Dante's Way

by Marie Rochelle

  Amara was surprised to hear his words echo her own thoughts. She tucked the thought away. She would be able to think about it more later on when she was alone in bed.

  “My parents died within six months of each other and neither one had enough life insurance to cover their burials, so I had to pay for the remaining arrangements with the money I had saved up from my bank teller job. After that, I didn’t have much money left plus my boss was an asshole and fired me for missing too many days.

  “I couldn’t find another job fast enough for my landlord. As a result, one day when I came back home from an interview, I was locked out of my apartment and all of my belongings were tossed outside on the sidewalk like I was garbage.”

  Amara didn’t know she had even been crying until Dante handed her a napkin. She took it and brushed away her tears then folded it next to her plate. She was tired of shedding tears and feeling sorry for herself. It was time for her to do something about her situation.

  “Sorry about that,” she apologized.

  “There’s nothing wrong with tears; it’s a way of cleaning out the bad memories to make room for happier ones.”

  “Do you know my mom used to tell me that all the time?” Amara said, surprised again by the unpredictable man seated in front of her.

  “So did mine,” Dante replied, glancing down at his watch. “I hate to leave, but I’ve another appointment in about forty minutes. How about I make it up to you later if you aren’t going to be busy?”

  Yes...she would love to see Dante later on today, but she had to keep her cool about it.

  She couldn’t agree too fast or she would come off as too eager for his company. Anyways, she did have plans to go and look for Liam. She hadn’t seen him in almost two weeks. Something was wrong and she was starting to get a little scared.

  “I can’t agree to anything right now because I did have some plans myself. How about you call me later and I’ll see if I’m available to see you again,” Amara said, trying to not grin at the stunned look on Dante’s face.

  “Care to tell me who has you in such a hurry not to see me again?” he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice. “I wasn’t aware you had such a busy social calendar.”

  “No one in particular,” she answered. “I just have something I need to take care of after we leave just like you do. I know you understand.”

  Honestly, after Amara spent a few hours looking for Liam, she was only going back to the shelter to look for more jobs in the paper and work on her resume some more. However, Dante didn’t need to know all of that.

  Dante studied her thoughtfully for a moment. “All right, I understand but don’t get too caught up in whatever you have planned because I will call you.” Raising his hand, he signaled the waitress back over to the table and requested their check.

  Sitting there, Amara raked her mind wondering what she could wear if Dante wanted to take her out again. She only had a few outfits and none of them included a skirt or a nice dress. Why was she even giving this thought? She wouldn’t be able to continue to go out with Dante again.

  “Amara, are you ready?” Dante asked, breaking into her thoughts.

  Glancing over at him, she noticed the waitress handing Dante back his credit card along with his receipt. How long had she been zoning out that she hadn’t even noticed him paying for their meal?

  “Yes, I’m ready,” she said, getting up from her seat.

  Amara walked over to Dante and stepped in front of him. She tried not to moan when he placed his hand in the middle of her back leading her past the tables filled with customers. She noticed how the women stopped eating to look at Dante, but he never once looked at any of them and a part of her was proud she was the one with him instead of them.

  Once they got outside, Amara breathed in the air getting lost in the perfection of the buildings around her. Everything looked so clean and well taken care of. It was a totally different sight than she was used to seeing living behind the buildings in her area. She continued walking toward Dante’s truck and was about to open the door when his hand reached out stopping her.

  “What’s wrong?” Amara spun around, gasping when her nipples brushed against his hard chest.

  “I could ask you the same question,” he said, brushing his thumb over her jaw. “You seem in such a hurry to get out of the restaurant.”

  “I know you had to get to your meeting and I didn’t want to make you late,” she answered, hoping he didn’t hear the lie.

  Placing his free hand by her head, Dante leaned in further and Amara thought she detected laughter in his eyes. “Are you sure that’s the real reason you were practically running out of there?”

  “What other reason could I have?” she asked, trying not to squirm as her body reacted to the closeness of his.

  Lowering his head, he placed his warm, firm lips against the side of her ear. “I feel it too. I know it’s crazy, but it’s there burning between us. I’m not going to fight it and neither should you.”

  Taking a step back his gaze traveled over her face and searched her eyes. Her curiosity, as well as her desire for Dante, was aroused drawing her more into the charisma that seemed to surround him, no matter what he was doing.

  Dante knew he was stoking a gently growing fire but she didn’t know if she could let it burn out of control. All of this was so new for her. She hadn’t been in a situation before where her body was the one in control and not her mind.

  “I—”

  “Dante, what are you doing on this side of town?” a female voice asked, cutting off Amara before she finished talking.

  Turning her head away from Dante, Amara’s eyes widened when she spotted two gorgeous black women walking towards them. She couldn’t help but notice how they looked like they had just stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine. She wasn’t anywhere in their league with her hand-me-down clothes.

  They looked like the kind of women Dante would spend his time with. So, if he knew them, why in the world was he wasting his time trying to make her think he was drawn to her when there was no way in hell it could be true?

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Dante sensed the change instantly in the air around him and Amara the second True and Keira strolled up to them. He loved his friends, but he wished they had gone on past this one time. He was breaking through to Amara, but now it was gone.

  He looked down into her face and saw she was no longer looking at him, but the women next to her. Since their moment had disappeared, he might as well make the introductions and see where things went from there, but he got a bad feeling it wasn’t going to be good.

  “Keira, True. What are the two of you doing here?” he asked, moving away from Amara. Going up to them, he gave both women a hug and kisses on the cheek and noticed how their eyes darted away from him over to Amara who was still standing by the side of his truck.

  “We were out doing a little shopping,” Keira answered. “It’s best to go early in the morning when the kids are in day care and school.”

  “I also talked Keira into helping me find an anniversary gift for Hayward. He’s so hard to shop for, but I found a piece for his statue collection he has back in Montana. It will go perfectly on the wall above the display cabinet in his study,” True told him.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?” Keira interrupted, smiling at him. “I know we haven’t ever met her before.”

  Reaching behind him, Dante grabbed Amara by her hand and pulled her closer to him. He felt the tension in her body and brushed his thumb over her wrist hoping to relax her some. She didn’t need to be nervous of Keira or True. “True Williams and Keira Russell, this is Amara Langston. We met a few weeks ago. I’m trying to talk her into having a second date with me, but I don’t think I’m doing a good job of it. Amara, these are True and Keira. I’m friends with their husbands Hayward and Jim,” he said.

  “Nice to meet you, Amara,” Keira said, smiling at her. “Don’t let Dante scare you. He’s a pretty good g
uy even if he gets a little overprotective sometimes.”

  “Yes, he is,” True agreed. “However, if you need someone to be there for you Dante is your guy. How did the two of you meet again? He’s never brought you up before; however, our buddy here isn’t big on talking about his personal life with us.”

  “We met at the bar,” Dante answered, quickly. He saw the ladies were about to give Amara the third degree and he didn’t want them to mess up any progress he’d already made with her. “We really need to be going. I have to drop Amara off before I’m late for a meeting.”

  “Oh,” Keira said, glancing at him then over at Amara who still hadn’t said one word. “Amara, it was nice to meet you, but True and I need to hit a few more shops before our husbands start calling us.”

  “It was nice to meet you too. Have fun shopping,” Amara said, letting go of his hand. She hurried away from them and went back over to the truck parked at the curb.

  Turning around, Dante watched Amara open the door and get back inside. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going through that mind of hers. True and Keira were pretty daunting separately, but together they could be intimidating. It was especially difficult on someone like Amara harboring the tiny bit of self-doubt she had because of her situation.

  “She’s kind of shy, isn’t she?” True said, pointing out the obvious. “But I still think you would be good for her. She needs someone like you to bring her out of it. The two of you looked good together so when are you going to introduce her to everyone else?”

  “I don’t know,” Dante admitted, honestly. “We kind of got started off on the wrong foot. She saw my bad side first; now I’m working on showing her that I usually don’t lose control like that.”

  “Don’t let her quietness fool you. I can tell there is more going on with her, but I can see you like her,” Keira stated, surprising him.

  “How can you tell?” Dante asked, focusing his attention back on her.

  “You watched her walk away from us. Only a man interested in a woman continues to look at her even after she has left him. I should know. Jim used to do it all of the time. He won’t admit to it now, but it’s the truth and we both know it.”

  Dante stared at Keira for a few seconds and then burst out into laughter. “Okay, Oprah, thanks for telling me what I’m thinking. However, I can’t stay for any more of your wonderful relationship advice. I really need to go, but I’ll keep your words of wisdom in mind as things progress with Amara,” he said then spun on his heel and walked away.

  Getting into his vehicle, Dante looked over at Amara who seemed a million miles away and then drove off. He saw and felt the change in her mood the second he opened the door; however, Dante wasn’t going to let it worry him. If her personality wasn’t strong enough to handle that impromptu meeting with his friends then she wouldn’t be able to handle being with him and maybe he should stop thinking about having a second date with her and let things end right here.

  The ball was in her court and he wanted to see how Amara would handle her serve. He was about a block from the restaurant when she finally spoke.

  “True and Keira seem pretty nice.”

  Finally!!! She spoke to him. As much as he wanted to talk to her, he wasn’t going to be the one to start up the conversation again. He was trying here but Amara would have to do something on her end as well to show him everything wasn’t one-sided

  “We’re a pretty tight group. I was only friends with Jim, Keira’s husband, but after a while I became close with everyone else as well. Hopefully, you’ll get to meet the rest of the gang.”

  “Are the other wives as stunning as True and Keira?” she asked.

  Dante peeked at Amara from the corner of his eye. “I guess, but I’m betting my buddies married their wives because they had more to offer than a pretty reflection in the mirror. A man wants to marry a woman who loves him through the good and hard times. Beauty can fade after a while, but character doesn’t. Well, at least in my eyes personality and strength are more important than having a pretty woman on my arm.”

  Dante noticed how a tiny smile pulled at the corner of Amara’s cute mouth. He seriously wondered, did she not know how beautiful she was? Amara had this freshness about her most women spent millions of dollars to get through plastic surgery, but never achieved.

  “I’ve a question for you,” he said.

  “What is it?” she asked, turning in her seat to look at him.

  “Are you going to tell me what you find attractive in a man? Did you have any celebrity crushes growing up?”

  “I find a lot of things attractive in a man and of course I had a celebrity crush as a little girl.”

  He was even more intrigued now. “Tell me. I promise not to laugh.”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I used to watch these re-runs of this television show at my babysitter’s house when I was around nine years old and I swore to her I was going to marry the actor when I grew up.”

  If he got Amara to open up to him about this little secret then it would be the first step in gaining her trust which could lead to something more between them.

  “Since you’ve told me this much I have to know who it is,” Dante said, turning left down the street back towards the shelter. He would eventually get it out of her because he had ways of doing it and he always got what he wanted.

  Amara shook her head. “No, I’m not going to tell you. It’s so embarrassing. I wouldn’t ever be able to live it down.”

  “How about I make a deal with you?” Dante suggested as he pulled up at the back of the shelter. Turning off the truck, he rested his arm on the steering wheel.

  “What kind of deal?” Amara asked, getting a little excited.

  “If you tell me your childhood crush, I’ll tell you a secret about me later. No matter what it is,” he promised. This deal was too good to pass up, he thought. He already had several things running through his head that she might want him to answer. So, she would be crazy not to take him up on this offer.

  “Okay, I’ll tell you. It was Bruce Boxleitner.”

  “The actor from that eighties television show,” Dante said.

  “Yeah, that’s who I’m talking,” she answered. “I thought he was so gorgeous. I thought I was going to marry him.”

  He wasn’t expecting Amara to admit to liking such an older actor, but it was cute she had a crush on him. He didn’t even know that show had come back on with reruns.

  “Have I shocked you?” she asked.

  Dante shook his head. “No, I think it’s cute you used to like him,” he said, grinning at Amara. “All of us had a crush on someone famous when we were growing up and yours was him.”

  “I haven’t thought about that in years,” Amara admitted. “Well, I better go. Time is passing by and we both have other things that need to be taken care of.” She swiveled quickly and reached for the door handle, but he touched her on the elbow and his hand slid down her arm tightening around her wrist.

  “How about I come back around six o’clock and we can have dinner together?” he suggested.

  Pivoting, Amara stared at him as her mouth curled into an unconscious smile. “I’m wondering if that would be a good idea. Are you sure you can handle a second date with me?” she asked, leaning away from him which only made him want to get closer to her.

  “You know that I do have a lot going on. I’m totally different from your former dates. Can we find common ground with each other?”

  He smiled at Amara then moved towards her compelled involuntarily by his own attraction. “Damn...you got me on that one and that is why all of them are former women I was dating. Honestly, I can’t wait for our second date. You’re definitely a lot more appealing than they ever were and I do mean in a good way.”

  “I still haven’t agreed to see you again, Mr. Braden?” Amara pointed out.

  Closing the distance even more between them, Dante let go of Amara’s wrist and slid his hands through her hair until his mouth brush
ed against her ear and grinned against her neck when she shivered from his touch.

  “That’s right. You didn’t but I know you aren’t going to turn me down.”

  “You are awful cocky.”

  “Sweetheart, I’m not cocky. I’m just right, aren’t I?” Moving back, Dante brushed his lips against the corner of her soft mouth.

  “Yes,” she whispered, closing her eyes as a moan slipped through her lips.

  Why would Amara lie to him when she couldn’t disguise her body’s reaction to him? Slowly, Amara opened her eyes and they locked with his.

  One of his hands rested casually on the inside of Amara’s jean-clad thigh, causing his cock to ache for her touch. Dante knew he didn’t want to rush things with her. She had been through a lot lately and she wasn’t ready for him to take things further yet. Besides, she didn’t come across like the ‘toss her panties into the backseat’ kind of girl.

  “I should go,” she whispered, wrapping her fingers around his wrist. Amara placed it between them on the console.

  “You’re right,” he agreed still staring at her like he didn’t want her to leave, but knew she had to do it.

  Spinning around, Amara opened the car door and jumped out before he found another way to stop her from leaving. She hurried across the shelter parking lot and rushed inside without looking back.

  ****

  Not moving an inch, Dante watched Amara until she went through the shelter’s back door. She never looked back to see if he was still there and he could understand why. What in the hell was he doing with Amara? He actually kissed her...well, not fully on the lips but if she hadn’t pulled away at the last minute he was close to doing it.

  As much as he wanted to be sorry about it he wasn’t; honestly, the thought of kissing Amara made his cock ache. He had never wanted to do something so badly in his life. Maybe it was because she wasn’t tossing herself at him or telling him every other minute how gorgeous he was. She actually had a mystery about her that he wanted to unwrap like a present on Christmas day. Amara was nowhere near the women he usually dated and for some reason that turned him on more and more. He got a lot of pleasure from being around her, but he knew it was going to be a long hard battle. He would have to fight to win her over, but he didn’t care.