Page 58 of Beautiful Broken Love

Out of all the places in the world, Deke was right here in the heart of Miami and in the same restaurant I was in. I should’ve known.I should’ve known!

Chester said Javier Valdez would be joining us for lunch, and I’d read up on Deke enough to know Javier was one of his closest friends and teammates. I didn’t think they’d be together, though! Out of all the places he could’ve been, he washere. I swear God was trying to punish me for something. Didn’t Deke have some event to go to, or an offseason game to play?

I ignored Deke, who remained seated while I shook hands with Kyla Cox. After greeting Chester, I drew in a breath and sat next to Octavia, who was sitting across from Deke. That left me to sit diagonally across from him. I’d have traded spots with Javier, but his daughter, Aleesa, was at the head of the table.

Everyone knew that adorable three-year-old. She was the sweet little girl who giddily cheered for her dad from the sidelines. Other than on the court, you’d never catch Javier Valdez without his daughter.

I cleared my throat, then picked up the full cup of cool water in front of me to take a few gulps.

Octavia bumped me with her elbow. “What is wrong with you? Just say hi.”

I peered around the table, after Kyla took the seat directly across from Javier. Chester sat across from me, and Deke was to his right. I inhaled, setting my glass back down and finally giving Deke my full attention.

That was a mistake.

He was already looking at me as he leaned casually against the back of his seat, with his arms folded over his chest. His hooded eyes traveled from my mouth to my bosom, then slowly dragged up to my eyes again.

His freshly cut hair was lined up neatly, the dark waves glistening beneath the pendant lights. His gold chain may as well have blinded me with how thick and shiny it was. He wore a blue jean jacket, with the sleeves rolled up, over a solid black T-shirt and black pants. A gold watch was on one wrist and a bracelet to match on the other. I studied the sleeves of dark ink on his forearms, all of various designs, and those bulging veins that were like arm porn.

Good Lord, he looked good.Toodamn good.

“Uh.” I cleared my throat. “How have you been, Deke?”

“Wouldn’t you want to know that via email, Davina?” He raised a brow, mouth twitching. The waitress appeared and took his order first, and I was glad for the distraction, but as soon as she left, his eyes were locked on me again.

“Davina’s company makes some of the best body butters. All the ingredients are organic. Right, Davina?” Chester asked.

I whipped my head to look at my investor and nodded. “That’s right.”

“I just love that,” Kyla said. “And Javier, I want you to know that I always source the best ingredients possible. Little Aleesa here already loves our bubble bath, right?”

Javier nodded. “She does.”

“So, imagine a whole collection created for a bath-and-bedtime routine, with your name featured on it. I know you don’t want heradvertised too much, and I completely respect that, so I talked to my publicist about your concerns, and she had some really great ideas. One of them was to take pictures or footage of you and Aleesa but with her back to the camera the entire time. We could hide her face, which we think would draw more interest to the consumers.”

“Well, the whole world has seen her face, so I don’t think that really matters,” Javier said, huffing a laugh. He shifted in his chair, glancing at Aleesa, who was watching something on an iPad in a purple case.

“Oh—um, yes. That is true.” Kyla put on a smile, but there was unease swirling in her eyes. It was clear she was thinking of something else to say.

Kyla was new to this world, and though she seemed to be confident right now, I could tell when I shook her hand that her nerves were fried. I remembered being just like her when I first started, thinking I was a fraud, thinking I wasn’t worthy as a Black woman in a world as daring as this one. I couldn’t let her drown.

“Javier, I think what Kyla is trying to say is Aleesa would be safe. You two will be our top priority throughout whatever the process is. It can be daunting to have your child advertised on screen and especially online. I get it. You don’t want the publicity to go sideways or for it to become overwhelming for either of you. It’s one thing for people to see her and be in awe on the courtside, but it’s a completely different thing when her image would be put directly in people’s faces. But you love Bubbles and Swaddles products, right? And you love Kyla’s cause?”

“I do,” Javier agreed.

“I say start small.” I gestured to Kyla. “Right, Kyla?”

“Yes, absolutely,” she said, bobbing her head rapidly.

“I, for one, am very excited to be collaborating with Kyla, and if you ask Deke, here, I think he would agree we had a great time working together on our collaboration too.” Though I didn’t want to, I shifted my gaze to the other basketball player at the table, who snorted a laugh into his drink.

“Wait ... you two have worked together?” Javier asked, looking between us with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, yeah, man,” Deke answered before I could. “She’s the woman who endorsed me for her skin care company. It’s been great working with her and beingjust friendsand all.”

Okay.Seriously?

“Oop.” Octavia pulled her lips in and looked anywhere but at me, while I glared a hole into the side of her head. As my sister, she wasnotsupposed to instigate this.

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