Page 29 of Rejection Overruled

My heart skipped a beat or two as Jamal’s eyes toured my figure in an emerald satin dress that fell in waves mid-calf. Sophia had paired it with burgundy pumps and a matching clutch. My only jewelry consisted of a pair of diamond stud earrings. His eyes lingered on my cleavage where my breasts showed above the V-line of the bodice.

“You look amazing,” Jamal complemented.

“You look great too,” I managed, my heart doing somersaults. “If you’ll excuse me, my date is waiting.”

He took my arm and halted my steps as I moved to pass by him. His eyes narrowed. “Date?”

“Yes, my date.”

“Brooke, we need to talk.” His face took on a serious look as the smirk disappeared.

“There is nothing to talk about,” I replied, pulling away. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

I felt his eyes on me as I walked away. It took every ounce of self-control to be able to walk steadily towards my date. Ron greeted me with a kiss and I applied one of my own smack on the man’s lips.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Jamal’s face tighten only for a second. At that moment a man who looked like he could be a carbon copy of Jamal moved up beside him. The only difference was that the other was older with salt and pepper hair. I stared at both men for a moment as I tried to compare them. Jamal was definitely the more handsome of the two. Maybe I was biased. He was a few inches taller, but the other was stockier.

I drew my eyes away as Ron called my attention to some of his business associates. Ron was a production manager on the set of the new drama which was premiered that evening. For the life of me, I was unable to recall the title of the drama.

After listening to boring movie talk for a few minutes, I excused myself in a bid to search for Sophia. She was not in the ballroom so I went to check the beautifully manicured lawns as many people were outside enjoying the cool early summer weather. She wasn’t there.

I was heading back inside when Jamal cornered me again.

“Brooke, we need to talk about us.”

I chuckled. “There is no us, Jamal.”

“Then let’s talk about last night.”

“Why, so you can tell me what a mistake it was and it won’t happen again? Will you apologize and say you weren’t in your right mind? Or will you patronize me and tell me how amazing I was, but this is where it stops?”

“Neither of the above.”

I was getting a weird feeling in my stomach which made me jittery. At that point I was indeed uncertain whether it was because I hadn’t eaten all day or because Jamal was looking at me funny.

“What is it?” I asked, just as he closed in on me and ran a finger along my bottom lip. “What are you doing?”

“Brooke.” His voice had become sultry. “Let’s date.”

“Date?” My voice had an incredulous ring to it.

“Be my girl Brooke,” he said in an easy tone. “We’ll date exclusively.”

I backed away, but he advanced. My back hit a wall and I realized I was on a porch near the French doors just outside the main hall. The lights in that area were dimmed while the music which filtered out was soft enough to set a certain mood. He was so close that I thought he was going to kiss me. His eyes had a gleam in them I was unable to decipher.

“You must be out of your mind.”

“I don’t want this to end, Brooke. Let’s forget the past and just get to know each other better.”

Taking a steadying breath, I closed my eyes as a spot of heat hit my chest. The blood singing trough my veins had nothing to do with the effect Jamal Styles had on me. Rather, I found that my anger was now kindled against the man.

“So you can dump me again?” I asked, my voice acidic and my nostrils flaring. “I know what this is. You just have to win this game. Guess what, you won Jamal. You freaking won this game so leave me the hell alone!”

With those last words I shoved him aside and stomped inside. Sophia was with Ron who beckoned to me, but I was done with this party. I ignored them and made a detour for the main entrance while dialing for a cab on my phone.

While I waited for the taxi, Ron caught up with me outside the gate.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

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