Twisted Vows of Seduction (6 page)

He spotted his lunch companion, Naomi Brooks, right away. Her back was turned but he knew it was her. Would recognize her delicious voluptuous curves from a mile away. Furthermore, she was the only brown-skinned body sitting all alone, nursing what appeared to be lemonade, given how she didn't drink alcohol.

Greg took in the scenery, hoping not to see or be spotted by anyone he knew. He rounded the table in front of him and leaned in to announce his presence with a sensual kiss on her left cheek. To spectators, it was an innocent peck, but only he and Naomi knew differently.

“You're an hour late,” Naomi pointed out to him before he could even pull out a chair to sit down. She offered him half of a smile and her piercing brown eyes never wavered as she twirled the top of her straw with her fingers.

Greg looked around the patio of the trendy Oak Lawn uptown's Taco Diner for a waiter. When he spotted one, he lifted a finger and bounced his head to get his attention. The young man scurried over to their table.

“Hello, my name is Jeremy. Can I start you off with an appetizer today?” The tall and slinky waiter whipped out the pen tucked behind his right ear. He looked to be around eighteen years old, free-spirited, and carefree. The next thing Greg noticed besides the young man's lively personality was the numerous piercings in his ears. He had at least six in both ears. Too many damn holes for a man. Too many damn holes for anyone, he seconded that thought. The black polish on his nails was the most puzzling to Greg. As if that wasn't enough, he happened to notice the tattoo on the inside of the boy's forearm. It was a dragon spitting out a ring of fire. In the fire were letters that spelled out
HELL
.

Greg cleared his throat. “No appetizer. Just a Mambo Limo,” he said finally, situating himself. He removed his jacket and loosened his tie.

“Will that be all for you, sir?”

“For now,” he replied coolly.

“Mambo Limo coming right up!”

Greg didn't really feel up to the lunch date and it's a wonder he even showed up. His mind was still wrapped around his deceased lover, Denise. Before coming here, he had gone to the cemetery and left flowers on her grave. He missed her so much and would have given anything to bring her back.

Greg finally settled his eyes on the strikingly beautiful woman
seated across from him. Today she wore his favorite color. A casual form-fitting red dress that exposed just enough cleavage to encourage a wave of new thoughts. Her Nubian shimmering brown skin looked like a pot of simmering honey. She was flawless in his eyes. Perfect skin. Perfect teeth. Perfect smile. Her smile was what he loved the most. It was warm, captivating, and on a day like today, uplifting.

Naomi also possessed the key traits that Greg found attractive about a woman. Confidence, intelligence, passion, and wit. She was all that and more. She was the total package. Which was even more of the reason why he was glad to have her in his life. Especially during times like this when he was missing the hell out of
her
.

Losing Denise had done some damage to him internally. Part of him felt he was responsible for her death after discovering that the car accident occurred shortly after their heated phone exchange. She had told him that she was on her way to tell his wife about them. On her way to expose him and his dirty little secret. But she never got the chance to.

Denise's untimely death forced him to realize how selfish he had been. He had taken her for granted and had regrettably hidden his true feelings from her for the sake of what he stood to lose. He was trying to protect his wife, Vivian, along with his millions of dollars in investments, Adams Companies and all their franchises. Most importantly, he was trying to protect his and his wife's reputation. He knew the discovery of his adulterous affair would set fire to everything he'd worked hard to build. And as he found himself in an identical situation, he knew this time would be different. He would be sure to calculate things carefully due to what was at stake.

Naomi raised a brow at him and a peculiar uneven smirk crossed her lips as she lifted her straw and stirred her frozen lemon drink.
Withdrawing the straw from her cherry-colored lips, she sighed. Frustration settled in every crease of her face.

“I called you several times. I didn't think you'd make it,” she said finally.

Greg cleared what he thought was dust out of his throat, his expression unchanged. “I had a business engagement prior to coming here,” he replied, shifting in his seat a little. He watched her roll her tongue in between her lips. Any other time his dick would have shot up like a space rocket to get close to Naomi, to be next to her warmth, but at that moment it lay completely limp and hardly motivated.

A playful wind whipped over their table causing Naomi's naturally long, bone-straight black tresses to high-five the air. A whiff of her incredible scent found itself trapped in the breeze. Greg inhaled her femininity. It was the closest connection he had made with her since being in her presence. She was wearing the Chanel perfume he had given her. He loved that fragrance. So did Denise.

Greg removed his sunglasses to catch a better view of the scenery. His wandering eyes began to roam her body. The sparkling diamond earrings, diamond pendant necklace, and the dazzling platinum diamond tennis bracelet on her left wrist, had all been gifts for her thirty-fifth birthday, from him. Unbeknownst to Naomi, the bracelet she wore was an exceptionally special piece to him. It was symbolic, being that it was identical to the bracelet he had given Denise for Valentine's Day the year before.

The longer he stared at his strikingly beautiful girlfriend, the more Greg noticed that all the gifts that he had given her in the nine months that they'd been seeing each other, were now being showcased on her incredible body, knowingly, just for him.

Her almond-shaped golden brown eyes rested on his. “Are you feeling all right today? You look exhausted.”

In an uneven tone, “I'm fine,” he lied.

Naomi studied Greg's face a few seconds longer. “Are you sure?”

Greg looked to his left for no one in particular. Hysterical laughter coming from a group of chatty women at the next table filtered through his latest thoughts. “I'm all right,” he said. He watched people who were people watching until an ash blonde Cane Corso caught his attention. He always wanted one of those but never actually got one. Vivian hated dogs. Hated cats. Hated kids. Hated anything that required too much of her time and attention.

“Will you look at me, please?” Naomi asked.

Greg brought his eyes back to hers. She stared at him as if she were carefully identifying every feature on his face.

“You've been crying, haven't you?”

“Where in the heck is my drink?” he questioned, ignoring her all at once.

“Your eyes are as red as my dress, Greg. You've been crying.”

He fell silent, looked around for the bubbly waiter who had taken his order. Finally, he was heading back their way.

“I'm very sorry it took so long, sir. Our machine was giving us a little trouble. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

Greg shook his head, clearly aggravated.

“Would you like a refresher, Madam?”

“I'm fine, thank you,” Naomi replied kindly.

Greg took a thirsty sip of his drink.

“Well, if you don't care to talk to me about it, I won't force it,” she said.

“Naomi, baby, there's nothing to discuss, furthermore, be concerned about. I said I'm fine.” He flashed her that signature smile of his, forcing every bit of it.

“Really?” she asked in a questioning tone.

Greg looked at her more seriously. “What? So you don't believe me now. I told you there's nothing to worry your pretty little head about.”

“Well, I can't say I'm so sure about that anymore,” Naomi muttered.

“Where's all this coming from?” Greg held up a hand. “You know what, never mind. I don't have time for it right now.”

Before Greg could say another word, he watched the tears as they formed in her eyes.

“I'm trying to be patient. I swear I am,” she started. “But this is becoming…” She picked up a napkin from the table and blotted the corners of her eyes with it. “Unbearable,” she said lastly.

Greg cringed. This was the
last
thing he wanted to be dealing with right now. “All I've asked is that you bear with me for a little longer until I get some things handled on my end. It shouldn't be long now,” he said, speaking of the divorce he was secretly trying to position himself for financially.

Naomi brought her pain-stricken eyes to his. “What makes you so sure that she's going to let you walk so easily, huh? That could take months. Years. I mean…are you really going to leave your wife for me?”

Greg was silent. “I know where I want to be.”

Naomi didn't appear to be convinced.

“All I'm asking is that you be patient.”

“Exactly what do you think I've been doing for the past six months, Greg? I love you and you know that, but I can't keep waiting for you to decide when you're ready to leave her when I'm—”

“Damn it, Denise, what do you want from me!” He fought to remain calm. Fought to not cause a scene.

Naomi drew her neck back as if he had caught her off-guard with his temper.

“I'm doing everything that I can,” he continued.

Naomi stared on as if in utter disbelief. Her mouth moved in slow motion as she opened it to speak. “Who is she?”

Greg stopped mid-sentence and stared at Naomi oddly.

“What?”

“Who is she?”

“What are you talking about? I told you about my wife, Vivian.”

“No. I'm not referring to her. Who is Denise?” Naomi asked, enunciating the woman's name carefully.

Greg tilt his head and waited for that warm sensation to wash over him like it always did when he thought of Denise or heard her name. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Don't do this. You know exactly what I'm talking about! You just called me another woman's name and it wasn't your wife's.” She paused. “So this woman, Denise. Who is she, Greg? And is she the reason you were late? The reason your eyes are all bloodshot.”

Greg lathered his tongue in a boiling soup of lies. He didn't know how Denise's name managed to slip out of his mouth, but it was apparent that it had. Out of the six months that he and Naomi had been seeing each other, he had never mentioned his former lover to her, and it was for good reason.

He measured the brazen look in her eyes. She demanded to know who this woman was that he had never spoken about, and before today he had made up in his mind that she would never know. “She's none of your concern so can we change the subject, please,” Greg stated matter-of-factly. “We are supposed to be enjoying each other's company right now. I don't need you hounding me about old flames.”

“Are you serious?” Naomi batted her long lashes.

“Naomi, please. She's the past.”

“Well then, what exactly am
I
? Because last time I checked, you were still married.”

Greg didn't want to disappoint her. Didn't want to tell her that Denise was the only reason he found himself doing this again. The only reason he felt
anything
for Naomi at all. When he looked at her, he didn't see her for her. He saw her as Denise. The woman he had fallen so deeply in love with. Greg was never looking for a woman to replace his wife. He was looking for a woman to replace Denise. And when God sent Denise back to him as Naomi, Greg vowed he would never let anyone or anything come between them again.

“This conversation is over,” Greg said. He stated his position and that was that. Her eyes wavered from his. He leaned across the table, cupped her chin in his large right hand and stroked it with his thumb. “Don't I take good care of you?” he asked. Her eyes eventually found their way back to him but not a single word left her lips. “Don't I make you happy?” he asked further. Greg leaned in and gave her a reassuring kiss on the lips. “Trust me. This will all be over soon.”

Naomi only nodded as if all were forgiven, but the sketchy look on her face said otherwise.

“I have to go. Need to swing by the office and pick up some important paperwork.” Greg stood up. “I was hoping later I could come by your place.” Greg observed her unchanging expression.

She pressed her lips tightly together. “Sure. What time should I expect you?”

Greg smiled mischievously. “Same time as last night.” He reached for his wallet. He didn't have any cash on him. Instead of waiting for the bill, he laid one of his credit cards flat on the table. “Here. Treat yourself to something nice. And sexy,” he added.

Naomi didn't even bother looking at the credit card. Her eyes had been trained on him.

Without saying another word, he placed his shades smoothly back over his face, then turned to leave in the same direction from which he had come.

J
eff grabbed Deandra by the hand as they walked swiftly toward the crowded outdoor eatery. He was certain his eyes had deceived him, but as he and Deandra stumbled upon the sidewalk in closer proximity of the mysterious woman, he realized he was far from being fooled. Only five feet away, he thought he was staring at a ghost, or perhaps, Denise, in the flesh.

He and Deandra took a seat under one of the umbrella tables. He watched bug-eyed and discreetly as possible the way the woman's lips moved as she spoke on her cell phone. Shortly after her ten-minute conversation, she placed her phone inside of her purse and got up from the table. Jeff studied her carefully from head to heel. From the way her body curved to the rhythm in her stride. It was too close to home to be a coincidence, but he knew that that's all it had to be. Still he couldn't deny that watching this woman made his skin crawl and the back of his neck hairs stand up. She looked exactly like his ex-wife.