Page 42 of A Minute Past Midnight

After purchasing the home and a new truck for Juliana, and she signed her name on the dotted lines to both, I got her set up at FRAF as the lead creative designer.

Of course, she wanted to put in her two weeks at Heaven on Earth, so she would start at my company sometime next week.

I made it clear to all my staff members—the men—that Juliana Sidora was off-limits. I didn’t have to explain the reason, because what was understood didn’t need an explanation.

She smiled the entire time she filled out the paperwork, and I swear that shit made me feel like that empty void I felt with Forever had now been filled just seeing how happy I made Juliana.

Once she signed off on the employee papers with HR, she burst into a fit of tears. I was confused as fuck until Mya explained to me the reason why. It was her hormones and the fact that she’d been struggling to make ends meet since she'd moved here.

I didn't even know Mya knew Juliana, but as she soothed her, I could tell they had to have known each other quite a while.

Since that day, I took Juliana furniture shopping, and she designed the house how she saw fit. I was impressed by how she decorated the space and knew she had an eye for detail.

After everything was set up, she came to me and asked if we could hold off on the benefits of our friendship. She wanted us to get to know each other better for a while, and I respected it.

I was a little fucked up since I’d become addicted to her, but I could hold out for as long as she needed me to.

Today, Juliana invited me and my family over for dinner. I honestly didn't know how they would react to the news of her being pregnant, but I planned to butter them up by giving them the good news of my divorce being final.

I hoped it would be good news for Juliana too.

I pulled up to her home, grabbed the bag of greens I stopped to get her from the grocery store, grabbed my bag with a change of clothes, then got out of the car. She was already at the door waiting since I had a security system installed.

She smiled at me, and I couldn't help but feel good about seeing her rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Yeah, I’d only known her for a few months, and we had a baby on the way, but seeing and hearing her struggle, then seeing her smile warmed my heart.

“Hi,” she greeted, hugging me around my neck once I made it to her.

“Hi, beautiful.” I kissed her cheek. “How you feeling?”

“I feel good. Come in and make sure you take off your shoes. Last time you came here, you tracked dirt on my floor.”

I smirked. “I got you, mama.”

She walked away, and it was hard to see her do that shit.

Calm down, nigga. You acting like a horny-ass teenager.

It was what she did to me.

The natural sway of her hips was sinful.

I may have agreed to a friendship with her, but if another nigga dared step to her on that type of time, he’d come up missing, with the community holding a candlelight vigil for him.

And any other nigga who dared to come after that.

It was sad to say that Juliana would be lonely for the rest of her life if she wasn't going to be with me.

It wasn't toxicity.

It was protection.

Since she agreed to keeping the baby, no other nigga would play substitute or stake a bonus claim on my kid unless my body was lowered in the dirt.

Some might have thought it wasn't normal for me to be this way with a woman I didn't know a lot about.

Bullshit.

I knew enough to know this thing between us would progress, and I didn't have to do all of that to know we were each other's endgame. She’d want me just because I was who I was.