I put my earbuds in, cranked up Kendrick Lamar, and went to work. Thirty minutes later, I was annoyingly close to being done when I ran out of paint. I knew we had extra, so I went to the empty extra bedroom we were using to hold supplies, looking for an extra can. I had to search around for a minute before I found it, then headed back through the house to the living room, where I was met with… damn.
Fallon Perkins was bad as hell.
She had rich, smooth mahogany skin that made you want to touch her. And she was showing plenty of it, in nothing but bikini-cut panties and a tank top so thin I could see the dark chocolate outlines of her areolas through it. It was obvious that she was dressed for bed, with her hair tied up with a colorful scarf and face scrubbed free of the makeup she’d had on earlier. Still, she looked sexy as hell.
She was damn near naked though. And even though the view was magnificent, I was pretty sure she didn’t realize I was still there. The way the house was laid out, she wouldn’t see me unless she turned and looked directly at where I was, but I could definitely see her, walking around the living room surveying our work.
I averted my gaze, and purposely made my footsteps louder as I finished my trek to the living room. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the exact moment where she heard me, then frantically looked around for the source of the noise before she darted back up the stairs.
My intent was to call out to her, make it clear that I wasn’t trying to hide my presence, but I was halfway across the floor when she appeared at the top of the stairs again, creeping down with what I could only assume to be a loaded gun in her hands.
“Whoa, shit!” I said, taking a step back. “Ms. Perkins, you can put that down.”
“Sea—I mean, Mr. Keahi?!” she said, as she got far enough down the stairs to see my face. “What are you still doing in my house in the middle of the night?!”
She did not lower the gun.
“I was trying to finish your painting tonight, so we can get the trim done tomorrow,” I explained. “And it’s not the middle of the night… it’s barely 9pm.”
She rolled her eyes, then after another moment of thought, lowered the gun to her side. “Still later than I expected anyone to be here. I thought I heard you leave hours ago.”
“The rest of the guys did. I stayed behind to finish up.”
She nodded a little, then shifted back and forth on her toes. “You always stay behind? Stay this late?”
I shrugged. “When the client has expressed disappointment with the job, you do what you have to do to make it right.”
With that, I turned away from her, intending to go back to my paint can. A second later, she spoke again.
“Hey,” she said, and when I looked up, she was as far down the stairs as she could get while keeping her lower half hidden behind the railing.
Shit.
Her nipples were hard against the front of her tank top, and I had to force myself to keep my eyes on her face. Not that she was hard to look at. Her big, deceptively innocent brown eyes were framed by thick lashes and complimented by neatly arched eyebrows. She had a slender, delicate nose with a little upturn on the end, and just those features were pretty enough, but then… she had those lips. Full, pouty lips that made me wonder how they tasted, and that thought made me wonder if it was safe to look at her at all.
“I’m sorry,” she said, and it shocked me, for real. She didn’t strike me as the apologizing type. She struck me as the I’m wrong as hell, but men usually forget about that because I’m fine as hell type. “For earlier, you know? For snapping at you like that. I was pissed about the project not being done, but I only went off about it because somebody else had made me really, really angry earlier in the day. I took it out on you, and that wasn’t okay. So… I’m sorry.”
She drew her lip between her teeth and looked away from me after she finished, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself anymore. And hell, it wasn’t as if I knew either, but…
“I accept your apology,” I said, nodding. “And really, I’m sorry too. I don’t always have excuses, but… I did use one today, when the fact is that I messed up. So… let’s just call it even. And moving forward, I’ll do my best to not have this timing issue again.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She nodded, and it… I don’t know, it felt like she wanted to say something else, but instead she turned back up the stairs, trying to tug her shirt down over her ass as she went. I shook my head – because trying to cover it was futile – and went back to my work so I could get out of there.
My mind was already going places it definitely shouldn’t.
Four.
So he saw me damn near naked.
That wasn’t the biggest deal in the world, right?
So, why did I feel so out of sorts? It wasn’t that I was necessarily bothered, or felt violated in any way, it was just… I don’t know how to describe it.
What I did know was three days after Sean Keahi saw me with my high beams on and ass cheeks out, I could still feel the hot sweep of his gaze over my skin. To his credit, he’d been respectful and not stared, but... In that moment before his “I probably shouldn’t do this” impulse kicked in, his eyes had zeroed in on my breasts, and it probably made me a little bit of a whore that I’d immediately imagined him covering my nipples with those damn lips of his.
Just a little bit though.
Cause after all, I was a single woman now. Not that I was interested in anything that even resembled involvement after the abrupt end of a three-year relationship, but still… I no longer had to feel guilty about attracting a man’s attention. Since our breakup, the little negative qualities in Ray that I’d pushed to the side because I loved him were starting to come to the forefront. Possessiveness and jealousy were high on that list. Nothing overboard, just slightly above desirable levels. Enough to make me wary of male attention, but not enough to make me downplay my appearance for his comfort.
I’d set his ass straight early on about that.
In any case, it was time to get serious about being unattached. It was nearly two weeks after we’d broken up, and with the new information gathered from the phone call a few days ago, reconciliation was not on the horizon. I was single, and it was time to get used to it, because single was how I planned to be, indefinitely.
But the attention was certainly nice.
“Fallon, girl are you paying attention?”
“Hmm?”
I sat up in my seat and took another sip from my sparkling water as all eyes turned in my direction. In front of me, Vivienne – owner of Guilty Pleasures, the chocolate shop that supplied the candy for the store – was standing in front of me in a deep fuchsia lingerie set that was made to flatter her very pregnant body. One of my Scantilily custom pieces.
“I want to know what you think,” she said, frowning at herself a little in the mirror. “You don’t think this looks silly with my belly out like this? Carter will laugh at me in this.”
Beside me, Charlie sucked her teeth. “Oh please. The way that man loves him some Frenchy, you’ll be lucky if he even gets a good look at it before he has your legs up in the air, working around that belly. Fallon hooked me up for my honeymoon lingerie, and Nixon barely let me out of the bed the whole time we were gone.”
Viv gave her cousin a little smile, then turned back to her own reflection, running her hands over the soft lace. The deep pink looked gorgeous on her creamy caramel skin, and with her wild-spiraled curls floating around her shoulders, and her cute little baby bump protruding in front of her, she looked fresh off the set of a boudoir maternity shoot. She changed her angle a little, gently caressing her stomach, and I could see in her eyes that she liked how she looked… she was just concerned about her man.
“Really?” she asked, turning to face us again. “You are sure he will like this?”
On my other side, Ayden sat forward. “Positive.”
When Viv glanced at me, I gave her
a nod confirming my agreement. Ayden knew, as I did, that there was very little chance her fiancé wouldn’t love her in a skimpy set like the one she had on. In my experience, most men – excluding the ones who weren’t shit anyway – adored their lover’s pregnant body. There was a whole new layer of reverence that came along with that swollen belly, and they loved to see their woman embrace it with confidence, and still be sexy. I’d been around Viv and Carter together, and there was no doubt in my mind that he was one of those men.
“I think… I will take it,” Viv said, and her declaration was met with a round of applause. We typically closed at seven, but I’d kept the store open late to give her time to come by and shop, and try this on for me. Between the four of us – me, Viv, Charlie, and Ayden – we’d done so much talking and laughing that it was after eight now. “And I want the other two I tried on as well.”
“Excellent!” Ayden stood up, with a big smile. “Let’s get you dressed, and checked out, so you can go home and put this on for your man.”
“And report back,” I chimed in. “Let me know how quickly he gets it off you. Market research, you know?”
We laughed as Ayden directed Viv back to the dressing room, and Charlie turned me to tap my hand. “Hey, are you okay? You haven’t been yourself these last few weeks.”
I shrugged. “I’m fine… I think. Just still processing the breakup.”
“Ah. Yeah… I still can’t believe that asshole did that to you.” Charlie’s eyes were wide and angry for a second, before her gaze dropped into determination. “Well, screw him. We need to have a girl’s night. Dance and laugh and drink, to forget his stupid ass.”
My gaze dropped to her pregnant belly. “Um… you can only do one of those.”
“Not true,” she said, wagging a finger at me. “I can laugh, and I can dance. Well… I can two step, at least,” she laughed. “But seriously, me, you, Viv, Ayden. We can grab Leah and Simone, hit up Urban Grind… find you a little rebound cutie to work off some sexual frustration with.”
I laughed, then shook my head. “I’m down with all of it except the rebound dick part. I want to breathe a little bit, you know? It’s barely been two weeks, and I don’t want my mind clouded with someone else already.”
“You know what?” Charlie said, gesturing toward me with both pointer fingers. “That is probably a good idea. I broke up with the guy I’d been with for six years. Two days later, I got my back blown out by a rebound cutie, and my silly ass ended up marrying him.”
“You married the rebound?!”
Charlie sighed. “Yep. I married the damn rebound.”
I brought my hand up to my mouth. “Are you… are talking about Nixon?”
“Oh dear God, no,” she exclaimed, with a shout of laughter. “With Nixo, I gave him an ultimatum about getting married, and then we kind of broke up – it’s debatable, but anyway – he slept with somebody else. Then he proposed, but I was pissed that he screwed someone, so then I went and screwed someone, and married him. But then he went to prison, so I got back with Nix, but I wasn’t divorced yet, and... It was a hot mess.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds about right. But, you ended up with the right man.”
A big smile swept over Charlie’s face, and she lowered her hands to circle around her belly. “Definitely. Hey, maybe the same will happen for you. Love lost, then found again?”
“Uhhh, no.” I shook my head as I stood. “After Ray talked me into moving my entire life here, then changed his mind about coming, then dropped the little bomb that he was screwing his coworker while we were together… I think I’ll pass on him in the future.”
Charlie sneered. “Ugh. Damn right. He needs his balls kicked in. But anyway… Girl’s Night, this Friday, let’s call it a date.”
I smiled. “Consider me on board.”
Twenty minutes later, I was walking out the door, heading to pick up my car from the mechanic. I hadn’t planned to go this late, but they didn’t close until nine. So if I was quick about the five-minute walk, I could get there with twenty minutes to spare.
When I reached the front door of the auto shop, the lights were still on, but the sign was flipped to “closed” and the door was locked. I checked the time on my cell phone, then caught a glimpse of the big digital clock on the wall of the shop. It was definitely before nine…
I unlocked my phone and dialed the shop’s number. Faintly, I could hear the shrill bell in the shop as it rang and rang, and then just before I was about to give up and end the call, someone picked up.
“Hello?” The greeting was abrupt, and the line was staticky, but I was just glad someone had answered.
“Um, hi,” I said, shifting my purse further up onto my shoulder as I peered through the windows. “I was told I could come and pick up my car today, but the door is locked, even though it’s not the closing time that’s posted yet.”
“I’m sorry about that, ma’am, but the shop had to close early today. You’ll have to come by tomorrow.”
I frowned. “Excuse me? But, you answered the phone; you’re telling me you can’t just give me my car? Even though I was told I’d be able to get it today? How the hell am I supposed to get home?”
“I apologize for the inconvenience, but unfortunately I can’t do anything. The car services around here are pretty quick. You should be able to get someone. Have a good night.”
“Have a good night?” I shot back, but there was already silence on the other end of the line.
He’d hung up.
“Oh hell no,” I said aloud, dropping the phone back into my purse. I beat on the door with the flat part of my hand, causing as much noise as I could. “I know you hear me,” I yelled through the door. “It makes no sense that I’m a paying customer, here during your business hours, but I can’t get my damned car! I know your ass hears me!”
I felt more than a little bit ridiculous, and from the side eyes I was getting from passerby, I must have looked it too. But I didn’t really care. I wanted my damn car!
I got even more pissed when the lights began to shut off, but I owned a business in this area too, and I knew the overnight lights had to be turned on from the front and back of the store. I waited patiently, arms folded, and sure enough, a stocky figure broke through the shadows a few moments later. As he got closer, I swallowed to wet my throat in preparation to give him a piece of my mind, but then the light hit his face and my heart leapt up into my throat.
“You,” we said, at the same time.
It was Sean, again, and not that I was looking that hard, but he was somehow finer than last time I saw him. He was wearing dark-wash jeans, Timbs, and a black tee shirt that contrasted against the burnished gold of his skin. A black baseball hat was pulled low on his head, creating a bit of a shadow over his eyes, but I could feel them on me anyway.
“You know…” – he pushed his hands into his pockets, and raised his voice so I could hear him through the locked door. – “You should really work on that temper Ms. Perkins.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “And you should work on not screwing me over, Mr. Keahi. What, do you work here too? I didn’t drop my car off with you.”
“You’re right; you dropped it off with my cousin Davis, the owner. He had a family emergency to take care of, so he asked me to lock up for him, and close up the shop.”
“Oh no! Is everything okay!?”
Sean nodded, but gave a little half shrug. “Yeah, he’s aiight. Man has a young toddler and a pregnant wife. He needed to go give her a little break, that’s all. Nobody’s at the hospital or anything like that.”
“Good.” I nodded, then took a deep breath. “So about my car…”
“I can’t do anything for you. I said that.”
“You did say that, but I mean, come on… I need to get home.”
“I can drive you home.”
I frowned. “And how am I supposed to get back into the city in the morning?”
“How did you get into the city this morning?”
“I drove my rental.”
“If you have a rental, what’s the problem?”
I sucked my teeth, then swept a hand through my hair, which I’d worn loose today. “I turned the rental in this afternoon, when Davis called to say my car was ready. So do you see my dilemma?”
“I do, but still… I can’t do anything about it. Davis didn’t leave instructions for whatever his process is, and I’m not about to mess with any of this stuff.”
I groaned. “I mean… could you maybe just call him, please? Please?” I even clasped my hands in front of me, and that made his mouth spread into a smile that if possible, definitely would have evaporated my panties off. He fished a ring of keys from his pocket, then unlocked the door and held it open for me to step in.
“Since you ask so nicely…Wait here,” he said, as he re-locked the door. “I’ll call.”
I mouthed thank you to him as he raised his phone to his ear, then walked away from me to speak to Davis. While he talked, I watched him, taking the opportunity to get a really good look at him. Even looking at him from behind, Sean was sexy.
He was tall enough, but not tall tall. The other day, he’d only been an inch or two taller than me in my heels, so I’d give him six feet at most. He wasn’t what I’d call slim either. A solid man, with broad shoulders and biceps and big hands that were just made for tossing a woman around.
I’d love to have him toss me ar—my phone rang, saving my mind from traveling the underbelly of those lustful thoughts, but I rolled my eyes and hit the “ignore” button when I saw that it was Ray. He’d been calling me since yesterday for some reason, but hadn’t left a single message.
If it was important, he would.
“I’m gonna go and grab your car from the lot,” Sean said, startling me. In the second it took to pull my gaze from the phone, he was already gone.
The Way Love Goes (Serendipitous Love Book 4) Page 4
