Page 55 of Mahogany 2
“As soon as I can. Love you.”
“Love you too, ma,” she grumbled.
With a sigh, I hung up and slowly looked over at Crescent. As expected, he was looking back at me. I rubbed my lips together and sat my phone back on the end table.
“Had to answer it,” I said.
He nodded. “I get it.”
We were quiet for a while. Instead of sitting there with my shirt off, I grabbed it and slid it back on.
I didn’t know what to say. And it was almost as if he didn’t know what to say neither. The only noise filling the space aroundus was the ticking of the clock and my own beating heart. It was racing. My adrenaline was rushing. Both because I damn near had an orgasm from making out and because of who I made out with. Armani suit. Crescent Carter. My new client. I wondered what he thought about me. Did he think less? Or did he think more? Couldn’t have thought more. Why would he? And hell… why did I care? It was because I was outside of Pandora’s. Free of my mask and that alias. He knew the truth. Knew about my husband, knew about my kids, knew about my life. I couldn’t hide behind a mask here. Not the one from Pandora’s and not the one I wore underneath it. I was raw. Mahogany Mills- Morris. So much of Mahogany Mills-Morris that any time he called me the wrong name, I made it my business to correct him. I wondered what he thought now. I wondered if when he called me Ms. Mahogany Mills, I’d correct him. Could I? Shame told me no.
“You good?” He asked.
I looked over my shoulder at him and nodded. “Yeah.”
He nodded. Said nothing. Just… locked eyes with me. And what did I do? Turn away. The minute I did, my eyes fell on the picture of my babies sitting on the desk. With a sigh, I looked away and ran my hand through my hair.
“What time is it,” I mumbled, trying to fill the air with something other than tension.
“6:30,” he told me, adjusting his joggers. My gaze fell on his dick print and I swallowed. He didn’t have on any underwear. Dick justswanging.
He cleared his throat and apologized.
“My bad—I?—”
“You’re good. Not like I wasn’t a willing participant,” I reminded him, as I buttoned my top. “You don’t have to apologize.”
He nodded and we were back to being quiet again. I didn’t know what to say. Not for real anyway.
“I...” I paused. “This was wildly inappropriate. This isn’t how I conduct myself with clients. I’m?—”
“Don’t do that,” He interrupted. “Don’t explain.”
But I needed to. Felt like it was necessary.
“I’m happily married,” I blurted out.
Why? I didn’t know. It was stupid. Ridiculous. I was embarrassed. Embarrassed because he’d called my relationship sad. And what did I do? Defend it. Just to damn near fuck him a couple of days later? What kind of shit was that? I didn’t want him to know there was trouble. Didn’t want anyone to know. But… he knew. He had to know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t had kissed him. The kiss and everything in between was telling. Telling in a way that I didn’t want it to be. I didn’t like for people to know that my relationship… marriage… whatever was as sad as it was. His words resonated with me for a while. The kiss was just confirmation.
“Happily,” he repeated with a snort.
“Yes…happily.”
“Okay,” He flatly responded.
I felt the need to defend, but I didn’t. I just looked down and continued to button my shirt. He didn’t believe me. I wouldn’t have believed me neither. If I was happily married I wouldn’t have kissed him. If I was happily married, I wouldn’t have let him run his hands up my thighs. Wouldn’t allowed him to suck on my titties. If I was happily married, the meeting would have ended twenty minutes ago.
I was raw.
Exposed.
My truth. Felt like the words ‘unhappily married’ were etched on my forehead. And I hated it.
“Can we pretend this… this didn’t happen?” I asked, cutting into the silence again. “I don’t do business this way and?—”
“Youcan try to pretend it didn’t happen,” He interrupted. “I’d rather not.”
