Page 22 of Make Me Remember

His eyes met mine, and he smiled. Damn, he was gorgeous. I swallowed hard as he stood. A couple of people looked my way and gave me a slight nod. I made my way to him, and he made his way to me. When we met in the middle of the floor, he said, “I’m sorry. My family had a really rough night last night. When I came home to put my leg up, a few of them followed me to make sure I was okay. Then it turned into an all-night party. Well, not party, but a long ass bud smoking session. You met the supplier, Uncle Jasper, on your way in.”

He chuckled then grabbed my hand. I only nodded at his explanation as I looked around at everyone. “Hey, Mekayla!”

I turned to see Jess headed my way with a pretty little doll tagging along. “Hey, Jess. How have you been?” I asked as she hugged me.

She was high as fuck too. I didn’t know what had happened, but I could imagine it was pretty bad for everybody to be high. “Girl, I’m okay, considering. This is Jacey. Say hi, baby.”

“Hi!”

I waved at the little princess with a big smile on my face. She reminded me of when LaTee was a baby. Jacob gently pulled me away from them and led me to an open area of his house. There was nowhere for him to sit in here, so I wasn’t sure what he was doing. He turned to me and asked, “Would you even be comfortable going in one of my bedrooms, or would you prefer going to my brother-in-law’s gym on the main highway?”

I gave him a soft smile, thankful that he was considering how I felt. “We can go in a bedroom. Can we leave the door open though?”

“Yeah, of course.”

He continued down the hallway to a bedroom with double doors. I had to assume it would be the master suite. He opened the doors, and I was wowed. From the chandelier to the white fur rug, the room was beautiful. It definitely had a woman’s touch. It looked like it had never been inhabited.

As I looked around, he confirmed my suspicion. “I’ve never slept in here. I want the first time I sleep in here to be with someone I love. My mama decorated it for me, and I asked her to give it a feminine touch without going over the top.”

“She did a beautiful job. This is gorgeous, Jacob.”

“Thanks. Umm… I owe you a huge apology, baby. I felt like you were just about to let the wall come down and give me everything I was wanting when I first saw you, and I fucked that shit up. I’m working hard to get a handle on my emotions when it concerns Joseph Monroe. I normally talk to Karima about things, but our entire family needs her at this point. A lot of shit was revealed to us last night about the guy’s family I killed, and it affected some members of my family deeply. I still want to get to know you more. I still want to be your man. I still want a future with you.”

I turned away from him and walked around the spacious room, admiring the crown molding and the rustic wood flooring. Everything about this room said Mekayla, and it was overwhelming as hell. It felt like God had prepared this place specifically for me. I loved furs paired with rustic wood. Even the window treatments looked like something I would have done. This room was supposed to be mine.

After taking a deep breath, I said, “Yesterday, my father told me he was dying. At first, I got angry, feeling like he only wanted to reconnect with me to clear his conscience. But then I realized that life was short. He said he genuinely wanted to reconnect with me and learn who I was as an adult and his baby girl.”

A tear fell down my cheek, and I was so engrossed with what I was saying, I didn’t even realize Jacob had approached me from behind. He circled his arms around me, and I couldn’t help but rest against his chest. It felt just as amazing as it did the last time he hugged me. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath then turned to face him.

His arms were hanging from my shoulders as I stared into his gorgeous eyes. When I saw something sparkle, I knew he had that bottom platinum grill in his mouth. Whew, chile! He swiped the tears that had continued falling down my cheeks as I gathered myself.

“I also realized that it wasn’t just our professional relationship that was keeping me away from you in a personal space. It was fear. I haven’t really felt loved by a man in a really long time, and I feel like I don’t even remember what that’s supposed to feel like. However, I have an overwhelming haunch that you will be the one to make me remember. I’m tired of fighting my attraction to you because of fear. Again, life is too short for me to behave that way. I had come to this realization a while ago and was about to reveal it to you, but you’re right. When you withdrew from me, I took it as a sign to continue holding back.”

I lowered my head and rested my forehead on his chest as he rubbed my back in silence. He wasn’t a man of many words, but his consolation came through his actions. The way he soothed me simply from his touch said so much. I had never felt that relaxed with any man.

After lifting my head again, I said, “You’re dealing with a lot internally, and that scared me away, because I am too. I felt like your issues would drag me down to drown in the issues I just recently overcame. I dealt with being raped, child neglect and abandonment, poverty… just so much. My mother was horrible. But with God’s grace, I was able to overcome it. But then I met a nigga in Nashville that fucked me up. After I got pregnant, he left me. So, honestly, I don’t even know what the love of a man is supposed to feel like.”

He pulled me in his arms and hugged me tightly. I closed my eyes and slid my arms around his waist. This felt so damn right. He leaned over to where his mouth was hovering over my ear and said, “This is what it’s supposed to feel like, Mekayla. You supposed to feel safe to bare your most intimate feelings. You should feel free to express your emotions… all of them. You should also feel heated beyond reason every time I’m near.”

He was right about that shit. I was at the point of combustion. He had me so hot I wanted to strip for him right now. I pulled away from him and saw him standing there with his chain hanging from his mouth. Fuck! I wanted to pull him back to me by his goatee and slide my tongue to his. It wasn’t good to be in this bedroom. Without the right amount of restraint, the old Mekayla would reemerge and fuck his life up.

I cleared my throat and said, “Lay down so I can see how much damage you’ve done.”

He released his chain and smiled at me then walked to the bed. When he laid his long ass in the bed, I swore I wanted to slide in with him. Jesus! His thighs were thick, just like I liked them, and those basketball shorts weren’t hiding his massive erection. Turning away from him, I went to the door and closed it a little. No one needed to see his shit aimed at the sky nor me drooling over it.

When I went back to him, he had a slight smirk on his soft-looking lips. “Why you close the door?”

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to keep my eyes from wandering. “Because your dick is hard. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression.”

“What impression is that?”

“That I’m giving happy endings in here.”

“Do you want to though?”

I rolled my eyes. “What I want and what I do are two different things. I admit that I’m curious, but that’s where it will stay. I always jump in too soon. I want to know you more, no matter how short or long of a time that takes. I feel a knot here,” I said as I rubbed his knee.

He winced slightly. “Jacob, you have got to start taking care of this before you end up in a wheelchair.”

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