Still, he’d tried ignoring her. But before long, they’d struck up a casual conversation and had sat down together at a table. They’d talked for over an hour, and then JT had made his move. He’d told the woman that he wanted her, and she had willingly given him one of her room card keys.
He hated doing this to Alicia but the good news was, the woman lived at least six hours away in Minneapolis and was only in Chicago for a few days on business. So, after today, JT would never have to see her again. He would be with her just this one time, she’d be flying back home tomorrow, and that would be the end of it.
It would seem as if nothing had happened between them at all.
Still, though, he hesitated for a few seconds. He stood in place, not making a single move. He stood, debating his decision, but finally said, “God, forgive me,” and then slid the plastic card into the key slot.
Alicia untied the white satin ribbon, opened the small aqua-blue box, and pulled out a white gold and diamond bracelet. “Oh my God, JT, this is absolutely beautiful.”
“You really like it?” he asked, leaning against the doorway of their bedroom and feeling thankful he’d made it home a half hour before she had.
Alicia reached her arms around his neck, kissed him, and then hugged him. “Yes, I love it, and it was very thoughtful of you to drive all the way downtown. Is that where you were when you called my cell phone?”
“I was actually in the car and on my way, and that’s why I wanted to know how long you were going to be at your dad’s.”
“You’re too much.”
“I just wanted to surprise you with a little something because I truly am proud of you, baby.”
“You’re always doing so many nice things for me.”
“I do them because you’re my wife and because I love you.”
“Will you put it on me?” she asked.
“Of course,” JT said, taking the bracelet and placing it around her wrist.
When he’d fastened the clasp, Alicia turned her arm back and forth, admiring it. “You couldn’t have chosen anything better.”
“Well, actually, I could have, because there’s always something bigger and pricier to choose from when you’re shopping at Tiffany’s. But I thought this was pretty appropriate since I saw an asterisk marked by it in their catalog that came last week.”
JT saw the embarrassment on Alicia’s face, but then she said, “I hope you don’t think I was trying to throw you some sort of a hint, because I really wasn’t. I never even expected you to see that.”
“But even if you had, that would be fine, because how else will I know what it is you really want? I mean, yeah, you could simply just tell me. But this way you had no idea I was going to get it for you, and that made receiving it a lot more enjoyable. Right?”
“Yes,” she said. “It did. More than you know.”
“Then that’s all that matters,” he said, taking her into his arms again. His feelings were mixed, though, because while he was glad to be holding his wife, he couldn’t stop thinking about the woman he’d just slept with less than three hours ago. Veda Scott. The woman who not only resembled Michelle but who also felt like her in bed. He’d told himself this was just another impromptu tryst, the kind he enjoyed having on occasion, but he couldn’t push the woman’s beautiful brown eyes, her perfectly structured cheekbones, or her soft lips from his mind. Then there was the gentle way she’d stroked his face and the way she’d held him. The sex had been as wonderful as he’d expected, but what he couldn’t seem to let go of was the emotional connection. He knew it didn’t make sense, not with them just meeting each other, but he’d felt a certain level of closeness when he’d been with her. He’d felt as though he’d known her for years, and it was the reason he had to see her again.
Chapter 17
JT lifted his shiny black Montblanc pen away from the yellow legal pad and marveled at how good he’d gotten at writing Curtis’s signature. His diligence about practicing it over and over had paid off tremendously and only in one day’s time, too. He’d worked on it yesterday and then again all this morning, and he was now ready to move forward with the next phase of the process.
He picked up his desk phone and dialed his assistant. “Hey, can you come in for a few minutes to go over the ministry listings you’ve been looking up?”
“Sure. I’ll be right in.”
JT set the phone back on its base and slipped the pad of paper he’d been working on inside his desk drawer.
When Janet walked in and took a seat, he said, “So, how has all your research been going?”
“Wonderfully. And as it turns out, I was able to find a really neat website that lists congregations with five thousand or more members. It even included NLCC, so that was nice to see as well.”
“That’s very good to know because this means we truly are considered a megachurch. A mini megachurch, but still a megachurch nonetheless.”
“Absolutely.”
“Were you able to find anything else that might be helpful?”
“As a matter of fact, I found another listing that highlights only pastors who televise their services. Some locally, some regionally, and some nationally.”
“It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet these days.”
“I know, and all I did was Google a few different keywords and that was basically it.”
“Well, then once you have the addresses typed into a data file, we should be ready to mail out everything. Then I want to review the cover letter I wrote a couple of more times, and I should have my father-in-law’s recommendation letter on Tuesday or Wednesday. At first I was going to ask him to sign an original for each package, but since there will be so many of them, I figured I’d just have him sign maybe ten or twenty for the top ministries and then we can send Xerox copies to the others.”
“I agree, and since you’ll have Pastor Black’s letter by Wednesday, then I should be able to ship everything by next Friday. I’ll print all the documents and then have Martha assemble them,” she said, referring to one of the other secretaries who reported to Janet. There was a total of three of them, but Martha was the most efficient, and JT was glad Janet was assigning her to his mailing project.
“Then, after that, it’ll just be a waiting game,” he said.
“Oh, I think they’ll begin calling right away. You’re an excellent speaker and you’re the son-in-law of a very famous pastor, so what more could they ask for?”
JT sighed heavily. “I hope you’re right.”
“Of course I am, and if anything, you’ll have to figure out which engagements to turn down.”
“That would be an absolute dream. I mean, I know traveling is going to take me away from NLCC a lot more than some of our members will want, but if everything goes as planned, I’ll only have to do this for a year or two. Then, after that, my prayer is that our ministry will have grown in great numbers and we’ll be broadcasting nationally.”
Janet smiled and nodded her head in agreement. “It’s all so exciting, and I can’t wait to see it come to pass.”
“Well, I couldn’t do any of what I do without you, and I want you to always remember that. Hiring you a couple of years ago was the best decision I could have made, and I’m very grateful for all your loyalty and dedication.”
“You are quite welcome, and I just appreciate having the opportunity to be a part of New Life’s mission and the lives of the people who will eventually be helped by this ministry.”
“If I have things my way, we’ll be able to reach millions of souls on a regular basis,” JT commented, and then his cell phone rang. But when he looked at it and saw the word “private” displayed on the screen, he hit the ignore button. He’d unblocked Carmen’s phone number, thanks to all her petty threats, but he’d also made it very clear that if she couldn’t help calling him, he would much prefer she disguise her number before dialing his.