EPILOGUE
Trista
The elevator doors open, and I step into The Wicked Horse. My eyes search for Jerico, but The Social Room is packed and I’m having trouble locating him, despite the fact he stands taller than most men.
“Hey, Trista,” I hear from my left and I turn to see Larissa manning the podium as she eyes me up and down. “You look phenomenal.”
She’s very sweet and very new so she hasn’t, nor will she ever, have the pleasure of Jerico’s company. She only knows me as Jerico’s very significant other and that has afforded me a lot of respect now I’m not working here anymore. Some of the original staff still ignore me, but they wouldn’t blatantly attack.
Not as protective as Jerico is of me.
While I can’t prove he did it on my behalf, certain employees who were bitchy to me in the past… well, let’s just say they no longer work here. When I noticed and asked Jerico, he would never confirm nor deny he’d fired them, but simply told me it was none of my business. That doesn’t offend me at all, and actually… it’s kind of cute how he’s all caveman on my behalf.
I give Larissa a grateful smile, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. “How am I supposed to find Jerico in this crowd?”
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Larissa says as she looks out over the crowd with excited eyes. “I truly didn’t think many people would show up.”
I smile as I look at the people packed shoulder to shoulder and standing three deep at the bar waiting for a drink. This makes me happy because tonight is about celebrating the second year anniversary of The Wicked Horse. I don’t find it strange how much pride I have in Jerico and this business he’s built up to epic levels. I’ve realized since knowing him that there is no shame in expressing sexuality, and I look forward to the rare nights we will spend in here. We don’t do it often, mainly because I’m working fifty-plus hours a week at The Jameson Group, having quickly ascended from receptionist to office manager. And Jerico… well, he doesn’t like to really hang out at The Wicked Horse unless I’m there hanging out with him. So once or twice a month, we’ll do a “date” night there, and we freely show our love by getting it on in one of the public rooms. I find it as invigorating and as liberating as the first time that Jerico took me in The Orgy Room all those months ago.
“There he is.” Larissa points with excitement, and I see his head weaving in and out of people as he locks eyes on me from across the room.
“Thanks, Larissa,” I say and start moving toward him.
We come to meet in about the middle of the room, and he looks at me with worry. “Is Corinne okay?”
“She’s fine,” I assure him because he didn’t expect me here tonight. I totally wanted to be, but Corinne has the flu. While my mom was happy to watch her, she was also tremendously nervous as this is the sickest Corinne has been since her surgery. I give him further reassurance, “Her fever broke, and well… I just wanted to be here with you.”
Jerico smiles in relief and pulls me into his arms. When Corinne got sick two days ago, I knew it could interfere with my plans to attend the celebration tonight. But Jerico insisted I stay home tonight when he saw how freaked my mom was. I personally felt she was going to be fine on her own, but I love how much Jerico cares about my mom and Corinne. He felt it was more important I stay back.
“I was just getting ready to leave,” he says before pulling back to look down at me. “Everything is in hand here, I’ve done my duty giving a toast, and I’m ready to get home and relax.”
“Oh, my God,” I say as I laugh, bringing a hand up to his face to touch his jaw. “You’ve turned into an old fuddy-duddy.”
His eyes narrow at me. “An old fuddy-duddy?”
I snicker and press in closer. “I thought we’d go have a drink on The Deck. Maybe fool around a little. Celebrate your success.”
Jerico cocks an eyebrow, his gorgeous green eyes sparkling with interest. “This has potential.”
Going to my tiptoes, I put my lips as close to his ear as I can get. “I’m not wearing any panties under this dress.”
“Jesus,” he grumbles before bending down and shoving his face in my neck. “I work really hard to maintain a cool reputation here, and you come and give me a hard-on in about ten seconds. You’re ruining my rep, babe.”
I laugh again, feeling his chuckle against my skin. But then he pulls back and asks, “Are you sure she’s okay?”
God, I love this man. I love him, I love him, I love him.
And let me tell you why…
Sure, he had nefarious intentions when we first met, but what I’ve come to realize is that he has a heart of gold. I know deep down, even had we not developed feelings for each other, he wouldn’t have sent that stuff to Jayce. Jerico doesn’t have it in him to hurt an innocent. That’s old history, and I rarely think of it.
But since then, he’s shown me just how generous his heart is. After purchasing my termite-infested home, he had the damage repaired as well as put in new flooring and appliances. He handed the keys over to my mom once it was painted and had new furniture. This stunned me because he did this without even telling me what his plans were.
In fact, it was sort of highhanded of him, but after he turned the keys over to my mom, he took Corinne and me for a ride. He picked us up at the apartment I’d moved into with Corinne and Mom, and we got ice cream. Then we drove into a gated subdivision where he pulled into a Mediterranean-style home that was massively big and made my eyes bug out.
“What do you think?” he asked us when we got out of the car.
“It’s like a castle,” Corinne said in awe. “Like Aladdin would live there or something.”
“It’s gorgeous,” I said hesitantly, then turned to look at him with suspicion. “Why are you asking us?”
“We’ll go inside and take a look around,” he said as he took Corinne by the hand. She latched onto him tightly, a strong indication that her feelings were growing deep.
Just like mine.
“Whose house is this?” I asked as I followed them up to the door.
“Ours,” he said casually as we walked up the steps of the porch. “If you like it, that is.”
“Ours?” I asked hoarsely, my throat having gone dry.
Jerico turned around, Corinne with him. She stared up at me as he brought his hands to her shoulders, and he said, “Trista… you’re it for me. And Corinne is yours, so I want us all to be together.”
It’s true. Corinne is mine. It’s another thing Jerico facilitated quite easily once I was able to reach Danielle and have a heart to heart with her. It took about five conversations, but Danielle eventually asked me to take custody of Corinne and I agreed. Jerico got the paperwork done within a month, and she was officially mine.
Well… she’s ours, like Jerico said.
It’s my hope that one day Danielle will realize what she’s lost and hopefully try to have some type of relationship with her daughter, but only time will tell.
Corinne, Jerico, and I moved into that massive home four months ago, and I couldn’t be happier. My mom lives just twenty minutes from us, Corinne is healthy, moderately happy, and doing well in school, and I have a job I love. And to put the perfect icing on the perfect cake, I have Jerico and he loves me.
“Corinne is fine,” I tell him firmly. “Mom has everything in hand. This is your big night and you should celebrate. And because it’s your night, we’re going to do whatever you want to do. If you want to take me to The Deck and fuck me, I’m yours. If you want to go home, get in our pajamas, and watch TV in between hovering over Corinne, I’m yours as well. Just tell me how you want me.”
Jerico’s eyes go soft as he looks at me. “I love you. I want you any way I can get you.”
“You can get me any way you want me,” I tell him with a smirk. “And I love you too.”
“Let’s go home,” he says as he turns me toward the elevator door. “It’s too crowded here tonight. Home sounds nicer.”
Jerico’s arm slips around my waist, and we walk slowly through the crowd. I think about cuddling on the couch with him, munching popcorn and watching an old black-and-white movie. I like that idea better too.
“However,” he says as he leans to the side and murmurs, “I intend to take advantage of you not wearing panties before we get those pajamas on.”
Yes, home sounds like a better idea, indeed.