“We were only together eight months, yet it felt like a lifetime,” I said into his chest before trying to wipe off my makeup and lipstick from his shirt.
“Don’t worry about my shirt. Might not get to hold you again for another fifteen years.”
“Back at the venue, you seemed so sure that you had me.”
“My arrogance gets the best of me.” He tilted his head to look at me. “The girl I knew would never cheat. Even if it’s with me.”
“I’m that girl at heart.”
“And I am the boy who hopes for a chance with you.” He pressed his lips against my forehead. “Let’s pretend that it’s no one but us until your phone buzzes.”
“Mm…hmm.” I snuggled against him. Down for pretending just to be able to touch him like this. “I’m your woman welcoming you home after a long, grueling tour where you missed me the whole time.”
“No, you would be with me, beating down my groupies and massaging my back and my aching temples every night.” My ear loved the rumble of his voice.
“So, my job is to cater to you?” I asked, though I would spoil him terribly.
“That and organizing my life and career. You would be the best manager, making sure shit got done. Ain’t nobody messing with Jamaica Bennett Cade about me.”
Sadness assailed again at the mention of the name I doodled on my notebook the day he was the only one who noticed that I no longer wore braces and had my hair in the braids I’d wanted for years. Every day after that, he pursued me, making it plain that he liked me and respected that I couldn’t date.
“Nope. No one would be messing with my man. We would be at every award show, killing the red carpet,” I said, trying not to choke up. It took a lot for me to cry, and I was mentally exhausted from all the warring emotions since he walked through the doors of the banquet hall.
He started swaying with me. “We are the luckiest people in the world because we have each other and we get to do and be whatever our hearts’ desire.” My phone beeped, and we both stiffened.
I tapped his chest, and he reluctantly dropped his arms. Suddenly, the night air chilled instead of soothing me, and I hugged myself to avoid moving back into his warm embrace. I willed myself to meet his sexy gaze. “Why now?”
His jaw tightened. “You owe me.”
I shook my head. “I don’t owe you anything.”
His brow furrowed deeply. “I have a child in this world, whom I knew nothing about. A son that’s damn near a man.”
“You may have been a ‘bad’ boy back then, but you never were a liar. Don’t start now.”
Freedom stepped closer. “What am I lying about?”
I accused, “You knew I was pregnant and you still left.”
He frowned. “Who told you that? Kody?”
“Kody told me what my father told him, that you came back to see me and left once you heard I had a baby.”
“Your father told Kody what happened when I came to see you instead of telling you?” Freedom’s frown deepened, and he warily shook his head. “Your father is a real piece of work who would’ve hated me even if he wasn’t a cop. Then you’re right, I’m a liar because whatever he says is fucking gold. Always trying to keep you under his thumb.”
“Don’t ever speak about my father. Ever,” I threatened. “Even if my father lied to Kody, which is a big ‘if’, at any time youcould’ve checked on me or made sure you spoke tome. At the very least, I thought we were friends.”
Freedom scoffed, “It doesn’t matter if I contacted you. You’re still Daddy’s girl. Naw, we wouldn’t have worked. I need my wife to understand there can’t be two kings in my household.”
“Yeah, you’re right, we wouldn’t have worked. I need my husband to understand that it would be ‘our’ household and that he’s man enough to stick it out through thick and thin. And that, as his wife, he’s my head, and I’m his backbone. Period.” I blew out of breath. “So, what now?”
He raised a brow. “I told you I want to be a father to my son, and I want you back.”
“What?” I stepped back and yelled, “Didn’t we both just say we wouldn’t have worked out anyway?”
He grinned sheepishly. “I didn’t mean it.”
His smile deflated the growing anger, and I lowered my voice, “You don’t know me anymore. Kody and I have been at it for thirteen years. You and I were together for a few months when we were kids.”
