Page 11

FOUR DAYS LATER

When his private plane landed at the Victorville airfield and he saw his flight crew walk down the airstairs carrying all of her luggage, he got out of the limo at the bottom of the stairs, buttoned his suitcoat, and waited to see her remarkable face again.

Tim his driver got out of the limo, too, and opened the trunk for the crew to deposit her luggage. He smiled at how uncomfortable they seemed around the Boss, as if he was judging their every movement. But he knew the boss better than that. He wasn’t paying his workers any attention at all. He only had eyes for Roni Ross.

When she finally stepped off of the plane, and he saw her radiant face again, his heart lurched with pure joy. She was back on his turf now. After all those years living in two separate cities, they were now under the same city roof again and Brax could not have been more pleased.

They saw each other four days ago, but he missed her already. And ever since he finally made love to her after wanting it so badly for so long, he missed her and it desperately.

But he was worried, too, because he knew there was no way he was going to be able to keep his hands off of her. Not after the way she did him that night. Not after the way she made him feel even after that night. Not after the way he couldn’t stop dreaming about her every time he closed his eyes since that night, or had any waking moment where he wasn’t working himself to death, or especially when he was making love to another woman.

He didn’t want those women. But Roni’s mother was right: that itch was in his bloodstream as sure as the day was long and he always had to have it scratched. And scratched by different women who scratched it in different ways. And although any woman would do, it was Roni and only Roni he thought about while they were doing it.

He wished he didn’t have that problem, but he did.

He wished he didn’t have the DNA he had, but he did.

He wished he could trust himself to know that Roni would be enough for him. But he didn’t trust himself at all. Not with her heart.

But as he watched her descend those stairs, his heart was filled with so much love and so much lust for her that it alarmed him. How in the world, he wondered for the hundredth time, was he going to keep his hands off of her? And the love part? He knew long ago he loved her deeply. There was no doubt in his mind about his love for her. But it was stronger too.

He’d heard all his life that the love of a good woman conquered all, but he knew that was a got damn lie. His father loved his mother with all his heart: she was his dream woman. And he broke her heart asunder. Broke it every way a heart could possibly be broken. And he was his father’s son. He saw what that DNA did to his mother. He wasn’t doing that to Roni.

But even his mother always told him that he was nothing like his father, and that she truly believed he could change if he went to therapy and tried.

He went to therapy so many times it was ridiculous. He tried and tried and tried to give up his womanizing ways. But it didn’t work at all. Not even for one good week. And since that didn’t work, what else he could do? Use Roni as his guinea pig? Destroy everything he loved about her if the experiment didn’t work? No way was he doing that to her.

He’d already broken his promise to her mother to stay away from her. He wasn’t breaking Roni’s heart on top of it.

That was why, long before it got to where it was too late to turn back from unbreak her heart territory, he was staying out. For her sake, yes, but for his sake too. If he broke Roni’s heart, he truly believed it would break him.

When Roni saw him leaned against his limousine, looking his usual gorgeously sexy self, something broke inside of her and she hurried down those airstairs in her high heels and her above-the-knee leather dress that revealed her smooth, perfect legs, and ran to him. For some reason, she’d missed him desperately.

He stopped leaning and stood upright when he saw her running to him. Tim, his longtime driver, had never seen her so excited to see the boss in all the years he’d known her. But she seemed thrilled this time. What, he wondered, had changed?

And when she hit the bottom stair and fell into Brax’s arms, it was Brax who was overwhelmed with joy. They held each other tightly. Although Roni was smiling and happy to see Brax, Tim could see that the boss had his eyes tightly shut as if it was far more an emotional display for him. Everybody in town knew he loved that girl, although he’d deny it to their faces, but neither of them ever displayed much about their relationship in public. This was all new to Tim.

It was new to Brax as well, that was why he felt every inch of her as he held her. That was why it wasn’t at all about his penis getting hard, although it had gotten very hard, but it was all about her. About how happy she was to see him. About how she wasn’t holding his insistence that she return back home against him. About how he was still struck by how wonderful they made love that night in New York.

When they stopped embracing, he pulled back to get a good look at her. From her perfect afro to her perfect dress style to her gorgeous face, he’d never seen a prettier picture. “I’m glad to see you happy again,” he said to her.

“And I am,” she said. “I’m a bit nervous about the new job and if it’s going to be better or more of the same bull crap, but I’m not at all worried about coming back home. I’m glad to be back home again.”

Just back home , he wanted to ask, or back home with me again ? But he dared not go there. “Hop in,” he said. “All that luggage you had to pack,” he added as he watched his flight crew fill up the trunk of the limo, “I’m sure you’re tired.”

Roni laughed, said hello to Tim, and then got in the car.

After the luggage was in place, and Brax was in the backseat of the limo beside Roni, Tim drove off.

They didn’t speak for several minutes as they both seemed to be adjusting to each other again. Roni had tried with all she could to forget about that night in bed, and Brax had tried to do the same, but as soon as their bodies touched, it was an impossibility.

Because sitting in that limo, as the silence reigned, they were right back in that moment yet again. It was going to be difficult, they both knew, to keep their hands off of each other.

Brax finally gave in. His thoughts of her were getting to be obsessive. “Your job doesn’t start for another three weeks,” he said. “What are your plans?”

“What are your plans?”

Brax exhaled. “Unfortunately, I have to go back to Europe.”

“Already? You just got back yesterday.”

“I’m in and out of the country seemingly every other week lately. That won’t be changing any time soon.”

“What’s wrong this time? More problems with your Brussels plant?”

“Brussels, no. We settled that strike to the satisfaction of everybody. But apparently word got around and now another plant, this one in Frankfurth, is threatening to strike too.”

“The one in Germany? Is it as big as your Belgium plant?”

“Bigger,” said Brax. “The largest one I have in Europe. They handle sixty percent of our European cargo in and out.”

“That’s a big number.”

“Tell me about it.”

They were both slouched down, leaned against each other, shoulder to shoulder. But Roni could tell he was a man who had too much on his plate. “Why don’t you let your executives handle it? You’ve got thousands of suits all over the world collecting those big paychecks you pay them.”

“I did let them handle it. And that’s why we’re on the brink of another strike.”

Roni laughed. “So you’re one of those if I don’t do it, it won’t get done kind of bosses, eh?”

“Better believe it. I’ll figure it out and come back to town in one piece.” He smiled. “So don’t worry about me. You have enough to worry about with this life change of yours.”

“I agree,” she said.

“Speaking of your life change, what are your plans until you start your brand new job three weeks from now?”

“Well, I’ve got a list of apartments I want to check out. That’s the first thing. A couple of them are looking really promising. I’ll stay with Jayla until I can get my own crib.”

Brax looked at her. “Jayla? And apartments? Why would you need to stay with Jayla? Why would you need to check out apartments?”

“I sold my mom’s house after she passed away, remember? I need a place to stay.”

“Didn’t I tell you I was going to handle that? You have a place to stay.”

“I’m not staying with you, Brax.”

Brax gave her an I know that’s right look. “You better believe you aren’t.”

Roni looked at him.

“I’m not about to let you cramp my style, are you kidding me?”

They both laughed, although Roni was a little hurt. Because she knew cramping his style meant his women. “And I’m definitely not staying at your parents’ house,” she said. “They’ll think I’m there to wait on them hand and foot the way my mother did.”

Brax stared at her. “They loved your mother.”

“They loved my mother’s work ,” said Roni. “And they should have. She was a great worker. But I doubt if they ever really saw my mother as anything more than that.”

“That’s not true. They loved her. My brothers and I did too. We all loved her very dearly, Roni. She was like family to us.”

Roni wasn’t about to argue with him about how white folks always claimed their black maids or nannies were family to them, even though they worked them to the bone. But that was how Brax was raised. She wasn’t trying to school him on how crazy that sounded to everybody else.

But Brax wasn’t raised like everybody else. “Had they not loved her dearly,” he continued, “they would have never moved her into their home when she became ill.”

“Hard as she worked for them? She’d been at their beck and call since she was a teenager? She devoted her entire life to them? I’m sorry if it sounds ungrateful, but that was the least they could have done for her.”

That kind of struck Brax hard. Were they that blind to how their domestic workers saw them? “Is that why you fight me every time I try to do anything at all for you?”

“I don’t fight you.”

“You certainly don’t make it easy. But is that it?”

“Yes! I loved my mother to death, but I’m not her. I don’t wanna be anybody’s maid or nanny, and I don’t want to be beholden to anybody.”

“And least of all a McCrae?”

Roni was no liar. Roni was a truth teller even when it hurt, and Brax knew that. “Yes,” she said.

A part of Brax understood her reticence, but a bigger part of him was hurt. “Well too bad,” he responded more in pain than understanding. “I have a place for you to stay and it’s not at my house nor my parents’ home, so how about that?” Then he added: “And just like you aren’t your mother, I’m not mine either. We charted our own course, you and me. I judge you on what you do and say, and you’d better judge me the same. That’s the least you can do,” he said, throwing her line back at her.

Roni stared at him. He really was the best man she’d ever known. And he was right: He was nothing like his parents. She smiled. “I promise to never compare you to your parents or your brothers or anybody else. You’re your own man and I respect that. But about this place?”

“Just say thank you, Brax, for taking the burden of finding a place to live off of my plate even though you have a zillion things on your own plate. Thank you, Brax.” He said it and looked at her.

Roni smiled. “You really are an asshole, you know that?”

He wasn’t joking. “The biggest and the best. Now say it.”

She could never dislike that man. “Thank you, Brax, for finding me a place to stay.”

“That’s better,” he said, and looked out at the world around them.

“How much is the rent?”

“Roni!”

“I have to pay the rent and I know how bougie you are. Look at that fancy apartment you rented for me in Manhattan. The rent on that place was eight thousand dollars a month, which was more than my take home pay.”

“Did I ever ask you to pay it?”

“No. But still. How much is the rent on this condo?”

“There is no rent. It’s a condo that you now own. It’s in your name. It’s paid for.”

Roni didn’t expect him to buy her a place. Even in New York, he rented her a place. But he’d already purchased her a condo? That stunned her because she knew it was going to be spectacular. And he knew her taste. He knew exactly what was pleasing to her eyes.

And the thought of it, that Brax would go that much further for her than he’d ever gone before, pleased her too. Where she should have been offended that he would take such matters into his own hands, didn’t offend her at all. Oddly, it made her love him more. He put her in a place no other woman in his life seemed to occupy. And that kind of excited her.

Instead of complaining or asking questions, she decided to go with the flow. She settled back down, too, as they rode through the streets of their hometown. It was a big city, half-a-million people strong, but it always felt closed in and small to her. Like New York without everything New York was known for. She could only pray that she made the right decision. She could only pray that she wasn’t going to regret giving up what would have been before that situation that upended the career she thought she would have. Victorville was Plan B. Because in her heart of hearts, she knew there was no comparison.

Brax knew it, too, as they rode to her new home. But she was back home. That was all that mattered to him.

He wanted to hold her hand, so he reached over and did so.

At first Roni stiffened. She even looked down at his hand holding hers. But when she looked back up and realized his big green eyes were looking at her, they both relaxed. It was as if they both understood that their relationship wasn’t on the same emotional level as it had been before their passionate night, and they needn’t try to pretend it was. But they also knew that the foundation of their relationship hadn’t changed at all. They were still just great pals as Brax put it, and in a lot of ways they both knew that was probably all they would ever be. But the inward sadness of it all astounded them both.

Brax looked at her. “I won’t be in town for your birthday, I have a conglomerates meeting in L. A., but happy birthday in advance,” he added, and handed her a key fob.

She looked at it. She saw the crest with the gold, the red, the black, and the horse in the middle, and she saw the name. She looked at Brax. “A Porsche ? You bought me a Porsche for my birthday?”

Brax smiled. “What did you expect me to buy you? A horse and carriage? Yes, I bought you a Porsche. It’s waiting for you at your new condo.”

Roni smiled. What was she going to do with this man? “I have a car you know. My mustang. Remember? It was the first car I ever purchased on my own. I love that car. I would have drove it all the way here if it didn’t need a new engine.”

Brax looked at her. “A new engine, Roni? I know you weren’t driving around in a car in that bad a shape.”

“It’s not in bad shape. It just needs an engine, that’s all. And eventually a transmission, but my mechanic said it could hold off for another six-to-eight months.”

Brax shook his head. “You are not bringing that hunk of junk to Victorville, you hear me?”

Roni laughed. “I’m just messing with you, boy. It’s not that bad off.”

But Brax was doubtful. He knew she purchased that Mustang after she graduated college and then the Police Academy when she started earning a decent paycheck. But it was five years old when she bought it. And that was seven years ago. Now it was twelve years old. “It’s time to put it out to pasture, Roni,” he said.

“I told you it’s not that bad.”

“Then why didn’t you insist on driving it back home?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because it’s not that good either,” Roni admitted, and they both laughed.

Then she looked at Brax. “I need a new car. There’s no doubt about it. And I appreciate you buying me one. But why such an elaborate one?”

“Because you’re elaborate,” Brax said. “Look at you.” His penis began throbbing when he looked her up and down. “There’s nothing subtle about your ass. I know your style.”

“Yes, you do. You know me better than anybody in this world,” Roni said heartfelt, which warmed Brax’s heart too. Man how he loved her.

“But how can I claim to be this independent woman if I keep accepting these super-major gifts from you? From a man?”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Brax said, the boss in him coming out. “You’re tough, badass, strong-willed, determined. You’re all that and more that you present to the world. But with me, you don’t have to carry that load. I’m carrying it for you. With me you’re no she-woman who everybody expects to be all that all the time. You’re just Veronica. And you needn’t be any more than that with me. Got it?”

Roni could not believe her good fortune whenever she thought about Brax in her life. If only he could try to change his behavior then they could . . .

But she knew she had to stop going there. She had to accept and be glad of their relationship as it was, not as she wanted it to be. And she smiled. “Thanks. Thanks for everything,” she added. She wanted to hug him again, and Brax wanted it too, but they both restrained themselves.

Brax did squeeze her hand as he continued to hold it, however, as they sat quietly in his limo. But instead of looking at each other, they looked at the road ahead of them. They were riding along that long, winding road from the airport, a road filled with scenic views of hills and streams and many dangerous twists and turns too. A veritable Beauty and Beast all in one. But somehow it seemed so fitting.