Page 40 of Risking it All

“Have you read them?” she asked.

“I read two of them. The other is fairly new.”

“Did they help you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they did.”

“I’ll give them a try. Thank you, baby,” she said, leaning in and kissing my cheek. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”

“You’re not a mess, beautiful.”

“Either way. I hate that we had to meet under these circumstances. I can’t tell if you really like me or you just feel sorry for me.”

“I’ve been trying to show you just how crazy I am about you, mama. What I gotta do to prove that to you?”

“Just give me time, I guess. I’m working on accepting that just maybe I can change my fate.”

“I can tell you how much I believe in you all I want to, but at the end of the day, you have to believe your story can get better on your own.”

After a brief silence, she kissed my lips softly again. “Thank you. I know I keep saying that, but I really mean it. You don’t even know my story, and you haven’t pushed me to talk about it.”

“I know you’ll tell me when it’s time.”

“Thank you for being you. I have to think of a way to show my appreciation.”

“You don’t have to show me anything, mama. Just make sure you’re taking care of your mental, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

She sighed. “I wish I would have run into you a lifetime ago. Maybe I wouldn’t have gotten to the point where I felt so hopeless.”

“I’m here now,” I vowed.

She turned to straddle me before pressing her lips to mine. The heat from her center made my dick swell. I cupped her ass, inhaling the warm scent of her arousal.

“Do you have to get back to work? I don’t want you to think that I need you standing guard over me all the time. The girls downstairs said you were a workaholic.”

“Oh, y’all talk about me?”

“Well, they talk about everybody. Especially how you and the other guys who run this place are so fine but never give the women on the staff the time of day. They figure it’s because you’re scared to be sued for sexual harassment. They mentioned how the other two were married, but they weren’t sure about you because you were the quiet one. I think they think we’re related or something because Monique asked if I had ever seen you with a woman.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her I was pretty sure you had a girlfriend somewhere that didn’t play about you.”

That made me laugh. “Is that right?”

“Hopefully, she doesn’t test that theory. I would hate for her to have to find out.”

“Look at my baby getting defensive about her man.”

“Hush,” she said, moving to slide out of my lap.

I grabbed two handfuls of her ass to hold her in place. “Where you going, mama?”

“I need to move before I start getting ideas. You already told me that wasn’t happening, but either you have a loaded gun or you’re happy as hell to have me in your lap. Either way, I need to move.”

I kept my hands locked in place. For the life of me, I couldn’t let her go.

“Ask me to leave, mama.”