by Nana Prah
“Fine. I won’t argue with you. I’ll see you at five.”
“Now you’re learning to how to deal with a woman. Agree with everything we say, and life is smooth sailing.”
He chuckled. “You’re the master teacher.” He hung up, leaving her heart soaring.
She stretched and yawned. Work had been hectic. There must have been an aphrodisiac snuck into the water nine to ten months ago, because women were delivering like crazy. Each night she’d worked, there’d been no less than fifteen deliveries. The nurse manager had to schedule two extra midwives.
She lay back down to sleep for another hour, and then she’d get ready to meet temptation incarnate.
***
Adam was riveted by Esi as she slid behind the wheel of a Toyota Corolla. The car was in mint condition and in her price range. Observing her, he was unable to decipher if she liked it or not. The combination of each of her lovely features gave her the whole effect of beauty. How could he have thought she was somewhat pretty? Stunning would be the best word to describe her.
When they weren’t together, his thoughts were inundated with her. The other night when he’d watched her saving the baby and then the mother, he’d never respected another woman more.
He’d landed himself in dangerous territory by hanging around her so much. The more he got to know her, the more he liked her. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but it scared him. Being with her in a capacity that hinted of commitment wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.
His extensive experiences with women had taught him one major lesson—they had no regard for anyone but themselves. That’s not true about Esi. He hushed the small voice in his head.
She turned to him. “Let’s take it for a drive.”
The owner of the car gave her the keys and sat in the back, allowing Adam to get in the front. He slid the seat back as far as it would go so his long legs could fit, and then fastened the seatbelt.
She backed out of the lot and drove around until she was satisfied. After parking, they got out of the car, and she turned towards the owner. “Can we please have a moment to talk?”
“Why not?” The man wandered towards the harbor.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s perfect.”
His heart skipped beat. He hated how he reveled in seeing her happy. “I’m glad you like it.”
She cocked her head. “You have a wonderful way of showing your joy. Could you scowl a little bit more?”
He wiped a hand down his face and bared his teeth in a fake smile. “Is that better?”
She waved both hands in front of her. “Put it away.”
His smile turned real.
“That’s better.” Her gaze held steady, and their attraction ignited. As he started to move in for a kiss, she turned and pointed to the owner. “Um, can you talk him down on the price?”
He chucked her under the chin. “Anything for you.” He froze as he realized he’d meant the words. If she asked, he would try to move heaven and earth to do what she wanted.
This friendship must come to an end. Today! He couldn’t handle the need to be with her. She’d burrowed herself under his skin like the larvae of a damn hookworm. Getting any closer would be too much of a risk. The outcome would never end up in his favor.
He cleared his throat. “Let’s go get you a good deal. It’s about time you chose one. You’re one picky woman.”
“No. I’m discerning.”
“You’re a pain in the ass,” he teased.
She poked his shoulder. “No less than you are.”
Their banter pleased him. The small shake of his head brought back his conviction. How could he forget the vow he’d made less than a minute ago? Having no more contact with Esi would be best for both of them. He couldn’t give her what she wanted, and he had no desire for what she offered.
Moving forward, he hardened himself to resist her charms.
Time to protect his heart.
***
Esi needed help. There was no answer when she called Ora. She then proceeded to contact Jason, her brothers, all the people she tended to count on for assistance. Even her unfriendly cousin Henry would do in this pinch. She stared at the phone. It was two o’clock on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Where the heck was everyone?
She sighed and dialed the number she’d wanted to avoid at all costs. Esi hadn’t seen nor heard from Adam since they’d found her car on Thursday. She was still processing the paperwork, so she wasn’t driving it yet. If she’d had the car, she wouldn’t be in the predicament of having to contact him.
To her relief and horror, he picked up.
“Can you please come pick me up?” She attempted to keep her tone level so he wouldn’t know how happy she was to hear his deep baritone voice. She’d missed him.
“Can’t you call someone else? I’m getting ready to go out.” She heard shuffling in the background and wondered what he was doing.
She clenched her jaw. “Don’t flatter yourself by thinking you were the first person I called. You were last on my list of people to ask for help.” The wretched man had an uncanny skill for infuriating her with just a few words. “In fact, never mind. I don’t need you. Sorry to have bothered you.” She clicked off.
Throwing the phone so it smashed against the wall wouldn’t help, so she slammed it into her bag. She’d better get going. It would be a long walk home from the mall. Her cell phone rang. Quarshie. She had half a mind to ignore it, but her feet were already aching, and she hadn’t even left the parking lot.
The hardness of his voice raised the hair on the back of her neck. “Don’t ever hang up on me.”
Esi snapped her ear away from the phone making sure Quarshie’s name showed up on the screen. She’d managed to anger the easygoing playboy.
“I’m sorry I hung up. It’s just that you—”
He cut her off with, “What do you need?”
She’d keep her temper this time. “A ride from Accra Mall to my house.”
“Why?”
Looking up at the cloudless sky, she wished she could get out of the situation without having to explain. “I had a date with a guy Ora set me up with. We got into a little, um, argument, and he left without paying the bill. I used all the money I had on me to settle it, leaving me with no cash for transport. Not even a trotro. I didn’t think to bring my ATM card.”
He sighed. “There’s little traffic, so I’ll be there in thirty minutes. I have an appointment at three, so you’ll have to come with me.”
She curled her toes, relieved she didn’t have to walk home. She liked her feet blister free. “Fine.” With an effort she added, “Thank you.”
She went into the mall, deciding to pass the time by doing a little window shopping. What was wrong with her life? How come she couldn’t meet a good man? Finding love had to be easier than she’d experienced so far.
Being in the mall with no money depressed her, so she’d left before their scheduled time to meet. When Adam pulled up twenty-five minutes later, she slid into the passenger seat.
“Thanks for coming to get me.”
He grunted.
She fidgeted with her bag, skirt, and even the window control in the edgy atmosphere. She didn’t know how to dispel the tension their earlier exchange had created.
After a few minutes on the motorway, he spoke. “What did you and your date fight about?”
Relieved he’d broken the silence, she turned as far as the restrictive seat belt would allow to face him. “He said women shouldn’t work once they got married.”
A short sharp whistle left his lips. “Oh, boy.”
“I have no problem with the concept of it, as long as it’s the woman’s choice and the man makes enough to support her. He said a woman’s place was in the home, not in the workplace. Then he started spouting off about how the demise of Ghanaian society was due to women wanting to be independent instead of under the rule of men like they should be.”
This tim
e his neck muscles flexed as he drew down his lower lip. “Uh, oh.”
She flared her arms all over the place as she spoke. “And so I had to educate his ignorant self on women’s rights and how much independent women contribute to the running of this country…of the world, really.”
He glanced at her. “Ora set you up with him?”
“I’m sure she’s never seen his chauvinistic pig side. He couldn’t handle the argument, so he got up and left. I pity the woman who ends up with him.”
“I’m sure he’s thinking the same thing about you.”
After her last boyfriend, she’d decided she must be the cause of all these bad relationships. Wasn’t she the common denominator? Perhaps, she hadn’t found her man because she wasn’t good enough. Her mouth set into a frown of self-pity. Her voice came out small. “Do you pity the man who ends up with me?” Even though she didn’t respect his lifestyle, his opinion had come to mean a lot to her.
“He would be one lucky bastard. Sure, you’re stubborn. You have a smart mouth. Your temper can flair up. You’re rather judgmental—”
She held up a hand. “How is this supposed to help me?”
“I was getting to that. Add impatient to the list. Even though you’re all of these frustrating things, there is so much good in you it cancels out the negative. Making you someone worthy of marrying.”
“What good?” She could rival the fishermen in Cape Coast as she tried to reel in more information about what he thought about her.
His sigh came out more of a grumble. “Don’t tell my mother, but you cook better than her.”
She laughed, feeling better already. “Our secret.”
“You’re kind and gentle with your patients. I don’t understand why you can’t extend that courtesy to me.” He turned to glare at her and then returned his gaze to the road. “Intelligent. Beautiful. You don’t let people get away with nonsense, and that would be helpful to a man who didn’t know how to deal with people.”
The tingles massaging her skin were as delicious as all of the kind words he’d shared. “What about the man himself? I wouldn’t let him get away with behaving poorly.”
“No. You’d help to make him a better person. He may not like that quality about you initially. God knows I didn’t,” he mumbled, “but he’ll learn to appreciate it.”
Her heart constricted. He’d stupefied her. She wanted to lean over the console and kiss him. His cheeks, his chin, his gorgeous nose, but most of all the full lips which were saying such wonderful things about her.
She cleared her throat. “Thank you.”
His glance darted to hers as the atmosphere became charged with an energy that had her mentally willing him to stop the car so she could crawl onto his lap and….
“You’re welcome.” He returned his attention to the road.
She longed for his touch anywhere on her body. Even a benign brush of her hand would help to ease this intense desire sitting unfulfilled within her. He burrowed deeper into her heart with each of their encounters. There were so many times over the past couple of days where she’d contemplated calling him, but she’d kept her distance. He wasn’t the marrying kind of guy, while all she sought was matrimony and never the twain should meet.
He turned off the motorway.
“Where are we going? Please don’t tell me you’re taking me on one of your dates.”
“No, Esi. That would’ve been last night.” The drollness he applied to the words should have warned her he wasn’t serious. It didn’t stop a stab of jealousy from striking her speechless.
Feeling she could finally speak with a normal voice, she asked, “You had a date last night?”
He glanced at her. “Why? Does it bother you that I go on dates, too?”
She crossed her arms over then released them. “I was just asking.”
“I didn’t, and I’m not taking you with me on one now. Although, I have always wanted to try a three-way.”
“Not with me buddy. Not in this lifetime.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Okay, then how about a two-way. Just you and me.”
Her lower abdomen quivered at the thought of being with him. “No, thanks.”
“The offer is always on the table if you change your mind.”
“We’re friends, Quarshie. That’s all.” She made a horizontal cut through the air with her hands to emphasize her point. “There isn’t even a table to put it on.”
“What about a bed? Chair? Mmm. A countertop? I know there’s a wall.”
She burst out laughing. The man was incorrigible.
A couple of minutes later, he pulled into an orphanage. “What are we doing here?”
The full impact of his gaze met hers, and her skin felt flushed.
“This is where I have my three o’clock appointment.”
Chapter Seventeen
Adam didn’t tell many people about his work at the orphanage. He preferred to be known as a one-dimensional, shallow man whose sole purpose in life was to seek the pleasures of life. It made dealing with people easier.
If he hadn’t been on the cusp of being late, he would’ve dropped Esi off at home. After experiencing tremendous hardships in their short lives, the children needed stability. Being consistent about keeping promises helped them to know not everyone would disappoint them.
Who was he kidding? He could’ve given her money to take a taxi home, but he wanted her with him. Ever since she’d found her car, it’d been his intention to stay as far away from her as possible. Physically, he’d succeeded. But she’d reserved a permanent presence in his mind which perturbed him.
No woman had ever affected him like this. Not even Lynette—the woman who’d captured and broken his heart so completely he could never trust another female again. What had Esi said? She would kick Lynette’s ass if she ever met her. He didn’t doubt she’d keep her word.
She was getting too close, and he didn’t know how to stop it from happening because he liked it. He couldn’t give her what she needed, but he enjoyed having her in his life.
Four children surrounded his car with excited shouts of, “Uncle Adam.”
He hugged them as a group when he got out. “How’s everyone doing?”
A chorus of, “We are fine,” rang out.
He looked over at her standing with her mouth agape. He chuckled at the adorable, flustered-looking woman.
“I don’t think you want the flies to get in do you?”
She snapped her mouth closed with a clash of teeth.
“This is my friend, Aunty Esi.” He removed a baseball cap from one of the kids and held it out of his reach as he jumped for it. “This is Kwame.” He gave the boy back his hat. “This intelligent young lady is Lydia. Prosper is the handsome boy with the glasses, and Ekow is the shy one over there jumping up and down.”
Ekow frowned. “I’m not shy.”
Adam rested a hand over his heart. “What was I thinking? I meant to say enthusiastic.”
The children, ranging in age from four to fifteen, laughed as they curtsied or bowed to greet her. The orphanage had earned a meticulous reputation for providing an exceptional education for the children and this had included teaching manners. The children marched to the car without having to be told and each grabbed a bag from the trunk when he unlocked it. In an orderly manner, they walked to the building.
Esi swiveled her head from the children’s backs to him. “What’s going on?”
They moved towards where the brood had disappeared. “I’m dropping off some things.”
“You knew their names, and they….” She wrapped her arms around herself. “They hugged you.”
A smile he didn’t want to stop crept onto his lips. “They’re mine.”
“You adopted them?”
He stopped walking to look straight into her eyes. “I have no desire to be a single father. They do a good job of raising them here. Maybe if I were to ever get…you know...I would adopt a couple of them. They’re good kids who got a ra
w deal in life.”
“I…You…They….”
“It’s fascinating to see you stumbling over your words,” he teased.
She swatted his arm. “How often do you come here?”
His lips twitched at the memory of her phenomenal kisses. Instead of showing her just how much he’d missed her, he lead them to the orphanage. “At least once a month. Sometimes more. I’ve claimed financial responsibility for those four and another one you have yet to meet.” He hitched a shoulder to let her know it really wasn’t a big deal. He had the resources, so why not utilize them for a worthy cause? “I volunteer my time here, too. Sometimes the children want to play games. Often times, one or two of them have an issue they want to talk about. I’m here for whatever they need.”
She pressed two fingers to each of her temples and rubbed. “How long have you been doing this?”
“About four years.”
“That’s a long time to commit to a project. How did you start?”
They’d reached a large, open room where at least fifty children sat performing various activities, being supervised by a few adults. Some watched a Pixar movie on the flat screen television, others played board games, while the majority sat in clusters, talking and reading books.
“Good afternoon.” Adam waved to the room. The children paused in their activities to look at him, and returned the greeting.
A three year old girl ran up to him and stretched her arms up. “Untal Adam. Up.”
He lifted her. “How are you today, Abena?”
“I’m fine.”
Adam used his shoulder to wipe the child’s generous spray of saliva off his face. She’d been a little forceful with the F.
“I hope you’ve been a good girl this week.”
Abena nodded, making her little braids bob up and down.
“Good.”
They walked into the throng of children. A little boy of about eight pulled on his trouser leg. “Uncle Adam. You promised to play Snakes and Ladders today. I have the board set up.”
Adam turned to Esi. “Up for a game?”
“As long as they understand I play to win.”