Page 17 of Soul Food

I wiped the cold chills running down my arms with my hand, not sure how to react to the twenty billion responses I was having to the man who had yet to even see me.

“Look, it’s Dark Goddess.” I turned my attention to one of the members nudging his bandmate in the shoulder and smiling as he pointed at me. “You’re even more beautiful in person.”

I beamed and took in the compliment. “Mr. Kingston,” Jayne called out rather squeakily. I tensed, and that was when he saw me.

Our eyes met and held. I didn’t think they were ever going to come unglued while his irritated scowl worsened.

“Ruth,” Diana breathed out my name nervously, glancing at Amit apologetically. “I didn’t know you had a reason to be here today.”

A hard sigh escaped his mouth as he stopped fussing with his tie and left it to fall against his wide chest. Even I could sense the silent rule his secretary had just broken. He really did not want to see me at all if I was right about the way Diana was slightly panicking as her gaze darted back and forth between me and him.

It was everyone’s discomfort that spurred me into talking. “Mr. Kingston.” My voice came out raspy. “This is a nice surprise. I think I’m the only one that’s never had the pleasure of meeting you.”

Diana’s face revealed enough. She was terrified that I had blatantly stated the truth. So was I. My heart was a beating so fast it was hard to breathe.

“Come on, boys.” Jordan spoke to the band who was watching me with rapt attention. “I guess I’ll show you around.”

“Love to play for you sometime,” one of them said as he winked at me. He was smacked by another bandmate.

I flashed my teeth. “Sure. I’ll give you the chance to embarrass yourself.” They hooted and hollered in sync then disappeared down the hall still making a ruckus. I turned my attention back to the reason why I was here, and he was already walking the opposite direction. Away from me.

Feeling slightly defeated, I tucked my black curls behind my ears and called out. “Mr. Kingston!” He wouldn’t just ignore me, would he? He stopped walking, but he didn’t turn around. All I had was the wide expanse of his back. “May I have a moment of your time?” I asked softly, not wanting to press my luck.

Diana was by his side, whispering something. Her small frame didn’t even make it up to his shoulders. The fact that I was standing here trying to thank someone who didn’t want to be thanked left me feeling so out of my element. I should have let it go, but when Diana’s eyes darted to me, then back to him, I knew I couldn’t. I’d never gotten this far, never gotten the chance to see him until today and now, I was more than intrigued just as much as I was irked.

What was his deal?

“Ruth,” Diana began, and there was no way I was going to let her shrug me off.

“Give her my number,” he muttered just as she was about to send me away. He tilted his head just enough, side-eyeing me and once more, heat crawled up my neck from his scornful glare. “Is that all right with you?” That question should have been nice, but it hadn’t been. It was like he was insulted that I came here today.

Honestly, so was I.

“No need,” I told him. “I just wanted to thank you for all these years. You had my back a lot over the years, and I don’t forget those kinds of things. Obviously,actuallymeeting me in person isn’t needed or wanted. Might not want to be so obvious about that with others…unless it’s just me.”

“Ruth…” Jayne whispered regretfully, and I gave her a tight smile.

“Have a good day, Mr. Kingston.” I refused to sound the way I felt.

I turned on my heels, letting my hips sway as I departed like a diva. I wasn’t a diva—not really. I didn’t consider myself as anything more than a girl who got her dream and was about to lose it.

I couldn’t even explain why his rejection stung, but it did.

Once we were in the elevator, Jayne spoke up. “Just so you know, he’s like that with everyone. Not just you. He’s strange, yet scary and so good looking—you know I wasn’t lying about that. No one knows him outside the office and he’s rarely inside the office—”

“It’s fine, Jayne,” I cut her off with a tight, flat smile. “I’m slightly embarrassed that he walked away from me just like that, but it’s okay. We did both things we came here to do. I finally saw him and I thanked him. Simple as that.”

“Are you sure?” she asked quietly.

I lifted my head and tried to look pleasant. “I’m sure.”

She was quiet until the elevator dinged when we reached the bottom floor. “Okay, can we please talk about how breathtaking he is?”

“That doesn’t mean a thing when his personality is so lacking,” I muttered.

Rupert and Max stood up from their seats once they saw us walking out of the elevator doors. Rupert had been with me since the very beginning so it was no surprise when he took one look at me and asked, “Is everything okay?”

Seeing his concern released some of the tension I felt. “Yeah. Don’t worry, everything’s fine.”

---