the coolness of the sheets and a piece of paper instead of the warmth of Julius’s body. Confused, she sat up in bed and picked up the note to read.
Caress,
I had an early flight to catch so I didn’t want to awaken you. I’ll give you a call when I’m back in town in three months.
J.
At that moment the weight of her actions hit home. What happened between them, good as it had been, was not the start of a wonderful relationship like she hoped…but a one-night stand!
“Oh…no,” she cried out dramatically, filled with embarrassment at what she did last night on the table…and in the shower…and on the floor.
“Oh, God…no,” she moaned again, falling back in the bed to cover her mortified face with the sheet.
Julius handed the airline attendant his boarding pass. “Here you go.”
“Have a good flight Mister, uhm…Jones,” the beauty said with a flirtatious smile.
Julius ignored the obvious invite and accepted his I.D. back. “Thanks.”
As he settled in his first class window seat, Julius felt absolutely drained of energy. Caress wore him out last night until he felt like he could be knocked over by a toddler. It took all the strength he could muster to get out of her bed so he could go home to shower and grab his suitcases and make it to the airport on time.
He didn’t want to meet any new women.
He didn’t want to talk with anyone.
He didn’t want to do a damn thing but sleep off last night.
Julius cushioned his head with the pillow he requested from the flight attendant. Just before he drifted off to sleep, he thought of one of the moves Caress put on him in the shower as she straddled him with her feet braced against the wall. A shiver raced from his toes straight to his head.
“Damn it, girl,” he muttered to himself.
Chapter Three
Three Months Later
Julius was excited about all of the great photos he took while in Africa. He was anxious to get home, unpack, and get right into the darkroom he set up in his basement for times he didn’t feel like driving to his studio.
His agent was expecting the photos in two weeks and that wasn’t a problem. He had hundreds of rolls of film that Dwayne and he were going to work overtime to get printed.
For the past three years, Julius had been throwing around the idea of a book. At first he hadn’t known the particulars of when and what, but he knew he wanted to do it. Finally choosing Africa as his backdrop made perfect sense. It was a land rich with his culture, his history, and his ancestry. Julius Jones: My Africa would be in bookstores everywhere next year.
A fabulous career. A fabulous three months in Africa. Now a fabulous book. Life couldn’t be any more…fabulous.
“Thanks, man,” Julius told the driver who double-parked the green-and-white taxi in front of his house.
As the man hopped out to remove his passenger’s luggage from the trunk, Julius dug enough money from his wallet to cover the fare and a hefty tip.
He was just about to climb out of the cab when his cell phone rang. It was an unusual sound to him since his phone hadn’t worked while he was out of the country. Julius flung his leather carry-on onto his shoulder and reached into the inside pocket of his leather blazer for his tiny silver flip phone as he climbed out of the cab.
“Julius Jones here.”
“Welcome back, Julius Jones. You truly have been missed.”
He had to pause for a moment to catch the sultry, feminine voice on the line.
“This is Karina, silly boy.”
Julius smiled as he envisioned the model. “Of course I recognized your voice,” he lied, as he moved to allow the driver to place his two large suitcases on the sidewalk.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten our date tonight.”
Damn. He had.
“We never got to finish what we started at the photo shoot and you told me you’d be returning today and to give you a call.”
He remembered it now.
“I’m naked in my big Jacuzzi tub and just thinking of you. I’ve been waiting three whole months for some of you, Julius. Don’t let me regret waiting.”
Julius waved the driver off. “I won’t, I promise.”
“Good,” she sighed huskily. “Oh, and Julius? Your assistant sent me the photo. It’s hanging over my bed. Don’t worry you’ll get to see it. I love it almost as much as you’re going to love the real thing .”
He smiled broadly. “Really?”
“Definitely.”
“I’ll pick you up, say around—” Julius began, glancing down at his Jaeger-Le-Coultre watch.
“No, I’ll pick you up around six,” she asserted.
“Oh…okay.”
“See you then.”
Julius smiled, shaking his head as he closed the phone and slid it back into his pocket. What the hell. His time in Africa had been more work then play. A date with Karina would be a good way to cap off his return home.
Then again so would a home-cooked meal at Kendrick and Tamara’s.
Or another date with Caress , Julius thought, as he carried a suitcase in each hand up the stairs. He had to admit that she had drifted into his thoughts on more than one occasion during the past three months. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, but he damn sure would love to touch base with her again.
Putting his key in the lock of the front door, he thought, It’ll be real good to see her.
Julius set his bags on the hardwood floor of the foyer. Immediately he noticed that there wasn’t one piece of mail on the floor beneath the mail slot on the front door. He hadn’t bothered to discontinue his mail or his utilities because he didn’t want the hassle of getting them reconnected. He merely prepaid his utilities three months in advance. When he traveled he liked to return to his life just the way he left it.
Even after three months, there should be mail. Plenty of mail.
Since he traveled so often, Tamara and Kendrick had a key to keep an eye on the place whenever he was out of town. They probably piled up all the mail for me , he reasoned, immediately put at ease.
Leaving his luggage by the door, Julius jogged up the stairs, then stopped suddenly and backtracked two steps. He frowned at the odd angle of the picture hung on the wall. Correcting it quickly, he nodded in approval before continuing up the stairs.
As he walked into his bedroom Julius again frowned. He knew it sounded very cliché but…someone had been sleeping in his bed. Tamara and Kendrick. Their lackluster attempt at making it was definitely not up to his good-enough-to-be-in-Architectural-Digest par.
“Did those two…in my bed?” Julius asked himself aloud, already crossing the room to pick up his cordless phone. Quickly he dialed Kendrick’s work number.
“Kendrick? Hey, what’s up?”
“Julius? Welcome back. How was Africa?”
“Great, but look I got something to ask you? Have you and Tamara used my—”
“Actually, I got something to tell you,” Kendrick began, sounding decidedly unlike his usual calm and collected self. “Uhm, it’s about—”
The bathroom door opened and Julius whirled around to see who in the hell was in his house. His eyes widened