Page 2 of You Make Me Feel

He removed his hands and extended one for me to shake. I did so and offered him another smile, then walked away. He was okay looking. His dark skin was a plus, but he had a somewhat funny-shaped, bald head. His eyes had stayed on mine the entire time. It made me a little uneasy. Usually, I didn’t mind attention from guys, but there was something kind of innocent about him. I could see it in his big, expressive eyes, even through the black-framed lenses he wore. Maybe it was the fact that he looked sort of like a computer geek. He had the look perfectly. The glasses and plaid shirt really set it off.

Before returning to the sanctuary, I looked back and found him still standing there, watching me walk away. There was something slightly intriguing about him. I couldn’t put my finger on it, though. I would have never paid attention to him before I ran into him. He just didn’t have the looks that would grab me. He wasn’t ugly by any means, but he was extremely low-key.

When I returned to the sanctuary, Rev. Speights was wrapping up his sermon. As I sat, I noticed Jarod’s eyes on me.Mm-hmm.He wanted me just like I wanted him. Since he knew of my interest, I would let him make the first move. Giving my attention to Rev. Speights seemed to be the best thing to do because if I didn’t, I would be making another trip back to the restroom. That man was my undoing. If I wasn’t careful, he could be my downfall too.

Once service was over, I grabbed my things and immediately headed to my car. I’d gotten a message from Ki asking me to come by before I went home. My apartment was on the other side of town, and she lived along my route. Just as I was about to open my door, I heard my mother’s voice.

“So you were just gonna leave without speaking to me?”

I turned to her. “Hey, Mama. Sorry. Ki texted, asking me to stop by before I went home, so that was where my mind was.”

“It’s not anything serious, is it?”

“I don’t think so. At least, that wasn’t the vibe I got from her text.”

“Okay. Well, we’re about to head to Longhorn.”

“Okay. I’ll call you later.”

She kissed my cheek as she hugged me, then said, “Okay, baby.”

After she walked away and I got into my car, I saw Jarod. His eyes were on me, and his gaze nearly took my breath away. I thought he would approach me, but he turned in the opposite direction and walked away. I supposed he wanted to take his time. I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like he wasn’t familiar with who I was. We’d been members of Antioch for forever. While we’d never had a conversation, we knew the particulars, or at least I did.

Since I was obsessed with his sexiness, I expected him to think the same of me. I could be very wrong about that. He could be showing me attention now because he knew I was feeling him, and he was planning to take advantage of that. Whatever the reason, I had a feeling I would soon find out.

When I got to Ki’s house, Lazarus was outside with grocery bags in his hands. I smiled as I exited the car and approached him to help.

“Hey, Nisha. If you could grab the keys and unlock the door, I can handle the rest.”

“Hey, brother-in-law. Are you about to cook?”

“Yep. Your sister wanted meat loaf.”

I rolled my eyes. Kiana loved meat loaf. I believed she was starting to love it more than she enjoyed a good steak.

Lazarus chuckled at my verbally silent but very loud response to what he said. “Hey, na. Watch it. That’s my baby, and she can have whatever she wants, especially since she’s carrying my child.”

I chuckled as I unlocked the door. If I had a man that loved me as much as Laz loved Ki, I’d be doing well. That was all I wanted. While I was in school, I wasn’t looking for anything serious. Unlike Ki, I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on school while being in a serious relationship. I would want to spend all my free time with my man. Now that I was ready, it seemed love wasn’t ready for me.

When I walked to the front room, Ki was on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, watching TV. “Hey, sis. How are you feeling?”

She looked up at me and smiled. “Hey, girl. I’m feeling okay now. I can’t wait until this morning sickness is over. Next week, we will find out if we’re having a boy or a girl. I’m way too excited about that.”

“Aww, yay! I hope it’s a girl. What are you hoping for?”

“Same. I wouldn’t know what to do with a little boy.”

“And that’s when his father would step in,” Lazarus interjected. “I’ll be happy with either. I’m just happy to be able to experience fatherhood. I’m damn near forty.”

“You still have a couple of years, baby,” Ki said.

“Whew. You getting up there, old man.” I giggled as he side-eyed me. “I’m just picking, Laz.” Turning back to Ki, I asked, “Why did you want me to stop by?”

“Ramsey texted me. She said you were talking about Jarod’s ho ass. Leave that nigga where he is.”

“Aww, shit. I think he’s fine as hell. I just wanna find out for myself what he’s working with.”

Even with two warnings from people I trusted, my curiosity was beyond piqued, and there was no turning back. Jarod would get all this curiosity wrapped up in a huge, hot-pink bow. Ki rolled her eyes. “Suit yourself. Can’t say you weren’t warned. Warning comes before destruction.”

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