Page 18 of Continuum

I let his words wash over me. “I never really thought about it like that.”

“It was something a grief counselor told me after my father passed away a long time ago. I never forgot that.”

“I’m sorry you lost your dad, Kwame. How long ago was that?”

“Thanks, it was a long time ago. I’d just gotten to Chicago when it happened, so it’s been sixteen years. I thought about dropping out, but Mom talked me into seeing a grief counselor. And then the counselor said the thing that changed how I saw…everything. Changed my life.”

I stared across the table at the drop-dead gorgeous man in front of me who was not only emotionally vulnerable but openly communicating. It wasn’t that I didn’t know men could be that way, but it had been a long time since I’d encountered it. It was…stimulating.

My heart and my pussy throbbed.

“So now you live in the moment,” I whispered.

Without taking his eyes off me, he confirmed softly, “Now I live in the moment.”

“How are you two doing over here?” the waitress Judy asked, interrupting the moment we were having.

“We’re good,” he answered, ripping his eyes away from me at the last minute.

I licked my lips. “Can we get the check, please?”

*****

Chapter 3

“The city has changed so much since the last time I was here,” Kwame commented as he held the door open for me.

I nodded. “Yeah, it looks completely different than it did five years ago.”

He stood in the middle of the sidewalk, facing the clocktower. “It’s getting late. How are you feeling?”

Staring at his profile, my lips curled up into a smile. “I’m feeling good.”

“Would you like to take a little walk with me?”

My smile shook slightly.A walk? My pinky-toe is not going to survive a damn walk!

“Yeah, I think I can hang,” I lied, sticking out my foot.

“Those shoes are sexy as hell, but they aren’t walking shoes.” He put his hand on the small of my back. “Maybe we should save the walk for tomorrow—if you’re free.”

His touch caused all the air to leave my lungs.

Clearing my throat, I gave him a contemplative look. “Hmm…I think I can rearrange some things and be available tomorrow.”

He grinned. “Well then let’s get you home. What side of town do you live on? I will take a car with you and then take one back to my hotel.”

“I’m actually a block and a half away from the bar,” I informed him. “Want to walk me home?”

“I’d love to.”

Kwame and I laughed and talked as we strolled down the street. It was almost midnight and there were people still milling around, but it felt like we had the city to ourselves.

“This is me,” I announced as we reached the stairs to my brick rowhouse.

“Oh, nice!” He whistled. “I always thought this was a cool part of the downtown area.”

“It is pretty cool,” I agreed. “You want to come up and check it out?”

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