Help me get away from that succubus, Johnny said urgently. Shes been on me like a duck on a june bug, and Im trying not to hurt her feelings. Come on. Lets go in the side door.
Johnny, youre crazy! Ayannas dimples wreathed her smile as she allowed him to hustle her away from the sound of Davinas voice.
No, Im not. I need help, just like you said. Help me stay away from the man-eater and Ill give you anything you want.
A warm pleasant feeling settled over her at his teasing words. Dont make promises you cant keep. You have no idea what I might want, she warned.
They had reached the door that led to the kitchen. He squeezed her hand, which hed taken when he led her off the patio. Thats true, I dont. But whatever it is, Ill give it to you gladly. Count on that, he replied with his devastating grin.
They went into the big kitchen, and he stared at the table loaded with all kinds of good things to eat.
Dang, that looks good. Fix me a plate, and well get started on your list. Johnny went to the sink and washed his hands while Ayanna stared at his beautiful butt and his long legs that were slightly bowed.
Ill fix you a plate, but what list are you talking about?
He turned around, wiping his hands on a dish towel. Your desires, Ayanna. I told you Id give you anything you want.
She couldnt move for a moment, and then she laughed at his foolishness. Move out of the way so I can wash my hands. Your blood sugar must be low.
Chapter 3
A fter the party ended and everyone went home, Johnny was still thinking about Ayanna. Hed insisted on following her home to make sure she got there safely, even though it was kind of superfluous seeing as how it was barely dark and she had Alec and Cameron for protection. He did it anyway and pulled up in the driveway behind them. He watched until they were all in the house safely, and then he punched in her number on his cell phone.
I told you I was going to call you, hed reminded her. She had laughed, the tinkling little giggle that reminded him of spring rain.
Yes, but I didnt think youd be calling from the driveway. You want to come in and have a cup of coffee?
He had done so at once because it gave him a chance to see her again, even for a little while. He had admired her house and got to observe her easy relationship with the boys up close. Actually, hed spent more time talking with Alec and Cameron than he had with Ayanna, but it was cool because he liked them. She had raised some fine young men. Shed finally called the evening to a halt because they had to get up early for church the next day. He would see her there since she and Billie and Dakota attended the same church, and he always went with them when he was in town.
Now Johnny was in the media room of Billies house, stretched out on one of the big leather sofas. The plasma TV was on ESPN, but he wasnt watching it. He was thinking about Ayannas smile. Shed made an impression on him the first moment hed seen her at Billies wedding. Hed gotten into Chicago the morning of the ceremony, and hed missed all the festivities leading up to it, so he hadnt seen the bridesmaids until they were walking down the aisle. Her huge black eyes, the big dimples and her perfect golden brown complexion were all adorable, but hed thought she was about nineteen or twenty, way too young for him.
After the ceremony hed found out that Alec and Cameron, whod played the violin and piano during the ceremony, were her sons. This made him think she was married. By the time he realized she was single, the reception was almost over and hed hooked up with some tall leggy woman who was into a good time for one night only, which was his style. He remembered, though, watching Ayanna dance the night away with what seemed like every man there. She could dance her butt off, he recalled, in a sexy and alluring but not sleazy way. She was graceful and moved like shed been doing it all her life.
Billie entered the room and interrupted his thoughts. Who won the game?
Huh? He turned to look at her. Who won what?
She pushed his feet aside and sat down on the end of the couch. Were you asleep? I asked who won. Arent you watching the scores? she asked as she pointed to the TV.
No, I was thinking about Ayanna. Shes beautiful, isnt she?
Billie tilted her head as she looked him over. If you were any other man on the planet, Id say you were smitten, but we know thats not true, dont we?
You dont know anything, little sister. Where did she learn how to dance like that?
She used to be on a dance squad when she was in high school, I think, and she took dance when she was little. She teaches a dance class at a community center near her house. That girl can get down like a pro, she said. Wait, I have a DVD from the hospital benefit. Todd asked her to be his partner in this ballroom dance thing. Hold on, let me get it. Todd Wainwright, Jasons younger brother, had missed the party because he was at work.
She rose gracefully and went to the wall where the DVDs were stored. Lets see she murmured. Oh, here it is. Ill put it in for you.
Jason appeared in the doorway as she slipped the disc into the player. Baby, isnt it time for you to go to bed? You did a lot today, and I dont want you to tire yourself out, he said.
Billie went to him and nuzzled the base of his throat as he wrapped her in his arms. I was just getting ready to come upstairs. Im a little tired, but not because I did too much. You did everything for me, as usual.
Johnny sat up and waved the couple off. Take your lovey-dovey newlywed expectant-parent selves out of here before I get sick from watching you, he said.
Aw, man, dont hate, participate, Jason drawled. This is what you get when you turn in your playa card and start being a real man. He stopped talking and kissed Billie deeply.
Im blind, Im blind, Johnny moaned. Stop doing that, man, thats my baby sister.
Billie and Jason shouted with laughter. I might be your sister, but Im his wife. This is what married life is like.
Yeah, well I may never know. Good night. Please, good night, sleep well, etcetera. By the way, speaking of sisters, where is yours? He pointed at Jason as he spoke.
She hooked up with some quarterback or whatever. We might not see her until tomorrow, Jason answered. See ya.
Johnny pumped his fist in the air as the couple left. Thank you! Now I can have some peace. He pushed play on the DVD player and was immediately transfixed by what he saw on the high definition screen. Oh damn, I could be in serious trouble, he murmured as he watched Ayanna come into view. But its just the kind of trouble I like.
Ayanna was thinking about the events of the day as she got ready for bed. The party was wonderful, just like any gathering with Billies family. They had to be the sweetest people shed ever met. Dakotas in-laws and Billie and Dakotas parents were just delightful. And what could you say about Johnny Phillips? He was every womans dreamtall, intelligent, funny and kind and his looks were off the chart. Too bad he was way out of her league. Men like Johnny ended up with women like his sisters: Billie, the former supermodel who was now making her mark in the construction business, and Dakota, the Pulitzer prize-winning author whod also won an Oscar for screenwriting. Yes, with sisters like that, hed look for a doctor, a CEO or even a lawyer, since that was his profession. Standards had been set pretty high in the Phillips family.
She was in her bedroom, taking a last look in the mirror before getting in the shower. A pleasant face looked back at her. Her skin was good; her hair was passable, although it wasnt long and cascading like the Phillips women. I guess I could get a fifteen-hundred-dollar weave like Davina, she thought. She made a face at her reflection. No need to take a swallow of haterade. You are what you are.
She took off the cute celery-green cotton sweater shed worn with a pair of light-colored jeans and a pair of stylish little yellow flats from Payless. She laughed as she took off the shoes to put them in the closet. She couldnt see Johnny Phillips with a woman who scouted for clothes on clearance at Target and shoes from the Payless buy one, get one sales. She wasnt a high-powered executive or someone of national prominence. She was a single mother with an office job who had to pinch pennies hard to make sure her sons were well-fed, nicely clothed, safe and secure. And that her bills were paid on time. She didnt drive a luxury car, unless a five-year-old PT Cruiser was in that category. Her house was sparkling clean and charming, but almost everything had been done by her two hands, assisted by the boys. Nope, she was not his glass of champagne, not by a long shot.
She finished undressing and took a long shower. It was the only way she could be sure to get some hot water because the boys would monopolize it the next morning before church. Sighing as the sweet scent of her bath gel filled her nostrils, she thought again about how much fun shed had with Johnny. She loved his irreverent humor and outrageous flirting; she was so busy being a mom shed forgotten how much fun it could be. Ayanna could be shy with people she didnt know, but her acquaintance with Johnny and his family made him feel safe and familiar. For a brief moment she wished with all her heart that she was more than what she was. She wished she was the kind of woman who could attract a man like Johnny for real.
Ayanna couldnt wait to get to church the next morning to pray for forgiveness. The dreams shed had the night before were so vivid and explicit that shed awakened sweaty, trembling and moist in places that should have been bone dry. And Ramon was not the star attraction that night. Hed been replaced by someone taller, broader of shoulder and chocolate brown with a clean shaven head. She didnt need an advanced degree in psychology to know what that was about. She kicked the covers off and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was 5:00 a.m. She sat up groggily and tossed aside the wrinkled bedclothes. She needed another shower to wash away all traces of her drastically misplaced erotic desires.
She scrubbed herself from head to toe, using her nylon bath puff like a weapon. When she washed her small, firm breasts and the sensitive area between her legs, she was dismayed to find them tender and responsive to her touch, as though the wild sex of her dream was real. To shake off all vestiges of her nocturnal fantasies, she lowered the temperature of the shower until it was quite cool. She had to stifle a scream, but she ran the cold water over her body resolutely and thoroughly. If anyone knew what shed been thinking, shed die of shame.
Okay, thats a little dramatic, she admitted as she toweled herself dry. But the things they had done to each other in that dream were so vivid and so wild! Ive got to leave those romance novels alone. No more Brenda Jackson, Maureen Smith or Altonya Washington for her. And definitely no more Adrianne Byrd! The books she read were well-written, delightfully sensual and theyd been her obsession ever since she discovered African-American romance. She had so many of the books that she had to catalog them.
The newest ones were in her to-be-read pile next to the bed. Her favorites took a place of honor in her bedroom bookcase. The older books were in boxes under her bed, each box labeled with a sheet that told the name and author of each book. She sighed heavily as she made her bed, still wrapped in her towel. It was pathetic enough that her sex life was confined to reading the delicious love scenes the authors so generously provided her in their fascinating books, but when her lonelinessand yes, her unfulfilled desiresmade her include a real live man in her dreams, well, it was time for a change.
Im the one who needs help, she thought. Maybe theres some kind of herbal thing I can get at the health food store to cool my jets. She had to laugh out loud at that thought. It wasnt that serious. She just needed to exercise more. That would work out those urges quite nicely. She could teach another dance class; it would give the boys more time at the rec center, which they would enjoy. Problem solved. No more crazy dreams about having wild sex in the middle of a bed with red satin sheets with a chocolate hunk of man for her. She would exercise that man right out of her thighs, thats what she would do.
She looked around, realized that shed made the bed, rearranged her dresser and organized her closet. And she still had over thirty minutes before the boys alarm would go off. Okay, shed put on her underwear and a robe and go make some cinnamon rolls for a surprise. Keeping busy was the answer. If she just kept busy and kept her mind focused on productive things, she had no doubt that her current state of constant longing would dissipate. It was a good plan that only took a few hours to blow up in her face.
Chapter 4
J ohnny slept a lot better than Ayanna, and the dreams he had about being with her werent a cause for angst. On the contrary, he was looking forward to seeing her that morning. Hed watched the DVD of her dancing three times before he went to bed, after making a point of taking it out of the player and taking it to the guest room with him. He had every intention of keeping it, and Billie could just get over it until he could copy it. If he copied it. For some reason, he didnt really want anyone else looking at it. The way Ayanna looked was amazing, but the way she was dancing was too sexy to be believed.
He was still in bed, wearing the sheet that was covering him and nothing else. He smiled lazily as he recalled with total clarity every act of consensual loving hed shared with Ayanna during the night. It was the costume shed worn in the DVD that had done it. It was some kind of gold getup with those sparkly things on it. It had a top part with one shoulder strap and a skirt thing that bared her navel and was split on the side to show off her long, shapely legs. Ayanna might be slender, but every inch of her was bangin as his early-morning tent pole testified.
He chuckled as he enjoyed the sensation of his erection. Some men got bothered by the early-morning wake-up call by their nether regions, but Johnny liked it. It let him know that he was still in business, and after the night of fantasies hed had courtesy of the captivating Ayanna, he couldnt blame his body for reacting. The way she had worked her body around that stage was so blazing hot it had seared his eyeballs. She moved like she didnt have any bones in her hips, especially when she was doing the Latin dances. She had such control of her beautiful body that all he could think was what she would feel like in his arms.
The only hitch was Todd Wainwright. Were they involved or something? Todd hadnt made it to the open house because he was head of the trauma unit at John Stroger Hospital, and hed been on call yesterday. They seemed to move as one person on the DVD, and the way he touched her and looked into her eyes during the dance was more intimate than Johnny liked. Was it part of the show, or was there something going on? Hed already made two wrong assumptions about Ayanna that had put him off the trail, and he wasnt going to make a third. First he assumed she was too young, and then he assumed she had a husband because she had two sons. Yeah, well, they say assumptions are the mothers of all screwups. Im getting to the bottom of this ASAP, he said aloud.