When Danni had arrived in Miami to help Summer open Bare Sophistication, the four women had immediately bonded and later agreed to go into business together. They were still building the Bare Sophistication Miami empire, but with Nicole as the lead makeup artist and hairstylist for their boudoir studio, Aaliyah as the boudoir beauty photographer and Summer and Danni running the lingerie boutique, things were looking promising for the group of friends.
“I’m not sure,” Danni finally whispered back. “Why do I get a feeling that I’ve just stepped into a bad horror movie?”
“That’s a bit extreme,” Nicole said with a laugh. “Jaleen is hardly a villain. You’ve known him for years.”
“Why is he here in Miami? I have a few theories... One, he wanted to catch me off guard with his presence. Mission accomplished. Two, he manipulated his way into my celebration dinner by contacting one of you to get the details. Once again, well done on his part. And three, he is being very cocky and suspicious. Do you see how he’s looking at me over his glass every time he takes a sip of water? All of those are characteristics of a villain.”
“I think you’re being a bit dramatic. Yes, he is all of those things, but I’m not sure that Jaleen’s sole purpose is to make you uncomfortable. I agree that he probably wants to spend some time with you, but you both have gotten pretty close these past few months. Even if it was long-distance.”
Danni stole another glance at him before turning back to Nicole. “I’m telling you, something is off about him tonight. He’s definitely up to no good.”
“Maybe you need to experience his type of no good,” Nicole said as she raised both her eyebrows. “Could be good for you.”
Danni was about to respond when Aiden began talking.
“Jaleen, I meant to ask. How long are you staying in Miami? You’re here for a business meeting, right?”
So he’s here for work. How hard would it have been for him to tell me that? “At least he’s only here for a meeting,” Danni whispered to Nicole.
“Actually, I just had my first of several meetings here in Miami this morning.”
Danni felt like she was holding her breath as she waited for him to continue. After another minute, she couldn’t wait any longer.
“So how long will you be in Miami?” she asked.
He glanced around at everyone sitting at the table before his eyes landed on Danni. “I’ll be in Miami for at least the next three months...possibly longer.”
She studied his eyes for any sign that he was joking and realized he wasn’t. “You’re serious?” she asked because she had to for her own sanity.
“Dead serious,” he said, not even breaking into a smirk as he held her gaze.
“I take back what I said,” Nicole whispered in her ear. “Maybe you did just step into your own horror movie because if he’s the villain, you’re definitely his main target.”
Danni shivered at the thought.
Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
When he winked, she looked away and focused on the others in the group. Hard to do since her mind was on the man sitting across from her.
I’m screwed.
Chapter 2
Jaleen would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t get a kick out of watching Danni squirm. In his defense, he’d tried to tell her about the contract he’d won in South Beach for weeks, but she hadn’t returned his phone calls. Once he’d realized that she was ignoring him, he’d reached out to Aiden and Summer to try to figure out why she was avoiding him.
Twenty minutes into dinner and she still hadn’t made eye contact with him again. Not that he could blame her. It was impossible not to feel the chemistry between them, despite how many months had passed since they’d last seen each other.
“I want to make a toast,” Summer said, raising her wineglass in the air. “To Danni, who has almost completed her master’s.” Everyone clinked glasses and offered their congrats.
“And a second toast that may be a bit premature but long overdue,” Summer continued. “Although my sisters couldn’t be here tonight, on behalf of myself, Winter and Autumn, we’d like to express our gratitude and excitement to Danni, who will soon be the newest partner of the Bare Sophistication enterprise.”
This time, even more congrats and cheers were offered, but Jaleen noticed that Danni’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. That’s strange. As hard as Danni worked, he’d expected her to look a little more excited about the offer. He’d noticed her initial excitement over a year ago when the Dupree sisters had made her the partnership offer after the grand opening of their Miami store. It may have made sense to the others that she said she wanted to wait until she finished her master’s—especially considering Summer, Winter and Autumn each had several degrees in the fashion industry—but it hadn’t made much sense to Jaleen.
“Thanks so much, guys,” Danni said as she took a sip of her wine. “I’m really excited to begin this new journey with the enterprise.”
“We couldn’t think of a more deserving person than you to be our partner,” Summer said, briefly standing from the table to give Danni a hug.
Jaleen watched the embrace, thinking for the first time tonight Danni’s response seemed genuine. Which further begged him to wonder why Danni was so tense regarding tonight’s dinner topics.
Man, who are you kidding? You’re probably the reason she’s so tense tonight.
After dinner ended and they were making their way to their cars, Jaleen took a moment to pull Danni aside.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
She looked at their friends, who had just made it to the parking lot. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”
Jaleen glanced down the block in the opposite direction. “Come walk with me.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that your way of asking me to take a walk with you? Because it sounded more like a demand.”
He smiled at her defensive stance. This was the Danni he knew. The Danni who’d spent the past few years arguing with everything he’d said. Although he liked making her nervous, he liked her even more when she was fired up.
Tonight she had on a simple white tee tucked into a pair of high-waisted jeans. He may have loved to see her in dresses, but the woman could wear a pair of jeans unlike any other woman he knew. His eyes traveled farther down her body until they landed on her French-tipped toenails and peep-toe fringed boots. The outfit was perfect for the cooler seventy-degree March night.
When his eyes traveled back to her face, he admired the large brown curls adorning her smooth mahogany face and round dark ginger eyes. Despite all of her features that drove him crazy with desire if he allowed himself to think about her too long, it was her lips that always kept his gaze a little longer than they should. He’d never seen lips so rich and pouty, which was saying a lot because he’d seen his fair share of lips. Today her lips were decorated in a striking burgundy lipstick. A shade that only made him want to kiss her even more than usual. After a few seconds, her lips parted, causing him to take a step closer.
“How about we take that walk?” she said, placing a hand on his chest. He glanced down at her hand, trying to shake the visions of her lips softly kissing his body.
Once they began walking and he felt like he had a handle on his thoughts, he started the conversation.
“I wanted to apologize for surprising you by popping up in Miami. I suppose I could have left you a voice mail when you didn’t answer.”
“Yes, you could have,” she said with a laugh. “But I should have returned your calls. Sorry about that.”
“It’s no big deal. Although I’m curious why you’ve been avoiding me.”
She glanced at him before looking forward. “I’m sure you already know why, but in hindsight, I guess I’ve been acting childish. I’m a grown woman avo
iding a sexy man all because we almost kissed. Seems pretty pathetic when you say it out loud.”
So she thinks I’m sexy? She probably hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but it didn’t stop him from enjoying the fact that she’d said it anyway.
“I guess I understand. But I thought that talking as much as we have these past four months while I was in Europe would have made you feel more at ease. I, for one, enjoyed our conversations.”
“I did, too,” she said, lightly touching his arm. Even though her touch was light, he still felt her warmth travel throughout his body. “I just have a lot going on right now and I’m afraid that you’re a distraction I can’t afford.”
“I never asked you for anything other than friendship.”
Danni gave him a look of disbelief. “Oh, come on, Jaleen. You and I both know that you don’t do friendships with the opposite sex.”
“We’ve been friends for years, right? Or do you deny it?”
“Yeah, but most of that time was spent arguing with one another. And I’m not sure if friends is the right word. Close associates may be more accurate since the only reason we communicated with each other was the fact that we shared so many mutual friends.”
He wanted to tell her that he suspected they knew each other more than she gave them credit for, but he knew when to leave the battle to fight another day.
“Tell you what. While I’m in Miami, how about we work on building a friendship?” That way, I can prove to you that it may be time to take this friendship to another level.
She shot him a look of skepticism before her lips curled into a smile. “Why do I have a feeling that you have an even bigger plan brewing in your mind?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He feigned a look of innocence. “I’m just a guy asking a girl if she’ll embark on a new friendship journey with me.”
Danni rapidly blinked her eyes in surprise before she burst out in laughter. Soon, he was laughing right along with her. When their laughing began to die down, Danni spoke first.
“I’m curious as to what this friendship journey will entail and, although I want to say no, I’m too curious not to say yes.”
“Good decision,” he said as they walked in a comfortable stride. Jaleen really didn’t have a plan brewing like Danni had assumed. But now that she’d put the idea in his mind, a friendship plan with Danni was exactly what he would concoct.
* * *
As Jaleen glanced around the poor excuse for a rooftop terrace of the South Beach boutique hotel he’d be renovating over the course of the next few months, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed at the task before him. It was one of five hotels he had to flip and though he usually didn’t stress out over jobs, he was stressing over this one.
Although the family business his grandfather had started began as a small real-estate company, Jaleen’s father and uncle had grown Walker Realty Partner into a multimillion-dollar company. In the Walker family, your path was laid out for you from the time you were born. Both of Jaleen’s older brothers each had a key role in the business, and although flipping real estate was a huge part of their company, Jaleen’s specialty was flipping boutique resorts. It was something he’d started doing just to see if he could prove to his father that he could be an asset to the family business. Jael Walker was not a man who was easily impressed. Especially when he felt as though his youngest son wasn’t cutthroat enough to make the decisions needed to get far in the industry.
“Hey, boss, where do you want us to start?”
Jaleen glanced over at Jesse, the head of his construction team. “Rally up the team in the back of the restaurant on the lower level.”
“Will do.”
When his father had informed him that their company had won the bid for five boutique hotels scattered throughout the heart of South Beach, the only reason Jaleen had been willing to return to the States after being in Europe was the fact that he’d known Danni was in Miami. Yeah, it was nice to know he had other friends there, as well, but he’d promised himself he’d live at least a year in Europe working out of the small international Walker Realty Partner office. Considering that his cousin was currently managing all of their international projects, it had taken more than a little persuasion for his dad and uncle to agree to a one-year hiatus from their projects in the States. His dad hadn’t really agreed to the entire year, but his uncle’s blessing had been enough.
However, little had he known how much was riding on the success of his South Beach renovations. To say that his dad and uncle had made some poor business decisions over the years was putting it mildly. Now, not only did Jaleen have the responsibility of getting this job done in record time, but his family’s company was relying on the money they would get when they resold the properties.
“Okay, men,” he said when he arrived at the restaurant. “Ideally, we’d love to finish this project in three months.” A couple expected groans echoed throughout the room. “I know it’s a tight timeline, but we’ve had tighter and managed to complete the renovation on time. On behalf of Walker Realty Partner, I’d like to thank each of you for all the hard work you continuously put into our renovations.” Jaleen touched on a few additional key points before releasing the men to get started.
At the end of an entire twelve-hour day, he wasn’t as confident that they’d make the deadline. He was almost to the apartment he’d rented for the duration of his stay when his cell phone rang.
“Hey, Aiden. What’s up man?”
“Jay, I know it’s last minute, but Summer and I figured we’d have a few folks over tonight for some food and drinks. We wanted to extend an invite to you if you’re free.”
Damn. He was so exhausted he couldn’t even guarantee he wouldn’t fall asleep sitting on Summer and Aiden’s couch.
“I don’t know, man. I’m pretty wiped out.”
“Okay, so I’ll be honest,” Aiden said. “Summer is always inviting the ladies over and, usually, I either hang with them or I leave to hang out with some of the guys I’ve met since moving to Miami. But I called a couple of my guys and they are busy.”
“So I’m your next best choice? I’m offended,” Jaleen said, mocking irritation.
“Nah, man. You only just told us you’d be here for a while a couple of days ago, so it slipped my mind.”
“I’m just messing with you.” Jaleen ran his hand down his face as he weighed his options. “Is Danni going to be there?”
Aiden laughed. “Yeah, she’ll be here.”
“Then I’ll see you around eight.” He ended the call, excited that he’d finally get a chance to see Danni again. His excitement was short-lived when another call came in shortly after.
“Hey, Jeremiah. What’s up?” Jaleen opened the door to his apartment.
“What’s up, little brother? I hope you have an explanation for blowing off your meeting with Mr. Rose while you were in Europe. JW is furious.”
Growing up, Jaleen knew that Jael Walker had never wanted to be called “Dad.” Therefore his sons called him JW, as did most of his business associates. “Yeah, well, I was pretty upset when I learned JW had informed Mr. Rose that I would meet with him without clearing it with me.”
“You know how Dad is. He always makes decisions without consulting us, which means you also know how important that meeting was.”
“Well, things come up. I’ll reschedule with Mr. Rose when I have the time.” The line grew silent. Once Jeremiah got quiet, the conversation was either over for the time being or a second round of lectures would soon follow.
“If that’s all you called for, then I need to get in the shower. Give the kids and your wife my love.”
“Jay, before you hang up, can you promise me one thing?”
“It depends on what it is.” He knew he was giving his brother a hard time, but he couldn’t help it. Jeremiah an
d his other brother, Joel, always listened to what JW said. Half the time, Jaleen spent their serious discussions trying to decipher how his brothers really felt versus what their father had encouraged them to say.
“Can you promise me that after you turn thirty-five, you’ll finally try to live your life the best way you can and stop all this foolishness? Everyone has responsibilities and although I know that it’s difficult for you to accept some of yours, I also know you well enough to realize you’ll eventually do the right thing. I’m not saying families like ours are normal, but we can’t change what we were born into, so the easiest way to accept your future is to obey the rules and enjoy it as much as you can.”
Jaleen let his brother’s words sink in. He’d heard them one too many times before and, just like all the other conversations he’d had with Jeremiah, they always ended with him doing what was expected of him rather than what he actually wanted to do.
“I understand what you’re saying, Jeremiah, and, as always, I appreciate the advice.” Jaleen turned on the faucet for his shower. “And, as always, I’m going to remind you that I have six months until I turn thirty-five and, until then, I don’t have to obey every command JW gives me.”
“I know, Jay... I know.”
They spoke for a couple more minutes about his niece, nephew and sister-in-law before disconnecting. He wasn’t one of those types of people that didn’t appreciate his blessings, but for once, Jaleen wished he didn’t have several people moving around the pieces of his life as if he were a pawn in a chess game.
Stepping into the shower, he did what came natural every time he was reminded that his clock was ticking down and life got overwhelming.
He thought about Danni Allison.
Chapter 3
Nights of Fantasy Page 3
