Naughtier than Nice by Eric Jerome Dickey Page A

you’ve lost part of yourself by being with me?”
    â€œI haven’t gained anything.”
    â€œBut? Feels like there is a
but
to that statement.”
    â€œI knew that if we kept being alone, with this energy between us, this chemistry, it might happen.”
    â€œWhen did you start to feel that way?”
    â€œAt Eso Won. That night. You invited me to Starbucks after your event. I actually went with you. I followed your driver andwent to Starbucks on Crenshaw and Thirty-Ninth. You had a very sexy female driver.”
    â€œShe had an amazing smile. The chauffeur named Panther was driving me that night.”
    â€œShe waited in the town car for you. She saw the engagement ring on my finger. She smiled. Women know these things. She knew that it was more than us just getting coffee. I sat out in public with you like it was no big deal. It was a big deal. Since I had been with Blue, I’d never been anywhere with a man in a way that could be misconstrued as being a date. We were a half mile from my home. Was terrified I’d see one of Blue’s and my friends.”
    â€œI couldn’t tell. You were talking in a very distant way, were very professional.”
    His phone rang again. Tanya Obayomi. He ignored the summons, then moved closer to me.
    Beale asked, “What are you thinking?”
    â€œAsking myself what it is I like about you, what attracted me to you.”
    â€œAnd the answer is?”
    â€œSame as everyone else. I love your work, respect your artistry, and you have told me time and time again that you love and respect my poetry. You give me inspiration as only another artist can.”
    â€œYou have become my muse as much as I have been your muse.”
    â€œThat’s part of the reason this sort of thing became possible.”
    â€œI still wonder how this happened, Tommie McBroom.”
    â€œYou needed someone you could trust as a beta reader with your unpublished work.”
    â€œI’m just as surprised as you at what has transpired. For me, this was a miracle.”
    â€œI told you I could do both, edit and read.”
    â€œI needed to be able to trust you. People have betrayed me, backstabbed me before.”
    â€œAnd I had no problem signing a confidentiality agreement. Youasked me my fee and I told you it was standard rate but negotiable. I thought you would lowball me, tell me I should be happy to work for you. I needed the money but didn’t want to admit how badly we needed that money in our household.”
    â€œI paid you top rate, plus thirty percent. Will still pay you top rate if you come work for me again.”
    â€œI was really flattered, and nervous, hoped what I did was to your liking and up to your standard. I wanted to impress you with my work. It was a professional relationship. Putting money on the table made fantasies dissipate. It did change the fabric of our friendship. We would text, but not as often as before, and we never talked every day, only when there was an issue. Sometimes a week or two would go by before you had something for me to read and edit. You e-mailed me the work. I e-mailed it back with notes and opinions. If it was needed, after Blue had left for work and I dropped Mo off at school, we met at Starbucks to discuss the work in person. You gave me a check. A handshake. A smile good-bye.”
    He took ice in his mouth, kissed me up and down my spine as he asked, “Then what?”
    I closed my eyes, arched my back, said, “I took the check to your bank, cashed it, and went home with two bags of food, or paid a bill, or paid some unexpected fee at Mo’s school. I was contributing to my household on a higher level that made me proud. So far as you and I, it was an honest relationship.”
    â€œWas it honest? Did Blue know you were working for me part-time?”
    â€œBlue had no idea, but it was honest in the sense that if he found out, it would be no big deal. I have many jobs and would