Page 54 of Heightened Assurance
He didn’t wait for me to put my phone down, he already had the fork at my lips. “Tell me what you think.”
I didn’t bother asking him what it was, I just opened my mouth and accepted the fork and food on it. Like everything elsethis man cooked, it was divine. Everything he ever cooked was good, I had to be biased.
After repeating the same motion two more times, he set the plate down next to me and stepped in closer, one hand easing up the slit of my skirt and the other at my neck, sliding his fingertips into my scalp. He was cupping my head when he dropped his face, mashing his lips against mine. What started out as a few heated kisses became heavy and the start of something we both knew couldn’t happen right now.
He was the first to pull away with a handsome grin. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. I’ma be too tempted to come in here fucking with you.”
I laughed, reaching to wipe my gloss from his lips. “I can leave and see you tonight.”
“Nah, too late. I want you here. Take over my office however you’d like. I’ll pop in from time to time though, just to make sure you ain’t in here working too hard.”
I grinned. “Okay.”
A meaningful peck later he was gone and I was left wondering when the next time he’d come in would be.
Love never tasted so good.Not until I met and fell for a chef who insisted on feeding me with his hands every time I ate. It was safe to say I didn’t get much done and he was extremely distracted. Between inviting me to come try numerous dishes to making sure I was not only fed but thoroughly distracted as well.
“So are you going to continue to stare into space or tell me about this new guy?” Karim’s voice broke my thoughts as she sat across from me sipping from her tea. I had to be getting old because I was always meeting people for tea and drinking it myself.
I giggled. “What is there to tell? How do you know I even have a new man?”
Karim giggled. “Don’t play me, hoe. I know for a fact you have a new man. If you don’t, who dropped you off in the Jeep pickup? And you’ve been smiling since we sat down. So, what’s up?” Karim and I had been friends for years. Our meeting was similar to mine and Beyah’s, except she came in randomly looking for something to wear to her brother’s wedding. She was caught between trying to keep it thug or be cute. Long story short, over a mimosa or two I helped her find the perfect dress and we exchanged numbers. We’d been friends ever since.
“Honestly, it’s new. We met at Rennix’s pool party, but I didn’t see him again until I was on this horrible date and he saved me. Funnily enough, he’s been saving me ever since.” I smiled at the realization.
“That sounds so cute. At least one of us isn’t going to be forever single and the always babysitting auntie.”
I laughed. “You do that by choice and I don’t know. Just when I started to give up hope on men, Oden appeared out of nowhere.”
Her brows wrinkled and a hit of familiarity showed in her eyes. “Oden,” she repeated, blinking a few times.
“Yes, why?” I couldn’t lie, my mind was on a swivel, praying she didn’t know him in the way I mentally assumed.
“Oden West, Kinga’s brother.”
I nodded again. “How do you know him?”
“I don’t, not yet. I think they’re my cousins. My uncle had me run their names. Him, Sora, and Kinga. Apparently, he messed with their mother while she was married to some weak ass nigga named Memphis. He said when he asked her about the boys back then, she told him they were her husband’s. Then twenty something years later he saw Oden at the restaurant and he knew. He said he’s been doing business with Kinga for years, but he never thought about it, not until he saw Oden. Apparently, Oden looks just like my late grandfather.”
I tilted my head, thinking about the conversation Oden and I had about his alleged father. We had even discussed who he thought was his father and how vile he was. “Damn, that’s a lot.”
“It is, but I guess I’m glad he found them even though he can’t force them to let him be in their lives.”
I nodded. “I don’t think it’s a matter of that. I think it’s more of them growing up and thinking one thing, then learning as an adult it wasn’t that at all. They may just need time.”
She sighed. “Hopefully, now on another note. What is this I’m hearing that you have a stalker?”
“And how would you know about that?” I narrowed my eyes.
A big ass smile hid the fact that she was trying to seem serious. I already knew her and Reminisce had something going on, but they were both too stubborn to even claim it.
“Girl, you know how. Stop acting like that.”
“Y’all pillow talk now, huh?” I wanted to mess with her more.
“It’s not pillow talking. We do talk… I mean, we’re cool like that regardless of what you may think.” She was fighting hard to hold back that smile.
“Sure, tell me anything. Yes, I have a stalker, and no, neither of them will tell me who it is, but Oden said it’ll be handled.” I shrugged and glanced around the semi empty teahouse before my eyes landed on her.
