“We thought you were going to end up dying miserable like him.”
“Y’all can get off my boy. You know y’all whole generation is little weak.” Albert told them, picking right back up from where he’d left off in his crap talking.
He claimed Jo’s generation of soldiers was soft compared to his. And of course Jo and his brothers couldn’t take that sitting down. So they spent the rest of the night in a heated debate over which war was the worst, Vietnam or the war America has been fighting in the Middle East.
And get this…At some point in the middle of this fierce debate, my mother called Albert’s phone. He looked down at it and smiled like a school girl before he hurried to the balcony and talked to her for a good while. Jo and his brothers teased him about that. They accused him of being curled up on the settee clutching the pillow close, pretending it was his Abby Cat.
By the time all those men left, I had laughed so much my throat was raw. I still chuckled to myself as I cleaned up after everyone. When I was finished, I came out the kitchen to see Jo standing in front of his living room window staring out at the Potomac River.
“Did you finally get her to sleep?” I asked, straightening the pillows on the couch.
Our deal had been I clean and he try and get Ayana to sleep. All the activity of the evening had left her buzzing with way more energy that we liked to see at bedtime. When last I saw her, she was literally bouncing up and down on the couch singing her da-da song.
He chuckled. “Yeah, I had to pretend to be asleep in the chair next to her bed.”
I shook my head as my gaze fell on that ridiculous picture of me. I stood for a minute studying it. While his friends talked about him for being what they called p**** whipped, he’d just sat there grinning proudly.
“You guys are just upset because I’ve found the kind of girl that helped me tap into my inner artist.”
Alec, the redhead all his friends called the Scotsman shook his head. “No, buddy, you found the kind of girl that helped you tap into your inner Norman Bates.”
He turned to look at me. “Listen to me, lass, if you come to a man’s pad and you see something like this on the wall, kindly excuse yourself to the bathroom and then call the cops and tell them if anything happens to you, to check his freezer.”
That had caused all the rest of the men to erupt with laughter. And so it went, one after the other they talked about him shamelessly.
Now I stood shaking my head, something had to be done about this thing.
“Jo, what is it going to take to get rid of this picture?”
“Marrying me.”
I jumped because I hadn’t heard him come up behind me. As I turned to face him he was going down to one knee. In his hand he held that box he’d shown me the night of his party. When he opened it, the huge ruby winked at me.
“Oh My God!” I felt like my heart was getting ready to beat out of my chest. I put my hand over it. I think I was going to have a heart attack!
“If you marry me, I will get rid of the picture.” His voice shook as if he was extremely nervous.
Tears came to my eyes as my mouth opened, but I was such an emotional wreck no words came out, all I could do was nod my head.
“Yeah?” He asked, not sure he saw correctly.
“Yes!” I cried as I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Yes!”
He stood lifting me off my feet as he held me close.
“Thank you, baby. Thank you so much.”
He put me back on my feet so that he could put the ring on my finger, but my hand shook so bad he had to hold it still long enough to get it on.
The ring was so beautiful, like the necklace he had bought, it was a rose gold band designed to be a flower. And just like the necklace, there were small diamonds on the leaves that looked like rain drops.
“It’s so beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you.” He whispered before he was kissing me.
And not those teasing kisses of the last few days, he was kissing me in a way that fed my need, and my need was strong. He was kissing me in a way that let me know the past few days had affected him as well.
“Jo…I need you!” I moaned, reaching for his shirt pulling at it, not caring that I seemed desperate.
“Damn!” He growled as he stepped back enough to rip it over his head.
His back muscles flexed under my hands as he lifted me pressing my body against the painting. My legs wrapped around his waist as he snatched my shirt over my head. With hands as desperate as mine he pulled my bra down until my breasts popped out.
“I’ve missed your pretty breasts.” He whispered.
I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming when his strong arms flexed as he lifted me even higher until my sensitive tips were level with his hungry mouth. My nails scraped across his back as he feasted on me.
Then I felt his hand under my skirt ripping my panties. Seconds later he was filling me. I couldn’t hold back my cries; they filled the living room to mingle with his heavy breathing, making beautiful music to my ears.
“I told myself I would not make love to you again until you agreed to be my wife.” He whispered in my ear as he drove into me.
I screamed out as my world exploded violently, snatching my breath away. He carried me to the couch where he continued to make love to me until he caused my world to shatter
