Laurice smiled. "I know."
Stacy took a deep breath then opened the door. "This is a surprise. I thought you had a meeting."
"I cancelled," he said, then covered her mouth with his.
Stacy drew away, breathless. "Come inside. I have to introduce you to..." her words trailed off when she realized no one else was in the room, not Laurice, not even Houdini.
"Who?" he asked in a husky tone.
"Um...nobody," Stacy said, her heart beating madly in her chest, acutely aware of him.
"So, where’s the little fella?" Chance asked. "I thought I'd see him."
"Oh, Houdini’s with my housekeeper."
Chance pulled her into his arms and closed the door with his foot. He kissed her then dropped his mouth to her neck and inhaled her scent. "Hmm...you smell good."
"I had a shower," she said then inwardly groaned at making such a banal statement.
Chance didn't seem to care. "I wish I'd been there," he said, his breath hot against her skin. Then in two smooth movements, he unzipped her dress and it fell to the ground.
Stacy gasped and covered her chest and front. She wasn't wearing anything underneath--except for a pair of sheer black stockings. Stacy stared at him stunned. "I thought you wanted me to wear this dress."
"Yes," Chance said letting his heated gaze slide seductively downward. "Just so that I could do what I just did. I've been imagining how all day. But I never imagined this."
"No," Stacy said frantically reaching for the dress, never expecting her surprise to be revealed in the foyer.
He tossed the dress out of reach. "Don't be shy. Let me see you."
"I didn't expect to walk around naked," Stacy said feeling both embarrassed and aroused by his smoldering glare.
"Relax," he said unbuttoning his shirt. "You won't be the only one." He tossed his shirt on the ground then he held out his arms and glanced down at his jeans. "You can do the rest."
Stacy didn't move, still standing like Eve caught without her fig leafs. "Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Chance slowly shook his head as if he thought she were a little dense then did.
Stacy hooked the front of his jeans. "Now follow me," she said, tugging him towards her bedroom. "And---" she let out a startled gasp when he scooped her up in his arms.
"Lead the way, but this is faster," he said carrying her down the hall.
"Chance--"
"I'll take you right now if you don't start giving me directions."
"Go around the corner and down the hall. No, not this one," she said quickly when he stopped at the first door--Laurice's suite. She pointed to the one further down the corridor. "That one."
Chance lifted a brow. "Hmmm, a locked room. Are you keeping secrets?"
"Do you really care about my secrets right now?"
Chance pretended to think for a moment then carried her into her bedroom, laid her on the bed and removed the rest of his clothes.
"I thought you were going to let me do that."
"You lost your chance," he said kissing her again, his body covering hers.
"But I thought my Chance was right here," she said sliding her hand down his thigh.
He groaned. "I should have seen that coming."
She glanced down. "I can definitely see you coming."
"Are you always this corny in bed?"
"Yes," Stacy giggled. "I'm corny when I'm horny."
Chance laughed. "Then I'd better get you to stop talking." And he did, but not in a way she'd expected him to. He slipped off her stockings then teased her center with his tongue sending her soaring on a wave of desire that made her whole body tremble in ecstasy. Then she felt his warm, wet lips on her breasts, her chest, her neck, stirring her emotions into a fevered frenzy. She hadn't expected this--his gentle exploration. He touched her as if he worshiped her, as if she meant something to him. Marshall had been a selfish lover, leaving Stacy not only feeling exhausted but worn.
Chance made her feel immortal. Like a goddess and when he entered her she felt revered instead of possessed. Honored instead of disgraced. In his arms she felt beautiful, wondrous, amazing. She loved him, the thought frightened her a little, but her body told her not to care. And that night she let her heart take the lead, allowing herself to feel once again when she'd felt numb for so long. She let her senses become acute to the sensation of the hair on his legs brushing hers, the feel of his heartbeat against her chest, his rich brown skin as smooth as an untouched lake.
And like a lake, she wanted to dive into him, arching her body into his, tightening around him until he moaned. She let her body tell him what words couldn't and he seemed to understand her completely, as if he'd been waiting for this moment a lot longer than a day. But she didn't want to ask any questions.
Stacy lay in his arms, both her body and mind alive.
"Does this mean you'll take the role?"
She felt, rather than heard, him laugh. "Yes," he said then promptly fell asleep.
***
"The man is a genius. A barracuda," Julia said with feeling. They sat in a salon where Julia had decided to treat them to a pedicure. "You would not believe all that he demanded! He and his lawyer were vicious. No wonder he can play Melvin so well."
"What do you mean?" Stacy asked, not liking her friend's comparison of Chance to her ex.
"That it's not just his looks that have gotten him this far. He's smart. I've never met such a business savvy actor. He wants to be co-producer and I won't bore you with the rest. He knew he had the upper hand. He sliced through every bluff we put up."
"You can afford it."
"That's not the point. Who is he really?"
"He's not hiding anything. He told you what he wanted."
"He's a lot smarter than Marshall."
"That's because he isn't him."
"Love makes you blind, Stacy."
"I'm not in love with him," she lied.
"That's good, because I guarantee you, he has secrets and I think he has heartbreaker written all over him."
Nobody said no to Althea Paige. Chance had hoped to convince his mother he couldn't make the quarterly family dinner, but he'd failed. Chance sat at his mother's dinner table staring at the sight of salted fish, washed and chopped and stewed along with spinach, okra, coconut milk, and several seasonings in a chicken stock with, of course, dumplings. The scent of pumpkin fritters filled the air.
But despite the fine meal and how much he loved his family, Chance would have preferred spending time with Stacy. To his surprise she'd sensed his reluctance to go when they'd taken Houdini to the dog park and he watched the puppy make friends and chase falling leaves.
"What's wrong?" Stacy asked nudging him with her elbow.
He turned to her surprised. "What?"
"I hope you don't still feel awkward about the incident I had with your sister."
"I don't."
"Then why aren't you happy?" She took his hand and squeezed it. "I know I'll miss you this Sunday, but we'll have other times together."
"My sister is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to crazy." He paused. "Wait, I shouldn't have said that. It came out all wrong."
"Everybody has family drama. I'm not going to judge you for it."
He knew she wouldn't, but that's what made it harder. It was getting harder and harder for him to be as understanding as he once had been. Harder and harder for him to ignore the cracks in the family bedrock he was starting to see. Harder to ignore that his grandmother needed care that his mother couldn't give and that his sister's roller coaster emotions needed to be addressed and then there was his mother. Althea was a woman with a beauty as cold as a glacier, and a temper as hot as the Sahara. A woman he loved who had the ability to hurt him like no one else could. She couldn't let a family dinner pass without reminding him that he was in a Peter Pan profession while his younger brother, Leon, did
real
work. His mother didn't disappoint him that Sunday either. Only five minutes into the meal she said, "I was watching one of your hospital scenes and heard you sounding off a lot of scientific terms. Do you even know what thrombosis is?"
"Mom, leave him alone," Leon said sending Chance a look.
"I just thought he sounded impressive for a boy who barely graduated high school."
"Look," Chance said tired of the same topic. "Everyone knows it's make believe. Leon's the real hero, not me."
"Too bad more people don't think that way, Terrell," she said.
"Chance," he corrected.
"I still don't know why you chose that name."
Maris spoke up. "Go on and tell them. Tell them what you did."
Chance sighed. "I didn't do anything."
"He let one of his hussies tell Tiffany about the birds and the bees."
Chance gripped his fork and kept his voice low. "This is not the time or the place."
"What is she on about?" his mother asked.
"Tiffany got her period," Maris said.
The young girl looked around the table horrified. "Mom!"
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Althea said. "Men know about periods too. They get really upset when women miss them." She said sending her other son a look.
Leon held up his hands. "I told you it was a false alarm."
She waved her fork at him. "Wrap the little snake and you won't have to worry about any kind of alarms false or otherwise."
Maris waved her fork. "You shouldn't be having this conversation with Tiffany here."
"You're the one who brought up the subject," her mother shot back. "The girl's so ignorant she probably doesn't even know where puppies come from."
"The pound," Tiffany said. "And puppy mills."
They all laughed.
She frowned. "What's so funny?"
Althea looked at her daughter. "That's the next talk you need to have with her or I will."
"So what's the hussy's name?" his grandmother asked.
Chance shook his head. "She's not a hussy, she's a screenwriter."
"What? She can't be both?" His mother said with a grin.
He knew she was just toying with him, but Stacy was too important a topic to joke about. "If you don't want me to come around anymore, just say so."
"I'm sorry, I was just having a little fun. I'm proud of both my boys," she said the words with a smile, although no one believed them.
An hour later, Chance sat on the back porch of his mother's New Jersey home with his brother.
"Don't let Mom get to you," Leon said. "She was just teasing about--"
"That topic's off limits."
"So when will we meet her?"
Chance leaned back and didn't reply.
Leon sipped his beer and wisely changed the subject. "Have you made up your mind yet?"
Chance rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension there. He still wasn't sure what to do with Tiffany and Maris. "I was just talking."
"So, what are you going to do now? Are you really thinking of taking Tiffany away and breaking our sister's heart?"
"That's not what I said."
"But that's what you plan to do," Leon said.
"I care about both of them and I have a lot on my plate right now, but--"
"Oh, that's right because you're working on a film. Is that more important than keeping your family together?"
"She's getting worse. Can't you see that? She's calling Tiffany horrible names."
"She's just more conservative than we are," Leon said with a shrug.
"It's not that. I don't mind her believing in what she does. But Tiffany is scared and she's asked to live with me."
"And you think you'll do better? She'll never let that happen. She’s convinced you live in Sodom and Gomorrah. Besides, with your schedule, you hardly have time for yourself."
"I'll make time and I'll make sure she's taken care of."
"You have nothing. You can't win."
Chance didn't like the thought of breaking up their family, but his sister worried him. "She's started drinking again. I found some bottles in the house."
"Not like before."
"But--"
"You trying to be a
real
doctor now?" Leon said with a sneer. "You don't think my diagnosis is sufficient enough?"
Chance sighed, remembering a time when he and his brother didn't argue as much, they'd been more of a team. But now they were always at odds. He remembered the pride he'd felt when his brother graduated from medical school, the picture he'd taken of him as a resident. He remembered when his brother had gotten his first luxury car and opened his practice. They'd both overcome a lot. Leon was one of the few people he could trust. "It's not that." He shook his head. "What do you want from me?"
"I want you to leave things alone. If you really love us, you'll forget what Tiffany said. She's just a kid. She doesn't know what she really wants." He rested a hand on Chance's shoulder. "Trust me, if something were really wrong Mom would do something about it."
"Mom's getting old and so is Gran. It's our job to look out for them."
Leon looked at him, his voice like ice. "I'll say this one last time. Leave it alone. Or you won't only break up this family but lose everything you've worked for. Do you really want your adoring fans to know who you really are?"
She tried her best not to hate him. An elegant crystal chandelier hung over a grand marble foyer, but Stacy didn't see anything else on the set but Chance and Melody bringing her script to life. She watched Chance embody the character of Melvin. Somehow he knew what he had to project for this scene and he did it with brilliance. Melvin was a manipulator and a destroyer, but also hungry for attention, using his magnetic sex appeal to get what he wanted. Even though she'd written the scene, Chance had given it an added depth. She hadn't known that Melvin wanted Shiree to know that he didn't need her, although inside he knew he'd be lost without her. He resented his dependency on her. Chance had found a way to depict all that on the screen, to make the audience see his dual role. To see that he wasn't just a jerk and hate him, but to feel sorry for him.