Love in a Carry-On Bag Read Online Free

tell you.”
    “Tell me what?” she stood.
    “Brett just offered it to me on Thursday. I haven’t really worked it out yet.”
    Erica opened the envelope and read over the conditions for the new contract. “Another whole year?” she tossed the papers on the counter.
    “They want me to head the project, and the money is sick.”
    Erica had never cared about money and she reminded him of that. It was him that she wanted.
    “But then you wouldn’t have to work so hard. You know, with your mother and sister. Let me do this for us.”
    “Don’t throw them in my face,” she chided. “It’s already been a year, now you want to make it two?”
    “Move down here. You could start your own PR firm,” he said.
    “Why do you keep saying that? You know what I’m trying to do.”
    “Because it’s logical.”
    The food arrived just in time.
    Warren made small talk with the delivery guy and then returned to the kitchen with two bags in hand. “You want to eat in the kitchen or the living room?”
    “I’m not hungry.”
    “You haven’t eaten anything all day. Let’s enjoy our meal and talk it over.”
    “What is there to talk about? When you left New York a year ago, you said it wouldn’t come to this. Now I’m wondering how committed you are to this relationship.”
    “Like you can talk? You can’t even make it a whole weekend without working. Selfish.”
    “I’m selfish?” Erica tightened the clip in her hair. “I’m just reminding you of what you said.”
    “Yeah, well things change.”
    “Oh, now you have the nerve to be pissed?”
    Warren laid the tin container on the counter and removed the plastic lid, ignoring her.
    Erica stepped in front, blocking his path. “If you aren’t committed to being together then why are we even doing this?”
    “What are you talking about? I didn’t say that.”
    “Actions speak louder than words,” Erica shouted.
    “You are being ridiculous.”
    “Whatever.” Erica couldn’t think straight, so she walked off into his bedroom, closing the door behind her. On top of the headache, now her stomach was twisting in knots.
    With all of the men walking the streets of New York, why did she have to fall in love with a man who lived and worked four hundred miles away? And loving Warren was an understatement; Erica revered him. There were times when they were together that she couldn’t stop touching him—her hand on his forearm, a toe rubbing his calf, or a finger resting in his belt loop. So many nights at home alone she wondered what it would be like to just dissolve into him, breathing his air, and feeling his heart tick.
    And there was no way possible that she could move. Erica had worked hard for B&B publishing for five years, starting as a publicity assistant, then becoming a full fledged publicist, publicity manager and now associate director of publicity. Her director was preparing for maternity leave, and Erica wanted to be named her successor. The promotion would make her one of the youngest ranked African-American women in the company. Publishers Weekly , the industry trade magazine, would do a story on her, maybe even Essence . She couldn’t stop now and Warren knew that.
    The bedside clock marked each second until Erica grew tired of listening to it. She opened the bedroom door and headed back to the living room. Warren was chewing on a bite of his steak taco. It amazed Erica how his appetite never failed him, not even in the midst of a major fight. She sat on the sofa with him, leaving lots of space between them, focusing on the potted plant in the corner next to the double paned window.
    Warren had a green thumb and his houseplants were thriving. There was a devil’s ivy with leaves hanging from the windowsill, two types of ferns full and luscious, and a pretty African violet with big velvety leaves and lavender flowering. His whole apartment reminded her of something off of HGTV. It contained all the usual bachelor pad elements—the mega flat screen