Page 40 of A Smooth Operator

I had asked him once if I could ride with him on his bike and he'd turned me down, saying that too many people in Memphis knew him and if they saw me behind him, there would be uncomfortable questions. That hurt, and I never asked again. But this was his way of making up for it. I was touched.

I kissed his jaw. "It sounds like a dream."

Labor Day was two weeks away. It would be an endless wait.

"Lani and Tommy are havin' problems again," he told me when we sat on my porch after dinner that evening. I had a loveseat swing, and we rocked ourselves there every time he came over. Sometimes, we made love before dinner and sometimes after. He liked that I cooked—he told me that often.

I had made salmon steak with rice pilaf and asparagus. For dessert I'd served strawberries with cream. Remi had brought the wine, a Grand Cru Chablis.

I cooked, and he brought the wine. He had even started to make requests. I knew all his favorites. He loved fish, especially when it was served with a white wine sauce. He liked his steak rare with a truffle sauce. Obviously, Remi had a refined palate since he owned restaurants. This meant that I spent a lot of time on YouTube trying to learn to cook things I'd never even eaten before, like truffles.

"What kind of problems?" I asked because I knew that Remi talked to me about his family. He didn't have anyone else to discuss them with. Everyone else would judge or tell the world—and he didn't need the gossip. He trusted me.

"I think Tommy is fuckin' around on her."

He looked so sad that I took his hand in mine. "Tommy has always been fuckin' around, Remi."

He sighed. "Yeah, he has, hasn't he?"

"He used to have sex with Marina and—"

"What?" Remi exclaimed.

I groaned. "You didn't know?"

"No. Fuck no. When was this?"

"I don't know. When I started at Vandy? Lani called me cryin'. She and Tommy were on a break, and he was sleepin' around."

Remi shook his head. "I asked Marina point blank if she'd been with him, and she lied. Why would she lie?"

"Cause she doesn't know your sister knows and didn't want to hurt her," I suggested.

"Fuck! It's like a goddamn soap opera, ain't it?"

I didn't comment because the last time I had, he'd called me a judgmental bitch. I gently rocked the porch swing and let him lean on me.

"She's gonna marry him despite this, and it's gonna be a bad marriage," he continued. "Why can't she see that?"

Because Tommy has the right last name.

"She loves him," I supplied the half-truth. Lani loved Tommy because of how suitable he was. She wouldn't love him if he was poor and Aunt Fern's nephew.

Just like Remi will never love you. Remember that before you lose too much of yourself, Echo.

"Love is dumb and blind," he announced bitterly.

And that was yet another nail in the coffin of our pretend relationship. But I didn't let that sour me. He was here now. I was here now. Tomorrow? Well, that was another day.

"Have you ever been in love, Echo?" he asked after a while.

"No," I lied. If I told him I was in love with him, he'd run like the devil was on his heels.

"It's late, Doll. I got to go." He made no effort to move.

I wanted to ask him to stay the night. I really, really did, but the words stayed inside me. His rejection would hurt too much.

"You have your seven am call with the East Coast in the morning?" he asked, staying put.

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