Page 38 of A Lifetime in 30 Days
He was grinning as he licked her ear again—she could hear it in his voice—but she didn’t bother to deny it. “Oh, I like that well enough. It’s all this otherGo to the gym, drink this water instead of the wine, take some supplementsthat’s rubbing me the wrong way.”
“Because you’re used to being in control,” he said, moving a hand up to cup her breast while his kisses returned to her neck. “Used to making all the suggestions and decisions where you’re concerned.”
“Um, I think that’s called being an adult,” she said, and tried not to moan again. The combination of his mouth on her in one place and his hand on her in another was making her warm all over.
“It’s called being controlling and not being open to suggestions.” He squeezed her breast in his strong hand, then pinched her nipple and she hissed.
“I seem to be letting you suggest an awful lot right now,” she replied.
“You are,” he said, then pulled his mouth away from her neck. “And I’d like to reward you for such good behavior.”
His smile was enigmatic. His tone husky. His touch, when she hadn’t bothered to stop him, was addictive. In the next moments, her nightshirt and underwear were on the floor. Aden was naked, and they were in her bed, again.
This day that had started out so irritating, and had only grown worse by the hour, was ending on a blissfully sweet note.
Chapter 12
August 14
Keep glowing. Keep growing.
Vanna read the affirmation card she’d randomly selected this morning one more time.
She was pretty sure she was still glowing from the past few nights with Aden. And no, the glow didn’t totally come from the way that man had mastered every part of her body in such a short span of time. Speaking of which, her smile widened as her skin tingled at the memory. But there were little things that had her feeling some type of way about these last few days. Like when he texted her.
Now, on any given day, Vanna’s notifications kept her phone buzzing, whether it was her personal emails, text messages, or the couple of social media apps she was on. So that wasn’t new. And her J&R thread stayed poppin’, even while Jamaica was at work and not supposed to be on her phone. So receiving and replying to texts wasn’t that big of a deal, until Aden began texting her. It wasn’t just the normal new-dating messages, like,Good morning,hru,wyd—which she hated, by the way—you wanna do something tonight?No, his were more likeHey, beautiful. You make it to work okay?andJust heard that nasty Tank song you love so much on the radio,you remember that time we ..., or her favorite,Thinking of you. Well,Thinking of youwas a close second to any words of encouragement or scriptures that seemed to come right on time thathe would send. And she would hurry to respond, enjoying engaging with a man in a way she hadn’t in far too long.
She knew that wasn’t exactly the type of glow this affirmation card was referring to—still, it made her steps a little lighter this morning as she put the card back in the box and turned to leave her room. In the grand scheme of things, she had every right to glow in all the possible ways. She was successful in her career, was paid well for her efforts, owned her own home, had healthy and thriving friendships, and had a meaningful family connection. For all intents and purposes, she was well-balanced and living her best life. And if anybody asked, she wouldn’t deny one word of that statement.
The parts of her that wanted to push back against the declaration, she ignored. Especially this morning. Today she wanted only positive vibes. It was the last day for RSVPs to her birthday dinner at the end of the month, so that was something to get excited about. Women from her church, her coworkers, and a few she’d met by extension of her work and had clicked with over the years would be in attendance. She’d included plus-ones as if this were a wedding and was genuinely pleased at how many couples she already knew would be attending. Love had always been a positive beacon in her mind. A goal she’d thought she reached, only to be slammed back down again. Not that she didn’t continue to believe in the institution of love, committed relationships, and, ultimately marriage, because she did. It probably just wasn’t for her.
With her thoughts light, she walked down the stairs and went into the kitchen to grab one of the fruit smoothies she’d watched Aden make when he came over last night. It was full of some of her favorite fruits: strawberries, cherries, and blackberries. Then there was the healthy stuff he insisted on adding: steel cut oats, honey, turmeric, and two spoonfuls of powdered protein. He promised it would keep her full until lunch, when she definitely planned to enjoy the rest of the grilled chicken, onions, and cheese she’d cooked for dinner last night. Like she’d told him, she wasn’t averse to being healthy—hell, she wanted to live a long and prosperous life—but she also knew that she only had thisonelifeto live. She had no intention of denying herself the foods she loved while living it.
It was supposed to rain later today, so she double-checked her purse to make sure her travel umbrella was still inside. While digging, her fingers brushed over the charging documents she’d gotten last week. After her meeting with Jovani on Monday morning, she’d been determined to read the papers for herself. Other things had taken her mind right off that task, and she sighed because she wasn’t about to read them this morning when she was in such a good mood. Subconsciously she knew it was a self-preservation move, and that from the outside looking in, it was probably smarter to just read them and get it over with. But she wouldn’t. She desperately needed every shred of peace she could maintain. Besides, Jovani was handling this for her; adding her own worries to the mix wasn’t going to make the investigation or impending court process go any faster.
With that in mind, she grabbed her purse and keys with her free hand and juggled all the things she was carrying to make it out the door. After checking the knob to make sure the door was locked, she turned and made her way down the porch steps and over to her driveway. Her car was still in the shop, and the rental SUV was actually growing on her. She pushed the automatic door opener on the keychain, and was about to reach for the handle on the passenger side so she could put her purse and lunch bag on the seat when she paused. A shiver eased down her spine, and she looked down the street to see if there was a reason why. The feeling that came next was indescribable, at least for her.Eeriewas the best she could do as she slowly turned to look in the other direction.
Nothing she saw was out of the ordinary. More single-family homes occupied the block on both sides. Cars in driveways, a few parked on the street. Most were already gone for the workday. There weren’t many kids in this neighborhood; the ones who had been here when the area had been appealing to Vanna and had ultimately led to the purchase of the home here had grown up and gone away to college or moved out.So even though it was the middle of the summer, the block was still quiet, except for the occasional barking dog, a siren of some sort in the distance, and now, her rapidly beating heart. Because something wasn’t right. She couldn’t readily see it, but she felt it and she didn’t like it. She didn’t ... There.
Right there, on the corner at the top of her block, was a car she didn’t normally see in her neighborhood. Not that she was a car connoisseur or anything like that, but there were mostly couples, former families on this block, so the vehicles were SUVs, an old-ass Toyota minivan all the way at the other end of the block, and hybrid vehicles. This was a sedan. An older model, dirty-brown color with Maryland tags. From the distance of three additional houses on each side of the street, she could almost make out two people sitting in the front seat. Men, she supposed, but couldn’t be totally sure.
Men she didn’t know, sitting in a car that she didn’t recognize, on her block.
She thought about going back inside her house and calling ... who? The police? What would she say?Hi, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this car on my block before. Can you come and check it out?They wouldn’t take that seriously. Hell, how many real calls for help went disregarded by law enforcement these days? Too many, as evidenced by so many restraining orders that ultimately ended with the petitioner dead. Plus, she wasn’t really feeling the police right now. What if she called them and they came running over here just to see if she had more of Caleb’s stolen money? No, thank you.
Would she call Aden? Funny how he was the second one she thought of after the cops. Well, no, it wasn’t that funny. He’d been intent on acting like he had a solution to her every problem since he’d been back in her life; it was no wonder she thought of him. Then again, she wasn’t totally comfortable with that particular part of his position in her life right now. Besides, he would be at the gym now—or no, he had another meeting with the marketing department to go over glitches in the new website for the supplemental products and the print ads theywould start running at the beginning of next month. Yeah, she knew what was going on in his business because that was one of the many things they discussed when they were together.
So what the hell was she going to do about this car?
Nothing, she decided. She was going to get herself away from the strange car. That seemed like the best action to take. So she opened the passenger door, set her purse and lunch bag on the seat. She kept the keys in her hand because they also had her can of Mace on it, and continued to hold the tumbler with her smoothie in it. At the driver’s-side door, she opened it and slid onto the seat. Pressing the buttons to lock the doors was immediate; then she set the tumbler in the cup holder, started the truck, and backed out of the driveway. She had to pass the car to get off her street, and she told herself not to look to see if she knew the men.
Did it matter if she recognized them? Would she get out and talk to them if she did? What if it was someone she knew through Caleb? Yes, her husband was on her mind again. Dammit! Fear had been a steady part of her diet lately, and it was because of him and this nonsense he’d gotten her mixed up in. Jovani said there were codefendants with criminal records who had given Caleb’s name as part of the robberies. What if they thought she had some of the money too?
What the entire hell?
Her mind screamed those words as her fingers gripped the steering wheel. Of course there was a stop sign at the corner, so she had no choice but to pull up and stop right alongside the ugly brown car. And because curiosity killed the cat—but she prayed it wouldn’t get her—she turned her head slowly until she glimpsed one of the two men in the car.
She yelped when she saw he was staring right back at her.
