She must have caught the message because her smile fell a little and she nodded, giving Xavier one last look before sauntering off.
“I hope you don’t like ’em that young,” I sneered.
“What?” His gaze followed my line of sight back up front to where the hostess was now receiving another couple. He turned back to me. “I’m a grown ass man, and that li’l girl is the daughter of a former business partner. You think I’d be interested in that?”
I shrugged, trying to hide the regret I felt under his scrutiny. “I’m just saying,” I mumbled.
“Well don’t ‘just say.’ Say what you mean.”
I squinted at his tone. “Whatever, X. Just drop it.”
“Xavier.”
“What?” It was my turn to be confused.
“Xavier. Not X.”
I frowned. “Everyone else calls you X. Why can’t I?”
He gave me an ardent stare, his eyes gleaming in the candlelight. “You’re not everyone else. I like the way my name sounds out of your mouth.”
Instant panty-wetter.
I began fixing the cloth napkin on my lap to avoid his eyes. The man could make me weaker than I ever wanted to be with anyone. His gaze was still on me, assessing me, and I both hated and loved how nervous it made me feel.
“All right, Xavier,” I said his name with emphasis. “Tell me how you got started in the restaurant business.” I was trying to steer the discussion into more neutral territory. Just then, our waiter came by with two drinks on his tray. He placed what looked like a scotch in front of Xavier and what I knew was an amaretto sour in front of me. I squinted at Xavier.
“I ordered ahead,” he explained as the bread basket was placed in front of us. “I got you the new crab cakes. We just added them to the menu.”
“I love seafood.”
“I know.”
I wanted to ask how he knew that, but I turned back to my previous question. “So, the restaurant business…” I trailed off.
He gave a one-shoulder shrug as he took the first sip of his drink. I watched as his pink tongue came out to lick the remnants of the brown liquid off those full lips. I squirmed in my seat a little, trying to get rid of the thoughts of where I wanted those lips on me.
“I started working when I was fifteen at a fast food joint not too far from my house. I was always looking for a way to make money. That’s how the fight parties at my crib started,” he began. “Anyway, my mother used to do taxes for local businesses on the side. One of the guys was a local entrepreneur, owning fast food spots and laundromats throughout the city. She told him I was looking for a job and he hired me as a cashier. I was too young to work in the kitchen, but not the register.
“Anyway, I constantly asked him questions. Asking him how he ran his business, what other spots he owned, how he acquired the money to purchase the franchise, how franchising worked. All of that. He saw my ambition and took me under his wing. Taught me everything from customer service to how to hire good employees, taxes, and franchising. I worked there throughout high school and college, working my way up to the number two spot by the time I completed my degree. I got my degree in business management and hospitality. By the time I graduated, I’d owned and sold a few properties and was ready to buy my first franchise. So, when he offered me the store manager position, I turned him down, but offered to buy the store from him. He was older, and I could tell he was looking forward to retirement. He took me up on it. It just grew from there. I always wanted to own actual sit-down restaurants and clubs though, not just fast food places.”
I shook my head. “You make it sound so easy,” I grinned.
“It was anything but.”
“I can imagine.”
“I had a lot of help along the way. Nothing was done on my own. My mom allowed me to take money out of my college fund to buy my first house. I told you, Jim, my mom’s client, was a mentor to me along the way. Even your father gave me some excellent legal advice.”
“He always looked at you like a second son.” That was the truth. My father loved Xavier, which was why I remained confused as to why he’d tried to warn me off Xavier the other week. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone except Gabby. She said it was probably my father being protective, given Xavier’s clout and rumored numerous conquests. But I doubted that reasoning. I swore the last few weeks had been crazy with estranged men in my life suddenly taking an interest in me. First, my father, then that damn letter from Ethan. I still hadn’t done anything about that. And it was still in my desk drawer, untouched.
“Hey,” I heard from across the table. I looked down to realize our waiter was bringing our dinner.
“Where’d you go?” Xavier asked, once the waiter left us with the compliments of the chef.
“Nowhere,” I lied, picking up my fork. I could feel his gaze lingering on me as I cut into my crab cake.
“You get a look.” His serious tone pulled my eyes up to his. “When you’re thinking about something serious, or sad maybe? I don’t know, but you get this far-off look. Like you’re a million miles away. I saw it the night you came in here by yourself and sat at the bar, drinking your amaretto sours.” He tilted his head to the drink in front of me.
I lowered my gaze to the glass, feeling overwhelmed. No one watched me that closely.
“So, you can say it’s nothing, but that look says otherwise,” he ended.
“I was thinking about my father,” I blurted.
Xavier waited for me to continue.
I sighed, feeling like I was about to sound like a petulant child who couldn’t get her way. “It’s nothing. It’s just that my father was a great mentor to Jason, and to you, and even to Jamal, but…” I sighed, hating how needy this all suddenly sounded. “Never mind.”
“No, but he didn’t—”
“Can we drop it, honestly? We didn’t come out to talk about my daddy issues. Let’s move on. How was your business trip?”
He paused, giving me a sideways look. I took a bite of my crab cake and savored the delicious flavors.
“These are delicious.”
“You like them? We’re thinking of adding them to the menu.”
I paused, the second forkful halfway to my mouth. “I thought you said they’d just been added.”
Another one-shoulder shrug. “I lied. We’re just testing out a new recipe to make them. Our old recipe sells pretty well, but I thought these tasted better.”
“So, I’m the tester?”
He nodded and smirked, making the dimple on his left cheek appear.
“But if I say they’re delicious and you add them to the menu, and they don’t sell well, you’re not going to hold it against me will you?” I teased.
“There’s not much I could hold against you.”
I hated the way this man turned me all types of bashful from simple words. I did my best not to let his words go to my head. I was sure whatever this thing was between us, he’d eventually lose interest and it would fizzle out. Men like Xavier had plenty of options. They wined and dined, gave incredible sex, but not much beyond that. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself as not to be too taken in by his words and affections.
“You okay? You’ve been a little quiet since dinner.” The concern in his voice made me feel slightly guilty, as we drove back to his place.
“Yeah, I’m fine just a little stuffed from dinner.”
“Mm-hmm.”
I had no idea if that meant he believed me or not. I decided not to try to convince him. Any lawyer worth their weight knew the best way to lose their case was by talking too much. Closed mouths may not get fed, but loose lips sink ships.
“You’re so much like him,” I heard from the driver’s seat.
I frowned in confusion. “Like who?”
“No one,” he answered as we pulled through the gate in front of his home. “Listen, Chanel,” he began, shutting off the car and turning to me. “I don’t know what you think because, well, you don’t like to open up ea
sily. But I’ll be upfront with you, this thing we’re building, I like it. I like you, and I would like to see where this goes.”
When he didn’t say anything after a minute, I realized he was waiting for my response.
“Do you want me on your ‘lineup’?” I asked, using air quotes. “Or do you want me exclusively?” Men like Xavier Grant always had a lineup, a group of women they could choose from to take out on any night of the week or have on their arm at special events. I learned that by watching my father, and he had a whole wife at home.
“Is that what you want? Exclusivity?”
“Answering a question with a question?”
“Avoiding my original question?”
Touché, Mr. Grant. “I don’t know what I want,” I answered honestly. I wasn’t prepared to tell the whole truth, though. That I’d wanted Xavier Grant since I was a teenager, but never thought he’d look at me twice. Oh, and that his attention scared the shit out of me and made every insecurity I had surface. I could deal with this thing when I thought it was just physical—hell, barely even then, considering I’d snuck out of his bed before he was even awake that first time.
“A’ight, how about this? How about you agree to keep dating me, exclusively, and we’ll see where this goes, one date at a time? No pressure. We’re just two people getting to know one another.” He made it sound so simple, so uncomplicated.
I knew it wouldn’t be as simple as he made it seem, but as I looked into his eyes, which seemed to be looking right through me, I believed him. Maybe we could just date, no pressure; and when it was over, it was over, no hard feelings.
“Okay,” I nodded. As soon as that short word was out of my mouth, his lips covered mine. His mouth moved over mine with a new intensity. His tongue searched and worked to devour my mouth, while his hand moved up my thigh and under my dress. Just when I tried to grab the back of his head, he pulled back.
“We’re not fucking in my driveway. Let’s take this inside.”
“Right, wouldn’t want your mom to come out and see us,” I teased.
His face dropped. “She moved out, and you’re going pay for that one.”
Shit. The promise in his voice had my panties moist.
****
Xavier
“Yo, X! What it do?” Jamal greeted me as I strolled into the office gym. Jason sat on the bench next to him, lacing up his shoes.
“What up, Mal?” I dapped him up, then Jay.
We bullshitted for a little bit before starting our workout.
“So, you and Chanel showed up together at the family dinner, huh?” Jamal asked about halfway through, and just as I was doing bench presses while Jay spotted me.
“Yeah,” I answered around a grunt as I forced the weight up. My concentration was on the weights above my head, but I could sense Jason’s complete focus on me.
“So what’s that about?” Jamal asked.
I racked the bar and weights after finishing my set before answering. Sitting up, I wiped the sweat from my face as I caught my breath.
“What you mean, what’s that about?” I asked.
“Man, X, get the hell outta here,” Jamal laughed. “The fact that Jay ain’t say shit means he already knew. So, you came to him as a man and asked his permission to date his sister?” We all cracked up at his joke.
“First of all,” I pointed at Jamal, “I ain’t come to no damn grown ass man as shit! Second of all, I talked to my best friend and let him know I was interested in his sister. And I wasn’t asking for permission either.”
“And Jay, you was cool with that?”
Jay gave me an assessing look. He blew out a breath. “Hell, I mean, the shit was kinda outta nowhere, but he was upfront, so it’s whatever.”
“And you ain’t come ask me shit?”
I gave him a look like he was crazy.
“I’m just sayin’, Chanel’s my family too.”
“Get the fuck outta here,” I waved him off.
“I’m just sayin’ if I knew a nigga like you was try’na get with Mercedes, I’d have some questions,” Jamal added, talking about his older sister.
“But I’m not dating Mercedes, and she’s already married. Did you ask all them questions to that Brazilian dude who wifed her up?” I questioned. Jamal’s sister lived in Atlanta and had gotten married two years earlier.
“I didn’t need to. That nigga took a bullet for my sister. I knew he was legit then,” he quickly responded, giving a grim look.
Some family drama had transpired that ended up with his sister being stalked by an illegitimate sister neither Jamal nor Mercedes had known about. That had ended the marriage between Jamal’s parents, too.
“Anyway, what the fuck you mean, a nigga like me?” I threw my dirty towel at Jamal.
“Seriously, my dude?” he snapped as he ducked the dirty towel. “I mean, a nigga who gets as much ass as you do. You ain’t no stranger to the ladies, is all I’m saying.”
“And neither are you,” I retorted.
“Yeah, but we ain’t discussing me right now.”
I looked over at Jason, who’d been mostly silent throughout the conversation. The fact that he hadn’t interrupted told me he must’ve wanted the answers to at least some of Jamal’s questions. Jay was a lawyer, had the shit drilled into him since he was a kid. He told me one of the main lessons his father told him when he wanted to know something was to speak as little as possible and listen to everything.
“Man, what are you even asking me right now?” I questioned, growing irritated.
“I just want to know, what are your intentions with my cousin?” Jamal asked, crossing his brawny arms over his chest.
I wish the fuck I knew my intentions. “My intentions?” I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation. “My intentions are simple, to spend time with the woman I’m trying to get to know. That so happens to be my best friend’s younger sister. That good enough for you?” I looked between Jamal and Jason. When they both nodded, I asked. “Now, can we cut this little girl talk session out and get back to this workout?”
****
“Yo, you know I ain’t put Mal up to that, right?” Jason asked as we finished getting dressed in the locker room. Jamal had left already, having an early meeting with a client.
“I know. I ain’t trippin’.”
“Besides, I kinda knew you had a thing for Chanel.”
I paused, tying my tie.
“I’m serious. You were never obvious, but I sometimes saw your eyes would linger on her. Or you’d ask how she was doing out of nowhere. Shit like that.”
I furrowed my brow, wondering if I’d been that damn obvious.
“It just takes someone who knows you to be able to tell. Shit, truth be told, those times I’d ask you to check on her in D.C. when you visited, I was kinda hoping.” He shrugged.
“You been trying to set me up with your sister?” That was a new revelation.
“Not trying to set you up. I just figured I’d make an opportunity for y’all to run into one another and let nature take its course. I knew she had a crush on you and shit since she was young. Don’t tell her I said that, though. She’d curse me out,” he laughed.
“She probably would,” I agreed, laughing.
“Plus she was with that dude, Ethan.”
“Chanel’s ex-fiancé, right?” I remembered seeing him the night of their engagement party and once before then.
“Yeah. I never liked him. Couldn’t put my finger on it, but he never sat right with me. I was glad when they broke up, though I still don’t know what happened there. Probably never will, as tight-lipped as my sister is about her life.”
I heard something akin to remorse in Jason’s voice. He’d never openly talked this much about Chanel. I wasn’t about to ask Jay too many questions about Chanel. Whatever I wanted to know, I planned on having Chanel tell me herself. I just needed more time to get her to open up to me, no matter how much she tried to fight it.
Chapter Fourte
en
Chanel
“What? Get the hell outta here!” Xavier laughed as we strolled through the tables of the downtown farmer’s market.
“No, I’m serious!” I squealed. “You know Beyoncé told Jay to have a free option for TIDAL, but his ass, being a man, probably was all ‘A’ight baby, I got this,'” I said in my mock goofy male voice. “And you know Bey was like, all right. And look what happened? Shit is a mess. He shoulda listened to his wife.”
“And how you know it wasn’t Bey who encouraged him to make it exclusively for pay?” he countered.
“Well, I don’t know for sure, but I know it in here,” I pointed to my chest. “Because women are just more intuitive. Bey knew what would’ve worked better.” I nodded, sure of my argument.
“Whatever, man. Don’t trip on my man Jay; he ain’t no lightweight when it comes to business either.”
“Granted,” I conceded. “Jay’s no slouch in his own right. They do make a hell of a team, the two of them. He just might need to listen to his wife more.”
Xavier threw his head back and laughed, and I loved the sound. Wanted to hear more of it.
“Oh, this is the place I was telling you about,” I stated, excited to see the cookie spot with the best chocolate chip cookies I’d ever had. You could tell they were made from scratch and with love. After we’d awoken that morning, Xavier asked me what I wanted to get into. Since it was Sunday, I needed to get my groceries for the week, and I wanted my favorite cookies, so the farmer’s market it was.
“What kind you want?” he asked.
“All of them. You’re laughing, but I’m serious,” I giggled. I had a serious sweet tooth.
“These damn things can’t be all that good.”
“Nah, see, now you’re trippin’,” I mocked in a fake deep voice, imitating him.
“Can I have one of the chocolate chips? My friend here doesn’t seem to think you guys are the real deal,” I asked the older man behind the counter.
“Here you go.” His face wrinkled as he smiled.
“Try this.” I practically shoved it in Xavier’s face.
He shook his head but took a bite. I followed the movement of his lips, my mouth watering to lick off the crumbs left behind on his mouth. Unfortunately, he used a napkin to do that.
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