Chapter 33 #2
I hadn’t been kissed in more than six months, and my body responded like I’d gotten a taste of water after hiking through the Sahara.
I reached a hand to the back of Derek’s neck and pulled him closer, pressing my lips against his, my back arching to meet his touch.
One of his hands made its way to the back of my head, and I lost myself in the sensation of his fingers playing with my short hair.
I made myself pull away for a second to look at him.
“Wait, are you still seeing that woman who works at MTV?”
“That was over the night of the party.” Derek kissed his way across my cheek to nibble at my ear. “I haven’t dated anyone seriously in a very long time.”
“Why is that?” I moaned as his hand crept lower to the waistband of my jeans.
“Because you’re all I think about,” Derek murmured into my neck. I didn’t say it back. I didn’t need to. Instead, I pulled my turtleneck over my head.
Derek took his time, driving me wild with his barely there caresses across my stomach, the light trail of his fingers down my inner thigh, the soft flick of his tongue on my hard nipples.
He gently peeled off my jeans, then kissed and licked his way down to my soaking thong.
By the time he nudged it aside, my hips were grinding the air, desperate for more.
But Derek would not be rushed. He lay his tongue in the center of the wetness and didn’t move until I begged.
Then slowly, so slowly, he moved his tongue—enough to send spasms of pleasure through my body but not enough to make me come.
He placed the tip of his index finger inside me, and I could feel my muscles grasping at it, trying to pull it farther inside me.
Every time the muscles clenched around his finger, he’d insert it a tiny bit more and faintly increase the pressure of his tongue until he turned me into a feral animal.
The feeling built from somewhere low and deep, and when Derek finally let me climax, the release was higher and more ferocious than anything I’d ever experienced.
When he replaced his finger with his penis, I moaned so loud I thought the neighbors might call the police.
The next orgasm was another slow ascent.
He brought me to the brink several times before neither of us could take it anymore and we exploded together, losing control in the frenzied press of our bodies.
After we dozed off, then made unhurried love again, we rested on my bed, our chests rising and falling in unison as we caught our breath.
I lay awake, long after Derek kissed me on my forehead and gave in to sleep, thinking about how sensual the experience had been.
Later on, I would look back and wonder if this was the moment when I finally let myself fall in love with him.
“Nicole Rose, oh my goodness, what have you done?” my mother wailed as she and my father approached our table in the back of Sofie’s Café, their outmoded and messy professor gear standing out among the chic brunch crowd.
I’d texted my girls Saturday night about my new do and asked them to meet me before my folks were supposed to arrive so they could check it out.
Since they’d been dropping hopeful hints for months about me giving Derek a chance, I also wanted to share the news—although I’d already squealed the story to Teresa when I called her the next day after Derek left my apartment.
I’d invited Kiara to join our normal brunch crew that Sunday, so by the time my parents arrived, she, Teresa, Sofie, and Denyse had already processed my new look and my love life.
When I’d first walked into the café, they’d shrieked so loud, half the restaurant turned around.
Sofie waved her Baby Phat–clad arm at her customers so they’d relax and turn back, but by then my girls had encircled me and the volume had risen to howler-monkey levels.
Between my new look, my new man, and my new ownership status at NuVoices, the reactions from our table were thunderous for at least thirty minutes.
I’d shushed them as soon as I saw my parents amble through the café door.
“Hey, Mom. What do you think?” I asked unnecessarily as her horror was all over her face. My dad, who had a dismissive attitude about hair length, looked unconcerned. But he had a firm grip on my mother’s elbow, possibly to restrain her from rushing toward me.
“You look like a teenage boy!” Mom lamented as she inspected my hair from different angles.
“Okay, well, nice to see you too,” I muttered.
“Come on now, Dr. Rose. I think Nikki’s hair looks awesome!” Teresa exclaimed. She’d known my mother since she was in high school, and they’d developed a warm relationship over the years. Every now and then, Teresa could make Mom understand something more easily than I could. But not today.
After more squawking about how I’d regret cutting my hair off, Mom finally asked, “Can you please tell me why you would do this to yourself?”
“I just didn’t want to go back to being the EIC of Sugar like nothing’s changed. I can’t be the same and expect everything to be different, right?” I blew out my cheeks. “Well, now, folks at NuVoices and in the industry are going to know that they’re dealing with a new Nikki.”
“I’m here for that, love,” Kiara piped up, but fell silent when my mother whirled around and stared daggers at her.
Denyse had always been my mother’s favorite, so she jumped in to help me.
“Now Miss Ann,” she started, the only person in my friend group Mom would allow to use her first name.
“You know I always preferred your baby with a blowout. But I’ve been doing this corporate thing long enough to know that she’s right.
Nikki can’t walk back into NuVoices the same person because they won’t respect her.
She has to show them that she’s different and that she means business—which this new look signals. It’s very confident.”
I smiled gratefully at Denyse while my mom considered what she’d said. “Well, that is true. It is a confident look,” she acknowledged.
“And Nikki needs to walk in like the badass boss and company co-owner she is,” Kiara declared, snapping her fingers loudly in the air.
“Which is what we’re here to celebrate, right? Our brilliant Nikki, who is returning to her rightful place as editor in chief of the magazine for urban women,” Teresa said as she walked over and hugged me from behind. “I’m so happy for you, bonita. Wepa!”
“Right on time, Tee! I’ve got champagne coming now,” Sofie said, motioning to a waiter who hurried over with a couple ice buckets holding chilled bottles of Veuve Clicquot.
When we all had flutes in hand, my dad said that he’d like to propose a toast. He raised his glass.
“To my favorite daughter, Nicole, who I’ve always been proud of, even when I didn’t understand what the heck she was doing.
” He laughed knowingly, then took my hand in his.
“Your mom and I have watched you learn and mature, and you’ve displayed such tenacity and work ethic.
We both respect who you’ve become,” he said as I fought the tears welling in my eyes.
“Congratulations on this next journey, sweet pea. You’ve got a lot of folks rooting for you! ”
As everyone clinked glasses, platters of French toast, bacon, and frittatas, along with a spinach quiche and a bowl of freshly cut fruit were placed on the table.
We were about to dig in when I heard the first chords of “Independent Heart” by none other than Bobbie Washington.
I jumped up, grabbed Teresa and Kiara, and headed to the open area in front of the DJ booth.
Sofie and Denyse were close behind us. As we started to dance, I looked back at my mother still seated, bopping her head to the beat.
As unalike as we were, there was no one I admired more than this beautiful, intelligent, determined woman.
I doubled back, grabbed her hand, and dragged her to the dance floor.
She swayed shyly, her loafers shuffling in a self-conscious two-step.
But then Mom seemed to be transported by the driving beat and Bobbie’s empowering lyrics.
She started to spin and snap her fingers with me and the girls.
And when the chorus came, the five most important women in my life and I held hands and sang it together:
“I won’t back down, won’t be confined,
My time has come, gonna redefine,
This independent heart, glowing free and bright,
Breaking through the dark, lighting up the night.”
As the song was ending, I saw Derek standing to the side of the room, watching us. Instead of following Mom and the girls back to the table, I walked over to him, feeling the energy between us spark as I approached.
“Hi,” he mouthed with a half smile.
“Hi,” I mouthed back, not yet trusting myself to say more.
I snuck a quick look toward the back of the restaurant to see my friends casting sidelong glances our way as they whispered among themselves while my parents watched us curiously.
Teresa winked at me, then turned and motioned with her head toward the ladies’ room.
My girls got up to go, giving me a moment of privacy with my parents.
I took a deep breath and slipped my hand into Derek’s, realizing that this was the first time we’d touched in public.
We wound our way through Sofie’s Café, the newness of it all making us awkward at first, then our hands tightened together, and our grins widened until we were both beaming.
As we got close to our table, I spoke: “Mom, Dad, there’s someone I’d like you to meet… ”