Love Me Forever Read online

“She’s coming?”

  “Yes. What did you say to her? I had a time convincing her to come to your house. She’ll be there between ten thirty and eleven thirty.” Brice laughed. “Or more likely by one thirty.”

  “What kind of timing is that?” Jarred frowned.

  “Nev is as smart as a whip, but she gets lost going around the corner. She thinks she’s smarter than the navigation system and gets lost every time.”

  It was Jarred’s turn to chuckle. “I guess I won’t make the eggs until she actually shows up at the door. From what you’re saying, I may be making burgers, anyway. Why doesn’t she take the train in and I’ll pick her up from the station?”

  “That would be a negative, brother. She would have to take the train into Penn and then the subway to Brooklyn. There is no way I’d trust Nev on the subway by herself.”

  “And you trust her to drive here?”

  “She’s a good driver. Her problem is unless she’s singing, Nev always thinks in numbers. She tries to calculate everything. She’s not familiar with Brooklyn. Remember, like us, she grew up on Long Island. There are a lot of one-way streets in the five boroughs. Trust me, she’ll calculate herself up in Albany somewhere.”

  “Damn.” Jarred was laughing full out now. “How am I supposed to know if she’s lost?”

  “I gave her your cell number. I doubt she’ll use it, so you take hers.”

  Jarred walked over to his nightstand and took out a notepad and pen. “Go ahead.” He wrote down the digits as swiftly as Brice called them out.

  There was a lot of rustling in the background on Brice’s end, and then what sounded like a voice or voices.

  “What’s that noise?” Jarred raised a brow.

  “No worries, brother. Talk to you soon. Tell Nev don’t be too mad at me. Bye,” Brice said, and disconnected the call.

  Jarred stared down at his phone as if willing Brice to come through it so he could choke him.

  “You keep hanging up on me, little brother, and I’m going to have to teach you some manners by going upside your lopsided head,” Jarred said.

  He went into the kitchen to get the coffeepot started. While he waited, he grabbed the remote control and turned the television on to watch the highlights of last night’s basketball games.

  Jarred went to the fridge and poured himself a glass of juice, downing it almost in one gulp. He was on his third cup of coffee and into the replay of the Knicks game when he heard his doorbell ring. It was 9:40 a.m. on a Sunday. Who could that be this time of morning? he thought, getting up to check. He looked through the peephole, then unlocked and opened the door.

  “Nevea?” She was standing there wringing her hands. She looked like the nerd girl he’d often called her. Gone was the classy look from last night. Her hair pinned up in a fluffy ponytail, a white blouse was tucked into ripped jeans and a lightweight jacket. Complete with a pair of silver framed wire-rim glasses. Not as chic as she was at the club, but still just as beautiful. The schoolmarm look fit her personality perfectly. She’s mine. All day every day.

  “Brice did say the meeting had changed to your place.”

  “Yes. Yes. Come on in,” he said, standing to the side to allow her to enter. “Brice said you would be here between ten thirty and eleven thirty.”

  “Knowing Brice, he said I would be here even later than that,” she replied. “I’m not too early, am I?”

  “No, of course not. Come on in and have a seat.” He led her to the living room, where she sat on the sofa. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “Sure.”

  “How do you take it?”

  “Milk, no sugar. I know I’m early, but what time are Brice and Langston due here?”

  “Shortly,” Jarred lied, taking a cup and saucer from the cupboard. “I’m gathering you found the place without a hitch.”

  “Almost. I was turned around a little bit.”

  “Oh yeah? Where’d you get turned around at?”

  “Uh, Kingsbridge,” she muttered.

  “Huh? Did you say Kingsbridge?”

  “Yes.”

  “Nevea, Kingsbridge is in the Bronx. I live in Brooklyn.”

  “I know that now, Jarred,” she snickered.

  Jarred didn’t know whether to laugh at her or hug her. He decided not to do either.

  “You still got here pretty early considering you not too long ago spoke to Brice.”

  “I was already on the road when I spoke to him again. He called me last night with the change of venue. I guessed he was checking up on me this morning.”

  “Just how long have you been driving?” Jarred asked, handing her a cup of coffee.

  “A few hours.”

  “Why didn’t you have myself, Brice or Langston pick you up?”

  “I mapped the directions out to the letter. I must have missed a turn somewhere.” Her brows furrowed as if she was in serious thought.

  More like several turns. “Yes, that was probably it. You missed a turn somewhere,” Jarred said, and sipped his coffee to keep from laughing. “Are you hungry? I’m starved.”

  “A little. I didn’t eat yet. Besides, this is supposed to be a brunch. Yet I don’t see or smell any food.”

  “My fault. You can bring that cup into the kitchen and sit at the island while I put something together. Unless you want to help.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m not much of a cook,” she said, following him into the kitchen.

  “No worries. I got this. You like eggs, bacon, waffles, toast, sausages?”

  “Yes, but not all at once.”

  “I’ll tell you what. I’ll cook and you eat whatever it is you want. How’s that?”

  “Sounds good to me. Shouldn’t we wait for Brice and Langston?”

  “No,” he said, starting to take out the ingredients he needed.

  Jarred worked effortlessly on their meal. When he was done, he placed all the dishes buffet-style on the island, and took out cutlery. “Have at it.”

  “Wow, this looks great,” Nevealise said, and began to pile some of everything on her plate.

  “Umm-hmm, it tastes good, too.” He smiled, then frowned when he looked at her plate. “Are you going to eat all of that?”

  “I sure am. Brice and Langston better hurry up and get here or they aren’t going to have any food,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about them. They aren’t coming,” he stated smoothly, before putting a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

  “Wh-what do you mean, they aren’t coming?”

  “I asked them not to because I wanted to spend some time alone with you. To get to know you better. As I said before, we started out on the wrong foot.” He shrugged. “Well, I didn’t tell them I wanted alone time with you, but that is what I wanted.”

  “So you got me here on false pretenses? I don’t like being manipulated, Jarred,” she snapped, and stood up.

  “You are not here on false pretenses. I plan to tell you everything that’s going on. I just wanted to get to know you better in the process. Finish eating your food. You have nothing to fear from me, Nevea.”

  “I’m not afraid of you, Jarred. I’m annoyed with you for manipulating me. There’s a difference.”

  Jarred watched Nevea intently as she moved food around on her plate with her fork, and then suddenly, as if she didn’t have a care in the world, start demolishing it. His eyes bulged when she added more food to the almost-empty plate.

  “When’s the last time you ate?” he asked, his head bobbing to the rhythm of her fork going up and down.

  “Sometime last night, I believe. No, wait—it was yesterday afternoon. I had a burrito and then some chips later on,” she said around a mouthful of food.

  “Yesterday! You only ate a burrito and some chips the wh
ole day?”

  “Right. Mmm, this is so delicious.” She moaned and closed her eyes.

  “Please, help yourself to everything that’s left,” he choked out. Her moans of delight caused a stirring in his loins.

  “You know what would have been great with all of this?”

  Watching her eat and listening to all the cooing sounds she was making turned him on. Nevea was eating as if she were in the throes of passion. “Sex,” he said under his breath.

  “Excuse me?”

  He looked into her eyes and feigned innocence. “What?”

  “You were mumbling something and I couldn’t hear you,” Nevea said.

  “I’m sorry. You asked what would have been great with breakfast and I asked what?” he lied.

  “Homemade home fries!” she said excitedly. “I love them with onions and peppers. They’re to die for. My mom used to make them for me all the time.”

  “When was the last time you saw your parents?” Jarred noticed that Nevealise went from relaxed and eagerly eating to tightening up like a bow in zero-point-three seconds. Obviously, her parents were a touchy subject. He would stay away from any parent talk for now. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

  “It’s been a little while. I talk to my mom on the phone all the time, and my brothers check up on me at least once a month,” she said with a half smile.

  Her father. There was no mention of her being in contact with him. Jarred would leave that alone for now, as well. Instead, he stood up to take his dish to the sink.

  “You want me to help?” she asked.

  “Are you finished eating?” He raised his eyebrows and a smile curled his lips.

  “I did eat a lot, didn’t I?” She returned his smile.

  “I would say you did. Yes.” He chuckled. “No worries. I’m just happy you enjoyed the food.”

  “I’ll help clean up.” She got up from the bar stool and walked over to the sink.

  “Cool. We can put everything in the dishwasher.”

  They worked side by side, with Jarred rinsing the plates and Nevealise loading the machine. He chuckled to himself. It was clear that Nevea was totally clueless in the kitchen, judging by the lost look on her face. And the fact that she was taking her cues from him. She would watch what he did and then mimic his actions. Well, she did say that she didn’t know how to cook. How in the world did she manage on her own?

  “There. All done,” Jarred said. His cell phone buzzed on the counter just then. “Excuse me,” he said, and rushed over to answer it. Looking down at the caller ID, he groaned inwardly. Langston. No doubt Brice had called him. Bad timing, brothers.

  “Yes,” Jarred all but snarled into the receiver.

  “Whoa! What’s gotten you all riled up? Your guest didn’t show?”

  Jarred could picture the smirk on his brother’s face right now. And from the happy chirp of his voice, Langston sounded pleased that Nevea didn’t show. He almost hated to burst his brother’s bubble. Not really.

  “On the contrary, my guest is here and you’re an unwanted interruption,” Jarred whispered.

  “Really? You mean she actually showed?”

  Jarred smiled at the surprise he heard in his brother’s voice.

  “Langston, I know you’ve spoken to Brice.”

  “No, I haven’t. I called and didn’t get an answer.”

  “Yes, she’s here. I have to go. Bye,” he murmured, and abruptly disconnected the call.

  Jarred didn’t have time for small talk with his brother. He needed to get to Nevea before she found an excuse to leave. He turned his cell off and went in search of her.

  Chapter 5

  Nevealise took a tour of Jarred’s home while he talked on the phone. The two-story brownstone was a big house for one person. His kitchen was long and rectangular, with a center island that could seat at least eight people. Standing there, she looked past a few columns out into the living area. Everything on this floor looked new, so it had to have been recently renovated. Modern with old-style charm.

  Completing the first floor was a formal dining room that was closed off by double sliding doors that could clearly be mistaken for part of the kitchen wall. Nevealise smiled inwardly. Nice touch. That small detail maintained the old charm of the home.

  She walked around a long dining table, cherrywood highlighted by ornate carvings. The elegant gold tipping and expensively upholstered chairs surrounding the table gave the room a regal look.

  “I thought I’d lost you,” Jarred’s smooth voice teased from across the room.

  She started. Her eyes darted to where he stood, and honed in on his broad chest with the words Howard University printed across the front of the fitted T-shirt. Her gaze shifted to the sweatpants he wore, to his slippers, and then traveled back up to his face, where he wore a mile-wide smile. Nevealise could feel the blush starting at her neck and creeping across her cheeks. She lowered her head.

  “I take it you like what you see,” he said, and she couldn’t help but let her eyes meet his. Her face was now several shades of red, and she knew it.

  “What?” she choked out.

  “The house—you like what you’ve seen so far?” He smirked.

  They both knew that he wasn’t talking about his house. Nevealise walked past him, or tried to, anyway. He blocked her exit.

  “I like the house just fine from what I’ve seen of it,” she said haughtily. “Excuse me.”

  “After you, milady.” He bowed and laughed. “Come on, I’ll give you a guided tour of the rest of the place.” He took her hand in his, pulling her alongside him.

  “Why do you have such a huge home for one person?”

  “I don’t know. At first it was for entertainment purposes, but I use my home in the Hamptons for the little entertaining that I do now. I put in so many hours at the office that I’m rarely here.” He looked around. “It’s a waste, really,” he said.

  Nevealise heard pain in his voice. She wondered what wound she’d opened up, and then it hit her. Brice had mentioned that Jarred had been engaged to be married a few years ago, and that the wedding had been called off. He hadn’t given her any details. Now she wondered what really happened, and if this house was in some way a part of the pain that she’d heard in his voice.

  “A rather expensive waste, wouldn’t you agree?” she teased, flashing him a smile.

  “Very.” He grinned.

  “I’m sure you had your reasons for purchasing it. In any event, it’s stunning and not overly stated. Very homey, with a warm and cozy feel. Guests are not made to feel afraid to sit or touch anything for fear of messing something up or breaking your valuables. Very comfy.”

  “A house is made to be lived in, not looked at and admired from afar. I guess that’s why there’s a difference between a house and a home. A home is lived in. Welcome to my home, Nevea.”

  “Thanks for having me, Jarred.”

  “From your comments, I take it that you’ve broken a few pieces here and there at someone’s home?” he teased.

  “Of course I have. Ballet and other dance classes have helped some with my clumsiness. However, when I’m into my work I have been known to walk into things and knock stuff over. If I’m not wearing my contacts or glasses, forget about it. I’m a total klutz.”

  “Well, everything in here is replaceable, so no worries. As long as you don’t hurt yourself, have at it.” He chuckled. “Let’s get started with that tour. We’ll start with the lower level—the basement.” He opened the door and walked down the steps. Nevea followed.

  “Wow, you’ve turned your basement into a basketball court. Nice. This must have been a big renovation project.” She looked around the spacious area at the wall-to-wall padding. Aside from the court there was a workout area, which included a
weight bench, dumbbells and a boxing bag at the far end.

  “You like basketball?”

  “It’s okay. I used to watch my brothers and their friends play. I can live with or without it.” She shrugged.

  “You know it’s funny. Your father and mine are close buddies, yet our families never interacted much. Actually, until you showed up to tutor my sister, I had forgotten Mr. Tempest even had children. Why’s that? I find it rather odd,” he said softly.

  “Hmm, that is odd, isn’t it?” she said quietly, not offering up any additional information. “I believe we hung out more when we were all younger, and let’s face it. You’re older than I am, so you wouldn’t have noticed me too much, anyway. Or it could have just been that your father grew tired of Josiah Tempest.”

  “You really don’t care for your father, do you?”

  “I’d rather not talk about it.” She wouldn’t tell Jarred that the man who claimed to be good friends with his father was well and truly a pompous, male-chauvinist pig who treated Nevealise and her mother like the hired help rather than a daughter and a wife. The one time Nevealise had thought she’d earned her father’s respect, it had turned out to be a lie. He’d used her, too. Just like he’d used most people in his life.

  Her father knew she’d wanted to be a part of the family business, but no, he wanted her brothers to join the company. To Josiah Tempest’s chagrin both her brothers had gone to medical school instead. Then here came poor little awkward, bookwormish Nevealise. Trying to please her daddy, she’d agreed to help him install special security software and several other high profile programs that she’d created herself for the mortgage company’s computers. She’d done so with the assurance that she would oversee not only the implementation of the programs, but also be given a managerial spot in the company alongside her father. Of course, that never happened. Just as soon as her programs were operational, her services were no longer needed, and at that very moment she’d realized that she didn’t need her father, nor did she want anything to do with him. So she stayed away.

  “So-o-o, would you rather play some one-on-one?”

  “What?” She arched a brow. Nevealise had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard a word Jarred said.