Page 43 of Platinum Pressure
“I have strong feelings for you, Dow. We fought them for long enough. It’s time to embrace the love we both ran from. I’m tired of depriving myself of a happily ever after. We deserve it, together.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’m serious about not losing my license. I have feelings for you, too, but I can’t jeopardize my purpose in life. I can’t help people if I’m banned and exiled by the board of nursing, you know?”
“You can quit your job today. Obviously, they don’t have the same integrity as you do since they violated them patient privacy laws for the right price.”
“It’s HIPAA, baby. They violated HIPAA laws.”
He grinned. His beautiful pearly white teeth rivaled the sun. “Call me baby again.”
“No.”
He gripped my waist and lifted me up into the air. I squealed and tried to protest, but he was too strong. Instinctively, my legs wrapped around his thick frame as he placed his hands underneath my thighs to keep me in place.
“Call me baby again.”
“Baby. Now put me down before someone sees us.”
“I will tell the world about you, bae. Just give me the word.”
I shook my head as he placed me back on my feet with a smirk.
“No. What we’re going to do is navigate this weird space while we figure out a game plan.”
“I’m not trying to hear anything you saying unless it involves you being my girlfriend and finishing my physical therapy. I’m trying to be on the field as soon as possible, and no one will help me get back to my full strength in my knee like you will.”
“You’re so stubborn.”
“I’m a man who knows what he wants.”
“We will not make any real progress outside of Miss Nette’s house on the topic, so let’s take a beat to gather our thoughts and create a plan that really works. Thank you for the money, by the way. It will help me leverage some plans with HQ.”
“You’re welcome. Once we get married, my money will be your money. We don’t even got to think about a prenuptial agreement either. You gon’ be my only wife, and we never getting a divorce.”
“Porter, please slow down and focus. Like I was saying, maybe you can set up a meeting with Seddrick and your legal team. I’ll go home and draft up a proposal to HQ because I think the smartest option is to buy them out so I don’t lose any of my clients. I can rebuild from the inside out.”
“You’re sexy as hell when you’re determined and locked in.” Porter had the audacity to lick his lips at me.
I shook my head. “Thanks. Let’s reconvene in a few days and complete a plan of action.”
“A few days? Dow, you got me fucked up. You think I waited all this time not to have you come home to me today?”
I giggled. “Porter, please, sir. There’s a lot to think about. We should take time to think about them without distractions.”
“Or you go get your clothes and come over to my house tonight. I could come to you too. Either way, I will not sleep without you by my side.”
His stupid, sexy grin made my resolve fall. I missed the poolroom. I missed the garden. I missed the smoothies Chef made us at the start of each week. I loved Laurie’s heavy Hispanic accent with her subtle and hilarious jokes. I had grown accustomed to the lifestyle I left abruptly.
“Fine. Take me home, Porter.”
In all my years on Earth, dating came naturally. I never worked hard to get attention—even when I was the chubby kid in elementary and middle school. As soon as people saw how good I was at sports, they treated me like a king, especially the women.
All my life, women fell at my feet to be with me. They accepted whatever attention I dangled in their face and made me feel like the most powerful man in the world. I never had to put effort into keeping a woman. Because even if a relationship ended, there were dozens of women waiting to occupy a spot beside me.
The unfortunate truth was I surrounded myself with men who had the same mindset as me. All my friends went through women just as badly or even worse than me. Lay Low was the worst of our group—he never kept the same woman for more than a week. Eddie was a serial lover. He love-bombed a woman for a good month before he tired of her. He would ghost her just to avoid a fallout or public breakup. Seddrick was an educated hood nigga, but he was afraid of commitment. Soon as a woman got too comfortable, he ran for the hills.
If I remembered correctly, the only time I ever saw a man court a woman was as a kid. I watched my dad take my mama on date nights, show her affection, and treat her like a queen. He was the only positive example I had of dating. Unfortunately, the women of my generation weren’t on that type of timing. They were all the same, only saw me as a meal ticket to an endless supply of money.
Meadow was different.
