Vanessa pursed her lips as she tried to process Janae’s comment. “Why not?”
Janae inhaled deeply as she slapped her hands against her wide hips before turning to her friends. “It means, he asked me out but I never had the chance to give him an answer because my lunch break was over and I had to get back to work.”
Cree folded her arms, jutting her hip out as she tapped her foot. “You play too many games, Janae. You might fool Vanessa because she’s only known you for the last two years.”
Vanessa shook her head. “She’s not fooling me either.”
The two shared a giggle before Cree returned her full attention to Janae.
Cree pointed to herself. “You can’t fool me. I’ve known you since the cradle. You want that man.”
She did, although she’d deny it for as long as she could draw breath. She knew Cree’s words were gospel truth. But Adam was a nonstarter as far as she was concerned. Her focus had to be on her son and the life she’d built for the two of them. Taking her eyes off the prize for even a second could land her right back where she was when she and Marq divorced, feeling lost, and not knowing who the hell Janae Sanders was without the person she’d given her heart to.
Nope, not an option, not ever again.
“Dating Adam is the last thing on my mind, y’all. So, let’s focus on what’s important, like how good I look in this outfit.”
Janae turned around to look at herself in the mirror. Her friends were right. This outfit was sexy as hell and it looked great on her. Janae was bold by nature and this design was a statement that screamed, “I have arrived and you will worship me.”
Her mother would hate it because it put every one of her size eighteen curves on display. Janae stared at herself in the mirror one final time. It was petty. She could admit that fact to herself. Knowing her mother would be appalled at Janae’s unapologetic display of her big and beautiful body made the fit and look of the romper even more alluring.
She smiled at her reflection. This outfit was definitely going to turn heads, most specifically Adam’s. Considering how he dragged her into attending the reunion, he deserved to let his tongue sweep the ground as she wowed him and everyone else in this outfit.
Was she being petty?
Absolutely.
Did she care in the least?
No, she did not.
Chapter 10
“Is that Adam?” Cree’s question instantly had Janae scanning the school gymnasium for Adam, just like she did when they were students here at Monroe Hills High.
A tall, broad man with skin the color of butterscotch and sandy brown locs stood a head above most folks in the gym. Even if he was closer to Janae’s five-feet-two-inch frame, she’d still spot the glorious figure he made in a crowded room.
“Is that him, Janae?” Cree’s question snapped her out of her daydream in time for her to compose herself.
“He looks kind of like him.” Janae stared straight ahead, her dismissive tone downplaying the excitement she felt ramping up with her increased heartbeat.
“It’s dark in here and there’s a lot of people milling around. I’m not sure.” Both Vanessa and Cree stared at her, rolling their eyes, not believing her performance one bit. Determined to keep her cool and not look like the thirsty heifer she was, she shrugged, as if Adam’s presence wasn’t the single most important thing for her in that moment.
Cree’s squinting glare and pursed lips were silently calling bullshit on Janae’s nonchalant answer.
“You know damn well that’s him. I’ve only seen him a few times since he got back. But damn if he doesn’t look better every single instance. Father Time sure has been good to him.”
“Is this one of those ‘he was a nerd in high school but transformed into a hottie as an adult’ things?” That question came from Vanessa. She was a new transplant to Monroe Hills so she had no idea that Adam at eighteen was just as fine as Adam at forty-three.
Cree interrupted Janae’s trip down memory lane with a sharp bark of laughter. “Vanessa, that man has been gorgeous since the day his mama birthed him. Look at him, Janae. He’s walking around looking like he’s trying to bring light-skinned brothas back.”
Janae huffed and rolled her eyes. “Can we stop with the colorism? It’s so unbecoming.”
“Girl, please.” Cree dismissed her comment, staring her straight in the face, daring her to try to deny what anyone with functional eyes could see.
“I don’t know why you acting like Shemar Moore ain’t been trying to hold the light-skinned contingent down for like thirty years now. That brother is probably tired and could use a little help. By the looks of it, Adam is a worthy successor.”
Vanessa shook her head. “Have you seen that man onS.W.A.T.? The bald head and the body he has now makes his character Malcolm fromThe Young and the Restlesslook like his awkward stage.”
