“I need to hire you,” she stated. “To investigate something for me.”
She’s nervous. “Of course I’ll help you,” he said without question. “What do you need me to investigate?”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, emotion and confusion were written all across them. “Before Cyd and Shawn’s wedding I received a call from a woman who claimed to know my birth mother. She called me privately and I don’t know how she found me. I was too much in shock to ask her any details although I know I should have at least tried to see if she would answer...”
“What did she say?” Malik asked after she hesitated.
“Well, I always knew I was left at a church when I was a baby with a note that only had the name Mya written on it, so I’ve never known anything about my family.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know who this woman is or if she’s even telling me the truth, but she called to tell me that even though my mother left me, she loved me very much.”
Malik watched her eyes grow dark with anger and all he wanted to do was reach out and pull her to him. But Mya didn’t need his affection right now. She needed to get her story out and based off her body language, he doubted she’d voiced the words aloud to any other individual.
“My first thought was the fact that the woman said loved and not love, so that leads me to believe that maybe the woman who gave birth to me is deceased.” Mya flicked some hair over her shoulder and sat up straighter on the bench. “Then my second thought was if I could recover from the hurt and disappointment if what the woman said weren’t true.”
The loud boom of the first fireworks brought their attention to the night sky as both gazed up at the bright lights dashing into the atmosphere. “What did she tell you?” Malik asked, looking to her as she continued to watch the fireworks display.
“She told me something that a part of me wishes she hadn’t because I have a very low tolerance for people playing with my emotions.” Mya turned her head back to Malik. “According to this woman, I wasn’t my birth mother’s only child... I have a sibling.”
Chapter 6
There, I said it. Not only had Mya asked for Malik’s help, but she’d also finally gotten the confidence to say the words I have a sibling out loud.
She was overwhelmed by the possibility that she might have a sibling. But even more nervous of having Malik investigate her life, in fear he would find things she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
She had spent her entire life trying to convince herself that the way her life had turned out was for the better. Because of her struggles, she’d built a solid life for herself. And since she didn’t know anything about her biological parents, she’d grown to realize that giving her away might have actually been the best decision for them.
But sometimes, in rare moments, the shadows of her past mingled with the present, causing her to question truth from the false reality she’d created in her mind. Success didn’t hide the demons battling in her subconscious and if she were honest with herself, she’d admit that the only way to slay her fears was to figure out the truth once and for all.
Malik hadn’t stopped observing her since she’d made the last statement and he hadn’t said a word let alone made a sound in the past couple minutes.
“Will you still help me?” she asked, unable to take the silence anymore.
“Of course I will,” he replied without hesitation. “There are just a few details that I will need from you first, so we can talk about it another night if you want.”
She nodded her head. “No, it’s fine. We can talk now if that’s okay.”
“That’s fine.” He pulled a small notepad and pen from his suit jacket. After he tapped a button on his phone’s screen, turning on a flashlight, he began jotting down notes. Mya assumed he was writing what he’d found out from her so far and she wished she could make out the words from where she sat beside him.
“And I assume you’ll also let me know how much it costs for your personal services,” she stated as she squinted in the darkness and placed her hand on his thigh trying to lean in to read the notepad.
When he stopped moving his hands, she glanced up and found him looking at her intently with one eyebrow raised. His eyes left her face and slowly fell to his thigh.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she moved her hand and jumped back from him.
“No apology necessary,” he said as he continued to jot down notes. “I just want to be clear. What personal services are you referring to?”
“Really,” she said sarcastically. “Obviously, I’m talking about your investigator services.”
“Okay. As for my services, they’ll be free of charge. I’d like to think we are starting to actually become friends and I made a commitment years ago that, depending on the circumstance, I wouldn’t charge friends.” He stopped taking notes and turned his head towards her.
Mya forced herself to maintain eye contact, although deep down, she realized that Malik now knew more about her than most of the people in her life. She hadn’t discussed the call with anyone, not even her partners.
“This is my first time confiding in anyone about this,” she said without thinking. Why the heck did I just tell him that? Calm. Reserved. Composed. That’s the Mya that everyone knew when it came to serious situations. Fidgety. Nervous. Letting words slip. Who was this woman? She was definitely not herself.
“Which brings me to my second set of services,” Malik said breaking her thoughts. Second set of services? Lord tell me he isn’t talking about what I think he’s talking about.
“Second set?” she asked.
“Yes, second set,” he repeated, barely appearing to blink. His voice grew deeper...more raspy. “I usually never mix business with pleasure, but if you need my intimate attention too, I’d be willing to bend the rules for you.”
Mya swallowed. Hard. “I think I’m okay,” she replied.
“You think or you know?”
“I know.”
Malik’s eyes dropped to her lips. “I think that you think you know, but you aren’t really sure.”
She let out a chuckle. “I think that you want to think that I’m not sure because you’re hoping that I change my mind.”
He lifted his eyes back to her face. “Nope, wrong again.” He leaned in closer to her, his eyes floating from her lips, to her eyes, back to her lips, then up to her eyes.
Oh no, Mya thought as her heart began pounding profusely. I wonder if he is going to try to kiss me. When he leaned even closer to her, the question was no longer if, but instead, when.
“You will change your mind,” he stated confidently. Mya racked her brain, searching for a comeback, but her mind went blank of retaliating words. Her eyes dropped to his lips as she admired their shape. His upper and bottom lip had the perfect combination of shape and fullness. She didn’t know if she was so drawn to him because she hadn’t been with a man in over eight months or if it was because finally deciding to investigate the call had been the most relief she’d felt in a long time. Or maybe it was because she was attracted to him no matter how hard she tried to fight it.
She barely heard the fireworks finale in the background over the fireworks going off in her stomach as his lips made their descent to hers. He was a couple centimeters away when two dings filled the air, causing him to pause. Mya wanted him to continue with the moment since she wasn’t sure she would be so willing to let him kiss her again. Apparently reading her thoughts, Malik’s lips ventured to hers once again.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. The sounds of incoming texts messages from both their phones broke the trance.
“This better be important,” Malik said as he lifted his phone to view the messages. Simultaneously Mya removed hers from her clutch.
“What!” they both said in unison as they read the messages
in the group text.
“I really hate that so many of us have iPhones. These group messages seem to go on all night,” Malik said. “And is it just me, or does Lex compose the longest bridal party messages known to mankind?”
“She sure does,” Mya agreed as she confirmed her attendance to the bridal party meeting that had been called. “Since she wants us all to meet up, I bet she needs to make sure we are all aware of the details since their wedding will be here before you know it.”
“I guess,” Malik said as he put his phone in his pocket. “Since Cyd and Shawn had a short engagement, and Micah and Lex’s engagement is even shorter, I didn’t really think about the fact that two weddings in the same year meant twice as many wedding duties.”
Mya shook her head with a laugh. “Men have no clue sometimes. I knew the minute they settled on their dates that having two friends get married the same year was going to be crazy.”
Malik shrugged and joined her laughter. “Good thing you ladies are event planners.”
“Very true,” Mya agreed again.
Malik looked out into the lake enjoying how the moonlight reflected off the water. “That was a nice fireworks display, huh?” he asked changing the subject.
“Um, yeah,” Mya said glancing at the stars in the sky. “It was really nice.”
“Nice spot to view them too, right?”
“It was,” she said with a smile.
“So,” Malik said as he rubbed the palms of his hands against his pants. “Any chance we can pick up where we left off?”
“Not a chance,” she replied with a laugh. “But I’ll let you walk me to my car.”
He gave her a sideways glance that made her laugh even harder. By the time she had stopped laughing, he was still shaking his head at her.
“Thanks for tonight,” Mya said as they started walking in the direction of her car. She was glad she’d chosen to drive instead of taking the bus. She didn’t doubt that he would have offered to take her home had she taken public transportation and she probably would have let him since it was so late.
“You’re welcome,” Malik said, walking beside her. They walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way to her car. It was the most relaxed she’d felt around a man in a very long time.
“You never asked me the additional questions about the call,” she said when they got closer to the parking garage.
Malik gave her a lopsided smirk. “Guess that means we’ll have to set up another date.”
* * *
Malik took a swig of his beer and grazed his fingers over the top of the remaining cards in his hands and met Mya’s stare. They only had three plays left and there was no way they were letting Shawn and Cyd take the win, especially after they were the bidders leading the current round.
Lex and Micah’s bridal party get-together had resulted in the most intense game of spades he’d ever played. After eliminating two other teams, it was down to him and Mya versus Shawn and Cyd.
He reached for a card that he knew wouldn’t win the hand and flicked the card in the middle of the table. He hoped that Mya had the card he was looking for and after Shawn had played his card, he was more hopeful that Mya held the winner. He kept his composure when she didn’t throw out the card he was looking for.
“Oh, that sucks for y’all. You would have done better letting us take the lead this round,” Cyd said as she threw down the winning card and collected the winning book. “Word of advice, Malik, Mya absolutely hates to lose. So for your sake, I hope y’all beat us.”
He knew those chances were slim to none when Cyd threw out another winning card. “It looks like you’re about to become public enemy number one,” Cyd said as she collected another winning book.
It was down to the last round and Malik knew he didn’t have the winning card, but the daggers Mya shot his way didn’t really worry him. When they had defeated the first team they played, he had known that Mya was a sore loser when they had lost one round. What worried him more than dealing with Mya was the fact that Lex and Micah had repercussions for all the card losers. Their to-do list for the bridal party was longer than any list he’d ever seen and with Mya being the maid of honor and him being the best man, the stakes were high because they already had a full plate.
Malik felt a bead of sweat form on his brow as he thought about all the outstanding plans for the date auction that was two weeks away. After a well-known Chicago journalist posted an interview with Mya on her blog a day after their first meeting with the auctionees, word spread that Elite Events was still looking for a few more professional singles for the event. And they had been able to solidify the final two remaining spots that morning. But they still hadn’t found another venue and time was not on their side.
“If we lose this, I’m going to hurt you,” Mya said between clenched teeth. Malik didn’t have to look up from the lone card in his hand to know every man in the room was laughing under their breath, assuming he would be the victim of a verbal lashing from Mya.
When Cyd played her final card, Malik tossed his card in the middle of the table, crossed his hands in front of him and looked intently at Mya. He’d observed her last couple plays, so he knew she didn’t have the winning card. As predicted, Cyd threw out her last card and won.
“Game. Set. Match,” Cyd said as her and Shawn stood up to do a victory hand slap across the table. Malik was barely paying attention to them because his eyes were drawn to Mya’s mouth as she let out a sigh and swiped her tongue across her lips.
“You lost the game for us,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. His eyes went back to hers.
“Yes, I did,” Malik said as he continued to hold her stare.
“We didn’t have to take that hand,” she stated with disappointment.
“No. We didn’t,” Malik agreed. He could feel all eyes watching their exchange and he figured she did too since she glanced around the room before looking back at him.
“You know I don’t like to lose.”
“So I’ve heard,” he said with a laugh. “So next time we compete in a game of spades, I’m going to need you to give me more help. I can’t be winning all the rounds.”
She blinked a couple times before giving him a sly smile. “What makes you think I’ll ever agree to be on your team again?” Mya asked as she leaned over the table. “I don’t play with losers or men that play too reckless. I would have thought that Ivy League education would have made you a better card player.”
“Here she goes,” Micah coughed.
“I don’t play with women who claim to be risk takers, but sit back while I take all the risks. What happened to mutual support?” Malik leaned in even closer to her before responding. “And I don’t think you’ll be on my team again, I know you will.” It didn’t matter that Mya had a reputation for bringing a man to his knees with just one word. He wasn’t just any man and she had to realize that. “You wouldn’t be able to resist my charm anyways,” he egged her on.
Malik loved a challenge and right now, the biggest challenge he was facing was forcing himself not to pull her across the table and kiss her next words off her lips. Mya must have sensed the direction of his thoughts because her eyes dropped to his lips before she gave him a flirtatious smile.
“You couldn’t handle me, Malik,” she stated a little softer than before. “I’m sure you’re more used to those soft-spoken and submissive do whatever you say kind of women. You know, like that socially awkward uptight woman I heard you used to date. The one with zero personality.”
A chorus of ohhhs filled the room, but Malik kept his poker face. He wondered if Mya knew that bringing up his ex was more revealing than anything else she could have said. He’d never had much interaction with Mya before, so she had to have asked about him to learn about his ex.
“I’m flattered you’ve been asking a
round about me. But see, that’s were you’re wrong,” Malik said pointing a finger at her. “I like my women feisty and unpredictable.”
“Oh, really,” she said with a laugh.
“Yes, baby,” Malik said shaking his head. “She has to keep me on my toes.”
“I’m not your baby,” she said firmly with a smile in place.
“Minor detail,” he replied. “And who says being submissive to a man sometimes is a bad thing.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Mya said as she raised her arms into the air. “How about every independent woman in the world.”
“Wrong again,” he said. “If a woman has to be submissive in her values, beliefs, dreams and aspirations, then it’s definitely not an ideal relationship.” He brought his voice lower. “But the intimate part of the relationship should be more give and take. It’s okay for a woman to be submissive in her desires, fantasies and innermost thoughts if the man is equally willing to surrender to her.”
He expected her to retaliate right away, but she didn’t. Instead, she looked at him through curious eyes, appearing to let his words sink in.
“That was really poetic, Malik,” she said as she gently brushed her hand against his, the contact catching him off guard. She lightly grabbed the collar of his button-up and pulled him closer to her, bringing her lips to his ear. “But if you think a few romantic words will make me forget how terribly you lost this game for us, then obviously you don’t know me very well.”
He laughed when she released his collar. “Why are you always so difficult?” No matter what she said, it was obvious that the words he’d voiced before had caught her by surprise.
She feigned a look of innocence. “But I thought you liked feisty and unpredictable women,” she said as she placed both hands over her heart.
“Good to see you were paying attention,” he said with a grin. “Maybe next time we play together you’ll use some of that spunk to intimidate the other team rather than shoot me death stares when you think we may lose.”
Beautiful Surrender Page 6
