He lowered his glass and peered into the brown liquid. “She’s out of town.” A smile appeared. “I miss her like fucking crazy when she’s away.”
I quickly looked over his shoulder and searched out Don again. It was as if my eyes had a tracking sonar for wherever he was. Whenever they landed on him, I could breathe easily again.
He happened to look over at the same time. Our eyes caught, and he slanted his eyes. My stomach muscles clenched, and I had to force myself to look away.
“Oh, so there is a special someone you’re seeing?” I asked.
“Not just special. She’s my damn world.”
I repeated his words over in my head. There was a depth in his voice that sounded oddly familiar.
I glanced back over his shoulder again but then gathered my wayward emotions. “What’s her name?” I asked Kelvin.
“Marjorie. My MJ.” Then he did something I wasn’t expecting at all; he turned his phone to face me. A picture of Marjorie was on the screen. With a grin, he said, “She’d kill me if she knew I showed this to anyone, but I love this picture of her.”
An actual sigh fell from my mouth as I stared at the image of a sleeping Marjorie. She looked so calm and peaceful, draped in white cotton sheets. The picture had to have been taken in the early morning because the rays of sunlight streaming in made her dark brown skin glisten.
“She never lets me take a picture of her if she has her bonnet on, so this one I had to sneak,” he said, his eyes pinned to the screen. “She looked so damn perfect, lying in my bed.”
“I’d kill Don if he showed anyone this type of photo.”
“What?”
I cleared my throat and stood a little straighter. “Nothing. So, she’s the only woman you’re seeing? A player like you has to have women throwing themselves at him daily.”
He snorted and shrugged, tucking his phone away. “They do, but, nah.” He glanced over his shoulder then pointed in the direction he’d just looked. “You see my boy, Tyler? Over there with his wife?”
I nodded.
“I clowned him when he fell for her. I mean, he fell so hard he was ready to knock out his teammates over her.” Kelvin laughed before taking another sip of his drink. “But then I saw them together. I watched how he took care of her during her pregnancy. And I wanted that for myself. It’s true what they say about God, you know?”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“He has perfect timing. As soon as I realized I wanted what Tyler had, I met MJ a week later. Literally, seven days later. And I just knew.”
There was a whimsical look in his eyes, and he looked almost astonished. Like he couldn’t believe his luck. A man with everything—athletic prowess, financial success, good looks—and he was in awe at the woman in his life.
I glanced back over his shoulder and again found Don’s eyes on me. Watching me. A small smile touched my lips.
“Check this,” Kelvin said, pulling out his phone again. “She’s always wanted to go to Disneyworld.” He scrolled through some pictures. “I’m planning a surprise birthday trip. She was supposed to go for her twelfth birthday.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
I mentally kicked myself. “I mean, what kid doesn’t want to go to Disneyworld, right? The happiest place on Earth.”
“Yeah, well, I’m surprising her next week for her birthday. Already cleared it with her job. I hired a travel agent and everything.”
“Travel agent. Cynthia Walsh?” I asked, recalling the woman from the hotel that day.
“Yeah, you’ve worked with her?”
“I’ve heard she’s great at what she does. Has her own agency.”
“And she’s expanding into luxury services. She hooked me up with a private jeweler. We met at the Winston Hotel.” He broadened his smile, flicking through images of Disneyworld. “I’ve got special plans for this trip. MJ’s gonna love it.”
He sounded like a kid the night before Christmas.
