Authors: Michele Grant

Heard It All Before (19 page)

BOOK: Heard It All Before

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Do NOT Burn the Ribs

RomanâSunday, September 8, Noon

M
iss Jewel slammed the wooden spoon down and turned to glare at me. “What're you implying, Roman LaChayse?” She put one hand on her hip and tapped her left foot impatiently.

She sounded just like Madere with that tone. Even worse, I've heard her take that tone with li'l Chase. Still, I stood my ground. “All I'm saying is, seem to me like you ain't too happy 'bout Stacie bringing Patrick. I'm wondering why that is?” Truth be told, homegirl has been tripping over this whole Stace/Trick thing. The two of them have been a duo since the wedding-from-hell weekend. In the beginning, Jewel was like, cool, whatever it took for Stace to get through. Then, when they kept hanging tight, her attitude started getting a little tart.

She looked at her watch. “My mother is going to be here any minute and you want to talk about Stacie and Patrick?” She went over to the refrigerator and took out some barbecue sauce. She could get real busy when she didn't want to talk about something. She already had two bottles of barbecue sauce out.

“Yeah, I happen to think now is a perfect time.” I stepped around the counter and began seasoning a platter of chicken.

“Did you start the coals?” She stirred the beans on top of the stove.

“Are you jealous 'cause Stacie's sleeping with the love of ya life?” There, I threw it out in the open. Let her break that on down.

“Who said he was the love of my life?”

“Overheard Renee and Tammy talking to you. Yeah, I started the coals, and I noticed you didn't answer my question.” Now, I hadn't thought Patrick was that big of an issue. Was there something I needed to be worried about? What was really going on?

She turned and looked at me. “Love 'em though I may, Renee and Tammy aren't the best sources of truthful information. Want to put out the ribs first?”

Jewellen Rose was a master in the art of verbal tap dancing. I really wasn't trying to have it today. Particularly hated it when she ignored me like I was stupid. “Jewellen, don't push me.”

“Pardon me, player, but I've got twenty people due here any second. Could I get some help?” She turned her back on me like she was dismissing a damn servant. “Check and see if we've got enough chairs around while you're out there. And check the heat in the pool, could you?”

“That's how we're getting down today?” I turned away, went outside, and slapped a slab of ribs and some chicken quarters on the grill. Because I was still too pissed to continue the conversation, I poured the bags of ice into the two igloos and started loading 'em up, one with sodas, the other with beer and wine coolers. I was pouring potato chips into a big bowl on the back porch when Jewel came out.

“I'm doing it again, aren't I?”

“Doin' what, Jewel?” I was going to man up on this one. Cut her no slack. Be ruthless. Don't let her get to you. Stoic, silent, let her do all the talking.

“Treating you likeâ”

Stoic went out the window and I cut her off. “Like I'm your amusing li'l playmate from the ghetto? Yeah, you are. Acting like I won't realize you can't answer a direct question? Umm-hmm, you are. Pretending that my concerns aren't valid? Definitely. Let me set some shit straight here, Miss Jewel. If all you wanted was some corporate thug for stud services, a li'l excitement, you really shoulda said something a lot sooner. So, what, is it like a bonus 'cause I'm what you consider respectable? Gotta degree, a business, little bank, house of my own. Am I supposed to be honored you giving a brother the time of day? You gotta know it's not gonna work that way.”

“Well, damn, Rome, where's all this coming from?” She looked confused. “Is this all about Patrick, because if soâ”

“Did you love Tricky Rick, Jewellen?” I stepped closer to her. I wanted to see every expression cross her face.

She looked away. “At the time, I guessâ”

I wasn't having
that
half-assed shit. “Either you did or you didn'tâdon't give me that North Dallas psycho shit. Come clean with a straight answer for once, for Christ's sake.”

“Okay, I did. I did, okay? It has nothing to do with you and me. That's in the past.” She walked over to me.

“Is it?” We stood toe-to-toe.

“Is Jaquenetta?”

I scowled at her. “Now, every time we get in an argument and you get into a tight spot, you throw Jaquenetta up in my face. Okay, I was married and I have a child. I won't start apologizing for that. I never said I was a perfect knight in shining armor. I'm just meâeither it's enough or it isn't.”

She waved her hands all round the place when she was angry. Right now, she looked like she was directing traffic. “And I never said I was a damsel in distress. I'm supposed to just ignore the fact that Jaquenetta exists, is that it? She had your ring, your name, and your child, Roman. I can't forget that.”

“You're jealous? Of Jaquenetta?” This was new. Never occurred to me that she'd be jealous of something I considered history.

“I'm NOT jealous. I just find it hard to ignore, that's all.”

“I never asked you to. But I divorced her. I told you where I stand with her. Can you do the same?”

“She was your
wife
. Patrick was just a
boyfriend
.”

I look right at her. “He was a
fiancÃ©
. Someone you considered spending the rest of your life with. I'm
just
a boyfriend.” Bingo, baby.

She huffed in frustration. “You know what I mean.”

“No, I don't. Whadaya mean? Help a brother understand.” The way I saw it, six months from now, she could be having this conversation with some other brother talking about me. I needed to know what was different now than with Patrick. Why was she still all secretive and flustered about this boy? What was it I didn't know? What was it about me that made it different? Yeah, a brother was trying to find out where he stood. Been around too many times before to take things like this for granted.

“What're you getting at? What're you asking?”

“All I ever asked was to be with you and have you be with me.” Simple.

She threw her hands out. “I am with you!”

“One hundred percent, Miss Jewel. I want all or nothing.” Mind, body, and soul.

“But you know I love you!” She was missing my pointâdeliberately, I thought.

“You love me like you loved him? 'Cause you let him walk away without a fight or a look back. You say you love me, but I wish I knew why and for how long. Hell, I wish
you
knew why! You act like you are surprised to be with me. Like you are just along for the ride.”

Her mouth fell open and she looked scared. “Roman!” she whispered in a shaky little voice.

Anger or no, I couldn't help it. It was the Y-chromosome knight in me, reaching out to that damsel in distress. I wrapped my arms around her and drew her close. “What, Jewellen?”

“You're scaring me,” she mumbled into my neck.

“You're scaring
me
, babe.” I ran my hand down her back.

“This is the first time we've talked about this stuff, and it sounds like you're leaving me.” She clutched my shirt and looked up at me. “Are you leaving me, Roman?”

I took her chin in my hands. “No. But I'm not sticking around for some bullshit. Let me be clear. I love you. Either you know who or what you want or you don't. And if I feel like you don't, I'm out. Out. Do you hear me?”

She shook her head. “I hear you. But we're okay, right?”

“We're okay for now, baby. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to answer the hard questions.” I pulled back and started to turn away. “I've gotta finish setting up out here.” This was obviously as much as we were going to get settled for now. For the most part, I liked to just go with the flow, you know? Like Madere says, “Let go and let God.” But other times, like today, I needed to know whether I was standing on shaky ground or not. We might not have completely settled anything, but she knew where my head was at and I'd learned a little bit more about her insecurities too.

“Wait a second.” She pulled me back and stood on tiptoe. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. It was different, searching and kind of desperate. I pulled back as she tilted her head away, and I opened my eyes. She blinked her eyes open, and my breath caught in my throat. Swear to God she had tears in her eyes. My Jewellen, always so strong, practical, together. Nothing broke this girl down.

I stared as the tears started running down her face. She was crying over
me
, a regular brother from the other side of town. Not that I thought I wasn't worth a tear or two but not from this lady, who always kept her head high and her fears hidden. Opening up was something she did rarely, usually late at night or if she'd been drinking. To see this ... this hurt, to know I was the one to cause her this pain. And it kind of threw me, just how much I cared.

“Aw Jesus, Jewel.” I groaned and kissed the tears off her face.

“I don't want to lose you. Don't let me mess this up,” she whispered.

“You're not losing me; you're not losing me, babe,” I whispered back.

“I'm sorry. I never cry.” If anything, the tears flowed faster down her cheeks.

“Then stop.” I kissed her. “Stop. You're killing me, baby, stop.” Next thing I knew, I was kissing her like there was no tomorrow. She groaned deep in her throat and matched me, kiss for kiss. Something about this girl likely to drive me right over the edge one day. Right over. I lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I backed over to the porch and set her down on the patio table before settling in between her thighs.

Both of us forgot about ribs on the grill, friends and family due any minute, Patrick, Jaquenetta, the world. In this moment, none of it was as important as this, nothing was as crucial as the validation of us. She shifted forward and rubbed that chest against me. I slid my hand up her thigh. “Jewellen?” She knew what I was asking.

“God, yes,” she answered, sliding her hands down my chest to my belt buckle, unfastening it and shoving my pants down just enough so she could reach me.

When her hand wrapped around, she squeezed twice and I winced with the sensation. “Ah jeez, okay.”

I bent down to kiss her again as I flipped her skirt up over her knees. Skipping all preliminaries, I shifted her panties to the side and thrust deep.

“Mmm.” We both groaned. The emotion and the passion were running so high, I knew it was going to be quick. Didn't realize it was going to be so hot. The first time I pulled back, she growled in her throat, grabbed my ass, and yanked me back.

I looked down at her and we shared a damn-this-is-good moment. “Hard and fast?” I asked.

“Quick and dirty,” she answered before I braced my hands on either side of her head and got down to business. This was not finesse sex; neither of us was patient enough for that. It was hot and sloppy, both of us straining as we slammed against each other. I knew I wasn't going to last long.

“Baby?” Gritting my teeth, I wanted to see how close she was.

“Yes, now, that's itâah!”

Feeling her convulsing around me, I let go. It was always better with Jewel, more intense, more everything. I lay on top of her, getting my breath back. “That was nice.”

She arched a brow. “Okay, player, calling that nice was like saying Hurricane Katrina was just a storm.”

Laughing, I rose up off of her and agreed. “True dat. Okay, off the chains, Miss Jewel. But you know this.”

She pulled me back down and placed her mouth next to mine. “I know this.” She was doing this crazy tongue thing when a voice came out of nowhere.

“Jewellen Rose, what are you doing?” I went absolutely still. Pulling back, I looked down at Jewel. She blinked up at me before looking over my shoulder. My girl's mouth fell open.

“Mom!” she shrieked. I yanked her skirt down, pulled my pants up, tucked a few things in, zipped, and jumped back. Whirling round, I saw an older version of Jewel standing just outside the back gate with a nervous-looking guy, another older woman I didn't know, Tammy, Aaron, and my brother Beau with Chase.

Jewellen's mom spoke first. “We've all been standing out front ringing the doorbell for God knows how long, Jewellen.” Shitâgreat first impression here.

I stepped off the porch and walked over. “I'm sorry, Mrs. Capwell-Williams. We wereâ”

“I think we all saw what you were doing, young man. Might wanna buckle your belt,” she said.

BOOK: Heard It All Before

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