Donovan adjusted the incline on his treadmill and increased his pace, trying to erase the images of himself and Simona naked and writhing in his bed that had plagued him all night long. He had never been so consumed by a woman in his life. He’d thought he was in love with Rolanda, but the emotions rising within him eclipsed those feelings tenfold. And he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to embrace them or run like hell.
His mind traveled back to the previous night. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with Simona. While he would rather not have to deal with the media and general public regularly, she’d appeared almost frightened by the mention of someone taking her picture.
The other thing that crossed his mind was her reluctance to invite him into her house. He hadn’t been expecting to take the grand tour when he arrived to pick her up, but he certainly hadn’t anticipated her closing and locking the door before he could get a glimpse inside her place. It was almost as if she was hiding something. Donovan shook off the thought. “Don’t go there, man,” he muttered breathlessly.
He slowed to a jog and, minutes later, the treadmill stopped. He reached for the towel slung across the top of the machine and wiped the sweat dripping from his face and bare chest.
Once he’d caught his breath, Donovan completed his workout. When he’d purchased the house three years ago, he had one of the five bedrooms converted to a home gym and installed everything he needed to get the same workout as in the high-priced fitness club where he had spent a small fortune. Not only had the equipment already paid for itself, he didn’t have to waste time waiting for a particular machine.
Finishing up his workout, Donovan headed to the kitchen for water. He had just taken the first sip when the phone rang. Walking over to a small corner desk, he picked up the handset and checked the display.
“Hey, Mom,” he said.
“Hi, Donovan. How are you, honey?”
“I’m good. Are you and Dad okay?” he asked with concern.
“Of course. I just hadn’t talked to you in a long time. You usually call me every couple of weeks.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. It’s been really busy at the office with Terrence out.” He took a sip of water. “Janae had the baby a couple of weeks ago.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” she gushed. “What did they have?”
“A girl. Nadia Elise Campbell. My little goddaughter is a beauty.”
His mother chuckled. “I bet she is. You need to send me some pictures. I bet Terrence has her spoiled rotten already.”
Donovan laughed. “He does. He wants to hold her all day, but Janae won’t let him.”
“Good for her. So, what about you? When are you going to settle down with a nice girl and give me some grandbabies? My neighbor’s daughter just had a baby boy. That brings her total to four now. She wanted to know when my children were going to bless me.”
Donovan stifled a groan. First Miss Ellie and now his mom. Beverly Wright had been waging this campaign for the past decade, and even more so since Terrence got married.
“What about Giselle?” he asked. His sister was three years younger and had gotten married six months ago. “She’s already married. You should be hounding her instead of me.”
“As a matter of fact, she and Bryce stopped by last night to tell your father and I that they’re expecting their first child. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it,” she gushed.
“Wow. I’m happy for them. She didn’t call me.”
His mother lowered her voice. “She said she was going to call you tonight, so you’d better act surprised. I wasn’t supposed to tell, but I couldn’t help myself,” she added with a giggle.
Donovan laughed heartily. “And that’s why we don’t tell you the things we want kept a secret.” He was happy for his sister, but this meant his mother was going to be harassing him more often.
“Oh, boy, hush. Anyway, back to you. You’re not getting any younger, Donovan.”
“Come on, Mom. Don’t start...please.”
He heard her deep sigh. “All right. When are you coming to visit? We haven’t seen you in almost six months.”
“I don’t know. It may be a while, but I’ll try to get there as soon as I can.” His parents had moved from LA to Rockford, Illinois, two years ago to take care of his paternal grandmother. When she died last year, his parents decided to stay. The one good thing was that they were closer to his sister and husband, who lived in Chicago. “How’s Dad?”