Heels of Love (G Street Chronicles Presents From Love to Loathe Series) (20 page)

“Happy Birthday,” he whispered in my ear, and I pressed back closer to him. “And Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said and gave me another kiss.

“I get two presents?” I beamed.

“It’s two different occasions, isn’t it?”

“Thank you.”

“You haven’t opened them yet.”

“It doesn’t matter. Last night and this morning were absolutely perfect.”

“Open them,” he demanded.

I picked up the box on the left, and Jyme sucked in a breath. I sat that one back down; that one was a deep gift, I could tell by his body language. I opened the one on the right and the sparkles almost blinded me.

“JYME!” I shouted.

“Put it on,” he grinned. This box held a very gaudy, diamond cricket ring. The ring was as long as my pinky finger and the cricket had diamond eyes and diamond wings. “Please whatever you do, don’t lose that ring.”

Just those words alone made me swallow hard. “Is it insured?” I asked.

“YES,” he growled.

“I am sorry. I am so sorry. I know you thought all of this out, and everything is covered.”

“Thank you.”

I slid the ring on. It was heavy as hell, but it looked fabulous on my hand.

“Now the other,” Jyme insisted.

I picked up the other box, and Jyme shifted. I opened it slowly, and there was a sterling silver keychain with a four-leaf clover, a horseshoe, a rainbow with a pot of gold, a wishbone, and a star charm hanging from the key ring. Jyme reached around me and slid a key on the key ring. He turned me around, and I kept my eyes on the keychain.

“The charms represent you of course,” he said.

Jyme had told me before that his people believe crickets are a symbol of good luck. So I understood the charms, but the key had me stumped.

“The key is for you to come and help me make a home.”

I looked up at him, confused, and he gave me a small smile.

“I bought a house,” he said.

“Oh,” was all I could say.

“What are you thinking?” he asked with a worried face.

“That you’re fucking amazing and that I don’t know how I’m going to compete with you on your birthday,” I rushed out.

“This isn’t a competition,” he grinned.

“Where is it?”

“Federal Way on Puget Sound Beach.”

“Oh, it’s a beach house.” I smiled from ear to ear.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. You don’t like the beach,” he teased.

“If it was not for the beach, we would have never met.”

“We would have met,” he said sternly.

After the beautiful exchange of his two present, we left the room and headed for the elevator. We went down to the lobby and he held my hand. We stepped off the elevators, and he guided me to a side hallway. We walked in a set of double doors, and then they all yelled surprised. Chelle and Ayashe made it to me first. I was so not expecting this.

“You look so hot,” Ayashe belted out. Jyme had gotten me four different outfits. One of the four was a Red Margaux dress with tonal red sequins all through the fabric. I wore the pair of black stilettos he got me with silver teardrop earrings, and I finished my outfit off with my brand-new diamond cricket ring. Chelle and Ayashe looked at my cricket ring and gasped. Then, the ring had an audience of its own. People were greeting the ring before they would even say Happy Birthday to me. Jyme was so proud, and everyone gave him the big ups for getting the ultimate gift.

There were about twenty or so people at the party. But I only knew about fourteen of them; the other six were mystery people. All of Jyme’s friends and close family members were there. I saw O across the room and that made me smile. I looked for D’Artagnan, but I didn’t see him anywhere. Then I thought about it, Jyme probably didn’t invite him.

There were two big round tables with gold pillar candles lit in the middle of the table with huge flowers as the centerpieces. It was breathtaking, and Jyme made sure I saw every bit of it. He kept pulling me away from people trying to greet me to show me something. The room and decorations in it had a whimsical feel, almost as peculiar as a scene from Alice in Wonderland; but still very classy. There was a table full of gift bags and gift boxes.

D’Artagnan walked up, and I gave him a wide smile, but it ended fast. He forced a smile and kissed me on my cheek. He walked away, not saying a word. I tried to watch where he went, but the crowd blocked my view.

O approached next, and I pulled her into a quick hug and whispered in her ear. “What’s wrong with D’Artagnan?

“He’s not happy about the reunion.” She pulled back, faking a wide smile for the wondering eyes.

“You look amazing,” she chimed. I pulled her in for another hug. “I need to talk to him,” I demanded. She nodded and was gone.

The next set of guests was approaching me, so I pulled out my phone to send D’Artagnan a quick text. Then I remembered I didn’t have his number in my phone; it was in my Blackberry on the counter at the condo.

“What’s wrong?” Chelle asked.

“I need to talk to D’Artagnan.” I answered with a frown.

“Why?” Jyme asked from behind me. I froze, and Chelle’s eyes got as wide as mine felt.

“You need to open your presents,” Chelle said and tugged me away from Jyme as we headed towards the gift table.

I ended up with six IPods, the new Lady GaGa CD, the new Rihanna CD, the new Shakira CD, the new Adam Lambert CD, the new Michael Crichton novel, the
Gone with the Wind; 70
^th
Anniversary Edition
Blu-ray,
The Wizard of Oz: 70
^th
Anniversary Edition
Blu-ray, two Kindles, a bottle of Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana, a pair of Ugg boots, a digital camera, a new Blu-ray, a one hundred dollar Visa gift card, and a two hundred dollar Visa gift card.

As I finished opening the pile of gifts, a waiter came out with a bell and announced that lunch would now be served. Everyone went to the tables and found their nametags. Jyme and Chelle were next to me. There was an empty seat next to Jyme until Mrs. JJ came in from a hidden sidewall and sat down.

I gripped Chelle’s thigh under the table, and she followed my eyes before turning to me and pretending to unsnag something on my shoulder.

“Where did she come from?” Chelle asked.

“I don’t know. Did she just get here?”

“No, but I haven’t seen her for at least an hour.” Chelle pulled back from me, and then we both felt the burning stare from Jyme.

He slid over and leaned into my ear. “What’s wrong?” he whispered.

“Nothing.”

“Do you not want my mother here?”

I looked at him and saw the hurt in his eyes. “I never said that,” I whispered.

His phone buzzed and his attention shifted. I looked at all of the people at my table and I realized I didn’t recognize four of them. I wondered who these mystery guests were at my birthday party. Jyme must have really been strict with the dress code for today. The women all wore black cocktail dresses and the men black suits and black ties. Jyme was the only man wearing a red tie. With the way this room was decorated, I wondered what the invitations looked like.

“Did he send out invitations?” I asked Chelle.

“He was not sure how this was going,” she thumbed towards Jyme and me. “So he had the invitations made up and asked everyone to RSVP to me and Ayashe just in case it didn’t work out.”

“Oh,” I said.

“And no one could bring a guest. It was single invite only, and he stressed that.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He never said. There’s a guy back there at the side entrance for this room that has the list and the names of each guest.” She jerked her head behind us.

I looked back there and saw nothing.

“There’s a secret wall,” she continued.

I nodded, and just then, the servers came out with trays. We first had a bowl of potato soup, then a dinner salad, then our main courses: steak, salmon, or lobster. Sitting in front of me was a lobster tail and a steak.

“Why does everyone have something different?” I whispered to Chelle.

“It was in the invitations.”

“Oh, my God.”

She nodded. “Oh, how did last night go?” she asked with a serious look now.

I was really shocked that Chelle of all people was okay with Jyme and me getting back together.

“Are you alright with all of this?” I tossed my hand to the side gesturing at the party. She took in a deep breath and then she stared at me.

“He swore to me that he would never hurt you, ever again. And I believe him because he loves you so much and you him.”

I beamed at her, and she beamed right back at me. We both started giggling.

Ayashe leaned over, practically sitting in Chelle’s lap. “What are you two bitches over her snickering about?”

Chelle whispered to Ayashe, and her eyes shot up at me. She mouthed, “how was it?”

I gave her a wide smile, and we all started giggling. Jyme’s hand suddenly was creeping up my inner thigh, and he was caressing the seat of my panties. I turned to look at him and he kneeled down under the table pretending to pick up his napkin. I opened my legs wide for him and he sneaked around the seat of my panties and slipped one quick finger into Juicy, and then just like that, it was gone. When I looked over, he was sucking on that same finger.

My mouth fell open, and I shifted in my chair. I looked at him, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. He sat there as if nothing had even happened. The sneaky devil. I realized then that he must want some attention, so I decided to give it to him.

“Where’s the food from? It’s so good.” I asked.

He grinned and turned to me. “Palisade.”

“You will definitely have to take me there.”

“Anytime.” He kissed my forehead.

The two main doors opened, and three servers wheeled in a giant form in the shape of a volcano. At the top, there were sparklers. Everyone stood to their feet and sang Happy Birthday to me. Jyme held his hand out and guided me to the volcano. I blew out the sparklers. Everyone clapped and cheered. I noticed the little round cupcake shapes that made the volcano looked familiar. “The CONFESSIONAL” I tugged at Jyme. Jyme had taken me to “The Confessional” on the dessert portion of our first date. It was fabulous, and now there was a mountain of cheesecake.

I hugged Jyme tight and looked up at him.

“Thank you so much this is the best Valen-Birthday ever.”

After everyone ate their dessert, people started leaving. I didn’t want the party to end, but it was still daylight outside, and it was Valentine’s Day. I looked at my phone and it read, 4:00 p.m. Everyone gave hugs and kisses when they left.

O walked up to me. I looked behind her and still no D’Artagnan. I pulled her into me.

“He left Cricket. He said he couldn’t watch this train wreck.” She pulled away and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

I gave her a small smile.

“He told me to tell you that he’ll see you on Wednesday.”

“Why Wednesday?” I asked. She cut her eye over at Jyme. He was watching our every movement. “He said to enjoy your birthday to the fullest,” she chimed.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys on Wednesday then.”

She squeezed my hand, and then she was gone. A couple walked up to me next, and Jyme stepped over to us. He put one arm around my waist and gave them his full attention. He spoke to them in his native language, and I just stood there and smiled. I noticed Mrs. JJ, Loon, Kanoke, Sheen, and Ayashe all staring at us. The man shook my hand; then the woman gave me a hug. They nodded at Jyme and then left. Jyme never introduced them to me. He did this same thing with the next two couples. They walked up; I smiled; and he spoke to them in that language and then they left.

When the strangers were all gone, I looked up at him and frowned. He noticed my face and said, “Later.” Then, he was gone. He went to talk to Mrs. JJ, and I wondered if I should leave and go back to the room.

Ayashe and Chelle said they were going out with Sheen and Kanoke to some lounge in the city. I yawned and told them to have a good time for me.

“Oh, you’re going to have a blast tonight.” Ayashe grinned.

“What?” I asked.

“You’ll see.”

Then they, too, were gone. I stood there at the entrance while Mrs. JJ and Jyme stood in the corner of the room talking. Neither one of them even noticed that I was the only one left in the room now. I would have gone back to the room, but I didn’t have a key. I thought of something and walked out to the front desk.

There was a cute, blonde-haired woman behind it.

“Hello,” I said.

“Yes, ma’am, how may I help you?” she asked.

I explained to her that I was the birthday girl, and she knew what party I was with. I told her that I left the key in the room, and she gave me another key then handed me a package. I knew it was Jyme’s and not mine, but I took it anyway, planning to put it in the room.