Twisted Vows of Seduction (23 page)

“Amen,” she said, raising her head.

“Dig in and don't be bashful now. I know how sisters like to throw down.”

“Ha, ha, ha.” Nadine picked up her fork and knife to sample the steak first. “May I ask you a question?”

“Anything you'd like.”

“How did you know where I work?”

“Tsk. Lucy. The young girl that works in the cleaners.”

Figures
, Nadine thought.

“She charged me one hundred dollars for your name, and another hundred for your phone number.”

Nadine's daintiness didn't go unseen as she swapped plates to taste the Mahi-mahi. “Are you serious?”

He nodded. “You had your office number on file so when I found out where you worked, I realized that this really was meant to be.”

Nadine scrunched her face. He didn't waste any time predicting their future together. “How so?” she wondered.

“Well. You're going to laugh at this one, but that building you work in, I used to work in as well three years ago.” He reached over to dab the left corner of Nadine's mouth. “You had a little honey sauce right there.”

His touch was so sensual and romantic that it ignited a fire all through her body. She licked her lips. “Thank you.” She stopped to tame her naughty thoughts. Damn, it sure was hard being a virgin all over again. “I'm surprised we've never met before now. So what floor did you work on?”

“I actually worked on the seventeenth floor for the Richards and Crads Agency.”

“Oh, okay. So you're a lawyer.”

He nodded. “Lawyer and restaurateur.”

“You practice criminal law?”

“Why all the brothers gotta be associated with criminal law?” He laughed.

“I'm sorry. I really didn't mean anything by it.”

He erupted in laughter. “Ha, ha, ha. No, I'm only kidding. Giving you a hard time, that's all. I get it all the time. I actually practice family law.”

Nadine was doubly impressed. “Soooo let me guess. This is your spot.”

“Bingo.” He smiled. “This is home away from home when I'm not in the courtroom. A buddy of mine helped me get started and the rest is history in the making.”

“It's exquisite and the food is delicious.”

“Thank you.”

“Now may I ask you a question?”

Nadine smiled. “Yes, you may.”

“I don't see a ring on
that
finger.” He placed his manicured pointer on her ring finger. “So I'm going to presume you're single.”

Nadine sighed. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“And you have a son. A small son.”

Nadine's brows raised a notch and she pursed her lips. “Are you sure you haven't been stalking me?”

“I noticed a blue car seat in the back of your car that day.”

“You're very observant. And detailed.”

“I'm a lawyer. We pay attention to all the details.” He grinned.

Another smile washed over her face. “I do have a son. He's eleven months.” This time he paused and Nadine took notice. “His father and I are no longer together. We…couldn't seem to make it work.” She shrugged. “So yes, I'm in the single department…and I have a small baby.” Her face relaxed a little, but she couldn't help but wonder if her honesty would qualify her any more or less. She wondered what he was thinking of her now.

As if reading her mind, he said, “Well, that's a bonus for me. Because if you give me a chance to prove that I'm not like him,” he looked deeply within her eyes and spoke directly to that pain and hurt she still bottled inside, “I'll make up for
everything
that he failed to do right.”

Damn
! Nadine thought. She allowed his words to soak in.

She couldn't help but wonder if she had been wearing her emotions on her sleeve as she thought she'd covered up those love scars. Apparently, she hadn't done a good enough job.

“Everything?” she asked with reservation.

Leonard nodded confidently.

“How do you know I'll even call you after this date? I mean…I don't even know your name.”

“Leonard. Last name Dupree.” He whipped out one of his business cards. “And you're right. I don't know if you'll call me. But you being here tonight tells me I have a chance. And I'm a patient man, Nadine. So I don't mind waiting.”

She didn't know Leonard from a can of paint, but she could feel that everything he was saying tonight was real. But she still had to pinch herself to make sure that this fine, suave, charming gentleman in front of her was the real deal, and not simply making a cameo appearance in another one of her dreams.

She exhaled sharply. Lord knows, she wasn't ready to dive back into a relationship so quickly. But they were only conversing, she reminded herself. She was still recovering from an unofficial breakup with Jeff. And on top of being emotionally disconnected, she doubted she could ever fully trust a man with her feelings again. Jeff had left her wounded and discouraged, not to mention swarming in self-doubt. If she weren't good enough for him, who would she be good for? But Leonard's words were like Hershey's Kisses for her soul. They were comforting in her time of need. Her time of mourning. And the more he kissed her deepest wound of all, the more she wanted to kiss back.

I
t had been a little over two weeks since her date with Leonard and they had practically spoken on the phone or chatted on Skype every day since then. She tried her best to avoid Facebook at all cost. Janeesha's lunatic ass was as nosey and crazy as they came, and Nadine didn't need her all in her business. The woman was trying to ruin Nadine's reputation. It had gotten back to her days after Kelli's party that Janeesha had spread all types of nasty rumors about Nadine having a thing for married men. She had been apparently warning women to keep their man away from her. She had posted that memo on several of their mutual friends' Facebook walls, which happened to be considerably more than half of their graduating class from Prairie View University. Even with Nadine unfriending her, Janeesha still managed to harass her by direct messaging her Bible scriptures. It had gotten to the point where Nadine didn't even care to log in anymore. She refused to put up with that childish nonsense, and reporting it would only add fire to the entire ordeal.

That was why Nadine found a much-needed peace with Leonard. He was her serenity when things were chaotic and he always had the right words. He was also the perfect distraction, seeing how she really didn't think about Jeff at all. She no longer cared about him breaking her heart, being engaged, and moving on to someone new. Not that she forgave him for it, but at this particular
point, she only cared about
her
moving on and finding the true love and happiness that she deserved. While it was still way too early to tell how things would pan out with Leonard, she believed a future with him was looking brighter by the day.

As she finished getting dressed, she double-checked herself in the mirror, loving the way those jeans hugged her body. She put on her shoes and threw on her chunky gold accessories. Lastly, she applied her makeup.

“How does Mommy look?” she asked her son who was too busy rolling off all the toilet tissue. “No, no, no.” Nadine hurried over to Canvas and started to pick up the mess until her doorbell rang. She picked him up in her arms and kissed his chubby cheeks. “I know who that is,” she said, tickling her son as he hung off her hip. “Coming,” she called out, tickling Canvas all the way to the door.

She looked out the peephole and surprisingly so, he was right on time. She opened the door and Jeff and Deandra walked inside.

“Hey, how you doing?” Jeff spoke as he walked in.

“I'm good. You?” Nadine replied casually.

“I'm here to see another day so that's good enough for me,” he retorted. “Hey, son!” Canvas instantly reached for his father and Jeff tossed the boy in the air. “What my lil man been up to? Give Daddy some love.” He kissed Canvas on his cheeks, then playfully hung him in the air.

“Your hair is really pretty,” Nadine said to Deandra. “I see your father finally got the hang of the curling iron.”

Jeff casually walked off and farther into the living room, playing with Canvas.

“Daddy didn't do my hair,” Deandra said. “My new Mommy did it.”

Nadine nearly doubled over.

“We're not going to stay too long,” Jeff said, grabbing Canvas's bags off the dinner table.

Nadine pretended not to hear him. “Well, that's nice to hear,” she told Deandra, disguising her true feelings so well.

Deandra had a wide smile spread across her face. “Yeah, she does my hair every morning for school.”

Nadine then looked up at Jeff as Deandra continued on her own. “Humph. Every morning, huh?”

“Yep. She lives with us,” Deandra added in a mighty chipper voice. “And they're getting married real soon. I'm going to be the flower girl.”

“Wow.” Deandra was unloading so much on her so quickly, Nadine couldn't recover as fast from the news.

“Deandra!” Jeff shot her a look and the girl's face nearly melted. “I'm sorry, Daddy.”

Nadine took a much needed deep breath and tried to stomach all of it. Her head felt tight and the room seemed as if it were spinning. She could hardly think straight now. She tapped her forehead until her thoughts came back to her. “Ummm…you have all his things there…” She paused. “There's Motrin in there too…just in case…the fever comes back.” She shook her head as all her thoughts seemed to derail, making her tense. “I'm going to step out for a while, but I'll have my cell on me if you need me for anything.”

“We'll be fine,” Jeff assured her.

Finally, she looked at him as if trying to figure out the toughest Sudoku puzzle. There were no words left to say.

“May I use your bathroom for a minute?” Jeff asked.

She rolled her eyes. “You know where it is.”

Jeff handed Canvas to her and she took a seat as he walked off.
Deandra was quiet, but Nadine could sense that her goddaughter wanted to tell her so much more. What she didn't understand was if Deandra was volunteering all her father's business out of spite. It was obvious their relationship hadn't been the same since her mother had died. And she knew Deandra had even blamed her for her parents' divorce. But she never wanted their relationship to come to this.

“Look like you running a florist shop up in here,” Jeff said when he returned. “You got purple roses all up in here, in your room, and in the bathroom.” He laughed, looked at her and licked his lips. “Tell the brotha I said he doing way too much.” He laughed again.

“They're not purple,” Nadine shot with attitude. Nadine got up and handed Canvas back to Jeff.

“They sure look purple to me.”

Nadine could tell he was trying to switch the subject from what Deandra had brought up earlier. And that was perfectly fine. She didn't want to hear about him and his newfound love any more than he probably wanted to hear about the actual symbolism behind the color of the roses that Leonard had sent to her every day following their first date.

“They're lavender,” she enlightened him.

Jeff stood, looking as clueless as all get out.

“Again, call me if you need me. I have to finish getting ready.” She felt Jeff's eyes roam her new body and that was the cue to get him the hell up out of there. She picked up the bags and handed them to him. Catching the hint, he turned to walk toward the door.

“One more thing,” she said before Jeff was completely out of her sight. “I don't know this woman you're taking my son around…” Jeff tried to interrupt, but she held up her hand and continued with what she had to say. “So please. Please don't make me regret this.”

Jeff's face scrunched all on its own. “Don't ever think that I would put my son in harm's way. He'll be fine. He'll be with his father.”

Nadine tried her best to not show her ugly side. If Deandra had not said anything, she wouldn't have known Jeff was even taking their son around another woman. She almost regretted letting him leave, but she tried to ease her worry in knowing that Jeff wouldn't dare let anything happen to Canvas.

“Okay,” she said, leaning in to kiss her son. She looked over at Deandra who seemed to be impatiently waiting. “See you later, Deandra.”

Deandra didn't wave back, only snarled. But of course, Nadine couldn't make out what she had said and Jeff had been too busy catching the call on his cell. She slowly closed the door, then treaded over to the dining room table where one of the many flower arrangements in her home served as a centerpiece. She took one of the roses out and as soon as she sniffed it, Leonard's sweet words came rushing back to her.
“I'll make up for everything that he failed to do right
.” That alone gave her the reassurance she would need to make her date with Leonard worthwhile and truly unforgettable.

A
fter hours of rummaging through Jeff's office, his bedroom, closets, and even the kitchen drawers, Ménage found what she had been looking for. Not only did she find recent bank statements for his trust accounts, CD's, and IRA's, she found the letter from the insurance company with the exact dollar amount of Denise's life insurance policy. Jeff had not only collected over $1 million on his wife's policy, but he had received an extra $500,000 because her death had been accidental.

Ménage's eyes bucked at the paperwork that she held in her shaky hands.

“Girl, I am not lying. I'm looking at it right now. This nigga is loaded,” Ménage rattled off.

“But didn't you say he was a car salesman,” Tiffany interjected, sounding as if that was the worst type of job anybody could have.

“Yes!” They both started laughing. “I don't know why in the hell he still working.” She allowed her words to linger in the air. “On second thought, he gon' need his day job after I hit his ass up.”