Deadly Sexy by Beverly Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page B

doctor and I was a poor kid from Detroit at Illinois on a football scholarship. The moment she walked by, I told my boys, ‘That’s the one.’ They laughed at me, but I wasn’t playing.”
    Over the years, Pops had told many stories about the past, but Reese had never heard this one before. “Had your nose open, huh?”
    Pops’s eyes twinkled. “Wide enough for the proverbial train to roll through. If I hadn’t had to go to football practice all day every day, I would have followed that girl around campus like a lovesick puppy. My boys thought I was pitiful enough as it was.”
    Reese laughed. “I’m nowhere near that but I might like to see her again.”
    “Might?”
    “No. Would like to see her again. Soon.”
    “Glad to hear it.”
    “Why?”
    “You’re getting old, boy. Time for some sons. Only way I’ll get any grandsons from Pinky and the Brain is if they build them. You’re my only hope.”
    Reese laughed so hard he thought he was going to hurt himself. “Pops, you’re crazy.”
    “No. I’m serious.”
    Shaking his head, Reese chuckled the rest of the way home.
     
     
     
    Reese slept until late afternoon. At dinner he told his father and brothers about the new job offer.
    His father said, “Change of pace might be good for you.”
    He was glad for the support. “I think so too. Been feeling hemmed in lately. This is only temporary, for now. We’ll see how it goes.”
    Bryce, with his dreads and the movie star good looks inherited from their mother, Veronica, asked, “That means you’d get tickets for games?”
    “Probably.”
    Jamal raised his fork. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
    Talk of tickets and games made Reese think about JT. He wondered if she’d gotten the cherries.
    Jamal asked, “So who’s the honey you sent the cherries to?”
    Reese checked out the smiling faces around the table and replied, “Does everybody know my business?”
    Bryce made a show of thinking for a moment, then replied, “Just about.”
    Pops chuckled.
    Jamal asked, “Is she tall? Short?
    Bryce added, “Fine? Butt ugly?”
    Reese cut them a look.
    “Just asking,” they said in unison.
    “Her name’s JT Blake.”
    Jamal froze.
    Bryce froze too.
    The pleased smile on Pops’s face was sunny and bright.
    A satisfied Reese eyed his speechless siblings and drawled drolly, “Thought that might shut you up.”
    Bryce and Jamal shared a look of wonder, then Bryce asked with whispered awe, “ The JT Blake? The sports agent?”
    Reese nodded, adding, “Could be tight when I meet her again, though. She thinks I’m a truck driver.”
    Pops looked confused. “But you are.”
    “I know, but not really. She just assumed I drove for a living, and we were having such a good time, I thought telling her the truth might crush the vibe. She is an agent, after all. Not sure how she’d react to me being tied to the commissioner’s office.”
    “So you didn’t tell her you’re joint owner of a multinational corporation and that you’re the head legal beagle either?” Bryce asked.
    “No, Bryce. I didn’t.”
    “That was probably a good move.”
    “I thought so too, but I’m glad to get the approval of the Einstein playa.”
    Bryce nodded regally in response. “Always here to help an old guy.”
    “Watch it,” Reese warned, amusement lifting his lips.
    Jamal said, “Never known you to worry about what a woman thinks or to send cherries at three in the morning. She must be special.”
    Reese nodded. Again her face shimmered in his mind’s eye. “She is.”
    The other men around the table shared a look, then Jamal raised his glass of red Kool-Aid. “To tickets to the NBA Finals!”
    “Hear! Hear!” They shouted, and all Reese could do was shake his head in response to the antics of his crazy family.
    Later that evening, as he sat in his bedroom watching the Pistons whip the Bulls, he pulled out his phone. With JT’s card in hand, he keyed in her number and listened as it rang. He wanted to