Page 54 of Mr. Blackwood

I glanced over at Jabari as he handled a business call. My heart squeezed in my chest at the beautiful sight beneath us. The turquoise waters were beautiful and teemed with aquatic life. I glanced at Jabari again, this time with a brilliant smile, and he smiled back at me and gave a wink that sent tingles between my thighs.

He decided that we both needed to take a break from business and regular life to spend some quality time strengthening our bond. It hadn’t been easy getting back to where we were before he learned of my betrayal, but we had slowly worked our way back into a flow. Jabari had not only given me space for my business again, but he had purchased a little building that my father once owned and transferred ownership into my name.

I was still downtown and close enough to his location, but I was free to run my operations as I saw fit without depending on him or anyone else. He had purchased all new equipment for our magazine printing. For every person he had previously advised should place me on a “red list,” he told them to remove me immediately.

The professional relationships I had, had been restored and new ones were in the making. He had even gone as far as to give each of my staff a $10,000 bonus for the difficulties they had endured because of his and my relationship.

We had both hurt one another severely, me purely out of selfish interests, and him out of being hurt by my betrayal. We had worked hard to forgive one another and give each other a fresh start.

We touched down on the private runway, and a butler waited to greet us.

He handed us lavender-scented, chilled towels to instantly cool and calm our hot skin underneath the tropical sun after our travel.

“Hello, I am Iael, your personal butler for your stay on the island. Here is a little something to cool you off,” he stated, handing us each a glass of Krug Clos d'Ambonnay.

I savored the nutty and citrusy flavor of the champagne as I took in the beautiful surroundings.

“Is this how you always travel?” I asked Jabari.

Although we had done a lot of exciting date night adventures, we had never left the country before.

He took my hand in his and kissed it. Those beautiful brown eyes stared into mine, and he answered, “Always.”

After the butler unpacked our luggage, we were taken to our beachfront pool bungalow in an electric cart. The bungalow provided stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean, a beautiful outdoor wrap-around veranda to enjoy the ocean breeze, and a fresh-water plunge pool to cool down on a hot, sunny day.

We stepped inside to marble floors, high vaulted ceilings, and an open concept layout that allowed for entertaining in the main living area of the house, no matter whether you were in the kitchen, living room, or dining room.

Large ceiling fans whirred lazily overhead, and the house smelled like mint and lavender.

After we checked out the amenities, we beelined to the spa-like bathroom and jumped in the shower to cleanse ourselves of the dirt from traveling. When we finished, the butler had returned and set up the deck with a seafood lunch of citrus-marinated, grilled lobster tail, conch salad, lobster mac and cheese, and cheddar biscuits.

I feasted until I couldn’t eat anymore. “Now that I’m fat and full, can I take a nap?”

He chuckled. “Not quite. I thought we could get a little activity in by paddle boarding, then return for a deep-tissue massage, and then you can get your nap in, beautiful.”

“Ohhh. I’m so sleepy, Jabari,” I whined.

“Come on. It’ll be fun. You can sleep your time away when we return home.”

I allowed Jabari to take my hand and pull me from my chair. What I wasn’t prepared for was for him to lift me into his arms and carry me off the deck and down to the pier where the paddleboard was tied.

Jabari looked good in the tan shorts that hung low around his waist and gave me a peek at the silken hairs rising just above the waistband. He wore flip-flops on his feet with no shirt. His tatted, chocolate skin bulged with muscles and glistened underneath the sun. I wanted to lick away every water drop that dotted his skin and ride him until the sun set.

“Damn, you would have to go ruin the view,” I teased when he secured his life jacket over his body.

“What’re you talking about, woman?” he asked as he knelt to attach the leash to my ankle so that I would be secured to the board.

“It’s a shame that you’re covering all that sexiness with that life jacket.”

“I was kind of thinking the same about you, but I still get a good view,” he teased, moving to his board.

“How’s that?”

“I’ll just ride behind you and keep my eyes on your ass.”

I smacked the water with the paddle, causing it to splash up on him. “You’d better keep your eyes up before you lose your balance,” I teased, laughing as he wiped the water from his face and beard.

“Yeah, all right.” He winked at me, and my mind went wild with all the things I wanted to do later. Everything about the man was just sexy.