“I don’t have long today. I have a dinner party to go to. I was hoping you could come.”
“I can’t,” Darien said. “I have to get ready for tomorrow. I wish I could. I’d like to meet some of the people in your life.”
Safire pouted, disappointed.
“Don’t worry. My people aren’t all risqué like me.”
He must have seen her disappointment because he reached for her hand and rubbed her fingers. “Next time.”
“And I’ll give you more warning.”
He nodded.
Safire noticed someone watching her and turned. “Hey, I know him,” she said. “And I have to get something from him. Do you mind if I go say hello?”
“Of course not,” Darien said. “I’ll be here.”
Safire walked over to the other table and greeted an old friend, Roger, who was sitting alone.
After a cursory hug, Roger pulled out a chair for her and Safire sat down, saying that she couldn’t stay because she was on a date. She looked at Darien and waved, smiling. Roger was a paralegal in another office. He was consulting with one of her bosses on a case, and Safire needed the paperwork.
“We’ve made all the copies from the relevant cases,” Roger said. “I’ll have a courier bring them over to you tomorrow.”
“That’ll give me time to get the exhibits done.”
Safire got up to leave, but Roger got a hold of her hand. “So when do I get to see you again?”
Safire laughed it off and then said, “I’m spoken for.” She nodded her head toward Darien, who was looking at her with some displeasure written over his face. She smiled at him, glad to see that he was a little jealous over her, and turned back to Roger. “But I can set you up with one of my girls.”
“As long as it’s not Camilla,” he said, and they laughed. Camilla had met Roger, and the two had not gotten along.
“We’ll see,” she said and winked at him before leaving.
“Did you get what you needed?” Darien asked.
“He’s going to have a courier bring it over tomorrow.”
“Oh, I didn’t know it was work. I thought maybe he was an ex.”
“Well, technically...” Safire winced. “It didn’t last.”
“He still seems interested in you.”
“He did ask me out,” she said. Yes, Darien was definitely jealous over her. This meant that he really was into her. The thought made Safire smile.
“I hope you told him no,” Darien said.
Safire put her hands on her hips. “Now, don’t be telling me who I can and can’t see or how to run my life,” she said. But she couldn’t hold the attitude and broke down laughing. “What do you think I said?”
“I don’t know what you said, but I did see him holding your hand.”
“Aw, you’re jealous.” She smiled again.
Darien shrugged. “I just don’t like what I saw.”
Safire leaned over and kissed Darien on the cheek. She couldn’t stop smiling; it was so sweet that he was jealous. He was a little quiet during their meal, but Safire was thinking. She was thinking back to the wedding dresses that she’d seen that afternoon with her sister and imagining again which she might choose. Would Darien go for the mermaid silhouette that she liked, or would he want something more traditional for her?
She also couldn’t help wondering what Darien might look like as a groom. If all went well, she was going to invite him as her date to her sister’s wedding. It was still a couple months away, but she was hoping that they would still be together.
“What are you smiling at?” Darien asked her.
“Was I smiling?” she asked. She didn’t want to give away her thoughts. “I don’t know.” Then she changed the subject. “I wish you could come tonight.”
“I’m sorry I can’t.”
“I know. It’s okay. I understand. I just wanted to show off my hot new beau.” She winked at him. “And then we might be going home together afterward.” Safire smiled at Darien, but his face remained tense, his brow knitted in some private thought that Safire didn’t feel she should intrude upon when they had so little time. Safire sighed and refocused, wondering again if something had been bothering Darien. But it would have to wait. “I won’t get home until late, and I also have to get ready for this week.”
“When is the dinner?”
Safire looked at her watch. “Oh, no. It starts at seven-thirty, and I have to get across town.”
“I’m finished,” Darien said, “but you haven’t eaten very much.”
“I know, but I get to eat again. Remember?”
Darien paid the tab and walked Safire to her car. She put her Intimate Encounters bag in the backseat and then put her arms around Darien. She pressed her body against his and kissed him deeply. She really did wish he was coming tonight.
“I’ll call you about next weekend,” Safire said, “if I can wait that long.” She laughed.
Darien shook his head. “You are insatiable, aren’t you?”
“With you I am.”
He kissed her and then let her go. “Call me,” he said.
Safire got in her car and pulled out. She stopped and bought some wine to bring, running about five minutes late, but that wasn’t a problem. Angelina and Jeremy were entertaining some of Jeremy’s friends that night. Safire got there in time to pull up behind Alistair and Reggie, whom she’d met before. They had recently adopted a little boy named Tyler and were just getting out of their car in front of the old homestead.
Safire hugged both men and tickled the little one Reggie was carrying. Tyler wanted to come to her, so she took him, and the group moved up the walkway to the house. Inside, Jeremy greeted her with a hug and introduced Safire to the rest of his friends. The first was Michelle, who’d brought a date, Aaron.
There was also a man named Myron, who barely looked up when he greeted her. Alistair told her that Myron was feeling down because his long-distance relationship with a woman he met on the cruise they took in January wasn’t going well. Her name was Verniece, and she lived in South Carolina. The other member of their cruise was Rudy, who had also come alone.
Safire hugged her little brother, Philly, and said hello to her cousin, Alex, and then she went to help in the kitchen.
Angelina hugged her and then asked, “Did your friend come with you?”
Safire started layering the salad components into a big wooden bowl. “No,” she said, “he couldn’t make it tonight.” Safire pursed her lips into a little pout.
Angelina took the lasagna out of the oven. “Aw, I’m sorry. Are things okay?”
“Yeah, he just had work to do.”
“Well, you can bring him anytime. Just let me know, and I’ll set an extra place.”
When dinner was ready, Alex took the two little ones—Philly and Tyler—upstairs, where he would watch them for the rest of the evening. Jeremy led the rest of them into the dining room. The dinner was pleasant, except that Rudy, who was seated to Safire’s left, kept hitting on her all night. Other than that, Jeremy’s friends seemed genial, and they all got along well. Safire was glad to see that her sister had good people in her life through Jeremy.
In fact, by the time the night was over, they were planning another get-together, and Jeremy was talking about bringing Safire, Angelina, Philly and Alex home to Houston for Thanksgiving. He wanted them to meet his family before the wedding rush. Safire didn’t know about the get-together, but she was in for the trip to Houston—that was, if she didn’t have another Thanksgiving invite.
It had been a long Sunday. When Safire got home there was only time to pull out some clothes for the next day and change for the night. She got into bed and stretched. Then she wrapped her arms around herself and curled on her side, wishing that she was curling into Darien’s arms.<
br />
Chapter 10
Darien got home from teaching his Saturday classes at the Heritage Center and changed out of his regular clothes. He put on some old, ratty sweats—his work clothes—and went into his studio. He had a few hours, and he had work that he had to get done today because tomorrow he and his brother were taking his mother out for her birthday.
He started on the second of four lamps—a new order—which he’d already sketched out and penciled onto the wood. After two hours, the broad strokes were done, and it was time to put down the power tools and pick up the chisels. It was also a good place to stop for the night.
He was meeting Safire for dinner at eight, and she’d already said that she was keeping him for the night. He didn’t mind that she wanted to make love, but he still needed to know that it was love, not just her love for the physical. He hadn’t found the right moment to bring up the issue but planned to tonight over dinner. The boy-toy comment was still on his mind, as was the way she said she loved their intimacy.
Darien had a piece he was working on for his exhibit on the other end of the table. He collected his chisels and mallet and pulled his chair around to the other end. This large piece needed detail work, including some wood burning that Darien was using to etch in a fabric pattern. After some work with the chisels and some sanding, he broke out his pyrography tools and heated up the wood-burning pen. The fabric pattern would take passes with at least three different nibs, so this would take a while. He could get one pass done tonight.
Darien thought of the girl he went out with for two years in high school, Sienna, and the way she smiled at other boys. He didn’t think anything of it until he found out that she’d been seeing Randy, a football player. She’d been playing the field all along, and he should have known because they were both playing the field when they met. He couldn’t tell if Safire was still playing the field or not. He didn’t like the way she’d laughed and smiled in the restaurant with her ex-boyfriend. Maybe it wasn’t a fair comparison. Maybe.
With what time he had left, Darien turned to the Safire piece. Capturing Safire was turning out to be far more elusive than he had thought. He wasn’t going to work on the piece tonight; he didn’t have enough time to really start anything. He wanted to look at it, mull it over and make some additions to his sketch, maybe pencil in some of the changes. Darien still needed to know more about Safire to get the sculpture right.
He was still waiting for her to open up to him. He could tell that she had a hard time trusting people, so he was trying to be patient. This was more than a little ironic. They could be as intimate physically as they wanted, but when it came to basic stuff about their lives, he knew very little. She was guarded.
Melanie, the woman he was engaged to after college, had been a bit like that. Only, it wasn’t so much that she was guarded as that she didn’t really care. Why open up to someone you don’t plan to keep? That’s not what she wanted him for. He didn’t figure this out until the end. With Safire, he couldn’t tell. Sometimes it seemed as if she didn’t want him for more than the physical either, but at other times, they felt like a real couple. When she touched his face and told him that she’d never like toys more than she liked him, it moved his heart—and his groin. But then, the subject was still sex—a subject with which she was comfortable.
He had said he was waiting until he found the right one—no more women who played the field, no more who just wanted to have a good time. Had he found that?
Darien patted the wood chips from his clothes, turned off the light and headed into his bedroom to shower the sawdust from his body and change. Since he was meeting Safire, he pulled out a pair of black slacks, a long-sleeved black shirt and a vest that was gold with black writing embroidered on it. He finished off with some cologne, a gold chain and his black dress shoes, and he left in time to pick up a boxed red rose and get to Safire’s place a few minutes early.
He pulled in near her car and cut off his engine. He had his hand on the rose when he noticed Safire sitting on the passenger side of another car—a blue Acura. A well-dressed gentleman got out of the car and opened Safire’s door. She got out with her purse and a shopping bag. She had on a slate-gray dress made out of a shiny lamé and cut high on her thigh and close to her body. The man seemed a little older but was very well put together and also good-looking. Safire and the man hugged, and it wasn’t a brief embrace. It was a real hug. With his hand on the small of her back, the man walked Safire to the front door. There he bent his head down to kiss Safire on the cheek. She disappeared into the building with a smile and a wave, and he got into his car and took off.
Darien was confused. It looked as if Safire had just come from a date.
He picked up the rose, got out of his car and rang Safire’s buzzer. Her roommate, Janelle, buzzed him in and opened the door for him.
“Hey. Safire’s running late, she’s in the shower. She’ll be out in a few minutes. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No, thanks.”
“Well, I have some work to do. I’ll be in my room. What’s your name, by the way?”
“Darien James.”
“Yes, Mr. Hottie. You guys have a good time tonight. Maybe I’ll see you in the morning.” She smiled and went back to her room.
Now Darien was more than confused; he was starting to get angry.
When Safire came out, she had on a new dress. It was short and sleeveless with two wide shoulder straps. It was made of a brown, knit, snake-print material, and with it she wore a wide brown belt and brown heels. Her hair was up now, and her face had been newly done. She was flushed and breathless from her rush to dress, and she smiled at him and came to kiss him.
Darien accepted Safire’s kiss and handed her the boxed flower, but then he pulled her down to sit and talk.
“I was downstairs when you came in. I’d just gotten here. I saw you get out of a blue Acura. Are you seeing someone else?”
“What kind of question is that?” Safire asked, clearly getting miffed.
“I just need to know. We’ve never talked about what we have. I don’t know how you feel. I don’t know if this is exclusive for you. I need to know.”
“So, how many men do you think I’m sleeping with?”
“I’m hoping that it’s just me,” Darien said, “but I need to hear from you what this is and whether it’s exclusive.”
Darien thought he was being reasonable, but Safire apparently didn’t.
Safire crossed her arms. “So you think I sleep with everyone? Is that it?”
“No, but I need to know. I know you used to go out with the guy at the restaurant. And I know that someone just dropped you off who seemed very familiar with you. So I’m asking you what I mean to you and whether we have something exclusive, because that’s what I want with you. You can have anyone. I want it to be me and no one else. I don’t want you to keep seeing other people.”
Safire stood up. “So a friend drops me off at home, and you think that means I’m sleeping with him?”
“I need to hear from you,” Darien said, “so that I don’t have to make assumptions.”
“No, you’re basically calling me a whore. That’s what I’m hearing.”
Darien got to his feet, as well. Safire was twisting his words but refusing to give him any direct answer to his questions. He was beginning to get frustrated. “I didn’t say that. But tell me, who is he? How many ‘friends’ do you have? And what do and don’t you do with them? I need to know.”
“I shouldn’t have to explain who he is, Darien. That’s my point.” Safire jabbed at the air with her finger, punctuating her sentence. She paced away from him and then turned back. “And I’ll have as many friends as I want.”
“And why did your roommate call me a boy toy? Did you use that phrase about me? Is that what I am to you? Is this about the physical to you, Safire
? Tell me so that I can stop wondering. Do you have real feelings for me?”
“So now, because I like physical intimacy, that’s all I like. I don’t have any feelings.”
“I didn’t say that. But I’m asking because you haven’t said anything about how you feel, and I need to know.”
Safire shook her head. “First, I’m a whore. Now I’m an emotionless sex machine.”
“Stop twisting my words and answer a question for once. I’ve asked three or four, and you just shoot back questions. Are you still seeing other people? Are you in it for more than the physical? Do you have feelings for me?”
Safire held up her palms in front of him, and Darien took a step back.
Safire crossed her arms in front of her again and shook her head.
“No. You will not grill me because you saw someone drop me off at home. No. I will not defend myself against such absurd accusations. No. I will not have this conversation. No. You need to go.”
Chapter 11
Safire tapped her foot on the floor, waiting for Darien to leave. She was fully riled, and she’d more than had enough.
For a moment, Darien didn’t move. Then he took a step toward the door but turned back. “I’m not asking absurd questions. I’m asking questions that I need to know the answers to. And I’m not accusing you. I’m asking.”
“No,” she said. “You saw somebody drop me off, and now you think you get to tell me who I see and when. You think that because I know people other than you that I must be sleeping around.”
“I didn’t say that. I asked because we haven’t talked about that, and I don’t know what your regular thing is.”
“My regular thing? Apparently, you think it’s being a whore. And you think that’s all I want you for. Get out, Darien. I’ve had enough of this.” Darien stepped toward her, but Safire stepped back, as well.
“I’m not the enemy here,” he said. “The problem is you not saying what you feel or what the terms are of our relationship. The problem—”
“The problem is that I need a real man, somebody who goes after what he wants, somebody who’s not so insecure that me being dropped off at home by another man bends him out of shape.”
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