Page 11 of Never Want to Love Again

We ended up at this soul food place that remained open until midnight. We sat down at a table at 11:15 p.m. with our food. My container was filled with greens, yams, pork chops smothered with gravy, macaroni ‘n cheese, and a buttered roll. Crown had the same thing except oxtails and hot water cornbread. I watched him dash hot sauce over everything.

“This place is my main spot when I’m home,” he told me before putting a forkful of greens in his mouth.

It was good and might end up being my spot too, on the days I didn’t want to cook. I had to close my eyes every time I took a bite to savor the flavors.

There was a small crowd here, and it was probably because it was too late at night. Most people would have been asleep by now to prepare for the work week. If I hadn’t been out, I would have been one of those people.

“You ready to deal with me tomorrow?” Crown smirked.

I rolled my eyes.

“I still don’t understand why I can’t just work from the comfort of my own home, but yes, I’m ready, and I am grateful for the opportunity,” I told him.

My phone alerted me to a text message from Asia. When I read her message, my eyes ballooned.

Bitch! The blogs are saying you are Crown’s new lady! Omg! You looked cute at the basketball game, girl! I love that look! Call me when you can.

I groaned, and when I picked my head up, I could see Crown on his phone. His eyes met mine.

“I’ll have my publicist fix this in the morning.”

“I need her to wake the hell up and fix this now,” I hissed. My hands were trembling.

“It’ll die down, Kupid. I’ll have her fix it tomorrow,” Crown rebutted.

I had nothing else to say. I won’t be seen out with his ass after tonight. If Asia had seen the pictures, I was sure my mama did, too. She lived for laying in bed reading messy blogs and watching the messy reality shows. I placed my phone on DND. I hadn’t talked to my mama since the move, and she still didn’t know I no longer lived in Crest Grove.

“Are you not goin’ to read the comments? They’re saying how pretty you are. Granted, there are some jealous hoes talkin’ shit as if I would give them a chance, but most of the comments about the lady beside Crown Heart are sayin’ that she’s pretty and thick as fuck.” A throaty laugh escaped from him.

“No, I’m not. I moved to have peace, and now I’m in the blogs. I haven’t been in Heartville for a week,” I mumbled. I pushed my plate away and took a long sip of my Cosmo. As a matter of fact, I needed a slight buzz right about now, so I went ahead and finished it off.

“You want me to order you another one?” Crown pointed at my empty glass and asked.

I shook my head from side to side.

“I’m ready to go. Can you make that happen?” I asked with an attitude. At this point, I didn’t care that he was now signing my checks; I was irritated to be in his presence.

A sly grin spread on Crown’s lips. He nodded.

“Yeah, we can go,” he said.

“Great.”

Pushing my chair back, I stood. Crown dropped bills on the table, and I started off toward the front of the restaurant. We didn’t talk on the way to the Hummer or on the way to my home. Crown was laid back with his eyes closed, and his legs parted. I wondered what was going through his mind.

“Stop looking at me,” Crown uttered.

My head snapped forward, embarrassed that he’d caught me staring. I still couldn’t believe I was even outside with a celebrity. This was unreal. Usually, I didn’t meet the clients that I worked for. It was usually just a phone interview.

The vehicle stopped, and I was home. Alec stepped out first to let me out. Instead of opening my door, he rounded the Hummer and opened Crown’s door. My brows bunched together. Crown slid out and, just like before, held his hand out for me.

He helped me out, and I turned to thank him for the night, although I was glad it was over. Crown motioned for me to start walking to the building. I turned and thanked Alec before trekking toward the condos, with Crown falling in line beside me and his hands in his pockets.

“Are you sending your address to me in the morning?” I asked him.

“I’ll send a car.”

“I can drive,” I shot out.

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