We all stared at Genèse for a rebuttal.
But how did the boys’ cousin respond?
Miss Messy … burst into tears.
washington
. . .
Eyes half-closed, spirit halfway home, I struck my gavel to end the court hearing. I hit that sucker hard enough to mean business. If I could imprint my size-eleven Italian loafer on the back of the kid walking out, just a little tap for the frustration he’d given me, I would’ve. But, nah. I was a professional. And more importantly, I kept hope alive! Tomorrow night at the winery, in therightsuit, I’d make Madison forget Shonda’s no-touching, no-heat, no-fun contract.
I stood and unzipped my robe when the bailiff cleared his throat. A familiarBruh, I hate to tell you this. He said, “You’ve got one last case on the docket.”
“Since when? I’ve got somewhere to be.” And someone to ruin. Tomorrow. But I’d prepared for that.
He gave a don’t-shoot-the-messenger shrug and strolled to the double doors.
With a voice that could fill a stadium, the clerk announced, “The State of Louisiana versus Madison Selene Spencer.”
My heart tripped.
Then my mouth curved.
Madison swaggered inside, hips an ocean as if she’d practiced in the hall while adjusting her lip gloss. She wore allorange. The dress hugged her curves like it had beef with me.Please.That fabric didn’t stand a chance with a desperate man. I’d fight dirty to unwrap the sweetness underneath.
I leaned back and shook my head. “You nailed the dress code right for anOrange Is the New Blackreboot. You might wanna be careful. A big butch baddy named Fade Fresh Felicia…” I used those crisp barbershop haircuts to name Madison’s would-be prison stalkers. “And her sidekick Low Fade Loretta are gonna fight over all that.”
My eyes pinned the stenographer, her three-inch fingernails on the move, recording every word I said. Like always, I admit that. But the moment I beheld my wife, her brown skin glowing against the orange, nobody else existed.
“Everybodyout.”
Everyone fled, but it took Creepy Nails a few seconds to get up, her nosy, beady eyes ready to jot down anything I said on the way out.
You’re not getting any action, sis.Kick rocks!
Madison watched the stenographer go, then strolled toward the counsel table. She stopped in front of the defense’s side, planted her palms on the ledge, and sat. Her legs opened just wide enough to steal the breath from my lungs before one slid over the other, smooth, thick thighs offering a taunt.
Lord.
She looked too good to correct.
Madison glanced back toward the hallway doors, checked the windows to confirm nobody was watching. “Your stenographer is about that life. Very nosy. You think she and Latrice take lunch?”
Hell, yeah, but the only thing I cared about sat five feet from me. I stepped down from the bench, my eyes tracking every breath she took, that dress straining against her breasts.“Woman, you walked in here looking like a whole snack smuggled across state lines.”
Madison smiled, soft, dangerous, enough to raise the temperature throughout the entire courtroom.
When I leaned in to kiss her, fireworks exploded in her eyes. Teasing, she pulled away. “At-at, you’re on the good side, Sir Sentence-a-Lot. Anyway, I’m here to see if I could cut it as a criminal.” She tapped one finger on my chest.
Kiss denied, I played dirty too. I took her legs in my hands, unhooked them, and thrust her forward on the desk, planting myself between her thighs. Her breath hitched, and her hands gripped the edge of the table.
“Criminal?” I was a second away from taking that mouth. “Bébé, the moment you walked in wearing that dress, you committed premeditated arousal.”
Her lips brushed mine, a tease, as she whispered, “Didn’t know that was a crime. All that talk about the Fade twins? I won’t manage a life in prison.”
“Oh, yougonemanage,” I said a few things in Kouri Vini, because she’d taken it there. “Don’t play with me now,bébé. You wanna be bad?”
My mouth found her jaw, then her throat, as she gasped and curled her fingers into my shirt.
