“The hostess told me I’d be lucky to find a stool at the bar.” His voice broke into her racy thoughts.
She gave him a challenging look. “I see… You’re just tryin’ to get our table.”
“Our table?” He chuckled, and gestured to the empty seats.
“Yes, our table. Don’t you see four gift bags? I could be here with a date for all you know.”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
She arched one brow, challenging him to explain.
Kyree took a slow sip of his drink. “The way you were looking at me before I walked over here,” he continued, “well, I’ll just say, whoever he is, he can’t be that important.”
Zuri was dumbstruck by his boldness, even though it thrilled her to the core. Her fingers found and toyed with the end of a braid, betraying her efforts to hide the flutter that had spread from her heart to her stomach.
“So, are you from the area?” he asked casually, as if he hadn’t just stunned her with his audacious assumption. He stretched his arm behind her along the back of the sofa, the proximity causing her skin to flush in anticipation of his touch.
Tease. She crossed her legs and angled her body toward him and cleared her throat. “Connecticut originally, but I live in Bushwick now.”
“New York, huh?” He let out a low whistle. “That’s not an easy city.”
“No, not as easy as Greenwich, but at least it’s never boring.”
His gaze held hers, deep and unwavering, as if they were the only two people in the room. “I can’t imagine anything being boring for even one minute with you, Zuri.”
Kyree’s words brushed over her skin, and suddenly the air between them felt charged with something she couldn’t name. It was as if he could see her, truly see her––and she him, like peering into each other’s souls and feeling the weight of every unspoken thought between them. It scared her. Yet, she couldn’t look away, couldn’t break free… Her chest tightened and her heart trembled as the moment stretched––profound and unsettling.
Just then, Kyree broke eye contact and set his glass on the table. He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out his phone––the screen glowing with an incoming call. “Sorry, do you mind if I take this?”
“Your girlfriend?” She was half hoping he’d say yes…
He chuckled. “My cousin. Trust me, Zuri, I wouldn’t dream of wasting your time.”
Trust you? Boy, I just met you three minutes ago. Yet, the way he said her name, the certainty in his tone, somehow made it impossible for her not to believe him.
“I’ll be back,” he said, before standing and making his way through the crowd, his phone already pressed to his ear.
Zuri let her breath out slowly through her mouth, and willed her heart to calm down. What was that overwhelming urge to fall into his arms, to press her lips to his, to feel his beard against her cheek? God, even now with him out of sight, every cell in her body ached for him. Another minute of that intense gaze and she would have been completely lost—swept away by his eyes, his voice, the dangerous pull of his presence.
He was exactly her type. But the last thing she needed was a man so hot he threatened to hijack the freedom she was experiencing after years of what had felt like emotional bondage.
She uncrossed her legs and pressed back into the sofa cushions. She’d wanted to get back in the saddle, take a quick ride, not buy the damn horse. But the way this man looked at her, the way he made her feel, stirred a dormant desire inside Zuri, and set fire to a part of her that had never burned before.
It’s too much… And it was time to get out of here before she fell headfirst into another relationship, just when she was ready to embrace being single.
“Hey,” Soleil said, coming up from behind her with Avery in tow, both still wearing their reindeer antlers. “Who was that guy?”
“What guy?” Zuri gathered her purse, phone, and gift bag from the table, and stood.
“Don’t play dumb. That Kofi Siriboe look-alike you were just talking to.”
“Kofi who?” Avery chirped.
“Girl, the actor from Queen Sugar.”
As Avery unlocked her phone, Soleil stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck in the direction Kyree had gone. “Is he coming back?”
“I don’t know. He was just looking for a table, but I told him he needed to ask the hostess.”