His Sexy Bad Habit (3 page)

“Do you want me to keep A.J. overnight so you can get some rest?” she asked.

“Nah, I need to spend some time with my boy. You’re welcomed to join us for dinner,” he offered out of obligation, though part of him hoped Casey would go home. As much as he loved and appreciated her, he needed some quiet time with his son.

“Thanks,” she said. “Why don’t I go rent us a movie?”

“I think there’s a baseball game on tonight, we’re good on the movie,” he said. “But you can order the pizza while I go take a shower.”

“All right,” she said with a smile.

Antonio dashed upstairs, shaking his head. Sometimes he wasn’t sure if his sister-in-law was looking out for him and A.J. or if she was trying to move in. Casey had been devastated when Marian died and for six months, she didn’t leave her sister’s house. Antonio had moved out of the master bedroom so Casey could be closer to her sister’s things. Norman had told him that Casey wasn’t simply mourning the loss of her sister, she’d also been trying to take her sister’s place in Antonio’s life.

At first Antonio had just laughed it off, but he’d seen how Casey had been trying to do more things that his wife should’ve been doing before her death. He’d told her that she had to go home and give him and A.J. a chance to grieve their loss without worrying about how she would react. Her constant crying and sadness had
scared A.J. and she hadn’t been getting any better by living in a world of sorrow.

What he hadn’t told Casey or anyone had been the fact that his marriage was over. Hidden in the foot locker that Marian had kept in the closet were divorce papers that she’d had drawn up two days before the accident. Antonio had known Marian had been unhappy. He’d been feeling the same way, but Antonio had kept his wedding vows. Marian had not. On the night of her accident, she’d been on her way to meet with the man she’d planned to leave Antonio for.

He shook his head and turned the shower spray off. He hated thinking about that night. Hated the fact that his son was without his mother and hated the guilt that he felt for not trying harder to make his marriage work.

Antonio knew he couldn’t change the past, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to move forward into the future.

With Serena?

“Where did that come from?” he mumbled as he toweled his body dry.

Antonio wrapped the towel around his waist and headed into the bedroom to slip into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. By the time he’d arrived downstairs, Casey was opening the door for the Papa Johns pizza delivery man.

“Hey, I got that,” Antonio said as he reached for his wallet from the coffee table.

Casey shook her head. “That’s all right, Tonio, I’ll pay for dinner,” she said as she handed the
pizza delivery driver a twenty dollar bill. “Keep the change.”

When the pizza man left, Casey ushered A.J. into the kitchen so he could eat. Antonio followed them and stood in the doorway and watched his son sit at the table while his aunt placed paper plates on the table. “Casey,” he said. “You’re doing too much. We’re just going to eat in front of the TV.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “He’s been watching TV all day.”

“Watching what you wanted to watch, Aunt Casey,” A.J. said.

“Well, I’m the adult,” she said as she placed a slice of pizza on A.J.’s plate. Antonio walked over to the table and picked up his son’s plate and one of his own and grabbed two slices of pizza. “Go ahead and turn on the
Justice League
before the Braves’ game,” he told his son as he handed him his food. A.J. dashed into the den while taking bites of his food.

“Casey,” Antonio said. “Thanks for dinner and everything, but you have to relax. A.J. and I have a routine.”

“I’m not trying to interrupt your routine,” she said.

“Just so we’re clear,” Antonio said.

“I guess I should leave, then,” Casey said. “I was just trying to make sure we had a family meal.”

“We do that on Sundays,” he said. “Just ease up a little bit.”

She folded her arms across her chest and
glared at him. “So, what am I, just the babysitter you call when you’re in a pinch?”

“Remember, you volunteered for this. I don’t want to argue with you, but I don’t need you coming in here second-guessing how I raise my son.”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” she protested.

“I can’t tell,” he said. “Casey, let’s just agree to disagree, but this is my ship and I’m running it.”

“Fine,” Casey snapped. “I think I’m going to head home. I know when I’m not wanted.” She turned swiftly on her heels, but Antonio stopped her.

“I don’t want you to leave,” he said. “A.J. expects you to stay for dinner and I’d appreciate it if you did.”

She looked up at him and smiled dimly. “Thanks,” Casey said as she turned to the table and picked up a slice of pizza. “I’m going to eat in here because I’m not interested in watching the
Justice League
or the Atlanta Braves.”

Antonio gave Casey a smile and headed into the living room with his son.

Serena woke up at five
A.M.
and didn’t want to get out of her bed. She looked at the tangled sheets and wished they were evidence of a night with Antonio and not just her overactive imagination. All night she’d dreamed of him—his lips pressed against hers, his hardness buried deep in her hot, wet valley—giving her pleasure and passion she’d never felt before. Though it had just been a dream, Serena throbbed between her thighs as if she could feel the aftereffects of their lovemaking.

Groaning, she pounded her fist into the mattress, then threw her blanket off and crawled out of bed. Sure, she could’ve simply headed to Starbucks, picked up the coffee and muffins without dressing up in her typical fashion, but Serena wanted Antonio to see what he could’ve been waking up to. She took a quick shower, sprayed on her favorite jasmine body spray, and dressed in a pair of leggings, a fitted tunic, and a pair of
four-inch black gladiator sandals that offered just enough of a glimpse of her toes to spark a foot fetish. Pulling her curly hair into a fluffy ponytail, she grabbed her keys and purse then headed for her baby blue Ford Mustang convertible.

It had taken her thirty minutes to get ready but only fifteen to collect a travel box of coffee from Starbucks, a dozen muffins, and cups for the coffee. She arrived at Hometown Delights at the same time as Antonio and his six-man crew.

The men walked into the restaurant and Antonio crossed over to Serena. “I can’t believe you actually showed up,” he said with a smirk on his luscious lips.

Serena sucked in a deep breath as she pulled out the box of muffins. “I’m a woman of my word,” she said as she pressed the box against Antonio’s chest. “I told you that I was going to bring you guys breakfast.”

“I know they are going to appreciate this. Most of our employers only show up when they have a problem,” he said as he took a peek in the box. “Looks good.”

“The muffins?” she asked when she lifted the coffee and set it on the hood of the car. “Or something else?”

Antonio smiled and shook his head. “I don’t know what to make of you,” he said. “You know you look good.”

“Just making sure you know,” she said, then reached for the coffee.

Antonio beat her to it. “Wouldn’t want you to break a nail,” he quipped.

“My kind of man. Aware of the power of a manicure,” she said, then sauntered ahead of him, giving Antonio a prime look at her shapely backside. When Serena entered the restaurant, all of the men stopped talking and stared at her as she set the coffee cups down on a table. One of the men started to say something, but stopped when Antonio walked in.

“Hey guys, Miss Jacobs brought us breakfast,” he called out as he placed the muffins and coffee on the table next to the cups.

“That’s really nice of you, Miss Jacobs,” Norman said. Then he turned to the crew and said, “Why don’t we go eat in the back, away from the dust.”

Serena made a mental note of how much she liked Norman. He always made himself scarce when she and Antonio had a chance to be alone together. Antonio picked up a muffin and broke it in half. “Want a bite?” he asked her.

“Not of that muffin,” she said. “Tell me something, Antonio. What’s your deal?”

“What do you mean?”

Serena sighed and folded her arms across her chest as she watched him eat.

“My deal?” he said after he swallowed.

“Don’t play coy with me,” she said. “You know I want you, but you’re sending mixed signals. If you’re not married, then what’s the problem?”

Antonio placed the other half of his muffin on top of the box and wiped his hands on his snug-fitting jeans.

Serena’s eyes were drawn to his thighs. They looked so powerful and strong. She wanted to feel them on top of hers, wondered if he’d squeeze them around her. Blinking, she looked into his coffee brown eyes and swallowed.

“I haven’t been dating since my wife died. I was married for eight years, so I don’t know how this dating thing works now, and I have a lot of responsibilities. Believe me when I say this. I want you too.”

“Well, what’s the problem? How about we have dinner tonight and I can explain the whole dating thing to you?” she said with a seductive tilt to her voice.

Antonio took a step closer to her and Serena inhaled his scent of soap and masculinity. Her lips trembled as he brushed his fingertips across her cheek. “Serena,” he groaned. “There are some things that you should know about me and when you find them out, you might—”

She tilted her head up and planted a wet kiss on his lips. As she pressed her body against his, she didn’t care what he needed to tell her. She needed to taste his lips. Needed to feel the hardness of his body pressed against hers. Antonio pulled her closer and Serena gasped as she felt his bulge of desire pressing against her thighs. Her tongue explored the sweetness of his mouth just as his did the same to her mouth. She could’ve kissed him all day, would’ve kissed him all day had they not heard a crash behind them. Antonio
pulled back from Serena. “Let me go check that out,” he said. “What are you doing for lunch?”

“I’ll be at home.”

“Text me your address and I’ll come over,” he said.

Serena smiled and nodded. As she walked out to her car, she couldn’t wait for lunch and thought about Jade’s warning that Antonio could be different. The one who could make her fall in love.
Not going to happen,
she thought.
He wants the same thing I want. Hot sex.

When Antonio found out the crash in the back of the restaurant had been a box of pots falling over and not something serious he wished he’d told Serena to wait. He needed to tell her about his son, his wife, and how their marriage had been falling apart before her death. Then maybe she’d understand that as much as he wanted her, he wasn’t sure he had enough of himself to give.

“That sure was nice of Serena to bring breakfast over,” Norman said as the men began to work. “You know that woman wants you.”

“She told me,” Antonio said as he lifted a bundle of flooring.

“What are you waiting on? Get her,” he said. “She’s a woman who’s sending out all the right signals and you need to get back out there. How many dates have you turned down in the last three years?”

“I have a son to consider,” Antonio said. “Most of the women around here want to jump directly
into motherhood or don’t want to be with me because I have A.J.”

“Where does Serena rank on that scale?”

Antonio pulled his box cutter from his pocket and sliced open the flooring. “Well, she doesn’t know about A.J.”

“Why haven’t you told her?” Norman asked.

Antonio began laying out the marble tiles and shook his head. “I don’t know. It really hasn’t come up and she doesn’t seem like the motherly type.”

“So, you like her, but you’re afraid to let her in your life. What kind of sense does that make?” Norman said as he knelt down and started laying out the flooring. “No one said you have to marry her.”

“I’m not afraid, but I’m too old for a meaningless fling and I don’t want to teach my son to treat women as interchangeable bed buddies.”

“See, you’re a good man, too much of a good man. No one is saying invite your son on your dates or into your bedroom when it goes there. Who knows, Serena might be everything you’ve been looking for. More than anything else, you need to get some.”

Antonio looked at his older friend, “What makes you think I’m not getting any?”

Norman shot him a knowing look and shook his head. “Please. The way you look at that woman whenever she’s around proves you’re longing. Stop overthinking it and get what you want. When the time comes, if you feel like she should meet your son, deal with it then. Right
now, have some adult time with that sexy-ass woman. If I was five years younger, I would.”

Antonio raised his eyebrow at Norman, who was easily knocking on sixty’s door. “Five years?”

“Yes, five years,” Norman said with a laugh. “But man, come on. Your wife would want you to move on with your life.”

Inside Antonio bristled. His wife wouldn’t have cared about his happiness. She certainly hadn’t the last few years of the marriage. But that had been a secret Antonio had held close to his chest. Everyone had believed Antonio and Marian had been in love and their relationship would last forever.

“I guess I do need to move on with my life,” Antonio finally said, shaking the thoughts of Marian from his head. “She invited me for lunch.”

“I hope you plan on going,” Norman said with a smile.

Antonio grinned. “I’m going to pretend I’m you, five years younger.”

Norman laughed and the men returned to their work.

Serena entered her townhouse and realized she wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep. If she was going to have lunch with Antonio in her place, she was going to have to do something about the boxes she and Jade didn’t get a chance to unpack. Kicking her shoes off at the door, Serena began grabbing the empty boxes, stuffing them inside each other. One thing she learned
from her father, Dominic Jacobs, was that men didn’t like messy women. Following the death of her mother, Serena had been raised by her father who’d used women to get what he’d wanted.

Dominic took care of his daughter with expert care, but he had help from the various women to whom he made promises he had no intention keeping. Growing up, it seemed as if there had been a new woman in the Jacobs house every week. Many of them had been under the impression that doting on Serena would win them favor with the handsome Dominic. It didn’t work that way.

By the time Serena had become a teenager, she’d tried to warn them that their gifts were a waste of time and they’d do a lot better if they left Nic alone. They’d never listened to her, thinking she was just a kid not knowing what she was talking about. But they always end up with a broken heart.

Watching her father move though women the way he did had taught Serena she’d better play the game well or she’d end up like the heartbroken masses who her father dealt with. For a while, Serena had been able to save herself pain. In college, she’d earned the name of Ice Queen. Guys had been attracted to Serena’s beauty and often they’d thought their childish games would be enough to get her into their bed since it had worked with other girls in the Atlanta University Center. But Serena hadn’t fallen for it and they’d soon discovered no amount of money and smooth talk would get the Ice Queen.

When Serena had fallen in love, she’d fallen hard and for the wrong man. She still wore those scars. That was the reason she wouldn’t allow herself to think of Antonio Billups as more than a fix for her passionate needs. How could she open herself up for anything more when she hadn’t healed from her brush with love five years ago?

An hour later, Serena had gotten her house presentable and texted her address to Antonio. Since it was just a little after eight, she decided to take a seat on the sofa and watch a little bit of television. While she flipped through the channels, she decided she wouldn’t hit Antonio with an all-out seduction. She had to get a feel for him first. What if he told her he was seeing someone or had given up on women since he wasn’t married anymore?

As she flipped the channels, Serena stopped when she saw Emerson’s face. Despite herself, she felt the same flutter in her heart she’d always felt when his hazel eyes looked at her. She pressed the volume button and listened intently to the story.

“What ever happened to Emerson Bradford?”
E! News
reporter Ryan Seacrest asked. “Once the toast of Hollywood, the famed director and producer has been MIA the last four years, after his previous film didn’t garner the critical praise studio heads had expected. The sexual thriller bombed at the box office despite the fact that money had been invested in the film and some of Hollywood’s brightest stars, including Halle
Berry, Denzel Washington, and Brad Pitt, had a role in the movie.”

The camera cut to Emerson, who had aged well in Serena’s opinion. His black wavy hair was sprinkled with grey at the temples, a few fine lines creased his caramel face, and his eyes had the same sparkle that had made Serena’s heart melt all those years ago.

“That movie was not my original vision, so it’s not surprising it didn’t do as well as expected,” Emerson said. Serena shook her head as she noticed his voice had taken on a more British sounding accent.

“He’s from New England, not Britain,” Serena muttered as the interviewer asked Emerson what he’d been doing over the last four years.

“Studying and getting the capital together to open my own studio where I will produce smart films people want to see,” he said. “And I won’t be constrained by the powers that be in Hollywood. I’ll be able to put the best talent in roles that suit them.”

Part of Serena wanted to see Emerson do well with his venture, but the hurt side of her prayed he’d fall on his face. When she thought about her wedding day and how she’d waited and waited for Emerson to arrive at the church, she changed the channel.

That is my past and I’m looking forward to the future,
she thought as she headed up to the bathroom and began to run a bath because she’d gotten sweaty emptying boxes. As the water filled the garden tub, Serena’s mind returned to her
wedding day, or what should’ve been her wedding day.

The silence in the church meant something was wrong. Music should have been playing and Emerson was supposed to be waiting for her at the altar. Glancing down at her ivory dress that hugged her body close and skimmed her knees, she knew what was going on.
He’s not here,
she thought as she walked from the dressing room in the back of the church to the sanctuary. Inside, it was empty. They decided that their wedding ceremony would be just the two of them and one witness, the minister’s wife. As Serena looked at the white lilies they’d picked out two weeks ago, they seemed more appropriate for a funeral than what was supposed to be a wedding. The signs had been as bright as the Hollywood sign glowing in the hills, but she’d ignored them until she stood at the altar alone with nothing but those damned lilies. Serena waited another hour, hoping that Emerson would show up. He said he wanted to marry her. He was the one who proposed and he had been the one to insist on a quick wedding.
The press,
she remembered.
I bet they are outside waiting to see us leave the church. I can’t deal with this right now.
Tears spilled down her face and Serena wondered if she was being punished for her own misdeeds with men. Men she’d strung along like her father had done with countless women. Was this what love did to her? Was this all love had to offer—hurt and sadness?