Naughty 2: My Way or the Highway (16 page)

He winked and chuckled. “Jaylin, it's been a pleasure.” He held out his hand to shake mine, but I just looked at it and grinned. “You're really going to wish that you never came in my house for a drink that night. Right about now, I'd hate to be in your shoes.”

“Good day, Mr. McDaniels, and the next time you come, show a brotha a lil' appreciation for bringing your wife back to life. You failed at doing so, and it's been a true pleasure for me.”

He walked out, and Angela gave me a puzzled look. She couldn't wait to question me, but I was in no mood to talk. She told me Scorpio stopped by to see me, but left after being told I was in an important meeting.

I slammed my office door and checked the messages Angela had transferred to my voicemail while I'd been in with McDaniels. Stephon had called to say that Shane would meet us at Freddy's Bar & Grill that night. We had all been friends in the past, and it had been he and I who fell out over Felicia, not Stephon and Shane. Scorpio had called, too, to say she would be back to see me around three. Nokea had called, thanking me for talking to her about the Pat situation. Two of my clients had called, and Heather had left a message about me coming to see her later. I took a deep breath and hung up the phone. Feeling a bit under pressure, I rested my elbows on my desk and massaged my temples. I hated feeling this way, but there was no way I was going to let anything get to me.

I picked up the phone, and punched in Heather's number to tell her about her stupid-ass husband. There was a knock, then Scorpio cracked the door open. “Angela's not out here, so is it okay to come in?”

I put the receiver back in its cradle. “Sure. I've been waiting for you to come. Shut the door behind you.” My eyes were all over Scorpio. She looked magnificent. She'd parted her hair down the middle, and both sides were full of long, fluffy curls that hung on her shoulders. Her rosy pantsuit had a long jacket that buttoned down the middle and squeezed her perfect waistline. The cuffs of her pants slightly flared out over her red three-inch heels. She sat down in front of my desk, and when she removed her dark DKNY glasses, her puffy eyes gave her away.

“I guess you know I'm here to talk about this second alternative you mentioned last night,” she said, putting her keys on my desk.

“You know, it's really simple. And don't go trying to make me feel sorry for you by letting me see you've been crying. I have no sympathy for you.”

“Good,” she said, sharply. “Now, what's the alternative?”

“Are you rushing me?”

“Yes. So what's the other alternative?”

“I'm one minute from throwing you out of here with this bad-ass attitude you got, and when I tell you that today is not the day to fuck with me, you'd better believe it. So, let's start this conversation over . . . Are you rushing me?” I yelled.

“Yes, but that's because I can't stand the sight of you, and you can't stand the sight of me. The faster we get this over with, the better. I'm here to do whatever I have to do to keep a roof over my head, food in my mouth, and clothes on my back, until I can do better. So, for the last time, what's the alternative?”

“I never said I couldn't stand the sight of you.

You actually just made my day when you walked your pretty self through the door. What I don't understand is why do you feel that way about me?”

“Jaylin, look, I don't feel that way. But who cares about how I feel? You don't. Besides, that's not the point. The point is that I need to know what to do to make this better between us?”

“That's simple. Question is, do you love me?”

She dropped her head and looked down at the floor. She swallowed hard, then lifted her head back up as a tear rolled down her face. She swatted at it. “What does that have to—”

“Do you love me!” I spat each word at her. “If you do, then let me hear you say it!”

A few more tears fell and she nodded. “Yes, yes I love you, but what the hell does that have—”

“Good! And I love you too!” I picked up the phone and slammed it down in front of her. “Call this motherfucker Shane and tell him it's over! Tell him who you love and tell him you never want to see his ass again!”

She shook her head. “Jaylin, that is so petty. Shane knows who I love.”

“Then he won't have a problem with you telling him again.” I picked up the receiver. “What's his number?” I asked, ready to dial it myself. She turned the phone toward her and dialed. I hit the button for speakerphone to make sure she wasn't playing no games with me. And just my luck, the bastard answered.

“Hello?” he said.

“Shane, hi. It's Scorpio.”

“I know. Recognize your sexy voice anywhere.”

I looked at Scorpio with disgust.

“Hey, I need to talk to you about something,” she said.

“I hope about when, where, and how we're going to finish up what we started last night. I've been thinking . . .”

Scorpio hesitated and I whispered for her to get to the point. “Shane,” she interrupted. “I've been thinking about last night too, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to say that you were right.”

“Right about what? Hopefully about us being together?”

“No. About me possibly hurting you because I'm in love with Jaylin. It was wrong for me to let things go as far as they did last night when I still have strong feelings for him. I was just calling to say I'm sorry about the whole thing, and if you don't hear from me anymore it's because—”

“Because you're afraid to let a real man love you. I felt a connection with you last night. And no matter what you say, I know you felt it too. If you're telling me that you're moving on, fine. I'll accept that and I truly wish you well.” He hung up.

I turned off the speakerphone. “Now, that wasn't so bad, was it? And since you really love me, that made it a whole lot easier, didn't it?”

Scorpio stood and removed her keys from my desk. She put her glasses back on and headed to the door. “Sex tonight?” I asked. “I think we got a little something to celebrate.”

“And what might that be?” she said dryly. “Never mind, surprise me, Jaylin. You seem to be full of surprises lately, so wait until later to tell me. I'm sure whatever it is, I'll enjoy it.”

“You always do, don't you? And put on something sexy. Red is your color, but black makes me rise a bit faster.”

“Black, blue, purple, green, whatever,” she said, still with attitude. “Your shit will rise no matter who or what color it is. I don't have anything sexy to put on, so don't count on it.”

I reached in my pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. I balled it up and threw it in her direction. It landed at her feet. “Go buy yourself something sexy. Thanks to me, Saks Fifth Avenue probably knows you by name, don't they? And since you're so good at spending my money, I'm sure it won't take long for you to find something
black
that arouses me. I'll be there by nine, so don't disappoint me.” Scorpio looked down at the money, rolled her eyes, and walked out. A little while later, I gathered a few of my belongings and left for the day. I noticed that Mr. McDaniels hadn't taken his tape with him, so I tossed it into my briefcase in case I wanted to watch it later.

As I was driving, I called Heather's cell phone number. She didn't answer, so I left a message for her to call me. Sure her hubby would hear it, I spiced it up a bit and told her I was dying to fuck.

When I got home, Mackenzie and Nanny B were in the bonus room watching
Monsters, Inc
. I showered, changed clothes, and told them I would be back later. Mackenzie put up a fuss, but I promised her we would do something together on the weekend when LJ came over.

I got to Freddy's Bar & Grill around seven o'clock. Stephon was already sitting at a booth, and waved at me when I came through the door. I didn't see Shane yet.

Stephon must have had the same idea as I, because his outfit was banging. We both had on our leather pants and lizard-skin boots. He wore a multi-colored sweater with zigzags on it and a hat to match. I wore a black-ribbed, long-sleeved v-neck sweater that hugged my muscles and matched my black leather boppy hat. My gold diamond Rolex glistened on one wrist; my thick nugget gold bracelet on the other.

“I know you didn't try and go all out for this brotha, did you?” I said, grinning and bumping knuckles with him.

“I didn't try, I did. And looks like you did too.” We both laughed and sat the booth.

“So, where this ol' wishy-washy nigga at? Probably at home soaking cause I made Scorpio call him today and diss his ass.”

“Whaaat? And she did it?”

“Come on, you don't have to ask, do you?”

Stephon shook his head. “Jay, you know you be playing with fire.”

“Who gives a damn? I'm so mad at her ass that I could just kill her. Tonight, though, I'm gonna put a hurting on that ass.”

“You need some help?”

I laughed. “Naw, man, I got it all taken care of. I'm gonna set that ass out so good tonight, that when another brotha walk by she'll be afraid to even look at him.”

“Well, damn. Just don't make it where she don't want to look at my black ass.”

“You silly, man, but, uh, I kind of got a bigger fish to fry.”

“Bigger fish like what?”

“Mr. Robert McDaniels. Heather's husband. Son of a bitch came on my job today and disrespected me. He threatened me and offered me seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars to disappear.”

“And? What did you tell him? You better not have taken the money, Jay.”

“Fool, don't you know anything about me? I told him to get the fuck out of my office and damn near put my foot in his ass. Thing is, he's been watching me. Trying to find out shit about me and I don't like that. I'm a private man, and I'd like to keep it that way.”

“So, do you want to do away with this motherfucker or what?”

I looked out the window. “Naw, I ain't trying to go out like that, 'cause I hope after today he realizes I ain't no poot-butt Negro he can order around.”

“Well, if I were you, I wouldn't even sweat it. If he dig a little further into our family's history, and find out how many relatives we got locked up for murder, he'll back off. If not, all you have to do is say the word. His ass will be the one disappearing. Just like—”

“Man, I know. Don't be talking that stuff up in here. Ain't no telling who might be listening. Besides, that punk-ass fool Shane is on his way in. I just saw him park his car.”

“What's he driving?”

“A Lexus. An older one.”

Stephon and I pretended to hold a heavy conversation when Shane came in. When he got to the booth, Stephon stood and displayed a wide grin. I didn't say shit and checked out Shane from head to toe.

“Whaz up, man? Ain't seen yo ass in a long time.” Stephon said, then moved aside so Shane could slide into the booth next to him.

“Nothing, nothing much,” he said. “Just been chillin', that's all. Teaching, tutoring, designing, and painting my life away.”

“You forgot something,” I said.

“Excuse me. Forgot what?”

“You forgot to mention that you've been placing your mouth where it doesn't belong.”

“Ahh... So, that's what this is about. Scorpio? Well, I've been doing that, too, but if that's what you two gentlemen want to talk with me about, I don't have time.”

“Jay,” Stephon said. “Why don't you hold it down?” He looked at Shane who was getting ready to leave. I knew Stephon was trying to calm things down and remind us that we had been good friends once. But he didn't understand the level of animosity that stirred between us.

Stephon continued. “Shane, listen, we didn't call you here to scold you or anything. We just wanted to find out the down-low on a couple of females. Since we're boys and everythang, I thought we might be able to sit down and talk about this like brothas who got each other's backs. So, hang around for a while. Order yourself a drink and let's talk.”

“Yeah, man,” I said. “I apologize for coming off like that, but I'm having a bad-ass day today. My lady came home last night, late, and told me that she just got off in your mouth. Now, I don't know how upset you would be if it was your woman, but I ain't too damn thrilled about it.”

“Trust me,” Shane said. “I understand your pain. But a few years ago, my woman came into my bedroom and told me my dick wasn't big enough. Said she found a brotha with a mega thang who liked to work it from behind, and do it in the shower. And the killer part about it was when she said it was one of my closet friends. Can you even imagine how pissed I was?”

“Of course, but why you be out for revenge? Especially over a bitch like Felicia. If anything, I did you a favor.”

“I know, Jay. And believe it or not, I'm not out for revenge. I think you have a beautiful woman, and if she wasn't yours, she'd definitely be mine.”

“I'm feeling you on that one,” Stephon said, pounding his chest. “I've been saying the same damn thing for months.”

“Well, I don't care what neither one of you fellas say. She's my woman, she's going to be with me and only me.” I paused and gave both of them a serious look. “And even though I have a funny way of loving her, I do.”

“What? Shane, did you just hear what he said?” Stephon asked.

“Naw, I didn't. I must have something clogged in my ears. Did he just say he was in love with someone?”

“Naw, not Jay. This is definitely some new shit to me,” Stephon said.