Page 37 of Baby, You're My Weakness
“I didn’t want you to help.” He led me towards the couch to sit down. With his elbows resting on his knees, he turned his head to look at me. “I don’t need you sacrificing yourself for me, Baby. If anybody sacrificing something, it’ll be me. You understand?”
I nodded, watching him intertwine his hand with mine.
“I got put on leave at the job. My boss said he needed to investigate, but I already know what it is.” I watched him lick his lips, giving me a crooked smile.
“For a person who lost their job, you seem happy about it,” I observed his face.
He lifted me up from where I was sitting, and placed me down on his lap. The way his muscles flexed in his black t-shirt had me all hot and bothered. His hand cupped me around my waist, as mine sat trembling in my lap. I’d never been this close to him before, and it was unraveling a part of me only he could touch.
Trailing his hand from my neck to my ear, he whispered, “It’s a million jobs out here baby, but it’s only one you.”
I blushed hard, his confession sending a chill down my spine. When he placed a soft kiss behind my ear, I melted in a puddle. Here I thought T.K. was the smooth talker, but he didn’t have anything on Love.
I had my head down until he used his finger to move it upward. My face was only inches from his, as our eyes collided, my mouth suddenly became dry.
“So, what you tryna say?” I pressed him, my voice thick with emotion.
“I’m saying we can make something happen between us.” I stared at him, the room closing in around us. I was finding it hard to think straight with his hands on me. “I want you so bad, Baby, and I'm tired of waiting.”
He looked high. His eyes were hooded, and I wanted to ask him about it, but he interrupted me when he spoke again.
“Unless this ain’t what you want?” he asked with concern, his hands caressing my thighs. It's been so long since I’d been touched like this. He was exactly what I wanted, and I knew it the minute I saw him.
Another knock sounded at the door, so Love moved me off him to open it. There was an envelope on the steps, but we didn’t see anybody. Love even went further outside to glance down the street, but whoever dropped it off was long gone. We went back inside and sat on the couch.
“What’s this?” I questioned, staring down at the package.
“I don’t know,” he responded, breaking the seal apart. My heart galloped in my chest when my eyes landed on photos of us at the restaurant, and you know what they say about pictures being worth a thousand words. The way we looked at each other, it ain’t no way we could downplay our feelings. Our faces weren’teven an inch apart, so you could clearly see we were about to kiss.
“Who sent this to me?” I whispered, flipping through each of them.
Love spoke through clenched teeth. “Lauren.”
22
LOVE
I should’ve knownLauren’s ass was up to something. I knew she was crazy, but I ain’t think she would have taken it this far. She had to have planned this before I stepped into the office. It’s no way she came here that fast to drop it; the shit was already in-route. Her ass needed professional help, man. She was outta her mind.
“Your supervisor Lauren?” she asked me.
“Yeah, we had a little situation.” I rubbed the back of my neck, not sure how I felt saying this in front of her.
“How little?” she responded hesitantly as if she really didn’t want the answer.
“We fucked a few times,” I confessed.
“Oh, okay. So, that's why she was looking at me crazy in your office,” Baby observed, putting the pieces together.
I grabbed her hand and tugged her closer to me. “I’ll talk to her. This don’t have nothing to do with us though.”
“Of course, it does,” she countered with a frown. “It became about us when she sent me these fucking photos.”
I could see the situation was getting outta control, so I pulled her back into my lap. I was not letting Lauren stop this fromhappening. Getting to this point took too long, and I ain’t letting another bitch come between us.
“Listen, Baby.” I ran my tongue over my teeth. “I fucked her a whole lot, but I told her up front it meant nothing. I’ll never lie to you.” She sucked on her bottom lip in a nervous gesture, and I took my hand, and pulled on it with my thumb.
“You believe me, don’t you?” I looked her in the eyes, hoping she could see the truth for herself.
