Page 3 of All This Love
Onyx got comfortable in the chair while I started the water and got the temperature right. I had to get used to dealing with people’s feet. When I first started doing nails, I wasn’t fond of it at all, but I needed money, and not doing pedicures was stupid. It wasn’t like I expected men to have nice feet. As long as they weren’t too hideous and crusty I could deal. There was noexaggeration on my part when it dawned on me that Onyx had the best looking feet on a man that I’d ever seen. His feet were just as perfect as his face. He stood 6’1 with skin so dark and rich, he looked exotic. The diamond encrusted grills perched on his bottom row of teeth made my kitty do things I didn’t want it to be doing, and his jet-black hair shone like silk and rippled was with waves. My God, my God.
I made small talk with all my clients unless they were on the phone, but the silence between Onyx and I was kind of awkward at first. Five minutes of loud silence before I thought of a question to ask.
“You from Golden Waters?”
“Nah. I have family here, but I was born and raised in Charlotte.”
“Nice,” I bobbed my head while pursing my lips a bit. “Charlotte is pretty cool.”
“Yeah, it is, but so is Golden Waters. I’m trying to figure out if I like it enough to move here.”
“I’m sure it won’t have quite the same excitement and variety as Charlotte, but it’s not a bad place to live at all.”
“I’m starting to see that. You single?”
Heat radiated through my body, and I wasn’t sure why. That was a question I got on a regular basis. People always acted shocked when I told them that I was single because according to them, ‘I was too pretty to be single,’ whatever that meant. For as pretty as I may have been, men didn’t try me every day. Shit, not even every week and when they did try me, most times, they gave me the ick. There were some slimy creatures slithering around, and I had no desire to partake in the current dating culture. I’d never become horny enough or desperate enough to ever settle again. Ivan was the wake-up call to stop dealing with lames that I needed.
Onyx was so fine nothing about him gave ick. But it gave man whore, womanizer, nigga with ten kids. Yeah, it gave that. “I’m very single and wouldn’t be surprised if I remained that way until the day I left this earth.”
“Damn it’s that bad?” he chuckled. The deepness of his voice sent chills down my spine. It stifled my breathing and to me, that was crazy as hell. I’d been attracted to men before but never in that magnitude, and it was weird.
“Worse.” I sighed. “I’m not even really worried about it at the moment. If it happens it happens, but I’m focused on taking care of my kid and making sure she has a great life.”
“I can most definitely respect that. How old is your child?”
“She’s three,” I smiled. Anytime I talked about Angel a smile was going to automatically form on my face. I could never be one of those mothers that mistreated their child because of who their father was. Angel was the spitting image of Ivan and that didn’t stop me from loving her more than life itself. “How many do you have?”
“Damnnnnnn,” Onyx drawled before barking out a laugh. “You didn’t even ask meifI had kids. You just went straight to how many? That’s cold work Lil’ Mama. I don’t have kids.”
Lifting my head, I gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I guess that was a little stereotypical, huh?”
“Just a little bit.” There was a smirk on his face and a flicker in his eyes. Interest? Lust? Simple amusement? I wasn’t sure which it was, but I couldn’t keep staring to try and figure it out. Gazing into his eyes wasn’t good for my sanity or my panties.
“My bad.” I forced my focus back on his feet.
“Can I take you out sometime?”
My breath caught in my throat. He had been the only man to try me in the last year that I didn’t automatically reject without giving it a second thought. I hadn’t lied when I told him I was super focused on making sure me and Angel were good. I didn’twant to live paycheck to paycheck, always stressing, always worrying. And since Ivan wasn’t shit, that meant I had to work extra hard. When I wasn’t at work, I tried to spend as much time with my child as possible. So that didn’t leave a lot of room for other things…like men. But damn Onyx was fine. He didn’t have to end up being my soulmate. Maybe we could just have a good time.
My gaze once again lifted. “And where would you take me?”
“I want to hit the adventure park. I see they offer ziplining and ATV riding.”
My eyes bucked as my brows lifted. “Ziplining? Who?”
“You and me. Come on now, Lil’ Mama. I know you’re not scared.”
“Yes. Yes, I am, and I refuse to front about it. You’re on your own with that one. Hit me up when you want to do dinner or a movie like normal people.”
His chuckle literally sounded like a melody. Onyx had turned me into a sad case. Everything he did had me melting. At least I was doing a good job of playing it cool.
“That’s real basic. We don’t do basic.”
And I believed him. He wasn’t even doing the most. A simple outfit that was designer but not flashy. A nice watch and two chains wrapped around his neck. His edge up was sharp like he’d just left the barber’s chair, and the masculine, woodsy scent that dominated the air around us had my nipples hardening and my clit pulsating. I was sure that if Onyx was able to get me alone, it wouldn’t take much effort on his part for me to be putty in his hands. Ivan had never turned me on to the magnitude that Onyx was, and I gave his lame ass a baby after only five months. Stupid, stupid, and more stupid.
My silence alerted Onyx of my skepticism. “You don’t have to be afraid. I got you. You’re always safe with me.”
My eyes cut into slits as I sized him up. “Unless you have wings and Superman type strength, I don’t think you could save me from falling to my death if something goes wrong with ziplining.”
