better match for Brat anyway. His folks certainly had more money. But I guess you rollin’ in the dough now too. Big time record company man and all! Ha! Are you the one hooked Brat up with them videos?”

An excited gleam crossed Carla’s eyes and she clasped her hands together. “Do you think you could hook me up? I’m thinking of moving out to Cali with Brat. I need me a change of scenery. I’m getting tired of P-Town. And Cali-for-nia knows how to par-ty. Cali-for-nia knows how to par-ty.” Carla did a little dance as she started singing the Tupac lyrics.

A serious hiss escaped Penny’s mouth and Terrill knew that meant Carla’s California dreams were going to stay just that if Penny had anything to do with it.

“Carla, you can give that one up. You are not moving to California.”

“Why not? What did I ever do to you to make you hate me so much, except give birth to your behind?”

“You have got to be kidding me, Carla. Just can it, ’cause I’m not the one. You can’t guilt me into taking care of you. You have never taken care of me. I don’t owe you anything.” Penny shook her head incredulously.

“I’ll help you settle Big Mama’s affairs and help you out so you can remain here and keep this place. But when I leave here the only thing you’re going to see from me is a monthly check. And if you keep tripping you’re going to mess that up.”

“What do you think, Terrill? You think it’s right that Brat is gonna to throw her mama out to the wolves? She knows I need help. But she’s just gonna go on about her little life.”

A tear trailed down Carla’s face and Terrill had to remind himself that this was the same woman who could out-hustle any hustler, had talked cops out of arresting her and even managed to con Big Mama into giving her chance after chance. He wasn’t about to fall for Carla’s game.

“I think if you would stop calling your daughter ‘Brat,’ she might be able to make her way past all the hurt you’ve piled on her through the years. And I think the two of you need to talk and come to a space of understanding.” Terrill gave Penny a peck on the cheek and placed his arm around her for a quick hug. “I’m going to head out and I’ll stop back by tomorrow to see how you’re doing. Maybe we can go to service at Mt. Zion. Call me if you need anything.”

Carla shrugged and her crocodile tears miraculously cleared up. “Hey, don’t forget about the videos. I think I have star potential,” she called after Terrill as he made his way out of the room and out of the house.

He shook his head as he made his way to his rental.

Just like the day before, all the drama with Penny and Jason made him want to call Maritza and try to get her to see that they should try and figure out what was going on between them.

Unfortunately, Maritza wasn’t going to just give in and make this easy on the two of them. Her skittishness meant he was going to have to take it slower than he wanted to.

He probably shouldn’t have kissed her before he left Los Angeles. But he had and now there was no turning back.

At least not for him…

Maritza, on the other hand, was going to keep running for a while. He could already tell.

He dialed her cell phone number and waited for her to pick up.

“Hello.”

He smiled at the sound of her voice. “Hello, Maritza. Just calling to get my daily dose.”

She sighed and he could envision her rolling her eyes. He hoped she was also fighting back that sexy smile of hers.

“Your daily dose of what? Sarcasm? Dry wit? Fabulousity?”

“All of that and don’t forget beauty, brains and overall sexiness.” He chuckled when she didn’t respond. Here he had thought kissing her was the only way to make her speechless. It turned out he could have also done it a long time ago by letting her know how smitten he was with her.

Who knew?

“So I’m thinking when I get back to Los Angeles, we can go out for dinner and try to move things along between us at a pace that might be a little more reasonable for you, given how scared you are about giving in to the inevitable.”

She sucked her teeth and he grinned.

Here comes the attitude, he thought.

“I’m not afraid, Terrill. I just think it’s a bad idea. We are business partners, even though you are a not-so-silent partner. You put up the financial backing that helped us get started. Penny and you are best friends. Penny and I are best friends. And you and I are whatever the heck we are… I just don’t want to be the odd person out if things go wrong between us and you and Penny remain friends and I become the new Jason Hightower. If it came down to it and Penny had to choose sides, I’m sure she would pick you, given y’all’s history and all.” Maritza’s words came out in a heated rush and it was clear she had been rehearsing her excuses all day.

Terrill wondered when she was going to take a moment to catch her breath.

“Wow. How long did it take you to think of all of those? Not that it really matters, because all the excuses in the world won’t matter. You probably have no idea right now how useless the excuses are. But trust and believe me when I say they aren’t going to get in our way. I’m willing to take things slow. I’m even willing to let you call the shots, within reason. So long as you calling the shots doesn’t entail you running away. But no excuse you can think of is going to stop this.”

She hissed and he smiled.

“So how’s your day going, beautiful?”

“It’s going fine. I have an appointment with a potential new client and a hot date later.” Defiance dripped off her voice like honey off a dipper.

Terrill took a deep breath. Even though he didn’t like the idea of Maritza going out on a date with anyone but him, he couldn’t walk right into her carefully laid trap. The last thing he needed to do was to get too territorial too quick. The door to a possible relationship would close and he barely had it open.

“Meeting with a client on a Saturday? You work too hard. When I come home I’ll be sure to work on teaching you how to relax.”

“Umm…yeah…whatever… Listen, I need to go and prepare for this client. So if you didn’t need anything else?”

Running.

Figures.

He hoped that he never got tired of chasing this woman, because she would probably be running until he managed to get her down the aisle—if they ever made it to that.

Pace yourself, Carter.

“No, I just wanted to hear your voice. Good luck with the new client and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

There was a long pause before she responded and he hoped that meant she was finally ready to let down her shield.

“Yes, well, you don’t have to call me tomorrow, you know—”

“Yes. I do.

“And Maritza…have fun, but don’t have too much fun on that hot date of yours. ’Bye. I’ll talk with you on Sunday.” Terrill hung up the phone, hoping against hope that he had made the right move.

Maritza stared at the phone as if it had morphed into a snake. What the hell was that about? How was she supposed to contend with this recent development and remain sane?

Sure, she had always secretly been somewhat, sorta, kinda attracted to Terrill Carter. What red-blooded woman with a partiality to honey-complexioned brothers with hazel eyes wouldn’t be attracted to him?

She had made it her business to keep herself and him always off balance by being less than agreeable toward him from the moment she met him and found out he was in the music business and ran in the same circles with the kind of men she was trying to avoid.

But then he had to go and kiss her.

Why’d he have to go and do that?

“Ms. Morales, Mr. MacGregor is here to see you.” Sue, Maritza’s administrative assistant, popped her curly blond head in the door before the rest of her perky, petite body entered the room.

Since Sue was Maritza’s fifth assistant in less than two years, she really hoped she would work out. She liked the fresh-out-of-college, ready-for-the-world energy that Sue exuded. And, so far, Sue was working just fine, keeping up with all the extra hours Maritza put in.

“You can send him in, Sue, and you can leave for the day. I’ll let you know if I need you tomorrow, but I can probably manage alone. Since it’s Sunday, I might work from home. So I guess I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Thanks, Ms. Morales. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll see you on Monday, unless you need me tomorrow.” Sue smiled and left the room.

Maritza liked that Sue seemed open to coming in whenever needed, even if it was a Sunday. In the personal stylist and image consultant business there really wasn’t a definite nine-to-five schedule. You had to be there when your clients needed you. Period. All kinds of weekend events that required the perfect ensemble, and blow ups that needed the perfect media spin or cover story, dictated when they had to work and for how long.

“So I finally get to meet the infamous Maritza Morales. Beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe…”

Maritza looked up to find the truly infamous white hip-hop artist Andrew “Speed-Lo” MacGregor gracing her office door. If New Images by Keys and Morales decided to take him on, he would be their biggest client to date and probably their biggest challenge. Saying his reputation preceded him was a gross understatement. His controversial lyrics about killing his ex-wife and mother, his notorious substance abuse issues and neverending beefs with other rap artists had quickly changed him from hip-hop’s great white hope to its ultimate bad boy not soon after his first multiplatinum-selling CD.

He sauntered into her office and stood in front of her crisp white desk holding out his hand. She looked up and the first thing she thought was that he was much taller in person than he appeared on television. And the second thing she thought was, how can this suave strawberry-blond, green-eyed man with a dusting of freckles on his nose be such a menace to society? He was like what would happen if someone placed hardcore rapper DMX inside Happy Days’ Richie Cunningham’s body—a walking, talking conundrum if she ever saw one.

She came around the desk to shake his hand and he pulled her into a hug.

Awkward.

She pulled away and shook her finger at him. “This is exactly why your reputation is in dire need of New Images by Keys and Morales, Mr. MacGregor.”

He winked at her as he stepped away and took a seat in one of the white leather swivel chairs in front of her desk. She sat back down behind the desk and studied him carefully.

“Half of what people say about me is all lies,” he protested with a cocky grin.

“Ah…but that other half…” Maritza couldn’t help but smile. “Here’s the thing, Mr. MacGregor—”

“Please call me Andrew,” he implored.

“Okay, Andrew. Here’s the thing. I’m not sure that New Images by Keys and Morales can do a lot to help you with your image, especially if you keep making songs about killing your ex-wife and mother. I mean, with the ex-wife songs we might be able to find a way to get you to do some anti-domestic violence PSAs—”

“Hey, I never ever put a hand on Tiff. Those songs are just creative therapy…”

“Yeah, creative therapy that promotes violence against women.” Maritza couldn’t help sucking her teeth. She was Sharon Morales’s daughter after all. She might not practice her mother’s feminism all the time, but she was enough of a feminist’s daughter to have serious issues with his music.

“It is just music. I’m not telling anyone to go out there and kill their wives.”

“Yeah…right…in any case, a couple of well-placed public service announcements and some donations to women’s shelters could help with that.” She gave him a stern look. “Help, not totally fix…”

She paused. She didn’t want to give away all of her plans for revamping his image in the first meeting before signing him as a client. “The songs you made about your mom and the ongoing public battles and lawsuits between the two of you…that will take more than a miracle to fix. Because how can we tell the world to love you if your own mother hates you?”

“Ouch! Damn, girl. A little harsh?” Andrew winced in mock pain.

“That’s the other thing you should know about signing with New Images by Keys and Morales. I have been known to tell it like it is and keep it one hundred percent real with our clients. I figure you’re paying me to help you get other people to believe the hype. And in order to best help you make that happen, I have to be able to tell you exactly what I think with very little filters. We create the press—we don’t necessarily believe it.”

“Well, that’s refreshing. An image consultant who keeps it real.” Andrew nodded as he studied her. “I’ll tell you what. How about you let me take you out to dinner after I sign with you. It can be the first of many, because I like your style, girl.”

Maritza smiled. “Since I will take you on as a client, I should let you know the third thing. I will not date you, because I don’t date clients. And you need me as an image consultant more than you need me as date. Because in order to become a man that I would even consider dating you have to clean up that image of yours.”

He burst out into a fit of laughter and for a minute she thought she might have overplayed her hand.

She definitely didn’t date clients. But maybe she shouldn’t have been so smug and sassy in the way she turned him down.

“I like you, Maritza Morales, and I’m going to take your advice and sign with New Images to clean up my image, so that one day when I ask you out on a date you won’t have any choice but to say yes.”

It was all she could do not to let out the breath she was holding and keep a straight face. “You’ve made the right choice, Andrew! Trust me, I’m a much better image consultant than I am a date.” She stood to shake his hands and willed her legs not to shake.

This was the biggest client New Images by Keys and Morales had ever nabbed. They were moving on up! Between signing Andrew “Speed-Lo” MacGregor and Lace Monroe, even more eyes were going to be on their firm. And she had signed them all by herself, by being her somewhat blunt self.

Usually Penny was the one who sealed the deals, because she had a more pleasing personality. But Maritza had just proved she could sign the big clients as well.

She felt like celebrating. She felt like telling someone about her big scores. Too bad she had lied to Terrill about having a hot date and she didn’t really have any plans, unless Ben & Jerry’s counted as a hot date.

Now that’s a ménage for you, she thought as she envisioned herself wrapped around a nice cool pint of Chunky Monkey.

As she walked Andrew to the door, for some reason one of Billy Dee Williams’s lines from Mahogany ran through her head. “Success was nothing without someone you love to share it with.” Although for some reason the Billy Dee Williams in her head looked an awful lot like Terrill Carter.

And she had no idea what to think about that, let alone what she was going to do about it…

Chapter 3

“Oh, Mrs. Hightower, I don’t think that would be a good idea. Besides, I—” Penny’s words were cut off by Jason’s mother, Celia Hightower, and Terrill knew things were about to become seriously awkward.

Church service had just ended and they were on their way out the door, despite the fact that he had really wanted to talk to the young woman who sang lead in the choir’s rendition of “Maybe the Lord is Trying to Tell You Something.” That sister could sing the old-school Whitney Houston under the table and he really wanted to see if he could sign her.

But he was willing to pass up on signing the next big mega-superstar singer, since Penny seemed hell-bent on getting out of church before either Jason or anyone in the Hightower family could catch up to her. Too bad Celia Hightower managed to catch them before they could escape.

“Nonsense, Penny! Of course you and Terrill will come to Sunday dinner. It’ll be just like old times. It’s time to let bygones be bygones. I feel it. The Lord put it on my spirit and after today’s sermon, I certainly don’t want to go around second-guessing the Lord.”

“Now Mama, if Terrill and Penny have other things to do, then perhaps we should let them do that.” Jason spoke in a casual, nonchalant voice, but the expression on his face seemed almost to plead for Terrill and Penny not to take Mrs. Hightower up on her offer.

Terrill smirked. He almost felt sorry for his old friend.

Almost.

But even he wasn’t cruel enough to make Jason and Penny suffer through a dinner together when they clearly had so many issues that they were both too stubborn to work through. And he really didn’t think Penny could be around Jason any more during this weekend.

“You know I’ve missed your Sunday meals, Mrs. Hightower. But I’ll be flying out tonight and—” Terrill started in with his gentle refusal only to be shot down midway in.

“All the more reason for you to come by for dinner, son. We haven’t seen you in years and now you’re here. You’ve moved your mom to California, so you hardly ever come back to visit. When will we see you again?” Mrs. Hightower turned to Penny. “And I bet you’ll be moving Carla back to California with you. And you didn’t even visit when your grandmother was alive. We’re likely to never see either one of you again.

“Can’t you just grant this old lady one last dinner with you all now that you’ve grown up? Penny, you can ride on over with James and I now. That way we can get in the kitchen together like we used to. I’ve missed that. And I want to hear all about your life in Los Angeles.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at his mother before rolling them.

“Mrs. Hightower…” Penny started.

“I remember those times in the kitchen with you. It was like I finally had the daughter I always wanted. I’ve missed you so much. Both of you.” Mrs. Hightower put the saddest little expression on her face and sighed.

Jason groaned and it was all Terrill could do not to laugh.

Penny took a deep breath. “I don’t think that, given the past, everyone would be okay with us coming to dinner. I miss you more than you know, more than I could ever express. But I just feel like we need to be sensitive to the feelings that—”

“Nonsense, Penny. Jason won’t have a problem with either of you coming. Frankly, you all need to grow up and let the past be the past. You all were friends. You were close. You loved one another and in the case of you and Jason, you were in love with one another. It’s time to put the past behind us. So come on, Penny. James likes to beat the traffic getting out of the parking lot. We’ll see you guys later. Terrill, I mean to see you, too.” Celia took Penny by the arm and actually led her out of the church.

Both Terrill and Jason watched them walk away and then Jason turned to Terrill.

Terrill knew before Jason even got started what he was going to ask. And there was no way he was going to let Penny sit through that dinner alone. Plus, Jason had been such a jerk all throughout Big Mama’s wake and funeral.

As far as Terrill was concerned, Jason deserved to suffer a little.

“It’ll be awkward.” Terrill gave a halfway shrug. “But honestly, I don’t know how to just not show up when your mother has made her expectations so very clear.” Terrill shrugged again as if he really couldn’t help it and the circumstances were out of his control.

Jason glared at him before turning and walking away.

Terrill did laugh then. This trip back home to Jersey was turning out more interesting than any trip before. The only thing missing that would have made it perfect was if a certain little Afro-Latina had been there with him. He wondered what Maritza was doing and what she would say when he called her today.

Sunday brunch with her second-oldest brother, Victor, always made Maritza’s weekend when they could squeeze it in. The rest of their family was on the East Coast, so she and Victor were the only two from the clan living in Los Angeles.

At first she had been slightly irritated when her brother the cop moved to Los Angeles. She thought he was just being his overprotective self, which of course he was. But now she was glad to have some family in the vicinity.

Victor was tall, with a dark-olive complexion and jet-black wavy hair that curled when he let it grow out. People around Los Angeles often mistook him for former L.A. Laker Rick Fox. She guessed it couldn’t hurt her brother in his job as a detective for the LAPD to have movie star good looks. Even though she knew she shouldn’t have favorites, out of all of her brothers, Victor was her favorite.

They were at a small diner-style restaurant near her downtown loft. They always had their Sunday brunch there, because it reminded them of the kinds of diners they could go to at home. It was even in one of those retro rehabilitated diner buildings. And it served big portions, one of the main reasons Victor always suggested they go there.

“So what’s been going on with you, baby sis? How’s business?” Victor took a sip of his coffee and focused in on her.

“I just signed two new high-profile clients all by myself. With Penny out of town for her grandmother’s funeral and all, we couldn’t use our usual routine of having her sweet-talk folks into signing with us.” Maritza laughed and sipped her green tea. She was still reeling from the fact that she had actually signed those clients and hadn’t had to be fake or hold her tongue too much.

“High-profile, huh? Who’d you sign?” Victor started to dig into his massive Denver omelet. The onions, peppers, mushrooms, ham and cheese made Maritza wish she had gotten that instead of her usual strawberry crepes.

“Andrew ‘Speed-Lo’ MacGregor and Lace Monroe,” Maritza proclaimed proudly.

The frown on her big brother’s face said it all. Maritza shook her head as she wondered how the child of two sixties radicals ended up being so judgmental.

“It’s times like these when I’m glad I decided to move to Los Angeles.” He shook his head in disgust. “After everything that happened, do you really want to take on these kinds of clients? Surround yourself with those kinds of people?”

His criticism smarted. Maritza pushed her crepes around on the plate and steamed for about a half a second before deciding to just go off.

“And it’s times like these when I actually regret you moving here, Victor. You’re overprotective to the point of being overbearing. Even Papi and Mom aren’t as overprotective as you. The past is the past. I have moved on and I won’t let the past dictate the rest of my life. I refuse to allow that. And I don’t want to talk about it. So please don’t bring it up again. Working with Andrew and Lace won’t be a problem for me.” She took a deep breath and wondered for half a minute exactly whom she was trying to convince. “Lace’s story is not mine. And Andrew is not the violent man he portrays in his songs. He really is a nice person.”

“But his songs are vile and the things he talks about doing to his women, to his wife—”

“They are songs, Victor!” She had to cut him off. If anyone knew how wrong it was to misjudge people, she did. “I know I don’t have to tell my detective brother that there is a difference between rapping about something and doing something, do I? Andrew MacGregor has never been arrested or convicted of any kind of violence against women.” She took a bite of her crepe, closed her eyes for a second and hummed. They were so good. They were light and fluffy and the strawberries added the right amount of sweetness.

“I’m just saying be careful, will you? That’s all I’m saying. If someone were to hurt my little sister, I’m telling you I would lose my badge because I will kill them.”

Maritza took a deep breath. He was digging again. Her brother was always digging, trying to get her to tell him what had happened to her all those years ago before he moved to Los Angeles to protect her. She had never told him or anyone else, and that was the way it was going to stay.

“Let’s just change the subject. I don’t want to talk about the past when my future is so bright I have to wear shades! I signed two of our biggest clients! I am smoking hot. I’m talking don’t-touch-me-unless-you-want-to-get-burned hot, big brother!”

“And I see my little sister can still use a little improvement in the modesty department.” Victor laughed and shook his head. “I’m proud of you, girl. But be careful!”

“I know. I know.” She sighed and drank the rest of her tea. She wished he would just leave it alone already. “I got this. New Images by Keys and Morales works with people in the music industry. That’s a large part of our business. And don’t forget, our silent partner is a record company executive.”

“Yeah, but Terrill is one of the good guys. In fact, knowing he’s around makes me worry about you less. I know he’ll protect you and Penny with his last breath if need be.” Victor spoke with so much certainty it surprised her.

“Protect me? Huh? You mean protect Penny. I swear that dude needs a cape the way he swoops in to rescue Penny at the slightest hint that something might be wrong.” She realized there was a tiny bit of resentfulness in her voice and she wondered what that was about.

She didn’t have a problem with Terrill or anyone helping Penny. Her best friend was an amazing person and Maritza knew that she would do anything in her power to help Penny if she needed her.

So was she jealous that Terrill helped their friend more? Or was it something else? She had a sneaking suspicion that it was something else. But she wasn’t even going there.

“And you don’t think he would do the same for you?”

“I don’t care if he would do the same for me and I’m not interested in him doing the same for me. That’s not the point.”

Was it?

“If you say so—” Victor got the know-it-all smirk on his face and she was tempted to flick some of the whipped cream left over from her crepes onto him.

She knew that if she did, though, she would be wearing some of his Denver omelet. One thing the Morales clan never backed down from was a food fight. And her brothers never played fair.

“I say so. Finish your food and drop this.”

“Man, I can’t talk about anything with you today. What has you in such a mood?”

She couldn’t very well tell Victor that Terrill had kissed her, now could she?

“Anyway…are you going home for Mother’s Day? I think we should surprise Mom and all show up at home.” She hoped that her less-than-subtle change of subject would fly and they could move away from all discussions of the past and any discussion of Terrill Carter.

To be honest, she didn’t want to face either one.

“I own an image consulting business. I’m a stylist and a publicist.” Penny smiled at Lawrence.

“Image? Mmmp. Stylist? Mmmp.” Sophie twisted up her face like she had sucked on a sour lemon.

Aww, Sophie is getting started again! Terrill wanted to kick himself for not factoring in the Sophie factor. He should have known her hateful behind would be at dinner. And she was the last person Penny needed to be exposed to at this point.

Terrill watched as Jason frowned at his aunt.

Mrs. Hightower rolled her eyes at Sophie and then turned a smiling face on Penny. “I’ve seen stories in various magazines mention your business. You have a lot of high-profile clients. That must be so exciting.”

“Yes, Penny and her partner, Maritza Morales, have really built an amazing company. Top-notch.” Terrill gave Sophie a pointed stare before turning to Joel. “Can you please pass the greens and the macaroni?”

Joel’s face lit up. “Maritza Morales the former video girl? Wow. She is one beautiful woman.” He passed the bowls and Terrill fought back the urge to tell Joel that Maritza was very much off-limits.

He fixed his mouth in what he hoped passed for a smile and not a sneer. “Yes. Maritza did some videos in the past. That’s how Penny and she met.”

Penny nodded. “Yeah. I can’t remember which one though. That was a long time ago. Maritza’s great.”

“She sure is. Thick in all the right places and fine as she wants to be,” Joel agreed.

Terrill’s left eye twitched a little and he gritted his teeth.

“Video hoes. Mmmp.” Aunt Sophie twisted up her lips as the ugly word left her mouth.

“Sophie!” Celia and James snapped in unison with Jason’s outraged “Aunt Sophie!”

“What? That’s what they call them, isn’t it?” She gave Penny a pointed look.

Penny glared at Sophie for a moment before taking a deep breath. She then pursed her lips and turned her attention to the other people at the table.

Terrill could tell that his friend was trying her best to remain respectful and not curse Sophie out. Even Jason, with all the attitude he had been giving Penny this weekend, seemed to be upset with Sophie.

“So you two remained close in California. That’s good, you can look out for one another.” Joel addressed his question to Terrill, clearly trying to change the subject.

Terrill smiled. “You know I had to look out for our girl. Couldn’t just leave her to the wolves in Cali.”

Terrill noticed that Jason’s anger seemed to shift from Aunt Sophie back to him again.

This guy! Good grief!

While Terrill threw his head up in disgust for Jason, Jason’s aunt was narrowing in on Terrill.

“Your mother told Sister Robinson you and Penny weren’t dating anymore. That you must have broken up with her as soon as y’all got to California, because as far as she knew you two weren’t an item.” Aunt Sophie had her lips twisted to the side. “And I took that to mean you were smarter than you looked. But…I guess if you still messing with her.” She glanced at Penny. “Then you’re not.”

Terrill counted to ten and took a deep breath. Telling Sophie that he and Penny never dated wasn’t his place. Penny was going to have to reveal that when and if she was ever ready to. Telling his mother to stop telling people his business as soon as he got the chance was another story.

Patrick cleared his throat and reached for the potato salad. “So Penny, you gonna be in town for long?”

“With all due respect, Aunt Sophie, I think you owe Penny an apology.” Jason snapped.

Terrill smiled.

About damn time!

Penny looked up and stared at Jason and Terrill knew she was probably shocked that Jason was taking up for her. But Terrill knew his friends and he knew they weren’t anywhere near done. Jason and Penny’s feelings ran deep and feelings that deep didn’t just die, no matter how much time had passed and no matter what wrongs they felt had been committed.

He hoped to be able to love like that one day. He thought he had the woman he could love like that in Maritza. He only hoped that she would give him a chance.

“I think you should apologize to all of us for ruining a nice Sunday dinner.” James Hightower gave his older sister a stern stare.

All right, Mr. Hightower! Terrill knew there was a reason he loved the man that had been the only father figure he’d known growing up.

Unfortunately, having her baby brother and her nephew both chastise her only served to make Sophie angrier.

“Me? Apologize to her? Mmmp.” Aunt Sophie let out a bitter laugh and then turned a very hateful look on Penny. “I really hate to be a disruption to Sunday dinner. But someone has to be the voice of reason here. The mere fact that Celia has this little…tramp…at the dinner table and let her come within an inch of the food preparation tells me she isn’t playing with a full deck. But I would have thought you would know better, James.” She tsked. “And after the way she dropped you for your best friend and a trip to Los Angeles, I would hope you would know better, Jason. Please tell me you all know better.”

Penny pushed back her seat and stood. “Mr. and Mrs. Hightower, it has been lovely and I really appreciate your invitation.” She turned to Celia. “I really enjoyed cooking with you. It was so much fun. I do miss you, but I’m sorry I can’t stay here and be insulted.”

Turning to Terrill, she said, “I know you don’t want to miss out on this lovely meal, but can you take me home now?”

Terrill placed his napkin on the table and without a moment’s hesitation he was at her side and they were leaving.

As they sat in front of Big Mama’s house in his rental car, Terrill tried his best to console Penny. He never could stand to see her cry.

“Penny, I just want you to stop crying. You know I can’t stand to see you cry. That’s how you managed to talk me into helping you in the first place.” Terrill sighed. “Look, I can reschedule some meetings. I don’t have to go back to Los Angeles yet. I can—”

“No, I’ll be fine. I’m going to settle Big Mama’s affairs and get out of here as soon as I can. I’ll have to get to know my father some other time. Maybe I can set him and Carla up on alternating visitation schedules.” She cracked as much of a smile as she could and hoped she had convinced Terrill she was okay. “Plus, I need you to go back to Los Angeles and keep an eye on Maritza. She’s probably bossing around some very important clients as we speak.”

Terrill smiled at the thought of Maritza. He couldn’t wait to get back to Los Angeles so that he could really start wooing her. If watching Jason and Penny over the past couple of days had taught him anything at all, it was that he really needed to go after what he wanted with her. Life was too short to live without love.

“And I’m supposed to help how? Your little business partner can’t stand me.” Terrill chuckled and rubbed his chin. “Although if she thinks I’m keeping an eye on her, that should make her good and mad. And I love making her good and mad.”

Penny shoved his shoulder. “Play nice, Terrill. I swear you better not do anything to tick her off or she’ll be blowing up my cell phone.”

Terrill laughed. If he had his way, Maritza wouldn’t have time to be blowing up anyone’s cell phone.

Yes, it was time to head back to Los Angeles.

Chapter 4

Seeing Terrill Carter’s Maybach waiting for her when she left the office on Monday evening shouldn’t have been as much as a shock as it was. Maybe if she had been a little less shocked she would have done something besides get into the car when the driver opened the back door for her.

She could have thought of something sensible, like the fact that her own Mercedes coupe was waiting for her in the parking lot, or something else more reasonable. At least she wouldn’t have to admit that she had been thinking about him the entire time he was in New Jersey, that she had been thinking about his kiss and looking forward to his calls.

As it was she was sitting right next to him in his car and was still pretty much shocked and speechless.

As soon as she stepped into the car, he leaned over and gave her a kiss. She could tell that he meant it to be a quick peck, but a funny thing happened when their lips met.

After stunned silence, her mouth could apparently do something after all. It could kiss Terrill.

Who knew?

Her lips opened and her tongue darted and ducked back and forth, pressing against his lips and seeking entry, only to fall back and retreat before seeking again. She could have played that game all night until he gently grabbed her tongue between his teeth and held it there, nipping and nibbling on it slowly and seductively.

She groaned and pressed her body closer to his.

He pulled her further into an embrace until she was literally sitting on his lap.

Their kiss took on super-sultry proportions at that point and it felt as if he was trying to consume her, inhale her whole. She could only recognize it because she was doing the same thing. Terrill had become air to her.

She let her tongue dance around his mouth as if she had all evening to play there. She swayed from the roof to the tongue and tried to touch each and every one of his teeth. He let her play in her new playground until her tongue started getting in the way of the explorations he wanted to do. Then he took control of the kiss and forced her mouth to follow his lead.

Typically she would have balked at the thought. But today she followed his path, touching and teasing him along the way.

When they finally pulled apart they did it together.

“Damn, I’ve missed you, Maritza.”

She didn’t know what she expected him to say after kissing her senseless. But she did know that she could have probably come up with a smart comment for just about everything but that.

She could lie.

Perhaps say something glib like, Well, I didn’t miss you… Or she could fall into her typical M.O. and catch an attitude full of righteous indignation for his kissing her once again without asking, without even seeing if she wanted to kiss him. But she wasn’t that good of an actress. There was no lying about how much she wanted that kiss and more.

When she remained silent, he smiled. “Kissing you does shut you up, huh?” He chuckled and the sound of his laughter made her smile.

She squinted her eyes as she thought about the ramifications of her laughing at what Terrill had just said as opposed to telling him off. She slid off of his lap and sat down beside him. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

She had been so consumed by his heated kiss and embrace that she hadn’t even realized that the car was moving.

“So. You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you? Your really want to do this? Us?” Tired of fighting for the moment, she rested her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the ride.

“No. I’m not taking no for an answer. We are doing this. It’s our time, Maritza. I can’t fight this feeling anymore. I want you in my life as more than a business partner, more than a friend, or as I’m sure you can wait to remind me, a friend of a friend. Because according to you we aren’t friends.”

“You know me so well. You just see right through me and know exactly what I’m going to say or do, huh?”

“I’ve studied you for years, Maritza. I probably know you better than you know yourself.”

“Whatever.”

“I know that you are really skittish right now and one false move will have you running for the hills as fast as your feet can take you.”

“Well, at least you’d be able to catch me quick because I’ll tell you I won’t get very far in these bad boys. They are fierce, but they don’t do marathons.” She kicked off her black patent leather Mary Jane–styled Manolo Blahniks and stretched her feet.

“So where exactly are you taking me, Terrill?”

“I’m taking you out on a hot date.” He gave a half smile. “Hotter than the date you went on Saturday night.”

“I don’t know about that. My Saturday night date was something special. The memories of that evening will stick with me for some time to come. I won’t be able to get rid of them easily…”

She laughed at the sour expression on his face. If she didn’t know any better she might have actually believed that he was jealous.

“Really? Then I’ll just have to use everything I’ve got to give you better memories to get rid of those.” His sour expression turned to determined just that fast.

“Really? So you’re taking me to the gym?” She giggled.

He frowned. “The gym? No. Why would I take you to the gym?”

“Because that’s the only thing that’s going to help me get rid of these pounds that hot date with Ben & Jerry’s added to my hips and thighs.” Her voice sounded light and wistful and she wondered what was happening to her.

Who was this person that wanted to flirt and be all girly-girl with him? It couldn’t be her! It couldn’t be Maritza Morales.

A sly smile crossed his lips and he kissed her again, softly and sweetly.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with your hips and thighs. They are as perfect as the rest of you.” He licked his lips like he could taste her and she thought she was going to turn to mush and slide out of the seat.

She smiled, slightly surprised at how much his approval warmed her insides and made her feel so much glee.

“So where are you taking me?”

“A new restaurant downtown that’s supposed to be really good. They specialize in transnational fusion cuisine. Apparently on any given night you can go there and experience the fusion of at least three different parts of the world.”

“Oh, I read about that place. It’s supposed to be really hard to get in there.”

“After dinner, I figured we could play it by ear. I know you’re probably tired from working all day and holding things down while Penny is in Jersey.”

“How is she holding up?” She hadn’t heard from Penny much lately.

“As well as can be expected. Her mom and her ex-boyfriend are both working her nerves. And her long-lost father showed up. Fresh out of jail, I might add…he’d been in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“Get out of here, for real? I need to call girlfriend and see how she is holding up. She must be stressed as hell. Good thing you were there for her.”

“I was glad to be able to be there for Penny. But I am even more glad that I’m back here and I’m with you now.”

She found herself gazing in his eyes then. She had no idea what she was looking for. She only knew that she needed something to help her be able to resist this man.

“You know we can’t go public with this, right, Terrill?”

“Why can’t we? I don’t want to date you in secret. I want the world to know.”

“I was serious when I said I didn’t want Penny or any of our other mutual friends to have to decide who to still be friends with if things don’t work out.” She sighed. “And I mean…come on…how long do you expect this to last anyway before we end up killing one another or something?”

He pulled her closer. “We can sort out the details later. For now, let’s just enjoy being together and get to know more about each other.”

She started to argue with him and list all the reasons why they needed to set up firm rules of engagement right now before they moved any further. But she couldn’t.

Dinner was even better than she had expected. She had expected the food to be out of this world. But she had no idea how captivating and charming Terrill could be.

The atmosphere in the restaurant gave off an air of understated elegance and exclusivity. The high, almost covered dining booths made it so you really couldn’t tell who was dining there. All kinds of Hollywood A-listers could have been in the place and only their companions and their wait-staff would know. It wasn’t a place to be “seen.” Rather, it was a place to get away from being seen.

The food was absolutely amazing. She studied the man across the table from her and made a decision that she hoped she wouldn’t regret.

“Terrill, I think we should explore the chemistry between us. But I think we need to keep it just between us. No one needs to know. If you can promise me we will have a discreet affair, then we can do this.”

“But I don’t want to have an affair with you. I want to date you. I want you to be my woman, in public and in private.” Terrill looked so frustrated she almost caved. And caving would be absolutely the wrong thing to do.

There was so much he just didn’t know about her or her past and so much she hoped he never found out…

An affair was all she could risk.

“We can get started on the private tonight, Terrill. If you’re willing to do it this way, we can start now. You’re right. I’m tired of running, too. But we have too much to risk.”

“It would be worth the risk, Maritza.”

She wanted to believe him. But she couldn’t. “Please, Terrill. Let’s try my way first, and then we’ll see.”

“Fine, we’ll do it your way for now—”

Maritza couldn’t believe he was going to do it her way. “Great! Let’s blow this spot and finish the night at your place.”

“Check, please.” Terrill got them out of there, into the Maybach and back at his mansion quicker than she ever could have imagined.

Maritza had always loved Terrill’s mansion in Bel Air even though she couldn’t imagine what one man did with so much space. His mother lived in a condo nearby, but she spent the majority of her time traveling. Terrill spared no expense when it came to his mother. That woman had been all over the world.

Maritza assumed he used the home mostly for entertaining and big parties for his music company. She had never spent a significant amount of time there. She had a feeling that was about to change.

As soon as they entered the mansion, Terrill pulled her into his arms and she forgot all thoughts about his space and what he did with it. The only thing she was concerned with was what he planned to do with her in it at that moment.

His lips brushed hers softly and he inhaled. “We don’t have to go this fast, Maritza. I want to take the time to woo you and wow you and make you see that I’m the guy for you.”

Her insides melted and she knew she should run from his embrace as swiftly as her feet could carry her. There was no way she could possibly resist Terrill if he insisted on being this perfect!

“Why now, Terrill? Why are you so determined to pursue this now?”

“Why not now? How long were you going to keep doing this dance we have been doing?”

Forever…

“I don’t know. I just know that things were a whole lot simpler when we couldn’t stand one another…”

“I could stand you just fine, Maritza. It was your attitude that I wanted to adjust.”

He laughed and when she opened her mouth for a smart retort he kissed her again. His mouth possessed hers as surely as he was slowly but surely possessing the rest of her. Goose bumps trailed down her entire body as he caressed and held her close.

“I want you, Terrill. We don’t have to wait. I want this.” The certainty in her voice would have shocked her if she didn’t know from the bottom of her gut how much she really meant the words she had just said. She had wanted him the very first moment she set eyes on him. That had never really changed.

He took her hand and led her up the stairs. When they made it to his suite she couldn’t help but continue to be impressed by him. His home was the perfect mix of stately with a touch of subdued opulence. It had a done-but-not-overdone appeal to it. From the artfully modern design throughout, to the original artwork on the walls, his home epitomized style and class. He had come a long way and that was enough to make anyone proud. And she didn’t find it odd that she could finally admit she was more than a little proud of him herself.

As soon as they entered the room, he kissed her again and their kisses turned into a groping and clingy exchange that had them disrobing each other as they tried to cop feels. She knew she wanted to touch every piece of skin on his body. So as soon as she removed his jacket, shirt and undershirt, she let her hands trace the rips and cuts of his finely chiseled chest.

Damn.

She hadn’t known that he had so much going on under those custom-tailored suits. She would have been feeling him up a long time ago. His muscles and his smooth skin felt like velvet-covered steel to her touch.

He managed to get her dress off of her while she touched him and then he made quick work of her bra, leaving her thong, thigh-high silk stockings and Manolos on her. His strong hands moved up and down her back and caressed her ass with each stroke down. Then his hands moved up her belly and he took a breast in each hand. He molded her breast with his hands and teased her nipples with his mouth. He moved steadily from one nipple to the other and sucked them until they tightened to peaks. He massaged her breasts and soon her legs were shaking with a built-up desire and need that she couldn’t put into words.

He moved one hand down and placed it between her shaking legs. He pushed her thighs apart and pulled her thong to the side. She could feel her womanly juices rushing to meet his fingers at the door to welcome them in.

One finger.

Two fingers.

Three fingers.

She let out a gasp of breath and she hoped each digit found a nice and welcoming home inside of her because she loved the way they were making her feel. His mouth remained on one breast as his fingers probed her from her slick folds to her heated core. Soon she was shaking with an orgasm that could only be described as amazing.

Jolts of pleasure seemed to lift her and make her sway at the same time. She let out a scream that she was sure must have been heard all clear across his mansion. It was a good thing he lived alone and his servants were discreet. Her body sagged against his when the last ripple of her orgasm passed through her and she wondered how she would find energy for anything more.

He lifted her up and carried her over to his California king-size platform bed. He laid her down and slid off her shoes and then her thigh-highs before slowly and seductively taking off her thong underwear. Before she could do or say anything, he lowered his head and gave her the most intimate of kisses.

With each stroke of his tongue, she struggled to keep her eyes from rolling to the back of her head.

It felt just that good.

She moaned and locked her thighs around his head, effectively holding him in place and making sure that her legs didn’t take on a life of their own and just start kicking and waving everywhere.

Terrill couldn’t believe that he was finally tasting Maritza’s sweet nectar. She tasted better than anything he had ever tasted. And to finally be able to see her gorgeous body in all its splendor, splayed out on his bed for him to pleasure and taste and worship, was almost enough to make him enter her and bring them both to completion, quick, fast and in a hurry.

But he couldn’t.

He couldn’t rush this moment.

He had waited too long for it.

So he allowed his tongue to travel up and down her slick folds. He let it tunnel forth and mimicked the thrusts he would soon be doing with his penis. He touched her and tasted her, letting his fingers feel the soft wet caverns of desire that she offered.

He knew he was humming with a happiness that refused to be contained. But his sounds of pleasure had nothing on her moans. The grip of her thighs on his shoulders and her fingers in his hair told him without her having to say a word that she wanted this, too.

He let his hands caress her behind and slide down to her full hips and luscious thighs as his tongue continued to tunnel and lap up all of her sweet juices. He couldn’t even begin to remember how many times he had gone to bed thinking about having her thighs wrapped around him as he spent his seed inside her.

He was so addicted to the taste of her that he lost count of how many times she had come. All he knew was he wanted to be inside her the next time she did. So he reluctantly pulled away from her, got undressed and put on a condom.

Maritza didn’t know how Terrill managed to break free of the kung fu grip her thighs had on him. But he did. She gazed up to see him removing what was left of his clothing and placing the protection on his very well-endowed penis.

She let her eyes roam over his body and soaked in the one hundred percent pure masculinity that exuded off of him like water down the falls. It was so overwhelming she thought she could actually drown in it.

His honey-complexioned skin showed only the slightest hint of the work he had already put in in bringing her to orgasm after orgasm. The barest traces of perspiration glistened on his skin, making the honey underneath look good enough to lick. When he joined her on the bed she did just that. She let her tongue trace the ridges and contours of his muscled chest and imagined this is what a pec tastes like.

She thought she was wet and ready enough to take anything he came with until she felt the beginning of his penis stretching her in ways she had never been stretched before. She groaned and relaxed herself even more so that she could have all of him in her. She was shocked by how much she wanted that. He felt so thick and good inside of her. And as he pulled back a little and pushed farther into her, she realized he had considerable length to go along with that width.

Once he reached the hilt, he stopped for a moment and she found herself lost in his gaze and glad he was giving her a moment to get used to his size.

He bent his head and kissed her deeply, completely. She had kissed a lot of men in her thirty-four years of living, but she had never been kissed like this. Terrill’s kisses felt as if he were marking her soul deep. She knew no matter what happened between them a part of her would always belong to him just by virtue of the way he kissed her.

“You ready for me, babe?” He stopped kissing her and had that intense expression in his eyes again.

“Yes.” She knew her voice was breathless because she was still holding her breath, partly in disbelief that she was actually making love with Terrill and partly in order to stop herself from saying just how much she had wanted this and for how long she had wanted it.

He pulled out and pushed back in, slowly at first and picking up speed with each thrust. The back-and-forth motion of his hips seemed to hook her like a yo-yo. Her hips followed his, lifting off the bed and bouncing back down. She wanted him bad. She wanted him deep.

“Feel good, babe?” His words flowed with the perfect mix of strain and sensual seduction.

She worked her hips, tilting her pelvis and clenching his penis in her inner walls, giving him the ultimate massage.

“Does that feel good?” She smiled and winked at him, all the while giving as good as she got.

He smiled a devilish grin and began to piston his hips harder and faster. “Tell me…why the hell did we wait so long to do this?”

His power thrusts were taking her closer and closer to the edge, so close she could almost feel the orgasm. It was going to be amazing. She could already tell. She wrapped her arms around his neck and locked her thighs firmly around him.

She looked him dead in the eye. “I don’t know what took us so long. But. Don’t. You. Dare. Stop.”

The orgasm blasted through her and she screamed out his name. His thrusts keep coming and extended her orgasm until she didn’t know if she was coming or going. She heard mumbling and moaning all around her and she realized that she was doing it. If she were in church, she would have thought she was speaking in tongues.

He kept his thrusts going and soon she was crying out again. But this time she wasn’t alone. His grunts accompanied hers as they both found their release together.

The next morning as Terrill waited for Maritza to get dressed at her house so that they could go out for breakfast, he wondered how he was going to get her to see that they were meant to be together and the only thing they were doing was wasting more time by not just coming out and admitting to the world that they were a couple now.

The upscale breakfast café near Maritza’s loft in downtown Los Angeles was already filled to capacity with Los Angeles’s beautiful people, movers and shakers. Even though he and Maritza definitely fit in, Terrill still couldn’t help but wish that her clothes were at his mansion and he could have served her breakfast in bed before they got dressed and went off to work.

Maybe one day…

For now he would just take his time and play things the way Maritza wanted to—as long as they ultimately ended up where he wanted them to be.

“So I’m coming over to meet with your A&R people about my plans for Da Stunnas today. Please tell me you have had some luck getting them to see that my plans are really the only viable way to salvage this group’s reputation.”

He shook his head. There went the wonderful afterglow he had been basking in after spending the night making love to her in just about every position and hearing her cry out his name in passion rather than anger.

“Please tell me you took my advice and came up with some alternate ideas that will coincide with the plans my A&R team have for this group. You had days to come up with something else. I spoke to you about this when I was still in Jersey.” He smiled at her and waited for the chill blast that he knew would be coming.

She laughed, but it wasn’t the sound of a woman in a fit of humor—more like a woman on the verge of a fit.

“How about I just let you work this out with Da Stunnas and my A&R people and I just stay out unless you guys can’t work something out. I’m sure you all will be able to come to a workable solution for all.” The last thing he wanted to do was get into a big argument with her about this foolishness.

“That’s fair.” She seemed to be mulling something over in her head. “Okay, so how are we going to play this?”

“Play what?” he asked.

“Play the two of us being together and not letting any of our friends and family know about it. I think we need to continue pretending not to get along. And I definitely can’t spend the night at your mansion anymore…I suppose you could come to my loft, but it might be best if we hooked up elsewhere—”

“I’m not going to have some seedy secret affair with you, Maritza. That—”

“Not a seedy secret affair! Just a secret affair, something that is just special between the two of us and not shared with the world.”

“Yet?” He meant it as a statement but it came out more as a question because he really wasn’t sure where he stood with her.

“Huh?” A perplexed expression crossed her face.

“Not shared with the world yet? Eventually we will tell people about us, right?”

“Yeah, I mean eventually… Ye—ah…once we know it’s going to last and we’re going to be together. Yeah.” She didn’t sound very certain to him, and he didn’t know if he should worry about that or not.

He mulled it over. It wasn’t what he wanted at all. The main question was, would playing it this way eventually get him what he wanted? “Fine.”

“This could actually be kind of fun, you know. No one will know but us. It’ll be our secret.” Her beautiful dimpled smile lit up her face and he realized he could never say no to her when looking at that smile.

Still, he had to get clarification on a few of the details. “For how long?”

“What do you mean for how long?”

“How long are we going to keep this a secret?” he probed.

“Until we know for sure,” she hedged.

“And how long will that take?”

“How long will what take?”

“How long will it take for you to know for sure?” he asked her point blank.

“I don’t know. Let’s just see how it goes. That’s the beauty of it. Now that we have decided to stop fighting it, we can take our time and explore every facet of our attraction and see where it takes us. I’m excited about the ride. Aren’t you?”

“I’m excited, too. I just don’t know why it has to be a secret from the people we love and who love us. But I am willing to do this for a little while, waiting for you to get on the same page as me.”

They finished up their breakfast in silence and Terrill tried to talk himself into believing that he was doing the right thing and it wasn’t about to blow up in his face.

Maritza took a deep breath and bit back the words that were threatening to come bubbling forth from her mouth. Words like, “maybe we don’t have to keep this a secret,” and “maybe we can tell all our friends and family about us” were on the tip of her tongue. But she knew better than to say them.

Even though Terrill was a cooler guy than she would ever willingly give him credit for being, she knew that high-level VIPs like him had reputations to think of. She had dated plenty of record label executives during her days as a video dancer.

Some might even say she effectively dated herself right out of the pool. As one guy she had really cared for told her many years ago, men don’t want to marry the girl that has dated too many of the other men in the room. She was a pretty girl, but she would never be more than the flavor of the month for any important man who allowed what others thought of him to inform his marriage decisions. Most men would have a problem if their future wife had dated more men in the room than he could count. Even if she hadn’t had sex with them all, he would still have a problem with it. And it would crush her heart to have Terrill give her that kind of speech or give her the sorry-you-can’t-turn-a-hooker-into-a-housewife speech.

She hadn’t been a hooker.

But she had dated freely and loved freely and had thought for the briefest moment that she was invincible and in control of everything in her life. Until something really horrible had happened, and life showed her that she couldn’t be in control of everything. That she couldn’t always trust those around her to respect her boundaries or even have her best interests in mind.

And now she had to live with the knowledge that she wasn’t untouchable or invincible after all. And even though she had long since turned her life around, she had to live with the repercussions forever. Repercussions that meant no matter what she’d just said to Terrill, ultimately their time together had an expiration date and she needed to enjoy it while she could.

“Terrill Carter, is that you?”

The masculine voice that spoke those words as she and Terrill were leaving the café sent a cold chill of dread down her spine.

It couldn’t be.

He couldn’t be back.

She turned around and looked dead into the face of her worst nightmare, a nightmare that she had by the grace of God lived through, but apparently was coming back to haunt her.

She watched the scene play out as if in slow motion.

Terrill stopped and spoke with Herbert Jackson, big-time record company executive and star of her recurring nightmares.

“Hey, Herbert. When did you get back into the area?” Terrill didn’t seem like he was really close friends with Herbert. She could tell by the sort of standoffish way that Terrill talked to Herbert that he probably didn’t like him.

“I got back a couple of weeks ago. New York couldn’t hold me forever. I had to come back to Los Angeles eventually.”

Please don’t let him be back for good, she thought as she willed herself just to disappear. She started walking away, all the while wishing she could break into a run without causing a scene.

Terrill’s hand reached out and caught her before she could get far. “Pardon me for being so rude. This is Maritza—”

“Maritza Morales. I know her well.” Herbert cut Terrill off and held out his hand to Maritza as if daring her not to take it and make a scene.

Maritza stared at his hand for a second and wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, Rapist! Low-down dirty pimp disguised as a businessman! But instead she took a calming breath and ignored the hand in front of her.

“You really don’t know me that well, Herbert, if you think for one minute I would shake your hand.” Her ice smile firmly in place, she turned to Terrill. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

When she got back to Terrill’s Maybach and got in she found that Terrill wasn’t that far behind her. He got in just after she did.

“What was that about, Maritza? I only introduced you because I thought the connection with the other large record company in town would be good for New Images by Keys and Morales. I didn’t know you knew him already. But that still doesn’t explain why you clearly dislike him so much that you don’t even want his business. That doesn’t seem like you at all.”

“Trust me when I say that dislike is too mild a word to describe what I feel for that man. And know that I will never work for him or deal with him in any capacity.”

“What happened? Did you date him in the past or something? Did the relationship end badly?”

“I don’t want to talk about this now, Terrill. I can’t talk about it. I don’t know if I will ever be able to talk about it. So I’m asking you to just leave it.” She wrapped her arms around herself and cursed the weak and pathetic picture she must have represented.

“That’s fine for now. I don’t want to upset you any more than you are. But eventually I need to know, Maritza. Because if he did anything to harm you, I will have to hurt him.” Terrill’s normally upbeat personality and smiling face turned dark and bleak.

“It was years ago. Let’s just leave the past in the past.” She took a deep breath and put on her game face. “So remember, we are going to have our secret between us but with friends and family it will be the same as always. I can’t stand you.” She wrapped her arms around him, relishing the comfort of his strength and letting it make her feel safe if only for a few minutes. After seeing Herbert, she needed to feel Terrill’s strength and warmth.

She kissed him deeply, taking in all the comfort she could gather.

Their tongues twirled around in each other’s mouths until she got lost in the delight of it all. The thing that was developing between her and Terrill was clean and fresh and sweet. She didn’t want anything from her past sullying it, especially not Herbert Jackson.

When she finally managed to pull away from the intoxicating kiss, she smiled. She was going to hold on to this small piece of joy and keep it away from everything and everyone else for as long as she could.

After her meeting with Da Stunnas and the A&R people at Terrill’s record company, Maritza wanted to hurt someone. The last thing she wanted to do was to stop by Terrill’s office and take it out on him, even though she was more than a little irritated with him for having such idiots on his payroll. But she had made up her mind that any disagreements or arguments between her and Terrill would be for show, to keep everyone unaware of how things had changed between them.

Since Penny was still in New Jersey, Maritza decided to give her a call in order to complain about Terrill, his employees and the crappy meeting. It would even help to keep Penny thinking that nothing had changed.

As soon as Penny picked up the phone, Maritza started. “You need to get back here before I kill your boy.”

“Well, hello to you, too, chica.”

She could feel Penny’s smile from across the airwaves and it was already doing wonders to help her mood.

“When are you coming back? Because if your boy doesn’t stay away from me, I’m going to have to cut him.” Maritza giggled in her head because even though that’s how she would have complained to Penny about Terrill in the past, it sounded a little over the top to her ears now.

“Now, now, Maritza, you don’t have to resort to violence. I’ll be back soon. There have been some recent events that might keep me here a little longer. My mother was attacked and I’m going to hang around just a tad bit longer to make sure the person responsible is caught.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your mom. Dang, you just lost your grandmother and now this. Well, I guess I can deal with el stupido a little while longer. Business is going well, with the exception of our silent partner el stupido feeling like your absence suddenly grants him a voice.”

Penny laughed. “I’m sure he’s only trying to help. You should cut him some slack.”

“Oh, I’ll cut him all right. Don’t give me any ideas.” Maritza couldn’t hold her laughter in on that one.

“Girl, stop. Hey, listen, I’ve been thinking since I’ve been out here in Jersey. We should think about expanding and opening up an office in NYC. We need an East Coast presence for New Images by Keys and Morales.”

Maritza let the idea marinate for a half a second before deciding that she absolutely loved it. There were even more high-profile clients to get in New York and it was time for them to spread their wings and expand.

“We should look into it,” Maritza said, getting more excited by the minute.

“Yeah, I’m thinking I’ll start running the cost and risk factors when I get back. How did the meeting with Da Stunnas go today?”

“Oh, yeah! You reminded me why I called you. Terrill makes me sick. I prepared the perfect image package for Da Stunnas, and his A&R idiots are going to ruin everything I’m trying to accomplish. You know how I work. I know what’s best when it comes to these things. That’s why they pay me, you know…hold on, Penny.” Maritza clicked over.

“Maritza Morales.”

“Hi, Maritza. This is Andrew. Did I catch you at a bad time? I wanted to go over some of the plans you sent me.”

“No, this isn’t a bad time. I was just talking to my business partner. Hold on, let me tell her I’ll call her back.” She clicked back over to Penny. “I’ve got to take this call, chica. Listen, take as much time as you need in Jersey. I have things here. Just call your boy and remind him of the silent in silent partner. Smooches.”

“All right, later, chica.”

Maritza smiled when she clicked back over. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as hard as she thought to keep up appearances and make everyone think that she and Terrill still didn’t get along.

“You know I’m not there to protect you, so I don’t know why you’re getting Maritza started?”

Terrill chuckled at the way Penny answered the phone. He knew she had a special ringtone for him, Run DMC’s “Together Forever,” and between that and caller ID she always knew when he was calling.

“How did I know she would have called you complaining already? All I did was make a few tiny suggestions and she blew up. You would have thought I’d asked her for blood or her firstborn. I don’t know how you put up with her.” Terrill laughed again. Maritza had blown up at his suggestions and then he’d quelled her with more sweet lovemaking. “So when will you be back here? And should I start looking for a place for Carla in the wonderful condo area where I have my mother?”

“Ha, ha, ha. Please do not bring up my mother. I don’t know what is getting into that woman. Anyway, someone attacked her the other day—”

“Oh my God. Is she okay? Do you need me to come back out there?”

“No, I don’t need you to come back out here. But thanks for offering.” Penny paused and he could tell she was really shaken up. “Carla’s banged up pretty bad. But she’s out of the hospital now. Do you believe she won’t tell who did it to her? But Jason and I came up with the person we think is responsible. And my father thinks it’s the same person. Do you remember that lowlife she used to mess with, C-Money?”

“Okay, slow down, Penny. You have dropped too many things in one breath for me to just let go without at least a say what? But I’m going to start with the most shocking one. Jason? As in Jason Hightower? Y’all playing Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew over there?” Terrill started laughing again. If Jason and Penny were on speaking terms and trying to solve crimes, then maybe there was still hope for them. “Or is there something else you want to share?”

“Yes, Jason Hightower. He is a cop, you know. And he’s been working the case and offering his help and protection. Because Carla won’t just come clean and tell us who—”

Terrill cut her off, full of glee. “So have you talked with him about what happened in the past? Is that why he’s offering his help? I knew he’d under—”

She sighed and cut him right back off. “I haven’t told him anything. I don’t plan on telling him any—” She stopped midsentence and cleared her throat. “I’ve gotta go, Terrill. Jason’s here. I’ll call you later.”

She just smooth hung up on me and she’s going to leave me hanging like that? I can’t believe her. He waited and waited, and when she didn’t call him back in an hour, he called her back.

“Yes?” Penny answered her phone in her business voice and he knew that she knew it was him calling.

Jason must still be around.

“Girl, you know you can’t just leave a brother hanging like that.” Terrill tried not to laugh but did it anyway.

“Right, you’ll have to deal with my partner on this. I’m out of town due to a death in the family. Please call the office during business hours and someone will be able to respond to your inquiry.”

Terrill really busted a gut then. “Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow and by then I want full disclosure.”

“Right. Call during business hours. Goodbye.” Penny hung up very quickly and all he could do was laugh. Yes, he had to find out what was going on with those two. And he might not be able to wait until the next day.

He decided to ring up Maritza instead.

“So I’m working your nerves, babe?”

She laughed that cute sexy laugh of hers. “You know I had to keep up appearances, especially with our Penny. She would sniff us out right away if we changed up in the slightest way. And then there is the fact that after meeting with your A&R people I really wanted to strangle you—and them.”

He laughed even though he still wasn’t sure why they had to be such a big secret.

Second Interlude
Ready, Willing and Able…

“Da—mn! I knew we were about to hear a story. But this is beyond crazy! How in the world did you get Terrill to agree to keep you all’s relationship a secret for so long? I can’t believe none of us even knew it. I just knew I was going to have to fight you for Lawrence when we first met, and it turns out you weren’t even checking for Lawrence at all.” Minerva Hightower was sitting next to Carla, snacking on popcorn as if they were watching a movie or something instead of listening to the story of how Maritza found the man of her dreams and lost him.

“Girl, Terrill is good for keeping secrets, just ask Brat, oops…I mean Penny. He kept her secret for years and that was some old craziness right there if I ever saw it. I would have dimed her out years ago if I knew and I’m her mother.” Carla chomped on the popcorn.

“That’s right, he lied for Penny to Jason about cheating on Jason. Penny wanted Jason to believe she had cheated with Terrill and that the baby she miscarried was Terrill’s and not Jason’s.” Samantha Hightower plopped down on the sofa and grabbed some popcorn.

“Umm…hello…I’m right here and I certainly don’t appreciate y’all recounting my business like it’s some soap opera.” Penny rolled her eyes at her in-laws and glared at her mother.

“Your business? What about all of y’all in my house giving me the third degree and trying to get all into what happened between Terrill and me?” Maritza shook her head at the lot of them and almost laughed at the Hightower women and Carla until she remembered her own family was there listening to the tale as well.

Her mother, father and brothers were seated in the other chairs and love seat in the room. She glanced at each one and each one was giving her their unique personalized versions of the I’m-so-disappointed-in-you-Maritza stare.

Just what she needed…

Not!

“Do you love him, niña bonita?” Her father was never one to beat around the bush.

“I knew I should have jumped in and helped Jason and the other Hightowers pull Andrew’s thug posse off of Terrill. Terrill is a good guy. I knew it had to be something more behind this.” Louis had a gleam of mischief in his eyes as he stood up, paced the room and shook his head.

Maritza sucked her teeth because she knew her most irritating brother was trying to find a way to irritate her even more. He was just never going to get over the fact that she had been born and knocked him out of his baby of the family position.

“Papi asked you a question, sis.” Manuel Jr. sat with his arms folded in front of him right next to their parents. He was the typical oldest child. Manuel Jr. had a butter-pecan complexion and he and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could probably pass for twins.

“And after you answer Papi’s question you can let me know why you never told me that scumbag Herbert Jackson was back in town and if he had anything to do with messing things up between you and Terrill.” Victor was giving her his intense cop stare as if he were trying to read her mind or figure out the past and what she refused to tell him.

Maritza let out a loud scream before glaring at her brother. Everyone in the loft stopped their side conversations and chattering and all eyes were on her again.

Just want she needed…

Not!

Her jaw clenched and she took a deep breath. She glared at Victor one more time so that he understood that if he mentioned one more thing or tried to question her again about what had gone down between her and Herbert Jackson, he would no longer have a sister. Victor had promised to stop questioning her about it, but he always found a way to bring it back up. This time she was holding him to his promise. The last thing she needed was for her other brothers and her father to hear what that scumbag did to her. And none of the Hightowers could know because she never ever wanted Terrill to find out!

Terrill…

She felt a sharp pain through her chest that felt worse than anything she had ever experienced.

A tear trailed down her face and she wiped it away.

What had she done to her Terrill?

Her love…

She turned to her father. “I love him, Papi. But it’s too late for us now. I messed up and I just have to live with it.” She turned to Victor. “I don’t want to talk about Herbert Jackson. Ever! I’ve told you this over and over, Victor. Please, Victor, you are my brother and I love you. I just want to leave it in the past.”

Victor’s face went through a range of emotions and he shook his head. “I’m sorry, sis. I can’t leave it alone anymore. I never could. You know that. I need to know what that scumbag did to you and if he has anything to do with this. And if I can’t find out from you then I will find out from Terrill.” Victor started walking toward the door.

Maritza looked after him in shock with her mouth open. Her mouth fell open even more when Louis and Manuel got up and followed Victor. But when her father got up and followed her brothers, a helpless squeak came out.

They can’t! She wanted to scream. Terrill can’t find out!

She thought about running after them and begging them not to go and almost did when she felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder.

“It’s time for everything to come out in the open, baby girl. You can’t keep holding on to secrets and carrying shame for things that you shouldn’t be ashamed of.” Sharon Morales wrapped her arms around Maritza.

Maritza leaned into her mother. She only needed to hear the soothing sound of her mother’s voice to know that her mother already knew about what Herbert did to her. She’d always thought that Victor knew and just wanted to have her confirm it. He couldn’t keep anything from their mother.

He always was a mama’s boy! Maritza had to laugh to keep from crying at that point.

And if Mom knows then for damn sure Papi knows. Because Mom and Papi don’t keep anything from each other, especially when it comes to us kids. That thought sent a cold chill through her.

She let out a soft sigh. Hell, maybe it was time to just let everyone know. She wasn’t ashamed of it.

Was she?

But somehow she had become a victim of the secret just as sure as she had been a victim back then.

“Umm…did they just leave for Terrill’s mansion? Brat, I thought we were staying with Terrill at his big mansion. No offense.” Carla shrugged. “But I don’t want to stay here in this loft if I can be staying in a mansion. I mean it’s cute and all…but…they’re not taking our places at the mansion, are they?”

Maritza shook her head and laughed. Yep, she was definitely laughing to keep from crying. And it probably sounded more like hysteria than laughter. But that was all she could do at the moment.

Celia Hightower came over and placed her arms around Maritza, too. Both Celia and her mother led her over to the sofa and sat down with her, each patting her back and trying to calm her down.

“This chick done lost her mind! I told ya men will drive a chick crazy every time! Why you think I’m so crazy?” Carla grabbed some more popcorn. “Well, if we gotta stay here in this small loft, then at least you can make it entertaining and finish telling us the story. How long was you doing the bump and grind with Terrill? And were you getting your swerve on with this Herbert person and the white rapper dude and Terrill all at the same time? Gu-rl! I knew you was a wild one. I peeped that about you early on!”

“Mommy, stop harassing Maritza.” Penny hissed between clinched teeth.

“You guys were broken up by the time you announced your engagement on Valentine’s Day. That’s why when I saw you kissing—” Aisha Hightower, the newlywed wife of Patrick Hightower, shut her own mouth before Maritza could glare at her. She should have known that Aisha wouldn’t be able to keep what she’d seen a secret.

“That’s what I’m talking about, get to the good stuff!” Carla said.

“Girl, you might as well finish spilling. You know once your brothers get over to Terrill’s he’s gonna tell them his side if he isn’t already telling Lawrence and the rest of them…” Minerva’s expression read as if she really was trying to be helpful instead of just being nosy.

Maritza knew better, but Minerva was right. She might as well tell the rest. “Okay, I managed to get Terrill to agree to having a secret affair. And we pretty much had all of y’all fooled that we hated each other…”

“Child, please, you two weren’t fooling a soul. We all saw the attraction between you and thought you needed to get a room years ago. We just didn’t know you were already getting a room.” Celia Hightower shook her head and laughed.

“I know that’s right, Celia, you tell her. She wasn’t fooling nobody! And she sure wasn’t fooling me.” Carla added her two cents.

“Me neither. I could tell from the moment I first saw you and Terrill together that he was the one. I even told your father he was the one. That’s why I was so shocked when you announced you were going to marry this Speed-Lo person.” Sharon Morales wasn’t one to be outdone by the other two older women in the room when it came to the who-knows-Maritza-best contest.

Maritza laughed and it sounded a little less hysterical this time. “Okay. So we had been lovers for a little over a year…”

“I can’t believe you and Maritza have been kicking it since Big Mama passed away. That is one hell of a secret…” Jason just shook his head as he looked at Terrill.

Terrill held the newly refreshed ice pack up against his eye and leaned his head back. He’d gone through several ice packs as he told his tale and he expected to go through even more before the night was over. He had barely scratched the surface of his years-long, on-again off-again affair with Maritza.

He sat up and stared at his best friend, glad that they had finally worked past the misunderstandings and were friends again. If he could have the woman of his dreams, too, everything would be perfect in his world.

But Maritza was actually going to marry another man! How in the hell had things gone so incredibly wrong? Better yet, how could he fix them and make them right again?

The doorbell rang and soon his butler was leading four more men to the entertainment room in his mansion. The Morales brothers were there along with Maritza’s father.

After a round of everyone shaking hands and giving each other pounds, Maritza’s brother Manuel spoke up. “We heard from Maritza that you had just cause to want to break up the engagement party today.”

“Well, maybe ‘just cause’ is putting it too strongly, but let’s just say we understand better now why you did what you did.” Louis folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall. “Seriously, I don’t know what my sister is thinking sometimes.”

“If we had understood better back at the restaurant, then maybe you wouldn’t be nursing that black eye right now.” Victor shook his head. “You know I wanted to have your back in there, man. I know you’ve looked out for my sister when you could. And now I know why. Right now though, I just want to find out what, if anything, Herbert Jackson has to do with any of this.”

“Victor, maybe now is not the time…” Maritza’s father started.

Terrill stilled. He had always suspected that something bad had gone down between Maritza and Herbert. And now he could see that all of the Morales men knew or suspected something as well and they were all just looking for one good excuse to go and hunt Herbert down like the dog he was.

Terrill cleared his thought. “I was just filling everyone in on what went down with me and Maritza and why I had to—why I have to stop her from marrying another man…” He let out a hiss of breath.

“It’s not her fault. We both made mistakes. I shouldn’t have gone along with her desire to keep our relationship a secret for so long. If I hadn’t done that, then the majority of the things that went wrong between us might never have happened.”

Terrill couldn’t let Maritza take all the blame. He knew how much her family’s opinion meant to her and he would never knowingly do anything to put that in jeopardy.

“Yes, both of y’all can take the blame for that foolishness. But I blame you the most, Terrill.” Patrick Hightower, the man of few words, decided to chime in and offer his fifty cents.

“How you gonna blame him? They’re both adults. It takes two people to start a relationship and two people to mess one up.” Jason defended Terrill and it made Terrill feel good to know that he had his best friend back and Jason would even defend him against one of his older brothers if it came down to it.

“He shouldn’t have even let her set the ground rules like that. He should have manned up and told her that he wasn’t keeping the relationship a secret and she would just have to deal with it.” Patrick shrugged.

“I agree, big brother, he should have laid down the law. That’s what I did,” Lawrence Hightower added.

“Me too. I just told Aisha straight up the first time I met her that she was going to be my love.” Patrick was clearly starting to feel himself.

Louis Morales let out a gut busting laugh. “Excuse me, but have any of you met my little sister? She grew up the only girl with three older brothers and this man for a father.” He pointed at Manuel Sr. for emphasis. “And she gave as good as she got and none of us could ever get away with telling her what to do. She’s so hardheaded and stubborn—”

“And laying down the law wouldn’t have worked because she would have told him exactly what he could do with that law.” Manuel Jr. cut Louis off, laughing the entire time. “And my little sister has a mouth like our mother. Trust me, he didn’t want to take that route. Maybe he shouldn’t have let things go on so long without getting her to admit how she felt about him and making her go public with the relationship. But he wasn’t going to make Maritza Morales do anything she didn’t want to do.” The look Manuel gave Terrill then made it clear that he better not ever try to make Maritza do anything, either.

Terrill’s eye started throbbing even more. He suddenly wanted everyone out of his home so that he could lick his wounds in peace.

“How about we just let the man finish telling the story and then maybe we can figure out a way to help him fix things.” Joel Hightower was usually all jokes, so Terrill was kind of shocked to hear him trying to be the voice of reason. “’Cause God knows he is going to need all the help we can give him to fix this gigantic mess,” Joel added and started laughing.

Terrill tossed the thawed ice pack to the side and wasn’t surprised when moments later his butler was there with another ice pack. He placed the ice pack on his eye and groaned.

He figured he might as well finish telling them the story. Joel was right. He was going to need the help of everyone in the room to figure out how to get his woman back. And he wanted his woman back for damn sure.

“So where was I? Yeah, basically I let Maritza set the ground rules for our relationship. But at least that way I was able to be with her and experience the best two years of my life…”

Chapter 5

Maritza rolled over into the arms of her lover and snuggled for a bit before tickling him. They didn’t have long before they had to arrive separately at a cookout at the Hightowers’. They were supposed to be in separate hotel rooms, but somehow Terrill had talked his way into her bed. She couldn’t believe that she had been lucky enough to have this man as her lover for over a year.

Penny had gotten married to Jason and the East Coast branch of New Images by Keys and Morales was doing just as well as their Los Angeles branch.

Maritza’s business and personal lives couldn’t have been better and that’s why she couldn’t help but wonder when the other shoe was going to drop.

Terrill’s hand stroked its way up and down her back and finally curved onto her behind. She wiggled it and snuggled closer to him.

“What if Penny decided to visit one of our rooms and found that you aren’t in yours. Our secret would be out.”

He nipped her bottom lip and then licked it, snaking his tongue out slowly as if he were trying to savor her.

“If she tried to find a room for me, she wouldn’t find anything because I canceled my room. I saw no reason to pay for a room when I have a perfectly fine room right here, one that has my fine sexy woman in it, I might add.”

“Your fine sexy woman that no one is supposed to know about.” She tried to feign indignance but that was really hard to do when wrapped in your fine man’s arms and feeling his oh-so-big and oh-so-satisfying erection pressing against your skin.

And then he kissed her, long and deep. His tongue tunneled through her mouth as if on a mission to warn the rest of her body what was coming next.

She stopped his intoxicating kiss and trailed her own kisses all over his muscular body. She gave teasing and taunting pecks along his strong, square jawline and around his throat. She came down his rippled chest and let her tongue out to play, tasting the pure masculine strength of him and taking it in like an energy drink. She licked her way downward until she found herself at the base of his proud, erect penis and licked and sucked some more.

She was torn between licking him to completion and tasting his potent, hot seed or straddling him and riding him so that she could feel him inside of her.

Feeling him won out and she stopped long enough to grab a condom from the nightstand and place it in her mouth. She seductively put the condom on with her mouth, continuing his blow-job as she did.

“Aww, babe, you’re going to kill me one day. But what a way to go.” Terrill let out a groan as she straddled him and slid down on his protected penis.

He felt so good and huge inside of her. In this position she swore she could feel him invading just about every crevice.

Every nook…

And she rode.

She rocked her hips back and forth and side to side and up and down and all around. She closed her eyes and let a rhythm as old as time guide. Each time she bounced up she came back down to the best feeling in the world. She knew she would never get enough of this man and she never wanted this to end.

Why couldn’t she have it forever? Why had she made such a mess of her life that a man like Terrill would probably never take her as his wife?

She realized that was what she really wanted and a tear fell from her eye. Terrill sat up and wiped the tear away. He then placed his hands on her behind and held her tight and close as he kissed her again. He kissed her with so much intensity she thought she might disappear into his kiss. He held her and kissed her as he continued small pulsating thrusts. His penis moved inside her, hitting spots it must have memorized.

Another tear trailed down her face and this time she didn’t know if it was from wanting what she couldn’t have or the pleasure that Terrill was inflicting. All she knew was that she came with blinding passion that almost made her pass out.

But she couldn’t pass out, because Terrill was still holding her and still working those well aimed circular thrusts that kept her orgasm going and just on the edge, keening to burst over again.

She would have cried out, but his tongue was in her mouth and taking over. All she could do was kiss him back and move her hips in time with his and try to prepare herself for the next big one.

As soon as she thought about preparing, Terrill clutched her hips tighter and held her even closer than she thought possible. She was straddling his lap and she didn’t think she could get closer, but she was wrong. Her breasts flattened against his rippled chest and her pelvis seemed to meld to his. His thrusts came quicker and sharper and with even more precision. And soon the blinding orgasm returned full blast.

She tried to cry out again but with her lips pressed firmly against his and their tongues still dueling for supremacy, her cry got lost in his loud, gut-wrenching groan as they both reached completion and found release.

“Samantha, would you like to come on in the kitchen with us to finish up the side dishes? We can have girl talk while the guys finish the grilling.” Celia Hightower called out for Joel’s new girlfriend to join them in the kitchen and Maritza smiled. She really loved hanging with all the Hightowers, mostly because of what the family meant to her best friend, Penny, and her secret man, Terrill.

She never would have thought that one day she would get used to thinking of Terrill as her man. But that was how she thought of him. She wasn’t ready to shout it from the rooftop or anything like that. But she did feel that way.

“Sure, I’d love to.” Samantha got up and followed them all into the kitchen.

Celia stopped before opening the screen door. She paused for a good long second before speaking. “Sophie, would you like to join us?”

“No, I wouldn’t.” Sophie turned her head so quickly Maritza thought that bun was going to come apart. “Too many…cooks…Mmmmph.”

Relief didn’t begin to describe the expression on Celia’s face. “What about you, Carla?”

Maritza had to admit, she was very glad the evil woman said no, because she had one time to come out of her face and call her a video ho like she had Penny, and it would be on.

Crazy Carla was smooched up to Gerald and barely gave Celia a second glance. “Y’all know I don’t cook. But y’all need to hurry up and get this party started. I’m hungry.”

“Eat some chips or something.” Penny rolled her eyes at her mother.

“I don’t want chips! I want food. F-O-O-D. Food.” Carla snuggled with Gerald again, but not before giving their daughter the evil eye.

“Okay, Carla, we’ll have things ready in a sec.” Celia Hightower just shook her head.

Celia Hightower was so unflappable that it always left Maritza a little in awe. She had no idea how the woman put up with that crazy Sophie all those years.

“My mother is a nut.” Penny rolled her eyes, but Maritza could tell that her friend had long since stopped being embarrassed by her mother.

Maritza remembered when they had first met all those years ago on a video shoot. Back then Penny rarely ever mentioned her mother. Now she talked about her mom all the time and the love she had for her mother was clear in her voice.

“Your mother is hilarious. Ain’t no shame in her game, that’s for sure.” Maritza had to laugh just thinking of some of the things Carla had said that day alone. “She cracks me up. I love Carla.”

“Carla is real. And she tells it like she sees it, that’s for sure,” Celia said. “Okay, Penny you’re on pasta salad and Maritza can help you with that. I guess we can share the family recipe with her since she’ll end up with Terrill one day and he’s like a son to me, so that makes her family.”

Maritza froze where she stood and for a moment she almost thought that their family and friends had somehow found them out. Panic didn’t even begin to describe how she felt. Was their secret finally out? It couldn’t be.

She decided to just play it off the way she always did.

“Terrill? No way. He works my last nerves. El stupido. Urgh!” Maritza rolled her eyes as if she hadn’t just woken up with Terrill and had him make sweet, sweet love to her that very morning. She shuddered at the memory as she turned to Penny.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was going to be here, chica? I didn’t know he was coming until he had the nerve to call me and to try and tell me what to wear to the cookout! Like I don’t know how to dress myself?”

Maritza almost laughed out loud because it was more like he had picked out her sleek Maxi-style yellow sundress and told her how sexy she looked in it…

But they didn’t need to know all that.

Celia and Penny exchanged those know-it-all looks of theirs and it almost took Maritza off her game.

“Anyway, you’re just like family anyway. So we’ll trust you with the family recipes,” Celia offered. “And you, Samantha, sweetie, can help me with my signature potato salad.”

Maritza frowned even though she was glad Celia was moving on to Joel’s new girlfriend, Samantha, now. Samantha’s nervous laughter gave away just how much Mrs. Hightower had gotten to her just by asking her to help with the potato salad.

“Are you sure you want to share the family recipes with me, Mrs. Hightower?” Samantha asked nervously.

“Of course, Samantha. Both you and Maritza are family whether you realize it or not.” Celia chuckled softly to herself and a devilish little gleam lit her eyes.

As Samantha mixed up the potato salad, Maritza took a seat on the barstool next to her. She figured she would do some more damage control and make sure that Celia and Penny were off her scent as far as Terrill was concerned. “Anyway, can you believe this woman had to come and snatch up the second hottest Hightower brother?” Maritza held out her hand waiting for Penny to show some love.

“That’s right, second hottest!” Penny slapped Maritza five. “Y’all better recognize. My baby Jason is the hottest by far.”

“All my sons are hot, including Terrill, who is just like a son to me since he, Penny and Jason spent so much time here driving me nuts when they were kids.” Celia nudged Penny with her elbow.

Maritza put on her most practiced scowl. As far as she was concerned, Terrill Carter was the hottest man on the planet: her man was a taller, finer, more built Michael Ealy. But she wasn’t about to let anyone know that’s what she thought.

“What woman snatched up the second hottest Hightower? Is she here? Who’s the second hottest in your opinion, Maritza? I think I have to side with Mrs. Hightower on this one. They’re all equally hot.” Samantha asked with a giggle.

“You, chica.” Maritza laughed. “You came up in here today with the second hottest Hightower,” Maritza said and drew out Joel’s name for emphasis. The shocked expression on Samantha’s face was priceless. What was even more priceless was the way that shock quickly turned to possessiveness.

Maritza was glad she didn’t really have any interest in any of the Hightowers, especially Joel, because the evil eye Samantha was giving her let her know that she would have to fight for him.

Samantha shook her head then smiled and shrugged.

Maritza couldn’t let the glare that Samantha had just given her slide, though. “Look at her. I’m scared of you, girl! You gave me the look like, sorry, chick, he is mine. Did y’all see how she looked at me?”

Celia Hightower looked as pleased as the cat that had eaten the canary.

Penny just smiled.

“All right, ladies, let’s take this food out there before Carla starts giving us a piece of her mind.” Celia shuttled them out of the kitchen, making sure everyone had a bowl or platter in hand.

“Goodness knows we don’t want to get her started.” Penny rolled her eyes.

The women carried the various salads and side dishes outside and put them on the big teak picnic table.

As most of the Hightower events went, the cookout was fine until Aunt Sophie decided to show her behind and pretty much call Samantha and Penny a pair of nappy headed hoes. It was cool to see somebody bring it to Sophie, finally, because Celia and Penny cut the woman way too much slack as far as Maritza was concerned. And they kept Carla on a tight leash, because if they ever let that woman loose on Sophie that would be it. But Samantha told Sophie off.

“…and for the record, I’m happy to be nappy. If I ever have kids, they will wear their natural nappy hair until they are old enough to make decisions about how they want to represent themselves in the world.” Samantha might have just as well snapped her fingers three times in a circle by the time she was finished.

Maritza wanted to stand up and cheer because she had been waiting for someone to cuss Sophie out since she met the woman. Maritza and Sophie were both AKAs and Maritza’s mother, also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, would skin her alive if she disrespected an older sorority sister the way she wanted to get at Sophie. She had to figure that the sorority bond was the only thing keeping Celia from knocking Sophie out, since Celia was also an AKA, although she had just become active again after Sophie had turned her off on the sisterhood years ago. They were even thinking about getting Penny to pledge grad chapter just to piss Sophie off.

Thank God for Samantha. Maritza gave her the thumbs-up, but Samantha was too busy looking a little ashamed to notice.

Carla started a slow clap.

Maritza started laughing then. Carla was a fool and a half. And poor Samantha looked like she wanted to crawl under the table.

“Ha! You tell her, new girl! Ha! You finally got one who will stand up to your ol’ hateful behind. She’s not gonna cut you any slack like Penny did. I like her. Joel, you need to go on and wife her like the young kids say. She’s a keeper. Ha!” Carla stopped clapping and let out a gut busting laugh.

Maritza almost fell out of her chair laughing then. Everyone was either laughing or trying to hold their laughter in. Only Sophie kept her sour face on and continued to give Samantha the evil eye.

“So, Samantha, are you from around here?” Patrick made an obvious attempt to change the subject.

“Yeah, I don’t hear a Jersey accent.” Lawrence eyed her inquisitively.

Okay, once again y’all are going to just ignore Sophie’s bad behavior and let this stuff ride. Changing the subject is not going to change Sophie. Maritza wanted to tell the Hightowers what she was thinking and had to bite the inside of her cheek not to do it. She was used to keeping it real and saying it like she meant it. And boy, did she have a lot to say about how they let Sophie get away with her crap all the time.

“I’m from Chicago. I came out here for graduate school and I got my MS in Occupational Therapy and Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees from Seton Hall University. Since I ended up getting a job in the area, I decided to stay.” Samantha seemed like she really didn’t want any of the attention on herself.

Maritza had to admit the credentials were impressive. Joel had picked a winner. She was smart, down-to-earth and could stand up to Sophie, a definite winner.

“Chi-town, huh? So how are you liking Jersey?” Jason asked.

“I like it. I love my job. I’ve met some really cool people. It’s nice.” Samantha nodded and smiled.

“What made you decide to become a physical therapist?” Terrill asked.

Maritza’s eye shot up at the sound of Terrill’s voice. For a minute, she wondered if he was also impressed. Of course he is, she thought. Who wouldn’t be with Samantha? Maritza had no problem giving other women props when they deserved it. But it still stung a little to think that Samantha was exactly the kind of wholesome sister that men like Terrill should marry.

“I’ve always been interested in the health care field. I realized early on that nursing wasn’t for me. And the idea of actually seeing a lot of blood didn’t really move me.” She shuddered briefly before continuing. “But helping people with the after-stages of recovery, after the nurses and medical doctors have cleaned up all the blood and gore, that worked for me.”

“Mmmmph.” Sophie rolled her eyes.

Maritza shook her head. Sophie wasn’t going to rest until either she was thrown out or somebody knocked her out.

“Do you think it’s professional to be dating your patients, Samantha?” Sophie said the woman’s name like she was saying a curse.

“Aunt Sophie, let it go.” Joel narrowed his eyes at his aunt.

“Yeah, Sophie, let it go. You’ve just been allowed back at the house after the way you treated Penny.” There was an edge in Jason’s voice as he addressed his aunt.

“I’m not letting anything go and neither should you all. I mean really, I’d like to see these DPT and MS degrees she claims she has, ’cause it looks like she is abusing her professional relationship to gain an M-R-S degree.” Sophie shook her head and let out a mocking laugh. “You better be careful, Joel. Mmmmph. Physical therapist, my behind, more like a cheap masseuse. Professional? Mmmmph… I bet she’s a pro all right.”

“That’s enough, Aunt Sophie. If you can’t respect my guest you are going to have to leave,” Joel snapped.

“Ha! Don’t let the doorknob hit you, Sophie,” Carla taunted.

“Sophie, please just shut up,” Celia implored.

“I’m not shutting up while you allow your sons to ruin our family name with their poor taste in women. Am I the only one who can see what is going on here? You’re building up a little army of harlots, Celia. But I won’t be silenced by the likes of you.”

Celia pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes and turned right to James.

Maritza had seen her mother give her father that look a million times. It was usually when either she or her brothers were acting up and her mother knew if she handled it they might have one less kid. Celia Hightower had the classic Black woman’s I’m-about-to-hurt-someone look.

James got up and kissed Celia on the cheek without missing a beat. “Babe, wrap my food up for me while I take my sister home.” He stood by his sister. “You’re going to have to stop this, Sophie. You’re getting ridiculous. Worse and worse.”

Sophie huffed and gave Celia, Penny and Samantha the evil eye before standing.

“I wonder if your place of employment knows you are whoring yourself with your patients,” Sophie hissed at Samantha and then spun around and left without another backward glance.

Samantha made a move to get up from the table but Joel stopped her.

“Well, I think you handled Sophie very well, chica,” Maritza said.

“For once I have to agree with Maritza. You held it down with class and Black power. ‘I find your comments insulting and self-loathing,’” Terrill offered with that sexy chuckle of his.

Maritza’s heart warmed for a minute when her man agreed with her. Then she remembered that no one was supposed to know that he was her man. And she was going to have to tell him to stop agreeing with her in public. They were archrivals, for goodness sake.

“Don’t be agreeing with me. Find your own opinion.” Maritza rolled her eyes at Terrill for emphasis when all she wanted to say was thank you for agreeing with me, baby.

“Okay, enough arguing for one day. I can’t wait until you two get together,” Jason teased.

Maritza crossed her arms, mustering up all the defiance and outrage she could.

Terrill started fiddling with the food on his plate and she knew she was going to have to have a talk with him about his game face. He could never be her partner playing poker. His poker face sucked. And he had too many tells. He was going to blow up their spot and then everyone would know.

“Carla, pass me the potato salad,” Gerald said. Penny’s father rarely spoke a word around large groups. Maritza could only surmise that Carla did enough talking for the both of them.

“Just ’cause you put a ring on my finger don’t mean you got a maid, too. Your hands can reach.” Carla twisted her lips to the side. “I’ll tell you, these men forget they can do things once they get a woman to do things for them.”

Penny let out an exasperated sigh. “Mommy, it’s rude to reach. Pass Pops the potato salad.”

“Rude, spude. Whatever. We are all family now. The Hightowers already know how we do.” Carla folded her arms and twisted her lips to the side.

Penny gave Carla an intense, reproachful stare.

“Oh, brother! Fine.” Carla passed Gerald the bowl.

“Thank you so much, love of my life.” Gerald teased his woman with a smile.

“This party is boring. Y’all don’t have any music?” Carla complained.

Penny shook her head and Maritza almost felt sorry for her friend.

“Hold your horses, Carla. I have music. James got me one of those iPod thingies and he put all these oldies but goodies on it. I have it right over here.” Celia got up and turned on her iPod. “I’ll put it on shuffle so it will just mix up the songs.”

“All you got on there is old songs? I wanna hear some new music.” Carla folded her arms across her chest.

The music started wafting through the air and Carla stopped short.

“Oh…hey, wait a minute. That used to be my cut!” Carla screamed and then started singing. “It only takes a minute, girl…to fall in love…” She grabbed Gerald’s hand and they started dancing.

The song brought back memories of growing up when her parents were both in graduate school and they couldn’t really afford to go out much. They used to play music and dance together, everything from soul music to salsa.

“Hey, I remember my dad used to play this song all the time. Who sings this?” Maritza stood and started swaying to the music.

“Tavares.” Terrill watched her move as he answered the question.

For a minute she got caught up in his gaze and wished they were alone so that she could sway with him and feel his body next to hers.

She watched Samantha and Joel swaying together. Then Jason pulled Penny into his arms. Gerald and Carla were still moving to the music as well.

“May I have this dance?”

The honey-complexioned hand stretched out to her seem to offer more than just a sway around the backyard and for a minute Maritza wished she could just put all pretenses aside and let the man who had been heating up her nights for the past year take her for a spin that didn’t involve bed-sheets and condoms.

If only she could get over her feelings about why it was necessary that they keep their relationship under wraps and just give in…

She shook her head quickly and pursed her lips.

Terrill’s happy expression seemed to melt right off of his face and Maritza felt her heart lurch.

Disappointing her lover broke her heart, providing one more reason why she should end things with him. She would never really be able to make him happy. It just wasn’t in her to do so.

But man, did she want to…

Terrill shook his head and walked away.

Maritza let out a long breath and squared her shoulders. She would make it up to him that night when they were alone in the hotel. It would be fine for as long as she could make it so…

Chapter 6

Things had to change, but he had no idea how he could make them change. He and Maritza had painted themselves into a narrowly defined, clandestine affair with very limited options. He didn’t want to continue in the same way they were going and she didn’t want to change a thing. They were stuck and it scared him how much he was ready to just walk away if she couldn’t give him more.

Because if he walked away, that would be it. They would be over.

And he didn’t want that. Because when it was just the two of them and he had her to himself, things were amazing. The only thing he needed to make everything perfect was for her to agree to make their relationship public. The one thing she wouldn’t or couldn’t do.

Almost another year had gone by and Penny and Jason were expecting their first child now. Joel and Samantha were about to get married. And Terrill felt as if everyone’s dreams were coming true but his. He was a multimillionaire and could afford just about anything he wanted in the world.

But he couldn’t tell the world that Maritza Morales was his girl.

And now he was running late for a surprise birthday party Jason was throwing for Penny in Paterson. No doubt Maritza was already there, because God forbid they show up as a couple to any event where there were friends and family present.

I’m getting tired of this shit.

He walked into the Masonic Temple and sure enough, he had missed the big surprise. People were talking and dancing and having fun. He spotted Maritza looking lovely in a sexy red dress that highlighted all of her curves in all the right ways. He had to stop himself from going over and asking her to dance, even though that was the only thing he wanted to do. It was as if his body was on some kind of autopilot where she was concerned. If she was in the room, his body zeroed in. He knew if he asked her to dance she would say no. And he didn’t feel like being shot down.

Maybe it was time to give up and move on. He couldn’t take the public rejection and secrecy anymore.

He gave the room another once-over and saw a petite, Lauren London–looking cutie swaying to the music. If nothing else, maybe Maritza needed to see that just because she wouldn’t dance with him in public didn’t mean that some woman wouldn’t.

“Would you like to dance?”

The little cutie seemed hesitant at first, but she shrugged, offered her hand and let him lead her to the dance floor.

A fast R&B track by one of his hottest new artists was playing. And even though he had heard the song more times and in more versions than he could count, so much so that he was almost sick of it, actually, he managed to get caught up in the moment and dancing with a woman who actually seemed to want to be seen with him in a public place.

It felt nice.

It would have felt better if he were dancing with Maritza.

But at least he knew now that he was tired of letting her set the agenda. He wanted more and he would have it or he would have nothing.

Coming to that decision felt like taking a load off. He decided to put his relationship with Maritza in the back of his mind for the moment and focus on his dance partner.

“So what’s your name? And how do you know my best friend, Penny?”

“My name is Minerva. And I actually just met Penny. I’m here with Lawrence, her brother-in-law. Do you know him?”

“Sure do. I pretty much grew up in that house. My other best friend is his brother, Penny’s husband, Jason. Penny, Jason and I have been friends ever since we were kids. They used to call us the Three Musketeers.” He smiled at the memory.

“Really? That’s cool you all managed to remain friends all this time. What’s your name, by the way?”

“My name is Terrill. So you’re here with Lawrence, huh?”

Terrill remembered the beatdowns the older Hightower brothers, Patrick and Lawrence, used to hand out to Jason, Joel and Terrill when they were kids. He didn’t think his dancing with the cutie would have Lawrence ready to hand out one of his old-school beatdowns. And he was pretty sure that he could hold his own and maybe even best him now that they were grown. But he wasn’t itching to test that theory.

He chuckled. “I better cut this dance short. I don’t want him to come over here and put me in my place or anything like that.”

“Please, it’s not even like that.” She giggled. The girl was sweet and seemed so innocent. Almost too damn innocent for Lawrence, that was for sure. Terrill had a natural inclination to be a protector when it came to women. And just looking at little Minerva pushed all his protector buttons.

He was just about to end the dance when he noticed Lawrence on the dance floor with Maritza.

The Hightower had his hands on Terrill’s woman.

“If you say so. But it looks like he’s found a dance partner. Hmm…interesting choice.” Terrill knew there was a bristle in his voice, but damn if he could control it.

Minerva turned to look at the dancing couple and Terrill could see that she was upset. She plastered a smile on her face and turned back to Terrill. “See, I told you that you have nothing to worry about. Lawrence seems too busy to be concerned about what we’re doing.”

“Indeed he is.”

Minerva nervously glanced at the dancing couple again. “That’s Maritza Morales, the former video girl, right?”

“Yep. She’s a business partner of Penny’s. They own an image-consulting firm. I’m a silent partner in their business.”

“Really? That seems cool.”

“I’m also a record company executive.”

“Wow! That must really be exciting,” Minerva said, as her eyes continued to dart back to Lawrence and Maritza.

Terrill could tell that she was trying to be polite and carry on a conversation with him, but when the music slowed down, all bets were off.

Hell, watching Lawrence and Maritza move closer together and sway to the slow groove almost made him blow a gasket. So he could certainly understand why Minerva might not have been in the most conversant of moods.

Lawrence and Maritza ended up right next to them on the dance floor. And just as Terrill was about to pull Minerva closer, at least as close as Lawrence was holding Maritza, Lawrence reached for Minerva.

“You don’t mind if we switch partners, do you, Terrill? I want to dance with my baby now.” Lawrence smoothly spun Maritza toward Terrill and pulled Minerva to him.

“I don’t want to dance with him!” Maritza screeched.

“Shut up, Maritza.” Terrill pulled Maritza into his arms and danced her away.

“People are going to see,” Maritza complained.

“Can I tell you how much I don’t give a damn who sees, Maritza? Damn! So what if they see? Are you ashamed of me or something?” Terrill tried to speak calmly without making a scene and continued to hold Maritza close to him. “Look, everyone saw Lawrence come swoop up his woman. Everyone is paying attention to them and not us. Why don’t we just take this moment to share a dance in public once and for all?”

She let out a sigh of resignation. “I’m not ashamed of you. You know that’s not why…I just…”

He pulled her closer and fought the urge to inhale her sweet scent. “You’re my woman, Maritza, and I want the world to know it.”

“I know, Terrill. I’m your woman and what we have is too special to me to share with anyone right now. I want to protect what we have for as long as I can. Can you imagine the tabloids? ‘Music mogul Terrill Carter dating former video ho Maritza Morales’—”

He had to cut her off. “First of all. Anyone who calls my woman a ho will have to deal with me, and that includes you. Don’t think I won’t spank that ass.” He gave her behind a gentle tap and squeeze.

She wiggled her behind and pressed closer before she remembered that they were in public. “See, Terrill, this is exactly why—”

He tapped her bottom again, this time a little harder. “If you don’t want to make a scene you better be quiet.”

She gritted her teeth and smiled an icy smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Her lips and mouth might have been frozen in irritation, but her eyes were liquid pools of desire. It was as if she was at war with herself and Terrill knew which side he was rooting for to win.

“That’s better…second, you were a video model, a dancer, one of the best to ever do it. Third, you are one of the most beautiful and passionate women I have ever known. Why wouldn’t I want the world to know that you are mine? How can I continue to keep the best thing that has ever happened to me a secret? How can you continue to ask that of me?” Terrill spoke the words right into her ear as they swayed to Luther’s “If Only for One Night.”

“Can we not do this here, Terrill? Please.”

He took a deep breath. “I will put off the discussion for now if you make me a promise.”

“Always bargaining.”

“That’s why I always get what I want,” Terrill said with a wink and a smile.

“Fine. What will I have to agree to do?”

“Ah…so willing…that’s the way I like my woman.”

“Yeah, yeah. What am I signing up for?”

“A long weekend in Saint Lucia. Four days, all inclusive, just you and me and no one else to get in our way.”

“Umm…you had me at long weekend… Of course I’ll go. You didn’t have to press for that.”

“That’s not all. In those four days we are going to reevaluate and renegotiate our relationship, among other things.”

“Oh, you had to go and put restrictions on a perfect trip.” She pouted playfully and he had to fight back the urge to capture that bottom lip between his teeth and kiss her deeply.

“That’s right. This trip is about business, Maritza. And we will not leave there the same way we go there.”

She squinted and looked off into the distance.

He wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her that she didn’t have anything to be afraid of. That he wasn’t going anywhere and they were going to be together forever. But something told him she was nowhere near ready to hear that. He only hoped that she would be ready to hear it when they went to Saint Lucia, because he hadn’t lied when he said they would not leave the island the same way they arrived. Either they would return to the States an out-in-the-open-for-the-world-to-see couple, or they would return no longer a couple at all.

Terrill left the record company a little later than usual, but luckily he was using the company’s private jet to fly them to Saint Lucia. He knew she would have probably made a big production about them traveling separately if they took a commercial flight. And he didn’t want to hear it or deal with it. He wanted to travel with his woman on a romantic getaway.

He picked Maritza up from her loft and had his driver drop them off at the airport. As soon as they got in the jet, he pulled her into his arms. She fell into him openly and willingly, pressing her lips to his before he even had a chance to kiss her.

He felt as if he could taste how much she wanted him. Her tongue twirled around in his mouth like it was happy to be home and he was sure his tongue was doing the same thing in her mouth.

Again he wondered why they were denying themselves all that they could be together. And again he couldn’t think of one good reason.

He sat down and pulled her onto his lap, still kissing her like a man dying of thirst who’d found the world’s last fountain. She straddled him and held his face between her hands, the kiss becoming increasingly intense. He started to undo her blouse so that he could feel her silky skin.

It was only when the captain announced that they needed to prepare for liftoff that he worked up the strength to pull away.

Maritza straightened up her clothes and moved over to her own seat, right next to him.

“As soon as we hit cruising altitude…” He narrowed his eyes and let his hand caress her thigh. “You and me have a date with the mile high club.”

She laughed. “That has to be one of the best perks of a private jet. Makes you wish you had one of your own instead of the company jet, huh?”

“We’ll see if you’re so saucy when you’re screaming my name in the clouds,” Terrill warned playfully.

“Promises, promises, promises…” She crossed her legs and uncrossed them. “I should warn you, Mr. Carter…I’m not wearing any underwear…”

He loosened his tie and shook his head. “See…you are going to learn to stop playing with me, girl.”

She shivered and offered him a sexy wink. “But you’re so much fun to play with.”

He chuckled and she shivered again.

“I’m glad we’re taking this trip, Maritza.”

“We’ve taken plenty of trips in the past two years, Terrill. Why are you trying to make it seem as if I’ve deprived you or something? Just about any time you want to see me I’m there. If you want to take a trip I’m there. I’m here for you.”

“Yeah, you are here for me, just so long as nobody knows it. Why is that? I mean, at first I thought you just wanted to be sure that I was for real and not playing. But after over two years, if you don’t know that I am down for the long haul then I don’t know what to tell you, babe.”

Maritza took a deep breath and tried to figure out a way to put all her fears and insecurities on the table, a way to get Terrill to understand where she was coming from. But she couldn’t do it.

She wiped her hands on her slacks because they felt clammy and sweaty at the same time, if that were possible. Her heart seemed to be pounding in her chest, beating out an SOS call, no doubt.

She didn’t dare look at Terrill because she knew this weekend was make-or-break time. She’d just thought she’d have the entire four days to gather up the courage to either love him the way he deserved to be loved or leave him alone.

“Do we have to talk about this now, Terrill? We have all weekend—”

He cut her off. “Yes, we have to talk now, Maritza. I thought about just going with the flow and letting the conversation play out over the course of the weekend. But that plan just never quite works out for us, does it? It didn’t work on Saint Kitts last year or on Grand Cayman. It didn’t work on Barbados earlier this year or in Cancun. We get away from it all. And I have high hopes that you are going to finally do the right thing and just let me love you. But you never do. All we have is a hot weekend of fun and sun and sex to show for it and I don’t want that to be the only thing we have to show for it this time. I need more and so do you.”

“I’m fine the way we are, Terrill. We don’t have to share this with anyone but us. We don’t have to worry about what anyone says or thinks. I just think we should keep things as they are for as long as we can. For as long as it lasts.”

“See, that’s where we have always been different, babe. You have always had an expiration date on our relationship and I have always seen us as no limit.”

He ran his hand across his face in frustration.

She folded her arms across her chest. She had two options at this point. She could come clean once and for all about everything in her past that made her reluctant to be linked to any powerful man publicly, especially one she loved to distraction…or she could try and get him to give her a little more time, knowing she would probably never go public.

She looked at him with her whole heart and she felt his breaking.

She loved him and she was hurting him.

“I will never be what you need, Terrill, not everything you need. I won’t bring our relationship out in the open now. I can’t say I will ever do that. But I do love you. I love you. Can that be enough?”

He chuckled and for the first time it didn’t sound sexy. It sounded hollow and hard. He shook his head and she thought she saw a tear fall down his cheek.

“Terrill, please—”

“No, Maritza. No. You know what? I can’t do this anymore. If you don’t want to be my woman in every way that counts, I’m talking out in the open, down the aisle, mother of my children…if you really don’t see any of that in our future, then we really don’t have a future. And if we don’t have a future then I don’t think we should waste any more time doing this…whatever it is we’re doing.”

He turned to her, his face hard as granite. “It’s your call.”

“I can’t, Terrill, please…”

He just ignored her and walked over to the plane’s intercom. The next thing she knew he was telling the captain to turn the plane around and take them back. They weren’t even going to get that last trip together and build that last memory and it was all her fault.

Chapter 7

Maritza poured herself into her work and tried to find a way to combat the overwhelming sadness that had become a part of her everyday existence. On the outside she was still the successful, no-nonsense businesswoman who didn’t take any crap from anyone—with an icy shell on the outside for protection.

But on the inside she was all pink and girly and so hurt she didn’t think she would ever heal. And she couldn’t even blame Terrill. She couldn’t blame anyone but herself.

And the worst part of it all was that she had to watch him walk around just as wounded and broken as she was. Knowing she had caused a man that only wanted to love her that much pain broke her heart more, and she didn’t think she had any more heart left to break.

She sighed. No use continuing to wallow in it. She had made the decision and she had to live with it.

She looked at her clock and realized that her next appointment, Lace Monroe, was at least fifteen minutes late.

She and Penny had worked their magic and the former video girl had almost turned her scandalous image around. She had even been cast in a television sitcom and was thinking of signing a record deal. Maritza hadn’t even known the woman could sing.

Maritza’s new assistant, Daphne, stuck her head in after tapping on the door. Maritza looked up and noted that the young African-American woman was dressed appropriately today. The previous day Maritza had had to send her home because she must have thought she was going to the club instead of to work in an office. The off-white pantsuit Daphne had on today looked much better than the pink bubble skirt and purple bustier that she’d had on yesterday.

Maritza prayed this assistant could hold up to her standards and also not break down crying at the slightest critique or criticism. If she kept going through assistants at the rate she was going, there wouldn’t be anyone else left in L.A. to work for her.

“Lace Monroe is here to see you.”

“Send her in.”

Maritza checked out the stylish and classy pantsuit Lace had on when she walked in. She’d known when she picked out the suit, along with other outfits, that it would elevate Lace to another level. But seeing the proof was worth it.

“Sorry I’m late. I have just been ripping and running all day. With all of these opportunities coming my way, I’ve had to hire another agent and I’m looking for another assistant. And I really couldn’t have done it without you. That’s why this is such a sad day and I feel so bad that I have to let Keys and Morales go. You guys have been so good for me and so good for my career.” Lace’s face showed the perfect mix of torn and tormented.

If nothing else she will be a great actress and I can say I knew her when, Maritza thought and bit back her laughter.

“That’s too bad, Lace. I feel like we have really been able to make some wonderful strides together.” Like any of your newfound out of the bedroom success would have happened without us… “Do you mind if I ask why you feel you need to sever ties with New Images by Keys and Morales now?”

“Well, it’s not that I want to. I mean, I know that I wouldn’t have been able to make the changes that have gained me this newfound respectability and find the love of my life without Keys and Morales, well, especially without you, Maritza, let’s keep it real.”

The love of her life?

A man, of course!

Maritza felt like she should have known that. It would always come down to a man for Lace.

“Anyway, Terrill and I talked about it and he felt that it would be too much of a conflict of interest once we were married with him being part owner of New Images by Keys and Morales and given his former relationship with you and all.” A practiced, apologetic look crossed Lace’s face. “Not that you would ever do anything out of jealousy or anything to sabotage my career because of my marriage to Terrill or anything like that. But it would just be pretty awkward for everyone involved, don’t you think?”

Maritza knew she was sitting in her chair and trying not to jump up and start slinging little Lace Monroe all over her office. But for some reason it felt like she was having some kind of out-of-body experience. As far as she could tell it had started the first time Terrill’s name came out of Lace’s mouth.

Terrill was marrying Lace? And he hadn’t even had the decency to tell her or warn her about it?

A part of her was screaming no, it couldn’t be. And the other part of her was dying. The inside of her chest felt like a bubbling mass of pain. So much so that she didn’t even open her mouth for fear of what might come out.

How could Terrill do this to her? He wouldn’t do something like that, would he?

But then she thought about how much he liked to make sure there weren’t any conflicts of interest. And even though he had kept their affair secret for years, he would tell the woman he was going to marry. He wouldn’t keep that a secret, especially if the wife was a client.

She needed air.

“Congratulations,” a voice croaked. Was that her voice? “I wish you and Terrill nothing but the best. Now, if you will excuse me. You were late today and I have other appointments and things to do.”

Maritza watched as her body lifted itself up from the chair behind her desk and walked toward the door.

It must have seemed abrupt, or maybe it was a shock for Lace to be dismissed like that. But Maritza didn’t care. She needed Lace gone. She needed everyone gone. She knew that like she knew her own name.

Lace got up and followed her to the door. “I hope that we can be friends.”

Maritza didn’t answer her, at least not in any way that was intelligible to her own ears. She just walked her out and stopped by Daphne’s desk on the way back.

“Daphne, please cancel all of my appointments and then go home for the day. I don’t want to be disturbed. So just lock up the front when you leave. Thanks.”

Maritza knew she was walking back to her office but she couldn’t feel her legs moving or her feet touching the ground. She couldn’t feel anything. She couldn’t even feel when she hit the ground once the door closed. And she damn sure couldn’t feel those body racking sobs that shook her until it felt like she was going to throw up, until she made herself so sick from crying that she did throw up.

She only started feeling once the last tear fell and once the last bit of vomit had turned thin and watery. Then she felt it, the enormous, cavernous emptiness that threatened to swallow her like a black hole. She sat on the floor of her office next to a garbage can full of her own puke, feeling empty and numb.

Somehow she made it through the next week without too many crying fits, but every once in a while she would break down and have to cancel everything. But she was getting better. As long as she didn’t have to see or hear from Terrill or Lace, she would be fine. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.

The only problem was she would be seeing Terrill in a few days and it would be on Valentine’s Day. She wondered if he would be bringing Lace. Then she wondered if she should cancel the trip to Jersey.

Penny and Jason would kill her and there was no way she was going to miss her godchild’s christening. She closed her eyes. And before she knew it tears were coming down again.

Shit!

Her heartbreak just seemed to be never-ending with Terrill. It had been over a year since he’d essentially dumped her. So why did she even care if he was getting married?

She swallowed back her tears as much as she could. It was a good thing she had decided to give Daphne the week off. She knew she’d be breaking into crying fits and she couldn’t have Daphne catching her in the middle of one. Plus, Daphne wasn’t working out all that great, anyway. It was time for a new assistant. She didn’t think she had any more appointments for the day, so she decided to go home after she finished sobbing.

“What is going on with you? I have been calling you all week and finally decided to just stop by and check on you. And I find you here crying like someone stole your puppy. What’s the deal?” Andrew’s voice was half joking and half serious.

Maritza looked up from her new crying spot, sitting at the desk with head down in her arms, to see Andrew “Speed-Lo” MacGregor standing there.

Just what she needed, an important client seeing her cry.

She wiped her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we had an appointment today. In fact, I thought we were pretty much done with you. Your image is squeaky…well, almost squeaky-clean and has been for at least a year now.”

“Well, some tapes from my teenage years just got leaked where I am saying some pretty messed up things about women of color. I had just had a really bad breakup with my Latina girlfriend and I went into the booth—”

“Oh, no. Please tell me your propensity to seek creative revenge via your songs is a skill you developed late in life?” Maritza half joked. “Or at least tell me these tapes don’t have songs on them about you raping and killing Latinas and putting them in your trunk?” She reached in her desk drawer for something to cure the headache she felt coming on.

She popped two Advil and chugged back some water.

“No, not violent, necessarily. But let’s just say I didn’t say very nice things about my Latina ex or the Black girl she caught me cheating with, since they both dumped me. And now that my ex-deejay has leaked the tapes, everyone is trying to say Speed-Lo is a racist. And you know I’m not racist. Hell, my whole crew is full of brothers and even though Leila broke my heart I still love me some Latinas. You know I’ve been trying to date you since I hired you.”

“Well, surely even you know there are things you just can’t say as a white rapper, Andrew. Good grief! Racial slurs?” She shook her head.

“Yes, I learned pretty early on what a white guy could and couldn’t say when it came to race. But let’s just say I hadn’t learned that particular lesson yet when I made this tape. I need your help, Maritza.”

“What can I possibly do to help in this situation, Andrew?”

“Marry me?” His tone was serious and then he pulled out a monster of a ring.

Chapter 8

Terrill didn’t know why he’d agreed to attend this stupid Valentine’s dinner with all these happy Hightower couples and Maritza. He must have been a glutton for punishment. But there he was at the supper club, sitting all the way across the table from Maritza and torn between begging her to come back to him and standing up and telling everyone in the small private room what they had been to each other the past few years.

He watched as Patrick’s new girlfriend carried on a conversation with Maritza. Patrick’s girlfriend! Even sour on love and hard on the ladies Patrick had been able to get a beautiful woman to fall in love with him and openly admit it in front of his friends and family.

There was something really wrong with the world when a curmudgeon like Patrick was able to find love and a nice guy like him couldn’t even get the woman he loved to be seen in public with him unless they were in a foreign country where no one knew them. At least that’s what Terrill was inclined to believe.

He decided just to try and ignore everyone, because if he thought about things too hard for too long he was bound to combust.

At least the food in the supper club was superb. It was nuevo soul and the chef had made all kinds of cool twists on traditional soul food favorites. They took a diasporic approach to the food and sampled flavors from all across the Caribbean and the African continent.

The Hightowers had the private dining room and the appetizers, entrées and desserts had already been pre-selected. Everything was amazing, from the food to the company.

The décor was really nice, too. The rich earth tones of brown, green, rust, tan and orange were highlighted with little pops and splashes of jewel tones from purple to emerald to ruby and topaz. A live jazz band played in the main dining room and the music was piped in and softly playing in the background of their room.

Maritza couldn’t help glaring at Terrill across the table. She had to glare to keep from crying. And there was no way she was going to cry for him in front of everyone.

Lace Monroe? He was with Lace Monroe and was going to marry her?

What the hell?

She was too busy stewing in her own anger to even notice Patrick’s little girlfriend trying to talk to her.

And what was with these damn Hightowers anyway? Couldn’t at least one of them stay single? She’d thought Patrick might be more like her and at least knew that love was for suckers. But he apparently had fallen in love, too.

“Oh, girl, I’m sorry, you feel so much like a part of the family already, I didn’t realize you hadn’t met my best friend Maritza Morales yet. She and my other best friend, Terrill are visiting from California because little Jason Jr. has his christening tomorrow and they are the godparents.” Penny smiled at Aisha. “So they were nice enough to give up their Valentine’s Day plans and hang out with us the entire weekend. They’re taking a muchneeded break from each other right now though, before someone gets hurt.”

Yes, and you had better never question my friendship ever, sister! You just don’t know the length of what I am going through just to be here for you!

Maritza wished she could just get up, point to Terrill and tell everyone in the room that he was a liar and a snake. But if she did that they would want to know why she was calling him out. So she stuck with glaring. Glaring worked just fine.

“Lovers’ quarrel?” Aisha asked.

Maritza narrowed her eyes and counted to ten. It was better if she ignored the little twit. If she snapped at her, then she would be the bad guy because the woman had goody-two-shoes exuding off of her like a sickeningly sweet perfume.

“Ooh…don’t let her hear you say that. She will probably go off. They technically can’t stand one another.” Penny made quotation marks with her hand.

Maritza gritted her teeth. Cussing out your best friend and business partner the day before you were going to become godmother to her second child probably wasn’t a good thing.

“Oh…” Aisha nodded, but she looked confused.

What part of “he ain’t my man” don’t you understand? Ask another question about Terrill and me, and let me hear it. Oh, please do it, chica.

Aisha turned her oh-so-cute and oh-so-sweet, confused face to Patrick and he smiled at her.

Maritza thought she was going to throw up. She officially hated Valentine’s Day and she was starting to hate these always-falling-in-love Hightowers. Suckers for love, all of them! Not one of her brothers would ever let the love bug bite them. She was the only Morales, besides her parents, who seemed to be slow at learning love was for fools.

What’s love got to do, got to do with it? Not a damn thing. She glared at Terrill again. We had a good thing going and you had to mess it up. I wish I could hate you!

Patrick leaned over and whispered in Aisha’s ear.

Maritza could have sworn she heard him say it was complicated between her and Terrill and he would explain things later.

Oh. No. He. Didn’t.

Let a man fall in love and he thinks he’s turned into Dr. Phil or something. Who he think he going to diagnose up in here?

Aisha had the nerve to nod and smile.

Yep, she’s a twit. Oh well, Maritza supposed she couldn’t like all of the Hightower women. She was actually surprised she liked Samantha and Minerva. She didn’t usually get along with women. Penny had been the first and only exception for years.

The private room in the restaurant made it seem as if they were at their own little Valentine’s party. The Hightower couples were using the small dance floor in the other room and dancing to the live jazz band.

The evening sucked.

“So I have an announcement, everyone.” Maritza hadn’t even realized her mouth had opened until she heard her voice. She glared directly at Terrill as she tapped on her glass with her fork.

All of the talking stopped and everyone looked at Maritza.

“As many of you know, I have been seeing Andrew ‘Speed-Lo’ MacGregor. And…well…he asked me to marry him yesterday and I’ve decided that I’m going to tell him yes.” Maritza smiled her ice grin, all the while wishing she could pull her words back from the universe.

But some small, evil part of her wanted to share the hurt she was feeling with someone and Terrill was the person who had hurt her, so he got to feel the pain.

“The white rapper, Speed-Lo?” Joel asked. Then he said “ouch” when Samantha elbowed him.

“You…ahh…you didn’t say yes right when he asked you?” Jason kept glancing back and forth between Maritza and Terrill.

Aisha leaned forward and glanced from one end of the table to the other.

“No. He gave me the weekend to think it over. He knew I was coming to the christening and I wouldn’t be in California on Valentine’s Day, so—”

“So, seems like if you really wanted to marry him you would have said yes as soon as he asked. What’s with this you need to think about it? Either you love the man and want to marry him or you don’t.” Lawrence shook his head as he spoke.

And little miss goody-two-shoes Aisha had the nerve to look like she felt sorry for Maritza.

Keep your pity, sister!

“Getting married is a big decision. Of course she wanted time to think it over before saying yes—” Aisha started and stopped when she got a poke from Patrick. “What?”

Patrick just shook his head.

“Isn’t Speed-Lo known for being kind of crazy? I mean, really crazy. Half of the lyrics on his first album had all this off-the-wall stuff about him wanting to kill his mother and his ex-wife. And you’re saying you’re gonna marry this guy?” Jason stared at Terrill as he spoke to Maritza.

That only made her angrier. “You ever heard of creativity, Jason? God. It’s an act. He’s not really crazy. He’s really sweet.” Maritza rolled her eyes. “You guys are worse than my brothers. I can just imagine what they’re gonna say when I tell them.”

“Well, I think it’s wonderful. Love is a wonderful thing,” Samantha said cheerfully.

“But does she love him?” Patrick asked and Aisha poked him.

Maritza couldn’t help but smile at that. Aisha seemed to have some spunk and Maritza had to admire that. Anyone that could poke a dragon like Patrick Hightower was all right with her.

“Yeah. I can’t wait. I know there will be all kinds of superstars at the wedding. I hope we’re all invited.” Minerva was fully showing now and she rubbed her medium-sized baby bump as she spoke.

Penny, like Jason, just looked from Maritza to Terrill and seemed like she wanted to say something, but said nothing instead.

Terrill got up and walked out of the room without saying a word and every eye in the room, including Maritza’s, followed him out.

It didn’t look like Terrill was ever going to come back from wherever he went. And Maritza was starting to think he might have left for good. She didn’t know what made her blurt out that she was marrying Andrew. In fact, even though she’d told him she would think about his offer, she had pretty much decided she was going to tell him no.

Now because of Terrill and all these lost-in-love Hightowers she was going to have to marry a man she didn’t love. Maybe it was for the best. Love couldn’t hurt you if you didn’t feel any…

She got up and went to the restroom since all of the Hightower couples seemed to be dancing or off smooching somewhere and Terrill must have taken off.

Good riddance!

As soon as she made it to the restroom door, an arm reached out and snatched her back.

“Were you seeing him the entire time we were together?” Terrill snapped.

She pulled her arm away. “We haven’t been together for close to a year, Terrill. Which is all your doing! And shut up before someone hears you.”

“How could you do this to me? How could you be so callous? So cold? I wanted to marry you. And now you’re just slapping me in the face with the truth, huh? I wasn’t good enough?”

“My marrying Andrew has absolutely nothing to do with you at all. Why can’t you just get that through your head? The world, certainly my world, does not revolve around you!”

You are such a liar! He is your world. You have been miserable without him. Stop this madness and tell him!

“You are not going to marry him and you know it, Maritza,” Terrill snapped.

“I am so going to marry him, Terrill. And it’s none of your business anyway.” Maritza hissed.

“You’re not going to marry him because you love me, Maritza. And I’m done playing with you, girl. You’re not marrying him.”

“I—” Maritza started.

Before she could finish he silenced her with a soul-penetrating kiss. If there had been any doubt before that this man and this man alone owned the key to her mind, body and soul, there wasn’t any now.

She was appalled by how easily she melted into his embrace and opened to his kisses and caresses. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close, like she never wanted to let him go.

And his mouth, his tongue, his lips…to have them on hers again felt like a soothing release she hadn’t even realized she needed. Before she could really enjoy the homecoming the bathroom door swung open and they were busted. They broke free from the embrace only to see little miss goody-two-shoes standing there.

Maritza wanted to growl but settled for glaring at Aisha instead. She wondered how much the other woman had heard.

“Oh, sorry…excuse me…” Aisha stumbled over her words.

“You aren’t marrying him, Maritza.” Terrill gave one more pointed stare and then left the two of them standing there.

Aisha tried to make a run for it as well, but Maritza grabbed her arm.

“Please don’t say anything to the others about what you saw. No matter what they all think, I am marrying Speed-Lo. So you can see why I wouldn’t want this to get out.”

Aisha just nodded and darted off.

Maritza went to the restroom and tried to compose herself, but something told her things were only going to get worse.

You don’t love him! You love me!

Maritza let the slowly warming water splash over her body in waves as she threw her head back and squeezed her legs trying like hell to quell the increasing heat that refused to leave her body ever since Terrill had screamed those words at her and kissed her senseless.

She placed her hand over her mouth and stilled the half giggles, half sobs that threatened to escape and awaken the man sleeping in her hotel bed, sleeping like a man who had just finished giving her body more thrills than a trip to Great Adventure at the height of the summer.

What have we done?

What have I done?

She couldn’t go down this road again. It had hurt too much to let him go the first time. And yet somehow when Terrill ended up at the door of her hotel room looking just as wounded as she felt, she had let him in.

One minute she was announcing her possible engagement to the white rapper…and the next minute Terrill was uttering those words that should have never been uttered after a year of them being apart, words that there was no going back from, words that she had been running from since the first time she set eyes on him…

And to make matters worse he’d kissed her, so hard, so deep and so thoroughly that she couldn’t think. And if that wasn’t enough he had made love to her until her mind, body and soul took their rightful place in the universe and became his, until her body became a quivering mass of jelly and she couldn’t run from him anymore.

“Now this won’t do at all…”

She turned around at the sound of Terrill’s deep, masculine voice just in time to see his long honey-complexioned frame stepping into the shower with her. For a second she drank in his toned and sturdy swimmer’s build, with legs so hard and sculpted he would make the perfect nude model. Her gaze traveled up his thigh and she imagined herself with a pointer, showing anyone who would listen, “This is what the perfect abductor longus muscle looks like.” She moved to his chest and almost became lost in pectorals.

Pulling herself away, she eyed his throat and remembered how lovingly she’d kissed it the night before, how she let her tongue lave his Adam’s apple. And then she moved to his face, his handsome face. That honey tone with those hazel-green eyes that she swore could see down to her soul threatened to undo her every time she looked at him.

That was why she’d worked so hard to stay away from him this past year after breaking up with him. And then look at how quickly she had undone all that hard work with one romp in the sack.

“Just as I thought, you’re in here overthinking things and trying to backtrack. That won’t do.” Terrill shook his head as he frowned. He pulled her body flush with his and took her mouth in a demanding, take-no-prisoners kiss.

Her mouth opened as if it didn’t have a will or want of its own besides wanting to please him and willing to do whatever it took to make sure he was well pleased.

Their tongues tangled and dueled until hers was finally tamed and following his lead. A soft sigh escaped her lips before she could catch it and she had no choice but to wrap her arms around his shoulders and lean into him, pressing her body to his as if she were trying to mold him to her. His hands grasped and held her closer still until she couldn’t tell where he ended and she started. Her legs tried to tangle themselves up in him and he lifted her up and pinned her against the wall.

He pulled his mouth away from her and she moaned.

He grinned and planted seductive kisses all along her neck and breast.

“You can’t marry him, Maritza.”

She threw her head back, unable to fight the inevitable.

“I can’t marry him,” she muttered as she took a shuddering breath. His butterfly kisses were turning her insides into jelly.

“You don’t love him.” Terrill licked her then, sending thrills of passion through her in shock waves.

“I don’t. I don’t love him.” God, she didn’t love…

But what happened to the woman from just a day ago who would have asked, what does love have to do with it?

He lifted up his head and stared her in her eyes then. His gaze was so intent and intense that he didn’t even have to repeat his words from the night before.

You love me.

She loved Terrill.

God help her, she did. But he hadn’t said he loved her. He’d just proclaimed that she loved him and she hadn’t confirmed or denied it yet. She wouldn’t, because her heart was too fragile and pink and girly where he was concerned.

If she allowed herself to love him, to publicly proclaim her love for him, and he didn’t love her back, it would break her into too many pieces to ever put back together again.

He picked that moment to thrust into her and she shattered from the inside out. Her body vibrated and her mind burst into a thousand points of light. And then all reason and rationalization were gone. All she could do was feel. And it felt so damn good to her.

He stretched her to the point of aching and then stretched her some more. His hips powered forward, thrusting as if he was trying to speak to her body in some kind of special code.

He rocked her.

He shook her foundations and her walls came tumbling down.

She cried out as her love for him came pouring out of her, making her shake and convulse and hold on to his muscular shoulders for dear life. The shower wall at her back couldn’t possibly be sturdy enough to hold her.

Only Terrill could do that. Only he could hold her together because he was the one tearing her apart.

She clutched his sex with hers and swiveled her hips, trying to answer the code his body was sending and what they couldn’t say, what they wouldn’t say with words became a mating dance as primitive as time. A discussion that the first men and women to walk the earth must have perfected got a remix in the shower and Terrill’s thrusts and Maritza’s swivels came together as one.

And when she cried out her last gut-wrenching scream and he followed her with a soul-stealing grunt, she realized she needed to find a way to contain this new and wonderful thing that Terrill had pulled her into before it consumed them both and there was nothing left…

Terrill eyed Maritza as they sat in her hotel room and ate the dinner they’d finally stopped making love long enough to order. She looked like she was going to take off running any minute. He didn’t know what had come over him last night. After a year apart, he would have thought that he would have been over her by now. But he was just as sprung as he was then and clearly she wasn’t any more ready to go public with him—but she was willing to marry another man.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

“What are you going to tell Lace? I mean…you don’t have to worry about me saying anything to her, but if the two of you are planning to get married, then you probably should tell her that you had a moment of weakness or whatever you want to call it.”

“Lace Monroe? Who in the hell said I was marrying Lace Monroe? Do I look crazy to you or like I want to be a chapter in her next book? That saying ‘you can’t turn a hooker into a housewife’ comes to mind. That’s definitely not the marrying kind…”

You can’t turn a hooker into a housewife… She had heard those hurtful words before and now she was hearing them from another man she loved. Sure, he wasn’t talking about her now, but what about in the future when he heard about something from her past?

She got up and walked over to the window. She couldn’t look at him and get through this.

“This isn’t going to work, Terrill. No matter how many times we backslide and end up in bed it won’t work between us. I’m going to marry Andrew because he is a better match for me in all the ways that count. I need you to leave.”

The silence in the room was deafening.

“Back to this again, Maritza? Seriously? You really need to miss me with all this bull, because I am sick and tired of doing this with you.”

“You think I like doing this over and over with you? I don’t. This ended for me over a year ago.”

“Fine. You want to marry a man you don’t love and throw away what we can have, then fine. I’m tired of trying to prove to you that I am good enough for you, Maritza. If you think he’s the better man for you then by all means marry Speed-Lo.” He got up and walked over to her.

She didn’t turn around because she didn’t want him to see the tear trailing down her face.

“I have spent my entire life trying to prove that I am good enough. Good enough to be best friends with the Hightowers’ baby boy even though I came from a single-parent household and never knew my father. Good enough to take care of my best friend’s girl and make sure that no harm came to her even though everyone thought I had stabbed my best friend in the back. Good enough to make it through college even though I didn’t have the same amenities as my classmates who weren’t there on scholarship. Good enough to make it in the music business, to run the damn company and be the boss. I have to prove that I am good enough every day just by virtue of being a Black man. And even though you are without a doubt the love of my life, Maritza, I can’t keep proving I am good enough for you.”

She wanted to turn around and tell him that he was more than good enough, that he was too good and that was the problem. But she couldn’t do it. If she did, he would try and make her believe in what they could have, what they could be together. And she already knew.

You can’t turn a hooker into a housewife.

“Just leave, Terrill. Andrew is the man I deserve.”

She heard his sharp intake of breath and it felt like a knife had been slammed into her own chest. The only thing she heard after that was him walking away and the hotel room door closing.

She dropped to the floor but this time she didn’t have any more tears left to cry.

Third Interlude
Ready for Love…

“Wow. I always said Terrill seems like one of those guys that will be down for his woman till the end, no matter how jacked up she treats him.” Aisha Hightower had her hand covering her mouth and she looked like she was going to break down crying for Terrill any minute.

Since Maritza had long since developed a fondness for Patrick’s wife, the little miss goody-two-shoes, and since her heart was breaking for Terrill and the pain she had caused him as well, she only nodded in agreement with Aisha.

The look on Penny’s and Celia’s faces said everything she was feeling. She could feel the disappointment coming off of them in waves.

“You have to fix it, Maritza. You better fix it. You broke his heart.” Penny actually started crying. “He doesn’t deserve that. He’s a good man. He deserves to have all your love. How could you make him think he wasn’t good enough?”

“Because I wasn’t good enough for him and one day he was going to figure that out and leave me! Don’t you get it? Eventually my past was going to catch up to me and then he would have to leave me. I just wanted a piece of his love while I could have it and then I was going to let him go when he was ready. It killed me, but I let him go.” Maritza found herself screaming at Penny with just as much passion as Penny was throwing out.

“Terrill is like a son to me. And he’s a good man. He wouldn’t judge you by anything in your past. You were a coward. Don’t put that on him. He was ready, willing and able to love you. You were a coward!” Celia Hightower shored up her shoulders. She could barely look at Maritza. “Penny, I think we should all go to Terrill’s now. I’m sure he needs as many friends as he can get now.”

Carla hopped up off the sofa, trailing popcorn all over the place. “Y’all tripping. Brat, you act like you never messed up where a man was concerned. I know you’re not talking the way you and Terrill broke Jason’s heart all those years ago. And Celia, hmm…I don’t think Sophie pops all that nonsense without just a little bit of cause… Y’all need to back up off Maritza. She messed up, yes. But it ain’t the end of the damn world. People make mistakes!” Carla gave Maritza a hug.

“Keep your head up, mamasita! And remember Carla got yo back. If anybody questions that, they should know that I will sure enough set it off, set it off, Jada Pinkett!” All of five foot and some change, you would have thought that Carla was a heavyweight champion the way she was selling wolf tickets.

Maritza shook her head. And watched as the other Hightower women all got up to leave her house.

“Thanks, Carla. I appreciate it.”

“That said, I’mma head on over to the mansion with them because you know I want to stay in that big ol’ mansion of Terrill’s. This is cute and all, but I’m trying to live in the lifestyle that I want to become accustomed to living in. Y’all wait for me.” She took off after the other women.

Soon the only people left in her house were Maritza and her mother.

“So you danced in some videos, maybe had sex with a man or two that you regretted. Tell me why the hell that makes you think that you aren’t good enough for Terrill?” Sharon Morales was gone and the protective mama bear was in her place.

Maritza didn’t know what had kept her mother quiet for so long, but she was happy for it. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to curse out Celia or Penny.

“Our soror was right. She didn’t have to say it like that, but she was right. You have been a coward, baby girl. And all I want to know is what turned you into a coward. Now I think it has something to do with whatever happened to you when you were in college and your brother Victor came out here to visit and ended up moving here to protect his baby sister. He said you would never talk about it, but it had something to do with a lowlife named Herbert Jackson. After some digging around, your brother found there were rumors around about Jackson drugging video girls and setting up gangbangs, all kinds of horrible things that no one could ever prove because the girls were always too traumatized or too threatened to talk about.”

Maritza closed her eyes and tried to move away from her mother. Sharon grabbed her and held her close.

“No, Mom. I can’t do this. Please, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You don’t have to talk about it with me, baby girl, your reaction is enough to tell me our suspicions were right.” Sharon’s voice choked and she held Maritza tighter. “You don’t have to tell me and you don’t have to relive it. But you have to stop letting it get in the way of your happiness.”

“Mom, I was living so wild and I thought nothing could touch me. I didn’t do drugs like the other girls. I didn’t even drink a lot, but I didn’t let a man I liked get past me without trying him out, letting him buy me things, take me places, share my body with him. I was so casual about my body because I thought I could control everything. All it took was one slip and trusting the wrong person once to have it all come crashing down around me.”

“Bad things happen to good people all the time. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, baby girl. You are stronger than what that monster did to you. And you need to stop letting that run your life. You need to tell Terrill everything. And if he is half the man we think he is, he is not going to hold it against you. Don’t be a coward. Grab for your chance at happiness.”

Maritza rocked in her mother’s arms and thought about what she was saying. She didn’t know if she could really bare it all to Terrill. But she knew she owed him the truth. He had been hurt enough because of her.

After all of the Hightowers had gone to bed and the Morales men left Terrill’s house, he sat with a glass of brandy in his study just thinking about the day’s events.

How he could have played things differently…

If he should still try and get Maritza to take a chance on them and not marry Speed-Lo…

Everyone said they could tell Maritza loved him, even her own father and brothers. When the women came back, they all said that there was more to Maritza’s story than he knew and that he shouldn’t give up. But could he be the only one fighting for them?

No. He couldn’t.

If Maritza wanted them to have a relationship, she would have to make the next move.

He chuckled and shook his head. There wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening.

No sooner had he thought that then there was a tap on the door to his study. He looked up to see Maritza walking in.

He rubbed his eyes to clear them and cursed when he aggravated the black eye.

“Sorry, I called Penny and she let me in. I had to see you and didn’t want to wait until tomorrow or some other day. I needed to see you now so that I can try to explain what happened. Why I’ve been the way I am.”

She walked over to him. She was really there. He couldn’t believe it.

She softly trailed his black eye with her fingertips and he would have sworn all the pain went away with her touch.

“I’m so sorry they hurt you. I’m so sorry I hurt you. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I hope that I can one day earn it.” She took a deep breath. “Can I stay and talk with you for a little while? I just want to try and explain. I’ll leave as soon as I’m done.

He nodded.

He was too shook-up to talk and didn’t trust how his voice might sound.

She came.

Maritza took a seat in Terrill’s study and twiddled her fingers as she tried to think of the best place to start.

“I never thought that you weren’t good enough for me, Terrill. I don’t know where you got that from…but it was always the opposite. I always thought that I wasn’t good enough for you. You are a good man, a hard working man, a self-made man, a man that any girl would be proud to bring home to her parents. Hell, my parents and brothers already like you more than any guy I ever dated and they didn’t even know we were dating.”

“How could you think you weren’t good enough for me, Maritza? How could you not know how special you are? How special you are to me?”

A tear trailed down her face and she willed it to stop. She could not break down crying before she told this man the truth. Before she apologized properly and let him know everything that went in to her not allowing herself to love him the way he deserved to be loved.

“What you said about Lace Monroe, you can’t turn a hooker into a housewife? Well, I have heard that or some version of it before in reference to myself. I lived a much wilder life during my video model days than Penny did. She had you looking out for her and I was going through a really late-onset rebellious stage. I have a pretty wild past—”

“We all have a past, babe. I have one. There are things in my past that I am not proud of either. I would never hold anything in your past against you. And you and Lace have nothing in common. Whatever you did is in the past. That woman came on to me in very inappropriate ways just a few weeks ago and I had to tell her that it would be a conflict of interest for me to date her because she is a client of New Images by Keys and Morales and I’m a silent partner. Then she tried to drag your name in the dirt and started saying if I could date you then I could give her a chance. Trust and believe me when I say I have never had any interest in that woman.”

Maritza just shook her head. “It’s not about her, really. The fact is there isn’t that much difference between me and Lace, at least not as far as I can tell. She is way more scandalous, yes. But we both have less-than-stellar pasts and made some unwise choices. She just decided to cash in on her past and make a name for herself as Lil’ Freak. While I decided to cash out and change my life earlier. The fact is, if she is a hooker based on her past, then I am, too. And the last thing you need is a woman that you can’t even bring to company functions because you’re worried about who else she might have been with in the past.

“I didn’t want that for you, Terrill. I never did. You’ve worked too hard to get where you are to have your poor choice in women mess that up. From the first time I met you I knew you were too good for me. And I pushed you away even though I was so attracted to you. And then you kissed me and I thought maybe I could steal a bit of joy, take some good memories from an affair with you. But we see how that ended.”

Terrill got up and pulled her into his arms. And even though she knew she didn’t deserve to seek any comfort there, she couldn’t help it. She let him hold her.

“That’s because we were not meant just to have an affair, babe. You and me are meant to last forever. I love you. I love you, Maritza. And you are more than good enough for me. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”

She had to keep going. He had to know everything.

“I was raped. I was drugged and gang-raped by Herbert Jackson and some of his flunkies. That is the only thing that stopped me from becoming Lace Monroe. If that hadn’t happened to me, I would have probably still been taking chances with my body, with my life. Thank God there were no lasting repercussions. But it took that to wake me up, Terrill. Could you really see yourself being with a woman who allowed herself to get in that situation?”

Terrill held her even tighter and tears started falling down his face. He rocked her back and forth and soon she was crying, too.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, babe. But I know you are a smart woman and you know what those disgusting, sorry excuses for men did to you has nothing to do with you and the person you were or the person you are. It wasn’t your fault, babe. But I will tell you this much—Herbert Jackson will be destroyed if it is the last thing I do.”

“No. Promise me you won’t do anything to jeopardize all that you have worked for in order to avenge me. I couldn’t take it if my bad choices hurt you even more than they already have.”

“Maritza, as far as I’m concerned, the only bad choice you made was not trusting in our love and trusting me enough to tell me earlier what was holding you back and stopping our relationship. And I forgive you for that, babe. I forgive you.”

He kissed her then and kept kissing her until he was sure she believed him. Before she knew it her clothes were coming off and she was straddling him on the chair. She took him inside of her and rode him until she couldn’t any more. Then he stood and carried her over to the sofa and continued. They rocked each other, whispering words of love and forgiveness until they both reached completion.

They snuggled on the sofa when they were done and he pulled a blanket over them.

“I hope you realize this means you are not marrying Speed-Lo.”

She laughed and it felt like the first real laugh she had in years.

“Yes, I realize that I am not marrying Andrew now. I can’t marry him when I love you, Terrill.”

“And I hope you know that means you have to marry me as soon as possible. We have wasted three years already. I’m not wasting any more time.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Terrill kissed her on the neck.

“Yes, I will marry you, Terrill. As soon as possible.”

“And I—”

“All right, Mr. Bossy. You have gotten all you’re going to get tonight.” She kissed him and smiled when she felt his erection growing. “Well, maybe not all….”

Epilogue

Maritza took a deep breath as she gazed down the aisle at her brothers and the Hightower brothers all dressed in their black tuxedos and looking seven kinds of fine. Penny and the rest of the Hightower wives were already down there with three of her former assistants—the ones who’d left for personal reasons, not because they hated her.

She made a mental note to definitely get some more women friends. It was really a damn shame that she had to bother women who used to work for her to be bridesmaids in her wedding.

She took a deep breath.

She was getting married. Finally going public, as public as it could possibly get.

No one was going to break this up.

“He’s a good man, niña bonita. You picked the right one. He loves you and he’s the only guy you’ve ever brought around us that I feel okay with trusting to take care of my baby girl.” Her father squeezed her hand and smiled at her.

“You’re right, Papi. He’s the one. No one else would have loved me through all my issues, huh?” She squeezed his hand back as they started walking together toward her destiny.

She kept her eyes on the prize. She kept her eyes on Terrill. Her man was down that aisle, looking at her with his steady calm gaze.

She had picked the right one.

She walked straight ahead. Nothing was going to stand in her way.

Terrill couldn’t take his eyes off of Maritza as she glided toward him. He could officially say that he had never seen anyone more beautiful.

“I’ve got you now, babe. And I am never letting you go.” Terrill whispered the words to her and hoped that no one else heard him.

The minister cleared his throat. “I don’t know about that, young man. It seems I have some business to take care of first before you can truly say that. So let’s get started, shall we?”

The folks in the church started laughing and so did Maritza.

“I’m going to have fun reminding you that you said that when I start getting on your nerves,” she teased.

If he didn’t think the minister would have had a problem with it, he would have kissed his bride then and there.

But he figured he had waited this long to have the woman of his dreams, so he could wait a few minutes longer. The important thing was that she was his now and everyone knew it.

They were finally ready for love.

ISBN: 978-1-4592-1577-1

READY FOR LOVE

Copyright © 2011 by Gwendolyn D. Pough

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