“It’s too expensive.”
“You don’t even know how much it costs.”
“I know that anything with this man’s name on it comes with a price tag. We barely know each other.”
“I know all that I need to know about you, Baby. I want you to accept it without arguing and wear it with pride.”
I smiled at him as I felt bad at the same time. “I’m so sorry, Harlem. I’m grateful, but it doesn’t feel like I deserve this—deserve you. Your support has meant the world to me, and I don’t want you to think that it doesn’t.”
He thumbed my jaw. “I know. You make me feel it.”
I moved in closer and kissed him. It was slow, sweet, and sensual. I rubbed the hair at his nape, and he continued stroking my jaw with his thumb. There was something about that simple but sensual movement that had me opening my mouth to him.
His tongue was cool and tasted of cherries. I moaned into the kiss, loving how it felt connecting to him this way. Sometimes, I questioned if I was rushing things, but I knew that I wasn’t.Everything didn’t move at the pace and speed that society said it should. Some things were just natural, and this was one of them. I knew that we were moving at the right speed for us, and it didn’t feel rushed. It felt like my soul had found its home.
It wouldn’t be too long before I gave myself to this man, but I was fine building our connection one slow, sweet kiss at a time.
11
HARLEM
CHANGE OF PLANS – TWO WEEKS LATER
“Thanks for the tip, Shakes,” I stated to my customer as my phone chimed with the money app alert.
“Always, black man. Not only do you hook a brother up, but you school me on game every time I sit in your chair.”
“Just doing my job, big homie. Just doing my job,” I declared, dapping up the big guy as he got out of my chair.
Whenever Shakes came in, he tipped me 45 percent of the listed price, but I didn’t charge him the full price. I hadn’t in a long while. He was one of my first customers when I opened my shop, and I appreciated him and his loyalty. He also brought new customers along with him.
I cleaned up my station as the low buzz of chatter happened all around me.
“I’ll be back, y’all,” I announced, heading for the doorway after I washed my hands.
“Going to see wifey?” JC called out.
I sucked my teeth, smirked, and left out of the shop to whistles and jeers. I didn’t mind, because I was all about her like that, and being all up in her space was exactly what I wanted.
Her launch party two weeks ago was a success, but it paled in comparison to her grand opening one week ago. People had turned out in droves. Not only had many of the people who received invitations for the launch party returned; those who weren’t invited the first time made sure they showed up.
As a result, her line went around the corner and down the block. We were all excited for her, and I had even hired a few people from the neighborhood to help by walking down the line and taking orders on iPads so that they could be prepared in advance.
Her large turnout did wonders for all the other businesses on the block. Everyone talked about their increase in sales, not only that day but for the rest of the week.
She had been busy nonstop since her opening, so we hadn’t had much time to spend together except for late at night. I would hang around to follow her home in the evenings, order dinner, eat, and massage her feet. By the time I finished, she would be knocked out on the couch with her feet in my lap. I often carried her to her room and put her to bed. She would have already showered and put on her nightclothes while waiting for dinner to arrive.
I would ease out of her house around one or two, locking up behind myself and heading home for the night. I would always have her coffee and breakfast sent over the next morning because I knew that she didn’t have time to get it herself. She would be in her bakery before the coffee shop opened, and once she started, she didn’t have time to stop. I put in a standing order at the bakery and paid them to deliver it to her.
It was always hard to leave her, when I knew that I wanted to stay. Our relationship hadn’t gone beyond kissing yet, and Iwasn’t willing to force her to do anything that she wasn’t ready for. But I couldn’t lie; I wanted her badly, and I could tell that she wanted me too. She just needed to be sure that she was ready.
I jogged across the street and pulled the bakery door open. The bell overhead tinkled, and I could hear Chris Perry singing over the speakers about “Another Love.”
The tables were all taken, and there was a line at the counter. Both of her sales assistants were taking orders, and she was at the third register taking orders also.
Her face lit up when she saw me, and she couldn’t stop cheesing. I waited for a few minutes while she worked with the other two ladies to clear the line up. When it was down to just a few people, she walked over to where I sat at the long bench table in front of the window.
“Hey, how’s it going?” she asked, plopping down on a stool beside me.
