One Toe Out (A Complicated Love Story) Read online

  “Kirk!”

  “Well, okay if you insist.” He paused, then, ”He’s having sex with men.”

  “What! How do you know that!”

  Kirk shifted his gaze away from the water and onto her. “Let me break it down for you as gently as possible, because you’re gonna find out anyway. Whenever Marcella travels with us, she and J.T. always get a second room at a different hotel in a horrible part of town.”

  “For what?”

  Kirk held up his hand. “Hold on, let me finish. Marcella goes to a couple local gay clubs, where she scopes out men for J.T. Once she finds one, she blindfolds him and takes him back to the hotel. By now J.T. is naked in the dimly lit hotel room. There’s just enough light for J.T. to see the man. And if there’s an accident with the blindfold falling off, the man would have a hard time identifying him. They have sex, Marcella pays him cash and returns him to the club. Sometimes Marcella might bring two or three different men to him over the course of the night.”

  Shocked, Simone sat back in her chair. What the hell did I get myself into? “Wow! How do you know all this?”

  “J.T. told me all about it,” he casually answered.

  “Well damn, Marcella not only creates the train made out of shit, but she drives it.”

  “Yeah, she’s a bad bitch, don’t trust her. Her main focus is taking care of J.T. she doesn’t care about anyone or anything else.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Simone said with a frown.

  “What’s up? You looking like she pissed you off already.”

  “Many times. I almost slapped the shit out of her the first time I met her.”

  Simone watched a couple strolling along the beach, they looked like they were in love. She didn’t trust what she saw now after dealing with Marcella, anything can be staged. “Did you and J.T. ever hook up?” she asked tentatively.

  “Aw hell naw! I like women. I respect him and everything and I love him like a brother, but I like woman. What about you, do you like women?”

  “No, I’m strictly into men. I love men. But I haven’t had a man in about a year. I get so tired of their shit, it’s like they never grow up, they can’t commit and they don’t have any money, all they want to do is lay around. They don’t want to do anything, half of them don’t have any ambition, like seventy percent of them have at least three baby mamas—”

  “I guess this is a sweet arrangement for you huh?” Kirk asked, cutting off her tirade.

  Simone turned to him. “You’re not judging me are you?”

  “Not at all. If I had some older rich lady who wanted me to marry her, I’d be all over that,” he said with a laugh. “But seriously, I’m not judging you. I can’t imagine being in J.T.’s shoes, I can only imagine what it’s like to live a double life. And there are some people who go to extremes to protect their secret.”

  “Yeah, I can’t imagine living his life. It must be hell not to be yourself.” Simone was quiet then she started talking almost as though to herself, “This is nice, it’s almost like a dream. You know when he first told me about all this I was waiting for the call to say I’ve been pranked. Then when I got the pre-nup, I was waiting for him to call me and say that he changed his mind. Then when he gave me the money, I started scouring the Internet looking for a report on the NFL player that went crazy and was giving money away, because I didn’t think he was serious. I mean who would really go to this extent to keep a secret.”

  “His NFL deal is worth one hundred million dollars and he stands to earn another thirty million on endorsements just this year alone. If everything stays on course, he’ll be a billionaire in five years. So what’s a fake marriage versus a shitload of money, love and admiration and being able to enjoy life’s riches without any limitations?”

  “Do you think he’ll change his mind?” Simone asked nonchalantly.

  “No J.T. is pretty consistent, once he makes up his mind; it’s hard to change it. He has a stubborn streak in him.”

  “Really? He really doesn’t show it to Marcella,” she remarked. Then told him about the first time she had met Marcella and how she had their marriage planned. And J.T. barely said two words during the whole meeting.

  Kirk chuckled. “Marcella knows just how far she can go. She’s like a dog, occasionally you just need to slap her on the nose with a newspaper and she’ll calm down.”

  Simone snorted. “I think she’s more like a Rottweiler, and in my neighborhood, we shoot those suckers.”

  Kirk laughed. “I can see now that you and Marcella are gonna be constantly battling.”

  “She’d just better watch her damn mouth around me,” she said meanly. “So how many people know the truth about the marriage?”

  “Not many.” He ticked the select few off on his fingers. “You, J.T., me, your mom and Marcella. That’s it.”

  “What about his parents? None of his family came to our wedding.”

  “His mom is dead. She had a fatal heart attack when he was fifteen. He came home from practice and found her body. The autopsy showed that she died right after he went to school.”

  “How sad. I can’t even imagine how horrible that must have been for him,” Simone said.

  “Yeah, it hit him hard, because it was just the two of them. His father had passed away a few years before that. He went to live with his grandparents, but they passed away a few years ago. And he’s not close to his other family members, they’re just a bunch of moochers. And he refuses to be The First National Bank of J.T.”

  “I can understand that. What about Mannie and Ms. Chanté, do they know?”

  “Oh hell naw. That would be like personally calling CMZ.com, it’ll be all over the Internet in a matter of minutes. Neither one of them could keep a secret. But they do excellent work, look at you.” Kirk admired Simone and she blushed, her face turning pink. Kirk chuckled. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but it’s true,” he said softly.

  She shyly averted her eyes. “Thanks, I’m still getting used to my new look.” Today she had scraped her hair back into a ponytail, and slicked on some red lipstick and mascara, just enough makeup to enhance her natural beauty. “I guess I’d better get ready for dinner.” She stood up and stretched, she missed Kirk ogling her body. “You don’t have to hang out with me and my mom. Go to a club or something.” Even though he was a financial wizard, he was far from a nerd.

  “It’s cool, I like hanging out with you and your mom, you’re good people. I can hit the clubs another time.”

  “Thanks for the scoop on J.T. and Marcella. It’s funny I’m on my honeymoon, but my husband is spending the night with a man.”

  Kirk got up and before Simone could stop him, he hugged her, loosely wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him. Her breasts pressed against his chest. She could feel his muscles and she unconsciously rubbed her breasts against him. It’s been so long since she was attracted to a man. Kirk’s hands drifted down to her ass and he gripped it and began to lightly knead it. His hand slipped under the frothy material of her sarong and skimmed the top of her bikini bottom. Simone moaned then cupped the back of Kirk’s head and slowly pulled his mouth towards hers. Their lips were inches within each other when Simone stopped.

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Why not? There’s something between us and you know it too. I saw how you looked at me the first time you saw me.”

  Simone blushed again. “You saw that? Okay listen, I’m attracted to you, but you’re J.T.’s friend, I can’t do anything.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it would be awkward.”

  “But what are you gonna do when you need to feel a man? A dildo can only do so much.”

  Simone rolled her eyes. “During the rare times that I did think about what I would do, I always envisioned it to be some faceless man that I’d use, then cut loose.”

  Kirk stroked her cheek. “Why would you want some empty sex with someone you don’t know?”

  “Well I barely know you,” she r
eminded him.

  “What do you want to know? I’ll tell you anything.”

  Simone stepped away, just a little bit out of his reach, but close enough that she could still smell his intoxicating cologne. “Even if you did tell me everything, I can’t see J.T. co-signing with this relationship. It’s one thing to know that I’m sleeping with someone, he would never want to know who, especially if it’s his friend.”

  “Well we just won’t tell him.”

  “Why risk a friendship and business for me? What makes me so special?” she queried.

  “I like your honesty, your freshness, your beauty, you’re a genuine Georgia peach,” he said. “And you’re a rarity in the circle of people I usually hang out with. You’re special and I really want to get to know you.”

  “And risk everything?”

  “Hey, I have enough money to last me several lifetimes and I can always get more clients. As far as the friendship goes, yeah I’ll miss that and I don’t want to sound heartless, but if you two had gotten married for love, I wouldn’t even consider having this conversation with you…but since you two have a business relationship, we’re talking a whole different ball game.”

  As much as she was attracted to Kirk, she couldn’t risk destroying her new relationship. She had checked her account, and a cool two million dollars had been deposited. “I can’t do this to J.T.”

  “Will you at least take the time to get to know me, then make your decision?”

  “I can’t promise that. I would like to get to know you, but I can’t promise anything beyond that.”

  “That sounds fair. Would you still like me to join you for dinner?”

  Simone smiled. “I would love it.”

  It was almost four o’clock in the morning when J.T. stumbled into the room then fell across the bed, waking up Simone and she wished that he hadn’t. The combined smell of alcohol, weed and old sex almost made her throw up. She dry heaved. He could’ve had the decency to shower, afterwards. Simone jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom, just in case she really did throw up.

  She returned to find her husband fully clothed sprawled across the bed. “I can’t sleep in here and I don’t want to.” She thought momentarily, for a nanosecond about going to Kirk’s room, but decided against it. She didn’t want to go to her mom’s room and wake her up. Extra luggage and clothing was piled on the bed in the fourth bedroom and she wasn’t up to clearing it. Simone glared at J.T. before going into the great room and snatched the cushions off the couch. She pulled out the sleeper bed, then went into the closet for some linen. By the time she got the bed dressed and she settled down, she was wide awake, giving her a chance to think about her dinner with Kirk.

  She had learned so much about him. He has a Harvard MBA, financially took care of his parents, two siblings and their families. He had relayed all the information to her matter-of-factly and not at all boastful, she liked that about him. She discovered that he was comfortable with himself and that made it so much easier for her and her mom to enjoy spending time with him. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, he had looked so hot. He had dressed casually in a linen shirt that draped over his muscles, matching pants with sandals.

  Simone thought about how close she and Kirk had come to kissing and she drifted off to sleep smiling. It was a jar to the sofa bed that woke her up. She sleepily opened her eyes and squinted at the intruder.

  “I’m sorry,” J.T. said sheepishly.

  She blinked herself awake, she tucked her hands behind her head as he lumbered over to an armchair and picked up the service guide and began perusing the room service menu. He was relaxed and clean, the subtle scent of his expensive cologne and shower gel told her that he had washed away the stench of last night’s activities.

  “Hey babe, what would you like to eat?”

  “I don’t care, just some toast and coffee. I’m not very hungry.”

  “Is that all? Come on get something different, something exotic,” he gently teased.

  “What do they have?”

  J.T. read off some items, “They have made-to-order omelets, muffins, sausage, boiled fish and grits, cereal, waffles and pancakes.”

  “That all sounds so good, I don’t know what to order.”

  “Order one of each.”

  “I can do that,” she protested.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I can’t afford it.” And as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized how silly it sounded. “Oops.”

  J.T. laughed. “Yeah, oops. I’ll order one of each.”

  “Thanks, J.T.” She got up and went into the bathroom. She stepped into the shower. “Should I say something about last night? Or should I wait for him to say something? I got to say something.” Her answer came to her rather quickly. “Oh hell!” She quickly showered then strolled to her bedroom. Mannie had purchased a ton of items from Dior’s resort wear collection. She had enough vacation-ey clothes to last her for years. She slipped into a short pink frothy dress that swirled around her thighs.

  She returned to the great room and found J.T. texting. After five minutes he set his phone aside and focused on her.

  “How was dinner?”

  “It was wonderful, everything was so beautiful, the restaurant was right on the water, I’ve never seen anything so nice. And the food was delicious. I bet I gain ten pounds by the time I get home.”

  “I’m sorry I missed it. Marcella needed to go over some contracts and by the time we got done, it was too late to drive and I had drunk a little bit too much so we ended up staying the night at her hotel.”

  Simone was amazed that he could look her in the eyes and lie so easily to her, which didn’t make sense because he had told her that he’d continue to sleep with men. She laughed, then said, “You don’t have to lie. I know what you were doing last night.”

  “What are you talking about? I was with Marcella we were working,” he fired back.

  “Kirk told me,” she said softly.

  J.T.’s eyes widened, he was busted and he knew it. “That happened only one time. I don’t do that all the time,” he said, quick to defend and minimize his actions.

  “Listen, you do you. We have a business arrangement, we’re business partners J.T. and that means that we have to be honest with each other…full disclosure.”

  J.T. studied her, contemplating how much to tell her. He rubbed his chin, then spilled. “Kirk was right, I was with a man,” he admitted, but Simone didn’t dispute, whether it was one or two, she couldn’t because she didn’t know. “Hey I’m sorry I lied, I feel very uncomfortable telling this to you. Marcella and Kirk are the only two that knows.”

  “And now me,” Simone added, suddenly feeling a connection to her husband. He had confided in her. Simone wrapped her arms her husband and hugged him tightly. She rested her chin on his shoulder. “We’re a team,” she whispered. “I got your back.”

  J.T. kissed her on her forehead. And they continued to hug, like a brother and sister would until room service arrived.

  The breakfast was set out on a small table on their private balcony, overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Extra food was put in the kitchen for Kirk and Lillian.

  “Kirk is cute,” Simone said.

  J.T. grunted and continued to eat.

  “He’s a geek, but those are the types you have to look out for, I bet he’s the biggest player,” she said nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a piece in every city,” she joked lightly.

  “He has female friends.”

  “Does he have a girlfriend,” she casually asked.

  J.T. set down his fork. “Why are you so interested in Kirk?”

  Simone shrugged, feigning indifference. “Just wondered that’s all. Since he’s one of your best friends and the money guy, we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

  “Oh, okay, I thought maybe you were interested in hooking up with him.” Satisfied with her answer, he picked up his fork and resumed eating.

  “
What? No way.”

  “Because that would be fucked up, he’s my best friend.”

  “Stop worrying, trust me, when I hook up with someone it won’t be Kirk.”

  J.T. pointed his fork at her. “It better not be, because if you do, this deal is off. You hear me?”

  Simone swallowed her disappointment, then smiled tightly. “I heard you.”

  Chapter 8

  J.T. stopped in front of a set of security gates, punched his code into the security pad, then patiently waited while the gates slid open.

  Their five-day honeymoon had come to an end. It had achieved its purpose, hundreds of photos of the new celebrity couple were everywhere. And Marcella was fielding hundreds of requests from magazines, newspapers and TV shows that wanted to interview them. Some production companies had even sent over some reality show treatments that they wanted J.T. and Simone to look at. As soon as she saw those, she immediately tossed them in the garbage, there was no way in hell would she allow a camera invade her client’s life, pandemonium would ensue.

  “Ah, home sweet home,” he said, while driving up to his house. After spending nearly six months on the road traveling with the Jaguars, he had come to appreciate the sanctuary of his home. He heard Simone’s gasp of surprise. “Beautiful huh?”

  “J.T. this is out of this world. I’ve only seen places like this on MTV Cribs. How big is it?” she asked awed, he lived in a mansion.

  J.T. was relaxed while he drove his car on the winding tree-line driveway up to his home. His seat was reclined back, he had one hand resting on the steering wheel and the other comfortably on the armrest. “Oh, it’s huge. It’s about twenty thousand square feet; there are six bedrooms, a huge media room, a sitting room, a fitness room with adjoining sauna and bath and a huge kitchen. I’ll give you a tour as soon as we get settled.”

  He tapped his garage door opener and Simone’s mouth dropped at the fleet of cars. J.T. pulled his Bentley next to his Lamborghini. He had a Land Rover, a classic mustang, and a Toyota Camry. Her car was there, since they had left for Vegas on such short notice Aleesha had arranged for her car to be picked up at her mother’s house and driven over to J.T.’s.