One good reason, p.20
One Good Reason, page 20
“If you hadn’t of told me, I promise I wouldn’t have known they weren’t related.”
“Everybody who meets them says the same thing.”
Grabbing her hand, I pulled her until she was standing between my open legs. “Thank you for inviting me over for dinner.”
“You’re welcome. I figured it was the least I could do since you were so gracious the other night.”
“Gracious.” I laughed. “Is that what we’re calling it?”
“I guess. And Mrs. Jessie caught us when you dropped me off, so I guess we don’t to sneak around over here.”
“She caught us?”
“Hell yeah.” Talitha laughed. “She didn’t say anything to Gema about it, but she definitely saw us.”
“That’s funny.”
“Why is that?” She slammed her hands on her hips.
“Yo’ ass thought you was being sneaky and got caught.”
“Because you insisted that you help me out of the truck.”
“Me?” I feigned clueless. “I was doing my civil duty by making sure you made it into the house safe.”
“Civil duty my ass.” Placing her hands on my shoulders, she leaned in and kissed me. Snaking my tongue in and out of her mouth, I gripped her ass and pulled here into me. When I pulled back, she pouted. “Don’t start nothing, Talitha.”
“They’re downstairs.”
“And? Both of them are still wide awake.”
“Gema will be sleep in a minute. She already had her night meds.”
“Mrs. Jessie?”
“She already knows. We can do it in the shower,” she offered.
“Give you a little taste now, you want more? My my my,” I teased. “Such a greedy girl.”
“Cut the shit Harvey. I’m going to shower, and I hope you’ll join me,” she sassed and dropped her hands from my shoulders.
I watched her walk to her bathroom and with every step she took, she shed an article of clothing. As soon as she stepped through the door, Talitha turned to me and bit her bottom lip. That was all it took for me to discard my clothing and follow her into the shower.
Pulling the shower door open, I stepped in and towered over her naked frame. “If they hear us, remember this was your idea.” Hoisting her body into the air, I wrapped my arms around her back. Talitha held onto me and secured her legs around my waist.
“I’ll be quiet,” she rushed out in a lengthy breath.
“Yeah, right.” I laughed. Grabbing the back of her hair, I wrapped my hands around it and pulled her head back, giving me access to her neck. Trailing kisses down the center of her neck, I stopped at that space in between her breast and used my tongue to draw circles.
“Law!” she squirmed.
“I got you, baby,” I let her know. Leaning down, I sucked her right nipple into my mouth before pulling back and flickering my tongue over it. Talitha’s body fidgeted in my arms and before I knew it she was gripping the wings of my back.
“Law,” she moaned again. “Fuck me.”
“You sure?” I asked.
“Yes.” She nodded sheepishly.
Pulling back slightly, I lined myself up at her opening. The minute I moved to adjust our bodies, Talitha sank down onto me causing a guttural grown to escape from the back of my throat.
I probably should’ve dodged her advances, especially since I wasn’t sheathed. When I decided to come over for dinner, sex wasn’t on my mind. I simply wanted to be in her presence. It was her that wanted it and now her velvety walls were wrapped around my harden member without a barrier in between us. Since the day I lost my virginity, I’d never fucked anybody without a condom.
As in love as I was with Adele, I’d never even hit her bare. Number one reason being because even if her and her husband’s relationship wasn’t on the up and up, I didn’t know if she was still sleeping with him or not. She could tell me all day that she wasn’t, but I refused to believe it.
Dahlia was no exception to the rule. I wasn’t trying to have an oops moment, so I’d jack off before I slid into anyone with a condom. With Talitha, I don’t know what it was about her that had me losing my fucking mind.
I knew it had been years since she’d had sex therefore I could only assume that her ass wasn’t on any birth control or anything. From here on out, precautionary measures would definitely have to be considered before we ended up in another situation like this one.
“Damn,” I growled at the feeling of her scratching the shit out of my back. The longer I held onto her and stroked her from the bottom, the faster Talitha impelled herself up and down on my dick. “You feel so good baby,” I avowed and sucked her wet flesh back into my mouth. While I sucked the middle of her chest, Talitha was busy bouncing up and down on me causing her titties to slap me in the face. When she announced that she was getting ready to come, I brought my mouth up to hers and kissed her to drown out her loud cries.
Unwrapping her legs from around me, I held them open and poked at her center. If we stayed in this position, I would end up spraying her insides with my seeds. Tapping her on the thigh, I instructed her to bend over the shower bench. Spreading her ass apart, I ran my finger down her crack before sticking it in her ass. Talitha jumped and smacked her hand against the shower wall.
“If this is too much… let me know.” I didn’t want to push her to the point where she clammed up. I’d made that move without even thinking. When she shook her head and let me know I could proceed, I used my free hand and guided myself inside of her. Fully seated now, I let her ass go and gripped her hip while fucking her behind. My finger was still lodged in her ass.
Bringing her to two more orgasms, my speed increased and before I knew it the bones in my toes were cracking. I was getting ready to blow. She felt so good wrapped around me that I almost didn’t pull out. Right before I let go, I snatched out of her and sprayed my seeds on her back.
Talitha leaned up and put her back to my chest, prompting me to wrap my arms around her waist. Turning her head to the side, she kissed me. Our tongues wrestled against one another.
“You ‘bout to start some shit, Talitha,” I groaned. She knew what the fuck she was doing because she had her ass planted right on my dick and instead of moving, she began to sway her hips, rocking back and forth against my shit. When I bricked up again, I knew she’d won, and my night wasn’t ending anytime soon.
Iwas sitting behind my desk in my office when the intercom on my phone chimed. My assistant was letting me know that I had a pop-up visitor. After giving her the okay to let whoever was encroaching on my time into my office I closed out my applications and loosened my tie.
As soon as my office door pushed opened, the notes from the very familiar perfume wafted through the air.
“We do pop ups now?” I quired. Pushing back from my desk, I stood, rounded the desk, and met her in the center of the room.
“I’ve gotta do something. It seems as if you’re such a busy man these days.” Adele frowned.
Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her into a hug. When I pulled back, I pecked her on the forehead and released her. “You could’ve called and let me know you were in town.”
“And have you not agreeing to lunch. Nonsense. I figured if I show up, you couldn’t turn down my invitation.”
Laughing heartily, I shook my head and took my seat back at my desk. “That’s where you’re wrong dear. I can still turn you down. Especially if I have prior obligations.”
Sliding out of her jacket, she tossed it over the chair and stood at the corner of my desk. “Well… do you?”
“Lucky for you, I don’t.” I winked. “I was going over a few reports, but I could eat. I was in such a rush this morning I was only able to down an apple.”
“You mean to tell me Lawton Harvey didn’t start his morning with a hearty breakfast.”
“Right.” I chuckled. “Believe it or not, I had long night last night and an even longer morning,” I admitted.
After fucking Talitha senseless in the shower last night, her ass wasn’t trying to let me leave. Once we were finished washing up, we ended up in bed which resulted in us rolling around in the sheets. Only God knows what time she finally let my ass go to sleep. In her defense, she was making up for lost time and my ass wasn’t complaining not one bit.
Furrowing her brows, Adele asked, “Is that so?”
“It is. What did you have in mind for lunch?”
“Intermezzo’s, of course.” She giggled.
“Give me a second to wrap this up and I’ll have Baker bring the truck around.”
“Okay.” She gave me a small smile and took a seat in the chair.
It took about fifteen minutes for me to shut down and once I was done, the two of us were leaving my office.
“How has business been with Sincere and Hendrix?” I quizzed when we landed in the back seat of the truck.
“Surprisingly… everything has been good.”
“And you doubted me?”
“I didn’t doubt you, Harvey,” she denied. “I was skeptical. I didn’t know how the two of them conducted business; it was never for me to know. You handled them and I handled my part. So when you requested a change, I was a bit taken back. I knew it would happen eventually, I just never presumed it would be this fast.”
“Neither did I. But I’ve somehow packed my plate full of other things and I don’t have the time to oversee it anymore.”
“How’s that going?”
“Surprisingly, extremely well. My partner and I are working hard on trying to make sure we get everything done before we submit the application for accreditation.” I ended up telling Adele a fraction of what my newest business venture was. I didn’t divulge too much because I didn’t need her trying to pry into my business.
“What’s the end result going to look like? Meaning after you’ve received accreditation. Are you planning on stepping back from Tech Law?”
“Absolutely not, that’s my baby. The school is more of my partners’ vision. I’ll still handle my business as far as it’s concerned but I fully plan on letting her handle everything.”
“Her…” she hummed. “Is this her your newest concubine?”
“Concubine? Adele… what the fuck?” I laughed. “Where is that head of yours?”
“I’m asking a question.” She shrugged passively. ‘I know how you get when a new woman comes along. The first time you saw Dahlia, you changed your entire life to please her. You can’t fault me for being concerned.”
“Trust me, your concerns aren’t needed. I appreciate them but I don’t need them.”
“Harvey, are you fucking her?”
“What made you ask that? Because I decided to go into business with her?”
“It’s what you do,” she tossed out.
“Are you feeling threatened, Adele? Your insecurities are starting to show.”
“Insecure for what?” she hissed. “I know you Lawton. All of you. I’ve had you in ways that another woman never will. I have zero to be insecure about. Trust me.” Her hand flailed the air.
Adele was full of shit. She was feeling some type of way. It’s the reason she asked if I was fucking Talitha. That wasn’t any of her business so instead of continuing to bait her, I would drop it.
“Okay darling. What’s new in your world?”
“I’m thinking about expanding. As it stands, I only supply you and for a while that’s worked. But the crop is growing rapidly with the climate change. My farmer has been complaining about us not moving it fast enough.”
“Shit Adele,” I groused. “Why am I just now hearing about this?”
“When’s the last time we’ve been able to sit down and talk? You know I don’t handle business over the phone.”
“I know.” I sighed. “Let me get with Sincere and see if there’s anything that we can do on our end. If not, I’ll try to find someone else.”
“Please do. I want to keep my role as minimal as possible.”
“I understand discretion. I’m on the same time as you. Give me a few weeks to figure something out. If we have to up our shipment until I can make something happen then I’ll do just that.”
“Good. Now tell me more about this business that’s got you all invested.”
“Are you sure you’re wanting to know more about it? Or are you being nosey?”
“Probably both. But if what you’re doing is making you happy then of course I want to hear about it, Harvey.”
Running down the most important parts about the school, I explained to Adele what the goal was. After learning about it and realizing how passionate I was, she told me my mission statement needed to match that passion. Hell, I didn’t know I needed a mission statement. Then she reminded me that all schools had a mission statement. Recalling Howard’s had me realizing she was in fact right. I was meeting up with Talitha for dinner tonight so I would ask her if she had thought about one.
From the way Adele talked, it felt like she was genuinely happy for me and that was all I could ask for. Not that I needed her validation or anything but it felt good to know that she was equally excited.
She offered to donate money toward the case and in the beginning, I put up a huge fight. I had never taken money from her before and I didn’t want to start now. I didn’t want to give her a reason to say she helped me with anything. After listening to her reason for wanting to donate, I reluctantly agreed to accept the donation. I prayed that shit didn’t come back to bite me in the ass later.
CHAPTER 20
Talitha
Weaving in and out of traffic, I checked the time on my car screen. I was running late for work today and for a good cause. Willearl and Bonnie had showed up first thing this morning to pick Gema up. Originally, we weren’t expecting them until tomorrow. After dinner last night, I ended up spending the night with Law and ended up having to rush home to see Gema off.
When Willearl discovered I wasn’t at home, I had to deal with hearing his mouth. The whole way from Law’s house, he was on the phone fussing. It took me a minute to realize that I wasn’t the one in the wrong, his ass had shown up a day early so after telling him where to go, he hung the phone up.
It didn’t take me long to get Gema’s shit together, so I don’t know why he made such a big fuss. I knew before the day ended, I was going to hear from the rest of the squad about leaving Gema at home overnight with Mrs. Jessie. If I could help it, I was going to dodge all of their calls. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with their shit.
Lucky for me, I didn’t have anything scheduled for this morning so once I made it to the youth center and noticed Rossi wasn’t at his desk, I was able to slip in unnoticed. I had two hours to handle my business before I had to leave to go meet Law. He and I were doing a walk-through at the school today.
The contractors had called me yesterday to let me know they had a few things they wanted to show me. Hopefully it wasn’t anything bad seeing as though the computers were scheduled to be delivered at the beginning of next week.
Law had solicited a few people from his tech firm to set them up along with everything else they needed to do to make sure the network was encrypted, so at this point we couldn’t afford any hang ups.
Cutting on the lights in my office, I smiled when I noticed the most beautiful floral arrangement in a crystal vase sitting in the middle of my desk. After hanging my coat up, I dropped my brief case and searched the arrangement for a card. Locating it, I ran my finger across it and read:
Flowers for a beautiful soul. I hope you like them. – You know who
Sitting on the corner of the desk, I plucked a white rose from the center of the arrangement I held it up to my nose and sniffed it. I was in la-la land and didn’t hear Rossi when he moseyed into my office.
“Someone has an admirer,” his voice broke through the room, snapping me out of my dazed state.
“Someone needs to knock before entering my office,” I joked and placed the rose back into place.
Standing, I smoothed out my skirt and took a seat at my desk while Rossi sauntered toward my desk. With the card in his hand, he sat in the chair across from me and recited the words.
“Like I thought. Someone has an admirer.” He smirked. “These came about an hour ago.”
“Thank you for bringing them in here.”
“Ummhmm. Care to tell me what man’s attention you’ve garnered?”
“I don’t.” I shrugged.
“Is it Patton? Or Poppa?” he tittered. “I saw the way the two of you looked at each other.”
“I promise it’s not Patton. He and I are… I guess you can say we’re friends.” I was still unclear on what Poppa and I were. I mean I thought we were friends, that was until he went and ran his mouth to Law. Friends didn’t sell each other out like that, and I couldn’t wait until the next time I saw him. I was going to give him a piece of my damn mind.
“Just friends my ass,” Rossi grumbled. “Well, if it’s not him then it’s someone. You’re practically a nun, Tali. Clearly you’ve caught someone’s attention.”
While he was busy rambling about who he thought sent the flowers, I pulled my phone out of my bag and sent Law a text message.
Me: I just received the flowers. Thank you so much. They’re gorgeous.
Lawton Harvey: You’re gorgeous.
Me: Are you flirting with me Mr. Harvey?
Lawton Harvey: Depends… Is it working?
Me: I guess you’ll never know.
Lawton Harvey: Not fair
Instead of responding, I locked my device and placed it in my desk drawer. Turning back to Rossi, I shook my head. “Why are you still sitting here?”
“Bitch!” he scoffed. “I’m trying to figure out who sent those damn flowers.”
“Well, I’ll never tell.” I giggled. “Anyways, did I miss anything today?”
“Yeah.” Rossi sighed. When a solemn expression crossed his face, I braced myself for the bad news. “They found Quan.”
