Dirty: Loving Him Against All Odds Read online

  So why not give that man a chance. You know you want to, said the voice in her mind.

  It was true, but Trish had never—

  “You know...you don't have to pretend to be so engrossed in those papers to try to put me off.”

  The sound of his voice startled her. Trish looked up into his damp face. She hadn't even noticed he had left his workout on the punching bag to start their weekly act. She tried not to smile as she leaned back from him while he pulled up a chair next to her. She could already feel the excitement of talking to him begin to lift her spirits.

  “You smell,” she informed him as she wrinkled up her nose. Usually the smell of sweaty men bothered her, but she found herself aroused by his scent.

  “Well, you know you aren't doing it right if you don't work up a sweat,” he said in a way that let her knew he was talking about more than exercise.

  Damn, he's slick, she thought.

  “My friend over there was asking me about you,” he sneered, gesturing with his head to one of the coaches that was working with their children.

  “And what did you say?”

  “I told him I'll hit him with a barbell if he tried to talk to you,” he answered matter-of-factly.

  “I don’t know if I should thank you for that, or if I should be upset about you keeping me from having fun.”

  His eyebrow went up as a warning for her not to test him.

  “You are so different from school,” she laughed.

  “And you've only gotten better with age, Trish. So, when are we going to stop this cat and mouse game? My legs are starting to hurt from all of this chasing,” he sighed as he toweled down his face.

  “Oh my God, who the fuck blew all that smoke up your ass? You've got too much swag for me. I can barely breathe from all the stuff you’re saying.”

  “And I hope you can do more with that mouth than get flip,” he teased while he stared at her lips. “I can understand why you would be a bit frightened, because I’m a man that knows what he wants. But I promise you, it’s not a game. I’m more than able to follow through with everything I say.”

  “Wow, Brayden. I just noticed you lost that st…st…stutter from school. I'm sure that set your parents back a pretty penny,” remarked Trish, each word dripping with sass.

  He threw his head back and laughed. Even though that had been a sore spot for him when he was younger, the fact that she mentioned it didn't really piss him off. Now, if it had been someone else, he doubted he would have laughed it off so easily.

  Trish blinked in amazement at how he actually got more handsome when he laughed. Straight, white teeth flashed as his full lips thinned when he opened his mouth to laugh. The faint hint of a five o’clock shadow could be seen on his chiseled jawline. His laugh was deep, just like his booming voice. It was that deep, Barry White voice that had caused her to fall for him, secretly, in school. Of course back then, his voice didn't match his youthful self; but now, he had matured into the jaw-dropping man before her. His style fit him perfectly. It was a mixture of refinement with a bit of roughness that showed he still liked to get his hands dirty. There was no flash to him, but the way he carried himself spoke of his successfulness. She watched his movements as if in a trance when he reached up and pushed the damp hair out of his face. His hair was cut with tapered sides and back with the middle and front longer.

  “Damn,” she whispered under her breath in awe.

  He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. “What are you thinking?”

  “You are fuckin’ handsome,” she let slip before she caught herself.

  Brayden immediately saw the shock on her face. He knew she had let her guard down during their playful arguing. He knew it was the excitement of their word play that had relaxed her tongue enough to get her to admit the truth she had been denying.

  A wicked grin formed slowly on his face. She thought he looked like the cat that caught the canary in his smug mouth. She felt her heart in her throat as she rose quickly to her feet.

  “My babies, I need to check on them,” she stated nervously before rushing off.

  He watched her calmly as she walked over to the group of children, which included his two and her three. He took count of the number of other men in the gym also taking note of her. He took a deep breath to steady himself. It was a strange feeling for him to be jealous. He never had the reason to be. He had no trouble keeping a woman. Hell, it was usually him that had to break things off with girlfriends whenever they got too clingy. However, he had never wanted anyone like he wanted Trish. He had to do a double-take when she strolled into the gym that day months ago. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, while at the same time trying to convince himself that it was actually her. After she left, he had gone to the office to read the name on the forms she filled out. The rush he had experienced upon reading her name was enough to keep him up that night. It was more than the conquest of getting the popular girl from school. No, it was more than that. He shook off his thoughts as he glanced down at the papers and pictures she had left sitting on the chair. He picked them up and started to leaf through them.

  “Are you thinking of buying this house?” he questioned her oddly when she returned.

  Trish was happy to talk about anything at that moment. “No, I've already bought it,” she grumbled.

  “You're in real estate? This must be your first buy.”

  “No, actually it will be my eighth buy, which is why I should've known better than to buy this one.”

  He listened closely as she read off a long list of what needed to be done to the house.

  “May I make a suggestion? I would try to recycle the flooring. And instead of buying new cabinets, go to the Reuse It Building Supply Warehouse.”

  “You sound like you know what you're talking about.”

  “Well, I should. I own one of the biggest construction companies in Atlanta,” he smirked.

  Trisha's goofy, flabbergasted look gave him another reason to laugh, which he did.

  “But I thought your family was into cars,” she whispered, leaning close. She no longer cared about keeping the distance between them.

  “We are, but everyone can’t fight over the same apple. That gets old, so I started a small business of my own when I was a senior in high school.”

  “In high school?” she repeated, her voice high-pitched with surprise.

  “Yes,” he nodded. “Shocking, I know, that my head wasn’t planted up some girl's ass. I knew that in time, the sex would come. I was more interested in standing on my own, so I spent the summer with my cousins learning the trade. I had a few uncles that were looking for a way to clean their money—don’t ask,” he held up his hand. “So, they invested in my dream,” he explained nonchalantly.

  “And?” she urged him on. She could see now there was a lot more to the story.

  “Like I said, one of the biggest. I have three divisions; Georgia Capstone, which handles foundations, sidewalks, and other concrete work. Second is Georgia Elegant Designs, which handles upscale, million-dollar remodels; and last is Georgia General Contractors.”

  Trish sat back while she processed everything he just said. Now it was starting to make sense; his confidence, that swag, his sex appeal. It was all from his success. She speculated that he probably got so much pussy on a constant basis that he could bottle it and sell it. Then again, she realized as she tilted her head in consideration, she would have never known if he hadn't told her.

  “I'll be more than happy to help you with that house. I'll charge you a good price, and I won't rake you over the coals. It isn't like I really need the money,” he said with a shrug.

  He waited and counted while he watched Trish think it over. He kept a straight face as she looked over the long list of work in her hand that needed to be done. She mumbled under her breath as she spoke of the other remodeling projects she had going on, chewing on her bottom lip as the wheels in her mind started turning. He shifted in his seat and placed his towel over his crotch t
o hide his rising cock. Every time he was near her, it was something about her—her smell, her dress, what she said, how she said it, her look—that caused his lust for her to run wild. Now that he could see his desire so close to being on the hook, he could barely contain himself.

  “Were you behind this set up?” she asked out of the blue.

  He blinked a few times as he regarded her as if she were crazy before he answered.

  “I can see why you would think that after the way I got you on the committee, but no. I don’t mess around with money,” he replied sternly.

  “I do need you,” sighed Trish, as she glanced up from her papers. It took her a second to connect his intense expression to her ill spoken words. “I need you,” she continued, “to help me out with this house, and only the house.”

  “Surely you know I'm going to try to offer you a whole lot more than flooring and shingles. I just don't want you to be surprised when you're waking up in my bed, and I’m all that you can think about,” Brayden stated in a hoarse tone as his light brown eyes glowed with a heat that seemed to physically touch her.

  “I heard somewhere that it was foolish to reveal your intentions to your prey,” she challenged, narrowing her eyes.

  “It's only foolish if you know you might not win,” he responded as he reached out and touched her.

  He heard her soft intake of breath when his strong hand made contact with hers. She jumped to her feet as if his hand had burned her.

  You’re mine now, he thought.

  He smirked as he sat back from her. The look on her attractive face made him think of a scared animal that hungered for what was being offered, but was too damn scared to take it out of the hand that was feeding it. He calmed himself. There was no need to push her, and possibly make her run away. He knew he was going to accomplish his goal of having Trish as his own. The plan had already been set in motion. Now they were just going through the dance that would lead him to fucking his days and nights away in between the fine, fit thighs that his brown eyes kept sneaking peeks of. Her pants were so tight that he could make out the outline of her thick pussy lips that were at his eye level. It even amazed him that he was able to continue to have a nonchalant conversation with her while his mind was conjuring up all the different positions he was going to twist her body into.

  His gaze took in the sight of their children in the distance.

  “I like how they get along.”

  Trish stopped her rant about the property. She glanced over her shoulder. She couldn’t help but smile. Over the short time that they had been coming to the gym, the two groups of kids had gotten close. Of course, she was sure that it was mostly due to the constant gaming that her boys did with his son. It was only a matter of time before the girls, both ten, demanded to get linked in so they could play Minecraft and Little Big Planet.

  “You’ve done a great job in raising your three.”

  Trish turned back and began to regard him strangely.

  “Well, I was married, so—”

  “That’s also another thing I like about you, Trish. You do your best not to bad mouth other people, even when we both know how big of an asshole they really are,” he hissed, cutting her off.

  She narrowed her eyes. The change in him was too obvious to ignore. She tilted her head.

  “Don’t tell me you’re having flashbacks of high school and how my ex used to bully you?” she mocked in a baby voice.

  “Why don’t you call him by his name?” he asked instead, choosing to ignore her taunt.

  “Because I hate the fucker, but I’m not going to bad mouth him to you or anyone.”

  “To be honest, I really don’t want to hear about your failed marriage either. I know who you were married to, Trish, so I can skip being told all the gory details,” he mumbled as he got to his feet. “I just wanted to see if you still wanted the man, but I can see that you don’t, because I don’t share. I am very territorial.”

  She knew she should have said something, even if it was a joke about how cocky his ass was, but at that moment, all she could do was breath. She had never in her life had a man be that assertive. It scared and excited her at the same time. Brayden’s confidence and sheer appeal were so strong it was almost intoxicating. She opened her mouth to say something, what...she didn’t even know. Thankfully, she didn’t have to say a thing.

  “I’ll Google the address,” he said as he slipped the papers out of her limp hand before he walked past her toward his two children.

  She swallowed hard.

  Please, please fuck him. Just once and then you’re out, a voice in her mind begged.

  She swallowed hard, and did her best to shake off the feeling of warmth that was trying to overcome her. It wasn’t just the fact that she hadn’t been with anyone other than her ex-husband, but there was also the issue that he was white.

  Well, it’s all still the same in the dark, the voice in her mind pointed out.

  Yeah, she had been fucked over in love, but was she ready to jump teams to the lighter, whiter side of things? People did say that it was so much different when you date a white man, and not the kind that thought they were blacker than black at heart.

  “Don’t be silly. It’s just skin color. It’s not like I would be messing around with a damn woman,” she whispered to herself.

  Her gaze examined him openly as she crossed her arms over her chest. Hell, her best friend, Janelle, had been switching it up for years by dating men outside of her race. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been attracted to white men. It had been the fear of worrying about what others would think, or the cultural difference that had kept her mind closed to the idea. Then again, a white guy had never been so blunt and downright forceful in his desire of getting with her either. A few had flirted with her, but she would have never classified them with Brayden. Where those men had been timid by treading lightly around the bushes, Brayden just walked out and mowed the damn bush down to make a clear path to what he desired, which according to him was her.

  “Maybe just once, then I’m out,” she mumbled as she appraised his cock print from across the room.

  **

  Three hours later, Brayden closed his room door, pulled off his clothes, and stalked into the bathroom. He needed some time alone to calm the conflicting thoughts that were racing around in his mind after seeing Trish. He stood under the large shower faucet and welcomed the steaming hot water. He had been so fucking sure of what he wanted those months ago when he had confirmed that it was actually her. However, he had noticed that after each meeting, he was feeling a lot more than just lust and rage. He was starting to actually care for her and her damn kids, too. The excitement he had felt when he was in that boring ass meeting while he watched the clock had given him a head rush. He could barely contain himself as he had sat in his chair. He had positioned it just right to ensure that he would have a clear view of the door, and he would be the first person she had seen upon entering.

  No, there was no denying that he wanted more than what he had wanted when he had first cooked up the dumb scheme to get into Trish’s pants. What he wanted now went beyond bragging rights. Just the thought of contemplating what he had been thinking about doing made the feelings of guilt and shame he had been battling come rushing back. It took him a very short time to figure out that it had been very childish on his part. She wasn’t the one that had caused hurt upon his family. Hell, he doubted that she even knew about what had happened years ago. He hadn’t found out the truth himself until a year later, and by then it had been too late for revenge. Trish had suffered enough in her adulthood with that motherfucker.

  He hadn’t been lying about how good of a mother and person she was. She had thought that he had been just blowing smoke up her ass every time he had the chance to talk to her, but he had been actually testing her to see just what type of woman she was. It was in those conversations that he realized that he wasn’t playing a game anymore. His desire to possess Trish was genuine. She was kind, yet firm. She w
as street savvy with a smart mouth, yet classy and had an intelligence that was very evident in the way she spoke. She was a strong woman that wasn’t afraid to do it on her own, and from what he saw tonight, she had a code of ethics that was hard to find. He had no doubt that she would be loyal to the man that was able to get her to commit again. She was exactly what he needed in a woman for the family he would be joining her to.

  He turned his back toward the stream of water and lowered his head. He wasn’t surprised to see that his dick was hard and jumping, as if it was seeking out the woman his mind was focused on. It had been over a month since he had fucked anyone. His lust for other women had slacked off to the point of nonexistent. The normal choice of women he would get his release from all seemed childish, boring, and downright thirsty to him. He didn’t have to do a damn thing but flash a smile and they were willing to fuck him, no questions asked. They were women that were hoping for a relationship after fucking him on the first date, which always baffled the hell out of him. Why should he? Not to mention that they were girls that he would never bring home to meet his kids.

  They’re nothing like Trish, the voice in his mind pointed out.

  He smiled and closed his eyes as his hand gravitated to his dick. Suddenly, Brayden’s hand froze in the middle of its upward stroke. He loosened his grip and let his hand fall to his side.

  “I can wait,” he promised himself.

  He didn’t want to cum alone in his shower as he thought about fucking Trish. The next time his hot, thick cream flowed from the soft mushroom-shaped tip of his cock would be after he had plunged it repeatedly into every one of her willing openings.