Just Her Type

by Laudat, Reon

  “Delicious,” Kendra replied as her smile slid off her face and she picked at a pepperoni.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Oh, nothing,” she said, looking reflective.

  They shared more about their backgrounds and worked through their meal and ordered more dessert. He did not visibly react to the revelation that Kendra’s mother had been divorced three times. And was now a newlywed. Again. Whoa!

  When Kendra asked about his parents, he revealed that they had been married for nearly fifty years. Dating had been difficult for them because neither of their families approved of the relationship at first. Dominic’s father, Reginald, was a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard and scion of the single-minded Sanderson Tobias, esteemed “Morehouse Man” and founder of Tobias Enterprises, a Fortune 500 company.

  Reginald had fallen head over heels in love with Isabella Marin, who attended community college while dutifully working as a cashier and stock clerk in her family’s sole Spanish Harlem-based beauty supply store. Not what elitist Sanderson had had in mind for his only son. Why hadn’t Reginald chosen one among the dozen of pre-approved former debutantes who’d circled him like hungry sharks?

  Isabella’s family had assumed Reginald, nearly ten years her senior, had less-than-honorable intentions regarding their beautiful daughter. Surely he’d drop her after he’d tired of having his way with her. Eventually their families had come around.

  “And they lived happy ever after, the,” Kendra made quote marks with her fingers, “‘fairy tale’?”

  “Not exactly,” said Dominic, who went on to tell her that his mother and father had also endured their share of marital challenges. Some might have deemed divorce a suitable solution, according to what he’d learned after becoming an adult, but the pair had recommitted to making their marriage work. Those trials had made them stronger.

  Dominic was hard-pressed to find a mature couple more in love than those two.

  “Enough about my people. So your mom lives in Key West?” Dominic wanted to learn as much as he could about Kendra as he appreciated the way her dark hair caught tiny threads of light.

  Kendra paused and leaned closer to him. “Hold still. You have a,” she reached toward his right eye, “a loose lash that’s about to fall.” With a light touch she tried to flick it away, but it fell on his eyeball instead, startling him, which caused her to jab his eye with a finger that still had traces of hot chicken wing sauce.

  “Ow!” Dominic covered the burning eye with one hand.

  “Sorry! I have fluid for my own lenses and a spare unused case, still in the package, on the bathroom counter. You have to take the contacts out now.”

  “You’re right,” he said heading for her bathroom.

  ***

  While Kendra awaited Dominic’s return room service knocked with their second helpings of that tasty strawberry shortcake.

  Looking through the peephole, she saw Brody Goodwin on the other side. Gah! Should she answer? Who knew how long Brody would knock. Best to find out what he wants and then get rid of him. Fast.

  “Brody!” she said, keeping her voice low as she opened the door.

  “I know it’s late, but look, you left these on the bus!” With a proud smile, Brody held up the cheap drugstore sunglasses Kendra hadn’t realized were missing until that moment.

  “But—”

  “I forgot to mention I had them when we spoke on the phone earlier.”

  Kendra anxiously glanced from Brody to the closed bathroom door. “Thank you, but this wasn’t necessary. It’s not a good time.”

  “I can see that. It’s late, and you’re in your pajamas. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  Kendra took the glasses and stuffed them in her pocket. “How did you get—”

  “Your room number. I have a fan who works for the hotel. I promised I wouldn’t divulge my source. I took a chance you wouldn’t complain to management. It’s just, well, I hate that we didn’t have more time to talk today.”

  “I can’t say much more than I already have until you’re contractually free.”

  “But you see, my situation with my agent—”

  Kendra glanced at the bathroom door again. “Brody, I can’t—”

  “You’re angry, aren’t you?”

  “No. No. No, you haven’t. I’m still the biggest fan of your work.” Kendra stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind her. “I want to hear what you have to say, but I can’t right now. It’s not you. It’s just the timing.”

  “But you’re still interested?”

  “Yes!” she said, pasting on a huge smile.

  “This was nuts, coming here, I mean. I’m all wound up. I’m about to make a huge career-changing move. I just—”

  “Wanted more assurance. Understandable. But we’re good,” she said, taking his arm and leading him down the hall toward an open elevator. If he weren’t as huge as a Humvee, she would’ve given him a little shove. “Bye! Sleep tight!”

  When he gave Kendra the thumbs-up, she grinned and fluttered her fingers at him as the elevator closed. She raced back to her room and found the door locked.

  When the elevator dinged and the door slid open, she stiffened in dread, expecting Brody to step out. But it was the room-service waiter heading to 546, her room, with another covered dish on a tray.

  Dominic opened the door. “How did you get out there?”

  “I just stepped out because I thought I heard room service,” she said, feeling icky about the fib, but again, it wasn’t her place to inform him anything regarding one of his own clients. And Brody was still Dominic’s client, she reminded herself. However, there was a chance Brody would become her client so she didn’t want to betray his confidence, either. “And look! It’s here! It’s here!”

  “Yeah, I can see that,” Dominic said, regarding Kendra with suspicion. “And why are so wired about another order of strawberry shortcake?”

  “Because it’s the bomb dot com, that’s why,” Kendra said, gleefully signing the check and including a generous tip for the waiter’s perfect timing as Dominic took the tray inside.

  “Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Kendra burbled to the waiter, who appeared bewildered by her overenthusiasm.

  “How’s the eye? I’m so sorry I hurt you,” Kendra said as Dominic cleared the table to make room for their second helpings.

  “Accidents happen.”

  Kendra went to him and placed her hands on each side of his face to examine the eye. “Looks as if taking out the lens did the trick.”

  “Yeah, I flushed my eye with the fluid for several minutes. One lens was torn. That’s why it was so bothersome.”

  “It’s looking better already,” she said, patting his lean cheeks before taking her seat again.

  Awkward situation circumvented. But Kendra wondered if Brody would return with the travel-sized tube of sunscreen and bandana she’d also misplaced during that tour.

  Chapter 20

  “Before the bathroom detour, Moe was telling Curly about the mother, who lives in Key West,” Dominic said, as he watched a visibly distracted Kendra rotate her plate and tuck into her strawberry shortcake.

  “Excuse me? Who?”

  Dominic made a V with his fingers and mimicked a couple of Three Stooges moves. “You know, what you were saying before the eye poke?”

  “Oh, yeah,” she replied with a hollow chuckle as looked down at her mound of dessert.

  “You still seem distracted and jumpy. The eye is good, babe.”

  “Huh? I’m sorry. You were saying?”

  “You were talking about your mother in Key West.”

  “Oh, right. That’s her base, but she’s always had a nomadic lifestyle. Right now she’s in the Bahamas for a couple of weeks with Ashton, a.k.a the latest husband and ‘honey bear.’”

  “And your biological father?”

  “Never met the man. Vanessa has shared so little information about him that sometimes I wonder if she even knows wh
o he is.”

  “What about your grandparents?”

  “I didn’t know them, either. Well, her parents…It’s complicated. I was told they had problems.”

  “What kind of problems?”

  “They died before I could I meet them.”

  “That’s too bad. You seem remarkably matter-of-fact about it all. Strong woman.” Dominic sensed she held something back.

  “No, grown woman. It could’ve been worse. My childhood was wonderful after I moved in with Aunt Jackie and Uncle Alex. We lost him, too. Two years ago. Bad heart. I miss him. He was such a loving man.”

  Dominic placed his hand on top of hers.

  “It’s been particularly rough on Aunt Jackie, who is still so grief-stricken at times. I worry about her. She has good days and bad days.”

  “Of course.”

  “Aunt Jackie and my mother were the best of friends growing up.”

  “I hear sisters make the best friends.”

  “I wasn’t clear, was I? They’re not blood sisters. They became close friends as neighbors. They grew closer after Aunt Jackie’s parents became Vanessa’s foster parents.”

  Dominic nodded.

  “I hope this isn’t getting too convoluted. Nothing is more tedious than loads of twisty backstory,” she said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

  “No. Pages and pages of elaborate description, no matter how poetic, are like Sominex for me, but go on.” His hand was still on hers. Things now flowed so easily between them, he felt as if he’d known her for years.

  “It sounds as if you had a great childhood,” Kendra said, filling her mouth with cake.

  “My older brothers and I got along well enough. But I’ve always been the extremely odd youngest brother as far as they were concerned, especially according to Gage, the eldest. While they watched or played football, I usually had my nose in a book. But I think I earned a few points with the twins, Cooper and Emanuel, everyone calls him Manny. They loved when I signed up for martial arts classes. Gage thought my taekwondo was about as rad as shuffleboard.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. He was all about the football.”

  “But I get the feeling you wore odd as a badge of honor.”

  “I did. There are advantages to being that brown or green potato chip in the bag. You don’t get devoured by other people’s expectations. You get to do you. My brothers didn’t know what to make of me. I mean, I did have a habit of singing eighties classics such as ‘Raspberry Beret’ at the top of my lungs in the shower.”

  “His Royal Purpleness!” Kendra laughed, throwing her head back, oblivious to the barely secured pajama-top buttons working themselves free, exposing the plump inner curves of her beautiful breasts.

  Dominic instantly hardened again and his fingers twitched at the memory of their firm weight in his hands. He willed more buttons to free themselves.

  “Oh, and thanks for giving me an ear worm, by the way. I won’t get ‘Raspberry Beret’ out of my head for at least a week, but hey, might as well roll with it!” She shimmied on her seat and sang a few lines of the song using a butter knife as a mic.

  The impromptu performance gave Dominic enough time to shift his focus away from that plunging V of her pajama top. “Something about the eighties sound in pop, rock, hip-hop, and R&B just clicked for me. I have a particular fondness for the new wave sound, the pop synth variation—”

  “That’s why you enjoy Love Nest Ninjas, too.”

  “Yes. And I sought out and glommed onto as much of that music as I could. What about you? How did you get hooked?”

  “For me, it all started when I was about twelve or thirteen, and I caught a marathon of old teen comedies on cable one day: Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, and Some Kind of Wonderful. When I had the chance, I watched a ton of other movies from that period with awesome soundtracks, Krush Groove, Fame, and Beat Street. And who could forget Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2 Electric Boogalo?” She grinned. “But the two eighties soundtracks of all eighties soundtracks in my humble opinion are…drum roll please… Purple Rain in first place and Flashdance in second place.”

  “Yup. Purple Rain, hands down. No competition.”

  “But guess what? My all-time favorite shower song is not from that decade. Who’d a thunk it?”

  “Oh? What is it?”

  “ ‘Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves.’”

  “Definitely eight-track seventies.”

  “I know, but hey, I think my ear worm just wiped the floor with your ear worm.” Kendra sang the song complete with compulsory Cher affectations— overwrought notes, the tongue action thing, and the hair tossing.

  Dominic applauded and executed a two-finger whistle.

  Kendra fanned herself a few minutes later and drank more beer. “Got carried away there.”

  “Carry on. I was enjoying the show. It’s not a Tobias family gathering without karaoke. I’m the karaoke king of the bunch that includes Mom, Dad, Cooper, and Manny. Gage, eh, not so much.” He paused. “I’m making Gage sound like a real jerk, aren’t I? We’re just opposites. He’s the reserved, ultra-cool sort. A man of few words, who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. All three of my brothers are good guys, happily married with great kids. I’d love for you to meet them all one day.” Soon.

  Kendra responded with silence and eased her hand away.

  But Dominic pressed on. “So, do you want marriage and kids?”

  “Someday,” she said quickly without elaborating. “I’ve had such a great time tonight. Thank you for asking me out.” She swiped a finger across a glob of whipped cream on the shortcake.

  Before she could put it in her mouth, he redirected it to his own, slowly drawing it inside and licking it clean. He felt her shiver as their gazes held. Again, lust surged through him with a potent punch. “And I thank you for accepting the invitation.” He turned her palm up and pressed a kiss there, and then another at her wrist. After pushing her sleeve to the elbow, he leisurely kissed a hot trail up her forearm.

  As he moved up her arm, Kendra’s eyelids lowered and her lips parted. He kissed her again when she surged to her feet and made a dramatic show of stretching and yawning. “Look at the time. I want to make sure I’ve memorized my presentation and then turn in.”

  “I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed myself as much. Can I stay? I’ll be quiet while you read your notes,” Dominic said, though a part of him believed he should leave her wanting more.

  “Sorry. You’re too much of a distraction.”

  “I want to hold you when you’re done. How’s that?” Sounded good to Dominic, but his persistence and overenthusiasm could be his downfall with this particular guarded sort of woman. Was he bordering on annoyingly clingy? Too needy?

  The warning voice spoke in his head told him, Dude, back off. Give the woman a breather. Stop sweating her. Give her a chance to miss you. Whatever happened to deploying more suave detachment?

  Dominic recalled the women who’d friend-zoned him because he had played it too cool and casual.

  But the warning voice reached a fever pitch with, You don’t want to come off like the creeper who would build a Kendra shrine in your closet. Or dig her a dungeon in your basement if things go off the rails.

  Dominic told that voice to go to hell.

  “It’s the way you hold me,” Kendra said. “I won’t get any sleep.”

  “I promise to behave.” He lifted a hand as if taking an oath.

  As Kendra studied him for minute, he gave her his best hangdog face. With a smile, she conceded, glancing at the clock on the nightstand. “I don’t want it to end, either. Okay, you can stay.”

  Dominic mimed a slow-mo catch of a football pass and the race to the goal line to spike it. “Score!” He cupped his hands over his mouth and faked the roar of the crowd.

  “To heck with a stilted, memorized speech. I already know what I need to say, but I’ll use index cards to make sure I hit all salient p
oints. It’s more natural that way.”

  “Let’s hear it for index cards.”

  “The pants stay on in case something slips through the slit in your boxers or briefs.”

  “Ah, afraid I might thread the ol’ needle, huh?”

  “I’m aware you can’t always control certain bodily reactions while you’re asleep. The sweats provide an extra barrier of protection against,” her gaze roamed to his bulging crotch, “things that might—”

  “Go,” he wrapped Kendra in his arms, pressed the cradle of her hips against his and thrust, “bump in the night.”

  “Yes.” She peeled herself away. “And furthermore, hands stay out of my pajama top.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He smiled, thinking of alternatives.

  “And hands stay out of my pajama bottoms. Are we clear? No shenanigans or I’m giving you the boot.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Dominic set the room service cart outside, removed his shirt and shoes, and then joined her under the covers. He rested on his side, propping his head up with one hand and using the other to stroke her soft hair.

  “I haven’t seen this in a while.” Kendra’s fingers skimmed the hair on his chest. “I see lots of rippling abs and pumped pecs on romance covers all day long. None of the models have a strand of chest hair.”

  “I hear it doesn’t always photograph well, and they say women prefer unobscured muscle, that polished marble look,”

  “Not this woman.” Her soft hands moved over his muscles, heightening his arousal. “Hmmm.”

  “I promise not to manscape anywhere below the neck.” To distract himself from what he really wanted to do, Dominic gave her a moustache with that colored lock of her hair.

  Kendra had that hungry look in her eyes as she caressed his chest until he was sure she’d reconsider her sleepover restrictions. Her fingers dallied and roamed downward, as if counting the ridges of his abs.

  “I’m following your rules, reluctantly. You need your rest. Now stop teasing me or all bets are off, lady.”

  “Right.” Kendra giggled and gave him the sweetest good-night kiss. “I had so much fun with you today. Thank you.”