Page 30 of Father of the Bride

Smiling, she reached into her purse to grab her phone.

He answered on the first ring. “Hey, you.”

His voice made her shiver.

“Hey,” she said. “I just wanna check in with you.”

“First, are you having fun? Tell me you’re having fun.”

She laughed softly. “I’m having a wonderful time, Kez. Thank you.”

“Of course. What’s up?”

“Well, I found a couple of dresses that—“

“Get ‘em.”

“Well, wait, because they’re—“

“Get the dresses, Cici.”

Sunny blew out a sigh. “I don’t needbothof them, Kez. If you let me finish, I’m trying—“

“Sunnecia Renee Dixon. Listen to me. My card doesn’t have a limit, and neither do you.”

“Kez…”

“What? We ain’t broke college students anymore.”

The word ‘we’ was doing a lot of heavy lifting, but Sunny kept that to herself.

“If you need shoes and purses and whatever else to go with it,” he continued, “get all that too.”

Overwhelmed, Sunny sank down onto the velvet bench. “You don’t have to buy my affection. I already have it for you.”

“I know that,” he said. “I’m not buying affection. I’m buying you some happiness. Whoever said money can’t buy it didn’t know what the hell they were talking about.”

She laughed. “It does feel good, I must admit.”

“Good. That’s my goal. You know it’s always been my pleasure to make you feel good.”

The words rolled over her like warm honey.

“So Brooklyn told you about this morning, I take it.”

“She did.” His voice was softer, now. Gentle. “She can be a little out of touch.”

“It’s okay. I love that she’s spoiled. More black girls should be.”

“Uh huh. Are you ready to be one of them?”

She bit her lip as her body heated. “Stop. I need to go.”

“Do you?”

She felt a slight ache in her jaw, the kind that comes on when you smile too hard.

“Let me go before Angelique thinks I’m in here stealing.” She sighed. “Thank you, Kez.”

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