by Vivian Ward
Before I made the decision to come back to St. Louis, I spent every penny that I could trying to stay in Vegas. I looked for another job, but it seemed like I always applied right as the position was being filled, and it usually being filled with one of my old co-workers at that. What if the same thing happens all over again?
Aside from the Trent and Zack situation, having a job that I hated was another small part of the equation as to why I left. I worked the night shift answering phones for an insurance company who handled 24-hour claims. It didn’t pay well, and there weren’t many people to talk to which kind of bothered me because I’m a people person.
To purchase a plane ticket and have my personal belongings shipped back home, I had to sell my car. It was a last minute decision, and I hated doing it, but I had to because I was broke. Actually, I’m still broke. It cost almost everything I had to get here and have my things forwarded. Of course, I didn’t tell my father the real reason was that I was penniless.
No, I told him that it made sense to just sell my car since I was moving back so that I didn’t have to worry about getting it back home and that I could car shop for something new.
“Have a little fun. You just got home, and you haven’t even had a minute to have a meal with me or hang out with your friends. You can borrow my car if you need to, and if push comes to shove, you can get a rental car until you find the one you want.”
“Thanks, dad. Speaking of, do you mind if I borrow your car tomorrow? I would like to visit Karli and try on my bridesmaid dress to make sure it fits.”
I had taken my measurements in Vegas and texted them to Karli so that she could give them to her seamstress. I hope that I did them correctly because we won’t have enough time to do any major alterations before the wedding.
“Sure. How long do you think you’ll have it? I wanted to play bridge with my pals tomorrow evening.”
“Oh, tomorrow evening?”
Shit, I was hoping he wouldn’t ask me anything about tomorrow evening.
“If you need it, I can cancel I suppose.”
“No, Dad, you keep your plans.”
“Aww, I don’t want my baby sitting at home when she could be doing things. Maybe I can cancel this week’s game,” he offers.
“I won’t be sitting at home,” I blurt out. I don’t want him to cancel his weekly gathering with his friends. “Actually, I’m supposed to meet up with Trent,” he immediately perks up and arches his eyebrow when I say Trent’s name. “It’s nothing, really. Just a dinner date.”
“A dinner date? Shouldn’t he be coming to pick you up then?” He chuckles and nudges me with his arm. “You know, I sure would love to see you two together. He’s such a good boy.”
“Dad, he’s hardly a boy. He’s a grown man.”
“A grown man with lots of money and plenty of businesses. You wouldn’t have to work if you ended up with him,” a glimmer of hope twinkles in his eye. “You could stay home, make me a few grandbabies, and live the good life.”
“You know I’m not about the money. I’ve never been like that,” I snap.
“No, dear. I didn’t say you were. I’m thinking more about your old man. These medications the doctor has me on get expensive, and I could use a few bucks,” he teases me.
I know his words are harmless and he doesn’t really mean them, and he doesn’t expect me to be with Trent. But I also know there’s a hint of truth in it. He would like to see us together, and he would like me to be taken care of.
“I’ll give him a call later and ask if he’ll pick me up, and I shouldn’t be at Karli’s too long. I’m just going to try on my dress and do a little catching up.”
“You finish getting settled in, and I’ll start some dinner,” he shuts the door behind him as he leaves.
I would never admit this to anyone—okay, maybe to Karli—but I am excited about going on a dinner date with Trent. Sure, I played it off as no big deal to my dad, but in reality, I feel nauseous just thinking about it. I can’t wait to see Karli and see what she thinks about everything.
Chapter 3
“Girl, that dress looks fantastic on you!” Karli compliments me as I step out of the bathroom with my bridesmaid dress on.
“You think so?” I smooth the wrinkles out of the bottom of the dress. “It’s a little tight around the middle. Maybe we should see about letting it out a couple of inches around the waist.”
“Nah, I like it. Looks good on you, but you’ve always had a nice figure. Some of us,” she waves her hands down the length of her body, “have to work for what we want. We’re not all blessed with what God gave us.”
“You’re so ate up,” I toss a throw pillow at her. “I’m going to change out of this thing before I end up ripping it.”
“I’m going to fix some ice cream. You want some?” she calls into the bathroom as I change back into my sweats.
“What kind?”
“Chocolate fudge brownie.”
“Yeah, I’ll take some.”
I am dying to tell her about Trent, but I don’t want to be rude. She is so busy telling me about all of her wedding plans and showing me all of the colors that I can’t stop her from bragging about her big day.
“So has Chris picked out all of his groomsmen? I remember you telling me that he was debating between two people for the last spot” I shovel a heaping scoop of ice cream into my mouth as if that’s going to somehow make me slimmer to fit into the already-tight dress I need to wear.
“He’s had them picked out for a while, but his cousin Dwayne backed out on him, so he had to refill the spot.”
“That sucks; glad he could get someone to do it. Who’s it going to be?”
“Trent Richardson,” she says giving me some serious side eye, grinning at me.
I almost choke to death on my ice cream, and it feels like I am going to pass out. Coughing on the massive chunk of brownie that is still lodged in my throat, I struggle for air.
“Are you okay?” she asks, beating on my back.
“Yeah,” I try to swallow. “Can you get me a glass of water?”
It feels like the chunk of brownie is never going to dislodge itself and it’s burning my throat.
“Here,” she hands me a cup of water. “What happened?”
“Oh my God, girl. You could at least warn me that you’re trying to kill me!”
“Sorry. It was the Trent thing, wasn’t it?” she laughs.
“Mmmhhmm,” I crinkle my face. “When were you going to tell me?”
“Honestly, I didn’t think it would be a big deal until you told me about your date with him when we talked on the phone last night. Which, by the way, you never gave me any real details about anything so start spilling it.”
“I was going to! I’ve been dying to tell you all day, but you were so busy talking about the wedding that I didn’t want to interrupt you.” The look on her face tells me that she is going to murder me if I don’t get on with the news. “Okay, so my dad had him pick me up from the airport and from there, he took me out to lunch.”
“Wait a minute. You didn’t tell me that the two of you went out to lunch. Where did you go? What happened?”
I throw my head back, resting it on the overstuffed cushions of her couch and smile. “It wasn’t just any lunch. Karli, he even remembered my favorite restaurant—and remembered what I ordered! When I was with him, it was like I was a teenager all over again. It was an amazingly simple, yet incredible lunch date.”
“Do you think you’ll…you know? Hook up?”
“That’s the thing! I have to go out with him on a dinner date tonight, and that’s what I’m most worried about.” I roll my head off the back of the couch and look her square in the eye. “You remember how those boys used to chase me back in the day? I don’t know if I can keep him at bay. It was hard enough as a teenager with all of those horny ass hormones raging through my body, but now? Girl, a sista has got to get laid!”
“I know that’s right!” we high-five each o
ther in agreement.
“Oh! My clothes are still in route from Vegas, and I don’t really have anything nice to wear tonight. Could I borrow something of yours?”
“What’d you have in mind? I love playing dress up!” she motions for me to follow her into her bedroom. “Do you know where the two of you are going?”
“I think he’s trying to impress a new client or he’s trying to get this guy to be a client or something of the sorts,” I say as she flips on the light to her closet. “Anything nice will do.”
“You’re straight trippin’. I’ll have you looking smokin’ hot!” she calls from inside the closet. “Do you like red?”
“Depends. What do you have?”
She promenades out of the closet showcasing an exotic red dress if that’s what you want to call it. There is hardly anything to it; I can see more open space than I do thread.
“Oh, no! I can’t wear that,” I protest. “I’ll look like a slut!”
“I guarantee if you wear this, he will not be able to take his eyes off of you! You’ve got to wear this.”
“What else do you have?”
“A black and gray pencil skirt that I wear when I go to the library,” she draws her lips into a hard line as she rests her hand on her hip. “Now you’re going to wear this, and you’re going to look hot.” She pauses for a second and snaps her fingers, “I’ve got the perfect heels for these too!”
“You know, maybe I should just go shopping and buy something. I’d hate to spill anything on your—”
“Here!” she materializes from inside the closet with a pair of candy apple red pumps. “These will match perfectly. And don’t be ridiculous! You won’t ruin it, and if you do, it won’t be from a spill. It’ll be because he’s shredding it to get to what’s under it!” she squeals.
“You are way too excited. What the hell’s gotten into you?” I laugh.
“Listen, I love Chris and all, but you’re still single. You can play the field and have fun. Before I know it, my playing days will be over once I say, ‘I do.’ Actually, they already are,” she holds up her ring finger.
Her face that was lit up seconds ago seems as though she’s seen a ghost. I have never seen her like this, and it worries me. She was elated to show me all of her wedding stuff when I walked through the door. It is like someone had flipped a switch.
“You okay?” I ask her.
“Yeah. I’m good,” she snaps out of it. “I’m a little nervous. That’s all.” She holds out the dress and heels. “You should wear this tonight, have some fun and tell me all about it. I’ll be rooting for you,” she smiles.
“I love you,” I hug her. “And I’ll be careful with it. I should probably get out of here so I can go home and get ready. Thanks again!”
“Love you more,” she squeezes me back. “Have fun and do everything that I wouldn’t do!”
That’s one of the things I love about her. She has a heart of gold, and while she’s loyal and committed to her man, she loves to see others go out and have fun. She’s always lived vicariously through me because out of the two of us, I’m the risk-taker.
I am so grateful that my dad isn’t home while I am getting ready for my date. He left almost as soon as I got back to go play cards with his friends, giving me the privacy that I am accustomed to. Living on your own for five years and then suddenly having a roommate can cause a bit of shell shock and it is going to take me a minute to adjust.
Plus, there is the fact that I don’t want him to see what I am going to be wearing when Trent comes to pick me up. I am having second thoughts about wearing this dress until I realize how late it already is and I know I don’t have much of a choice in the matter. I apply a thin layer of red lipstick to my plump lips and rub them together as the doorbell starts to ring.
That must be Trent.
Making my way to the door, I attempt to pull down my dress to make it a few inches longer, but all it does is expose my cleavage. That damned Karli. I’m going to kill her for talking me into this. I grab the top of the dress and tuck my girls back in before I open the door.
“Hey,” I say, locking the door behind me as I step out onto the porch.
“Wow! You look incredible! Don’t we need to go back inside for something?”
“Why?” I ask.
“One, it would make the date last longer because you look so beautiful,” he steps into my personal space and cups my face with his hand, “and two, I could do bad things to you.”
I am speechless.
Trent has always been the good one; he was never bold or daring, but he tonight he is both of these things, and then some. I can feel the heat radiating from my core and can feel myself becoming wet as he stares at me; he is dead serious.
“I think we should get going. You don’t want your new business partner getting any wrong impressions about you or your business.”
I’m trying to keep things moving along, but damn if it isn’t hard. Almost impossible. He looks and smells just as incredible.
“Right,” he leaps in front of me and opens the car door. “Ladies first,” he bows and holds his arm out for me.
As I start to get in, I see something in the seat.
“What is this?” I smile as I bend down.
It is a coupon book filled with handmade coupons to Helen’s. There must be two dozen coupons in the book that had been printed off of the computer. They all say the same thing, and they read: Offer valid for one lunch or dinner date. Redeemable any time.
“I know it’s your favorite place and judging by the way we had such a great time there, I thought maybe we could go back sometime.”
“Sometimes? Or a couple of dozen times?” I tease.
It really is such a sweet gesture, but I know these aren’t meant for friendly dates. Trent has always wanted more, but so has his brother which is why I’ve always said no to both of them.
“The way I see it, this is my sly way of sneaking in another date with you.”
“Well played.”
Even though I’m sitting in a cool, air-conditioned leather seat, the car feels hot. Too hot.
You know you’d totally do him. You could find out if the locker room rumors were right in high school and see if his dick’s really as big as everyone says it is.
Oh great, here we go. Slutty Joline cannot make her appearance right now. No, no, no! She’ll get me into trouble. There was a reason why I always said that I’d never date either of the Richardson boys, and I have to keep reminding myself of that. We go back too far, we have too much history, too much friendship.
And here I am. On a date with one of them. How did this even happen?
Suddenly, I can sense his eyes on me which makes me nervously shift in the seat. The next light we come to is a red light, and without a single word, Trent reaches over and interlaces his fingers with mine and begins holding my hand. It feels good, and I like it, so I decide not to say anything and instead, embrace it.
Regardless of the past, we are on a date now, and there’s no denying that I like it. Besides, I haven’t seen either one of them in years. For all I know, Zack has a woman and has forgotten all about me.
It’s been a long time.
He looks over at me before the light turns and notices that I have goosebumps.
“Are you cold? I can turn the air down.”
I shake my head. “They’re not from the car.”
He flashes a brilliant smile at me and brings my hand to his lips and kisses it softly.
“You know, Joline, I can’t tell you how many years I’ve wanted to date you. You’ve always been so beautiful; even as a little girl with skinned up knees, I thought you were pretty.”
Oh, he’s good.
I can feel myself blushing, and I try to refrain from smiling, but I can’t help it.
“There’s my girl. That’s what I like to see,” he presses the gas pedal.
At dinner, he introduces me to his new business partner before they begin discussing boring bus
iness plans, leases, and investment dividends. I think I am going to fall asleep through all of the dull details until I feel his hand on my knee below the table.
Uh, hello! Bring your hand a little higher; I’ve got something for you that’s much better than my thigh.
That’s when I notice that I’m doing it again. I’m letting Slutty Joline take over again.
Come on, Joline! Don’t even go there. You know damn well in hell that this ish is wrong. You shouldn’t even be on this dinner date, but you are. Be a good girl.
But all of the martinis that I’d had through dinner, and am still drinking, are beginning to take their toll on me. I feel tipsy; a little bubbly and a lot more relaxed. Trent and his new client seem to be having a good time; though, Trent and I could be having a better time together if we were alone.
Who knows? Maybe his client is the only thing that’s keeping me sweet during our date because I have to admit, I am horny as hell and want to climb and mount him. If it weren’t for the schmooze across the table with his much younger—too young, actually—wife, I bet Trent, and I would be having a dinner that isn’t on the menu.
Even while he is busy entertaining his new client, he didn’t let that stop him from flirting and teasing me. Every time I look over at him, I catch him looking at me from the corner of his eye and his hand keeps periodically wandering up my leg, stopping short of my thighs each time he does it. Teasing me just enough to make me ache for more. It might be a simple business dinner, but I am having one of the best dates I’ve had in a long time.
“Thank you so much for your business, Mr. Grant. We should be heading home for the evening. I’ll have my secretary fax over the revised contract in the morning, and then we’ll get everything squared away.”
“Sounds good, and it was nice to meet you,” he extends his hand out to me.
“Likewise, and it was nice meeting you,” I say to his wife as I feel Trent’s big, warm hand slide up my bare, naked back.
Shivers run through my body.
Strolling through the parking lot, Trent reaches over as we are glancing up at the moon and takes my hand in his.