Kiss Me on the Inside

Book 1: Kiss Me on the Inside

by Janice Burkett

Genres: African American; African American Urban; African American Women's Fiction

Synopsis

Vibrant, beautiful, and outspoken, Keisha will stop at nothing to get what she wants, even if it means stepping over boundaries and betraying friendships. Prada, Gucci, D&G, and Louis V. are the only friends she needs. Her roommate, Nikki, finds out the hard way when she decides to pursue an education instead of hustling men for money. Keisha's motto is "It's all about me," and she takes offense at Nikki's decision. No one is supposed to outshine Keisha, so she orchestrates a vicious plan to derail Nikki's dream at any cost. Leaving her friendship in the dirt, Keisha doesn't hesitate to accept when her uncle approaches her with a job offer. He wants her to get a few artists to sign to his label, Top Dot Records. The art of seduction is something she has perfected, and with her beauty, she can hypnotize anyone into being her boy toy. She believes she's on the verge of a huge payday. Little does she know that she will have to work extra hard to get Bling to sign. He's a newlywed who is very much in love with his wife. His marriage means nothing to Keisha, and she will get him to sign a contract one way or another. Keisha takes the game a little too far when she decides to date two artists at the same time. To her it's all fun and games, but it soon becomes one of the biggest mistakes that could turn her comfortable, posh life into a war zone that might end up taking friends and family to the grave.

Release date: January 1, 2014

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz. The battery-powered strap-on vibrated between Keisha’s thighs. “Mmmh.” Keisha expresses her pleasure as Martin went deeper in her candy pot.

“I know you love it,” Martin said with confidence. He didn’t have a problem with wearing a strap-on because he knew his manhood was below average length. He had no shame in his game when it came to satisfying Keisha. “Tell me you love it.”

Keisha wanted to laugh when the words escaped his lips. But he had touched her spot and her pleasure intensified. “Yes!” Her voice sang. Martin grabbed her thighs, bringing her to the edge of the bed, bringing the sheet with her. The pillow-top mattress gave extra cushion to her back. It felt as if she was sexing on clouds. Martin was working the strap-on like he owned it. “Yes. Yes.” Keisha expressed her satisfaction.

“Not yet, baby.” Martin stopped her. “I want you to really explode.” Martin planted his face between her legs, tasting her flavor.

“Oh! Yessss! Yesss!” Keisha was singing opera.

Keisha’s bedroom door flew open, banging into the wall. Martin’s tongue was buried deep inside Keisha’s love pot. The door being flung open didn’t bother him at all.

“Martin!” a woman’s voice called out.

Martin picked his head up only to see his wife. Keisha didn’t even scream at the intruder; instead, she wore a devious smile as she covered her naked body.

“You damn bastard!” The woman charged inside as if she were a linebacker ready to make a tackle. Martin jumped to his feet and his wife froze seeing the third leg at his knee. Her eyes zoomed in on the strap-on. Keisha had a big smile on her face as Martin tried to use both of his hands to cover his borrowed dick.

He never did anything kinky or freaky with his wife because she was too conservative. He would try to taste her wetness but she would close her legs like a shy schoolgirl and scold him. “Martin, you are a man of God. You should know that’s ungodly,” she would say. The missionary position was all he was entitled to. But as long as he kept giving Keisha all the shopping sprees and kept fattening her bank account, he could eat from Keisha’s cookie jar whenever he wanted.

“Satan! The Lord shall rebuke you!” The woman ran out the door, unable to fathom seeing her husband standing in front of her, marinating in another woman’s juice. Martin hopped into his pants, not bothering to take the strap-on off.

“You can keep the dick!” Keisha busted out in a wicked laugh and dropped herself backward on the bed. Her cell phone vibrated on the nightstand and she reached over and picked it up. Still lying on her back she viewed the number. Keisha quickly sat up and accepted the call. “Where the hell are you?” Keisha yelled as she shuffled out of bed and reach for her robe, which was hanging from one of the poles of her king-sized canopy bed. She tied the pink terry-cloth string around her waist. Keisha speed-walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. A roll of tissue sat on the toilet seat, so she pressed the speaker button and placed the phone on the granite sink to make her hand available to put a roll of Scott tissue on the holder.

“I said I would do it right?” a deep masculine voice calmly stated.

“Five hours ago,” she snapped at him.

“Just remember I’m doing you a favor. It’s not my damn job.” The man’s tone went from nonchalant to harsh.

Keisha took the phone off speaker and placed it at her ear as she walked out the bathroom. “Well, consider it a damn job because if you fuck this up, your ass will be fired.” She ended her conversation as she passed by the living room, where her roommate, Nikki, sat, surrounded by medical books. Nikki had an inquisitive look on her face as Keisha walked past her. “Mind your damn business,” Keisha hissed before Nikki even uttered a word. Keisha took a few steps backward and addressed Nikki. “Would it hurt to put the damn tissue roll on the holder? I told you all the time that I’m not your damn maid.”

The dog next door started barking and Nikki looked out the living room window, dismissing Keisha from her vision. A man got out of a cable van, slamming the door, and the dog barked even harder. A minute ago the rain was just pouring but now it had slowed down to a drizzle. The man tried to run for cover when the documents he had in his hand fell to the ground in a puddle of water.

“Damn!” the man swore. He quickly picked up the papers to avoid getting them wet, but it was already too late. “Fuck! Fuck!” He was infuriated. He turned his attention to the barking dog. “Fuck you, too!” His phone started to ring in his pocket and he answered it. “What is it?” he answered angrily. Whatever the person on the other end said to him made him hiss through his teeth. He ran back to the vehicle and retrieved a new set of papers, then slammed the door with such force it made the dog bark again.

“Shut the hell up, you damn stupid mutt!” he yelled, but that only fueled the dog to bark even more. He turned his body, stepping off the sidewalk, but quickly took a step back to avoid getting hit by an oncoming car. The car pulled into the driveway of the barking mutt, which made the dog scratch at the window in excitement. He turned his head to view the luxurious car.

A smile was plastered on Nikki’s face, knowing he could never afford a car like that any day soon. Pep. Pep! The man secured his expensive car by pressing his alarm button. He had a smirk on his face, knowing the cable man wouldn’t mind taking it for a spin.

“You motherfucker,” the cable man said at his audacity.

The man ran to the door, shielding his head with his briefcase. His expensive Armani suit and shoes confirmed his wealth.

“That alarm can’t save your damn car if I told my Puerto Rican friend where to find it.” The cable man dashed across the street and surprisingly he was heading to Nikki. She turned her attention back to her books, not wanting him to see her looking.

Ding-dong, the doorbell chimed. She figured Keisha would get the door since she was the one who was always expecting packages and visitors; and, besides, Nikki was consumed with her books, studying for her finals to be a cardio surgeon. Ding-dong. Ding-dong. The doorbell chimed relentlessly. Keisha was nowhere in sight. The man banged the door with his fist, assuming the doorbell was broken. “Sometimes I think I’m the damn housekeeper,” Nikki hissed thought her teeth as she got up from the couch to open the door.

The man did a combination of pounding and pressing the doorbell, which made Nikki furious. She opened the door as the man was in motion to pound the door and his hand froze in midair. “Can I help you?” Nikki greeted him with an attitude of a wild pit bull. Her nipples poked through her tight-fitted white T-shirt with the words BABY PHAT written across her chest, exposing the fact that she had no bra on.

His facial expression said it all. He wanted to rip her blouse off and greet her nipples with his warm tongue. It was as if her chest were her face because his eyes were intensely focused on her breasts. If I was your man all the things I’d do to you, Mark thought as he licked his lips like LL Cool J.

“How may I help you?” Her voice interrupted his fantasy.

He brought his attention to her face and she stared intently at him. “You are more beautiful than I thought.”

“What did you just say?”

He cleared his throat and refocused on what he came there to do. “I’m here to fix the cable.” He no longer wanted to tend to his job. He had a new job in mind and that was to make her his woman.

“By the way you were pounding the door I would have thought your job would be of some importance.”

He smiled, revealing his teeth; they were well maintained, as if he habitually visited the dentist. His smile would have melted your heart. He was very handsome and stereotypically could be tossed in the Mr. Playa, Playa pile.

“May I come inside?”

“Wait right here.” She looked him up and down, trying to size him up. She gave him a look of uncertainty before closing the door.

She must think I’m a damn serial killer. Mark brought his attention back to the car across the street. The Porsche sat beautifully in the driveway. He pictured himself driving a car like that one day, but his would be black instead of silver with tinted windows. He imagined himself cruising on I-95 with the woman he just met next to him. Several minutes had passed when he came back to reality and looked at his watch. I know she couldn’t possibly forget that I’m standing out here.

He raised his arm to knock on the door but before he could the door opened and a different face greeted him. She was even more attractive than the woman before.

“I’m Keisha,” she stated and posed seductively against the door. It was as if she wanted him to be captivated by her body, but he didn’t indulge himself.

“So can I come inside to do my job now?” He didn’t give her the attention she sought because even though she was beautiful something about the first woman was tantalizing.

“Follow me,” she said with an attitude as she tightened the string around her pink terry-cloth robe. She led the way and he followed. But he paused for a second, checking out her ass. Her ass cheeks slapped each other as she walked. After all, only a blind man could refuse to look. He knew under that robe she had a body like Beyoncé. She turned to see his eyes fixated on her ass. “Are you coming?”

“Your behind.” He cleared his throat. “I mean I’m right behind you.”

He followed her to the living room, where the woman he made love to in his fantasy was now sitting with the company of many books; but she didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

“The cable box is right here, and I think you already met Nikki,” Keisha stated as she exited the room, rolling her eyes at Nikki.

He was captivated by Nikki. Even with the attitude she possessed her true beauty radiated from inside out. He fumbled with a couple of wires but his attention kept shifting to Nikki, causing him to drop his equipment on the floor, disrupting her concentration. Nikki shook her head, obviously annoyed by his presence. “I’m sorry about that.” He hastily picked up his tool. Nikki looked at him with disgust.

Her attitude was turning him on. He wanted to walk over and take the book out of her hand, lift her shirt up, and release her breasts. He wanted to greet her erect nipples with his warm tongue and kiss all over her body, not missing a spot. Loud laughter erupted from the TV, frightening him back to reality. “I guess my job here is done.”

“Couldn’t be fast enough.” She raised her head from her book. “You know your way to the door.”

He walked over to Nikki, wiping his hand on his pants then stretching it forward with the gesture for a handshake. “My name is Mark,” he said in a baritone voice, but his gesture was ignored. “So you can’t spare a minute to talk to me?”

“If you can’t see, let my words be your guide.” She spoke slowly as if she were speaking to an adolescent. “I am studying in order to get a good job, so I don’t have to be bothered with men like you, who obviously think that every woman is in a desperate need for a man.”

Her reply wasn’t what he expected. Her words shattered his ego. Mark stepped back without responding. He gathered his tools and proceeded to the door, but suddenly stopped and turned to face her. “Women like you never give a good man a chance, then you cry to your friends that there are no good men left out there. Yes, I’m a cable guy, but I have dreams and goals just like you.”

Nikki didn’t hesitate to respond. It was as if she was giving him a beating with her tongue. “What are your dreams? To buy a Benz, with nowhere to park it! What are your goals? Let me guess: to have every woman wanting to drive in the front seat of your car.”

“So because I’m not in a business suit you are stereotyping me. Why can’t I be a man who wants to better for my life just like you? That’s the problem with women like you.”

She was obviously offended by his comment. She walked over to him and spoke with authority. “Women like me! Do you know my struggle? Do you know how hard it is to find a decent job without a college degree? So, yes, a woman like me decides to go back to school to better myself, so excuse me if I have no time to socialize with people like you.” She pointed her index finger at him. “You know your way out.” She looked at him like he was scum on the ground.

Mark was insulted but he liked the fact that she was confident, focused, and took no bullshit from no one. He didn’t mind that she was chewing him up and spitting him out. Usually Mark would break a woman down like an old bench with a fat man sitting on it, but he was no match for this fiery pit bull and he liked it.

“With all due respect, I think you’re a nice woman if you get rid of your attitude; but to be honest I like your confidence. Can I take you out sometime?”

“Ha, ha!” Nikki laughed out loud as if she were at a comedy show and heard the funniest joke. “Your confidence doesn’t suit you. Do you honestly think that I would go on a date with you? A woman like me needs a man to commend me for doing better, not talk down to me for wanting better.” She looked over her shoulder at him as she exited the room, leaving him startled at her wittiness.

“Is everything okay?” Keisha came strolling back to the room.

Mark ignored Keisha’s question and leaned his head to get a better view of Nikki as she walked away. She was out of his sight; then he brought his attention to Keisha. “Did you say something?”

“So how much do I owe you?” She got closer to him, looking directly into his eyes as if she were trying to hypnotize him.

He turned and walked toward the door. “This one is on me, if you can get your friend to go on a date with me.”

Keisha followed him to the door. Mark stepped outside but then turned and gave Keisha his card. “Have your friend call me when she decides to take a break from studying.” Mark descended the steps, running to his van.

Keisha hastily walked to the kitchen, where Nikki was pouring milk into a bowl of Frosted Flakes cereal. “So what do you think about Mark?” Keisha asked.

“What is there to think about? He’s not my type.”

Keisha shook her head. “What exactly is your type?”

Nikki had a big smile on her face. “All is need is my books.”

“You are as dull and dreary as the weather outside.”

The sun, all of a sudden, emerged from behind the clouds and brightened the kitchen. “I beg to differ.”

Keisha rolled her eyes and walked out the kitchen to her bedroom.

The gold-plated metals that accentuated Keisha’s king-sized canopy bed sparkled. “I have to change these damn curtains,” she stated as she made her way over to the window, trying to prevent the excess light from seeping through the sheer gold embroidered curtains. The light reflected off her Chanel, Juicy Couture, and many other name-brand perfume bottles, and it danced on her bed, mocking her attempt to block out the sun; and her efforts were in vain.

“I can already tell that today is going to be a bad day for me.” She shook her head, accepting defeat. Suddenly having a craving for some orange juice, she shook her head and headed back to the kitchen. She took the carton of SunnyD from the fridge and poured herself a glass, but got distracted by the blinking light on her answering machine that indicated she had awaiting messages. She continued pouring while she stretched her free hand to press the play button. Her glass overflowed and she felt the cold juice on her feet.

“Damn it!” She stomped her feet. She removed her feet from her wet, furry slippers. Hopping on one leg she retrieved a paper towel and wiped her foot.

“You have two new messages,” the machine stated when she pressed the retrieve button. The first message was for Nikki and she erased it after the first few words.

“Keisha, don’t forget to meet me . . .” It was her friend Shay reminding her that they had business to take care of. She walked off with the glass of orange juice while the message still played. She put the glass to her lips and didn’t remove it until the glass was empty, setting it on the granite sink in the bathroom afterwards. The green and gold decoration gave the bathroom a warm feel. Keisha took pride in keeping her bathroom squeaky clean because that was her zone to relax and unwind. Taking a bubble bath with a magazine, looking at the latest fashion, was something that was done as her therapy.

The water temperature was gauged to warm before she undressed herself, revealing her naked body. She placed a pink shower cap on her head, then stepped in the tub. Today she didn’t have time for a bubble bath because she was running behind time to meet up with Shay. “Just what I needed,” she said approvingly as the warm water escaped the shower head and greeted her body. A flashback on the date she had a few days ago almost dampened her spirit. That sick bastard. The water glided down her body, relaxing her muscles, and she exhaled, wishing she could rid herself of the memory of that horrible date.

It was around eight o’clock when Keisha got to the restaurant and walked over to David’s table, where he was already seated, drinking his tequila. David wore a. . .