Chapter 20 #2
“These three,” Tamara answered in a rush before giving her a quick kiss.
Turning toward the rest of us, she lifted her cup.
“I want to toast my cousin. For turning thirty. For having this dope-ass party. For constantly proving that the cousins on the father’s side are the best.” After our snickering, she continued.
“Tonight has been amazing and I pray this is the kickoff to more amazingness in your life. May your thirtieth year be your best year yet. Cheers!”
“Cheers!” we cheered in unison.
Just as Tamara and her wife walked off, Mecca, another of Aaliyah’s cousins, approached us.
“Can you get together for a picture?” Mecca asked.
The six of us huddled together and posed. Someone called her name, and she ran toward the edge of the lake.
I watched her scurry off. “I can’t remember if she’s the nosey one or if—”
“It’s her,” Aaliyah interrupted me to clarify.
We all laughed.
Conversation flowed for a few minutes, but when a song from our college days pulsed through the air, we darted to the dance floor.
Between the drinks and the nonstop hits the DJ was spinning, I couldn’t stop dancing. It had been a long time since I’d danced that hard.
“I love seeing that smile on your face,” Russ said with a grin.
“I can’t help it. Tonight has been… perfect,” I admitted.
“I’m glad you invited me. Seeing you with your people, seeing you in this dress, seeing this smile on your face…” He licked his lips. “You’re right. Tonight is perfect. You’re perfect.”
I squealed after Russ spun me around and then brought me back into his arms.
When the DJ slowed the music down, things heated up between me and Russ. Our bodies moved in sync as slow jam after slow jam rang through the air.
“I don’t know if it’s the drinks or what, but damn…” Russ let out a low groan as I continued to grind on him. “This is new.”
I had my hands on my knees, and I was throwing my ass in a circle. “We’ve danced before.” I turned around to face him and then dropped it low in front of him. “And you’ve definitely seen my ass move like this before.”
As I slowly slid my body up his to rise to my feet, he said, “Yeah, but never on a crowded dance floor…” Russ leaned down to whisper in my ear. “It’s almost like you want me to lift this dress up and slid right in it.”
Biting my bottom lip, I pressed myself against him. “Yes.”
“Nina…”
The way he dragged the second syllable of my name was so sexy that a chill ran down my spine. I clasped my hands behind his neck and rolled my body against him. “You want to lift my dress up, baby?”
He grabbed my hips, making sure I felt how hard his dick was with each dance move. “You better stop playing with me,” he warned.
“You better start playing with me.”
He let out a low chuckle that almost felt like a warning just as Aaliyah got on the mic to thank us for coming and to wish us a good night. We wished her a happy birthday again and then went back to dancing to the last song of the night.
Wrapping my arms around Russ’s neck, I pulled him until our foreheads touched. “I think it’s time for us to call it a night.”
Without a word, he slipped his arm around my waist and escorted me off the dance floor. The DJ was telling everyone to go home as we made our way into the lake house where we were staying for the night. There were a few people milling around in the living room, but Russ and I headed upstairs.
There were three bedrooms downstairs and three upstairs.
Aaliyah and her date were in the biggest bedroom at the end of the hall.
Jazz and her date were in the room to the left.
And we were in the room on the right. A smile crossed my face as the thoughts of what I wanted to do to Russ flashed in my mind.
“Whoa, you good?” Russ asked, grabbing my hips and steadying me as we walked up the steps.
The combination of my thoughts, my heels, and the drinks I’d had made climbing the stairs a little more difficult than normal.
“I got you,” he said softly as he held me tight. “Put your arms around me.”
I wasted no time draping my arms around his neck.
“I’m okay,” I assured him, even though I allowed him to lead me. “Just got a little off-balance.”
We were still holding on to each other after we reached the second-floor landing.
“That last drink snuck up on you, huh?” he teased.
I giggled, but I couldn’t deny the deliciousness of Aaliyah’s signature drinks had me in a chokehold all night.
“I didn’t even know I liked Malibu Sunrises,” I told him as we entered our bedroom and closed the door behind us.
We hadn’t even walked a step from the door before I turned into him, almost pushing him against the door.
“Oh!” he reacted with surprise, but he held on to me.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I hugged him tight. Resting my nose against his neck, I inhaled deeply. Relishing in the sandalwood-and-leather-scented cologne, I smiled against his skin.
He smelled so good.
We stood in silence as we embraced. I held him tighter, enjoying the feel of him.
His hands slid up and down my back and then they rested at the top of my ass.
Neither of us made any moves to disentangle ourselves.
I wanted to hold on to him for as long as possible.
But as a wave of emotion came over me, I realized I was holding on to him as if I didn’t want to let him go.
It was the first time in weeks that we were able to be out together, that we were able to have a good time in a public space.
It was the first time I felt like we were back to ourselves.
It was the first time it felt like we were back to our normal.
We weren’t hiding out at his place or mine.
And I knew I’d missed him and what we had, but I didn’t fully comprehend the depth of how much I missed us freely being us.
“You okay?” he whispered. Dropping kisses along the side of my face, he rocked me gently.
I couldn’t open my mouth to speak because I was scared of what would come out, so I just simply nodded. Closing my eyes tight, I pushed down the emotion bubbling up inside me.
“Talk to me,” he coaxed softly.
“I’ve missed this,” I admitted, pulling out of the hug enough to look him in his eyes. “You’re so much fun. I’ve missed going out and having fun with you.”
“I’ve missed it, too.” He searched my face for a moment. “We’re going to get back to normal.”
His words were etched in confidence, and I was tipsy enough to let myself believe him.
Stepping out of my shoes, I maintained eye contact with him.
“Just let me put a plan together and we’ll go out. We’ll leave our work at work and just enjoy ourselves. I’ll take you wherever you want to go. We’ll do whatever you want to do. I’ll make sure we get back to nights like this.”
I ran my hands up his chest and over his shoulders, halfway removing his jacket. He took it off his arms and then tossed it to the side. I put my hands underneath his newly untucked shirt and stroked his back. I looked up at him adoringly, wanting what he’d just described so badly.
“I wish,” I sighed.
His brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Where can we go, Russ? You’re traveling, getting ready for Fashion Week, and you’ll be gone for days at a time.
You’ll have assistants and other management people all around you, so even if I went on the trip, I’d have to hide out in the hotel room.
When you’re here, we can’t go out because we will likely be spotted by someone who works for you.
This is it. This was our last night of freedom.
Our last night to be us,” I explained, my face crumpling in frustration.
The words just kept spilling out of me. “I have months left on my contract and this opportunity means a lot to me so I’m not going to quit.
And I know how important your business is to you, so you can’t have a scandal.
I don’t want to stop this. I love”—I cleared my throat and shifted my gaze momentarily—“what we have.”
“Hey.” With his hands on my lower back, he pulled me into him again. He pressed his lips against mine. “I love what we have, too.”
I took a deep breath. “I know you said you’re putting a plan together. I just… I’ve really missed experiencing things with you. Sneaking around can be sexy. But hiding is not.”
“I’m not hiding you.” He pulled back, looking me up and down. “There’s nothing I enjoy more than to be out with you, showing you off. If I could be out with you and resist being all over you, this whole thing would be easier.”
I smirked. “Yeah, I feel the same way.”
He moved his hands from my back to my cheeks. “The plan I’m working on has some moving parts. But I’m working on it because I don’t want us to get caught up in some bullshit. I’m not hiding you or this or us. But when I’m around you, nothing else matters.”
“I know. That’s why this is dangerous.”
“Exactly.” He nodded, brushing his lips against mine again. “But I’m sorry we’re even in this position.”
“I’m sorry, too.”
He gazed into my eyes. “But as much as my work means to me, I’m not going to act like you don’t mean just as much.”
My face flushed.
My stomach fluttered.
My nipples hardened.
Before I had a chance to respond, his mouth hovered over mine. “There’s a way for everything to work out and for us to both get what we want.”
“How?” I asked breathily.
His tongue wet his lips as he paused. “Just know that I’m not losing you or my business. I’ve worked too hard to build this company. And I’ve waited too long to find you.”
My breathing faltered.
Feeling slightly off-balance, I gripped his shoulders as his words swirled in my ears.
“I think you like me a little bit,” I teased, hoping to mask my accelerated heart rate and the heat creeping up my face.
“It’s more than a little bit,” he admitted before crashing his mouth into mine.