She’d just given Vicki an overview of their fantastic date, skimming through the really good parts and ending with his declaration of wanting her over every night. She wanted to be with him every night, too. Which was crazy because they’d just started dating. Vicki was jaded enough to be able to see through Angela’s sunshine-and-roses point of view and tell her to be careful.
Vicki pursued her lips and shook her head. “Girl, you know you can’t believe what a man tells you in bed. Especially before, during, or after sex. Don’t read anything in to that.”
Vicki played with the straw in her double expresso macchiato. She’d worked the night before and typically slept in late. Even though she hated the mall, she’d thrown on a pair of light green shorts and a matching tank, popped her hair into a ponytail and met Angela. Angela appreciated Vicki’s show of friendship.
“I know,” Angela said in an exaggerated tone. “I’m reading too much into this, right? It’s because I like him so much. I haven’t liked a guy like this since...” She tried to remember.
Vicki rolled her eyes. “Since never. At least not while I’ve known you.”
They’d known each other since Angela first began working at Sweethearts. “I’ve liked guys. I just haven’t really been feeling one. I meet guys at the day job and they’re either volunteers I can’t get involved with or the deadbeat parents I’m helping. The guys who hit on me at the club...you know you can’t believe the feelings you get from the guys we meet at the club.”
Which was why she’d gone so long without a serious relationship, but was Isaiah the right guy to get serious with?
“What makes him any different from the other guys we meet?” Vicki asked. “Most of them come to the club with condoms in their pockets, ready to get laid.”
Vicki was examining her nails so she missed Angela’s wince. Hadn’t Isaiah done the same thing? Sure, he said his teammate always gave them out to the fellas when they went to clubs, but that didn’t mean he really hadn’t come expecting more than just to tell her he was done with Bridget—or worse, hook up with someone else.
“How many people know?” Angela asked.
“Everyone.” Vicki met her gaze. “You know Sapphire and Juicy were listening on the other side of the door, and they are the two most hating heifers at Sweethearts. They’ve been trying to get one of those players to ask them home for months. Only to have the bartender land one?”
She said bartender as if it was unheard of, but Angela didn’t take offense. The bartenders weren’t what the men came to Sweethearts for and she knew it. She ran a hand over her face. This wasn’t going to be good.
“Did Bruno say what Z is going to do?” Z had a strict policy against the women in the club doing anything with the patrons on club property. That’s how he was able to say his place was classy, unlike some other clubs.
“Nope. He’s saying he doesn’t believe it, but I think that’s because he doesn’t want to fire you. So, get your story straight before tonight.” Angela was on the schedule for tonight and she wasn’t looking forward to facing Z. She knew she couldn’t lie to him, but she also couldn’t afford to lose her job right before the last semester.
“I hope Isaiah means what he’s telling you. That’ll help if you’re together and not just hooking up,” Vicki said.
Angela sighed and sipped the creamy caramel Frappuccino. “He says all the right things. Sometimes I think he’s just as excited and nervous about our relationship as I am.”
Vicki raised an eyebrow. “Angela, he’s a professional basketball player. The guy probably has women coming at him constantly. I doubt he’s shy about how to be with a woman.”
“But he’s not one of the ones in the news all the time with a different woman on his arm. He doesn’t come across as a dog.”
“I’ll agree with you on that.” Vicki reached over and rubbed Angela’s arm. “Look, I’m not telling you to not sleep with him. I mean...that would be crazy. Just take things slow. Don’t get yourself in too deep. He did just break up with the perfect woman his family loves.”
“So?”
“Family pressure is a bitch, especially a family like his. I bet you money they’re going to give him a hard time and they’re going to want to examine you. If he’s as into you as you think, they’re going to wonder what magic spell you pulled out of your punanny—” she leaned back and pointed down “—that made him give up years of off and on with Ms. Wonderful to be with you.” Vicki tilted her head and gave a know-what-I’m-saying look that Angela couldn’t ignore.
“If anything they’ll see I’m falling way too hard and fast for Isaiah and feel sorry for me.”
Vicki laughed, but it wasn’t unkind. “Sure. Wealthy privileged folks always look for the good side of the underdog.”
Angela’s phone vibrated on the table. “Maybe Cory is ready to go,” she said. Vicki snorted and Angela grinned. She picked up the phone, but the call was from Nate.
“Hey, Nate, what’s going on?”
“One of the guys who works at the local station mentioned an exposé he and his team are working on,” Nate said in a grim voice.
“Okay,” Angela said warily. “What kind of exposé and why are you telling me?” She took a sip of her drink.
“They’re talking about what really happens at local strip clubs. That men don’t just get dances there. He mentioned Sweethearts and that they have witnesses who can vouch for the fact that Gators players come in and can, and I quote, ‘have sex with any of the girls—even the bartenders—in the back offices.’”
Angela choked. The burn as the caramel-flavored coffee skipped her throat and skidded down her windpipe brought tears to her eyes. She coughed uncontrollably. While mortification stole what little air she could take in. Vicki was up and around their table in an instant. She pounded on Angela’s back.
“I’m okay,” Angela wheezed and held up a hand. Vicki stopped pounding but she placed a hand on Angela’s shoulder.
“I really hope that coughing fit is because you’re outraged and not because you’re surprised you were caught,” Nate said.
Angela cleared her throat but her stomach churned. Her lunch may not stay down. “Are you sure?”
“I’m very sure. They’ve been working the story for months and he said they got this latest tip on yesterday. Including cell phone recordings.”
“Did they give names?” Angela asked.
“The name Angel was mentioned,” Nate said grimly.
Angela dropped her head into her hand. “Sweet Jesus.”
Vicki’s hand tightened on her shoulder. “What?”
She couldn’t answer that right now. “This has the potential to be terrible. I could lose my job at the advocacy center.” Could? No, she would lose her job if the director got word of this.
“I just thought you needed the heads-up. You might want to tell Isaiah, too. This won’t be good with the season starting up.”
Angela nodded even though Nate couldn’t see. “I will. Thanks for telling me. Did he say when the story would air?”
“Next week. They’re going to start running promos for it this weekend.”
Angela cursed, not at Nate, but in general. She then thanked him again and got off the phone. Vicki watched her with wary eyes. Angela took a deep breath and told her what Nate had said. Vicki sat heavily on the seat next to Angela.
“This is going to suck for the club.”
Angela tugged on the charm around her neck. She brought it to her nose and breathed in the lavender scent, but her stomach still churned. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“You better call Z. He shouldn’t be blindsided with this.”
Anegala nodded. But then another thought iced her over. What if Cory saw the story? He thought it was cool for Angela to date Isaiah, but the news wasn’t interested in
the hows or whys of what happened. They would make it sound sordid and dirty. He didn’t need this embarrassment right after his parents abandoned him. She picked up her phone with shaky hands to call Z. Right now she had to trust in her feelings for Isaiah, because if he wasn’t as serious about her as he let her believe, then she’d succumbed to her heart for nothing but a whole lot of pain.
Chapter 18
Although the first practice didn’t start until two weeks after the summer camp ended, Isaiah met up with Will, Kevin and Jacobe at the Gators’ auditorium to work out and prepare for the start of the season. He hadn’t seen Jacobe much this summer. After his friend had proposed to his girlfriend, he’d spent a lot of his free time with her. Isaiah didn’t begrudge him. Jacobe had gone through some rough stuff with unfaithful women in the past and deserved happiness.
He and the guys worked out for a few hours, ran a few drills for another hour and were getting dressed in the locker room when Isaiah finally told them about Angela.
Kevin’s eyes widened and he put his fist over his open mouth. “Damn! You really let Bridget go? For good?”
Isaiah nodded. “I did.”
Will shook his head. “For a stripper?” His voice said he didn’t believe it.
“She’s not a stripper, she’s a bartender,” Isaiah said, defending Angela.
“In a strip club,” Will replied. He had one foot on the bench in the locker room and was tying the laces on his sneakers.
“She’s also a child advocate—she’ll have a master’s degree at the end of one more semester and she took in her nephew when his parents ditched him. She’s more than a bartender at a strip club.”
Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “Wait? Did she give you some sob story? You know you can’t believe the sad tales these women out here give you. They’re always looking for a come-up.” He pulled a black T-shirt out of his locker and covered his tattooed chest with it.
“She didn’t give a sob story. She’s not trying to get something out of me,” Isaiah said with more patience than he felt. Only because he understood his friend’s concerns did he not let his frustration show. Angela was more than where she worked, and he didn’t like that they immediately went to her job at Sweethearts. “We talk. We click. Y’all saw it that first night I went into Sweethearts. Hell, you teased me about it for days afterward.”
Jacobe shrugged. “Yeah, because you don’t typically go for the women we meet at places like that. I knew you were feeling her, but I didn’t think you’d dump Bridget for her.” He picked up his brush and ran it over the top of his low-cut fade. “That’s some serious shit right there.”
“None of you liked Bridget. I barely saw her over the past year. You can’t tell me you think I’m crazy for splitting from her.”
A chorus of no’s came from his friends. Will dropped his foot and pointed at Isaiah. “Bridget wasn’t right for you, but that doesn’t mean Angela is. You’re ready to get married and have a bunch of babies. You really want to make her your wife?”
He did. The idea scared the mess out of him. That was one admission he wasn’t ready to lay out to the world. “I’m with her. The end. We’ll see where the future takes us.”
Kevin chuckled. “Play on, playa. Enjoy your time with ol’ girl. She is fine. Just don’t start spending all your money on her until you know she’s legit.”
Isaiah shook his head. “I don’t know why y’all are talking to me as if I’m stupid. I know to wait and take my time before trusting any woman we meet.”
The door to the locker room flew open and the three of them stood up. No one slammed into the locker room unless they were ready for trouble. Coach Gray stomped in and all of their shoulders relaxed. He glared at Isaiah.
Isaiah looked to his friends, then back at coach. “What?”
“You care to tell me why I just got a call from the local news station asking for a quote on my players screwing dancers in strip clubs?” he asked in a hard voice.
“The hell?” Isaiah demanded. Every eye turned on him.
“Yes,” Coach Gray said. “They’re doing an exposé. Apparently they’ve got recordings of you and some woman at Sweethearts. Come on, Isaiah, you’re the good guy on the team. What the hell were you thinking? Right before the season starts, too.” He ran his fingers through his thick brown hair and gritted his teeth.
Isaiah closed his eyes and cursed. Not good. This is why he typically considered the consequences of his actions. But Angela made him forget everything.
“Yo, Isaiah, you slept with this woman at Sweethearts?” Jacobe asked incredulously.
“I don’t believe that,” said Kevin.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Will laughed. “Isaiah, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Isaiah opened his eyes and only looked at Coach. “It’s not like that. We’re dating. I didn’t just go there and hook up with her.”
“That only makes things marginally better.” He pointed at Isaiah. “Call your agent. Tell him before this goes live later this week. Get your story straight. Screwing your girlfriend at a strip club is better than screwing groupies. I’ll handle things with the owners.” He turned to walk away, then stopped and looked back. “And next time, take her to your place. Please.” Coach left with a trail of curses and grumbles about the players giving him an early heart attack.
Kevin shook his head. “Sounds like you’re about to be real serious about Angela.”
Will chuckled. “At least until this story dies down.”
Isaiah flipped them the bird. More out of frustration that his life was about to blow up in the media than anger at them. He pulled out his cell phone to call his agent. This was just the type of embarrassment and drama he’d tried to avoid. He didn’t regret what happened with Angela, but a voice in his head that sounded a lot like his father questioned if feelings this wild and crazy, not to mention their unexpected consequences, were really good in the long term.
Chapter 19
When Angela told Isaiah she had to work that night, he’d offered to watch Cory. At first she’d considered saying no. She didn’t want him to feel like she was using him for anything. Even something as small as babysitting. After the heads-up from Nate, though, she’d agreed. She needed to tell him about the news exposé and she preferred telling him to his face. After work, when she knew exactly how bad things were at the club with Z, was probably the best time to do it.
Her feet hurt and her body felt as heavy as lead when she finally put her key in the door to her apartment at 1:00 a.m. Thankfully she only had one more semester to work at Sweethearts. She was finally ready to admit the late nights working the bar weren’t as easy as they’d been when she’d first started at the club. Her degree would hopefully lead to a promotion and the end of needing to work at Sweethearts.
The apartment was quiet, the lamp in the living room and the light from the television the only illumination as she entered. Kicking off the heels she’d been wearing, she hooked her fingers through the straps and carried them to the living area.
Cory slept on one end of the couch while Isaiah snored softly on the other. An action movie from the eighties played on the television. Popcorn, pizza boxes, candy wrappers and soda cans littered the coffee table. Angela smiled and chuckled softly. Looked like they’d had a good time.
She put her shoes on a chair and tiptoed over to Isaiah first. His head leaned against the back of the couch and his legs were sprawled out in front of him. His lips were parted from his heavy breaths. He’d dressed casually to babysit, in a T-shirt and shorts, and looked so relaxed and cute she wanted to curl up in his lap and fall asleep in his arms. Instead, she gently shook his shoulder but resisted the urge to place a kiss on his cheek.
His eyes opened slowly, focused on her, and he smiled. “That’s a sight worth waking up to,” he said in a sexy, sleepy voice
. He reached up and grabbed her waist, then tried to pull her into his lap.
Angela grinned and placed a hand on his chest. She nodded toward Cory. “I’ve got to get Cory in bed.”
He squeezed her hip but let her go. Angela tapped Cory to wake him. He jerked awake and blinked several times, his gaze never quite focused.
“Come on, Cory. Time for bed,” she said softly.
He nodded, mumbled something that sounded like pizza, then got up and shuffled to his room. A second later, his door closed. She glanced back at Isaiah. “Thanks again for watching him. You didn’t have to.”
“No problem at all. He’s a good kid. Plus, he likes action movies and pizza. I can hang with him anytime.”
Angela plopped down on the couch next to him. “Do you have to go right away?”
He lifted her feet and set them in his lap. “Does it look like I’m ready to leave?” He took one of her feet in his hands and massaged it.
Angela’s head fell back and she groaned. “That feels...so good.”
“I figured it would. You’ve been on your feet all night. In those shoes.”
She lifted her gaze to him. He pointed to the heels she’d worn. “I don’t usually wear heels, but I wanted to look extra nice today.”
“Why?”
Might as well get to the bad news first. “So Z would maybe think twice about firing me.”
Isaiah’s hands slowed, but thankfully, he didn’t stop massaging her foot. “Why would he fire you?”
Angela shifted until she was straighter on the couch but didn’t pull her feet away. “A reporter is doing an exposé on local strip clubs. Apparently someone has—”
“A recording of a Gators player and the bartender,” he said grimly, finishing her sentence.
Angela’s jaw dropped. “You know? Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I wanted to talk to you face-to-face. Coach came to me earlier today. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Same reason. You don’t bring up something like this over the phone.” She pressed a hand to her temple. “This is terrible.”
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