Page 38 of For the Lover in You
I smiled at Tremaine as he walked out of the kitchen after putting our dishes in the sink. Ms. Shonte sat at the table patiently eating her food.
"Again, thank you, Ms. Shonte."
She fanned me off. "It's nothing, but I have a question."
"You can ask me anything."
"How long have you been smitten with my son?"
My eyes ballooned.
"Unfortunately, I am not smitten with Tremaine.
"Are you sure? That kiss upstairs told me otherwise. From the looks of things, it seems as if he is smitten with you. I mean, I don't blame him. You're a beautiful little thing."
I snickered. "I appreciate that, but I hate to break the news to you. Your son is just helping me. Even though I keep telling him he doesn't have to, he insists."
"There's a reason for that."
I shook my head. "Tremaine has a heart full of empathy. He'll give the shirt off his back for anyone."
She scoffed. "That's true but not like how he is doing with you. Don't sell yourself short. It's more than empathy at this point."
Before I could respond, Tremaine walked back into the kitchen.
"Your clothes are ready upstairs."
I immediately sped past them and made my way to my clothes. I kept thinking about the conversation I had with Ms. Shonte. Tremaine was only helping me out of the kindness of his heart. There wasn't a hidden agenda in it. The kiss was an in-the-moment thing. However, it wouldn't happen again, and I made a promise to myself to keep my distance from Tremaine Houston no matter what.
It was the start of the workweek, and I hadn't heard from Tremaine since he dropped me off at my house Saturday night. The car ride was quiet, and our goodbyes were quick and painless. Before my key could turn over, Chasity and Trina grilled me on what happened, but I kept with the same details as Owen and Vance told them, which was that I got sick from the wine and had to get cleaned up. They tried their hardest to pry any type of information out of me, but I stood my ground. However, I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss Tremaine and I had. It was succulent and impressive. I didn't recall a time when I had received a kiss like that. What I knew was that we were in the heat of the moment, and things got out of hand, so it was time for me to buckle down and remember my current goals.
I was sitting at my desk when Susanna walked in. She had a big, bright smile on her face.
"Good morning, beautiful! How was your weekend?"
I smiled. "Good morning. It was... it was a weekend. Nothing too special," I lied.
"We've got to get you out more. It's so many things to see and do. Plus, it's a lot of single men out here."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm swearing off all men for a while, at least 'til my son graduates high school."
Susanna knew about my divorce, but she wasn't aware of all the other issues I was dealing with regarding Kyle.
"That would be insane! Not all men are the same. It's some good ones out there."
"I'm not sure about that," I added.
Before Susanna could respond, Tremaine walked through the door. He wore a navy blue tailored suit with a white button-up shirt. He had on brown dress shoes and accessories with a gold Rolex.
"Good morning, ladies."
We both said good morning, but I avoided making eye contact with him. I kept my eyes on my computer, pretending to be busy.
"Can you both meet me in my office in five minutes? I want to run through a few action items for the week."
"Sure, we'll be over," Susanna confirmed.
I could feel Tremaine's eyes on me, but I still kept my attention on my computer. Once I heard his feet against the tile floor, I caught the back of his head as he made his way into his office. Just seeing him from the back sent shock waves through me. I wasn't sure how I would maintain my composure at this meeting.
