“I just can’t believe how everything I’ve worked for could possibly be over. I didn’t want to admit it in front of those assholes or Ray, but this deal could very well break us. I’d already allocated some funds to areas that needed a complete overhaul. How am I supposed to pull back on that? Company funds are tied up because I thought this deal would go through.”
“Kareem, I understand how uncertain that could feel, especially when you don’t exactly see what your next move is. But trust me; there is a next move. God wouldn’t bring you this far to only bring you this far. This deal may have fallen through, but your mission is far from over. You have so much more to do.”
“Thank you, baby.”
He kissed the top of my head, and the liquor in me made me want to melt into him. The more time I spent with Kareem, the more I wanted to explain exactly why I had walked away all those years ago, especially since it felt like I was experiencing it all over again.
I could tell how my disappearance deeply affected him, and it truly hurt me to witness it. Still, I was having déjà vu. What I was feeling for him right now was the same thing I felt for him when I decided that it was too much for me to take on. I knew that if I went through a heartbreak with a man like Kareem, I would never recover, and if I was being honest, that hadn’t changed.
I had enough good sense at eighteen to get myself out of the situation before it got too heavy. Yet a decade later, I waswillingly walking right back in. I was falling for Kareem all over again. The only difference was that I was having a hard time pulling away this time.
Thank you, baby.
The words repeated in my head as silence hung between Kareem and me. He’d called me baby, and it made me want nothing more than to tell him everything I was feeling. I wanted to voice my apprehension with him in hopes that he would quiet the storm brewing in my mind. I wanted to tell him how afraid I was and have him tell me I didn’t have a damn thing to be afraid of.
I needed to know it was safe to fall in love and that what Kareem had just told me on the Ferris wheel wasn’t just about the ride. That he, in fact, would be there to catch me every time I fell, even if the falling were simply into him.
“Can I have this dance?” Kareem stood and stretched out his arm to me as music filled the air around us.
I was still tipsy from the shots, but I managed to stand on my feet. My eyes were fixed on the hell of a man that stood in front of me, and my arms wrapped around his neck as he pulled me close to him on the dance floor.
“I will always save my last dance for you.”
I dropped my head on Kareem’s shoulder as we swayed from one side to another. Running was the last thing that could possibly consume my mind in this moment. I was right where I wanted to be, and I had a very good reason to stay here forever… Kareem.
Chapter
Twenty
Kareem
“Well, would you look at this? This is a real high school reunion, isn’t it?”
Now, there was a face I had not laid eyes on in a long time. It was Michelle. She was the captain of Mandeville High’s cheerleading squad and one of the prettiest girls in our high school second to Karina, of course.
If 2009 was anybody’s year, it was Michelle’s. She was at the top of the food chain and on the list of every boy at our school. If my memory served me correctly, she and Karina bumped heads a lot back then, which would explain why Karina didn’t return Michelle’s smile.
I was fuzzy on the details of their disdain for one another because I had never been one to get into female drama, but I was picking up on Karina’s shift now that Michelle was here.
“Michelle, I haven’t seen you in forever. What are you doing in New York?”
“I’m here for you actually.”
Her answer surprised me, and I looked at Karina to confirm we had heard the same thing. The look on Karina’s face wasn’t anger. It was more like an annoyance. She turned from me and briefly faced Michelle but didn’t say anything.
“I own the security company that you have been in negotiations with.”
I was happy she didn’t keep us in suspense for long. I knew Karina had a temper. More than that, she was probably looking for any reason to call it quits with me. Hearing another woman say she was in town for me would most certainly be a nail in my coffin.
“Get out of here. I had no idea.”
“Yeah, it was my father’s company. He passed a few weeks back, and I’ve been trying to get up to speed on all of his open contracts. It’s been a hard month to say the least.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Michelle,” Karina finally offered. Her tone was calm and reassuring.
I could tell she meant what she said. Even though she didn’t like Michelle, she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to extend her condolences.
“Thank you, Karina. I really appreciate that.”
