When the plane touched down, Beverly suddenly felt scared. No, she was terrified.
What the hell have I done?
Arletta’s voice popped into her head.
I’ll tell you what you did. You got out of my control, you fucked a man, you participated in an orgy and now, you’re a kept woman!
Beverly shook her mother free and smiled.
Nope. I became a woman
. But she was still petrified. James’ hand tightened over hers, giving her a gentle squeeze.
“You okay?”
“No, but I’ll fake it.”
James smiled, raising her hand to his lips and giving the back a tender kiss. “You’ll be fine, Bev. I won’t let anything hurt you.”
“I know that, James, but I have to fend for myself. I can’t always let you protect me.”
James glanced over at her, shaking his head. That omniscience once again. She was good at analyzing things. “No, but I always will.”
Beverly grinned. “So what are we going to do first?”
“Go home and drop the luggage off, visit the bank and get our accounts taken care of, then do some shopping.”
“Our accounts?”
“Yes. We have to deposit these cashier’s checks.”
“I know, but you said accounts. Plural.”
“Well, I thought you’d be happier with your own account. We can open a joint account if you’d like.”
“No, I don’t want, either, James. I want you to have my money.”
“What? No way!’
“James, it’ll pay for rent, groceries and other expenses.”
“Beverly, that’s your money. You worked hard for that money. It’s yours!”
“But James … “
“No. There’s no way in hell that I’d take your money.”
“James … “
“No.” Beverly sat back in the seat, looking at him. “Now, I think you should have your own account. Especially since you’ll be starting your own store. Don’t you think?”
She was well and truly terrified now. Her own account? She never kept the bills for the shop. Sarah did that. How would she manage? James would think that she was an idiot. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“And when we get a little time, I’ll show you how to use Microsoft Money.”
“What’s that?”
“An ingenious program designed for dumbasses like me. It handles your accounting for you.” Beverly grinned. “You have to enter the information but it pretty much does the rest.”
“Thank God for that!” James laughed with her, hugging her to him.
The disembark light came on along with the pilot’s announcement. “Time to go, Bev.”
Time to go, Bev
. No truer words had ever been spoken. She just hoped that she was strong enough to live up to them.
*****
James’ penthouse was gorgeous. When they’d first arrived, Beverly had felt as if she was in a museum with the marble columns and granite floors. She was very surprised to find that James hated it.
“You hate this place? Why?”
“It’s too cold.” James heard the words leave his lips and was inwardly surprised to have said them. When he’d first found this place, everyone swooned over its majesty and the women beat a path to his door, wanting to spend the night in a place meant for a sultan. “When I look at this place, I can’t see you being comfortable here.”
“Oh, but James, it’s so beautiful!”
“What’s beautiful about it?” Beverly couldn’t answer him right away. She was seeing the place in her head, filled with warm woods, glittering crystals and maybe some tribal art. The way it was decorated now, it was very dark, like an elaborate mausoleum. “I think I should sell it.”
“No, James!” She exclaimed, touching his arm. “Please don’t. I think it can really be wonderful.”
James looked at her for a long moment. “It can be?”
“Oh, yes!”
As if guided by an unseen hand, Beverly began to tell him what she’d do with the apartment and he was surprised that he could see her vision so clearly. Everything that she talked about from the floor coverings to the window treatments seemed to fit and would make the place spectacular. “Sold!”
“What?”
“You’ve sold me, Bev. Our home is your first project.”
“Really?”
James nodded. “Just think. You do a spectacular job and you’ll have Seattle’s finest and wealthiest eating out of your hand. And then maybe, you should open a home decorating business instead of a clothing shop.” He put his arms around her from behind, tucking his chin into her shoulder as they looked out over the Seattle skyline. “And we can rule the city.”
Beverly smiled, pressing against him. Yes. We can rule the city.
*****
James Weathers went back to work the following day. As he’d said, Chris had been able to handle his spot and the young man had done a good job, although there had been a faux pas or two but every career suffered those and he said as much to the young man. His co-anchor, Grace Wilding, was surprisingly subdued, but he knew that she was just biding her time and waiting for her opportunity to repay him for Beverly’s comments in Tahoe. He hoped that Beverly would be with him. Not to reply to her, but to give him her support.
A month went by and then two and Beverly settled into her new life and took the house project by the horns. She was amazed to find out what she could do and as a result, the house became her soul. As it developed, she developed. As it changed, she changed. And after three months, the Beverly Johansson everyone knew had been replaced with the Beverly Johansson that she wanted to be: trimmer, more confident and absolutely in love.
“Are you nervous?”
“What do you think?” Beverly checked her makeup for the fiftieth time and James grabbed her hands. “You look like a million dollars, hon. You’ll be fine.”
“James, I’ve never done anything like this.”
James smiled into her eyes, his mouth watering over her appearance. The gown was peach with a large drape holding her ample bosom in and cascading to the floor. No one could imagine that this immaculately dressed woman had been sitting on his face a few hours earlier, howling like a rutting animal as she rode his tongue to glory. No one would imagine that she had then sucked his cock into her mouth and painted it like a picket fence, swallowing every ounce of his cum with a wicked smile.
“Barbara, you’ve done a fantastic job with the house. I couldn’t imagine living any where else now. You’ve made my house our home.” Tears sparkled like jewels in her beautiful eyes. “But something is still missing.”
“Missing? What’s missing?”
“This.”
The world stopped.
Beverly hadn’t realized that she’d stopped breathing until her lungs started hurting. James lifted the 2 carat platinum ring from its satin and velvet box and sank onto one knee.
“You are what is missing.” James felt his throat constricting with tears. “You, Beverly.”
“Oh, James.”
“Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Oh, God, James! Are you sure?”
“Yes. I don’t want to live my life without you.”
Beverly crumpled into his arms as he slid the ring onto her finger, kissing her hand as he did so. It was all so perfect, so very perfect. “Oh, James.” She whispered, kissing his ear.
“Now, go have a great showing. I’ll be waiting for you.” James hugged her still-fat body to his. “And don’t lose any more weight, will you? I like you fat and sassy.”
She smiled at him. “I’ve just been busy with the house, James.”
“Well, it’s done now. So please … don’t lose any more.”
With a final kiss, Beverly left James in the kitchen and joined the group of sixteen of the area’s most influential designers and home builders. The tour took nearly an hour and a half and James followed, lending his celebrity to the credibility of the project without eclipsing her. And she did wonderfully. She explained every detail of the changes she’d had made to the place, showing the designers that she knew her products and the builders that she was aware of feng shui and the non-mystical way that it could be applied.
At the conclusion of the tour, James welcomed everyone into the kitchen and everyone mingled while nibbling on salmon canapés and crab dip. He was astounded when Solomon Brady, a designer, made him an offer of $1 million dollars on the place. The old James Weathers would have accepted the offer and looked for a new place to create a bachelor pad but the new James Weathers knew that this was his home. All because of Beverly.