“Can I help you?” she asks.
“Just looking for Mia.” I clasp my hands together and roll my shoulders.
She smears a rich girl smile on her face, probably to make me uncomfortable. “Did you have an appointment?”
“Do I need one?” I lean back and fold my arms.
“Boy, I’m just playing with you.” She Laughs. “I’ll go get her. She’s in the back.”
I roll my head as she wanders to go and find Mia. This ain’t as uncomfortable as I pictured. It sure as hell don’t feel like a grown man standing in a lingerie dressing room with his pants down even if the lights in the room are about that dim.
“Hey, there. Did everything go alright?” Mia asks.
I clench my jaw. It’s the only way to keep it from dropping to the floor. That girl is fine as hell in that little, flowered dress. I didn’t notice all the little flowers at her apartment because she was wearing the apron. But now I can take a better look. I’d take a longer one if Nikki weren’t right on her heels like trouble’s about to start.
“I was checking to see if you could do lunch?” I ask, barely able to focus. My mind is distracted with those schoolgirl braids that are playing at the sides of her face. And her bright red lipstick that’s setting me on fire. Damn, girl, you can pull off red.
“Tino, I can’t just leave for lunch.” She hides her hands behind her back, trying to fool everybody that she’s not fidgeting. “My job doesn’t work like that.”
“You ain’t hungry?” I narrow my brows trying to tell her that she isn’t taking any appointments this afternoon. I decided that at the preschool.
Nikki grabs the little black book inside the top drawer of the desk.
I shove my hands in my pockets and lean back on my heels.
Mia widens her eyes.
“What if I take your lunch appointment? I’ve been with this creeper a few times. I know how to handle him.” Nikki turns the page in the book, and looks up at me. “Can you have her back before six? She could probably make the dinner appointment.”
That ain’t gonna work.
“I actually need help picking out food for the after party on Saturday.” I look at Mia. “You don’t gotta come to that. I just need your help today with what I should serve.” I can only imagine what she’ll think with all the pool girls half naked strutting around the place.
“This sounds like it’s requiring attention for the previous engagement you’ve already arranged.” Nikki’s convincing Mia to go. “I believe that takes precedence over the creeper. I’ll tell the Xbox when she gets back that I made the decision.”
Mia gives Nikki a look like she’s about to put on a pair of boxing gloves. And I let my shoulders relax because I just got myself a date.
CHAPTER FOUR
N
ikki is a dead woman when I get back. I stare at my feet and walk to Tino’s giant ride—a Bentley Bentayga SUV with all the bells and whistles. Not to mention the best looking wheels I’ve seen on a vehicle in quite a while.
I climb in and sit down on the tan leather seat. It’s still cool inside the cab, which makes me wonder if he’s an air conditioner freakish sort of guy. That, or maybe he hasn’t been at the office as long as I’m assuming. I’m sort of thinking the two of them didn’t plan the whole Tino-taking-me-out thing.
“I bet you get hot wearing long sleeves in this heat,” I say after he shuts his door.
“I only wear this so I don’t scare the kid.” He pulls at his shirt.
I pout my lips in approval. “Thank you, but that’s not necessary. I don’t raise my son to be prejudiced.”
“Well, those punks at his school are sure as hell being raised to be prejudiced.”
“It’s awful, isn’t it?”
“You like pasta?” Tino asks not bothering to answer my question as he backs out of the parking lot. “I’ve gotta overload on carbs now that I’ve weighed in. I need to be solid for the fight.”
“Pasta’s great,” I answer.
He switches the radio station from a rap song to a pop channel.
“I actually love rap.” I don’t want him to think he has to change the station just for me, or mistakenly judge me for being some preppy mom that only listens to Coldplay.
“You ain’t gotta pretend with me.” He tilts his head.
Our eyes meet. “No, I really like rap. It just says it how it is and doesn’t care who it offends.” I bite my bottom lip. “Should I not say stuff like that?” I lower my head to avoid the look he’s giving me. I have no idea what he wants me to say. This is a ton harder than I expected. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to act.
“Say what you want,” he encourages. “I’m up for you being real.”
I smile, but don’t stop staring at my feet.
“You ain’t gotta watch what you say around me.” He flips the station back, but turns it down. “I was thinking we could make a few stops before we grab lunch. You alright with that?”
“I’m just here to be at your culinary service.” I look out the window and watch as he pulls onto the freeway, wondering where he’s taking us to pick out food.
“So Lucas tells me your car breaks down a lot.” Tino takes his eyes off the road, trying to get me to make eye contact. “He said you guys got a ride the other day from a stranger.”
I keep my gaze out the window and refuse to look back at him. I don’t even know how to respond to a statement like that. Why is he asking my kid about our car? I’m not mad. I’m just confused. If this is his idea of small talk it’s kind of weird.
“Yo, that ain’t safe. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I let you and the kid get hurt because of that car.” Tino pats my knee, and then he runs his giant hands to the inside of my thigh, squeezing the inside of my leg.
I jerk it away.
Not because I’m upset. Mainly because it feels good. Real good.
I’m afraid his touching might be against the rules, or maybe the way I’m letting it make me feel is a rule breaker. I’m not sure.
“I apologize. I won’t do that again,” he says, and leans back, placing both hands on the wheel so he can watch out the front window.
I have no idea why this suddenly got uncomfortable. Everything at my apartment had been so easy and normal. But a date with him feels so different than him coming over for breakfast to take my kid to school. Even the smell of his sporty cologne has me hungry for affection I shouldn’t seek from strangers.
“You alright?” He turns to look at me again.
I let out a deep breath. “This is so hard.”
“I can see that.” He nods.
“I just don’t know how I’m supposed to act.” I cover my mouth for being so honest. Shoot. Can I tell them that? “It’s just that my cousin, Isabella, made it seem so much easier than what this is. I’m so different from her. This is really hard for me. I can’t make myself not have certain feelings when I’m having them.”
Tino places his hand on my knee again.
I don’t pull away this time.
“How ‘bout you just relax, and treat me like you did at your apartment,” he says with the biggest smile I’ve seen on a guy in a long time.
A soft laugh escapes from my chest. “I’m really bad at this. I won’t get my feelings hurt if you’re honest with me.”
“Nah, you’re doing fine,” he sincerely praises. “Just be yourself.”
“Oh, that’s so against code,” I tell him. “I’m supposed to anticipate what you’re looking for by reading your body language and turn into that type of woman.”
He slowly shakes his head, and reaches over to turn off the radio.
I sink deeper into the leather seat and wonder what’s going through his mind.
“I just can’t believe they train you to do shit like that,” he groans, and reaches over to press the button on the air conditioning, probably because I have chills on my legs. “I’m just looking for a girl that can be real with me. It’s so hard to find anybody that does
n’t treat me like Tino “The Death Tank” Johnson. Sure, they act all interested in what I do, but I know they only like the cameras flashing.”
“Are there going to be cameras where we’re going?” I choke out the words and widen my eyes. I can’t imagine anything feeling more uncomfortable than a bunch of idiots behind cameras taking my picture with him.
He smiles and juts his chin. “That’s what I like about you. You ain’t like that.”
I reach up and rub the back of my neck. Madame X will kill me if she sees a photo of the two of us having lunch together when it’s not written in her little black book. “It’s just…I can sort of lose my job if I’m alone with you unless she’s planned the—”
He squeezes my knee. “Bashful, I got it taken care of.”
I shrug and take another deep breath. His hands are about the sexiest things I’ve felt against my body. How does a guy like Tino stay single? If he weren’t a client I’d beg those fingers to be all over me. I can’t handle another second of him rolling his fingers above my knee close to the ticklish spot on my inner thigh.
“I just want you to relax and be yourself.” He puts his hand back on the wheel, and flips on the blinker. “So if you don’t mind me asking, why hasn’t Lucas ever seen his dad? He told me at school he’s never seen the guy.”
“It’s a long story.” My shoulders tighten from the sudden change of topic. “It’s super complicated.”
“Yo, we got plenty of road.” Tino taps the steering wheel with his large hands.
“Well, I haven’t ever told anybody the story.” I lean against the passenger door.
“That’s cool. I ain’t here to be all up in your business. I just thought it was a little strange the little guy doesn’t talk about his dad.” He purses his lips together as though he’s just opened a huge can of crap.
“His father died when I was eight months pregnant with Lucas. I was sixteen,” the words pour out of me like a fountain at the Bellagio in Vegas. I’m not sure what I’m thinking. I sort of just want somebody to listen. I’ve actually wanted someone to ask me about this for years, but nobody’s had the balls to do it until now. Isabella and Nikki don’t understand how much I hate holding this in.
“Damn, I didn’t expect it to be that intense.” He rolls his head. “Sorry I brought it up.”
“No,” I sigh, and reach over to touch his muscled forearm. “I want to talk about it.” Only now I can’t think of anything except the feel of his arm. Dang, I’ve never felt anything so strong in my life.
“So I take it the kid doesn’t know his dad passed?”
I stare at the dashboard bringing myself to reality instead of the fantasy of his body. I hedge at the thought of his question. It’s never really been brought up. But how do you explain that to make it make sense. “Okay. This is going to sound awful, but Lucas has never asked about his dad. I’ve shown him a few pictures, but he’s never asked to see him, and I guess I’ve never talked about it with him. He’s always had me and my cousins watching out for him so his life has been full of women. It’s just the way it’s been.”
“That’s cool.” Tino presses the brakes and casually turns down a main road that leads to a luxury Bentley dealership.
I’m suddenly feeling sick inside that it’s taken Tino to get me to realize how shitty I’ve been for keeping this from my son.
How could I have been so blind?
Subconsciously I must’ve been avoiding the subject with Lucas since his birth because I don’t really want to face it. I’m the worst mother on the planet. I don’t even know how I would bring it up with Lucas. I don’t want to hurt him.
“Okay. This is going to sound so bad, but I’m like super good at blocking things if I don’t like the way they feel, and this is the first time I’ve allowed myself to really think about what you just said.” I turn to look at him while he parks in a stall at the car dealership. “Tino, I don’t even know how to tell Lucas about his father?”
“You just be straight with the kid,” he answers without any hesitation, and then he shuts off his vehicle. “Kids are resilient. He’ll be fine with it. He ain’t got any other choice.”
“You really believe that?” I watch as he opens his door, acting so calm. “I mean I don’t know many therapists that would agree with that.”
“Bashful, that’s life. You ain’t gotta pay people to tell you the right way to deal with things. You just roll with them and be straight.” He walks around the front of the Bentley.
I quickly open my door and jump out so he won’t have to get it for me.
“So you know why I brought you here?” he asks.
I shake my head. “You’re getting your car fixed?”
“Nah, I was thinking we should get you something more reliable than that thing that keeps breaking down on you and the kid.” He clasps his hands together and rolls his thumbs over each other like he’s playing a game.
“Oh, I can’t afford something like this.” I’m quickly distracted from our previous conversation. “I haven’t had any dates yet. I’ve been living off some money Isabella left for me when she quit.”
“Well, if you could afford one, which one do you like?” He wraps his giant arm around my back, which makes my breath catch in my chest because it feels as good as sitting on his lap in my apartment. I’ve never felt anything as strong as Tino, yet somehow his gentle touch is leading us to the rows of cars. My body pulses at the soft pressure of his long fingers.
“I’m seriously good with the car I have,” I say. I’m not sure what tricks he’s trying to play, but I’m not the pick-up line kind of girl. Did I have him wrong? Is he a player? Do players buy girls Bentley’s? I dig my heels into the black asphalt. The sun beats down on my skin as I stand there. This is really awkward. I glance back at Tino, who’s too caught up in all the makes and models of the vehicles to even notice how strange I’m feeling.
“You like red?” He lets his arm drop from the swell of my back and wanders over to a big SUV.
I’m disappointed he’s not holding me, but I don’t move my feet. “I’m fine with my Corolla.”
He starts to chuckle. “Look, this is gonna be one long ass day if you don’t relax and let me do my thing.”
I’m trying to figure out what his thing is. This isn’t what Isabella or Madame X prepared me for. Guys don’t take you to a luxury car dealership and basically ask you what car you want. They never told me about this kind of situation. Isabella got her Rover after they were engaged. Tino isn’t the marrying type. And I can’t sleep with him to pay it off. He knows that. I seriously don’t get what he’s doing.
“Tino, I can’t have sex with you,” I say as boldly as I dare.
“What?” He scrunches the flat bridge of his handsome nose and walks back over to me.
“I don’t know what this is all about, but I can’t sleep with you for payment of a vehicle. My job doesn’t work like that.” Any girl in her right mind would sleep with a man this sexy, but I’ve got contracts I’ve signed.
“Girl, don’t be playing me dirty.” He turns his head in disgust. “This is for my boy, Lucas. I ain’t gonna have him stuck on the freeway because his daddy ain’t here to do the job.” He spins around to face me again. “You know that’s what he told me at his school today. His daddy don’t come around.”
I feel that sick lump clenching in my stomach again.
“I ain’t doing this to sleep with you, Mia.” Tino turns to wander back to the cars. “Don’t flatter yourself. That ain’t what this is about.”
Dang, that hurt. I can’t stop thinking of all the ways he could touch me when we’re alone. Or how his body would feel next to mine, but the cold nature in the way he’s carrying himself assures me he has no interest in that. So basically I’m rethinking things. Maybe all he’s ever wanted from me was a date to accompany him to the fight. Ouch. That stings. I thought we were sparking things up at my apartment. It felt like getting to know a guy I’m interested in. Like we could have a re
lationship that’s more than just friends.
“Tino, I’ll be totally honest. I don’t know how I could repay you for something like a Bentley,” I say as I walk up next to him. “I missed my appointments today and I don’t have anything on the schedule the rest of the week. Every penny I have goes to food, rent, and daycare.”
“Then I’ll call your boss and negotiate something like this in the contract.” Tino leans forward and shelters his eyes to peek into a blue car. “I’ll just tell her I want this to be part of the tip. You like this car?”
I scrunch my face before he evens considers putting me in that thing. “Oh, I don’t do English, or American, for that matter, unless the American has muscle from the 70’s.”
“Then it’s a good thing that I’m a mix, and I ain’t that old,” he cleverly jokes. “I got so many countries inside this body I can’t even tell you where I come from. But we ain’t here for sex. Isn’t that right?” he reminds, and softly jabs my sides.
A heavy heat warms my neck and settles into my cheeks. Dang, he’s sexy. I can’t handle the way his playful boxing makes me want to kiss him right here and now. Maybe press his back into one of these cars and do something he doesn’t expect.
“So, you like Honda’s?” He scans the lot.
“My dad always liked Toyota’s so I tend to lean toward those.”
“What’s your dad drive?”
“I have no idea. I haven’t talked to him in years.”
He narrows his brows. “Are you playing with me right now?”
“No, I’m serious. I haven’t talked to him since what I told you about in the car.”
Tino stands there with a blank expression. “Yo, I’m thinking you’ve got one crazy story. I can feel it.” He runs his fingers against the bare skin of my arms.
I shift the weight in my sandals from the balls of my feet to the back of my heels. I’m not ready to give him the run down of my life standing out here looking at cars in a hot parking lot.
“I told you, it’s complicated,” I say, hoping my half-smile will satisfy him.
He shakes his head. “If you ain’t ready to be real, I understand, but some day I want to hear about this.”
Pretty Woman: Mia (The Billionaire Bachelor Series Book 2) Page 4