Page 82 of Body Language
“And then some,” he said, sliding a glass across the table to me. Expensive wine. He already knew my taste. “Tell me, how you been, mami?”
I took the glass, sipped slow. “Better. Busier. But that’s not saying much. You know I’ve always been good.”
He chuckled low. “Confident as ever. I love that.”
We talked, laughed, slipping back into that rhythm like no time had passed. But every so often, I felt Kendrix’s presence like a ghost behind that door. I knew he was out there somewhere, watching the minutes tick, probably burning a hole through the club floor just imagining what was happening.
And maybe that’s why I leaned in, voice dropping lower. “You know, Sincere, there’s a man here tonight who thinks he can keep up with me.”
His brow arched. “Think? Poor soul. He don’t know you don’t do easy.”
“Exactly.” I swirled my glass, smiling. “And the more he tries to cage me, the more I’m tempted to remind him… I don’t get caged. I own the whole damn jungle.”
Sincere laughed. “That’s why I always loved you, Niv. You don’t beg. You don’t bend. You bend men.”
I slid my heels across the polished floor, hips swaying, every movement deliberate. Sincere leaned back on the velvet couch, legs spread, one arm draped over the backrest, eyes locked on me.
“Lawd have mercy,” he said with that thick Jamaican accent. “Yuh still move like yuh bones playing the riddim.”
I smirked, rolling down the pole with a slow body wave until I was squatting in front of him, one hand trailing up his chest without even touching him. “Guess the rhythm never left me.”
His grin was wide, those dimples deep enough to swim in. “An mi glad fi dat. How many man yuh done mash up wid that waist since me?”
I laughed, turning around to grind the air, tossing a look over my shoulder. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
He chuckled, shaking his head, eyes glued to the way my ass swayed in the tutu skirt. “Yuh wicked. Pure wickedness. If I was a fool, mi woulda lock yuh away long time.”
“But you’re not a fool.” I hooked my heel on the arm of the couch, dropping into a split slow, arching my back until my hair brushed the floor.
His tongue slid across his bottom lip. “No… mi smart. Smart enough to know yuh cyan lock fire in a box. Yuh born fi blaze, gyal.”
That sent a shiver through me. Because Sincere always had a way of speaking life into me, even when he was half-joking.
I rose back up, twirling around the pole, letting my legs hook as I swung, then slid down slow until I was face to face with him again. He didn’t throw a dollar. Didn’t reach for me. Just watched with that calm, confident stare.
I knew when my private dance ended, I’d walk away with more than enough. Not in just bills scattered across the floor, but in something bigger. Respect, adoration, and a fat deposit later that I wouldn’t even have to ask for.
“Yuh know what mi really want?” He sat up. “Fi have yuh sit right down on mi face ‘til yuh cyan stand it no more. Watch yuh shake while mi drown.”
My breath caught, and before I could respond, the door clicked.
Kendrix closed it behind him, calm as hell. Leaning against the doorframe, with his arms crossed.
“She don’t need an old friend to do that,” Kendrix said. “I already do it. Better than you could dream.”
Sincere didn’t flinch. He leaned back, letting a slow grin creep across his face as his eyes cut to me, then back to Kendrix.
“So this the man?” His tone was playful, not a hint of intimidation. “The one bold enough fi believe he own yuh… but still foolish enough not fi lock yuh down and make yuh him wife?”
Kendrix didn’t blink. He stepped in closer, all broad shoulders and calm danger, the kind that made even the air nervous. “You real comfortable talking about my woman like that.”
I raised an eyebrow, because last I checked, I was nobody’s woman. But I let him continue.
Sincere chuckled, smooth as his accent. “If she was your woman, yuh wouldn’t be in here marking territory, big man. She’d be home in yuh bed.”
Kendrix tilted his head, tugging at his beard. “She was in my bed. You’re just late to the party.”
Oooooh. I had to fight the grin pulling at my lips
