Justine wanted to tell him that even if he’d been able to achieve an erection, she still wasn’t ready to have sex with him, because despite their knowing each other for five years, they still were strangers. Strangers who would have to learn to trust each other. And if he had trusted her, then he would’ve confided in her when he had been diagnosed with cancer two years ago.
Smiling, she said, “It’s going to be different for both of us.”
“Have you ever been to Brooklyn?” Frank asked Justine, as he closed and locked the door to his apartment, then led her down the flight of stairs.
“Yes. Once when I took Kenny to Coney Island to ride the roller coaster. He loved it, but I was scared to death when it picked up speed and came down so fast that I nearly lost the contents of my stomach.”
“I get the same feeling whenever a plane picks up speed before takeoff.”
Justine gave him a sidelong glance as they walked hand-in-hand to where he’d parked his car. “Have you done a lot of traveling?”
“Not as much as I would’ve liked to. But hopefully that will change if I can convince my favorite girl to accompany me,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows when she looked up at him.
“Have you forgotten that I have a job?”
“No. But whenever you have vacation or decide to take a couple of days off, we can go away together and just relax.”
Frank was making plans for their future, when she was someone who lived one day at a time. Yes, she had a wish list, but those were things she wanted to accomplish over ten-year increments of time. Then she realized he couldn’t plan that far ahead, because he never knew when his cancer would return. His life had become a virtual ticking time bomb, and he wanted to go and see as many places as he could before it exploded.
“I’ll let you know once I get my school calendar,” Justine told him. “I’ll have a break between the fall and spring semesters, and I’ll put in for vacation at that time.”
Curving an arm around her waist of a loose-fitting white-and-blue-striped tent dress, Frank pulled her closer to his side. “That’s when we can fly down to Florida and take a cruise to the Caribbean.”
“I can’t believe I have my own personal genie.”
Lowering his head, Frank dropped a kiss on her hair. “I’m different from other genies, because you don’t have to rub me to make me appear or grant your wishes.”
“Lucky me,” Justine drawled.
“No, doll. Lucky me.”
CHAPTER22
Justine chewed a piece of thinly sliced steak. It literally melted in her mouth. It was obvious why Frank had suggested coming to Peter Luger, which had earned the reputation of being one of the best steakhouses in the city. The aged porterhouse had been grilled to perfection, and after sampling it, she knew she’d been spoiled.
Frank smiled at her across the table. “Do you like it?”
She smiled. “It’s delicious.” He had ordered it medium well, because he knew she didn’t like rare meat. “Thank you for suggesting we eat here.”
He inclined his head. “Remember, I’m your personal genie, and when and wherever you want to go, somehow just let me know.”
“You’re spoiling me, Frank.”
“I remember my telling you that what now seems so long ago.”
Justine tilted her head and flashed a sensual smile. “Yes. It was when I offered to make a sweet potato pie for you.”
Frank’s expression changed, becoming a mask of stone. “Why did we waste so many years when what we have now,we could’ve had then?” he asked. His tone was layered with a hint of reproach.
“What we have now couldn’t have happened then, because we were different people at that time, Francis,” Justine countered. “You wanted more from me than what I could give you because my sole responsibility was raising my son. As a single mother on welfare, my priority was keeping a roof over our heads, food on the table, and shoes on my kid’s feet. And having a man in my life wasn’t even an afterthought.”
“But you could’ve had a man willing to give you not only what you needed, but also whatever you wanted.”
Justine leaned back in her chair and gave Frank a long, penetrating stare. “And what would I have become for you?” she whispered. “A woman who’d willingly open her legs just to get what she wanted?” She continued in a hushed tone. “That would’ve made me yourwhore.” She was fortunate their table was positioned far enough away from other diners not to overhear their conversation.
Frank glared at her. “You’re wrong about that!”
“I know what happened when my mother got involved with a man who was able to give her what she wanted, and the day she told him she was pregnant with me, he walked out on her. But not before he told her he couldn’t marry her because he was already married.”
