Independent Women - the Complete BWWM Romance Series Boxset (28 page)

THE

INDEPENDENT WOMEN

EPISODE 5

A BWWM Interracial Romance Serial By..

LENA SKYE

Summary

Kalena and Tommy go on their first real date but a familiar face promises to spoil the party.

Meanwhile, Tamika realizes it is time to discover the whole truth. But can she really handle the truth?

Many years earlier....

Kalena stood around at the company mixer. She was fresh out of college and finally in her first job in the marketing department at Pfizer. Everyone seemed so nice, but there was fakeness about most of them. She couldn’t put her finger on it but it rubbed her up the wrong way. She knew that she wasn’t at a company that she would be with for a long time.

“Ugh, this shit is for the birds. I swear that I only come here for the free food,” a cute man said to her. She looked him over, and thought about how cute he was. He was also friendly and unpretentious.

“You’re not lying,” she laughed.

“I don't believe we have met, I’m Tommy,” he said as he extended his hand towards her.

She shook it graciously, “I’m Kalena, and I think that I’ve seen you around.”

“You have, I work on the other side of the office. I’m a little sad that I’m so unmemorable.”

She laughed, “You’re not, but I’m just getting acclimated and there are so many faces and names to remember.”

“No worries, you don’t like me,” he said with a fake pout.

“No! I do like you,” she blurted out and then realized how it sounded, “Well I like you as a co-worker.”

He grinned, “Good, hopefully I can keep myself in good standing.”

“We will have to see about that,” she flirted.

He returned her gaze and then it was replaced with a cooler look. Did she say something wrong? Maybe she misread all of the signals.

“Well, I’m sure that I’ll see you around, maybe we can do lunch or something,” Tommy said.

“I think that I would like that, I don’t have many friends here.”

“You’ll make friends in no time, trust me. There are quite a few men who have their eyes on you, some women too.”

“Oh stop it,” she laughed.

“I’m serious, but not all of it is inappropriate. People just tend to be cautious around the newbies; you never know who is actually going to stick around.”

“I see.”

“Well, it was nice to meet you and I will see you bright and early, I’ll even bring you coffee.”

“This is the beginning of a wonderful friendship,” she smiled.

“I certainly think so,” Tommy said before he walked away. His heart was beating rapidly, she had to be one of the prettiest women that he’d ever seen. It wasn’t right for him to look at her that way.

“Damn, I see that you went in for the kill,” Tommy's friend David said in his ear.

“Oh you saw that? Man, I think I’m in love,” Tommy laughed.

“What would your fiancé think about that?” David laughed.

Tommy shook his head, “I don’t know, but I know that I’ve met the woman that I really want to marry. She’s perfect,” he laughed.

“Oh please, you know that you love Bianca.”

“True, I’m just kidding, but a man can look, right?” Tommy laughed with uncertainty filling his voice.

“Hey, we’re not blind.”

#Chapter1

“The only thing that could make me feel better was vodka.”

Kalena

Kalena’s entire body felt like it was vibrating. She couldn’t get enough of him pushing deep inside of her. His fingers dug into her flesh as if he was trying to brand her forever. She didn’t mind, she wanted so much more. He couldn’t get deep enough, her back arched as Tommy gave her every inch of his throbbing dick.

It was something about him that she couldn’t put her finger on, he knew her better than any male that was in her life, but he still wanted to be with her. She felt so flawed sometimes, so unworthy of the love that she truly longed for. Tommy promised her everything that she could ever dream of in a partner, but she just felt like it was too good to be true.

“Kalena,” Tommy whispered as he pulled out of her.

She turned around, wondering why he withdrew himself, he felt so good. “What’s wrong?”

“Where are you right now?” he asked.

“I’m with you, duh,” she laughed.

“You know what I mean. Something happened and I feel like I lost you. At first you were into it but now you feel distant.”

Kalena rolled her eyes, “Are you not enjoying yourself or something? Did it stop feeling good?”

“No, it didn’t stop feeling good. You feel great but that’s not the point. I want all of you when we’re having sex. I want you with me not just physically but mentally.”

Kalena sighed, “I don’t know what you want from me.” She was slightly annoyed. What kind of man stops sex mid stroke because he doesn’t think that the woman is mentally with him? She’d never heard of anything like that in her entire life. It seemed so damned stupid, and she was still horny. He needed to do less talking and more grinding.

“I’m telling you what I want from you; I would like to think that it’s not asking too much.” He stared at her as if he was trying to reach a part that she didn’t even have access to. It felt extremely uncomfortable beneath his gaze. It was overwhelming.

“I hear you, but I’m doing what I know how to do.”

“Well, would you be willing to learn how to be here with me? This isn’t the first time that you’ve checked out on me during sex,” he said.

Kalena was mildly irritated; it was because he had a point. She enjoyed sex with him, it always felt good, but for some reason, she never allowed herself to truly connect with Tommy. Instead of focusing on him she focused on how great he felt. It should have been easy to get into the emotional zone, seeing as though he was her best male friend. Technically that’s what everyone says makes the best relationships. However, there was the wall that she put up once they began dating. It was the same wall that she put up in all of her other relationships. Feeling so separate from him hurt her to her core but she didn’t know how to treat him differently. After they slept together, he was now just another one of the men that she had had a sexual relationship with. That’s not the way that things should have been.

“Kalena,” he said as he caressed her face, “Let me in, stop shutting me out. We deserve each other, we can finally be happy. It will only work if you let it work. I’m not asking for everything from you at this very moment, but please just try,” he said.

“I understand where you’re coming from, I know that sometimes it seems like I don’t. Believe me, I do. I just don’t know how. You’ve seen firsthand what I’ve been dealing with in my life. So relationships just feel out of my element.”

“I know that you’ve been though a lot. You’re still dealing with the aftermath of your family situation, so I’m going to be patient. I just want to make sure that you’re going to give us an honest try.”

The mention of the word ‘us’ made Kalena extremely uneasy. Were they even officially together or had she missed that part? She swallowed to avoid the panic that was slowly starting to rise in her stomach. Why did he try to always ruin what they had? This is exactly why she was reluctant about getting involved with him. Men were funny; when you want them, they either had a girlfriend or they weren’t interested. When you move on and try to live your life, you become desirable again and they just have to have you.

What if he was the same way? What if when he got her completely, he decided that he wasn’t interested anymore? Maybe it was just the chase for him? That realization struck her the hardest, being rejected by her best friend would hurt more than words could express.

“I appreciate your patience. I need it, now can we please finish the wonderful session that we were having so that we can go out on our date?”

He gave her his sexy grin and pulled her down towards him. He couldn’t get enough of looking at her. She was gorgeous and now that he finally had his chance to be with her, he wasn’t going to mess it up. Men only met women like her once in lifetime, twice if they were lucky. Tommy was a lot of things but a fool wasn’t one of them. As long as Kalena wanted him around, he wanted to be there.

Kalena’s body was ready for release and he had exactly what she needed. She lay on her back as he positioned between her legs. Her legs wrapped around him, inviting him inside of her. Together they moved in unison until they arrived at their orgasmic destination. They had desert before dinner and it was oh so yummy.

***

“A brother can’t even walk straight after all of that good loving that I had. If I went to play basketball I would lose because my legs are gone,” Tommy said as he draped his arm over Kalena’s shoulder.

Kalena laughed, “Well you’re the one that wanted to go again. You thought that you were Superman today.”

“I can’t help it, I have such amazing inspiration. I was trying to get dressed but then I saw you naked again and my body was ready.”

“You put it on me, I’m tired as hell,” Kalena giggled.

“That’s my mission in life.”

“To screw me until I’m tired?”

“To give you the good stuff until you can’t handle anymore.”

“Well, you’re doing your job.” She rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped her hand around his waist as they walked in unison. She felt content although it could have been the result of the mind blowing orgasms that she’d just received.

He placed a kiss on the side of her head, “Good because I don’t want to be fired. You’re a tough boss.”

“I just have high expectations of my staff, especially since there is only one position. Now where are we going anyway?”

“We’re going to a restaurant.”

“You know what I mean!” she said as she playfully hit him.

“I want to check out this new steakhouse, called
Camille’s
over
in Manhattan. I’ve heard that it was pretty good.”

“Hmm, we shall see.”

“It’s right on the next block,” he said.

“Thank goodness, because we had to park so far away.”

“I could have dropped you off at the door but you didn’t want that.”

“Well, I hate having to wait for people to get to me. I’m impatient and I don’t want to be away from you for that long.”

“What? Did Kalena just admit that she would miss me?”

“You know that I would miss you! You’re my best friend so don’t act like you don’t know how I feel.”

“I’m just saying, you’ve been acting funny,” he grinned.

“I know, I think that it’s just going to take some getting used to. I don’t make a habit of dating my friends, this is new territory.”

“Hopefully, I’ll be the last friend that you’ll ever have to date. I want to be the last person that you’ll ever date.”

His words silenced her; she didn’t know how to respond. There he went again; taking things to the next level and making her feel awkward.

Kalena focused on the cops that were going inside of the deli next door, she was a little jealous. She could have used a really good sandwich but Tommy was clear about wanting a high end date.  He wanted this evening to be special.

“You don’t have to respond. I’m just letting you know where I stand so that we won’t have any misunderstandings,” he said as he opened the door for her.

As soon as they walked in they saw a huge painting of a beautiful black woman. Kalena smiled as she saw the picture. She assumed that it was Camille. She looked a lot younger then she expected.

“Do you like the painting? That’s Camille Kane herself,” the hostess said with a huge smile, “Welcome.”

“Wow, I think I like it here already.”

“I know, right,” the waitress said, “Kyle Kane built this restaurant to honor his wife, they’re so cute. She personally picked out every piece here. If this one is successful then it’s going to become a chain.”

“If the food is as amazing as the décor, then it will have no problems.”

They were escorted to their seats and Kalena’s eyes couldn’t stop looking at everything. Most steakhouses felt extremely masculine but this one clearly had a feminine touch. The décor was white and black. White overtook the room and was accented by black. If heaven had a steakhouse in it, then this place was it.

“You should see your face right now,” Tommy grinned.

“What?”

“You look like you’re in heaven.”

“Well that’s the way that it feels.”

They were taken to a table in the corner, she was grateful because she liked the corners of restaurants. Sitting in the middle always felt like she was on display to the rest of the room. Worrying about who was staring at her as she chomped down on her steak wasn’t her idea of a good time. This way she could eat in peace and look at other people as they ate instead.

“Your server will be with you shortly, here are some menus. The drink menu is to your left, is there anything that I can do to help you?” the cute, petite woman asked.

“No thank you,” Kalena responded.

“Great! Your server's name is Valerie.”

Tommy and Kalena smiled at one another as the waitress walked away. Everything felt good; he got extra points because she was in love with the place. They took a look at the menu and got excited all over again. It was a steakhouse with obvious African American influences. The elevated versions of sweet potatoes and greens were clear indications of that. Moans could be heard throughout the restaurant, everyone was enjoying their food.

“Okay, I’m gonna need to order soon so that I can join everyone else in bliss,” Tommy said.

Soon Valerie showed up and took their order, and promised to bring their drinks and bread back.

“I’m so glad that you’re out with me,” Tommy said.

“Me too, being with you is always fun. I just need you to lighten up sometimes.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re friends because I love being around you. You always make my days and nights better, you’re so much fun. I need to make sure that we don’t lose that part of our friendship just because we’re dating.”

“That’s how you feel now?”

“Honestly, yes.”

“Okay, I guess you have a point. I think that I just got so excited about the possibility of being with you that I forgot how to be your friend. I’m going to work on that.”

“Wow, that was easy.”

“I’m very easy, you know that.”

Kalena laughed, “Whatever, if you were easy then I wouldn’t want you. You know that I don’t like goodies that the entire world has had.”

“Fair enough, I’ll reserve my goodies for you.”

She laughed, “That’s all that I ask.”

“Damn, remember when we called off work to go be bums and Barry was there too?” Tommy asked.

Kalena almost spit out her drink, “Yes I remember! I was too scared. I don’t know what the hell he was doing in Brooklyn. We were playing hooky and having a good time and there goes our damned boss, in the same bar. I guess he was up to no good too because he didn’t say shit to us. Actually he just gave you the head nod and we kept on about our business.”

“That was a really good day,” Tommy said.

“Are you serious? That was a horrible day. We played hooky because I was upset about some damned loser. I was so sad and the only thing that could make me feel better was vodka.”

“See, I footed the bill for your vodka escape, we had a great time, we went to the movies, and we fell asleep in the movies…”

“Your ass was snoring in the movies,” Kalena laughed.

“I snore when I’m drunk!”

“I noticed,” she giggled.

“You think you’re funny huh? I was extra embarrassed when you woke me up.”

“Why?”

“Maybe because you did it by throwing popcorn into my mouth,” he said.

“It was entertaining and you looked like you were hungry.”

“Whatever excuse makes you feel better.”

“Awww, don’t be like that,” Kalena laughed as she reached across the table and caressed his face.

“See; don’t touch me like that, unless you want to put on a show for these people right here on the table.”

“That’s something that you may not know about me, I don’t mind putting on a show,” she grinned.

“Don’t get me started because I’ll come over there and then we’ll put on a sex show, get put out, and then who is going to bail us out?”