My sisters waved, and Eric said hello to them. “I don’t want to disturb your brunch. I just had to come ask if you’re single.”
A lie was on the tip of my tongue, but I decided to be honest. “Yes, I’m single, and I live in Charlotte. I have a three-month-old son, and I work more than I sleep, so I don’t have time for much else.”
“I can respect a woman that’s about her business. I actually work a lot myself. I’m a barber, but I do a lot of traveling. I have some clients that are originally from Diamond Cove that made to the NBA. They turned me on to some of their teammates and at least twice a month, I fly out to service certain customers.”
I could practically hear Lexi’s thoughts screaming at me to give him my number. All she needed to hear was NBA, and she was sold.
“How about I give you my card? That way, you’ll be in control. No pressure.” He reached in his pocket, and I offered another smile.
“That sounds good.”
I knew I wasn’t going to call, and I appreciated him making it easy for me. After I eased the card from Eric’s fingers, he tipped his head at us before heading back to his table.
“He might be able to get tickets to games,” Lexi nudged me. “Girl, you better call him.”
“Games that I wouldn’t have time to go to. Anddddd, in case you forgot, I don’t live here.”
“So move back,” Allison stated with no hesitation. “I’m proud of you for moving to a new place. The intern opportunity was great, but you got your foot in the door. There are just as manyopportunities in Diamond Cove as Charlotte. You have Jaxon now, and there are at least four people here that would babysit him anytime of the day or night.”
Quiet as kept, I had been thinking about moving back to Diamond Cove. I really did like Charlotte. In the time that I’d been living there, I didn’t have any complaints. But I did have Jaxon, and raising him with no family near was hard. It wasn’t impossible, but it wasn’t ideal. Especially since I couldn’t count on Markell to help. My lease would be up in four months, so I didn’t have too long to make a decision.
“Even if I did move back home, I’m still busy. All these men do is play. Markell played in my face for an entire year. I had no clue the bastard was married. Men are really out here living double and triple lives, and I don’t have time for it.”
“You won’t find Prince Charming if you don’t kiss a few frogs first,” Lexi offered.
Pulling my card holder from my purse, I chortled. “Prince Charming can kiss my ass.”
“I heard that,” Allison teetered.
My phone vibrated in my purse. When I pulled it out and looked at the screen, my breath hitched. For a second or two, I forgot how to breathe. Remembering how nosey my sisters were snapped me from the trance I was in. Clearing my throat, I answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Hey. You busy? I didn’t mean to interrupt. Your grills are ready.”
“Okay cool. I’m just about to leave brunch.”
“Bet. I’ll be at the shop.”
I didn’t want my sisters to know that I was going to get my grills from Rage. They hadn’t mentioned him, and I was glad. The last time I was at the shop, his apology and confession had me in my feelings way more than I should have been. I wanted toslap his ass then I wanted to kiss him. It hurt when Rage didn’t even try to make our relationship work. I could have seen if I was in Charlotte for months and years, and we eventually fell off, but he folded right away. I was there for three weeks before we broke up. He never even made it to visit me once. And I was so in love and secure, I didn’t even think he was cheating on me.
I knew it was the streets and him wanting to make money. Rage had money saved. In my opinion, he could have moved to Charlotte and used his savings to hold him over until he got a job, but that wasn’t what he wanted to do. I went from being excited about my internship to nursing a broken heart. From the day I met Rage at the corner store, we had either talked or seen one another every day. With me, he was a gentle giant. I fell hard and fast for Rage, but he felt the exact same way. Having our relationship end so abruptly and unexpectedly, hurt. I cried for a week. Even when I was dating Markell, I still thought of Rage often. At one point, I had to wonder if he had worked voodoo on me because I couldn’t get him out of my system. As soon as I went a week without thinking of him, I dreamed of him.
I was so pissed when I woke up the next morning. Gwen said we might have had soul ties. Whatever it was, I wanted it to be over and done with. Now here I was about to go see him. As I drove, I thought about all the good times Rage and I had and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t mind. I thought about the two years in a row we went to the state fair, and he won me gigantic stuffed animals.
As I drove, a wide smile covered my face when I thought about our first Valentine’s Day together when he got us matching J’s and he bought me, three dozen roses, more balloons than I could count, a Pandora charm bracelet filled with charms, chocolate covered strawberries, and a Coach purse. We got real nasty that night. Those memories led to more X ratedones and by the time I arrived at his shop, my body was warm, and my nipples were hard.
“Down girl,” I muttered to myself. It had been a little over a year since the last time I had sex. Funny thing was, it hadn’t bothered me until that exact moment. The way Rage used to kiss me….the way he used to talk directly into my ear as he stroked me. My God. I needed to get my grills and flee.
Being around Rage was the equivalent of a recovering addict being in the presence of their drug of choice. Clearing my throat, I pulled the door open and stepped into the shop. Soft R&B spilled from the speakers, and Rage sat on a stool scrolling through his phone. When his gaze lifted, and our eyes locked, my cheeks flushed.
A sly grin stretched across his face. “You went to brunch or the club? Eyes barely open.”
“The Mimosa’s were hitting.”
Rage tossed a lustful glare my way. Slowly, he stood, and I had to look away because my yoni was contracting. He had sent me the sketch of the grills, and I was in love with them. The canine’s looked like fangs, and there were open face hearts on the teeth beside the fangs.
“Those are so dope,” I gushed as he lifted the top off the box that the grills were inside. Forgetting all about my arousal, I took the box from him and examined them up close. “Rage, you have to let me pay you,” my head lifted, and our gazes locked.
