Page 20

COCO

“Girl! Why am I seeing my best friend’s face on several social media blogs?”

Haven’s excitement didn’t match mine.

I woke up this morning mortified at seeing myself plastered to Adir’s body on that red carpet.

Many of the posts were highlighting the Mayor’s Grande Ball, and yet somehow, my face and ass were front and center.

“I had a good time despite having a slight run-in with Adir’s ex. Dr. Genika Grace is something else.”

“Did she try you?” Haven’s voice perked up even more like she wanted to jump through the phone.

“Of course, she did.” Sighing, I said, “She’s pregnant.”

Haven gasped loudly.

“I know it sounds crazy.” I chuckled a bit.

“Adir told me long before last night. He’s adamant that it isn’t his.”

“Well… What do you think?”

“I think that Dr. Grace isn’t going to stand by and let me have peace with Adir. She comes across as stubborn and arrogant. And honestly… I believe Adir.” Which made me a little uneasy.

To take the side of a man over the word of a woman told me just how deep I was with him.

“My observation is that Adir really loves his boys. Being there and seeing it with my own eyes made me realize that you’re safe. That’s the only way I’m able to get through my day without feeling like I need to hop a plane to come see you. He has no reason to lie. Especially not to you. Not with everything he’s already done for you.”

“Right,” I mumbled.

“So, put that jealous chicken out of your mind and let’s focus on the real issue at hand. Baby, the people wanna know who that lil’ fine shit iiisss!” she dragged comically.

I laughed and said, “Girl, stop it.”

“And won’t. You are glowing ! And Adir was looking at you like he wanted to eat you off the bone!”

Blushing hard, I couldn’t even put into words just how good Adir made my body feel.

My heavy sigh told Haven all she needed to know.

She screeched loud as hell in my ear.

I burst out laughing at her crazy ass.

“Will you calm down,” I told her.

“Nope! I got a before he ate you off the bone picture. Send me the after!”

“No!” I cracked up.

She pouted on the other end.

“What kind of friend are you?”

“A good one,” I reminded her.

“Wasn’t I the one who convinced you to give Jabari a chance?”

She clicked her teeth.

“Okay, whatever. But a good friend would appease her best friend’s imagination. Now I gotta spend all day wondering if your edges are still intact.”

I hollered so loud.

“You’re crazy! And for your information, I got all my edges… It’s the use of my legs I don’t have.”

Haven nearly choked on the other end of the phone.

Throwing back my head, I joined her in laughing so hard my cheeks hurt.

The laughter died on my lips when Adir appeared at the bathroom door.

He wore nothing but a pair of designer gray slacks and a smirk.

His tattooed chest was moisturized and begging for me to run my fingers all over him.

“Haven, I’ll call you back,” I said abruptly.

She was still laughing when I hung up.

My face darkened at Adir staring at me.

Those eyes… He knew damn well they were dangerous.

“So, that’s why you sittin’ in that chair?” he asked.

Clearing my throat, I shifted in the high back chair and looked at myself in the mirror.

I was supposed to be applying my makeup so that we could get out of here at a decent time.

Church would be starting soon, and Adir wanted the whole family to go.

I was sure Quilo was in his room having a fit about us going since we hadn’t been to anything church related in years.

Adir walked up to stand behind me.

His hands rested on my shoulders, massaged them, then moved down my chest until they rested on my breasts.

My nipples hardened, and my middle clinched tightly as if I’d never felt a man’s touch.

Adir isn’t just any man.

He leaned down and rested his chin on the top of my head.

We stared at each other in the bathroom mirror.

“You see what I see?” he questioned.

I saw a lot of things; things I wasn’t too sure I wanted to voice.

For one, he looked at me like he was mesmerized.

His touch was feather light and still so sure.

Bold and yet subtle, his cologne reminded me that anything about Adir made me crumble and cave like a brittle ant bed.

I must’ve taken too long to answer because he chuckled lowly.

“I see a masterpiece of Black ass love, my baby.”

Love ?

My heart raced in my chest. I was sure he felt it against his wrist.

“We have five amazing young men we’re raising together. We have our careers, our home… We have each other. And we’re gon’ walk into church today showing just how dope this family is.”

He kissed my neck, then my cheek.

I turned to accept his kiss on my lips.

How was it even possible to fall in love this way?

Especially with a man that I was still getting to know.

Confusion wanted to smack the hell out of clarity.

However, clarity fought back.

I snagged Adir’s freshly groomed beard and brought his lips back to mine.

“If I’m dreaming, keep me there,” I whispered.

His eyes softened, and a gentle smile graced his face.

“That’s the thing, my love. We’re both awake.”

My smile matched his.

“Now get ready before we’re late. Bishop Harris is good for callin’ out the late folks.”

I burst out laughing.

While I was doing so, he kissed my ear, then mumbled in my ear, “I took it easy on you last night.”

Leaning back, he looked at the expression written on my stupefied face and chuckled.

His hand moved to cover my neck, and for a brief second, his grip was tight as he bit into his lip.

I gasped because he could literally snatch me out of this chair if he wanted to and nothing about it scared me.

Quite the opposite. I wanted him to snatch me out of this chair and carry me back downstairs to the bed.

“I have the upmost respect for you, and there’s not a damn thing I wouldn’t do for you. When it comes to makin’ love… We gon’ brand each other’s bodies in a way that dares anybody to touch what we have. Yeah?”

There was a loud warning mixed in his statement.

One that I received loud and clear.

Swallowing hard, I replied, “Yeah.”

He pecked my lips and disappeared out of the bathroom with me staring after him.

Sighing, I turned back to the mirror.

“Genika, girl, I get it. You can’t have my man, though.”

Long before Adir had my body under his control, he had my mind.

As far as I was concerned, he’d branded me the night he saved me and my brother’s lives.

So, no. I wasn’t coming off that man, and I damn sure wasn’t sharing him.

Genika had better tread lightly.

I wasn’t a fighter, and I hated drama.

However, for Adir… I was going to get active every single time.

Two hours later, to my surprise, we walked into Greater Rock Ministries and my eyes instantly fell on a woman who favored Genika.

Without the slightest misgivings, she turned her nose up at the sight of me.

Adir ushered me past her without even acknowledging her.

Inside the sanctuary, my eyes sought out Genika.

If she was here, Adir and I would have to find another church.

She was pregnant, her mouth was reckless, and I didn’t have time for it.

Service moved along great and a few times I even caught Quilo deep in thought as he listened to Bishop Harris.

The young Black man standing on the pulpit couldn’t be more than thirty years old, but he sounded well ahead of his time.

After service ended, the family gathered at One Bell Place for Sunday dinner.

“I was glad to see you at church today,” Minnie said to me.

We sat at one of the patio tables situated in the backyard.

The grass was cut low and thick beneath my feet.

Although I was still in my church attire, the day was nice, so all I’d done was remove my heels.

The backyard was lively with gospel playing on the sound system, the men manning the grills, and the younger family members finding anything to do accept be in grown folks’ business.

Across the lawn, Quilo sat at another table with Humble and Peace.

Whatever they were talking about had him laughing and enjoying himself.

My stomach rumbled viciously at the smell of ribs, chicken, and burgers being grilled.

I peeped a few pans of peach cobbler resting on one of the serving tables.

That was my absolute favorite desert, and I heard that Aunt Maddie made the best peach cobbler.

Aunt Maddie was so sweet and pretty with her elegant church hat blocking the sun from beating down on her wrinkle-free skin.

Her dog, Toast, yapped and carried on until she picked her up and sat her in her lap.

“I enjoyed service. Hopefully, I can make it more often.”

Minnie grinned.

“Oh, you will. Adir normally comes once a month.” She shook her head.

“Today he looked proud to be sitting there with you and the boys.”

I smiled a little too hard.

“I’m happy…”

“We can tell,” Bianca stated.

She cleared her throat and added, “I saw Genika approach you last night. Please don’t let her get in your head. She’s been trying to nail my brother down for years.” She rolled her eyes.

Bringing up Genika almost caused me to lose my appetite, and I was too hungry for that.

“I agree with my daughter. Women have always thrown themselves at him. He was a hardcore bachelor. Once he became a father, it all slowed down. Which is how Genika even came to be around so long. Adir refused to parade women around those boys. So, Genika was able to keep her claws in him.”

That made a lot more sense to me and somehow made me feel better about the situation.

“I knew when he refused to hire you that he really liked you.” Bianca shook her head and laughed.

Minnie scoffed.

“What?” Her shocked expression bounced from me to Bianca and back.

Chuckling, I shrugged lightheartedly.

“I may have called him a few names…” Bianca burst out laughing.

“ But he deserved it. He flat out told me that I couldn’t work for him.”

Slowly, a smile graced Minnie’s smooth, wise face.

“Oh, he has it bad for you, my dear.”

“Mm, hm,” Bianca added.

Their assumptions made my face heat.

“Well, now that I do work for him, he understands why not hiring me was a bad idea.” We all giggled.

“Adrian is happy that the staff isn’t calling him every five minutes for something,” Bianca mentioned.

“Many people think Adir’s mouth is too much, but Adrian is on another level.”

My mouth dropped.

“Really?”

“Girl, yes,” Bianca replied to which Minnie snickered.

“He learned from Adir and added some to it.”

In disbelief, I shook my head.

“Not sweet, Adrian.”

“Hm.” Minnie’s lips pursed.

“Sometimes, I think that son of mine is heartless. He’s just stern is all.”

“Stern?” Bianca questioned.

“Mama… He had the whole office afraid to even look at him.”

I cackled while Minnie playfully popped Bianca’s hand.

“Oh, don’t say that. Adrian’s not that bad.”

“Oh, but he is. Now that Pretty is the director, everyone comes in with smiles and stuff. With Adrian, you would’ve thought they were working in a morgue or something.”

Minnie and I died laughing at the face Bianca made.

It sounded like she was glad to be free of working with her brother.

“Well, you should know that I love my job. Patient care is imbedded inside me,” I said.

“Aww… Enjoy it while you can,” Minnie suggested.

“The minute you pop up pregnant, Adir is going to shut all that down. He won’t even let his sons work while they’re in school. You think he’s going to let you parade around the dangers of Dr. Bell & Associates while you’re carrying his baby?”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head.

Bianca fell over laughing as I snatched my gaze Adir’s direction.

As if to amplify what Minnie said, he winked at me.

“I’m going to go grab another water. Either of you want one?” Bianca declined while Minnie said, “Sure.” Standing from the table, I took a deep shaky breath and walked over to the table where the drinks were set up.

“Hey,” I spoke to DJ, who was by the drinks making himself a glass of tea.

He added something extra to it.

I giggled because he was trying to sneak and do it.

“My mama see me, she gon’ cut up,” he said.

“By the way, you look fine as hell in that dress, cuzzo.”

The smile on my face dimmed a little.

It wasn’t because he complimented me.

It was because he complimented me.