Page 7 of Sugar Baby
I took ten steps forward before Cash asked, “Where his pops at?”
Smiling bitterly, I shared, “At home. His health is trash. He’s had two strokes and had a heart attack three months ago. His job let him go because of all the time he was missing, and he’s currently taking care of their home with his early retirement fund. The last thing I want is for his son’s behavior to make him have another health scare, so I’d prefer to handle this myself.”
Cash looked down at me, so I looked up at him. Those lazy eyes. Those juicy lips.
“I respect you looking out for him, but he needs to learn his lesson. If I was a lesser man, he’d be dead. You understand that, right?”
I nodded. “I understand.”
“How do you intend for him to make amends?” His question slowed my steps. We stopped walking and I looked at him.
“Make amends?”
“Yeah. He gon’ pay for this shit. This ain’t on you.”
“Look.” A soft chuckle escaped me. “However I decide to make him pay me back, that’s between us. I’m offering to pay you back. That should be enough.”
“You got a smart ass mouth for somebody I can step on with my shoe with your little short ass.”
Offended, I gasped and clutched my chest. “Hey!”
“If you wanna take on the responsibility of his debt . . . cool. But you’re short. You owe me thirty K.”
“IsaidI’d pay you. I just need a littletime.”
“You don’thavetime. You have one opportunity to wipe the debt clean.” My curiosity was piqued. I nodded for him to continue. “Cater this event I’m doing next month, and you won’t have to pay anything else. No interest. Just what he owes.”
“What kind of event? For how many people? What kind of menu would you like?” I rattled off question after question until his head shook. His hand wrapped around my neck, and the action caught me so off guard I was speechless.
“We can discuss those details later. I’ve been in this open space for too long.”
Without saying anything else, he headed back toward the truck that was on my side of the car. He didn’t ask for my number, availability, nothing. I assumed when he was ready to talk, he’d contact me through Tyreek.
Until then, I’d just have to wait.
Chapter
Four
CASH
Icouldn’t get lil shorty off my mind, and that was a first. She was short but thick as hell. I’d always been able to appreciate the beauty of the opposite sex without losing discipline or focus because of it, but with her, I wouldn’t deny she was a slight distraction. The button down shirt she had on was tucked into a pair of jean shorts that gave me the perfect view of her fat ass and thick thighs. There were a couple tattoos on them, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a closer look.
She had wild, long, curly hair. It was blonde, and in its natural state, it went down to her arm pits. Hazel eyes stared back at me lacking the fear a person usually had when they owed me. I liked her fire and her willingness to protect her cousin. The whole time she talked, I kept looking at her lips. They were shaped like a bow, making every word that spilled from them a gift. And they were colored red, complementing her straight white teeth.
And she smelled good—like cinnamon and vanilla. Actual cinnamon and vanilla, not perfume.
Damn.
I could not stop thinking about that woman.
After leaving the meetup, I looked into her. Sugar Baby James, and surprisingly, that was her real name, was well known in the city for her cooking. I liked that she catered a lot of events for free that were nonprofit or for a good cause. And on holidays, she gave away free meals to families in need. Under different circumstances, I might have considered getting to know her on a personal level.
“What do you think about this?” Mama asked, sliding yet another color palette in front of me.
I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in the planning of the gala or any other events for that matter, that’s why I let her and event planners handle the shit. Still, she insisted on asking me certain things to make sure I did more than just pay.
I looked down at the shades of red and pink and shook my head.
