The Nicest Guy in America

by Angela Benson

  “Dead serious. That’s why he’s here in Atlanta. He said it was a shame a town this size didn’t have a place for the over thirty crowd to go for a nice night out. And it’s doing well too.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Leslie said. “Maybe I made a mistake by choosing Nate instead of him.”

  “And maybe you have selective memory,” Kim reminded her. “You did choose Luther. Unfortunately, he chose Tam.”

  Leslie flinched. “In a manner of speaking.” She turned to Tam. “So what happened? Did you and lover boy have a fight? I told you to watch yourself.”

  Kim watched the sadness cloud Tam’s face again. “It’s none of your business, Leslie,” she said.

  Leslie looked from Tam to Kim. “Okay, I can take a hint. I’ll leave you two alone.” She got up and went toward her room, then turned back. “I know I can be a bitch at times, Tam. But you know I love you, don’t you?”

  Tam smiled through her sadness. “I know you do, Leslie, but sometimes you drive me crazy. Now, if you’re a good girl, you can listen to my story. But no wisecracks, okay? I can’t take them this morning.”

  Leslie quickly moved back to her chair. “My lips are sealed,” she said, making a motion of using a key to lock her lips.

  “It’s nothing really. I thought we were getting along so well,” Tam began.

  “What happened?” Kim asked.

  “You know we’ve gone out every night since Saturday and every night we’d talk about what we’re going to do the next day. When I made a suggestion tonight, Luther didn’t pick up on it. He made no comment at all and when he brought me home, he didn’t say he’d call. He always says he’ll call.”

  “Maybe he had something on his mind,” Kim offered. “Could be he’s having problems with The Club.”

  Tam shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think it’s because I have a child. I told him about Melissa tonight and he lost interest.” She shrugged her shoulders in a defeated motion. “Another brother who doesn’t want a woman with children.”

  Leslie raised her hand as if she were in elementary school. “May I say something here?”

  Tam nodded. “You may as well.”

  “He’s one guy, Tam, and there are plenty of other guys out there. I say if Luther doesn’t recognize what a prize you are, then to hell with him. Anyway, you shouldn’t be getting serious about a guy after only a few dates. We’re not in college anymore. Real relationships take time.”

  Kim turned to Leslie, amazed that such logical words could come from the woman who only hours ago had been crying because some guy told he loved her. “She’s right, Tam.”

  “I know she’s right,” Tam agreed. “But knowing it doesn’t make the situation any easier to deal with. Do you know how many brothers have never called back once I told them about Melissa?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “A lot and I’ll bet almost all of them had kids themselves. Men seem to want as little responsibility as possible. It’s depressing sometimes.”

  “You’re right, girl,” Leslie said. “But we have to keep moving forward. Chalk it up to experience and forget it. Thinking about it is only going to bring you down.”

  “She’s right, Tam,” Kim said. “Luther’s one guy. Don’t blow the situation out of proportion.”

  “It’s good you found out how he feels before you slept with him,” Leslie said, again to Kim’s amazement, “Think how much worse you’d feel if you’d slept with the guy.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Later that morning while her friends slept, Kim sat in the quiet of the suite’s sitting room and tried to do some long overdue work on her article. It was difficult to concentrate though since her thoughts continually strayed to Reggie.

  What was really going on between them? she asked herself. What did she want to happen between them?

  Maybe she was jumping the gun with Reggie as Tam had done with Luther and as Leslie had done with Nate. Before she could decide where she wanted her relationship with Reggie to go, she needed to know what her feelings were. And before she knew what her feelings were, she had to know who Reggie was. She didn’t know that yet. She hadn’t known him long enough to know.

  Now that’s the first lie, her inner voice said. You do know who he is and he doesn’t deserve the jibs you’ve been throwing his way. Either tell the guy you want to keep this, whatever it is between you, on a professional level and do it. Or be honest with him and yourself and let him know that you want to take it further.

  Chapter 16

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go with us?” Leslie asked. She and Tam had awakened feeling much better about their situations and had decided to spend a man-less day roaming the city. They’d found Kim seated on the couch with papers spread out all over the coffee table.

  Kim shook her head and rubbed her eyes. “Not this time. I really do need to put some thought into this article.”

  “Hey, what’s this?” Tam leaned against the back of the sofa and dropped her purse down on the seat. “If you’re working on your article, then why aren’t you out studying your subject?”

  “I don’t have to spend all my time with Reggie, Tam,” Kim hedged.

  “Uh oh,” Leslie said, taking a seat next to Kim. “Did you two have an argument or something?”

  “Not really,” Kim said.

  “That’s a definite yes,” Leslie said. “We told you our problems so you have to tell us yours. What happened?”

  “Nothing really,” Kim said again. How could she explain how immature she’d been without seeming even more immature?

  “We love you to death, Kim,” Tam said, “but we want to get out of this hotel before dark. So do us a favor and just tell us. You know we’re going to harass you until you do.”

  Kim knew Tam was right. “Okay,” she said. “Reggie and I didn’t have a fight. Not exactly.”

  Leslie rolled her eyes then looked at Tam. “They had a fight.”

  “Right,” Tam said. “It was a fight. Now tell us what you fought about.”

  “We did not fight. We had a difference of opinion.”

  Her two friends looked at her with eyes that said they didn’t believe her. “Okay, maybe we had a little disagreement.”

  “What was it about?” Leslie asked. “What did he do?”

  “He didn’t do anything,” Kim explained. “It’s more like what I did.”

  “Out with it, Kim,” Tam urged. “It can’t be that bad.”

  “Well, I sorta said that those other women might have dumped him because of his performance, or lack thereof, in the bedroom.”

  Both Tam and Leslie howled.

  “No, you didn’t, girl,” Tam said when she stopped laughing.

  “Was he that bad?” Leslie asked between guffaws. “There have been a couple of guys I wish I’d had the nerve to say that to. You go, girl.”

  Kim lifted her palms to them. “Hold on a minute. You guys arc getting ahead of yourselves. Reggie and I haven’t slept together.”

  “Huh?” Tam asked.

  “Then how do you know about his performance?” Leslie asked.

  “That’s just it,” Kim said. “I don’t. We were talking and he said something and one thing led to another and I just said it.”

  “Were you joking or what?” Tam asked.

  Kim shook her head. “I wasn’t exactly joking, but I wasn’t being serious either.”

  “What did he do?” Tam asked.

  “Obviously, he got mad, Tam,” Leslie said. “Otherwise, Kim wouldn’t be here trying to explain the situation to us.” She turned back to Kim. “Go on.”

  “I don’t know what happened. One moment we were flirting and the next moment I’d said it.”

  “She got nervous,” Tam said to Leslie. “And started flapping her lips without thinking.”

  “You said he did something,” Leslie said to Kim, ignoring Tam’s comment. “What did he do?”

  She shrugged to downplay what she knew had been a major happening. “He sorta picked me up, threw m
e across his shoulder, carried me to the bedroom and tossed me on the bed.”

  “Oooh, caveman. I like it,” Leslie said.

  Tam shot her friend a warning glance. “Les-lie.”

  “Well, there wasn’t anything to like about it. Reggie was angry. And hurt.” Kim didn’t think she’d ever forget the hurt and disappointment she’d seen in his eyes.

  “Did he hurt you?” Tam asked.

  Kim shook her head. “No, Tam. Reggie never had any intention of doing anything to me. He was making a point.”

  “Hey, I’m missing something here,” Leslie asked. “What was his point if it wasn’t to have sex with you?”

  “Leslie, you can be so dense sometimes. Before I made my comment, he’d told me that he wanted to make love with me. And I told him that he lacked style. Then he did what he did to show me that he could play the uncaring, macho guy that I seemed to want.”

  “Dog,” Tam said.

  “Double dog,” Leslie added.

  “I know,” Kim said. “I tried to explain, to tell him I was sorry, but he wasn’t listening. He brought me back to the hotel and I haven’t heard from him since.”

  “I can’t say I blame him,” Leslie said. “You know men have fragile egos, especially about sex. You hit below the belt that time, Kim.”

  “She’s right, Kim,” Tam agreed. “You went too far.”

  Kim didn’t like hearing her friends say she was wrong but she knew their assessment was correct. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “You have to call him, Kim,” Tam said. “If you didn’t mean what you said, you owe him an apology.”

  Again, Tam was right. “I don’t know what to say to him.”

  “Don’t blow it out of proportion. Just tell him you’re sorry.”

  “That’s right,” Leslie added. “Then honestly respond to his request. If you want to sleep with him, tell him. If you don’t, tell him that, too.”

  “What if I don’t know how to respond to his request?” she said, voicing her primary concern. Did she want to sleep with Reggie? The answer to that question was an easy Yes. But was it wise for her to sleep with him? That was the question she couldn’t answer.

  “Well, we can’t help you with that one,” Leslie said, getting up from the sofa. “Are you ready to go, Tam?”

  Tam grabbed her purse and got up, too. “She’s right, Kim. This one you have to figure out all by yourself. We’ll see you tonight.”

  Kim watched as her friends made their way out of the suite. Once she was alone, she thought about their advice and tried to figure out what she really wanted.

  ~ ~ ~

  Kim took a deep breath before ringing Reggie’s doorbell later that afternoon. She hoped to catch him before he left for his weekly visit to the Boys Club. As she stood waiting for him, she thought about the first time she’d stood in front of his house. There had been other reporters there that day, but today there were none.

  “Ms. Washington,” Reggie said when he pulled open the door. The surprise she saw in his eyes was quickly replaced with wariness. And maybe boredom. “Here to ask more questions for your article?”

  “I’d like to talk to you, Reggie,” she said, feeling awkward. “Is it okay if I come in?”

  Reggie stepped back and waved her in the house in the gallant fashion of old. “Why, of course, Ms. Washington,” he said. “Forgive my rudeness.”

  She tried not to be hurt by his formality. In the past, there had been a wistfulness in the way he said Ms. Washington. Today there was a hardness.

  “About last night,” she said after she was seated on the couch in his living room.

  He took a seat in the chair across from her. “What about it?” His voice was hard. Stiff.

  She really couldn’t blame him for making this difficult for her so she tried not to take his coldness to heart. “I know what I said was out of line.”

  “Out of line?” he said, as if the words were inadequate to describe what she’d done.

  “Okay, more than out of line.”

  He nodded. “Go on.”

  “That’s it. I was wrong and I’m sorry.”

  “And?”

  “And what?” she said, her feeling of goodwill strained. “I’ve said I was sorry.”

  Reggie stood. “Okay, you’ve said it. I’ll escort you to the door.”

  “That’s it?” Kim said, eyes wide. “I come here and apologize to you and all you have to say is ‘I’ll escort you to the door.’ ”

  He lifted his arms. “What more do you want?”

  She didn’t know what she wanted him to say or what she’d expected him to say. But she hadn’t expected to be dismissed out of hand. She stood too. “My mistake,” she said. “Thanks for listening. I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing.”

  “Fine,” Reggie said and walked her to the door. As she was about to exit, he asked, “So when is our next date?”

  “Date?” The man couldn’t be serious. He was tossing her out of his house one minute and asking for a date the next.

  “For your article and our column. I had a deal with you and your publisher, remember?”

  Now she felt really stupid. “Of course, the magazine. When are you available?”

  “How about tomorrow night? We could go out to The Club.” He shrugged as if it didn’t really matter to him. “Or someplace else if you prefer.”

  She shook her head, a bit disappointed he hadn’t asked her to go to the Boys Club with him. She’d enjoyed herself the last time she’d gone. “No, The Club is fine. What time?”

  “I’ll meet you there at eight.”

  “Meet me there?” she said aloud, though she was really talking to herself.

  “Okay, I’ll pick you up,” he said, a noticeable lilt in his voice that made her wonder if he was making fun of her.

  “No, I’ll drive.”

  He shook his head. “I insist. I’ll pick you up at your hotel at seven-thirty.”

  She wanted to protest, but she had a feeling that doing so would only make her seem silly. “Seven-thirty is fine. I’ll see you then.”

  She walked past him and out to her car, feeling his eyes on her all the while. If he’d wanted to stare at her, he could have walked her to her car, she thought, a bit ticked with him.

  “Kim,” he called.

  She turned around at the sound of his voice and fought down the desire to scream: What? “Yes.”

  “I accept your apology.”

  The words she’d thought to say left her when she saw his grin. He had been making fun of her. She gave him a small smile and turned back to her car. She’d see who was making fun of whom.

  ~ ~ ~

  Reggie knew he was in trouble as soon as he saw Ms. Washington in the hotel lobby. Dressed in a black beaded dress with thin, thin straps, and her long legs in black heels, she looked as if she were prepared for battle. The smile she fixed on him told him he was the opponent. And his body’s response to her told him he was going to be the loser. But he was determined to go down happy.

  “Ms. Washington,” he said, going up to greet her. “You certainly look gorgeous tonight. All the men at The Club are going to be envious of me.”

  She smiled and his stomach did flips. She’d smiled at him before but never like this. “Why, thank you, Reggie,” she said. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

  Reggie had taken special care in choosing his all black ensemble tonight, so he accepted her words as truth. “I do my best,” he said.

  “Hmm. So modest.”

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked. When she nodded, he took her arm in his and escorted her out of the hotel and to his waiting car. Once they were both settled, he turned on the radio.

  “Did you tell Jim we were going out tonight?” she asked.

  He cut his eyes at her. “I’d think that was your job. He’s your boss.”

  “But, if I remember correctly, you made the deal with him.” She had him there.

  “I haven’t talk
ed to Jim since I made him the offer. For the record, it wasn’t Jim or the offer I was interested in.” She turned and looked out the window.

  “Aren’t you going to ask what I was interested in?”

  She looked back at him. “Why? You said you wanted me to find out for myself what a nice guy you really were so I could tell the truth in the magazine. That was your reason, wasn’t it?”

  He shrugged. Leave it to Ms. Washington to remember word-for-word what he’d said. “That was part of it.”

  “Just part of it?”

  “I know you know what I’m talking about, Kim. You know as well as I do that I made that offer because I wanted to spend some time with you.”

  “So that I could write the article?”

  “That was as good an excuse as any.”

  She raised her brow and eyed him suspiciously. “So you lied and all this was a scam for you to get over on me?”

  Reggie shook his head. He wondered if he could ever win with this woman. She turned everything he said around on him. “It wasn’t a lie, Kim. I just told you part of the reason.”

  “I don’t get it. You didn’t even know me. Why did you want to spend time with me?”

  Reggie wondered the same thing. But there was something about Kimberla Washington that had attracted him from the first. “I can’t explain it, Kim,” he began, deciding to be honest with her. “But I felt this connection with you. I thought we were getting along well when the interview started, but then you turned on me. And the next day, I see this article in the paper with scores of negative things you’d said. I couldn’t let you continue to believe those things about me. What you think is important to me. Very important.”

  “Why is what I think so important to you?” she asked.

  Reggie shrugged, his eyes focused on the road ahead. “I don’t know, but I want to find out.” He glanced at her. “Don’t you?” When she didn’t answer immediately, he thought she was going to deny what was happening between them. He opened his mouth to challenge her, but she spoke.

  “I remember going through the nominations for the contest and seeing your picture,” she said with amazement in her voice. “There was something about you. I can’t explain it. I’d read the letters, then I’d look at your picture and I’d wonder if those women were crazy. They said all those wonderful things about you, yet they dumped you. I couldn’t understand it. I tried to tell myself there was something wrong with you, but I couldn’t find it in any of those letters. And I couldn’t find it in your face.”