I Know I've Been Changed by Reshonda Tate Billingsley Read Free Book Online

owe me two hundred dollars. Now give me my present.”
    Myles handed the box to me, letting his hand linger on mine. “I hope you’ll accept my apology.”
    I took the box, tore the ribbon off, and opened it. It was a pink ruby tennis bracelet. It was beautiful.
    “Ooooohhhh,” I squealed as I gently pulled the bracelet out of the box. “You should have.” I slid the bracelet around my wrist.
    “You know I give my baby the best of everything.” Myles pulled me to him and kissed me passionately. I could never stay mad at Myles long. He would shower me with gifts and whisper sweet nothings until I forgot what it was I was mad about in the first place.
    I reached down and started unbuckling his trousers. “Let me show you how much I appreciate you giving me the best of everything,” I said with a wicked grin.
    Myles reached down, took my hands, and stopped me. I looked confused for a minute until he pulled my hands up to his lips and gently kissed them. “No, I’m the one who was in the doghouse. So let me show you.”
     
    “You should make me mad more often,” I giggled as I nuzzled Myles’s neck. We were lying on the zebra-skin rug in my living room.
    “Naw, baby,” he said as he gently stroked my hair. “I just want to make you happy.”
    We lay there in blissful silence for a few minutes before his cell phone went off. I silently blasted whoever had invented the cell phone before rolling over out of the way so he could answer it.
    “Aren’t you going to get that?” I asked when he didn’t move.
    “No, the rest of the night is yours. And yours only.”
    I shrieked with delight. Yes, Myles could be a jerk sometimes, but when it all boiled down to it, I couldn’t help but feel my relationship had been made in heaven.

Chapter 6
    I could really get used to this. I stood proudly next to Myles while he cut the ribbon for a new homeless center in a part of town called Fifth Ward. It was a historically black area that had become dilapidated over the years. It was part of Myles’s district, and he had been the spearhead behind getting the new homeless center built.
    Now, as we stood outside among a sea of smiling faces—Myles, the noble, debonair councilman, and me, the doting, beautiful girlfriend—I couldn’t help but feel that this was how life should be.
    Myles extended his hand toward me and I smiled as I stepped forward. I politely waved at the crowd. I could hear the generous applause. A scraggly figure in the back of the crowd caught my eye, mainly because she was wearing a long overcoat, a scarf and shades in the middle of May. My mind immediately went to all the nut cases my station had covered. Don’t ask me why, but she looked out of place. Myles always says I’m morbid and paranoid, but when you’ve covered as much death and destruction as I have, you can’t help but be that way.
    I eased back behind the podium. If she started firing, I didn’t want to be first in the line of fire. But just as quickly as I noticed the woman, she was gone. I shook off my paranoia and turned my attention back to the press conference. Myles was talking about how much the district meant to him. Unfortunately, it was all an act. Myles had grown up a sheltered, spoiled rich kid, getting the best of everything. But my man had game. He knew what he wanted and knew how to get it, and it didn’t hurt that he was helping people in the process.
    After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, I watched Myles continue to work the crowd. I didn’t stray too far from him, wanting to make sure everyone knew we were together.
    “Miss Rollins, I love your work on Channel 2.” I hadn’t even noticed the petite woman standing before me. She had a huge grin on her face and was clutching a pen and paper in her hands. “May I have your autograph for my son, please?”
    “It would be my pleasure.” I took the pen and paper from her. I scribbled my name and station call letters on the paper before handing it back to her.
    “I like