Page 33

Titan

I looked up from putting the baked ziti I cooked on our plates when I heard Bailey’s house shoes slowly shuffling across the floor like she was an old lady. Then I had to bite back my laugh when I saw she was wearing a long floral Mumu that swished around her ankles with each step she took.

“My poor baby,” I said, stopping what I was doing to rush across the room. As soon as I was in front of her, I bent down and scooped her into my arms.

Hopefully, the next time I carry her like this she will be my wife.

The thought of Bailey being my wife filled my chest with warmth as I sat her down at the dining table in front of the large floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the Cincinnati skyline.

“I have something for you,” I said, going back to the kitchen. After I poured her a glass of water I grabbed the small box off the counter. “Ta-da!” I said with a flourish bringing the box of ibuprofen from behind my back after I put her water down on the table in front of her.

“Awwwwww baby! You love me! You really love me!” I laughed when she snatched the pills from me and then held them like she was Halle Berry the night she won her Academy Award.

“You are so damn dramatic, but you’re right I really love you.

” I leaned down and kissed her temple. “I figured you could use some relief after I loosened that ass up for big daddy,” I whispered against her hair and when she rolled her eyes I winked at her before I went back to the kitchen to get our food.

I cooked baked ziti, garlic bread, and a bowl of salad and when I sat Bailey’s plate in front of her, she took a deep inhale and let out a satisfied moan.

“Will you hurry up and get your food? My stomach ‘bout to eat my back. I’m starving.” I chuckled at Bailey’s complaining. When I sat down, I reached across the table and grabbed her hand so we could say grace. Once we finished saying prayers, Bailey wasted no time fucking up her food.

“Oh, my damn.” When her eyes rolled into her head after she took her first bite, I couldn’t help but laugh. “You keep cooking like this, my ass is going to be bigger than what it already is. Instead of an onion, it’s going to turn into a watermelon,” she said, eating another forkful of pasta.

“Then that’s just more for me to love,” I said, chewing my food.

The smile on Bailey’s face made my heart quicken.

She was so damn beautiful, and her smile never failed to make my heart race.

I was sipping my water and studying her face when her smile faded.

She looked deep in thought as she started eating her salad, and just as I was about to ask her what was wrong, she finally broke the silence.

“I want you to meet my mom.” I couldn’t hold back my smile because she looked so damn nervous after she said that.

“I think it’s about time. Let me know when and where and I’m there.” I saw her shoulders relax. “Were you nervous that I would say no?”

“Nah. I was just nervous about you meeting her. She’s met boyfriends I had as a teenager, but I’ve only introduced her to one boyfriend I’ve had as an adult, and she called my brothers.

” She shook her head, “When they brought their asses over her house Dante came in wearing his hospital scrubs covered in fake blood and Anthony had an AK47 strapped to his chest and a grenade on his hip…that was the last time I saw that man and that was the last time I introduced any man I was dating to them.” I laughed because I could definitely picture her brothers doing that bullshit.

“Your brothers are a trip but it’s going to take more than that to run me off.

I can’t wait to meet my mother-in-law.” I wasn’t smiling when I said it because I wasn’t joking and I stared at her to gauge her reaction but when she only smiled and nodded her head in approval, I relaxed my shoulders.

You think I was about to let Bailey, and her good ass pussy get away from me?

I think the fuck not. We were locked the fuck in now that I took the rubber off and was shooting the club up almost daily.

Not to mention my baby was a boss, smart as hell, ambitious, kind, and she made me smile and made my heart skip a beat each time I was in her presence.

We sat and enjoyed the rest of our food as we talked about random subjects.

I loved talking about sports and like me, she also thought LeBron James was the GOAT.

Once we were done eating, she cleared the table and stored the leftovers while I washed the dishes.

My heart was filled with so much love for this woman because of how natural being with her and doing shit like this felt.

It was like we just had a natural rhythm we fell into, and I loved that for us.

After I finished wiping down her countertops and kitchen island, I was about to suggest we watch a movie, but I stopped myself when I realized I didn’t see a television anywhere.

“Do you own a TV?” I asked, looking around.

“Of course, I do, remember we watched a movie one night, but you fell asleep before the opening credits.” She laughed and pointed to a big ass painting of flowers above the mantle of her gas fireplace in the living room.

“The art frame above the fireplace is my TV. I have another one in the bedroom. Did you want to watch something?”

Once I nodded my head, she turned on the TV and let me choose a movie out of the thousands she had downloaded.

I ended up choosing Coming to America and laid down on her plush sectional.

I reached my hand out for her to join me.

When she sat down, she laid back so that she was between my legs.

After she laid her head on my chest I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

I smiled when the movie started because this was the life I wanted just a lazy day chilling and relaxing with the woman I love.

M onday came too damn quick for me. I spent the entire weekend with Bailey.

We worked out, ate, laughed, and most importantly explored more of each other.

I was insatiable when it came to her. I felt like a horny ass teenager all over again because all she had to do was look at me and I was ready to nail her ass against any surface.

I left for work from her house this morning and it was so hard for me to leave her.

There was no inch of her place that didn’t have mine or her naked ass against it, which reminds me I need to call a cleaning service to deep clean her couches, I would hate to see that shit under a blacklight.

All the fluids we left on her couch and sectional this weekend, I was surprised the cushions didn’t feel hard and crunchy when we sat down.

The memory of Bailey’s ass high in the air, while I had her thick hair wrapped around my fist as I took her from behind on her balcony had my dick hardening.

I immediately moved my laptop bag in front of me while I waited for the elevator to take me to the top floor.

I had a jam-packed day, so I was here bright and early before anyone was scheduled to be in the office.

I let out a deep breath as I remembered that my first and longest meeting today was with Brandon Moore, the CEO of a tech startup I recently agreed to award a three million dollar grant to so they could start developing drones.

Any other day I would be excited to be putting all of my focus into work, but since meeting Bailey that was not the case.

I suddenly wanted a work life balance that included spending all of my free time with her.

Now that she was on my mind, I decided to send her a quick text. I was still looking down at my phone as I approached my office when I saw movement out the corner of my eye. When I looked up, my body froze.

“Eva.” The name came out of my mouth like a curse. Suddenly every good feeling I had a second ago left my body. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Her head jerked back like I slapped her, and I could tell by the look on her skeletal ass face that my anger surprised her, but she recovered quickly. She stood up from one of the leather chairs in the waiting area on my floor and walked toward me.

“Well, that’s no way to greet a lady.” She lifted her chin in defiance.

I couldn’t believe this lying hoe had the audacity to be upset about how I spoke to her but something I learned about people like Eva was that the one thing they always had in abundance was the fucking audacity.

I couldn’t believe that I was standing face to face with my ex-wife.

After I left her grandmother’s house in Tennessee with my heart shattered, I thought I was never going to see her ass again.

Yet, here she was standing in front me wearing a pinstripe business suit; her pencil skirt looked a little baggy on her because it didn’t hug her hips like Bailey’s did because Eva has always been thin.

Her hair hit her chin in a straight bob that was parted down the middle, and her impossibly high heels had her almost eye level with me.

She was wearing more makeup than I was used to seeing her in, but it blended with her mahogany skin flawlessly and her cat-shaped eyes looked mischievous.

Eva still looked beautiful, too bad I hated her fucking guts.

“I’m sorry for my rudeness, I meant to say what the fuck are you doing here?” I felt my eye twitch and knew I was losing my patience.

“I remembered back when you were starting your company you liked to always be the first to arrive, especially when you had an important meeting.” She smiled and I felt my anger rise.

How dare she stand here and remember shit about me?

Like we were friends or some shit. But a suspicious idea was starting to form in my mind.

“Answer my question, before I have security escort you out of here.” I felt a headache building behind my twitching eye and I felt myself about to snap.

“I’m your first meeting,” she answered quickly, and it felt like the ground opened underneath my feet.