Looking For Trouble (31 page)

“You don't have to worry about that. He's got the one he needs to be with.”

Henrietta looked closely at Allene. “I've never asked you about how you know what you know. I just accept that you do. But this is one time I have to inquire, because this concerns my child and his happiness. Are you sure about Elizabeth?”

Allene paused and then smiled. “When I looked at you and Isaiah playin' in my front yard when y'all was kids, I knew you was gonna be his wife. When we stood in front of the shack that you and my son shared, and we watched it burn to the ground, I knew the next house you lived in was gonna be fit for a queen. And as sure as we standin' in that very house, I can tell you that that gal in there is the one for John. And when they bring your granddaughter to town for visits, make sure you keep lemon drops in your candy dish cause she gonna like them.”

Henrietta stood in silent awe, and finally, she smiled. She put her arm around Allene. “Let's go back to our dinner, shall we.”

Chapter 44

“I
think that went well,” John said to Elizabeth with a smile. They were riding in his car after just having left his parents' house.

Elizabeth nodded. “Considering the situation, I think it did, too. Most people are gonna think we're crazy, John. Who falls head over heels after just one day?”

“You and me.”

Elizabeth leaned over and planted a soft, warm kiss on the side of John's neck. “Yes, you're right.”

“Keep that up and you're gonna have problems, young lady.”

“What kind of problems?” Elizabeth purred.

“You see what you're doing to me,” John said, glancing down at the seam of his pants.

Elizabeth became quiet.

“It's okay, baby. Relax.” John smiled, sensing her concern. “I'm just a man who's attracted to a beautiful woman.”

“You're leaving in the afternoon, right?”

“Yeah, I wish I could stay longer, but I've got to get back so I can rearrange some plans, especially since I didn't get a chance to meet with one of my potential investors, as I'd planned. But don't worry, I'll make arrangements to fly you up to New York this Friday.”

“That's five days away.”

“But only four nights.” He winked.

“John?”

“Yes . . .”

“Let's go back to your hotel.”

“Elizabeth, I was just kidding. I'm not trying to put any pressure on you. I don't expect anything like that. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I know. But that doesn't change the fact that I want to spend the rest of what little time we have together, alone . . . in your hotel room.”

John respected Elizabeth as a woman and as a lady. Her gentle way was already changing his sensibility and had tamed his wandering eye. But his lust and desires were another matter altogether. Being with her in the close quarters of a hotel room—with a king-size bed—was sure to test him, and this was one time he wasn't so sure he would pass.

“Elizabeth,” he said, “we can catch a movie and then dinner. Or we can go to the park, or—”

“We can make a left at the next stoplight and go to your hotel room.”

“I'm trying to respect and protect your honor.”

“Is that what you're going to do when I come to New York?”

“I have two bedrooms.”

Elizabeth leaned in even closer, until her mouth was at his ear, her lip touching the tip of his lobe. “For what I want, only one bed is required.”

John nodded and kept his hands steady as he made a left, heading in the direction of the hotel.

 

John and Elizabeth were silent as they stood in front of the king-size bed in his hotel room.

He took the lead, directing Elizabeth down to the soft bed as he blanketed her body with his. When they were standing up, he towered over her; but lying together in bed, they fit perfectly together. They kissed each other softly, working their tongues in a slow dance as their hands aptly searched one another's body in new exploration. The more they kissed and fondled, the harder John's erection became. Elizabeth's excitement was equally growing, evidenced by the wetness flowing between her legs.

“John,” Elizabeth said in between heated kisses, “I have to tell you something.”

The serious tone in her soft voice stopped him cold. “What's wrong?”

Elizabeth blinked, then looked away. “I've never been with a man.”

“What?” John wondered if he'd heard her correctly.

“I'm a virgin, John. This will be my first time.”

John slowly raised his body off hers and lay next to her on his side. “Elizabeth, look at me.”

Elizabeth turned her eyes back to him; her heart was beating fast. “I've wanted to be with you for so long, John. I want to make love to you, but you need to know that I'm not experienced like the women you're used to, and I'm not—”

John put his finger to her lips and silenced her. “Baby, please don't ever compare yourself to any other woman.”

“But you're a man of the world, and I'm a small-town country girl, who's never been past second base with a man.”

John ran his hand over his smooth chin. “We don't have to do anything, Elizabeth. I'm serious. We'll have all the time in the world to make love. I don't want you to do anything that you're not ready for.” He took a deep breath and said something that surprised even himself. “As a matter of fact, we can wait until after we're married, if you want to.”

“Really?”

“Of course. We're moving fast, but this is one thing we can take our time with.”

Elizabeth smiled. “You make it easy to love you.”

“That's my goal.” He held Elizabeth in his arms and kissed her on her forehead.

“I wish you didn't have to leave tomorrow.”

“Me too. But I'll make flight reservations for you and we'll see each other when you come to visit this weekend. And once I move here next month, we'll be closer to each other. Raleigh is only a few hours away. And who knows? I can open a bank there just as easily as I can here in Nedine.”

“But you've always wanted to open your bank here,” Elizabeth said, surprised. “If you move to Raleigh to be with me, all your plans would have to change, and you'd have to start from scratch.”

John nodded. “I'd definitely have to restructure everything, and it would take some time. But if it means being with you, I'll do it. I'll be fulfilling two dreams.”

They shared another long, slow kiss. In that moment, John knew that all was right with the world.

Chapter 45

A
lexandria didn't have to smell the liquor on Peter's breath to know that he'd been drinking heavily. The stagger in his walk, the uncharacteristically wild look in his eyes, and the extra bravado in his body language told her all she needed to know. His usually neat appearance was disheveled. As he made his way toward her, with his pants sagging and the wrinkles in his shirt seeming to move right along with every step he took, Alexandria prayed that her encounter with him wasn't going to end with police squad cars and a trip downtown for anyone.

“This is why you've been avoiding me?” Peter said, looking at PJ as he spoke.

Alexandria was standing next to her mother, frozen in place, unable to move. She couldn't figure out why out of all the times that Peter could have come to see her perform, he'd picked tonight. She looked into his eyes and could see that the alcohol had given him courage—the kind he wouldn't have normally had—and she knew that was a dangerous thing.

“Answer me!” he said, raising his voice.

“Hold up, man,” PJ said, standing to his feet with quickness as his father followed his lead. “Lower your voice and watch how you talk to her.”

Alexandria looked on with panic in her eyes as she watched the two men standing within just a few feet of each other. They were virtually the same towering height, and both laid claim to athletic, muscular builds. But when it came to lean bulk, PJ had the advantage of the two, along with a more rugged stance, which contradicted his sweet nature. On the flip side, even though Peter looked more docile, Alexandria knew better. He had a harder, nastier edge than PJ ever could have. She knew his temperament, fueled with liquor, was a deadly combination.

Peter glared at PJ. “Who the fuck are you to tell me how to talk to my girlfriend?”

“Oh, Jesus!” Victoria said.

“Girlfriend?”
PJ said as he turned toward Alexandria. “Ali? What's going on?”

Alexandria shook her head as all eyes zeroed in on her. All she could think about was the fact that if she had listened to her mother, Peter wouldn't be standing in front of her acting like a jackass and causing a scene at this very moment. But she hadn't taken Victoria's advice, wanting to do things in what she thought was the right way. Now she knew she was going to have to learn a lesson the hard way.

Peter looked at Alexandria. “You've been playing me for months. All that ‘It's not you, it's me' bullshit you've been feeding me was a fucking lie. This explains why you've been a ghost for a week.”

Alexandria could see people around them beginning to stare. She knew she had to do something to defuse the situation she had caused. “Peter, you're drunk and you're angry. Let's step outside.”

“Fuck that,” he said. “I've been trying to talk to your ass all week long, and now we're gonna settle this shit right here, right now.”

PJ's chest puffed like a peacock's. He narrowed his eyes and shifted his body dangerously close to Peter's. “Say one more word to her out of order and I'm gonna fuck you up, right where you stand.”

Alexandria's eyes widened with alarm. She knew PJ had a sexy edge, but she didn't know he could “break bad,” as her mother called it. If it weren't for the fact that physical harm was looming in the air, his tough posturing would have turned her on. But this wasn't a fantasy, this was real life unfolding. She could see it was about to turn ugly.

She raised her hand and looked directly at Peter. “I asked you nicely to step outside so we could discuss this in private. But since you want to raise your voice and show your ass in public, fine. Let's do it,” Alexandria said in an even tone. “Our relationship is over, Peter, and that's what I've been trying to tell you for the last week. I would've told you before now, but I wanted to do it in person so I could look you in your eyes and be straight up with you, like I'm doing now.”

“Straight up, my ass. I asked you if you were seeing someone and you said no.” Peter motioned his hand toward PJ without looking at him.

“I wasn't seeing anyone at the time,” Alexandria said. “But as you can see, now I am. I'm sorry it had to end this way, but our relationship was over long before tonight, or even last week, and you know it.”

“Fuck you!”

In the time it took to blink an eye, PJ's fist was in the air, ready to make contact with Peter's face. But Parker was quick on his feet. He grabbed his son and pulled him back just in time to avert what would have been a crushing blow and a full-on brawl.

“Use your head, son!” Parker yelled. “Calm down.”

Two hulky members of the security team rushed up. “Let's break it up,” one of the men said. He moved to help Parker restrain PJ, while his partner stood close to Peter, ready to subdue him if he made a sudden move.

“This is fucked up, Alexandria,” Peter said, letting his alcohol talk for him. “I wanted us to work things out. I even came out here to support you. I sat up front this whole time and watched and waited so I could surprise you after you performed. But I guess I got the fucking surprise, didn't I?”

“All right, it's time for you to go,” one of the security guards said to Peter.

Peter threw his hands up in the air. “I'm gone!” He turned around, stumbling slightly, and walked toward the exit.

Victoria reached over and hugged Alexandria. “Sweetie, are you okay?”

“I should've listened to you, Mom. If I had—”

“He still may have acted crazy,” Victoria said. “You can't go back to what you could've done. All you can do is move forward and be thankful that it's over, and that no one got hurt tonight.”

Alexandria nodded her head and looked over at PJ, who was talking in hushed tones with his father. Parker patted him on the back and the two moved over to where she and her mother were standing.

“You ladies all right?” Parker asked.

“Yes, we're fine,” Victoria answered.

Alexandria looked at PJ, feeling utterly humiliated and embarrassed. “I'm so sorry. I handled the situation with Peter the wrong way, and I almost caused a disaster tonight.”

PJ reached for Alexandria's hand and held it. “Let's talk about this later. Right now, I think we should just leave.”

 

Alexandria, PJ, Victoria, and Parker stood outside the Lazy Day, breathing in the hot, sticky air, which seemed to have risen in temperature since they'd all entered the club earlier. The night had started off with awkward surprises and had ended in contentious disaster. Alexandria wished she could have a do-over so badly. She knew PJ was still tense and a little upset, her mother was full of concern and worry, and Parker looked as though he was chewing on a host of emotions.

“I'm going to head home now,” Victoria said, breaking the silence as she looked at her daughter and PJ. Even though they were standing side by side, there was a visible distance between them. Victoria took a deep breath before she spoke. “Please don't let what happened in there ruin your evening. If you two truly want to be together, you'll have a lot of challenges that you'll have to hurdle over, and those might make tonight look like a walk in the park. Go and talk this out and then keep moving forward.”

Alexandria's eyes widened with disbelief at her mother's words. Just yesterday, she'd cautioned her about rushing in too fast, and tonight she was giving advice about how to overcome relationship challenges. So many things had surprised her in the last week, and again, she knew that life was too unpredictable to know what would happen next, even for those with the gift. She knew that only God could determine what the future would hold.

Victoria smiled and hugged Alexandria good-bye and then embraced PJ. “I hope I'll see you for dinner tomorrow afternoon. The offer still stands.”

Alexandria noticed that Parker looked as though he was going to say something, but then he decided to keep his mouth closed in favor of a more appropriate gesture. “I'll walk you to your car so these two can get going.”

Victoria shook her head. “Thank you, but I'll be fine.”

“Victoria, it's late, and you don't need to be walking around here by yourself.”

“I walked here by myself, and that's the way I plan to leave.”

“Woman, will you stop being so difficult! I told you yesterday that . . .” Parker stopped himself in midsentence, smiled, and then turned toward Alexandria and PJ. “You two kids enjoy what's left of your evening.” He reached for PJ and gave him a solid hug. “Son, I'll call you before I fly out tomorrow.” He smiled again and leaned in to hug Alexandria. “It was a pleasure seeing you again, Alexandria. You're a talented, beautiful young woman, and my son is a very lucky man. I hope you know that?” he said, looking at PJ.

PJ didn't respond; instead, he simply nodded.

“All right, shall we?” Parker said to Victoria, extending his hand in front of her, mimicking a chauffeur.

Victoria ignored Parker's hand and started walking in the opposite direction of the club. “See you two tomorrow.”

As Alexandria stood beside PJ watching her mother and his father walk off into the distance, she wondered what would happen once they reached her car; but more than that, she wondered about Parker's slip of the tongue and what he and her mother had talked about yesterday. Alexandria now knew that tonight's meeting hadn't been their first encounter since he'd arrived in town, and she had to fight the urge to peer into time and see what the two of them were up to. But for now, she had to let that temptation go to the side because she needed to attend to her own relationship and the thoughts that she could feel swirling around in PJ's head.