“You shouldn’t have been checking out my ass or my chest.”
His eyes briefly dropped to her breasts. “You shouldn’t be wearing those jeans or a shirt cut so low if you didn’t want me to look. But you know what I think?”
“What do you think?” She crossed her arms over her chest, then dropped them to the sides when she saw his eyes drift there again.
“I think you remembered what I said at dinner last weekend about not dating people I work with and decided that you’d test my restraint by flirting with me without saying anything.”
Her eyes widened. “As I said during dinner, I understand your rule about not dating people you work with. And for your information, I don’t flirt. I’ve never been good at it.”
“I don’t believe that,” Kendrick said, shaking his head. “You’ve been doing a damn good job all night.”
“That’s maybe because I know we’ll never go there.”
“Go where?” he asked.
“You know what, never mind.” She picked up her bowling ball. “It’s time for me to bowl.”
Kendrick lifted his hands in a way to let her know he wasn’t going to stop her anymore. He didn’t miss the last glance she gave of the tats on his arms before she bowled.
“It’s a split,” Monty yelled after Nicole had bowled her first ball.
“There’s no way you’re getting that,” Kendrick challenged. “Be prepared to lose your lead.”
When Nicole looked his way, she exuded confidence. “Watch me work,” she said before bowling the perfect hook and landing a spare.
“Damn,” Monty said. “There’s only two more frames left. We’re going to lose to the women, and they will be gloating for weeks.”
“You’re damn right,” Angelica said with a laugh. Nicole brushed past him with a look of satisfaction on her face.
“Don’t worry, Kendrick. Next time, I’ll try to go easy on you so I don’t embarrass you in front of your friends and completely whoop that ass.”
Kendrick quirked an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
Instead of responding, she just smiled and joined the other ladies. After the last frame, Nicole had beaten Kendrick by twenty-one points and secured the women’s win.
“Man, how could you have let them win?” Monty asked. “We always beat the women.”
“Nicole’s on their team now, so we better get used to more competitive games.”
“Now I have to clean Angelica’s condo after work for an entire week.”
Kendrick laughed. “That’s what you get for always making bets with her. Even if it wasn’t bowling, you always lose to her. Wouldn’t it be easier to just tell her how you feel instead of losing all the time?”
“I don’t know, man,” Monty said with a shrug. “Angelica is used to dating those actor types who have starring roles in action movies. She’s not going to date a cameraman.”
“You never know unless you tell her how you feel. You can’t be afraid of entering a relationship with her based off what-ifs. Yeah, it may not work out, but what if it did? What if you miss out on something good because you were scared to make a move and take a chance?”
Monty stood up from his seat and turned Kendrick’s body toward where Nicole sat unlacing her bowling shoes and laughing at something Angelica said. “Seems to me like you need to be taking your own advice,” Monty said. “A lot of the guys like Nicole, and if you don’t make a move, someone else will.”
Kendrick spent a few more seconds observing Nicole before he began removing his bowling shoes, as well. Monty may have had a point, but Kendrick wasn’t sure it was a good idea. Remember what happened last time, man. You can’t afford a repeat of that. Too much is at stake this time. As long as he remembered what he’d gone through with his ex, he’d keep things in perspective.
But Nicole isn’t Veronica or Amanda. Maybe you need to date a woman like her instead of letting your past relationships define how you handle the future.
After all these years, Kendrick had learned that it was easy to let past relationships affect future relationships. The hard part was learning from that lesson and not letting it define your future. He was still working on the latter.
Chapter 5
“I’m all about experiencing new things, but I think it’s strange to have to do speed dating with people you work with. Don’t you agree?” Angelica asked.
Nicole laughed. Angelica had been complaining about the mock speed-dating event since they found out about it on Friday morning. Now they were waiting for the client to arrive and explain what he wanted them to do.
“I agree, it does seem a bit unethical to have any single employees on the television crew participate in speed dating, but it’s what the company that’s hosting the charity event wants, so we have to oblige, right?”
“I guess so,” Angelica said. “But I still don’t like the idea.”
On Friday and Saturday mornings, the crew successfully recorded one of the short commercials, so they had only four more left, plus the documentary. Instead of a day off on Sunday as the production team had promised, all single crew members were asked to meet at the location where a speed dating charity event would be held the weekend before Valentine’s Day to match dates for the holiday. The goal of the mock speed dating was to give the crew a better idea of how it would work so that they could better advertise and shoot the commercial.
To Nicole, it seemed to be overkill since speed dating wasn’t rocket science, but it’s what the client wanted, and what the client wanted, the client got.
“Does your annoyance with this have anything to do with Monty?” Nicole asked.
Angelica frowned. “No, why would it?”
“I don’t know,” Nicole said as she raised her shoulders. “I just assumed that you two were dating or something based off how much you flirt with one another.”
“No way,” Angelica said with an awkward laugh. “Monty and I are just friends. We both married young and divorced young. Now we’re nearing our forties and finally able to live life on our own terms. We bonded over our divorce stories and he, Kendrick and I joined The Gilbert Monroe Agency at the same time, so we’re close friends. That’s it.”
“If you say so.” Nicole observed Angelica, who—as she expected—was looking at Monty. “I guess I like teasing you about Monty because of the way he looks at you. He thinks he’s being discreet, but it’s obvious to me.”
“Really?” Angelica asked. “How does he look at me?”
Nicole lowered her voice so no one would hear except Angelica. “Every time you come into a room, his eyes light up. And he’s always picking an argument with you or starting a debate because I think he genuinely likes you so badly, he doesn’t care what you guys talk about, as long as you’re talking. Let’s not forget about the times when he watches you with this longing look in his eyes when he thinks no one is looking. I’m sure if I see it, others do too.”
“I didn’t know he looks at me like that. I guess I don’t pay attention because I try my best not to look at him in that same way.”
Nicole’s eyebrows rose. “So, you do like Monty?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Angelica said, shaking her head. “I meant that since we’re friends, I just stare at him as one friend would another. As a pal. Like two close friends who care about each other in a friendly way. Like a man and his dog. Or a woman and her favorite pair of shoes.”
Nicole rolled her eyes as Angelica continued with her thoughts, which didn’t make any sense. “Angelica,” Nicole said, stopping her rant, “I didn’t mean to get you worked up. All I meant to do was tell you that although I can tell that you like Monty as more than a friend, I’m pretty sure he likes you just as much, if not more.”
“You think so?” she asked in a perky voice.
“Yes.” Nicole laughed. “I bet he’s staring at you right now.�
�� Angelica glanced in Monty’s direction and blushed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Angelica said. At Nicole’s upturned eyebrow, she changed her statement. “Okay, so you’re definitely right. I like him and I’m pretty sure he likes me, but I think we’re both just scared to jump into a serious relationship after our divorces. And judging by the way you and Kendrick are around each other, I have a feeling you understand how we feel.”
“Kendrick and I aren’t the same as you and Monty. We met up a couple times before I started working with the agency, but he’d never date someone he works with. He mentioned his last relationship being filled with lies and betrayal, but I wish I knew exactly what happened.”
Angelica’s face grew serious. “It’s not my place to share that story, but he does have his reasons. Even so, I’m pretty sure he likes you and doesn’t know how to handle the fact that you both work together.”
“We only work together until Valentine’s Day,” Nicole said. “After that, I will go back to freelancing and working at a lingerie boutique and studio just like I was before this.”
“You’re talented,” Angelica said. “The Gilbert Monroe Agency doesn’t pass up on talent. Kendrick’s probably thinking they may ask you to join the agency full-time after this project is completed.”
“You think so? I never even thought that was a possibility.”
“It’s definitely a possibility.” Angelica glanced at Kendrick. “I’ve only known Kendrick for six years, but he’s gone through a lot. He’s stubborn, so just give him time and I’m sure he’ll come around.”
Nicole glanced at Kendrick and caught him staring at her with a look she couldn’t quite place. Interest? Intrigue? Longing? She quickly adverted her eyes to avoid analyzing him just as the client walked in the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you all for joining us today for a mock speed-dating event. Today’s participants will only include your television crew, and there’s about thirty of you here. We want to get started by assigning numbers. My assistant is walking around and passing out numbers to each of you. Although you all know one another, the numbers are how you will refer to a dater. She is also passing around a survey that you will have to fill out for every person you speak with today.
“And please don’t worry. These results will be confidential. It’s just to give you an idea of how this works. But unlike when we do the real event the weekend before Valentine’s Day, we won’t actually be matching anyone. Also, women will each be stationed at their own small table, so the men will rotate. Last but not least, have fun with this!”
“See,” Nicole said to Angelica. “He said have fun, so let’s go have some fun!” Angelica didn’t look convinced.
* * *
This is not fun, Nicole thought, now that she’d spoken to four men. She figured that doing this event with people she knew—even for a week—was better than participating with strangers. She’d been prepared to at the very least have casual conversation and get to know her coworkers better. Unfortunately, the men seemed to have something else in mind.
“So, what’s your idea of a wild night?” David, one of the cameramen, asked. “Skinny-dipping in a pool or skinny-dipping in the ocean?”
Someone save me. “The choices are so different, I can’t imagine only choosing one,” she said sarcastically.
“I know, right?” David said. “I think both would be pretty awesome. Especially if you and I try them both together. Maybe sometime after work this week?”
Nicole dropped her head to the table. “This can’t be real life,” she said.
“Are you okay?” David asked. “If you prefer to skinny-dip in a lake, I can make that happen too.”
Nicole lifted her head. “I will never skinny-dip with you, David. Furthermore, I would never go on a date with you either.”
He frowned. “That’s a harsh thing to say. Maybe we should change the topic. What’s your favorite sexual position?”
“Oh, hell, no.” Nicole shook her head. “Is it time to change partners yet?” she asked to whomever was on the planning team and within earshot. Luckily, the announcement was made mere seconds before David began talking about sex.
Nicole breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn’t forced to curse out a coworker in front of the present crew members, until she realized Kendrick was next up to sit at her table. When he sat down, all relief went out the window.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey.” Unlike David, Kendrick had a killer smile. He was so attractive, it was intoxicating. Get yourself together, LeBlanc. No need to be nervous.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“I heard David’s questions to you,” Kendrick said. “Pretty forward.”
“And so off base if he thinks I would ever go for him,” Nicole said. “I thought he was cool until our conversation.”
“Maybe our conversation can turn this around,” he said with a lopsided grin. “First question, have you lived in Miami all your life?”
“For the most part, yes,” she replied. “I was raised by my grandparents. What about you? Have you only lived in LA?”
“No,” he said. “I was raised by my mother, and her family is from Chicago. I lived in Chicago until my senior year of high school.”
“Why did you and your mom move to LA?”
Kendrick adjusted himself in his seat. “She landed an opportunity here, and I was headed down a reckless path in Chicago. She thought it would be good for me to finish out high school in California.”
“Was it a good decision?”
“The best,” he said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without my mom. Another question. You said you lived in Miami for the most part. What other places have you lived?”
“I’ve lived in Texas, Virginia, Germany and China.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s a lot of places.”
“It is,” she said as she thought about each place. “But Miami has always been where I call home. Do you consider Chicago or LA home?”
“Right now, I consider LA home, but I consider Chicago where I’m from since it’s the place I grew up and I was born and raised there. Most of my family—cousins, aunts, uncles, grandfather—still live there.”
“I’ve been to Chicago on a quick work trip before,” Nicole said. “I know a couple women who live there and own a lingerie boutique. I work for the Miami location and we opened a pop-up in LA while I’m here. The woman managing that is also from Chicago.”
Kendrick squinted. “I know of a lingerie boutique in Chicago, but I can’t remember the name.”
“Is it Bare Sophistication?”
“That’s it,” he said, snapping his fingers. “A few of my cousins are the owners of Elite Events Incorporated, and they are friends with the owners of Bare Sophistication. The Dupree sisters, right? I think I met Winter and Autumn at my cousin Lex’s wedding when she married Micah Madden. He’s—”
“He’s Winter and Autumn’s cousin,” Nicole finished. “I know him too. I’ve also briefly met your cousins before, but we didn’t get to talk much. My friend Kyra knows them well and she always talks about how great they are.”
“They are pretty great,” Kendrick said with a smile. “I’m proud of them.”
“I’m sure they’re proud of you too,” she said. His smile slightly faltered. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, you didn’t,” he said, meeting her eyes. She couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as if he wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure if he should.
“Last question,” he said after a few seconds. “Have you ever felt like even though you have close family and friends who are there for you and care about you, you can never truly be yourself? Or worse, being yourself doesn’t fit the vision they have of you in their minds?”
Nicole
glanced away at the truth behind his questions. “I’ve felt that way my entire life,” she said, reflecting on times she’d rather not think about. “It’s strange to be the only person who thinks the way you do or speaks the way you do. Feelings that others want you to explain, but you can’t.”
“They don’t get it,” Kendrick said. “Folks always want you to have an explanation for why you behave a certain way or speak a certain way, but sometimes, things can’t be explained.” He fidgeted with the edge of the heart-shaped tablecloth. “And holidays like these just remind those who are lonely, just how lonely we actually are.”
We? Is he trying to tell me he’s lonely? Based off what he’d said, it didn’t seem far from the truth. “That’s true,” she said. “But Valentine’s Day isn’t only about the love you share with someone you’re dating. It can be about family and friends sharing love, as well.”
Kendrick smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those ‘Valentine’s Day is the most romantic holiday’ kind of women?”
“Not exactly,” she said. “It’s not that I’m a fan of Valentine’s Day, but I am a fan of love and the idea of showing love to anyone in your life who you care about.”
Kendrick observed her. “Was there ever a time in your life when you opened your heart to love and the feeling wasn’t reciprocated?”
“Too many times to count,” Nicole said with a sigh. “I guess, by all accords, when I think about the rejection I’ve faced from a loved one, you’d think I wouldn’t believe in love at all. But it’s quite the opposite.”
Kendrick leaned a little closer. “You believe in love even more, don’t you?”
“It’s more like I desire love because I don’t feel like I’ve ever truly had it except from a handful of people.”
“I value your point of view,” Kendrick said. “I wish I had your optimism on love. For me, it’s hard to be that vulnerable around someone. Being vulnerable only opens up you to heartache.”
“Although I agree with you,” she said, her voice softer than before, “some may say this conversation we’re having is a topic that leaves us exposed to our vulnerabilities. So, I’d say you’re doing a good job at opening up your heart to me.”
Her Unexpected Valentine Page 5
