Page 6 of What She Deserves
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Rashad’s voice was distracting, all low and sexy. How did his clients concentrate on his counsel when he talked?
Layla tried to act normal, half-listening to the conversation around her. Smiling when they smiled. Laughing when they laughed so it wasn’t obvious that she barely paid attention.
What a surprise. She’d never expected to stumble across Rashad at the event. She thought for sure she’d run into him somewhere mundane—like the supermarket or one of the restaurants they’d frequented. So much so, she’d stopped going to some of her favorite places to make sure she never saw him.
She became acutely aware of him, and what must be his date, leaving the venue. How dare he ask if she was seeing anyone when he’d come there with another woman? She bit down on her molars to stem the shaking that threatened to overtake her body.
Her eyes followed him and Natasha out the door. Rashad Greene. Phenomenal in bed, not so phenomenal out of it.
A well-formed man with skin that was dark brown, bordering on black, he oozed sex appeal with every action. His walk. His talk. His laugh. The way he scrubbed a hand across the low, fine beard on a jaw that looked strong and sharp enough to cut through marble.
Tall in stature, he had an arresting face, the kind that made you stop and stare against your will. His thick lips seemed almost indecent with their sensuality. When he was aroused, his broad nose quivered and his eyes—as dark as midnight—trailed lazily down her body as if he recognized his own power and reveled in it.
That’s why she’d had to make a clean break. That’s why she’d lied and pretended she was moving to D.C. The sexual tension between them practically crackled whenever they were together. Her wrist still felt warm where he’d touched her, and she regretfully acknowledged she had zero self-control when faced with the magnitude of Rashad Greene’s midnight-colored eyes and seductive smile.
The men she’d dated since their break up—Devin, Chance, and most recently, Elijah—had all been inadequate substitutes for the man who made her blood heat with one lazy smile. Being with him was like having a best friend she couldn’t keep her hands off of. She’d missed him, at first. As time went on, she realized with a sinking heart that he wouldn’t call, which meant he didn’t miss her the way she missed him. That’s when she resolved to put Rashad and all memories of him out of her mind.
“I’m ready to go,” Ethan said in her ear.
His voice snapped Layla into the present.
“Sounds good to me,” she said.
She and Ethan said goodbye and made their way out of the room. Layla picked up her mink stole at the coat check, and on the way to the front door, she pulled her cell phone from the pocket of her dress and called the chauffeur to let him know to meet them out front.
“Big plans this weekend?” Ethan asked as he scrolled through his phone.
“Nothing major. Grocery shopping and laundry. That’s about it.”
They stepped outside, and she inhaled the dewy February air, cooler from the gently falling rain.
“Who was the guy you went off with? I didn’t recognize him.” As a real estate developer, Ethan prided himself on knowing people and had an uncanny ability to never forget a face or name.
“No one important. An old friend, that’s all.” Layla kept her voice casual.
“Your reaction to seeing him suggested he’s more than an old friend,” Ethan remarked.
He was way too perceptive, and she’d been working with him for five years, so he’d come to know her well, like she’d come to know him.
“He’s my ex. Rashad,” she admitted.
Ethan’s brow wrinkled as he concentrated. “The one you broke up with a few years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Was this the first time you’ve seen each other since then?”
“Yes.”
“Running into him must have been surprising.”
“Very,” Layla admitted.
Ethan didn’t ask any more questions. They were not close enough for him to pry any deeper into her feelings and thoughts about her private life.
The black limo sidled up to the curb, and the driver, Halston, hopped out wearing a black uniform and cap. He was middle-aged, with a scar that ran from his left cheek to the center of the side of his neck. Ethan had hired him because he was a former Navy Seal and for that reason doubled as a bodyguard. He opened the door, and they both slid into the back.
