Days had passed since the meeting where Justin’s publicist had advised Justin to break things off with Zenia. Although he tried to act like it didn’t bother him, it clearly affected his mood and Zenia could tell. He was quiet and standoffish at times. Zenia tried her best to ignore it and hoped if something was bothering him that he would let her know. 


Justin internally debated on whether he should tell Zenia about the meeting or not. He knew that she had enough on her plate already with the Michael situation. He also didn’t want to start off their relationship by holding things in. 


They were at the park near Zenia’s apartment watching Grace play with another little girl she had befriended. Justin sat close to Zenia, pulling his cap down further in an attempt to mask his identity. The last thing he needed was paparazzi showing up at the park and frightening Grace. 


He waited until Grace was far enough away to not hear the conversation.


“So, I have to tell you something,” He began. 


Zenia looked at him wide eyed, paranoid, preparing for the worst. 


“I had a meeting the other day with my manager and publicist.”


Zenia’s expression never changed, “Okay.. Was it a bad meeting?”


“Sort of. They think that we should stop seeing each other,” He said bracing himself for her reaction. He studied her face which now took on a confused look, her brows furrowed in a questioning glare.


“So is this your way of breaking up with me? I can tell you have been moody lately."


Justin sighed, “No, Z. I don’t want that at all. I told them I’m going to do what I want and what I want is to be with you. I don’t give a damn how it looks.”


“So that is why they are concerned? You’re dating a black single mother, with a mixed kid and that would taint your Mr. Perfect image, right?” She said bitterly. She hated that the people closest to Justin viewed her this way. She was more than that obviously if Justin had taken interest in her. 


“That’s basically what my publicist implied without directly saying it,” He put his arm around her bringing her closer to him. “But, I don’t care about any of that shit, Z. I never have. I’ve dated people of all ethnicities and walks of life. I like you for who you are and I want to be with you. If the world has a problem with that, well then, fuck ‘em.”


Zenia silently laughed, still a bit upset about the news but amused by Justin's way of thinking. 


“It just really sucks that there are so many people against us being together. Does our happiness not matter?” She asked looking over at him.


“Of course it does. Especially to me. Look at you, Z. You’re educated, beautiful, have an amazing daughter, great career, and you're fine as hell. I’d be a fool to let this go.” He confessed.


“Beautiful and fine as hell?” She laughed again.


“I know what I said, woman.” He grinned. 


Just then, Grace shouted in their direction as she stood at the top of the slide. “Justin! Justin! I bet you can’t go down this slide!” 


Justin looked at Zenia as he stood up quickly, “This little girl doesn’t know that JT doesn’t back down from a challenge.”


Zenia shook her head and laughed as she watched Justin take off in the direction of the slide. 


“Don’t break any of those precious bones, old man.”
—


Michael watched the scene from his car parked a ways away. He punched the steering wheel in frustration. He thought for sure he had scared Zenia enough into not seeing Justin anymore, but clearly he was wrong. He had to find a different approach. 


He had to come up with some other plan and fast. It looked as though things were getting serious with Justin and Zenia. Grace looked at Justin in a way that made Michael’s blood boil. She looked at him like he was a father, like he was her father. He had to put a stop to this. 


—


“Mommy, can Justin read me my bedtime story tonight?” Grace asked. After the park, they returned to Zenia’s where she cooked dinner, then they settled on the couch watching TV until Grace’s bedtime. 


Zenia looked at Justin questionably, not wanting to put any pressure on him to do any parental duties. Justin looked pleasantly surprised at Grace’s request. 


“I would love to, if its okay with your mom,” he answered.


Both Grace and Justin looked at Zenia for an answer. She thought it over quickly and decided she was a bit torn about it. She enjoyed story time with Grace and she was the only one who had done it, besides when Grace stayed with Tanya. She also thought it would be a nice break to do something alone for a couple of minutes if Justin were to do story time tonight. She decided the latter sounded good.


“Sure, honey. Go ahead to your room and pick a book.” She kissed Grace on the head then told her goodnight. 


Grace ran off to her room. Justin pulled Zenia into an embrace, “Are you sure this is okay?” He asked.


“Yes, I’m sure.” 


“Why don’t you go relax, take a hot bath or something?” He suggested. He kissed her on the nose before heading in the direction of Grace’s room. 


Zenia decided it was a good idea and went towards the bathroom, but not before stopping by Grace’s room and peaking inside. She saw Justin sitting on the edge of the bed opening a book. She smiled and went on her way.


—


Zenia emerged from the bathroom feeling relaxed. She was grateful for those 20 minutes of peace. She padded into her room, meeting eyes with Justin who was sitting at the edge of her bed. He opened his arms inviting her to step in side. She put her arms around his neck as he circled his arms around her waist snuggling his face into her chest. 


“ How did it bedtime go?” She asked. She affectionately stroked the hair at the nape of his neck. 


“Great. She was asleep in no time. I hope you enjoyed your bath.” He looked up at her, she down at him and met him for a kiss.


“I did, “ She said before resuming the kiss. He moved his hands to her ass, giving it a tight squeeze, causing her to gasp into their kiss.


Justin chuckled lowly. He caught her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged gently. She hungrily kissed him back, a fire igniting within her. She pushed him back on the bed as she straddled his lap. Justin pulled her down for another kiss letting his hands wander up and down her body.


In one swift move, he had flipped them so that he was now hovering over her. He settled his body on top of hers, peppering her neck with soft kisses. 


“Justin,” she moaned. 


“Yeah, baby?” He answered, continuing his assault on her neck. 


Zenia couldn't think let alone formulate a response. Justin came back up to claim her lips, halting any attempt of her answering anyway.


“Can I taste you?” He asked huskily. Zenia’s body shuddered at his request. Everything in her screamed yes. He could do whatever he wanted to at this point and she would oblige.


She bit her lip and nodded, never breaking eye contact with him as he moved away to pull her pajama shorts down, revealing her lower half to him. Her eyes widened in anticipation. She wanted this so very badly but she was also scared. It had been years since Zenia had been this intimate with a man and when she had it was strictly sex, no intimacy like she was feeling with Justin at this very moment. And she had definitely not experienced what Justin was about to do. As embarrassing as it was to her, she felt compelled to tell him.


“J?” She said sitting up on her elbows.


“Mmhmm?” 


She stopped him just as he lowered his head and aligned it with her center. “It’s just I haven’t done anything like this in a very long time…” she trailed off.


“That’s okay. All you have to do is lay here and let me make you feel good. I’m not asking for anything other than that.”


She nodded, her indication that it was okay for him to continue. He resumed his position and she watched him closely, nearly bursting at the seams as she felt his breath on her. 


Finally, he kissed her mound delicately several times before he began to lick slowly. Her back arched immediately as she tried to maintain her gaze on him. 


Zenia’s breath became ragged as Justin continued his quest between her legs. His strong hands gripped her thighs, preventing her from writhing away from him.


Her moans only drove him to work harder at bringing her to her climax. He felt her legs clench as she reached her orgasm, softly calling out his name. He placed several tender kisses on her before he came back up to her face. He nestled his nose into her neck placing more kisses there as she attempted to catch her breath. 


After several minutes, she faced him grinning shyly. 


“Are you okay?” He asked delicately stroking her cheek with his hand.


"I'm more than okay. That was amazing. I've never experienced that before," She confessed.


Justin face scrunched up in confusion, then softened at the realization. "Z, nobody has ever gone down on you before?"


Her cheeks warmed in embarrassment, "No."


"That's a shame. We'll have to make up for that." He grinned making his way back down her body. 


--


Zenia awoke the next morning and felt around for Justin finding the other side of the bed cold. She sighed sadly and sat up wondering where he was. She faintly heard sound coming from the kitchen. She got up and slipped her house shoes on and made her way to the kitchen surprised at the scene in front of her.


Grace was sitting on the kitchen counter mixing pancake batter and Justin was at the stove flipping pancakes. They were talking and laughing about something. Zenia’s heart fluttered. 


“Good morning,” she spoke up getting their attention.


Justin turned his head around and gave her a big grin. “Morning, Z. Grace wanted pancakes and it just so happens I am a master of making pancakes.”


“Good morning, mommy!” Grace exclaimed. 


“Good morning,” Zenia planted a kiss on Grace’s forehead, She wanted so badly to kiss Justin too but refrained to avoid any questions from Grace. She took a seat at the dining table awaiting her pancakes.


When the food was done, Grace and Justin both joined Zenia at the table to eat. 


“Sooo Zenia, I want to take you and Grace on a little vacation,” Justin announced, his mouth full of pancake.


“Okay… Where to?” Zenia asked, looking at him. 


“Montana. I have a house there. Given everything that’s been going on, I thought it would be a nice little getaway for us all.”


“Montana? Never been.” 


“We know.” Justin laughed.


“Hush,” Zenia replied, playfully kicking his foot under the table. “When do you want to go? I’ll check at work Monday and see if a week is available.”


“Here’s the thing. I want to leave today. Like after breakfast.” 


“Today? Justin, there’s no way..” 


Zenia was cut off by Justin’s next statement, “I may have already called your job and asked them to give you the week off. I may or may not have also given the clinic a generous donation,” He braced himself for her reaction, unsure of how she would take it. 


When he woke up that morning, all he could think about was how much he was enjoying time with Zenia and Grace. However, everyone around them were threatening to ruin things for them. His publicist, Michael, paparazzi. It dawned on him then that he knew the perfect place for them to essentially hide out without any unwanted guests for awhile. 


“Justin, what? Why would you do that?” Zenia asked curiously. She wasn’t angry, but more so confused as to why he was in such a hurry to take this trip. 


“It’s very secluded out there. I just thought it would be good for us all. I know I should’ve let you handle your job, but I knew you would’ve tried to back out. This was only way I felt I could definitely get you to come.” 


“Please mommy! I want to go to Montana. Justin told me we could make s’mores by the fire and he has a pool!” Grace was practically jumping out her seat.


Zenia looked between the two of them. Both looks of excitement and anticipation on their faces, their eyes pleading with her to give in.


“Okay. We’ll go.” She smiled, her own anticipation building.


Justin and Grace cheered and high fived each other. 


“Eat up, ladies. Y’all have some packing to do!” Justin exclaimed.