Tate touched the curve of her back. “Doesn’t it?”
She didn’t understand why he felt so comfortable to touch her but she didn’t mind.
Two heavyset, medium-brown women wearing lime green and black halter dresses with braids, waved at the couple.
“Wah gwaan,” the one with the corn rolls shouted.
“Hey!” Tate waved back, smiling from ear-to-ear.
He rattled off something in Pawta, which impressed Kayla with how well he’d picked up the language.
“This is Kayla.” He pointed to her while introducing the women.
“Hello.” The shorter woman smiled so big that her eyes sunk in her face.
“Hello.” Kayla waved. “Nice to meet you.”
“This is Kirby’s sister,” Tate said.
The women’s smiles disappeared, and they threw Kayla condolences through their thick accents.
“I appreciate that, thanks.” She sighed. “It’s fine. Everything’s fine.”
“Sorry about that,” Tate said. “You’ll get a lot of that while you’re here. Kirby was quite popular.” He urged her to the square table underneath the ceiling fan and helped her into her seat.
“A gentleman, huh?” Kayla hooked her purse on the back of the wooden chair.
“Well, it’s not every day I’m in the company of such a fascinating creature.” Tate sat across from her and laid his shades on the table. “You certainly give a strong first impression.”
“Sorry again for almost killing you.”
“I forgive you.” He sat back, grinning. “What do you think of the place?”
“Nice.” She examined the black scuff marks on the beige and white tile. “A lot of wood.” She tapped her fingers on the orange and white place mat. “It’s got charm.”
“This is Jamaica all the way.” Tate spread his arms out. “It’s the culture in one place.” He sniffed. “The aroma. You can smell every ingredient they use.”
“It’s intoxicating.” Kayla took in a strong whiff of cinnamon.
“What would you like?”
“I’m new here, remember?” She smirked, crossing her legs. “What would you recommend?”
“You can’t come to Jamaica and not have jerk chicken.”
“My grandmother made jerk chicken every once in a while when I was a kid.”
“No disrespect but I doubt hers was half as good as what you’d get in this place. So does that sound good? And some dessert?”
“Good as this place smells I’d eat a horse right now.”
Tate laughed and then shouted the order at the women who scurried to get the meals.
“It’s the middle of the day on a Tuesday,” Kayla said. “We’re the only ones here. You’d think there would be more people during lunch time.”
“It fills up in the evenings.” Tate moved the saltshaker out his way. “Most people are at work.”
“Do you work?”
He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “I work for myself.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m a tour guide.”
“What?” She laughed. “Get outta here.”
He wiggled his shoulders, snickering. “Why is that funny?”
“You never meet someone who is a tour guide.” She stroked her hair. “At least I haven’t.”
“It’s the best job in the world.” His bushy, golden eyebrows rose. “I get paid to show people around my city.”
“Hm.” She poked her lips out, nodding. “Your own tour company, huh?”
“Just me, myself, and I. I make good money doing what I love. How many people can say that?”
“You’re interesting for sure.”
“I promise to never bore you.” He stood, winking. “You got to be thirsty in this heat.” He went to the soda machine. “You like soda?”
“Who doesn’t?”
“Bet you never had Ting.” He got two cans out the machine and reclaimed his spot at the table. “Here you go.” He slid the green and yellow can toward her.
“What’s Ting?”
He popped open his can. “The soda of Jamaica. It’s delicious.” He slurped. “Made with grapefruit juice.”
“Smells kinda like Mountain Dew.” She sipped and a burst of sweet tartness invaded her mouth. “Whoa.”
“You like it?”
“It’s strong and sweet.” She licked the tangy drink from her lips. “Yeah, I like it. Kinda tastes like a cocktail.” She drank more, noticing his gaze on her. “What?”
“You want to ask me something don’t you?” Dimples sprouted from his high cheeks.
“I was just wondering something.” She crossed her arms on the table, situating her large breasts.
“I know what it is.” He turned the can around in his hand. “You’re wondering what a white guy with a Jersey accent is doing in Kingston in the first place, right?”
She swatted a fly off the table. “Why are you?”
He ran his hand through his curls. “I got bored in Jersey. It was the same old thing day in and day out. I needed adventure and I find plenty of those in Jamaica.”
She jerked, unprepared for the rush of desire flooding her body.
“You all right?”
“Yeah.” She straightened, clearing her throat. “Um, what types of adventures have you found here?”
“Stick around long enough and maybe I can show you.” His mouth rose in the corner, his stare intense yet controlled. “You’re a beautiful woman.”
“Jesus.” She dropped her head, desperate to rub anything against her pelvis. “It’s hot, huh?”
“Yeah.” Sweat drizzled down his muscular neck. “I have a feeling it’ll get hotter.”
CHAPTER 2
“T…thank you,” Kayla said.
Tate licked his lips. “For what?”
“For saying I’m beautiful.”
“Thank you for being beautiful.” He tilted his head. “This might sound like a line but when Kirby first showed me your picture I froze.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious.”
Three tall, lanky black men in flip-flops and lime green and black beanie caps, strolled in, taking notice of Kayla right away.
They snickered at her as they sat at the corner table by the soda machine.
She scoffed. “I see there are pigs everywhere in the world, huh?”
“You can’t blame them.” Tate sucked the soda can, making Kayla imagine how he’d suck something on her. “It’s not every day we see such beauty walking around.”
A high-pitched male voice called out from behind them.
Kayla sighed, facing the men.
One asked her something in Pawta and the other laughed.
“Hey,” Tate responded in their language.
The guys continued snickering.
“What?” Kayla asked. “What did he say?”
“Nothing a lady needs to hear.”
“What did he say?”
He rolled his eyes. “He says they wanna sleep with you.”
“You mean they want to fuck me.”
“You’re American?” the other man asked. “I hear about black American women.”
“Oh yeah?” Kayla hooked her arm on the back of her chair. “What do you hear?”
“You have big pussy.” The other guffawed. “Bet my friend and I can fill it. Give us a chance.”
“That’s enough,” Tate warned. “You want her thinking all Jamaicans are assholes like you?”
“We meant no harm.” One laughed, licking his tongue out at Kayla. “She’s pretty. We’re having fun with the pretty lady.”
“She’s not interested.”
Kayla turned back around. “How do you know?”
Tate puckered his lips to sip more soda. “Excuse me?”
“You just met me. I might be down for something like that.”
“By all means.” Tate gestured to the men. “If a threesome with some horny toads floats your boat…”
; She laughed.
“You’re something else. Kirby always said that.”
“I’m used to men hitting on me all the time.” Kayla flicked her hand. “An occupational hazard.”
“Ah, yeah. Kirby said you’re a bartender, right?”
“Yep. I get hit on a thousand times a day.”
“You don’t look like a bartender.”
She pondered his statement. “What does a bartender look like?”
“With the way you fix yourself up, I’d think you would do something more glamorous.”
“I love my job.” She tugged on the diamond stud in her ear. “I get to meet different people and hear their stories. Guess it’s my way of having adventures.”
He dipped his head. “I can appreciate that.”
“Did Kirby talk about me a lot?”
“All the time.”
“I’m shocked.”
“Even though you had a falling out, he still loved you. He went out every April on your birthday to celebrate it.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“No. He never missed it in the ten years he’d been living here. The thing is, he liked to do it alone. I guess it made him feel closer to you that way.”
“Why the hell didn’t he pick up the phone then?” She straightened the place mat. “We could’ve gotten past all the bullshit.”
“That’s the same thing he wondered about you. How come you never called him?”
“I wasn’t the one who ran off to Jamaica and never came back. That’s how Kirby always was, ran from his problems. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what got him killed.”
“Here you go.” A woman from the front counter brought their food. “Jerk chicken and vegetables.” She set the large plates in front of them. “And gizzada for dessert.” She lay a bowl of two small, round pastries in front of them. “Enjoy.” She vanished behind the curtain that separated the kitchen from the front of the restaurant.
“Oh, god.” Kayla’s loins exploded when she inhaled the chicken enriched in curry. “What’s a gizzada?” She picked up the flakey pastry.
“It’s like a doughnut.” Tate pulled the drumstick from his chicken. “It’s filled with a coconut mixture.”
“I love coconut.”
“I know.”
“Kirby told you?” She sniffed the pastry and bit into the little pocket of heaven. “Wow. I’ll gain a hundred pounds while I’m here if all the food is this good.”
“Try the chicken.”
She took a tiny bite of the drumstick, the curry, cinnamon, and peppers had a party in her mouth. “My god. I…” She moaned. “I think I’m having an orgasm.”
Tate covered his mouth as he laughed. “Glad you like it.”
“Is all the food in Jamaica this good or is it just this place?”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Tate ate green beans. “Why didn’t you reach out to Kirby? Someone had to make the first move.”
She sliced into the plantain, eager to taste one. “This tastes like a potato.” She munched. “I thought it would taste like a banana.”
“You avoiding my question?”
“Kirby wasn’t the easiest person to talk to, and he held a grudge like nobody’s business. I didn’t know how to approach him. He said awful things the last time we spoke.”
“I don’t have siblings, but I have family back in Jersey. I speak to them all the time and I can’t imagine going ten years without communication. It must’ve been lonely not having your brother.”
“I have my girl Malissa.” She chewed the soft carrots. “She’s like a sister.”
“I bet there wasn’t a day that went by where you didn’t miss Kirby.”
“I take responsibility for not resolving things.” She sipped soda. “I almost died when I got that call about what happened. Who would want to murder Kirby and in such a vicious way?”
“He was a loan officer.” Tate chewed with his chin in the air. “So he had enemies because he always turned people down for loans and stuff like that.”
“I spoke to Inspector Wright before I got here but he was clueless and I doubt he’s doing a damn thing to solve this case.”
“He’s doing his best, but it takes time if there are no leads.”
“That’s why I’m here. I’m not waiting in Jacksonville, Florida, playing guessing games about who killed my brother. I’m not the type to sit back. When I want something to happen, I do it.”
He smiled, poking his veggies with his fork. “Another thing Kirby said about you.”
“I owe it to Kirby to do my best to find out the truth.” She chewed the moist, succulent chicken. “We wasted so much time apart.”
He moved his tongue around in his mouth. “I hear you.”
“I need your help with this.” She touched his large, soft hand. “Who should I talk to? I wanna know everyone who is involved with Kirby.”
“Guess you can start with Kirby’s girlfriend Sakina Henry. He was with her for about five years. She might know something.” He wrapped his fingers around her hand. “I’ll take you to meet her tonight after she gets off work.”
“Thanks.” She pulled her hand away. “I’m glad Kirby had a friend like you.”
“YES, YES, LADIES.” Tate stood aside as the group of elderly female tourists loaded his small bus. “We’re gonna have one heck of an adventure!”
The women giggled and snapped pictures as they tottered up the bus steps.
“Be careful there.” Tate helped the one who favored her hip. “We don’t want anyone getting hurt before we have fun do we?”
“No,” the tourists shouted.
“Are you ready?” Tate jumped on the bus. “Now, I’ll go over the guidelines you have in the brochure so—”
“Tate?” Jewel Ryder stood at the doorway of the bus.
“I don’t believe this.” He exhaled. “What do you want, Jewel?” He laid his backpack by the driver’s seat. “We’re getting ready to leave.”
“I need to talk to you,” she said with an Australian accent that used to make his dick hard but now just disgusted him. “It won’t wait.” She glared at him with those passionate, olive-green eyes.
“Ladies?” He turned to the tourists whose mouths were wide open as if they were watching porn. “I’ll be right back.”
“But we paid for a four o’clock tour,” said the frail, blue-haired woman with the crooked fingers. “That’s what we expect to get.”
“Ma’am.” He faked a smile. “This won’t take long and we’ll have a lovely adventure. Excuse me.” He hopped off the bus, grabbing Jewel’s skinny arm.
“Hey.” She twisted in his grip as he dragged her into his tiny office located in the temporary building. “What the fuck do you want?” He pushed her into his desk littered with papers and fast food wrappers. “These church ladies from Chicago paid for an evening tour and they’re not the kind to wait.”
“Neither am I.” She sashayed toward him, her small cleavage jutting from the sleeveless, plaid blouse. “Look how you look at my breasts, Tate. Even now you wanna suck them don’t you?”
“Get out of my face.” He passed her petite curves, inhaling her apricot perfume. “Everything you do is manipulation, Jewel.”
“What are you talking about?” Her long, stringy, blonde ponytail swung when she shook her head. “I’m not running a game on you.”
“I don’t give a shit what you’re doing or what you want. There’s nothing between us anymore and I told you that. I want you to leave me alone. How many times do I have to say it?”
“A hundred million fuckin’ times because I don’t believe it.”
“Oh, god.” He stood by the water dispenser, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I’m living a nightmare.”
“How do you think I feel?” She touched her chest. “We were together three years, and you act like it was nothing. I wanted to spend my life with you.”
“You should’ve thought about that before you had an affair.”
> “I was wrong.” Her narrow nostrils flared. “It was a mistake and I’ll spend the rest of my life regretting it.”
“Fucking a guy one time is a mistake. Not an affair of six months.” He stormed toward the desk. “Besides, I’m over this and I’m over you.”
“I’m dying without you.” She approached the desk, tapping her long fingernails on top of it. “It’s like I don’t have a purpose anymore. Please.” She moved behind the desk.
He waltzed to the door. “Don’t come near me.”
“Why not?” Her bangs rose when she flexed her forehead. “Because you still want me?”
“We’re not doing this anymore.” He slapped his palms together. “Leave me the fuck alone or I’ll go to the police.”
She laughed. “For what?”
“For you harassing me. I’m not playing with you.”
“You need me now.” She held a close-lipped smile. “Especially after losing Kirby. You have no one else.”
“I’d rather be alone than to be around you again.”
“You don’t mean that.” She walked to him, clutching his T-shirt. “I love you, Tate. No man has ever made me feel the way you do.”
“You should’ve thought of that when you were riding another guy’s cock.” He pried her hands from his shirt. “I never want to see you again.”
“No.” She stood back, crossing her arms. “I won’t let you treat me like I never existed. You loved me as much as I loved you and I’m gonna remind your ass of it every chance I get.”
She stomped out the doorway, skirt swinging.
CHAPTER 3
“I wish I knew what to tell you.” Sakina Henry reclined on her suede, living room couch, her corn rolls resembling a maze across her head. “I’ve been wracking my brains trying to figure things out.”
Kayla and Tate sat in the wicker chairs on the other side of the coffee table with Kayla struggling to make out Sakina’s words. The twenty-nine-year-old’s accent was so thick it sounded as if she were speaking straight Pawta.
“It’s been a month, but each day is excruciating to not wake up with Kirby by my side.” Sakina’s white teeth glowed against her dark-chocolate skin.
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