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  “Forty,” he smiled. “Don’t I look it?”

  “You don’t look a day over 30.”

  “Well, thank you for the gracious compliment. But I don’t feel like 30. As my son gets older, I feel older. Watching him grow up is the greatest treasure in the world, but with every inch and every pound he gains, I also gain a wrinkle, a gray hair. It puts my mortality into perspective.” He shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth with his index finger.

  “I want kids someday. I want the house filled with construction paper and homework and class projects and report cards.” She grinned. “You’re so lucky to have Zach. He’s amazing.”

  “A woman like you could have all of that and more. I mean, I’m sure that you’d be a great mom. You cook, you clean. You make everyone feel like they’re special. Zach fell in love with you in just one day, and trust me when I say that he’s guarded. I could just imagine what your own kids would think of you.”

  Sitting up, he caught LaToya looking at his bare chest. She had taken his shirt off and put it in the dryer hours ago.

  “Want you shirt back?” she asked softly. She bit her lip and looked away.

  He looked down at his body and looked back up at her. “Would you like to join me...take off your shirt?”

  LaToya shook her head. “No. I wouldn’t.” She blushed.

  “Why not?”

  She couldn’t bring herself to say that she was fat. Why couldn’t he just see it? Rolling her eyes, she tried to lie. “I don’t like taking my shirt off.”

  Mitch bit his bottom lip. He’d take it off for her if she let him. Crawling on his knees across the room towards her, he snaked up to her body, in between her legs and moved her braids out of her face.

  Studying her features, he dipped in to kiss her lips again, stroking his tongue along the roof of her perfect mouth, slowly committing her fruity taste to memory. She tasted like heaven. Her mewling sounds of pleasure sounded like hypnotic tunes of ecstasy. He literally could kiss her for days on end. The flesh on flesh made him forget that the outside world existed. She dipped her head back and allowed him to trail sensual, sweet kisses down her neck.

  Trailing his finger over her bottom lip, he whispered in a husky voice. “Let me see what you look like, LaToya. I’m dying to know.” A promise of pleasure colored his face. His clever grin made her heart skip a beat. “For everything that you show me, I’ll show you mine in return,” he bargained.

  LaToya could feel his hot breath on her skin setting it on fire again and smell his cologne making her drunk with blind desire. She looked into his eyes and marveled at how sincere he seemed. Shaking her head, she pulled away.

  “Mitch, we have to slow down.” Patting him, she stood up and smoothed out her clothes.

  He looked up at her. “Slow down? Why? Did I do something?”

  “No. Why do you always think that you’ve done something wrong?” She clenched her jaw. “Look, before you even jump to conclusions, I’m not trying to play hard to get here. I want us to slow down before something happens. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been with anyone in some years. I imagine by now, I could have been, but I don’t want to get hurt again.”

  “Well, I don’t want to get hurt either.” He sat on his behind. With his knees cocked up, he rested his elbows on his thighs. “And I don’t want to hurt you, LaToya. If you think that I’m some kind of playboy - ”. He nervously ran his hand through his hair and looked up at her.

  “I don’t,” she cut him off. “I would have never invited you here, if I thought that you were anything but sincere.”

  “Then what is it? It has to be something. We’re both adults. We’re both single. We’re both attracted to one another. I can’t imagine that there is any more reason not to continue forward.”

  “I don’t want to be the rebound girl that you bided your time away with until something better came along.” Licking her dry lips, she pulled at her shirt, uncomfortable with his confused stare. “You at least have your son. You have...so much. It would be easy for you to get over moving too fast with me. But I wouldn’t be able to get over it that easy. I need to slow down for me.”

  He understood, but he wouldn’t back down. “I don’t want to useyou like that. Trust me, it’s been done to me, and it’s no way to treat a person. I like you. I want to spend time with you. I want to get to know you outside of our working relationship.” He shrugged his muscular shoulders. “But I won’t pressure you. It would devastate me if I ever hurt you.”

  His words were sobering. A man had not been so honest about his feelings for her in a very long time. She was humbled by his willingness. “Thank you,” she said softly. “Just give me a little time before we move to ripping each other’s clothes off. You know. Let’s work into this and make sure that we’re making the right decisions. If it’s going to work, it’s going to work. Right?”

  He stood up and walked over to her. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed the top of her head and sighed. “Fair enough. I’m willing to work for it, butif you don’t want me to continue to think about ripping things off of you, I’d suggest you give me back my clothing and let me take you to dinner. Because, I’m starving for something, and I’d rather like the idea of having you as my main entrée.”

  They both laughed.

  Chapter Six

  LaToya rushed quickly through her other houses to get to Mitch’s place. She had even re-arranged her schedule over the last couple of weeks to ensure that his stop was the last of the day.

  Things between them had been slow but enjoyable. Her no-sexrule was driving him mad, but he continued to respect her wishes, while still getting to know her better each and every day. They talked about everything from politics to first loves. He was always open and candid and often extremely insightful. She enjoyed his company immensely and it had truly been the first time in her life that she was developing a friendship with someone as well as a stable foundation for a relationship.

  Today, she cleaned the house perfectly, as normal, and then retired to the kitchen to fix them dinner. It was strange to be his girlfriend and cleaning lady. Often, she would hurry to clean their dishes after a meal just to make cleaning up the next day easier on herself.

  Mitch laughed at how hard she tried and often went the extra mile to clean himself, unlike before.

  She had turned on the skillet and was cutting up onions when she heard his feet on the tile in the hallway. With a smile on her lips, she kept her back to him as she cooked, just so he could walk up behind her and kiss her neck.

  He did not disappoint.

  She felt his soft lips against her skin and his hands on her arms. He bent to her ear and whispered. “I have the most exciting news.” His voice made her eyes flutter.

  She turned and looked up at him. “What?”

  “I got a promotion today.” He sauntered over to the cabinet and pulled out two wine glasses. “Well, it’s a little more than a promotion, really.” Opening a bottle of wine, he poured them both a glass and then passed it to her. “I made partner.” He grinned.

  LaToya cracked a wide smile. “That’s wonderful.”

  He sipped a little wine and leaned on the counter. “Isn’t it?” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe it myself. They told me today. We make it official at the end of next week. There will be an announcement at the Hadley dinner.”

  “The Hadley dinner?” she asked confused.

  “It’s this big deal. I was trying to figure out a way to get out of going until today.” He cocked his brow at her and took another drink. “Speaking of which, what are you doing on next Friday night?”

  “The Hadley dinner, I guess.” She raised her glass to him and grinned. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks,” he said as he grabbed his cell. “I have to call Zach and tell him. He’ll be so happy. I’ve been wearing his ear out about it for months now. Why don’t you finish up here and I’ll get settled and be right for dinner.” Kissing her on the forehead, h
e winked and walked away.

  ***

  The weekend came quickly, and on Sunday, LaToya and her friends decided to get together at Angela’s loft for drinks at dusk. This was the first weekend since Mitch and she had been dating that they were not together.

  She tried hard to focus on the women and not send texts revealing her ultimate boredom with them. Also, she had not shared with them yet that she was seeing him. There were many reasons for it, but mostly, she just wanted to see if their relationship was going to work first. So far, every indication said that it would. And she really hoped that it would. Her life had not been so easy in a very long time. She glowed in the morning now and went to bed every night feeling like she had just found the garden of Eden.

  LaToya walked around Angela’s swank, two-bedroom penthouse admiring how well she had done for herself. She was a successful CPA – one of the best-known women professionals in the city. On her walls were many accolades from different associations, distinguished degrees, articles written about her and awe striking pictures for all to see. There were even photos of all the famous people that she had met during her career and even dated. Angela had it all. And LaToya liked her friend, because even though she was incredibly charismatic and successful, she was down to earth and loving.

  Angela was the type to already be the center of attention at an event and still introduce whom many called her ugly girlfriend. LaToya hated the title she had picked up, but recently, she didn’t feel like that woman anymore. And the fact that she kept her love a secret made her feel all the more elusive.

  Then there was Deana. Deana was a petite black woman with short, curly hair and big brown eyes who never had a problem getting a man, even when he wasn’t the right one.

  But LaToya was the one woman at an event who hardly ever went home with a number, and normally even if she did get a guy’s number, she never called, because she knew in his book, she wasn’t the first choice, just the only choice who wasn’t already taken. And while to many she was the ugly girlfriend, she wasn’t desperate. So, she wasn’t about to pick a man who thought she was.

  The music playing was suddenly turned down low drawing her attention from the picture of Angela with a well-known actor to the current event. “Alright, we’ve had dinner. We’re having drinks,” Angela said, sitting down in the middle of her white Armani sofa and putting her feet up. “Now, it’s time to dish, ladies. What has been going on with you?”

  Deana chimed in first. During the last two weeks, she had stopped seeing her married man and had decided to give an old love interest one more chance to get it right. No one was surprised by Deana. She dated at a reckless rate and hardly ever looked for love. As a rep for a local record label, she spent most of her time looking for the next big thingand equated everything in life to the same standard.

  “Stony is back in town,” Deana explained. “It seems like this time, it might be a good relationship. Now, that he’s finally financially stable,” she continued, “he can start to really focus.”

  “But can you?” Angela asked her like a therapist.

  “I...think so,” she smiled. “I’ll try. You can’t ask anymore than that of me. Besides, he lost a lot of weight and looks really good. I think 40 is the new 30 for him.”

  Angela quickly moved the conversation to herself. “Well, Byron and I are really getting serious. And I just feel bad for him. He wasn’t chosen as partner. Mitch was. Everyone knows that it’s because he’s white. I mean, Byron works harder, smarter and the clients love him. Plus, he’s been there longer, but he’s not the right shade. He’s really thinking about quitting. Do you know that Mitch works from home most of the time? All the partners were so sorry about his breakup with his wife. Now, if he had been a brother, they would have told him to suck it up and be to work on time.”

  Both Angela and Deana looked over at LaToya. She listened attentively with a scowl on her face. She didn’t even realize that she was betraying her hidden relationship. It was obvious to everyone that the mere mention of him in a negative light frustrated her.

  “So have you heard anything, LaToya?” Angela asked as she tilted her head and batted her eyelashes.

  LaToya put down her glass and smirked. “You could have just asked,” she said, hitting IGNORE on her phone as Mitch called.

  “Well, I am asking,” Angela said softly. “I’m concerned about Byron and you know that this isn’t right.” Her voice changed as she saw LaToya’s eyebrows spike.

  “I don’t know about it not being right. Mitch works really hard,” LaToya defended. “And while sometimes, he works from home, he puts in a lot of time.” She felt terribly uncomfortable about explaining his business to them, but she tried hard to be sensible considering these were her friends. “The only people who can decide if he’s really qualified to be a partner in the firm or not are the partners, not us.”

  Angela rolled her eyes. “You can’t be serious. We’re all three black women in here. We know what types of prejudice bigots are out there.”

  “I’m not oblivious to the world, Angela.”

  “But you defend a man who clearly doesn’t deserve this promotion, because why?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Are you seeing him or something?”

  LaToya walked over to the couch and sat down. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. But that has nothing to do with my opinion of this situation.”

  Deana raised her brows. “Okay, touchy, touchy. Let’s change the subject.”

  “Let’s notchange the subject.” Angela waved a finger in the air in protest. “LaToya, how can you say that a brother is who is more qualified, has more seniority and is a product of Phoenix, should not make partner before a guy like Mitch?”

  “And what kind of guy is Mitch, Angela?” LaToya piped up.

  “Just another white boy who could fit in better at the golf course.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” LaToya said angrily. “Mitch works all day, not just at the firm. He works all night long, too. He graduated from Harvard with honors. He’s worked on sites all over the world, and regardless of his race, he’s an asset.”

  “And Byron’s not?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about Bryon except that he has more black slacks than any man I’ve ever cleaned for, and he could use a new pool boy.”

  Deana laughed.

  Angela rolled her eyes. “I think your past relationship has jaded you against black men. So, now because you’ve been rejected so much by them, you would tend to side with the other side. How else could you sit here and defend Mitch over Byron?”

  “I’m not defending as much as I am saying that we cannot make that call as simply their girlfriends. Neither one of us has been in a relationship with either one of those men long enough to know. We’re on the outside looking in.”

  “It doesn’t take rocket scientist to see that this is the same good ole boy network working at its finest to keep good black men out of the jobs that they clearly deserve.”

  “Angela, that may very well be so, but I don’t for sure. And because I don’t know, and because I’m in a relationship with him, I’m simply saying that from my point of view, his qualifications make him a viable candidate for the position as well.”

  “Well, let me ask you this then. Once he gets this promotion, do you think that he’s going to show up with you on his arm? I mean, you are his cleaning lady. Do you think that he’s going to tell that story over dinner with his senior partners? Do you think he’s going to pass your card to a client and suggest that they try his girlfriend’s cleaning service? Do you think that he’ll even present you to his friends and his good ole boynetwork? I can answer all those questions for you, LaToya. Hell no. He is not. And while you’re sitting here taking up for him, no one will ever even know that he had a fling with the maid. That’s some old southern, plantation shit, okay. White men have always had a little black thing that they messed off with and no one knew. You two ain’t doing nothing new under the sun.”<
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  LaToya shook her head in disgust. “You have a clue what he’s about.”

  “Neither do you. Do you think that just because he’s screwing you that suddenly he’s an honorary black man? Don’t be so blind. Most importantly sister, don’t be a sellout.”

  “Don’t you ever accuse me on the sly of being an Uncle Tom just because I don’t agree with you. Me of all people,” LaToya hit her chest. “The woman who is often too black for black men or too fat for the prime pick of black men. I will never sit in front of a woman like you, some Beyonce look-alike, and try to defend my position, because it’s women like me who know what it truly feels like to be denied and rejected by both races. I feel the way that I feel about Mitch’s promotion because I know the man. And for your information, not that it is any of your business, I’m not screwinghim. We happen to be building a relationship, something that’s about more than just being a notch on his belt. And while you’re sitting here trying to read me my rights, what makes you think that he’s going march your ass down the aisle and put a ring on your finger or for that matter just present you at his next dinner? You know because you know him, just like I know Mitch. And I don’t approve of you trying to belittle me or belittle my relationship just because a promotion didn’t work out for your boyfriend.” LaToya snapped. “You know what...I’m out of here,” she said, grabbing her purse. “You call me when you have more respect and not for my boyfriend but for me.”

  ***

  The next morning, on schedule, LaToya arrived at Bryon’s home to clean his house at nine. With her cleaning baskets in hand, she turned off his alarm and headed to the kitchen, where he normally left any important notes.

  His home was much cleaner than normal. Yeah for me, she thought. A sense of happiness came over her, knowing she could finish much sooner today.