Chapter 13
Kensie
The evening breeze of the Atlantic Ocean cooled my skin on the balcony of the Fisher Island beach house where we’d been staying since we arrived in Miami three weeks ago.
The blank screen of my laptop taunted me.
I’d been sitting out on this balcony for hours and had written a total of five sentences.
My cell phone rested on my shoulder as I called my professor.
“I need an extension on my part of the research.”
“Kensie, this is your second extension, and we can’t move forward without your part.”
Dr. Radi, a sociologist who’d written many articles and books, had taken me under his wing when I first began my graduate studies.
He had edited my book on relationships and had been a big cheerleader of my research efforts, though, like Canaan, he didn’t care for my reliance on social media to boost my profile.
He hated that people who hadn’t spent years studying human behavior could make millions by discussing it as the truth, simply because they knew how to market themselves.
“Listen, can I have at least until next Monday?” I gripped my cell and closed my mocking computer.
I couldn’t seem to focus on anything but Canaan, this gorgeous home, and my rising fame.
Lately, my research took a backseat to social media, which sucked me in for hours as I tried to engage with as many people as I could who loved watching Canaan and me as we became this sort of celebrity couple.
He sighed, “Monday. We also need to meet and discuss your dissertation before you get too far behind. What about we meet up next Monday at the café near campus, and you can give me your part of the paper?”
I closed my eyes. While the rest of the world loved Zoom, my faculty advisor preferred in-person meetings. I hadn’t told him that I’d temporarily relocated to Miami and wouldn’t be back until the semester ended.
“Um . . . I’m researching the dating patterns of Cubans and Haitians in Miami.
Can’t really leave, but I’ll send you my part of the article and some of my dissertation first thing Monday morning.
” Okay, that was partially true. It’d been interesting to be in a space where different dialects abounded, though I also lived in a diverse city.
Miami, unlike Houston, seemed to belong to another country.
“Dating patterns, Kensie? Stop it. I do have eyes and a cell. I already had to defend your behavior caught on video to the chair of the department.”
“Oh . . .” My heart pounded. Caught up in the excitement of being, in essence, swept away by a billionaire, I’d forgotten about possible repercussions outside of Canaan.
“I’m sorry, that’s not my typical behavior.
I had no idea . . . we . . . I was being filmed, and I would never disrespect myself like that. Am I in trouble with the program?”
“No. I reminded them that you were an adult and engaged to the man in the video. I also reminded them that your work has brought new interest in our department from more diverse students.”
“Thank you.” I sank back in my chair. “That won’t happen again.”
He chuckled. “You’re living it up with Canaan Jackson.
I get it. I really do, since you study love and you’re experiencing all the best of it, but you do have obligations and deadlines.
You’ve never been late with your work, and you’ve come too close to throw it all away.
We both know that for a healthy relationship, both have to maintain who they were when they met. ”
I wanted to laugh out loud. If Canaan and I were the same people when we met, we would’ve killed each other by now instead of establishing an overall harmonious routine.
He woke before dawn to practice and arrived back at the house in time to share dinner with me.
Most of the time, it was just us with a meal prepared by Ms. Murielle.
Sometimes, it was his team and us, grabbing a meal in many of the restaurants and bars in the city.
We’d been having fun and enjoying the sizzling chemistry, coiling tighter and tighter with unmet desire.
“I haven’t lost sight of my goals. Just going through a little writer’s block, lacking some inspiration. Figured the color of Miami would help sooner or later. Good thing I’m here for a while.”
“Are you in Miami?” he asked gruffly. “Students have to receive permission to live outside of Houston until they graduate.”
“Um . . . I know. I figured since I’m so close to graduation, I could work from Miami.”
“Kensie, our program isn’t online. Next Monday, in my office at three. Or I’ll have to reconsider you being my graduate assistant.”
“Okay, Dr. Radi. I’ll be there.” I clicked off the cell and glumly thought about the next five days, which would typically take weeks to research and write about the last twenty years of social interaction in urban areas.
“Better make sure I stock up on coffee.” Canaan didn’t drink it because he hated the crash, and I only drank it when I had to pull all-nighters.
“Everything good?” A freshly showered Canaan walked from the primary bedroom out on the balcony and leaned over to kiss my forehead, which had become his customary greeting.
I adored the sweetness yet sexy feel of his full lips on my skin.
He’d been a gentleman in our interactions and not the aggressive male I knew he could be.
Every night, we would chat about our day, and he slept curled around my body like I was his human pillow, no matter my weak protest. His arousal without attempting to have sex while holding me only turned me on more.
He exhibited strength I didn’t think he possessed, and I didn’t know if I would last much longer.
Canaan had grown accustomed to my presence, which was why my stomach knotted as I prepared to tell him I needed to leave our temporary home.
“Have to go to Houston for a couple of days.” I tucked my legs under me and watched his expression as he eased down on the rug next to my lounger.
Canaan loved sitting on the floor. Plush, ornate rugs were the norm wherever he stayed.
He swore it helped him remain grounded and focused.
The fewer distractions, the closer you were to earth.
“Visit your family?” he asked, his mouth already shifting from a curve into a firm line.
“No.” I stared out at the glistening dark blue pool, the familiar pain of not having a close relationship with my parents, though I was an only child, squeezed my chest. “They don’t even know I’m here.”
“Why? It’s been three weeks.” His question blended with the wind and the ocean waves.
“Not that close to them.” I hugged myself.
“Did you fall out with them after that video came out?”
“Naw. My mom only called once to ask about it, and after I texted her that I hadn’t leaked it and that I was engaged to the man in the video, I haven’t heard from her. I doubt they care enough to fall out with me.”
“Get the fuck out of here.” He reached for my hand and entwined it with his. “How could they not see the brilliant woman you’ve become?”
I half smiled at his genuineness, the hurt too potent.
“I guess they’re proud of me in their own way.
” The lull of the rippling ocean waves and the endless pool water beckoned me to talk.
“My parents married right after high school because they were pregnant with me. My grandfather was a preacher in a small church, and he demanded that his son not be an embarrassment to the congregation and marry the girl he knocked up. My parents resented each other from almost the start, or at least that’s the way it always looked to me since they never had another child. ”
“Are they still together?” He squeezed my hand, and I met his empathetic gaze.
“Unfortunately, neither wanting nor believing they could fix or leave their broken marriage, they remain tethered together. They still live in Shreveport, and when I’m around them, I feel like I’m a bad reminder that they wouldn’t be stuck if it weren’t for me.
Being around them hurts, so I stick to phone calls and texts. ”
He kissed the back of my hand and said in a teasing voice, “I bet my parents are worse than yours.”
“Uh-uh.” I twisted in my chair and looked down at him, liking that we were becoming friends. “Nope, impossible.”
“My mother gave me to my grandmother when I was ten. She lives in Chicago with her second husband and her two daughters. Guess she got tired of a boy who couldn’t sit still and got in trouble at school.
A couple of years after she left me, she told my grandparents she wanted to start over, and I was better off living with them.
And my father’s love is conditional. If I were the chemical engineer that he wanted me to be, then we would be good.
He hasn’t been to any of my races. Believes it’s a foolish dream.
” Canaan leaned on the side of my chair.
“It doesn’t hurt like it used to. My grandparents were the best parents I could ever have, making up for their screwed up daughter and my neglectful father.
Mama G, a schoolteacher, taught me how to calm myself, and Pops, a mechanic, taught me the freedom and love of cars. ”
The pride in his voice spoke of feeling deeply loved, even if it wasn’t from the people who birthed him.
“At least you know someone’s in your corner.” I tried unsuccessfully to hide my envy.
“Well, now you know me.” He yanked me down to his lap and held me in his arms. “From this day forward, I’m in your corner.”
I giggled at his antics and gazed into his eyes. “You can be real sweet when you want to be.”
“Is that a compliment?” He brushed his growing beard against my cheek, tickling me.
“Stop,” I laughed. “Yes, yes, it’s a compliment.”
“Good. Because I like you being here, and I don’t want to mess up this vibe,” he said, the lightness of his tone changing. “A part of me is afraid that when you return from Houston, your guard will be up again.”
“It won’t.” I squeezed his hand.