Chapter Five
Janelle
Five months after the proposal
“I don’t see Myesha Waters on my schedule this week. Did she call in?” I ask Tamara, my office manager. Myesha is my patient, and I’ve been monitoring her pregnancy closely along with one of the reproductive psychiatrists on staff, Dr. Sampson, due to her use of antidepressants.
“She rescheduled with you for two weeks from now, but she does have an appointment with Dr. Sampson this week.”
“Okay, good.”
Labor of Love has been busy as hell since its official launch. Many patients followed me and the other doctors from our respective practices, and new patients have been clamoring through the doors. It’s been wonderful.
Tamara and I continue going through my schedule as well as other housekeeping items. I know he’s here when she looks behind me and a goofy smile falls over her face.
“Tamara, stop ogling my fiancé,” I tease.
It’s been five months and I still get giddy from calling him that.
I turn to look at Rome walking toward me.
Damn, he’s fine as fuck. I can’t even fault Tamara for drooling all over him.
He’s wearing black jeans with rips at the knees and a black-and-white T-shirt.
He walks over to me with purpose in his step, his eyes boring into my soul as he closes the distance between us to plant a breathtaking kiss on my lips.
“Hi,” he says, his voice seductively low.
“Hi.” I smile.
He looks behind me and shines his charm on Tamara. “Hi, Tamara. How are you today?”
“I’m so good, Rome. I’d be even better if you’d introduce me to your brother.”
He laughs slyly. “I let him know you’re checking for him.”
“Mhmm, okay. I’ll wear him down.” She motions her head toward me. “You taking this one now?”
“Yep.” He turns his focus back to me. “Will you do me a favor and come with me?”
I have no idea what he has up his sleeve, but I know I would follow him anywhere. I take his hand and let him lead me out to his car.
A quick scan of the parking lot shows that my car is not where I parked it this morning, meaning Rome probably snuck it out. What the hell is going on?
We settle into the car and he makes no move to tell me anything. I cross my arms and squint my eyes at him. “Are you gonna tell me where we’re going?”
He drives out of the Labor of Love parking lot; the smile still planted firmly on his face. “If I was gonna tell you, I would’ve done so inside.”
Ass. “Soooo, this is a surprise?”
“Seems that way.”
“Hmm, so no blindfold or something like that?”
He laughs. “Nah, it doesn’t really matter. You’re not getting out.”
“Wow, spoken like a true kidnapper. You know you would have to pay my ransom, right? So what are we really doing here?”
“Shit,” he drags out the word, “you better call somebody then. I expect my payment up front.”
“I got payment for your ass.”
His hand rests on my thigh as we make our way to wherever he’s taking me.
We spend the drive catching up on his latest work project until a familiar road comes into view.
“Are we going to the airport?” He ignores my question. Instead, he guides his car into the airport parking lot, navigating to the long-term parking lots. “Rome?”
He gets out of the car and rounds the hood to open my door. “You wanna ask questions or you wanna see what’s up?”
The smug smile on his face makes me want to both fuck and punch him.
“You know, you have a thing about sneaking me onto large modes of transportation.”
“No. I have a thing about making you happy. The two just happen to correlate.”
When we get through security, he leads me to a gate that says the flight is headed to Cancun. I turn to this man that has turned my world upside down, his thighs filling his seat in the obscene way they do, and smile when he pats his lap.
I go over to him and drop onto his lap, not caring that several people at the gate are looking at us like we’re anomalies because we’re at an airport with zero luggage.
Wait.
We’re at an airport with zero luggage.
“Now, Rome…” I say.
“Yes, J?”
“Why are we going to Cancun?”
“We’re going to Cancun to get to Tulum.”
“Mhm. And why would that be?” And why don’t we have luggage? He took me to Monaco to celebrate Labor of Love’s opening and our engagement, so it can’t be for that.
His eyes drill into me as he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer.
“We’re going to spend a lifetime experiencing new things and places together, but I thought it would be nice to get a redo on the place that started it all for us.
We spent too much of that trip hidden in the shadows.
I want to experience Tulum out loud with you. ”
Damn, if I don’t want to suck the skin off his dick in the middle of this airport.
Taking a moment to gather myself, I plant a grateful kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” he emphasizes.
He assures me that there are clothes and toiletries waiting for us in Tulum, and then we board the plane, in first class, with me sitting by the window. So we’re already off to a great start.
When we get to The Dahlia Resort, Rome leads me to the front desk, where Javier greets us.
Javier has now been promoted at the hotel, but he wanted to be the one to show us our room and the other updates the hotel has made.
After Dani’s multiple posts about them, The Dahlia Resort skyrocketed in popularity, becoming the place to stay in Tulum.
The hotel was already gorgeous with incredible amenities, but now they’ve been able to take the site to the next level.
Our room has a private garden out back, complete with a hammock and a cold plunge pool.
I look down at my tan dress pants and white blouse and suddenly feel hot and overdressed. I notice a suitcase sitting on top of our bed and make my way over to it. “Should we try out the pool?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
I open the suitcase and bust out laughing. “Rome.”
“Yeah?” He knows damn well what he put in this suitcase, yet he stands here saying “yeah” like he’s innocent. I can’t stand his ass.
“There is nothing but skimpy bathing suits and body jewelry in this suitcase.” I sift through the suitcase to confirm and yeah, there is literally nothing but scraps of cloth and string that have been stitched together ever so carefully to make bikinis and all the waist beads, thigh chains, armbands, and headpieces I could ever want in here.
The way my ass is set up, it will swallow these bottoms whole.
There’s not a single regular panty to be found, no toothpaste, no damn deodorant. Nothing.
“Yeah, what else would you need?” He snickers. He’s genuinely entertained by his antics. I am too, but I’ll be damned if I let him know that.
“So, you ’bout to have me out here ass out with stank ass breath and stank pits? That’s how you do me?”
He comes up behind me, nuzzling his face into my neck. “I love you stank breath, pits, and all, so you’re good.”
“Rome!” I slap him playfully in the chest, and he laughs and breaks our connection.
He walks over to the closet and opens it to reveal another suitcase. He rolls it over and lifts it onto the bed, revealing real clothes and goodies for both of us. “I’m just fucking with you. You know I got you covered, J.”
I grab him and kiss him deeply. “For the record, I would happily walk around half-naked all day. It was the lack of personal hygiene for me.”
“Noted.”
We spend the rest of the night relaxing and christening every inch of the room.
The next day, while waiting for room service to arrive, I check my phone to find a text from Evie.
Evie: You got any crack?
What the hell?
Me: Ummm excuse me????
Evie: Crack. You got any?
Evie: *inserts gif of Dave Chappelle’s Tyrone Biggums character*
Me: Lmao I’m not confused on what you said. I’m confused on why you said it
Evie: *eye roll emoji* Crack = turkey sticks
I roll my eyes with laughter. Evie and I discovered these honey-cured turkey sticks made by Butterball and Evie is obsessed with them. However, instead of buying her own, she always steals from my stash.
Me: Why would I know that crack = turkey sticks??
Evie: Bc I don’t actually do crack. Now do you have any or not?
Me: Of course I do. They’re in the cabinet. You can help yourself unless you wanna wait for me to get back into the country to bring em to you
Evie: Yessss thank you
Evie: Wait…
Evie: Did you say you’re not in the country???
I look over my shoulder at Rome, who just got out of the shower. “Did you tell Evie you were sweeping me away on a trip?”
He moves the towel over his body, his dick commanding my attention. “I told Dani and your dad. I didn’t tell Evie because she has a big mouth.”
“This is true.” Though my dad has a slightly bigger mouth, so I’m surprised I haven’t heard from my mom or Ri about this trip. Of course, my mom’s call wouldn’t have been answered, but I’m still surprised.
I look back at my phone and type out a new message.
Me: Yeah, Rome surprised me with a return trip to Tulum
Evie: Some people just have it all, don’t they?
Me: Speaking for yourself?
Evie: Bye
She runs every time I bring up her love life, which cracks me up. One day she’ll get it together.
After breakfast, Rome and I get dressed to head to our ATV rental. Rome arranged for a private rental, just the two of us. When we get there, our tour guide, Alex, gets us set up with our ATVs, shows us the safest route, and lets us do our thing.
Rome and I ride around for a while, and then when I stop for a break to adjust my helmet, he starts circling my ATV with his own.
“What are you up to?” I ask.
“Wanna race?” he asks, mimicking a revving engine sound with his mouth.
“You don’t wanna race me, boo.”
“Why is that?”
“Babe, please. I don’t wanna embarrass you. It’ll make it awkward for me to sit on your dick later.” No, it won’t, because I will never not be in the mood to sit on that man’s dick, but I have to talk my shit.
“That’s an awful lot of confidence, J. I don’t know if you can back it up, though.”
I place my hands on my hips. I whisper, “Don ’ t know if I can back it up, ” to myself before speaking directly to him. “Okay, bet. We’ll race. Let’s make it more interesting, though.”
“Oooh, you wanna bet on it?”
“Yeah. When I win, you have to…” I take a moment to think. “You have to be my personal piggyback ride for an entire day. I’m talkin’ my feet better not touch the ground once.”
He throws his head back in laughter. “I would do that anyway if you asked, so shame on you for not coming up with something better.”
“Oh, really? I can redo it.”
“Nah, too late. It’s locked in.”
I scoff. “Fine. What are your terms?”
He smirks. “I’ll tell you when I win.”
My eyes widen and I sputter over my words before pushing them out. “What? You can’t do that.”
“You scared, J?”
“Of you? Never.”
“Then let’s go.”
We set the parameters of the race and line our ATVs up at the makeshift starting line. We count down from three and take off. I barrel down and focus on the road before me, the sand kicking up around me in a cloud. We’re going so fast that the goggles aren’t even helping with visibility.
We’re pretty neck and neck for the first half of the race. Until Rome veers to the right a little, allowing me to pull ahead of him. I risk my life by looking back to stick my tongue out at him and press harder on the gas.
I turn the last corner of the race, the finish line right in my line of view, but I don’t take my foot off the gas. I’m not about to do whatever mystery task Rome has thought up for me.
Not a chance.
Moments before I reach the finish line, Rome whizzes by me and crosses. I was so focused on myself; I didn’t even hear him catch up to me.
What the fuck?
He bends over with laughter after taking off his helmet, and I just stand there, glaring at him.
“That is some bullshit.”
He pulls me into a hug. “Awww, don’t be a sore loser. It’s okay, there will be other races. And maybe if you race someone besides me, you might even win some.”
I wiggle out of his hold. “I can’t believe you beat me.”
He pats his chest with confidence. “I’m a gamer, baby; I do this.”
I stick my finger in my mouth and pretend to gag, then burst into laughter when he tickles my sides. “Ugh, get off. Just tell me what I gotta do already.”
He taps his finger with his chin. “I’ll wait.”
“Bro, what? You’re just trying to torture me.”
He kisses my forehead. “Did I mention how sexy you look when you pout?”
We return the ATVs and go back to the hotel to shower, rest, and then change for dinner at Tulum Tower. I never thought I would agree to have dinner one hundred and eighteen feet in the air, but here we are.
Two other couples are having a sunset dinner with us. As we wait for the aerobar to be set up, we all get to know each other a little better. Talking to them settles my nerves, and Rome’s tight grip on my shoulder also helps.
We board the aerobar, and with our feet dangling in the air, staring at the most beautiful sunset and doing karaoke to our favorite songs, we have the most incredible dinner I’ve had in a long time.
“Rome, you know it’s getting ridiculous at this point, right?” I say as we leave the hotel. We’re headed to one of the day parties at Mystical Nightclub, and he still hasn’t told me what he wants from winning yesterday’s bet.
“J, you know I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable, so why are you stressing?”
“Because I wanna know! The suspense is eating me alive.”
He lets out a soft chuckle. “Bring your dramatic ass on.”
We get to Mystical and are escorted to a cabana facing the beach. A server brings us a bottle of champagne, a carafe of orange juice, and a couple of glasses. Rome pours us both a glass of champagne with a splash of orange juice and clinks our glasses together. “Cheers, J.”
“Cheers, Rome. I love you.”
“I love you.”
The music blares around us and I bite my lip at the thought of what we did the last time we were at this club. My body hums with excitement at the memory alone.
Rome opens his legs and pulls me so I’m sitting between them. He leans his head down onto my shoulder and whispers in my ear, “I figured out what I want for my win.”
“And what’s that?”
“I want you to let me make you come right here.”
My eyebrows pique and my thighs clench. “It’s broad daylight. We could get caught.” I swallow a deep breath at the idea of being caught with Rome between my legs. It’s exhilarating.
“We might. I’m willing to take the risk. Are you?” He bites my earlobe, soothing it with his tongue after.
There he goes, leaping again. I pull on my parachute and follow him over the edge. “Don’t keep me waiting, Rome.”