Page 27 of His Noble Heart
“Yeah. We definitely put in some work. You feel okay?”
“Did you happen to notice how slow I’m moving? Hell no, I’m not okay.”
“I guess that means you’re not interested in round two tonight.”
“Rowdy, get away from me before I’m late for work.”
I playfully pushed him out of my way and opened my car door. He watched me ease inside and sit very gingerly behind the steering wheel. After leaning inside to kiss my nose, which I thought was adorable by the way, he promised to call me later and closed the door.
On my way to work, I kept having flashbacks of the past several hours. My panties were so wet by the time I arrived, I was grateful I’d worn black jeans. Before getting out, I sprayed some perfume I had in my purse over my crotch area because the last thing I needed was my pheromones turning everyone on.
The amount of time it took for me to get out of my car and into the building was laughable. Once inside, I went to my office to drop off my bag, removing my laptop, a notepad, and a pen. Ialso plugged in my phone since it was dead because I’d failed to charge it overnight.
We had a small kitchen in the back of the student services office, and I was relieved to find that someone had already made coffee. I didn’t drink it often, but it was a must after the night and early morning I had. I was so tired I thought about drinking it black, but my palate couldn’t handle it.
“Glad to see you’re alive.”
I rolled my eyes at the sound of Kenai’s voice before turning around.
“Good morning, Kenai. It’s good to be alive. See you later.”
“Hold up.”
“Our meeting is starting in two minutes.”
“Did you get everything squared away with your car?”
“I did. Thank you for asking.”
Before he could say anything else, I brushed past him, rushing into the hallway and cringing with every single aching movement. A few other staff members were trickling into the auditorium, so I didn’t feel bad about arriving right on time. I spotted Yazmeen right away and headed in her direction.
“Girl, I’ve been texting you,” she whispered as soon as I sat down.
“I forgot to charge my phone last night. It’s in my office charging. Actually, can I use your phone to text my sisters and let them know I’m good?”
“Of course.”
After letting my sisters know that my phone had died, but I was alive and well, I gave Yazmeen her phone, sank as far down in the seat as I could, and let my head fall back.
“Are you okay?” Yazmeen whispered.
“Why do you ask?”
“For one, you’re drinking coffee, and two, you’re dragging a little more than usual this morning.”
“I can’t even begin to tell you about what happened after I left this building yesterday.”
“I thought you were going straight home to take a nap.”
“That was the plan.”
“But . . .”
“I’ll tell you everything when we take a break. Wake me up if something important happens.”
The first two days of our institute days consisted of our administration doing a lot of talking. I hated it, but today, I was grateful. I closed my eyes and didn’t open them again until I felt Yazmeen nudging me.
“Wake up,” she whispered. “They’re about to turn the lights on.”
