New Sensations Page 11

His sincerity was hard to judge with a half shadow hanging over his face.

  “You really want me to come and…live…with you for the next few days?”

  That one word caught in my throat and I had to force it out.

  “Yes, I do,” Jackson said as he sat up straighter and brought me up with him so that my head rested on his shoulder. “I know you have your classes to attend to, but I want to make sure I get to spend as much time with you as I can while you’re here. There’s plenty of room and I would love to have you with me. Will you?”

  I pondered his offer. On the one hand, I still didn’t know much about this man except that I was crazy for him and even crazier when I was with him. Under normal circumstances, the proposal of sleeping in a stranger’s bed for the next few nights would have yielded a definitely negative response. However, the events that had thrown Jackson and I together in this whirlwind romance were far from the usual casual dating scenario. I wanted Jackson like I wanted my next breath. I desired him like a present I had been longing to receive. I needed him to keep this life-giving flame burning inside of me. I don’t think I have felt as alive at any other time in my limited years on this earth as I had during the exhilarating moments spent with Jackson Bryant over the last two days. The thought of separating from him for even a handful of minutes caused an empty chasm in my chest. I clutched at the spot where I felt it growing and was on the verge of agreeing to be his live-in lover for whatever days we had remaining together.

  The shape of a shadowy silhouette peering into the truck at us halted my response.

  10

  In our hurry to join together as one, Jackson and I had neglected to shut the open passenger side door. Whoever the visitor was, he or she had full access to our two half naked bodies entangled around one another.

  “Who is it? Who is that?”

  Jackson’s voice boomed as he rotated our positions so that he could cover me beneath him.

  “Whoever it is had better answer before I step out of this truck.”

  The shadow moved and the moonlight reflected off of hair that was a mix of gold and silver under the strained light. It had to be Rita. I knew of no one else with such pale tinted blond strands.

  “It’s just me…Rita. Janay, are you in there?”

  She stooped her body low and I could tell that she was trying to adjust her eyes so she could catch a glimpse of my face.

  “Can you give us a moment, please, ma’am?” Jackson’s tone was short and tight.

  He adjusted his clothing and zipped himself with stealth before placing long legs up right onto the loose gravel and asphalt below. His large and broad body covered the full frame of the door, completely blocking Rita’s view, while I hurriedly fixed my clothing as well.

  I heard Rita ask him whether or not that was me on the seat and a small, controlled grunt from Jackson’s chest indicated that he resented she was implying it might have been anyone else laying prone in the back of his truck.

  I doubled my efforts to re-dress and quickly scooted forward and onto my feet. He hadn’t exactly expressed his sentiment verbally, but I had the distinct feeling that Jackson did not care much for my friend. Since he had only had a few words with her over the last forty-eight hours, I could only assume that the reason for his dislike for her was probably due to his instinctive protectiveness over me.

  “Janay, are you all right?” Rita said as she narrowed her eyes at Jackson and latched onto my wrist, urging me closer to her side.

  Jackson huffed and put his left hand in his jean pocket. He cocked his head away and clamped his lips tight. He might have been offended by Rita’s accusation that he had done some kind of harm to me, yet he remained true to him gentlemanly ways and allowed me to answer without interruption.

  I was taken aback by the question and it caused a delay in my response. This may have been the first time that Rita had followed me when I had decided to step away from a gathering. She was usually too preoccupied with her present company to survey what I was up to and with whom. The duty of keeping watchful eyes usually fell on me when my gal pal slipped into the arms of a shifty looking character.

  “Yes…I’m fine. Are you okay? Where’s Alberto? You didn’t leave him alone in there, did you?”

  “Alberto can handle himself, it’s you that I’m a little concerned about,” she remarked with a bitter undertone.

  I calmly pulled my wrist out of her grasp.

  “There’s no need. Jackson and I will be back in shortly.”

  Rita cut her eyes at Jackson again and then back to me.

  “Maybe you should come back in now. It’s really dark out here and I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  “Rita, I’m not alone,” I replied, trying to keep my voice level, “I said we would be back inside in a few minutes.”

  When she still didn’t budge, I continued on, another notch of strength added to my voice. “I’ll see you then.”

  She scrunched her lips and shook her head slightly.

  “Yeah, see you then,” she said as she turned on her heels and stalked away.

  Once her slim shadow, elongated by the ethereal glow of the overhead moon, disappeared around the corner, I turned back to Jackson.

  His facial expression had softened but was unreadable beyond that superficial observation.

  “What’s on your mind?”

  I wanted to know why he had such distaste for my best friend.

  “Honestly, it’s none of my business, so I should keep quiet on this.”

  “No…you shouldn’t.” He had already given some weight to my theory. None that it was out there, I wanted him to continue on. “She’s my closest friend and if you have a problem with her, you should tell me so.”

  Jackson shifted his weight and angled his long body back against the truck.

  “My problem isn’t with her directly,” he arranged his words carefully as he spoke, “my problem is with how she treats you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He was right, I should have left his answer unspoken. I didn’t think the nature of the relationship between Rita and I was any of his concern. Or, could it be that I was ashamed that he easily observed what I had tried so desperately to hide – even from myself – for so long?

  “Janay, she treats you like you’re her personal assistant. If you make one move that she doesn’t like or that isn’t concerning her well being somehow, she turns on you without hesitation. Tell me that this isn’t the first time she’s come lookin’ to see how you are during a big gatherin’ – in whatever years you may have known her – and I’ll shut my mouth right now.”

  He laid the challenge on the table and I knew that I couldn’t hide the answer that was already so obvious, even to an outsider. I dropped my head in shame. I couldn’t look this strong and brave man in the eyes knowing that I was the absolute opposite.

  “I should get going, we have a long day tomorrow.”

  I didn’t raise my head when I talked.

  Jackson reached out for me and I stepped back. I didn’t see any reason to pretend that we were compatible any longer.

  “Baby, come to me…please,” he lowered his voice and softened his stance.

  Trying to resist taking hold of the open hand that he had extended to me was impossible. When I laid my palm in his, Jackson folded my fingers and brought my knuckles up to his mouth and kissed them sweetly.

  I walked one foot closer, then another, and two more until I was positioned against his hard body.

  He placed his mouth next to my ear and spoke lightly while his lips brushed my small lobe.

  “Janay, you’re my lady. I want to take care of you and I don’t wanna’ see any harm come to you…not if it’s in my power to stop it.”

  My secret places fluttered while he massaged my back and shoulders with broad fingers.

  “Why me?”

  His shirt caressed my flushed cheek.

  “That’s easy,” I heard him smile as he spoke, “one look into those s
oft brown eyes, with all that sunlight floodin’ in behind you, and I knew you were the one…a quiet but mighty spirit…and I had to have you for myself.”

  I threw my hands around his neck and combed my fingers through his hair. We stood silently, tenderly holding one another under the moonlit night and an ocean of twinkling stars, for a timeless pause in this great creation we called Earth.

  I’m not sure how many seconds, minutes, or hours had passed until we finally made our way, hand-in-hand, back inside of the bar – Jackson’s bar. There were still some unanswered questions that would have to wait for another opportune moment. Inside, the crowd had thinned out by a few heads and settled down somewhat.

  Easy-listening music, with a slow and steady beat, strummed soothingly through the speakers. Couples were floating, cheek against cheek or cheek against chest, across the center of the room.

  Jackson twirled me round and then brought me back into his arms so that his chest was against my back. He already knew that he didn’t have to ask me to dance because I would have said yes to just about anything he would have quizzed me on right then.

  He enfolded me in his arms and tucked his face into the crook of my neck. After placing a soft kiss on my shoulder, his short bristly hairs rubbing my delicate skin, he settled his chin on the spot. I felt small in his arms but was happy with the knowledge that I had captured a big piece of his heart.

  We danced the night away, swaying to the music, even after the beat had perked up, until a chime signaled midnight and the end of a wild and enchanting evening.

  No wasn’t the answer that I had originally wanted to give Jackson regarding his invitation to stay with him at his home. Nevertheless, that was the response I gave when he asked again right before we parted ways. He told me that he understood and he knew that I was the type of person who wouldn’t leave a friend to fend for herself in a new community. He also said that he could see that my friend Rita still needed me more than she was willing to admit. I programmed my number into his cell, somewhat surprised that he didn’t mind me having access to his phonebook, and skirted off up the highway. I missed him the moment that he disappeared from view as Rita heaved the rental up the road.

  Now, sitting here at the most anti-climatic seminar in all of human history, I wished I could have snatched a few more hours of sleep before having to attend this bore feast.

  This particular room was jammed packed. Ten rows of about twenty chairs each were filled, and a few more people idled in the rear corners. More attendees had filtered into the hotel since yesterday. Despite the dynamic title of the workshop – New Worlds, New Possibilities – the speaker, a young woman, probably not much older than Rita and I was quite lackluster, and the information was nothing that couldn’t be researched at home while surfing the net. She stuck to every bullet on her power point and her voice never deviated above a whisper, even though a microphone was clipped to her shirt. This must have been her first solo presentation, because she only chanced a single blink back toward the audience from her place at the podium.

  Two-thirds of the way through the presentation and the woman turned her attention back to those present. She posed her question to us with eyes glued to the slip of paper that must have been laying on the stand that she was gripping the edges of for support. The young speaker wanted to know if, based on the information she had provided us with, how we might present an old product to a new generation audience. Silence followed. There was a dry cough toward the rear, someone to my left sneezed, the faint chiming of a mobile phone to my right, but no raised hands. The young woman looked nervously from side to side, still clutching at the podium.

  After an extended and deafening mute pause, I felt bad for her and threw my hand up. The red headed woman with the low cut hairstyle nodded gingerly at me and smiled as if the weight of the world had dropped away.

  Rita, Alberto, and I were sitting in the center of the third row, so when I stood, heads from the rows ahead of us angled around to take a look at me. One of the faces I immediately took note of was an African-American man who was sitting a few feet away in the next row up. He had nice smooth mahogany skin and an attractive smile that grew brighter as he widened his eyes when they landed on me and traced my outline. Who knew that Montana was the place to be if I wanted to attract a hot guy? Despite this man’s obvious physical appeal, Jackson was the man in my heart and on my mind and I turned my attention forward.

  The idea that I presented was one that I had been mulling over for our new account at Bank, Drake, Lyle, & Co., the advertising agency that Rita and I worked for. The standard and bland way that this presentation had been set-up actually helped me to shape my concept into a more clear and concise statement.

  “The best way to market to a fresh audience is a fresh approach,” I spoke up as loudly as I could.

  I was aiming my comment at the speaker but the feel of all those eyes on me had my ears burning. If Jackson were here, I know that big grin of his would set me at ease and that’s what I focused on to help get me through the rest of my remark.

  “Instead of using the same production, maybe add a different twist on the familiar. For example, as opposed to getting a rapper to do the theme for a sneaker commercial, why not get an unknown artist to remix that rapper’s song with a crazy new sound and use that for the commercial. I mean…the song is familiar to the kids and so is the product but it catches them because it sounds different and then they latch on to the commercial.”

  I flopped back down in my seat and crossed my jean-clad legs and folded my arms. From the corner of my eye, I saw some heads nodding and then a round of applause went up. I knew for a fact that this was a tough audience and if they thought the idea sounded decent then hopefully – prayerfully – our project lead would think the same.

  That burst of energy from the crowd seemed to perk up the young speaker. Her words had more life and flavor as she flowed through the remainder of her presentation, sans reading from her script. There were a few laughs and the meeting adjourned on a positive note.

  While my companions and I shuffled toward the door, a tap at my sleeveless elbow turned my attention back. The Afro-American man was smiling down at me and I offered a polite one in return.

  “Hello,” his grinned and flashed all of his polished teeth, “I’m Andre Weaver.”

  The man extended his hand and I shook it briefly.

  “Janay Parker.”

  “Janay…I like that name. It fits you.”

  “Thank you,” I kept my smile polite. I didn’t want to give him the impression that this conversation would be leading to anywhere outside of a professional nature. “Was there something that I can help you with?”

  His smile dropped down a little.

  “Oh, no. I wanted to come over and let you know that your proposal was really good. It had originality.”

  “I appreciate your compliment, thank you.”

  I tried to rejoin Rita and Alberto, who were having small talk with some other attendees near the door.

  “Oh, wait.”

  I sent an arched brow back at Andre.

  “Yes?”

  “I was wondering if you might be free later on today. Maybe we could have a drink in the hotel café.”

  I was at a loss for words. I swear that I have never had so many men wanting to cozy up next to me all at once. Unfortunately for Andre, he had terrible timing. I had already chosen the man who I wanted to spend my free moments with while on this business trip and I had no interest in keeping a spare on the side.

  “I don’t think that I can do that. I have other plans.”

  I didn’t see any reason to be rude or loud, so I tried to keep my explanation short and to the point.

  Just as he fixed his warm cinnamon colored lips to voice an objection, I felt my phone vibe through the purse that hung at my side. It was my excuse to cut Andre off and stealthily step away.

  “Excuse me, I need to take this call,” I tossed over my shoulder without daring to look back
to see whether or not he remained in the same place, mouth set on sweet talking me into hanging out with him.

  This time I didn’t need to dig down low into the confines of my purse. I had never noticed the pocket of fabric stitched into the lining of the inside shell. The shape and size were perfect for my little phone and that’s where it was nestled, all ready and waiting to be used.

  I plucked the device from the holder and spied out the name on the screen. My spirits perked up and my heart stammered a few beats off course. Jax was the abbreviation that I had programmed into my phone – it was also the name currently lit up in big black letters – and Jae was the nickname that I had added to his.

  One touch to answer the vibrating cell and my ears were filled with that cheerful accent that I was coming to love.

  “Janay?”

  He sounded happy but hesitant, as though he wanted to make sure this was the right number for the person he was trying to reach.

  “It sure is, handsome.”

  A low laugh echoed over the line.

  “Hi, sweetheart, how are ya'?”

  “Better, now that I’m talking to you.”

  “Then you won’t mind me sayin’ how much I missed you today.”

  I pulled the phone away and noted the time to be eleven-thirty.

  “Jackson, it’s been less than twelve hours since you saw me.”

  “I know the time, pretty lady, and my statement still stands firm. I missed you, Janay.”

  The cheeks on my face sat up high and rosy.

  “I missed you too, Jackson.”

  “That’s what I like to hear,” his bass crooned. “Have you decided what you’re doin’ for dinner tonight?”

  My eyes darted over to Rita and Alberto. As much as I wanted to see Jackson, we had all settled on driving to a restaurant in the city and then seeing some of the rest of the metro area.

  “Actually…yes,” I was hesitant to have to decline his impending offer, “I’m going out for dinner and a drive through the city with Rita and Al. I wish I had known you were going to call.”