Queen of His Heart (21 page)

“Why?” He tossed his hands. “Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you to deserve this? Did I mistreat you or abuse you? What happened to that nice girl I dated back in college? Where did she go?”

Slowly, Tenetria's hardened face softened.

“Money changed you,” he accused. “I gave you half of everything and it was never enough. We had to live in a certain area. We had to live in a certain house. You had to have this and you had to have that. And I made sure you got it. So what did you do?”

“Keenan—”

“What did you do?” he roared.

Tenetria jumped. This was the first time that they'd ever addressed her infidelity. When it had happened, Keenan had just turned away and given her everything in the divorce. What surprised her was that this was the first real show of emotion from him in years, and apparently it had a lot to do with that Jalila chick. Jealousy kicked her hard in the gut. “I'll tell you what
you
did,” she said evenly. “You stopped loving me—so I started filling my life with things—cars, furs—”

“Drugs and men?” he finished for her. “That's a cop-out and you know it.”

Tears sprang into Tenetria's eyes. “All right. So I made a mistake.”

He sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes.

“I made several mistakes,” she amended. “But that was a long time ago. I didn't appreciate what I had.”

“Is this where you tell me how much you've changed again?”

“I have,” she whined.

“You tried to fleece me of one hundred and fifty grand and then chased away the woman I love!” Keenan closed his eyes and shook his head. “For the first time in a long while I started to
feel
again. I found someone who was independent, smart, funny and valued me as a man. She wasn't some spoiled, petty and conniving woman who refused to think about anyone but herself and who refused to grow up.”

Tears skipped down Tenetria's face. “But…I—” She sniffed. “What if I told you that I still love you?”

He shook his head. “If that's true…then you'd let me go.”

T
he next day, Jalila was a nervous wreck. The easiest thing to do was to back out of this and chalk it up as just one of Martina's wild ideas. But there was something to what Martina had said about taking back her power, proving to Keenan and to herself that she could celebrate her sexuality without engaging her heart.

For the second time in a week, Jalila left her house wearing baby oil and high heels underneath her bright red dress coat. However, this time she wasn't going to risk popping up at his house unannounced. Lord knew she wasn't bold enough to risk repeating that nightmare. The only other option was to chance catching him at his office. It was risky, since he shared an office with Nitara. But if she was there, she'd ask to speak with him in the conference room.

But what if he's not in or not expected in?
She shook that scenario out of her head since she was making this thing up as she went along. It was close to five o'clock when she arrived at A.M. Production and found a clearly startled Dee Dee at the front desk.

“Ms. Goodwyn!” Dee Dee jumped up from her chair and beamed a smile at her. “Oh, thank God.”

Jalila arched a lone brow up at her.

“I mean, uhm…Welcome back,” Dee Dee amended, and then asked shakily. “Please say you're coming back to finish the show.”

Actually, Jalila hadn't given the show a second thought. “Is Mr. Armstrong in?” she asked, electing not to answer the question.

“Actually, no.”

Jalila's heart dropped.

“But he should be here in a few. He had a meeting with an agent and he usually works late on Tuesday nights. Ms. Murphy is gone for the evening.”

Jalila perked up. “Great. Can I wait for him in his office?”

Dee Dee hesitated and glanced at her watch. “Uhm, well, I usually head out at five o'clock and I don't think I should just leave—”

“I do want to discuss the possibility of returning to the show, so I'm sure that he wouldn't mind my waiting in his office.”

Dee Dee sighed in relief. “You have no idea how much you'd be saving our butts if you do.” Then she realized what she said and tried to clean it up. “I mean, Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Murphy will be thrilled to have you back.”

“So I can just go ahead and wait for him then?” Jalila asked, walking toward the office.

“Well, uhm—”

“Thanks. You're a sweetheart.” Jalila continued her stroll toward the producer's private office. Once inside, she shut the door and placed a hand over her pounding heart.
You can do this. You can do this.

 

Outside the office, Dee Dee picked up the phone and dialed. “Hello, Nitara? You'll never guess who's here.”

 

Keenan debated whether to return to the office or cut his losses and just go home and let Chips continue to give him the cold shoulder. Tomorrow was a big day. He'd told Nitara that he would personally go down to the ABC studios and tell them that his company would be unable to deliver the thirteen episodes of
Queen of Hearts
. No doubt that news would jeopardize the three shows they were hoping to land for the fall and winter schedules, not to mention how the breach of contract could potentially drain his bank account.

In the end, Keenan decided to head back to the office. It was better to wheel and deal than to go home and mope with a dog who acted like he was disappointed in him. As he pulled into his office's parking lot, the Fugees's “Killing Me Softly” started to play over the radio.

Keenan parked the car and closed his eyes. Instantly, he was transported back to that the night….

Keenan opened his eyes, not wanting to go any further with the memory. It was just too painful. He turned off the radio and climbed out of the car.

As he walked into the office, Dee Dee hung up the phone and gasped. “Keenan, thank God you're here.”

“Is there a problem?” he asked, noting her flustered face.

“Ms. Goodwyn is here,” she said, lowering her voice.

Keenan froze, his heart squeezed.

“She asked to speak with you.” She glanced at her watch. “I didn't want to leave her here alone, but I have to go pick my daughter up from day care. I called Nitara—”

“It's all right.” He croaked and then coughed to clear his throat. “Uhm…you can go now. I'll go talk to her.”

“This is good news, right? If she comes back and finishes the show?”

“Uhm…yeah.” He didn't have the heart to tell Dee Dee that Jalila's return was as likely as a snowball in hell.

Dee Dee grabbed her jacket and purse and headed to the door. “Good luck,” she said, holding up her crossed fingers.

I've got a feeling I'm going to need all the luck I can get.
Once Dee Dee was gone, Keenan turned toward his closed office door and drew a deep breath. As he walked, his heartbeat sped up and his mouth dried out.
What will she say? What should I say?

The short walk to his office felt as long as a country mile, but the moment he pushed open the door, the scent of Chanel No. 5 greeted him. A second later his eyes landed on her standing by the window in a bright red coat. She turned toward him and unbelievably a smile touched her lips. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

“Jalila,” he whispered—almost as though if he spoke too loudly it would scare her off.

“Hello, Keenan.”

He liked the way her voice hugged his name. His gaze skimmed over her, drinking her in. “I've missed you.”

“And I've missed you.” She slowly untied her belt. “I was afraid that you weren't working today.” She started unbuttoning her coat.

“Look, I know you were upset the last time, and—” He closed the door.

“Lock it,” she said.

His brow arched in curiosity and he wondered if he'd heard her correctly. “I'm sorry.”

She undid the second button. “I said, lock it.”

Keenan's hand flew backward and fumbled with the lock.

Jalila's smile widened. “Good boy.”

Silent, Keenan's eyes tracked the procession of her hands—one button at a time.

“I think you were saying something?” she prodded.

“Uhm, yeah, I, uhm…” He licked his lips as anticipation of what awaited him made the blood rush from one head to the other.

Suddenly, that last button sliding through its hole was the most erotic thing he'd ever witnessed in his life.

“What's that matter?” Jalila teased. “Cat got your tongue?” She peeled open the coat and revealed her beautiful, naked, honey-brown body.

Ever so slowly, Keenan's gaze dragged over every inch of her. His heart sped up so fast that he couldn't tell whether he was just extremely excited or truly on the verge of a heart attack. By the time his eyes reached her firm calves and sexy high-heeled shoes, he was convinced that his hard cock was about to do an Incredible Hulk and burst out of his pants.

Her eyes lowered to his erection and she flicked her pretty pink tongue over her candy-apple-red lips.

Keenan groaned, believing he was either going to drop from the palpitations of his heart or the painful throb in his cock.

Jalila's coat hit the floor as she sauntered toward him. “You know, a woman might think you don't like
what you see when you don't compliment her on her outfit.” She stopped before him and boldly cupped his erection. “Don't you think I look nice?”

He nodded, licked his lips and then added dehydration to his list of medical concerns.

Her smile slid wider as she stared into his eyes. “Boy, you just don't know what I'm about to do to you.”

She's up to something.

“Jalila, about the other night—”

“Shh.” She leaned forward, her firm breasts pressing into his chest. “I don't want to talk about that right now. “Right now I want to know whether Little Kenny can come out and play.”

Little Kenny?

She squeezed his dick through his pants. “Or maybe I should call him
Big
Kenny?”

Now that's more like it.

She gave him another hard squeeze. “Take off your clothes.”

Hell. She didn't have to ask twice. Keenan pulled his shirt open so fast and so hard that the buttons on his shirt were shooting across the room like bullets. He jerked down his pants and boxers at the same time, and then cursed when he had difficulty getting them off over his shoes. Despite that, he was still naked in record time, with his cock saluting its commander-in-chief.

“There's my friend.” Jalila slowly and very dramatically bent over, her ass lifting high as she puckered her lips and placed a feathery kiss against the head of his straining cock.

“Ahh,” he groaned and then reached for her.

Jalila stepped back, evading his hands. “Maybe we should talk first,” she said, slinking away toward his desk.

“What?”
Did she say that she wanted to talk first? Please, God, don't say she wants to talk now!

She sat down on the front of his desk. “I mean, you looked like you had a lot on your mind when you came in here. So maybe we should talk?”

“N-no. No.” He licked his lips. “I—I was just so surprised to see you.”

“Oh?” She leaned back, parting her legs in opposite directions. “Was it a good surprise or a bad surprise?” She walked her fingers through the soft, springy curls of her pussy and spread herself open.

Licking his lips had now become like a nervous tick. He couldn't stop himself.

“Keenan?”

“Hmm? What?”

Jalila cocked her head. “You seem distracted.” She slid one finger deep into her wetness, stirred it around. “Mmm. I can't tell you how good this feels. I mean, after a long day, a woman needs to relax, you know?”

He bobbed his head. His eager eyes told her that he was ready to jump into the game at any time. Her sweet juices started smacking around her hand. But his eyes feasted on the sight of her honey polishing her clit. That damn nervous tick increased in frequency.

“Is there something you want to ask me?” she said.

Keenan stepped forward.

“Uh-uh.” She shook her head. “You gotta tell me what you want first.”

Keenan didn't know what he wanted to do first. So
many images raced through his mind that he was damn near stupefied.

“Oooh,” she moaned, signaling that she had hit a good spot. “Awww.” Her head fell back as she now moved her hips in a hypnotic rhythm. “Oooh, baby. I think I'm coming.”