Part One
Thirty-three year old Tari Johnson leaned
back into the soft cream leather car seat and cut her eyes to her boyfriend and
father of her son, Steven Braithwaite, sitting beside her.
For
the moment, his gaze was on the passing Abuja landscape beyond his window and
she snatched the opportunity to stare at him yet again. Adoring him with her
eyes was something she never tired of doing even though it had been almost a
year since they had become a couple.
As
usual, he was impeccably dressed in an Italian suit, black this time, with a
matching black shirt, the top two buttons undone, revealing a hint of hairless,
smooth toffee-colored skin. His muscles flexed beneath the shirt as he tapped
his fingers on his broad thighs.
Her
eyes traveled up to his strong profile and the close-cropped dark brown,
almost reddish curls on his head.
Just
this morning, sprawled on her back in bed, unable to do anything but whimper
senselessly, she had run her hands through those curls, surrendering to the
assault of his mouth and tongue going on between her legs.
Tari
bit her lips as her pulse quickened. Wow, how did he always manage to affect
her this way? She still couldn’t believe that she was now in a committed
relationship after years of saying no to other men desperate to have her, even
men offering marriage. She had fled from such men but after meeting Steven, she
found herself running toward him,
wanting –no- needing more for the
first time in her life.
Smoothing
her yellow jersey wrap dress over her knee, she shook her head. Unbelievable.
Her life as she had known it changed almost in an instant eleven months ago
when Steven Braithwaite climbed off his Ducati and sauntered up to her.
And
now, she had a son with him. Unbelievable!
She had sworn to never have kids. Big mistake because now, she couldn’t imagine
life without her infant son, Korede Alexander Braithwaite. Wow, those tiny
limbs, lips pinker and smaller than his father’s, and that pure, adorable baby
smell. From the minute they had left him in her house, under her mother’s care,
she had begun counting the seconds until she could return to hold that tiny
body tight in her arms again.
Steven
turned back to her, focusing those tawny-gold eyes on her face, grinning. The
dimples in his cheeks shone like the sun. “I love coming here, to Abuja.” He
said.
It
was Tari’s turn to glance out of the car window. It was the end of January and
the dry, harsh Harmattan season had returned with full force, with a cold
desert wind and arms full of sand, bathing the trees, grasses, and the entire
landscape with dust.
Tari
murmured, pulling her gaze back into the car and on her boyfriend, “And yet,
you’re not here that often.” Seeing him every other weekend wasn’t enough. In
the past seven months, it seemed like she and baby Korede had spent almost
every weekend, public holiday and even a few week days in his house in Lagos.
If she could get a transfer from her office in Glow Force Media Abuja to the
Lagos office, she would. But it hadn’t yet worked out.
“Come
on, babe…” Steven said, taking her left hand and placing it on his thigh. “You
know I try. I try to come here to be with you and Korede as much as I can, as
much as my work allows.”
“Yes.”
She shrugged and then said, “But Olympus Security comes first.” Steven
part-owned the company. He could work wherever he wanted to.
Steven’s
eyes widened. “No, babe. How can you say that? You’re my heart, my life. But
you know that. And you know I adore my son.”
She
sucked in a deep breath. She knew he loved her and she absolutely knew he loved
Korede. She knew all that. It was just that whenever he was away, she missed
him with every part of her being.
Tari
said, glancing down at her small hand gripped in his big one on his lap, “I
don’t doubt your feelings for me, Steven. And of course, I know you worship
your son. You’re a good father. I only miss you. I want to be with you every
day of every week.”
“I
want the same thing, Tari.” Pushing his other hand through his brown curls, he
continued, “I understand, babe. And once we’re done with this business, I
promise, I’ll make it up to you. The office here is growing rapidly, and I plan
to mainly work from here and only visit Lagos for like three or four months in
a year.”
Tari
stared at him. “Really?”
Steven
grinned. “Yes, really. I’ve missed you too and I want to be with Korede as much
as possible. And after the fashion show, after Oliver, Kema and I catch these
terrorists; I’ll remain here, with you and him for two weeks. Okay?”
“More than okay.” Tari said, squeezing his hand.
She stared into his gold-flecked eyes and smiled. Having him in her house here
in Abuja for all that time… bliss.
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Learn about the heroes and heroines in the Character Profile page
The Unhinged Book Series; Book 1, 2, and 3 will be out this 2016. Find out more at the Unhinged Books page
