by B. Love
Her apartment was way too quiet and empty. It needed to be filled, or she needed to move in with someone else. Either way, she’d given herself until her next birthday to find the man of her dreams. Now, that seemed so far away. Especially with Luca next door. It was taking all her strength to not kidnap him every day after she finished her work.
From the second they met, Luca took to her comfortably. She could even hear him asking for Howie when they left a couple of days ago. He sounded so cute Hali was considering having her name changed just so he’d be right when saying it.
Luca.
He was the only good thing that came from Lucas’ union with Shanice. When she looked at Luca, she didn’t see a mistake. She didn’t see Shanice. She saw Lucas’ chance to right the wrong that had been done to him and Luana as a child. For some reason, she thought she would be the other half of the seed that grew from Lucas, but whatever. Those dreams were done and over, and now it was time for Hali to focus on her reality.
After pulling up to the restaurant that Soren rented out for the mixer, Hali looked herself over briefly before getting out of her car and heading in. As soon as she stepped into the restaurant her breath was snatched. There had to be a good fifteen men in the room, and it was the first time she’d ever seen so many good-looking ones at the same time. Everyone else was mingling and deep in their own conversations, and here she was… stuck at the door… undressing every man mentally that her eyes landed on.
“Hey!” Soren yelled from the side of her, “So glad you could make it.”
“Girrrlll,” Hali grabbed Soren’s arm and pulled her closer, “Why didn’t you tell me these men were going to be this fine? How do you expect me to talk to them?”
Soren chuckled as she pulled Hali away from the door.
“You’ve talked to handsome men before, Hali. Do we need to get you a shot or something to settle your nerves?”
“Yes, please. These women are so beautiful. Wow. All of these people are your clients?”
Soren’s smile widened.
“Some of them are and some of them aren’t. I’m not going to tell you which of them are my clients until the day is over. Remember; today isn’t about making a match and exchanging numbers. It’s strictly about me seeing how you interact with the opposite sex. If you meet someone here that you find yourself genuinely attracted to, I’ll lock them into your file.”
“Okay cool,” Hali ordered herself a drink, and before she knew it, Soren was leaving her to mingle on her own, “Well wait. What am I supposed to do?”
Soren shrugged as she looked around the room.
“What would you normally do in a room full of strangers?”
“Talk to whoever I came here with,” Hali answered in all honesty.
She’d never been the friendly type, but she was one of the nicest people anyone would ever meet. Starting conversations and friendships weren’t her thing but she knew how to keep them going.
“Do you approach men, or do you wait for them to approach you?”
“I wait for them to approach me.”
Soren nodded as she looked around the room.
“Okay. Well, do whatever you would normally do to get a man to approach you.”
What she normally did? She didn’t do anything! Not wanting to seem childish or unaware of how the whole dating scene went, Hali nodded and made herself comfortable in her seat. Before she knew it, she was ordering her second drink as she busied herself on the downloaded games in her phone. Every so often she’d look up to see what everyone else was up to but that was as far as it went.
The waitress brought her second drink out, and when Hali looked around the room this time she noticed a man looking at her, but when their eyes locked and nothing happened Hali returned her attention to her phone. Soren must have seen enough because she walked over to Hali’s table and hovered over it.
“I see what one of your problems is already,” Soren acknowledged.
Hali sat back in her seat with a smile. She took a sip of her drink before asking, “And what is that exactly?”
Soren sat next to Hali and turned her seat towards her.
“You are a beautiful woman, Hali. I’ve watched seven men stare you down and not make a move. You want to know why?”
Hali looked around the room again, and to her surprise, eyes were on her at that very moment. But again, none of the men approached her.
“Why?”
“Because you’re not open. You have the right mentality of letting the man initiate and you respond, but you have to invite him to initiate something with you. Women think they lose control by letting a man lead, but in actuality, you’re in control. If you want a man to approach you, you wait for him to do so, but you control that by inviting him to over.
Yes, men are used to rejection because they do a bulk of the initiating, but that doesn’t mean they enjoy it. The men in this room are true alpha men, and although they are fighters and warriors, they don’t like to willingly set themselves up to fail at something – especially loving a woman. If they don’t believe you are interested in them they aren’t going to approach you. It doesn’t matter how confident they are and how beautiful you are. If you don’t look open and inviting they will not initiate.”
Made sense. Sounded simple enough. Hali had never been insecure, and she knew she was a great catch, but for years she couldn’t understand why more men didn’t approach her. Now she knew why.
“Okay, so what do I do to make myself open and inviting?”
Soren leaned in, voice whispered, as if she was about to share an ancient secret, “Smile and make eye contact for more than one second.”
Soren returned to her seat, smile widening as confusion covered Hali’s face.
“That’s it? Smiling?”
“Yep. Smiling. It makes a man comfortable. It makes him think you’re interested in him like he’s interested in you. It gives him permission to approach you. Plus, a woman’s mouth is the sexiest part of her face to a man. It’s the first thing his eyes land on. It’s a magnet. If you want to invite a man to initiate something with you… make eye contact, hold his gaze and smile.”
Hali nodded as she sat up in her seat. Her fingers tapped the top of the table as she looked at Soren.
“Okay, Soren. I’ll give it a try.”
“Good. I’m about to sit behind you. Go ahead whenever you’re ready.”
Hali took a few deep breaths before scanning the room again. Her eyes landed on a light skinned cutie that she’d noticed checking her out when she first arrived. Hali sighed and shook her head before laughing to herself. She refused to believe something as simple as smiling at a man would cause him to approach her, but when she met the man’s eyes again and smiled… he smiled too. A few seconds passed of them staring and smiling, then he pushed himself off the table he was leaning on and started walking her way.
Gripping the sides of the table, Hali sat deeper in her seat. She turned to the side, whispering curses under her breath before asking Soren, “He’s coming over. What do I do?”
“You’ve done your part. You invited. Let him lead and initiate. All you have to do is respond.”
The closer he got, the more Hali took his features in. His classic features. His strong jaw. Stubbly beard. Plump blunt brown lips. Wide nose. He had four freckles – two on his nose and two under his right eye. It was the most random yet exact thing Hali had ever seen. His eyes were dark and under turned, resting under thick, bushy eyebrows.
He was definitely easy on the eyes. So easy Hali was staring with her mouth opened slightly when he extended his hand for hers.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this,” he confessed, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it, “I’m Micah, may I?” Micah pointed to the empty seat next to Hali, still holding his hand in hers.
“Yes, sure. I’m Hali. It’s nice to meet you, Micah.”
Micah made himself comfortable next to her before saying, “It’s nice to meet you a
s well, Hali. I want to be cliché and ask what brings you here, but I’m honestly glad that you’re single. Question is… is your heart unattached?”
Hali licked her lips, trying to hide her growing smile. Was her heart unattached? Well, it hadn’t been. It had always belonged to Lucas. Was she supposed to lie? To speak her detachment from Lucas into existence although her heart was still very much so his?
“Honestly,” Hali looked up when the door opened and closed, refusing to believe what she was seeing. Her attention went from Lucas at the door to Soren, “What is he doing here, Soren?”
8
Lucas
Lucas had absolutely no desire to go to Soren’s bae watch, but when he walked inside and saw Hali holding hands with a man that wasn’t him he was glad he came. Trying to maintain his composure, Lucas went over to the bar before breaking up Hali’s match. He asked for a shot of Hennessy, hoping that would settle his nerves enough to not act a fool over her.
What right did he have to her?
None, but that didn’t stop him from feeling jealous and possessive.
Here she was, more beautiful than ever, entertaining another man.
Hali had the smoothest pecan colored skin. She had the face of an angel. Innocent. But her expressions gave her this sense of… unfuckwithable. Hali’s eyes were espresso brown and heavily slanted. Maybe that was what gave her that spark of sexy and sassy. Whatever it was, Lucas had absolutely no problem falling victim to it. She had a cute button nose and plump skin colored lips.
Lucas loved every part of her, but he had a strange fascination with her hair. It was so thick and full of body. It had a life of its own. He had visions of running his fingers through that hair. Pulling that hair as he pressed his way into her deeply from behind. Watching that hair fall into her face as she bounced on top of him again and again. He could see that hair being blown out of her face by his breath as he held her against the wall and buried himself inside of her.
Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, Lucas downed his shot and walked over to her table just as she pulled her phone out and handed it to the man that was sitting next to her.
“I thought you said the purpose of this was for you to see how we interact with people, not for us to exchange numbers,” Lucas asked for clarity as he took Hali’s phone from the man.
“Don’t be rude, Lucas. Hali is speaking to Micah at the moment. Go sit at table number five and I’ll be with you shortly,” Soren informed him with a smile.
Did she really think he was going to leave and let another man secure something with his woman? No. With his friend. Hali didn’t even want to be that anymore. But still. She was his.
“Why didn’t you tell me Hali was one of your clients, Soren?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Hali agreed, “Why didn’t you tell me Lucas was one of your clients?”
Soren shrugged with a smile.
“Well, I tried to tell you, but you didn’t let me,” her eyes met Lucas’, “And I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d react like this. Go somewhere, Luke.”
Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, tightening his grip on Hali’s phone. With a quiet chuckle, Micah stood from his seat and tried to take Hali’s hand into his, but Lucas kept him from doing so.
“I have your number, Hali. I’ll give you a call to finish our conversation and set something up,” he looked down at Soren, “If that’s okay with Soren.”
Soren looked from Micah to Lucas before nodding softly.
“Okay, good. I’ll…” Lucas removing the chair from behind Micah must have taken his train of thought.
“Excuse me,” Lucas spoke, pushing Micah back gently so he could sit down next to Hali, who was laughing quietly and shaking her head in irritation.
Soren stood quickly and wrapped her arm around Micah’s waist as she walked him away from the table, looking back at Lucas briefly just to shoot daggers at him with her eyes. Lucas boldly raked over Hali’s body with his eyes, showing little to no concern for her flaring temper.
“What do you think you’re doing, Luke? You had no right to do that,” she scolded.
Lucas’ eyes went from hers to her shoulders to her breasts. Slowly, his gaze continued downward until Hali took his chin into her hand.
“Stop and look at me. In my eyes. I’m mad at you.”
Lucas took her hand into his and kissed it tenderly, taking note of the way she reacted to his touch. To his kiss. Her eyes closed. Mouth opened. Breathing hitched. Coming to her senses, Hali jerked her hand from his and jumped from her seat.
“You are not going to ruin this for me,” she affirmed through gritted teeth, and from this angle… his view of her breasts made it even harder for Lucas to focus on the words that were coming out of her mouth, “I waited on you for years and you didn’t choose me. Now leave me alone and let me be chosen by someone else.”
“I’m trying to choose you now,” Lucas assured her, but that was obviously not something she wanted to hear because Hali snatched her purse and phone from the table and stormed out.
On one hand, Lucas wanted to chase after her. To tell her that he was tired of warring within himself. With her. That he was tired of fighting how he felt for her. That for once in his life, he wanted to take a chance on love. Loving her. That he was ready and willing to do whatever it took to regain her trust and love.
That he was ready and willing to learn how to love her.
How to accept her love.
On the other hand, Lucas wanted to retreat. To give her time to come to grips with their brief and deeply satisfying encounter. This was the first time his lips had ever grazed her body, and Lucas was quite sure it wouldn’t be the last. Not after her reaction. He had that type of effect on her? To have her breathing slowing down and her heart beating so fast her necklace thumped against her chest? To have chills covering her arms and her nipples pebbling like small pearls that he couldn’t wait to explore her body to claim.
No. This was definitely not over. This was only the beginning. The beginning of Lucas finally going after what and who he wanted. And he refused to let himself or Hali stand in the way.
Lucas stood and walked over to Soren. In usual unapologetic Lucas form, he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the women she was talking to.
“Lucas…”
“You don’t have to worry about setting me up on any more of these unnecessary bae watches. Don’t set me up with no women on your lists. There’s only one woman that I want you to devote your energy to setting me up with, and that’s Hali,” his free hand went to her elbow, and he squeezed them both gently as he pulled her closer, “I don’t care what it takes… what I have to do. I want Hali to be my wife. Can you make that happen for me, Soren?”
Soren’s mouth opened and closed before she nodded.
“Yes. I can, but it won’t be easy. What brought about this change of heart?”
Lucas looked around the room as he released her. His eyes landed on Micah, and his anger quickly began to return.
“I guess you could say it was a wakeup call. Seeing her with someone else,” Lucas shook his head and returned his eyes to Soren, “I don’t want to see her with someone else. She’s always been mine, Soren. I’ve just been too afraid to admit that and make it official, but I can’t live like that anymore. I need my best friend back. My heart back. And when I get her… I want us to have it all.”
It was Lucas’ intention to quietly make his way into his apartment without letting Hali know that they were walking behind her, but when Luca yelled, “Howie!” and raced over to her, Lucas knew it wouldn’t be that easy getting into their apartment. After the bae watch session, Lucas picked Luca up from the daycare Shanice’s cousin ran and took him to his meeting with his production manager. Not only did they have their usual Amazon orders to prepare, but they also had a large order to fill for a natural hair expo.
With Lucas understanding that wealth was generational, he wanted Luca to not only live off his l
egacy, but understand his business efficiently enough to run it as well. He planned on having Luca in the warehouse learning about formulas, packaging and shipping, accounting, marketing and promotion and whatever else the business grew to entail as early as the age of five. For now, every meeting that Lucas had with someone that worked for him he tried to have Luca with him. He’d seen far too many parents die without leaving enough money for their children to bury them let alone live off, and he refused to let that be the case with Luca.
“Her name is Hali, baby boy, not Howie,” Lucas corrected, stopping Luca’s dash towards Hali.
He stopped and looked back at Lucas with confusion filling his eyes.
“Howie,” he repeated, like he couldn’t understand the difference between what he was saying and what Lucas was saying.
“Halllee,” Lucas enunciated.
Luca’s face twisted as his head tilted, getting a laugh out of Hali.
“Hoowiee,” Luca repeated.
“That’s perfect,” Hali cooed, scooping Luca into her arms, “Hey, cutie pie.”
It wasn’t that Lucas didn’t want to see Hali; he always wanted to see Hali, but after the way she abruptly left the bae watch earlier, Lucas just… didn’t feel like causing her anymore pain or frustration. He couldn’t help but want to apologize repeatedly and try to get her to soften towards him again whenever he was around her, but it was clear that Hali had no intentions of returning to that old place of peace they once shared again. Lucas would let her have that for now, because he knew he had a lot of work to do within himself, but soon… he would be coming for her full force, and it wouldn’t matter how hard she fought, he planned on fully breaking all of those walls down.
Luca buried his face into Hali’s chest as he blushed, and the sight of Hali kissing the top of his head was enough to ease all of the stress he’d received at his meeting.
