“What are you complaining about now?” Michael said as he waited for Vanessa to walk ahead of him, stopping briefly to give Derrick a quick hug before taking his seat.
“I had to fight off a gaggle of moms who wanted the best seats in the house to cheer on their precious babies as they walk down the runway.” Cree followed behind Michael and Vanessa and only when she was seated did Adam give Derrick a hug of his own before he walked to the remaining empty seat in the middle of the two couples.
Adam took the seat, glancing this way and that at his friends who were settling down for the show too. The image of them, having fun and at ease with one another, made Adam painfully aware that something, or rather someone, was missing from their group.
Quickly, the already dimmed lights dropped, and the stage lights bathed the runway in a majestic glow. All too soon, music filled the room and the announcer was hyping the crowd, stoking them to a fever pitch just before the first model stepped onto the stage.
Adam hadn’t been to any professional fashion shows, but hecouldn’t imagine a more entertaining event than what he was witnessing. The models were a mix of kids from not only the high school, but the middle school, intermediate school, and the elementary school too. He spotted a couple of teachers and more than a few residents of their small town striking poses that would give Naomi Campbell a run for her money.
When Angel Reese and Brandon Miller came out wearing glammed up basketball uniforms that sparkled with colored rhinestones matching their respective team colors, the crowd went wild, making Adam so glad he’d added a “Donate Now” button on the streaming platform. With the love these two were getting inside the gym, he knew people across the internet would be happy to participate and give a little more than the cost of their ticket.
Looking at the time on his watch, he was certain the show was ending soon, and Janae still hadn’t walked out on the runway yet. Since he knew there wasn’t a shy bone in that woman’s body, he doubted she’d bailed. Also, this was her son’s time to shine and there was no way she wouldn’t take part in it.
Just then, the music dropped, the up-tempo pop number giving way to a slower rhythm and blues beat that made the mood in the room shift. He could feel something significant happening, even though he couldn’t quite figure out what that something was. Then the lights focused on the back of the runway, and he knew it was time for the showstopper.
Suddenly, like a goddess emerging from an ethereal cloud of smoke, Janae stepped onto the stage and his world narrowed down to this woman in that dress.
It was a one-shouldered red high-low number whose A-line skirt fell to her mid-thigh while its back flowed behind her in a long train. It was safe to say as she walked down the runway, he couldn’t take his eyes off the deep brown exposed skin of her thick thighs and shapely legs, remembering what it felt like to be buried between them.
“You all right, man?”
Adam could hardly make out what Derrick was saying beside him. Who could blame him when all his attention was split between watching Janae sashay down that runway, owning the room and him with each step, and taking his next breath?
“Fine,” Adam managed, not caring if his friend caught the irritation in Adam’s voice.
From the chuckle coming from the side of him, Adam could tell Derrick, as usual, was amused by Adam’s behavior.
“You got it bad, my brother.”
No one knew that more than Adam, especially in this moment.
That realization should have frightened him, put him on the defensive in some way. Instead, the idea of this woman being his beyond the “let’s see how this goes” thing they were doing, developing something more meaningful between them spread like butter over fresh-out-the-oven bread.
“And there goes another one of my boys.” Derrick chuckled as he clapped Adam on the shoulder with his hand.
Adam’s eyes remained focused on Janae, blocking out Derrick’s voice. Janae was the only thing his senses could take in at the moment and he wanted to soak her up.
Her confident strut and elegant moves cleared his mind of all the questions and answers he was ignoring when he’d gone beyond wanting to spend time with Janae to needing her like water and air. Better to focus on how luscious she looked in that outfit than how she was sneaking into the spaces of his soul that he’d believed he’d blocked off after his divorce.
Each step she made cracked the door to his heart open a little more and he couldn’t have stopped her if he’d wanted to. Especially not when she was looking like this and owning him the way she was. It was as if she were made for this and he was made to watch her, possess her as she apparently had him.
When she made it to the end of the runway, posing in front ofhim like the proud goddess she was, her full lips slipped into a wide grin as she stopped and served him a playful wink while managing to keep time with the beat of the music, her graceful moves creating the perfect visual of the rhythmic sounds.
When she turned around, his eyes slid down her glorious frame, from her soft rounded shoulders to her deep curves, to hips that had cradled him perfectly, and one word came to mind. He knew he didn’t have the right, but that didn’t stop his head from screaming over and over again, “Mine.”
Chapter 25
Janae could feel eyes on her, and without turning around or looking in his direction, she could tell who they belonged to. Adam. She’d stayed behind to help clean up the dressing room, the last of the student models leaving a few moments before. She was just about to step behind the privacy screen in front of her to take off her son’s creation when she felt his presence fill the room.
“If Cree and Vanessa sent you in here to rush me, tell them they can wait.”
His steps were almost soundless, and her flesh jumped slightly at the caress of his fingers on the bare flesh of her shoulder.
“The crew just left. I’m afraid save for a few people in the gym, we’re all alone.”
She wanted to lean into his light touch, wanted to fall against his warmth the way she always seemed to whenever he touched her. But this was a public place, and neither of them could afford the fallout.
“I guess that means I’d better get this dress off.”
