Page 21 of Whatever It Takes
“I can tell. You were snoring like a grown ass man. Shit, I thought Dru was in the bed with me. I made some bacon, cheese grits, and scrambled eggs.” He passed me my tumbler. “I made your coffee, too.”
I smiled, taking a sip of the coffee. “Mmm, this is perfect. Thanks, Moo. And not too much on me, sir, I only snore when I drink too much.” I rolled my eyes. He was dressed in a pair of pajama shorts and wore his knee brace. “Are you in pain?”
“I had a little pain earlier, but I’m fine. I put some of that cream on, and it’s feeling better now. What the hell did you put in this shit?” He asked as he plated our food.
“If I tell you, I’d probably have to kill you.” I winked.
He passed me my plate before taking a seat next to me. “Whatever, ma. I enjoyed having someone to sleep next to last night. I can’t even tell you the last time I slept that good.”
I scooped up a spoon of grits and ate it. I was shocked at how good it tasted. “Wait, this is actually good, Moo. Who the hell taught you how to cook? And you literally just had a girlfriend, I doubt you slept alone often.”
He scoffed, shaking his head. “Mariah barely stayed the night here. She stayed maybe one or two nights a week. My mother and grandma raised me. My mama said she didn’t ever want me to depend on a woman to eat, and she didn’t want my future wife to have a useless husband. So, I can throw down in the kitchen, I don’t wash all my clothes in the same load, and I know how to load a dishwasher. I got the money to hire people to do all that for me, but I like to do it myself. I only have a cleaning company come in once a month for a deep clean. Now that I can move around more on my own, my mom comes over less.”
I nodded. Mariah was crazy for leaving this man. He’s fine, rich, and he’s independent as hell. “You’re a rare breed, Mr. Simmons. Shit, if I had a man that could take care of me and the household, I’d never come up off him. You’re gonna have toshow me what else you can cook. This breakfast was good, but you can’t throw down like me.”
He grinned, leaning over to kiss me on the forehead. “You can have a man like that if you really wanted to. You ain’t dated since your dude passed away?”
I sighed, shaking my head. “Nope. I haven’t had the time to. Being a mom is already a lot, but I’m raising my little sister too, and I have a full-time job. I have a strong support system, but it still gets hard. But I’m alive and making it, so I won’t complain.”
“You’re strong. I can tell you’re doing a good job.”
“Thank you, Moo. I really do try my hardest. If you don’t mind me asking, where is your father?”
“Uh.. honestly, I don’t know. When my mama was pregnant with Serenity, he disappeared. He went to work one night and never came home. I was around 11 at the time. My mom filed a missing person’s report, but his case went cold. It just didn’t make sense to me. Why would he disappear when we needed him the most? My cancer was in remission, and I was months away from ringing the bell. When I got drafted, I thought he’d finally appear with some explanation. I’ve lost hope now. Do I think he’s dead? Probably, but part of me thinks he had another family somewhere and ran off to be with them.”
“Oh wow…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I couldn’t imagine not knowing what happened to my parents. You can’t even get closure. I wish you could get some answers.” I could tell the conversation changed his mood. I climbed into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, hugging him. His arms wrapped tightly around me. I couldn’t stop myself from giving him a gentle kiss on the lips. Like last night, I felt butterflies in my stomach as soon as our lips touched. I slipped my tongue into his mouth, swirling it around his. Being in his arms felt so natural. If the line wasn’t crossed last night, it would’ve been eventually.
I was the first to pull away from the kiss. A smile spread across his face as he brushed a finger across my face.
“What you got planned for the day?” He asked.
“I have to pick the girls up at 2. I’ll probably take them to the mall today, do a little shopping, and take them to dinner. That’s what we usually do every other Sunday.”
“Can I cover the tab for today?”
I bit my lip and nodded. “I’ll never turn down a free shopping spree.”
He chuckled, patting me on my butt. “Alright, come up. I got some shorts you can throw on. I know you don’t wanna put that jumpsuit back on.”
“I’ll text you when I make it home, Moo. Thanks for breakfast.” We were standing outside, next to my car. I opened the door and gasped. There was a big bouquet of red roses in my passenger seat, wrapped in black paper. “Oh my gosh! These are so beautiful.” I rapidly blinked, trying to prevent tears. I couldn’t even tell you the last time a man bought me roses. I picked them up and inhaled the fresh, floral scent.
“You’re welcome, gorgeous. Imma do whatever it takes to show you I’m worth the risk. Expect nothing but princess treatment from here on out.” He placed a quick kiss on my lips. I set the flowers back in the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt.
“I’ll hold you to that. See you on Wednesday.” I winked. He closed my door and stood outside til I pulled out of his gates. This man was going to have me going against every rule I set.
“Aight,Bless, I’m about to go into this brand deal meeting. I’ll talk to you later.” I said, climbing out of the backseat of the truck as Kam opened the door.
“Bye, Moo. Let me know how everything goes.” Blessing responded before ending the call. I ain’t never been the cake on the phone type, but ever since we decided to see where things go, I can’t seem to stay off the phone with her. Last night we fell asleep on the phone like we were our sisters’ ages.
I walked into the building, heading towards my agent’s office. We were meeting withBodyAde, a sports drink company. They reached out to collaborate on a special edition flavor. After this meeting, I had an interview with OC Sports Network about my recovery process. This week was a busy week for me, so I only had sessions with Blessing from Wednesday through Friday. After Thanksgiving, our sessions will be twice a week. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing less of her, but it only meant I washealing quicker. These past two months with her have been great. She’s so easy to work with, and I can tell that she’s passionate about her job.
“Good morning, Ashley.” I greeted my agent as I stepped into her office. I took a seat at one of the chairs in front of her desk.
“Good morning, Saint. You look great. I can’t even tell you’re recovering from an injury. Miss Carter really is the best at her job.” She smiled.
“Yeah, Ash, Blessing is great. I can’t believe I’m healing this fast. Shit feels unreal. What time will theBodyAdeteam be here for the meeting?”
“We’ve got about five minutes before we need to head to the conference room. Before we head over, I need to tell you about another collab opportunity.ArmourFitwants you to model for their winter and spring line. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
