CHAPTER TWO

LYDIA

After stepping off the stage, my eyes landed on the most attractive man I’ve ever seen. Once Bryce waved me over, I stood in front of the birthday boy. I was a little nervous. I haven’t been nervous in a long time. He’s not the first attractive guy I’ve ever danced for, but he is the first man I’m sexually attracted to. The look on his face told me I made him a little nervous to. The private room was the perfect place to make him feel at ease.

Zoning out in my head, feeling the beat was the plan. What would rich boy want with me? His expensive clothes told me he comes from money. Also, the way he carried himself. He’s laid back, not hard up for anything or anyone. His domineering persona told me he took no shit from anyone. A man who gets what he wants. Yeah, he’s that type.

The navy-blue blazer over the burnt orange t-shirt appeared impeccable against his muscular physique. Resting my hands on his muscular thighs while inhaling his intoxicating scent, I lost myself momentarily. Fantasy took my thoughts. Brushing the sexy dangling piece of hair out of his face while I took his lips is what ran through my mind. Lydia focus. He’s a customer. I swore I would never get involved with a customer. Alright, I’m focused. Shit, why did he ask my real name? He didn’t need to know it.

Placing his hands against my waist felt perfect. I love the way his hands slipped down, rubbing my ass. The second I faced him, our eyes met. Like second nature, my lips parted for his. He didn’t refuse me. He wanted it to. The electric shock shot through every nerve in my being. The charge, the force between us was hot. I didn’t want to turn his lips loose.

He saw right through me. The way he said my real name behind the devilish smirk, he knew he got to me, so he pushed. Asking to take me on a date. Please, he’s lost his mind. Telling me he will be here every night until I agree to go out with him, that was domineering.

My eyes dropped to his lips that I longed to taste again, which could never be mine. I stood, recollecting none of this could be forever. Standing to his feet, slipping his big hands around my waist, halting me. Demanding my undivided attention. His lips softly caressed my face. I wanted to shout to the roof tops, I will forgo my silly rule and go out with Hayden. Just the way his name rolls off my tongue. Fuck, I want him. Even though I know we could never work.

Hayden walked away from me, leaving me there to stew in my thoughts. All of a sudden, I was cold and only wanted him to keep me warm. Putting on a poker face is what I had to do to get through the rest of my shift. Hayden’s eyes followed me all over the club. Diamond had no luck holding his attention.

Eventually he whispered something in her ear. She stepped away and begin dancing for his friends. Hayden sat back sipping his drink, watching me. I was no longer dancing for my customers, but for Hayden. The temptation to stroll across the room and dance for him again was tearing me apart inside. Swirling my fingers in his black locks is what I wanted to do. Imagining the warmth of his lips against my breasts was plaguing me.

He and his friends rose to their feet. The second the song was over, I rushed into the dressing room. Hoovering over the makeup station, my chest heaved in and out. I tried to calm my breathing. I don’t have to ever see him again. His one-night obsession with me is over, I thought.

∞

After my hot bubble bath, I stared at the ceiling before I dosed off. Hayden stood outside my apartment door waiting when I arrived home from work. Never saying a word his lips took mine with hunger and lust. Once through the door, he kicked it closed grabbing me up into his arms. Our lips devoured each other’s. He placed me on my feet long enough to rip my clothes from my body. My fingertips slid his t-shirt up over his head. Slowly, I rubbed his tight tanned abs. Hayden threw his shirt to the floor. I couldn’t release his throbbing cock fast enough from the constraints of his jeans. I marveled in its beauty.

“Can you take it all?”

My eyes swept over his handsome face. The single black hair dangled against his nose driving me insane. I didn’t answer him. I jumped back up into his arms. Slamming me against the wall, his long fingers massaged my pussy lips. I was dripping wet for him. Hayden slid his long thick dick inside me.

“Fuck!” I breathed. My head dropped back against the wall.

Hayden devoured my neck as he stroked deeper and deeper inside me.

“Hayden!” I screamed.

“I love you.”

My sad eyes met his blue ones.

He ran his tongue over my lips. “I love you too Lydia.”

I shot straight up out of my sleep. My hand flew over my heart. I wanted the intensity of my heart to slow down. My body was drenched in sweat yet, my mouth was dry. Swiping my hand across my forehead, my eyes closed as I recalled the wet dream I had about Hayden. My fingers trailed over my breasts into my core. I was wet. I came in my sleep.

The Hayden wet dreams were getting out of hand. My legs swung over the side of the bed. Sitting briefly, my eyes darted out the window. The gray clouds threatened rain. I would love to go back to sleep, but I need to get to class. A cup of tea would calm my nerves. My bare feet dragged across the living room floor into the kitchen.

Sitting at the kitchen counter waiting for the tea pot to whistle, I glanced around my living room. The light gray leather sectional wrapped around half the room. The large glass coffee table fit perfectly with the oversized sofa. I can’t believe this is my life.

My mother died from ovarian cancer when I was sixteen years old. Some days are easier than others. I would give up my beautiful apartment in Midtown Atlanta to have her back.

While stirring my orange tea, a tear fell inside the pretty colorful ceramic mug. Never thought I would have to strip at eighteen years old. I am an only child. My parents were both teachers. My mother taught third grade math. My father was a college professor. My mother was sick for two years. My father had to cut down his work load due to my mother’s poor health.

The University was understanding. My father was able to lecture two days a week and hold classes online for the remaining three. He refused the assistance of a nurse. He said he could take care of his wife. I’d watch my mother sleep in my Dad’s arms. Sometimes, the tears poured down his face. I cried for him. Their dream was to grow old together. Now he watched her deteriorate before his eyes. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like to watch the woman he loves die.

I want a man to love me the way my father loved my mother, unconditionally.

My mother Lorena Lydia Baker was a petite African-American woman who was part Cherokee Indian with brown eyes. My father said he loved my mother’s middle name and wanted me to share her name. When I was born he named me Lydia. That story always brings a smile to my face.

My father Alastair Stuart Carmichael is part Scottish and African-American. He’s almond complected with gray eyes.

My father loved my mother’s dark chocolate skin. He’d often brush his fingers along her arms.

My mother’s coworkers were supportive. Often, they’d send casseroles to our house. They would also perform household chores. We were fortunate to have them and my mother’s parents. My father’s parents passed away when I was seven then eight. My grandfather died a year after my grandmother from a broken heart.

Despite all the sadness surrounding my mother’s illness, our home was filled with love.

Watching my mother slip away while in Hospice was traumatic. I couldn’t sleep for weeks after she passed away. My father didn’t get out of bed sometimes for days after my mother’s passing. He was understandably depressed. At sixteen, I was able to slick my hair into a ponytail, cook meals for me and my dad, and get myself off to school. At seventeen, my father’s health began failing.

The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I stayed with my grandparents, visiting my dad in the hospital often. Mother’s life insurance money didn’t last long. My father used most of it to pay off our home. The rest of the money began going toward medical bills. By the age eighteen, I told my dad to save the last twenty thousand and I would pay his medical bills. He used his pension from Georgia State University to pay for property taxes, groceries, and monthly bills.