Private Lessons
The sad part was, she was the complete opposite once you got to know her. But she rarely gave anyone the chance. The only man who could even come close to holding a conversation with her were some of the other professors on campus. But that relationship choice was a definite no-no to the college administration.
“Nay, do me one favor?”
“What?” she asked halfheartedly.
“Why don’t you spend the rest of the week pretending to be someone completely different?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Alexis groaned. “Playacting. Role playing. Didn’t you ever play ‘pretend’ when you were a kid?”
Naomi frowned in concentration. “No. I don’t think so.”
If this was anyone other than Naomi, Alexis would swear that she was lying. “Listen, this is what I want you to do…”
Naomi took her time dressing for dinner. She’d spent most of the afternoon sitting on the balcony of her room, rereading Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and watching with envy the lighthearted frivolity on the beach below. Why she couldn’t unwind she wondered for the umpteenth time. She didn’t “party” as Alexis would say, although that girl made it a point to hook her up with every eligible bachelor she could find, and drag her to every night spot in Atlanta that played music, served drinks and had men. Those were Alexis’s only criteria.
But Naomi wanted more than a good-time man. She wanted someone with a brain, ambition. Someone who didn’t care that she didn’t know the latest hit on the radio or that she loved movies with subtitles—and spent Saturday afternoons following new Thai, Japanese or African recipes or rereading books that she loved. And he wouldn’t care that she was probably the only black woman in Atlanta with no rhythm. None of those things would matter, because he would simply adore her for who she was, quirks and all.
She peered into the mirror of the dressing table and applied a light covering of lip gloss. Maybe she should take Alexis’s advice, she briefly mused. Sighing, she placed the tube on the dresser top and stared at her reflection. She could almost see Alexis sitting on her shoulder, and she could hear her whispering, “live a little.”
Naomi drew in a long breath of resolve, squared her shoulders and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her sleeveless cotton blouse, exposing a lush hint of cleavage. Frowning, she quickly fastened one button, picked up her purse and headed out for the evening, intent on enjoying herself, one way or the other. And if Brice should just so happen to give her another chance, she was going to take it!
Brice was seated at the outdoor bar adjacent to the beachfront restaurant when he caught a flash of something soft and flowing in his peripheral vision. He turned in the direction of the movement and a knot formed and released in his belly.
He watched Naomi move like a heavenly body toward the front of the restaurant.
Was she dining alone? With friends? A man? He finished off his rum punch, hopped down off the three-legged stool and told the bartender to add the drink to his room tab. He left a tip and hurried toward the restaurant before he totally lost sight of her.
The spacious restaurant was set on the beach, enclosed on all sides with netting, with a thatched roof that had hurricane lamps hanging from its rafters. Circular tables covered in white linen dotted the planked floors in a horseshoe, leaving the center for dancing. The waiters all wore stiff white jackets and black slacks. The waitresses wore all black, with white aprons. Calypso music, mixed with a little R & B, played against the sound of the waves that rolled against the shore and the seagulls that cawed in the distance.
When he got to the restaurant’s hostess and the check-in podium he saw that Naomi was being taken to her seat. He peered over heads and shoulders to see if anyone was joining her. The waitress gave her one menu. He smiled.
“How many tonight, sir?”
Brice blinked at the much-too-young-looking hostess. “Oh, uh, just one.”
“Someone will seat you in a moment,” she said with a musical lilt to her voice.
“Thank you.” He stepped to the side and let the couple behind him move up while he kept an eye on Naomi.
“Right this way, sir,” another young woman said, coming up to his side.
He followed her to the opposite side of the room from where Naomi sat. She handed him a menu and asked if she could get him a drink.
“Thanks. Yes. A rum punch.”
“Right away.”
Brice settled back against the rattan chair and surreptitiously studied Naomi from behind the protection of his menu.
A waiter approached Naomi’s table and placed a pitcher of water in front of her. He filled her glass while he spoke. When Brice saw her soft smile and the way her lips moved in thanks, heard the sound of her laughter at something that was said to her, he instantly knew that he’d been silly to have cast such a harsh judgment on her. It was his ego talking.
The waitress returned with his drink. “Are you ready to order, sir?”
He looked up at the round, pleasant face. He crooked his finger to draw her closer.
“See that young lady over there in the yellow?” He raised his chin in Naomi’s direction.
“Yes, sir.”
He went into his wallet, and took out a twenty-dollar bill. “That’s for you.” He stuck it in her apron pocket. “I need you to go over there and gently ask her if she would be interested in having a guest at her table for dinner.”
The young lady smiled. “Of course.” She walked across the room and approached Naomi. They talked briefly for a moment and then Naomi glanced around the room and her gaze landed on Brice.
Her eyes widened in surprise and excitement. She smiled and he could see her nodding her head. He was halfway across the room before the waitress could reach him.
He stood above her, feeling like a pimple-faced teen at his first high school dance. “Can we start again?”
His voice moved through her like a wave of heat. She inhaled deeply to try to still the rapid beating of her heart.
“I’d like that,” she said softly.
He pulled out a chair and sat down. “Brice Lawrence.”
“Naomi Clarke.”
The waitress returned and took Brice’s and Naomi’s dinner order. They both selected seared salmon and began with the house salad.
“So, you already told me that you were here on vacation.”
She lowered her eyes in embarrassment and tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth. “Sometimes I can sound a little curt. It’s not my intention.”
He waved off her apology. “Forget it. I was being oversensitive. Must be too much sun.” He chuckled and was rewarded with her smile. “How long will you be staying?”
“Two weeks. What about you?”
“That works out perfectly. So am I, or close to it. But I plan on enjoying my entire summer. After I leave here I’m off to Cancún, then I’m meeting friends in San Francisco.”
Naomi thought about Alexis’s counsel, what she’d said about just throwing caution to the wind and relaxing. She was on vacation. She would never have to see him again if things didn’t work out.
The waitress approached and asked if she could refill any drinks. Naomi asked what Brice was drinking.
“I’ll have one of those,” she said. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“One rum punch coming right up.”
“Where are you from?” Naomi asked, trying to get herself together.
“I live in New York. What about you?”
“Uh, Florida.” Where did that come from?
“Really?”
Did he know she was lying? “Yes. Is that strange?”
“No,” he shrugged it off. “I just don’t think Florida when I see a beautiful woman like yourself. And no, that’s not a line. I just think retirement capital when Florida comes to mind.” He leaned a bit forward. “Obviously I have to readjust my thinking.”
Her cheeks heated with pleasure. Being a woman of many, many words, she was at a total loss.
The music changed from calypso to something soft and slow. Several couples moved onto the dance floor.
“Would you like to dance?”
“Oh…I…couldn’t…”
“Sure you could.” He stood up and took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. He rested his palm at that low dip in her back and led her onto the floor. When he found a good spot he turned her into his arms, and she nearly gasped when the full length of her body pressed up against his. For a moment her head grew light and the room seemed to shift, until he steadied her in his embrace. She felt as if she’d lost total control of her limbs. They wouldn’t move.
“Relax,” he whispered, holding her tenderly, not too close but close enough for him to feel her warmth, the beat of her heart and the slight tremors that ran up and down her body and tingled his fingertips.
He smelled so incredibly good, Naomi thought, and felt herself drifting easily into his embrace, miraculously following his lead without stepping on his feet.
“So, Ms. Naomi,” he said, breathing into her hair. “How about if, in the time we have left on the island, we get to know each other?”
She titled her head back and looked up into his eyes. “I’d like that very much.”
After all, she was a woman from Florida and after this island jaunt she’d never see him again.
Chapter Three
He was so easy to be with, Naomi realized as they ate and talked and laughed. He was funny, handsome, sexy and intelligent. She was surprised to learn that he was a high school math teacher after leaving a six-figure job in corporate America and had aspirations of opening his own school for young men.
“That’s a monumental task,” Naomi said. “But so desperately needed.”
Brice nodded. “Our young black men are under siege. They need so much, and the system is set up to have them fail. When I was working on Wall Street, I was one of barely a half dozen men of color in my giant corporate building, and those other guys were working in the mail room or were on the cleaning crews. I’d go into meetings and be “the only one.” And it’s like that all over corporate America. Young black men are not in decision-making positions or making the money.” He shook his head. “They need to be prepared and not prepared to work for someone else but to be entrepreneurs, inventors, thinkers. But that won’t happen in educational institutions that don’t have young black boys interests at heart. I can’t change the world, but maybe I can start with one young man, one school at a time.”
His voice and the fierce look in his dark eyes radiate the passion that he felt and the mission he believed himself to be on. You couldn’t listen to him and not get swept up in his dream for a better future for young black men. “How far away are you from opening your school?”
His smile was only halfway there. “Not as near as I need to be. It will take some time, but I’m focused. I’ve been working on putting several things into place over the past year and a half. I’m getting closer.” He turned his glass around in a slow circle on the table. “Funny, I haven’t told anyone besides my best friend, Carl, about ‘my school.’” He looked into her eyes.
Her heart pounded. “Oh. I’m…honored that you…told me.”
“You’re easy to talk to.”
Was it the way he was looking at her or the rum punch that was making her head spin?
“I’ve been so busy talking about me, what about you? What do you do in sunny Florida?”
She swallowed through her suddenly dry throat. She’d already started this off on a lie. How could she say something different now? This was crazy. She should have never listened to Alexis. “I work at a bookstore and take classes at night,” she blurted out, surprising herself with the ease of the flow. Must come from years of reading fiction, she thought in the back of her head.
“You keep surprising me,” he said. “Which bookstore?”
“Uh, Greenlight Books. It’s one of the small independent stores.”
“And you said you were going to school. What courses are you taking?”
“African-American studies.” At least that was something she could talk about with some confidence.
“That was my major in college.”
“Really?” She leaned forward, ready to immerse herself in her favorite subject.
Before they realized it, several hours, along with a couple of drinks, had passed, the crowd had thinned and the waiter was bringing the bill.
Brice looked around. “Wow, where’d everybody go?” he joked.
Naomi became instantly flustered. She reached for her purse and knocked it onto the floor. They both reached for it at the same time and bumped heads. Jerking back and holding their foreheads, they looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Brice handed Naomi her purse. “Sorry about that,” he chuckled. “Are you okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine. Nothing that a little brain surgery won’t cure.”
“Ahhh, the lady has jokes.” He stood and extended his hand to her. “How about we walk off this food and those drinks.”
“Sure.” She took his hand, and when his long, strong fingers wrapped around hers something warm, then hot, then electrifying scurried up her arm and shot through her body.
“You okay?”
Brice was peering down into her face, his brow wrinkled with concern.
Naomi blinked and took a breath. “Yes. I’m fine.”
“Oh, I thought I heard you moan. I want to be ready if I need to sweep you off your feet and carry you to your room.” He grinned devilishly and pretended to flex his muscles.
For a moment she saw herself nestled in his arms, her head pressed into the curve of his neck, inhaling that alluring scent of his as he strode across the beach, up to her room, where he would kick down the door and the music would play and it would all go black.
She’d obviously lost her mind. No more rum punch.
She gave her head a little shake. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” she said, forcing her head to clear. “Ready?”
“After you.”
Naomi led the way out, with Brice no less than a step behind her. His gaze trailed up and down her body, envisioning the curves, appreciating the understated but mesmerizing sway of her hips and the way the silk of her hair fell in soft wisps around the back of her neck, tempting him to touch them, run them through his fingers. It was a good thing he wasn’t going to be in Antigua for long. He could easily see himself wanting to get seriously involved with a woman like Naomi Clarke. But they lived worlds apart, and if things worked out for him the way he hoped and planned, he wouldn’t have the time needed to devote to a relationship. He took in her profile, set against the purple night sky, sprinkled with the white light of the stars and quarter moon, and he wished that things could be different.
They strolled along the beach, away from the hotel, and walked closer to the water. Naomi took off her shoes and felt oddly liberated and daring as she let the water and sand wash over her feet and seep between her toes. She giggled at the sensation, and Brice became intrigued by her joy at something so simple. Most of the women he knew would look at the experience as an annoyance, something to mess up their pedicure. A halo of a smile curved his mouth.
“How is it teaching high school kids?” Naomi asked, turning to look at him with a wide-eyed expression.
“It has its moments.” He chuckled lightly. “It’s not so much the subject matter, it’s more about seeing that bulb go off over their heads when they ‘get it.’ I teach in a really tough neighborhood in Harlem. Most of those kids are from broken homes, belong to gangs, have all kinds of havoc going on at home. A couple of my female students already have children. For most of them, their lives are on probation before they even get a chance.”
Naomi heard the pain and the passion in his voice. He really cared. He wasn’t just saying words to impress her. She knew exactly what he meant about that light bulb going off. And she so wanted to share with him her own experiences, give him some encouragement, but it was too late now. She’d already set off on a path of no return.
Instinctively, she took his hand and squeezed it. He turned to look at her. A hot jolt of electric current shot between them, shocking them both.
Brice stopped walking. His eyes grazed her face in a tender caress. Naomi felt a pulse begin to beat between her thighs. Her heart felt as if it was tumbling around in her chest as she watched his face come closer to hers, until his image blurred and his warm lips brushed against hers.
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. The instant was so perfect as to be surreal.
Brice pressed a tiny bit closer. The overwhelming craving to taste the full sweetness of her mouth had his arm snaking around her waist, pulling her closer. That only made this sudden, driving desire more urgent when he felt her body glide against his and his erection bloom hard and full.
He groaned deep in his throat as her lips parted ever so slightly and she allowed him to run the very tip of his tongue over the inside of their wet softness.
Brice held her and drowned himself in the lushness of her, let her essence seep through his skin and awaken sensations inside him that he’d put on the back burner. Now, with Naomi, all the jets were on full blast. What he wouldn’t give to spend real time with her. Get to know her and get to make love to her the way he was imagining.
This was so unlike him. Women were a dime a dozen in New York. He could have his hands full if he wanted. The women he knew and had run across didn’t rock his world, make him lose perspective and think about all the things he wanted to do to them. But this woman…this Naomi Clarke was not like all the others. It was as if she had woven some kind of spell over him from the moment he set eyes on her. She stirred up a burning thirst in him, and he wasn’t going to ever be satisfied until his thirst was quenched.
Naomi felt weak all over, and her body was on fire. From deep inside she trembled. This wasn’t her. This isn’t what she did with a virtual stranger. But she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t stop and she didn’t want to. His mouth was like an irresistible gem that had to be captured and held. When his fingers pressed into her back and brought her closer, her own sighs floated into the night sky when she felt the bulge of his sex press against her.
It had been so long since she’d felt desire, and, more importantly, desired by a man. It emboldened her. And the fictitious life that she’d created was her shield. She could hide behind it. She could be a bookseller from the panhandle of Florida, who took classes at night and who was on a vacation in Antigua.
It didn’t matter. This was a fantasy being played out in real life. For once, she was going to take a risk. She was going to give in to her feelings and not try to make sense of them.
If she would only have one night with Brice Lawrence, she was going to take it.
With great reluctance and pure willpower, Brice eased away from the simple kiss that had shaken him to the depths of his soul. He knew that if he didn’t stop this spontaneous act, they would go much further than either of them were prepared for.
Naomi felt like Christmas morning. Brice’s arms were the red ribbons that laced around her, holding her like a prized possession. She was lost in his arms, transported to a place of pure sensual pleasure with his kisses. She’d tossed aside her inhibitions, her nonos, and simply went with the moment. When he pulled away, she’d instantly had a moment of doubt, of panic. What had she done wrong? But that wasn’t it, she quickly realized. She understood when she looked up into his eyes that he had been in that same special place, and his words confirmed it.
He held her face in his palms and looked into the soft sparkle of her eyes, the questions that were reflected in them. “I…really didn’t mean for that to happen,” he said. “Yes, I did,” he confessed. “But I don’t want you to think that I’m just another guy on the make.” He tried to collect his thoughts so that what stumbled out of his mouth made sense. “I can’t explain it. There’s something about you that…damn, I don’t know.” He shook his head in confusion and chuckled in spite of himself.
Naomi brushed his chin with her thumb. “You don’t have to explain. For some things there are no words,” she said, surprising herself. She’d always been one who lived by rationale. Everything had a reason and an explanation. But on this beautiful tropical island with this handsome, desirable, sexy man, under the moon and the stars…there were no words.
“Then I’m not losing it,” he said.
“If you are, then so am I.”
Brice drew in a long breath of relief and pulled her tight against him. He kissed the top of her head. “I probably should get you back to your room before I do something really crazy and strip you out of that sexy outfit right here on the beach.” He took her hand and they walked back toward the hotel.
Naomi’s heart pounded and her spirit smiled.
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