His Sexy Bad Habit (21 page)

“Hello,” she said.

“Serena, I have some good news,” Kenya said. “We’ve gotten a fifteen-day injunction against the
studio that’s scheduled to release Emerson’s movie.”

“Great,” she said flatly.

“I thought you’d be happier,” Kenya said, confusion dancing in her voice.

“Please don’t think I don’t appreciate your hard work. Today has just been very crappy.”

“Sorry to hear that. But we have a lot of work to do if we’re going to keep this movie from being released,” she said. “Can you meet me at my office?”

“Yeah,” Serena said with a sigh, “I’m on my way.”

Antonio gripped his steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.

“Daddy, are you mad at Miss Serena?” A.J. asked.

“Son, I don’t want to talk about Miss Serena. We’re going to see Mickey Mouse,” Antonio said with forced gaiety in his voice.

“But I thought you liked her,” A.J. said.

“Let’s get some McDonald’s before we get on the highway.” Antonio hoped the promise of forbidden fast food would take his son’s mind off Serena. Even if it worked for A.J., Antonio couldn’t get the image of Serena’s tears out of his head. Had he judged her too harshly? Should he have given her a chance to explain? He knew she wasn’t Marian, but couldn’t help compare the situations. When she’d first started having her affairs, Marian denied them with the same voracity Serena had just shown.
But she’d never shown that kind of emotion,
he thought as he pulled into the drive-through.

“May I get a Happy Meal?” A.J. asked excitedly as Antonio pulled up to the speaker box.

“Sure,” Antonio said as he lowered the window to order the food for his son. Since he wasn’t a fan of McDonald’s nor hungry, Antonio ordered himself a large iced tea. All he wanted to do was to put miles between himself and Serena.

But it’s not going to be that easy to push her out of my heart,
he thought as he paid for the food.

Sitting in Kenya’s office, Serena struggled to focus on what her lawyer was explaining. All she could think about was Antonio’s coldness and total disregard for her feelings and her explanation. Even if he thought history was repeating itself, didn’t he owe it to what they had to listen to her?

“Serena, did you hear me?” Kenya asked.

Serena looked up at her, tears gleaming in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

Serena squeezed the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry. I can’t really focus right now.”

“What happened?” Kenya asked, pulling her reading glasses off her face. “Does it have anything to do with Emerson?”

Serena nodded, feeling weak and just like those girls from college who’d cried over a man. But she wasn’t wrong about Antonio, was she? Had he just said those things to her because he thought that’s what she wanted to hear? Thought that dropping the L-word would get her to
do what? Sleep with him? They’d been there and done that numerous times. Maybe he just needed to know he was still appealing to women and she was the conduit to him jumping back into the dating game. His very own good-time girl and now he was done with her.

“What did he do?” Kenya asked when Serena fell silent.

“He kissed me,” Serena said. “And I kicked him, but it wasn’t before someone snapped a picture and showed it to Antonio.”

“And the picture only showed the kiss. So then Antonio overreacted about it,” Kenya said as she shook her head. “I’ve been there, in Antonio’s shoes.”

“Really?” Serena asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

Kenya nodded. “Before Maurice and I got married, there was a video that seemed to show Maurice cheating on me with his ex. It turned out to be fake, but it nearly ended what we had.”

“How did you get through it?”

“Maurice wouldn’t let me walk away. If you love Antonio, then you’re going to have force him to face the truth.”

“How am I going to do that? He left town with his son. When I tried to talk to him, he was so angry. His wife cheated on him and I’m guessing that photo brought back the pain he felt with her.”

“It’s not a lost cause if what you have is real. Maurice cheated on me when we were in college and was going to marry that tramp. Then after I
saw the video, which was supposed to be of him and her, I tried to seduce James.”

Serena’s mouth fell open. “Seriously? I never would’ve thought you all had that kind of drama going on in your lives.”

“You have to get through a lot of storms before you get to the happily ever after. But all the rain, thunder, and wind is worth it if this is what both of you want,” Kenya said.

“I know it’s what I want. I thought it was what Antonio wanted. Now I’m not so sure.”

Emerson slammed his cell phone on the bed in his hotel room. A damned injunction! Serena wasn’t playing about trying to keep the movie from restarting his career. When Luther had called him and told him about the injunction, all Emerson could think about was how much money he was poised to lose. Studios didn’t like to have lawsuits floating around unproven movies. He had lost much of his audience after his last two films and
De Chocolat
didn’t have a big star attached to it, just a great story and steamy sex scenes. Still, if the studio had to spend its money defending the film in court, what would be left for marketing?
I can’t let you ruin this for me,
he thought selfishly.
Besides, this movie is going to bring us back together, especially if Casey has her way. Serena will have no choice but to promote this movie and we can have the life we would’ve had five years ago.

Emerson decided to go to Serena’s restaurant and try to talk some sense into her. Once he got
her to drop the lawsuit, they could celebrate in style. He was confident that her whatever with Antonio was over. He could imagine the yarn Casey had spun about that brief kiss. Though Serena’s lips had only been pressed against Emerson’s for a couple seconds, he could still taste their sweetness. He needed more and he would get it. While Serena nursed her broken heart, he’d remind her how good they were together.

He rose from the bed and headed into the bathroom to shower. Once he was showered, shaved, and dressed, he headed to Hometown Delights and took a seat at the bar to wait for his muse.

Just after he ordered, a woman wearing a scowl walked over to the bar and stopped the bartender from pouring Emerson a drink. “You’re not welcome here,” she hissed at him.

“Excuse me?” Emerson said.

“Get out,” she snapped. “Serena doesn’t need you in her life.”

“And how do you know what Serena needs?” he asked as he stared at the chocolate brown woman. “All I want to do is make her a star.”

“Don’t you see that you’re making her life miserable? Just like you did when you left her at the altar. If you were a real man, you’d leave. Have some class about this situation.”

“What makes you the expert on what Serena wants? She didn’t even invite you to the wedding.”

“She probably knew what a mistake she was making when she said yes to your arrogant ass.”
She turned to the bartender. “Don’t serve this man and if he isn’t gone in five minutes, call the police.”

“Yes, Miss Alicia,” the bartender replied.

Alicia shot Emerson a cold look that would’ve made him shiver if he gave a damn about her opinion.

“All right,
Miss Alicia,
I will leave, but what are you going to do when Serena decides she wants the life you claim she doesn’t want—when this movie hits the big screen.”

“Being that it’s one of your movies, it’s going to suck and no one will even notice it.” Alicia looked down at her watch. “You have four minutes to get out of here. I
will
call the police, if you don’t leave.”

Emerson rose from the stool, bit back a few sarcastic retorts, and headed out of the restaurant. When he saw Serena on her way in, he was happy he’d been kicked out. “Serena,” he said as she walked toward him. “We need to talk.”

“Go to hell, Emerson.”

“Why don’t you come with me? This lawsuit is going to be hell on both of us.”

Serena glared at him as he allowed the door to close behind him. “Let me tell you one thing, you slimy bastard. Stay away from me and my business. I don’t give a damn about that movie and before I see it released, I will tie you up in so many lawsuits and red tape you will have to release the entire feature online. I know you’re behind that scene making the rounds on the Internet,” she hissed. “That movie reflects who I used to be, a stupid, weak-willed woman who
sacrificed what she wanted and needed to make you happy. That crap won’t see the light of day as long as I have breath in my body and the power to fight you.”

Emerson wrapped her arm around Serena’s waist and pulled her to his chest. “That’s a lot of energy to spend when you could just go along with me and be the star that I crafted you to be.”

Serena pushed Emerson with such force he tumbled to the ground. She stood over him and said, “That’s the last time you put your damned hands on me. I don’t care if I’m in court until I’m ninety years old, you’re not going to put that movie on the big screen. You can kiss my ass good-bye.”

She lifted her foot as if she was going to kick him, but changed her mind. She lowered her foot and shot him a cold look. “You’re not even worth me soiling my shoe.” She stormed into the restaurant.

Emerson rose to his feet, feeling embarrassed as a few people sidestepped him to enter the restaurant. If she wanted things to get ugly, he was going to make sure she didn’t know what hit her.

Antonio stopped in Savannah, Georgia. A.J. was sound asleep in the passenger seat and he felt as if he was drifting off to sleep. Rather than continue on, he decided to pull into a motor lodge for the night. While A.J. slept soundly, not even waking up when Antonio had carried him
into the room, Antonio couldn’t sleep. His mind kept going back to Serena. He wavered between anger and sadness. Perhaps he’d overacted and judged her harshly because of what he’d been though with Marian. Easing out of the bed, Antonio walked into the bathroom and splashed water on his face. “What am I doing? I should hear her out,” he whispered, then headed back to the bed. He reached for his cell phone and dialed Serena’s number before lying down.

You’ve reached Serena Jacobs. Please leave a message and I’ll return your call,
her voicemail played back. Antonio hung up the phone without leaving a message. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was with Emerson.

But Serena isn’t that type of woman, is she?
he thought as he lay down on the bed again.

“Are you dense?” Jade snapped as she stared at Serena. “That was Antonio, wasn’t it?”

Serena shrugged her shoulders. “I tried to talk to him and he was so cold to me. I’m not going to answer that phone and beg him to listen to me. I’ve decided to go back to Atlanta. You guys don’t need me around here.”

“But what about the relaunch party?” Alicia asked.

Serena rolled her eyes, trying to forget that she’d bought a slick outfit for the party and had hoped to have Antonio by her side. She was definitely going to return the jumpsuit and shoes she’d purchased from SouthPark mall. “I’m in no
mood to party. Kenya and I have to get this suit rolling and I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“Well,” Kandace said as she picked up a mug of tea from the desk, “My honeymoon’s not over yet and you said you would stay until I was working full-time again.”

Serena glared at her friends, ready to curse them out. Instead, she folded her arms and said, “Fine. I’ll stay, but I am not coming to the damned party and I don’t want to talk to Antonio.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to give up on him after you spent all this time—” Jade said before Serena held her hand up and cut her off.

“I blame myself for this madness. I looked at you and Kandace and saw this love thing blooming. I thought I could have it, too. But love hurts and I’m done with it,” Serena said, then rose to her feet. “I’ll be at home if you need me.”

When she tore out of the office, she didn’t notice her cell phone was still on the desk.

Antonio had drifted off to sleep. The chime of his cell phone woke him. His heart jumped when he saw that Serena was calling him back. He’d been wrong. The call signaled to him that she wasn’t with Emerson. He grabbed the phone and headed in the bathroom so he wouldn’t wake his son.

“Hello?”

“Antonio.” It was a female voice, but wasn’t Serena’s.

“Who is this?”

“This is Jade Goings and I want to apologize in advance for making this call, but it had to be done.”

“Did something happen to Serena?” Antonio asked, his voice filled with concern. What if she’d been in a car accident and was lost to him forever?

“Something is happening to Serena and you’re
the cause of it,” Jade said. “She’s miserable, but has too much pride to admit it.”

“Listen, what’s going on with me and Serena is really none of your business. Why did she give you her phone to call me? I tried to reach out to her today and—”

“Wait a minute, buddy,” Jade snapped. “Serena doesn’t know I’m calling you. She was so upset when she left the restaurant that she left her phone here. I didn’t call to argue with you. Serena is in love with you. She doesn’t show her emotions easily, and she also doesn’t lie. Unfortunately, she’s the most honest person I know—whether the truth hurts or not.”

“Then why am I hearing from you and not her?” Antonio asked, frustrated with the conversation.

“Because you two are the most stubborn people I know and if I didn’t make this call, you were going to miss out on her. Serena is ready to move back to Atlanta because of what happened between the two of you.”

“What?”

“Yes,” Jade said. “So, if you still care about her then you’d better do something about it.”

“How am I going to call her if you have her phone?”

“I’m going to take this phone to her in about an hour. I suggest you call her and make this right. Serena is the best woman you will ever meet. When she loves, she loves all the way. That woman loves you and you’re a fool if you let her go.”

“Thanks for the call, but if Serena and I are to have a future, I’d appreciate it if you allowed us to work out our problems on our own.” Antonio could’ve sworn he heard Jade chuckle.

“Since you and Serena are more than likely going to have a future, I’ll tell you this—we’re family and this is how we roll. But only in extreme circumstances. Just don’t throw away what you two have. You’re good for Serena, otherwise I never would’ve made this call.”

“All right,” he said. Once they hung up, Antonio was relieved that his call went unanswered because Serena had been with her girlfriends and not Emerson. Still, did he have it inside him to move past this?

Serena kicked back on the sofa and turned the television on. But she didn’t watch whatever was showing. She wasn’t interested in anything. Except leaving.

“Why did I agree to stay here?” she muttered as she reached for her purse and fumbled for her cell phone. Serena smacked her hand against her forehead. Her phone was at the restaurant. There was no way she was going back there. She would call the movers tomorrow.

Tonight, she was going to veg out and make her mind forget Antonio Billups. She had to forget how he kissed her and how he made her legs shiver with the touch of his skilled fingers. She had to forget how safe she felt when he held her in his strong arms and how his smile made
her heart melt. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to remember the cold look he’d given her the last time she’d seen him. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, Serena heard a knock at the door.

“Antonio,” she murmured as she leaped off the sofa and dashed to the door. When she opened it and saw Jade, her heart dropped to the bottoms of her feet. Serena opened the door and didn’t hide the fact that she wasn’t excited to see Jade. “What’s up, Jade?” she asked flatly.

“Well, I’m happy to see you, too,” Jade replied. “You left your cell phone at the restaurant.”

“Thanks.” Serena took the phone from her friend’s hand.

“Everything is going to be all right,” Jade said. “You want to talk?”

“No. Besides, you have a family to get to. I don’t want to hold you up.”

Jade stepped inside the foyer. “All right. You are my family and I don’t want you to do this again.”

“Do what?” Serena asked as she padded to the sofa and plopped down on the cushions.

Jade sat across from her friend and looked at her watch. “Shut yourself off from love. You did that after L.A. and you can’t do it again. If I were you, I wouldn’t give up on Antonio.” She glanced down at her watch again.

“Don’t you have some place you need to be?” Serena asked. “Because you can go.”

Jade rose to her feet and shook her head.
“Keep being sour and I’ll send Kandace and Alicia over.”

Serena waved her hand as she stretched out on the sofa. “You know your way out. And Jade.” Her friend turned around and looked at her. “Thanks for caring about me, but I’m not the one who gave up on Antonio. He gave up on me and I’m not going to allow my feelings to get hurt again.”

Before Jade could reply, Serena’s cell phone rang. “Yes?” she said without looking at the
CALLER ID
.

“Serena, it’s Antonio.”

“Antonio,” she said as she heard the front door close. “I’m surprised to hear from you.”

“I know,” he said. “Listen, I owe you a chance to explain that picture and I want to hear what you have to say.”

Serena closed her eyes and expelled a breath. “It’s not something I think we should discuss over the phone,” she said.

“Neither do I. A.J. and I will be in Orlando at Disney World for three days and when I return, we should meet.”

“If I’m still here, then that will be fine,” she said, knowing that she’d be right there waiting for his return.

“Are you planning a trip?” he asked.

“I’m going back to Atlanta. I’ve done all I need to do at the restaurant and it doesn’t seem as if I have a reason to stay in Charlotte.”

“If that’s what you want to do,” he said.

Serena felt a chill tear through her system.
“That’s what I want to do,” she snapped. “I can tell from your tone you don’t really want to work this thing out.”

“Really? Since you can read my mind over the phone, tell me why I would’ve called you if I didn’t want to work things out? Serena, I’ve been cheated on before and yes, I allowed my past to cloud what I saw. But I’m not going to pressure you into doing something you don’t want to do.”

All I want is to be with you,
she thought but held her tongue. “I haven’t made any plans so, I can wait. It’s not a problem.”

“Serena, I … I’ll see you when I get back,” he said bringing their tense conversation to an end.

“All right. I hope you and A.J. have a good time at Disney World,” she said with tears welling up in her eyes. Serena could feel things were coming to an end between them. When he returned to Charlotte, it would be official.

Antonio looked at his cell phone and shook his head. Was what he’d found in Serena worth saving?
Hell yes,
a voice inside him screamed.
She’s a woman who has been hurt so I shouldn’t have expected that she was sitting around waiting for me to call her.
He climbed into bed beside his son and closed his eyes. He loved Serena and he couldn’t let her go. He wasn’t going to let her walk away and go back to Atlanta. But what about that kiss with Emerson? Was it just as she said it was and Casey was using it to her advantage?

Damn, I should ‘ve known better than to take Casey
at her word. I know she doesn’t like Serena and she wants to be with me. What was I thinking?
By the time he drifted off to sleep, Antonio knew he had to make things right with Serena. He didn’t want to have a life without her in it.

Early the next morning, A.J. woke up and poked his father in the arm until Antonio sat up. “Are we there yet?” A.J. asked. “Are we going to see Mickey Mouse today?”

“We sure are. But first, let’s get out of here and get some breakfast.” Antonio was glad to have his bubbly son with him. It forced him not to think about Serena that much. When they checked out of the hotel and got on the highway, Antonio stopped at a Waffle House on the Florida/Georgia border. A.J. talked about Mickey Mouse and how many pictures he wanted to take with his favorite cartoon character. As the waitress brought their waffles and eggs over, A.J. said, “I wish Miss Serena could’ve come with us. Do you think she likes Mickey Mouse?”

“I’m sure she does,” Antonio said, masking his hurt with a smile. “Everyone loves Mickey Mouse.”
And I love Serena. That’s why I’m not going to let anything come between us when she has shown me that I can and should love again. I can trust her because she isn’t Marian.

“Did you hear me, Daddy?” A.J. asked.

“No, what did you say?”

“I said you can take some Mickey Mouse ears back to Miss Serena,” the little boy said with a laugh.

“We can do that,” Antonio said as he and A.J. dug into their breakfast.

After eating, Antonio and A.J. drove nonstop to Disney World. While he was focused on the road, every now and then he thought about Serena and how his son really liked her. Allowing her to move back to Atlanta wouldn’t just hurt Antonio, but A.J. as well. He couldn’t and wouldn’t let that happen. He knew that when he got back to Charlotte, the first thing he was going to do was tell Serena in no uncertain terms that she was a habit he couldn’t let go. He wasn’t going to allow her to leave when he loved her so much.

Serena woke up still sprawled on her sofa with an ache in her lower back. Rolling her eyes, she sat up and ran her hand across her face. She hadn’t liked the way she and Antonio ended their conversation. Had she been wrong about his feelings for her or was she overreacting? He had said he wanted to see her when he returned but she felt there was still an accusatory tone in his voice. She wanted to bash Emerson and Casey until they were bad memories. But as much as she wanted to blame them for Antonio’s change of heart, she had to accept that he was a grown man and if he wanted to forgive her, it would be his choice.

“Just what in the hell is he forgiving
me
for?” she mumbled. “
I
didn’t do anything wrong and have no reason to kiss his behind.”

She rose from the sofa and started upstairs to take a shower when her cell phone rang. Serena nearly tripped over her feet rushing back to the sofa to grab it, hoping Antonio was on the other end. “Hello?” she said.

“Serena, it’s Kenya.”

“Hi, Kenya,” she replied, struggling to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

“I have some good news and some bad news,” her attorney said.

“Why am I not surprised?” Serena muttered. “Just lay it out for me.”

“Well,” Kenya began. “We can’t stop the release of the movie because Emerson has all the rights to the film. However, Lionsgate is starting to back away because a few women’s groups are calling it a sexist film.”

Serena chewed on her bottom lip not knowing if she agreed with that assessment of the movie, but if protest would keep it off the big screen then she was all for it. “I guess that is good news,” she replied finally.

“That’s not the good news,” Kenya said and Serena could almost hear her smile though the phone. “I spoke with the credited screenwriter and he confirmed that more than ninety percent of the screenplay’s rewrites were done by you. That means if the movie is released you will be paid for it.”

“I don’t want his money,” Serena said.

“It’s not about his money. It’s about getting what you are due for all of your hard work,” Kenya said. “It won’t be his money. Unfortunately, the
movie will be a hit. I saw a rough cut of it and it’s pretty good.”

“Damn it.”

“Emerson will profit from it and leave you alone. He wants to get his career back on track, but I have enough media contacts to spread the true story about him.”

“No,” Serena snapped. “I don’t want any press and I don’t want credit for the screenplay. Just the money, since that seems as if it’s the only thing I can get from this. It’s not as if I’m trying to become a screenwriter anymore.”

“All right, but you should let image-conscious Hollywood know what kind of snake he is and how little talent he has.”

Serena paused and considered it, but then Antonio flashed in her mind. How would he feel about that?
What does it matter?
Serena’s cynical side said.
He’s not worried about my feelings right now.
“I’ll let you know about that. I just want this to go away.”

“Well, for good measure and possibly to keep the studio even more leery about releasing this movie, I’m going to file another injunction and an intent to sue,” Kenya said.

“Thanks.”

“Antonio will understand what this is really about,” Kenya said as if she read Serena’s mind.

“Not that it matters,” Serena said in a near whisper that Kenya didn’t hear. “Thanks for everything.”

“I was glad to help. If it makes you feel any
better, I’ll be sure to tell everyone I know not to go see the movie.”

Serena smiled despite herself, then said goodbye. Feeling a little less depressed, Serena headed upstairs to take her shower and prepare for her day. She was going to go into the restaurant, then prepare for her move back to Atlanta.
Should I at least hear Antonio out before I go back to Atlanta?
she thought as the warm shower spray poured over her. Before she knew it, Serena was thinking of the moments when Antonio kissed her the way the water rained down on her. She remembered how tenderly he made love to her and how seeing his face sent her heart into overdrive.

Serena shut the water off as it became ice cold. She could give up those desires and the passion she shared with him. After all, he was only a man.

The man you love,
she heard Jade’s voice telling her.
And if you try to pretend that you can walk away from this man and be fine with it then you’re a damned fool.
Serena stepped out of the shower and toweled herself dry trying to remember the woman she was before Antonio. The Ice Queen.

Serena soon realized the Ice Queen had melted. In her wake was a blubbering, emotional woman who wasn’t going to allow the man she loved to get away from her that easily.