by A. C. Arthur
Grammy hustled to her feet. “Nonsense, you stay here and get to know my grandbaby better. I’m going to go on in the other room and watch some cable. You know they don’t have cable at that damn psych ward her mother put me in.” Grammy had already begun walking towards the curving stairs that would lead to Reka’s loft bedroom.
Reka groaned. “No HBO and no Cinemax After Dark, Grammy.”
Grammy waved her hand but didn’t turn back. “Chile, I’m old enough to show them people a thing or two,” she chuckled. “You come back and visit me, handsome.”
Khalil was flattered, even though he’d told Mrs. Grant his name more than five times since he’d met her. “Yes, ma’am, I sure will.”
Reka raised a brow in his direction and he shrugged helplessly.
“These steps are enough to make a person woozy,” Grammy complained as she finally made it to the top and disappeared.
“Either that or all the whiskey you put in your tea,” Reka said almost to herself as she removed her grandmother’s teacup from the coffee table.
“You saw that, huh?” Khalil picked up his cup and followed her to the kitchen.
Reka laughed as she padded across the kitchen floor to the sink. “Yeah, but she does it all the time, so it’s to be expected.”
Khalil put his cup down in the sink and took a step away from her. Closeness was not good right now. He’d gotten a glimpse of the bronze-colored skin leading to her breasts and wasn’t sure he could keep his hands to himself if he stood too close. “So she lives in a psych ward?” he joked.
Reka took down a glass from the cabinet and poured herself some water. She hadn’t eaten yet, and those martinis had begun to rumble around in her empty stomach. She thought maybe water would help until she had a chance to eat something. “Sunny Days Retirement Center. Which is a far cry from a psych ward. Besides, the psych ward’s free; Sunny Days definitely is not.”
“She doesn’t like it there, I take it.” He watched as she took slow, steady sips of the water, holding the glass with one hand and massaging her neck with the other. A few of her curls had fallen loose and now brushed her shoulders. Her hair shone beneath the light and framed her face softly. He realized he liked looking at her, just watching her move, doing normal things. He didn’t think he’d ever noticed that about a person before.
“Grammy doesn’t like being told what to do.”
“So that’s where you get it from?”
Reka stopped rubbing her neck and stared at him. She couldn’t deny the obvious. “I guess so.”
He laughed. “I’m glad you didn’t try to argue that observation with me.”
She shrugged. “What would be the point? It’s true.” She emptied her glass and set it in the sink, then turned back to stare at him pointedly.
“What?” Something was going through her mind. She had a question, he could tell. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m still trying to figure out why you don’t have a girlfriend.”
His insides warmed. So she’d been thinking of his single status. That was a good sign. He leaned against the counter top, pushing his jacket aside to slide his hands into his pockets. “I haven’t found the right woman yet. Is that so hard to believe?”
“That’s a reason for not having a wife. A girlfriend doesn’t necessarily have to be the right woman. She can just be a stepping stone on your way to Ms. Right.”
“I’d rather not waste time with stepping stones. When I find a woman I like enough to spend my time with, I’ll be looking at her as though she is Ms. Right.” And there was a very real possibility that Ms. Right was staring directly at him.
She shrugged. “I guess that’s a good way to approach it.” She moved to leave the kitchen. It was too close in here, and the way he watched her was doing weird things to her already raging hormones.
Reaching his arm out in a quick, smooth motion, he stopped her retreat, holding her still in front of him. “What about you? Are you looking for a stepping stone to a husband?” He knew her answer even before she said it. But in order for him to get around her defenses he had to know why they were there in the first place. And up to this point she hadn’t actually said why she was so against men. He’d only guessed at the reason.
At his touch she gasped and tried to back away.
“Come here.” He pulled her closer, keeping their bodies from touching, other than his hands around her waist. “Tell me why you’re so angry with men.”
“What gives you the idea that I’m angry with men?”
“For starters, the comparison to dogs chasing their own tails.” He grinned.
Reluctantly, she grinned back. “I’m not angry.”
He arched an eyebrow, letting her know he didn’t believe her.
“I’m not,” she insisted. “I’m simply fed up.”
Now they were getting to the root of the problem. He pulled her an inch closer, lifted a hand to finger one of those springy auburn curls. “Fed up with what? How men act in general?” He toyed with her hair until his hand was close enough to touch the soft skin of her neck. “Or how they treat you specifically?”
She frowned. Her full lips curved downward, but were no less attractive to him. She had kissable lips. Lips that a man dreamed about being all over him.
“I’m not a scorned woman or a whiner. I’ve just had my share of lies, games and drama, enough to last a lifetime. I’m really in no hurry to go through it again.”
“Lies, games and drama shouldn’t be part of a mature relationship.”
“No, they shouldn’t.” She tried to ignore the pleasure spikes soaring through her upper body with his touch. “But, more often than not, they are.”
“You said you didn’t have time to wait for boys to grow into men.”
“That’s right.” She tried to keep her eyes on him, to prove that he wasn’t getting to her, but her lids felt drugged with each stroke of his finger and she wanted nothing more than to close her eyes to the comfort he offered.
“Then stop getting involved with boys,” he said simply.
“And who would you suggest I get involved with?” She knew what he would say, wanted desperately to hear the words, although she knew nothing could come of them.
Khalil pulled her closer, until the tips of her breasts brushed against his chest. “I’m not a boy, Reka. I learned a long time ago how to treat a woman right.” He watched the play of emotions on her face, tried desperately to anticipate her response, but was so caught up in his own body’s response to her that he couldn’t think straight.
For a moment she allowed herself to believe him, to believe that he could be different, but then memories of Donovan and the all-out route he’d taken to deceive her kept her strong. She straightened her back, moved her head so his hand was no longer touching her, and stared him straight in the eye. “That’s what they all say.”
Despite knowing her objections, knowing who he was dealing with, her words took him aback, and he stared blankly at her. He should simply walk away. He should leave this apartment and not give her another thought, since it appeared she was determined to not give another man a chance. But he wanted to prove her wrong. He wanted to show her what a real relationship was like, what it felt like to be loved by a real man. And at that moment he had no doubt that he could fall in love with this woman.
But he had to take it slow. He suspected that it had taken years to build this wall of resistance around her heart, and as good a man as he considered himself, he wasn’t going to be able to knock it down in one day. With that in mind, he took his hands off her and moved toward the entrance of the living room. “I’m not like the others. Try to remember that,” he said before turning and walking to the front door. He was going to leave, not because she wanted him to, but because it was the last thing she expected him to do. She thought she knew everything men did and said. He was going to prove her wrong.
She’d thought he’d argue with her a little more, try to convince her why he was different, like
any other guy would. But he was moving so quickly towards the front door that she had no other choice but to follow him. “I didn’t say you were. I was just explaining why I don’t believe what most men tell me,” she said when he opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
He wasn’t going to repeat that he wasn’t like most men. She’d heard him clearly; she just hadn’t taken the time to digest that fact. “I’d like to take you to dinner.” His eyes dropped momentarily to her lips before returning to her captivating eyes. Man, was there anything about this woman that didn’t turn him on?
“No.”
“Why?”
Reka acted as if she were thinking for a minute when, truth be told, she’d spent all day long coming up with a list of reasons why she couldn’t get involved with him, why she was not his type. The most prominent came to mind and she decided to let that be her main reason. “Let me see, how I can say this nicely?” She tapped a finger to her chin. “I’m too young for you. Yeah, that’s it. I wouldn’t want you to catch a charge.”
She was so damned pretty, he admitted to himself for the billionth time today. That beauty mark just beneath her bottom lip practically begged to be kissed. He smiled, and with a light touch, traced her bottom lip. “I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow night. And don’t worry, I work for lawyers.”
4
The ball bounced to the ground a few inches away from Khalil’s feet.
“You plan on playing ball today or what?” Keith moved past the seemingly dazed guy who was supposed to be his opponent.
“What?” Khalil turned to see Keith retrieving the ball before it rolled off the court and into the street. “Sorry, man. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Tell me about it. You haven’t been paying attention for the last twenty minutes.” Keith came to a stop beside Khalil, tossing the ball at him unexpectedly. “Something going on you wanna talk about?”
Reflexively Khalil caught the ball, palmed it in both hands and held it in front of him. He didn’t really want to talk about it. Actually, he felt kind of embarrassed to have thought about it all night and most of the morning. He was a grown man, experienced with women and relationships. There was no reason why this one angry little woman should be affecting him like this. “Nah, it’s nothing.” He jogged down the court, dribbling.
Keith shrugged and jogged along with him. Something was on Khalil’s mind, he could tell. And if he wasn’t mistaken, it was most likely a woman. He shook his head as Khalil missed another lay-up. Only a woman could get inside a man’s head like that.
Khalil bounced the ball with a fierceness that gave away more of his worries than he knew. Keith watched him, knowing he’d miss this shot as well. He’d miss every shot until he got what was bothering him off his chest.
Khalil shot the ball. It hit the backboard and bounced over the hoop, falling to the ground with a dismal thump.
“Whoever said height was all you needed to play ball didn’t know squat,” Keith said with a chuckle. “I’m sitting down. If you’re not going to play real ball there’s no sense in me running up and down this court with you while you make a fool of yourself.”
Khalil grabbed the ball again. That’s exactly what he was afraid of doing—making a fool of himself over this woman. He’d invited her to dinner, no, he’d told her they were going to dinner, not really leaving her a choice in the matter. And for that alone he knew he’d have to hear a mouthful from her. That thought, strangely enough, intrigued him.
She did talk a lot, and all of what she said was delivered with such attitude and such brashness that the normal person would be in a hurry to get away from her. But he wanted to be near her—for long periods of time.
“Once you sleep with her you’ll feel a lot better.”
Keith’s words snapped him out of his Reka moment and Khalil took the remaining steps that led him to the bench where Keith sat. “What?”
Keith took a swig from the water jug Cienna had packed in his gym bag. “The woman that’s got you all tied up. Once you sleep with her, you’ll feel a lot better. That’s how it is when you meet a new woman and haven’t tasted the fruit yet.” Leaning forward, his elbows resting on his thighs, Keith bounced the basketball.
“How would you know? You’re married.” Maybe talking about it would shed some light on the situation, maybe explain why of all the women in the world, all the women he’d been with, none of them had given him a sleepless night like Reka had.
“I wasn’t always married. I know how it feels when you first meet a lady and can’t wait to have her under you.”
Khalil leaned back against the gate. “Was that how it was with you and Cienna?”
“Of course. But as soon as I got her, I knew she wasn’t going anywhere, so I could just sit back and relax.” Keith also leaned back.
“Yeah right, I seem to remember her leaving you and you burning up I-95 in search of her.”
Keith waved a hand. “Whatever. So who’s this lady that’s got you so frazzled?”
“I’m not frazzled,” Khalil defended.
“No? You’re playin’ ball like a blind senior citizen. That’s frazzled to me.”
They both laughed.
“You know, I started working at your firm yesterday—”
“I was going to ask you how that went.”
Khalil dragged a hand down his sweaty face. “It wasn’t what I expected, I can tell you that.”
“Really? What happened? Did more emails come in?”
“A couple, but they weren’t the problem.”
Keith sat up, turning his head to look at Khalil. “Then stop beating around the bush and tell me what the problem is.”
Khalil took a deep breath. “That’s where I met her. She works for you.”
Keith’s eyebrows raised in question. “You’ve got the hots for somebody at my firm? What, did those emails get to you too? Now you’re all horny like that dude Jack?” Keith grinned.
“Nah, it’s not like that. She’s not like that.” He shook his head, still trying to get a grasp on it himself. “She’s different from any woman I’ve ever met. She’s like a breath of fresh air from all those snooty women my mom and Danielle try to hook me up with. And she’s definitely different from Sonya.”
“She’s all that, huh?” Khalil was silent. “Well, tell me who she is. Maybe I can put in a good word for you.”
Khalil doubted a good word was going to do anything where Reka was concerned, but figured maybe Keith could offer some insight, some advice that would tell him how to handle her. “She’s Cienna’s assistant, Reka.”
Keith stood and looked down at his friend, not believing what he’d just said. “Reka? You’re missing shots and looking crazy over Reka?”
Khalil couldn’t tell by Keith’s reaction if that was a good or bad thing. “I’m just saying that I met her and I like her. That’s all,” he reiterated.
Keith’s head fell back as he laughed.
Khalil was offended. “When you said you were chasing a co-worker around the office I didn’t laugh at you, no matter how juvenile I thought it was.”
His laughter slowly subsiding, Keith sank back down on the bench. “You’re right. You’re right,” he said, letting the last few chuckles release themselves. “I’m just laughing because if I had to pick the perfect woman for you I couldn’t have done a better job. If anybody is perfect for your uptight, geeky, wanna-be-ballplayer butt, it’s Reka Boyd.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Normally Khalil tolerated the light banter from friends, but this time Keith’s words seemed to strike a nerve.
“Don’t get all serious on me. I’m only pointing out the obvious differences between you two. You’re more mature, more focused, more studious than Reka is. Reka’s…she’s…how do I say it?”
“She’s what?” Khalil knew his brow was furrowed, knew that his normally quiet brown eyes were darkening with anger.
Keith ignored his expression and proceeded. “She’s spunky and sp
ontaneous and in-your-face honest. Can you handle that?”
“Come on, Keith, you know me. I can handle anything. She’s just a woman.” Even to him that sounded wrong. Already to him she was more than just a woman.
“Then if you think that you shouldn’t even waste your time with her,” Keith said seriously.
“Why do you say that?”
“Look, Reka’s been through a lot. She and Cienna are pretty close, so I get to hear about some of the situations she’s been in. She’s had it rough where men are concerned.”
More about Reka and bad relationships. How bad could they really have been? “I get the impression that she’s had a nasty experience. She’s a little bitter, but you can’t base the future on the past.”
“You can if your past just keeps repeating itself. I won’t tell her business but I’ll say this. She’s had some guys do some pretty bad stuff to her, and if you’re planning on hittin’ and runnin’, I’m gonna have to tell you to leave her alone. She can’t take that right now, and I don’t want to see her hurt.” Not only that, if Cienna found out Khalil had hurt Reka she’d kill him herself. Keith thought it was best to forewarn him.
“I stopped with the drive-bys a long time ago.” And he knew without a doubt he wanted more than that from Reka. “I know she’s different from what I’m used to. I think that’s what attracts me to her the most. She doesn’t have an ulterior motive. I know that if she were only out for my money she’d tell me that and still expect me to give it to her.”
Keith chuckled. “Yeah, and if you didn’t give it to her she’d probably take it from you. And she’s not like Sonya or those other women you’ve dated. She’s not from that crowd, if you know what I mean.”
Khalil nodded. “I know what you mean, but that doesn’t matter to me. I just like her. I got to spend some time with her last night and I think we’d be good together. I’m not the same when I’m with her.”