Jason

The whole time during the dinner, my eyes were glued on Keyshia and my obnoxious older cousin Carter. She insisted on sitting beside him. If I had anything to do with it, she’d be right by my side.

By this time, nearly all of my family and their friends were seated at the long dining table. I didn’t recognize some folks, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. The thing that pissed me off was the fact that I knew someone had tampered with the guest list and erased Keyshia’s name from it.

“Take a walk with me after dinner. We need to talk” Auntie Kat said, leaning over with a mouth full of mashed potatoes. She chose to sit beside me because I didn’t care to sit beside anyone else. Also, I needed some type of motive not to jump across the table and strangle my cousin.

“About what?” I asked, continuing to glare at Carter and Keyshia. At this point, they began flirting.

“You know what.”

I looked back at Keyshia and clenched my jaw, something I tended to do when I was either sexually aroused or angry. If the table wasn’t separating the two of us, my hands would be wrapped around his fucking neck. I knew what he was doing and hell would freeze over first before I could allow that to happen.

After dinner, which happened to be one of the most awkward things I’ve ever had to sit through, I took a walk through the beautifully landscaped garden with my aunt. The reason why the dinner was so awkward was because no one talked to each other. My dad just sat there with his little disapproving look. He shared a few words with his sister, but that was it. No one liked him like that and he knew it.

“You’re in love with her” Auntie Kat simple stated, tearing me away from my trance.

Since that came completely out of nowhere and since I’ve only heard those words in my head, of course I was quite taken aback. “W-what?”

“I don’t need to repeat myself.” She smirked at the sight of me struggling to regain my breath. I had choked on my saliva.

Instead of answering her right away, I took in the striking view of the garden we were walking through. The weather was perfect and the atmosphere was rather peaceful.

I took a deep breath and turned down to face her. “…how can you tell?”

“The way you look at her pretty much says it all. You have this possessive look in your eyes. You love her so much that it hurts. It’s physically hurts you because you can’t be with her like you want to.”

“And you assumed all of this from the way I look at her?”

“It’s not just an assumption. I know for sure that I am right.”

I sighed and began to walk slower. “Auntie Kat, I don’t want to be in love with her. Not like this. Not under these circumstances.”

“What circumstances?” she asked, wrapping her gray cardigan tighter around herself.

“We both agreed to stop dating once she started working for me.”

My aunt smiled up at me, showing a few teeth. “So she’s the one you told me about a while ago?”

“Yeah.”

“Aww…she’s so perfect for you. I really like her. Now if you could just get her away from that slimeball named Carter.”

“If I could, I would snatch her little ass up and lock her in the guest house until it’s time to go back to New York.”

“That wouldn’t be fair, now would it? Does she know how you feel about her?”

“Nope…and I don’t plan on telling her any time soon. This is solely between you and I, okay?”

“Yes. Of course!”

“In order to keep my mind off of her, I’ll have to find a girlfriend when I get back home. Shouldn’t be that hard.”

“Don’t do that to yourself…wait for her.”

I laughed a sarcastic laugh and shook my head. “It’s not that easy…and I’m not saying this to sound like I’m cocky or full of myself, but with hundreds of women throwing themselves at me every day and not making a pass at any of them…it makes me look like a douche for one, a fag, or someone’s who definitely screwing their assistant.”

“Well you know you’re neither one of those.”

“I know…and I know just the right person for this.”

“Who?”

“Alyssa Cambridge. She models for Victoria’s Secret. She’s interested, trust me.”

“She’s cute…but you know who I really want you with.”

I wrapped an arm around her and kissed her right temple. “It’s not the right time.”

Keyshia

After we ate dinner, Carter insisted on walking me back to the guesthouse. Jason had walked off with his aunt somewhere.

I closed the door behind Carter and faced him. “May I ask you a question?”

“Of course darling” he said, with an egotistical smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. “Cut it out with the names…what do you really want from me?”

“A date.”

“I’m not as gullible as you think” I stated with a half-smile planted on my face.

“….okay...uh” Carter combed his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I’ve never been with a black woman before.”

My eyes immediately widened and I felt like I had no choice but to burst out with laughter. Was he serious?

“Oh my God…what?” I asked, sputtering out a few smirks.

He sat down on the nearest couch and blushed “I know…laughter is expected.”

“Okay. Now what do you mean by that? Like, what do you mean you’ve never been with a black woman before?” I had to pinch myself so that I wouldn't start laughing again.

“I mean it in every way that you can think of.”

“You’ve never spoken to one…or what? Because I don't get it. Your life couldn't have been so sheltered that you never had the chance to speak to a black woman.”

“Yeah, I’ve held conversations with them…but you know, it’s never been intimate. It has always been strictly business.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is that an open invitation for me to be your guinea pig or something?”

Carter looked at me with amused eyes. “I wouldn't call it that. You see, the way I was raised was pretty conservative. I went to an all white private school in Los Angeles, the only friends my mom cared to have around were rich stuck up white women with their heads stuck up their asses, and there were hardly any black people in the neighborhood I grew up in. You’re not something I want to “try out” just for the hell of it, trust me.”

“Sounds like it to me.”

He reached his hand out and grabbed mines. A loud shriek was heard all throughout the apartment as he pulled me down to sit next to him.

“Just let me take you out tomorrow. I bet Jason isn’t planning on taking you anywhere off of this property. He wants you all for himself.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re resisting me because you two have something going on. He’s not big on his private life, but I can tell.”

“There’s nothing going on between us. He’s not dating anyone at the moment and he brought me because apparently, you guys always nag him about bringing a woman. Also, I’m “resisting” you because you’re not my type.”

Carter turned towards me with an offended look on his face. “But Jason is? Oh…what am I saying? Jason Jameson is everyone’s type. Dude is rich as hell, handsome, philanthropic, and has the perfect personality. What woman wouldn’t want him?”

I don't know why I did this, maybe because I felt sorry for him or that I thought he was quite attractive, or the fact that I was severely sexually frustrated, but I kissed him. I leaned into him and pressed my lips against his. They were soft and full. His breath smelled minty with hints of the previous dinner we had. Before I knew it, he had me on my back as he deepened the kiss.

“Mm…your skin is so soft” he breathed out laying soft kisses on my collarbone.

I grabbed on to his shirt and simply thanked him. Carter began to gently nibble on my neck and my immediate thought was “Oh Lord. This man is going to leave a hickey.” In order to prevent that from happening, I moved my lips so that his came back in contact with mines.

All of a sudden, I felt the button to my jeans loosen up. My eyes widened and I pushed away his curious fingers. “Umm…no.”

Jason

After taking the walk with Auntie Kat, I bent down and gave her a quick gentle squeeze.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning?” She looked up me with a look on her face, daring me to say no to her.

“I don't know about the morning…I-“

“You’re going to breakfast. Even if I have to drag you there myself.”

“Okay okay. I’ll be there” I chuckled out.

She kissed my cheek, wished me a good night, and made her way back towards the mansion.

As soon as I opened the door to the guesthouse, I heard the faint sound of muffled voices. It sounded as if they were coming from the living room.

My first reaction to the image I saw was to snatch Carter up by the collar and throw him clear across the room. Keyshia jumped off of the couch and screamed out in horror. “JASON!”

I ignored her and walked up to my older cousin. He looked to be in pain as he tried to lift himself up off of the floor. Wanting to dislocate his jaw would be an understatement.

“Bro, she kissed me” Carter said, recognizing the murderous look in my eyes. “Ahh!” he yelled in discomfort as I threw him up against the wall, shaking the mounted flat screen TV.

“Get...the…hell out of here before I do something that’ll get me arrested” I threatened, through clenched teeth. Keyshia ran up behind me and tugged on my shirt.

“Let him go Jason! Right now! What the fuck are you doing?”

Carter hit the floor with a loud thud after I released him from my tight grasp. “Get the fuck out of here” I said, resisting the urge to kick him.

He nodded and nearly tripped as he scrambled out of the guesthouse. A few seconds passed before Keyshia spoke. “What the hell was that about?”

“I don't want you seeing him” I faced her, obviously still pissed off.

“Okay dad. Anything else you want to tell your dear old daughter?”

Not wanting to deal with anything else she had to say, I attempted to turn around and walk towards the kitchen, but she grabbed my arm. “No. Listen to me! Since we’ve been here, you’ve been acting really weird…and I get it. You hate your family. But that does not give you the right to treat me like I’m your fucking daughter!”

“I’m not treating you like that.”

“Yes you are! Do you not realize what you just did? You almost fought your own cousin over the stupidest thing! You don't own me! So stop acting like it!” She pushed me enough to make me stumble and then tried to walk away. Before she could get any further, I snatched her back towards me and practically threw her up against the wall that Carter was thrown up against. Being that I was so dangerously close to her face, I gazed into her eyes, still panting from all of the built up adrenaline.

“Keyshia…” I started to speak in an unreasonably calm voice. “I am your boss. You are my assistant. I pay you good money to do everything that I want you to do.

Her beautiful brown orbs started to tear up as she struggled to get loose. “Let me go” Keyshia said through a whisper.

I ignored her request and continued to lecture her. “If I tell you not to makeout with my asshole excuse of a cousin, that means don't fucking makeout with my asshole excuse of a cousin. Do you understand that there are hundreds of thousands of women that would kill to have your job? Hundreds of thousands of ones that are more qualified.”

All of this was coming out of anger and obviously I could have chosen a better choice of words. No doubt that I was going to eventually regret this.

She looked up at me with tears begging to flow down her face. “Well I’ll make it easier for them…because I quit. Now get your hands off of…” she broke free and pushed me away from her. “me.”

Keyshia ran into her designated room and slammed the door before giving me a chance to go after her. I had to give her time to come back to her senses and time to let myself calm down. My hands were shaking and my breathing pattern was harsh.

I slid down the wall and sat down on the floor with my hands resting on the top of my head. What just happened scared the shit out of me. Having reoccurring thoughts about seriously wanting to injure my cousin over a girl made me realize that there was a problem. Is this really what love does to you?

Keyshia

I stared at the ceiling, attempting to make sense out of what went down. I’ve never seen Jason act like that before, even when we were dating. Where did this overly possessive behavior come from?

The rest of the night went by pretty smoothly and I was surprised that Jason wasn't banging on my door trying to get me to talk to him. I don't know why I told him that I quit because I wasn't too sure about that. Working for him reaped many benefits and he was a great boss for the most part. Before today, I was convinced that he didn't have any feelings for me. That our relationship was something we both sort of put behind us.

The plan that we mutually agreed on obviously didn't turn out like we’d hoped it would. Work kept us so busy that we never really had time for a personal life. I slowly began to understand why Jason rarely mentioned hanging out with his friends or going out to have fun. The man didn't have the time. The last time we talked about our “relationship” was when we made that stupid ass agreement.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a soft knock on my bedroom door. “Keyshia, I know you’re in there.”

“I don't want to talk” I responded with a stubborn tone.

“We’ll have to talk eventually.”

I ignored him and rolled my eyes. ”You either open the door willingly or I unlock the door and let myself in.”

Continuing to ignore him, I switched the position I was laying and fluffed my pillow up. The next thing I heard was Jason wiggling the keys into the socket. I just aid there and waited until he walked in.

He had this fresh out of the bed look going on which in turn gave me a free glance at his perfectly sculpted abs. Jason must have swam in a past life because he had the body of a swimmer.

“Still mad at me?”

“I told you I didn't want to talk. What don't you understand about that?”

“I think I deserve a conversation after I had to go all night thinking about what the hell I’m going to do with my life since my favorite employee quit on me last night.”

I sat up in the bed and stared at him. “I didn't mean that.”

“So why did you say it?” Jason asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“The same reason why you think that I’m not worthy of this job.”

“I didn't say that.”

“Well that’s how I interpreted it.”

“You know I didn't mean that. It was out of anger.”

“Okay then. Same for me.”

“Let’s keep the fighting to a minimum, okay? I don't like fighting with you.”

It was hard staying mad at him when he looked at me with those beautiful steel gray eyes. I know I looked pretty shitty because I had just woken up, but he looked fantastic. How is that even possible?

“Yeah” I finally replied, hugging a pillow.

“So are we cool?”

“…for now.”

Jason stood up and stretched. “Good. Now join me for breakfast.”

“Wow. That sounded more like a demand than a request” I smiled through a yawn.

“Please?”

“After I take a shower. Now get out. That’s a demand.”

He smiled, kissed my cheek, and left out of the room. As soon as the door closed, a wide smile took over my face.