Beautiful Nightmare Read online

  “Hello, Mr. Brown,” she extended her hand courteously without really looking at him. She wasn’t paying attention, but he was. Her touch was soft and tender. He felt himself getting a little aroused. “I’m Valencia Ball. Mr. Johnson has appointed me to lead your investments. So, I will be meeting with you. I hope that won’t be a problem.”

  Kidd didn’t hear a word she said. He was captivated by her beauty. When Valencia turned to walk toward her office, he felt his heart take a double thump. He had to catch his breath. Her ass was magnificent.

  “Oh my goddamn!” He bit into his bottom lip, imagining how her ass would feel slapping up against his stomach. I have to call and thank my man Devin, he thought.

  “Excuse me?” She turned to look at him. “Did you say something?” Ooooweeee! she thought.

  “Uh, naw. I’m just following you.” Then he mumbled under his breath, “Anywhere you go.”

  When Valencia got a good look at him, she did a double take. He was fine, and lightning struck in her love tunnel, making her need to sit down ASAP. She smiled at him. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like Method Man?”

  Damn! Sena gonna bug up when I tell her Silk’s “Freak Me, Baby” popped into my head, she thought.

  “Yes.” He laughed. “I’m told that all the time.”

  Valencia’s eyes spied Kidd’s body. His facial hair was shaped to precision, connecting at his strong jawline and his goatee. His lips were thick and enticing. They just begged to be sucked while seemingly encouraging her to sit on his face. As sexy, bedroom eyes sucked her into his very essence, she caught her breath. Dressed down in a pair of Sean John jeans and a black V-neck, black Tims, and a red and black fitted Cardinals’ hat, Kidd still held his own. He didn’t wear too much bling, just a Bentley watch. Kidd felt that all the extras brought too much attention. Whether it was good or bad, he didn’t want it.

  Making her way into her office, Valencia said, “Come on in. Have a seat.” She pointed to the chair directly across from her seat.

  Kidd’s eyes burned a hole through the seat of her pants, and he licked his lips hungrily as she walked to the other side of her small conference table and sat down.

  “I’ve never seen you around here before,” he told her, taking a seat across from her. “I’ve been coming here for about three years.”

  Although Valencia never let on, his gaze made her feel vulnerable. Being accustomed to being stared at by men and women was one thing, but there was something about him that deeply intrigued her. She tried her best to continue with the business at hand, but it was hard not to stare. His aura was emitting something into the air that demanded attention. And he had her full attention. No man had ever had that kind of effect on her, and he hadn’t even done anything yet.

  “I’m fairly new. I just started about three weeks ago.” She tried her best to tear her eyes away from him, but she kept imagining how his strong arms would feel wrapped around her body.

  “Well, welcome to the team.” He extended his hand.

  “Thank you.” She graciously shook it.

  At her touch, once again, he felt himself starting to rise to the occasion. Her delicate hand fit perfectly into his hands, and he almost didn’t want to let it go. No woman ever had that effect on him, and he enjoyed it. She, on the other hand, began to get uncomfortable. His touch gave her feelings she never had before, and she quickly pulled her hand back. Noticing her uneasiness, he changed the subject.

  “So let’s get down to business. What’s the word?” Kidd tried his best not to stare, but it was inevitable. She was breathtaking, and he wanted to get to know her a lot better. Her eyes were captivating. He loved how, when she turned her head, the hazel flecks made her whole eye look light brown.

  Looking through the thick folder she had brought to her conference table, Valencia confirmed, “There’s really nothing new from what I can see.” Flipping through more pages, she continued, “As usual, your stock is still rising.” Kidd’s gaze was transfixed on her lips, and he hadn’t heard anything she had said. “Mr. Brown? Did you hear me?”

  “Huh? Yeah, I heard you. It’s all good, right?”

  She looked at a note affixed to the inside of the folder and read it. “Oh, also, Mr. Johnson said your name is still in the blue zone.”

  His smile instantly left his face. Not wanting her to know how he got his money, shame instantly shown in his eyes.

  “That seems to be about all I have for you today. Either Mr. Johnson or I will contact you about any new investments in a couple of days.” She extended her hand. “You have a good day, Mr. Brown.”

  “Wanya,” he said as he took her hand in his, pulled it to his soft lips, and kissed it.

  She was getting wetter by the minute. Her panties were so wet, she could probably wring them out. The man in front of her was working her over real good mentally. She stood to release the hold he had on her and backed up nervously toward the door as she watched him rise out of his chair. Instantly, a scene from a porno movie popped into her head. And just as quickly as the thought arose, she shook it off.

  “Excuse me?” Valencia spoke with a perplexed look on her face. She wasn’t able to fully comprehend him.

  “My name is Wanya. Do you mind calling me by my first name? Makes me feel old when you call me Mr. Brown.”

  He began to walk in her direction. She watched every confident step he took toward her. She admired how the muscles in his arms moved with every swing of his arms. She almost reached out to touch him but quickly caught herself.

  “I don’t think that’s appropriate. I’ll just stick with Mr. Brown.” She backed up a little more. Damn! Please, God, get this man away from me. She wanted to suck his bottom lip into her mouth.

  “Just say it one time. I bet you’ll want to say it again.” He began to invade her personal space, looking at her with those sexy bedroom eyes that she was slowly starting to love looking into.

  “Umm . . . You have a good day, Mr. Brown.” She stepped around him to break the daze she was in from looking into his eyes.

  “And you do the same, Ms. Valencia.” He winked at her and walked out of the room.

  At that moment, she needed to sit down. She didn’t know how long she would be able to stand up on her wobbly legs. She found the end of the big cherry wood desk as Sena ran into the room.

  “Girl, how was he?” Sena yelled, damn near making Valencia jump out of her skin.

  “What the hell is wrong with you? You scared the hell out of me.” Vee held her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

  “Quit bitching! Give me tea. I want to know everything on that Methodical Man-looking muthafucka. Wait . . . no . . . Start with the song. I know something freaky popped into your head. What was it?” Sena smirked.

  “Okay. Okay. ‘Freak Me, Baby!’” she squealed.

  “I told you. I knew it!” Sena practically squealed too.

  “And there wasn’t any tea. We simply discussed his investments, and he left. That’s it.” She was downplaying the electricity that was flying everywhere. She could still feel his presence in the room.

  “You tripping. He fine as hell. That’s one thang. Andddddd, second, you could use a little dick up in ya. Maybe your smile will brighten up around this joint, walking around all extraserious.”

  “Well, that was my last appointment for the day. I’m leaving early. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “You want to go get some drinks at happy hour?”

  “Naw, not today. I got a little running around to do,” she lied through her teeth.

  “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Valencia rode down the highway, heading to her humble abode in South County. As she got closer to her home, she looked around at all the big houses that were scattered along the streets and the little kids and their parents out in their yards. It seemed like her well-to-do neighbors had everything figured out and had their fairy-tale ending already. Wives greeting their husbands at the door after a hard day at work. T
hat kind of life seemed so far away, and there wasn’t even a glimpse of a happy ending.

  While listening to Chrisette Michele’s “Is This the Way Love Feels?” she was in deep thought. She really wanted to know what love felt like. If it was anything like this song said it was, then she really wanted to feel that . . . the funny feeling in the pit of your stomach, a tingle, and everything else that came along with love, even the bad. She just wanted someone to love her unconditionally. To be hugged and kissed, for someone to look her in the eyes and say I love you and mean it from the bottom of his heart. She couldn’t seem to shake Kidd out of her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw some new part of his body. His eyes were so dreamy; she got lost in them every time she looked into them. She hoped he wouldn’t contact her too soon. She needed to get him out of her system because there was no way in the world she could ever be with him. Life wouldn’t allow it.

  Every time she thought about her life, she wanted to cry. She asked God every day why her life was the way it was. She knew it was wrong to question God, but she really wanted to know. She was willing to give up everything she had—the money, cars, and her career—everything—just to feel love. Valencia wanted to find a love so hard that if they were homeless, they would still be happy and in love living in a cardboard box. As long as they were together, they would get through anything. But she knew she had to quit dreaming and deal with what she had.

  Chapter 4

  Excuse Me, Ms. Lady

  Kidd and his crew were chilling in a booth at Club Home, and, from where they were sitting, they could see all the women walking by in too-short dresses, with their asses hanging out the bottom. Ass was in abundance, and his peoples was calling shotgun on damn near every ass that came bouncing by. Sitting in the back, trying to get Valencia out of his head unsuccessfully, he started thinking of ways to romance her. He had to have her, but she seemed to be a bit reserved for some reason. Is it because of the rule about “not mixing business with pleasure”? He hoped not because he really wanted to get to know her a little bit better, not even on a sexual note. He just liked being in her presence. She made him smile without even doing anything. In that short period of time, he wanted her to be his, and, if he had anything to do with it, she would be.

  “So, like I was saying, I like for girls to make it clap, so this bitch bent over and started doing something with her ass. But I’m like, ‘Yo, ma, fuck is you doing? Only one ass cheek is moving.’ She turns around with an attitude and says, ‘Nigga, you ain’t paid me enough to make both ass cheeks move.’ So I’m like, ‘Bitch, I could buy ten of you and sell you back at half price.’ She all like, ‘Cash me out, then. Cash me out, then.’ I looked at this chick like, ‘Bitch, are you for real?’ I had done already dropped like a hunnit ones on the floor, and she hadn’t even earned that yet. So I picked up my muthafuckin’ money back off the floor, leaving ten dollars down on that bitch, and walked away. She gon’ yell, ‘Cheap muthafucka!’ and I yell back, ‘Bitch, I’m going to find somebody that knows how to move both ass cheeks with yo’ crippled ass.’”

  Kidd glanced over at Moochie for a minute and chuckled a little at him. He was always so extra when he told his stories. But then something caught his attention at the front door. Valencia had just walked in the building, looking like a fucking superstar. She had on high-waist black jeans with some suspenders and a fitted white button-up shirt with a red tie on and some white Dsquared2 bone-heeled boots that went to the knees. Every curve on her body was there for all to see. The club wasn’t that packed yet, so he could still kind of see the entrance to the right. Everybody noticed Kidd stand up and immediately followed suit, looking for trouble.

  “Yo, Kidd. What we looking at?” Moochie asked, eyeing everybody in the club.

  “My future wife!” He pointed toward the entrance.

  “Daaaammmmnn,” they all said in unison, mocking the movie Friday.

  “Damn! Mami is fire. You know her?” Skillet asked as he almost started drooling.

  “Yeah, she works for Devin. Shit. She make a nigga want to commit some crimes just to be around her.”

  “You talking crazy, nigga. Ain’t a bitch in the world look that good,” Moochie said, scrunching up his face.

  “Yo, man, why everybody got to be a bitch?” Kidd turned to Moochie.

  “Shit, ’cause they rather be called a bitch than a ho, right?” Moochie was one of those “he treats you how you act” type of dudes and called it how he saw it.

  “I don’t know where you got that shit from.” Kidd wanted to stay and chastise his little brother some more, but he had other things to tend to.

  “Whatever, nigga, I got it from wherever you got it from. Now he want to act brand new. This guy is such a joker.” Moochie put up the middle finger as Kidd walked away. He was used to Kidd’s disapproving looks and comments.

  “I’ll be right back.” Kidd walked in her direction, sizing her up from her head to the bottom of her feet. Indeed, he was smitten. She gave him butterflies and made him nervous. The anxiety of him not getting her to be his was making his stomach do somersaults.

  “Excuse me, Miss Lady. I never thought I’d see you in a place like this.” Kidd pulled her arm, so she was looking at him. His smile was bright enough to light the whole club.

  “Excuse me. Do I know you?” Raven asked with an attitude, yanking her arm out of his grasp.

  “So now you don’t know me? And we had such a wonderful time together today.” He just knew she had to be playing. With that one sentence, however, she knocked the wind out of him.

  “I’m sorry, but you got me mixed up with someone else. I sleep during the day, sweetheart,” Raven said, now backing up, getting a good look at him. Fine couldn’t even begin to describe him. If she didn’t know any better, she could have sworn she felt her clit jump. But that couldn’t be. Wasn’t a dick in the world look that good.

  “So, yo’ name ain’t Valencia?” He had a look of pure confusion. He had been seeing her face all day in his head. He had memorized her smile, how her eyes squinted when she had an attitude, every dip, and curve in her body. This had to be her. But there was a hint of something different in her eyes.

  “Nah, sweetheart, but, if that’s who you want me to be, you can call me that bitch all night long if you want to.” She was now all up in his personal space. But he was totally fucked up in the head at this point.

  “Why you playing? If you didn’t want to holla, that’s all you had to say, ma. I ain’t that hard up for no pussy.” He was pissed that she would try to play him like that.

  Raven’s face shrunk to a small mask of anger, and her light brown eyes turned so dark that they almost looked black. “Look, I’m sorry if you have mistaken me for somebody else, but there’s no need for the foul language. If you say the broad looks like me, then you better keep pursuing. There aren’t too many women have that pleasure of saying such a thing. I would love to think I was a one and only, but, like I said before, if you can’t find her, I’ll be Valencia, Halle, Beyoncé . . . all them hoes, just for you.”

  He stood there, not believing her. That was her. It had to be her. He wasn’t crazy. But the more he thought about it, she was a little lighter than Valencia, and her eyes looked sneaky. Valencia’s eyes were the perfect blend of dark chocolate with a spoonful of milk, and eyes that made you feel as if you were looking into a kaleidoscope.

  Skillet ran up to him laughing.

  “Aye, man. She played you. Aye, this shit is hilarious. Billie D got kicked to curb. Yo! Go do it again so I can record it on my phone and put this shit on YouTube.” Skillet loved this. Kidd never got turned down. Skillet wasn’t a hater, but he damn sure was going to take the opportunity to get a “one-up” on Kidd.

  “You ol’ hating-ass nigga. She ain’t turn me down. She wasn’t who I thought she was,” Kidd huffed.

  “Yeah, a’ight. Let that be the reason,” Skillet poked his lips out.

  “Don’t trip. She was with it too, so I’ll ta
ke her if I can’t get the one I want tonight.” Kidd watched her watching him from the other side of the room. He knew exactly what that look meant. Shit! She was practically an exact replica of the woman he wanted. But her demeanor was on a whole ’nother level from Valencia. This lady in front of him exuded sexiness and lust while Valencia was more gentle, demure, and timid.

  Raven was by herself. She always traveled alone while looking for her next high. She hadn’t come out in a while, so it was time to get her groove on. She stood at the bar, eyeing this cute little honey standing next to her. She stood, leaning on her left leg with her hands on her hips, waiting for a waitress to come and take her drink order. Raven stared openly at the gap between her legs. The girl knew she had no business being out in public with her pussy print just there for the world to see, but Raven wasn’t mad at her at all. It simply looked like a tight fist ready to throw punches at the first man’s face who dared to challenge it. Raven could see herself getting all up in her hot box and couldn’t wait to taste her. Raven could tell she wasn’t gay per se, but she looked like she would experiment.

  “Excuse me,” Raven waved a hundred-dollar bill in the air, which got the waitress’s full attention.

  “Yes. What can I get you?”

  “I want Pineapple Cîroc X-Rated.” That was Raven’s new drink of choice. It tasted like lemonade, but, ten minutes after finishing it, she knew she would be in the right place. Raven took her eyes off of the pretty waitress and looked up and down at the woman standing next to her. “And whatever this young lady is drinking.” Raven smiled at her while licking her lips. The girl returned the smile. That was all Raven needed to know she was in. It wasn’t just that she had smiled. It was the way she smiled and gave her the once-over.