She missed working with Nick, but she was able to accomplish a lot more than she used to because the new female VP and former director of IT was far less distracting. Nick appointed Blythe Thomas before he left because she was the one handling the VP duties that he’d avoided before his change of heart. She did enjoy his random visits, especially Friday’s visit.
He’d shown up a little before lunch with food, but the gleam in his eye told her he wasn’t there to eat. His long sleeved, black Henley shirt clung to his chest and torso. Two of the three buttons were undone providing a glimpse of his upper chest. His jeans did very little to camouflage his…intention.
“I have unfinished business,” he’d announced. “There is still one work fantasy I need to fulfill.”
“What is it?” Kalilah asked.
He put the food bag down in a waiting chair, then his gray eyes burned into hers.
“Since seeing you in jeans for the first time, I’ve often entertained the idea of coming to your office, peeling them off you…” He was mere inches in front of her. “Bending you over the desk…” He pulled her against him and whispered, “And fucking you quick, hard, and dirty.”
She was wet. Well, she was wet the moment he’d appeared.
“What’s stopping you?”
Both of his hands kneaded her ass. He smiled at her.
“Not a damn thing.”
Kalilah flushed. Damn, she was hot all over again. She pulled out her phone.
Kalilah: I’m thinking about your lunch visit Friday.
Nick: Me, too. And Saturday and this morning.
Kalilah: Good. We’re making a new memory the moment I get back.
Nick: Hurry the fuck up, please.
Nick: Kalilah?
Kalilah: Yes?
Nick: I’ve been reading…
She threw her phone in her purse, her body throbbed with anticipation. Every time Nick told her he’d been reading he came up with something new and hot to do to her body. She almost bailed on her little sister. Almost.
Her shifty sister strolled in a few minutes later and ordered the most relaxing manicure and pedicure they offered. The scent of lavender now flavored the air and mixed in beautifully with her citrus. Cayla kicked off her flip flops and gathered the hem of her maxi dress in her hand so she could climb into the chair. It was warm for a February day, but that was Houston. The weather was often unpredictable which prompted people to say things like, “Don’t like the weather? Just wait, it’ll change.”
Kalilah passed Cayla her untouched mimosa. Cayla downed half before setting it aside. Interesting. “You have that look on your face again,” Cayla murmured without looking up. She was too busy trying to choose between two shades of pink that looked exactly the same to Kalilah.
“What look?”
Cayla handed the polish in her right hand to the nail technician. “The ‘I’ve been sexting Nick’ look,” Cayla answered before killing the other half or her mimosa and accepting a refill.
Kalilah shrugged. It was no secret that she and Nick had a ridiculously active sex life. She’d honestly expected them to slow down after a three-week long honeymoon, but they must still be making up for lost time. “Because I was. And you? No hot texts or phone calls lately?”
Kalilah was taking a stab in the dark, but she knew her sister well enough to know she was being secretive about something. Cayla slightly flushed. Bingo! There was an advantage to having a sister with such a fair complexion; she was easy to read. Cayla tried to shrug nonchalantly.
“Not really.”
The wheels started to turn in Kalilah’s head. Things started to fall into place. If she was right, she knew the source of her sister’s blush.
“So, you’re not going to tell me?” Kalilah’s question met silence. Kalilah nodded her head. “Okay, then.” She pulled out her phone and hit dial.
Dex answered on the second ring. “How’s my favorite pregnant person?” His voice was full of warmth and affection.
Kalilah felt Cayla studying her profile. She knew Cayla wanted to know to who she was talking.
“Good. Thank you, I keep checking my mail, but I haven’t received any awesomeness from Spain yet…”
Cayla sat up straighter in her chair. Was that a hint of alarm on her face?
Dex laughed. “Because I’m all of the awesomeness, and I don’t return until tomorrow night. If you’re a good girl, I might have some gifts.”
Kalilah grinned big like he could see her. “I’ll be good. What’s new? Any interesting phone calls, texts, or sexts?”
“Not as interesting as they could be. I placed my flag on your sister’s ass though.”
Kalilah slid an amused glance to her slightly mortified sister before taking a sip of her water.
“How is it possible to do anything to my sister’s ass in Spain, Dex?” She wished they were being recorded because she would love to replay the face her sister made.
Dex laughed. “I didn’t do anything to your sister’s ass. Yet. That was my way of saying I claimed her as Dex’s territory, and I’m air quoting “territory” by the way.”
“I see. And is she aware?”
Dex sighed. “She’s stubborn. I’ve told her, even offered to fly her to Spain, but she doesn’t have a passport. Make sure she gets one, please. I asked her to be my date for Valentine’s day, but she turned me down.”
Kalilah raised an eyebrow at her sister.
“Is that so?”
She suppressed a giggle when the nail technician started scrubbing her feet; this was the hard part of pedicures since she was ticklish.
“Yup. I figured she would have told you by now. Just so you know, I was serious that day at the restaurant. No need to threaten me.”
Kalilah remembered when he’d first expressed interest in her sister. She was primed to give him a threatening speech when he informed her that he was re-evaluating his life and would respect her if he did try to date her.
“I’ll hold you to it. I’ll see you tomorrow night, love.”
“Ok. Rub your belly for me.” Kalilah laughed when the call dropped. Dex had a knack for disappearing from a phone conversation.
Kalilah narrowed her eyes at a beet red Cayla. “Well, well, well. I cannot believe you are holding out. Spill. Now.”
Cayla rolled her eyes. “What if I don’t want to?”
“As I recall, when my car broke down, a certain little sister refused to drive until I told her everything about Nick. Then, she grilled me every chance she got to see if we had sex yet. You don’t have an option. Every. Detail. Now.”
“He sent me a vibrator.” Cayla covered her mouth as if the information flew out at its own volition. Kalilah smirked. Dex frazzled her sister. It was good to know he had the ability to get under her skin. Cayla needed a little excitement and Dex had “excitement” written all over his body. He also possessed a seriousness that her sister probably didn’t notice yet. Kalilah knew it will be interesting to see how their story played out.
Kalilah pointed at her. “We’ll get back to that. Beginning.” Cayla gave her every juicy detail from the midnight kiss to Dex’s happy ending phone conversation. “Wait, and you turned down Valentine’s Day? Why? I’d have him handcuffed to something on Valentine’s Day.” Kalilah shook her head. “Scratch that, I have a passport for starters, but if I didn’t, he’d be tied up to something tomorrow night! We’d screw our way into Valentine’s Day. Especially if his “package” is as attractive as he is.” Cayla nodded and had a faraway dreamy look on her face as she recalled the memory. “He lands at ten-thirty tomorrow night; you should go get him then get off. I’m just saying...”
“I already have a date for Valentine’s.” Kalilah shook her head at her sister’s words.
“You have a date hotter than your potential date?” Kalilah asked not bothering to hide the intense skepticism in her voice. She wasn’t trying to push Dex on her sister just because she liked her brother-in-law; they needed each other. He needed a calm to hi
s crazy and vice versa. If she was in Cayla’s position, she would have looked to see if it was possible to get an expedited passport.
“I won’t know until Valentine’s Day. He is attractive and works in the finance department. Seems like a nice guy.”
“‘Nice’ is boring. Girl, if I were you, I’d pick Dex up tomorrow night and call in the next day…”
“Nick is nice,” Cayla argued.
“And kinky as hell. Plus, I felt something just seeing him. I’m not getting that vibe from you. If I had a first date with Nick coming up like yours. I would have been excited.”
Kalilah sighed and looked at her sister while the top coat was being applied to their nails.
“I want you to find love and be happy. I also want you to make sure you’re not entertaining or dismissing guys for trivial reasons.”
“What do you mean?” The nail technicians helped them gather their belongings and sat them at the nail dryer. Kalilah used that time to formulate a proper response. If she didn’t choose her words wisely, her sister would get defensive.
“I know you have your heart set on being with a black, man and there is nothing wrong with that at all – but I do not want to writing men off because they aren’t black or dating a man only because he is. You know I’m on your side, but I agree with Dex, do some soul searching and decide what you really want.”
Cayla’s silky ponytail bounced as she nodded her head; her face was frozen in a neutral expression, and Kalilah knew she was trying not to roll her eyes. She knew her sister liked Dex more than she wanted to admit and hoped they would figure it all out without killing each other. Either way, she planned on having plenty of popcorn in stock.
Chapter 6
Dex watched his harried staff fly around the kitchen chopping produce, calling out orders, and plating meals; the Valentine’s Day dinner rush was in full swing. He felt the familiar surge of excitement that made him itch to join his crew in the madness that he loved. His role as owner and leader prevented him from rolling up his sleeves and jumping in; He had to trust his executive chef to handle the madness. Today, he was the number one schmoozer of the clientele; he’d given his general manager, Tony, the night off so he could spend time with his very pregnant wife. Having a pregnant sister-in-law that he adored made him more tuned into the fact that the couple had very few moments left before their child dominated their life. Plus, he thought giving him some of the busiest days off was good penance for throwing him in the fire for six weeks while he was on his annual food excursion.
He’d answered his phone and emails while he was in Spain, but it wasn’t the same as physically being there. He’d missed his kitchen, and he’d also missed the woman who was currently scrunched up in one of the corner booths of his restaurant. She had the audacity to hope that the intimate lighting, along with her silky hair covering the part of her face not concealed by the menu, would somehow make her invisible. How did she plan to talk to her date? She couldn’t hold the damn menu up all night.
Annoyance kept him from being amused; she did look silly after all. Dex dipped into his office before she could realize she was already caught. Maybe her weird behavior would run off her date. She perplexed him. One minute she’s sending flirty pictures, and the next, she’s on a date with another guy. Dex didn’t get a good look at the guy when they’d walked in because his eyes were affixed to Cayla’s ass; her skinny jeans made him understand Nick’s obsession with casual Fridays. He couldn’t see her shirt because of the angle and her jacket, but he would bet a thousand dollars that her shirt was pink. The dark washed denim stopped at her ankles, and he watched them as the rest of her moved on stiletto pumps towards the table.
Some random guy was about to eat his food, on his date with his woman. Dex didn’t know how, but he was sure that he didn’t want anyone who wasn’t Cayla, and he needed to get her on the same level. He hadn’t heard from her since their last conversation and now he knew why. He scratched his head in frustration. If she wanted to play games – he would – but better. He performed a quick inspection of himself: hair still looked good, pink shirt still clean, face and teeth clean, and his black slacks were good.
Confident with his kempt appearance, he navigated through incoming patrons, piloting hosts and hostesses, and speed walking servers to his target. He was a few feet out when their eyes met, hers grew three sizes bigger and his purposely schooled in neutrality. He pasted on his most welcoming smile.
“Hey, sis.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Don’t call me that, Dex.”
Dex shrugged casually and focused his attention on her date. He was a black guy. Shocking, he thought sarcastically. He was decent looking: deep brown eyes, smooth skin, he wore his hair cut low, had a trimmed goatee, and was impeccably dressed. Very corporate. Boring. There wasn’t anything boring about being corporate – it was just him – he was boring. He kind of favored Idris Elba, if Idris was boring and had “ASSHOLE” written on his forehead with neon lights and a damn red hotel vacancy sign pointing down to the sign on his forehead. Well, at least it was obvious to Dex; he wasn’t sure if Cayla or any woman saw past his façade.
He stuck his hand out to the jackass. “Hello, I’m Dex. Welcome to The Food Lab.” The guy looked between him and Cayla before giving a weak ass hand shake. He was confused by the “sis” for sure. Good. “Appetizers on me since you’re here with my sister.”
“Dex…” Cayla started but was interrupted by her date.
“I’m Darrin. How is she your sister exactly?” His too perfect brows furrowed in confusion.
“Her sister married my brother. One big happy family,” Dex added, amused by her red cheeks.
The douche looked at Cayla again. Was that judgement? “I see…”
“What drinks can I get started for the happy couple?” Dex almost laughed at their simultaneous flinches. “Sorry, I just assumed…Valentine’s Day and all.”
“It’s our first date,” Cayla supplied too quickly. Dex nodded, digesting the information. He felt a little better about the situation, but her being in his restaurant on a date for the exact day he asked her out was still a big “fuck you” in his book. Their server, Janice, arrived before he could pry more information, and he turned them over to her. He waited for Janice to take their order and instructed her to comp all of Cayla’s items. He didn’t want her date trying to use paying for dinner as leverage.
It only took a few minutes of reading their body language to know that the date was awkward at best. He sighed and took out his phone.
Dex: Come to me.
Cayla: NO! Bro.
Dex: Come to me.
He watched as she put her phone down and sipped her water.
Dex: Now, Cayla.
She grabbed her phone and headed in his direction. Dex turned and stalked towards his office. He wasn’t too concerned about bringing attention to either one of them since the employee area, his office, and the bathrooms were all in the same direction. He could see the irritation simmering in her eyes when he turned and held his office door open for her. Cayla’s soft, sweet scent teased his nostrils when she passed him. Dex clenched his hand on the knob to keep himself from reaching for her.
He suppressed a groan when he realized that her shirt was sheer, and he could see a hint of her bra underneath. His irritation dimmed slightly.
“What the hell, Dex? Why are you crashing my date?”
Dex let out an incredulous snort. “Are you serious right now? Last I checked, you waltzed your tight pants wearing ass into my restaurant.”
“But, that doesn’t give you…”
“On Valentine’s Day,” He interrupted.
“Even so…”
“Knowing damn well I asked you!”
She took a step back when he moved towards her. Her eyes focused on the pink shirt he’d chosen for Valentine’s Day. He crossed his arms; the movement made the shirt bunch on his biceps. He watched her eyes shift from annoyance to awareness as they continued to roam d
own his body and stopped at the front of his slacks. The pink tint of her cheeks was all the proof he needed. He was willing to bet his left pinky toe that she was picturing his naked cock.
His mind conjured up a million dirty images for her playing with its replica. Dex adjusted his stiffening cock and Cayla continued to watch, fascinated.
Dex smirked. “If you want to see it in person, all you have to do is ask.”
Her hazel eyes found their way back to his. “Dex…I’m on a date.”
Dex clenched his jaw, his erection was lessening his patience.
“I don’t like games, Cayla.”
She worked to force irritation in her aroused gaze.
“I’m not playing games.”
“Really? There are a lot of restaurants in Houston, Cayla. I mean…hundreds of fucking restaurants. So…you just magically appeared here in my restaurant on a date with a black man on Valentine’s Day by chance?”
Cayla frowned. “What does his race have to do with anything? I am black, you know.” She folded her arms, and Dex took a mental picture of how her breasts pressed together with the effort.
“You are? And all this time I thought you and Kalilah were the masters of tans.” Dex shrugged sarcastically. “His race means nothing beyond your constant reminder that I’m not black. It was the exact reason you turned me down for today, remember?” Dex fixed her with an irritated glare. “You’d rather be with the bore out there than go out with someone you’re attracted to.”
“Who said I was attracted to you?” she squeaked. He’d inched closer to her during their entire conversation; Cayla’s backwards escaped was thwarted when her butt hit the edge of his desk. Her expression mirrored what he already knew – she was trapped between him and the desk.
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