One Toe Out (A Complicated Love Story) (6 page)

“
Hey babe, what would you like to eat?”

“
I don’t care, just some toast and coffee. I’m not very hungry.”

“
Is that all? Come on get something different, something exotic,” he gently teased.

“
What do they have?”

J.T. read off some items, “They have made-to-order omelets, muffins, sausage, boiled fish and grits, cereal, waffles and pancakes.”

“
That all sounds so good, I don’t know what to order.”

“
Order one of each.”

“
I can do that,” she protested.

“
Why not?”

“
Because I can’t afford it.” And as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized how silly it sounded. “Oops.”

J.T. laughed. “Yeah, oops. I’ll order one of each.”

“
Thanks, J.T.” She got up and went into the bathroom. She stepped into the shower. “Should I say something about last night? Or should I wait for him to say something? I got to say something.” Her answer came to her rather quickly. “Oh hell!” She quickly showered then strolled to her bedroom. Mannie had purchased a ton of items from Dior’s resort wear collection. She had enough vacation-ey clothes to last her for years. She slipped into a short pink frothy dress that swirled around her thighs.

She returned to the great room and found J.T. texting. After five minutes he set his phone aside and focused on her.

“
How was dinner?”

“
It was wonderful, everything was so beautiful, the restaurant was right on the water, I’ve never seen anything so nice. And the food was delicious. I bet I gain ten pounds by the time I get home.”

“
I’m sorry I missed it. Marcella needed to go over some contracts and by the time we got done, it was too late to drive and I had drunk a little bit too much so we ended up staying the night at her hotel.”

Simone was amazed that he could look her in the eyes and lie so easily to her, which didn’t make sense because he had told her that he’d continue to sleep with men. She laughed, then said, “You don’t have to lie. I know what you were doing last night.”

“
What are you talking about? I was with Marcella we were working,” he fired back.

“
Kirk told me,” she said softly.

J.T.’s eyes widened, he was busted and he knew it. “That happened only one time. I don’t do that all the time,” he said, quick to defend and minimize his actions.

“
Listen, you do you. We have a business arrangement, we’re business partners J.T. and that means that we have to be honest with each other…full disclosure.”

J.T. studied her, contemplating how much to tell her. He rubbed his chin, then spilled. “Kirk was right, I was with a man,” he admitted, but Simone didn’t dispute, whether it was one or two, she couldn’t because she didn’t know. “Hey I’m sorry I lied, I feel very uncomfortable telling this to you. Marcella and Kirk are the only two that knows.”

“
And now me,” Simone added, suddenly feeling a connection to her husband. He had confided in her. Simone wrapped her arms her husband and hugged him tightly. She rested her chin on his shoulder. “We’re a team,” she whispered. “I got your back.”

J.T. kissed her on her forehead. And they continued to hug, like a brother and sister would until room service arrived.

The breakfast was set out on a small table on their private balcony, overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Extra food was put in the kitchen for Kirk and Lillian.

“
Kirk is cute,” Simone said.

J.T. grunted and continued to eat.

“
He’s a geek, but those are the types you have to look out for, I bet he’s the biggest player,” she said nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a piece in every city,” she joked lightly.

“
He has female
friends
.”

“
Does he have a girlfriend,” she casually asked.

J.T. set down his fork. “Why are you so interested in Kirk?”

Simone shrugged, feigning indifference. “Just wondered that’s all. Since he’s one of your best friends and the money guy, we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

“
Oh, okay, I thought maybe you were interested in hooking up with him.” Satisfied with her answer, he picked up his fork and resumed eating.

“
What? No way.”

“
Because that would be fucked up, he’s my best friend.”

“
Stop worrying, trust me, when I hook up with someone it won’t be Kirk.”

J.T. pointed his fork at her. “It better not be, because if you do, this deal is off. You hear me?”

Simone swallowed her disappointment, then smiled tightly. “I heard you.”

Chapter
8

J.T. stopped in front of a set of security gates, punched his code into the security pad, then patiently waited while the gates slid open.

Their five-day honeymoon had come to an end. It had achieved its purpose, hundreds of photos of the new celebrity couple were everywhere. And Marcella was fielding hundreds of requests from magazines, newspapers and TV shows that wanted to interview them. Some production companies had even sent over some reality show treatments that they wanted J.T. and Simone to look at. As soon as she saw those, she immediately tossed them in the garbage, there was no way in hell would she allow a camera invade her client’s life, pandemonium would ensue.

“
Ah, home sweet home,” he said, while driving up to his house. After spending nearly six months on the road traveling with the Jaguars, he had come to appreciate the sanctuary of his home. He heard Simone’s gasp of surprise. “Beautiful huh?”

“
J.T. this is out of this world. I’ve only seen places like this on MTV Cribs. How big is it?” she asked awed, he lived in a mansion.

J.T. was relaxed while he drove his car on the winding tree-line driveway up to his home. His seat was reclined back, he had one hand resting on the steering wheel and the other comfortably on the armrest. “Oh, it’s huge. It’s about twenty thousand square feet; there are six bedrooms, a huge media room, a sitting room, a fitness room with adjoining sauna and bath and a huge kitchen. I’ll give you a tour as soon as we get settled.”

He tapped his garage door opener and Simone’s mouth dropped at the fleet of cars. J.T. pulled his Bentley next to his Lamborghini. He had a Land Rover, a classic mustang, and a Toyota Camry. Her car was there, since they had left for Vegas on such short notice Aleesha had arranged for her car to be picked up at her mother’s house and driven over to J.T.’s.

“
Boy, you sure love cars,” she exclaimed, when she stepped out of the Bentley. She noticed that the garage floor looked clean enough to eat off. She strolled over to her car and patted it.

J.T. noticed and grinned, he had done the same thing when he had bought his first expensive car after he had signed his first ten million dollar contract. He didn’t believe that the car was his either.

“
Come on in.” He guided her into the house and she let out another surprised scream, he simply smiled. “I had Aleesha pick up a couple things for you to wear. But if you like we can go shopping tomorrow and buy you a wardrobe.” He stopped in the kitchen and dropped his keys on the island.

“
Yeah, shopping would be nice,” she answered absent-mindedly. She didn’t know much about kitchens, but something told her that everything in here was top-of-the-line. “Everything is so shiny, I love your stainless steel appliances.” She ran her hand over the island. “What’s this?”

“
Granite. And all the cupboards are maple. Take your time and look around. Ernesto, the cook must be out on an errand, otherwise he would be here.” He sat on one of the stools. “Do you like to cook?” he asked, he hardly knew anything about her.

Simone shrugged. “I don’t know. Mom always cooked at home and Joe always cooked at the diner, so I never had to.” She opened a door, which turned out to be the pantry; it was better stocked than a corner store grocery. She closed it and walked over to her husband. “Maybe I can take cooking classes, that would be fun.”

“
That’ll be cool, or if you don’t want to go out. Ask Ernesto, he’s a trained chef, he graduated from the Sorbonne in France.”

“
Wow!”

“
Hey, can you get me a soda?”

Simone rolled her eyes. “Now you sound like a husband,” she joked. She sauntered over to the fridge and pulled it open. “What kind?” Ten different flavors were lined up on a rack.

“
Surprise me.”

“
Will do.” She grabbed one then was about to toss it to him then changed her mind, she didn’t want to risk him hurting his hand. She walked it over to him instead. “So you mentioned something about a shopping trip tomorrow,” she said just as J.T. swallowed his drink and he almost choked. Simone raced behind him and patted him on the back.

“
Whew! Thanks, that was funny,” he said, recovering. “I didn’t think you heard me.”

“
I kinda didn’t. I was so focused on this beautiful kitchen. So we’re going shopping?”

“
Yeah, and you don’t have to hold my hand, we don’t have to kiss, it won’t be a publicity stunt, it’ll just be me taking a friend out shopping.”

Simone grinned. “That sounds wonderful. So…you think of me as a friend?” she asked shyly.

“
I sure do.” J.T. took another sip of his drink. “Come on let’s finish the tour.” He began walking and Simone followed him out the kitchen. Simone’s eyes were wide with awe as J.T. gave her the tour. “So tell me about your childhood.”

“
It was hard on so many different levels. In elementary school and all the way up to high school, most of the kids hated me because I was so light and I had long hair. The girls hated me, they used to chase me home and beat me up and they constantly threatened to cut off my hair. I never understood how people can hate you for something you have no control over, it wasn’t like I asked God for all this, I was born this way.”

J.T. chuckled. “I think I can relate to that but go on.” He guided her through the living and dining rooms, and a small sitting area.

Simone strolled beside him while they made their way downstairs. “The funny thing was they loved Lawrence, he was just as light, but he has hazel eyes, and he always kept his hair short and wavy, so all the girls wanted him because they wanted the pretty babies and the guys thought he was cool.” She shook her head at the memory. “And since my dad was either in prison or MIA my mom held it down, she did a fantastic job. There were times when we didn’t have electricity or we didn’t have enough food to eat, so she didn’t eat and just gave the food to my brother and myself.” Suddenly overwhelmed with emotions, she stopped walking and leaned against the wall, and began crying.

J.T. stood by and let her cry it out. After a couple of minutes, she composed herself. “That’s why I bought her that house and I’m gonna buy her a car. She sacrificed to make sure that Lawrence and I didn’t go without, she deserves everything I’m giving her and more.” She sniffled softly.

J.T. walked behind the bar and looked for some tissue. He handed her a handful.

“
Thanks.” Simone dabbed at her eyes and nose. “This is awesome. I’m sorry, I can’t think of a better word. This is a fully stocked bar.” She stepped behind the bar and tossed the soiled tissues in the garbage. She touched a hand pump. “I thought about being a bartender once.”

“
You can always practice here,” he said kindly.

“
Yeah and I can watch TV while doing it. What the hell?” She nodded at his media room.

J.T. had the nerve to look ashamed. “Yeah, it’s a bit of an overkill.”

Simone wasn’t good with gauging TV sizes, but she guessed the main screen to be seventy inches and the two next to it to be forty.

“
Sometimes if I have the guys over to watch a basketball game or something, I like to have three different shows on.”

“
Yeah, just a bit of an overkill, but I love it!”

“
Thanks. You know that this is your home too, so don’t feel shy about walking around and exploring for yourself or feel funny about using anything. I don’t want you to feel like a guest.”

Simone beamed at him and touched his arm lightly. “Thanks J.T.”

J.T. draped an arm over her shoulder and they continued their walk. “So did you ever go to college?”

“
I did. I got an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration. I never had the urge to go any further.” She grinned up at him, she liked having his arm around her shoulders, it was almost paternal, but certainly brotherly. “I found waitressing to be easy and the hours were flexible. And the tips were decent, I wasn’t going to get rich working there, but I enjoyed it.”

“
Ah, but you did get rich,” J.T. said somewhat jokingly.

“
Yes I did. Wow! Look at that.”

They had stopped at a fully equipped gym. “I work out here during the off season, and just through those doors is a sauna and a pool.”

They backtracked until they stopped at a door Simone hadn’t noticed. J.T. pushed a button.

“
An elevator? This house has an elevator?” she asked when the door slid open and they stepped inside.

“
Yep, we’re on our way to the third floor. You can walk it if you like. But I’m tired.” Moments later the door swung open and they stepped into the hall. “Come on, let me show you my suite first.” He nodded to a guest room as they passed it. “Here we are.” He dramatically swung open the door and Simone couldn’t hold back her gasp. The master suite, was bigger than her mom’s ranch house. A huge bed, bigger than a king size bed held a prominent spot, and to the right was a sitting area, with a full size sofa, a huge HDTV, and fireplace. He proudly showed her his walk-in closet and his bathroom that was filled with marble, travertine and gold accented fixtures.