Sweethand

by N. G. Peltier

  “Thanks for meeting us here, everyone.”

  Keiran focused on Ava. He could ponder on Cherisse’s babbling later.

  “Are you pregnant?” Maxine blurted out, and everyone stared at her. Ava chuckled. “What? We’re all thinking it.”

  “Not pregnant,” Ava announced.

  “You’re eloping, aren’t you? Or about to spring a surprise wedding right now, right here?” Scott nodded as if it were fact. “I knew it! I brought some makeup kits, just in case.”

  “Seriously?” Eric looked more amused than anything else.

  “So, am I right?”

  “Sorry, bud, but no.”

  Cherisse shifted next to him. “Are you calling off the wedding? Because I swear to God if you made us craft those damn crowns for nothing... Wait.” Her eyes narrowed. “Are you gonna force us to make more of those? Is that what this is? Soften the blow by taking us somewhere fancy, so we can’t make a scene? Because no.”

  Keiran covered his laugh by reaching for his water. Cherisse looked prepared to murder everyone if that was indeed the case.

  “You’re all ridiculous and wrong.” Ava beamed at Eric, who grinned back.

  “Well, tell us, dammit!” Julia had been silently observing and had now clearly lost all patience.

  “Okay, Jesus. Eric and I wanted to thank you all for being so great. Taking every task we asked of you in stride. Well...” She turned to Cherisse and Keiran. “Most tasks. You pulled off an amazing party and didn’t kill each other. Yay.”

  If only Ava knew what it took to get there. He and Cherisse exchanged a look, and Keiran couldn’t be sure, but hers looked mildly panicked. What was going on?

  “So, to thank you all, we’ve gotten you a one-year membership to the club!”

  “Hell, yes!” Remi shouted.

  “Isn’t it customary to give the wedding party gifts closer to the wedding?” Cherisse asked. “I mean, we’re not that far off, but it’s still a few weeks.”

  “True,” Eric piped up. “But we figured you get to make use of the facilities before that. As in today. We’ve already planned a little pre-wedding pamper session for you all. And Remi and Cherisse, you can use it for your birthday week as well.”

  “We already got the spa vouchers from Laney’s brunch, but we’ll see. May as well make a spa tour of it.”

  “This is the best gift ever,” Scott said.

  “Thank my rich fiancé for that.” Ava clapped her hands together. “We should eat then get to the fancy spa stuff.”

  “Hey! I thought you were marrying me for my body?”

  Ava blew Eric a kiss. “That too, darling. Make no mistake about that.” Her slow perusal of Eric from head to toe could’ve singed them all. Eric flushed and coughed, causing the entire table to erupt into raucous laughter, earning them a few looks from the other guests around them.

  They probably wouldn’t be too pleased about their group regularly descending on their club, but Keiran was looking forward to using the facilities for some regular self-care. It wasn’t a thing he did often or enough. After dealing with Sean, he was certainly going to need it. He’d been carrying around way too much tension.

  “God, you’re both so disgustingly cute.” Maxine made fake gagging sounds, and Ava and Eric just shrugged before closing the gap between them for a quick kiss. Scott wolf-whistled, and the rest of the party piled on the teasing.

  Yup, this club was not prepared for them at all. Well, the rest of them, at least. Eric’s family had been members for years, which was probably how they’d gotten them memberships without going through some rigorous vetting process.

  As the others decided on the menu, Keiran leaned over to Cherisse and whispered, “Do you think our closet’s been lonely without us?”

  Cherisse didn’t look at him. “I’ll stab you with this fork if you don’t shush.” But there was no real heat behind her threat.

  “Once it’s nowhere important.”

  She cocked her head. “I’ll leave your mouth alone. It’s of most use to me.”

  “God damn, woman.” His cock twitched. He shouldn’t be turned on by that, but it would seem that Cherisse could say anything, and he’d be on board.

  “Are you scared, Keiran?” she taunted.

  “Terrified, actually.” And not for the reasons she believed. Because you’re everything that I want and can’t have. He reached for his water so he wouldn’t say that because God knows he would fuck up their already shaky situation.

  “Good. Gotta keep you on your toes.”

  “Already there.”

  They dispensed with their sneaky conversation as the server came to take their order, and Keiran met Remi’s sharp gaze over the server’s notepad. Her words came back to him.

  “Someone’s gonna get hurt,” Remi announced.

  “I won’t hurt her.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t mean her.”

  The sensible thing to do was end it before Cherisse did, but a small part of him hoped she wouldn’t. A foolish notion, but here he was, unable to. Remi’s words continued to echo in his head as Ava’s group went off to get their pampering done.

  He could barely enjoy the chocolates that were offered for guests of the spa or the full-body massage.

  “You’re very tense,” the masseuse noted as she worked at his shoulders.

  No kidding. He had too much going on. Sean. Cherisse. The wedding. His overwhelmed brain refused to allow him to enjoy this. The others were happily sighing while getting their massages. Keiran needed a breather. The music being piped into the room was supposed to be soothing, but it was grating on his every nerve. He got up, surprising the poor masseuse as he flung on one of the fluffy robes. He gave the woman a tight smile and announced to his sister and friends, “Bathroom calls.”

  Except this section of the club was unfamiliar to him, the wedding shower having been held on the other side, so he found himself wandering around.

  “It can’t be that hard to find the bathrooms, come on,” he muttered as he turned down a corridor and ran into none other than the woman occupying a good portion of his thoughts.

  “We’ve gotta stop running into each other like this,” Cherisse said, dressed similarly in one of the spa robes, face covered in some sort of mud mask. “Looking for the bathrooms too?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think the directions I got said left, but clearly not.”

  “Better off than me. I didn’t get any directions. Just sort of winged it.”

  “Well, we’re quite the pair.” Cherisse plucked at her robe, and there it was again. The sense that she was nervous. But why?

  “What’s going on with you?” he asked.

  Her brow furrowed. “Looking for the bathroom, same as you.”

  “Not what I meant. You’re acting weird.”

  She stuck her hand into the robe’s pockets. “We’re in a weird situation, aren’t we?”

  Yes, they were, and her discomfort could be from trying to act like nothing was going on between them, but something else was up here. What he’d learned about Cherisse over the time they’d known each other was that she was good at keeping her cool and, as amusing as it was to see the moments where he ruffled her feathers, this was different. Cherisse might lose her temper with him, but she’d never fumble or fiddle like this.

  “I told you, you can end it at any time.”

  “Why’s that pressure on me?” she demanded, eyes blazing.

  Pressure? Hold on. He looked at her face—really looked. She was barely meeting his gaze, and her teeth kept worrying at her bottom lip. Oh. Cherisse wouldn’t be talking about pressure if...

  “Cherisse, I know why it’s hard for me to end this. It’s why I gave you the power. But why is it hard for you?”

  Her eyes widened as if he’d caught her in a private moment. “I-it’s not.”

  “You mentioned pressure. You feel something, don’t you?”

  “The only thing I feel is a tummyache coming on from all those compl
imentary chocolates I ate,” she said, but the smile plastered on her lips wasn’t reflected in her eyes. “I’m gonna go.”

  Had he read her wrong? But what did he expect from Cherisse? She’d made it quite clear what she’d thought of guys in his business. But hadn’t that been before they’d gotten to know each other outside of their initial dislike? Besides, even if she did feel something for him, it wasn’t fair for him to demand she reveal it, here and now.

  He forced a smile to his lips. “Yeah, wouldn’t want them to worry.” He turned away to head back to Maxine and the guys, but the unexpected touch to his arm halted his steps. He looked back, surprised to see Cherisse still standing there.

  “I don’t even know what I’m doing,” she mumbled before looking up at him. “I do feel something,” she rushed out. “But I don’t know if I’m going to do anything with that.”

  “Because of Jerome?” he asked carefully, not wanting to give away how much her hastily spoken words affected him. Calm was the word of the day, even though he felt so far from it.

  “Jerome’s got nothing to do with it. I made you think he did, but no. He’s nice to talk to, but...” She reached up to scrub at her face then remembered the mask. “Shit, I gotta wash this off. I don’t—”

  “Trust me?” It made sense, considering her history with Sean. Tell her, tell her, just fucking tell her. It was on the tip of his tongue to blurt it out, about working with Sean, about what they were going to do with the video. But her confession was so tentative, and she was standing there looking like she wished she could take the words back. What would his confession do to that?

  As selfish as it was, he didn’t want to destroy the already fragile moment.

  “I thought I could easily trust you with my body, and I did, but when I trust someone with that, it’s never just that. I don’t know why I thought I could do that.”

  “Cherisse, I...” He didn’t want to say the words out loud in case he jinxed it, and God, why was he being such a coward about Sean?

  But she stepped back, shook herself hard, and said, “I have to go,” then turned to walk briskly away.

  Well, then. What the hell was he supposed to do with that?

  Chapter 29

  Cherisse

  SHE HAD NO CLUE HOW she made it to her birthday without combusting.

  The spa pampering afternoon at the Marigold Club had been much needed, but she’d ruined it for herself. Everyone else had been relaxed after, but how was she supposed to do that after that encounter with Keiran?

  She’d basically admitted to having feelings for him and then run off.

  Talk about terrible timing for a confession of that magnitude. On top of all of that, he’d sent a Can we talk? text, which she was still ignoring. Regardless of knowing the topic of discussion, her anxiety was dialed all the way up. She had no idea how to approach this talk they needed to have.

  Why hadn’t she just kept walking, not turned back to utter those words? That damn impulsiveness again, just waiting to cause problems. He’d sensed something was off with her. She’d done a poor job of keeping her nerves under wraps, but he wouldn’t have known that if she’d kept her mouth shut.

  “This is orgasmic.”

  “What?” Yanked out of her anxious thoughts, she turned to her mother, who sat across the table from her devouring her waffles. Her parents had insisted on treating her to a birthday breakfast at Lola’s, which was delightfully empty at the moment, so they had the place all to themselves.

  Lola’s breakfast was amazing, but Cherisse did not need to hear the word ‘orgasmic’ coming out of her mother’s mouth.

  “Mummy, please.” She grimaced but shoved another bite of her waffles in her mouth. Heaven. She’d opted for chicken on her waffles because why not?

  Her father chuckled. “Honey, don’t embarrass the child on her birthday.”

  “What?” Her mother didn’t look the least repentant. “Isn’t that how the young people talk these days?”

  “I’m hardly one of those young people you’re referring to,” Cherisse pointed out.

  West Indian parents were such a plethora of contradictions. Her mother would conveniently treat her like she was still a child when it suited her needs but, of course, reminded her at every turn that she wasn’t getting any younger and shouldn’t wait too long to get a man. As if she had any control over that.

  Although...

  Her mind ran on Keiran, and she immediately dropped her fork, the loud clang echoing around the empty restaurant. Definitely not the man her mother would have in mind for her, but her mother didn’t know him like she’d gotten to. He’d shown her something else of himself other than what the rumors said and what she’d assumed. Especially that day in the studio.

  “Everything okay?” Her father’s hand was gentle on her arms. He was the softie between her parents, and most times, she and Ava would run to him for soothing when her mother had chided them for some perceived slight.

  She was definitely a daddy’s girl.

  “Yes.” She mustered a smile. “I’m fine. I think...I might be having an epiphany about something, is all.”

  “About Jerome?” Her mother looked hopeful, and Cherisse almost busted out laughing. Wrong guy, mother.

  But then she thought, why not? Why not just stop keeping things inside and say what was on her mind? It could’ve just been the sugar coursing through her veins, giving her a false sense of “don’t care,” but it was her birthday, dammit. She could do this.

  “Not Jerome. Someone else.”

  Her mother’s perfectly filled-in brow winged up. “Someone else?” she repeated slowly as if the idea of Cherisse succeeding in this on her own was ludicrous.

  “I like him, and maybe you’ll meet him at the party I’m not supposed to know about but obviously do. So, I'm gonna need you to abort your matchmaking mission. Please.”

  Her mother’s eyes narrowed, and Cherisse refused to look away. The wheels were obviously turning in her mother’s head, trying to figure out who the hell Cherisse was talking about. But her birthday wasn’t the time for argument, and one would definitely erupt if she so much as mentioned Keiran’s name.

  “Looking forward to meeting him,” her father said, offering up his usual smile as her mother continued to stare her down. “Seems like a great time for presents!”

  Ever the peacemaker, her father’s jovial attitude was catching, and by the time she was scheduled to meet Remi at the Hyatt, she was in less of a panic mode—by a smidge. The apprehension was still there, of course, because what was she doing? But step one was complete. She’d told her mother to back off on her matchmaking. She was still a mess of emotions and possibly falling headlong into something, but it was a start.

  Even so, it was their birthday, and she shouldn’t allow herself to check out because of feelings. The next step was checking into the Hyatt, then out with the girls tonight. Anything else could wait. Easier said than done, but she owed it to her girls to be present. Keiran was on her mind too much. The fact that it wasn’t just naughty fantasies with him in a starring role was distressing, but maybe not as terrible as whatever her nervousness was doing to her gut. Relax, girl. You got this. Keiran King is but a man.

  “Reba’s apparently smuggling in some stuff.” Remi tapped her phone screen as they waited in the lobby for Reba to show up.

  “Stuff?” With Reba, that could mean anything from booze to sexy entertainment.

  “Drinks to pregame. Something sweet? Who knows? She’s being all cagey about it. So expect birthday surprises.”

  “Surprises? Father God, don’t let this be a repeat of last year.”

  Remi busted out laughing, entire body shaking. “Listen, I didn’t think she’d actually come through with that.”

  “You put it on the list!”

  Last year, Reba had told them to make a list of things they’d want at a party. They’d gotten the surprise of their lives when a sexy dancer had shown up at the joint birthday party. Luckily, it
had been just friends, no parents. The dancer had come complete with an old-school boombox and a costume that ripped easily away.

  “It was a joke, a challenge. Reba’s always talking about her connections, but I didn’t think she’d actually hire that woman. Who even owns a boombox anymore?” Remi waggled her brows. “I don’t know ‘bout you, but I had a good time.”

  She sure had. Her bestie had enjoyed her lapdance lots. Cherisse had just watched on, amused. There was no official party this time—at least, not being thrown by them. She could be certain her mother’s party would be tame, but who knew what shenanigans Reba would get up to? They’d forgone the list after that, but it didn’t mean Reba wouldn’t shake things up.

  “I miss the list. We could’ve kept it.”

  “No damn way.”

  Remi pouted. “But I was so looking forward to sexy break-dancing firefighters this year.”

  “Maybe next year. Thirty should ring in with a bang, right?” She winked.

  She had no doubt Reba would somehow come through with Remi’s very specific request. It was one of the reasons Cherisse had hired her. She was connected. Her resume hadn’t hurt either. Reba didn’t talk about the details surrounding why she’d left her last job, but Cherisse suspected it hadn’t been an amicable split. She was grateful for her, and they’d meshed well, becoming friends along the way. Sometimes, the lines blurred between work and friendship, but Reba never pandered to her, which Cherisse appreciated.

  Reba told her if an idea was shit or if something just wasn’t going to work. Plus, she got stuff done. She was an asset because Cherisse would have fallen behind on updating any social media related to Sweethand. Not to mention, Reba’s pastry skills were a gift.

  Reba arrived at the Hyatt with her bags casually slung over her shoulder and a small suitcase. Cherisse eyed her bags. “Do I even wanna know?” she asked as they went through the check-in process.

  Reba grinned. “All shall be revealed when we get to the rooms. We got separate rooms for you and Remi since I don’t know what after-party plans you birthday girls may get up to. Don’t wanna cramp any potential sexy times. Ava and I’ll share.”