Page 31 of Dr. Bell

“Youlooknervous,”Isaid to Pretty.

We had just arrived at Fountain Manor, a mansion I owned on Destin’s coastline. The drive here had been quiet with Pretty twiddling her thumbs most of the ride. Apprehension was written all over her face, and we were just standing in the driveway.

“I’m not sure if leaving Quilo was the right thing to do.”

“Adrian is staying with the boys, and Russ knows how to handle anything that pops off,” I assured her.

“That’s just it. I don’t want anything to pop off.”

“Pretty, my baby.” I took her hand. “This weekend is gon’ fly by. I wanna make sure we enjoy every second of it. If I thought leaving Quilo was gon’ be an issue, we wouldn’t have left. I promise you, he’s good.”

She took a deep breath, then released it. Doubt was still written in the slight frown on her face.

“You’ve been raising Quilo all alone. So I understand ya need to shelter and protect him. Believe it or not, my job is to shelter and protect him, too, now. Let me. Allow me to take the load off of you.”

She drew in another deep breath and released it. “Okay.”

Her eyes roamed the outside of the modern style house surrounded by sago palms and tall palm trees. The coast of Florida was always a breath of fresh air when I came out here, which was almost never. I bought the house for the boys to enjoy their spring break and summer vacations. If it weren’t for either of those, I would’ve forgotten the place existed. To get Pretty more comfortable with me, I knew bringing her here wouldn’t have been so bad.

Inside the house, she stood in the foyer, awestruck.

“This place is incredible,” she stated.

“It’s nothing compared to where we’ll spend our actual honeymoon.”

Her cheeks darkened, and I found that shit attractive as hell.

“Let’s go inside and work on our lunch.”

She looked like she wanted to hop back in the Ghost and haul ass.

“If I gotta chase you, you gon’ owe me somethin’ you’re not ready to give me right now.”

Her attempt to keep a straight face failed. She burst out laughing. From that moment on, hesitation fled her mind.

We made lunch together, then sat down on the balcony overlooking the beach. The waves were so close that small droplets of water made their way to Pretty’s rosy cheeks, causing her to giggle cutely.

“Oh, my! This is absolutely breathtaking,” she gushed. Sail boats floated in the distance out over the water. If we listened hard enough, the squeals of people enjoying themselves on the beach could’ve been heard.

I wasn’t concerned about any of that though. My eyes were on the woman seated across from me, beaming brighter than the sun. She’d showered, moisturized, and changed into a flowy yellow dress that popped off her skin like that color was made just for her. The dress was strapless, showing off her dainty shoulders. There was nothing holding up her perky breasts other than the fabric around them. I could see how hard her nipples were, and I had to remove my eyes quickly before I said something crazy.

“What are you thinking about?” she questioned.

My head tilted on my shoulders.

“I asked is this your personal property.”

“Oh.” We both chuckled. “Yeah. The boys love it here.”

“I can see why. Haven would love this place.”

“Poor Jabari. I’m sure the two of you are trouble together.”

Her giggle was proof that I was right.

Holding out her hands and dangling her fingers, she demanded playfully, “Say grace.”

The rock on her left ring finger shined brightly under the sun. Because it gave me a chance to feel her skin against mine, I eagerly took her hands and prayed over our food.

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