The emerald green dress fit snugly around my hips and accentuated my cleavage perfectly as I twirled around in front of the mirror. When I stopped, I leaned in and touched up my lipstick. With a nod to my appearance, I slid the tube into my purse and walked out of Jay’s bedroom, turning off the light behind me.

After we spent the afternoon cleaning my apartment and packing up what was left of my belongings, we went out for a low-key dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants. It’s a mom and pop place that my mother used to frequent when I was younger. When she passed away, I decided to carry on her tradition.

The owners, Angelo and Francesca, both came out and greeted us when they heard I was there. They took turns giving me hugs and kisses before they proceeded to give Jay the third degree. They’re both fiercely protective of me—as they were my mother—and wanted to make sure he wasn’t “slime” like my ex David was.

When Francesca dropped the bomb about me having had a fiancé whom they didn’t approve of, Jay raised his eyebrow in question, but I waved him off for later. I was hoping that would be way later. The last thing I wanted was to discuss David with him. Jay’s been running from people trying to tie him down for years and here I was tying myself to someone whom I didn’t love. Jay finding that out would potentially spell trouble, and I wasn’t ready for it yet.

Our next clash of wills, after him telling me I was moving in, happened when we returned from dinner to get ready for a night out. I discovered that his maid had moved all my clothing into his closet. I know it was a silly argument to have, considering I had agreed to live with him, but I thought it would be best for us to have separate areas to retreat to whenever we needed time alone. If all my belongings were in his room, then that would negate us having our own space.

The argument didn’t last long though, as Jay just informed me to “suck it up and deal with it.” Apparently, it wasn’t an open topic for discussion. Jay wanted me there, so there I was going to be.

At that juncture, I decided it would be best if I picked my battles from now on. It was becoming evident that he had a need to take care of me and protect me. I’d allow it as long as I wasn’t relying on him for everything. I never wanted to go back to a situation where I had to depend on another human being for food and shelter, as long as I could help it.

Walking down the stairs, I found Jay standing in the front entryway waiting for me. He had on a pair of jeans and a button down black dress shirt, with a black Yankees hat gracing his head. You could see the diamond studs sparkling in his ears and his white sneakers peeking out from the bottom of his pants.

Whereas my previous taste ran towards a more tailored man, I had to admit I was loving his style. He looked fucking hot. Dangerous. Like a bad boy. It brought to life fantasies I never knew I had.

Jay whistled low as I hit the bottom step and immediately moved to me in order to plant a deep, wet kiss on my mouth.

“I want to peel that dress off your fucking body. You’re smokin’, baby.”

I looked at him through my eyelashes trying to appear bashful. I knew I looked good, and I loved that he recognized it.

“Thank you,” I murmured softly. “We better get going.”

“Yeah, cause if we stay here any longer I’m going to end up fucking you hard against the wall instead of taking you out and showing you off.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad.”

He looked at me seriously for a moment before giving me a devilish grin. “No, it wouldn’t.”

I wrapped my hand in his as we walked out to the waiting SUV. It had blackout windows that made it look bad ass. A bad ass ride to go with my bad ass man. I was really beginning to enjoy all this bad-assness. I stifled a giggle knowing Jay would probably just call me nutty if I told him my train of thought.

The driver opened the door for us. Jay placed his hand on my ass and helped lift me into the back seat. I turned and gave him a censoring look.

“You know I could have maneuvered myself into the vehicle on my own. You just wanted to cop a feel. Didn’t you?”

He grinned at me, and his eyes twinkled with mischief. Then he reached out and grabbed my breasts, weighing them in his hands. “Figured I’d cop a feel of those too.”

I shook my head in mock disgust and pushed his hands away from my chest. I couldn’t help but grin as he slid in next to me and shut the door.

Once we were on the road, Jay punched out a few texts on his phone before turning towards me and pulling me across the seat so that I was practically in his lap. I giggled and teased him that he couldn’t get enough of me.

“You better fuckin’ believe it,” was the answering reply that he muttered against my neck.

The rest of the ride to the club we made out like teenagers. And while the driver probably had quite the show, I couldn’t find it in me to care. For some reason, I was always so in the moment with Jay that whatever went on around us didn’t register. Truth be told, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was him and me and what our bodies were feeling.

We pulled up to the club and exited to the flashes of multiple cameras. It felt like insanity on the sidewalk in front of the building. It wasn’t anything I was used to and it made me feel a tad bit overwhelmed. I was grateful when Jay’s body moved to block mine protectively as he led us through the chaos hand-in-hand.

The place was dark and the music was thumping as we made our way through the crowds of people inside. A man in a dark suit with an earpiece walked up to us and shook hands with Jay before leaning in and saying something in his ear. Jay nodded and next thing I knew he was pulling me over to a roped off section to the left of the dance floor.

I settled into a curved plush velvet couch while Jay barked drink orders to the man in the suit. The guy walked away and Jay sat next to me, his body angled towards me, and his arm along the back of the couch.

“VIP?” I asked with raised brows. “Aren’t you special?”

“I hope so. I own the place.”

“You do?” Now I was genuinely shocked. Neither he nor anyone else had mentioned that in the few months I had been hanging around. And I had never been to this club before seeing as how I wasn’t a fan of hip-hop until more recently.

He nodded and placed a kiss on my still parted in surprise lips. “Own a lot of businesses.”

“One day you should actually share some of that with me. I am your assistant after all,” I huffed indignantly. Of course, I was also his girlfriend or whatever he wanted to call me. I didn’t think a man like Jay called anyone a girlfriend, so I chose not to emphasize that point just yet. We’d barely been together for twenty-four hours.

“One day I’m sure I will,” he semi-promised. That was good enough for now.

The subject was dropped as Jerome, Mike, Zeke, Plado and a few other guys joined us. Not long after that, numerous girls of differing desperations began clinging to the men. I felt awkward being in their company, as they sent dirty looks and sneers in my direction, until Keesha surprised me by making an appearance. Earlier that night, I had called both her and Kim to go out, but they both had other plans. I missed my girl time, so the fact that I got to hang out with one of them made me happy.

We all lounged in the VIP area and drank Grey Goose as we laughed and partied. Looking around at all the groupies—wait, is that what you called hip-hop hanger-ons?—I realized that not only were joints being smoked freely, but that a few of the girls were doing ecstasy as well.

Jay must have been watching me eye them as they popped their pills, because he leaned in and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” I quickly replied.

“Something is. Those bitches giving you a hard time?”

“No.” I shook my head and peeled my eyes away from them enjoying themselves so that I could look at him. “It isn’t like that.”

“Then what’s it like?”

“I’ve always wanted to try ecstasy,” I blurted out quickly.

“Really? A good girl like you?” He ran his finger along my bottom lip. His eyes following the movement.

“Maybe.” I shrugged and felt a little embarrassed that Jay knew I never did anything remotely bad. I was the one who always followed the rules, even when having a good time. Recklessness was not in my nature.

“If you want to be bad, baby, you can be bad with me. I’ll always be a safe place for you to experiment. You can trust in that.”

He squeezed my knee and then started stroking my skin. That felt really nice. All of it. The touching and the words. I did always feel safe with him, and I trusted him implicitly. But still…

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable taking drugs.” I leaned in to emphasize my point. “Have you done it?”

“Yeah.”

“What was sex like on it? I’ve heard it’s amplified and can be amazing. Or have you not had sex under its influence?” I back peddled on my assumption.

He dipped his head, and his lips brushed my ear when he answered. “It’s mind blowing for most people. Think of the sensations you experience when I make you come and then multiply that by ten.”

I shivered at his words. It was so hard to imagine things being any better between us. I wasn’t sure I could handle having extremely heightened pleasure with him.

“I’d probably come out of my skin. Maybe we should table this conversation for another time.”

“Anything you want. I’m thinking I’m going to have to see about making you come out of your skin when we get home, though. It would be something we both would enjoy.”

Another full body shiver. Yikes, he was good. “You’re smooth, Jay.”

“I know.” He gave me an unrepentant smile before giving Jerome his attention.

A while later, Keesha and I decided to dance. We moved out onto the dance floor, but stayed close enough so that Jay could keep an eye on us. He threatened punishment if I went out of his sight. Seemed he had a bit of a protective streak. I kind of liked it. It made me want to sit on his lap and grind on him a bit to show my appreciation.

And those thoughts were so out of character I had to shake my head to rid myself of them. I might have grown up a pampered oil princess, but apparently I could get dirty with the rest of them.

During a Beyoncé and Jay-Z song, two bitches sidled up to us and began trying to push us out of our space in front of Jay and the guys.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Keesha asked with her hand on her hip.

“Fuck you,” the brunette spat at us.

“Fuck me? Sorry honey, but I don’t go that way. Maybe you should turn and walk away before things turn ugly.” Keesha was now in full out bitch mode. Her head was shaking back and forth, and her hip was cocked.

“I don’t think so,” the redhead said before turning towards me. “I see you looking at Jay. You best stop wasting your time. I’m the one that’s going to be riding him tonight.”

“Excuse me?” I asked in disbelief. Who the hell was this chick? And really she should find herself a new hairstylist. Her hair was a straight up joke. It was like she dipped it in cherry flavored Kool-Aid. If she wasn’t such a bitch, I’d give her that friendly advice.

“You heard me, bitch. I’ve had him before and tonight I’m tasting him again. There’s some lame white boys over in the corner that look more your speed. You should run along and find someone in your league. You’re just making a fool out of yourself.” She even had the nerve to shake her hand shooing me away.

“Yeah. Jay isn’t paying attention to you. He’s eyeing Amanda here like she’s his next meal,” her dumb ass friend added.

A quick glance at the table showed me Jay wasn’t even paying attention, let alone sending her any signals. I laughed in their faces and crossed my arms.

“We’ll see about that.”

Ladies and gentleman—it was on. On like Donkey Kong.

With poise and confidence, I sashayed over to Jay with extra sway in my hips to get my point across. When I was a few feet away, he looked over, and his eyes locked with mine. No way in hell he was thinking about Amanda right now. I had his undivided attention. And everyone in a ten foot radius knew it too.

I walked right up to him and sat in his lap. His arm snaked around my back and rested on my hip, while the other stroked the inside of my thigh where my dress had ridden up.

My hands went to either side of his face, and I kissed him. I started off softly, running my tongue along the seam of his lips. Those lips parted and sucked my tongue into his mouth. From that point forward it was all hands, lips and tongues as we went at it on the couch.

After several minutes, I pulled away and turned to see Keesha standing by herself at the side of the table. A cursory glance showed that Amanda and her friend were nowhere to be found.

Now that we weren’t sucking face, Keesha moved in closer and began laughing.

“I think you proved your point, T,” she got out in between laughs.

“What point?” Jay asked. “And I’m the only one that can call her that.”

“Oh, some bitches tried to tell Tori to stay away from you because you were theirs. The look on their faces when you started making out was priceless. I didn’t even need to say anything to rub salt in that wound. It was stinging all on its own.”

“So you used me?” Jay teased, and I nodded my head.

“Just like I use you for your big cock too.” I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle.

“Use away, baby. In fact, you can use me right now.” His hand pulled mine down to his groin and the rather large package he had waiting there.

“Nuh huh, not in the club. I’m declaring public sex off limits from now on.”

“You do realize you just made it a challenge that I’m going to work my ass off to best?” His eyes darkened, and he slipped his hand further up my thigh until his fingers were brushing my panties.

“It wasn’t a challenge.” I slapped his hand away, but it just came back with determination.

“Oh yes it was.”

“Okay it was,” I relented when he started kissing my neck with those soft plump lips.

“Consider your challenge accepted, baby.”

I shivered when he moved my hair over my shoulder to give himself better access to my neck.

“Don’t let bitches like that get you down, T. They’re going to be everywhere. If you hear or see something you don’t like, just ask me about it before you go off halfcocked. And if they get in your face and you’re uncomfortable, let me or the boys know. No one fucks with you.”

“If I see or hear something I don’t like?”

He nodded and dipped his head closer to my ear. To the other club patrons, it appeared that he was kissing me since we were so close, but in reality he was attempting to break his world gently to me. I just wasn’t sure it was working.

“Yeah. Shit happens in this life. Shit, that’s true and shit that’s fake. I’ll always tell you the truth. Got that?”

“Yes,” I said and I was surprised that my voice didn’t break with how badly I hated the sense of foreboding I was getting from this conversation.

“Good. Don’t focus on that shit, T.” He correctly read the look of concern on my face.

I nodded and said “Okay.” What else could I do? I had to trust him.

“Alright you two. I’m not ready to give up my girl yet, so get your paws off her, Jay.” Keesha pulled me out of Jay’s arms and started moving me towards the dance floor.

“Hey,” I complained, but she chose to ignore me.

We went back to our spot on the dance floor and started bumping and grinding with each other.

“So what’s going on between you two?” She finally asked as we moved closely together.

“I don’t know. We’re seeing what happens.” I shrugged and bent low, grinding my ass on her as I came up. “That isn’t going to be a problem at the office is it?”

“Bitch, please. I’m thrilled you two finally stopped dancing around each other. You look good together and you bring out a side of him I haven’t seen in a long time. Not since Trisha anyway. Besides, it doesn’t matter what I think. Jay would fire my ass if I tried to stop him.”

“He did say that…” I trailed off and then focused on the woman she referred to before that. “Who’s Trisha?”

“Shit. He hasn’t told you about her?”

I shook my head and swallowed hard at the look on her face. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this.

Keesha didn’t say anything else. She just led me off towards the bathroom. Once inside, she checked the stalls to make sure we were alone before she started her story.

“Trisha was Jay’s fiancée like two years ago. It was after his wife from hell, Monica. You know who Monica is, right? Jazzy’s mom?” I nodded, so she continued. “Anyway, in the beginning she was really sweet. Perfect complement to him and his roughness. That is until he caught her trying to fuck Eminem after one of his concerts. Once he sent her packing he found out she had opened up a credit card in his name and charged a shit load of stuff to it. I’m talking tens of thousands of dollars. He also learned that she slept with numerous guys behind his back. It was messy.”

“No shit,” I muttered and thought about how bad that sucked for Jay. Between her and Monica, no wonder why he didn’t trust anyone. “Those two women scarred him good.”

“Them along with Abby and Pam.”

I gave her a lost look, and she shook her head.

“Jay is going to kill me for telling you this when he hasn’t yet. Abby was his high school girlfriend. She was with him when he was nothing until right after he was something. She couldn’t hold it down, though. She constantly accused him of cheating until he finally caught her doing the deed with an old friend of his, Sean. She tried to tell him it was his fault because he was messing around on her. When he wasn’t.”

The door opened and a group of drunk girls started to come in. Keesha turned towards the door and stopped them with her body. “Joint’s closed for the moment. Go piss in the men’s room.”

After some protesting, they finally left. A couple gave us the one finger salute while another one idly threatened us.

Keesha leaned against the door and finished story time. “After that was Pam. All she wanted was to ride on his coattails and party with the finest. She ended up overdosing on cocaine. It was a scary mess, let me tell you. Bitch has been in and out of rehab ever since.”

“Damn. That is horrible. And explains so much. I can’t believe he’s been through so much and still underneath that tough exterior is a heart of gold. Thank you for telling me.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m sure he would have told you in time. My point is though that you and him… I see good things. Just don’t break his heart like the others.”

“I have no intention of doing that,” I answered honestly. That was the last thing I ever wanted to do. Jay deserved better than that.