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Copy Right 2011

Natasha Marquis

terials contained in this book without the

written permission and consent of the author

or publisher is strictly prohibited.

This novel is a work of fiction. All char-

acters are fictitious. Any similarities to any-
one living or dead are completely accidental.
The specific mention of Iraq and Afghanistan
are places or venues and are not meant to be
exact replicas of those places. They are only
used for imagining for the sake of the stories.

Dedications

I would like to dedicate this book to all

of the service members who have served and

are currently serving our country. I would

also like to dedicate this book to my late hus-

band. Even though you are gone from this

Earth, you are still with us. Also to my son

who was patient with his mom so I could fin-

ish this book.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Amazon Kindle

direct publishing for making it possible for
people like me to publish my book.

Finding Love Again

A Novel by

Natasha Marquis

Chapter 1

"Kenny, I do not see a reason to hire a

consulting firm just so they can train our
employees."

Kenny looked up from the brief that he

was reading when Hunter busted into his of-
fice. It was the same since he came back
from his out of town business meeting.
Hunter did not see the purpose of hiring a
firm just to train their employees, and why
did he hire them when he was out of town.
"Look Hunter we have discussed this before
we need to have some training and develop-
ment implemented for the firm a lot of com-
panies are doing it and it helps to keep the
employees happy. I know that you did not
get to meet the firm…"

"I did not get to meet them because you

chose when I was out of town to hire them!"

"Okay you are right I went behind your

back and hired them because I knew that you

would fight me on this. The least you could
do is hear what they have to say."

"What is there to hear you already hired

them?"

Kenny knew that his friend and partner

could be very stubborn if he wanted to, and
this was one of those times.

"Listen to what they have to say and

then you can make the final decision. Since
we have not signed a contract yet, you can
make the final decision."

Hunter raised one eyebrow he knew his

friend was up to something. "You mean if I
do not like what I hear today we do not have
to hire them?"

Kenny rolled his eyes at his friend. "Yes

that is what I am saying, but I believe you
will like this firm they really know their
business."

"We will see I bet they are some old gray
haired men that will remind me of my
father."

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"They are not men and besides your
dads hair hardly has any gray in it."
"Whatever what time will they be here?"
"They should be here any minute."

Hunter sat down on Kenny's couch and

waited. "I hope they get here soon I have a
brief I need to get at for court tomorrow?"
Kenny just shook his head.

"I hope that you have a better attitude

when they get here."

Hunter held up his right hand. "I swear

I will be a good boy. I will listen to what they
have to say."

"That is all I am asking just listen and

then you can make up your mind if they are
right for us." Kenny looked at his friend and
knew that something was up. They had been
friends since law school. If anyone knew
Hunter, it was Kenny just as he knew his
friend knew when something was wrong with
him. "What is up with you? Your usually

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more open minded about ideas. What is
really going on?"

Hunter chuckled and decided to let his

friend in on what was bothering him. "My
family is on me again as to when I plan on
settling down."

"I do not know why that should bother

you the discussion comes up at least once a
month."

"You would think that I was there only

child and that they did not have any grand-
children." Just because my siblings decided
to get married right after college, I guess I
was supposed to follow in their footsteps."

"I think it might be because you have

not had anyone steady in your life in awhile.
I mean you have been seen around town with
different women, but never the same one
twice."

"I have not met anyone that I wanted to

get serious with in a long time."

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"I am sure the fetish you have with older

women does not make them happy either."

Hunter rolled his eyes. His friend knew

him better than anyone did. Ever since
Hunter discovered girls, he had always dated
females that were older than he was. When
he lost his virginity, it was with a friend's
older sister who was in college. He was four-
teen at the time and she was eighteen.
Hunter will never forget his first experience
she taught him things that was not discuss in
sex edu class. "I would not call it a fetish it is
a personal preference."

"Fine call it what you want I am sure

they would prefer you dated and settled
down with a woman that was closer to your
age."

"Yes my mother has decided to make it

her life goal to find me a wife. Sunday when I
went over their house for our weekly brunch
she had one of her friend's daughters there."

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"Oh man that must have been awful. I

mean you had your mommy setting you up
for a date. It makes it look like you cannot
find a date. I have to know what you told
your date."

"First off she was not my date, but when

we were along I told her that I was not cur-
rently looking to get into a relationship."

"How did she take it?"
"I do not think that my mom and her

mom are friends anymore. Besides, I do not
want a socialite who only wants to be photo-
graph every time we go somewhere."

"Do you know how many guys would

kill to be in your shoes?"

"Well if they want some gold digging eye

candy they can take my place. When I find
someone I want to have a relationship with, I
will make sure everyone gets the memo."

"The only ones who need to receive the

memo are your parents." Hunter was getting
ready to agree when Kenny's assistant

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phoned to tell him there nine o'clock ap-
pointment is here. Kenny told her to send
them in. "Well they are here remember be
open minded and give them a chance before
you send them off."

"I said that I would be nice."
"I am going to keep you at your word."

Just then, the door opened and two African
American women walked through the door.
The first was of medium height with caramel
colored skin with medium length hair and
wearing very expensive designer clothes. She
looked to be in her late thirties or early
forties. She was not bad looking to the eye. It
was the second female that caught Hunter's
attention. She was shorter than the first one.
She could not be any taller than five two or
five three. Her hair was styled in a short bob,
and her skin tone was a darker shade almost
the color of a Hershey bar. She was wearing a
skirt and that was when he noticed her legs.
Even though she was shorter than her

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partner, he could tell she worked out. She
had the legs of a runner. She looked younger
than her partner maybe around his age if not
a little younger. Hunter never went for a
younger or a woman that was around his age,
but with her, he could see himself making an
exception. She was beautiful no she was
breath taking he wanted to get to know this
Nubian goddess. It was then that Kenny star-
ted making the introductions. "Aaliyah,
Chantelle it is good to see you again."

his

little

goddess

name

was

Chantelle. Beautiful name for a beautiful wo-
man, Hunter looked to see if he saw a wed-
ding ring and noticed that her ring finger
was bare. Maybe this meeting was not going
to be as bad as he thought. He rather be here
in a meeting with her than reading some bor-
ing brief.

"Well you have not met my partner he

was out of town when we had our first meet-
ing. Aaliyah Jones and Chantelle Brown I

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would like for you to meet my partner
Hunter Jameson."

Aaliyah spoke first and told him that

they had some wonderful plans for their
organization.

"I am happy to finally meet you I have

heard nothing but wonderful things from
you. I am anxious to hear what you are
proposing."

"Well Chantelle actually develops all of

the training she is mostly behind the scene,
but she has wonderful ideas."

Hunter turned to look at the object of

his affections and smiled. At first he was at a
loss of words, finally he found his voice and
spoke. "I look forward to hearing your
ideas." Among other things, I look forward
working with you.

Chantelle had to do everything not to

stare at the man. Hunter Jameson was one
fine looking man for a white man that is. He
was tall and lean with an athletic built. He

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had jet black her that was short in the back
and the top was longer and wavy. She could
tell the man had money the suit he was wear-
ing was expensive as hell, and custom
tailored for his body. Just listening to him
talk, she could tell that he came from money.
Oh, this man probably had females on stand-
by. He was younger than her maybe late
twenties early thirties. Hunter Jameson
could mean trouble with a capital T and
trouble was something Chantelle did not
need. She gave him her best smile and
greeted him. "Mr. Jameson I think that you
will like what we have planned for your
organization."

"Hunter."
"What?
"You called me Mr. Jameson, that is my
father my name is Hunter."

"Mr. Jameson I like to keep this on a

business level and if you do not mind I would
like to address you as Mr. Jameson."

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"I do mind as I said before Mr. Jameson

is my father I am known as Hunter. If you
keep calling me Mr. Jameson I am going to
keep telling you to call me Hunter."

Chantelle looked at Hunter Jameson

smiling at her. She could tell this man was
use to getting what he wanted. Chantelle
knew if this was just about her she would
have told him where he could take his smug
look, but since she had a partner, she would
play nice. "Okay Hunter."

"Now see that was not so bad was it."
It took everything within Chantelle not

to roll her eyes. She just smiled at him.
Chantelle could tell that he was pleased with
himself for getting his way. Chantelle also
knew that she was going to have to be careful
around Hunter. He was very attractive,
Chantelle bet that he could make a woman
wet her panties to bad she did not do white
guys anymore. Her late husband was white,
and even though she loved him very much

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she had more problems with his family than
anything. She swore never would she get in-
volve with another white guy there was too
much drama. She did miss him even though
it had been five years since his death not a
day did not go by that she did not think
about him. At least she had their son who
was the spitting image of his dad. She had
not been involved with anyone since his
death. Aaliyah was always trying to get her to
start dating again, but Chantelle said she was
not ready. However, Hunter Jameson was
one fine looking man. He was tall six two or
six three very lean but athletic. Chantelle
liked a man who took care of his body.
Chantelle was a runner and worked out five
days out of the week. What really caught her
attention were his green eyes, and Chantelle
loved the color green. Her late husband had
green eyes with a hint of blue. They were
lighter than Hunters. The man had dark
green eyes. He wore his hair short in the

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back but longer on top and wavy. Chantelle
figure he kept it longer on top to show off his
waves. She itched to run her hands through
them. This was the first man since her hus-
band died that she has been attractive to.
Chantelle did not have the time to get in-
volved with someone like Hunter Jameson
besides she had her son to think of. Chantelle
realize the sooner this job was over with the
better because being around Hunter could
become a problem.

Chapter 2

They had managed to take the presenta-

tion to the conference room. Both Chantelle
and Aaliyah made presentations of what they
would include with their service. Hunter only

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listened to Chantelle. After listening to them
for an hour, they went over the contract and
decided that they would start Monday. That
way they had a week to set their office up,
they were to use while they were working
with them. The only problem they could not
agree with was who was actually going to do
the training. Hunter wanted Chantelle to do
some of the training, and Chantelle did not
want anything to do with the training or
Hunter Jameson. She needed to make him
understand that she was not interested in
training or being near him. "Mr. Jameson as
we mentioned before Aaliyah does the
training."

"My name is Hunter, as I mentioned be-
fore Mr. Jameson is my father."
"Right

Hunter,

Aaliyah

does

the

training."
"I feel that our organization will benefit
more if both of you train."

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"How so Hunter I just do not see what
difference does it make who does the
training."
"If it makes no difference than you can
do all of the training."

Chantelle looked at Aaliyah for help.

The last thing that Chantelle needed was to
get involved with the training with Hunter
around. She knew that Aaliyah would have
her back and support her on this.

"Hunter I think that we can arrange for

both of us to train your staff. We can work
out the details and have it in the contract."

"I think that we can make the changes,

Kenny you have the contract on your
computer."

Kenny gave Hunter that look that he

knew his friend was up to something. "Yes
my assistant can type the changes. Also I will
show you the office that you will work out
of."

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Chantelle could not believe what had

just happened. Her best friend just sold her
out and she left her alone with this hunk of a
man. She had to get out of there so she star-
ted packing up the equipment. She could tell
that Hunter was staring at her from the
corner of her eye. The last thing she needed
was a young rich white guy. That was trouble
with a capital T.

Hunter could tell that Chantelle was in a

hurry to leave the room. For some reason he
was making her uncomfortable and he
wanted to know why. "Do I make you
nervous?"

"Why would you think that?"
"You seem to be in a hurry to get out of

here. I was thinking that we could go over in
detail what you will do on Monday."

"I thought that was what we had just
done."
"Maybe I just wanted to see your smiling
face."

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"Look Hunter I think that we need to get
a few things straight before I get
started."
Hunter sat down in one of the seats in
the conference room. "I am all ears."
"I am here to do a job and nothing else.
After the job is done, I will go on my way
and never see you again."

Hunter slowly rose from the chair and

came within an inch of Chantelle. "I am
afraid that I cannot agree with what you are
saying. You see I plan to get to know you."

Chantelle took a step back she could not

believe this was happening to her. Here she
has been a widow for five years and during
that time, she had done a very good job of
keeping men at a distant. She could tell that
Hunter was not going to go away so easily.
Be strong girl you can stay away from him.
"Look Hunter I am sure that you are use to
having women fall at your feet, but I am not

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interested. I am here to do a job not hook up
with someone."

"Neither am I. I would like to get to

know you better. We could have dinner see a
play or go to the movies."

The man was serious. She had to stop

this before it got out of hand. "I do not date
white men, or men that are younger than me
and I especially do not date rich playboys."

Hunter was at a lost for word for a

minute. He had never had a woman turn him
down because he was white or rich, and es-
pecially being younger. Although Hunter did
not think that, Chantelle was older than he
was. "What do you have against white guys?"

"It causes too many problems and I am
too old for drama."
"Have you ever dated a white man?"
"Actually I was married to a white man."
Now that was a surprise to Hunter.
"How long were you married?"

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"I was married for twelve wonderful
years."
"If you do not mind me asking what
happen?"

After five years, it was still hard to talk

about her husband. However, she also knew
that the more she talked about it the easier it
became.

"He had a seizure in the middle of the
night and he stopped breathing. That is
what the autopsy said."
"He couldn't be revived."
"There was no one there except my son
and he was only four at the time plus he
was asleep."
"You mean your son woke up and found
him."
"Yes."
"Where were you?"
"I was in Iraq at the time."

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Hunter was confused as to why
Chantelle was in Iraq. "Why were you in
Iraq?"
"My

unit

was

sent

there

for

deployment."
"You were in the Military?"
"Yes Aaliyah and I were both in the
Army. That is where we met."
"How long were you in?"
"We both did twenty years then retired."

The last thing Hunter expected was to

find out that, Chantelle was in the Army and
that she was in harm's way. "I have to admit
you stating that you were in the Army came
as a shock to me. Well thank-you for serving
your country, I admire anyone male or fe-
male that makes the sacrifice to serve their
country."

"You are welcome."
"How is your son?"
"He is fine I had him in therapy for

awhile, and now he goes to a group for kids

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that have lost love ones. He enjoys going
there and he has made a lot of friends."

"That's good. I also have to say that I did
not think that you were older I thought
that you were younger than me."
"How old are you Hunter?"
"I am thirty-two. If you do not mind me
asking how old are you?"
"To old for you I am forty-two."

You could have knocked Hunter down.

At first, he thought she looked like she was in
her late twenties or early thirties he never
would have guessed forty-two. "I know a lot
of women who would kill to look as good as
you do when they get your age."

Chantelle started laughing it amazed

her how people made the mistake of thinking
she was younger than she was. "I get told
that a lot. However, this still does not change
the fact that I do not date men who are
younger than me or white men."

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"I really do not think that I should be

punished for something that I have no con-
trol over. I cannot help when I was born or
what race I am. As far as being rich, I am a
responsible person with my money. I am not
going to make excuses for being born into
money and God forbid it is not going any-
where. I would like to get to know you on a
personal level."

"Well Hunter Jameson that is not going

to happen."

Hunter came closer to Chantelle he was

within an inch of her lips. Chantelle though
that he was going to kiss her, and heaven
help her she wanted him to.

"We will see about that Ms. Chantelle

Brown." Hunter wanted to taste her full lips
but he figured he needed to take it slow with
her. He stepped back to let her pass. "Please
do not let me hold you up we will see each
other bright and early Monday." Then he left
Chantelle in the room alone. She did not

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know what to make of Hunter Jameson ex-
cept he was going to be trouble if she did not
watch herself. She needed to find Aaliyah
and get the hell out of here.

Chapter 3

Chantelle and Aaliyah went to one of

their favorite restaurants to celebrate their
new job.

"Well I told you that this was going to be

one of the best jobs we would get. With the
pay we will receive I can finish paying off my
credit card." Aaliyah went on to talk for an-
other five minutes before she realized she
was having a monologue. "Why so quiet are
you not happy about our new assignment."

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"Of course I am happy about this new

assignment the pay is phenomenal. I do have
to say that I was not happy about you not
having my back."

"What do you mean I always have your
back?"
"Then why did you insist that I do some
of the training? When you know that I
never do the training."
"If I had not we would have lost them as
a client. What is really going on with
you?"
"It's Hunter Jameson. I do not trust
him."

"Why he is one of the most respected

lawyer in the city for that matter the state.
He is also one of the richest men and one of
the most eligible bachelors in the country.
What is there not to like. I mean he is not
bad to look at either."

"Is that all you see his wallet and looks."

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"Hell yea his money is going to pay off

my credit card. What is the real reason? Did
something happen after Kenny and I left?"

Chantelle looked at her friend and de-

bated on telling her what went down. "Why
would you ask?

"For one the man was flirting with you

big time. Did he ask you out? You know it is
okay to say yes."

For the past four years, Aaliyah has

been trying to get her to start dating.
Chantelle was not ready. She did not think
that she would ever be ready to start dating.

"First of all, he was not flirting with me
and second he is like ten years younger
than me."
"So the man has a reputation for prefer-
ring older women."
"How do you know this?"

"Unlike you I read about the rich and

famous. The man comes from one of the
riches family in the country. He went to

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Harvard for both his undergrad and law
school. What is there not to like?"

"You know that I do not date white

men."

"You were married to one and it was a

good marriage. Yes and I remember that
there was just too much drama with his fam-
ily and that is making you nervous about dat-
ing another white man. Besides you would
date Hunter not his family, and by the way, I
doubt his family would treat you the way
your in-laws did."

"No it would be worst because they are

rich. Why are we even talking about this
there is no way I am going to go out with
Hunter Jameson?"

"Suit yourself but I think that he would

be a great catch for you. You do know that it
is okay to start dating again. I mean it has
been five years."

Chantelle loved Aaliyah like a sister, but

she hated when she bought up the fact about

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dating. She did not know why people were
trying to make her rush. Granted it has been
five years, and it would be nice sometimes to
come home to someone to tell your prob-
lems. "I know that it is okay to date, and
when I find someone that I am interested in I
will. However, that person is not Hunter
Jameson."

"Suit yourself so can we now celebrate

by having a drink."

"Now you are talking." They waved the

waiter over to order their drinks.

Hunter was working on a brief when
Kenny walked into his office. "Hey man
do you want to get lunch I am starving."

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"You are always hungry, but yea let me
save this and we can go."
"Well do you want me to say it now or
later?"

Hunter had no idea what his friend was

talking about, but he was sure that he would
find out soon. "What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about the consulting firm

that we hired. I told you if you gave them a
chance and listen to what they had to say you
would agree with me."

"Oh that yea you were right."
Hunter knew that Kenny was not going

to let him forgot about his ranting about hir-
ing a consulting firm, so he was not going to
give Kenny the power to rag him.

"That was way too easy what has gotten

into you, or should I say who has?"

"What are you talking about now?"

Even though Hunter had a feeling he knew
where this conversation was going, he
wanted to hear what Kenny had to say.

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"I am talking about the way you were

flirting with Chantelle."

Hunter shut his computer off and stood.

He realized that there was no reason to deny
that he was making a play for Chantelle.
"What if I was?"

"Hey I don't have a problem, but it

looked to me that she did not want anything
to do with you. What happen when Aaliyah
and I left the room?"

Hunter knew if he did not tell Kenny he

would not get any piece until he did. He
loved Kenny like a brother but sometimes he
could be very meddlesome. "Well I can see
that you will not let this one go." "I told her
that I wanted to get to know her on a more
personal level."

"What did she say?"
"To quote her she said 'Not going to
happen'.
"That’s it, so what do you plan to do
about your problem?"

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"Well first off, I do not see it as a prob-
lem. I plan to pursue her."
"What was the reason she gave?"

"Oh the usual age, but she…" Hunter

still could not get over the other facts why
she did not want to date him. Granted he
never dated a black woman before, but color
never matter to him.

"She what man."
"She said that she did not date rich play-
boys or white guys even though her late
husband was white."
"If she was married to a white man, why
ban you from her list?"

"Because she had a bad experience with

the in-laws and does not want a repeat." "I
plan on changing her mind on that one that
is the last thing she has to worry about with
my parents. Plus I am a long way from being
a playboy."

39/317

"Sounds to me you have your work cut

out for you. Just make sure work and per-
sonal are kept separate."

"When have I ever let my personal life

get in the way of my professional life, I plan
on keeping a level head." "There is just
something different about her. The minute
she walked in the door I knew that I had to
get to know her in the biblical way."

"Don't tell me you think that she may be

the one?"

Hunter just smiled at his friend and

started walking towards the door. "Come on
I'm getting hungry lets go eat."

40/317

Chapter 4

It was hard to concentrate on the work

Chantelle was doing when there was a
boutique of roses staring back at her. You
could not help but notice them when you
walked into the office, and Aaliyah gave her a
hard time from the time they both saw them.
"Well I wonder who those are from."

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"They are probably for the both of us to

welcome us aboard."

"There is only one way to find out."

Aaliyah walked over, grabbed the card, and
read it. When Chantelle noticed how Aaliyah
cocked one eyebrow, she knew that there was
more to those flowers. She wondered if she
ignored Aaliyah, she would take the hint and
forgot about this.

"Well do you want to know what the
card says?"
Well there goes that theory.
"What does the card say?"
"It seems to be for you."
"Me, do not be ridiculous."

Aaliyah handed the card to Chantelle

when she walked over. As she read the card,
she could not believe what she was reading.
This was worst than she thought.

"Told you the man was flirting with you.
What do you plan on doing about it?"

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"I do not plan on doing anything about
it. I came to work not to get involved
with some guy."
"Sweetie this is not just some guy. This
is Hunter Jameson and he has decided
that he wants to get to know you."
"This means nothing." Aaliyah took the
card from Chantelle and read it aloud.
Chantelle, I thought that this would
brighten your day.
Love, H
"I think that we can both agree that the
man was not just saying good luck on
your first day."

Chantelle knew that she was right, but

she had no idea how to handle this. She had
been out of the couple's scene for five years.
"What should I do?"

"See where it leads. Flirt back at him

just take it one day at a time. There have
been men who have been interested in you,
but you quickly made it known that you were

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not interested. Now here is a man that will
not take no for an answer. See what he has to
offer. Look I need to go and set up the room
for my training keep me informed."

That was two hours ago, and Chantelle

still had not seen or heard for Hunter. She
did not know if that was a good or bad sign.
As if he knew, she was thinking about him
Hunter stood in the door looking all smug
and sure of himself. He was wearing a cus-
tom blue suit, and looking like the rich white
man that he is. Well it was time for her to put
her big girl panties on and face Hunter. This
had to stop before it went any farther.

"Is there something I can do for you
Hunter?"
Hunter moved away from the door and
shut it. "Well at least you remembered
to call me Hunter."
"Is that why you came by, to see if I
would call you by your given name?"

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"Of course not I wanted to see how
things were going and see if you needed
anything."
"I am doing just fine thank-you."
"I see that you received my flowers."

Chantelle could see Hunter smiling. She

wanted to wipe that smug smile off his face.
If he thought that, he was going to get to her
he was wrong. "Yes thank-you for the
flowers. Was there something else?"

So, she wanted to play it this way. Pre-

tend that the flowers met nothing. "As a mat-
ter of fact there is I was hoping that you
would have lunch with me."

Chantelle looked at Hunter and smiled.
"Oh I'm sorry I already have plans."
"May I ask with whom?"
Chantelle looked up from her typing and
smiled at Hunter. "No you may not."
"Oh come on are you really going to
make this more difficult than it has to
be."

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"I have no idea what you are talking
about. I already have plans what is diffi-
cult about that."

Hunter came around to the side of the

desk and placed his hands on top of hers to
stop her from typing. "What do you think
you are doing? I have a lot of work to do."

"It is not going anywhere." Hunter

grabbed Chantelle and pulled her up and
closer to him.

"What are you doing?"
Hunter was only inches away from her

lips. Lips that he desperately wanted to kiss,
and get acquainted with. "Tell me why are
you fighting me on this?"

"Fighting you on what? I told you that I
already had plans. Besides, I told you
that I do not date white guys…
"Yes I know or rich ones or younger
men. You should really consider chan-
ging your mind."
"Not going to happen."

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"Then I guess I am going to have to

change it for you." Before Chantelle could ar-
gue, Hunter pulled her closer and claimed
her lips. At first Chantelle was shocked and
then she went limp in his arms and opened
her mouth to him. It felt as if they were hav-
ing a battle with their tongues and Chantelle
was losing. It had been a long time since
Chantelle felt this way. She had to give him
credit the man could kiss. Hunter could feel
her giving into him. He slowly placed his
hands lower until he cupped her ass.
Chantelle had reached up and had her arms
around his neck playing with his hair. She
loved the feel of his hair it was silky. She also
loved the way the man felt next to her. She
could tell that he worked out. She loved the
feel of a man who took care of his body.
Hunter moved away from her lips and star-
ted kissing her neck. "You are so beautiful. I
thought of nothing but you over the week-
end." Before Chantelle could say anything,

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he started kissing her again. Then she heard
the song the Entertainer and realized that it
was her cell phone.

"I need to get that."
"Let it go to voice mail."
"I need to get it." Hunter let her go. She

went to answer her phone knowing who it
was. "Hello." At the same time, Hunter came
up behind her, placing his arms around her
waist, and started kissing her neck. He was
making it hard to concentrate on her phone
call. It was apparent that he was not going to
stop pursuing her. She needed to put a stop
to this. "Sure we are still on for lunch Miles."
At that moment, Hunter stopped kissing her
and pulled away. He looked at her and raised
his eyebrow. "I will meet you at the restaur-
ant, and yes we are still on for dinner to-
night." At that moment, Hunter took the
phone from Chantelle.

"I am sorry Miles but Chantelle will not

be having lunch with you good bye." He

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ended the call and put her phone back on her
desk. She could not believe the audacity of
taking her phone and hanging up on Miles.

"Why the hell did you tell him that and
hanging up on him. I was still talking to
him."
"I thought that I made it pretty clear you
were not having lunch with him nor are
you having dinner with him."
"Where the fuck do you get off saying
who I can or cannot have lunch or din-
ner with."

"Us kissing before we were interrupted

by Miles gives me the fuck to say who you go
out with. The only man you are going out
with is me."

"You are crazy."
"Yes I am crazy about you. I know that

you are not going to stand here and tell me
that you felt nothing when we were kissing.
If you do, you are lying to me and to
yourself."

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Chantelle closed her eyes hoping that

this was a dream, but when she opened her
eyes back up Hunter was still standing there.
"Get out Hunter. I am not going out with
you, so you might as well just leave me
alone."

Hunter stood there with his arms
crossed. "If you run, I am only going to
keep chasing you."
"I do not understand you. Why me you
could have any woman you want?"
"Why not you are beautiful, intelligent
what man would not want to be seen
with you."
"We come from two different worlds."
"Haven't you ever heard that opposites
attract."
"Yes but they do not always stay
together."

"Only if you let the differences come

between you, and I have no intention of let-
ting that happen. I want to get to know you,

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and I think that once you get to know me you
will see that I am not that different from
you."

"I know one thing you are arrogant."
Hunter started laughing. Chantelle did
not think that this situation was funny.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I wouldn't say that I am arrogant, just
confident. I am confident that you are
going to go out with me."
"Well I can tell you that I am not going
to have lunch with you today."
"Why and I do not want to hear because
I am white, rich, or younger than you."
"Well I am sorry those are my reasons.
Now if you will excuse me I have to fin-
ish this and then I need to meet Miles."

Hunter lifted his brow and looked at her

for a long time before he said anything. Then
he chuckled and grabbed Chantelle. "Go on
and have lunch with Miles, but this is not
over. When I want something really bad, I

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usually get it." He then kissed her with so
much passion Chantelle thought that she was
going to faint when he let her go. It took
Chantelle a long time to settle down after
Hunter left her office. She needed to get out
of there so she could think.

When Chantelle left the office she did

not meet Miles, but she did call him and
asked if they could do lunch another day that
is after she promised to explain who and
what happened on the phone. She still could
not believe that Hunter kissed her and said
that this is not the end of him chasing after
her. She also could not believe that she re-
acted the way she did to his kiss. If he had of
kept kissing her, they would have ended up

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on her desk. Chantelle had no idea how she
was going to handle this situation, but she
knew that she better come up with a solution
soon because she needed to get back to the
office. She needed to talk to Aaliyah.

Chapter 5

Aaliyah walked into the house and was

not surprised when she saw Chantelle in the

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living room. "I knew that you would be
here."

"How did you know that I was already
home, I could have been at the market
or running."
"Well you do not run in the afternoon,
and we just went grocery shopping. Why
did you leave work early?"
"I had to get out of there."
"Why?"
"Hunter kissed me."
"Well I can't say I am surprised after he
sent you those flowers."
"What am I going to do Aaliyah?"

"Why do you have to do anything? Look

no one said that you had to marry the guy
just have a little fun with him. I mean it has
been five years. No one is going to blame you
for having fun."

"I don't know he is white and you know

I said that I would never date a white guy

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ever again. Plus he is rich. What do you think
his family is going to say?"

"You are going to go out with him not

his family, and as I mentioned before no one
said that you had to marry the guy. Just have
some fun you deserve it."

"I don't think that I remember how to

go out on a date."

"Listen it is like riding a bike once you

start you will remember." Chantelle figured
what could be the harm if they went out
once. She could have sex with him and
Hunter is the reason that she was feeling
horny. It is only sex anyway.

"Well I will think about it."

"Aaliyah I worked on the syllabus for

the next few weeks and printed it out so you

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can give your class the updated one. I think
the additions that Kenny wanted were good
ones."

"I agree I think that this assignment is

going to put us on the map."

"I think that it will also…." Just then,

the doorbell ranged. "Are you expecting
anyone?"

"No, but we won't know who it is until

we answer the door." Aaliyah goes to open
the door and a delivery guy is standing there
with roses.

"Chantelle Williams."
"I can take those wait let me get you a
tip."
"No need it has already been taken care
of."
"They are for you."
"Who would send me flowers?"
"There is only one way to find out read
the card."

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"You read it." Chantelle already knew
who they were from.

"Chantelle I really enjoy spending

time with you.

I would love to have dinner with

you.

"Well it seems that Mr. Hunter Jameson
is not about to give up."
"Are you going to have dinner with
him?"
"I don't know I mean it could cause a lot
of problems."
"Oh girl stop worrying about something
that may or may not happen. Go out and
have some fun you deserve it."
Just then, Chantelle's cell phone ranged.
"Chantelle."
"Hello beautiful."
"Hello Hunter what can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you received the
flowers."

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"As a matter of fact they just arrived.
They are beautiful."

"I met what I said on the card. I do en-

joy spending time with you, and I would love
to have dinner with you. How about
Wednesday?"

"Wednesday… I don't know I mean…" At
that time, Aaliyah grabbed the phone
from Chantelle and answered for her.
"Hunter this is Aaliyah Chantelle would
love to have dinner with you on
Wednesday."
"Oh okay I will pick her up at seven."
"Seven is fine." Aaliyah handed the
phone back to Chantelle and walked out
of the room.
"I guess we are having dinner on
Wednesday?"

"Did I mention that I like Aaliyah? I

have a feeling if she had not interfered we
would not be having dinner on Wednesday."

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"You are probably right. Hunter, thank-

you again for the flowers it has been a long
time since I have been given any flowers."

"You are welcome sweetness, and

goodnight."

"Goodnight Hunter." As Chantelle was

hanging up, she wondered if this was such a
good idea to have dinner with Hunter. Well
she would have dinner with him and make
him realize that they should stick to a work-
ing relationship. Now if she could only con-
vince herself.

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Chapter 6

Wednesday was here before Chantelle

knew what hit her. She had worked at home
yesterday and did not see Hunter, but he did
call her to make sure she was okay. She de-
cided not to go into the office today because
she had an appointment and she wanted to
do some shopping for tonight. She decided to
buy a new dress and shoes, and she had
made a hair appointment. It was six thirty
and she had a feeling that Hunter was the
type of person to arrive on time. "Well don't
you look nice is that a new dress."

"Yes I bought it today."
"It seems as if you did a lot today to get
ready for your date. You did not even
come into work today."

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Chantelle looked worried. "Was there a
problem because I did not come into
work."
"No everything went smoothly. Hunter
was not in the office he had court today.
I am proud of you."
"Why?"
"I thought for sure you were going to
find a way to cancel."
"It was not like I did not think about it. I
even thought about using Michael as an
excuse."
"You would use your own son as an ex-
cuse. Now you know that I would not
have allowed you to do that."
"I know that is why I did not do it."

"By the way thank-you for watching

him. He is still next door Sherry said that she
would feed him then bring him back over
after dinner. He has already done his
homework."

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"Do not worry I mean it is not as if I

have not watched my godson before. Now let
me look at you. I have the perfect piece of
jewelry that will go perfect with this dress."
Chantelle was wearing a black lace dress with
matching shoes. Aaliyah had come back with
a pair of diamond earrings that went perfect
with her dress. No sooner had she finished
putting on her lip-gloss the doorbell ranged.
It was six fifty five.

"Could you get that tell Hunter I will be

right down."

"I can do that, and do not worry

everything is going to be fine. It is like riding
a bike once you get back on you will remem-
ber what to do."

"I hope so it has been five years."
"Everything will be okay." Chantelle

hoped that her friend was right because she
had her doubts about this. Well it did not
matter she would have dinner with Hunter,
but nothing else was going to happen.

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Chantelle would not allow it. She hope that
she could be strong enough to follow through
with what she wanted.

When Chantelle walked downstairs,

Hunter was talking to Aaliyah. It was as if he
sensed her presence and looked up to find
themselves staring at one another. Chantelle
knew from the way he was looking at her that
she was in trouble. When she came down to
meet him, he handed her a single red rose.
"Here you are my lady."

"You are going to spoil me with all of

these flowers."

"That

intention."

Hunter

whispered in her ear. "By the way you look
beautiful tonight, but you always look beauti-
ful. Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes let me grab my wrap."
"Now do not worry about getting home

early I have everything under control here
stay out as long as you like, and do not do
anything I would not do."

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"Oh we want, and remember what I said

about Michael."

"Just go you to."
They left to go on their date. Hunter

lead her to his car. She should have known
that he drove something expensive. "Nice
Mercedes what is it like eighty thousand."

Hunter

chuckled.

"No

hundred

thousand."
"This is one of the main reasons why we
should not go out."
"We are not going down that road again.
How about we just enjoy dinner?"
"Fine I think that I can do that."

Chapter 7

Chantelle could not believe that she was eat-
ing at one of the most expensive and hottest
restaurants in the city. It took weeks to get

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reservations unless you had the money or the
name that could get you in. When the waiter
led them to their table, Hunter held the chair
out for her. Then sat across from her. They
were in a spot that would give them privacy,
but still able to see what was going around
them. The first thing that Chantelle noticed
was all of the expensive jewelry the women
were wearing. She could not understand why
anyone would wear something that expens-
ive. To her it was just too much temptation
for a thief.
"What's wrong do you not like the
restaurant?"
"Hunter you know that there is no way that I
could ever afford to come to this restaurant,
so how would I know if I liked it or not.
However I have heard that the food is to die
for."
"They do have a reputation for hiring only
chef's that has attended Le Cordon Bleu.
Would you like some wine?"

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"Yes I would." When the waiter came
back, Hunter ordered a bottle of Petrus.
Chantelle was not a wine expert, but she
did know that a bottle of Petrus at min-
imum cost a thousand dollars. Chantelle
thought that this was just another reas-
on why they should not go out. When
the waiter bought the bottle, he poured
some in a glass and Hunter tasted it and
gave the waiter a nod then he poured
some in each glass. Hunter held up his
glass.
"I like to make a toast to a wonderful
evening and to future dates." Hunter
was looking at Chantelle, and he could
tell that he was making her nervous.
"Tell me Chantelle do I make you
nervous."
"Yes I mean no."
"Which is it yes or no?"
"Look Hunter I am nervous it has been

five years since I have been out

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with a man. I feel like a teenager
who is going on their first date."

"If it makes you feel any better, I am

nervous also."

"You the famous Hunter Jameson

where is the media when you need
them."

"Funny, why is it so hard to believe? I

have something to prove to you. Re-
member you consider me a rich
playboy."

"Do not forget white and younger."
"One obstacle at a time is all I want to

deal with tonight."

"Does that mean you want to go out

again?"

"I think you know the answer to that

question. What I want is to learn more
about you Chantelle Brown."

"What is there to know? I told you

that I have a son, and that I am a widow.
What more is there?"

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"Why not tell me about your time in

the Army?"

"I did twenty years. I joined right out of

high school because I did not have the
money for college. When I went to my first
duty station, I enrolled in college and re-
ceived my bachelors in Business. Then I
went to graduate school and I received my
Masters in Human Resources. That is where
I met Aaliyah. Even thought we ended up at
different duty stations we kept in touch. At
my last duty station when I was getting
ready, to retire I met Aaliyah and that was
when we decided to start our own business.
As they say the rest is history."

"Did you fight in the war?"
"I did two tours in Iraq, and one in

Afghanistan." "Afghanistan was the worst.
The thing is that I became non-deployable."

"Why were you non-deployable?"
"My husband had only been dead a year,

and my commander did not think that I was

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fit to go to war. Since I only had two years
left he made sure that I was not deployed."

"I do not understand if you were non-
deployable how did you end up going to
Afghanistan?"
"I got rid of the waiver."
"Why would you do that you had a son
who had lost one parent, and then you
were going to place yourself in harm's
way."

"That was the problem I was not think-

ing. I know now that I had no business going
over there. I missed my husband so much
that I did not care anymore. I did not want to
live anymore. The problem was that Afgh-
anistan made things worst. When I came
back home, I had to seek treatment. I still see
a doctor."

"Are you on any medication?"
"I take anti-depressions."

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Hunter looked at Chantelle. "If you take
anti-depression, you should not be
drinking."

"I do not drink that much. Not as much

as I did when I retired from the Army, I use
to drink alcohol as if it was water. I under-
stand if you want to take me home and not
see me anymore."

"If you think that you are going to try

and scare me away with this story, you under
estimate me. I know that many soldiers suf-
fer from PTSD. Not only did you have to deal
with the death of your husband, but you had
to make it through war."

Chantelle picked up her drink and made

a toast. "Here is to all the service members
who made the ultimate sacrifice and the ones
that are still over there."

"Here is to a very strong will and inde-

pendent single mom who could be a role
model for other single parents."

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"Thank-you Hunter I need words of en-

couragement every once and awhile."

"Babe I will encourage you every day for

the rest of our lives." Chantelle knew that he
met it. This man was incredible, and if she
did not watch herself, she was going to end
up falling for him and getting hurt. She
needed to have that talk with Hunter before
this went any further.

"Hunter we need to talk." Hunter knew

exactly where this conversation was heading,
and he was not going to let her start with her
mantra of we do not belong together.

"We can talk later let us just enjoy our

dinner."

"Okay Hunter I can do that."

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Later

after

dinner,

Hunter

took

Chantelle
upstairs where there was a live band playing
jazz.
Chantelle still could not believe that she was
at one
of the hottest restaurants and clubs in the
city. They
were even playing one of her favorite artist
Boney
James. They must of liked him also because
they were
playing several of his songs. When they
started
playing 'All night long', Hunter asked her to
dance.
Hunter was an excellent dancer. He was
holding her close, and his hand was on her
lower back. "Are you having a good time?"

"As a matter of fact I am having a nice
time. I must say that you are an excel-
lent dancer."

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"I think having a partner that you really
want to be with helps also."
"Hunter you are a charmer. I bet you say
that to all of your dates."

"As a matter of fact you are the only wo-

man I have said that to." They were looking
at one another, and then before Chantelle
knew what was happening Hunter kissed
her. Before the kiss became too intense,
Chantelle pulled away. They danced to two
other songs before Chantelle started com-
plaining how her feet were hurting. These
were one of her favorite pair of shoes, but
they were more for looking cute in not for
dancing. Instead of going back to the table,
they decided to leave.

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Chapter 8

Instead of taking Chantelle home, they

went to Hunter's house. His house more like
a mini mansion. She wondered why a single
man needed so much room. When she first
walked in, she noticed that all of the floors
were wooden except for the ones in the foyer
and the furniture was very expensive. They
settled into the living room. "I love your foy-
er what kind of floors is that?" It is terrazzo.

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It consists of marble, granite, onyx, and glass
chips embedded in cement."

"That is Italian right."
"Yes it is."
"From what I can see you have a lot of

Italian influence in your house. I take it that
is one of your favorite places."

"You are correct. I have spent a lot of

time in Italy. If you ever want to go there let
me know, so I can be your tour guide."

"You know it that well? I will keep that

in mind when I go."

"Would you like a drink?" Hunter was

fixing himself a scotch.

"I will take a venetian sunset." Hunter

raised one eyebrow at her. "What, you think
that you hold all the facts about Italy?"

"No I have just never had anyone say
they wanted one."
"You do know how to fix it?"
"Very funny."

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While Hunter was fixing her drink, she

looked around the room. The whole room
reeked of money she could just image what
the rest of the house looked like. This leather
couch she was sitting on cost at least five
thousand. She could only image how much
the other pieces cost. "Here you go. Let me
know how it is I am a little out of practice on
this one."

Chantelle tasted it, and made a horrible
taste. "Here let me have it I will make
you another."
That was when Chantelle started laugh-
ing. "Sorry I could not help myself."
"Why did you make me think that I
made a horrible drink?"
"I guess because you are so good at
everything I wanted you to think that
you could at least do one thing wrong."
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "There are a
lot of things that I cannot do. I am not
perfect babe."

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"I guess you just seem so well put to-
gether that it would be hard to find any-
thing wrong with you."
"I assure you I do. I know one thing I
find perfect about you."
"What would that be?"
"Your beauty babe."

"First, I am not beautiful there are wo-

men in this world that are a lot beautiful
than me. Second do not call me babe."

"To me you are and why can I not call

you babe?"

"I think that this is as good of time as

any to have a talk."

Hunter knew what Chantelle was going

to say. He was determined to change her
mind. "Not the same old subject again. I am
so tired of you finding excuses not to go out
with me. Tell me something up until this
very moment were you having a good time?"

"Well yes but that has nothing to do

with the issues that we would face."

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"This is not the nineteen sixties we have

a right to be happy together. Yes, there are
going to be people who are going to do a
double take when they see us together. You
know what I say the hell with them. We de-
serve to be happy and we deserve to find out
where this thing that is between us goes. Do
not even try to deny that there is something
between us." At that moment, Hunter set his
and Chantelle's drink on the table. He
grabbed her and started kissing her. At first,
it was a simple kiss, but when Chantelle
opened her mouth to protest Hunter took
advantage. He deepens the kiss, and then it
becomes a battle of the tongues. Chantelle
knew that she was going to lose because she
placed her hands behind Hunters neck.
Hunter moved his lips away from her mouth
and started kissing her neck, and Chantelle
held her head back to give him more access.
"You still going to deny that there is
something between us?"

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Chantelle did not even realize Hunter

was speaking to her at first this is what this
man had done to her. She could not even
think straight. "Well are you still going to
deny the feelings we have?" He had stopped
kissing her and now he was looking at her
with those penetrating green eyes.

"I ohm I…."
"That is okay babe I know you cannot
deny it. I think that we owe it to
ourselves to find out what we can have."
"Someone is going to get hurt."

"Maybe but that is the chance you take

when you have a relationship. Come on babe,
and yes, I am going to call you that and any
other endearments that come to mind."

What would be the harm in going out

with Hunter? He would probably get tired of
her anyway. She would just have to keep her
guard up and be prepared when it happened.
"I guess we could give it a try."

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Hunter smiled that was the best news

he had heard all night. Hunter knew that this
was going to be an uphill battle and that she
was going to put up walls. He also knew that
he was going to tear down those walls. "I am
glad that you finally see it my way."

He just did not know that she was going

to fight getting to attached to him because
when the time comes for him to leave her she
would not become the emotional wreck she
was when her husband died. She knew that
eventually he would get tired of her. She just
needed to prepare herself for that day. Now
all she had to do was convince her heart of
that.

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Chapter 9

Chantelle had just walked into her office

after giving a presentation. She really hated

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giving them. She was going to talk to Hunter
about having Aaliyah giving the presenta-
tions. Then she saw the note from Hunter
asking her to come to his office. She
wondered what he wanted. Well there was
only one way to find out and that was to go
see. When she came to his office, Nancy his
assistant was at her desk. "Hi Nancy, Hunter
wanted to see me."

"He told me to send you right in when
you came."
"Thanks how is your day going?"
"I cannot complain I have a great boss
and I love my work."

"That does make a difference. Well

Nancy I better go in, and have a good day."
When she walked into Hunter's office, he
was on his computer. She went to sit in one
of the chairs that was in front of his desk.

"Took you long enough to come."

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"If I had of known that there was an
importance's I would have ran down the
hall."
Hunter chuckled at her statement
"There was no need for you to run".
"Good because I already did my run this
morning. Well what was it that you
needed?"
"You."
If Hunter wanted to surprise Chantelle,
he was doing a very good job. "Excuse
me what did you say?"
"I said I need you."

Okay get a hold of yourself. He could

mean something completely different from
what she was thinking. Maybe he just needed
something explained. "Why do you need me?
Is something wrong?"

Hunter stood up, came in front of

Chantelle, grabbed her hand, and pulled her
up from the chair. "There most definitely is
something wrong I miss you and I wanted to

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see you." He then kissed her, which took
Chantelle by surprised. Of course, she should
be used to Hunter grabbing her and kissing
her. The man has a way of making her forget
where she is when he does this. He also has a
habit of making her want things she has not
thought of in five years. If she did not watch
herself, she might find herself on Hunter's
desk with her clothes off.

Chantelle pulled away from Hunter, but
that did not stop him from kissing her
neck. "Hunter you need to stop."
"Now why would I do something like
that when I am enjoying having you in
my arms?"
"Because we are at work, and this is not
the time or the place for this."
"We can always go back to my place."

"You are impossible." Chantelle was

able to step back from Hunter. "Now was
there anything thing else that you needed?"

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Hunter was not very happy having

Chantelle out of his arms, but he could be a
patient man. "How about we have lunch
together?"

"I think I can fit you in my schedule."
"Good let's go I made reservations."
Chantelle stopped in front of Hunter.
"Suppose I was busy then what would
you have done."
Hunter shrugged his shoulders and said.
"You weren’t so that is a moot question."
"You are one arrogant man."
"You are just realizing that."
"No I knew you were. I just did not real-
ize how arrogant you are. Is this what I
have to look forward to?"
"Only when you are being stubborn.
Come on babe lunch is awaiting us."
"There is something that I would like to
discuss with you."
"Okay we can discuss it at lunch."

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Once

again,

Hunter

was

taking

Chantelle to a very expensive restaurant. If
she did not watch herself, she could find her-
self getting use to being spoiled. As they were
walking to their table, she noticed two things
one Hunter spoke to many of the people that
were in the restaurant and they were getting
many stares. Even after they sat down, she
noticed that they were getting a lot of looks.
"Hunter

are

you

regular

this

restaurant?"

"I have been known to come here on oc-

casion why?"

"We just seem to be getting a lot of

attention."

Hunter looked around and noticed sev-

eral of his parent's friends. "Oh, do not pay
them any attention." Hunter could tell that
Chantelle was looking uncomfortable. "Babe
look at me. I do not give a damn what people

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think, and I certainly do not care what a
bunch of busy bodies think. We made a de-
cision to see where this relationship could
lead to, and we owe it to ourselves to find
out." At that moment, he gave her a light kiss
on the lips. If it was his intention to draw
more attention to them, he was doing a good
job of it. Just then, someone came over to
where we were sitting and called Hunter's
name.

"Hunter Jameson where have you been

hiding?"

Of all the people, he had to see today.

Pamela Niles could potentially cause a prob-
lem with his budding relationship with
Chantelle. He had to find a way of getting rid
of her fast. He stood up to greet her. "Hello
Pamela yes it has been a long time." She gave
him a kiss on the lips before he could stop
her. Hunter had to do something about this
situation and fast. "Pamela I would like for

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you to meet Chantelle Brown. Chantelle this
is Pamela Niles a friend of my family."

"Oh Hunter we are more than just

friends we are practically engaged. Are you a
new lawyer Hunter's firm is bringing into the
practice or a client?"

Chantelle looked at the woman named

Pamela. She was pretty in a fake sort of way.
Everything about her was fake from her
blond hair to her boobs. Chantelle could nev-
er understand why someone would want to
waste good hard-earned money on fake
boobs. She did not really see what attraction
Hunter had for the woman, but if he was en-
gaged to her apparently, he came to his
senses before the wedding. "I am neither I
am doing some consulting work for Hunter's
firm."

Hunter raised a brow at Chantelle com-

ment. She wanted to play it that way. Hunter
was not going to let her minimize their rela-
tionship. "Chantelle is more than just my

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consultant we also happen to be dating."
Now deny that.

"Oh really you do not seem his type."
Hunter was throwing the gauntlet

down, and she could tell he was waiting for
her to make the next call. She knew that
Hunter was testing her to see what she
would say. "Well Hunter and I just started
going out."

"Oh that explains it. You see he never

stays with one woman longer than a couple
of weeks."

Before Chantelle could say anything

else, Hunter beat her to the touch. "Well
Pamela it was nice seeing you again, but we
do have some business to conduct before we
have to get back to work."

"Yes let’s do lunch I will call you."
Hunter sat back down not giving Pamela
a chance to give him another kiss. He
waited waited for Chantelle to say
something.

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"Well is that one of your ex's?"
"We only dated for awhile."
"She seems to be under the impression
that you to are practically engaged."

Hunter just shook his head before he

spoke. He had to clear this up now, or it
could become a problem. "Pamela's family
and my family know one another, so we grew
up together. There was a time when my fam-
ily thought that we would become engaged,
but it never happen."

"Let me get this straight you to were

never a couple?"

Hunter was not going to lie to Chantelle,

so he decided to be completely honest with
her. "We went out for awhile when we were
younger. My mother had a problem with me
always dating women who were older than I
was. I decided to give women my age or
around my age a chance. Pamela and I dated
for about six months, but I felt nothing for
her. Even though we had known each other

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all of our lives, I never felt anything other
than friendship. I even dated a few other wo-
men around my age and it was the same. I
just prefer older women."

"Does your mother still have a problem
with you dating older women?"
"She does, but she also realizes that this
is my life and I have to live it the way
that makes me happy."
"Dating

older

women

makes

you

happy?"

"Right now you make me happy. I know

that I said that we could take it slow, but I
find myself wanting to take you back to my
place and ravishing you." Hunter reached for
her hand and bought it up to his lips. "I find
myself thinking about you first thing in the
morning and the last thing before I go to
sleep. I know that it is early in our relation-
ship, but I think that I am falling for you. I
know, but it is how I feel."

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"Hunter I think that you are confused.
We have not known one another long
enough for you to feel this way."
"You cannot tell me how I feel." At just
that moment, Hunter saw their waiter
coming to their table.
"Are you and the lady ready to order?"

Chantelle did not know what to think of

what Hunter was saying to her. She knew
that she was attractive to Hunter, but for him
to say that he was having strong feelings for
her scared her to death. There was only one
thing to do and that was to get out of this
situation. "You know what I just re-
membered that I have something that I need
to take care of. I am going to have to take a
rain check on lunch." Before she could grab
her purse, Hunter had grabbed her wrist.

"Could you excuse us please?" Hunter

waited for the waiter to leave before he
spoke. "What is this about Chantelle?"

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"Nothing I just remembered that I have
something that needs my attention im-
mediately now please let me go."
Hunter knew that she was trying to run
he just could not figure out why. "What
is wrong?"
"There is nothing wrong. I just need to
take care of some business."
Hunter took out his wallet and placed
some money on the table. "I will take
you were you need to go."
"No that will not be necessary I can take
a cab."

Hunter did not like the way this was go-

ing. "Look I do not want you going out of
your way. I will see you tomorrow at work."

Before he knew what had happen she

was gone. He got up and went to follow her
outside, but she was already gone. "Shit what
happen?" Hunter was mad, and he was going
to find out why Chantelle was running from
him.

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Chapter 10

Chantelle was pacing back and forth in

front of her friend Miles desk. She could not
recall a time when she was this upset or
nervous. Hunter was confusing her. She
needed to talk to someone, and since Aaliyah
was still at work that was the last place, she
wanted to be because she was afraid Hunter
would be there. She decided to go see her
friend Miles who she had met in the Army.
They became friends after he had decided to

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come out and state that he was gay, and she
ended up doing his paper work for discharge.
They stayed friends after he got out and
eventually they ended up living in the same
city. After the Army, Miles started his own
business and from what she could tell, he
was doing well for himself. Miles was proof
that there was life after the military. Like his
house, he had expensive furniture and art-
work. The artwork was courtesy of his boy-
friend. Chantelle had a couple of his pieces in
her home, but she had purchased them when
his boyfriend was not well known. Now she
could not afford his work even if he offered it
to her at a discount.

"As much as I love to see you Chantelle

you are going to wear a hold in my carpet if
you keep walking back and forth like you are.
Have a seat and tell me what is going on.
What has you so upset?"

Chantelle sat down and started telling

Miles what was going on with her. "I met

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someone, and as much as I have tried to keep
him at a distant he keeps trying to get closer
to me."

Miles was happy for his friend, but he

could also tell that she was upset, and prob-
ably confused about her feeling she is experi-
encing. "I would like to say that I am happy
that you have met someone. However, why
are you trying to keep him at a distant? Is he
a jerk?"

"No he is not a jerk. I am afraid to get

involved with him. You know I have not
dated anyone since my husband died."

"You know how I feel about this whole

situation. I think that your husband would
want you to live and go on with your life.
Now who is this man who has you all wound
up?"

"His name is Hunter Jameson and…"
Before Chantelle could finish her sen-

tence, Miles interrupted her. "Did I hear you
correctly did you say Hunter Jameson?"

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"Yes his name is Hunter Jameson why

do you know him?"

"Do I know him? A better question is do

you know who he is? He just happens to be-
long to one of the most famous and riches
family and he happens to be one of the most
eligible bachelors. How did you happen to
get the attention of Hunter Jameson?"

"Aaliyah and I was hired as a consultant

for his law firm."

"You do realize that you are going to be

the envy of every woman in the city because
you are going out with Hunter Jameson."

"Have you ever met him?"
"No I have not had the privilege of

meeting him, but I do read the papers. If he
swung my way, I would have gone after him.
Take my advice go out with the man and
have fun, and see where it leads. You never
know you may become Mrs. Hunter
Jameson."

"Now you sound like Aaliyah."

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"Well than if two people are giving you
the same advice you should listen to us."
"All you see are dollar signs. The man
scares me."

"Why does he scare you has he done or

said something to you. If he has, you know
that I will take care of him. No one messes
with my girl."

Chantelle smiled at Miles. Miles was a

very handsome man with his chocolate skin
and short hair that he still wore military
style. Unless you knew Miles, you could not
tell that he was gay. The man had the body of
an Adonis and he won the title in his class of
middleweight in boxing. Even thought he
does not box professional anymore, he still
hangs around the ring. He even took up kick-
boxing. Chantelle even went a few rounds in
the ring with him kickboxing. "That is very
sweet of you, but I do not need for you to
beat him up for me. He has been a perfect
gentleman."

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"Then what is the problem?"
"The fact that he is rich, he is white and

is younger than me."

Miles was aware of the strained rela-

tionship Chantelle has with her in-laws.
Everything was great before her husband
Conner died, but when he died, she saw
them for who they really were. A bunch of ra-
cist jerks. "Are you going to let what happen
with your in-laws make you afraid to date
another white man? Tell me something why
are you letting them control your life?"

"I am not letting them control my life."
"Sweetheart yes you are. You are letting

what happen stopping you from having a
good time and possibly having a relationship
with someone special."

"Okay let's say that I let that fact go.

What about the fact that he is rich?"

"So what that only means that he can

take you to some really nice places and if you

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marry him he want buy your engagement
ring from Wal-Mart."

"You are impossible."
"No you know that I am pointing out to
you that your reasons for not going out
with him are not valid."
"How about the age difference."

"I am younger than you and we get

along and are best friends. You are just com-
ing up with lame excuses. Go out with the
man and have some fun."

"He scares me he is moving too fast for

me."

"I do not think he is moving too fast. I

think that since you have been out of the dat-
ing scene for so long it just seems that way."

"You may be right, but he probably will
not want to have anything to do with me
after the way I acted at lunch."
"What did you do?"
"I practically walked out on him. I know
that he thinks that I am an idiot."

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"Well he probably is wondering what is

going on, but the only way you are going to
know what he is thinking is to talk to him.
Look why not let me take you home than you
can take a nice bubble bath, and think about
all that I have said. Then tomorrow when
you both have had time to think the two of
you can talk."

Chantelle got out of her seat, went over

to Miles, and gave him a hug. "Why is it you
always know what to say to me to make me
feel better."

"I know the right thing to say baby girl

because I know you. I want you to be happy.
You and my godson. Speaking of Mike I
wanted to take him for the weekend. Drake is
out of town, and I thought that I would take
him to the gym he liked it the last time I took
him."

"He would love that."
"Besides it will give you and your man
some time alone this weekend."

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"You are impossible. Hunter may not
want to see me after what I did today."
"I have a feeling he will. Now come on
let me take you home."
"I do not want to take you away from
your work."
"That is the great part of being your own
boss you can leave when you want.
Come on let me take you home."
Chantelle stopped before Miles opened
the door. "Miles thank-you for the
advice."
"Anytime I just want you to be happy."
Sometimes Chantelle wondered if she
could ever be happy again.

When Miles pulled up in front of

Chantelle's, house the first thing she noticed
that there was a black Mercedes parked in

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front of her house, but the driver was miss-
ing. She knew that Mercedes, and she knew
that the driver of that car was going to want
to talk. She was just going to have to put her
big girl panties on and face him. Maybe she
could convince Miles to stay. "What is the
matter?"

"That is Hunter's car. Since he is not in
his car that means he is inside. You are
going to come inside with me?"
"Oh I would not miss this for anything.
Besides

want

meet

Hunter

Jameson."
"Remember he is not your type."
"You do not have to worry I do not want
your man I have my own." Chantelle
rolled her eyes at Miles comment.
"You are too much."
"I know, but you still love me. Come on I
want to meet Mr. Jameson."

When Chantelle unlocked her door, she

say Hunter sitting in the living room with

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Aaliyah. Hunter looked up, saw her, and
raised his brow at her. If she did not know
any better, she thought that he looked angry.
Aaliyah turned around and saw Chantelle
and Miles together. "There you are I was be-
ginning to get worried, but since I see you
are with Miles I can see that I was worrying
for nothing."

"Nice to see you again Aaliyah."
"Miles you know I did not mean it that

way." She went over to him and gave him a
hug. "Long time how have you been."

"I have been great, and you."
"Life is great. I am sure Chantelle has

told you about our new assignment. Matter
of fact this is one-half of our client. Hunter
Jameson I would like for you to meet Miles
Baker."

Hunter shook Miles hand. He was more

interested in why Chantelle was with him.
The fact that she ran away was bad enough,
but for her to run to another man had him

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seeing red. The fact that she was with a black
man did nothing for his temper either. "How
do you and Chantelle know one another?"

The whole time he was asking the ques-

tion he was looking at Chantelle. She was not
mistaken he was angry. She also realized that
he was also jealous of Miles being with her.

"We meet in the Army." Hunter than
looked at Miles as if he was shocked that
he was in the Army.
"Oh you were in the Army also. Were
you over in Iraq or Afghanistan
together?"
"We were in Iraq together. By the time
Chantelle went to Afghanistan I was
already out."

Chantelle could tell there was a lot of

tension in the air with Hunter so she decided
to change the subject. "I think that I will go
and pick Michael up from school."

Hunter raised his brow at Chantelle.
Like hell you are, there is no way I am

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going to let you run away from me
again.
"Oh no let me I have not seen my god
son in awhile. I can take him home with
me, and he can spend the night with
me."
"Miles it is a school night."

"I know I will help him with his home-

work. Aaliyah come upstairs with me and
pack some clothes for Mike. Besides, it will
give me practice in case I decide to have my
own."

Miles and Aaliyah went upstairs leaving

Chantelle and Hunter alone. She knew that
was Miles way of giving her a chance to ex-
plain herself. When she looked back at
Hunter, Chantelle could tell that he was mad,
and she did not forget the jealously she de-
tected earlier but why the jealously. "Well
that was nice of Miles to go and pick Michael
up from school for me."

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"Yes he is such a nice and upstanding

gentleman."

If she thought that, she had read the

situation wrong before, she did not have any
doubts after the comment Hunter just made.
Hunter had made the remark with an atti-
tude. Should she find out what is wrong, or
let it go. She decided that her curiosity got
the better of her. "What is with the attitude?"

Hunter looked at Chantelle as if she had

to be kidding. "One minute we were sitting
down getting ready to have lunch and the
next thing I know you are practically running
out of the restaurant. Then I come to your
place to wait for you so we can discuss what
happen and instead you come home with a
Denzel Washington wannabe. How do you
expect me to feel? You go on and on telling
me that you do not date white guys.
However, you decided to give our relation-
ship a try, but the first chance you get you

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run from me as fast as you can. Then you
come home with Miles. That is my problem."

"You are jealous of Miles?
"Hell yea I do not share Chantelle." It

was then that he grabbed her and kissed her.
It was not a passionate kiss, but one of pos-
sessiveness. He wanted to remind her that
she was with him not Miles or any other
man. She was his and he planned on making
sure she knew that. Chantelle was slowly re-
sponding to him by placing her arms around
his neck. Hunter pulled away from her lips
and started raining kisses down her neck. "I
want you."

"Hunter." Before she could say anything

else, he started kissing her again. Chantelle
could tell that protesting was not going to
stop Hunter he seemed to be on a mission.
Chantelle had to stop this before it went too
far. She pushed at him until she managed to
get out of his grip. She did not know how

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much longer she could resist Hunter.
"Hunter we need to slow down."

"Sorry babe, it is too late for that."
"Look I am sorry that you are having a

problem with Miles, but I have known Miles
for a long time and I have no intention of
ending my relationship with Miles. Now if
you do not mind I think that you should go. I
have a lot of work that I need to get done."

She was walking away from him going

upstairs which he assumed was her bed-
room. Before she could get in her room good,
Hunter grabbed her, carried her into her
bedroom, and closed the door. "Not this time
sweetheart I am not going to let you run
away from me this time."

"Put me down you arrogant ass."
Hunter smiled at her and dropped her

on the bed. Before she could sit up, he was
laying on top of her. "There I put you down."

"Get off of me."

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"No I met what I said I have no inten-

tion of letting you run from me. There is
something between us. From the first mo-
ment I met you, I knew that I was attractive
to you. I also know that you feel something
for me, and I intend to see where this could
go. You agreed to it, and I plan on making
you keep your word."

"Get off of me."
"No."
"Yes."
"What are you afraid of? The fact that I
stated that I am falling for you, or the
fact you have feelings for me."

Chantelle was proud of herself for keep-

ing the shock off of her face when Hunter
had stated exactly how she felt. She looked
directly into Hunter's sexy green eyes and
told a lie. "I do not know what you are talk-
ing about. I am not afraid of you or anything
else."

110/317

Hunter was getting pissed, but he was

not going to let Chantelle see how much
what she just said got to him. He was de-
termined to make her see that there could be
something wonderful between them. If she
wanted to play tough guy, he was determined
to see how far she planned on taking this.
"Good I am glad that I do not make you
nervous." He lowered his head to kiss her.
This time the kiss was passionate. It turned
into a dueling of the tongues, and Hunter
was winning the battle and the war. He star-
ted raining kisses down her neck.

"Hunter please."
"Oh I aim to please you. I want you

Chantelle. I want you bad." Hunter had
already taken his jacket and tie off he was
now in the process of taking his shirt off.
Chantelle could not help but gasp when she
saw Hunter with his shirt off. The man had a
body that should be on the cover of a men's
fitness magazine. She also noticed that he

111/317

had a couple of tattoos. What she could not
figure out was what he saw in her. "You have
on to many clothes we need to do something
about this and quickly."

"Hunter we need to slow down."
"Babe you and I both know that neither

one of us wants to do that."

She did not know how she managed to

get away from him, but she rolled off of the
bed and stood in front of him. "Hunter we
really need to slow down. We need to talk."

Was she kidding talking was the last

thing that was on his mind. He slowly rose
from the bed and walked to her until he was
in front of her. "The last thing that I want to
do is talk."

Chantelle tried to walk towards the

door, but she was not quick enough Hunter
had her trapped in his arms. He started kiss-
ing her neck and before she knew it he had
her blouse unbuttoned and off. When he
started kissing her shoulder, he noticed the

112/317

tattoo and the one on her lower back. He
would have to ask her about them later. As
quickly as he removed her top, he was just as
quick with her skirt. He lifted her up into his
arms and once again carried her to her king
size bed. He was glad she had a king size bed,
but for the life of him he could not figure out
why such a small woman needed so much
bed. He started kissing her again raining
kisses all over her. When he came to her flat
stomach, which was not just flat the woman
had a six-pack that some men would kill to
have. He also noticed that she had a pierced
belly button. It looked to be a lion dangling
from a diamond. It was sexy as hell, but this
woman was sexy anyway. He took the time to
kiss her there and moved to his destination.
Even though she was still wearing her red
silky underwear, he was glad that they were
thongs. He started kissing her well-toned
thighs and slowly moved to her sex and star-
ted playing with her clit. He placed to digits

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in the warmth of her sex and found her drip-
ping wet. He had to taste her. When he did,
he thought that Chantelle was going to come
off of the bed. He had to place a hand on her
to settle her down. "Easy babe."

"It has been a long time for me I think

that I have forgotten what to do."

"Do not worry it is like riding a bike

once you start you will remember what to
do? Besides I am going to be right here to tu-
tor you." He placed three digits inside her
and noticed how tight she was. He re-
membered her saying that it had been five
years. He was going to have to remember to
take it slow with her. He would do whatever
it took to make sure she was comfortable in
this relationship. From the reactions, he was
getting from her he would say that his little
student was catching on quick. As his fingers
were inside of her, she started riding his
hand. He wanted to make her come. He
needed to hear her scream his name. He

114/317

could feel her getting close. He went down to
taste her again and pinched her clit. "Come
for me baby." That was all she needed to
hear before her body gave in and she started
screaming his name. It was music to her
ears. It took her a few minutes to come down
from her high, but Hunter was not giving her
much time to recover. He had his pants and
boxers off before she could open her eyes. He
started kissing her again, and they were hav-
ing a dueling of the tongues again. Not only
could this man kiss, but also he knew how to
give an orgasm.
She could feel his cock resting against her
sex. There was no denying it she wanted this
man. She was not exactly sure what the fu-
ture held, but she was not going to fight him
this minute.

"Hunter I want you to hurry please."
Hunter chuckled she was saying exactly

what he wanted to hear. "Your wish is my
command babe." He removed her thongs

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and bra and, slowly entered her. As he was
entering her, it felt like heaven to him to be
inside this woman who not only frustrated
him, but also made him think about settling
down. He was not kidding when he said that
he was falling for her. He knew that he was
falling fast, and if he did not watch himself
before he knew it, he was going to be in love
with her. When he was finally inside of her,
he knew he was lost. "Are you okay?"

"Just give me a few minutes it has been

a long time."

Hunter started kissing her so she would

relax. "I am good."

Hunter started moving inside of her,

and he felt like he was in paradise. He
reached up, grabbed her hands, and placed
them on her breast. "Play with them." She
did and he lifted her legs up higher to enter
into her deeper.

"Hunter this feels so good."

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He started pumping harder in her. He

could feel his balls tighten, but he held off so
she could come first. "I am going to come
Hunter."

"Come for me baby come all over my

cock."

She did as he commanded and came.

Chantelle had never had an orgasm like this
before. Hunter was not that far behind her
he felt it coming and yelled her name as he
was coming. He was still moving inside not
wanting this feeling to end. He finally col-
lapsed on top of her. Being careful not to
crush her. It took him a few minutes to slow
his breathing down. He slowly withdrew
from her, reached over, and grabbed a tissue
to place the used condom in and rose to go
what he hoped was her bathroom. Chantelle
had not even realized when he had put the
condom on. When he returned, he went to
her, grabbed her, and held her in his arms
spooning her.

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"I have to admit I did not even realize
you were wearing a condom."
Hunter started chuckling. "Did I have
you that discombobulated?"
Chantelle turned her head slightly and
smiled at him. "I guess you did."
"Good because I plan on doing it a lot."
"Really? What makes you think that this
is going to happen again?"

Hunter reached to turn Chantelle so

that she was facing him. Even thought
Chantelle was joking she could tell from the
expression on Hunters face he was not in a
joking mood. "No more running Chantelle. I
want allow it. We both agreed to give this a
chance."

Chantelle knew that Hunter was not go-

ing to let this go. He was staring at her with
his intense green eyes. She still could not fig-
ure out why this man wanted to have a rela-
tionship with her. She reached up and
caressed his face. "Hunter we are different in

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so many ways I am having a hard time be-
lieving that anything between us will work."

Hunter grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"Woman you are the most stubborn person I
have ever met, but I have no intention of let-
ting you run. Even if you tried, I will only
chase after you."

"I believe that you will. You know you

are not the only one who is stubborn. Fine it
is like Aaliyah said I deserve some fun in my
life."

Hunter caught himself before he looked

disappointed. Is this what she thought of
their relationship having fun. Hunter knew
he had his work cut out for him, but he had
no idea that it was going to be this uphill of a
battle. He decided to let her think that this
was only going to be about sex. It was up to
him to convince her that it was going to be
more than that. Chantelle had turned back
over to her side, and Hunter kissed her

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shoulder. He was intrigued with her tattoo. I
love your tattoos is this a Pegasus?"

Chantelle turned to look at Hunter she

did not know why she should be shocked
that Hunter knew what her tattoo was. "Yes
it is." Chantelle chuckled.

"What is so funny?"
"Most people at first glance thank that it
is a unicorn."
"I guess they are not familiar with Greek
mythology."
"Guess not."
"Why a Pegasus?"
"Some think that a Pegasus is a symbol
of wisdom and inspiration something
that I am in need of all the time."
"What about the phoenix on your lower
back."
"Well you are perceptive."
"I am a lawyer I have to be, so why a
phoenix."

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"You are familiar with the meaning of
the phoenix?"
"Of course the phoenix is a creature that
rises from its own ashes after burning."

"Exactly, I choose the Phoenix because

it symbolizes a person's inner fire and zest
for life. It also symbolizes resurrection and
rebirth. I chose the phoenix because it rep-
resents a tough time in my life when my hus-
band died. That was a very tough patch in
my life. Having a phoenix represents the fact
that I overcame it. I will never get over losing
him, but I did get through it."

At that moment, Hunter bent down and
kissed her. "You are one very strong wo-
man and an inspiration for other
woman."
"I think that you give me too much
credit."
"I think that you do not give yourself
enough."

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"What about the sunset or is it a sunrise
on your leg."

"It is a sunrise. It represents the start of

a new day, and since I live on the east coast I
see the sunrise in the morning."

"Well at least your body art has mean-

ing. I have seen so many people get tattoos
just to have one and they just pick a picture
because it looks pretty."

"I take it that your arm band tattoo has a
meaning?"
"Of course it does."
"I have to admit I was a little surprised
that you have a tattoo."
"Why you think the rich lawyer is not
suppose to have one?"
"Well frankly yes. When did you get it?"
Hunter chuckled thinking how his
mother reacted when she had found out
he went and got a tattoo.
"What is so funny?"

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"Oh I was thinking about when my fam-
ily especially my mother reacted when
they found out I had a tattoo."
"What happen?"

"I was a senior in high school and you

have to realize that boys who go to an elite
private school do not get tattoos. My mother
threaten to have it removed. When I told her
I would just get another one when I went off
to college, I thought that she was going to
take to her bed."

Chantelle started laughing. "I do not

know your mother, but I can image. Why did
you get it?"

"I was in Italy at the time and a group of

us decided we wanted to have a rite of pas-
sage, so we decided to get tattoos."

"I take it this is written in Italian. What
does it say?"
"It says Finchè c'è vita c'è speranza."
"What does that mean?"
"Where there is life, there is hope."

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Chantelle thought that was the most
beautiful things she had ever heard.
"That is beautiful. Is that your manta?
"Yes it is."
Chantelle could not even if she tried to
stop the tear that ran down her cheek.
"Babe what is wrong."
"Where were you five years ago?"

Hunter knew what she was referring to.

"We all have our crosses to bear. Yours made
you stronger as you mentioned that is what
your tattoo represents. It was not time for us
to meet until now."

"What am I going to do with you?"
"Date me and see where this leads to
give us a chance Chantelle that is all I
ask."
"Really that is all?"
"We can take this one day at a time."
"Okay let us see where this goes, and
one day at a time. I cannot make any
promises."

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"As long as you give us a chance."

Chantelle did not know where this was

going to lead, but she knew that she was go-
ing to have her guard up. The last thing she
was going to do again is open her heart up to
love again. Losing her husband was the hard-
est thing that she went through. Prior to
what her tattoo represents she could not take
another broken heart. The sex was good with
Hunter, and as long as she did not grow any
attachments to him everything will be all
right she hoped.

Chapter 11

"Michael hurry up Hunter will be here

any minute and you are still sitting there eat-
ing your cereal." Chantelle just shook her

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head. When her husband first died, everyone
kept telling her that things would get better
and that she still had her husband because of
Michael. When she looked at him, she saw
her husband. He had the same light green
eyes as his dad, and some of his facial fea-
tures. His hair was brown almost black and if
she let it grow out it was curly. She kept his
hair short in a military style. Michael was a
great kid, but she also knew that he was
missing out on all of the father and son
things to do. He was also beginning to take
on some of his personality. It amazed her
how much they were alike even thought Mi-
chael did not really remember his father. The
doctor said that was going to happen since
he was only four when it happened. He was
picking up a habit that she wished he did not
and that was always being late and not being
able to get up in the morning. Her husband
was not a morning person and neither is Mi-
chael. The child was sitting there suppose to

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be eating, but he was playing with his Nin-
tendo DS game system. Chantelle knew how
to make him move faster. She went over
there and asked for the game system. "Let
me have it."

"What are you talking about?"
This was when he would play innocent.
"The game system Michael hand it
over."
"Why?"
"I believe that you will eat faster if you
do not have the system." She knew what
was coming next the begging.
"I promise to eat."
There it was the promise, but Chantelle
was not giving in. "No give me the
system."
"Can I have it back after I eat?"
"We will see, now hand it over, and eat."
Michael reluctantly handed over his
game system and started eating.

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"Mom what is the name of your friend
again?"
"His name is Hunter."
"When will he be over?"
"He will be here any minute."
"Why all of the questions?"
"I just wanted to know. Besides I need to
know if he is good enough for you."
Chantelle looked at her son.
"What, I have to make sure."

Chantelle went over to her son and gave

him a hug. "I want you to know that no mat-
ter what happens you come first, and that no
one can take the place of your dad."

"I know that mom. I just want you to be

happy. You do not smile enough."

Chantelle wanted to cry. Her little boy

was trying to make sure his mother was
happy again. She thought that she was doing
a good job hiding her sadness from him. She
was going to have to do a better job.

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"Michael you do not have to worry. I am
happy. You know why"

"Why?"
"Because you make me happy, and that

is all that matters." She gave her son a big
hug and a kiss. Now finish your breakfast."
Just then, the doorbell ranged. All of a sud-
den, Chantelle was nervous about the two
men in her life meeting. Suppose Hunter did
not know how to act around Michael. That
was silly the man was an uncle. The doorbell
ranged again, which bought Chantelle back
to reality.

"Mom are you going to answer the

door?"

"Yes I am." Chantelle walled over and

opened the door she did not think that it was
possible. Every time she saw Hunter, he
seemed to get better looking each time.
Chantelle knew that you should not judge a
person on their outside appearance, but any
straight woman could not help but notice

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this man. Matter of fact Chantelle was will-
ing to bet that even a lesbian would find him
good looking. Hunter bent down and gave
her a kiss.

"Good morning beautiful."
"Good morning Hunter." She was noti-

cing how he was dressed. The man had on a
toboggan that had his Alma Marta Harvard
on it. He went to take off his jacket she no-
ticed that it was Prada parka jacket. He also
had a pair of Prada faded jeans that hung low
on his waist, and made him look sexy as hell.
She even noticed his shoes were Prada. The
whole outfit probably cost more than a
person's mortgage. "That is a nice outfit you
are sporting there."

Hunter could tell that she was being

sarcastic. "Is this your way of telling me that
there is something wrong with my outfit."

"No there is nothing wrong with the

outfit. I think that it looks good on you. Me
personally I would be scared to wear it. I

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would be afraid that I would get something
on it and ruin it. I am sure that you would
just buy another outfit that probably cost
more."

"Oh there it is. You think that I spend

too much money on clothes."

"Hey it is your money. I mean that outfit

could probably pay a couple of mortgages."

"Babe I do not flaunt my money, but I

do not try to hide it either. If you were my
wife, I would buy you expensive things. Not
because I want people to know that I have
money, but to say that I love you and be-
cause I want to spoil you."

"You would only do that if we were
married."
"Well also when we get to know one an-
other in this relationship."
"Hunter I do not need material things. I
am happy with what I have. Now come
here and meet my son."

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Hunter knew that she was changing the

subject because she did not like the way the
conversation was going. He had to remind
himself that he needed to take it slow with
this woman.

Chantelle was leading him into the kit-

chen, and sitting at the table was a very
handsome boy. He could see some of
Chantelle's features in him.

"Michael I would like to introduce you

to Hunter Jameson. This is my son Michael."
Michael stood and held his hand out for
Hunter to shake.

"Well hello Michael I have heard a lot
about you. I cannot wait to see you play
today."
"It is nice meeting you also. Mom I am
going to get my things how long before
we leave."
"We have about thirty minutes before
we have to leave."
"I am going to go to my room."

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Michael held out his hand to shake

Hunter's again. "It was nice to finally meet
you, and I am glad that you are coming to my
game."

"It was nice meeting you also."
"Michael here."
Michael turned around to see what his

mother wanted. She was handing him his
game system. He smiled and went to hug his
mother. "Thank-you." Michael headed up-
stairs happy to have his game back.

"You have a very handsome son."
"Thank-you."
"I see some of you in him."

"Trust me when I say that he is more

like his dad. I know that you never met him,
but my son is getting to be a carbon copy of
his father. He even looks like him."

Hunter could tell that Michael was her

pride and joy. Hunter liked children. He
loved his niece and nephew. Sometimes they
would come over to his house and spend the

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weekend. His mother could not understand
if he loved children so much why was he so
adamant on dating older women. Hunter did
not have to share DNA with a child for him
to claim them as his. If he got involved with a
woman who had children, he would think of
her children as his. The way his feelings for
Chantelle were growing, he knew that it was
time for him to meet her son. "He seems like
a great kid."

"He is. Would you like some breakfast?"
"No I ate before I came over, but I would
like

proper

greeting

from

girlfriend."
"Is that what we are?"
Hunter raised his brow. "How else
would you classify our relationship?"

"Just two people who are dating."

Chantelle carried Michael's dirty dishes into
the kitchen with Hunter right on her heals.

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"I beg to differ I see our relationship as

more than casual dating. Do you ever think
what kind of future we could have?"

"No but I can see that you have. I

thought that we agreed to take this slow, and
here you are after a couple of weeks of dating
talking about a future."

The last thing Hunter wanted to do is

scare Chantelle off. They were making pro-
gress, and he did not want to have to start
over with her. He could tell that Chantelle
was getting upset, and he needed to take
control of the situation before it got out of
hand. He came up behind her and put his
arms around her. "Babe I just asked if you
ever thought about it. I know that we are in
the beginning stages of our relationship. Let
us just continue down this path and see
where it leads to."

"We can do that, but I have a feeling

that you already know where you want this
path to lead.

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Chantelle thought that this had to be the

coldest game she had gone to so far since her
son starting playing soccer. Even though she
had on her sweatshirt and thick jacket,
gloves and a hat, she was still cold. Hunter
could tell that she was cold, and came up be-
hind her and put his arms around her.
Chantelle was startled at first. Hunter bent
down closer to her ear and spoke to her in
the most sexiest voice she had ever heard.
"Warm enough now?"

Chantelle only nodded. It seemed to

Chantelle after they had made love that first
time Hunter was ready to further their rela-
tionship on. He was not satisfied with only
seeing her on the weekends. He wanted to
see her as often as their schedules allowed. It
did not matter that they worked in the same

136/317

office. There were days that Hunter was in
court all day, and they did not get a chance to
have lunch together. Hunter was trying his
best to change the status of their relation-
ship. Chantelle heard Miles asking her a
question, which made her stop thinking
about her and Hunter's budding relation-
ship. "I am sorry Miles I was thinking about
something else what did you say?"

Miles looked at his friend and knew ex-

actly what she was thinking. Miles bent
down so only Chantelle could here. "I bet you
were thinking about something else. If I had
a gorgeous hunk like Hunter holding me I
would have my mind somewhere else."

Hunter still found it hard to believe that

Miles was gay. Chantelle had told them one
night when they were having dinner when
she had mentioned that she was having
lunch with Miles. Hunter had asked if they
could have lunch and when she told him that
she was meeting Miles he became jealous.

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That was when she told him that he had
nothing to worry about with Miles because
he was gay. If anyone should be worried, it
should be Chantelle. Miles has a boyfriend
and they are true to one another, but that did
not stop her friend from always saying how
handsome Hunter is.

"I said that my godson is playing better

this year. He may not have made any goals,
but he is doing some serious blocking."

"Remember I put him in the soccer
camp last summer it really helped him
to improved."
"Will you put him in it this year?"
"If he wants to, I am not going to force
him."
"I think that is a good idea."

Just then, the whistled blew and the

game was over with. "Chantelle, Miles, and I
are going to take Mike to lunch then home."

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"Aaliyah you do not have to do that.
Besides I was thinking about taking him
to the movies."
Then Hunter made a suggestion. "I was
thinking that we could take Michael to
the movies tomorrow."
"You mean the two of us?"
"Yes. I mean how else am I going to get
to know your son if we do not spend any
time together."
"I do not know Hunter."

"I think that it is a good idea. He is go-

ing to have to get use to me sometime be-
cause I have no plans of going anywhere."

Chantelle could tell that Hunter was

serious especially the last remark he made.

"I think that is a good idea Chantelle.

That way if Miles and I take him today you
and Hunter can spend the day together. Plus
you do not have to worry about coming home
anytime soon."

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Miles leaned forward and whispered to

her. "Do not forget protection."

Chantelle punched Miles in the chest,

but all he did was laugh at her. She was get-
ting ready to give him a piece of her mind
when she saw Michael coming towards her.
It still amazed her how her son was looking
more and more like his father.

"Mom did you see that pass I made and
we were able to make a goal."
"Yes I did you played well today."
"I am hungry now where are we going
for lunch."
"Hey buddy Aaliyah and I are going to
take you to lunch and then go where
ever you want to go today."

Michael looked at his mother and then

at the man his mother was seeing. "Oh I get
it my mom and Mr. Jameson want to be
alone."

Miles started laughing and Chantelle

was embarrassed. "No Mike that is not so."

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At the same time, Hunter started talking to
him.

"As a matter of fact you are right, but I

was thinking that tomorrow the three of us
could go see a movie."

Before Chantelle could say, anything

Michael was nodding in agreement. "That
would be awesome, but can we go to the
theatre with the bowling alley."

"Sure where ever you want to go."
"Okay tomorrow." Michael went and

shook Hunter's hand and told him bye. He
went over, gave his mother a hug, and left
with Miles and Aaliyah.

"Well beautiful it would seem that we

have the day to ourselves. I was thinking we
could have lunch at my place." Hunter could
tell that Chantelle looked a little stunned.
"What is it babe?"

"You seem to have a way with children."
"I do have a niece and a nephew. I know
how to act around children."

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"Then why not have some of your own."

They had talked about this before.

"Maybe I will maybe I will not, but one thing
is for sure the child does not have to have my
DNA for me to raise and claim as mine."

Chantelle knew what Hunter was trying

to say. If there relationship went to the level
of marriage, he would think of her son as his
own.

"Now come on babe I am hungry."
"I am getting hungry myself.

To Chantelle's surprised lunch was

already set up when they arrived at Hunter's
place. She assumed the maid had made
lunch, but she was not present. Hunter had a
staff, but to Chantelle it looked as if he had
given them the day off. She looked at the
spread of food that was on the table. It
looked like a picnic for at least six people.

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She hoped that he did not think that the two
of them were going to eat all of this food in
one sitting. "That is an awful lot of food for
two people. You plan on having left over's for
the rest of the week?"

Hunter put his arms around Chantelle
and started kissing her neck.
"Hunter I asked a question."
He lifted his head and looked at her.
"Something like that babe."
"Where is your staff?"
"They have the weekend off."
"Who set this up?" Pointing at the food
on the table.

"Before they left, it was set up. I assure

you it has not been sitting out here all morn-
ing. They just recently left."

"You were pretty sure that I was going to
come over for lunch."
Without hesitation, Hunter gave her a
very confident yes.

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"Sometimes your arrogance is going to
fail you, and you are not going to get
what you want."

Hunter picked Chantelle up. "I am con-

fident in our relationship, and that is the
only thing that I care about at this time."

"Well Mr. confident I am hungry."
Hunter started laughing. This woman

makes me happy. He knew that it has only
been a couple of weeks, but he could actually
see them together for the rest of their lives.
He promised her that he would take it slow,
but he was finding it harder and harder to do
that. "Well my lady please have a seat and
enjoy this feast that has been prepared in
your honor."

The two of them sat down and enjoyed

their meal Chantelle said that she was
hungry, but she did not realize how hungry
until she realize she ate enough to feed two
people. After they ate they went into the liv-
ing room, they were deciding if they wanted

144/317

to watch a movie. Hunter knew what he
wanted to do, but he said that he was going
to take it slow. The last thing he wanted was
for Chantelle to think that all he wanted from
her was sex. He wanted her to conclude that
he wanted to have a relationship with her,
and possibly a future.

Chantelle sat down on the Italian leath-

er couch. She could fall asleep in this and his
chase lounge. She saw a newspaper and
picked it up to read. It was on the society
page, and that is when she saw the article on
Hunter. As she started reading it she realized
that there several picture of her with Hunter.
"Hunter come look at this."

Hunter was trying to pick out a movie

for them to watch. He was just deciding
when she called him. "What is it babe?"

"Look at this article it is about you."
Hunter sat down and read the article.

He was used to having his name in print, and
pictures of him in the paper. This time they

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had pictures of him and Chantelle. In the
past, the women he dated never had a prob-
lem being photograph with him. He had a
feeling Chantelle was not going to like being
the center of attention. He knew that sooner
or later there was going to be articles about
the current woman in his life. He was hoping
that it would have been later. After he read
the article he looked at Chantelle, he smiled
at her to try and sooth her.

"Well did you read what it was saying?

They are trying to figure out who this new
woman is in your life. Then they had the
nerve to call me your nubbin princess. Did
you see what this reporter said? He said that
Hunter Jameson must love chocolate on his
ice cream. We know that she is not his usual
choice, but the bigger question is she older
than him?"

Hunter closed his eyes to try and get

some perspective on this situation. He
needed to calm her down. "Listen babe I

146/317

know that this article is somewhat shocking,
but we cannot let a bunch of reporters con-
trol our lives."

"I knew this was a mistake. I should

have listened to myself."

Hunter knew exactly where this conver-

sation was going, and he was not about to let
her convince herself that having a relation-
ship was wrong. "Babe we are not going
down that road again. There is nothing dirty
or shameful about our relationship. Further-
more, if you think that we are going to end
this because of this article you might as well
get it out of your head.

Chantelle did not want to fight with

Hunter, but she had to find a way to make
him see that their relationship was doomed
from the start. "Hunter it is no use this is not
going to work. I do not like gossip, and I
have to think about my son."

Hunter closed his eyes to stop himself

from getting angry and asked for the right

147/317

words to say to her. He was not going to let
the media control their lives. When he
opened his eyes back up, he knew that there
was no way he was letting her go. "Babe I
know that this is new for you. I am not going
to lie to you and tell you that it is going to be
easy. However, in a couple of weeks someone
else will make the headlines. I will protect
you and Michael as much as I can, but I
promise you it will eventually become old
news."

"I know that this is nothing for you, but

Hunter I do not think that us being in a rela-
tionship…" Before she could even finish her
sentence, Hunter had grabbed her and star-
ted kissing her. This was a kiss to make her
forget about the article and remember that
they could have something very special. Be-
fore Chantelle knew what was going on,
Hunter had carried her upstairs to his bed-
room. Hunter had a California King and the
whole downstairs where she lived could fit

148/317

into his bedroom. There was a sitting room
and a walk in closet any woman would love
to have. The bathroom was huge there was a
large tub with jets, and a shower big enough
to fit the Brady Bunch in. They were on his
bed, and Hunter had removed their clothes.
His was kissing her neck and working his
way down her body. When he came to her
belly button ring, he stayed there, kissed her
flat stomach, and played with her ring. He
was always telling her how sexy he thought it
was along with her tattoos. When he came to
his destination, he stopped and took in her
essences. He always loved the way she
smelled. He slowly starting licking around
her pussy. He was driving Chantelle crazy.

"Hunter please stop making me wait."

He started chuckling and Chantelle did not
see anything funny about this situation.

Hunter knew that he was driving her

crazy, but he wanted her to want him as bad
as he did. He wanted her to forget about

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calling it quits. "What do you want me to do
babe?"

"You know what I want."
"Tell me. Say it."
"Hunter please."
"You know what I want to hear. If you
want me to take care of your need, you
are going to have to tell me what it is."
"Bastard."
"Sorry babe my parents were married
when I was born. Now what is it you
want?"

Chantelle hesitated. She hated giving in,

but she also knew that she loved his possess-
ive side. He also made sure that people espe-
cially brothers knew who she was with.

"I am waiting babe unless you do not

want me to take care of your needs."

He was constantly getting her close to

the edge only to pull back. She could not
stand it anymore. "I want you to eat my
pussy."

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Hunter started laughing. "Now see babe
was that so hard."
"Just do it."
"Patience babe."
"My patience went out the window the
minute you started tormenting me."
"You were a solider you should have a
lot of will power."
"Correction I was a solider I do not have
to have tolerance anymore. Now eat my
busy."

"Since you asked so nicely how could I

turn you down?" Hunter feasted on her like
it was his last meal. When she came the first
time, Chantelle thought that she was going to
die. Hunter did not let up he kept feasting
and she kept having orgasm after orgasm.
Hunter had to hold her down.

"Hunter please enough I can't take any-

more." Her pleading did not make him stop
she had two more orgasm before he lifted his
head.

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"You need to make up your mind babe.

Do you want me to please you or not."

Chantelle could hardly talk the man had

her undone. Before she could recover, he was
entering her. Again, she did not realize that
he had put a condom on. He slowly started
moving inside of her. When he started rotat-
ing his hips, he found her g-spot. If she
thought that, her orgasm was huge before,
this one really set her on fire. Chantelle was
always a screamer, but not to this extent.
Hunter was not even done with her. He had
raised her legs and placed them on his
shoulder. He was even deeper and she had
another orgasm. Hunter felt his balls tighten
up. He knew he was getting ready to come.
He had made a promise to himself that one
day he was going to ride her bareback. He
had to feel this pussy with nothing in
between them. His orgasm came and he felt
it all through his body. When he was done,
he came down on her, but not too lay

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completely on her. He stayed there for a few
minutes before he pulled out of her and
rolled over to his side bringing her with him
spooning. He was giving her light kisses on
her shoulder.

"If you think that this is going to help

me forget that article, you are fooling
yourself."

Hunter rolled away from her and stared

at the ceiling. "I will do everything to make
sure you and Michael are protected, but
people are curious. When we go out there are
bound to be photographers and reports. We
are not going to let these people control our
lives. Everything is going to be fine."

"I know that this is everyday behavior

for you, but what do you think they are going
to say when they find out that I am older
than you?"

Hunter rolled back over to her and put

his arms around her. "They are going to wish

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that they looked as good as you do when they
get your age."

Chantelle smiled at his remark. "Is that

a smile I see on you?"

"Okay that remark puts you on my good

side. What will your family say when they see
the paper?"

"I do not know, and I do not care. You

will meet my family soon enough. They are
going to have to get used to you because I
plan on making you and Michael a perman-
ent fixture in my life."

Chantelle turned and looked at him.

"You are getting ahead of yourself."

"I cannot help how I feel." Hunter could

see the distress on Chantelle's face, and de-
cided to change the subject. "Maybe you are
right we said that we were going to take it
slow. Let us see where this takes us."

Chantelle knew that Hunter was up to

something. Everything in her was telling her
to end it with him because his feelings were

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getting strong for her. That is the last thing
that she wanted, but she was also having fun
with him. Maybe she was making more out
of it than there is. She deserved some fun in
her life.

"Babe why don't we get some rest for
now, I plan on taking you out for
dinner."
"I do not have anything to wear."
"Already taken care of, Aaliyah saw to all
of your needs. She packed a bag for
you."
"Remind me to thank her."

Hunter pulled her closer to him and

gave her a kiss on the neck before he dosed
off thinking how fortunate he was to have
this woman in his life.

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Chapter 12

"Well I see that the prodigal son has re-

turned." Hunter turned around and saw his
brother Lee in the room with him. Lee
maybe the oldest of the children, but Hunter
was taller than him by at least by two inches.
Unlike Hunter Lee's hair was blond and he
had blue eyes.

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"Well mom has been leaving messages
on my phone as to why I have not been
around."
"Well let me warn you she has seen the
paper and she is going to question you
about the new lady in your life."
Hunter shrugged his shoulders. "I do
not see what the big deal is."
"You must be kidding. She is just getting
use to you dating older woman, and now
you're dating a black woman."

Hunter shook his head. Hunter loved

his family, but he also knew that they could
be a little closed-minded. "Well if she wants
to know about her she can ask. However I
will not allow anyone to speak negative of
her."

"Hey bro you know me I could care less.
Just as long as you are happy."
Hunter sighed. "Sorry I tend to get a
little protective of my relationship with
Chantelle."

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"It must be serious?"

Hunter smiled. "I am very serious about

her. I can see a future with her. I mean it is
still early in the relationship, but I am falling
in love with her."

"Wow I have not seen you this excited

about a relationship since college. How does
she feel about you?"

Hunter stopped smiling. Even though

he knew that Chantelle has strong feeling for
him, she was yet to admit it. "I am afraid that
Chantelle is a little apprehensive. She does
not like all of the attention the media is giv-
ing us. She also has a problem with the age
difference."

"Wait she is older than you?"
Hunter smiled. "I know the pictures do
not do her justice, but yes she is older
than me."
"How older is she than you?"
"Ten years."

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"I am going to make sure that I am

standing on the other side of the room when
mother starts yelling and screaming."
Hunter knew that his brother was not at all
off track about their mother. She could be-
come a little dramatic when things did not go
her way.

"Well she is just going to have to deal

with it. I have no plans on ending things with
Chantelle." As if on cue, the rest of his family
enters the room. His mother came over to
him, hugged him as if he had been off to war,
and just returned.

"Mom you are acting as if you have not

seen me in months. It has only been a couple
of weeks."

"Well maybe if you come around for

brunch like you are suppose to do I would
not act this way."

Hunter loved his mother, but she had a

habit of over dramatize events. Like her son
and daughter, she had blond hair and blue

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eyes. She was not tall like her sons. She was
only five four, but she always would wear
heels to make herself look taller. If there was,
one thing Hunter could say about his mother
was that Lisa Jameson did the child rearing
herself. She told her husband that there
would not be any nannies in this house. Her
nanny raised her, and even though she loved
her nanny, she did not want that kind of en-
vironment for her children. All three of her
children went to the best private schools, and
all received the best college education.
However, Lisa Jameson was a stickler for
one thing, and that was family time. Every-
one had to make sure that they were always
home for dinner, and for brunch on Sunday's
even when they were grown. Since Hunter
had missed three Sunday's in a row he
figured he better show up before his mother
came looking for him. Even Hunter's father
Lance had to make sure he was home for

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family time. The only exception was when he
was on a business trip.

"Well mom I am here."
"You know son your mother was going

to send a search party for you." Hunter's dad
Lance Jameson did not look fifty-six. His
dark brown hair was just starting to show
some grey. Unlike his wife and children, his
eyes were hazel, but he had the height like
his sons. However, Hunter was the tallest
one in the family, and the only one with
black wavy hair and an olive skin tone.

"I am so glad that you are here brother

because mom complained at every family get
together." Hunter's sister Alexandra like her
brother had blond hair and blue eyes. She
was not as tall as her brothers and father, but
she was taller than her mother. Being five
nine she towered over her mother.

"Well it is your own mistake. You should
return calls."
"Sorry mom I was busy."

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"You we not too busy to get your picture
in the paper."

Here it was he knew that it was only a

matter of time before she bought it up.
Hunter thought that it was time to change
the subject he went to go greet his brother
and sister in-law. He gave Aiden his brother
in-law the international greeting of putting
their fist together. He gave his sister in-law
Karen a kiss on the cheek. How is my favor-
ite sister in-law. Well seeing how I am your
only sister in-law I have no choice but to be
your favorite. He had a good relationship
with both of his sibling's and their spouses.
He and Lee were always playing golf togeth-
er, and he was her family's lawyer. That was
how his brother and Karen met. He was hav-
ing lunch with his brother when Karen came
into the restaurant. She came over to speak
with him, he introduced his brother to her,
and the rest as they say is history.

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"Okay enough with trying to ignore me.

I want answers young man."

He knew that it was a long shot, but he

had to try to get his mother off his back. He
turned around and waited for the questions
to start.

"Mother I am sorry that I have not been
around. As I mentioned before I have
been busy."
"Busy with your new girlfriend."
"Well that and I am working on an im-
portant case."
"Who is she Hunter? She is not your
usual."
"What is that suppose to mean?"

"Do not get all defensive with me. I do

not mean anything negative, but you have to
admit you have never dated a black woman
before."

Hunter wanted so badly to roll his eyes,

but he also knew that was one way to get a
tongue-lashing from his mother. It did not

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matter how old you were. His parents espe-
cially his mother did not tolerate any kind of
disrespect. "Mom I do not see what the big
deal is I dated Marie in high school."

"Do not even bring that name up. I still

think that she took advantage of you. I do
not care what you or your father said I still
should have had her arrested. You were un-
der age."

"She was only four years older than me."
"I still say she is the reason you do not
date woman who are around your age."
"Mom I just happen to prefer older
women."

A thought just occurred to Lisa was this

woman was older than her son was? "Is this
woman you are seeing older than you?"

Hunter was not going to lie. Besides
they were going to meet her soon
enough. "Yes mom she is older than
me."

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"Oh my how much older is she than
you?"
"Only by ten years."
"Ten years. Tell me you are not serious
about her?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I happen
to be very serious about Chantelle."
"Her name is Chantelle?"
"Yes mother, and before you ask she was
married, but her husband died and she
has an eight year old son."

"You are never going to give me grand-

children are you? Hunter dear I know you.
You love children I see the way you are with
your niece and nephew. You deserve to have
children of your own."

Hunter rubbed his hands over his face.

This was a conversation he had with his
mother at least once a month. Mom I do love
children, and if it is in the cards to have one
of my own than it will happen. However, I

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am very serious about Chantelle. When you
meet her, you will see what I mean."

Hunter's family except for his brother

stared at him. His sister Alexandra was the
first to speak. "You mean that you are actu-
ally going to bring this woman around so we
can meet her?"

Hunter knew that this would shock his

family. He had not bought a girlfriend
around except for Maria and Angela the two
girlfriends that he was serious with since he
started dating.

"She must be the real thing."
"Thanks sis and she is the real thing."
"Could it be that my little brother is in
love?"
"Maybe I am."

His mother wanted to get back to the

subject of children. "Hunter if you are seri-
ous about her there is a chance that there
will not be any children."

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"You know what mom I am fine with

that. She already has a son, and we get along
fine. I have gone to his soccer games and
taken him to the movies. If I do not have any
children with Chantelle that is fine, a child
does not need my DNA in order for me to
consider him mine. I would think that you
would understand better than anyone."

Hunter did not mean to bring up the

subject that his mother still did not want to
talk about to this day.

"Hunter you know that I do not like to

talk about this."

"I am sorry mom. I did not mean to up-

set you. All I am asking is that you try to be
happy for me. This is the first time in a long
time I have found someone that has made
me this happy."

Lisa Jameson loved all of her children,

but Hunter always held a special place in her
heart. "If she really makes you that happy,
the least I can do is meet this woman."

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Hunter gave his mother a hug. "Thanks
mom I know that you will like her."
"You can bring her to brunch next
weekend."
"I will ask her. Now what is there to eat I
am starving."

"Come on I am hungry myself, and

where are those grandchildren of mine?
While we are at the table you can tell us what
cases you and Kenny are working on."

"Lance dear he can tell us that later. I

want to know how our son met this woman
who has stolen his heart."

The family went into the dining room as

they did every Sunday. Lisa looked at her
growing family. She had a feeling that there
was going to be a couple of new editions if
her son was as serious as he said he was.

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Chapter 13

Chantelle was riding in the car with

Hunter still trying to figure out how he had
talked her into meeting his family. Their re-
lationship was supposed to be strictly fun.
She did not know when things had changed
and she was now meeting his family. What
would they think? Was she his girlfriend and
a relationship serious, and are they going to
get married sometime in the future. She
needed to make sure that she and Hunter
were on the same sheet of music. The last
thing that she needed was to make his par-
ents think that she was going to be their next
daughter in-law.

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“Hey babe you are being quite over there
is everything okay?”
“We need to talk.
"What do you want to talk about?”

“I want to talk about this brunch that

you talked me into. I want to make sure that
your parents do not get the wrong impres-
sion with us.”

“What impression is that?”
“That there is something more going on

with us. I mean we have never defined our
relationship.”

Hunter briefly took his eyes off the road

and looked at Chantelle. He thought they
were beyond the point of defining their rela-
tionship. Granted he had not declared his
love for her, but he considered Chantelle his
girlfriend. He was not dating anyone else,
and neither was she. He wanted a future with
her, but he also knew that if he told her that
she would probably jump out the car while
he was still driving. He needed to make sure

that whatever he said he did not scare her.
“Babe I told you that there was no reason to
be nervous”

“Who

said

anything

about

being

nervous? I want to make sure that your
parents are aware how our relationship
is.”
“They are aware.”
“Do they think that our relationship is
serious? That is the only reason I can
think why they want to meet me.”

Hunter did not know if he should tell

her the truth or wait until she met his family.
He decided to wait. She was less likely to
make a scene. “Stop worrying it will be okay.
Well here we are.”

Chantelle looked at where she was. She

knew that Hunter's family was rich, but she
had no idea that he grew up in a mansion. “Is
this where you grew up?”

“I am afraid so."

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"This is a huge home. I do not think that
I can go through with this."
"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I knew that your family

had money, but this is more than what I ex-
pected. There is no way that I am going to fit
in here."

Hunter started laughing, and Chantelle

gave him a look as if she wanted to kill him.

"Do not laugh at me, there is no way I

am going to feel comfortable here. I just
know that I am going to pick up the wrong
fork, or say the wrong thing."

"I am not laughing at you. Besides my

family is not like that. They are not snobs.
Just remember they put their pants on just
like you do."

"That may be the case, but they wear
couture while I go to the bargain base-
ment to get my clothes."
"It will be fine come on."

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"No Hunter I want to go back. There is
no way this is going to be okay."

"Well I am not going back. Besides my

mother is expecting us, and my mother does
not tolerate anyone being late for family
time."

Before Chantelle could say anything

else, the front door opened and a middle-
aged man came out and spoke with a British
accent. "Master Hunter will you be coming in
now. You know how your mother is about
being late."

"We are coming Malcolm. "Come on

Chantelle."

Chantelle looked at the man as she was

passing him and started smiling. Then she
looked at Hunter. "You have got to be shit-
ting me an English butler. Did you also have
someone dress you in the morning?"

"I can assure you that I dressed myself

as a child. Come on babe I want you to meet
my family.

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Chantelle thought the outside of the

house was spectacular. The inside of the
house looked like a house that should have
been in a magazine. She was afraid to touch
anything because she knew that if she dam-
aged something she would be paying for it
for the next thirty years. She was out of her
element. Just when they had entered the
family room, a woman and a man came out.
Chantelle knew that they were Hunter's par-
ents. When they came over, Hunter gave his
mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello mother." Hunter shook his dad's
hand. "Hello dad."
"How are you son?"
"I am doing well. I do have this big case
that I am working on."
"Yes you mentioned that last week. I
know that you will do fine."

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"I hope so this young man's future is in
my hand."

Chantelle thought that if she stayed still

long enough no one would notice her and she
could leave. Just as she was going to try to
leave, Hunter bought her up next to him and
started introducing her. "Mom and dad I
would like for you to meet Chantelle Brown
my girlfriend."

Chantelle did not expect him to intro-

duce her as his girlfriend. She was surprised
at herself by not giving herself away at the
shock. "Chantelle I would like to introduce
you to Lance and Lisa Jameson my parents."

Chantelle could tell that Lisa Jameson

was scrutinizing her. She probably thinks
that her son could do a lot better than her.
Hunter's dad seems to be okay with her rela-
tionship with his son. Chantelle remember
what her parents use to say in situations like
this. 'Smile and do not let them know that
they are getting to you.' Chantelle put her

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best smile forward. "It is a pleasure to finally
meet you. Hunter has told me a lot about his
family."

"Well I am glad to hear that because

Hunter has barely told us anything about
you. We only knew about you because your
picture was in the paper with Hunter."

"Mom"
"Lisa"
Lisa looked at her husband and son.
"Well it is the truth."
Mrs. Jameson what would you like to
know about me."
"You may call me Lisa."
"Yes and call me Lance."
"Okay Lisa what would you like to know
about me?"
"Is this thing with my son serious?"
Hunter looked at her curious as to what
her answer was going to be.

"We really just started dating. We have

agreed to take it one day at a time. Hunter is

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the first man I have gone out within five
years."

"Yes Hunter mentioned to us that your

husband had passed away, and that you have
an eight year old son. I am sorry for your
lost. I can only image having to raise a child
all by myself."

"It can be a challenge, but I manage."
"I have to say that the pictures that are

being published of you two look very serious.
Our family enjoys our privacy. However,
Hunter always seems to make the headlines.
Not just because of his money, but the fact
that he is a very good lawyer. He has had
some cases that have been high profile
placed and that get him in front of the me-
dia. He also is very good looking and women
are like magnets to him."

"Wait a minute mom."
"Hunter I know that I raised you better

than this. Now do I have to remind you that

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you do not interrupt a person while they are
talking?"

Hunter felt like a little boy all over

again. His mother had certain rules and one
was do not interrupt or talk over someone
when they are speaking. You are to wait until
they are finished.

"Now Chantelle as I was saying my son

is a magnet to woman, and when he is with a
woman they are photographed whenever
they are together. The headlines seem to
think that you two are having a serious rela-
tionship are they wrong?"

"As I mentioned before, Hunter and I

have just started dating. I try not to make too
many plans for the future. Tomorrow is not
promised."

Hunter knew that Chantelle was refer-

ring to her husband. He also knew that he
was in love with Chantelle, and he was going
to do everything within his power to make
her his. He knew that she had strong feeling

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for him. It was just a matter of time before
she admitted her feelings. Before any more
on Chantelle's feeling for Hunter went any
further, the rest of Hunter's family came into
the room. Chantelle meet Hunter's sister Al-
exandra and her husband Aiden. Chantelle
also met his brother Lee and his wife Karen.
Hunter's niece and nephew were upstairs
playing. Everyone was nice to her. Even his
mother let go some of her animosity. Brunch
was not as bad as she thought. Hunter family
was down to earth. They asked about her
time in the Army, and she told them as much
as she could talk about. The whole time she
was getting to know Hunter's family, she did
notice something. Whereas his siblings and
mother had blond hair and blue eyes, Hunter
had black wavy hair and green eyes. His skin
was also more olive than his family. Granted
Lee Jameson's hair was brown and his eyes
were hazel. Chantelle knew that genes could
be funny. Maybe a few generations back one

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of his ancestors married a Spanish or Italian,
and Hunter inherited those genes. She made
a note to herself that she was going to ask
Hunter about it.

"So Chantelle how do you like working
for my brother."
"I do not work for your brother Alexan-
dra my partner and I are providing a
service to his firm."
Lee Jameson started laughing.
"Is there something funny dad?"
"Well now that you mention it Hunter. If
I remember correctly, you were against
hiring a consulting firm."

Chantelle turned to look at Hunter. She

wanted to know the answer to this. "Is that
true Hunter you were against us coming to
your firm?"

"At first I was against it, but after you

and Aaliyah gave us your presentation I was
on board." Hunter knew that should satisfy
Chantelle. The last thing he wanted her to

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know was the only reason he was on board
was because he was attractive to her, and
this was the only way he could get to know
her. Besides, after watching them giving
their classes to his staff he has notice a dif-
ference with his employees. He will admit
that having Chantelle and Aaliyah was a
good decision.

The rest of the day went better than

Chantelle expected. She met his niece and
nephew, Luke and Hyatt. They all agreed
that Michael should meet Luke and Hyatt
since they were close in age. After they left
Hunter's parents house, they had decided to
go to Hunter's house. That was when
Chantelle decided to ask Hunter about his
family. She looked at the fireplace and the
pictures of his family. Funny how she did not

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notice the difference the first time she saw
the pictures. Hunter had come up behind her
and placed his arms around her waist.

"I told you that everything was going to
be okay meeting my family."
"Yes I have to admit it went better than I
expected. Well there was your mother in
the beginning."
"Oh do not pay much attention to her.
That was her way of feeling you out be-
lieve me she likes you."

"It did seem like she was beginning to

get along with me. I will say this that your
mother is very protective. Is she like that
with your siblings?"

"Yes and no. I think that she is more

with me."

"Is it because she is not your birth

mother?"

Hunter was shocked that Chantelle had

said that. All the women he dated, none ever
noticed the difference between him and his

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family. "Why would you think that Lisa
Jameson is not my mother?"

"Hunter I never said she was not your

mother. I stated that she was not your birth
mother. Now if I over stepped my bounds
than I apologize, and I will never mention it
again."

Hunter knew that it was time for him to

be honest with Chantelle. The only ones who
knew about the circumstances surrounding
his birth were his family and Kenny. If he
wanted a future with Chantelle, he knew that
he would have to be honest with her.

"No babe you are not over stepping. I

was just surprised because you are the first
woman to notice the difference or at least
mention the differences."

"Well I have to admit I had seen the pic-

tures of your family on the fireplace and I
never paid any attention to the difference. It
was not until I met everyone today that I no-
ticed the differences."

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"Come on and sit on the sofa. You are

correct Lisa Jameson did not give birth to
me, but in every way that it counts she is my
mother."

"What happen?"
"I guess the best place to start is at the

beginning. My parents were happily married,
and they already had two children. They had
decided that they wanted to try to have an-
other child. My mom was in first trimester of
her pregnancy when my father had to go on a
business trip to Italy. He was going to be
gone for a couple of months, and since my
mom had a difficult time with my sister
when she was pregnant, the doctor had her
on bed rest. Since my dad was going to be
there for a while, they gave him an assistant.
Her name was Fiore Bianchi."

Chantelle noticed when he said her

name he said it in the perfect Italian accent.
He also said it as if it left a bad taste in his
mouth.

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"Well to get to the point my father was

lonely, and took advantage of his loneliness
and seduced him. I know it was wrong of my
father to give into the temptation, but Fiore
had dollar signs and she thought that my
father was going to leave my mother and
marry her. Well the affair went on for about
a month, and I guess my dad came to his
senses and ended it. When he came back
home, he thought that was the end of it. He
was not going to mention the affair to my
mother. Well when my mother gave birth,
the baby was still born. My mother did not
take the lost very well. She stayed in her
room. No one knew about the lost except the
immediate family. Well a couple of weeks
after the loss of their child Fiore Bianchi
came to my parent's house claiming to have
had Lance Jameson son. At first my father
tried to hide what happen, but my mother
found out about it and he confessed to what
he had done."

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"Was she mad at your dad?"
"At first she was, but when Fiore said

that she did not want to be saddled with a
child and that if he did not want the world to
know that Lance Jameson had cheated on
his wife while she was pregnant he would
pay her."

"She sold you what kind of woman sells

her child?"

"A greedy bitch named Fiore Bianchi.

Since the baby that was still born was a boy,
my mother saw it as destiny. She told my
father no matter the cost she wanted the
child and to raise it as her own. My father
gave into my mother and paid Fiore. My par-
ents went to their lawyer and made it look
like Lance and Lisa Jameson were my par-
ents. They even changed my name."

"What was your name?"
"It was Antonio Hunter Bianchi. They

changed it to Hunter Antonio Jameson be-
cause my grandparents begged them to allow

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me to have some of my heritage. They also
wanted to see me. They wanted to raise me,
but my mother wanted the money.

"Did you get to see them?"
"Every summer I spent it in Italy. At

first, my mother was against it. She stayed
the whole summer because she was afraid
they were going to take me away. As the
years passed, they learned to trust one an-
other. I still see them every summer."

"That is why you speak Italian?"
"Yes my grandparents do not speak

English, and they refuse to learn. I have
many cousins, we grew up together, and we
still get together. I ended up learning about
the wine business that they owned. My
grandparents were not rich, but they had a
vineyard that has been in the family for sev-
eral generations. They were doing well, but
they were also struggling at times. It is a
family business and everyone works there.
When I received my trust fund, I invested

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some money into the business and bought it
up to date to be able to compete in the
industry."

"How is it doing now?"
"They are the number two wine makers

in Italy. We have produced some great
wines. When we opened up the American
market and the business has really taken
off."

"How did your grandparents feel about

you putting money into the business?"

"Well it is part of my heritage so they

did not mind. It was either my money or
someone else buying them out. I had the
money, and it has turned out to be a very
good investment."

"Do you have any say so on decisions

that are made?"

"Well yes and no. The everyday running

of the company belongs to a cousin. Any im-
portant decisions everyone has a say so. I
also handle all legal issues."

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"Do you ever see your birth mother?"
"I saw her once when I was a kid, and it

was not a happy reunion. My grandparents
told her to come and visit either before I
came or after I left. I have not seen her since
then."

"Has she married and had other
children?"
"No but she is always linked to some
rich man. Right now, she is in the
French Rivera with some rich man."
"How do you know this?"
"She is always in the European papers,
and my cousins feel as if they need to in-
form me of what she is doing."
"Do you care?"
"No that woman is not my mother. She
is just the woman who gave birth to me
a vessel."
"When did you find out that Lisa was
not your birth mother?"

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"I was told as soon as I was old enough

to understand. I think I was four or five years
old. I mean I would stay in Italy for the sum-
mer. I guess they realized that they had to
tell me something. I am just glad that they
told me the truth."

"Well you seem to be okay with it."
"I am I mean growing up I had three
sets of grandparents."
"I know that your grandparents in Italy
are still alive what about you're other
grandparents?"

"My mom's parents are no longer living,

but my dad's parents are. The reason they
were not there this afternoon is that they are
in Florida. They usually go there for the
winter. They should be back in a few weeks."

"How do you think they are going to feel

about me?"

"The same as my parents do. I told you

there is nothing to fear from my family.

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When you meet my family in Italy, they are
going to love you also."

"Hunter it was nice to meet your family,
but I see no reason to meet your relat-
ives that live in Italy."
"Well I do, and they are anxious to meet
you."
"You told them about me?"
"Of course I did, and my grandmother is
very anxious to meet you."

Chantelle did not know if she should

run and hide or tell Hunter how she felt
about him telling everyone who would listen
about their relationship. "Hunter may I ask
why you felt that it is important for every
member of your family to know about us?"

"They realize how happy I am, and they

do read the newspaper."

"I understand about your family that

lives here. I am wondering why you felt that
you had to tell the ones that live in Italy?"

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"Well I did not tell them about us at

first. My cousin that takes care of the U.S.
distribution of our wine found out about it
and told everyone back in Italy. Well then
the phone calls came and they wanted to
know about you, and I had to tell them."

This whole thing was getting out of

hand. Chantelle felt that she was losing con-
trol of the whole situation. Their relationship
was only supposed to be about having fun.
Now everyone under the sun knew about
them. She would not be surprised if his fam-
ily started planning their wedding. Chantelle
stood up and went in front of the fireplace.
She needed some space.

"What is the matter?"
"You are kidding right."
"No I am not."

"Everyone knows about us. What hap-

pen to taking it one day at a time? Your fam-
ily especially your mother did everything ex-
cept ask for a background check. Now you

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are telling me that your family in Italy knows
about us, and your grandmother is anxious
to meet me. What am I suppose to say to her.
I mean I do not speak Italian. This has got-
ten out of hand. I knew that it was a mistake
to start going out with you."

Hunter came over to her and starting to

give her a hug, but she put her hand up to
keep him away. Hunter knew that he had to
act quickly if not she was going to try to
break things off with him, and there was no
way he was going to allow that to happen.
"Look babe, I know that this seems a lot to
take in, but I assure you no one is going wed-
ding shopping for us. As far as my family in
Italy, I do not go there until the summer. We
can wait and see how things are with us. We
have awhile before we have to make any kind
of decision on Italy."

Without her even realizing it, Hunter

had come up to her. He was holding her in
his arms.

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Something told Chantelle that she

should not give into Hunter, but she did any-
way. "Alright Hunter as long as your family
stops asking twenty questions about us."

"I will make sure that does not happen."

Hunter did not know who to think, but he
was happy that he had calmed her down.
Their relationship was still to new, and he
knew that she was still worried about what
people thought about their relationship. He
knew that he was going to have to be patient
with her. She would eventually come around
and realize that you cannot live your life for
others. You have to live your own life and do
what makes you happy. Hunter believed that
they could be happy together. There was no
way he was letting her go. It was not an op-
tion because he was falling in love with her,
and he knew that she had very strong feeling
for him she was just too stubborn to admit to
them. He could wait he was a patient man,
and Chantelle Brown was worth waiting for.

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Part II

Chapter 14

Hunter had taken Chantelle to a little

French Bistro they had found one weekend,
and they went there whenever they had a

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chance. It was intimate and there was pri-
vacy the two things Chantelle liked. Hunter
wanted to invite Chantelle to the charity fun-
draiser that his mother was having. He was
trying to find the right time to tell her about
it, and he guess this was as good as any place
to ask if she wanted to be his date.

"I just love this place I am so glad that

we found it, but even better I am glad that
you can speak French so I will know what is
on the menu."

Hunter started laughing. "You do know
that you can request for a menu in
English."
"I know but you make the language
sound so romantic."
"I will make sure that I speak French to
you when we make love."
"Your Italian has the same effect. I tell
you what you can switch between the
two."

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"Whatever makes you happy I will ac-
commodate you?"
"Well all I know is that I am happy to be
here. This new assignment has been a
headache."
"If it is that bad babe why not quit?"

"Really Hunter if it was only that easy.

Some of us do not have a trust fund we can
live off. I have bills to pay, and a son to take
care of."

"I remember that you received a very

generous bonus for the job that you did at
my firm. You did not have to take another
job so soon."

"For you information I put that money

in a college fund for Michael, and a retire-
ment fund for me. I do not plan on being a
greeter at Wal-Mart when I get older because
I cannot afford to retire."

Hunter chuckled at what Chantelle said.

"A greeter at Wal-Mart I would never allow
that to happen."

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At that moment, Chantelle looked at

Hunter strange. "What makes you think that
we will still be together?"

Hunter cleared his throat. Even thought

they had been seeing each other for about
four months, Hunter knew that there were
still some obstacles in their relationship.
There were times that he wanted to shout
that he was in love with her, but he also
knew that she would probably run. He was
biding his time until he could confess his
feeling to her.

"Hunter did you hear what I said? I

asked what makes you think that we will still
be together?"

Babe whether we are together or not I

would never allow you to work at Wal-Mart
as a greeter. You mean too much to me to al-
low that to happen."

Chantelle did not know if she believed

what he was saying. Sometimes she had the
feeling that Hunter was holding something

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back. She had to admit that she loved being
with him, but she was also realistic. There
was no way they could have a future togeth-
er. He would eventually find someone who
was younger and prettier than she was, and
someone who could give him a child.
Chantelle was trying to make sure that she
did not develop strong feelings for Hunter,
but that was becoming harder each day. She
knew that the smart thing to do was to end it
with him, but every time she tried, too she
thought about the empty place in her heart
from missing him. Chantelle was beginning
to think that maybe it was too late for her
heart. Oh girl what are you going to do now
she had to admit that she was falling in love
with Hunter Antonio Jameson.

"What are you thinking in that pretty

little head of your?"

Chantelle knew that this was a good

time to end things with Hunter, but as usual,
she could not bring herself to end their

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relationship. "I was just thinking that I am
not going to think about work and enjoy
myself."

"Now you are talking."
Chantelle and Hunter decided to have a

glass of wine after lunch and enjoy the view
of the city. Hunter wanted to approach the
subject of his mother's fundraiser. If there
was one thing Hunter knew about his mother
was that she took her fundraising serious.
She needed a count of how many people
were going to be there, and Hunter had not
given her an answer as of yet. He knew that
he needed to ask Chantelle or hear the wrath
of Lisa Jameson.

"Hunter I am so glad that we found this

place the owners are so nice, and I love the
way that they remember us each time we
come."

"They remember us because of your

beauty."

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Chantelle never knew how to respond to

Hunter when he gave her compliments. He
was doing it more and more, and when they
were making love he always had this look in
his eyes like he wanted to say something, but
he always held back. "Hunter you know
when you say things like that I get
uncomfortable."

"Why it is the truth. You are the most
beautiful woman in this room."
"Stop it Hunter please."
"Okay, but you know how I feel. I will
change the subject. What are your plans
for the last Saturday of June?"
"I have no idea what is it?"

"My mother is having her annual fun-

draiser for the homeless and as her children
we are required to attend any fundraiser my
mother is in charge of."

"You want me to be your date?"
"Yes I would be honored if you would be
my date."

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"If I said no, would you still go?"
"I would go and make an appearance,
and then I would leave."
"You wouldn't find another date?"
"No If I cannot go with you then I will
not take anyone."
"Why me you could go with anyone?"
"I could but since you are my girlfriend I
would like to attend the ball with you."
"I do not know I mean there will be a lot
of people there, and the media will prob-
ably be there."

"Yes there will be a lot of people there,

and yes the media will be there. However, I
will be right there beside you. The media
knows that I am seeing someone, and we
have made the society pages quite a few
times. We have been seeing each other for
four months sooner or later they are going to
see us at some formal gathering."

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"Why no one has to see me at a formal

gathering. Who knows we may stop seeing
each other."

Hunter was getting angry he hated

when Chantelle would bring up the possibil-
ity of them not seeing each other anymore.
He tried to show patience with her, but she
was making it impossible most of the time.

"You know I really hate when you talk

like that. I am going to start getting a com-
plex and think that you want to break-up."

"Maybe we should."
"What!" Hunter knew that he was draw-

ing attention to them by making that remark,
but he did not care. He should not be sur-
prised at her remark, but he was getting tired
of her tiring to break things off with him.
There was no way he was going to let this
woman walk out of his life.

"Hunter please you are drawing atten-

tion to us."

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"Sorry babe, just thinking about you not

being in my life is not something I want to
happen."

"Why Hunter you and I both know that

what we have is temporary. You are going to
find someone who is younger and prettier,
and who can give you children…"

Before she could say anymore, Hunter

kissed her. Not only was it a kiss to keep her
quite, but it was to show her how much she
met to him. To Chantelle's disappointment,
it ended too soon.

"I do not want to hear anymore talk

about us breaking up. I have always dated
woman who were older than I was, and if I
want a child there are other ways to go about
having children. There are so many children
in this world who need good homes, and I
think that we could provide a great home for
any child."

"We Hunter I think you mean you..."

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"No I met to say we. If you have not fig-

ure it out yet I want us to have a future."

Chantelle wanted to believe Hunter, but

she could not take the chance with her heart.
"Hunter I do not think that is such a good
idea."

"I do not want anyone younger. I want

you." Hunter reached into his wallet, placed
some bills on the table, grabbed Chantelle
hands, and walked out of the restaurant.

"Hunter slow down where are we

going?"

One minute they were in the restaurant,

and the next minute they were in his car
driving off. Hunter did not even bother to
look her way. He had his eyes on the road.
This was the last time they were going to
have this conversation. He was going to
prove to Chantelle that they belonged
together.

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"Okay I can see that this is going to be a

monologue."

Chantelle was a little surprised when

they ended up at his house. She thought for
sure that he was going to take her home.
When he pulled up into his garage, and got
out of the car and came to her side and
opened her door she did not know what to
say.

"Are you coming or are you going to sit

in the car?"

Chantelle got out of the car, and Hunter

grabbed her hand and started walking to-
wards the kitchen door. Before they could go
through Chantelle stopped him. "What now?

"Why did you bring me here Hunter? I

thought that you were mad at me?"

"You know for someone who was in the

Army you jump to a lot of conclusions is it
because you were airborne did you read
peoples mind in the Army?"

"No I did not, but you were mad at me."

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"I was mad at what you said, but I was

not mad at you. I bought you here because I
was not about to have this conversation in
public."

"Then why were you quite in the car?"
"Because if I stopped to look at you then

I do not think that we would have made it
back here. I do not know about you, but I am
tired of standing in my garage can we go in
now?"

"Hunter how come we would not have

made it back here?"

Hunter was tired of her talking it was

time for some action. He picked Chantelle up
and carried her in the house the whole time
she was telling him to put her down. He car-
ried her upstairs, and laid her on the bed,
with him on top of her.

"Hunter what are you doing?"
"I am looking at the most beautiful wo-
man in the world."

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"I thought that we were going to talk?"

"I lied. We can talk later." He started

kissing her, and Chantelle knew that she al-
ways gave in when he kissed her. Hunter had
a way of making her think of nothing but
them. Before she knew it, he had their
clothes off. He was kissing and cherishing
her body as he always did when they made
love. He always paused and worshiped her
stomach especially her piercing. That pier-
cing turned him on. He had never made love
to a woman who had a belly piercing, and
whenever

saw

Chantelle

wearing

something that showed of her stomach he
just wanted to take her now. It did not mat-
ter where they were he wanted her immedi-
ately. He had moved to her shaved pussy and
devoured her. He loved her essence, and he
could eat her all day and make her come all
night long. When she came the first time, he
knew for sure that if the windows were open
his neighbors would have heard her even

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though his neighbors were a few miles away.
He did not stop with her coming one time he
made her come three more times. He wanted
to make sure that Chantelle knew that she
was his, and that she was the only woman for
him.

Chantelle did not know that someone

eating her pussy would feel this good. The
man was good, and he knew it. Before she
could get a hold of herself, he was kissing
her. She could taste her essence on his lips
and tongue. She wanted to touch him every-
where, but Hunter would not let her. He had
grabbed her hands and held them over her
head. Chantelle could feel his cock at her en-
trance. She was wondering what he was wait-
ing for, and then that is when he stopped
kissing her and looked at her.

"Why did you stop Hunter?"
He did not answer right away at first

she thought that he had not heard her, but
when he kissed her again this kiss was,

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different it was a kiss of possession. He
stopped and looked at her again and this
time he spoke.

"You are mine Chantelle mine I want
you to know that. I will never let you
go."
Before she could say anything, he
entered her in one swift motion. He
started moving fast inside her, and she
was loving it.
"Mine, mine, mine you belong to me."

He was kissing her neck the whole time

he was claiming her as his own. He had
touched her g-spot and that was all it took to
make her come. She came all over his cock.

"Damn babe you feel so good."
He pulled out to where only the head of

his cock was inside of her, and then he
slammed into her and started pumping her
faster. He could feel the tightness in his
balls. He knew that he was coming. He
wanted to make it last, but when he looked

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down at her that was all he needed to fill her
pussy with his seed. He kissed her neck
again.

"I love you."
He started kissing her neck again until

he could not come anymore. It was then that
he realized that he did not use a condom. He
had never made love to a woman without
protection.

Chantelle knew that she must of heard

wrong he did not just tell her that he loved
her. This was not suppose to happen.

Hunter knew that he could not stay on

top of her forever. He pulled out of her and
rolled over to his back.

"That was great." He turned to look at

Chantelle she was looking at the ceiling. He
reached for her and pulled her closer to him.
"Hey babe is something wrong."

Chantelle looked at him and there were
tears in her eyes.

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"Babe what is it?" Hunter was getting
scared.
"Do you really love me?"

Hunter looked at her for a few seconds

before he started smiling. He bent down to
kiss her. "Yes I love you Chantelle Brown."

"You know that was not suppose to

happen?"

"Maybe you were trying not to, but I

knew the first time I saw you that I was going
to have a relationship with you. By the
second date, I knew that there was no one
else for me. I know that you have feelings for
me. You may already love me, but I also
know that you are stubborn."

That was when he pulled her on top of

him. "You are mine Chantelle, and I have
every intention of making you my wife."

"Hunter I…"
She did not have a chance to say any-

thing he started kissing her. Chantelle gave
in and kissed him back. He stopped kissing

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her, and looked at her she put her head on
his chest.

"So what does this mean Hunter?"
"Well first I would like an answer to my
question."
Chantelle looked at Hunter strange she
had no idea what question he was refer-
ring too. "What question?"
"Tsk tsk how soon they forget. Remem-
ber I asked you to be my date for the
fund raiser."
"Oh that question."
"Yes that question."
"I suppose if I said no then your mother
would try to set you up with one of her
friend's daughters."
"Does this mean that you will be my
date?"
"I guess so. Now answer my question
where does this leave us."

"It leaves us as a couple. You are my

girlfriend, and I am your boyfriend. We are

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also not going to care what people say about
us. I love you Chantelle, and that is not going
to change."

For the first time she believed Hunter.

There was something different about their
lovemaking this time. Neither one held back
this time. For the first time in five years,
Chantelle felt as if she could love someone
and not get hurt. She was never going to take
a chance at love again. She was just going to
raise her son, and work on her career. Then
here comes along this hunk of hunks that
pursues her, and falls in loves with her. How
could she not fall in love with Hunter? She
knew that she had fallen in love with him
some time ago. She just did not want to ad-
mit it. She was just going to bide her time be-
fore Hunter dumped her, but now she be-
lieved that he was not going anywhere.

"Hunter I have something to tell you."
If she was going to say that they did not

belong together, he was going to tie her to

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the bed until she admitted that she has very
strong feelings for him. "I swear Chantelle if
you tell me your same mantra we do not be-
long together and that me being younger
than you…."

Chantelle did not give him a chance to

finish. She had placed her finger over his
mouth. "You are going to let me finish. Now
when my husband died I did not want to get
involved with anyone. I just wanted to raise
my son, and further my career. Then this
arrogant hot-blooded Italian came into my
life, and would not take no for an answer.
What do I do? I get involved with him, but
then it becomes serious. That was the last
thing that I wanted to happen. I realize that
there is only one thing that I can do about
this situation."

Hunter did not know where this conver-

sation was going, but he held on to Chantelle
tighter. There was no way she was going to
leave him. They were staring at one another.

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Then Chantelle put her hands in his hair and
started playing in it. He loved when she did
that. It helped him to relax especially if he
had a hard day at work. He had to know
where he stood with her.

"What are you trying to say Chantelle?"
"Silly boy as I said before there is only
one solution to this."
"I know, and what is this solution."

Chantelle started shaking her head, and

gave Hunter a look as if he should know
what the answer should be. Hunter wanted
to know, and he wanted to know now.

"Chantelle I am not playing tell me what

you mean."

She bent down and gave him a light kiss

on the lips. She liked having this kind of con-
trol. Sometimes his arrogance could be an-
noying. This was her way of getting back at
him.

"Chantelle I am warning you I will tie

you to the bed if you do not stop this."

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"I love you Hunter."
Finally, she had said the words that he

had been waiting to hear. "I have been wait-
ing forever for you to say those words to me."

"I knew that I could not try and pretend
that I did not anymore. I want to take a
chance at love again."
"Well I am your man babe."
She laid her head on his chest. "Hunter."
"Yes babe."
"Were you serious about tying me to the
bed?"
Hunter chuckled. "Well babe I have
been meaning to try new things with
you."
Chantelle rose up and looked at him.
"Are you serious?"
"I am always willing to broaden your
horizons."
"We can discuss this later."
"As long as you keep an open mind, and
not say no before we discuss it."

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"Fine I can do that."
Hunter felt good he had his woman, and
they could move forward.
"Babe I wanted to ask you something are
you on any form of birth control?"
"Yes why?"
"I forgot to put on a condom."
"Please tell me that you are clean?"

"Of course I would never do that to a

woman. Besides you are the first woman I
have ever made love to without protection."

"Seriously."
"Scouts honor."
"Were you even ever a scout?"
"Actually I was."
"Oh okay I believe you."
"You know what this means?"
"What does it mean?"
"I am not going to wear a condom when
we make love."
"Hunter I do not know if that is such a
good idea."

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"Why not I do not plan on being with

anyone else, and neither are you. I know that
you do not expect me to wear a condom after
I had the pleasure of riding you bareback?"

"Hunter suppose I forget to take my

birth control?"

"Then we deal with it if it happens." It

was then that he lifted her up on onto his
waiting cock. "Doesn't that feel good?"

"Who am I to argue?"
"That's it babe now ride me."

Chapter 15

"This color looks nice in your hair. What
made you decided to add the highlights
to your hair."
Chantelle had went to her hairdresser
earlier and decided it was time for a
change.

"I thought that since this is such a big

occasion I would do something different. Do
you think that Hunter will like it?"

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"Honey I think if you were bald the man

would think that you were the sexiest woman
in the world."

"I think that is taking it a bit too far."
"I don't that man is so in love with you it

is not funny. Look, I know that I was the one
to encourage you to have fun with him.
Anyone can see that your relationship has
progress to something more serious."

"We have admitted that we have feelings
for one another."
"What kind of feelings? Did the word
love ever come up?"
Chantelle had not told Aaliyah that she
had told Hunter had admitted that they
were in love."
"Actually yes it did."
"Oh girl did he say it first or did you?"
"What

makes

you

think

said

anything?"

"Please you are talking to your girl. I

knew that there was something different

220/317

with you to. I was waiting for you to say
something."

"Sorry I just wanted to keep it a secret

for a little while longer. I know that I have
accepted Hunter being in my life, but I still
get nervous about what people will say."

"Well it does not matter because tonight

you are going to go on the red carpet with
this man, and everyone is going to know that
you to are together."

"I know and I am ready or just as ready
as I can be."
"Well I will be looking at you on the red
carpet. Now enough with that how did
he tell you that he loved you?"
Chantelle was a little embarrassed to let
her friend know how or where Hunter
declared his love for her.

"Well it does not matter just know that

he told me that he loved me, and I said the
same. We have been good ever since."

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"When you say that everything is good,
you mean no more running away?"
"No Aaliyah no more running away.
There is no reason to fight him or my
feelings anymore."
Aaliyah gave her friend a hug.
"I am so glad to hear this because that
man is good for you."
"I do not know how this is going to work
out."
"I tell you how it is going to work out the
man is going to ask you to marry him."
Chantelle was not as sure as Aaliyah.
Chantelle knew that Hunter loved her. A
part of her was afraid of losing him.
"I do not know if marriage is in the
cards for us."
"I do and I would not be surprised if the
man asked you."

"I do not know if I want to get married

again." Chantelle was lying. The idea of being

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married to Hunter would be nice, but she
was afraid of getting hurt.

"Just remember I told you so."
"Well I think that I need to finish get-

ting ready. Do you think that these earrings
will look good with my dress?"

Chantelle picked out a pair of drop em-

erald earrings. There was also a matching
necklace. It was a simple necklace just a sil-
ver chain with a heart shape emerald on it.
Chantelle was never big about jewelry. The
Army did not allowed soldiers to wear a lot
of jewelry. When Chantelle was on her two-
week leave from her second tour of Iraq, she
went to Spain and saw this combination.
This would be the first time she wore them,
and she could not think of a better reason to
wear them.

"Those are the emeralds that you

bought in Spain?"

"Yes, do you think that they will work

with this dress?"

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"I think that it will go perfect with your

dress. Here let me help you put the necklace
on while you put the earrings on."

Chantelle looked at herself in the mir-

ror, and she loved the combination on her.
Now she needed to put her dress on.
Chantelle was very proud of herself. She had
saved her money, in order to buy her first
Vera Wang dress. No one needed to know
that it was on sale.

"Can you hand me my dress?"
The dress was laying on her bed. It was

a black sleeveless dress, but the back was not
open so it covered up her tattoo. The last
thing she wanted to do is embarrass Hunter's
mother. The one on her leg she would cover
that one up with make-up. She could have
cover the one up on her shoulder but she did
not want to get makeup on her dress. It was
a short evening gown because Chantelle
hated wearing long gowns because she al-
ways had to get them taken up because of her

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height. She was going to wear her black satin
shoes with the sequins they were slip on and
they had a three-inch heel but they were easy
to take off if she needed to. After getting
dressed, she looked in the mirror.

"Do you think Hunter will like it?"
"As I said before you could be bald and

wear a sack the man would still only have
eyes for you."

Chantelle turned around and gave her

friend who has been through everything with
her. There were times she did not think that
she would make it if it had not been for
Aaliyah.

"Thank-you I do not know what I would
do without you."
"Wow mom you look beautiful."
Michael walked into her room eating an
ice cream cone.
"Thank-you young man. Did you ask
permission for that ice cream?"

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Michael had a habit of looking down
when he knew he was going to get in
trouble.
"No ma'am."
Chantelle looked at her son, and he
looked pitiful.
"Okay just this once you can have the ice
cream, but next time ask."
"Yes ma'am. Mom you do look beautiful.
You are going to be the prettiest woman
there."
"Thank-you sweetheart."

"If your son thinks that, just image what

your boyfriend is going to think. Now you
need to finish getting ready he is going to be
here any minute."

They both heard the doorbell, and they
knew that it was Hunter.
"Oh my I still need to change purses."
"Look you make sure that you have
everything while I go and get the door."

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"Thanks girl I do not know what I would
do without you."
Aaliyah headed downstairs and opened
the door not only was Hunter there, but
so was Miles.
"Miles I did not expect you."
"Did you think that I would not see
Chantelle all dressed up for her red car-
pet debut."
"Hunter how are you please come in
both of you."
"Where is the lady of the hour should I
go up there to help her?"
"No Miles she is okay and she will be
down in a few minutes. Hunter you are
looking handsome in your tux."

"Yes I was telling him when we were

outside that he has impressive taste in
clothes. If you swung my way, and of course
not be in a relationship I would go after you."

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"I do not know what to say. Really I
don't I can't say that I have ever been
proposition by another man."
"You do not have to worry you are in-
volved with Chantelle, and I know that
you are as straight as an arrow."
Just then, Chantelle came down the
stairs.
"Did I hear my name mentioned?"

Everyone turned to look at Chantelle

coming down the stairs. She took Hunter's
breath away he started walking towards her
and took her hand.

"You look beautiful every woman is go-
ing to be jealous of you tonight. Here
this is for you."
Hunter handed Chantelle a single red
rose.
"Thank-you it is beautiful, and I must
say that you look handsome."
Aaliyah came and took the rose from
Chantelle.

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"I will put this in water."
"Thanks Aaliyah."
Before she could say anything else,
Hunter picked her up and kissed her.

"Okay you to break it up you are going

to mess my girl's makeup up and by the way
you look beautiful tonight, but you are al-
ways beautiful."

"Thank-you Miles."
"I want to get a picture of the two of
you."
Hunter and Chantelle turned for Miles
to take some pictures. Just then, Mi-
chael walked into the room.

"Michael I am glad you are here Hunter

and I are getting ready to leave and I wanted
to tell you goodnight. Come and give me a
hug."

"Goodnight mom I hope that you and
Hunter have a good time tonight."
"We will, and you be good okay."
"Yes mom."

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"Goodnight little man remember you
and my niece and nephew are going to
the beach this weekend."
"Yes I cannot wait."
"Chantelle are you ready?"
"Yes I am as ready as I am going to be."
Hunter held out his arm for Chantelle
and she took it."
"You carriage awaits you."

When they went outside, Chantelle was

surprised to see a limo parked in front of her
place. There was a man standing by the limo
with the door open. Chantelle was inside fol-
lowed by Hunter.

"I was not expecting a limo."
"Only the best for my baby. You ready
for this?"
"I think so as long as you are by my
side."
"Always it will be fine."

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Hunter could tell that Chantelle still had

her doubts about tonight. Not that she would
admit it to him. Since there coming to an
agreement about their relationship, things
have been going great between them. They
had come a long way, and there was not go-
ing to be any going back to the way it was
Hunter would not allow that.

"Nervous about tonight?"
"No why would you ask that?"
Hunter gave Chantelle that look that he
knew she was lying.

"Fine I am a little nervous. I have never

been to a red carpet event before. In addi-
tion, the media will be there, and that makes
me even nervous. Please do not be mad at
me."

"Babe I am not mad at you. I under-

stand that you will be somewhat nervous.
However, you have to remember that I will

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be right beside you. Everything will be
alright."

Hunter gave Chantelle a kiss. Even

thought it was suppose to be a light kiss. The
kiss ended up turning into a passionate kiss.
Chantelle was the one who pulled away.

"You need to stop that. Now I have to fix

my lips."

"You know that I can't help myself when

it comes to you."

"Well you are going to have to tonight,

or as long as we are at this fundraiser. The
last thing I want to do is give off the impres-
sion I am your sex toy."

"You know how I feel about you, and

when everyone see's us together they are go-
ing to realize that I am serious about you."

Before Chantelle could say anything, the
limo had come to a stop. Chantelle knew
that it was now or never.
"It seems that we are here. Are you
ready?"

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"Yes as ready as I am going to be let's
go."

The door to the limo opened and

Hunter stepped out and held his hand out
for Chantelle to follow. Chantelle was
greeted to flashing light bulbs and questions
that were directed at Hunter.

"Hunter with the economy being the

way it is do you think that your mother is go-
ing to be able to top what she raised last
year."

"Only time will tell, but I do know that

there will not be an empty seat at any of the
tables. Matter of fact my mother said that
there were still people trying to get tickets."

"Well I think that tonight will be very

successful

for

your

mother

and

her

organization."

"Yes this charity is very dear to my

mother's heart, and I know that it will be a
success."

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Another reporter ask who was his date.

Hunter had his hand around her waist right
above her hip. He pulled Chantelle closer to
him.

"We have seen you two around the city

together is it serious?"

Chantelle could tell that Hunter was use

to being in front of the camera. With a smile
on his face looking directly into the camera,
he answered the questions. Chantelle knew
that they could no longer keep their relation-
ship a secret any longer, but she was not ex-
pecting him to say what he did.

"This is Chantelle Brown my girlfriend,

and yes we are very serious she is the love of
my life."

Then Hunter kissed her lightly on the

lips and started walking towards the en-
trance. Even thought the media was asking
questions about their relationship, he was ig-
noring them and heading to the entrance.

"Why did you do that?"

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"Because it is the truth."
He winked at her and grabbed her hand
to walk inside the building.

"Hunter this place is gorgeous. Your
mother did an excellent job with the
decorations."
"My mother takes pride in all of her
events. She makes sure that everything
is perfect."

"I love the way that she used the silver,

and the way it stands out. The room does not
have a lot of colors to make a person dizzy."

Just then, Hunter's brother and sister

with their spouses came over to greet them.
Alexandra came over and gave her brother a
hug. Then she turned to Chantelle and gave
her a hug.

"I love your dress."

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Karen Lee's wife said that she looked
beautiful in that dress.
"Is it a Vera Wang?"
"Yes it is. I thought for my first red car-
pet event I would splurge."
Just then, Hunter's parents came over to
greet them.
"Well hello you two. I thought that you
were not going to make it."
"Mother you know that I was coming. I
was practically ordered to come."
"I do not force my children to come to
these events."
Hunter's dad Lance gave his wife a look
that said different.

"Dear ever since Lee, Alexander, and

Hunter were old enough to attend your func-
tions you have made sure that they are
present."

"Well what is wrong with having a little
family support?"

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"Lisa your family will always support
you. That is something you never have
to worry about."
Lisa gave her husband a kiss and
thanked him and her children for sup-
porting her and her charities.
"Hunter why are you the last to arrive?"
"He was probably stopped by the
media."
"Be quiet Lee."
Hunter knew that his brother was teas-
ing him.
"Is your brother correct did the media
stop to talk to you?"
"Yes mother they just asked if I thought
that you were going to match or exceed
what you raised last year."

"I plan on exceeding what we did last

year. Well I have to go come on Lance the
governor is over there and I want to make
sure that he makes a nice donation."

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"I do not know what our mother is wor-
ried about when she knows that she
could charm the president out of a
donation."
"Alex you know that she will not become
the mother we all love and adore again
until this night is over with."
"I know Lee. Come on let's do what we
always do when we come to these func-
tions socialize."

Alex and Aiden walked off leaving Lee

and Karen to talk to Chantelle and Hunter.
Karen offered to take Chantelle and intro-
duce her to some people.

"Okay bro since our better halves have
departed what did the media really ask
you?"
"Why are you so anxious to know?"
"I know that they asked you more than
about this fundraiser. If I know the me-
dia, they were asking about Chantelle."

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Lee knew his brother so well. He also
knew that Lee was not going to leave
him alone until he told him.

"They asked who my date was, and that

they had seen us together a lot. I told them
that her name is Chantelle and she is my girl-
friend then we came in. I did not want
Chantelle to be harassed by the media."

"How did she handle it?"
"Like a pro."
"Good I am glad to hear that because if

you plan on having a future with this woman
than that is something she is going to have to
get use to."

Hunter knew that his brother was right.

He was going to try to keep Chantelle's per-
sonal life out of the media, but he knew that
he could not keep reporters from asking
about her. They had come a long way in their
relationship, and he was going to protect her
and her son to the best of his ability. He just
hoped that was enough.

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Chantelle knew that there were going to

be many rich people here, but she did not ex-
pect to see actors here. She had never been
around so much fame and fortune. In this
room alone, there was probably millions of
dollars of jewelry. If Hunter's mother did not
surpass what she did last year, she could al-
ways ask for their jewelry. There was enough
money in this room to help all the homeless
in the world. Chantelle saw Hunter talking
with a man. As she was walking over to him,
he excused himself from the man and came
over to her. He placed his hand on her hip
and gave her a kiss on the lips. The kiss was
over with before Chantelle could respond.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look
tonight?"
"I believe that you have mentioned it a
few times."
"You are the most beautiful woman
here."

240/317

"I do not think that other people will fill
the same way you do."
"I do not care what other people think,
and neither should you."
"I think that we should go ahead and
have a seat they will be serving dinner
soon. Our table is over there."
"Why are we near the front?"
"Because my mother has to be close to
the stage, plus she wants all of us to sit
together."

Chantelle noticed that Pamela Niles was

sitting at the same table as Hunter's family.
Chantelle's gut feeling was telling her not to
trust Pamela Niles. Hunter held out her chair
and he sat next to her. That was when
Pamela and her mother started talking to
Hunter.

"Hello Hunter how have you been. I

have not seen you in awhile. Where have you
been hiding yourself?"

241/317

"Hello Pamela, Mr., and Mrs. Niles. It is

good to see you. I do not think that you have
met Chantelle Brown."

"Yes I remember you were at the res-

taurant with Hunter the last time I saw you.
Mother they were having a business meeting.
My Hunter you must be paying her well if
she can afford a five thousand dollar ticket."

Chantelle almost embarrassed herself

by choking on her drink. She had no idea
that the tickets for this function were five
thousand dollars a person. That met that
Hunter paid ten thousand for their tickets.

"Chantelle is my date."
"Hunter I have never known you to have

a problem finding a date before. If you
needed a date, I would have volunteered."

Just then, Chantelle wanted to bitch

slap that woman. Hunter must have felt the
tension in her because before she could react
he spoke up.

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"Chantelle and I are dating. We have
been for some months."
Chantelle wished that she had a camera
to get the expressions on Pamela and
her mother.
"Oh I thought that was just a rumor. We
should do lunch sometime."
"I am afraid that my current case load
keeps me busy, and what time I do have
I spend it with Chantelle."

Again, Chantelle wished that she had a

camera to get the shocked look on their
faces. Just the idea of Hunter putting that
bitch in her place was enough for Chantelle.

The rest of the evening went even better

than Chantelle expected. After dinner and
speeches there was dancing. Right now
Hunter was dancing with Chantelle, and it
felt so right to be in his arms. She was in love
with this man.

"What are you thinking in that pretty

head of yours?"

243/317

"I was thinking how much I love you." It

amazed Chantelle how it was getting easier
to admit to her feeling with Hunter. She was
in love with him, and she could not see her
life without him.

"Well I am glad to hear that I love you
also. I was worried that you wanted to
leave because of what happen earlier."
"You mean with Pamela and her
mother?"
"Yea I am sorry if I embarrassed you."

Chantelle put her finger up to his lips. "I

am glad you said what you did because I was
going to bitch slap that woman if you
hadn't."

"Now that would have been interesting
to see."
"Hey I know how to fight."
"I know you do that is why it would have
been interesting."

244/317

"I do not believe you. I would not have
done that besides I do not think that
your mother would have forgiven me."
"You are right I would have had to make
an even bigger donation just to keep her
happy."
"Speaking of money I had no idea the
tickets for this function was five thou-
sand a piece. I owe you some money."

"Like hell you do! You are my date, and

we are a couple you do not owe me anything.
I do not want to hear another word about
this."

"Yes sir."
"I do not know about you, but I am
ready to go."
"Just let me go to the ladies room then
we can leave."
"Okay I will wait for you over at our
table."

Hunter gave Chantelle a kiss on the

cheek before she walked off. She knew what

245/317

was going to happen as soon as they went
back to his place, and she was more than
ready. When she made it to the women's
room, there were already other people in
there. Before she could make herself known
she heard Pamela Niles voice talking to the
other women. She realized that they were
talking about her.

"Can you believe that woman coming to

this function, and that dress she was wearing
I bet Hunter bought it for her. Well if she
wants' to be his whore so be it. Hunter is go-
ing to come to his senses. He has never
stayed in a relationship long. He will dump
her, and then he will be mine."

Chantelle could not stand it anymore

she made herself known to the women. If
they were shocked to see her, they were hid-
ing it well. Chantelle ignored the other wo-
men and went to stand in front of Pamela.

"Let's get something straight bitch. First

off, I am no one's whore that title is for you.

246/317

Second, I bought this dress not Hunter. Un-
like you, I do not have to have a man in my
life to take care of me. I have an education
and work experience, and I make my own
money."

Chantelle turned to walk away, and then

turned back around to face Pamela again.
This time she raised her hand and slapped
Pamela so hard she fell on her ass.

"The third thing, do not even try to

come between Hunter and I or the next time
I want slap you I will punch you in your
face."

Chantelle then walked out and found

Hunter.

Hunter saw Chantelle when she started

to walk over to him. She had a big smile on
her face, and he was thinking that she was
happy for the same reason he was. He was
anxious to get back to his place.

"You ready to go babe?"

247/317

Chantelle looked back from where she
had been and then looked back at
Hunter.
"I am more than ready to leave."
"Then let's go I have already told my
family we are leaving."

As they were walking out Chantelle felt

free, and she was not afraid to show her feel-
ing to Hunter in public. They were holding
hands, and she stopped him and gave him a
kiss.

Hunter looked at Chantelle a little sur-

prised that she would initiate a kiss in public.

"Not that I am complaining, but I have

to say I am a little surprised that you would
kiss me in public."

"I thought that it was time to let every-

one know that we are together, and that I am
not afraid to show my affection to you."

"Would this have anything to do with
Pamela?"

248/317

"Maybe but I do not want to talk about
her right now. I just want to leave."
"Well come on then our limo awaits us."

249/317

Chapter 16

"Hunter put me down I am capable of
walking."
"Maybe I want to carry you up to the
bedroom."
Hunter carried Chantelle to his bedroom
and shut the door behind him. He
placed Chantelle on the bed while he
slowly undressed.
"Would you like for me to undress also?"
"No I want to undress you."

Slowly Hunter came over to Chantelle

and kissed her with so much passion. He
slowly started undressing her, and kissing
her body while he was admiring the woman
that he loved. He went between her legs and
smelled her essences. He loved her smelled.
He could not wait anymore he had to taste
her. She was already wet for him and he
loved it. He loved her, and she loved him. He

250/317

felt her coming and started lapping up her
sweetness.

"That was incredible Hunter it only gets

better and better every time we make love."

"Then let me not disappoint you."
Hunter started kissing Chantelle, and

before she realized it, he had entered her.
Hunter wanted to take it slow with her. He
wanted to make love to her, and not fuck her.
He slowly started moving inside of her at the
same time worshiping the rest of her body.
He started with her mouth and worked his
way down to her breast. He took each one in
his mouth, twirled each areola, and sucked
on them. When she came the first time,
Hunter did not stop he made her come two
more times before he himself came inside of
her. He did not want to leave the warmth of
her, but he felt himself getting soft so he
eased out of her and rolled over to his back
bringing her with him. He gave her a kiss on
the temple.

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"I love you Chantelle."
"I love you also Hunter."
"Did you have a good time tonight?"
"I had a wonderful time, and everyone
was nice well everyone except your ex
girlfriend Pamela."
The last thing Hunter needed was
Pamela and her mother to come
between him and Chantelle.

"Babe Pamela does not mean anything

to me. Yes I dated her for a few months just
to prove to myself and my parents that I
prefer older women."

"Well you need to tell her that there is
nothing between you to."
"Why did she say anything to you?"
"No not to me, but to her socialite
friends in the ladies room."

Hunter sat up and bought Chantelle

with him. He wanted to know what Pamela
said. If Pamela said anything negative about
Chantelle, he did not care if she was an old

252/317

friend of the family or not. No one was going
to talk about his woman.

"What was said Chantelle?"
Chantelle knew that Hunter would pro-

tect her if something negative happen to her,
but she also had to let him know that she
could take care of herself.

"Calm down Hunter I took care of it. I

put miss socialite in her place."

"I do not know if I am going to like this,

but what did you do."

"Well, Ms. Socialite tried to say that I

was your whore, and that you purchased the
dress I wore. I told miss socialite that I was
no one's whore and that I bought this dress
not you, and that I did not need a man to
support me. Then I bitch slapped her, and
she ended up on her ass. I told her if she
even tried to come between us she would get
worst than a slap. She would be the recipient
of my fist in her face."

253/317

Hunter looked at her and started smil-
ing and then he was laughing. He
laughed so hard that he had tears in his
eyes.
"I wish that I could have seen that
babe."
"Well if she tries to come between us
you can witness me punching her, and
then you can bail me out of jail."
"I want let you go to jail. However, I do
not know if I like the part about not
needing a man."
"You know what I mean. I do not need
your money only you."
"Now that is more like it."

Hunter gave her a very possessive kiss

that told Chantelle that there was no way she
was getting rid of him. He went back to hold-
ing her. He needed to ask Chantelle
something and from experiences he knew
that the best time to approach her with
something was after making love.

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"Chantelle I need to ask you something?"

"Why do you always ask me things after
we have made love?"
"Because I know that you are in a good
mood after having passionate sex with
me."
"Okay lover boy what do you want to ask
me?"

"I wanted to know if you would come

with me to my family's vacation home in the
Bahamas. Every year my mother's whole
family gets together for two weeks. You can
meet my cousins, aunts, and uncles. Well all
except one of my uncles, we do not get along.
Would you like to come?"

"When is it?"
"The first week in July we usually have a
big fourth of July celebration."
"That is just around the corner. I cannot
spring this on Aaliyah and then leave
her for two weeks."

255/317

"I know that this is sudden, but didn't
you say that you were almost finished
with this assignment."
"Yes, but we should be wrapping it up
right after the fourth."
"Then I think that we can work
something out with Aaliyah please."
"Well I will go only if Aaliyah and I can
work something out, but if I cannot then
you know the answer."
"Fair enough we can discuss it with
Aaliyah tomorrow."
"Enough about this why is it that I will
not like one of your uncles?"
Hunter did not want to get into it with
Chantelle, but she was going to pester
him until he told her.

"My uncle Rafe does not like me be-

cause he does not consider me part of the
family. In addition, he thinks that my mother
should not have forgiven my father for cheat-
ing on her when she was pregnant. He may

256/317

not even be there he has not shown up for
the last couple of years. We may have to be
bothered with him."

"Well thanks for telling me, and if he
does show up then we will deal with him
together."
"What are you going to do punch him in
the face?"
"If I have to I will. We are in this rela-
tionship together. What affects you af-
fects me."
"May I hold you? I just want to hold you
right now."
"Of course you can I would like that."
Hunter held her until early in the morn-
ing and they made love again.

Part 3

257/317

Chapter 17

"Oh Hunter this house goes on forever.
A person could get lost in this place."
"It is not that bad you get used to it after
you have been here a few times."

Hunter and Chantelle had arrived at his

parent's vacation home an hour ago, and
Hunter was showing her around the place
before the rest of his family arrived.

"I do not think that I will ever get use to

a place like this."

Even thought Chantelle and Hunter

have been dating for months it stilled sur-
prised her how rich his family is. Sometimes
she felt uncomfortable, but she tried to fit in-
to Hunter's world.

"Come on the rest of the family is out-

side you can meet them."

258/317

During the last hour, Chantelle had met

so many family members there was no way
she was going to remember all of their
names. Hunter told her not to worry. Just as
long as he remembered his grandparent's
name, everything was fine. She did realize
that everyone was making her feel welcome.
That was everyone except Hunter's uncle
Rafe. It seemed that he blamed everyone for
his problems, and he was not nice to anyone
except his parents. Chantelle did not feel as
bad when she realized that he treated every-
one the same way. However, he did seem to
treat Hunter with more than just a dislike. It
was as if he hated Hunter. She was not going
to let this man ruin her vacation. As long as
the rest of the family liked her, she was fine.
Even though Hunter had warned her about
his uncle, she was sure that she was going to
get the cold shoulder from his grandparents.
She could not have been more wrong. His

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grandparents adored her, and mentioned
that they had never seen Hunter so happy.

"What are you thinking about?"
Chantelle must be slipping she did not
hear Hunter come up behind her on the
balcony of their bedroom.
"I was thinking how nice your family is
well almost everyone."
Hunter chuckled.
"You must be talking about my uncle
Rafe. Do not worry about him."
"Oh I am not worried about him. I can
take care of myself. I just hate for any
confrontation to ruin this trip."
"Well I tell you what we want let it."
Hunter turned Chantelle around and
kissed her. Chantelle pulled back and
looked at Hunter.
"Mr. Jameson is there something in par-
ticular you wanted."
Chantelle knew exactly what Hunter
wanted she just wanted to tease him.

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Hunter gave Chantelle a look that could
only mean she was in trouble.
"Oh babe you know exactly what I
want."

He picked her up and carried her to the

bed. Chantelle could not remember how
their clothes came off, but the next thing she
remembers was Hunter worshiping her
body. Hunter started at her lips and moved
himself slowly down her body not missing a
beat. When he came to her shaved pussy, he
stopped.

"Why did you stop? Is it because I was
teasing you earlier? I am sorry."
Chantelle would have said anything to
get him to continue his assault on her
body.
"Good to know I have this kind of con-
trol over you that you will stoop to
begging."
"Hunter I cannot wait."
He stopped to sniff her pussy.

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"I love your smell along with your taste.
I just wanted to admire it before I take
pleasure."

Pleasure he did take Chantelle felt as if

she was going to explode. She could feel her-
self getting ready to come. When she did, she
was glad that there was no one near them.
Hunter purposely selected this room so that
they would be alone. Everyone else slept on
the other side of the house. He had told her
she could scream as loud as she wanted be-
cause no one would hear them. As usual, she
did not come once, but she came several
times before Hunter released her pussy from
his mouth. Hunter stopped to look at
Chantelle. He wanted this night to last
forever, but he knew that was not possible.
He would make sure that it lasted as long as
possible though. He slowly inched up her
body and started kissing her mouth and her
neck.

"Hunter I love you so much."

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"I know babe I love you so much also.

You are so beautiful. I only want you and no
one else ever." He never took his eyes off her.
He wanted to see her as he was entering her.
He grabbed both of her hands and held them
above her head as he entered her slowly.

"Oh Hunter that feels so good I want
more please."
"Hey I am running this show. You are
just going to have to be patient."
"Patient my ass you of all people know
that I am not a patient person."

Hunter did know that she was not pa-

tient, but he was not going to rush there love
making. When he did start to move inside of
her he moved at a slow tempo.

"Hunter I want it fast."
"No sweetheart I am going to make love

to you slow and tender. Now you are just go-
ing to have to be patient."

Chantelle knew that she had no other

choice. Hunter was stubborn, and once he

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made up his mind there was no changing it.
Hunter kept his promise he did make love to
her slow, and not a part of her body was left
untouched. They made love for a good part
of the night. When Chantelle came she came
hard, and Hunter was not far behind her.

"I guess this is one of the perks of having
a younger boyfriend."
Hunter rolled over to his side, reached
over, and retrieved a wipe to clean both
of them off.
"What is babe?"
"You have the stamina to last as long as
you did."
Hunter pulled Chantelle to him and
spooned her.
"Is that the only reason you date me?"
"Of course not you make me happy."

Hunter kissed her neck and back and

told her goodnight. He was happy because of
this woman. He knew that it was time to pro-
ceed to the next step in their relationship.

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Chapter 18

Chantelle was tired from last night, but

she was not too tired to run her 5 miles.
Chantelle was happy her and Hunter spent a
wonderful night together making love and
holding one another. She loved him really
loved him. After her husband died, she did
not think it was possible to love someone as
much as she had loved her husband. She did
not know what the future held for the two of

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them, but as of this moment, she was not go-
ing to worry about it. She was going to take
one day at a time. When she came to a stop
and looked at her watch, she cussed. She
knew her time was going to be slower, but
this was the slowest time she ran in a long
time. It was because she was tired. She
would have to make it up tomorrow.

"I am going to have a talk with Mr.

Jameson about keeping me up so late, and
ruining my run time."

"Yes you should give my nephew a talk-

ing to. You two kept me up most of the night
with all the noise you made. I am surprised
to see you up this early after the night you to
had."

Chantelle did not hear when Rafe came

up behind her. She could blame it on being
tired, but still that was not an excuse to let
her guard down while running.

"Why were you listening? Hunter and I

are the only ones on that side of the house."

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"Oh I decided I wanted some peace and

quiet and I thought that I would receive that.
I did not know that I was going to being
hearing porn most of the night. I am sure
that the show would have been good also."

"You know what you are a sick person. I
do not have time for people like you."
"Why not am I not white enough for
you? It would seem that you have a
fondness for white men."
"That is where you are wrong. I only
have a thing for Hunter. Now if you will
excuse me I need to get inside."
Chantelle really was not expecting Rafe
to grab her arm and pull her up to him.
"Now I do not see any reason why I can-
not enjoy some of your favors. My neph-
ew should not be so selfish."

Chantelle was not going to panic. She

did what she learned, and what save her life
a time or two in Iraq. She relaxed her body,
and waited for him to think that she was

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cooperating. The minute he loosen his grip
on her she made her move. Rafe did not
know what had happen because she had
moved so quickly. One minute he was hold-
ing her, and the next he felt an elbow in the
stomach. She did not stop there she punched
him in the eye and the mouth and nose, and
when he fell to the ground she kicked him in
the stomach and in his dick.

"There that should stop you from

wanted to force another woman."

"You are a crazy bitch. I think you broke

my nose."

"I am crazy. Dude you are the one trying

to force yourself on me. Be glad that I only
broke your nose and not something else."

With that said Chantelle went toward

the house back to her room.

When Chantelle came back to her and

Hunter's room, she was glad that he was not

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around. After looking at herself in the mir-
ror, she was glad that Hunter was not there.
She did not realize that Rafe had a hold of
her neck so tightly. He had left a mark. She
had to figure out what to tell Hunter. She
could not tell him the truth because he would
go after his uncle. She could not think about
that now all she wanted to do was take a
shower. That is where Hunter found her and
decided to join her in the shower. Chantelle
heard him when he opened the door.

"Here let me help you."
"If I let you wash me we will never get
out of here. Besides haven't you already
taken a shower?"
"Nope I was waiting on you to come
back so we could shower together."
Hunter was fondling her breast fondling
and kissing her neck when he noticed
the mark on her neck.
"What is this on your neck?"

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Chantelle had forgotten about the mark

on her neck. She did not think that she
would not see Hunter until breakfast. By
then she would have come up with a believ-
able story.

"I am waiting how you received these

marks. They were not there last night before
or after we made love."

"Well someone came up behind me after

I finished my run. They were trying to attack
me, but as you can see I got away."

"Who was it?"
"I do not know probably a local home-
less person."
"This is a private beach people just can't
walk on the beach."
"Maybe he got around security."

"I am going to have a talk with the au-

thorities and security and let them know that
there is some man attacking people."

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"Hunter I am sure that he is long gone I

took care of him. I am sure that he will not
be coming around anymore."

"That might be, but I am still going to

have a talk with them. Also I do not want you
running so early in the morning anymore."

"Excuse me."
"You heard me no more running early in

the morning."

That was the wrong thing to say to her.

Hunter did not know where this woman and
her attitude came from, but this was not the
woman he made love with last night.

"Let's get something straight. First, I am

a grown ass woman and you do not tell me
what to do. Second, I survived Iraq twice and
one tour of Afghanistan. Lastly, I only run in
the morning it is the start of my day. I am
not changing my routine because you are
paranoid over some crazy person who I told
you I took care of."

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Hunter knew it was a battle of the wills.

Deep down Hunter knew that Chantelle
could take care of herself. However, the man
in him wanted to protect her.

"Why don't we come to a compromise?"
"What kind of compromise are we talk-
ing about?"
"What I propose is that you wait until I
talk to the authorities before you take
another run early in the morning."
"Fine you talk to the authorities as long
as you do it before tomorrow morning."
Hunter rolled his eyes and shook his
head.
"Fine I will talk to them today will that
make you happy."
"It will make me very happy."
"Good now give me a kiss."
"You do know if we kiss we are going to
end up having to take another shower."

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"I don't mind now come here and kiss
me. I did not get my good morning kiss
this morning."

Hunter and Chantelle were late for
breakfast, and Chantelle had a feeling
that everyone knew why."
"Damn brother you do know that you
were supposed to have been down here
ten minutes ago."
"Thank-you for that reminder Lee I will
try to become more aware of the time."
"I am afraid it is my fault. I took my usu-
al morning run, and I came back later
than I usually do."
"Maybe you two should not stay up so
late with all of your extra activities."

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"Grandfather do you mind I would
rather not discuss my private affairs at
the breakfast table."
"Why it is not as if we all don't know
what you were doing. I hope some great-
grand-children at least come from this."

Chantelle almost choked on her drink

when she heard what Hunter's grandfather
said. Hunter rushed to say something to his
grandfather.

"Grandfather thank-you for your con-

cern however I think that is a decision for
Chantelle and me to make."

"Well you to better hurry up neither one

of you are getting any younger. Besides if you
want your relationship to be private than you
need to keep it out of the papers."

Hunter just shook his head. He knew
that his grandfather did not mean any
harm, but he was more embarrassed for
Chantelle.

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"Besides I believe that your grandpar-
ents in Italy would like for you to pro-
duce a grandchild."
Hunter did not know what to say thank-
fully Chantelle spoke up when he was
about to lose his temper with his
grandfather.
"As Hunter mentioned earlier thank-you
for your concern, and Hunter and I will
consider our options."

Before anyone else could say anymore,

Rafe came to the table with a bandaged nose
black eye and bruises on his cheek and a
swollen lip. Finally, Hunter's father asked
the question everyone wanted to know.

"Rafe what happen to you."
"I had an accident."
"It looks more like you had a run in with
someone's fist."

Hunter looked at his uncle and then at

Chantelle and remembered what she had

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told him in the shower. He had to make cer-
tain of his suspicion.

"When did this happen to you?"
"Why all the questions Hunter it is not
as if you give a damn."
"Just answer the question when did this
happen."
"If you must know, it occurred this
morning while I was on the beach."
"You son of a bitch…."
Before he could get to Rafe Hunter's
brother and father held him back.
"Son what has gotten into you?"
"That bastard attacked Chantelle after
her run."
Everyone looked at Rafe, and looked at
Chantelle. They were all trying to figure
out how she took down a man as big as
Rafe.
"You did this to him?"
Chantelle saw no reason to lie anymore
Hunter figured out what had happen.

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"Yes Lee I did that to him."
"Remind me never to get on your bad
side."
"Okay now that you know not to mess
with my girlfriend I want to know why
this bastard attacked Chantelle."
"I think you have it backwards you are
the bastard. My parents were married
when I was conceived and born."
Chantelle had to put a stop to this before
anyone else was hurt.

"Stop it both of you. Yes, Rafe tried to

attack me after my run, but as you can see, I
took care of it. The man has a broken nose
and a black eye plus look at his jaw and lip.
Just let it go Hunter."

"Turn me lose."
"Only if you promise to not attack Rafe

then they can let you go."

The last thing Hunter wanted to do was

let it go. He wanted to punch the living shit
out of his uncle. He knew that look on

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Chantelle's face. It met leave it alone or you
want be getting any. He would play it cool.
There were other ways to get to his uncle.
There was no way he was going to let his
uncle get away with touching his woman.

"Fine I promise to behave for now."
Chantelle motioned for Lance and Lee to
let Hunter go, and Hunter walked over
to Chantelle.
"I have lost my appetite come on
Chantelle."

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Chapter 19

Chantelle thought going out for dinner

and dancing would put Hunter in a better
mood. All day he had been mad about what
his uncle had done.

"You know what if all we were going to

do is sit here all night I could have stayed
home. All through dinner, you were silent,
and now we are at one of the hottest clubs on
the Island and you are sitting here pissed. I
want to go back to the house."

Chantelle was about to vacate her seat

when Hunter grabbed her hand and motion
for her to sit back down.

"You are right babe. I am sorry about

the way I have been acting. I promised you a
good time, and here I am sitting here ruining
our evening."

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"I get that you are angry at what Rafe
did, but let it go."
"You are right let's dance."
"I thought that you would never ask."

There was an upbeat song playing and

Hunter and Chantelle were having a good
time. Chantelle knew that Hunter was a good
dancer, and he was definitely making every
man there look bad on the dance floor. When
a slow song came on, they danced to it with
Hunter having his hands all over her body.
Chantelle loved to dance with Hunter. It was
almost as if they were making love out on the
dance floor. Later on when they both decided
that, they had danced enough they ordered
some drinks.

"Hey Hunter I thought that was you. I

saw you on the dance floor putting everyone
to shame would this beautiful woman be the
new love of your life."

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Hunter looked up and saw an old friend

Sean and the owner of the club. He stood
and gave the universal greeting by males.

"Hey man I would like for you to meet

Chantelle Brown my girlfriend. Chantelle
this is Sean Mitchell. He is an old friend and
the owner of this club."

"It is nice to meet you Sean. You have a
very nice club here."
"Thank-you, and may I ask how did a
beautiful woman as yourself get in-
volved with this looser."
"Hey watch it you have no idea how long
it took me to convince her to even go out
with me."

Chantelle could tell that Hunter and

Sean were very good friends. She also real-
ized that Sean was a very nice looking man.
If she had not already had a relationship
with Hunter, she could see herself with Sean.
His skin tone was little darker than her own.
In addition, he was not as tall as Hunter's

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well-built body. She was sure that this man
did not stay single long.

"Well from all of the pictures I have

seen of you to together it looks as if you have
found happiness. Well I have to go drinks are
on me."

"Thanks man I will see you before I head
back to the states."
"How long have you known each other?"
"I met Sean about five years ago. I was
the lawyer who did the paperwork for
the sale of this club."
"So Sean was not your client?"
"No I just took care of all of the paper-
work, but I got to know Sean and we be-
came very good friends."
"He seems like a very nice person, and
not bad to look at."
"Hey that is not something the man who
is in love with you wants to hear."

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"Oh like you do not notice other women.

Just because I am on a diet does not mean I
cannot look. I just cannot sample."

Hunter gave Chantelle a possessive kiss.
"What was that for?"
"I just wanted to make sure that you re-
member not to sample."
"You white boys are so possessive."
"Yea and do not forget that, and besides
I am only half white. The other half is a
very jealous Italian."
"You do not have to worry about me
wondering. I have no intention of going
anywhere."
"Neither am I you are stuck with me
also."
"Well how about we go out on the dance
floor one last time before I go see Sean
and we leave."
"Sounds like a plan, but don't you mean
we go see Sean."

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"No I am not letting you anywhere near
him."
"You are impossible come on let's
dance."

284/317

285/317

Chapter 20

The next morning when Chantelle got

up to go running she knew that she was sick,
but she still wanted to go running. After she
had gone downstairs to drink some ginger
ale, she went running. She had not even gone
one mile when she threw up.

"What is wrong with me? I feel sick to
my stomach. Maybe I ate something that
did not agree with me last night. "
"You know they say if you start talking
to yourself there maybe something
wrong."
Rafe was standing there beside her. This
man does not learn from his mistakes.

"Rafe what are you doing here. I would

have thought that you would have learned
your lesson from yesterday. Besides the

saying goes you are only crazy if you start an-
swering yourself."

Rafe started laughing he actually had a

very nice laugh. She wonders why the man
was not married because he was a very hand-
some man to be in his early forties. His par-
ents had him late in life, and there was signi-
ficance age difference between him and his
siblings.

"I can see why my nephew is in love

with you."

"You actually called him your nephew. I

thought that he was not part of your family."

"Hunter and I have had a very strange

relationship. It is true I tried to talk my sister
into not raising her husband's bastard."

"I can see where you were concerned as
a brother, but that is no excuse with the
way you treat Hunter."
"I know and everyone made sure to
point out how wrong and childish

287/317

jealousy is. I was wrong and jealous of
Hunter."
"Just like that no more hate between the
two of you?"
"I cannot speak for Hunter, but I will be
civil to him."
"What did your family say to you? Did
they threaten to disinherit you if you did
not grow up?"
Rafe chuckled at what Chantelle said.

"No my family did not threaten to disin-

herit me, but they did make me realize that I
need to stop being jealous of my nephew.
You see I am a lot younger than my brothers
and sisters and for the longest time everyone
treated me as if I was special. When Lisa had
Alex and Lee, nothing changed. However,
when Hunter appeared it was as if he was the
messiah. He could do no wrong even when
he did do something wrong he was treated
special. I know it sounds petty, but I could
not see why they were treating him like this

288/317

when he was not even Lisa's birth son. When
he went to Harvard and became a lawyer, I
really became jealous. They made such a big
deal about him going there. When I went to
William and Mary, it was as if it was not a
big deal. I was jealous of him for everything
he did. Even when he saved his families vine-
yard in Italy, I thought that everyone was go-
ing to kiss his feet. When he became success-
ful as a lawyer, I really hated him. The family
lawyer asked him to become a counselor for
the family business. You see I am a lawyer
also. Granted I did not go to Harvard, but the
University of Virginia has a very good law
program. My family made me realize that be-
ing jealous and resenting Hunter is not good
for me or for the family. They made me real-
ize that I was putting a strain on the family,
and my parents are not getting any younger.
Well if you will allow me I would like to apo-
logize for the way I have acted."

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"I accept your apologize, but Hunter is
the one you should apologize to."
"I know I thought that I would start with
you."
"If you are sincere I think that Hunter
should accept your apology."

"Thank-you I am trying to become the

man I can be proud of. I know that you are
not finished with your run so I will let you
continue."

"No I just started I stopped because I
was not feeling well."
Just as she had finished explaining her-
self another wave of dizziness came over
her.
"Hey you do not feel well let me help you
back to the house."
"I am fine I can make it back on my…"

Before she could get out the rest of what

she was going to say another wave of dizzi-
ness came. This time Rafe picked her up and
carried her back to the house.

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"This is crazy I can walk."
Rafe was not hearing any of that. There

was no way he was going to let anything hap-
pen to her. Hunter would really kill him.

"I will put you down after we get back to

the house. I am not taking any chances. Your
boyfriend my nephew would kill me if I al-
lowed anything to happen to you."

As if on cue when they had reached the

house and came into the living room Hunter
and the rest of the family were there.
Without thinking, Hunter went after his
uncle.

"Relax I did nothing to her she almost
passed out while she was running."
"Why did you go running if you did not
feel well?"
"Could you put me down?"
Rafe put her down.
"Hunter I am fine nothing to worry
about. You know that I run, and besides
your uncle over reacting."

291/317

"I think that you should have a doctor
look at you?"
"That is not necessary I am fine."

As Chantelle started walking away, an-

other dizzy spell came over her. Hunter
caught her before she fell and carried her
over to the couch.

"That is it I am going to let my cousin
have a look at you."
"That is not necessary I am fine. I think
that I ate something that did not agree
with me. I will be fine."
"Humor me let Paul have a look at you."

"This is crazy. Breakfast is ready and I

am hungry, and I am sure the rest of the
family is also. Now let's go outside and eat."

This time when Chantelle rose from the

couch, she prayed that there would not be
anymore dizzy spell. Someone must have
listen to her because when she rose from the
couch she did not feel dizzy. She went out-
side to eat breakfast.

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"That is a very stubborn woman you

have there."

Hunter was thinking the same thing be-

fore his grandfather mentioned it.

Chantelle decided to eat some toast.

That should be safe if her stomach was upset.
However, her stomach was not going to co-
operate. It wanted to do its own thing. She
knew she was going to be sick. Now it was
just a matter of making it to the bathroom or
a trashcan before she threw up. She headed
straight to the can that was outside because
she did not think that she was going to make
it inside in time. It was embarrassing to have
to do this in public, but she had a feeling
Hunter's mother would not care for her car-
pet to be ruined. Hunter handed her a wet
towel and a glass of water after she was done.

"You are going to have Paul have a look

at you, and no arguing with me."

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All Chantelle could do was nod. She did

not have the strength to fight him on this.
Hunter picked her up and carried her up to
their room. His cousin knocked on the door a
few minutes with his doctor bag. Chantelle
had no idea that doctors still carried those
bags anymore.

"Well Chantelle let's try to find out why

you are sick. Hunter you can wait
downstairs."

Hunter did not want to leave Chantelle

alone with his cousin. Hunter trusted his
cousin, but Chantelle was beautiful and he
had a slight problem leaving her with a male
doctor.

"Look Hunter your woman is safe with

me now go."

Hunter left the room to let his cousin

exam Chantelle. He just hoped that it was
not something serious.

"Chantelle now that Hunter has left the

room let's see if we can find out what is

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wrong with you. How long have you felt this
way?"

"I have been feeling tired lately, but this
is the first day I have been dizzy and
threw up."
Paul took her pulse and temperature.
"Your pulse is a little high, but that
could be nerves. Your temperature is
normal."
"Do you have a history of high blood
pressure?"
"No my pressure is usually normal."
"Well I do not think that you have a bug.
Let me ask you this. When was your last
period?"
He would have to ask her that question.
Since her period was never on time, she
never kept track of it.
"To be honest I do not keep up with it. I
have never been regular."
"Do you take birth control?"

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"Yes I do. What exactly are you getting
at Paul?"
"Do you and Hunter just use birth con-
trol or do you use condoms also?"
She knew he was not saying what she
thought he was saying.
"We use just birth control."
"Have you ever missed taking one?"

Chantelle was thinking and she re-

membered there was that one time she for-
got to take them. Well it was not that she for-
got she did not bring them with her when
they went out of town together. They had
used condoms exact that one time when they
were in the shower.

"There was one time. When Hunter and

I went out of town and I forgot my birth con-
trol, but we used a condom exact one time.
You do not think that I am pregnant?"

"Well there is only one way to be sure. I
want you to take a pregnancy test."
"I suppose you just happen to have one."

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"As a matter of fact I do."

Paul handed her a test and told her to

go into the bathroom. This was the last thing
she expected. It did not take long for the res-
ults to come back.

"Hunter if you do not stop that pacing
there is going to be a hole in my rug."
"I am sorry mom. I am worried that
something maybe wrong with Chantelle.
She is never sick. I cannot lose her."
"Do not worry cousin you are not going
to lose Chantelle."
When Hunter saw Paul, he demanded to
know what was wrong with Chantelle.
"Does she have the flu? Do you need to
run more test?'
"If you would let me get a word in, I will
tell you what my exam found."
"Sorry go ahead I will not interrupt."

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Paul did not know if he should tease his

cousin or just tell him. His cousin was always
calm in a situation it was just too much
temptation not to tease him, but knowing his
cousin he would get him back by threaten
him with some of his Italian cousins. He al-
ways said that some of his relatives were in
the mob. He associated with them only at
family get together. He even gave them legal
advice, but he made sure that they knew that
he did not want any part of the illegal
activities.

"Well Chantelle does not have the flu,

but I do know what is wrong with her. I took
some blood to confirm, and I should have the
results in a few hours."

"What is wrong with her Paul?"
"Relax cuz she should be back to normal

in about eight months."

Hunter looked at his cousin as if he had

two heads. What he did not realize that

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everyone else in the room knew what Paul
was talking about.

"What does she have that is going to
take eight months to get better?"
"You know for an educated Harvard
man you can be a little slow."
"What are you talking about Rafe?"
Rafe just shook his head and Hunter
was getting frustrated."
"Would someone let me in on the joke?"
His mother broke the news to him.
"Well I suspected what was wrong with
Chantelle."
"Well could you let me know mom?"
"Hunter she is pregnant. Was that what
you were going to say Paul?"
"Your mother is correct Chantelle is
pregnant."
"How did that happen?"
Everyone looked at him strange.
"I know how it happens. What I am say-
ing is that we were very careful."

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"Well it would seem you were not care-
ful enough."
His brother Lee had said it as a joke.

"Hunter are you sure? I only ask be-

cause Chantelle mention a time when you
two went out of town, and she forgot to pack
her birth control."

"I remember that was about a month

ago we used condoms."

Then it hit him there was that one time

in the shower he had forgotten to wear one.
He was so use to not wearing them when
they made love he had forgotten. Paul real-
izes that he was remembering.

"Oh my god I am going to be a father.

What about Chantelle's age she is over
forty?"

"She asked me the same question. There

are some tests we can run they are relatively
safe. The good thing is there is one we can do
know. Now Chantelle is very healthy and she

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takes vitamins. I am confident that this baby
is going to be healthy."

Hunter started speaking Italian very

rapidly. No one understood what he was say-
ing. His parents could speak Italian just to
get by, but Hunter was speaking to fast for
them to understand.

"Hunter calm down your speaking Itali-

an and no one can understand you."

Ever since Hunter learned, Italian

whenever he was flustered or angry he would
switch to Italian.

"Sorry I did not realize that I had

switched. I guess my relatives in Italy are go-
ing to be happy. I should call my grandpar-
ents, but that will have to wait until later."

"What you need to do is go upstairs and

see Chantelle, and Hunter congratulations
you are going to be a great dad."

Everyone was congratulating him as he

went upstairs to see Chantelle.

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When Hunter went to their room, he
caught Chantelle with a worried look on
her face.
"We cannot have this."
"What are you talking about Hunter?"
"You with that worried look on your face
it is not good for you or the baby."
"I am so sorry Hunter."
That was the last thing he expected to
hear from her.
"Why are you sorry? You do know that it
takes two to make a baby."
"If I had not forgotten my birth control,
this would not have happen."

"If I had not forgotten to wear a condom

in the shower, then it would not have hap-
pen. Listen babe we can keep blaming
ourselves or we can be happy that Michael is
going to have a sibling and that we created a
baby together."

"You mean you are not angry?"

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"Of course not why would I be angry

about a baby? I love children. I have to admit
I always thought that I would never have any
of my own. Babe you have given me the best
gift a man could ask for."

"Suppose there is something wrong with

the baby?"

"First, we are going to think positive.

This baby is going to be perfect with us two
as the parents. Second, if there is a problem
with the baby I know that we will love the
baby no matter what."

Chantelle wanted to cry. Hunter was not

mad he was happy about the baby. In addi-
tion, she knew that no matter what happens
they would face it together.

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Epilogue

A year later

Everyone was at Hunter and Chantelle's

house. They had just come from Church and
had Antonio's christening. Chantelle and Mi-
chael had moved into Hunter's house when
they came back from the Bahamas. For a
while, Chantelle was anxious worrying if the
baby was going to be all right. When they
had the first test done, it came back normal.
They had another test done later on in her
pregnancy and that test came back normal.
When the ultrasound looked normal, they
decided to find out the sex of the baby.
Hunter and Chantelle decided that they did
not want to be surprised. They had decided

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to give their son Hunter's middle name. Of
course, when his Italian relatives referred to
Antonio the baby they called him junior be-
cause they referred to Hunter as Antonio.
Chantelle hoped that her son did not get con-
fused when he got older. Chantelle hated ju-
nior as a name, but for right now, she would
go along with Hunter's family referring to
Antonio as junior. Everyone was at the house
even his relatives from Italy came. Chantelle
had learned a little bit of Italian so she could
talk to Hunter's grandparents since they re-
fused to learn English. His mob relatives
came also as long as promised to behave
themselves while in America. Hunter's birth
mother had found out about the baby, and
had written a letter to Hunter to congratulate
him and to ask if he saw it in his heart to
send some pictures. She understood if he did
not want to. Hunter had mixed feelings with
this for months.

"What are you thinking about babe?"

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"I was just thinking how nice it is that

all of our families came for the celebration. It
was nice of you to extend the invitation to
your birth mother. I know that it must have
been hard."

"I am not going to say that it was easy.
Plus I had to make sure that mom and
dad were okay with it."
"They seem to be handling it okay."
It had surprised Hunter how his mom
encouraged him to try to have a rela-
tionship with his birth mother.

His mother had said it does not matter that I did

not give birth to you.You are still my son, and nothing is

going to ever change it."

"Do you ever think that you will have a

relationship with her?"

"I do not know I will tell you what I told

her that we have to take it one day at a time."

"She cannot ask for anymore. It looks

like she is happy to be a grandmother she

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has not stop holding the baby since we came
back home."

"She is probably trying to make up for
when she gave me away."
Chantelle

raised

her

eyebrow

Hunter's statement.
"I see we are going to have to work on
your relationship with her, but do not
worry I will be here to help you."
Hunter turned Chantelle to face him.
"Will you really be here forever?"
"Of course you cannot get rid of me that
easily. Besides we share a child
together."
"We share more than that."
"You know what I mean."
"Do I really know what you mean?"

"I love you Hunter, and there is no way I

could have gone through this pregnancy
without you. I was so worried for Antonio,
and if you had not been so strong I think I
would have made myself crazy."

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"I will always be here for our children. I

love you and I cannot see a future without
you Antonio and Michael. I want us to be a
family a real family. I know that you loved
your late husband, and I respect the feelings
that you had for him. I also know that there
are going to be times when you are going to
be sad about his lost, but I want to be there
for you. I want to help raise Michael. I
already consider him my son. What would
make this even better is for you to become
my wife."

Chantelle was shocked she never expec-

ted marriage. Yes, she loved Hunter and
wanted to be with him, but she was content
with the arrangement they have now. Every-
one had stop what they were doing and
listened to their conversation. Hunter went
down on one knee.

"I know that you are contempt with

what we have now. I also know that you can
be very stubborn. It took some convincing

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you to go out with me. As you know, I do not
give up easily. However, I want so much
more. I want a future and a real family with
you. Chantelle you would make me the hap-
piest man in the world if you would become
my wife."

Chantelle had tears running down her

cheek.

"Babe why are you crying I just want us

to be a family."

"I am not crying because I am upset.

After Conner died, I did not think that I
would find love again. I loved him he was my
heart, and I still love him. Before you start
thinking, I still hold a torch for him I do not.
There will always be a special place in my
heart for Conner, but I also know that he
would want me to move on. I believe no I
know that he would approve of you helping
to raise Michael. I also know that he would
approve of you considering Michael your

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son. I want a future also, and I would be
honored to become your wife."

Hunter picked her up, swung her

around, and kissed her. Everyone came over
to congratulate them.

"I knew it was only a matter of time be-

fore he popped the question especially with
Antonio's birth. I want to see this rock on
your ring. Are you sure you are going to be
able to stand up with this on."

"Aaliyah I love my ring I would not

trade it for anything."

Hunter had forgone a diamond engage-

ment ring. He had given Chantelle an emer-
ald surrounded by diamonds because he
knew that she loved emeralds. Also green
was her favorite color. Chantelle went back
over to her fiancée she did not think that she
would get use to that. When things had
settled down, Chantelle and Hunter snuck
away upstairs to have a private celebration.

310/317

They were lying in each other's arms after
making passionate love.

"When do you want to get married?"
"I have not thought about it. I mean I do

not need a big fancy wedding this is my
second time unless you want a big wedding."

"I do not have to have a big wedding.

Now I cannot speak for my mother."

"You know she is going to want a big

wedding."

"She probably has already called the so-

ciety editor and placed an announcement of
our engagement in the paper. Big weddings
take a long time to plan, and I want to marry
you right away."

"How about a compromise let's get mar-

ried in two months and with the help of my
family and yours we should have no problem
getting it together. Do you think that will
work for your mother?"

311/317

"It is going to have to because I have

waited for you all my life, and now that I
have you I do not want to wait."

"I understand why you did not propose

when we first found out I was pregnant our
concerns were elsewhere, but why did you
wait four months after Antonio was born?"

"I wanted you to be sure without any

doubts. I believed if you saw us as a family
you would want it as badly as I did."

"You used phys 101 on me."
"Something like that I knew you wanted
marriage you just had to be pushed in
the right direction."
Hunter gave Chantelle a passionate
kiss."
"You know that we should go back
downstairs everyone is going to wonder
where we are."
"I think they already figured it out be-
sides it is not like we do not have
enough people to take care of junior."

312/317

"About this whole junior thing we are

going to have to do something about that
name. I do not want my child stuck with the
nickname junior."

"What is wrong with it?"
Chantelle punched him in the shoulder.
"Ouch what was that for?"
She was getting ready to punch him
again when he held up his hands in
defeat.
"Okay I get it. I will have a talk with my
family, but I doubt if they will change."
"Well we will figure something out."
"Now can we get back to celebrating the
future Mrs. Jameson?"
"Of course we can Mr. Jameson."
"I love you Chantelle."
"I love you Hunter."

313/317

About The Author

Finding Love again is Natasha Marquis

first romance novel. She is also a widow with
one son. Her free time consist of taking her
son to soccer and swim practice spending

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time running, reading, and taking care of the
two dogs and cat.

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@Created by

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Chapter 20

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