Simone left her session with Dr. Richards and drove to her office. When she entered the building, she saw Nick at the front desk with her receptionist and his IT person. She joined them with a smile.
“Hello everyone,”
“Hello Simone,” Nick responded. “This is Rae. She’s going to be setting up your new cameras and security.
Simone smiled. “It’s so nice to meet you. Thank you so much.”
Rae smiled in return. “It’s nice to meet you too. Nick has told me about you and the Women’s Center.”
Simone looked at Nick. “Well, I can’t wait to see what you do,” she then told the cute young woman.
“I’m going to get you straight,” Rae said exuberantly “I love hooking up these systems.”
“I won’t hold you two up,” Simone told them. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
Inside her office, Simone put her purse away and sat at her desk. After she turned on her computer, her phone rang. Looking at the screen, she sighed.
“Hey, Lotus…”
“Hi Simone,”
Simone looked at her calendar on her screen. “What’s going on?”
“That’s what I called to find out,” Lotus replied. “Are you still undressing a handsome man in your office?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve dropped him,” Lotus warned.
Simone sat back in her chair. “No, I haven’t dropped Nick. I can’t drop him.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m literally crazy about the man,”
Lotus smiled. “I knew that once you were introduced, it would be kismet.”
Simone closed her eyes. “Girl, not today…”
“You and Nick have to come over for dinner,”
“Lotus, we just got together,” Simone hedged. “We aren’t ready to be doing couple things, yet.”
“I bet you have done some ‘couple’ things…”
She opened her eyes as the heat went through her body. “Don’t worry about what Nick and I have or have not done.”
“I think the answer is ‘have’.”
Simone frowned. “You know that I don’t get down like that anymore. I don’t just one night ‘em after meeting them…”
“You hadn’t met Nick,” Lotus countered. “And he’s not a onesie…”
“A what?”
“A onesie…” Lotus explained. “That’s what Kent called them before we got together.”
Simone took a breath. “I swear, you and Kent Baker…”
“Come on Simone, you and Nick, come over for dinner. We’d love to see you again.”
“You just saw me the other day,” Simone reminded her. “Nick and I are not in a relationship in a few days, Lotus. Who the hell does that?”
“So you and Nick aren’t together?” Lotus asked, sadly.
“I don’t know what Nick and I are, but we don’t have to define it today.”
Lotus smiled. “So you are together?”
“I’m going to hang up on you,”
“Fine, then come over for dinner this weekend, and then I’ll call Nick and invite him. You two don’t have to come together,” Lotus said simply. “Problem solved.”
“Why Lotus?”
“Because I know you, Simone. You’ll start second guessing yourself and Nick, so the more time you spend with him in normal settings, a relationship will begin to become more normal to you,” Lotus explained.
Simone looked out of her window. “You know if you weren’t so sweet, I’d kick your ass.”
Lotus laughed. “Don’t forget, I was a Diamond too.”
“For like a week…”
“That’s not funny,”
Simone laughed. “I think Ray ended it to make sure you couldn’t do any missions.”
“That’s mean…” Lotus said, with a smile. “Besides, we all know he ended it because Trent was always crying about being the leader.”
Simone screamed. “Oooh Lotus, that’s so wrong.”
They both laughed for a minute, before Lotus sobered. “Seriously, Simone, I love you and I want the best for you. I know you want a family of your own and Laurel needs some more kids here to play with, because you know we don’t let her mingle with just anybody’s kids.”
“So you’re trying to set me up to get some playmates for Laurel?”
“No, I’m trying to set you up for a wonderful life with an incredible man.”
Simone smiled. “I love you too, Lotus. You drive me crazy, but you’ve been my ace since I moved here.”
“So are you coming for dinner?”
Simone rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m coming.”
“Are you bringing Nick?”
“I’ll see about that.”
The two women ended the call and Simone sat back in her seat. She wasn’t ready to tell Lotus about her night with Nick. She still wanted to savor the sweetness of it before blabbing to her girl.
Simone began going over her paperwork and looked up about an hour later, when there was a knock on her door.
“Come in,” she called.
The door opened slowly and Nick walked in, dressed in jeans and a casual shirt.
“Are you busy?” he asked.
“No, you can have a seat.”
Nick walked around her desk to where she sat. He helped her from her chair then sat with her on his lap.
Simone looked at him. “You do see those chairs over there?”
“How was your session with Dr. Richards?” Nick asked.
“It was good,”
Nick studied her face. “Do you still have an issue with me?”
“Why would I have an issue with you?”
“You know when you answer a question, with that exact same question, that means yes.”
Simone stared at him. “You didn’t tell me that your security person was a pretty girl.”
He nodded. “Okay, so this is the issue in question…”
“I didn’t say it was an issue,” Simone defended. “I just made an observation.”
“I chose Rae because I thought that having a woman here would be more to your liking, instead of some strange man around your clients. Rae was top in her class and graduated with honors. I met her when she came to the range a short time ago. She wanted to learn how to shoot because she was being harassed,” Nick explained.
“Who was harassing her?”
“Believe it or not…her male peers. In her line of work, women are few in number, so she worked with a large group of men, who targeted her.”
Simone frowned. “Men can be such asses.”
“Yes, some can…” Nick agreed slowly. “Present company excluded, right?”
“I guess…”
He lifted a dark brow. “You guess?”
“I don’t know…you haven’t even kissed me.” She told him.
“You are at work,”
She gave him a look. “I’m sitting on your lap.”
Nick brought her face to his and connected their mouths in a warm, sweet exchange.
“Is that better?” he asked against her lips.
“Almost as good as you biting me on my ass.”
He kissed her again and grabbed her behind. Nick lifted his head, and asked, “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”
“Are you going to make me cook, at my place?”
“You made breakfast, so I’ll take you out.”
She nodded with a soft smile. Nick watched as she stroked the skin on his neck.
“Speaking of dinner, Lotus and Kent have invited us over…as a couple.”
“Okay, when…”
“You don’t have an issue with that?”
Nick sighed. “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you do?”
“Not necessarily,”
“Simone, if you don’t want to go…”
“Nick, Lotus and Kent are my only friends and family here in Atlanta. If this doesn’t work out, I don’t want them pitying me,” Simone explained.
“What did we talk about, thinking the worse?” he questioned.
“It’s my automatic go to,”
He nodded. “So let’s alleviate those thoughts. Why wouldn’t it work out? Let’s discuss the possibilities.”
Simone agreed. “You could get tired of me.”
“Or I could fall so deep in love with you.”
“You could find another woman,” Simone offered.
“Or you could be the only woman I ever love.”
Simone paused. “We might not be compatible outside of the bedroom.”
“Or we could be everything we’ve ever imagined.”
“You’re not helping,” she told him.
Nick pulled her close. “Baby, I’ve told you, life is not about chance, it’s about choice. All those things that you are afraid to happen, will only happen if we choose and allow it.”
He lifted her face to his. “I choose to be with Simone Jenkins because of the woman she is, complete with all of her scars and past issues. One day at a time, Simone…I’m not going anywhere.”
“I certainly can fall so deep in love with you, Nick.”
******
Nick left Simone’s office and returned to the police station to check in on their investigation into the arson. He parked his SUV and walked inside to meet with his contact. In his shades, he looked around the station while he waited.
Nick wanted to get to the bottom of this case, and his gut still told him that something was missing. Maybe the police had uncovered something that he and Simone hadn’t. He doubted it, but it was at least worth looking into.
“Nick,”
Turning at the sound of his name, Nick greeted the detective.
“Hey, thanks for seeing me.”
“You know I never turn down Nick Webster. He’s helped solve too many cases.”
Nick nodded and the two men walked to the small office.
“What do you have on that firebombing?” Nick asked, once he was seated.
The detective sighed. “Nothing. I questioned Ja’Traveon Polk about it and he had an alibi. Plus, he adamantly claimed that he would never hurt his children.”
Nick smirked. “I’m not inclined to take him at his word.”
“He doesn’t have a history of selling drugs. His record is mostly some type of domestic violence,” the detective explained. “So he’s good…”
Nick shook his head. “A man who beats on women is considered less dangerous than a guy on the corner selling weed?”
“Hey, I don’t make the laws. I just enforce them.”
The black phone on the desk rang and the detective put up a finger to Nick, before answering. He spoke for a minute, then hung up.
“Your guy has been released,” he announced.
Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Ja’Traveon?”
“His wife just posted bail.”
“Dammit,” Nick grunted, shaking his head. “She didn’t waste any time.”
“Women in those situations usually don’t…they’re afraid of the backlash they’ll get when the perpetrator does eventually get out.”
“Did they put some conditions on the bail?” Nick questioned.
“He’s not allowed within 200 feet of the Women’s Center.”
Nick frowned. “That’s it?”
The detective nodded. “That’s the only charge we had, was the threat at the Center. The wife told us that everything between them was a big misunderstanding and that he hadn’t been violent with her.”
“I’m sure that’s not the truth,” Nick commented. “Mrs. Polk can lie very easily.”
“We can only go by what she told us,”
Nick sighed. “Yes, I know. Any ID on the car used that night?”
“Yeah, we found it, completely burned. It was a stolen vehicle. The team wasn’t able to collect anything off of it,” the detective explained.
Nick stood. “Let me know if anything else comes up. I’ll be keeping tabs on Mr. Polk.”
The detective agreed. “Oh, and tell Miss Jenkins that we’ll keep some extra patrols around the Center, now that Polk is out.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”
“We’re just trying to do our best.”
Nick nodded. “Thank you. Those women go there to be safe and they shouldn’t have to be in fear.”
“Does she have some private security over there?”
Nick headed to the door. “She does now.”
******
A few days later, Simone finished dressing in her bedroom and walked out to Nick, who was sitting on her sofa.
“I’m ready…” she said softly.
He turned his dark gaze on her and she felt the heat emanating from it. Standing to his feet, Nick crossed over to where she stood.
“You look amazing,”
Simone smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
Nick perused her again in the sexy sheath. The green complimented her golden skin and the fabric showcased her incredible body. The bag in her hand matched her heels, and her jewelry completed the ensemble.
He reached out and gently touched her perfectly made up face, then lowered his lips to hers. “You’re welcome.”
Together they exited the apartment and Nick escorted her to his car. Inside, he looked her over again, and shook his head before starting the engine.
“You like what you see?”
“Yes, and I am eagerly waiting to see it all.” Nick said maneuvering through the traffic.
She smiled. “You’ve seen it before.”
“That’s why I’m eagerly waiting.”
Simone chuckled and glanced out of the window. “Thank you for the new security at the Women’s Center, even the staff feels safer.”
“That’s what’s important,” he told her. “That you, and all the women there feel secure.”
“I’ve even noticed the Atlanta PD in the area more,” Simone told him.
Nick kept driving. “I guess they found a little more money in the budget.”
“Or a really handsome, very dangerous man lit a fire under their asses,” Simone offered.
“That’s another scenario,” he agreed.
She touched his arm. “This past week has been beyond my wildest dreams with you.”
He turned to her with soft smile. “It’s been the same for me, Simone.”
“I’ve even been treated to many of those beautiful smiles,” she teased.
Nick turned his attention back to the street. “I told you, they’re only reserved for you.”
“I’m addicted to them and I’ll do anything to get one,” she whispered, sexily.
“We’ll see when we get back to your apartment.”
Her eyes lit up. “Are you staying over tonight? You haven’t stayed since the first night.”
Nick reached for her hand. “I didn’t want to crowd you. I’m not trying to sex you into a relationship. I want more than that.”
Simone sat back. “That’s what’s crazy. I’ve seen you every day and we’ve only made love a few times, but it doesn’t feel like anything is missing. I mean, I don’t feel like I’m required to have sex, every time I see you.”
She slid him a glance and looked him over in his suit. “Although, that’s not a bad thing,” she lowered her voice.
“You’re not required to do anything, Simone.” Nick told her. “I don’t have to jump you every time we’re together. I want to know more than your body,”
He slid her a glance and stopped at her bare thighs. “Although, your body is beautiful,”
They arrived at the Baker’s home and were greeted by the happy couple along with their daughter.
“Simone!”
Simone smiled. “There’s my little homie.” She picked her up into her arms and kissed her face.
“Have you been good?”
Laurel gave her mother the standard look.
“Stop asking my child that,” Kent told Simone. “Her Momma won’t let her lie.”
The adults all laughed and greeted one another as Laurel ran back to her plethora of toys.
“Nick, my dude.” Kent said, giving him a handshake with a half hug.
“Kent, good to see you again,” Nick returned.
Kent’s green eyes darted between the two. “So since you two showed up together, I’m going to bow down to my wife’s skills.” He knelt in front of Lotus. “You are the goddess of matchmaking. I worship the ground you walk on…”
Simone shook her head, while Lotus smiled down at Kent.
“I told you,” Lotus boasted. “Look at them! They’re beautiful together.”
Nick took Simone’s hand. “I must thank you Lotus. Forgive me for not bowing at your feet, but I can never repay you for bringing this woman into my life.”
Lotus looked at Simone, who blushed and put a hand to her face.
Kent stood next to his wife. “Is Simone blushing?”
Simone turned even redder. “Would you all stop?”
“Let’s have some lemonade,” Lotus announced, causing Nick and Simone to chuckle.
“What? You two don’t like lemonade now?” Lotus asked.
Simone put an arm around her friend. “No, we love lemonade and we love you too.”
The two women headed into the kitchen, leaving the men to watch over Laurel. Kent moved over to where his daughter was playing in the family room and Nick followed.
“You play baby dolls?” Kent asked Nick.
“Uh, no…”
Kent laughed. “Yeah, I had to learn that.” He looked at his daughter. “Laurel’s a good teacher, like her Momma.”
“Here Daddy,” Laurel handed a chocolate baby doll with an afro to her father.
“Here’s yours Nick,”
Nick slowly took the lighter doll with long hair, and Laurel smiled at him. “She’s pretty,” Laurel told him.
“Yes, she is…” Nick answered, then looked at Kent.
“She’s like Simone,”
Nick looked at the doll and saw that Simone did resemble the doll, as Laurel turned back to Kent.
“And she’s pretty like Momma…”
Kent smiled. “Yes, I love me some chocolate.”
Nick watched the little girl in fascination as she taught the men how to care for her babies. His heart imagined playing with a daughter of his own, as he saw the love on Kent’s face for his little living doll.
“So what do I do now, Laurel?” Nick asked, giving her his full attention.
******
In the kitchen, Lotus poured lemonade into four glasses.
“So spill the tea,” she told Simone.
“Tea? I thought we were having lemonade?”
Lotus gave her a look. “We have jokes now?”
“I thought you invited me to dinner,” Simone told her, sitting at the counter.
“Dinner and tea…” Lotus clarified.
Simone laughed. “What do you want to know Lotus?”
“How does it feel?” Lotus asked genuinely.
Simone sighed and closed her eyes. “Unlike anything I’ve ever imagined, that I could feel,” Simone said shakily.
Lotus reached across and took her hand. “Simone, that’s wonderful.”
Opening her damp eyes, Simone sniffed. “He’s amazing…in so many ways.”
Lotus reached for a tissue and handed it to her friend. Simone dabbed at her eyes then took a deep breath.
“He’s such a rock, emotionally and um…with the Women’s Center.” She continued to pat her tear ducts. “Sometimes, I feel he’s too good to be true.”
“But he’s real, Simone. It’s not like you met him on the street and you don’t know anything about him. Kent and I can vouch for Nick…and he’s worked with the Diamonds. You know Ray’s vetting process,” Lotus reminded her.
Simone nodded. “Ray says he’s a good guy and I believe all of you, but then my mind goes to…why does he want me?”
Lotus came around the counter and hugged Simone. “Because you’re a beautiful person, inside and out. You’re kind, loyal and strong.”
Simone blinked, hearing the words that Nick had used to describe the partner he’d loved and lost. Is that what he saw in her, and if so, could he not only love her, but also fall in love?
“Hey,” Lotus called her back to reality. “You deserve Nick, and don’t you settle for less than everything.”
Simone looked at her. “I think I’m falling in love with him, Lotus.”
The men entered the kitchen with Laurel in Kent’s arms, holding one of her dolls, and Nick went to stand next to Simone.
“Kent, you know she can walk and run…” Lotus said, shaking her head.
He smiled. “My little milk bandit strikes again. She’s thirsty…”
“So you have to carry her?” Lotus asked.
“Yep,” he answered and walked over to the fridge, with Laurel hugging his neck. “It’s what we do…don’t question the process.”
Simone and Nick watched the couple, before she turned to him and noticed the doll in his hand.
“You’re into dolls?” she teased.
“Laurel asked me to carry her in here.” He sat the doll on the counter. “She says this one looks like you.”
Simone looked at the doll. “I can see the resemblance.”
“I think she would resemble our daughter more,” he said softly.
She stared at him. “You think so?” Simone asked quietly.
He nodded. “And Laurel has taught me how to play dolls with her, so I’m officially trained.”
“You can add, Trained Daddy, to your portfolio,”
Nick took her hand, as Kent and Lotus watched.
“But when you’re ready, I’ll first add, Loving Husband…”